The VERY Big, Bad Universe
When Human explorers stumble into the path of a large Terminus pirate fleet, Shanxi burns in nuclear fire in what becomes known as the 'First Contact Raid' or the 'Qingming Genocide'.
The Human Systems Alliance reels from the shock that not only is Humankind not alone in this unforgiving galaxy, it is the smallest by far.
Now, having temporarily joined the Citadel Council Accord for protection, the Alliance and Council perform a balancing act between its members, as integration into the galactic community is fraught with scandals and perils for the bite sized Human race.
(I do not own mass effect, nor any of its characters, places, locations etc.)
Just a warning note: mentions of death and torture, amongst other adult themes.
Much thanks to Hetzer for allowing me to uses his ideas a long time ago - if you're reading, finish your damn story!
"At first, I wanted to say 'never again.' It was hell. So much death... Never again should anyone experience what we went through. But now? Again. Come back. This time we are ready, And we have a score to settle."
Unknown Shanxi survivor
Prologue
"Only Human"
Shepard cursed violently as what felt like a sledgehammer skimmed the top of her helmet, almost giving her whiplash from the force. She ducked as further alien rounds raked the trench where her head had been moments ago. Her hand went to the mark and came back flecked with blood and strands of her own red hair. There was not a great deal of either however, so she filed it away as a problem for later.
Keeping her head down she edged down trench to one of the rapidly set up bunkers that had until recently been pouring out auto-cannon fire at the xenos. They needed it back online - auto-cannon rounds were one of the few weapons the Alliance forces had that could actually suppress the alien bastards. Stepping gingerly over a corpse missing most of it's upper torso, she risked a glance over towards the alien forces.
Their size made advancing through the Láng Forest a treat for the Human soldiers. Aliens could only take cover behind the redwood style trees of Shanxi whilst Human forces could burrow in and around the flora of the world. The aliens might have bombed the cities, but the Humans still owned the wilds.
Through the haze of smoke Shepard could see figures, trees bulging at the bottom where alien soldiers were hiding. Blue flashes signified where severalaliens were trying to lay down suppressing fire. For their size, or rather because of it, they could close the distance quickly given a chance.
Ducking down once more, she passed several soldiers unloading on the invaders using old projectile weaponry found in the stores of the Alliance depots. The sand grain sized 'bullet' of a Human sized eezo rifle would simply ping off an alien's armour, unless it was an anti-material weapon at least, but the piercing power of a bullet simply went through alien armour like paper.
It was the only thing giving the Human forces a fighting chance.
In the beginning, the problem was that there was only enough rifles to equip half the regiment at full strength, but the last four days of almost non stop fighting had solved that problem for them. Now there were more rifles than soldiers to wield them.
She entered the bunker and took everything in at a glance. Both the gunner and loader lay dead from a lucky round that had gone through both the gunner and into the loader behind him. It was clear he had been hit as he went to get the coolant for the gun that was behind the gunner. Shoving the gunner's corpse out of the way unceremoniously, she grabbed the handle of the weapon, inspecting the barrel briefly for signs of overheating. Finding none, she aimed down the sights to a figure in the fog. She opened fire, not really seeing what the alien looked like or having checked for identification. Thankfully, being taller than some buildings it was hard to confuse it for a Human she thought with a feral grin.
The emplaced weapon fired in its staccato rhythm, tracer fire showing her aiming slightly ahead 2 alien. She corrected her aim and the shots almost bisected the moving figure. The heavy rounds first halted the alien, then kept it upright with the sheer kinetic force of each round. Once it was clear the figure was quite dead, she switched to fire off a few rounds at another figure peering around one of the giant trees, forcing it to duck back into cover.
A flare shot out from behind the Alliance trench towards the alien lines, lighting up several figures previously hiding within the fog of war. Avolley of fire from the Human trenches stopped the alien advance dead in its tracks, slaughtering many.
Shepard kept up the fire, her exhausted state had her at first firing madly at the plethora of targets suddenly available to her, before remembering not to chase 2 hares. Following her training, she was much more cautious about her fire, prioritising targets and making sure one was dead or suppressed before moving on.
For what seemed like forever she kept up the fire until the barrel of the emplaced weapon burned white hot. Stopping only because she had to, she noted a calm had settled on the field.
She turned from the gun to root around for any coolant that the bunker had left. Though the gun itself would de-heat, she'd feel much more comfortable having the ability to rapidly cool it down when the aliens worked up the courage to come at them again.
She raised her pistol when a form appeared in the doorway. Cursing her nerves jumping at a Human she glanced at the figure that had intruded in her bunker. An Alliance solider entered the in the bunker and after a prolonged glance at the fallen gunner, he noticed Shepard at last.
"What are you still doing here?!" The man shouted as he ripped the dog-tags from the gunner and made lent over to get the loader's.
"Shooting aliens, what about you?" She said snarled.
"Your comms broken or something?" He demanded. Her heart skipped a beat as she realised why she hadn't heard anything over the sound of explosions and gunfire for the last few minutes. She took her helmet off and turned it round, seeing the topmost part of it, which just so happened to contain her comms, sheared off. It must have gotten clipped by that shot on her way to the bunker. She belatedly realised that she probably had a concussion as well.
"Took a hit but I'm still alive so I didn't think much about it." She said.
The man grabbed her arm and tried to pull her out. She dropped her helmet and ripped her arm back in surprise, inwardly noting how sluggish she was now that she knew she had been wounded. He turned back to her and shouted, motioning to follow him all the while.
"The AA in this sector is gone, aliens took it out from orbit! Drop-ships are landing behind us and the whole line has collapsed! Command is calling a 'Sore Looser'!" The soldier activated his omni-tool and Shepard heard the voice of General Williams on the line.
"To everyone that can hear this, if you haven't already, you need to get to the last resort bunkers immediately! The last elements of the 88th have been wiped out and New Changzhi has been lost. There is no more significant resistance left, any remaining Alliance forces are about to be cut off and surrounded. I am calling 'Sore Looser'! This is it people! We are flipping the table and burning the house down!"
Chills ran down Shepard spine as she understood.
'Sore Looser' was a last resort measure that involved detonating every single piece of nuclear ordinance in every major settlement on the planet.
In case of an extra-terrestrial invasion of genocidal intent, with no hope of containing it with forces already on planet and with no forces in space contesting orbital supremacy the highest ranking military official was ordered to deny any possible extra-terrestrial invaders from recovering assets that could be used against the rest of Humanity.
In the case of an extra-terrestrial invasion of this hostility the population was considered assets as well. It was as much a statement that Humanity would fight for every last inch, as it was the ultimate in scorched earth tactics.
Unbidden memories surfaced of when her platoon had staged a rescue of one of the camps they were holding captured Humans in. In the earliest stages of the morning of the third night, they had crept up on and then stormed a camp with a force and fury that the trench raiders of old would have been proud of. The soldiers had managed to save a great many people destined for the unseen horrors of wherever the aliens were planning to take them.
She specifically remembered trying to hustle a man out of the camp when he broke for the wall overlooking the courtyard. It had been covered in shop mannequins that had been nailed to the wall. An effort to scare the prisoners and keep them in line she had thought at the time.
When she caught up to him the man was sobbing hysterically as he clutched fitfully at the nightdress of a mannequin held some 6 foot off the ground. This was the first time any of the soldiers had the liberty to take a good long look at the gruesome display. Shepard had voided her stomach when she realised that not every figure stuck to the wall was made of plastic.
Nor were all of them dead when before they were put there.
At least the couple had had a chance to say goodbye.
'Yes.' Shepard thought, 'Sore Looser' was a mercy...
She followed the man out of the bunker to see much of the trench empty and many of the Alliance soldiers falling back through the Láng Forest. In a 'Sore Looser' situation, it could be anywhere from seconds to minutes until detonation to prevent the aliens from escaping or getting to cover. In this situation, it was every man for himself. Shepard took off running with them, sprinting out of the trench moving towards bunker 19, which they had been defending.
She had made it about fifty metres when rounds started churning up the earth around them. Several soldiers fell down, either dropping from training or from alien rounds as they continued to crawl towards the bunker. The aliens had realised that the Human trenches had fallen silent and upon inspection had seen the retreating Humans. Several of the Alliance soldiers who still held their guns opened fire on the advancing xenos, but caught out of cover and with the momentum on the alien's side they were as much use as a fly swatter to stop a train.
The invaders had the upper hand. Shepard could see them using fire and movement to quickly gain on the retreating forces. Unless something could be done, the Human troops would be slaughtered before they ever made it to the bunkers. Shepard stood up, cursing her stupidity and held her hands out and summoned a biotic barrier. It didn't need to hold for long, it just needed to be a target. As soon as it was up, rounds hammered into it with a fury.
Shepard was a fiercely strong biotic with experimental L2 implants, it helped that she was also swimming in adrenaline and combat stims. The barrier held up to the onslaught, allowing most of the Humans to continue their retreat. Several however stayed, using Shepard's distraction to pour retaliatory fire back onto the aliens once more.
One such beast went down immediately with a lucky shot to one of its many eyes, whilst another dropped to the floor rolling around and screaming as he was hosed in bullets too small to kill him outright. Step by step, Shepard made her way back through the path. Sod exploded around her from near misses, but she held. A cannonball sized object lept out of the fog, landing in front of her, smashing into her barrier like a football. As it ricocheted up to head height, Shepard could see the object was an alien grenade.
On instinct and ignoring all her training, Shepard broke her barrier and biotically punched it back towards the alien lines. It sailed for three seconds before exploding violently, shredding trees and aliens alike before they could react. This newest lull in fire from the alien lines gave Shepard an opportunity to run.
Turning around, she once again began sprinting towards bunker 19. The soldiers who'd stayed with her ran as well. To her right, a soldier tripped and fell as he tried running. Giving him a biotic push, he propelled forwards upright and found his feet, sprinting ahead.
The bunker door was finally in sight, sandbags surrounded a concrete dome that led to safety. Several soldiers guarded the entrance, waving and shouting encouragement to those still on their way. By the bunker an air raid siren rang out, warning all of the impending nuclear detonations. Putting on one final burst of speed Shepard propelled herself to the bunker in question. The soldiers guarding the bunker ducked into cover, waving for the runners to do the same and letting Shepard realise that the aliens were about to fire again.
She turned and faced the aliens once more only to fall on her backside as a Turian descended from the skies, a jet-pack howling as it slowed her decent enough to survive the landing. A leg as tall as Shepard hit the ground mere feet from her as the titanic Turian turned her sub-machine gun to hose down several more of the retreating Humans. Before she fired however she noticed Shepard below her, staring up in fear and awe.
Human eyes met a blank Turian helmet.
A mortal met a god.
The Turian seemed to loom ever higher, lowering her gun and reaching for Shepard, the 3 fingered hand aiming for her torso. She was but a child compared to the monster above. Shepard brought her legs over her head and rolled backwards to her feet, causing the Turian to pause. The hand that had once reached out turned to a fist, forgetting the gun it held in it's off hand. The fist raised slightly, ready to be brought down in a hammer blow that would crush her like a gnat.
Shepard steadied herself and realised in a split second her gun was out of reach. Looking up, she reacted with primal instincts, flight was no longer an option, so she had to fight with as much speed and aggression as she could muster, and Shepard could muster a lot of aggression.
Thanking whatever had made her choose close combat training, she charged her biotics once more. Focusing on a point just above the Turian's chest and just below her visor, she used a biotic charge.
Propelling herself at speeds too fast for the eye to follow, she drove her fist into the Turian's neck. A surprised grunt that was cut sickeningly short by a snapping sound that came from above the human bullet as a whole 13 feet of Turian tipped backwards as if it had been K.O'd by a professional boxer.
Laying on an armoured torso, Shepard tried not to move as the body fell to the floor from the momentum of her charge. As it hit the floor, she gingerly crawled off of the alien, looking back and praying it was dead. From the lack of movement, her crazy plan had worked.
Exhaustion washed over her as her body ungently reminded her of the fatigue that using her biotics to this extent would cause. At the same time laughter began to bubble in her chest once more until she heard an vicious roar, reminding her in no uncertain terms the rest of the former Turian's friends were still there. She turned to face them as she saw 3 more large figures level guns at her.
Projecting yet another barrier and ignoring the horrific burning from her implants, once more rounds hammered into it mercilessly. Sensing that their prey was escaping, Shepard saw some of the aliens sprinting pell-mell towards the bunker. She ran backwards, face towards the aliens, still holding the barrier up to her own amazement, hoping that she wasn't about to slip and fall backwards.
She could hear the guards shouting now. "Come on! You're the last one! Hurry up!" They yelled, a chorus of voices guiding her to the bunker door.
She was seconds away from safety when the 'Pyrrhus,' Class nuclear bomb detonated in New Datong, 15 miles away from their position.
At 125 megatons it was 25 more than the full power of the Tsar Bomba, the most powerful nuclear weapon created up until the 2149, which had only been tested at half power on Earth for safety reasons. At 2149, the Pyrrhus had been created for the exact purpose of killing worlds.
21 of them detonated on Shanxi.
10 times, 50 times,100 times brighter than looking directly at the sun, it felt as if someone had put cigarettes out on her eyeballs. Helmet-less, she had no protection from the light that came from the nuclear fireball, burning her retinas. Piercing through the fog and smoke of the battle and above the 30 foot trees of the Láng Forest as 'Sore Looser' went into effect. Reflex had her drop her barrier and cover her eyes as she covered them fruitlessly. The fire from the alien side stopped, presumably as they turned to see the blast that had come from miles behind their lines.
A hand gripped onto Shepard's hard-suit and pulled her backwards like an elastic band, yanking her into the bunker. A door slammed and the outside world went quiet, followed quickly by the echos of Human voices and boots running.
Shepard was dragged down the steps deep into the bunker by the guards who had stayed behind. She couldn't see anything, not even black or white in any way she could explain. She could hear though, she realised.
Boots running, distant voices, a closer voice as one of the soldiers dragging her whispered soothing words, the terrifying sounds of a storm raged outside as the 'Pyrrhus' shock-wave hit the bunker, throwing fire, debris, trees, alien and human bodies at the reinforced dome.
Her own screaming.
Another door slammed shut and the footsteps started making a different sound as they ran on a different surface to concrete. She was stopped and a click in the darkness sounded. She focused on the heavy breathing of the soldiers around her as she tried to control her own voice. Clenching her teeth and breathing through them roughly instead of screaming, she was able to stand on her own at last, supported by the soldiers around her. Though she could stand at last, she couldn't stop putting pressure her eyes even though she knew it wouldn't help.
"Morphine! Does anyone have any morphine for Christ's sake?!" A voice to her left demanded. The sound of people rooting around in pockets filled the silence for a second before an 'ah' sounded somewhere in front of her.
"Sergeant, over here." The voice sounded. A few more seconds passed until what she assumed was the Sergeant who was propping her up began unstrapping her left spaulder.
Still breathing heavily, she felt a sharp object pierce her arm. Cold flooded her body from that area and numbness followed, though her eyes still seemed to smoulder. Whilst waiting for the morphine to take full effect, the elevator hit the bottom of the bunker. Shepard was led forwards once more, getting closer to a loud bubble of voices coming from ahead. She was stopped for a moment and shifted right slightly, guided through what was probably a door.
A babble of voices surrounded her, evacuated civilians she guessed. She never thought the sound of a crying baby would sound so sweet, it meant life. They were safe, for now, from bombs and aliens.
"We're it." The Sergeant mumbled to someone ahead. Shepard was then moved in another direction. Behind her, an authorative voice began giving orders.
"Seal the bunker! That's it. We're on lock-down."
Cries and shouts of vain hope to hold it open for family members who would never arrive went unnoticed by the soldiers carrying out the orders. A loud 'clang' followed by a hissing sound signified the bunker's closure - only to be opened if Alliance forces arrived and gave the all clear signal.
The cries and moans ceased being sounds of grief and became sounds of pain as she entered what she guessed was an infirmary. The Sergeant sat her down onto what she guessed was a bed and found a doctor.
"Flashblindness." She heard him murmur. The doctor hummed and gently moved away her hands from their rubbing. She tried resisting on instinct at first, but the Sergeant joined in. With his superior strength and with quiet words of encouragement she kept her hands down and allowed the doctor to perform his charge.
She felt him touch the area around her eye, doing something. A click came just from above, there was a few moments of nothing before he moved to the other eye. He was shining a torch in her eye, to see how bad the damage she knew. The fact that nothing changed visually was not an encouraging sign. Soon, something else pricked her arm. Between the adrenaline wearing off and the fatigue of using biotics and fighting the invaders, she barely needed the sedative to fall into sleep.
Above the safety of the bunker, of the 7 million people that had once inhabited Shanxi, 1 million people would perish in the immediate nuclear blasts. Another 3.2 million would die from radiation, debris and the other assorted dangers that such weapons created. Between 300,000 to 900,000 had been stolen into the void of space, taken by the aliens that had invaded. A mere 150,000 had made it to safety. The fate of the rest of Shanxi's residents would never be discovered.
A mere week later, a Turian patrol fleet would discover a war-fleet orbiting a smoking, burned world it. The 2 fleets would both be ready to go to war over their respective fears. One of yet more alien invaders, the other of an unknown terror.
A single Turian would disobey her orders, risking a court martial and an execution in an attempt to bring about peace. Against all odds, she would succeed.
Naming the treaty after the 2 brave soldiers that risked death for peace, the Hackett-Vakarian Concordant was signed. It would bring Humanity - at least temporarily - into the galactic fold, opening up a new universe of opportunities for the human race.
And the galaxy would never be the same again.
