Hello my people, you have been patient for the most part, your patience has been rewarded. Let the eye candy begin. Or so I say. Now to respond to comments.
Pyrothekid: Indeed.
TheBeamingDemon: Danke (Thank you)
Guest 1: Thanks.
Thaddius: Here you go.
Guest 2: … DONE!
Guest 3: DONE!
BrokenLifeCycle: CHECK MY GRAMMAR NOW BITCH!
Guest 3: More will follow.
Darkfinder: The joy, and lots of fun.
Guest 4: Why not?
Guest 5: Yes, and yes.
Six samurai of dragon order: This should be fixed.
Garm88: Thanks, and done.
Revan193: Let's find out.
FranticHamster: True. Should be fixed now.
Guest 6: Didn't have one I first created this.
CarlZerris: 1: Partially. 2: You'll have to wait and find out. 3-5: Wait and see. 6: Cuz at the time I had a strange fascination with Mass Effect, which kinda died a 's also the reason I stopped updating, that, and I had no idea what I was doing.
Warning: possible spoilers for Titanfall 2 ahead, continue at your own risk. You have been warned.
"Character Dialogue"
"Radio messages/intercom system"
'Character thoughts.'
"Yo Hev, get your ass out here, the commander wants a word!" A trooper yelled out over the comms. Inside a dark area, if one could look behind them, they could see a few computers currently active, and one light coming from a helmet of some kind.
"Give me minute, I'm almost done here." The pilot says.
"He wants you now!"
"Pilot, I am able to complete the diagnostics without you, please see what the colonel wants."
"Alright BR. But you send me the results of the scan." Hev says. Opening the hatch, the pilot could see part of the base he was staying at. 'Outpost Shanxi. This place is more like a fortress.' The outer wall was of the standard type. Twenty feet tall, five feet thick of a hardened steel/ titanium composite. Made very cheap by several large mining operations in the frontier. The top of the wall was covered in heavy auto turrets and the more rare manned turrets. Inside the base, there was several small landing pads for transports and new line of destroyers and transports. There was also a large highway used to transport equipment and personnel around the base quickly centering at the main command spire. As well as several underground sections used as barracks and storehouses. At the very center, the command spire was the heart of the base and it's main nerve center. Inside was the main command center, briefing rooms, and armory. The spire is shaped almost like a halberd from medieval times, only the 'blades' are made up of anti orbital laser cannons.
Once he walked in, he took the elevator up to the top of the command center. The command center itself had a large holotable at the very center surrounded by several rows of computer banks watched over by both human and synthetic watchers.
"You wanted me Colonel?" Hev asked. The commander in question turned around and looked at him square in the eyes.
"I called for you ten minutes ago, where have you been pilot Hev?" The base commander asked.
"Titan diagnostics, sir."
"Typhon?"
"Typhon."
"Fair enough." The battle of Typhon was one the most important and recent engagements between the IMC and Militia. Even though the outcome saved the Militia headquarters at planet Harmony, it also cost the Militia the entire first fleet's capital ships, and suffered extensive damage to the 12th and 15th fleets, as well as several thousand ground troops and titans, including many veterans. It may have been a victory, but it was a costly one.
"Well, now that you're here, take at look at this." The holotable showed an object, around 15 kilometers in length, and made up of two large sections and a large set of rings near the final third of it. "Science teams found this object a few days ago. Now normally, we would've simply logged it for later study, however, due to the events on Typhon, command has bumped up to the very top of the to-do list. Science teams will approach the object, board it, let the eggheads look over it, and destroy it if necessary. Another thing, the eggheads in question are from the EarthGov. Allowing their scientists to look over the object will get us some points from them, giving us more favor in the senate."
"EarthGov sir? You mean the same shitheads that are letting this whole war to happen? What are we calling the damn thing anyways?" Hev asked.
"Yes, that same EarthGov. And the teams that found it are calling it the BFF. The Big Fucking Fork. Until it gets another name, it's sticking around. You'll be part of the team that's gonna be boarding the object. Report to the MCS Geode for further orders. Dismissed." Hev saluted the commander and left the command center. Outside, he saw a familiar face, Michael Grease.
"Oi Grease, how's training?" Hev asked.
"Another two weeks till I'm done." The militia rifleman responds.
"Good, then we can talk about getting you your first titan." Hev says.
"Looking forward to it. Heard you got a new mission." Grease says.
"Yeah, you're right. Don't think I'm allowed to give too many details right now, but ready if things go pear shaped."
"You know the grunts are always willing to back up you pilots." The two share a laugh and a fist bump before heading their separate ways. Inside the main pilot barracks, Hev started packing his gear.
"Another mission?" A voice asked from behind. Turning around, he sees his fellow pilot and very close friend, Jessica Farson.
"Yeah, no choice in the matter." He responds.
"Well, don't die on me yet." She says.
"And why is that?" Hev teased. She simply puts a hand on her hip.
"You know why. You make things interesting." She teased back.
"Only me? What about our other pilots?"
"Only you. Anyways, what's the mission?"
"Gonna investigate an object found in system, board it, see what it does, and more than likely, blow it the fuck up." Hev says.
"Well, don't die just yet."
"Yet?" Hev says, while Jess was pushing him out. "Get to work pilot." She says, then closing the barracks door.
"Heh, 'work.' I live in my work."
"Pilot, diagnostics have been complete. My joint servos require some replacing." BR says.
"Alright, I'll send the request through. I'm gonna be off world a few days at the most."
"I am aware pilot, I have been sent the mission briefing." BR says.
"Excellent." He arrived at the landing zones used by the smaller transports. Inside one of the type 9 dropships, several other pilots were ready.
"We're all here, let's get going." One of the pilots says.
"Alright, hold on to something." The pilot says. The dropship could be felt taking off and heading straight up. A few minutes later, they were in space and could see the Militia 15th fleet in orbit. Further forward, the various ships that would be part of the task force could be seen.
The MCS Geode was one of the new Seeder Class Heavy Cruisers. Around 500 meters in length, 55 meters wide, and 26 meters tall the Seeder Class was designed as a heavy hitting warship, able to deal with large numbers of smaller IMC vessels, mostly their Annihilator Class Light Cruisers, the backbone of their fleet. The Seeder Class had several medium sized laser cannons, three dozen double guided missile launchers, ten 6 inch cannons, and another thirty 20 millimeter auto cannons, and one would be part of the force.
The rest of the twelve ship force were Discoverer Class Destroyers. About half the size of the Seeder Class in length and the same width and height, they also had a smaller armorment. One medium laser cannon, four single barrel missile silos, two double barrel torpedo bays, and twelve 20 millimeter auto cannons.
"We are arriving at the MCS Geode. Standby to disembark." The pilot says.
"Copy that. Everyone, put your shit in a locker and report for briefing." The lead pilot said before they all disembarked from the transport. Inside the hangar, several other transports were landing, unloading either troops, supplies, or a mix of the two. On the upper most deck, the pilots assembled with the ship's captain.
"Alright, the object in question is here, just beyond Shanxi 6. It was covered in ice until deep scans of the area turned it on. The eggheads want more time to study, which why they are there already. Your job is board the damn thing, find a command center, and figure out it's purpose. That's team one's job. Team two will find the closest thing to a reactor and plant charges on it. If it goes hostile, you destroy the object. For insertion, we'll put the Geode right next to the object and put some zip lines on it. Any questions?" The captain asked.
"Who's in charge of the teams?" Another pilot asked.
"Oxen is charge of team 1, Hev is in charge of team 2."
"Copy that."
"Grizzly, May, Frag, and Oxen is team 1. Mice, Gear, Mickey, and Hev are team two. The rest of you are a quick response team if shit hits the fan. Keep your eyes open for the IMC they may make a surprise visit. Dismissed." The pilots saluted the captain before heading back to the hangar.
"My guys, get your gear together." Hev says.
"Hey Hev, first rounds on however gets their objective done first." Oxen says.
"Your on Oxen." The two share a fist bump before gearing up.
"Alert, sudden acceleration detected." The ship's AI says over the intercom system.
"All hands, BRACE!" The captain yells.
"Hold on to something!" Hev yells out, before the whole ship lurches forward and their view goes a little blue.
"Navigation, where the hell are we?" The ship's captain asked
"We are about 5,000 to 12,000 light years away sir, trying to get an exact number." The ship's navigator says.
"Send a comm package back to the rest of the force, let them know we're alive."
"Sir, I'm picking up 5 contacts on long range radar. No known classes of ship identified." The the ship lost power before the emergency lights kick in.
"What happened?"
"Main reactor just shut down, secondaries and batteries are keeping us going."
"Prioritize life support, sensors, engines, and navigation. I wanna know where we are. Navigation, we got an exact number where we are?"
"We are about 11,000 light years anyway. That's about close as I can get it, and we're closer to the galactic core." The navigator replies.
"What's the status of those unknowns?"
"They appear to moving towards us. However the object's energy signature is masking ours." A sensor officer says.
"Do they know we're here."
"They likely know something's here. This thing probably was offline before we came in. They just accelerated to about 5 times the speed of light."
"FTL method?"
"Unknown sir."
"Sir, I got a message back from the fleet. They asking if their clear to move through." The main communications officer relays.
"Negative. Tell them we lost the main reactor and have five unknowns closing in on us." The captain says.
"Aye sir. Message sent."
"Engineering, what happened to the main reactor?"
"The object overloaded several main power junctions. Give us five minutes." The main engineer replied.
"You have three. Status of those ships?"
"Closing in. ETA: five minutes." Then, Hev and Oxen arrived at the bridge.
"What the hell captain?"
"Still trying to figure that out. What the hell did that object do anyways? The captain asked.
"Sir, I momentary detected the ship's mass went negative." The ship's AI said.
"Negative mass? Expain?"
"I am still trying to determine the exact method, but the ship's mass was rendered as negative before being thrown forward at several thousand the times the speed of light. I believe the two objects are linked together and cannot be linked to another object."
"Another?"
"I can confirm sir, there is another object on the other side of the system. It is active." The sensor officer says.
-Turian Cruiser, Indomable-
"What do you mean, the relay came online?"
"It just activated ma'am. No warning. I'm also detecting nothing in that area."
"Navigation, take us in closer. We'll check anyways. And send a message to Palaven command, let them know that someone activated the relay."
"Done ma'am." Captain Orinia simply sighed. This was supposed to be a simple patrol mission. She had recently graduated from the main officer's combat and training school on Palaven with top marks. This patrol was her first assignment. A simple mission to get used to commanding a group of ships at once. Her patrol force consisted of one cruiser and four frigates. She had requested an additional cruiser, but Admiral Floriso denied it, stating that the whole fleet was low on cruisers. Internally, she prayed that it wasn't slavers. Pirates they can deal with, but not slavers, they tend to be better armed.
"Ma'am, I'm detecting a ship near the relay. It has low power, it's main reactor appears to be offline.
"Does it match any known signatures?"
"I don't think so. There is still a lot of interference from the relay. We'll need to closer."
"Very well. Close the distance."
-MCS Geode, Command Bridge-
While working, the bridge, and all it's systems got it's power back. "Power restored captain."
"Can we go back the way we came?"
"Affirmative. We're ready to move." The navigation responds.
"Get us the hell out of here. All hands, brace for sudden acceleration!" He yelled over the ship's intercom system. Out in space, the MCS Geode started moving again and launched itself towards the relay, before disappearing through it.
"Ma'am the ship went through the relay!" An ensign said.
"Understood. We'll head through and wait for Admiral Floriso with the rest of the fleet. Ahead full." She says as the five ships started moving through the relay. On the other side of the relay, the twelve Militia ships were starting head back to Outpost Shanxi when the five turian ships jumped in.
"Ma'am I'm picking up twelve different ships, including the ship that went through." Before Orinia could say or do anything else, the twelve ships jumped away.
"What did they just do?" She asked.
"I don't know ma'am. Think it was a form of FTL that I couldn't identify. I also couldn't detect any eezo either."
"No eezo. This may be a new species we're dealing with. Let the admiral know that first contact has yet to happen, and to send word to the citadel." Orinia says.
"Ma'am, communication coming for you." The communications officer says.
"Captain, we've received your transmission, however, in accordance with Citadel law, we're gonna go in, find their homeworld, any nearby world, and show them the error of their ways."
"Umm, very sir. We'll be waiting on the other side of the relay. We might be heavily out numbered."
"Very well Captain. Hold your position and wait for the rest of the fleet. Floriso out."
"Ma'am, permission to speak freely?" An ensign asked.
"Permission granted."
"Is this right?"
"I don't know. For right now, let's hold our position and try not to piss them off. We don't know their fleet capacity is and we are outnumbered. Let's not push it."
"Yes ma'am!" The bridge crew says before going to their tasks.
-Outpost Shanxi Command-
"What are they doing now?" Commander Williams asks.
"They are appear to holding their position."
"They may be waiting for reinforcements." The commander of the 15th fleet said.
"They might be. For now though, let's hold position and wait for word from command." Williams said.
"Very well."
"What's the status of the Geode and her task force?"
"They're one minute out sir."
"Good. I want a full debriefing."
"Sir, we've got a transmission from high command." In front of him, a hologram of Commander Sarah Briggs appeared.
"Commander, what's your status?"
"We're holding position above Outpost Shanxi."
"Understood. The 6th Light Fleet is on it's way with reinforcements, including several captured spectre racks."
"Understood, what's they're ETA?"
"Two hours out."
"We'll be waiting."
-Turian Dreadnought Conqueror-
"General, I hope you have a plan." Floriso said.
"I do actually. It's a simple one. The planet is dominated by heavily forested hills and mountains. We'll land behind some of the hills and attack from multiple sides. I also want a small amount of orbital support. I don't think this is a homeworld, but an outpost of some kind." The commander of the turian ground forces states.
"Why is that?"
"Don't be such a fool Floriso. They're homeworld is likely nearby, but is likely a colony, or the start of one. And it likely has their best technology in it. The less we destroy, the more we get to study."
"I like your thinking General. I'll leave to talk about our strategy, but don't expect any immediate support, we have to secure orbit first."
"Then I'll let you get to work."
"So, an invasion brother?" Desolas turned around to see his younger brother, Saren, standing there.
"Yes. We are going to teach these primitives a lesson. Show them the error of their ways. Also, congratulations on your nomination as a spectre, you make us all proud little brother."
"But first, we have a battle to win. To victory." Saren said, grabbing a glass of something from his side.
"To victory." Desolas says, raising another glass, before they both took a drink.
So this is take two. I completely wiped and redid the whole, and I like the new version. The first version started getting kinda jumpy towards the end. Fixed that problem.