[Kite's Nest] Khar’shan Ascendancy Requests Aid Disposing of WMD’s

Khar’shan Ascendancy Requests Aid Disposing of WMD’s

Amelie Raksharma, Alliance News Network

In an unexpected move today, the theocracy in power on Khar’shan sent an official request for aid to the Citadel Council. The request centered on disposing of weapons of mass destruction hoarded by the former Hegemony, which was notorious for its isolationism and hostility.

Due to the speed with which the Kite’s Nest was overrun by the Reapers, those trained and authorized to deploy the Hegemony’s most dangerous weapons were largely killed or indoctrinated before they could be used. In the aftermath of the war several of the governments within the former Hegemony have discovered caches of such weapons, but the request by the Khar’shan Ascendancy is the first known attempt to dispose of them.

While the Citadel Council has yet to issue an official reply, sources within the Turian Hierarchy indicate that a team of experts is already being assembled and prepared for the first major goodwill mission to the former Hegemony. The team is expected to consist primarily of turians as a precautionary measure.

Well hello black market. It's me, uncontrolled weapons of mass destruction, and it's time to party.

I don't know if I'd be willing to trust a black market WMD, Sandman.

...Especially a batarian one. From a Hegemony arms cache.

It would make for an interesting conversational piece.

As much as I respect the traditions and beliefs of my people, I cannot help but distrust these Theocracy types. Their strict adherence to religion was the reason for them being so backward after all. As to the issue at hand, I'm in two minds. On the one hand, it's perhaps encouraging to see them try to reach out. On the other, it's the Theocracy.

Ah, yes. That's what I meant. I must have left that bit out of my initial post.

I'd also advise against getting salarian-designed WMD's on the black market. They tend to have unexpected functions, or so I've heard.

I'm not saying go out and buy one or giving them a ringing endorsement, I'm merely making the point that you can be damn certain that at least some of those caches are going to quietly vanish and end up in the hands of, well, whoever. Grusto. Cabal. Ex Terminus pirates. Former Nemean warlords. Hegemony remnants. Take your pick really.

I mean, there's probably no records left that prove that whatever warheads or biochem agents are in these caches ever even existed, to say nothing of the fact that most of the people who knew where they were or how many there were are either dead or scattered. So there's entire collections of WMDs in the Confederacy that are pretty much up for grabs.

In all honesty that's pretty goddamn terrifying.

A black market WMD not working as advertised? Perish the thought.

Hopefully, this whole operation goes smoothly, surprised we haven't reported any major incidents up until now.

Why would the Weapons be on the Black Market? The Hierarchy is disassembling the Weapons.

That does not mean some smugglers will attempt to do so, and I'm fairly certain a good number of weapons may have already been smuggled offworld.

Shiit. Hopefully the Citadel customs are on their jobs this time. I'd hate to see one of those going off on the Citadel. Or anywhere.

next article, pirate groups blackmail colonies with stolen WMDs

This. I hate the idea of the Theocracy trying to get these things off Khar'shan. Bury them. Just bury them and don't even speak of them again. The WMDs WILL surface on the black market.

You assume that the Theocracy's decision will make any appreciable difference one way or the other on the matter.

I'm not a fan of the Theocracy, but I think that's great news, they're trying to act responsibly and reaching out to the Galaxy.

Eh. It's easy enough to buy (or manufacture) a basic WMD, anyway. Some uranium, high-grade explosives and a couple of disaffected Terminus scientists, usually.

'Course, it depends on what kind of weapon we're talking about. BSA makes - made - some fucking sensational chemical agents. Well, unless you're on the receiving end, I guess. I'd be a bit worried seeing someone who doesn't know how to deploy (let alone store) that shit walking round with a fucktonne of vCrystal or isotatorin or whatever.

I seriously doubt that the Hierarchy is going to lose those WMDs. They'd be much more likely to be snagged by someone dangerous if they were left on Khar'shan - the theocracy just hasn't established that solid of an infrastructure yet.

What kind of weaponry are we talking about here, anyway? With a couple of notable exceptions, as far as I know there really aren't specialized "superweapons" anymore - any MA weapon can cause massive-scale destruction with a high enough velocity.

It's not the Hierarchy people are worried about. It's the fact that out of all the dozen fragments of the old Hegemony, only the religious whackjobs are destroying WMDs. Everyone else's? Well, that's the question. Stockpiling them? Selling them? Using them? Who knows.

Chemical weapons. Multi-species bio-agents. Nano-weapons. Hardcore (and I mean hardcore) computer viruses. Antimatter warheads, nuclear devices, resonant warp bombs... The list goes on.

Didn't you ever read the Citadel Conventions? Keeps you up at hours some nights.

A WMD label can be applied to most anything that explodes and cannot be carried by one person, along with chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and other exotic forms of weaponry like Eezo Bombs and all the way up to asteroid drops.

Pick the size and type of the devastation you want, and some engineer somewhere can find the trick for you. A lot of them aren't even all that expensive.