Alternate Past: Uncertain Future Mark II
A/N: Alright everyone before we kick this story off. Let me say thanks again to Real Teagy SOT for letting me adopt his story. Also, for what may seem the longest time, the UNSC is going to basically curbstomp their way onto the galactic scene. That being said, it WON'T stay that way. Won't spoil it, but suffice it to say, when I said Galactic Superpowers, I meant it.
4/18/2014) Another massive edit/touch up to the chapter.
Prologue: Greed and Contact
Cerok System
Turian-Krogan Taskforce
Assignment: Patrol of Cerok System
At the far edge of Council space, a small fleet, consisting of a pair of dreadnoughts, one turian, the other krogan, surrounded by a small number of cruisers and frigates, patrolled the system. A rather impressive force, and one that certainly made a person question why all the firepower for a simple patrol.
The answer was simple, the Primary-Type Mass Relay. A previously inactive Mass Relay. Apparently the local race had activated the Relay, for some reason ignoring the, then already active, Secondary-type relay. Least before they had blasted themselves back into a pre-industrial state on their homeworld.
Still, the fact that there was a new active Relay raised concern about a new race potentially coming through it. Or of the known pirate presence in the and nearby systems. Hence the task force assigned to watch it.
Enter Desolas Arterius. Turian rear-admiral of the Hierarchy, with a greedy disposition. Desolas had dedicated more than a good portion of his life to the Hierarchy. Having fought in more than a few battles against major slaver and pirate factions along with the occasional civil war and insurrection in both Hierarchy and Council space. He had shown a level of tactical brilliance seen in only a few every generation, utterly defeating his opponents, but with tactics that would befuddle many a tactician. Still, in terms of loyalty, it was well known his own people took precedent.
His record and service lead to his promotions and command of a dreadnought, The Obelisk of Turipa, named after a prominent general in ancient Turian history that was credited with creating the first of the turian empires. However, certain events later soured his image that the hierarchy tried to hide him from the galactic society at large.
Alongside the Obelisk was the krogan built Dreadnought, The Son of Kalros, commanded by his Krogan Counterpart: Captain Torsk, one of the most brutal krogan alive. Torsk possessed a fearsome reputation as a cunning and brutal tactician, having learned from his many experiences over the course of his eleven hundred year life. He had the skill and knowledge to formulate detailed and effective strategies but preferred what amounted to a head-on charge. However, his rapid tactical responses to the battlefield, barking out orders as he adapted to changing scenarios, meant he was still largely successful.
But unlike his Turian counterpart his brutality knows no bounds, in combat; he often used tactics that were seen as barbaric and unnecessary, ranging from scorched-earth tactics to en masse charges. Along with the rumors of what he allows those under his command to do with prisoners of any sort. Even among his own species, his brutality was outmatched by only a few. In fact it was more reminiscent of the brutality and bloodlust that drove the krogan to the brink of self-annihilation by nuclear fire.
The pair had been working together since Desolas had been promoted to Commander, often acting as liaison with the Krogan Admiral. Over the years the two came to complement each other perfectly. One was precise, disciplined and loyal. The other was blunt, brutal and fanatic. Where one of them would flank, the other would charge head on, catching their enemy in a pincer movement. This combination of polar opposite strategies meshed, against belief, into a near perfect form. And it is one that has yet to be replicated by another pair. And over the years, they had become among the best commanders, but were not the most recognized.
Torsk's own reputation had been his undoing. Despite his success, he was a scarcely known figure in Citadel space. As the Krogan do their best to hide his existence in order to dispel rumors of Krogan bloodlust. Having almost singlehandedly destroyed the Krogan People's reputation as not only powerful but productive members of society. As for the Turian General, his reason for being out in the edges of Citadel space was simple: greed. His time with the Torsk essentially forced him to learn to be more harsh and clinical, the very reason for his success. And the same reason for his, relatively hidden, wealth. Each successive raid he committed against larger and larger pirate bands increased his own personal wealth, far beyond what the Turian Hierarchy paid its commanders. His hope was to find a hereto undiscovered alien species, conquer it, and then introduce it to the Citadel Council as a new Client race of the Turians like the Volus. One obscure fact about the Volus becoming a client race was that the Turian commander who led the initial, and later successful, campaign against the Volus, became among the richest of Turians, retiring to a life of luxury soon after his service. Even now his descendants still enjoyed their forefathers success.
Both had called in favors and pulled a few strings to get their fleets and their crews, assigned to watching the newly active Relay. as the Admiral was also in on Desolas's plan. Despite the lack of new species, their own coffers still expanded from the raids of pirate bases. So far all examinations and scans had turned up empty. No species had come through the relays, and they had already eliminated what pirates were in the nearby systems and plundered their bases. Now the pair waited for something, anything to happen. Hoping that something came through the Relay.
The only thing of note was the fact that the space around the only planet with natives that had almost destroyed itself was that its orbit was littered with floating wrecks and husks of ships. All of them sharing an overall design, that is to say heavy armor and ridiculous amounts of weaponry but with slightly different aesthetic groups, but none of them used Eezo. And the fact that, based on their analysis of some of the husks, there was a considerable difference in age; averaging around several hundred years or so between different aesthetic groups. Apparently this had been happening since before the Council had stumbled onto their system. The native species on the planet were a war-faring species and the Council kept a close on them should they ever become a true spacefaring species. A fear unwarranted considering their new current state.
General Arterius entered the Combat Information Centre or CIC on his ship, where he would command the Fleet he is in charge of. He walked up to the galaxy map and hit a few buttons. The Map changed from a view of the Galaxy to just one of the system in detail. It showed the star and its surrounding planets. The planets consisted of 2 planets in the habitable zone however both were desolate. There were also 2 large gas giants that were on the outer edge of the system. The other Primary mass relay was at the edge of the system, active and utterly unremarkable.
"What are the reports?" asked Desolas
One of the operators turned to Desolas.
"Sir, our scans show that whoever was in the system had left roughly a few days ago. The abandoned outposts still have signs of recent use." replied the Turian Operator
"Very well, keep up the standard procedure, get me Admiral Torsk on the line" ordered Desolas
The comms flared to life and a voice came over the speakers.
"General, what can I do for you?" asked a deep Krogan voice, clearly Admiral Torsk.
"Torsk, we will be sending men down to the planet. We shall both be searching the bases for any evidence of slavers or pirates. Understood?" informed Desolas
"Yes Desolas. My men are eager to fight. Send us the location and we shall be underway. Maybe you Turians might learn a thing or two about warfare from us" quipped Torsk.
"Well, if my men want to lose some brains cells to excessive head-butting I will point them in your direction." replied Desolas with laughter in his voice.
"Sir, we have a contact, unknown make and classification! Profiles do not, I repeat DO NOT, match any other known profiles! They are taking position next to the Relay!" shouted the Turian Operator.
"What!? I'm on way to the bridge! All ships, move to combat-ready status!" Desolas had already bolted for the bridge. The moment he arrived on the bridge, a video feed of said relay and over two dozen of the unknown vessels appeared on one of the screens. Ranging from freighter-tonnage vessels to what had to frigate-tonnage. Most had a smooth slimmed profile, curved and sleek, with a litany of colors. One looked eerily similar to a hanar without tentacles. A few others were blocky, rough designs; a more utilitarian design. But one ship stood out among the rest. It was the size of a Council Dreadnought. The ship seemed bulky, as if function was meant to be its design and not form. And unlike the others, was painted jet-black. The ship, nor any of the others, were giving off any element zero readings but was having large energy spikes from their Reactors. "What are they doing?"
"Energy reading and Eezo levels spiking!" The Lieutenant manning the scanner station gasped. "They're trying to go back through the Relay" On screen everyone watched as the core of the Mass Relay began to glow a bright blue, the concentric rings beginning to spun faster, a tell-tale sign of an imminent Relay jump.
"Not on my watch. Link communications with the rest of the fleet!" He keyed the line to counterpart's, "Torsk coordinate with my ships and help me deal with these newcomers. We cannot afford another Rachni war" ordered Desolas. He only said this as he knew he was being recorded by the ship's black box. In reality, he was using this as justification to eventually pacify this new race.
Torsk's guttural laughter came over the comm. loud and proud, his excitement obvious. "You always get me into some good fights don't you Desolas? Very well, let's show them the might of the Council. The usual plan then." replied Torsk as he disengaged comms with Desolas. On the tactical display, the Son of Kalros and several frigates began to head on toward the alien vessels.
The biggest ship in the group, the dreadnought, turned away from the fleet, shielding the smaller vessels.
The screen blared red as it detected a magnetic energy spike from the dreadnought and several of the smaller vessels, who were also turning to face the Son of Kalros "Sir, they're readying weapons systems!" barked an Operator.
"Order all ships to target their Dreadnought. They can't be allowed to leave!" Desolas barked. They still had a chance, as it seemed these newcomers were either unsure or had no idea what they were doing and thus were slow to go back. 'More than likely it was the Relay's autonomous system doing it for them the first time.' Desolas mused. A few of the Primary Relays, upon first activation, when a ship approached them, would essentially seize control before launching it to the sister Relay.
On the tactical display, his fleet had moved to strike the enemy vessels from 'above', while Korsk's group was charging in. The alien vessels had moved into a wedge formation, the same as his fleet. However, unlike his, where they were attempting to stay clear out of another's line of fire, the aliens seemed to be almost shielding the smaller and the more colorful vessels. The smaller ships were headed towards the Relay as it began to glow a brighter blue as it came online.
On the Weapon's Officers terminal, a light blipped green, letting him known they were in weapons range, "Open fire!" barked Desolas.
Within seconds, dozens of rounds had left each ships' cannon in his fleet, along with dozens of Disruptor missiles. All aimed at the Alien Dreadnought. Bright red and orange streaks shot out from the alien vessel as its turret emplacements tried to shoot down the incoming ordinance. Some were intercepted but most found their way through to the alien ship. Everyone was shocked when the rounds and missiles impacted the hull but rather than gutting the ship as was expected, holes were punctured and small rifts opened in the plating but otherwise it was still largely intact. "Spirit's, how?" Everyone was shocked, by all rights they should have been destroyed by the sheer amount of ordinance but instead it was still intact! Still, it did nothing to deter the aliens apparently. The alien dreadnought began to turn, its bow now aiming towards a group of cruisers. Within moments, from the single dreadnought, hundreds of missiles flew from the vessels. A moment later, the broadside of the dreadnought started to flare orange as its massive turrets began to fire on the fleet.
"Activate GARDIAN Defense Grid!" Every single ship activated their GARDIAN laser batteries to take out the missiles, but the sheer number and their velocity was more than enough to ensure more than half their number made it through. The missiles impacted the cruisers and the two dreadnoughts. Hulls shook and kinetic barriers shattered from the impact. But the worst damage was a slight charring of the plating from the explosions. Around him, bridge crew began yelling out status reports from other ships in the fleet.
"Frigate squad: Hexlion reports kinetic barriers dropping to 50%! That damn thing is firing slugs at them!"
"The Gordam Cruiser is displacing towards the rear of the fleet! Kinetic barriers are down and those damn cannons are tearing into the hull!"
"Ferergal and Terul are reporting the same! Hull breaches in all lower decks!"
"Frigate Derom is dead in water! I repeat dead in the water!"
"All craft, triad formation! I want-" Before the Turian Fleet commander could finish his order, the bow of the alien dreadnought flashed a bright orange.
Before anyone knew what was happening, one of the officers manning the Tactical screamed cried out as two dots simply blipped out of existence, "Sir, the Orphus and Faeter are down! Their barriers couldn't hold against that vessels main gun!"
Desolas was shocked, almost too shocked for words. Yes a few of cruisers had lost their barriers but that pair had been towards the center of the fleet and had full charged kinetic barriers. He would have stood there, jaw open but Torsk's voice brought him out of his stupor. "It cleaved down 2 ships in one shot!?" The rage in his voice apparent. "Bring it down now! Get that nuke in the tube!" Despite how nuclear weapons were banned by the Council, Torsk had always been more of an independent mercenary than an actual general. He had enough illegal arms to start a planetary war.
The Mass Relay shined brightly as it the aliens had apparently finally managed to link with it. Right after Torsk had given the order, the alien dreadnought had turned and began heading for the Relay. The other ships began moving also, but still continued to be shielded to the alien dreadnought.
"Don't let it escape!" shouted Desolas, despite his order, he actually wanted them to escape. That way, he could use it as justification to follow them to one of their worlds, maybe even their homeworld.
All of the ships under his command were firing as fast as they could, attempting to down the ship before it could leave. Rounds were hitting it but to no avail. Right after the last of the other ships made it through; the dreadnought itself approached the relay and in a flash of light and eezo, departed.
"Dammit!" Desolas slammed a fist into a wall. "Make a sweep for survivors and regroup by the Relay. We have to stop that vessel before it can warn its people. We have 5 minutes then we are heading through!" ordered Desolas. Activating his private communications, he asked. "Torsk, we're going to need more ships. Think it's time call in a few favors?" Despite the size of their taskforce, if that dreadnought was any sign, the pair would need to call in some help. Mostly those of the less acceptable variety.
You could practically feel the feral grin coming from the Krogan. "Desolas, seems that these newcomers have some powerful weaponry. Weaponry that the Krogan Empire is interested in." Torsk stated. "By Kalros, yes, its time to pull in those favors."
"Yes, I saw. But they lack a basic shield system. I think it's best if we destroy the vessel and learn what we can. Before they call reinforcements before we can pacify them." Desolas said, knowing they were no longer being recorded.
"Very well, when you're ready, we'll head out." stated Torsk. "Just don't take too long my friend. It has been a long time since we Krogan have met such an enemy, and my trigger finger is itchy."
"We have a few minutes before we pursue, at which point, we will find their home planet, subjugate their species and make them into a client-species in the name of both the Krogan and Turians." stated Desolas. "Just be sure to send out the coordinates to our 'mutual friends'. I'd rather get this done quick and over with."
Torsk began laughing "I like the way you think Desolas," The sound of fists slamming together could be heard over the comm. "Let's get to it"