EDITED AND UPDATED!
"We are who we choose to be."- General James Raynor, 'Raynor's Raiders,' New Terran Alliance Marine Corps
Bridge, RMS (Reclaimer Military Starship) Moscow
Theta Habilis System
Orion Arm
RSC (Reclaimer Standard Calendar): March 11, 2614
Raymond Carver was born as the only child of the deceased Commodore Richard Carver and the retired Captain Elena Carver. At the age of thirty-four, he was one of the few naval officers within the human fleets to not have seen much war. The hardened outlook that most humans had on the universe had not affected him much, and so he was far more peaceful than other captains.
Which, in hindsight, was both good and bad.
Good, because he could think in a levelheaded manner. Bad, because peacefulness had no place in a war-torn galaxy.
There was a reason why Carver and his command, the RMS Moscow, had been assigned to this mission. It was expected to be simple, out of the combat zone with little to no risks. After all, they were towards the galactic 'east' of Reclaimer territory, far away from the Sangheili Imperium, Jiralhanae Empire, Zerg Swarm, or any of the battlefronts and conflict zones.
Since they were far away from the battlefronts, there was little need for a heavy military presence. The Moscow was a Whitcomb-class Cruiser, with a length of 1.5 kilometers, a height of 600 meters and a width of 520 meters. It was covered in thick Titanium-F Battle Plating, and was extremely resistant to heat or projectile damage (the former was more focused on given that the Reclaimers' enemies loved energy weapons), along with a relatively strong energy shield- sure, it was nothing compared to the Infinity-class Battle Carriers, or the Cortana-class Battleships, or, god forbid, the Cole-class Dreadnoughts, but it packed a strong punch, considering that it had one Forerunner Beam and two MACs, in addition to Linchpin Kinetic/Energy Turrets.
The Moscow had four escorts here, all of them being Keyes-class Frigates, the most numerous Reclaimer navy warship, due to its modularity, reliability, individual hitting power and design. At a respectable 650 meters in length, 200 meters in width and 250 meters in height, these frigates had energy shields, Titanium-F Battle Plating, Linchpin Kinetic/Energy Turrets, and a single MAC. Small potatoes compared to the Cruisers, but it was more than enough for repelling minor incursions and pirates.
Along with the five military vessels, there was a single civilian science vessel, the Curious Flames.
Which led to the reason for the vessels being here in the first place. A scant three days ago, a civilian scout ship scanning an unexplored system found traces of an artificial construct on the outer reaches of the system, seemingly dormant. Word was soon passed to the local Military Post in the nearby Shanxi colony, which was the only world with a population higher than fifteen million in the entire sector (the rest being only mining, farming or scientific outposts).
In the end, the RMS Moscow and four other frigates had been spirited away from the Shanxi Cluster Fleet (composed of the 27th Fleet, 24th and 26th Patrol Flotillas), and assigned to oversee and guard the scientists for the duration of the mission.
All in all, boring as hell.
Captain Carver sighed as he reviewed the briefing packet once more, out of sheer boredom if anything. The mug of hot coffee- real coffee, not the synthesized crap that the navy had the gall to call coffee- fitted snugly in the cup holder of his command seat, the aroma keeping him awake. The XO of the ship, Commander Victoria Denton, had been eyeing the coffee jealously, having to make do with the ship's synthesized versions, but Carver had not noticed.
A yawn threatened to escape him, but he clamped down on it. Boring or not, he had to set an example for the crew to follow, at the very least.
Bringing the mug to his lips, and enthusiastically taking in the brown nectar, Carver silently sighed contently.
At least there's coffee.
RSS (Reclaimer Science Starship) Curious Flames
Theta Habilis System
Orion Arm
RSC (Reclaimer Standard Calendar): March 11, 2614
Contrary to the bleak and bored state of the Moscow and the military starships, the scientists aboard the Curious Flames had an aura of excitement, trepidation, and well, curiosity, in them. The crew, though…
Captain Kevin Barnes blinked his eyes and stifled the yawn that had threatened to materialize. He was a veteran of the Zerg War, which had by now simmered down into the Brood Conflicts. After losing his left arm to a nasty Zergling in an unfortunate boarding attempt by the Zerg Swarm during the Battle of Tarsonis, Barnes was honorably discharged from the Reclaimer Star Navy and entered the private sector, ending as the captain of the Curious Flames.
To be sure, the pay was good, and the risks were low…most of the time. What the Flames essentially amounted to was a glorified transport, with some expensive sensors, upgraded civilian/military energy shields and practically nonexistent armor. Then again, this was in comparison to the military warships Barnes had served on, and considering that one of them was a heavily armored Cortana-class Battleship…well, it wasn't a fair comparison.
Usually, though, Barnes would think very little of it. His job was relatively low-risk. It wasn't like pirates were much of an issue within Ascendency space- heavy patrols of marauding warships tended to make piracy a very short career for any idiot who chose to go into that line of work.
This artifact, though, it gave him the creeps. And when something gave him the creeps, Barnes would take stock of the situation, and see what assets he had on hand.
Truth be told, the Flames wasn't in very good condition. The engineers (not the biological supercomputers) in the crew had done a great job in regards to engine and drive core maintenance, but there was little anyone could do about old parts. The shielding systems, for example, were only running at fifty percent capacity, and those shields had always been relatively weak from before, which meant that he could not count on that to pull the Flames out of a bind. Armor? There was practically no armor, since it wasn't very economical for a glorified transport. Barnes couldn't count on that too. Hell, the only things he could count on were speed and agility. They were due for maintenance at Shanxi, but the artifact's recent revelation caused the postponing of that, as they were the only marginally equipped science team in the region.
Barnes would have mentally sighed at that, were it not for the fact that it wouldn't have changed anything.
It wasn't everyday that they got to examine a new alien artifact, especially one as large as this. To be sure, it did not compare to the Halos or the Ark, but the fact that it made the Moscow seem tiny was enough to incite excitement within the scientists, who were used to teeny tiny palm-sized artifacts.
Those artifacts were usually of Forerunner origin as well, and though they were still regarded as technological gods, their artifacts had lost some of their novelty over time. This, though, this was NEW.
It was from a new alien race, one that most likely predated even the Forerunners, which, in itself, seemed like a rather amazing achievement to Doctor Amanda Chang.
She was only twenty-four, but had already become a prodigy within the ranks of the scientific community, gaining widespread recognition for her work regarding Xel'Naga artifacts found by their long lost Terran cousins in the Koprulu sector.
Mentored by the famed Terran scientist/leader/doctor Ariel Hanson, Chang was on her first job where she would be leading the team instead of just being another member of it (her previous postings were as subordinates, not leaders).
The Curious Flames was a rather small ship, an Inquisitive-class Science Vessel, to be specific. At a diminutive 200 meters in length, 70 meters in height and width, it served as one of the favorite ships for the Reclaimer science community, due to the fact that it had good sensors and was fast enough to get science teams to places they needed to be at fast, all the while carrying the gear needed for the aforementioned scientists.
Being only a scant fifty or so meters away from the artifact, it was clear why the ship's crew were fidgety and uncomfortable. This was an alien artifact, after all, and no one had the slightest idea on what its function was. For all they knew, it could have been a hyped-up NOVA-class bomb…or a mere decoration. Who knows, right?
The Bridge of the Curious Flames was filled with activity, with scientists at various posts alongside the crew of the ship, who were manning the systems that were essential to run the ship.
Scans of the artifact had revealed very little- all that was known was that whatever the artifact was made of, it could have probably withstood the guns of an entire Ascendency fleet…probably. An ODP-class S-MAC could have probably destroyed it, but no known ship in the universe could withstand ODPs…except the Forerunner ships- and that was only a maybe, since the Mantle's Approach was a special type of warship, custom built for the now-dead Didact. Even then, the ODPs' guns had barely hit the Approach, so no one really knew its shield strength.
That, however, mattered very little to Doctor Amanda Chang. She was a scientist, one that focused on aliens. While the military applications of synthesizing such a material was clear even to her, Chang had no interest in that, wanting to instead know who created the artifact in the first place.
Which was why the lack of progress for the past two days had begun grating on her nerves.
"Einstein, give me a rundown on what exactly have we not attempted?" she finally snapped out to the Flames' onboard science oriented AI, who was based on the German-born American theoretical physicist that won great acclaim during his time.
"To be honest, Doctor, there is very little I can do here," the AI replied, his hard-light orange body, projected through a pedestal, showing a confused and exasperated face.
A new member of the science team, one of the students from the Colonial University of Shanxi, suddenly blurted out. "We could send it a transmission…"
The university student trailed off at the end, his cheeks turning slightly red. It was, after all, a blind shot into the dark.
Instead of dismissing it, though, Doctor Chang just gave a nonchalant shrug that spelled 'meh, why the hell not' to everyone onboard.
Einstein obliged her unspoken request immediately, sending a burst transmission in radio- the most basic form, since they did not know what the artifact's creators used.
Again, it was a blind shot into the dark.
Fate, though, seemed to be toying with them today.
"Activity detected!" shouted a crewman who was operating the sensors station, filled with alarm.
"Dark energy burst detected…strange, most strange…" Einstein rambled, the frazzled hair and partly insane look in his eyes doing nothing to alleviate the concerns of the crew.
"Holy shit!" exclaimed a crewman as he turned to look out the window. The artifact, which was shaped like a tuning fork/Covenant energy sword (it depended on who you were asking) with a previously dormant core and unmoving rings, now did not look at all inactive.
It was the opposite. The rings began to spin, and a bluish glow began appearing in the 'core' of the spinning rings.
The captain of the Flames, whose name Chang had not bothered to remember, then barked to his crew.
"Get us out of here! Helmsman, move it!"
The comparatively miniscule ship lurched forward, before it all went to hell. An electric blue tendril reached out from the core to latch onto the ship…and then they were gone.
Combat Information Center (CIC), THW (Turian Hierarchy Warship) Palaven Sun
Dasniore System
Carina-Sagittarius Arm
RSC: March 11, 2614
Senior Captain Adrien Victus was not having a good day. First, he was sent on a patrol with the 25th Patrol Fleet to watch over the outer reaches of Council-controlled space. Specifically, the Stillborn Region. It was called that because of the fact that a mere two days before the Mass Relays in the region were supposed to be opened, the Rachni War began. After that, any plans to open the relays had been scrapped, leaving businesses that had set up there in expectation of an economic boom to go bust and pullout. Since the economic gains of the area were never realized, the region of space became known as the Stillborn Region.
Still, his mood was not because of that. He was a Turian, dammit, and keeping the galaxy safe- no matter how boring- was a duty of his race. The crew of the 25th Patrol Fleet would have felt the same, due to the discipline instilled in them since birth. Sure, they would all have jumped at a chance for shore leave, but they would not complain.
Victus had no complaints regarding the 25th either. They were good at their jobs, disciplined, and reliable- as a Turian fleet should have been.
No, his problems laid with, pardon the language, the Asari bitch that thought she could order them around. The Asari Republics had finally begun picking up the slack in regards to security issues, finally doing joint patrols with the Hierarchy Navy. Like many Turians, Victus had initially treated the news with a 'finally' kind of feeling.
The fact that his fleet was one of the units being assigned to a joint patrol had gladdened him in the start. While the Turians may have had the most warships and dreadnoughts, the Asari had the most powerful shields and weapons, in no part due to their tech superiority. It was not a truly noticeable gap, but an Asari dreadnought under the command of a competent commander could theoretically defeat two turian Dreadnoughts. Theoretically. So yes, Victus was happy with more ships for him to fight alongside.
The Asari fleet elements would be under the command of a Fleet Commander Arliya Sederis, a name that had been uncannily familiar to Victus. Hierarchy Fleet Command had told him that Sederis would have overall command of the Joint Patrol Fleet 'Theta,' as it was called. Their first meeting had Victus leaving with a sinking feeling in his gut, as the arrogant tone of the Asari had rubbed him the wrong way. She spoke in a condescending tone to Victus, as if she believed she was superior. When he returned to his ship, Victus did the natural thing. He checked the extranet, searching for 'Sederis.'
It then struck him why the name was familiar. Arliya Sederis was the daughter of Matriarch Ilya Sederis and older sister of Jenra Sederis, the leader of House Sederis and the CEO of the Eclipse Private Security Force respectively. The former had assets worth billions, if not trillions of credits, owning multiple companies, most of them being arms manufacturers, or anything related to war material. The latter…well, she owned the largest mercenary company in Citadel space, only closely matched by the savage Blood Pack in the Terminus.
Further prodding to a few friends from his days in the academy got him information he needed, and needless to say, he was not impressed.
Arliya Sederis had scored terribly in the Naval Academy, only to have her grades suddenly bump very high near the end of the semester. It was very, very clear that this was nepotism at its best, something that Victus, and Turians in general, hated. In addition to all of that, he had an ominous feeling in his gut, as if something bad was going to happen.
Of course, a good Turian doesn't question orders. He follows them.
Which led to his current predicament, sitting in the Command Chair of the THW Palaven Sun, a Taetrus-class Cruiser. Like all citadel member states' navies, the Turian Hierarchy had four ship classes. The first was the Nimble-class corvettes. They were not made for combat, only for insertion of strike teams and scouting duties, though the frigates were phasing them out.
The next class was the Kava-class frigate, named after an ancient Turian war hero. They had a small mass accelerator cannon, capable of taking down cruisers only if they were in wolfpacks of five. With an advanced GARDIAN array, they had the duty of being the picket ships in a fleet, as well as scouting ahead, along with anti-missile and the occasional but rare anti-fighter duty. Ships of this class were 200 meters long, and were the most numerous in the Hierarchy Navy.
The Taetrus-class cruiser was the second-most common ship in the Hierarchy Navy, at 500 meters length. A spinal-mounted mass accelerator allowed for substantial firepower, allowing it to easily take down frigates and other cruisers.
Then you had the Valor-class Dreadnoughts, at a solid eight hundred meters of length. They were amongst the most powerful warships in Citadel and Terminus Space, the Hierarchy having 38 of them. They made up the core of a Battle Fleet, of which Victus' fleet was not. As such, his flagship was a Taetrus-class cruiser, adequate enough for his tasks.
"Scans complete, Senior Captain," reported a crewman. "Relay 313A confirmed inactive, no activity in the system. The Sunset Hazel reports the same."
The Sunset Hazel- a weird name for a warship, in Victus' opinion- was the flagship of the combined fleet, a Tevura-class Dreadnought. It was supposedly a show of force from the Asari, who were beginning to be painted as 'weak, foolish and easily killed' by the Terminus' inhabitants. The Tevura-class was one of the older Asari designs, but it easily outranged any other ship in the fleet, due to their sheer length, an impressive nine hundred meters. This particular dreadnought was from the Thessian Space Fleet, easily the most powerful of the many Asari 'navies.' The Asari did not really spend much on their military when compared to other races. Even if they did spend as much, it would have been imbalanced, as there was no Asari High Command.
It was baffling for Turians, but then again, they were a different species.
"Orders from Fleet Commander Sederis, sir!" reported another crewman with a salute as he gave Victus the datapad.
Victus scanned it for a brief second, before ordering his crew. "Prepare for FTL jump to Saviorne System, they want us to check on Relay 314A."
"Understood, Senior Captain!" complied the crew, before the ship jumped into FTL.
A routine jump…right?
Somehow, the bad, sinking feeling got even worse.
Bridge, ARS (Asari Republics Ship) Sunset Hazel
Entering Saviorne System
Carina-Sagittarius Arm
RSC: March 11, 2614
Fleet Commander Arliya Sederis gave an unprofessional yawn as she dropped herself on the self-styled Command Throne that she had brought along with her. It was made of Thessian Cyan Marble, extremely rare and expensive, equal to a five decades' worth of pay for a Fleet Commander. For someone of the Sederis name, though, that was nothing, a mere drop in a massive ocean of money.
The Executive Officer of the ship, Ship Commander Riena Vasil, gave a bow to Sederis before making her report.
"Fleet Commander Sederis, ma'am, we're on the way to the Saviorne System, to check on Relay 314."
Sederis merely waved her off, a bored expression on her face. A few seconds later, an Asari in a naval uniform entered the Bridge, carrying a steaming crystal cup of hariente, an Asari drink that was commonly consumed by the wealthy. She carefully placed in on the velvet cup holder on the Throne, before stepping back.
The Fleet Commander merely lifted the cup to her lips, before spitting out the drink. She turned to glare at the shocked crewwoman.
"Are you an idiot? You added too much sweetener into this, you blithering fool! Are you high on drugs, you Goddess-damned filth?" she screamed at the now-cowering Asari. Had this been any other Fleet Commander, a court-martial would have been in order. Doing that to a member of House Sederis, especially the heiress, though, was not going to work.
"I-I apologize, Fleet Commander-"
She did not get a chance to continue, before Sederis punched her in the face. She then glared at the nearest Asari. "You! Bring this imbecile to the brig and let her spend an entire day there, with only water. Have another crewwoman take her place."
The Asari merely nodded, before speaking. "Your wisdom continues to astonish me, milady-"
"Shut up!" Sederis barked, before sitting down in her Throne.
The pitiful Asari was then carried to the brig of the dreadnought. Some of the newer members of the crew had shock written all over their face, but the more experienced ones just ignored it to the best of their abilities. There was a reason why Fleet Commander Sederis was reviled and feared, after all. She had one thing in common with a Spectre. Laws did not extend to her.
CIC, THW Palaven Sun
Saviorne System
Carina-Sagittarius Arm
RSC: March 11, 2614
The blue-shift of Element Zero heralded the arrival of the combined patrol fleet, a total of forty-one warships (thirty turian ships, eleven asari). The crews of the ships began carrying out standard operating procedure for such a patrol, scanning the system.
Victus, who had been expecting another boring day, merely sat in his chair, his talons tapping the armrests in a rhythmic pattern.
"Scans complete…wait. That can't be right…" muttered the sensors operator.
"What is it, Ensign?" prodded Victus as the Ensign began frantically rechecking the sensor arrays.
"Uh, Relay 314A is…active, according to the sensors," the Ensign reported.
"Are you sure?" Victus asked, a slight hint of panic rising within him.
"I've rechecked three times already, the results are still the same!" the Ensign exclaimed, getting fidgety.
"Consult with the Asari, and the other ships," ordered Victus, before thinking.
'If it really is active, then either someone broke citadel law, or we're looking at a first contact here.'
"Sunset Hazel and other ships all report similar- relay activity detected, I think there's a ship coming through!" the sensors operator was now getting truly excited, though nervousness was evident in his voice.
"Standby, ready all weapons, but HOLD FIRE," Victus announced, before turning to the communications officer. "Relay those orders to the fleet, we may have a First Contact on our hands."
Changes Seen:
Sederis is less of a bitch, though still bitchy.
It takes place in 2614, only sixty-two years after the HCW and fifty-seven years after the heavily edited Requiem Events (for one, the Didact died after multiple rockets, grenades and massed firepower from dozens of S-IVs, the Chief and Marines).
No Neo Covenant. I decided to make some…changes to their role.
For those who are not aware of what exactly the Zerg are, I will give a brief explanation.
You see the Flood? Horrible, yes? Now imagine a species with nearly the same qualities:
Led by an Overmind (equivalent to a Gravemind)
One Zerg drone (a worker unit) can cause the infestation of an entire world
Canonically caused the deaths of their 'God-Race,' which was the Xel'Naga, while the Flood did the same to the Forerunners and Precursors. A difference is that the Xel'Naga altered the Zerg, which caused their violent nature.
On top of that, the Zerg assimilate desirable qualities of other species that they infest. For example, the Zergling, the basic Zerg foot soldier, is adapted from the Zz'gashi Dune Runner, which gives it the terrifying speed at which they can move at. One could say that the Zerg are worse than the Flood because of this- the Flood infest a creature, but they don't (as far as I know, I might be wrong though) have the capabilities to repeatedly clone that creature once they assimilate its genetic code. Unlike the Flood, some Zerg can move in the vacuum of space. Zerg do not infest starships to control them like the Flood do- they grow the damned starships. Flood cannot burrow underground and swim through it- Zerg can. The good news is that the Zerg aren't very good at fortifying planets, and technology can still beat them, so long as there are substantial numbers behind the technology.
In short, the Zerg are as bad as, or worse, than the Flood. Luckily there's a much less Zerg than Flood (well, during the Forerunner-Flood War, that is).