Eh, not easy, most of the Blood Moons are young and inexperienced.Aww, these Justicars never have the decency to even die properly....
Well, no, 30% actually.
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Blood Moons – Group Chat
DrP333m: yo b***esBlood Moons – Group Chat
DrP333m: ready for some fireworks
lilTramp121: hi Peem
DrP333m: about to test the new hyperlane prototype
Mob_Overruled_01: fingers-crossed
Mob_Overruled_01: Reeaaaally want to explore Brynnis system
Mob_Overruled_01: got a good feeling about that one.
DrP333m: whatevs
HZ=Alara: lol peem, you checked the Neolemia chat recently?
DrP333m: nope
DrP333m: too busy bending laws of physics
DrP333m: like a salarianf***ing boss
lilTramp121: What’s happening
lilTramp121:?
HZ=Alara: Dumb bimbos reacting to Matrons getting their babies taken.
SuperMicco777: rotfl
Imina207: At least now they have a reason for crying all the time, I guess….
HZ=Alara: babies or matrons?
DrP333m: lol
SuperMicco777: Matrons are just useless. Maidns are just scared because they think they’ll get to be Matrons for sure when they grow up.
HZ=Alara: QFTW
HZ=Alara: I mean
HZ=Alara: 400y just making & growing babies?
HZ=Alara: f*** me
SuperMicco777: So much for growing, most of them end up being entitled w***es anyways
=EVLani=: Guys, c’mon, don’t be too mean.
=EVLani=: at least
=EVLani=: not outside the chat.
HZ=Alara: screw that.
=EVLani=: I get to clean up your mess later, easy for you to just point&laugh.
Pterosiame: Lani is right. Especially now that they’re no longer encumbered, Matrons could organize a unified resistance. You antagonizing them is not the way to go to create a better society. Remember that we’re still all asari.
Imina207: Yeah, I did always feel kinda bad for them.
HZ=Alara: lol Peace&rainbows from the Admiral, so much for tough military
Pterosiame: Alarai, you get to shut the f*** up or we’re having this discussion again irl.
Pterosiame: You’d like that?
SuperMicco777: lol, she just ran off already
Pterosiame: That goes for you too, Micco.
Pterosiame: I’m sick and tired of this “all maidns r dumb” “all matrons 2”.
Pterosiame: So is Lys, so is Elio.
Pterosiame: You do know we’re all Maidens too, right?
Pterosiame: And, like Imina said, we’re all asari. And we might be the LAST asari left, so we better bloody stop trying to kill each other, or make each other miserable.
Pterosiame: Many of those Matrons sacrificed their life to give a chance to our species. Considering we’ve been in Neoilium for a year now, no Reapers no contact with Thessia or any Council government, you might want to re-analyze things in perspective.
DrP333m: so touching much feels
DrP333m: but shut up ptero now
DrP333m: no offense but making history right now
DrP333m: go to my streaming if you havent already
DrP333m: ship’s about to start up.
Mob_Overruled_01: O pleaaase pleass please WORK
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Blood Moons – Group Chat
Mob_Overruled_01: OMGssBlood Moons – Group Chat
Mob_Overruled_01: is that what I THINK IT MEANS!?!!!
DrP333m: yup
Mob_Overruled_01: YESSSSS!!!!!
lilTramp121: congrats, Peem&Imina.
Imina207: Yeah, this is awesome.
Imina207: we just need to make a few more tests, but I think we’re on the right path.
DrP333m: don’t spoil this imina
DrP333m: we good
DrP333m: other tests are just safety s***
Mob_Overrruled_01: WOOHHOOOOO!!
DrP333m: f*** need to call elio ASAP
DrP333m: have fun you guys
Pterosiame: This is a pretty big achievement, from what I understand, not just for us.
Imina207: ya, it’s awesome. If the war’s still going, we’re gonna kick some Reaper a** with this.
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*****************
“One year.” Elioka grunted, focusing dark energy in her hand before releasing a violent burst towards Vethy. The Admiral had to use both hands to contain the discharge, but was able to shift it towards the padded wall of the training room without too much effort.
“Yes.” Answered Vethy. “And we’re still fighting to keep things running.” She ran towards the Commander, deviating at the last second to avoid another biotic pull and reach melee range.
“Things are-” Elioka interrupted herself as she was dragged on the ground, struggling to break Vethy’s hold. “-settling.. down...”
“Hmpf.” Scoffed Sulysy, glancing for a second away from the holographic browser opened on her omnitool to look at the two friends wrestling in the middle of the room. “I wouldn’t be so sure.” She crossed her legs, searching for a more comfortable position, and went back scrolling through the browser. “There’s some pretty nasty rumors about you brewing in the chats, you know...”
“Oh, please..!” Elioka tried to twist Vethy’s arm, but it was to no avail; Vethy had always been stronger than her in physical combat, and the prolonged period of convalescence did not help in reducing that disparity. Feeling that she was about to be grounded, Elioka focused herself to discharge another wave of dark energy, lifting Vethy from the ground and temporarily denying her weight.
“There are always bad rumors about me. There were from before we even founded Neoilium.” She finally said, getting back on her feet, grabbing Vethy from one arm and starting to whirl her around. “What’s the new ones, anyway?” She finally released her opponent, tossing her weightless body towards one of the walls.
“You know...” said Sulysy, distracted by her own work. “...there’s the usual theory that you are vorcha-bred.”
Vethy managed to disrupt the field just before crashing; she created a biotic barrier to soften the impact and used the wall as a leaping point to jump right back at her opponent.
“Ah.” Chuckled Elioka, preparing herself for the impact. “Classic.”
“Also,” added Sulysy “that you really are an Ardat-Yakshi.”
Elioka grimaced; her moment of distraction was enough to have Vethy grapple her again.
“You know...” continued Sulysy “...that you are secretly sucking the souls of the Matriarchs and stuff.”
“Idiot...” Elioka swore, with her face pressed on the ground “...Maidens…” She enveloped her fist in dark energy and punched Vethy on her side, getting her off of her.
“Username sounds kinda like it: MUST BE REALITY!”
“Maybe you should do something?” asked Sulysy. “Issue.. a statement?”
Before Elioka could finish her off, Vethy jumped back on her feet, kicking her in the process. The Admiral reached for her forearms and head-butted her, forcing her once more on the ground.
“Nnnngh-” muttered Elioka. “Nah.” She tried to struggle again, but this time Vethy managed to create a biotic bubble to contain her counterattacks, keeping her pressed on the floor until she grumbled her surrender.
“I agree with her, actually.” Said Vethy, helping Elioka up on her feet. “You alright?”
“Not really. There are still places I’m not hurting yet. Let’s make best out of ten?”
Vethy shrugged. “It’s your pain...”
“Anyway...” Elioka slowly moved back to the starting position, keeping her eyes on her opponent. “...we reopened the chats, that’s the kind of garbage that happens on the public chats. Only decent thing to do...” she enveloped herself into a biotic barrier and pushed herself a couple of meters in the air, before diving down towards Vethy. “...is to ignore.”
“Maybe you’re right.” Admitted Sulysy. “But that doesn’t change that things are still pretty intense. Rumors or no rumors, the people are upset about the babies. Poor Lani can’t catch a break, this PR s*** is wrecking her.”
“Hmmpf-” Elioka caught Vethy’s hands, and two opposing surges of energies enveloped them. “-still wrecks less than a Justicar to the face, I can tell you that.”
“Would it be too much to make the mothers at least visit them, say, once a week?”
“And.. taint.. them? I.. don’t.. think.. SO.” Elioka, already breathing heavily, started to feel her grip slip and her feet slowly slide back, as Vethy’s pull increased. “It just starts.. with once a week.” She could have probably dodged it, but that wasn’t the point of her training, she needed to get back in proper shape as soon as possible.
“Those kids.. might be.. productive members of society.. in a couple of decades... I’m not making them spoiled brats.”
“You’re pulling it too far.” Warned her Sulysy.
“Psh-yeah, I wished.” Chuckled Elioka, still sliding back.
“No, I mean: with the people’s patience.”
“Lys is right.” Added Vethy. “We’ve made some progress, but if we keep going like this, we risk losing it all.”
Elioka’s flux broke and she was tossed against the padded wall, a few meters away. “S***!!”
Vethy ran towards her, to see if she was fine and to help her to get up again, but Elioka waved her hand at her, signing her to stop for a break.
“Oh, I see.” She said, with hands on her knees and discontinued breathing. “I didn’t realize this was three-way fight. With a weakened opponent, nonetheless. No matter, I like challenges.” She finally managed to stand straight again by herself, but, just a few seconds later, she was forced to lean back against the wall, catching her breath.
Stupid dumb krogan-f***ing Justicar shaking my f***ing goddess-damned molecules...
“You’re both...” she took another couple of deep breaths and limped towards the rack to recover her towel and clean her face from the sweat. “You’re both way too focused on the kids.”
“One fourth of our current population is made up by infants since last week, Elio.” Vethy crossed her arms, giving her a condescending look. “Did you forget that?”
“And did you forget, Vethy,” Elioka moved towards her, trying to straighten her walk. “That we’ve got Relay-free FTL travel? Look, I understand that there must be some appeasement here and there, I get it, ok? Didn’t I open the public chats? But all of this talk of pleasing the Matrons, extending the colony, repurposing the Mothership... It just seems like you’re losing focus of our real objective, right now that it’s closer than ever.”
“That doesn’t change things: we’ve still responsibilities towards the people of Neoilium.”
“We have responsibilities towards our entire species. Most of which, we’ve abandoned. This new technology could make us win the war! Do you have any idea how much we can do, once we don’t need Mass Relays to move around, every strategic point changes! We can attack Reapers from virtually any angle! What we should do now is to speed up the maidens’ training, stop all these time-wasting projects of colony expansion and focus on making ships. Peem says the orbital station could be repurposed as a true spaceport, we just need more people working there. Then, when we have enough to transport everyone, and when Myr has found the way back home, we jump aboard and give the Council the help it needs.”
“Then what?” asked Vethy, with her voice dripping in sarcasm. “We swoop in to save the day with half the fleet filled with kids and civilians?”
“What, you rather want to leave them alone here?”
Sulysy shrugged, closing the holographic browser and getting up. “The planet is somewhat unstable, yes, but there are still no hostiles in sight. Well, except for the loyalists, who would not attack the civilians if us Blood Moons leave.”
“So you just suggesting to give in and let them win?”
Vethy sighed, placing herself, between Elioka and Sulysy. “I thought you said the priority was saving the Council races.”
“Yeah, but.. that doesn’t mean that.. you know...”
“What?”
“We’ve fought for so long to take the Loyalists down, now that we’re so close to getting just that, I don’t want to lose everything!” Elioka turned her back on her, making a few steps away. “All the battles we’ve fought with the Reapers have been holding off the inevitable, for once there’s an opponent that we can defeat and you-!”
“So this is just about yourself?”
“It’s NOT about me!” Elioka turned around, going back towards Vethy. “S***, Ptero! Are you blind? Aren’t you seeing all that we’ve accomplished during this year alone?”
“I saw a lot of needless fight and death. In fact, if we hadn’t rebelled, the new hyperdrive might have been developed even sooner! We could have already been helping the others on Thessia right now, rather than be stuck here killing each other!”
At that insinuation, Elioka was unable to keep herself from punching Vethy, but the Admiral caught her fist midair, stopping it a few inches from her cheek. Before she could charge another blow with the left hand, Vethy pushed her away with a wave of dark energy.
“How can you?!” Elioka clenched her teeth, looking at her opponent from the ground. “How can you take their side? They weren’t thinking of returning, ever, you’re just deluding yourself!”
“Says you.”
“Says the record!” She got up again, but remained at a distance from Vethy. “Even if the Matriarchs wanted to, the Matrons would have never, NEVER voted to return back home so soon. Or to be abandoned here while the huntresses and the fleet went back to help everyone else.”
Elioka was about to run at Vethy again, but this time it was Sulysy putting herself between the two of them, forcing her to stop. “Elio.” She said. “We understand that. Vethy is not trying to question our past actions... but we cannot move blindly in the future. Even if we admit that the old government did bad things, that doesn’t mean that it made only bad things. That prototype could help in the war, if the war is still happening, but the people couldn’t. Vethy, and yourself too, are still training the new huntresses, we barely have any ships, we don’t have an army, we only have enough security forces to barely keep order in the colony, which is becoming harder and harder because of all this hate against civilians you’re condoning or ignoring.”
Elioka cleared her throat, nervously and uncomfortably moving her gaze down, trying to think of an answer. She was still mad at both of them. She just wanted to have a relaxing and challenging training session with her friends, and they just stabbed her in the back with that sudden debate about politics, knowing that she was still recovering from her wounds. To add on that, the issue was one of her least favorites, since she had yet to have a clear mind on that particular subject and didn’t want to discuss it until she knew exactly where she stood personally on that matter. Finally, it didn’t help that it was more difficult for her to answer harshly to Sulysy when they were talking in person.
“Is this just because you fear I’m going to come for yours too, if you make a kid later?” her retort clearly upset Vethy, but Sulysy calmed her with a quick look, and shook her head at Elioka.
“This is beyond us, Elio. We were supposed to do better than the Matriarchs.”
“I’m just...” Elioka crossed her arms and looked away. “I’ll think about it.”
“I know it has not been a good period for you, Elio.” Continued Sulysy, placing a hand on her shoulder. “But we can’t just keep ignoring this.”
“We can continue to support the colony, I guess. The new constructions I mean.” She rolled her eyes and sighed. “But no visits to the kids. Not yet. We’ll see what Myr finds out in outer space. See if home is close enough to be reached now. Then we’ll decide once and for all what to do with the civilians.”
Ah, new FTL travel. It would help against the Reapers, but I'm betting it was a one-way trip getting here.
Thanks.
Eh, more than likely; still, they don't know that.
So, this basically means that Asari, led by Elioka the Angry, loose on the poor unsuspecting galaxy? I feel for the galaxy...
Hmmm, modding the Ptherowhatevertheywere into reapers too?
Hmmm, modding the Ptherowhatevertheywere into reapers too?
Eh, we'll see...
That would have been interesting, the fact is, I didn't even meet them once in any playthrough since I started, so I have yet to experience how their event chain is in vanilla in the first place.Hmmm, modding the Ptherowhatevertheywere into reapers too?
Theyr slowly realising that pissing off half the population isnt going to help.them, and i guess theyr going to be stuck in.this galaxy so the rest will eventually come around.
Or maybe we will have another rebellion but by the matrons this time
Or maybe we will have another rebellion but by the matrons this time
We'll see; if Elioka has not enough influence when the oligarchic election comes, that could imply a shift in power; and of course, if the story goes in a certain direction, a switch in government is still possible.
“They want me to talk, or something.” Elioka rolled her eyes, moving her attention from Myrayme’s hologram to the window looking on the colony. It wasn’t really a window as much as a wide, long breach in the Mothership’s external hull, covered in transparent omni-gel, which, for whatever reason, had never been properly repaired. Beyond it, the Commander could see the colonists working outside, under the watchful eye of the new recruits of the Blood Moons’ militia.
“By looking at it you’d say it’s fine, but Lani swears we’re this close to riots.”
“If it’s so bad...” said Myrayme, her voice distorted by interferences. “...what would a speech do?”
Elioka sighed, rocking restlessly on her chair. “She said it might be a good moment to make our new supporters trust us more. ...By the way, speaking of that, do you know we have another Myrayme now?”
“What.”
“Yeah, she’s one of Vethy’s new recruits, pretty damn good on a ship. Kind of a nerd like you too.”
Myrayme crossed her arms and sneered. “Maybe you should call her to ask about your speech problems?”
“Psh. Anyway, I’m not that much against doing it, I mean, I agree that it might work. So does Lys.”
“But?”
“But I don’t like the concept, you know? The only way I’ve ever pictured myself talking to the asari people was to tell them what a bunch of c***s they are, not to make them like me.”
“Which, really, will never happen.” Chuckled Myrayme.
“I know, right?” Elioka gave a light kick to her desk and crossed her legs. “Even if, I don’t want that kind of popular support, we’d be doing just the same as the Matriarchs” she mockingly clasped her hands near her cheek. “Oh, I love you all, girls, please comment, like, follow me on the extranet! And don’t forget to vote like I do in the next election!”
“I know what you mean.” Myrayme scratched her le’kus. “But that’s not really my area of expertise. For me, we could just dump all the whiners on this rock and jump back home. Or the next best thing. If Lys and Lani say it might help, maybe do it? I don’t know.”
“Well, that’s why I called you: everything is up in the air until we find our way home. It has passed another year and we’re no closer than we were the past one.”
“At least there’s no longer attacks.”
“For now. But that makes me wary. Until all the fugitives are accounted for and the last Justicar has died, we’ve got a problem. If you could just give me some good news, I could just have the VIs spread those through the public chats, I won’t need to make up s*** speeches and all, you know? Just give the people something concrete.”
“Yeah, I feel you.” Myrayme cleared her throat. “Well, I have good news, but not that kind of good news that you’d like...”
Elioka lowered her eyes and shrugged. “Shoot. Better than nothing at all.”
Myrayme typed something, making a small hologram appear on the desk, representing the recently explored systems.
“Tests on Hiklam and Crimdor systems were pretty good. Two of the planets there are compatible with asari biology. They’re ocean planets, like Neoilium, Crimdor III is actually a pretty big one at that, but with way less seastorms and seaquakes. At least, from what I could gather during my survey.”
“That’ll put Lys at ease, but...”
“They’re not a way back home, I know. Still, good to have a backup place to go to if Neoilium collapses or gets taken over by the loyalists.”
“I guess... not much good for the average Maiden, though.” Elioka pointed her finger into a dark mark. “What can you tell me about that blackhole? I remember we talked about it on the chat a few weeks back.”
“Yeah, Miklor’s Vortex. Nasty piece of antimatter. Securing a safe passage around that thing should put us in a position close enough to make a hyperjump on the outer arm.”
“Which might take us closer to home.”
Myrayme shrugged and wrinkled her nose, uncertain. “That’d be going into rampant speculation. We can’t really say until we are on the other side.”
Elioka leaned back on her chair, crossing her arms behind her head. “So? Get to it.”
“Yeah, about that.. there have been some strange preliminary readings on Brynnis, and I don’t know, maybe we could wait for a bit before going there? Until Ptero has a bigger fleet? To send some help?”
“Come on! Is this all of your adventuring spirit, Myr?”
“I’m just saying...”
“I don’t want you to just say it, I want you tojust go for it.”
“Fffine.” Myrayme crossed her arms. “I’ll be your b****, just going into the unknown, for the good of the cause, with no backup.”
“Pfh, don’t be such a crybaby and get to it.”
“If I die, I want at least a square named after me.”
“Yeah yeah...”
“...maybe a statue...”
“Any specifics for the epitaph?”
The scientist grumbled something and closed the communication, leaving Elioka alone in the cabin, with the last holographic reconstruction of the Vortex revolving around her desk.
*****************
Elioka looked down from the top of the derelict Mothership. The platform she was standing on had been repurposed for defense the past year, after an air strike by the loyalists, but it had never been used up to that point. Peeemsy had had some of her workers rearrange part of it to serve as a balcony for the speech after Elioka had confirmed her decision to do it. If nothing else, it gave a nice view on the colony.
The Commander leaned on the railing, taking a long breath. Once they had abandoned the idea of fixing the Larelei, constructions had proceeded a lot faster in the area around the broken ship, cannibalizing broken material from the Mothership, alongside the prefabricated packages, to set up rudimentary extraction mines and power plants to support electronic services. In nearly three years, the wreckage site had been turned into a flourishing city; it was almost surprising to Elioka that the entitled Maidens and Matrons of the crew had managed to submit themselves to so much hard work and cooperation to achieve all of that.
In a way, it was a promising thought, that they could change for the better, if pushed hard enough; yet, Elioka was unsure of what to think about the goal they were shifting towards: the more the city grew, the more time and resources were needed to guarantee its safety and maintain order inside it. More importantly, Elioka knew that, the more they remained there, the more improbable their return to Thessia would seem. Lys insisted that that wasn’t an entirely bad thing in itself, since stability reassured the people: they had already left their homes to build a new colony in a safe space, once the Blood Moons had proven that they could provide stability and prosperity for the rest of them, opposition would likely decrease. But, for Elioka, that implied forgetting about home, something she could not bear herself to do, nor wanted any of the asari to do.
We could be the last left, and that’s what everyone assumes, but if we aren’t? Three years aren’t that many, the war could still be going on. Even if it’s just massacre, the Reapers aren’t going to kill every asari in the entire galaxy in such a short amount of time. Isn’t our responsibility to help those that might still be resisting?
Not all Maidens could have been turned into proper huntresses, at least not all of those belonging to her generation, she had admitted that to herself by that point, though she still held onto the hope that the newborns, if properly taught from birth, could have.
But why am I even thinking about them? The twenty-thirty years they’ll need to get big enough to hold a gun and we’ll either be already all dead or we will have destroyed the Reapers. Is this some sick, twisted way the maternal instincts are getting to me? Bleah.
With the Loyalists having suddenly halted their attacks, things had become harder for her to work out: she couldn’t just delay thinking about issues anymore, using the immediate danger as an excuse: she needed to tangle with all those problems now, and she needed to solve them for her friends not to lose faith in her. She had been always so focused on toppling the corrupt government of the Matriarchs, but now she realized just how much unprepared the Blood Moons, herself included, were to take its place. On one hand, she couldn’t bear the thought of failing in establishing a new, proper government to replace the old one, on the other hand, the more time she thought about solving that problem, the less she could focus on returning to Council Space to resume the war.
“Commander.” Called one of the technicians. “We’re ready whenever you are.”
Elioka nodded and left the railing, moving towards the center of the balcony, so that the projectors could create a re-sized holographic image of her, amplify her voice to reach the people working on the square beneath her, and transmit her speech live to every omni-tool device in the colony.
The awareness of being in the spotlight unsettled Elioka. She was accustomed to speak with most of her circle of friends by then, and to taunt her enemies on the battlefield, but that entire framing felt wrong: she was going to make a speech to all asari in the colony, most of whom she didn’t know at all, trying to convince them to cooperate.
Without bargaining chip or a proper threat, how are they even going to listen? Any ethical or pragmatic arguments I can make we’ve already all made in the past years. Why should they listen now that I’m saying them by voice, if they didn’t when I sent them through the extranet? Hm. Thinking again, that might actually have been the problem... Oh, well...
She uncomfortably cleared her throat and darted down on the first asari assembling on the square, attracted by the giant hologram taking form on top of the Mothership.
“So, anyway, this is your Commander...” she mentally swore to herself and straightened her position. “...this is your Commander, Elioka T’lakai. I’m sure many of you know me, well, not personally, but... oh, f*** it. Here’s the deal, people: I know a lot of you think just because there’s some s***fest in the public chats, that that means we must be getting scared or whatever, and maybe if you complain and cry hard enough we’re gonna give you what you want... But that’s the thing that you’ve always gotten wrong: what you do on the extranet doesn’t matter. It’s what you do in reality that does. I know there are some entitled little s***s that spend most of their free hours posting complaints and garbage about what us Blood Moons are doing, but guess what? We’re not the f***ing Matriarchs, and I don’t give a F*** of what your scales look like after a week of hard work, or how much your precious little brain hurts because you’ve used biotics to move heavy machinery all day long. I don’t give a F*** of what you post on the f***ing public chats! You can post whatever the f*** you bloody like, as long as you do your job, I don’t f***ing care. And, for all of those sanctimonious and oh-so-concerned c***s that try and stir up riots for ‘ethical’ reasons, another specially packed F*** YOU. We are stranded in an unknown world, in an unknown galaxy, trying to keep everyone safe and go back to save our sisters in Thessia and Illium and all our other worlds as well, and your main concern is how quickly you pretentious t**ts can make us kill each other? And by the way, for all of your whining and all of your objections on what a bunch of fascist c***s us Blood Moons are, how much did we accomplish in these past three years? The Matriarchs’ plans were for this colony to be built in twenty years, we did it in TWO! F***ing TWO!.. Do you think this sort of motivated asari work could have helped us in the Reaper war? Because I very much think it f***ing would have. And it will. I mean, look at yourselves! Don’t you even realize how many gifts we’re born with, how much potential? All of us have the eezo to move mountains, yet half of you has barely trained enough to move a pebble on her lucky day! We can live hundreds of years, yet, at the end of it all, most of us has done less with her life than a f***ing human can in one TENTH of that time! And on you complain, about how f***ing precious and fragile you are, and how your rights must be respected! So, sorry, but not sorry, I’m not gonna let our entire species go extinct to accommodate your precious petty little needs. And I know that a lot among you agree with me, deep down, but are afraid to come out and say it plainly, because otherwise your idiot f***wit friends are going to turn on you, and call you a bigot. Well, screw that! What do you care? That your ‘Like’ rate is gonna go down? Have you looked around?! We’re fighting for survival and you worry about what some idiot that you never met is going to call you on a chat?”
Elioka took a moment to catch her breath. She really didn’t want it to devolve into a rant, but, given the sensitive topic and the uncomfortable spotlight, it was hard for her to remain calm.
“Listen...” she breathed out. “...I know it might feel suffocating for many, to realize nothing you say is listened to, and that you cannot actually do everything you want... Well, welcome to the f***ing club! It’s called reality! I didn’t take away that from you, I just showed you you never had it! You just followed what the tides were. Well, f*** the f***ing tides! That s*** is gone, forever! I’m not getting the dumb, crazy paranoid, spineless mob decide what it’s best for us asari. We’re gonna roll with some quality over quantity-sort of policy from now on around here: if you want to speak, and you want your voice to count, you’ve got to earn it first, turian-style. And if you think that you just don’t have what it takes to fight and die for your sisters, then guess what? YOU DON’T GET TO F***ING DECIDE FOR THEM!”
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Blood Moons – Group Chat
Blood Moons – Group Chat
Mob_Overruled_01: So, Lani, who came up first with the “let’s make Elioka talk” idea?
Mob_Overruled_01: You or Lys?
=EVLani=: T__T
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I see Elioka is mastering the art of winning her citizens' hearts and minds. Passionate speech, really.
Well, thats one way of putting it. I'm not sure the general population will buy into that under anything less than total reaper siege, but hey its a start
Yeah, it might appeal to some, but the majority of the population is another matter...Well, thats one way of putting it. I'm not sure the general population will buy into that under anything less than total reaper siege, but hey its a start
I wish our fucking politicians would get off their tits and deliver speeches like that.
Doesn't matter if you fucking like it or not, just there is no fucking way you'll sleep through the speech!
Doesn't matter if you fucking like it or not, just there is no fucking way you'll sleep through the speech!
I wish our fucking politicians would get off their tits and deliver speeches like that.
Doesn't matter if you fucking like it or not, just there is no fucking way you'll sleep through the speech!
That would be a... memorable Presidential speech, to say the least.
...But the mainstream voter!I wish our fucking politicians would get off their tits and deliver speeches like that.
Doesn't matter if you fucking like it or not, just there is no fucking way you'll sleep through the speech!
“Dr. M’jaius.” Called the pilot from her position. “You need to see this.”
Myrayme left her last report on the side of her chair and leaned forward. “Yes?”
“We’ve located the source of those strange emissions. They appear located around the orbit of Brynnis VI.”
It had been only a few weeks from her chat with Elioka; the Illapan had interrupted its survey of the lower systems, as ordered, to focus on the exploration of the route through Miklor’s Vortex. During the first days, Myrayme’s attention was more on the reports coming from Neoilium: Elioka had followed her public speech with new laws and training programs for the Maidens, and many Blood Moons of the inner Circle were very interested to see what would have been the long-term reaction of the population. Sadly, once the Illapan had left the Elempar system, it had become progressively harder to receive updates from Neoilium.
More to the point, worries about the possible dangers of her travel had started to creep on Myrayme’s mind, forcing her to turn her attention to the task at hand.
She had initially entertained the idea of just flashing through the systems, to immediately reach the outer arm of the galaxy and then return back to base, but, once her expedition had reached Brynnis, the archeologist in her compelled her to start surveying the local worlds as well. Since she had taken command of the Illapan, she had hoped her travels would bring her to discover signs of civilization in that new galaxy.
The most likely and preferable result would have been prothean ruins; after all, it had been a mass relay that had stranded the asari on Neoilium. Yet, in fact, anything could have been possible: a new galaxy meant for Myrayme the chance to discover all sorts of new and extraordinary things, not only uncovering ruins of past civilizations, but also possibly discovering new sentient species as well. That would have been a childhood dream come true for her.
“Magnify the image.”
The Illapan had spent a few days roaming through the asteroid belt of the Brynnis system, but they had finally found the source of the strange emissions that had Myrayme worried for some time. She had originally thought them to be the result of an anomaly coming from the system’s molten planet, but the pulse seemed to have shifted outside of the asteroid belt since her last examination.
“The course cannot be the result of an orbiting body.”
“Could be a comet of some sort?” asked one of her helpers.
“Hmm...”Myrayme looked at the image on the screen, showing nothing but a small source of light, moving across the space. The Illapan’s scanners did not read any sign of solid matter. “It is as if it were some sort of microscopic star... that can’t be it. Perhaps the emissions are shielding it from some of our scanners? Take us closer.”
“Dr. Mjaius...” the assistant gave her a worried look.
“What?” Myrayme asked. “It seems some sort of energy source, as long as we keep on its tail, it shouldn’t be a problem. Now that I think of it, it might be the residual of some energy projectile, still travelling through space.”
“But we’ve found no trace of debris in this system, at least until now.”
“Yes...” Myrayme rubbed her chin. “...I’m not sure, it might have been fired from an astronomical distance. In that case, though, it would imply a weapon of-”
“Doctor!” the pilot interrupted her. “The anomaly it’s changing course!”
“What!?!” Myrayme looked at the screen, where the holographic projections of the light bulb’s movement were being automatically rearranged, putting the Illapan on the object’s new route. “...the f***? How’s it even-? Maybe it’s some reaction to our engine emissions? Let’s make a full stop, switch to auxiliary.”
A few seconds passed, but the cloud of light did not change its new course.
“Any more data?” She asked.
“No new information from the scanners.” Answered her assistant.
“Hm.” Tapping her fingers on the armchair, Myrayme gave herself a few seconds to think about the situation, before signaling the pilot to re-ignite the engines. “Alright, let’s not risk contact, we can still-”
A bright flash suddenly enveloped the screen, accompanied by a loud explosion of energy inside the Illapan’s command room. The electrical shock pushed Myrayme and her assistant shaking on the ground, with their vision blurred.
“W-w-w-...” Myrayme held onto her face, trying to overcome the stifling pain. “...q-quick! Take us out!”
The pilot shouted something back, but she couldn’t understand a word. Seeing the fires on a control post nearby and the sudden lack of light, she realized the strike had compromised their systems.
Myrayme turned on her elbows, still holding her head with her hands, and started crawling towards the pilot, who was still stuck on her post, but, before being able to reach her, a second explosion crossed the room, enveloping the entire starship.
*****************
Elioka tried to cover her ears, but the booming shriek of the Reaper still echoed in her mind. She was stuck in the trench, the white buildings of Thessia burning all around her. The monstrous machine was slowly moving through the buildings, shadowing the entire street, crushing and vaporizing anything on its path.
“Get down!”
“Elioka! The barrier, Elioka!”
Soldiers were screaming and shooting all around her, mixed with the grunts and shrieks of the misshapen husks raining from the skies. Elioka forced herself to take away the hands from her ears and point her arms forward, to create a new bubble of energy and protect the other huntresses, but, right at that moment, the twisted shape of an harvester dived from above and started to shoot at them, each blow weakening the barrier and making her teeth stutter.
“Hold on! Hold on!”
The creature wailed at them, turned around and prepared for another attack.
“We need to get away from here!”
“Run!”
“Let’s go, Elioka! Run!”
“Fall back!”
Elioka stopped holding the barrier together and jumped out of the trench, running as fast as she could. She covered several meters already before realizing that no one else was following her. She glanced behind, only to see her comrades still stuck in place, waiting for the harvester to strike, shooting at it and screaming for help.
“But.. you said..? No! NO!”
She tried to turn around, but her legs did not obey, making her run further away from the trench. She stretched her arm, trying to create a new barrier from afar, but it was too late: the harvester’s cannons released another couple of red beams of energy, destroying the entire section of the street.
Elioka startled in her cot, her eyes frightfully darting around the dark tent. It had been some time since she had her last nightmare about the Reapers, she couldn’t remember any had happened after she had left the Mothership Larelei with the new recruits.
She left the cot and moved tentatively in the dark, searching for her canteen. It was still hours before dawn, but she didn’t feel like sleeping anymore. She drank a few sips of water, and then sprinkled more of it on her face, to shake off what little torpor she still had. That microcontinent they moved to was humid and thick with jungle: even during the night and with the ocean so close, it was still overwhelmingly warm for an asari. She left her tent putting a jacket over her underwear, and started to roam through the encampment.
She kept away from the flashlights of the huntresses on guard duty, taking advantage of the situation to test both herself and them, to see if any of them would be able to spot her.
Getting away from Larelei had been a hard decision initially, but it helped Elioka to relieve some of her stress and better meditate on her course of action. Some part of her knew that it was just another way for her to avoid discussing sensitive topics with the other Blood Moons, but she couldn’t deny that what she was doing there was also important for the long-term stability of the colony as well. Her public speech had not been particularly popular with the Maidens, and even less so with the Matrons, but, alongside the new policies she had implemented right after, it had resulted in several new young asari stepping forward to join the Blood Moons. Since Vethy was still busy training their pilots and working with Peeemsy to repair what little fleet they had, Elioka had decided to take up on the training of the new recruits entirely upon herself, moving them away from the Mothership.
The way she saw it, her decision had two main advantages: on one hand, with Sulysy and Enlikla ruling the colony in her absence, the people would have had a more moderate and conciliatory leadership, which might have lessened the tension caused by her speech; on the other hand, having the new recruits cut off from the rest of Neoilium would have allowed Elioka not just to train them in combat, but to let them embrace her ideology without external influences meddling with her work. Finally, it was an opportunity for them to explore more of Neoilium, building new observation and defense posts along the way.
“Alt!” a flashlight shone behind her, making her silently swear against herself. “Identify yourself.”
Elioka kept her hands up, slowly turning around. “At ease, soldier. It’s me.”
The huntress, with her rifle already pointed at her, narrowed her eyes, then gasped in surprise. “...Commander? What’s your identification code?”
“1D4FF7813.”
After a quick check on her omni-tool, the huntress finally put down her weapon. “I’m sorry, I-”
“There’s nothing to be sorry.” Elioka lowered her hands and walked closer to her. “You were doing your job.”
“Yes, ma’am.” With a somewhat uncomfortable tone, the guard teetered a step back. “I will be going then. Good- good night, Commander.”
“Let me accompany you for a while. Do you mind?”
“No, ma’am.” The huntress answered readily, quickly moving on the side to give Elioka some space.
“What is your name, recruit?”
“I am Anika T’serei, 2nd battalion, ma’am.”
“You have very keen earing, T’serei.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“You already trained?”
“Yes, ma’am. I was allocated on Niacal for a few years before the war. There was one time my squad had to track down a band of smugglers led by a rogue STG infiltrator. That sort of thing has a way of improving your earing and eyesight.”
“Ah! I bet.” Elioka glanced at her for a moment. “Niacal. How did you end up on Mothership Larelei then? I thought they had time to take only Thessians.”
“That is not entirely wrong, Commander. My squad oversaw the transport of bioengineered crops from Niacal to Thessia a few months before departure. I believe the Blood Moons are still using them now to feed the colony.”
“Oh, yes! You’re right.” Elioka chuckled and facepalmed. “Too many things to keep track of these years...”
“I understand, ma’am.”
“Were you in charge of your squad?”
“By the last weeks, yes. Our Captain was killed during the first Reaper assault on Thessia, I was next in line.”
“Hm.” Elioka was tempted to ask Anika her age, but decided not to. She could already tell that Anika was older than she was, probably older than she’d have liked to know, and didn’t want to make the conversation uncomfortable for both. All of the new recruits were young Maidens, but that category included asari who were as much as three times older than Elioka was. She had never had been bothered by it until she started training them.
According to the old asari society, they would have been all considered little more than children: only after one century of life an asari was accepted as an adult. From her talks with Myrayme, the biological basis for that stance was somewhat skewed, but not entirely a fabrication of the Matriarchs: an asari’s body and mind were nearly fully grown by her thirties, she could already meld with other people, but it was not advisable for her to have children before at least her hundredth birthday, to avoid complications during pregnancy. The argument regarding the general lack of wisdom in asari below the hundred years’ threshold was harder to verify, since, in the old culture, asari encouraged their daughters to leave home early with little official education, to make them gather their own experiences in life. Elioka wrote many times on the extranet that that was the real reason for the rampant immaturity amongst Maidens: they were just abandoned to her own means, encouraged to waste decades of their lives pole-dancing or shooting people for money. Having the new recruits separated and to be trained properly was an opportunity for her to prove her point in practice, yet, once put to the challenge, she was starting to find out her own lack of experience was hindering her efforts.
The military training was one thing, she could handle that, but when it came to speak with the other recruits, to explain the reasons why she felt the need for a stronger and well-unified asari government, or when she tried to discuss with them the benefits of the Blood Moons’ ideals, she often found herself at a disadvantage, looking for answers as much as her students.
Maybe there’s some truth in that s***. I mean, I haven’t really had any experience teaching, but that’s the point! I have to learn, just like they are learning from me. It’ll just take more time. Once I’ve had practice enough in this s***, I’ll be able to teach to the new generations even better.
She chatted for a while longer with Anika, until the first rays of sun came through the foliage, and then allowed her to go to rest, so that the recruit could be ready for the morning drill.
Elioka returned to her tent as well, to dress up and check her omni-tool for messages. She had tried to cut as much the ties with Mothership as possible in those months, to avoid getting distracted, but she needed to check in at least once a day for possible important news from her friends of the inner Circle. It had been hard not to write on the chat for so long during the first weeks, but she knew resisting that urge was part of her own training: that desire to voice every opinion on the net was a remnant of the old e-democracy, which she needed to get rid of.
Sadly, that morning there were a couple of messages from the Larelei tagged as high-priority, one from Vethy and one from Sulysy, both regarding the same matter: the disappearance of Myrayme.
After a quick check to the clock, Elioka typed both of them a message to establish an immediate connection. Vethy was the first to answer the call, appearing on the holographic screen only a few minutes after.
“Morning Elio. It’s about time: Lys has been trying to call you since last night.”
“You know I keep my omni-tool silenced. I don’t want to be distracted.”
“What are we gonna do?”
“Can you give me a quick report first? I just read the subject, I-”
Vethy sighed. “It has been nearly three months now since Myr’s last report.”
“She told me she was expecting interferences once near the blackhole, which would have made it harder to call back. Also, it’s pretty far away from our sensors’ reach, we don’t have proper comm buoys yet, Peem said it would have been impossible to contact us until she came back from the outer arm.”
“I know, I know...”
“You know how Myr is, once she’s on a track, she gets distracted. She’s probably too busy scanning rocks to bother checking in.”
“She’s been away for too long.”
“She probably hasn’t found the trail back home yet, that’s all.”
“Yeah, that’s what Lys was-” Vethy was stopped by Sulysy finally joining the call as well.
“Finally!” she said from her half of the screen; Elioka could see she had clear signs of sleep deprivation as well.
“What is it, Lys? Why so upset?” she asked.
“Elio, we need to do something.” Said Sulysy, in a worried tone. “I don’t like this at all.”
“Do you think I don’t like it either?” answered Elioka. “I wish every night to wake up in the morning with a message from Myr, telling me she’s found the way back home.”
“Psh-yeah! That’s the problem, Elio!” retorted Sulysy. “You shouldn’t have told her to keep going until she found one. I’m surprised that you, of all people, would make her just go like that, without requiring constant reports!”
“But we don’t have comm buoys yet! To do that she’d have to go back and forth from Neoilium every f***ing time! This way she can cover much more territory.”
“Provided that she’s still alive.”
“Oh, come on, Lys! She knows what she’s doing.”
“What if the loyalists took her?” asked Vethy. “You could be waiting for results that will never come.”
“That’s precious, Ptero. ...She has Peem’s hyperdrive, at the first sign of trouble, she can zap herself right back here in Neoilium.”
“These engines are still prototypes!” shouted Sulysy. “You just trust them not to break? What if there was a malfunction in the Illapan and she’s stranded somewhere, with no way of contacting us? What if something else attacked her? We don’t know!”
“I know it’s a risk,” Elioka sighed. “I understand that, but-”
“No buts!” Sulysy interrupted her.
“Yeah,” Elioka retorted. “lots of buts! I know what you two are calling for: you want me to tell Vethy to mobilize the rest of the fleet to go looking for her, which means leaving the colony exposed. You know that the loyalists are just waiting for that slip-up. The moment we lower our guard, they’re gonna strike again.”
Vethy shook her head. “We haven’t had sightings of loyalists for more than a year, Elio. For all we know, they’ve starved in their ships, or worse.”
“Until I have the charred corpses of the last Justicar on display, I’m not taking that chance.”
“It’s Myr, Elio! We can’t abandon her!” shouted Sulysy.
“Even from a practical standpoint, Elio.” Continued Vethy. “If something has happened to the Illapan, and we don’t know it, then we’re wasting time without even knowing it. If something happened, Myr is not searching for a way back to Thessia, you’re just waiting for nothing. We must re-establish contact.”
“Hmmrrgh...” Elioka tapped her fingers on the forehead, nervously moving back and forth. “Alright, alright. Take the ships, Ptero, but be quick about this. I don’t want to lose everything just to check on Myr.”
At her words, Lys immediately appeared more relieved. “Thanks, Elio.”
Elioka shook her head, grumbling. “She’ll be just scanning some f***ing rock.”
Ah, the colony will be exposed... I suppose this'll be the moment we find out if the Loyalists are still hiding in the shadows. I do enjoy seeing Elioka slowly adjust to being a leader, seeing that the old power structure did have some valid points.
As for Myr, sounds like she came across something unfriendly. Doesn't seem too dangerous, just unexpected.
As for Myr, sounds like she came across something unfriendly. Doesn't seem too dangerous, just unexpected.