On the Tides of Sorrow
“The closing days of the third cycle the sky burns,
Machina purge / cleanse with fire and lightning.
The winds carry ash and smoke of our loss,
Of our sorrow,
Of our failure.
The winds carry also the seeds of the future.
The Eldar recede in the wake of the storm.
The gate completed the portcullis unchained.
The heart so close / so few remain.
This cycle is lost the future is not.
Machina have purged this tree yet its storm carries the seeds away.
Five suns started,
Three remain.
The great chests locked,
The gate hidden,
The portcullis chained.
When the three suns meet,
The portcullis shall be seen.
Through the gate lies the heart,
The heart that beats these winds of Sorrow.”
Sitting in the medical bay of the Agamemnon recovering from his wounds, Varkhan looks up at Oleg Karpinsky. “Karprinsky, what your saying is the crazy alien computer that tore the omni implant out of my arm had poorly written poetry on it and that’s it?”
“Sir, it sounds like a prophecy of sorts. There was also a sequence of alpha numeric characters. Entirely too many to be coordinates like the first chart we found. Aggie and IV are running pattern matching against them currently but nothing so far.”
“Prophecies only occur in bad movies and video games. The rest of the galaxy manages to get by with old fashion hard work. Have you taken this to the Admiral yet?”
“Yes sir, she said to bring it to you as it was your arm that was eaten by the machine.”
Oleg looks over at the other medical bed in the room. “How is she doing?”
Lily is the other patient in the room, currently sedated to help her recover. She is the sole survivor from her biotic commando squad. During the Battle of Hell’s Perch they broke through Reaper lines and stormed the heart of the partially completed Reaper. They succeeded in destroying its primary power plant but in the process her squad was lost. Without their sacrifice the battle’s outcome would have turned out far worse.”
“She’s entirely too spiteful to die, especially to Reapers. The loss of her squad is going to be a challenge to work through.”
Oleg becomes excited as he responds. “She’s a hero to the crew here. We’ve killed two Reapers now! It seemed up to this point every engagement we have had with them has us running in the other direction. Feels good to give them a good blooding for once, and without so much as a scratch to the Aggie.”
Varkhan snaps back in a hostile tone. “Our friends on the IV paid for that victory, and I would advise you avoid gloating around them or Lily again. She might be down, but I promise shes not out and I would hate to have to scrub you off a wall panel.”
Oleg looks down at the floor, unable to maintain eye contact with the Drell. “Sorry sir. Won’t happen again sir.”
As Oleg turns to leave the medical facility the room is violently tossed side to side, as if caught in an earthquake. The room dims and emergency lights come on, violent explosions can be heard elsewhere on the ship. Varkhan is thrown from his bed slamming his head on a loose table careening through the room, knocking him out.
On the bridge of the Agamemnon the crew fights to maintain control of the ship. Crew members who were at their stations and strapped in are slightly more fortunate then their colleagues. Instead of being tossed about like coins in a can they are violently slammed into their consoles, safety stasis nets deploying to prevent any serious damage to them or their stations. The less fortunate crew members who were moving about are violently thrown about the cabin, slamming into stations, walls and each other. Each rebound breaking a bone, causing a major laceration, or breaking equipment.
After what seems like an eternity the earthquake stops.
Admiral Jeem was fortunate to be in her command chair when the violence began. She cuts the stasis nets away from her chair and slowly gets to her feet, blood covering one eye from a gash on her forehead. “Status report.”
Someone in the dark manages to croak a response. “Looks like main power is down and the engines are offline.”
Elsewhere on the bridge. “Sensors are online but only short range. Visual coming up now.”
The view screen has been cracked, likely from the crew member who is lying in front of it unconscious. An image of a teal glowing gas cloud encompasses the entire area. At first the cloud appears to be pulsing but after closer observation its flowing.
“Bosh’let! The IV, It’s gone.”
Agamemnon Crew
Citadel Defense Navy Personal
- 6 Command Staff
- Communications Specialist 4 – Oleg Karpinsky (Human)
- Engineering Ensign – McLaren (Human)
- 3 Fire Control Technicians
- 2 Engineering Technicians
- 3 SeaBee
- 1 Ship Steward
- 2 Galley Personal
- DECEASED – Crewman – Chloe (Human)
Citadel Marine Corp
- First Sargent Asari Commandos – Lily (Asari)
- 8 Security Officers
- DECEASED – Corporal – Ed (Human)
- First Lieutenant – Cyphon (Xan)
162 Civilians
- 36 Citadel Citizens
- 54 Xans
- 72 Terrans
Population Losses
Battle of Hell’s Perch
- 234 Civilians
- 3 Biotic Commandos