MASS ETREK
CHAPTER ONE: A NEW PAST
Terminus Systems
Uncharted Space
SSV Bull Run Arrowhead Class Frigate
Commanding Officer- Captain Ronald Taylor
"SSV Bull Run, this is Arcturus Command, send traffic."
"Arcturus this is SSV Bull Run, we sent you a transmission are you receiving?"
"SSV Bull Run, we got your transmission but uh… check you're readings."
"Gravitational Readings are going crazy, you should see this!"
"It looks like a lightning storm."
"What you sent us just doesn't seem possible."
"Yes, ma'am I understand, that's why we sent it."
The door to the Command Interface Centre opened swiftly allowing Captain Ronald Taylor to board the bridge. Already the pandemonium from their discovery was evident due to the constant chatter as the personnel went to and fro receiving and sending reports.
"Report," said Ronald as he made his way to his chair, only to make a B-Line to the navigator's terminal.
"Still out of visual range, give me 20 seconds," replied his helmsman.
"Arcturus Command advises that we proceed with caution," reported the comms officer.
Ronald nodded and walked to his chair, "Polarize the view screen."
The view scree, the only outlook onto the void that the bridge crew had, turned black, blocking out the incoming light from the nearby sun, due to the ship's close proximity. Instead of the bright beaming rays of the sun, the crew could now see the areas around it.
"Could whatever this is be of Batarian origin?" asked Command.
His navigation officer turned from his station.
"We have visual captain."
"I repeat can this be Batarian related?" Command repeated.
"That's a negative," replied an officer as the anomaly came into view.
"Captain," said the navigator with his jaw ajar, "are you seeing this?"
The anomaly itself appeared to be a black hole. What was odd was that it was not creating any magnetic pull towards it. But that wasn't the strange part.
The strange part was that something was coming out of the black hole.
A craft began to take shape. In Ronald's eyes it looked to be some sort of metallic squid.
Whatever it was, it dwarfed the Bull Run in size. It was truly a David vs. Goliath moment.
The entire CIC was silent. No one spoke a word. They each watched as this monstrosity drew nearer and nearer
"I'm getting something," said the weapons officer, "they're locking weapons on us!"
Captain Taylor snapped into action.
"All hands action stations! Raise the kinetic barriers! Arm the MAC!"
Each technician began scrambling to their posts, drawn out of their stupor and focused on their duties.
"Torpedo locked on us at 320 degrees bearing two five one," reported the ship executive officer.
"Evasive pattern delta five!" ordered Taylor.
The helmsman began to move the ship in a desperate attempt to avoid the incoming missiles.
Two torpedoes came streaking from the giant craft. Within a hundred meters of the Bull Run they exploded creating hundreds of smaller missiles.
The Bull Run's GUARDIAN lasers instantly began to open fire, shooting down the missiles as they approached. However the sheer number of the missiles overloaded the Guardian defenses .
The missiles slammed into the small frigate's kinetic barrier, causing the hull to glow a soft blue as the rounds struck.
"Return fire!" ordered, "Damage report!"
The Bull Run's chief engineer answered Captain Taylor, "FTL has been knocked out, it's like nothing I've ever seen! They knew exactly where and how to hit us!"
But the bad news kept coming, "Weapons are offline. I can give you minimal power to the Guardian defenses but main power is down to 30 percent at best. Shields are down to less than ten."
Ronald hung his head but was quickly snapped out of his over sensing feeling of dread as the enemy ship fired another salvo.
"All power to forward shields!"
The rounds drew close, splitting off once again and succeeding to slam into the hull of the Bull Run. The first group of missiles took care of the shields, draining what little power there was left. The second salvo hit right into engineering. A massive fissure opened up alongside of the frigate's hull exposing multiple compartment to the void.
"Atmospheric stabilization has been lost," reported the systems officer.
The CIC was instantly abuzz with activity as technicians tried to salvage the situation and officers barked orders to keep things organized.
"Prepare the shuttles for evacuation."
The crew looked to their captain. Here was a man with much promise in the Alliance. A man who could have easily made Admiral one day. Only to have it ripped away because of one damned patrol.
But just as the crew began to shuffle their way to the shuttles, the monitors began to go haywire and screech like the sound of metal on metal.
The crew looked up to see a face on the main view screen. The face had four eyes, a nose, and a mouth full of razor sharp teeth.
"Hello," the creature on the screen greeted.
Captain Taylor was at a loss of words. The creature before him was clearly a batarian. But since when did batarians create ships and weapons so powerful?
The batarian on the screen continued, "My commander wishes to speak to your captain in order to negotiate a cease fire. You will come aboard our ship via shuttle craft," the creature seemed to be smiling, "your refusal would be unwise."
Just as quick as the batarian appeared, he was gone. The view screen returned to the picture of the giant ship that was before the small Alliance frigate.
Captain Taylor felt a chill crawl up his spine and a lump form in his throat. All eyes were on him.
He turned to his executive officer, barley containing himself.
"Walk with me."
The XO rose from his station and followed Captain Taylor from the CIC.
As soon as they were out of hearing range from the crew, Taylor addressed him.
"If I don't report back in fifteen minutes evacuate the crew."
The XO shook his head, "Sir, we could issue-"
Taylor was quick to interrupt him, "There is no help for us out here."
Captain Taylor entered the lift that would take him to the hanger.
"Use Autopilot… and get of this ship," Taylor said issuing what felt like his final order.
"Aye captain," responded the XO.
"You're captain now Mr. Shepard."
With that the doors to the lift closed and Commander Kelvin T. Shepard walked back to bridge to assume command as the ship's new captain. A promotion he wished he had gotten under different circumstances.
Taylor arrived in the hanger seconds later. Immediately he was greeted by the commotion of the lower decks. Engineers were all scrambling around in a vain effort to save the ship. Taylor sighed as he neared his shuttle. Soon all these people would instead be running for the nearest shuttle hoping not to get killed in the escape.
Taylor climbed into the shuttle and powered the craft up. He did a quick pre-flight check and as soon as the board went green he brought the shuttle out of the hanger bay and into space… right towards the hulking giant he had stumbled upon not ten minutes ago.
The giant ship was even larger up close. The dark hull seemed to beckon to Taylor as he approached. As if he could hear whispering inside of his head. As if the ship was calling out to him.
Taylor shrugged it off as nerves and resumed his approach to the giant ship.
His shuttle entered the ships hanger and Taylor began to unfasten himself from the chair. He rose and marched to the door but hesitated before opening it.
He gave one last deep breath as he collected himself.
Back on the Bull Run, the crew is monitoring Captain Taylor's vitals. That way they can find out if they are betrayed and act on it with pinpoint accuracy.
"His heart rate is elevated," reported the navigator who Commander Shepard had named his new executive officer.
Kelvin Shepard nodded as he studied the alien looking craft, judging with inquisitive eyes, looking for any obvious weaknesses that might've been missed during the attack.
Unfortunately he was yet to spot any.
On the alien ship, Taylor's finger danced circles over the door release. He would admit to himself that he was a bit nervous but he quickly reminded himself that he was a soldier and would not flinch from giving his people time to escape.
He defiantly pushed the door release and was instantly met by three armed men; two Krogan and a batarian, each armed with a variety of strange looking weapons. However the batarian leading the small party was not led by the same batarian who greeted him on the view screen not too long ago.
Taylor held his head high in the manner of an officer and spoke with conviction.
"I'm here to speak to your commander."
The batarian shrugged and motioned for Taylor to follow him.
Minutes later and after many seemingly endless causeways and corridors, Taylor found himself being pushed in front of a familiar looking batarian and a scowling Turian.
The batarian moved forward to address Taylor.
"My name is Anto," he said before opening a holographic image of a futuristic and sleek looking ship.
"Look at this ship," Anto instructed the human before him, "Are you familiar with this craft?"
Taylor ignored the lackey's questioning. He was a Captain of the Systems Alliance Navy and he was going to be treated like one even as a prisoner or/ and a negotiator.
"Who is your commander?" Taylor defiantly asked.
Taylor looked over Anto's shoulder, "Is that him?"
The batarian's voice had a hint of annoyance, "I will speak for the Captain."
The turian made no move to acknowledge the debate occurring no less than a meter away.
"Then ask the Captain, what gives him the right to attack an Alliance vessel?"
The Captain's eyes darted up to the human before him, as if he noticed the captain for the first time.
Anto looked back at his commander before stepping aside. He arrived at another terminal and opened up a different hologram. This time it was of a turian.
"Do you know the location of Councilor Vakarian?"
Taylor was confused. He had no idea who this Vakarian man was but if he was a councilor he would know.
"I am unfamiliar with Councilor Vakarian," responded Taylor, keeping his composure.
"What is the current star date?" asked Anto as he continued the questioning.
"Star date?" asked Taylor for clarification. What kind of question was that?
Nevertheless, Taylor answer, the look of confusion clear on his face.
"2159?" suddenly Taylor had a sneaking suspicion these guys weren't from around here.
"Where are you from?" he asked to peek his own curiosity.
If anyone asked Taylor if he expected what happened next, he could answer honestly and firmly… maybe.
The Captain sprung from his throne like chair unsheathing a knife that Taylor noticed was strapped to his chest. Taylor coughed blood as The Captain planted the said knife into the human's chest, piercing the captain's heart.
Taylor's last thoughts were of his family; his wife and only child. How would they hear of his death? Would it be like in the movies? A military vehicle pulls up to their house and places the death letter in her hands. Would she weep for him? Will his son remember his father?
A these questions remained unanswered as Taylor slumped to floor and letting out his last breath.
In the CIC of the SSV Bull Run, the newly promoted Captain Shepard stared patiently at the monitor showing Captain Taylor's vitals. Almost surprisingly, even though everyone had suspected it, Taylor's heartbeat flatlined.
"They've locked in on our signal!"
"They're launching again!"
Shepard acted fast, "Execute maneuver Bravo six, helm, point two-zero-four, full speed."
The Bull Run's guardian laser opened up again on the approaching missiles. These seemed to a new breed. Instead of simply splintering into smaller missiles, these would instead shoot off rockets from the main body as it continued on its path towards the frigate. They packed a hell of a punch too. What little shield strength the engineers managed to scrape together during the cease fire died and the hull began to fail in multiple sections. Even worse, an nearby explosion caught both the helmsman and the navigator.
"Captain, we have fires throughout section 12 to forty. We are also venting atmosphere in sections three, nine, and eleven!"
Shepard had to think. How long could the ship last?
He stood from his chair and walked over to the helm.
"I'm issuing general order thirteen, we're evacuating!"
What little survivors there were aboard the bridge answered dutifully.
Shepard hopped onto the ship wide comm.
"This is the captain speaking, evacuate the ship immediately. Get to your designated shuttle craft. I repeat evacuate the ship!"
Down in the med bay, a couple doctors wheeled a pissed off, hungry, pregnant woman, who is clearly in labor, out into the corridor.
Her ears perked up at the sound of Shepard's voice on the intercom.
"Wait, that's Kelvin's voice!"
She looked around to see everyone scrambling towards their shuttles.
"What's going on?"
The doctor's ignored her. The chief medical officer turned to her colleges, "We'll have to deliver on the shuttle!"
All around them secondary explosions erupted, causing the small party to stumble a few times.
The woman pulled out her personal comm device.
"Kelvin?"
Her husband answered on the other line, "Hannah baby, is that you?"
"It's me. What's going on?"
"I have medical shuttle thirty seven standing by, can you get to it?"
"Yes," she answered simply, putting faith in her husband.
"Medical shuttle 37," Shepard reminded, "everything is going to be okay," he reassured her.
"Kelvin… the baby's coming, I can feel it! It's coming now!"
Shepard rose from his chair and headed to the helm to engage the autopilot.
"I'm on my way," he stated confidently.
Shepard punched several commands into the computer, putting the ship in the care of the VI.
However, the last thing he wished to hear at that moment was the VI telling him some not so pleasant news.
"Autopilot function has been destroyed. Manuel operation only."
Shepard silently cursed himself and began to chuckle.
Kelvin Shepard was the type of man who believed a person died does one of three things. A person would cry, beg, or laugh. In private moments, Kelvin often wondered what type of man he was. Would he cry? Would he beg to some divine being? Would he laugh?
It seemed as if he got his answer. Although, he wished he had more time to wonder rather than experience it.
Shepard turned from the helm and opened a comm link.
"Shuttle 37, is my wife aboard?"
He received an answer. That at least was good news.
"Aye Captain."
"I need you to take off."
"We're waiting on you sir," answered the pilot loyally.
"Negative, I need you to take off immediately, that's an order!"
There was a short pause on the other line.
"Aye sir, taking off now."
Hannah, from the small compartment in the back of the shuttle, felt the shuttle as it began to take off.
"No wait we can't leave!" she begged. It was to no avail. The shuttle continued to move, ignoring her pleading.
She reopened her comm link to her husband.
"Kelvin, the shuttle's taking off, where are you?"
Shepard hung his head.
"Sweat-heart, listen to me… I'm not going to be there."
Hannah's face grew pale, "no…"
"It's the only way you'll survive," he answered. In the background he could hear Hannah begin to cry.
"Are you still on the ship? You have to be here!"
Of course Kelvin wanted to be there with her. He wanted to see his child grow up. He wanted to be by his wife's side, fulfilling an old promise of grey hair, lemonade, and a sunset.
But life has a way of throwing curveballs.
"Kelvin, I can't do this without you…"
The Chief Doctor looked up at Hannah from a position where she would be ready to receive the baby.
"I need you to push, now!"
Kelvin could hear Hannah's agonizing screams as she pushed out the baby.
Kelvin's finger's danced across his terminal and he targeted only the missiles that were heading for the escaping shuttles. He even let out a few sharp breaths for a few close calls. He let out a relieved sigh when the last shuttle exited the giant ship's firing range.
There was only one thing left to do now.
Kelvin resumed his position at the helm and targeted a collision course straight for the enemy ship. He knew it would do much besides give the enemy a bloody nose. But it's going to be one hell of a bloody nose.
Suddenly both Kelvin's comm and Shuttle 37 were filled with the soft cries of a newborn child.
The anticipation was too much for Kelvin, "What is it?"
"It's a boy," responded Hannah. Kelvin could practically hear her smiling.
"A boy," Kelvin said with a grin on his face, "tell me about him."
"He's beautiful… Kelvin, you should be here…"
He saw on the computer that the distance between the Bull Run and the monstrosity was closing fast.
"What are we going to call him?" he asked.
"We can name him after your father?"
Kelvin couldn't hold back his laugh, "Elmer? You kidding me? Naw that's the worst."
Shepard thought about it.
"Let's name him after your dad, let's call him John."
Hannah smiled at her newborn son.
"Okay, John it is then."
Kelvin looked up to see that he was seconds from death.
"Sweat-heart can you hear me?"
"I can hear you," she said knowing what was coming.
"I love you so much."
Impact was moments away.
"I love y-"
From the shuttle, Hannah could see the fire from explosion caused by the Bull Run's collision with the enemy ship.
Hannah let herself cry. She looked at her son, hoping it would dull the pain.
It didn't.
A/N:
This is much longer than I expected it to be, especially for a prologue. But I digress.
It seems I just can't take a hint so I've started yet another project. Don't expect updates as much as my other fic, the one I actually finished, because I'm going to be balancing a job, a woman, and a social life whilst writing this so… I mean I love you guys in a completely heterosexual way but a man's gotta do what he's gotta do.
So rate, review, all that good stuff and remember to hit me up if you have any comments questions or concerns.
Stay classy everyone and thanks for stopping by!