Letters from Home

     (This email arrived in your inbox from completely unknown channels, even Aliya has no clue how it got there)

Dearest Husband;

Ysabell is still wondering why you insist she learn a human instrument but it does distract her while we are in hiding.  Adrian is our direct point of contact with the outside world and he said he would find a way to get this message to you.  I'm not sure what you have done recently but the Hierarchy not only refuses to believe and condemn you for you crimes but there is even talk that you will be made part of the official line of succession for Primarch though you would be rather far down the list still.  There is also talk of "inviting" all Asari to leave Pavalen.  I never thought the Asari were a threat but we were hidden away just in time as a team of Asair commandos hit our home.  They destroyed everything but they haven't found us. They even tried to bribe the Hierarchy into saying an accident destroyed our home and according to Adrian they continue to try and convince the Hierarchy of your crimes and that they should hand us over to them.  

Don't worry about us, we are safe and want for nothing except your company.  Do what you have to do, Ysabell and I know that whatever it is it is important and for the best.

- Sophie

Day 14: Inklings of Madness

Day 14

     After the fight on Omega we all went for some R&R. I picked up a new rifle and pistol: the M-99 Sabre and the M-358 Talon. I’ve been eyeing both of these for a while now, unfortunately they aren’t quite legal to own, but since we are being branded as fugitives anyway I thought what the hell. I also picked up a few ammo packs and some mods for my armour.

     After our furlough we returned to the ship and the Commander interrogated his doppelganger. We didn’t learn much more from him except that he was receiving his orders directly from the Council and that the whole council, all four of them, were in agreement with this ridiculous scheme. It sounds as if they are in agreement with the Asari that they need to replace the Shepard as the conscience of the Reapers. This galaxy really has gone mad if the leaders think that it is a good idea to poke a bear with a stick, albeit a very big stick, but this bear is huge in comparison. Madness. He also told us of his latest orders to escort a ship to a highly classified location in the middle of nowhere. After deposing of the bodies of both the doppelgangers on board we set off to the location of the ship to be escorted.

     We arrived at the location and found the ship. Damn that thing is huge! And loaded to the brim with eezo! That much eezo can only mean one thing: the Council truly is trying to rebuild the Crucible. Spirits protect us.  

Day 13: ...And Into the Fire

Day 13

    

     Omega: home to the galaxy’s most infamous criminals and mercenaries… and Lúthien. Once we arrived in the Sahrabarik System, we quickly became aware through some quick scanning of the presence of several Ascension-class dreadnaughts in deep orbit around the star, which is never a good sign. Even worse, the scans revealed several Sovereign-class Reapers in the asteroid belt. I can’t imagine what would bring them to Omega, but I’m guessing that the Asari dreadnaughts probably have something to do with it.

     As we approached Omega, we were contacted and told about the state of affairs on Omega. The station had been hit with a fatal plague affecting all species currently living on Omega except for Asari, and a group of Asari commandos had invaded and taken over and stopped all mining on the asteroid. This just keep going from bad to worse don’t they? There has to be something fundamentally wrong with this galaxy… We suited up, docked and were quickly escorted to Afterlife, Aria’s headquarters.

     Once there, Aria debriefed us herself on the situation and what she needed us to do. She asked for our help instead of calling in actual doctors and researchers (as I’m sure she could have en force being the ‘Queen of Omega’ and all) was due to the fact that the Asari team that had invaded the asteroid and lodged their ship deep into the rock and was rigged to explode at any moment Asari High Command saw fit. So she had us brought in to use the medical ‘expertise’ of Lt. Cornelius Joe. Of all the people in the galaxy, she could think of only Joe to save her rock! Lúthien must not be doing a very good job of reporting the state of this crew to Aria, or their both insane which I guess you would have to be to have run Omega for centuries. But, she does have a good point, that given his knowledge he should be able to use all the equipment here to synthesize a cure… I hope. Aria also told us the hidden agenda of the Asari in creating the plagues: they created each plague as they came in contact with a new species to ascertain Asari dominance in the galaxy. She also explained a bit of what happened to the Shepard: apparently he is in control of the Reapers, by somehow becoming their ‘conscience,’ through the use of the Crucible. She explained that the Asari were a little… pissed off, that the Shepard had effectively become the most powerful force in the galaxy and that he was human, not Asari and that they are planning on somehow replacing him.

How they thought this up is beyond me. I guess the Reapers have become too meddlesome for their politics. I don’t know. It seems pretty dim witted to me. I mean, he Reapers have been destroying galactic life for eons, they almost succeeded a few years ago, what makes them think that they can just waltz in and rebuild the crucible and reprogram the Reapers to do their bidding. This is just going to cause another Reaper war in which we will probably lose. What a stupid idea.

Anyway, Aria wanted us to route the Asari commandos in charge of stopping the mining operations, and Joe to begin curing the various plagues on Omega. Aliya was ordered to stay behind with the LT to help him stay focused. The rest of us went to a fortress the KQO found in the station’s systems.

Once there we rebooted the turrets and set everything up to funnel the commandos in to our line of fire. We signalled KQO to start bringing the 200+ commandos in waves toward the fortress while hiding the existence of the turrets. It quickly turned into a blood bath, as the Asari came through the corridor into the line of fire of our rocket-firing turrets.

KQO then proposed a plan to cause the Asari to retreat and clear off of the station. While poking around the enemy systems she was able to find the command codes, and with our help, she composed an order from ‘high command’ to evacuate the station the Reapers were coming. Thankfully they fell for it, and they eventually all cleared off the station. And were subsequently blown out of the sky judging by the explosion we heard a while after they left, poor bastards.

While we were engaged with the commandos Joe was able to synthesize a cure for all the races, with some motivation and help from Aliya, but the LT being who he is decided to run the cure out himself while screaming at Aliya, which resulted in him getting shot in the leg by some commando who had missed their ship spying on Joe’s progress. Aliya made quick work of the Asari while Joe went sprinting away blood just gushing away to distribute the cure. I took a sample of the Turian cure to send to the Hierarchy with a little explanation of what it is and why it was necessary; just in case.

Aria then thanked us for saving her station and we all went for some well-deserved rest and relaxation while Lúthien had a little chat with her mother.

Day 12: Out of the Frying Pan...

Day 12

     That was unexpected. Our plans actually worked out favourably. We assigned a squad of marines along with the LT to a shuttle to “help” our doppelgängers when they arrived at the Phoenix, as well as set up a defensive perimeter of turrets from the ship, while the rest of us hid in the cargo bay to lure in and take out the enemy quad.

     Our doppelgangers are good, but not quite up to snuff. Their Commander detected the turrets and was able to organize his team to avoid the brunt of the damage that would have been inflicted, but what they clearly didn’t expect was a full on assault by a skycar, and their own skycar nonetheless! Apparently the LT got it into his tiny brain to steal their skycar and fly it straight into the enemy squad as they were entering the cargo bay, which, of course, triggered all the turrets to fire at the enemy signature and made quick work of the non-military-grade skycar. Luckily the LT was able to jump out without injury and send a fiery cascade of metal into the enemy squad and the cargo bay where the rest of us were waiting for the command to open fire. I have no idea how the LT comes up with these things, or how he justifies them as the right course of action. Thankfully he provided enough of a shock factor to allow us to open fire and begin the neutralizing of our infamous counterparts.

     The enemies were quickly, if not cleanly, neutralized: Aliya took out the enemy Quarian with a quick shot to the hip, the Krogan was knocked down and saved by both Aliya and Nienna, the latter decided to take on the man impersonating the LT, with a sword. I didn’t know she even had a sword, let alone able to use one, which in hindsight she couldn’t really use it and Lúthien had to step in and destroy three of the enemies with her biotics; it was rather impressive. The fight itself was rather unimpressive. You would think the Council would be able to find some soldiers of at least equal if not superior fighting ability to have us replaced. I mean, I am Major Corinthus, the Saviour of Aephus, and Hero of Jaeto. I’m a damned good soldier and all they could find to impersonate me was a nobody from the Turian military? I should be offended.

     Anyway, after the fight we brought the survivors in for questioning. Lúthien, Aliya and myself interrogated the “Quarian” imposter. It turns out she wasn’t even a Quarian! Aliya was livid. We had to tell her to stay in the corner behind me during the interrogation to avoid any… sudden bouts of neural shock. Lúthien pulled out all the edge her beauty and experience gave her to have the human, how do the humans say it, eating out of the palm of her hand? She was incredibly forthcoming (with mostly useless information) and would have done anything the Asari asked of her. All we could really get from her was that the squad was put together in secret by some highly classified individuals, only the commander knew whom, to destroy any and all efforts that the Alliance had in place to do exactly what we were doing: finding what was up with all the recent Reaper activity.

     When we arrived at the CIC, Nienna and the Commander were discussing the need to leave Eden Prime immediately, and Lúthien received a message that we were needed urgently in Omega. 

Letters Home

From: {sourcenotfound}

To: sophie.c@caa.edu.pal

Dearest Sophie,

 How are you? How’s Ysabell? Is she keeping up with her piano practice? I know how much she likes to complain. I hope that you’re both OK, especially after this whole debacle with my crew’s doppelgangers. I know that this puts you both in a terrible situation. I can’t give you any details, one: they’re classified, and second: I can’t give you any information that would make you a target. I have to keep you both safe. Remember I love you both so much, no word in the galaxy can adequately describe the love that I have for you, and that I do everything I do for you.

 Know that I’m safe, and that I’m innocent. You know me; I would never do anything like this.

 I love you both.

-   T

Ps. – A contact of mine will contact you soon. If you ever need anything - to get away, a safe place to hide - he will help you. Love you.  

Form: {sourcenotfound}

To: Corinthus.A@embassies.gov.pal

Adrian:

     I need you to take care of Sophie and Ysabell for me. You know me; you know I’m innocent and wouldn’t do something like this. Please take care of them, give them a safe place if they need one. I’m afraid someone will come after them, and I need someone I trust to make sure they are safe.

    

All the best

Major Terryck Corinthus