Hey there guys! ImpsWithHats here! This is going to be my attemot at a mass effect Endless space crossover! YEAH! As far as I know it has never been done before so I'm going to do it! Here's some things you'll need to know though (especially if you've played endless space before). The Hissho are going to be a bit modified lore-wise. They were forced to leave their galaxy but before they could their emperor was killed. So they are now ruled by a High Patriarch who is selected by the current council of clans as the best possible leader in all aspects. Also the Hissho have decided to become more accommodating to other races and less racist, as that's what caused the inhabitants of their old galaxy to drive them off in the first place. The Hissho will still be a Martial culture though,so their military is still top notch. They will not be joining the Citadel Council. They will have their own alliance with a couple other races and will have a foreign embassy on the citadel. Hope you fellas enjoy the story!
Disclaimer: Mass Effect belongs to Bioware. Endless Space belongs to Amplitude Studios.
Location: Tharsis Nebula/ Lokiir System/ Planet Nadira
Date: 5223 A.E.
"There will be order in this council!" screamed one voice out of many. The bickering and yelling match between the different clan heads all but ceased upon hearing the booming authoritative voice of the Patriarch of clan Darckcreast, Kei Darkcreast. "You are all acting like hatchlings, arguing over who gets the last teacake! We are the greatest authority of our race! A race which will soon DIE if we do not cease this at once and come up with a plan of action!" At these words the arguing all but ceased as what the formal Grand Admiral of the Hissho Empire was heard. They knew, they all knew what had happened. Their once mighty empire was but a lifeless husk of what it once was, their warlike ways had finally caught up with them and their enemies were poised to strike at everything they held dear. If they were to continue as a species then they needed to act immediately. But what could be done? True their military was strong and their people were loyal, but with trade to all other galactic powers cut off by their relentless foes their economy was slowly being bled dry. As the clan heads whispered and spoke among themselves a youngling (barely 100 years of age) slowly but surely made her way to the center of the stage, gaining the attention of those present. "Esteemed elders" she said "I am Namira Greywing, and I offer you salvation for our people!" The clan leaders, Patriarchs and Matriarchs, fell silent at the firm yet melodic tone the youngling spoke with. She had their attention. "Very well young one, this council recognizes your presence, what is it that you have in mind?" Namira gulped, this was it, her entire career had lead up to this point, time to make it count. "I am sure that since many of you here are former soldiers or naval officers, that you are aware of our people's reliance on wormholes to travel across the galaxy?" nods of affirmation were seen throughout the council chambers, curious as to where this was leading. Namira took a deep breath and began to speak " Three stellar cycles ago, my science team and I were running tests on an endless relic that was orbiting a neutron star located in the Parsis veil. While running the tests we accidentally activated the device and had to initiate an emergency evacuation of the station. Once on board our ship we observed the most amazing thing any of us had ever laid eyes on, the conversion of a Neutron star into a stable wormhole which leads to another galaxy." shocked gasps were heard from every member of the council of elders. True most modern ships were equipped with drives that could do such a thing, but for a wormhole that bridged two entire galaxies to be made was unheard of! Even the Endless in all their glory would have immense difficulties pulling off such a feat, yet they had. As the council was still mulling over what the youngling had said, Namira chose to put forth her true suggestion. "Due to the supposed impossibility of such a feat and our empire's imminent doom, it is my professional opinion that we evacuate our remaining citizens to the other side of this wormhole and re-establish our empire on the other side." "But what of our enemies!" said one elder "they could easily follow us through once they reach the system! It would all be for naught!" the others mumbled in agreement with their compatriot. It made sense after all, once a wormhole has been established they could always be detected and reopened from their point of origin with the right equipment. What was to stop their foes from finding it and coming through to finish them off? "That is where I come in" said a new voice. All heads turned to find the current Admiral of the 12th fleet, Hira Stonebeak. "Admiral what do you speak of?" Kei asked, concerned with what the admiral could be thinking. "Once our people have finished evacuating to their new home, Myself and my crew will stay behind and detonate the drive core on one of our crippled dreadnoughts, that should be enough to destabilize the wormhole's point of origin and close the gateway for good." To say that Kei was shocked would be an understatement, he and Hira had been close friends for most of their lives. That his friend and his crew planned to sacrifice themselves to save their people not only made Kei swell with pride, but also filled with deep sadness as he knew he would not be able to change his mind. "Very well, all councilors in favor of this exodus plan raise your hands and say Aye..." almost every hand in the council raised at this, those who stayed themselves only did so because they worried that the new galaxy could potentially be more dangerous than their current one, but the plan would still pass. "Excellent, Namira Greywing!" "Yes Lord Darkcreast?!" Namira said, startled at his sudden outburst. "You and your fellows have made your ancestors proud with this monumental discovery. As such you will all be leading the scientific effort of this endeavor, I expect only the best is this clear?" "Yes sir!" "Good, this council is hereby dismissed, we have work to do." Namira swelled with pride as the councilors and their guards quickly filed out of the room to return to their postings. She had done it, she had opened the path to her people's salvation, she then followed suite and made her way to the shuttle that would return her to the Parsis Veil. There was much work to be done...
5223 A.E.- Hissho Council of Elders approves the relocation of all remaining members of their species along with as many samples of culture, flora, fauna, and their entire repository of endless artifacts to the newly discovered galaxy via "Project: Exodus" in response to the losing war against the Circene Pact, an alliance between the Sophons, Pilgrims, and Sheredyn empires. Work begins on the project begins immediately. The plan is to slowly retreat to the Inter-galactic wormhole (designated IG-001 or "The Gate") allowing the citizens to evacuate under the cover of the Imperial navy. Once all citizens have been ferried through, Admiral Hira Stonebeak of the 12th Imperial Defense fleet will Detonate the phasic drive core onboard his flagship Nomad's Triumph, thereby permanently shutting the gate and hopefully dealing a fair bit of damage to the enemy fleet as well.
5224 A.E.- The evacuation plan has worked far better than anyone could have hoped. Fleets have reported less than 12% losses thanks to superior defensive strategy and highly experienced troops. Civilians are evacuated before the fleets fall back to the previously occupied system causing the enemy fleets to spread their supply lines thin and ripe for the taking at the hands of Hissho sponsored pirate groups.
5224 A.E.- The Empire now controls only 13 systems, 5 of which are currently being evacuated. Two systems were unable to evacuate in time however, and their populations were subsequently killed or captured. Due to this the enemy learns some details of the Hissho's retreat and step up their assault to try and catch the Empire before they escape.
5225 A.E.- The last of the Hissho population makes it through the wormhole just as the enemy ships arrive. While most of the remaining Hissho navy has evacuated with the civilian population, much of the 12th fleet decide to sacrifice themselves along with Admiral Stonebeak as vengeance for the loss of those who were not able to escape the Pact Armadas. Their Final stand will go down in history as the greatest battle ever seen by Hisshokind. The remains of Stonebeak's 12th fleet consisted of 700 ships of varying tonage, though they only possessed 3 dreadnoughts as the others were thought to be needed in the new galaxy. Whereas the Pasct fleets consisted of 3789 ships and at least37 dreadnoughts. By utilizing the Nebula's Asteroid field and unique magnetic properties, the 12th fleet was able to whittle down Pact forces to less than half of their original numbers, before finally detonating the remaining ships' drive cores simultainiusly, shutting the gate permanently as well as taking out another 300 ships, 2 of which were dreadnoughts engaging Stonebeak's flagship.
0001 P.E. (Post-Exodus)- The remains of the Hissho Empire settle within the three systems located around the Gate's exit. The first system is named Hira, after The Former Admiral of the 12th fleet. It is a binary system made up of a yellow dwarf star being orbited by a red dwarf star. The Yellow Dwarf is named Hira Prime, and is orbited by 7 planetary bodies. A gas Giant named Heioth, a garden world named Zenith, a second Jungle World named Namalk, a gas giant named Namira, an Ice Giant named Vost, another Ice giant named Kei, and a massive Gas Giant named Garm orbiting a large distance from Hira Prime. The Red Dwarf is Known as Mara, so named after Hira's bondmate. It possesses only 2 planets, a rocky barren called Killen, and a Gas Giant called Maar. The other two systems are both single star systems possessing main sequence yellow dwarf stars and between 6-10 planets.
0012 P.E.- Colonization of all habitable bodies in Hissho controlled space is complete. Zenith in the Hira system is established as the Capital of the new Hissho Empire. During the first official meeting of clan heads since their species's mass exodus, it is agreed that in order to prevent such an event from happening again they must change their ways. Thus the Hissho go from being a race which believes itself to be superior to all others, to a race which prides itself for being equally accepting to all others unless wronged.
0097 P.E.-Hissho controlled space now spans across approximately 32 star systems, with each having an acting naval force of at least 23 ships, an army garrison of at least 1000 soldiers with varying sets of equipment depending on the location and environment, and at least 3 ground-to-space cannons for defense.
0102 P.E.- A Hissho exploration flotilla enters uncharted space upon intercepting seemingly artificial radio signals. Upon entering the system they originate from they are surprised to discover a small space fairing civilization. They are immediately hailed by the inhabitants of the system and the first peaceful first-contact scenario known to Hisshokind is initiated. After exchanging translation software they are able to communicate with the newly discovered species. They call themselves Arterians. They are tall, humanoid canines with deep spiritual beliefs (AN: they are a race of Anubis). They are new to space travel and only control a handful of planets across three systems. During peace talks between the Hissho and Arterian Leaders the Hissho representative is surprised to hear that almost all technology the Arterians possess is reverse engineered from an ancient race known as the protheans, and that they achieve most of their technological feats using a substance known as "Element Zero" or "Eezo". It is also discovered that the Arterians are only capable of inter-system travel via large constructs known as "mass relays". The Hissho Diplomats and scientists are shocked that the Arterians have allowed themselves to be bound to a single technological path and, seeing that the Arterians possess extremely brilliant minds and are quite eager for peace, offer an alliance between their two races. The Arterians are initially on edge about the idea, especially after the Hissho explain their previous history in the Old Land (AN: their old galaxy), but are convinced after the diplomats explain that both parties would be represented equally and all technology would be shared between the two empires. The Arterians, eager to experiment with the Hissho's advanced technology as well as study their extensive culture and history, accept the proposition. The Galactic Alliance of Clans is formed.
0157 P.E.- A combination team of Hissho and Arterian scientists decide to completely redesign Hissho warships to be more efficient, as the current "Space-Birds" designs are both costly and sacrifice efficiency for design. Amidst protest by older Hissho veterans and culturalists there is an outcry as said designs are considered a part of Hissho heritage. The scientists compromise by allowing a teams of Hissho artists to come up with designs that would retain said artistic heritage but still be efficient. The winning team (consisting of several famous hissho artists and their Arterian Architect friend) designs a needleship like design that has a rear "frill" and a lower deck, it is colored white and has designs painted in red and black all along it (AN: google ikaruga and look at the ship designs, then imaging this warship). The ship's Full length is 735 meters and designated as an assault Cruiser, it possesses a main spinal plasma accelerator cannon which fires superheated plasma bolts at 2% the speed of light using a combination Magnetic/Mass Effect Field. The static electricity charged by the previous shots is used to create the magnetic field for containing the plasma bolts. It is armed with 30 broadside plasma cannons (normal non-mass effect) with 15 spread out on each side, 32 high-yield cluster missile bays (16 collected together on each side), an energy shield, and 5 Nexus-class Bombers. The new ship is christened Kei's Maxim in honor of the first High Patriarch of the New Hissho Empire who lead their people to Hira Prime, and is hailed as the most advanced warship ever designed by either Hissho or Arterian. Every ship to be designed afterwards is based off of the Maxim's Design.
0163 P.E.- A newly discovered garden world becomes a GAC joint colony. It is named Dynasty Prime.
0164 P.E.-A military patrol in the Dynasty system discovers an unactivated Mass relay in orbit around the 5th planet in the system, a gas giant named after an Arterian God called Harnaak. The GAC discusses whether or not to activate the relay, as no new relays have been activated since the Hissho discovered the Arterians. The GAC decides that the benefits outway the detriments and give the greenlight to send an exploratory scout fleet through the relay. The mission is slated to begin in 0165 P.E. Once the colony defenses are adequate to combat anything that may be encountered on the other side.
0165 P.E.- The GAC sends the Arterian research vessel Eye of Ondorthrough the Dynasty relay... contact is lost after transmissions suggesting a first-contact scenerio. The Dynasty defense fleet and several fleets in nearby systems prepare for hostile incursion... The GAC readies for war.
And that's a wrap. Stay tuned because I expect to have the next chapter up by the end of next week at the latest. Also taking suggestions for possible OC races to add to the GAC. Hope you enjoyed the story!