M42 86 – Segmentum Obscurus
In the face of the Thirteenth Black Crusade, the Imperium of Man gathered as much of its forces as it could to attempt to retake worlds swallowed by the Eye of Terror in what would come to be known as the Indomitus Crusade. One such force was composed of Battlefleet Kaeverus composed of twelve capital ships and thirty-four screens, mainly cruisers. A large force of transports, carrying five million Imperial Guardsmen, accompanied the Battlefleet. Half of these were Vostroyan regiments and the rest composed of regiments from various planets from the sector. Unfortunately for the Imperium, the navigable paths of the Warp were in danger from the machinations of Chaos Undivided, as warp storms were particularly treacherous during the Black Crusades.
As the warp storm reached its apex, the ships were tossed about violently, and several of the smaller ships were lost, either their Gellar fields failing, allowing them to be swallowed by the warp, or being tossed into each other. In the deadly currents of the Warp, the larger ships were most likely to survive a storm, much like larger ships in a sea of water, their size protects them from being easily tossed around like ragdolls. Nevertheless, this was a severe warp storm, and all power was devoted to maintaining the Gellar Fields against the onslaught. On several of the smaller ships and the transports, the Gellar Fields failed, and the men aboard, hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions in total, perished. Fortunately, the most severe part of the storm passed after only a few minutes. The Gellar fields at their breaking point, Lord -Admiral Agostino Barbarigo, a heavily augmented man with head tendrils to connect to his command throne, gave the order to exit warp to prevent the total loss of the fleet.
"I want an immediate survey, what have we lost and where are we?" The answer of the officers was reassuring. They had only lost 12 ships in the storm, mostly frigates, but the loss of a Mars-class battlecruiser was disconcerting, drastically reducing their firepower; however, the core of the fleet remained intact, the Admiral thanking the Golden Throne that his flagship, the Apocalypse-class battleship Littorio was still space-worthy. However, most of the ships were temporarily disabled, and only two capital ships and nine screens would be combat ready should they be attacked. The rest of the fleet would take anywhere from a few hours to a week to get back online.
The response from the navigator was more disconcerting, as he screamed that the light of the Astronomicon was lost and had to be restrained by the deck officers as he tried to take the Emperor's peace into his own hands.
"Get me a manual fix on our current location via star charts and scans of the system", Admiral Barbarigo demanded, beginning to grow more concerned with the sitaution. After a few minutes to run the scan and double check, the report came back that their location didn't match any known location in Imperial space. There was, however, something curious that could tell them where they were: the scans told them that they were on the edge of system, in the center of which was a large space station protected by a fleet of what appeared to be small vessels of an unknown type. It was possible that they had stumbled upon a location in a small Xenos empire in the Halo Stars. Normally, it would be a simple matter to reach the station and destroy the fleet and interrogate the inhabitants to find out where they were; however, in the fleet's weakened state, it was imperative to avoid conflict until combat-effectiveness could reach at least 50%, a state which would most likely take two or three days.
Masking his own doubts and fears to sound reassuring to the crew, the seasoned spacefarer called out, "Set up a defensive perimeter around the stricken vessels and try to intercept communications for the machine spirit to translate. Get on the intercom and announce an emergency meeting of the most important personnel in my cabin. Captain, you have the deck, I'll be in my study."
2183 – Citadel Space
In the month since Sovereign's attack on the Citadel, things had mostly returned to normal, with the station and fleet having mostly been repaired. The Council's newest Spectre, Commander Jane Shepard and her crew were recuperating on the station before heading out for their next mission, or, at least, they had been until Captain Anderson had raised her on the omnitool and ordered her to get to Citadel tower ASAP. The message was urgent from his tone of voice. When she got there, the situation seemed frantic, C-Sec personnel and bureaucrats were running about everywhere. Shepard tried to listen to their conversations, but the background noise was so loud she couldn't make anything out. To hide the stress, she plucked out a single strand of her shoulder-length black hair.
"Shepard! We're over here, we've been waiting for you", said Andersonas he reached through the crowd and guided her towards Council's chambers. At this point Shepard noticed the annoyed looks on Liara and Garrus' faces at being interrupted. She was about to ask for an explanation when Captain Anderson stopped her, "I suppose I owe you an explanation as to why we need you so urgently. Shepard, we're on the verge of making another first contact. A fleet of unknown origin has arrived on the edge of the system, and we're trying to put together a task force to make contact." Shepard was going to respond, but Liara began asking questions, clearly fascinated, but Anderson hushed her up, "That's all I know, we'll have to let the Council brief you."
The four of them spent the next several minutes in silence before Councillors Tevos, Valern, and Sparatus arrived. Despite the formality usual in such a situation, they got right into the heart of the matter
. Tevos spoke first, "Commander Shepard, as I'm sure Captain Anderson has already told you, we're in the midst of what may be the most important contact since the contact with humanity thirty years ago. As we are unable to establish direct contact with them as of now, we're putting together a task force to make contact in-person."
"Excuse me, Councillor Tevos", Shepard tried to make her interruption as polite as possible, "But wouldn't it be more prudent to send a diplomat rather than a soldier to make first contact with an unknown race? Moreover, if you must send military personnel, why not sent the Citadel fleet to investigate?"
"Well, I think I had better let Councillor Sparatus answer that, as he has more military expertise than I –"
"It is my belief, Shepard, that this is no mere expedition, but a large military fleet", Sparatus shuffled his notes as the screen displayed the fleet for the first time, to gasps at the large number of ships, "The large ships you see are around five to six kilometers in length, the smaller ones are similar in size to Sovereign. In my opinion, it would be foolish to think that this is a civilian expedition. We think that someone with a military background would be better able to relate to these people. The reason you are going alone is, well, we don't want them to feel threatened by the full size of the Citadel fleet. Much of their fleet is inactive, possibly stricken somehow, if we sent the whole fleet to make contact, they may mistake it as a hostile action and open fire."
"And, judging from the size of the ships, even the weakened force could inflict serious damage, provided their weaponry matches their size", Valern interjected, "this is a very dangerous situation, and will require all possible tact. If Sparatus is correct and this is a military expedition, try to discover their purpose. Do you understand your mission?"
"I do."
"Very good, because you depart in thirty minutes. You are dismissed."
Littorio
Inside the briefing room had been gathered the most important persons the fleet had been transporting. Most importantly was Lord-Admiral Agostino Barbarigo, the commander of the fleet. Seated around him was Lord-General Pyotr Wrangel of the Vostroyan regiments, numbering two and a half million before the warp storm, now reduced to only one million-seven-hundred-thousand men. He was in full uniform for the briefing, wearing his crimson uniform beneath his golden carapace, which was adorned with the green silk sash of his rank. At his side, he carried a power sword and laspistol, and on his face he wore a white mustache, which showed his age of one-hundred and twenty-one. Seated across from him was Magos van Leeuwenhoek, the leader of the Martian tech priests assigned to the battlefleet. On the far end of the room skulked a man in a white cassock and matching wide-brim hat, wearing a rapier and adorning his chest was a Gothic 'I.' This was Inquisitor Avaakum, of the Holy Order of the Emperor's Inquisition. At sixty-four, he was young for his profession, and looked younger still thanks to his augmentations. Indeed, the only reason he had managed to reach such a high position at his age was that his piety was well-known and had earned him the patronage of many powerful men in the organization. He hadn't done much field work and delighted most in writing up reports on Imperial history from studying the archives on Terra.
But entering the room at that moment was the being held in highest esteem in the fleet. While the fleet's primary mission was to retake three systems in a counteroffensive, it's secondary objective was to escort a rare, very important cargo, back to Terra from an important diplomatic mission. This cargo was a member of the God-Emperor's most holy Custodian Guard, a five-thousand-year-old warrior by the name of Aurelianus Varro, a veteran of the relatively recent battle of Terra against the forces of Chaos. He stood at nine feet in his golden power armor, plus an additional two feet from his cone-shaped helmet and red plume. Behind him trailed a red cloak. Even unarmed as he was in the briefing room, he was a terrible sight; at his entrance, everyone made the sign of the Aquila, and it became clear that the reason the Inquisitor had parked himself by the door was to ask the Custodian for a blessing for what seemed like the thousandth time on the long voyage.
"Gentlemen, I am glad that you all came so quickly, as it is extremely urgent. As we came out of the warp storm, we discovered that we have become drastically off course, our current location is unknown," the Admiral paused to allow everyone in the room to take in this information, but it appeared that none were particularly shocked after experiencing the violence of the storm. "What is perhaps more interesting, is that we have come out of warp in a system with a large space station, guarded by a fleet of small vessels of clear Xenos origin. Magos van Leeuwenhoek has been working on a translation of their language from their vox transmissions. Magos, would you like to explain your findings?"
A mechanical, raspy voice answered back, "The transmission we have intercepted have shown that the owners of the station are a confederation of multiple Xenos species, but what is most alarming is that among the Xenos are vile so-called humans who are consorting with them, even being subservient to them!"
"An outrage!" the Inquisitor interrupted, "Admiral, you must purge this heretical scum with utmost haste. Tell your crew to man their battlestations and blast this station apart with our novacannons." As the inquisitor finished, the Vostroyan commander nodded, but looked at the Admiral, clearly expecting a good reason for the delay in the destruction of the heretics.
"I share your concerns", boomed the custodian in the room, "but I am sure a man as seasoned as the Lord-Admiral has good reasons for not acting as quickly as you suggest. In warp storms as severe as the one which struck us, it is not uncommon for fleets to be heavily damaged or even destroyed. We're lucky to have come out alive, but many of our compatriots aboard the other ships may not have been so lucky."
"You are correct, noble custodian", the Admiral replied, grateful to have received backing from the only one in the room who fully outranked the Inquisitor. "Our position is relatively weak right now and the fleet is at only about fifteen percent combat effectiveness. We will have to find a way to delay conflict for the three days it will take to reach minimum desired combat effectiveness. If forced to fight by this enemy, we will do so, but in our current state, we can't guarantee that we won't take heavy losses."
The heavily accented voice of the Vostroyan commander spoke up for the first time, "I'm personally rather grateful to have some time to prepare the attack on the station, if we had only a few hours to prepare, we would have to cut corners. Cutting corners means more of my guardsmen die, and I can't have that", the Lord-General was a rather kind-hearted man for his profession, and he was known to be affectionate towards his men, a trait that the fleet would find useful now that their resources were so limited.
The intercom from the bridge sounded, "Lord-Admiral, your presence is requested immediately on the bridge. Sorry to interrupt, sir, but it's incredibly urgent."
SSV Normandy
The Normandy had been slowly (for the Normandy) approaching the fleet for the past five minutes, and had begun broadcasting, "Unknown fleet, identify yourselves, please respond", on loop for the entire time. They had hoped moving closer would elicit a response by now. Wrex was the first to speak, "Shepard, I've got a bad feeling about this: if they're friendly, they sure aren't showing it. I say we call the Citadel fleet and have blow those ships to smithereens before these guys try anything funny."
"That wasn't very funny, I can't believe you would openly joke about starting a war with an unknown civilization simply because you have a bad feeling about them", Liara countered. She had been fascinated with the new arrivals since she had heard about them and marveled at the size of their vessels. Since she had Shepard wrapped around her finger, it was a given that she would be on the team that made first contact. "Besides, I'm sure we have a lot to learn from a race that has such… megalithic architecture."
The metallic voice of the Turian, Garrus Vakarian, laughed, "Ha! Megalithic, that's one way to put it. Those ships may be big, but that architecture sure isn't pretty."
"Can you guys be a little more professional?" Shepard said, "I'd rather the history books not say that we started a war by insulting their arch—."
"Ma'am, this is Joker, they're responding."
"Well, what are you waiting for, put them on screen!"
"Based on your conversation, I thought you guys might want a bit of warning," Joker's crack elicited a smile. "Alright, they're on screen in 3…2…1…"
The appearance of the man on screen was almost frightening at first: he was disfigured and covered in cybernetics, not like the ones they had encountered before, but large, bulky, almost crude in a way, but perhaps what was most shocking was that he was, more or less, human. It was such a shock at first that Jane couldn't find the words until the man spoke, "I am Lord-Admiral Barbarigo, commander of Battlefleet Kaeverus, and servant of the God-Emperor of Mankind." That confirmed it, what they thought had been a new alien civilization was clearly human, but it was still unknown. Whoever built those ships wasn't with the Alliance, nor even Cerberus; nothing known could have built such massive ships, and no one worshipped a "God-Emperor of Mankind." It also confirmed Sparatus' conclusion that it was a military expedition.
"This is Commander Jane Shepard, Citadel Spectre", Jane waited to see if the title or name got any attention, but she didn't notice any on the Admiral's face, "We would like to bring you aboard the Citadel to meet the council, so that we can learn more about your people, your way of life, and your purpose. We come in peace and want to open diplomatic relations."
There was clear strain on in the Admiral's expression, he clearly didn't like the idea of going aboard a space station of a civilization he just met. He pondered for a few seconds that seemed like an eternity, "I think it would be best… if you came aboard our ship first. We'll open the hangar and please give us a few minutes to prepare a welcome party." With that, he ended the transmission, almost as quickly as he started it.
"Well, that could have gone worse I suppose. Liara, Garrus, and Wrex, suit up and get ready to go to the hanger. Joker, send the Citadel a status update: we're going to take them up on their offer."
Littorio
Lord-Admiral Barbarigo returned to the briefing room clearly disturbed, Lord-General Wrangel was eager to know what reduced his old war companion to such, "Agostino, are you alright? You look like you've seen a daemon."
"I-I've agreed to allow a party to come aboard the ship."
"You did what!?" Avaakum approached the table and beat his fist down on it, "These people are heretics, and you're going to allow them to sully this great vessel with their filthy feet with the same dignity as if they were trueborn servants of the Emperor? It is not enough that there are Xenos among them, as the Xeno cannot help his perfidious nature, but the heretic is the most vile of all creatures, for he has a noble nature, and rejects it! This is treason, Lord-Admiral, and you could pay for it with your life", the Inquisitor looked around the room to gauge everyone's reaction to what he had said, before calming down and finishing, "but we are in a dire situation, and, given the circumstances, I can understand why you would make such a decision. However, Admiral, you must guard yourself and your men from the influence of heresy. We may yet suffer for this."
"It will please you to know, Inquisitor", Barbarigo responded, "that I intend to make sure that they don't leave the hangar."
Lord-General Wrangel interjected. "Then I'll assemble an honor guard and prepare to meet them, I'll negotiate with them as a soldier to a soldier. I'll only need about fifty grenadiers and a couple of autocannon crews to make sure we can keep their lander in place."
"I must object to your plan, Lord-General", the Inquisitor stopped him, "I agree with your ideas for guarding the hangar, but you are too valuable a member of our party to risk in an assassination scenario. If you are killed without even having a chance to give battle, it would gravely harm the morale of the Imperial Guard forces with the fleet. For the same reason, the Lord-Admiral cannot go. Both of you have expertise that cannot be risked at this time. I have only a small security detail and no connections with the fleet, I'll go to the meeting."
"Out of the question, we're in trying times, inquisitor, and we can't risk you. You're the only one here who can keep us all on the right path, and your counsel will be needed in the coming days," Agostino replied. "The same goes for the Magos, I forbid the two of you to go to that meeting, it's non-negotiable." Avaakum looked somewhat disappointed that he was being pushed out of history so easily. He had imagined someone like him hundreds of years from now reading about how he had first met these heretics and killed them.
They spent the next few minutes pondering what to do until finally their golden compatriot decided for them, "I will go", the rest of the party wanted to object, but none could find the words to argue with one of the Ten Thousand Companions. "I am the only one here that these people would be unable to harm, it only makes sense that I go. I would not be in danger from whatever weapon they could bring to bear. Such concerns as assassination would be totally irrelevant."
The group was still in shock, and the Vostroyan commander even made the sign of the Aquila again. The Magos responded, "It is surely not a coincidence that the Omnissiah sent us here with a Custodian. We submit to your wise judgement, guardian of the Omnissiah."
"I'll make my way down there now, Lord-General, assemble the guard, I'll be ready to receive them when you are."
Littorio Hangar
Aurelianus watched as the tiny shuttle entered the hangar. It was unnoticeable to those around him due to his helm, but he was somewhat excited. He was a relatively new addition to the Ten Thousand, having only been created in M37, and had spent the first four thousand years of his life listening to the stories of the remaining Custodians created by the Emperor before the Age of the Imperium. There were only about three hundred left, but when he was still young, there were as many as one thousand. Aurelianus, like every Custodian before and since, had memorized the oral history of the Emperor's guardians, and the divine heritage of his mantle was something he took great pride in. He had grown up listening to great heroes tell stories of battling now-extinct Xenos during the Great Crusade, the ferocious fighting of the Horus Heresy and the War in the Webway, and the savagery of the Beast's attempt to take Holy Terra. He already had made for himself bardic tales of the battle for Terra during the Thirteenth Black Crusade, as many others had done, but now he was on the cusp of becoming the first Custodian since the Great Crusade to subjugate unknown Xenos species. It was also clear that the Lord-General understood the importance of this event, or, rather, wanted to impress him. The honor guard he had assembled for the meeting was fifty of the strongest men in the regiments, all at least two meters tall, and all in their finest regalia, which, given they were soldiers of Vostroya, really meant something.
Jane Shepard heard Tali gasp when they entered the hangar and wanted desperately to know what was going on outside, "Tali, talk to me, in the troop compartment we're blind."
"It's really best if you see it for yourself, Shepard."
"What the hell was that supposed to mean", Garrus asked.
"It means be ready for anything", Wrex answered, making sure his shotgun was easy to reach if he needed it.
As soon as they felt the lander touch down, they leapt out of their seats and prepared themselves for first contact. The ramp lowered, and they walked out into the hanger below. It seemed that these people had really rolled out the red carpet: there was an honor guard of tall, well-dressed men who were drilled well, but when they saw Garrus, Wrex, and Liara, many of them could help stares, not stares of mere curiosity, but almost hateful stares; it occurred to Jane that maybe these people weren't on friendly terms with the aliens they had met previously, perhaps run-ins with Batarian slavers?
But what caught the most attention was the behemoth standing directly across from them, a golden thing in humanoid shape that was three-and-a-half meters tall by her estimation with red cloth on its back and groin, and a plume on top of its head. She thought it was a little elaborate for a mech, and then she wondered if perhaps there was a person inside of it, maybe a mech piloted by a person. Then she remembered that the Admiral had said he was a "servant of the God-Emperor of Mankind" and wondered if this was what they thought was a god. If it was a man, it was pretty impressive, but she wasn't sure it could be considered a god. As they reached the end of the row of soldiers, she reached out her hand to the thing, which was clearly supposed to greet them: "I'm Commander Jane Shepard, representing the Citadel Council, and it's my pleasure and honor to welcome you to the galactic community.