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“How in blazes did we manage to fuck things up this badly?” Evangeline demanded as the headmasters of the involved academies gathered on the Citadel. Just the fact that they were forced to gather on the seat of power of a particular universe instead of one of the academies irked her.
“The Tyranids caught us completely by surprise.” One of the other headmasters tried to explain.
“I get that! A blind Troglodyte can see we were caught with our pants down! That much is really bloody obvious! I’m asking why and how.” Eva snapped at the man, who remained quiet after the dressing down.
The headmaster of the Thessian academy spoke next. “I’ve tried running an investigation and interviewed many of the survivors, some of whom are still trickling in by the way. It seems the two main reasons are that the enemy didn't come through the gateways and that they have some sort of suppression ability that renders many of our spells and abilities null. Specifically, our scouting and warning systems have always mostly relied on the enemy using the gateways. It’s dangerous almost to the point of idiotic to travel otherwise, but the Tyranids seem to have mastered the idiotic. That said, since they’re not the only locust race to have done something similar, we did have warning spells set out. None of them worked due to the suppression though. We didn’t even notice when they first entered the system. It was only when the main bulk of their fleet? Swarm? Whatever, entered the system that we noticed their arrival.”
As a Champion involved in the situation, Shepard had been invited to attend alongside the council ruling over the Citadel. Although the council had remained as just observers so far, unlike Shepard who’d been involved. "My…source tells me that the Tyranids had the ability to affect the powers of the beings from their own universe even before their universe was connected to ours. It’s not unreasonable to assume that the ability has evolved since their universe was connected to this one.”
“Would this be the same expert that gave you the idea to start targeting these so-called synapse creatures?” Darion, the headmaster of the Argus academy asked.
“The very same.” Shepard nodded, not bothering to hide.
Darion grunted. "Then I think we can trust the information. The previous idea was a good one. I noticed something odd going on during the battle but wasn't sure why it happened. When you kill a thousand enemies with every spell, it's hard to pinpoint which ones are special."
"I noticed the suppression aura of course, we all did," Eva stated, already knowing who Shepard was talking about. "You're suggesting that same aura interfered with the warning spells?" She looked towards the Thessian headmaster.
“That’s our current working theory. It would also make sense if their scouting units, those that entered the system first, were also strong in projecting that same aura. It’s relatively ingenious really. Stealth capabilities are not uncommon, but I’ve never really seen it approach in this way. Renders entire fleets stealthy, without actually wasting resources on stealth vessels.” The Asari headmaster seemed thoughtful, as were many others, already making plans on how to utilize the technique themselves. As soon as the news spread, many would be attempting to copy the technique.
“There’s also a more tactical issue.” Another headmaster interjected. “The complete lack of care for losses among the enemy was also a factor. Even among enemies to whom life is not precious, there’s a certain level of self-preservation instinct present. Losses reduce your future strength after all. Even the most warlike species generally try to avoid the kind of losses that throwing themselves at a couple dozen high-level individuals would bring. We killed millions of enemies during the brief defense and escape we were forced to make and would’ve killed a lot more if the battle had gone on longer. This enemy happily threw all those lives away for a chance at getting at the escaping vessels. Even most of the other locust races aren’t usually this free with their lives. The only similar comparison are the demons from the same universe that don’t actually die when their bodies are destroyed.”
Shepard cleared her throat. “My source claims that’s because the fleet will recover the biomass of most of the dead after the battle anyway, and simply re-create any losses. Any magical corruption will be cleansed and even repurposed. Only spells and abilities that destroy significant amounts of biomass matter, and even then, it’s a calculus of losses versus gains. Getting samples of powerful individuals allows the Tyranids to create more powerful individual bioforms.”
"Explains why the enemy tried to avoid me for the most part." A headmaster who was taking the shape of a burning bird commented. The headmaster wasn't a Phoenix, but a related avian species most didn’t recognize. "Although I suppose even ash could be repurposed, so even my flames were not 100% effective."
"Good to know for the future," Eva grumbled a little. Her specialties were ice and shadow magic, neither of which were great at destroying matter. "While the loss of the arena was lamentable, and the death of the civilians we couldn't save was unfortunate, the more important thing is to figure out how to stop this from happening again."
“My source identified the home universe of these Tyranids as you know. They suggested that since the Tyranids are moving outside the gateway network, the easiest way to avoid them would be to simply stay away from the areas they have access to, meaning any areas bordering that particular universe.” Shepard pointed out.
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“Incidentally, the same universe where the so-called academy we had to reject due to using forbidden methods, equipment, and personnel came from.” The Thessian headmaster added. “Our recent problems have all stemmed from the same direction. I propose a blanket ban on anything to do with that place.”
Evangeline tapped her long-nailed fingers on the handrest of her rather sizeable chair in thought. “Both are ideas we should implement, but we need to start working on actual solutions instead of just avoiding the issue.” She finally said.
“While I share your frustration, this isn’t really a problem the academies should be dealing with.” Darius pointed out. “We are not nations. We aren’t even a unified faction. Our job is to educate the young. Even if wars and events like this occasionally offer certain training opportunities, something like dealing with rampaging locusts isn’t our problem to handle. Even less so if the entire universe they’re hailing from is starting to stir up trouble. Even if we did have the unity to bring our strength together, we wouldn’t be capable of dealing with a problem of this magnitude. I suggest we spread the word, and let other, larger factions deal with the issue while trying to avoid getting involved any further."
It wasn’t hard to see his words had not pleased Eva, but many of the others were nodding in agreement, and she couldn’t really refute the point either. “Even if we do try to avoid this mess entirely, we still need to shore up to glaring issues with our early threat detection and defenses. While the Tyranids are the first to use this kind of tactic, they won’t be the last.”
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“That’s a big ass statue.” Nodoka pointed out.
"Yeah," Seraphiel replied, covering her face in shame.
"Real shiny too," Nodoka added.
“Yeah.” She kept to her answer.
“Captures your likeness real well too.” Nodoka continued.
"Yeah." Seraphiel, still in her normal form instead of her Draenei form replied.
“So, why is there a huge statue of you in the middle of the most important part of this huge space station?” Beatrice asked. The team strategist had quickly gotten over the fact that Seraphiel was no longer using her Draenei form. It was an open secret that several of the Draenei were actually Angels in disguise, although sometimes the Angels picked other forms as well, just to mix things up.
Sa’violi, the Asari and native of this part of the universe scoffed. “That’s not a statue of her. It’s a statue of the being that saved our entire universe from the Reaper threat. Her name was Ser…-aphiel. Huh. That seems a little much for a coincidence.” She turned to look at Seraphiel again, obviously noting the similarities.
Seraphiel had no idea they’d erected a statue for her, not to mention a huge one in the middle of the bloody Presidium of all places. The thing was ginormous. She wasn't the only one who had a statue like that, as Shepard and a few of the others also had one, though hers was the biggest. "Merely a coincidence." She muttered with a deadpan voice, not really even making an effort to convince anyone.
“Yeaaaah, that’s one heck of a coincidence.” Nodoka wasn’t buying it either. “I mean, you look a little younger than the statue seems to be, but it’s obviously you.”
Raziel, who had also dropped his disguise as everyone here knew the two were siblings, was rapidly looking back and forth between the statue and his sister. “Sephy?” He simply asked with a slightly awed but also fragile voice.
She couldn’t lie to her brother. She’d known this would come out eventually, though the timing and the way it had come out were not ideal. “Right, fine. I wasn’t going to hide this for much longer anyway. I’m a summoned Champion. The System decided to summon me as a baby, or well an egg actually, for some reason. And yes, that’s me.” She thumbed towards the statue.
“Champion of who though?” Beatrice asked a little confused.
“Charlotte Richards.” She replied smoothly. No longer hiding her face as there was no point. The name obviously didn’t mean anything to the others, who all looked even more confused.
“So, you were summoned as a Champion, but with none of your powers?” Nodoka asked in confirmation. “Seems kinda fucked up and against the whole point of summoning Champions.”
“Wait, wait, wait! Fuck the other stuff” You’re THE Seraphiel? Friend and lover of the Champion Shepard? The being that punched a Reaper to death?” Sa’violi asked, with sparkling eyes. “You saved me and my family on Thessia!”
“Right.” Seraphiel gave a sigh. “Asari actually live long enough to remember me.” She muttered.
“Not just Asari.” Sa’violi gushed. “They have statues of you and Shepard on several planets. I hear most of the Krogan practically worship you as a goddess of war.”
“I suppose I shouldn’t be too shocked that Krogan of all people were impressed.” She muttered.
“Yeah, well, curing the genophage might have helped as well.” The Asari continued. “EEEE! I’m on a team with THE Seraphiel!”
“A severely weakened one.” She reminded the gushing woman. Noticing the look Raziel was giving her, she looked at the others. “Mind giving me and my brother a bit of peace?”
Nodoka and Beatrice were quick on the uptake and grabbed the gushing Asari with them before walking away. “Sephy?” Raziel asked again, his tone more fragile this time. “It’s still you, right?”
“Of course. Just a little more than you thought.” She pulled him in for a hug, which he returned.
“Does mom know?” He asked suddenly.
“Yeah. She’s actually the one who asked me not to tell you until you figured it out. Said you always wanted to be a big brother.” She explained patiently. “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I’m not very good at keeping secrets.”
Her brother, still holding his head on her shoulder, laughed loudly. “That’s true. You’re absolutely horrendous. I always knew you were special and knew too much. I just didn’t know why. Now that I think about it, I’m surprised that I didn’t figure this out before.”
“Probably didn’t really want to.” She pointed out.
He shook his head. “Not that. Never that. You’re still my sister. I always knew you were destined for great things. Just didn’t know you’ve already done them. Now I’ve got a whole new reason to be proud of you.” He pulled her into an even tighter hug. It seemed he suddenly figured out something. “Do I have more siblings?”
She laughed. “Quite many actually. It’s just too bad that most of them never visit. That universe is not connected to this one. Although, you can meet Mother, I suppose.”
“Oh, we have another mom?” He asked excitedly.
"Yeah, just don't get your hopes up too much. She's a bit of a ditz." She tried to temper his expectations.
“So just like you?” He teased a bit, holding her tighter as she squawked in outrage. “I suppose I have to start calling you big sister then. I mean, you’ve somehow managed to outgrow me as well.”
Despite his head start, she’d already caught up and passed him, as she was maturing faster. “Yeah, that’s part of the whole Champion thing.” She explained without actually explaining.
“Are we going to find more statues of you?” He suddenly asked rather intelligently.
“Goddess, I hope not!” She exclaimed.
“But the possibility exists? Got it.” He was sometimes too sharp for his own good. Part of how he’d kept scamming people as a kid.
“Behave.” She knuckled his ribs.
“Hey, at least now I don’t have to feel bad about you getting stronger faster than me. I can’t keep up with a Champion.” He hadn’t really shown much worry like that in the past, as he’d always just been proud of her, but obviously he couldn’t be completely unaffected.
She pulled a way to look at him sternly. “Doesn’t give you an excuse to start slacking off, you hear?”
“Yeah, yeah.” Raziel shook his head wryly. “You know I haven’t been lazy, even if I can’t quite keep up with your crazy pace.” He suddenly seemed to realize something. “Huh. Instructor Kaede and Headmaster Evangeline know, don’t they? Suddenly some of your interactions make more sense. Hey, you visited them in the past as well, didn’t you? How many places have you visited?”
She started pulling him along to a place where they could sit down comfortably. “Well, let me tell you a story about how all this started…”