MGIS 5 - Gathering Strength - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The duties of a Forerunner are simple. What they can accomplish is most definitely not.

Forerunners are the representatives of their species to the galaxy at large. The Hegemony is one of several galactic nations that utilize the role to get to know a new species when it is discovered. It may go by different names depending on which nation is awarding it, but the concept is the same.

Someone who is willing and able to demonstrate the culture that birthed them, as well as comport themselves respectfully if awkward questions are raised in ignorance.

Forerunners can advertise their presence and actively recruit positive reputation for their species, or they can simply exist and let others learn by observation.

What you decide to do with the title is entirely up to you. Just be sure it is something you can be proud of.

~Informational packet forwarded to Terra-Sol-3 by Ambassador Steelbender.

“This is becoming a habit,” Skytreader said bluntly as she gestured for Desmond and his girls to get comfortable in her ready room.

“Sorry about that, Captain. But we all had a feeling that there was more to this than I was willing to take at surface value. I needed someone I could trust to advise me,” Desmond answered while settling onto the couch. This time it was Sasha and Lila who bracketed him while Chloe and Raegan stood at his back.

“And you trust me after knowing me for barely a month?” Skytreader asked, settling into the chair across from him with a sigh.

“Maya trusts you, so I trust you. Plus, you are my commanding officer and haven’t steered us wrong yet. If you prove to not be worthy of my trust, then that will change,” Desmond answered simply.

He’d sent the captain a request to meet with her regarding ‘clan business that needed to be discussed in person,’ tapping into the same excuse that the ambassador had given. Without needing to elaborate more on it, Skytreader had told him to swing by the bridge before dinner. In that time, Desmond had not let the data drive off his person, and had actually switched it to an interior pocket on his jacket.

“Fair enough, and I cannot fault you for that approach, McLaughlin. Now, what did you want to talk about?” Skytreader asked once they had all gotten settled in properly.

Desmond proceeded to fill her in on what the meeting with the ambassador had been about, and the hints that she had laid out for him as well regarding the reasoning and specific way she had couched the approach to him.

Skytreader’s normally stern face became a bit harder and she nodded slowly as she listened, not asking questions until Desmond finished discussing it with her. Then, she began to poke at the issue from different angles.

“So she specifically sent the packet to you as the Sire of Clan McLaughlin, through back channels and by physical media courier to get it to you without using public channels in any fashion? How well do you know Steelbender?”

“Yes, Ambassador Rockchewer said that she believed it was for security regarding my home system. Which I don’t necessarily believe as there had to be enough information flowing back and forth from the academy ships and other members of the fleet that are in the area that information is going to get out about it. Unless something has changed in the recent timeline that I’m unaware of,” Desmond said with a shrug. When Skytreader motioned for him to continue, Desmond searched his mind for something that might qualify.

“What about unrest on the planet?” Chloe suggested while Desmond thought, but he shook his head in denial at that suggestion.

“Terra has existed in a state of perpetual unrest for centuries. I doubt alien overlords will have made it any worse given what religion and racism has done in the last century,” Desmond said slowly. “The only thing I can think of would be potential plots in the nearby sectors or maybe predation by unsavory elements. We all would love to believe that the Hegemony is all magic, sparkles, and friendship, but no nation this size exists without criminal elements.”

“That’s my thought as well,” Raegan mumbled at his back and Desmond could hear the frown in her voice.

Desmond acted like he hadn’t heard Raegan’s words though, but filed them away in his mind. He’d known for the better part of a year that Raegan grew up amongst rather unsavory elements and was in what amounted to a combination witness-protection as well as delayed sentencing situation. Her former clan had been rolled up as part of a gang crackdown on her homeworld, and she had only escaped a similar fate due to the undercover officer noticing she’d refused to participate in the worst of what her former family did. Instead, she’d been turned as an inside asset and then sent to join the Hegemony military as her cover when the situation was resolved. Finishing her term of service would see her records expunged and allow her to move on.

If any of us would be in a place to judge potential illicit issues in the area, it would be Raegan. And maybe Sasha, given her foster sisters were bounty hunters, but I don’t know how much that might have expanded from the space station they called home, Desmond thought before turning his attention back to the captain.

“I agree that there is likely something going on in the background, and I doubt that it is the Ambassador trying to trick me into something. I’m just a singular adept from a primitive world. What would she gain from it?”

“Not much,” the captain agreed with a sigh. “Anything negative would be easy to trace back to her, despite using secured channels. Legitimately, I think she is asking for help but in a roundabout and less than honest way. But that is politics, right?”

“One of the worst curse words out there,” Desmond grunted in annoyance before continuing. “What about this is less than honest though?”

“The approach,” Skytreader was quick to answer, but Chloe’s eyes lit up a moment later in understanding and she spoke before the captain elaborated.

“It’s because she approached him as a Sire, right?”

“Got it in one, Vandenberg. She’s not approaching your Desmond as Adept McLaughlin, or as human Forerunner. She’s deliberately approaching him from the direction of the Uth’ra Kindred, which has been a devout member of the Hegemony for thousands of years.”

“But he’s not an Uth’ra… which means she knows this is a legal fiction,” Sasha said quietly from beside Desmond, and he felt her tail lash from where it was wedged between them. He rested a hand on her thigh to reassure her and the green-skinned woman calmed somewhat.

“What does it mean though? I have an idea, but spell it out for me so I know if I’m off base or not,” Desmond asked and the captain nodded, leaning back in her chair.

“Regardless of the information she asks for or gives you as a result of this, she’s deliberately acting to subvert you from your position as a Terran and a citizen of your home nation. While you are a member of the Hegemony military, you are still a citizen of a vassal nation. Which means that your citizenship is still with them until you officially switch it, a process that takes time and you would need a new homeworld to claim.”

“Something else we need to make sure to take care of, especially before we go back to visit,” Desmond heard Chloe mutter under her breath, but he was focused on what the captain said so ignored it for now.

“So she’s basically approaching me in such a fashion that it would be construed as taking a side? Specifically taking the Hegemony’s side against Terra?” Desmond asked after another long moment of thought.

“Basically, yes. You’ll have to balance that thought with whether it is worth it before you respond, but just being involved in this will color some people's opinion of you if word gets out,” the captain answered, watching the young man in front of her intently. “Weigh who holds your loyalty carefully—”

“My loyalty is to my girls,” Desmond said, interrupting the captain with a wave of his hand. “My loyalty to my home world ended when they wrapped me up and handed me over to a foreign power without warning, consent, or even time to pack a goddamn bag. Loyalty is something you earn, and my girls have earned it.”

They didn’t respond verbally to his statement, but all four of Desmond’s girls reacted physically. Those on the couch with him leaned into his side, while Chloe and Raegan shuffled to be closer and each laid a hand on his shoulders in reassurance.

The captain just raised an eyebrow as she studied Desmond’s hard expression, thinking over his words before shrugging.

“Your choice then, McLaughlin. I’d just recommend making sure you don’t use a tablet you can’t replace to open the files, on the off chance that someone really is taking a shot at you. If it truly does patch you into the ambassadorial priority comm lines, then it’ll include your name, rank, and serial number in the welcome when you log in each time. The only place you can access your serial number is your comm-cuff or your personnel files. It’ll require you to enter it each time you log in to send and receive files. The ambassadorial lines will work as long as we are within range of a station or the Vigilant Titan as it has a priority transmitter. It’ll tell you if you are within range for real-time transmissions.”

“Do you have access to the same transmission system, Captain?” Lila asked curiously, the Va’Aelfa shifting slightly beside Desmond and quieting when he laid a hand on her thigh as well.

“No, but the command communications does the same thing and I have been informed that the ambassadorial lines do the same, they are just a higher level encryption. Part of why I had to wait to make that report until we get into range of the Titan.”

“Fair enough,” Desmond replied before sighing and letting his shoulders slump. When Sasha made a questioning noise and leaned into him, Desmond sighed and shook himself. “Nothing big. Just thinking that, even with everything I’ve said, there are people back home who would still spin my attitude as a betrayal of my country even given the situation. But these are the same kind of politicians and company owners who slash staffing by half then wonder why they didn’t just double their profits.”

“Ah,” the captain said with an amused snort. “That sort. Yes, there are people who refuse to look at the larger picture even when you print it out and beat them with it. Anyway, did you have any other questions for me?”

“Not really. I’ve viewed the Hegemony as my home for a while now. The only reason I got the Forerunner paperwork done was Lila suggested it would open some doors for me.”

“And indeed it will. Part of why I would recommend against changing your citizenship until you are sure. The Forerunner accreditation won’t vanish if you do, but it will be more questionable why you applied to be a forerunner for your species then promptly changed over your citizenship.”

“I dunno, might send the right kind of messages back home, don’t you think?” Raegan said with a laugh that was shared by the others in the room a moment later.

“Thanks again, Captain. I’ll let you get back to what you were working on. I hope that we won’t need to bother you as often in the future,” Desmond said, rising to salute his superior officer.

“Nonsense, I’m your captain as well as one of Clan McLaughlin’s backers. You are welcome to confide in me whenever you have a need. Though I won’t lie that I would prefer that you not have any more major problems for a while to let things settle down.” The intent look she shot him conveyed Skytreader’s meaning, she didn’t want Desmond to get into another fight with Windracer when the other adept came back aboard.

“Understood, Captain.” Desmond gestured towards the door and his girls hurried to escort him out.

It was clear to his girls that Desmond was deep in thought as they walked back to their rooms, so they were silently supportive of him while they walked.

As soon as they got back to the room and the door closed behind them, Chloe stepped past Desmond while hooking him around the waist to drag him with her into the conversation pit. Desmond didn’t complain when Chloe tucked him into her side and settled in on the couch. The others arranged themselves around the two, with Raegan flopping down next to Chloe and Lila taking Desmond’s other side. Sasha hurried into their gear room and returned with a spare data tablet and settled in behind Desmond, sitting with her legs folded on the floor and handing it to him.

Desmond stared at the tablet for a long moment, studying his reflection in the dark glass. He had a few more scars, thin though they were, from when he’d left home. His eyes had more confidence in them, and there were no more stress lines in his face or bags of exhaustion under his eyes. He looked… more than he used to be.

And all of it was because of mana, Desmond thought to himself. Something I wouldn’t have had if my home country hadn’t thrown me to the proverbial wolves. Knowing what I do now, I’d have gone happily back then. Hell, I’d have gone if I was simply given a choice. I almost fought them on the general principle of the thing, but Camilla Tre’shovak showed me that it wasn’t necessary. But they burned bridges when they did that to me.

Putting the thoughts aside, Desmond dug into his jacket and pulled out the data storage device. Thumbing the button on the side, it extended an interface jack that he drew out and attached to the magnetic port on the tablet before powering it on. While the tablet flickered to life, he leaned back until he was looking up at Sasha who sat above him with a small smile on her lips.

“Thank you, Sasha. Thank all of you, for supporting me like this. Love you all,” Desmond said and got a series of either hugs or kisses depending on where the girls were positioned.

Once his mates were done thanking him for his affection, Desmond logged into the tablet and ordered it to interface with the storage block and run the files inside of it. While the system hummed through those, a thought struck him and he tilted his head to look up at Chloe out of one eye. Given that his horned lover was over two feet taller than him, he had a fair way to look up and had to get past the curve of her large breasts to actually meet her eyes.

“Chloe, question for you? What the heck did they mean by a ‘sire?’ I figured it was something like the clan-male title that you gave me before, but the way the ambassador mentioned it, I felt like it had more weight than just that.”

“I’m not entirely sure. Raegan?” Chloe turned the question to her clan-sister next to her, and Raegan shrugged.

“It’s just what it sounds like. The Sire is the father of the clan. In this case, it makes sense because you helped found the clan, but if there were more males in it, you would all compete for the position of Sire, which is the male head of the clan. It only really happens when there is more than one male in the clan that isn’t related by blood. It’s like calling the Uth’ra people the ‘Kindred,’ it’s only really trotted out for official functions or in very large clans.” Raegan shrugged again when she completed her statement.

“So it's like the clan-mother?” Desmond asked. Raegan shook her head and wiggled a hand back and forth while Chloe answered the question this time.

“Sort of. If your father has multiple wives, then each is your clan-mother, or mother in the clan. But only one female can be the Clan-Mother, which is the primary mate to the Sire of the clan. For us, that’ll be whoever bears your child first when we are done with our term of service,” Chloe said the last part with a faint blush coloring her cheeks and Desmond smiled up at her.

He’d caught the different accenting she’d used on the words, so he figured he’d recognize it now.

“Basically, one is a status, the other is an actual title you would introduce yourself with,” Raegan added, which further clarified it in Desmond’s mind.

A ping from the tablet in his hand told him that the device was done running the files and he double checked that it was set to be locked out of the general system of the ship before he opened the file on the drive.

When prompted, he pushed his fingertip into the screen to let it scan him, and then spoke his name and rank aloud to the unit.

“Desmond McLaughlin, Adept.”

“Passphrase?” the machine asked in a tinny voice that reminded him of the bland, non-gendered tone SAUL had used when he first talked to the virtual intelligence.

Thinking for a moment, Desmond cast his memory back to the time he’d met Steelbender in person, shortly after being kidnapped from his apartment, being hit with a taser, and then being introduced to mana for the first time. Surprisingly, the memory floated up clearly to him.

“ ‘You represent your nation, at least for the time being. To many, you will represent your entire species, though.’ ” Desmond said clearly and the unit gave another quiet ping before the file began loading.

“Heavy thing to say to someone as a farewell,” Chloe muttered into Desmond’s hair and he shrugged.

“It was to the point, and she’d just come from her first meeting with the national leaders of my former home nation. It was likely just what was clear in her mind.”

“Greetings, Sire McLaughlin!” The gruff voice of Katy Steelbender, the first Dwerg that Desmond had met ever as her image popped up on the tablet. “Apologies for the cloak and dagger going on right now, but there were only so many ways to get this information out to you, and when you review the following file, you might understand. Humanity has been… reticent to accept their situation. I’d like for you to consider doing a remote-projection to speak to and answer questions for some of your national leaders. This way, they can get word from someone who has seen the threats out here. The ambassadorial direct line can support the connection without an issue, and it isn’t traceable as it all runs to the capital world then back out again after being scrambled.”

“She wants me to do what?” Desmond muttered in surprise, staring at the image displayed on the tablet. But the video continued without pause, the stout Dwerg woman shifting in her chair to show the rest of the room as what looked like any number of standard company meeting rooms on earth.

“I’ve included a list of talking points that might come up to prepare you, and I would recommend you have your captain present to warn you not to answer anything that might be sensitive. I’ll be running interference on this side as well, but I’m hoping that hearing the details from not just another of their species, but one who has completed his training and is considered a respectable member of the Hegemony in good standing.”

“She’s really laying it on thick, isn’t she?” Raegan snarked, yelping when Chloe smacked her lightly on the thigh so she wouldn’t talk over the message.

“If you cannot, then that is fine. I’ve already sent you a contact request to your ambassadorial account. Your Forerunner status let me set this up for you, so thank whoever told you to do that by the way. Even if you decide not to talk to them, feel free to use this to contact me in the future. I’ll be happy to trade information with you,” the woman gave him a broad wink that made her braided hair bounce behind her head. “In the spirit of exchanging information, I’ve included a bit of a bribe with this packet. I had our information specialists dig into your browsing history…”

The long pause after the statement made Desmond cringe in panic at the thought of what they might have found before the ambassador continued, her grin growing wider.

“Let’s just say, I’m not as surprised that you are doing so well out there now. But to the point beyond embarrassing you. Since you asked for data packets on movies, shows, and books in the past, I had them dig up your preferences and put together another care package based on what you’d been working on before we snatched you up. Hope that will make up for the trouble here and maybe get you leaning my way to make good on this. Please set up your secure connection promptly with the instructions contained within these files and link it to your comm-cuff, as that is the most secure communication device you’ll have. There is a partition on this drive. The stuff in the side labeled ‘Critical’ will delete itself within two hours of my message being played and then overwrite that portion of the drive to ensure the data is fully gone. The side labeled ‘Family Photos’ has your bribe in it. I suggest transferring it to another storage medium and then trashing this storage device just to be sure.”

The Dwerg woman gave him a wink before her image flashed out and brought up the partitioned drive. Just as she had mentioned, there were two sides to it. The side labeled ‘Critical’ had a pair of files in it, one labeled ‘Directions’ and the other labeled ‘Talking Points.’ The other side was far, far larger and probably contained just as much in media files as the last two care packages he’d gotten from the ambassador had.

Out of curiosity, Desmond clicked on the larger partition just to see what it was.

“Hmm, books, videos, music, por—” he cut himself off and quickly backed out of the file.

“Wait, what was that last one?” Lila asked, her eyes dancing in amusement as she bent over to poke at the tablet and reopen the file. “Oh by the Stars, she did send you porn!”

“Really? I want to see!” Raegan leaned forward too, shoving Chloe back to peer at the tablet.

Desmond wiggled it out from their paired grips while Chloe chastised the two miscreants with a few light smacks to the top of the head.

“Ease up you two, didn’t you hear the message? Desmond has to get his secure login set up before the drive corrupts that section,” Chloe chastised them.

“Thank you, Chloe. I appreciate that you have your priorities straight,” Desmond said with a relieved sigh and opened up the file labeled ‘Directions.’

“Besides, we can get comfortable and cast it up onto the holo-table. Then we can watch you try out what they are doing on the screen, Lila. I’m sure we could take turns and out-perform them,” Chloe continued, her words taking a moment to soak in for Desmond and he choked in surprise while Lila just blushed and bit her bottom lip excitedly at the thought.