Chapter One

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----Intro post shall arrive later----

*Ironbeak and Addrson nearly take straight off in surprise, and Ironbeak immediately reaches for his energy pistol. Ackbar quickly leaps between them.* Ackbar: Stand down, General! STAND DOWN! He's a friend.

*The hawk has forgotten Addrson, however. Despite being more peaceably-minded, the trumpeter still carries an energy gun for self-defense and in his fright, draws it and fires at Shadow. Wraith tackles him to the ground, but not fast enough to stop him from firing.*

Shadow just stands there as the energy bolt stops in mid-air, frozen in time, while everyone else is not. "Relax, relax, I knew this was going to happen. I wanted them to freak out now rather than later." He said to the others, stepping forward a few steps and becoming fully tangible, the blaster shot disappearing as he did so. "Besides, it's not as if they could have hurt me. You know that, admiral."

*Addrson struggles madly, kicking Wraith in the stomach but he is unable to get the Hiigaran off of him. However, he freezes as he realizes that he can understand what Shadow is saying. Ironbeak cautiously lifts his foot away from his gun.*

Ironbeak: ...Admiral? The Commander is not an Admiral.

"He used to be, before time began on this cycle of existence anyway." Shadow explained, knowing full well that none of it would make sense. "I suppose you're wondering about, well, too many things to count right now. I can't answer every question you have, but I'll start with the basics I suppose. I'm called Shadow, and I am an agent of a god known as Vires, whom you probably have never heard of, that's not the point. I'm a time traveling agent trying to make sure that everyone gets to survive to fight another day. Good news is is that I'm not the only one."

*Addrson finally calms down [somewhat], and Wraith helps him up. She shivers and hugs herself.* Wraith: Can I get some clothes here, please? It's [censored] cold.

*Meanwhile, Addrson stares incredulously, first at Shadow, then at Ackbar.* Addrson: What...what are you talking? (to Ackbar) What is he talking about? Cycle of existence...? Time traveling?

*Ackbar is growing increasingly uncomfortable, his careful plans for revelation going to pieces.* Ackbar: Maybe you'd better start, Shadow.

"I can give answers only, not guaranteeing anything about them making sense." Shadow snaps his fingers as the entire room fades away, the avians standing on an invisible, intangible surface. "This is the beginning of every cycle. Complete...nothingness. Well, actually, this is the closest thing to nothingness, given that if it were true nothingness, there wouldn't even be blackness." Shadow begins, thinking ahead of every word to get the story right. "Now, every cycle begins like this, and from this, usually, a series of gods or beings come along and create the next cycle. All of these beings usually are commanded to do so by greater beings we never get to see. Regardless, each cycle is created like so."

Several figures of light appear, illuminating the nothingness as a massive explosion of fire and light, followed by several more, create a massive orb of substance. "Now, each being does his creation story a bit different than the next. I'm just generalizing here for the moment." The 'substance' soon takes various shapes, stars, planets, the likes of everything that make up the universe, all put together like puzzle pieces. "Now, if this is how a cycle begins, how does it end you ask? Through a series of exoduses and apocalypses, actually. For example, one super villain will come along and destroy the galaxy, like I tried two cycles ago. Other times, other beings commanded by the greater beings come along and wipe it clean, and start it anew. With me so far?"

*All present nod, though his casual mention of how he tried to destroy the last cycle makes them all nervous. And Wraith, still naked, is still cold.* Wraith: Wait...you tried to destroy the galaxy...before?

Addrson: And where does the spirit of Aves fit in with all this?

"Yeah, that is nothing but a realllly long story. Besides, you can't even count the millennium of how far back that was..." Shadow replied to Wraith, noticing her lack of clothing finally. "..." He snaps his fingers and she is instantly clothed. "As for Aves..." He says, turning towards Addrson. "She is likely one of those beings, but I am not 100% sure."

"Now, in the previous cycle, several heroes sought to ensure that the destruction of their worlds doesn't repeat itself a second time. So they fought, they fought the villains that tried to destroy everything, they fought the gods that tried to stop them, and they even fought one of the great beings that made and destroyed the cycle. They fragmented him, locked him away in a void, alongside Vires, who was one of said heroes. That is where Vires comes in, but, as you can see, the cycle still restarted. Furthermore, there are even more threats trying to take your lives, so, this is why I'm here, to make sure it doesn't all crumble again."

*The implications of what he is saying begin to sink in.* Ironbeak: Forgive me, but I'm not sure if I understand. What happened, exactly?

"Well, the creator god known as Omega is the being responsible for our side of the galaxy, and he was locked away before the cycle reset... and yet, here we all are, in a completely different cycle. I'm not sure how that happened, or why, but that's what my job is. To pick out every single enemy and make sure certain key characters survive the battles if necessary." Shadow replies, not directly answering the question due to lack of knowledge on his part it seemed. "As for your roles in this theater, you honestly have no choice but to fit if you want this universe to survive. It's either that or have every single being die mercilessly, sometimes brutally."

*The listeners become solemn. Addrson ventures to ask another question.* Addrson: ...what are these threats you mentioned before? Are they the ones who will...kill every single being mercilessly and brutally?

"They come in various forms with various objectives. Some seek power, others seek destruction. It all meets at the same ending though. For instance, we have demons, angels, gods, humans, rachni, hiigarans, avians, primitus, progenitor, turians, elves, reploids, and countless thousands of other races in your section of the galaxy alone, not counting the other parts which have even more..." Shadow replies simply. "When the time comes, your enemy could be anyone or anything, luckily, though, you won't be alone."

*Shadow's statements here physically stagger Addrson and Ironbeak.* Ironbeak: What? No, no...that's impossible. We have always known that Aves was not the only world, but...what you are saying defies comprehension.

Addrson: How large is our..."section" of the galaxy, roughly?

"The galaxy is countless millions of stars, with planets orbiting them, and contrary to popular belief, many of these planets tend to be inhabited." Shadow replies to Addrson's question. "Our section of the galaxy is roughly one thousand stars and counting as people explore more and more. There are factions whose sizes are quite larger than a single star system."

Ironbeak: Thousands of stars...tens of thousands of worlds... *He appears to be talking more to himself, and then looks at Ackbar.* Commander, can you help me?

Ackbar: Certainly, General. *He hops onto his desk and activates Wraith's data, bringing up the display of the galaxy and zooming in on the portion of it in question. Ironbeak flies to examine it, and nods numbly.*

Ironbeak: ...very well. But where did you get this?

Wraith: I gave it to you...call it a hunch.

*Ironbeak realizes for the first time that he can understand the Hiigaran's language.*

Ironbeak: How--?

Ackbar: Shadow is translating our languages to each other. She speaks her language, we hear Avian Common. We speak Avian Common, she hears her language.

Addrson: So, you're saying that out there in the stars are other races, other peoples living on other worlds.

"Billions of people of various species whose list of names never seem to end, yes. You aren't the only beings in the galaxy, and neither is Wraith and her people. Of course, she already knew that, but even she didn't know just how massive a civilization is out there." Shadow restated. "This section of the galaxy is one of the most secluded from the rest, however, and is also one of the most politically active and interdependent. It's a powder keg, plain and simple."

*The trumpeter grows visibly alarmed.* Addrson: A powder keg? How?!

"Well, let's see, we have at least 9 different factions, including the future one you guys will be making, which I will not answer any questions about, so don't bother asking. Anyway, there are seven specific factions who pretty much control this region as far as appearances go, and they are at eachother's throats over cultural, political, and territorial disputes at this point."

Ackbar: Shadow has already told me what he can about many of those 9 factions, so feel free to ask me later. Suffice to say, there's a war coming, and it's coming for us. And it's coming soon.

Ironbeak: Forgive me if this is a foolish question, but how do star-races wage war on each other?

"...They're star faring races with ships, how do you think they wage war? Imagination?" Shadow says, mocking the question at first. "Land battles aren't totally a necessary option to gain ground though, plenty of times they glass you from orbit. Other times, they rush mobile construction units and build a frontal base in the time span of a day. The people of this sector mostly enjoy their variety of combinations of combat to choose from, including, but not limited to, underground, underwater, naval, land, skies, orbit, solar systems, across galactic sectors, and so on."

*Ironbeak quickly gets what Shadow is saying--most of it.* Ironbeak: Ships in space...like our airships, I presume. Interesting. I'm also familiar with some of the theatres of war that you mentioned--underground, underwater, sea, sky, and land. That comes from this whole featherless war...but what is "glassing"?

"Pulverizing the planet from orbit with constant fire from various weapons until you turn a habitable planet into a massive volcano." Shadow answers with a wry smile. "It's very effective at getting the job done."

*Ironbeak is dumbfounded.* Ackbar: And exactly what we don't want happening to Aves.

Addrson: Which brings us to the one big question. *It is not clear whether he is asking Ackbar or Shadow.* Where does our race fit in this...grand scheme?

Ackbar: I'm not sure how to explain this, but...we are not alone in these cycles. In the previous one, our people existed much the same as we do now. *He looks to Shadow to help clarify this.*

"Avians existed and formed an alliance of sorts with several other races, which all sought mutual survival in the previous cycles. Your role is to repeat that again." Shadow clarified, simplifying it some more from Ackbar's previous statement.

*Ackbar nods.* Ackbar: However, in the specific cycle that Shadow mentioned, everything went wrong. Do you remember the True Children weapon we destroyed a few years back?

*Ironbeak and Addrson affirm such. Ackbar looks to Shadow.* Can you show them while I narrate?