Hello readers! Welcome to my new Mass Effect story: Landfall! As for my first two stories, I let them go to the wayside, and I might pick them up again, who knows, but as for now consider them on semi-permanent hiatus. As for an update schedule on this story, I do not have one, since I am in college and can only write on an inconsistent basis but hopefully I can keep a steady stream of updates flowing!
Now, as for the premise of this new story…
The plot takes place in an AU first contact scenario between a group of Turians and humans. There are no time-travel aspects, so that means no Shepard, but you might see some parallels eventually. As for the year, I'll leave it to you readers to find out that much. Yeah yeah, that's all I'm giving you for background, deal with it! Now, without further ado, I present… Landfall.
P.S. – I can't find any data on crew compliments for a Turian frigate, so let's just assume that there are 200 men and women aboard, shall we? Unless anyone cares to enlighten me. Thanks.
-Astor
Mass Effect doesn't belong to me. My OC's and the story, on the other hand, do!
-break-
It was like any other day aboard the Aurus-class frigate Prima. Ship Master Palidus went over reports from his subordinates, first his second in command Lieutenant Commander Caedos, a female officer who has proven herself and risen quickly through the ranks. Her report returned nothing of note, apart from the engineering staff complaining of frequent energy surges, nothing to take into much consideration.
After reading the latest of Caedos' well-written reports, he changes focus on his omni-tool to news from the senior army officer aboard, Major Baculus. A well-respected man, he leads his small company with a sense of comradery and brotherhood, a fact that earns him praise from his enlisted soldiers. Apart from the latest updates on the readiness of the soldiers and training routines planned, nothing out of the ordinary, leaving Palidus to manage the bridge.
"Navigation, report." Palidus asks, prompting a quick reply.
"On course, sir. Preparing to enter the relay, destination set to the Serpent Nebula. Our E.T.A. is five minutes", states a young officer manning their station.
"Good to hear. Pilot, prepare to make the jump. Engineering, begin to bring up engine power in preparation, keep an eye out for any surges and notify me of any inconsistencies."
At this command, the Ship Master receives "Aye" from both stations.
Satisfied with his crew, Palidus toggles the ship-wide PA system, "Crew, this is the Ship Master. We are preparing to make the relay to the Citadel. I am proud of your service these past weeks and hope you enjoy your shore leave. Prepare for jump." With these final words, he sits back, observing his officers until the relay connects, starting their acceleration.
As the ship is pulled in closer to the ancient, massive structure, the engineering officer calls out frantically, "Sir, massive energy spike in the drive core! Larger than any others we've seen today!"
Shit, we're too far into the relay sequence to abort… "Hold steady everyone! Engineering, try anything you can to keep the ship from losing systems, we have to push through." Hitting the ship-wide comms again, "All hands, brace for a rough jump and prepare damage control"
As Palidus speaks those few words the Prima is shot through space at incredibly high speeds. Against all the attempts of the engineers, the power surge spreads, shorting all primary systems such as navigation, communication, even the chronometer. Life support, emergency lights, and some thruster power are all that remain as the ship exits the relay.
"Spirits, where are we?!" The Ship Master questions as the viewport reveals not the nebula in which the behemoth station resides but a star, being orbited by multiple planets.
The navigations officer is first to respond, "We lost all of our star charts and databases sir, as well as communications, so no way to find our exact location, but I can assure you we are nowhere near the Citadel…" she states, confused.
"I can see that Lieutenant. Pilot, any maneuvering capability?"
From the pilot's chair, he replies, "Limited sir, barely enough to accelerate or decelerate at all. I can say that we are currently on course to strike what seems to be the third planet from the star."
"Hmm, alright then. Try your best to set us up for a low orbit if you can. If not, make it the smoothest crash-landing that it can be. Everyone else, try to get systems back up and find out if that planet is at least habitable."
Again, a chorus of "Aye" can be heard throughout the bridge as all stations begin their work, the planet hurtling ever closer.
Spirits help us…
-break-
Planetside, the entirety of the Earth was in turmoil. To Corporal David Conti, he was in the center of it. He and the remainder of his ranger platoon were holding off waves of enemy infantry while doing the best they could to both conserve their ammo and not freeze to death. The Ardennes was a cold hell to him as he fired off more rounds from his M1 Garand rifle.
Through the thick forest, shouts of "Schnell!" and "Vorwarts!" could be heard from the German officers while another squad of Wehrmacht advanced on their foxholes.
"Shit. Shit, shit, shit!" Conti shouted in rhythm with his shots until a metallic clang told him he had run out of rounds. "I need ammo! I'm all out!" He shouted in vain as all his platoon were in similar straits. Well screw it, if I'm going down might as well give 'em a good fight!
Planning his last act of defiance against the stubborn Germans, he reaches to his scabbard and draws his bayonet, fixing it to the end of the barrel and preparing his training to finally come to good use. As the first German soldier was about to meet him hand-to-hand, a thunderous BOOM! stopped every man in their tracks. American and the few surviving Germans alike looked to the sky to see a massive 550-yard thing gliding very rapidly towards the ground.
"Jesus Christ, run your asses!" Conti shouts as he turns and flees, his former enemies shouting in terror to their men to run as well as all move in a mad frenzy to find cover from this new form of hell from above. Both U.S. and Nazi soldiers took cover what seemed to be out of the path of the new object, as it seemed to have been turning away slightly the whole time, almost as if it was being piloted.
In a few short moments, however, the behemoth came crashing down, skidding along the earth and kicking up a massive wave of snow and dirt as it came to a crashing halt. Peering over the collapsed tree he and other soldiers took shelter behind, it was clear they had made it, but that a good majority of both sides' battalions had not, as this new appearance made its 'landing' square on the frontline.
"Come on, someone's going to need our help, whether that be our guys or whatever's inside of that thing!" ordered the Lieutenant, and the troops began to hesitantly follow him on what seemed like a mile-long march to the crash site.
As one of the first men in the column, Conti was quick to note the decimation the hulk left in its path, as former trench lines were now covered with freshly churned dirt. There seemed to be no hope of finding anything alive as the Corporal made his way forward to the steaming hull of the 'visitor'. As he neared twenty-five feet away, a large hatch slowly slid open, revealing a dim red lighting and shadowy figures.
"Stop right there, hands up now!" was the quick command from a sergeant up front as troops from both sides aimed their weapons at the unknowns. A quieter "Hold your fire unless you're attacked" was spread throughout the ranks, a lucky translator or two able to relay between two languages.
The sense of uneasiness only escalated into fear as a few of the beings stepped forward, warily putting their 'hands' up in front of them. Gasps could be heard from many men, as well as the clacking of bolts being drawn back as weapons were prepared to fire. As the first thing walked out into broad daylight, not one man was left unaffected as eyes took in the plates of these new, bird-like, armored creatures. Everyone suddenly went silent as the deep, harmonic voice was first heard as it pointed to itself: "Turian"
-break-
Ship Master Palidus found himself in an interesting situation. He was at the business end of many weapons, wielded by an unknown species, all of whom look well outfitted to fight. Trying to keep as open a posture as possible, he points to himself again, repeating slower, "Tu-ri-an", before gesturing to his whole group and repeating it once more. Apparently, someone got the idea, as one of the troopers wearing a dull green, a knife on his weapon replied, "Hu-man", turning himself and gesturing to his group.
Turning to Commander Caedos, "Well I guess this means we made first contact. Hopefully this goes somewhat well…"
Hearing this, she chuckles before facing the humans again. The Ship Master opens his omni-tool as easily as possible, trying not to spook the new race while starting his translator program. Hopefully this pays off… As the orange attachment comes alive, a few of the soldiers jump with a small shout, raising their weapons slightly. Holding out the device, he asks slowly, "Speak some into this, please".
The first request going over their heads, he imitates what he wants them to do, speaking multiple phrases into his omni-tool before holding it out again and repeating his question. Yet again, the first to step up is the resourceful human from before, who starts off with what seems like gibberish, speaking for a few minutes into the receiver before a small ping and green light registers the program as complete. With a sigh of relief, the Ship Master sets the program into action before speaking again, "Hello, I'm Ship Master Palidus of the Turian Hierarchy. Who do I have the pleasure of meeting today?"
-break-
Corporal Conti could not believe his ears. After only a few minutes of talking seemingly meaningless phrases, whatever the machine on the Turian's arm was flashed green. Not soon after, it spoke through the translator: ""Hello, I'm Ship Master Palidus of the Turian Hierarchy. Who do I have the pleasure of meeting today?"
"Jesus Christ! How the hell?" the Ranger jumped back as the creature came through with near perfect English. Luckily, the Lieutenant recovered from his shock quickly and was first to speak.
"Lieutenant Davis of the United States Army, this is my platoon, as well as some… Germans in the grey uniforms" the CO of the U.S. forces chose to speak carefully of the war in front of these new visitors, even though there were not more than 6 Germans present.
"Well, Lieutenant Da-vis, consider this a peaceful hello from my species. I hope our crash didn't cause too much of an issue. Our ship lost any ability to land safely and we were forced to land here."
"I hate to say you did land on two battalions worth of soldiers from both sides…"
"I apologize, it wasn't our intention to cause any harm, and I assure you we don't want conflict, but I must ask, what do you mean when you say 'sides'?"
"The Germans and my people here have been at war for years. We were stuck in a stalemate throughout the winter while we tried to liberate nations from their control."
"I see… I hope we can remain a neutral party in this conflict, I only have 200 men and women under my command, and that's before my casualty report has fully come in."
"Well, that complicates things, but we can try our best."
"Thank you. I also must ask; may we have a small bit of your food to scan? I need to know if we have to try and sustain ourselves by growing our own food in the future. I can explain the details later."
At the Lieutenant's command, one of the soldiers at the back brought up a K-ration pack, opening it and letting the Turian officer perform his tests. Palidus spoke again after a moment of work on his omni-tool, "Well, it seems like we'll have to make food for ourselves, if we eat any of your food we'll have a fatal allergic reaction."
Hearing this, the Lieutenant's eyes widened, "I know our rations aren't great, but it'll kill you?" This earned a few laughs from the group of soldiers.
"Yes, actually. Your food has different compounds than we need to survive to put it simply enough."
"Well then, I hope you can sustain yourselves for a while. For now, though, I'd like you to meet with my superiors. If you'd like to bring along a few others with you, feel free."
Nodding, the Ship Master called for his XO and the Major, at the same time sending the translator program to all his crew before following the American Lieutenant towards his command post.
-break-
Hoorah! Chapter 1 is finished! What did you think? Let me know, I love to hear reviews from you! Just be sure to follow and favorite the story, since I'm really going to be keeping up with it as much as I can. Don't miss an update! I also do take constructive criticism, so feel free.
Thanks for reading!