A/N: Hello, and welcome to my first fanfiction.
I had this idea for a while and finally decided to try to write it. Hopefully I manage to balance to fandoms properly and not mess it up.
I'm not a native English speaker and don't have a beta, so even though I check the chapters myself a few typos and mistakes may slip by. Feel free to point them out.
Enjoy!
CIC, PSF Spear of Justice, System 314
The 27th Turian Patrol Fleet glided through the void in graceful silence. It was an ordinary patrol, one the crew have done many times before, so naturally Captain Desolas Arterius was bored.
Oh how would he have killed for a small pirate skirmish nearby, or even a distress call from a broken down ship, something, anything marginally interesting to happen. As he was just about to open a comm channel to his brother down in weapons control, one of the sensor officers called out to him.
"Sir!"
"What is it ensign?"
"Relay 314 is active!"
"What?!" - Okay maybe not something that interesting.
"Helm! Get us there on the double. Signal all ships, and prepare weapons. Pray that we don't need them."
The trip to the relay took a few tense minutes. Everyone was on edge, hoping it wouldn't be the Rachni Wars all over again.
"Exiting FTL."
"Sensors! Anything?"
"The relay still active, but nothing else on-screen. Maybe they haven't come through yet."
"It's possible, but it's better if we don't take any chances, send out a high-powered LIDAR ping, and send out scouts to the system's planets. Have them do the same when they arrive."
High powered LIDAR ping were basically nothing else just a series of very bright flashes of light in the infrared range, then waiting if anything reflects it. It's rarely used in space for long-range scans, meaning anything above a few light seconds, because of FTL. By the time the light gets back from the approaching ship, The ship has already arrived.
"Scouts report nothing at the planets. or anything nearby."
"Then it seems you maybe right, they really haven't co…"
"Sir! The scout at the innermost planet reporting a contact, it's trajectory is ballistic, and seems to have come from the relay."
"Have the scouts return and move to intersect."
"Sir! We're not gonna be there on time!"
"What do you mean, Ensign?"
"The ship is headed straight for the systems sun. Even if we leave now we wouldn't be able to intercept them, before they get too close to the sun."
"No matter, we have to try! Helm! Get us there, full speed! I'm not about to let an upstart race pay with their lives, for a mistake they made unknowingly."
/-
"Dropping out of FTL."
"Sensors! Anything?"
"No Sir, I'm sorry. High powered LIDAR pings are extremely inaccurate at these ranges, most likely they have already got too close to the sun to survive."
"Damn! Alright, turn us around get us back to the relay, and sent a message to the Council saying…"
"Spirits…"
Desolas knew that tone, he heard it several times from soldiers during their first battle, when he was still climbing through the ranks. When their brains refused to accept the reality before them, and just shut down. He never heard it from a person, with whom he got through several battle together.
"What is it?"
"That's…impossible…"
"Ensign!" – The cracking voice of his superior officer managed to get through the shock and snap the soldier out of it.
"Sir! The ship!"
"Yes? Have you managed to locate it?"
"Yes! But…"
"But what?"
"It's coming out of the sun... and it's accelerating!"
"WHAT?!"
Bridge, SSV Aurora, System 314
"Closing solar collectors. Engines online, all systems restored. Recharge complete."
"Excellent. Now if someone would please explain, why the hell did that Relay purge all of our stored energy, I'd be very grateful." – said Captain Archer looking pointedly at his science officer, a brilliand albeit a bit eccentric Dr. Novak.
"Well, because of our new FTL drive we don't need to use relays to get around, and while the ship have been tested for relay travel, we never encountered a relay this big. In all likelihood, it uses more powerful mass effect fields to maintain translation speed for longer journeys. Mass effect fields that our batteries weren't prepared for. We're lucky we had enough energy in our capacitors to make a few course corrections and keep up the shield."
"So our brand new cutting-edge ship was taken down by a relay… great."
"Well, sir, yes ,it was taken down by a relay, but that can be fixed, and in every other respect it is more advanced, than all other ship we have, which are using reverse engineered Prothean tech. Well, every ship except the defense fleets."
"What about the LIDAR ping we detected before we made the burn to reach the sun faster?"
"It was an infrared ping, possibly long-range detection, although not very accurate in this range, so they probably have similar vision than us, or all nearby ships close their windows before the flashes to prevent eye damage, but that's unlikely."
"I was thinking more along the lines of who sent it out?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, but we're still too close to the sun to have any clear reading on the system."
"Hmm, doesn't hurt to be careful. Tactical, what's our status?"
"Shields are fully charged and up, but the travel knocked out several primary power relays. The secondaries are holding, however I'm not sure how much punishment can we take before they give out."
"I see, what about weapons?"
"They are in a much worse shape. The relay travel did a real number on it's power systems, we had to do a full shutdown in order to be able to fix them. They should be operational shortly."
"Understood. Helm, start plotting a course to Shanxi, and be ready to enter FTL at a moments notice, and hope they are friendly, whoever they are."
As if on cue a brief shudder ran through the ship and the shields flashed from weapons impact.
"I just had to jinx it." – murmured the captain to himself
Few seconds before
Weapons control, PSF Spear of Justice, System 314
Saren gazed upon his console, at the small little dot representing the unknown ship. The unknown ship, that has just flown out of the sun. His mind was having a hard time understanding the level of technology required to make that possible. His brother would most likely go with the most sensible option and attempt communications with the ship.
"If we could secure an alliance with them, it would be a huge benefit to all Council races, especially the Turians." - thought Saren.
"But what if they chose to attack the Council races."
"We would barely stand a chance, we could win because of numbers, but it would be a hard and long fight."
"They would start with the Turians."
"Yes, as the race with the most powerful military, we would most likely be the first target. We must alert the Hierarchy, prepare for their attack."
"They wouldn't understand."
"Ever since that disastrous patrol, nobody would listen to me."
"They are vulnerable."
"A trip through a star must be tasking. We may stand a chance against them, if we attack them now. Destroy the ship, study the wreckage and move against them, before they can move against us."
With that Saren reached for the console to open fire on the unknown ship, and signal the rest of the fleet to do the same. The voice now quiet in his head, satisfied...
Now
Bridge, SSV Aurora, System 314
"Status!" - the voice of the Captain carried over the sound of the engagement.
"Detecting multiple ships! No exact count, the solar radiation is disrupting our sensors, but at least a dozen bogeys. Shields are holding for now, but can't say how much longer. The relay travel really did a number on the ship." - came the reply from the Tactical officer.
"Weapons?"
"Not yet, we still need a few minutes."
"We may not last that long... Helm how much longer, until we can go to FTL?"
"One minute, without further maneuvering."
"Sir. If we bypass the damaged part of the system and have the weapons draw energy directly from the grid, we should be able to fire a volley."
"Do it!"
"Frontal top shield is down! Minor hull damage, no casualties."
"Weapon bypass done."
"FIRE!"
CIC, PSF Spear of Justice, System 314
Desolas, having overcome his shock, was just about to open a channel to the unknown ship, when a shudder ran through the ship, the telltale sing of the spinal cannon's firing. To his horror he saw the other ship in the fleet opening fire.
"What in the Spirits' name? I didn't order to open fire on the ship!"
"The fleet wide command came from Commander Arterius."
"Order all ships to cease-fire, then attempt to open communications. Send a security team to Weapons Control, I want Commander Arterius detained! Let's hope that..."
"Incoming fire!"
"Brace for impact!"
Gripping his seat Desolas watched as several bright golden bolt was fired from the unknown ship. They traversed the space between the ships in mere seconds, and impacted the barriers of his fleet. Shields flashed as they worked to absorb the kinetic energy of the bolts, and if they have been simple kinetic rounds they would have been more than able to handle it. Unfortunately for the turians, the Aurora were equiped with new experimental plasma turrets, spewing out plasma bolts at significant speed. So even though the barriers absorbed the kinetic energy of the bolts, they couldn't do anything to stop the thermal energy of the bolt from reaching the hulls of the ships they were designed to protect. The intense heat flash boiled parts of the ships hull, and damaged the underlying systems.
"Report!" - called out Desolas.
"6 frigates have multiple hull breaches, and the PSF Hunting Night lost propulsion. The rest of the frigates have taken major hull damage and have minor hull breaches. We have significant hull damage and some damage to secondary system" - Desolas blanched, his patrol fleet consisted of 12 frigates and his cruiser. - "They seems to be using plasma based weaponry. Our shield could stop the projectiles, but they couldn't do anything about the heat getting to our hulls. There were rumors about the salarians experimenting with something similar, but they couldn't make a useful prototype, because of energy limitations."
He realized this is a fight he couldn't win, not against this kind of firepower. The next volley could very easily destroy half of his fleet, he had only one choice, retreat and leave the disabled frigate behind.
"Ensign. Signal the fleet to retreat. We have no chance against them, the Hierarchy must be told what happened here."
"Sir! Detecting massive energy buildup in the enemy ship!" - called out the ensign at the sensors.
"Spirits protect us..." - whispered Desolas.
However instead of opening fire the ship begun to accelerate, while bright colorful particles began to appear around its hull, and move like they were air flowing around the vessel. Then the ship disappeared with a final burst of acceleration, and the colorful cloud dissipated.
"Sir! We have detected no sign of mass effect fields used by the ship, during its jump to FTL." - reported the turian at the sensors in a quiet voice.
"Understood ensign, thank you. Set a course to the nearest repair facility and contact Palaven Command."
Palaven Command, Palaven, Trebia System
Deep underground of the Turian capital several drowsy turians were siting in a meeting room wondering why was a meeting called at this late hour, yet when the Primarch of Palaven walked through the door, they all stood at attention and snapped off a sharp salute without a hint of tiredness.
"Admiral Covictus, what happened that would call for a meeting during the middle of the night?" - turned the Primarch to the Admiral in question, after returning the salute and sitting down in his seat.
"Approximately two hours ago the 27th Patrol Fleet passing through System 314 detected that the system's previously dormant relay has been activated." - this got everyone's attention. There were protocols in place for these situations, if this meeting have been called together it meant that first contact have been made, and by the looks of the admiral it wasn't a peaceful one. The admiral then continued the report detailing the events of what happened, with video footage of the emerging of the unknown ship from the sun, and the following battle.
"After the ship withdrawn, General Arterius ordered the fleet to head for the nearest repair facility, and contacted his superiors in Palaven Command. He is currently under orders to head for Palaven with Commander Arterius under arrest as fast as possible, for personal debriefing. The two nearest Patrol Fleet was dispatched to blockade the relay, they arrived 15 minutes ago. They are ordered to try to establish contact with any ship coming through the relay, but defend themselves if fired upon." - finished the report Admiral Covictus.
"The technology level of this species is... troubling, not even the asari seems to have come close. If a single one of their ship was capable of this, there is no telling what a fleet of them could do." - said the Primarch. - "What else does the after action analysis shows?"
"It seems that their weapons were designed for less power, as magnification of the footage shows several small explosions near the turrets, consistent with power conduit overloads. Possibly due to a desperate attempt to buy time, until they can withdraw. Also while their shields are based on different principles, they don't seem to be much more effective against kinetic weaponry than mass effect barriers, a slightly bigger asari ship's barriers would be able to absorb enough damage from a volley like that so the ship would receive only minor to medium hull damage, with a possibility of some minor hull breaches. We currently have no information on how these shields would fare against GUARDIAN lasers, but if the ship's flight through the sun is any indication, I'd expect they would perform much better. The trajectory of the ship upon withdrawal suggest their territories lie beyond Relay 314."
"What will be their reaction to this incident?" - asked the Primarch.
"Due to very limited information on their culture, we cannot predict their actions, only speculate. However, their most likely reaction would be an immediate counter-attack, possibly even full-scale war, considering that from their point of view we attacked their ship without provocation."
"On that note, what can you tell me about Commander Saren Arterius?" - interjected the Primarch.
"He was an exemplary soldier since boot camp, showing great promise. Saren received Cabal training, and is a talented ground operative, completed several difficult missions with success, but received multiple warnings due to his ruthlessness in completing his missions."
"What kind of ruthlessness?"
"He chose to complete some missions in a way, that while increasing the chance of success, caused higher amount of collateral damage. After a really messy mission on Aephus he was reprimanded and reassigned to the 13th Patrol Fleet. About a year later the patrol was ambushed and destroyed by pirates heading for a nearby asari colony. Saren was presumed dead, but arrived in a heavily damaged fighter that was part of the fleet few hours later to the colony, and managed to warn them to the attack. He received several commendations for it, but he received injuries to his right hand that left him unfit to remain a field operative."
"How he managed to get away?"
"He claimed that he was in a fighter bay, when they were ambused, and managed to take one of the fighters out before the ship was destroyed. Which left his fighter disabled, however he managed to repair it enough to make it to the colony."
"Impressive."
"Yes, but analysis of the fighter's damaged data recorder showed, that he recieved assistance from a black unidentifed vessel, the damage to the recorder made it impossible to assertain it's exact size, but it was about frigate class, with a long curved main body and four large and six smaller finger like appendages on the front. It almost looked like some water animal. Upon additional questioning he maintained his story, and evidence suggested he believed it himself. He was monitored since then, but due to no changes in his behavior, and no further contact from similar ships, no further action was taken. He was reassigned several times since then due to disagreements with superiors and crewmates as well. Eventually he was assigned under his brothers command in the hope that the mutual respect the brothers shared and family ties would allow Desolas to keep him in check and the area they patrolled was a relatively peaceful region until now."
"Thank you, Admiral." - said the Primarch to Covictus, before turning to the table at large. - "Commander Arterius will answer for his actions, however his actions would cause unnecessary concerns towards the turians, so I believe the details of this incident should be classified to everyone expect the Council."
"Wouldn't that also raise a great deal of suspicion towards the turians, sir?"
"Yes, it would, so as far as everyone else is concerned the patrol opened fire, because the unknown ship violated the Citadel Law by opening an inactive relay." - replied the Primarch.
"Now, in light of this incident, we cannot send a diplomatic mission to this species, as they're unlikely to believe us. I believe we just have to wait what their response will be. Hopefully we'll manage..." - the Primarch was interrupted, when Admiral Covictus spoke up after receiving a message.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, Primarch, but I just received a report that a ship came through Relay 314 and attacked the ships guarding it. Only one of our ship managed to retreat."
"Well, I think we have their answer, we now have no choice, but to move against them... Order the 4th and the 5th Fleet to rendezvous one relay jump away from the cluster and prepare to move in to try to pacify this new species. With a little luck we can take one of their colony, and start reverse engineering their technology to level the playing field."
CODEX : GALACTIC HISTORY : RELAY 314 INCIDENT
'Relay 314 Incident', or 'The First Contact War' as humans
refer to it was a brief conflict betweenturians and humans.
It started when a turian patrol fleet fired on a human ship,
because it opened a dormant relay, thus violating Council Law.
The resulting brief but bloddy conflict intruduced humanity to
the galactic community, where they proceded quickly dethrone
the asari as the most advanced race in the known galaxy.
A/N: Hoped you enjoyed! Reviews are most appriciated!
If you read it before, you notice that this chapter used to be in 2 parts. I've decided to merge them together, and add a codex entry to the end. Don't worry and read all the reviews and saved them so they didn't get lost during the merge.