Rise of the commonwealth
Hi guys this is the start of the re write of Rise of the commonwealth, I will be making some major changes but I promise it will be much better than the original
Disclaimers: I do not own Mass effect it is the property of Bioware and EA, some of the characters and Blacklight are from will hill's book series department 19
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2024: WW3 occurs between NATO and Russia every weapon short of nuclear are deployed against strategically important targets, one by one all the Nations of Earth are drawn into the conflict.
2027: After 3 years of war with over 2 billion dead and the world's Nations on the verge of anarchy, peace treaty is called by the nations of Earth the third and last world war was over now came the rebuilding of the scarred Earth
2028: Once again turning their gaze to the stars a new space race begins between the Russian space agency and the newly formed NATO Space Development branch or NATOSDB for short.
2030: The first manned mission to mars is launched by NATOSDB followed closely by the ever growing RSA; they each reach the red planet at the same time.
2031: Advancements in technology allow for the development of Eco domes on the moon and Mars, Earths first extraterrestrial colonies. Construction begins immediately and is estimated to be finished by 2032 on the moon and 2034 on mars because of the distances.
2033: A breakthrough is made by NATO scientists into the development of magnetically accelerated weapons/gauss technologies by Doctor Philip Tomison and the first prototype gauss rifles are pressed into service, coincidently Russian scientists manage to make a breakthrough in the development of the first Directed Energy Weapons (DEWs) thanks to the work of Professor Vladimir Marshilivich and the first energy rifles are pressed into surface, spies from both sides try to gain technologies from the other, a new arms race begins.
2035: A breakthrough in medical technologies called nanites is developed by Professor Matthew Browning, it helps to slow down the ageing process and even grants the users limited advanced strength, dexterity and sense.
2037: The NSV Atlantis the first 'true' space vessel is developed by NATOSDB, it is blocky and Spartan in nature with the ship coming to pyramid like point towards the front with bridge resting on the top side of the vessel in a tower not unlike those found on the old aircraft carriers.
2038: Powered armor is developed by the Russians in an attempt to create better armor for their troops, it is deemed at the moment too expensive to mass produce and is therefore reserved exclusively for Special Forces, like the Spetsnaz.
2043: Further development into nanite technology has been rewarded with increased lifespan and even greater strength, speed, dexterity, sense and even limited self healing. Overpopulation begins to become a problem at this time and so it is decided to spend more money and time on developing habitable stations for colonists.
2044: In an attempt to ease tensions plans are drawn up for the first ever joint 'live station' a massive space station to orbit earth capable of supporting a population of over one million.
2045: It is discovered through anonymous means that if specialized nanites are placed on an object they can convert said object in a variety of metals and minerals, a new method known as 'Nan mining' is developed where nanite charges are placed on an asteroid and when detonated turn said asteroid into a chunk of easily retrievable valuable metals and minerals.
2046: Live station 1 is completed and people begin to flock to the station, plans are drawn up for a further two to be built around earth and another for the moon and two more for mars, this easily achievable with the new influx of resources from the asteroid belt.
2047: first military ships developed by Russia and NATO, the RSV Leningrad, and the NSV Enterprise, (A/N why the enterprise you ask… I dunno). Also Russia now with the new found materials begins to mass produce powered armor, in response NATO puts more funds into their mech research.
2050: after a brief seismic event a fissure opens under the NATO colony of Blazing glory on mars, inside the fissure are advanced alien ruins.
2052: the ruins are quarantined and no one is allowed in except scientists and their escort personnel, despite their best attempts to suppress the story, the news of the alien ruins soon spreads and the Russians demand access, begrudgingly NATO accepts after a tense set of negotiations.
2056: first combat mechs developed, they require human piloting but are agile, tough and deadly in combat, they essentially large walking tanks.
2064: Archives in the ruins are finally decoded and translated and what is in them scares the living death out of every person who reads it, it details the reapers, the fall of the Prothean Empire, and the trap that is the relay network and mass effect technology.
2065: realizing that they could be attacked from Extra terrestrials the growing tension between NATO and Russia disappears nearly over night replaced by the deep pulsing fear of an alien attack. They decide that it is time to let down petty grudges and move forward for the very survival of the human race, thus the commonwealth is born.
2066: the commonwealth's remarkable production capacity begins to churn out starships, weapons, armor, vehicles and mechs like there is tomorrow which as far as they were concerned could very well be true. A new form of body armor is developed taking Kevlar making a BDU out of it and then reinforcing it with thin layers of metals and weaved in carbon nano fibers with it being thicker over vital areas.
2067: the first shielding is developed it is tested against both projectiles and energy weapons and stands up to both, it is implemented immediately on ships, with it being too cumbersome and costly energy wise to be used on ground forces.
2069: the first dreadnought the CWS Light in the Dark is built standing at nearly 2.5 kilometers long it was the largest ship to date, and was armed and armored to match.
2070: FTL technology developed in the form of hyperspace, it works by tearing a hole in space and travelling through an alternate dimension to the destination, it tested by travelling from earth to Pluto, the ship arrives in less than 4 hours.
March 13th 2071: Large deposits are found in Charon, Pluto's moon sensing something is wrong about this the commonwealth council sends a ship to investigate, it is later discovered to be the relay.
August 20th 2071: it is decided to leave the Relay inactive for now and instead to focus on improving the defenses of the Sol system and the size of the fleet currently standing at just over 750 ships.
2072: first Super carrier is developed it is 4 kilometers long is armed more heavily than a dreadnought but isn't as heavily armored. It also has the capacity to carry 10,000 fighters or two full divisions of men and accompanying tanks, vehicles and mechs.
2074: first true artificial intelligence is accidently created; fear and panic begin to spread as the fears of an AI rebellion take hold. It views the whole thing amusing and then bursts out laughing at its creators reaction to which its creators react shocked before the AI reassures them that it means them no harm, in an effort to prevent any future rebellion, the Synthetics rights act is passed recognizing AIs as full citizens with all the benefits that brings.
2075: all mechs are now to be refitted so they can be piloted by AIs instead of their human counterparts; also all ships are to be given a network of AIs to help run the ship effectively.
2082: it is decided to remove the relay from the system deeming it too dangerous to keep in the system as it could provide a back door into the system for any invading force. A series of nanite charges are placed all over the relay and then detonated when ships come to collect the resources they discover that they have actually picked up the metal alloy the relay was made of, plans for the first capital ship is brought forward it is to be made completely from the relay alloy.
2090: first man portable shield developed and is immediately given to the soldiers on the front lines.
2092: Blacklight is created as a super soldier program using a mixture of cybernetics, genetics and nanites; they have increased speed, strength, dexterity, sense, and healing. The first Blacklight operator commissioned and oldest to date is Major Jaime Carpenter
2094: the first space fort a space station built solely to as a military outpost is commissioned with heavy shielding, armor, armaments and large contingents of men they are designed to be strong points throughout the system.
2100: fleet strength reaches 1,100 ships and the first capital ship is commissioned it stands at 5.5 kilometers long and has all the strengths and none of the weakness of the ships that came before it except it is one of the slowest ships to date.
2105: in an effort to bolster existing military forces it is decided that 'incentives' will be paid to those who join the military and do their job well, as a result the military has a 50% increase in recruits
2109: Venus and Mercury deemed to hostile to support life have been marked for conversion. This will happen where nanite charges will be placed strategically throughout the planet and then detonated to turn both planets in to a set of metals and minerals weighing in at half the planets total weight for both planets. This is scheduled to be completed and the resources collected by 2112.
2112: Venus and Mercury are removed providing a wealth of resources to the commonwealth these are immediately distributed between the different sectors of the economy with 50% going to the military to help build ships, armor and weapons.
2114: the colonies seek to have independence from earth they bring the idea to the commonwealth council but are deemed too valuable to be 'let loose' in protest the colonies form the Independent colonies union and declare on the commonwealth.
2115: in what would later be called the Bright hope massacre, a squad of Blacklight operators led by Jaime carpenter launched an assault on the leadership of the ICU on the colony of Bright hope on mars. The assault sees the entire base staff, soldiers, civilians and leaders killed by the super soldiers.
2117: after 3 years of fighting the Colonies war a peace treaty is finally drafted together by both sides and the fighting ceases, the total casualties on both sides equal at least 3 billion souls with another 1 million injured permanently.
2120: after the war it is decided to expand out of the system, an unmanned probe is sent out into the galaxy to the nearest system named Arcturus (A/N if that is wrong please just role with it). It returns depicting a new system with 5 relays in the system and at least 2 habitable planets, 1 planet capable of supporting eco domes and three planets ready for conversion. It is a gold mine a occupation fleet of half the navy (3,000 ships) are sent in to claim the system
2140: the Arcturus station is planned, it will be the largest and most heavily armed and armored space fort in existence; all the planets have been colonized, the others converted.
2157: another system has been claimed and its relay is scheduled for conversion when it suddenly activates.
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Commonwealth space
Star date: 23rd July
CWS: Shield of the fallen
Captain Roger Tronbill couldn't believe his luck, he had been sent to the newly discovered relay to begin conversion procedures, his ship the battle cruiser Shield of the fallen as well as three cruisers and 5 frigates had been sent to guard the relay conversion process in case any pirates decided to take a risk and try for a quick snatch and grab. His ship and the other escorts had been floating there doing nothing, Roger was wishing something would happen to take his mind off things, as the old saying goes be careful what you wish for.
The relay had suddenly been activated from the opposite end and a fleet of blocky rundown ships (A/N if this turns out to be an inaccurate description I apologize) appeared in the system in a flash of blue the largest was barely bigger than a cruiser. That's when the unknowns had opened fire.
"BRACE" shouted Roger as the slugs slammed into his fleet, most of them into his ship, warning claxons sounded throughout the ship as hull breaches were detected. "Damage report Mercury" an AI appeared on the pedestal next to him, it was an 8th gen AI the most advanced and up to date AI he was wearing a robe like the ones found in ancient Rome.
"Hull breaches in sectors 3-9 with 1 reported fatality, shields at 67%" Roger looked at the enemy fleet in orbit around the relay.
"Give them a volley" since the mergence of Russia and NATO energy weapons had been retrofitted onto all ships as the main weapons it was also the main weapon for all infantry and tanks with gauss weaponry as a secondary option. The fleet opened fire on the enemy fleet seeming to cut through the hull like a hot knife through butter, the enemy ships caught in the streams of energy were either crippled and leaking atmosphere from multiple holes on their ship or destroyed after the streams of high energy particles or beams of super intense light cut through the eezo core of the ship causing an overload and causing the ship to explode in a flash of blue light. The enemy fleet began to maneuver around his ships using their superior speed to get a clear shot but his ships weren't totally defenseless, as the hostile ships circled round they came into the line of fire of the heavily armed broadsides of the Human ships, which proceeded to fire slugs using rail cannon technology at the enemy forces the slugs slammed against the enemy shields draining them in 3 shots then going through the ship with the forth. But the enemy was now beginning to cause damage of their own a wave of missiles swarmed from the enemy ships, the close defense systems opened up to defend the ship but some of them got through, drastically dropping the shields.
"What the hell did they hit us with?"
"Unknown sir, whatever it was sir it caused fluctuating fields of mass, pushing and pulling the hull putting enormous strain on the shields and hull integrity, if there were many more they would do some real damage" Mercury was now wearing an expression of unease on her face. Roger looked at the enemy fleet as he began to think of a plan to eliminate them.
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UNKNOWN SPACE
Star date: 23rd July
BHS: Masters will
Captain Buruk was shaking, he had just seen over half of his fleet destroyed by these MONSTERS he looked at the mangled wrecks of his frigates that had attempted to out flank the enemy, his dreadnought had only survived by using his cruisers as body shields, he was down from 15 frigates, 8 cruisers and his dreadnought to 4 frigates, 1 cruiser and his dreadnought, he looked at the holo display and cursed the Hegemony, 'use a dormant relay' they said 'there'll be plenty of primitive slaves for us to exploit' they said, if I meet the person who said that I will strangle them. He sighed and looked at the helm
"Get us out of here order the frigates to cover our retreat" he looked out the bridge window as his orders were followed the remaining frigates made a suicide charge at the enemy cruisers, who uses cruisers as their smallest ship class for a fleet he thought to himself as his dreadnought and the cruiser made to retreat for the relay. Suddenly the cruiser erupted into a flash of blue light as a particle beam sliced through it, he grimaced slightly they were getting closer, he looked at the relay praying that he will make it but then a resounding thud was heard throughout the ship followed by a large bang and the ship stopped moving.
It was dead in the water.
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Commonwealth space
Star date: 23rd July
CWS: Shield of the fallen
Smiling to himself Roger looked at the disabled cruiser as it drifted there in space he turned to Mercury.
"Ready a boarding party, who do we have on board who can take care of this" she brought up a panel as streams of data began to blur across its surface, after a second or two she stopped.
"Huh, who put them on board?"
"Who?"
"It appears we have a team of Blacklight super soldiers on board" Roger arched his eyebrow in curiosity what are they doing on board he thought about it for a second
"Perp them for boarding operations, we need answers."
Hi guys I know this chapter is shorter than the first chapter of the original but I wanted to get it done and out of the way. Also if you liked how the first went tell me which parts you liked most and I will try to insert them into the story. Also I will taking suggestions for codex entries and I will be putting more detail into the Codex's… like this one.
Codex entry: Blacklight operators
Arguably the best fighting force in the galaxy Blacklight are chosen from the best and brightest of citizens at the age of 7 those who display exceptional qualities are chosen to undergo training. In society it is considered a great honor for your child to be chosen for the program, at the age of 7 they begin their education and training regime they are broken down then built up again this training is said to be harder than spec ops training, at age 14 they are given genetic modifications then broken down and rebuilt again but on a much harder level, then at 21 they are given their cybernetic and mechanical augmentations and then again broken down and rebuilt again on an even harder level. At 28 they then join one of the branches of Blacklight either Navy, Army or Black ops then they undergo a further set of training to specialize them. At the end of it they are 33 years old and are (jokingly) said to be able to kill someone with their pinkie toe, this course has a 60% casualty rate.