Terminus Quest: A CKII Mass Effect Quest

[Alliterate]

Signals Officer Second Class Padok Solus of the Salarian First Fleet rubbed his membranes and rolled his dry eyes before resuming monitoring the consoles. It had been a long shift, following a blurred succession of double shifts throughout the last Rachni offensive, which- mercifully- appeared to have ceased. Nevertheless, constant vigilience was the price of maintaining intelligence advantage.

SO2 Padok had volunteered to stay on duty with a skeleton crew while his STG superior and the bulk of the SigInt team got some rest. It had been... how long? No, he was on duty. Padok tried to refocus, when an unusual readout caught his attention. In monitoring Rachni comms frequencies- for spikes in traffic volume, it remained resistant to real-time decryption- the console was reporting some... improbable signatures.

Padok pulled the data to his personal display. Was that... a Citadel identification code being broadcast within a Rachni signal packet? That seemed- unlikely. He experimentally had the console apply standard decoding algorithms, and... yes, a compressed audio signal carrier, including details for establishing two-way comms.

Padok almost dropped his pad when he played the decrypted message. A forceful Asari voice was clearly audible, despite the compression.

"This is Prime Minister Mira T'Vael of Virmire. As of this date, the three hundred and forty-first day of the year four hundred and ninety-four, Galactic Standard, we are still alive. We have broken out from the Sentry Omega cluster and secured naval dominance within Attican Beta and the Kepler Verge. We remain militarily viable and are building up our forces."

Scrambling for his pad, Padok made the decision to priority-route this straight to Fleet Admiral Samaer directly, replaying from the start.

"...If reliable contact can be re-established, we are prepared to participate in a united front against the rachni. We do not require intelligence on which systems the rachni hold. Be aware that we are transmitting on hijacked rachni communications technology. This channel is not secure, and it will soon close. Awaiting response."

Padok forced himself to wait while the Admiral heard the whole message, fingers tapping his pad arrythmically as he did when nervous or excited. After an interminable moment came the reply. "This is Samaer. Is the signal verified?"

"An older code, Sir, but checks out. Can also patch you through to source. Real-time."

"Do it. Also inform Council and connect, highest urgency. My priority authorisation."

"Connecting, now..."

 

[Simon_Jester]

On a lighter note, let's have...

This Year in the Systems Alliance!

Emperor Caligula raises two legions to invade Germany, turns around without a battle to deal with a conspiracy against himself, and comes home. He then orders a huge victory parade for himself. He further commands that a giant statue of himself be built in the temple in Jerusalem; mass protests among the Israelites delay construction.

"King" Herod, actually recognized as a mere tetrarch, is accused of conspiring against Caligula and is thrown into exile.

Known births include Titus Flavius, later to rule briefly as Roman emperor.

Known deaths include Seneca the Elder, father of the Roman philosopher of the same name.

Sorry I couldn't find more stuff taking place outside the Roman Empire, but this WAS when the Trung Sisters began a campaign of resistance against Han Dynasty military rule in Vietnam, so that's something!

 

[Simon_Jester]

Now, it has come to my attention that one Galactic Standard year is actually 1.06 Earth years, so since quest start we've had about one extra year on Earth. To keep up the pace of my occasional updates...

This Last Year in the Systems Alliance!

Among the Romans, this is known as the "Year of the Consulship of Augustus (that is, Caligula) without colleague," or "Year 793 since the founding of the City." To a later era in Europe it will be known as 40 A.D.

Emperor Caligula begins a campaign to conquer Britain, which ended in farce after he massed an army on the French coast to conquer the island off the coast of Europe. For reasons historians do not agree on, he gives up. Then he orders his legions to attack Neptune, the god of the ocean, and tells them to bring back seashells as trophies of their victory. He then declares the campaign a brilliant success.

The emperor distributes distinctions, honors, and titles widely and indiscriminately, including the unusual act of making his favorite horse, Incitatus, a Roman senator.

In keeping with some of the customs of Hellenistic autocracy, Caligula declares himself to be a god, and appears in public dressed as various deities, including Hercules, god of the strength, Mars, god of war, and surprisingly Venus, goddess of love. He orders that busts of his own head be placed atop the statues of gods in many temples throughout the empire.

Caligula orders the Jewish synagogues in the city of Alexandria emptied out and turned into temples of Caligula. While this is going on, a new messianic cult quietly spreads its first satellite church among disaffected Alexandria Jews. This one is unusual in that they're still in the running despite their messiah having been executed by the Romans several years previously. They say he's coming back.

Also in the Jewish quarter of Alexandria, the philosopher Philo is working on perfecting his syncretic blend of Platonic and Jewish philosophy; he is widely respected and in fact ends up going as part of an embassy from the Jews to Caligula to explain events in Israel. To wit, the riots.

The Jews remain firmly opposed to Caligula's insistence that a statue of himself be placed in their high temple in Jerusalem. The Roman governor of Israel, knowing the locals and not being a complete moron, hems and haws, delaying implementation of Caligula's order.

Meanwhile, attempting to consolidate power and get away from the Roman aristocracy who disapproved of his behavior, Caligula announces plans to relocate the capital to a more salubrious southerly location, with a culture more consistent with ruling as a god-king. Namely, Alexandria. These plans proceed in between rounds of Caligula's public mockery of senators, and his hobby of coming up with humiliating insults for the Praetorian prefect who commands his own legion of bodyguards.

Probably some time around the time we were busy bailing out the quarians, the Senate began having quiet conversations. The head of the Praetorians found these conversations very interesting.

...

So if you think our political problems are bad...

...

Elsewhere in the world:
-Conflict is ongoing within the Persian Empire, with two brothers struggling for dominance; Vardanes I has the upper hand for now.
-The Trung Sisters are still practicing guerilla warfare as only the Vietnamese, against a Han Chinese army of occupation.

 

[Simon_Jester]

MEANWHILE, IN THE SYSTEMS ALLIANCE...
(Part 3 of ???)​

In India, the northern part of the subcontinent and the mountainous regions of Afghanistan are gradually conquered by nomadic Kushan tribes displaced by the Han Empire in China.

Surprising effectively no one, the Roman Emperor Caligula was assassinated in GS 495*, illustrating just how bad an idea it is to aggressively and relentlessly mock both the oligarchic legislators of your empire and the commander of your own elite personal legion of bodyguards. This concluded Caligula's epic curriculum of "how not to run an empire" lessons, which are to remain known by a growing portion of humanity for millenia to come.

Caligula is replaced by Claudius, who proves significantly more competent.

In or around GS 497, Claudius ordered the Roman legions to begin the conquest of Britannia, a medium-sized island off the west coast of Eurasia. In so doing, he set in motion a chain of events that would have significant legacy impact, long after the Roman Empire itself had ceased to exist as a polity. This includes the origins, in the dominant language of the Systems Alliance, of the words 'Systems' and 'Alliance.' Claudius continued to integrate various other minor conquests into his empire for the next several years.

At the other end of Eurasia, the Han Empire of China completed their conquest of Vietnam, finally overcoming the guerilla resistance of the Trung Sisters.

Christianity, a major human religion, took a significant turn in its early history in and around 500 GS, with the missionary activities of the Apostle Paul. This contributed to the early spread of Christianity outside its roots among the inhabitants of the Roman province of Palestine, and through the empire as a whole.

At roughly the same time, the Xiongnu empire, a collection of tribal peoples in and around the steppes of what is now Mongolia, began to break up, with the Han pushing their influence further north. This, along with internecine warfare among the Huns and other steppe cultures, set in motion yet another chain of events later to prove highly significant.

A number of what will later become major European cities, such as London, Cologne, and Utrecht, are founded as Roman military bases during this time period.

In 504 GS, the Greek scholar and tinkerer Hero of Alexandria, a city which was by this time long integrated into the Roman Empire, invents the steam turbine. This invention does not catch on.

However, the Romans DO learn of, and adopt, a marvelous technology pioneered by the Gallic people to their immediate northwest, conquered some time earlier...

Namely, soap.

In 507 GS, Emperor Claudius adopts his son-in-law, Nero, as his successor.

In 508 GS, Emperor Claudius dies; he is suspected of having been poisoned by Agrippina, his wife and niece (!). Nero takes the throne immediately, and makes proclamations attempting to reinforce Roman control along the Red Sea and upriver along the Nile, and ban the traditional Roman practice of gladiatorial combat.

 

[Simon_Jester]

Last Year in the Systems Alliance (509 GS)​

In the Roman Empire, Nero ascends the throne, replacing his adopted father Claudius. Claudius is speculated to have been poisoned by his wife and niece (!) Agrippina.

Ironically for a man who attempts to prohibit gladiatorial combat as a senseless waste of human life, Nero also seeks to expand the Empire's frontiers, particularly in the East.

Nero expands Roman presence on the Red Sea by annexing the port city of Aden, near the mouth of that long, narrow body of water where it enters into the broader Indian Ocean. This helps secure the Roman trade routes to the far East.

Nero also sends two centurions south through Egypt to find the source of the Nile; their explorations reveal many cities, but none rich enough to justify the cost of conquest.

In the province of Caesarea, ordinances restricting the local rights and privileges of the Jews lead to clashes between Jews and non-Jewish 'gentiles.' The Roman governor of Judea violently suppresses Jewish rioters, and eventually Emperor Nero is called in to arbitrate. He rules in favor of the gentiles. This is the first of a series of decisions which result in Nero becoming extraordinarily unpopular both among the Jews, and among the messianic Christian sect emerging among them.

Meanwhile, slightly further north, Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, already known for his campaigns and canal-building projects in Germania, is dispatched to act as governor of the province of Asia. He is secretly ordered to recapture the strategic province of Armenia, currently independent of Roman control, for the Empire.

Corbulo arrives in Syria, there to inspect the Tenth Legion or 'Legion of the Straits.' While the Tenth had a formidable reputation in times past, Corbulo soon realizes that the troops have become lax and inept under mismanagement and a prolonged period of peace. Many of his soldiers have sold off their body armor and are manifestly unfit for combat.

As face settles into palm, somewhere out in the galaxy, Mira T'Vael feels a momentary, uncanny sense of comfort. It is as though she knows that someone, somewhere, truly understands her.

Corbulo recruits Syrian auxiliaries, and rallies the Tenth Legion and the Sixth Legion, known as 'Ironclad' or 'Steadfast.' He marches his forces into the snowy winter terrain of Cappadocia and begins drilling them relentlessly, including one-day, forty-kilometer route marches through the mountains, intense weapons training, and the construction of field fortifications. He becomes known for the saying "you defeat the enemy with a pickaxe."

__________________________________

[Author's Note: I'm going to keep rechecking my math to not drift too far in either direction, but I may be a year or so off at a given time. I'm pretty sure 509 GS corresponds to 54 AD and 510 GS to 55 AD. Roughly.

Also, I'm genuinely sorry that I have so little non-Roman history; if anyone can point me to good English-language sources that break down historical events by timeline in, say, China or India, I'd really appreciate it. ]

 

[Simon_Jester]

Meanwhile, in the Systems Alliance
(Part 5 of ???, 510-513 GS)​

Nero consolidates his power in the Roman Empire. He expels his mother Agrippina from the Imperial palace and establishes her in a separate villa. Agrippina had been niece and wife (!) of the previous emperor, Claudius, and also the sister of Caligula, emperor before Claudius. Agrippina showed signs of intending to rule through Nero, but Nero's tolerance of this intention would appear to be limited. Nero reached out to the oligarchs of the Senate, giving speeches indicating that he would respect their autonomy and end secret trials.

Nero has himself appointed as consul, a Republic-vintage position that reinforces his authority. While during Republican times it was traditional that no man would be consul more than once, this custom was already breaking down in the late Republic, and Nero will be made consul repeatedly, on many separate occasions.

On the frontiers, efforts to take some of the Roman legions on the borders of Persia and whip them into shape prove to have been timely. War breaks out between the Roman and Persian empires, after a Persian-backed invasion and regime change in the independent and contested kingdom of Armenia.

Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo amasses a sizeable force of four legions and marches them through the Armenian mountains, assaulting and sacking the fortress of Volandum after a single day's fighting. He then proceeds to the Armenian capital of Artaxata, shadowed by Persian horse archers. The city willingly throws open its gates to Corbulo's troops; Corbulo responds by giving the inhabitants a few hours to pack up their valuables before burning the place to the ground.

Fighting continues on the island of Britannia, where Roman governors appointed by Claudius and Nero struggle to subdue the stubbornly independent Celtic locals.

The messianic 'Christian' cult continues to spread through the Eastern Mediterranean. The apostle Paul travels extensively and writes letters to the Christians of various cities, outlining his own opinions about how the Christian religion should proceed in the coming years.

In China, the Han emperor Guang Wu sends a golden seal to the state of Nakoku, located on the islands of Japan, shortly before his death. This seal would subsequently be unearthed roughly 1500 years later by a farmer, constituting the oldest known evidence of written documents in Japan. Diplomatic contact between China and various entities of Japan continued during the Han period.

Guang Wu's son, Han Mingdi (or 'Ming of Han'), institutes new religious policies, introducing Buddhism to China and ordering sacrifices to Confucius in government schools. Ming and his successor Zhang are widely regarded as having reigned over the golden age of the Han dynasty during the subsequent three decades, notable for able administration and a variety of economic and technological advances.

 

[Simon_Jester]

Meanwhile, In The Systems Alliance
(Part 6 of ???, 514 GS)​

Spoiler: Author's Note

I'm going to keep rechecking my math to not drift too far in either direction, because a Galactic Standard year is 1.06 Earth years as I understand it. I may be a year or so off at a given time. I'm pretty sure 510 GS corresponds to 55 AD, and thus that 514 GS corresponds to 59 AD. Roughly.

Also, I'm genuinely sorry that I have so little non-Roman history; if anyone can point me to good English-language sources that break down historical events by timeline in, say, China or India, I'd really appreciate it. ]

On the eastern fringe of Roman control, Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo completes his campaigns in Armenia, putting a Roman puppet ruler on the Armenian throne.

Meanwhile, in Rome itself, the young emperor Nero (age 21) has had a stormy relationship with his mother Agrippina the Younger, who was also niece and wife (!) of the previous emperor, Claudius, and sister of Claudius' predecessor, Caligula. By later accounts, Agrippina's intrigues involving the Julio-Claudian dynasty continued during the early years of her son's reign. Surviving accounts (generally anti-Nero, though also anti-Agrippina) differ as to Nero's motives, and the extent to which he had cause to fear his mother's designs. But all agree that in 812 AUC (514 GS), Nero finally decided to have his mother assassinated.

Nero's early efforts failed, including a memorable attempt to make her death look like a boating accident. While his agents succeeded in designing an impressively unsafe boat, and in convincing Agrippina to embark upon it, Agrippina escaped the self-sinking death trap and swam to shore. A more successful assassination attempt with swords followed. While many of Nero's subordinate generals and officials sent him letters congratulating him on escaping his mother's plots, Nero would be personally haunted by his decision for the rest of his reign.

In Roman culture, this is a likely year of publication for Petronius' Satyricon, a satirical drama mocking the culture of the times as debased and decadent. This is one of the classics of Roman literature, and part of a broad genre of Roman literature targeting Roman fears of decadence, usually written at times when the Roman Empire was on firm footing and due to enjoy a century or more of relative prosperity, stability, and military success.

 

[FlyingMonkey]

THIS DOCUMENT IS CLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY​

ARMY BOARD ON THE REVIEW OF DOCTRINE AND EQUIPMENT BRIEF

ARMY REPORT ON THE READINESS AND CAPACITY OF VIRMIREAN SURFACE FORCES TO ENGAGE IN COMBAT WITH ENTRENCHED RACHNI SURFACE FORCES

SANITATION 01.11.512 GS
APPROVAL 09.12.512 GS
RELEASED 10.12.512 GS


I. ABSTRACT

Pursuant of Army Directive C-23.01.512-AR this board has reviewed and analyzed the offensive and defensive actions during OPERATION LIGHTNING STRIKE (OLS), OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER I (ORT I), OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER II (ORT II), OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER III (ORT III), OPERATION FOX HUNT (OFH), OPERATION LIGHTS OUT (OLO), OPERATION JAILBREAK (OJB), OPERATION SUNKEN CITY (OSC), OPERATION INHERENT RESOLVE I (OIR I), and OPERATION INHERENT RESOLVE II (OIR II). In cooperation with the Army Branch of Training and Doctrine (TRADOC), the Army Branch of Ordnance and Equipment (ORDEPT), Army Branch of Logistics and Sustainment (LOGSUS), and Army Branch of Warfare and Command (WARCOM) this Army Board on the Review of Doctrine and Equipment has collated the After Action Reports and Combat Analytics of the above referenced operations to render unto the Office of the Minister of War recommendations and a proposed course of action to rectify identified deficiencies in the Army of Virmire.

II. INTRODUCTION

By order of the Minister of War Toral K'Sharr at the behest of Prime Minister Mira T'Vael under Army Directive C-23.01.512-AR this Army Board on the Review of Doctrine and Equipment has been convened. The objective of this Board and cooperating institutions is to identify deficiencies in the natural doctrine and equipment of the Army of Virmire and its components. To accomplish this task, over the course of the past year this Board and cooperating institutions have compiled analytics, equipment performance data, requests by officers and enlisted personnel, and general after action reports. Through the analysis of these documents, this Board has identified several critical deficiencies in the logistical capacity, warfighting capability, and protective equipment of the Army of Virmire.

III. SUMMARY OF ACTION

OPERATION LIGHTNING STRIKE (OLS), or the Eletania Campaign, on AB-1.3, commonly known as Eletania, commenced on 06.03.508 at 0638 Virmire Standard Time (VST). The primary objective of OPERATION LIGHTNING STRIKE (OLS) was the destruction of Rachni forces for the purpose of improving security in rear areas. OLS can be subdivided into three separate phases of engagement. These are: Orbital Bombardment and Target Identification, Primary Ground Operations, and Clean-up and Security Operations.

OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER I (ORT I), OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER II (ORT II), and OPERATION FOX HUNT (OFH) constitute the orbital bombardment and target identification phase of OLS. Beginning on 06.03.508 at 0638 VST elements of the 1st Battle Fleet under the command of Admiral Kasha Yi'hun began general orbit to surface bombardment of structures identified to be of Rachni construction via orbital imagery. Under cover of orbital suppression of Rachni surface assets 1-10th Battalion Covert Action Group (1-10 CAG) landed and began surface scouting of locations suspected to contain hardened Rachni facilities under OPERATION FOX HUNT (OFH). 1-10th Battalion sustained approximately a forty percent casualty rate in the course of OFH. 1-10th Battalion identified and marked eight hundred and forty-nine concealed positions and four hundred and sixty-two hardened facilities, eighty-nine percent (89%) of which required Battlecruiser or Dreadnought caliber weapons to penetrate and damage from orbit. 1-10th Battalion identified the approximate locations of three hundred and twenty-one Rachni operational bases and resupply points, but failed to isolate and mark them for orbital bombardment. It is believed that anywhere from twenty-five percent to fifty percent of these facilities were successfully destroyed by area saturation bombardment. On 08.04.508 1-10th Battalion was withdrawn from the surface of Eletania. It was during this stage of operations that Virmirean forces first encountered Form 4 Rachni, colloquially known as Warriors or Elites.

Due to patrol and garrison obligations, on 09.04.508 beginning at 0900 VST 1st Battle Fleet withdrew from orbit around Eletania. During the ten hour period between the departure of the 1st Battle Fleet and arrival of 1st Raiding Fleet under the command of Admiral Hiral Beshkar, 1-10th Battalion observed rapid recovery and resupply operations conducted by Rachni forces beginning approximately six hours after 1st Battle Fleet had completely exited orbit of Eletania. The arrival of 1st Raiding Fleet to continue orbital bombardment in place of 1st Battle Fleet appears to have taken the Rachni off guard as many of their convoys and personnel were in unsheltered or unhardened areas upon resumption of bombardment. It is estimated that Rachni losses due to this error were between one million and two million tons of construction and war materials and between two hundred thousand and three hundred thousand Form 2 Workers and between twenty thousand and fifty thousand Form 3 and Form 4 Soldier and Warrior forms.

On 20.04.508 at 1200 VST, twenty Mark XXXVII EMP devices were initiated in orbit of Eletania. Subsequently, the 1st Army Corps began large scale landing operations with heavy orbital support from 1st Raiding Fleet to clear and establish landing zones for the second wave of Army ground forces and supporting Marine detachments. The 1st Army Corps sustained significant casualties in the course of OPERATION LIGHTS OUT (OLO) due to the presence of previously unidentified anti-air emplacements and swift enemy QRF response. Twenty-four hours after the initial landings by the 1st Army Corps, twenty primary landing zones were deemed secured and forward elements of the 1st Army Group under the command of General Grishak Valar began landing operations to reinforce the 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions as they were engaged in deep strike missions. The second and third wave of 1st Army Group soldiers would come twenty-four hours and seventy-two hours later respectively. By 25.04.508, Virmire had approximately three million armed services personnel on Eletania and 1st Army Group LOGSUS personnel had constructed the surface support infrastructure necessary to sustain current operations. General Valar ordered the beginning of the general offensive on 27.04.508 with the landings of the 2nd and 3rd Army Groups along with reinforcements for 1st Army Group.

OPERATION JAILBREAK (OJB) and OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER III (ORT III) commenced on 30.04.508 with combined orbital and surface bombardment of identified and suspected entrenched Rachni positions. The primary focus of this bombardment was to disrupt the Rachni formations encircling the primary landing zones and the destruction of Rachni surface artillery. Estimates of the effectiveness of this bombardment vary greatly, however orbital bombardment was successful in dispersing massing formations of Rachni. 1st Army Group initially began OJB by attacking in all directions expanding the area available for the disembarkation, housing, and support of further surface forces. Once the area for the primary landing zones was deemed sufficient, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Army Groups began targeted offensive pushes toward the Rachni's refinement and industrial centers nearest each primary landing zone.

Due to rough terrain, lack of infrastructure beyond simple dirt roads, and the unpredictability of Rachni attacks, progress was limited to a maximum of 5 km per day on foot. Air transportation assets were of limited utility during these offensives due to massed enemy anti-aircraft fire. Once an area was cleared of conventional Rachni resistance, forces were regularly rotated for rest and resupply through air transport. Using this rotation and leapfrogging method, on 26.06.508 all ground forces had successfully reached all target sites. Refining Facility 5 was the first encounter by Virmirean Army forces with Rachni armored fighting vehicles (AFVs). These vehicles proved somewhat difficult to disable or destroy with the organic weapons found at the squad level and often had to be engaged by supporting artillery or via a flanking maneuver to place demolition charges. As of 26.06.508, Virmirean Army personnel actively operating on AB-1.3 totalled approximately one hundred thirty-four million sapients with casualties due to enemy action standing at approximately three and a half million sapients. Estimated losses for the Rachni as of 26.06.508 incurred since 06.03.508 is projected at six and a half million as of 03.04.512 by the Army Branch of Warfare and Command.

OPERATION SUNKEN CITY (OSC) commenced on 01.07.508 with the goal of seizing all surviving Rachni resourcing, housing, and production facilities. With the majority of the remaining Rachni surface infrastructure either captured or destroyed, this phase of operations took place in the subterranean cities and tunnel networks the Rachni had constructed. Initial progress was slow and casualty rates spiked as Form 2 Workers employed suicide tactics in combination with their demonstrated burrowing ability to flank and perform grievous injury to Virmirean forces. Tunnel fighting also proved difficult to coordinate as the many direction changes in the tunnels caused significant degradation of traditional radio communications. In this phase of operations, enemy armored assets proved both significantly easier and in some ways more difficult to neutralize as they lacked space to maneuver, however this was also true for our forces. This was remediated by the introduction of the MLC-3 Heavy Support Weapon which was capable of neutralizing enemy armor where flanking was infeasible.

Operations continued and with concentrated assaults three of the surviving Rachni operations centers were captured by 14.10.508. It was noted that with the neutralization of Form 4 Warriors often found in these locations that local command and coordination of Form 2 and Form 3 Rachni would rapidly degrade. With this noted, CAG forces would be deployed ahead of regular Army forces to target apparent field commanders in addition to their previous duties of scouting and sabotage. These strategies proved highly effective and by 14.11.508 Rachni strategic movement had collapsed completely with the fall of eight primary facilities. During this latter period of operations there was a notable drop in both casualties as Rachni forces suffered command degradation even at the tactical level.

With the death of the presumed last Rachni commander on AB-1.3 during an attempted mass night attack on 16.11.508 all semblance of command had broken down among Rachni forces to the point that groups of Form 2 and Form 3 Rachni who were geographically isolated from each other could work at cross purposes to each other. With the confirmation of the destruction of the last mass force of Rachni on AB-1.3 following sustained orbital bombardment and deployment of thermobaric weapons, OPERATION SUNKEN CITY (OSC) was declared completed on 29.12.508.

OPERATION INHERENT RESOLVE I (OIR I) and OPERATION INHERENT RESOLVE II (OIR II) are the names given to the closing operations of OPERATION LIGHTNING STRIKE (OLS). OIR I commenced immediately upon the conclusion of OPERATION SUNKEN CITY (OSC) and consists of the clean-up phase of operations on Eletania. With the total collapse of effective command and control among Rachni forces on Eletania Virmirean Army forces enjoyed significant tactical and strategic advantages over the residual enemy forces. During this time the wide scale use of optical and seismographic decoys proved extremely effective with nearby Rachni holdouts regularly attacking these decoys in an uncoordinated manner. During these assaults, the area would be saturated by surface artillery and orbital support fire before the origin point of the attacking forces would be identified and saturated.

OPERATION INHERENT RESOLVE II (OIR II) commenced at the general withdrawal of the 2nd through 12th and 14th through 40th Army Groups from Eletania and the establishment of Fort Overlook and Fort Searchlight as long term operation and suppression bases on the planetary surface for the 1st and 13th Army Groups. Due to regular patrols and survey sweeps no major military incidents have occurred on Eletania since 05.03.510. It is currently projected that the Rachni presence on Eletania will be fully neutralized by 515 GS with a final security date of 520 GS.

END INITIAL REPORT AND SUMMARY OF ACTION

 

[PoptartProdigy]

Executive Briefings: The Republic of Rannoch
​

Prime Minister,

With the rescue of the 3rd Rannoch War Fleet during Operation Resurgent Grace, the Republic of Rannoch has abruptly assumed a much higher priority in the Ministry of Relations. In consultation with Matriarch Kirai, the Ministry has been working full time to compile this brief, to serve as a useful guide to approaching the Republic once contact is reestablished. We have worked with several sources in the composition of this brief: pre-war records of Virmirean interactions with the Republic; recorded and in-person testimony of individuals who interacted with the Republic in the past; the expert advice of Matriarch Kirai, and in particular old Council briefings on the Republic in her possession, originally intended to embassy attaches to the Republic; and the results of Fleet Admiral Malan's debriefing with the Ministry. Using information gathered from these sources, The Ministry compiled the most accurate report possible on the government of the Republic.

While the Ministry has used the best sources available, it and Matriarch Kirai both acknowledge that all of those sources are grossly outdated, originally built for the perspective of other polities, or otherwise biased. This briefing is meant to provide insight and guidance for an eventual contact, but the Ministry's expert opinion is that all efforts should be bent towards confirming or disproving the conclusions outlined below once that contact is achieved.

With Regards,

Marae Dantius,
Minister of Relations.

* * *
​

One of the first things to bear in mind when approaching the Republic of Rannoch is that while it and Virmire's governments share a name, there are many fundamental differences between them that might prove to be a stumbling block to relations. Virmire's system of government, while modeled superficially on Rannoch's, is different in several key respects.

Both nations hold that decision-making power should be held by an elected few, including, at minimum, a legislative body and an executive official. However, there exist within that paradigm several key distinctions.

The Republic of Rannoch is not, as is Virmire, a democratic nation; in fact, it is an oligarchy, if an elective one. Most of the quarian population is ineligible for service in the Senate, and the Premier's office is open only to senatorial veterans. In fact, most quarians are disenfranchised, lacking any voting power or indeed rights to participate in political procedures. Instead, all political rights and voting power are concentrated in the hands of the descendants of the nobility of the former nation-states of Rannoch.

The Republic of Rannoch first coalesced into a single nation a few decades after quarian scientists first split the atom. In response to mounting tensions, a major alliance of nations banded together, intimidating or subjugating the others, and agreed to form a legislative body between them all to ensure that the planet's mounting nuclear stockpile never needed to be used. At the time, hereditary nobility remained the accepted practice, and as such the first members of this Senate were all members of their nations' nobility as well. Over time, the Senate gained more and more power over its constituent nations, until in a soft coup it assumed formal authority over them all. All of their governments were dissolved into the federal structure underlying the Senate.

However, soft coups are not absolute, and everybody needs to run a government with somebody. In order to soften the blow and earn support, the Senate chose to continue to recognize the status of existing nobles (although some families are noted as having died out with convenient speed around this time), granting them the sole right to sit on the Senate and vote in its elections. The Premier, traditionally a supervisory and moderating position in the Senate, was established as the formal head of state, with only prior members of the Senate allowed to hold office. To this day, these strictures persist, with all political rights being determined by one's possession, or lack thereof, of a Writ of Nobility. While the exclusive land rights enjoyed by the nobility were abolished, in the new paradigm land was no longer the basis of political power. It thus was a convenient way of appeasing the underclasses without harming the aristocratic elite.

Immediately, one can see the differences between Rannoch's system and ours. While the Assembly, but recently re-established, is firmly subordinate to the office of Prime Minister, the Senate actually holds more power than the Premier in day-to-day affairs. The Premier's place is primarily to serve as a representative of the will of the Senate, and attend to some of the minutiae of governance. It is a position of considerably more power than any one given Senator, and thus is pursued keenly by the ambitious, but it is notably inferior to the power of the Senate. While Virmire's ideological foundation is strongly based in the democratic ideals of the Asari Republics, the Republic of Rannoch is a government with deep roots in the concept of noble privilege and the right of blood. Where, especially under the demands of total war, Virmire has come to an almost brutally even-handed view of class politics, quarian society is highly stratified.

To expand, while quarian society is nominally meritocratic outside of elected positions, there is nonetheless a significant bias in high-prestige occupations towards the members of the nobility. Fleet Admiral Malan, for instance, is of noble blood, as are all other Fleet Admirals in the Republic. There are exceptions, and the discrimination is more positive in the direction of the nobility than negative in the direction of the common classes, but we should nonetheless expect to deal with the nobility in any high-level meetings with the Republic.

This bias is one reflected on all levels of quarian society. In addition to the nobles' obvious incentive to sell the narrative of a benevolent aristocracy, the wider populace mostly buys into the propaganda. In general, the belief is that the nobles do their best for society, and are best-placed to work the greatest change. The other end of this is that nobles who do not excel -- or at least inoffensively persist -- in their chosen fields are strongly, "encouraged," to seek work elsewhere lest they bring shame on their family line. The result is an odd blend of autocracy and meritocracy. While it does not privilege true competence, it at least functions to strongly discourage incompetence.

The other, most notable trait of the Republic of Rannoch is its powerful institutional xenophobia, which manifests in habitual isolationism. The Republic's first contact was with the Batarian Hegemony several decades in advance of the formation of the Citadel Council, and it nearly resulted in war. The two nations encountered each other while attempting to establish mining interests in the same system, and the Hegemony's miners, upon seeing the Republic's more numerous fleet, panicked and assumed that they were under attack by a set of armed ships. The Hegemony immediately mobilized its navy, prompting the quarians to likewise withdraw its miners and respond, and the two fleets stood off with each other until the Republic successfully translated the Hegemony's transmissions. Rattled by the demonstration of Republic technology and know-how, and the strength of the present fleet, the Hegemony finally then notified their trading partners, the Asari Republics, of the encounter, appealing to them to mediate. The asari were delighted to intervene, and in the resulting negotiations sided with the batarians, citing international agreements laying out where the various powers could freely colonize and develop. While the asari promised to convene an international summit to redraw the zones in light of the quarians' presence, this nonetheless set a bitter tone for the Republic's first entry to the galactic stage.

As the Republic familiarized itself with the new galaxy, this impression only soured further. The Hegemony was aggressive and expansionist, and while its core space was a long way from the Republic's, it operated extensive mining concerns that came very near to Republic space, patrolling them with powerful military fleets. The Asari Republics were viewed as a cultural hazard, with their egalitarian ethics posing a direct threat to the foundation of the Senate's power. The Vol Union was pushing hard to unify economies, a move that the new-to-the-galaxy Republic distrusted. And the Republic uncovered no fewer than seventy-nine salarian informants in the Republic's government in the years following first contact. Other powers were less active, but even then they were merely inoffensive -- a clear sign, to many, that the only good alien was an absent alien.

When the Citadel Council was finally founded, it served as the death knell of the Republic's ambitions to play an active role in the galactic community. While a desire not to be the only one left out of this new superpower prompted the Republic to seek Affiliate status, the status of the asari and salarians -- the two greatest threats to the Senate's power -- as the sole overlords of this new community prompted the Republic to largely withdraw from the galactic stage. The Republic, in this era of feverish colonialism, has instead opted to develop its home space, making few territorial claims of any kind.

The Republic has not, however, proven incapable of diplomacy. The motivation behind its xenophobia is distrust, not distaste, and nations are capable of winning past that distrust. The Republic enjoys cordial, if distant, relations with the Courts of Dekuuna and the Illuminated Primacy, and after several demonstrations of the volus's determination to take an even-handed approach to economic unity, the Republic came aboard as an enthusiastic adopter of the credit, something that ensured warm relations between Rannoch and Irune. Furthermore, we know that the Republic's current leadership proved willing to sign on with the Terminus's offensive where they unilaterally refused to devote forces to Citadel attacks earlier in the war, when they had suffered less damage. The key to winning past the Republic's xenophobia, by all indications, is to make strong, clear, and consistent demonstrations of good faith -- and not to do things that threaten to compromise the authority of the Senate.

These two traits combined do not lead to an overly promising starting point for Virmirean-Quarian relations. While the rescue of the 3rd RWF will serve as a point in Virmire's favor, Virmire's egalitarian ideals will likely spook the Senate, reminding them of their concerns with the Asari Republics. With that initial wariness to counteract the positive of the 3rd's rescue, the Republic's institutional xenophobia will have time to set in.

It is the Ministry's recommendation that the best course of action, in talks with the Republic, will be to emphasize the authority and strength of the Prime Minister's position. Particularly if Prime Minister T'Vael remains in power by the time of contact, Virmire will have a strong case to make as to the limits of the populace's voice in matters of governance. In general, however, the Ministry counsels a slow, measured approach to diplomacy with the Republic, at all times moving in the open and with clear delineations of mutual expectations. Making few, simple agreements and holding to them with perfect reliability will likely prove to be a crucial step towards the foundation of a relationship based on trust. Maintaining a good working relationship with Fleet Admiral Malan will likely help; as a member of the nobility -- and one whom Matriarch Kirai speculates has powerful patrons -- he could be an invaluable advocate during those early years. By exploiting him as a point of contact, and at all times demonstrating good faith and honest intent, we may be able to secure friendly relations with the Republic of Rannoch.

 

[Faith]

Also, because Jamar Kurik can't have all the fun.

==<>==​

VWS Cartographer, Explorer Corps
Log Date <REDACTED>, GS 495
Captain: Veddan Banar

Captain Banar stepped onto the 'bridge' of his little vessel to little fanfare, receiving simply a nod from his technical officer and a raised hand from the pilot. Wasting no time with formalities, he cut straight to the chase.

"Lieutenant Raow, the communication?"

"Aye, sir. From way above the top brass. Ministry of Intelligence, actually."

That would explain why the salarian had been averse to talking to him about it over the ship's PA.

"Alright, put it through to my dataslate."

The message that appeared on his screen was brief, terse, and to the point - exactly the kind of mission briefing he liked. For all he hated spooks, they knew how to keep things concise.

"Alright, crew, looks like we're following up on the VWS Explorer's little trip to Sikel. Swoop in, snatch the probe, bail. Then deliver back to Virmire, operational security, yadda yadda, whatever." He shrugged and put the dataslate down on the edge of his console. "Helm, plot course for Sikel."

The asari at the helm twisted in her chair to look at him. "Sir, isn't Sikel in the Lystheni border zone? That's a bit of a grey area, right?"

Banar nodded. "Technically, the probe's not in the Sikel system - not anymore, anyway. According to these data logs, the probe should have performed a slingshot around the sun and now be well beyond the effective border of the system. All we need to do is retrieve it and return it to Virmire space, and that won't technically necessitate us entering Lystheni systems."

"Technically," Raow interjected, "Sikel isn't our end destination. According to the calculations made by the Explorer when it launched the probe, our end destination should be…"

The salarian paused for a moment before bursting into action, his fingers just a red blur as he keyed in the relevant data. "Here. I'm sending the waypoints to your terminal now."

"Remember," Banar reiterated, more for his helmsman's benefit. "We go in, get the probe, and leave. No detours, no stunts, no sightseeing trips through the upper atmosphere of Tessavar. Understood?"

"Aye, captain," Abayle said dejectedly, turning back to the viewport. "Plotting a boring course to Lystheni territory so we can do boring spook work, on the double."

Raow snickered. Banar shot him a withering four-eyed glare to shut him up and turned his attention forward. "Alright, helm. You may jump to FTL when ready."

==<>==​

Banar considered it a point of pride that, despite running a ship that was loose on regulations and light on discipline, his crew were just as capable of being professional when push came to shove, and that despite the easy going atmosphere not one of them had let their skills slip even slightly since he'd taken command.

Arriving at the estimated intercept point for the probe, it was only a matter of time before Raow picked up the badly damaged device on sensors and mere minutes later the Cartographer was drifting lazily alongside it, Abayle holding the ship perfectly steady whilst two other members of the ship's crew EVA'd out to recover the probe.

"Cartographer, EVA-2. Mag clamps are secure, jetting it over to you now."

"Copy that, EVA-2," Raow replied, eyes darting between screens as the two crewmen dragged the device to the Corvette's waiting cargo hatch. "We're holding steady. Maintain your course."

Banar could hardly blame his subordinate, since he was currently doing the same thing, quickly flicking between the exterior docking camera and his first officer's EVA suit camera. Keeping his eyes on his spacewalking crew, he tapped his communicator. "Engineering, status."

"Cargo bay sealed, fingers on the toggles," Chief Engineer Kadeb replied. "Ready when you are, sir."

"Alright, then. All hands, brace for zero-G. Fire away, Engineering."

When one spends long periods of time on a spaceship, there are sounds you become accustomed to. The buzzing of wires, the hissing of pipes. And the ever present thrum of artificial gravity. It's a little thing, the sort of thing you find hard to notice until it's suddenly not there anymore.

Even though he was expecting it, Banar felt slightly unsettled as the sound cut out, and the tug of gravity faded to nothing, weightlessness overtaking him.

"Raow, open the hatch."

The salarian complied wordlessly. On his screens, Banar watched as the cargo door opened and his First Officer dragged the probe inside, gingerly pressing it to the deck in a way that seemed mostly stable. Once done, the salarian turned to the cargo bay's interior camera and flashed Banar a thumbs up. "Alright, captain, probe's aboard and so are we."

"Good to hear, Paet. Raow, seal the cargo bay. Engineering, restore artificial gravity."

Once again the crew of the Cartographer complied quickly and quietly, the thrum of artificial gravity soon reasserting itself.

"Given the probe was nowhere near where intel said it would be and the last minute switch from Bikks to Tem'valla due to hardsuit failure, I'd say that was a pretty fast op." Abayle observed as the ship's FTL drive engaged with a characteristic shuddering whine.

Banar couldn't help but agree. "Nicely done, all round." Once again he glanced at the probe sitting in the hold. The salarian and asari who'd gone EVA were still in the hold, tying down the probe as neatly as they were able given its badly scorched and disfigured surface.

Once again Banar leaned over the comms. "Paet, I want you and Bikks to look the probe over when you've got a minute, get an assessment of how damaged this thing is. I'd hate to get home and find out it was all wasted effort."

On screen Banar saw the salarian raise a finger to the communicator tucked over his brow. "Sir, I can take a look if you want, but a preliminary evaluation suggests most of the damage is to the maneuvering thrusters and external communications arrays. Unless they seriously changed how the innards of these probes work, the computer should be…"

Paet stepped around to the less-damaged side of the probe and tapped a finger on the surface. "Somewhere under here. And by the looks of things, totally undamaged."

"Excellent. Check anyway, I want to be able to give the MoI a preliminary damage report on their probe as soon as we re-establish contact."

"Aye, captain."

Shutting off his microphone, Banar leaned back in his chair, propping his feet up on his console. "Destination, Virmire. Helm, you may jump to FTL when ready."