NOTE:To save time for anyone wondering what kind of story this is, the answer is "not a serious one". The game this story crosses over with EDF which is a humourous game that doesn't take itself seriously. So if you're here for an extremely serious story, or even moderately serious, I'll save you time and say that you'll be disappointed. However, if you're looking for a zany story with OP uberpatriotic humans with big guns, giant insects, ships and mechs, dragons, and fights against reapers on foot, you've come to the right place.
Address to EDF 2025 game trailer (will also give you a heads up what to expect), just add a "/" after the Youtube address and follow with: watch?v=FvvnPCMNu84
Alliance Defense Force 2157
In 2013, SETI received radio waves that originated from space, thus proving the existence of extraterrestrial life. The scientists were able to conclude that the ones who created the signal were on their way to Earth.
By 2015, most nations of the world united together to create the Earth Defense Force, or EDF, in case the visitors turn out to be hostile. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers were recruited from government armies and mercenary companies in order to have a global defense in time for the aliens' arrival. While most of humanity believed that the aliens would come in peace, the governments chose to be cautious.
The aliens arrived in May 2017. The EDF called them Ravagers. Despite attempts to communicate with the aliens, the Ravagers immediately attacked with genetically altered insects. This signalled the start of the Ravager War.
During this brutal war, the EDF fought against giant ants, spiders, bipedal 100-foot tall mechs known as Hectors, gunships and other alien ships, and giant 120-foot cyborg lizards. EDF went through hell defending their world and people from Ravager forces, but in July 2018, the Ravagers were finally defeated. The victory came at a heavy cost. Hundreds of millions lives were lost and trillions of dollars worth of property damage was inflicted worldwide.
With the war at an end, humanity could focus on rebuilding and scavenging technology from the Ravagers. Thanks to global unity and the technology recovered, humanity was able to recover within several years. The EDF was able to upgrade its current forces with what was recovered. Rangers and Support were outfitted with stronger armour, guns and gear. Fencers replaced the original tank class units, with their power armour technology and massive weapons. Wing divers replaced Jets, however, due to limitation of armour covering due to the Ravager jet-tech, the class is an all female unit.
The EDF became a cultural phenomenom. Merchandising spread across every market. Civilians could buy anything from EDF t-shirts to blu-ray discs of a live-action show featuring a Wing Diver unit taking on giant monsters.
Eight years later, the Ravagers returned. The original force the EDF faced was only a scouting fleet as this new force was ten times larger. The aliens deployed an even larger variety of enemies that overwhelmed EDF soldiers. Their insects and mechs were stronger and they deployed flying insects such as wasps and one species that was designed to look and fight like a dragon. Despite the odds, the EDF were able to defeat the Ravagers a second time. Storm 1 was especially noted for their sacrifice in destroying the Brain ship that controlled the majority of Ravager forces and the Earth Eater fleet.
The result of the war was far more devastating than the first. Half of humanity was wiped out and EDF was once again in shambles. Due to how the Ravagers took humanity surprise a second time, the world's governments initiated a new resolution that required every human to enroll in EDF for a minimum of two years and, in case of invasion, be recalled into duty.
Their fears of a third invasion were proven true when the Ravagers returned in 2054 in far greater numbers than the previous two invasions. The war was brutal, but with EDF's newest technology and the fighting spirit of humanity, EDF was triumphant.
VVVVV
It has been several hours since the Mastership was taken out of the sky. Ravager units and ships across the globe followed suit as they either stopped functioning or simply fell to the ground. Despite the damage the Mastership took, there still remained sections of it that were relatively undamaged and still needed to be investigated. Due to the skill and valour they displayed during the third Ravagar War, Tsunami Team 1 was selected to infiltrate. The team consisted of a Ranger commander, a Fencer, an Air Raider, and a Wind Diver.
"What do you see, Ranger?" Command called in through the comm.
"Really silvery halls," she replied back. "I have no idea why these aliens like metallic silver so much."
"No signs of opposition?"
"No, sir," the Ranger assured Command. "Though these halls are too small even for their smallest troops."
"Their smallest troops are giant ants," Wing Diver pointed out.
"True. Honestly after taking on giant spiders and dragons, some human size enemies would be a breath of fresh air."
"Stay vigiliant, Tsunami 1. We have no idea what defences this Mastership has on the inside."
"We'll be cautious, sir. Ranger, out."
"So what do you think these Ravagers look like?" the Fencer asked the Ranger.
"No idea. Their forces are so varied, they could look like anything."
"I'm betting bugs!" the Air Raider chipped in. "They are so obsessed with insects, they must look like some creepy space bug."
"I thought that their insect forces were only created to scare humanity," Diver said.
"You mean like when you were caught in that Retiarius web?" Raider laughed.
"Hey! You try being immobolized by webbing as a building-sized spider comes over to eat you." Diver turned to the Fencer. "Thank you, for slicing that spider in half and getting me out."
"No problem," Fencer replied. "I always love to make bugs go squash."
"Quiet down," Ranger said. "We're here."
The team stood in front of a double door. Above it was words in the Ravager's language.
"According to Command, this should be the main control room. If there's going to be any opposition, it'll definitely be in here. Be ready for anything. Raider, get us through this door."
Raider went up to the door. "Let's see what kind of system I have to hack through-"
The doors opened before Raider could make the attempt.
"Huh. Should we proceed, m'am?"
Ranger pondered for a moment. "Yes, but I smell a trap. Ready your weapons."
The squad walked into the control room. The room was poorly lit by red emergency lights. The room was no bigger than a standard bridge.
"This room is nowhere near large enough to hold the usual Ravager troops."
"No, it isn't," a voice reverberated through the room.
Despite facing giant insects and building-size mechs without so much as flinching, Tsunami 1 couldn't help but feel a chill go down their spine hearing the inhuman voice.
"Do not fear..." the voice assured in its smug tone. "The war is over and your species has won."
The team moved into the control room. In the center was a chair that faced dozens of monitors that gave its viewer knowledge of events all around the world. The chair rotated as the soldiers approached. Sitting in the chair was a member of the race that attempted to wipe out humanity. The Ravager was very slender and had leathery brown skin. Its head was large; too large for its body. Many tubes were connected to its body and numerous cybernetic mods on its body were obvious.
"You can speak english?" Raider asked it.
"My people were capable of space flight for over several hundred thousand of your years. We mastered genetic manipulation and AI technology. Understanding and speaking the grunts you call the english language is well within my capabilities."
The Fencer swung his eight foot long sword and held it towards the Ravager. "Watch your mouth, alien."
"If you think threating me with death will change my mood, you're too late." The Ravager removed his hand from his stomach revealing a puncture wound. "I don't have much time left. I know you hate my race, and with good reason, but all I ask is that you listen to me."
"Put your weapon down, Fencer," the Ranger ordered.
"Yes, m'am," the Fencer responded and immediately rested his sword on his shoulder.
"Good. You called my race Ravagers." He chuckled weakly. "An apt name consider what we have done, but know that we did not do what we have done without reason."
"Reason enough to slaughter billions of lives?!" Diver yelled in frustration.
"Diver, let him finish," Ranger said in her calm voice.
Diver backed down immediately, not wanting to upset her CO.
"My race was... Is known as the Arthenn." A hologram appeared above them all showing the Milky Way galaxy. A reticle focused on one section of the galaxy and zoomed in. "We came from the Zelene system." The zoom stopped on one planet. "Helyme, our world. Our once beautiful world. Over 300, 000 years ago."
"How would your people know what your world look like 300, 000 years ago," Raider asked.
"Stopping the aging process is another simple feat, human," the Ravager chided. He went on to continue his tale. "We advanced until we became a space faring race. We needed to expand our people so we sent probes to all possible nearby systems that could support life. It was then we made the greatest discovery in our people's history." The hologram focused on a nearby system. "The Tasale system. It contained a massive alien artifact." The hologram focues on a two-pronged shaped space station. "A mass relay."
"A mass relay?" Diver repeated.
"An ingenius device. It create a conduit that allowed near instaneous travel to another mass relay. It operated on a principle that we called mass effect. By using an element called element zero, we were able to apply a charge to it to change the mass of anything."
"The EDF would surely like to get their hands on that stuff," Ranger noted.
"No!" the Ravager yelled. "All of it! The devices. The element. It was all a trap!"
"A trap?"
"We based our technology on these devices. We were able to spread across the galaxy quickly but we lost our innovation. We thought nothing of it as we were able to still spread across the galaxy and colonize new worlds. We even discovered the center of the network of mass relays." A hologram of a large space station that was similar to a starfish in shape. "The Citadel. Not once did we ever think about what happened to the race before us. We were cattle being prepared for the slaughter."
"Slaughtered by what?" Ranger asked.
The hologram shifted and focused on a cuttlefish-shaped ship.
"We do not know what they are called. We only gave them an equally apt name as Ravager. Reapers. We thought the mass relays and the Citadel were created by an alien race that went extinct long ago. We were wrong. They were created by the Reapers."
"Why would they create the relays?"
"To make sure that we developed along their ideal pathway of technology. So when they invaded, we would not be advance enough to fight back. I don't know why they slaughtered us or the races before us or after. Only that every fifty thousand years, they come through the Citadel relay and initiate their campaign. We couldn't fight back as all our weapons were turned against us. Unlike you humans, we couldn't rely on our physical prowess. We used only our minds. We had mechs, but the Reapers easily hacked them and turned our own creations against us. Only a few of us escaped. We became nomads as we avoided mass relays. We focused on developing outside of their pathways of technology. We even developed an alternative to mass effect FTL and teleportation technology. We searched for eons for a new world to colonize. Eventually we found this one."
"Too bad it was already in use," Diver interjected.
The Ravager looked at the Ranger captain. "You. You're the leader of this group responsible for taking down my most prized ship. On foot... What is your name?"
"Captain Hannah Shepard."
The Ravager waved his hand and the computer system nearby lit up. "All our knowledge is within these databanks. Use it to avoid the same mistakes we made. Destroy any mass relays you come across. Stop the reapers."
"You're helping us?" Shepard asked.
"Do not think I'm doing this for your sake!" the Ravager growled. "I still feel no remorse over slaughtering your people. However, I hate the reapers far more. This knowledge is my people's legacy. By using this knowledge you shall preserve my people's legacy." The Ravager grinned. His time was short. "My people's legacy won't die with me..."
"Burn in hell, you son of a bitch," Fencer growled.
"Tsunami 1 come in," Commander chirped in over the radio.
"Tsunami 1 here, Command," Shepard answered. "The Mastership is now cleared."
"Good job."
"We recovered a databank that contains all the knowledge the Ravagers has gathered, however we found that there is an even worse threat."
"You're kidding?"
"Rangers don't kid when it comes to Earth's future. But with the information in these databanks, we can fight back."
VVVVV
2055 - The third Ravager War comes to an end. The last of the Ravagers were wiped out in this war giving humanity relief that they have one less enemy in the galaxy. However with news of the Reapers, the EDF could not rest. The world focused on reverse engineering Ravager technology and using their databanks to bring humanity into a new golden age.
2054 - Tsunami squad are given the task of training new recuits in the EDF.
2056 - Nanotechnology developed from Ravager nanotech and genetic technology puts an end to all disease and aging.
2061 - Majority of Earth cities are cleared of Ravager debris and are restored.
2062 - Scientists manage to understand Ravager genetic technology concerning the giant insetcs they deployed. Now EDF is able to create and control giant insects. While control over giant ants and spiders was able to supply them with endless labour and troops, the main focus was on the dragons. The Ravagers used a dragonfly as the base genetics for the dragon and genetically engineered its DNA with reptile and bombardier beetle DNA to create this ferocious beast. With the ability to control them, the EDF employed dragons in their army creating a new soldier class: Dragon Riders. These riders and their mounts are moderately armoured and the riders are each equipped with a small scale version of the Fencer's force blade, an smg and a rocket launcher.
2063 - Barrier technology mastered.
2064 - Newest line of EDF starships are deployed.
2065 - The lunar colony of Armstrong is established as a military outpost.
2068 - Intact Earth Eaters are reprogrammed to be able to convert worlds into habitable worlds. They are renamed Earth Makers.
2072 - Earth's population returns to pre-wars level.
2073 - Earth Makers are sent to Mars to terraform it to prepare it for colonization.
2074 - Mars is terraformed to have an Earth-like atmosphere. Colonization ships are sent to its surface.
2078 - Miners excavate alien ruins on Mars. Translators discover the ruins belong to an alien race known as the Protheans. Scientists are put to work on decoding the Prothean archive.
2080 - The first self aware EDF AI is born. The AI is employed in the EDF to assist in human expansion. The AI is named ADAM.
2081 - AI development is put into force, currently creating one AI person every month. Physical bodies are created to house the AI. Synthetic bodies look like a real human except for their glowing eyes. AI soldiers are given the class name Lightning Guard.
2083 - Colonies created on Saturn's and Jupiter's moons.
2084 - One of Pluto's moons is found to be a mass relay that was encased in ice. The relay is activated and scout ships are sent through to map the otherside. The found that the mass relay went to the Arcturus system. From there the scout ships were able to map out three other systems that the Arcturus relay linked to.
2085 - With the knowledge from the Ravagar databanks, the EDF were able to deactivate and dismantle Sol's and Arcturus' relay. The EDF creates the Storm Protocol. The protocol calls for every mass relay the EDF discovers to be mapped and then be dismantled.
2086 - EDF releases the Chronus, the first super-dreadnought class ship.
2088 - EDF creates the EDEN project. The goal is to locate all possible habitable worlds for the EDF to colonize.
2091 - EDF colonizes Eden Prime. The planet is named after the project that found it.
2092 - EDF and Earth's government goes through reforms to match their territory expansion. Humanity's government is renamed Systems Alliance and Earth Defense Force to Alliance Defense Force.
2094 - ADF colonizes Terra Nova and Tyr.
2100 - Humanity's population reaches 20 billion. AI population reaches 1 million.
2103 - The last of humanity's kinetic projectile weapons are retired from service. Lasers and plasma weapons are now standardized.
2115 - More habitable worlds are found in the Exodus Cluster and are quickly colonized.
2127 - ADF fleet number reaches 10 super-dreadnought, 50 dreadnoughts, 30 carriers, 200 cruisers, and 500 frigates.
2133 - Humanity sends probes to other star systems in search of new habitable worlds.
2137 - Jane Shepard is born.
2141 - Majority of Exodus Cluster star systems are colonized.
2152 - Shanxi-Theta system is discovered as a candidate for human expansion.
2156 - Shanxi is colonized.
2157 - Scouts activate the Shanxi-Theta mass relay. The scouts are found by a turian patrol are are attacked. The scouts retreated through the mass relay back to Shanxi. The patrol follow through the relay in an attempt to subjugate the law-breaking race.
VVVVV
3 days later...
General Desolas Arterius walked quickly through the hospital. He approached the front desk. An asari sat there reading through her computer.
"Where is Admiral Decimus Geta?" Desolas demanded.
The asari looked up and saw Desolas. "Oh, General. He's in room 121 in intensive care, but I don't think it's a good idea to see him yet."
"High Command wants to know what happened at Relay-314." Desolas walked by her.
"I don't have the luxury of patience."
The asari nurse quickly got up and followed. "I don't think you understand the situation, General. He's not in intensive care just for physical injuries."
Desolas stopped in his tracks. "What do you mean?"
"Admiral Geta..." The asari struggled to think of how to explain the situation. "Something happened at 314. Something terrible. Whatever the Admiral saw on the other side, traumatized him. He's been babbling nonsense since he arrived here. Even yelling that Wanyudo are coming for him."
"Wanyudo?"
"Yes. You know what he is talking about?"
"Wanyudo in turian beliefs are evil spirits that eat other spirits. That's odd..."
"How so?"
"Admiral Geta is the most secular turian I know. There's no way he would believe such things."
"Then you understand how serious the situation is?"
"Regardless. The Admiral is the only survivor. We are currently recovering his ship's records, but it can only tell us so much."
The nurse gave up in trying to stop the General from entering Geta's room. Desolas saw that the Admiral had many cuts and burn wounds. He has never seen anything like it.
"Admiral?"
Geta turned his head and saw Desolas. "D-Desolas?"
"Yes, old friend." Desolas pulled up a chair and sat down next to his bed. "Do you know why I am here?"
"R-Relay-314."
"Good, good. High Command wants to know what happened. Can you try to tell me?"
"W-We were patrolling Relay-314 as usual. Then it suddenly activated. Several ships had come through. As per protocol, we went to punish the activators of the mass relay."
"Yes, very good," Desolas assured him. "Very good."
"Our sensors detected no eezo, so we thought this race was primitive. We were more than confident in our ability to take them down. Our attacks did nothing."
"What?"
"Our shots deflected off of some sort of shield."
"Shielding without eezo?"
"The ships retreated through the mass relay. Even with their shields we were confident. They didn't use eezo, so how could they fight back against us? How? W-We f-followed them back through the found their world and we tried to attack..."
"And?"
Suddenly Geta started to breath rapidly. "Th-They're too powerful! We are nothing to them! Nothing! No hope! They destroyed my entire fleet like were were mere insects." That word set him off. He rapidly shook back and forth. "Insects! Insects! Insects!"
Desolas slammed Geta back to his bed. "Who?" he demanded. "Who attacked you?!"
Geta stopped shaking. He stared dead-eyed at Desolas and whispered something too quiet for him to hear.
"What?"
Geta's voice grew louder as he repeated the same word over and over again. "ADF! ADF! ADF! ADF! ADF! ADF! ADF! ADF! ADF!"