Encounter at Rashomon Valley (A Star to Sail Her B
folder
+M through R › Mass Effect
Rating:
Adult
Chapters:
9
Views:
2,290
Reviews:
1
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
+M through R › Mass Effect
Rating:
Adult
Chapters:
9
Views:
2,290
Reviews:
1
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Mass Effect 2 or its characters. Bioware did the heavy lifting, I'm just riffing off of it, and making no money doing so.
Kelly
"So, you talked to everyone, got all the info... I read your report. What do you think about what happened?" Miranda sat back in her seat, fixing Kelly with her gaze.
Kelly closed her eyes for a moment, composing her thoughts. "It's... I don't know. A lot went wrong. A lot went right. No one is to blame. Everyone's to blame." She sighed. "I think, when it boils down to it, it was a mission. They accomplished their goal. In addition, they tried to help people, people who would have died and possibly been forced to kill others had they been left behind. Their deaths were tragic, but would have been more so had they been left behind for the batarians, or in the building collapse. Their deaths also alerted them to the deception, to the presence of vast fields of a deadly weapon, something they might have missed if their environmental suits had remained undamaged. Shepard almost died from exposure to the toxin, but in doing so saved all of our lives, possibly the lives of people on the Citadel as well." She rubbed her temples with her fingers. "I just don't know."
"They also discovered a massive bioweapon production zone that could have wiped out a planet's worth of humans." Miranda tapped her computer holoscreen and rotated it to face Kelly. "The red zones are where the pulmostuprum fields were."
"Wow." The screen was almost completely red, with Rashomon Valley a tiny oasis in the middle. "And Shepard said they were trying to get their hands on a weapon that could have spread that pollen over massive areas."
"Our initial bombing run has taken out the production facilities and laboratories, and burned some of the fields. We've contacted one of Jacob's old military contacts. They're sending ships that can obliterate the rest properly." Miranda sat back. "As for the Sovereign shard, we learned that even small pieces of a Reaper can wreak a lot of havoc. An important discovery. One we'll have to keep in mind if we are given the opportunity to recover any more... or hear that others have. Mordin can tell the scientific community that biotics should be kept away from the shards. It might save some lives, prevent Reaper tech from taking over ships or other computer systems."
They fell silent for a long moment.
"So, at the end of the day, it was a pyrrhic...success?" Kelly shook her head.
"Yes."
"Doesn't feel like it."
"I know." Miranda rose. "Success doesn't always come with parades and celebrations. Sometimes it just...is."
Kelly nodded silently as she stood up. "So, what do I tell the commander?"
Miranda smiled. "The truth."
Kelly laughed and shook her head. "Which one?"
"All of them."
Kelly closed her eyes for a moment, composing her thoughts. "It's... I don't know. A lot went wrong. A lot went right. No one is to blame. Everyone's to blame." She sighed. "I think, when it boils down to it, it was a mission. They accomplished their goal. In addition, they tried to help people, people who would have died and possibly been forced to kill others had they been left behind. Their deaths were tragic, but would have been more so had they been left behind for the batarians, or in the building collapse. Their deaths also alerted them to the deception, to the presence of vast fields of a deadly weapon, something they might have missed if their environmental suits had remained undamaged. Shepard almost died from exposure to the toxin, but in doing so saved all of our lives, possibly the lives of people on the Citadel as well." She rubbed her temples with her fingers. "I just don't know."
"They also discovered a massive bioweapon production zone that could have wiped out a planet's worth of humans." Miranda tapped her computer holoscreen and rotated it to face Kelly. "The red zones are where the pulmostuprum fields were."
"Wow." The screen was almost completely red, with Rashomon Valley a tiny oasis in the middle. "And Shepard said they were trying to get their hands on a weapon that could have spread that pollen over massive areas."
"Our initial bombing run has taken out the production facilities and laboratories, and burned some of the fields. We've contacted one of Jacob's old military contacts. They're sending ships that can obliterate the rest properly." Miranda sat back. "As for the Sovereign shard, we learned that even small pieces of a Reaper can wreak a lot of havoc. An important discovery. One we'll have to keep in mind if we are given the opportunity to recover any more... or hear that others have. Mordin can tell the scientific community that biotics should be kept away from the shards. It might save some lives, prevent Reaper tech from taking over ships or other computer systems."
They fell silent for a long moment.
"So, at the end of the day, it was a pyrrhic...success?" Kelly shook her head.
"Yes."
"Doesn't feel like it."
"I know." Miranda rose. "Success doesn't always come with parades and celebrations. Sometimes it just...is."
Kelly nodded silently as she stood up. "So, what do I tell the commander?"
Miranda smiled. "The truth."
Kelly laughed and shook her head. "Which one?"
"All of them."