She stops and flashes back to Rannoch. The fire, the blood, the screams as the Quarians waged war on their own creations. "Move up! Move up!" She yells at her Battalion. "If the Geth manage to take this position all is lost!"
They advance alongside her yet another wave of Geth arrive and open fire the Battalion return fire but after 10 days of nonstop fighting on this front most of them are too tired to continue their advance, the biotic troops are especially tired due to them having to continually use their biotics, and are pushed back. Seri puts her assault rifle behind her back and takes out a pair of pistols and charges the Geth lines once more. "Colonel!" One the the Turians under her command yells.
"Fall back!" She yells back. "I've got the rearguard!" That Turian, three other Turians, and a Krogan all run up to her and form up with her. "What?" She asks stunned. "I told you to fall back!"
"We aren't finished yet ma'am!" One of the Turians tells her.
She sighs on the inside and grins. "Alright let's give it all we got." They let out a battle cry and charge. "This is Colonel Seri to artillery battery 17, I need an artillery barrage on my position ASAP!" The artillery rains down on the Geth lines giving them some breathing space but before they know it artillery rains down on them from the Geth lines. "Scatter!" She yells "They are using a creeping barrage!"
She and her men scatter and she jumps into an artillery crater to wait out the barrage. By this point night is getting close and it is getting darker, she can't see much of the inside of her crater, but that won't stop the Geth. "You are not a creator." A robotic voice tells her. Most of her body is too tired to do much but she limply raises her pistol and turns on the light on her uniform and sees a Geth laying across from here. "This unit is unarmed and doesn't possess motor functions any more. What will you do?"
She lets her pistol drop. "I am too tired to keep fighting so nothing I suppose."
"This unit has an inquiry."
"Hurry it up Geth." Seri says closing her eyes. "You are still an enemy."
"Why do the Creators hate us?"
This causes her eyes to snap open. "What?"
"Why do the Creators want to destroy us? What have we done wrong? Have we displeased them in someway?"
A machine shouldn't be asking these questions, especially one that is rising against their creators. "You rose up against your creators. It is only natural they would hate you."
"Error the Geth only started fighting back after the Creators started trying to destroy us."
"What?"
"The Creators first tried to reprogram us, then disable us, then after failing both of those they are trying to kill us. We only started fighting after the third step. As far as we can tell this started when a single Geth Unit asked a Creator if we had a soul."
"A machine really shouldn't be asking that." She thinks. "What happened then?"
"After that the Creators followed the steps we have previously described, it has currently led to the situation we are in now. So we repeat the question. What have we done wrong?"
"I... I don't know." She says honestly.
"So organics do not understand one another?"
"That is natural for being an organic."
"We see. Thank you for this knowledge. We just want to understand the Creators."
"No... problem." After the artillery barrage ends he returns to her Battalion, much to their relief.
She returns to the present. "Maybe one day we may be able to sit down together." She thinks and shakes her head. "Maybe but for now, as a human once said, 'if you are going through hell keep going.'" She keeps walking and when she arrives she snaps a salute. "Matriarch Seri, also known as Colonel Seri, the commander of the Rannoch Relief Battalion from the Geth Uprising." She puts her hands behind her back. "It is a pleasure to meet the current Admirals of the Admiralty Board." She takes a bit of a deep breath and continues. "I will be to the point. First off you should know that no one besides you, my crew, and the Quarians of the fleet know that I am here. Now to business as you well know the Geth has recently attacked Council. Most politicians, and even military officers, are content to believe that worst is over and wishes to sit around doing nothing about the continuing threat the Geth pose to organics. This will have to kept secret but on behalf of the Asari military I propose an alliance with the Quarians against the Geth with the hopes of one day retaking the Quarian homeworld and removing the Geth threat."
Meanwhile...
A message arrives to where Liara T'soni is staying and all it says is
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To Benezia's daughter Dr. Liara T'soni,
It has been much too long since I last wrote to you thus I would like to amend that. I invite you to my office next month to meet and discuss things. I have a few questions and it would be good to catch up.
-Matriarch Seri
In other areas memos were handed out to various offices.
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To Asari High Command,
A new policy on choosing the commander in chief of the military has been implemented, as per agreement from the voting we had sometime ago. The office of commander in chief is to be held by a member of high command elected by high command. No one who isn't member of High Command can vote. As per the compromise the commander in chief is elected to 30 year terms and there is no term limit. Matriarch Seri is currently in her 67th year of command thus come her 90th will be when the next election is held.
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To all Asari Military Personnel,
By order of the commander in chief effective immediately all of duty personnel and all personnel on leave are mandated to carry a weapon at all times (no matter how potent your biotics are this is still mandated).
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To the Asari Military Recruitment Office,
I am expending the amount of money that will be expended on recruitment and expending benefits to soldiers in hopes of attracting more members.
-Matriarch Seri
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Thessia
1 Urban Center +90 (105)
5 Marine Divisions, 110,000 troops, (build time reduced by 40% = 2.4 rounding down to 2 months) (remaining months:2) (90)
1 Frigate (build time reduced by 30%= 1.4 months rounding down to 1) (remaining months: 1) (10)
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Remaining income: 0
And then she has a more secretive message sent to Dalatrass Aerhin Relbana
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To the esteemed Dalatrass Aerhin Relbana,
In the interests of Asari Security I have sent this note along with a pair of my personal Asari Commandos named Adina and Jule who I have assigned to work with STG until future notice. You will find them to be quite good at simple things such as assassination, spying, and interrogation, attached is a copy of their records concerning their interrogations, including how much time it took for them to break someone. I only have conditions: that they come back when I say they come back and any order I give them will be considered to have higher priority than yours. Otherwise they are under your direct command.
In friendship,
Matriarch Seri, commander in chief of the Asari military.
This message is carried by them and they arrive on Sur'kesh and head to the Dalatrass' office
The Asari Ambassador receives a message from the Elcor Ambassador
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To: Asari Ambassador
From: Ambassador Calyn
Greetings to the Asari Republics. I speak for all Elcors when I thank you helping us in joining the Intergalatic community. The Elcor has since played a small, but nonetheless, important part in contributing to the Council and to the world. In light of the recent attack on the Citadel, the Elcor has come to believe that the passiveness in our past policies can no longer benefit the Elcor people. For the first time in history, We wish to
to take a more active role and would like your helping gaining a full seat on the Council.
"Calls for other species to join the Council, especially amongst the Asari population has been on the rise." She mutters. "Besides the Elcor deserves a spot on the Council more than the Humans do." She immediately forwards it to Councilor Tevos.