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The Shadow of Old Transgressions (Homeworld/Mass Effect Crossover Quest)

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Arcanestomper said:
I'm kind of hitting a block as to where to go from here. Does anyone have something they'd like to see?
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Something that would be beneficial would be to see the Flicker races' reaction to the Bentusi/Tiamat war so soon after the Crimson attack, such as what they are doing to move to a war footing, in addition to getting some information on the Kushan and their reaction to the storied death of... One of their two Named characters IIRC they sent with us. They were fighting to protect the Republicxs conclave, yes, but they did so against omnicidal monsters that would have just as happily exterminated the Exiles.
 
DaLintyGuy said:
Something that would be beneficial would be to see the Flicker races' reaction to the Bentusi/Tiamat war so soon after the Crimson attack, such as what they are doing to move to a war footing, in addition to getting some information on the Kushan and their reaction to the storied death of... One of their two Named characters IIRC they sent with us. They were fighting to protect the Republicxs conclave, yes, but they did so against omnicidal monsters that would have just as happily exterminated the Exiles.
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You mean the reaction of their races as a whole, or specifically your allies?
 
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Interlude: The Gardens Aflame
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    • Interlude: The Gardens Aflame

    The gardens of Kadesh were supposed to be a serene place. The gas clouds were tranquil and unmolested by harsh and noisy ships of outsiders. Unfortunately such had not been holding true in recent times.

    First there was the intrusion of the exiles. The epitome of the worst kind of outsiders. Their technology was brutish and unrestrained. They clashed with the guardian fleets multiple times and left trails of destruction and defilement wherever they went.

    Then there were the Bentusi. There ships were graceful and grudgingly tolerated, but still disturbed the tranquility of the gardens. They had at least dealt with the exiles and both made restitution for the damage and forced them to leave.

    Even that however had not returned the serenity of the Gardens however as the Bentusi brought word of a terrible foe scouring the stars. And while it was not the Kushan's way to leave the garden they had begun preparing their fleets and pilots to battle should that foe intrude on the sacred clouds.

    And that had been a very fortunate decision. Because while the prophesied evil had not come to pass the gardens had instead been desecrated by an even more ancient evil. The dreaded T-Mat had sent one of their five pointed vessels to destroy the Kadesh, and it had wrought a terrible price on their people.

    Of their seven great motherships. Three had been destroyed outright and two heavily crippled. To the great sorrow of the Kadesh most of their elders had died on those ships, and now Limmu'Zefal vas Menoa took her place as the Eldest of the Kadesh far far sooner than she had ever anticipated.

    Looking over her people she knew that though they had emerged victorious and remained unbowed in spirit it had cost them much. If another T-Mat Star Killer arrived it would wipe them from the face of the galaxy, and then the Gardens would be entirely unprotected.

    Perhaps just perhaps it was time to leave the gardens and find new allies. Hopefully her daughter had found some already in her travels with Valerius's band of Bentusi.
     
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    • Interlude: The Galaxy At War
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    • Interlude: The Galaxy At War

    Trosk's senses were expanded beyond those of any normal Kushank. He could feel the waves of light from the sun on his skin and see each star in the sky with utmost detail. The waves of hyperpsace sang to him, and he could count the grains of dust in a nearby asteroid field.

    But most of his attention was of course devoted to the massive battle raging around, "Push them back you laggards! For Glory and Vengeance, push them back!" His roar was more than mere words. Just as his senses had been expanded so had his intellect and underneath the rage and bluster was a detailed set of tactical orders for the dozens of cruisers and hundreds of fighter wings around him.

    The cruisers were crude things like great blocks of metal covered in the spikes of sensors and weapon turrets. They fired blasts of plasma and volleys of metal to fill space with death. But their opponents were no less dangerous. Sleek and angular, the Taiidani ships maneuvered through the fire to unleash their own beams and missiles against the Kushan armada.

    Fighters on both sides died by the score only to be replaced by a constant stream of reinforcements from carriers, while both sides attempted to leverage small shifts in the battle into enough of an advantage to break one of the opposing capital ships.

    The Kushan had Trosk and his brilliant tactical mind directing them to exploit the most minute of such advantages. With it they were able to wrack up kill after kill. In the war so far they had destroyed Taiidan cruisers in the dozens. But unfortunately the Taiidan had that to spare and more. No matter how far the Kushan fleet pushed towards their promised homeworld they always seemed to run into yet more Taiidan.

    After every jump they met a flotilla to harry them. Every three meant a new battle with the Taiidan fleet. The Kushan were hardy warriors and used to fighting, but even they could be worn down. Against such a mighty empire Trosk privately worried that they lacked the numbers to reach their lost homeworld, much less claim it.

    Perhaps it was time for another approach. He had sensed Bentusi whispering in the void nearby. After this battle was done he would send out scouts to find them. Perhaps they would have word of the fleet that had met him so long and the Marduk, and if not, well the Bentusi were traders. Perhaps he could purchase an advantage to turn the tide of this long war.
     
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    • That's unfortunate time to stop Taiidani from doing their other, more important job.

    Also: AAAAAAAAA.
    Everything is very much in flames.
     
    Interlude: Enemies in the Dark
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    • Interlude: Enemies in the Dark

    Minister Scrimius sighed as he finished reading another report of a colony lost. The world of Jollan had been a small but growing Taiidan colony famous for their varieties of succulent seaweed. Now the 42st Frontier Fleet reported that the colony was completely gone, replaced by a massive trench carved into the planet.

    There hadn't been any warning or signs of attack. Just a lack of communications that had lead the Ministry of War to send a fleet to investigate. And it had to be a fleet. This wasn't the first colony that had gone dark. And when the ministry sent mere flotillas to check more often than not they went missing as well.

    Now the count stood at seven Taiidan colonies lost, and more than a dozen from the other lesser members of the council. And that wasn't the end of the Reublic's woes by any means. There were reports of pirate attacks ramping up in all corners of the galaxy, especially from the Outer Rim where the Vaygr had been seen in increasing numbers. Then of course the Irunese had completely withdrawn from the Taiidan Republic and were pressing for their own position on the Council. The Bentusi Exchanges had almost universally been seen leaving the galaxy, which Scrimius wasn't sure was a good thing or a bad. The enigmatic race were always bothering the council with advice and cryptic warnings. As if their time wasn't long past.

    And of course worst of all the Exile war fleet burning a path straight to their old homeworld. They'd refused all diplomatic contact, and none of the defense fleets had been able to stop them. Scrimius admitted a grudging respect for their military prowess, but they couldn't be allowed to continue.

    Not that any of their past crimes mattered to him. It was thousands of years in the past. Not even the oldest Asari matriarch was still alive from then, and he didn't judge them for it. But by that same token Hiigara had been a core world of the Taiidan Republic for just as long. Billions of Asari, Salarians, and Turians lived there. The Exiles couldn't be allowed to reach it, not when they refused any diplomatic negotiations.

    Running his hand over his horns Scrimius took a drink of his caf before blanching. He really needed something stronger for all this. Still that would have to wait. Sighing he keyed in a meeting conference for the High Admirals. If the Exiles hadn't been stopped by the fleets so far, then they'd just have to muster an even larger armada.
     
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    • Interlude: A Cocoon of Safety
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    • Interlude: A Cocoon of Safety

    The command center was full of hustle and bustle as volus moved back and forth carrying reports or studying readouts at various control stations. This was the command center for the Irune system's entire defense grid and every minute reports were pouring in from all their various defense flotillas and the massive defense stations. All of which were currently on a heightened state of alert.
    In the midst of it all there was a circle of calm in which Councilor Lone Visola sat considering the situation. The Irunese had been attacked several times now. First by pirates, and then by something spoken of only in space tales. A massive five finned spaceship with overwhelming firepower.

    If it had been five years ago Irune would have been destroyed. But ever since the Wraith attack the Vol Clan had been turning their mercantile resources to build ever more fortified spheres of defenses. Even so that wouldn't have been enough. The projections were that the monstrous ship would still have broken through and possibly have been destroyed by the defense flotillas, possibly not.

    But the Vol clan had one more trick up their sleeve. When Valerian's Bentusi flotilla had equipped the Irunese ships with their anti-subversion modules they had included built in power supplies. Likely just as an afterthought. Something the Bentusi didn't even think worth selling. But the reactors had been wildly more powerful than anything the Vol Clan could build at the same size. Combined with the plans Commodore Barsa Dun has provided regarding the upgrades the Bentusi had made to his ship along with the modifications they had built into the local shipyards in order to build their Ark and the Vol Clan engineers had been able to pull all the disparate data together to produce a series of powerful upgrades for the Irunese Defense Fleet.

    And that had turned the tide. The penta ship had still ravaged the defense spheres, and many Vol clan had lost their lives, but Irune stood victorious, and even now Vol clan engineers were stripping the malevolent ship's corpse for further potential items to reverse engineer.

    It would take several months to replace the destroyed stations and bring the defense sphere back to full strength, but given its proven effectiveness the Vol Clan finally felt safe enough to step out and see what was happening in the rest of the galaxy.

    Councilor Lone Visola was in charge of putting together their expeditionary fleet. He had quite a lot of work to do finding the right ships and crews that could be spared, and indeed he was basically inventing a new rank system from scratch for such a large fleet. But the first thing he had done was mark down a priority order for whichever Volus ended up as admiral.

    Find the Bentusi fleet that had helped them so much and offer the assistance of the Vol Clan. They owed a great debt, and it would go against their merchant honor not to repay it.
     
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    • Book 2: A War in Heaven
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    • Deep Void

    Bentusi Relay Post

    You've been searching for a safe location to leave the children for several months now, and unfortunately things look incredibly grim. The galaxy seems to have erupted into conflict exceeding anything you've ever known or even heard about. The Kushan and Taiidan are fighting a brutal war. The T-Mat are wreaking havoc across the galaxy attacking planets and Bentusi fleets. You've heard rumors that the Vaygr are amassing a huge pirate armada on the fringe. Ironically the only ones you haven't heard about are the Wraith. They seem to be lying low.

    Unfortunately you have little attention to spare to what the Wraith are cooking up as this is quite possibly the largest crisis that the Bentusi have ever faced. Bentus itself is missing in action, and you've personally come across the wreckage of several Bentusi harborships that were destroyed by T-Mat assaults. They've also found and destroyed many of the ancient bastions leaving the Bentusi ill prepared for a full scale war.

    Without Bentus to rally behind the response has been scattered. Some harborships and exchanges have activated the remaining war fleets and taken the fight to the T-Mat. Others fear that the assault was too sudden and overwhelming and have instead reactivated ancient warp gates leading outside of the galaxy. Your own flotilla leans toward staying and fighting, but its lead to several tense arguments. As while Ulysses has often denounced the Bentusi who chose to flee, Aurora has been quick to defend them. Laverna and Iuno are both conflicted, and personally while you would never flee you can see why others would. The situation looks quite bleak, and most Bentusi Tenders never wanted to fight.

    Regardless, it puts your flotilla in a difficult position. Harborships going into battle are no place for children, and you've been unable to catch up to any of the ones who have chosen to leave the galaxy. In fact your only actual contact with other Bentusi has been delayed messages dropped off at message stations like these and then passed around by whatever Bentusi happened to pass by. As such it's taken you several weeks just to arrange an in person meeting with an elder Tender by the name of Gallus.

    Gallus is well regarded among the Bentusi and before all this started was expected to either join a harborship or build a new one soon. As such they would provide a safe space for the children and have offered to take custody of them before they leave the galaxy. Whatever your personal feelings on the matter would certainly be the safest place for them.

    Unfortunately Gallus is running late, and your hyperspace module feels off. It's disturbing you significantly enough that it takes a long moment to place the feeling. It feels like Wraiths.

    Sure enough when the golden gate appears and deposits Gallus into your vicinity the elder is suffering major damage on their distinctive horseshoe hull. And shortly afterwards hyperspace rips open and disgorges two wraith carriers that are already launching interceptors.

    Your flotilla responds like a well oiled machine. Laverna and the shepherds launch dervishes. The Irunese frigates and the Rawaan surge forward to cover Gallus against the interceptors while you, Ulysses, and Oracle-13 move to engage the carriers directly. Unfortunately you lack any missile frigates to bombard the carriers, but at this point they're unnecessary. You've come a long way from when you first faced the wraiths. They are no longer terrifying behemoths, but a foe you can actually engage on equal terms.

    The ensuing fight is still a brutal slugfest with the wraiths railguns pounding your defensive fields intent on your destruction, or rather Gallus who you are now shielding. But in response your flotilla unleashes a barrage of ion fire that rips apart the Wraith carriers' armor and leaves one a floating hulk while the other uses its real space FTL drive to escape.

    When it's all over Gallus links into your local network. "My thanks young ones. I had heard that foes such as these roamed the galaxy, but I was more concerned with avoiding the T-Mat and did not expect to be ambushed in deep space. I fear that our message relays may be compromised."

    "It is fortunate that you were able to reach us then. Do you have any news on the latest efforts of the Sentinels."     You send over your own updates. There has been a push on the eastern fringe of the galaxy to secure an ancient warp gate.

    Gallus responds with an update on various Bentusi forces and your galactic map updates accordingly. "Several fleets were able to destroy T-Mat starfishes attacking flicker colonies, but unfortunately one of their Reef ships was sighted on a course with the Grand Conclave. Every Sentinel in the area is being called in to deal with it."

    "Unfortunate, we would help, but I expect the battle is already over one way or another by now,"     An unfortunate reality of the way the message relay system works. The galaxy is just too large for the Bentusi to coordinate quickly across its entire width. Another reason why the response has been so split.

    "How are the children? I have prepared spaces for them, but I will understand if you have second thoughts after this display," The massive Tender hovers in space with its hangars invitingly open. No doubt Gallus has significantly more experience with children than any of you, but the Tender is basically unarmed, an easy target for a Starfish or even Wraith Carriers.

    [ ] [Children] Have the Children Transfer to Gallus
    It's why you set up this meeting, and once Gallus leaves the galaxy they'll be far safer than they are with you.

    [ ] [Children] Keep the Children in Your Care
    Gallus is too vulnerable. For now you will keep the children with your own flotilla. It might be riskier in the long term, but for now you can still protect them against anything you're likely to meet.

    That does bring up the question of what your goal is now. There are quite a few things that need to be done, and nowhere near enough time to do them all.

    [ ] [Goal] Escort Gallus
    If you accompany them to the ancient gate you can be assured that they are able to leave with the children safely. This will unfortunately keep you from doing anything else. But it would be worth it to keep both Gallus and the children safe.

    [ ] [Goal] Investigate the Reef Battle Site
    The battle itself is likely long over, but you might be able to help in the aftermath either reclaiming damaged Bentusi cores or helping defend the Grand Conclave depending on who won.

    [ ] [Goal] Look into what the Wraith are doing.
    They've been quiet for a long time, but as was just demonstrated they are certainly still active in the galaxy. It would be a good idea to figure out what their current plans are.

    [ ] [Goal] Distribute the Anti Subversion Modules
    This was your original goal, but you aren't sure how useful it is at this point. Still you might be able to help the various flicker races not just against the Wraith but any attacking T-Mat

    [ ] [Goal] Try to find other Bentusi
    Gallus is the first Bentusi you've met in person for quite a long time now. It would take some work, but you could try to link up with other Bentusi and help them in the war with the T-Mat.

    [ ] [Goal] Return to Irune
    It would be very nice to be able to replenish your drone fleet. You can deal with a few Wraith carriers, but a Starfish or a larger Wraith fleet is beyond you. In your travels you've heard that the Irune Financial Sphere is one of the few places in the galaxy that's still safe where you could build up. It occurs to you that if you don't transfer them to Gallus you might be able to leave the children at Irune instead.

    [ ] [Goal] Check on the Vaygr
    It's not really your responsibility, but the rumors of that Vaygr armada have been increasing lately. Someone should probably go see what they're doing before the galaxy is engulfed in yet another crisis.
     
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    • I don't suppose there would be any chance we could get Gallus to come with us to Irune where he could get some protection while building a harborship body?
     
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