Research Vessel ARS Ephemeral Enlightenment
Prothean Excavation Site, Xe Cha
"-no further announcements from Omega since its ruler, Aria T'loak, instituted a station-wide lockdown five days ago. No one has been allowed to leave the station, and only mercenaries and her private forces have been permitted entry. CGNN will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as they arrive."
Liara glanced at the television on the wall, showing a sizeable fleet of various ships surrounding the massive space station, before looking back to the table she had taken over in the public lounge. Littered across it were pictures, articles, and speculations about the newest race to reach the galactic scene. There was only rudimentary information on this new species, humans, but she was fascinated all the same.
"And now back to the story that's been dominating the galaxy. The human diplomatic delegation has arrived in orbit of the planet Acheron, site of the Relay 314 Incident, and is currently preparing to depart human space for the Citadel."
Liara paid more attention to this piece of news than the last. Alien cultures had always fascinated her. Though much of the human culture was still a mystery, she knew how to make very good guesses based on architecture, aesthetics, and various visual cues. She had spent years in University to do so.
On the screen was a group of turian and human warships, with the occasional civilian vessel planted amongst the much larger ships. She grimaced slightly. The sight of the turian's angular, bird-winged designs side by side with the human's own sinister, shark-like vessels was an intimidating one.
Their ships were all a similar dark grey metal; elongated, smooth shapes broken only by spiky antennae and weapon turrets that jutted outwards. The aesthetics coupled with the old fashioned, almost ancient look to their hardware said a great deal about their stance on technology. 'They certainly favor function over form. I know plenty of asari who wouldn't even want to be seen in ships like that.'
The burden of growing up in a wealthy family was knowing other wealthy families. Unlike Liara herself, those other asari were extremely conscious of their appearance and social standing.
"Due to humanity's lack of knowledge of the Relay network and their unique method of FTL travel, the human delegation and their security team will be transferring to a Citadel vessel for the journey, while the Citadel ambassadors will be moving to a human ship for travel to Earth's Gateway Station."
Liara practically vibrated in her seat. 'A society that's mastered interstellar travel without mass effect. They are completely free of alien technological influence. There's so much we can learn from each other!'
"In related news General Desolas Arterius, leader and one of the survivors of the Incident, expressed hope for humanity's coming integration into galactic society."
An image of a turian, the right side of his face covered in a thick bandage, appeared on the screen.
"Yeah, they have their problems. But I think we can do a lot together. They fought an alien threat that slaughtered that colony- may their spirits rest- and managed to survive. And when faced with us, other aliens… they risked themselves to save our lives. None of us would have made it off that rock if we hadn't worked together. I think that says something."
The news feed returned to the asari reporter.
"The galaxy shares General Arterius' confidence, and our thoughts and feelings go out to all the families of those who perished, human and otherwise, during the 314 Incident." The asari on screen paused before shifting stories yet again. "The discovery of sapient alien life has had a heavy effect on humanity's political climate. Their main government entities, the United Americas and the Three World Empire, are putting aside their longstanding rivalry to discuss a more unified system of interstellar govern-"
"Yeah, I'm in the lounge on deck three, bring everyone up here. I managed to get it." Liara scowled. She knew that voice. Rathus was an overbearing female turian at the best of times. Liara turned from the desk as she watched rathus talk on her comm, urging everyone to… come up here. 'Great.'
Rathus walked right up to the television and began changing the settings. Liara faltered for a moment, but when the screen changed from the news broadcast she tried to stop her.
"I… um…"
Rathus jumped at the sound before looking in her direction. "Huh? Oh, Liara. Didn't see you there."
'That's nothing new.' She thought morosely.
"I was… watching that." Her voice sounded weak, pathetic even to her own ears.
"Oh. Sorry." The turian tapped a few buttons on the controls, before speaking again. "Look, I need the screen for a bit. I got a clip I wanted to show everybody, so stick around. It hasn't been made public yet, but I knew who to ask." Rathus smiled smugly, quite pleased that she had… whatever it was.
Liara's eyes widened in panic. "Rathus, if this is illegal-"
Rathus scoffed. "Don't worry, miss prim and proper. It's not anything I'll get in trouble over. The government was keeping it quiet for editing, but it's gonna be all over the extranet in a couple of days. There's supposed to be a huge Public Safety Announcement about this. I managed to get raw footage of the things that attacked Acheron."
Liara's move went to a thin line. People had died on that planet. While the details weren't known to much of the galaxy, the casualties were. Nearly 200 people had been killed. Children and families.
It was a tragedy. Not some movie to get excited over.
Within a few minutes several more members of the research team were in the lounge. Some were interns, some students, even a few of the professional researchers was present.
'I can't believe it. They're all here to watch this.'
Despite her thoughts Liara didn't leave the lounge, even as the video started.
Acheron (LV-426), Weeks Ago
"Is it on?"
"Yes."
A wheeze. "Are you sure, Mesala?"
"Yes I'm sure. See? The camera is streaming to my omni-tool right now."
"Wonderful. This is a-" Another wheezy breath. "momentous occasion. An event to be remembered."
"Indeed."
"Indeed nothing. You should put it away." A much harsher voice broke into the conversation. Desolas spoke to the squat volus and the formal looking Matron. "A hovering robot over your shoulder is only going to cause problems."
"If it's an issue I'll turn it off. But Kar is right. This is first contact with a new race. I have no doubt they'll be taking pictures of us." The asari responded.
The camera focused on Desolas as he glared at the asari Matron. "While I may be acting as an ambassador, I am still responsible for our safety. If the locals think the camera drone is a threat-"
"They have spaceships, interstellar travel, terraforming technology, and even light bulbs. I am fairly certain they developed cameras." Mesala spoke teasingly.
Desolas' mandibles flared in agitation. He keyed the intercom and spoke to the pilot. "Any response yet? Anything at all?"
"No sir. If there's anyone in the colony they're not responding. Or they can't."
For a few moments there was only the light chatter of the diplomats wondering what the inhabitants would be like and going over protocol. The intercom chirped again.
"General, you should come up here and take a look at this."
Desolas sighed as he got up and walked towards the cockpit.
The elcor and salarian representatives were quietly speaking; the salarian's elaborate hand gestures were an odd contrast to the elcor's lack of movement.
The Desolas walked back into the passenger area, his face set. "The shuttle just did a flyby of the terraforming facility. It seems there was an incident." The others looked at him. "There's wreckage of what we think is a military shuttle, along with an armored vehicle it was carrying. We're going back up to the ship; this trip is no longer safe."
"You don't know it was shot down, and they could need assistance." Mesala countered.
"I have to assume the worst. There may be enemy combatants in the area, and this is an unarmed shuttle."
"Might be in interest to assist." The salarian spoke. "May need aid, see us leaving crash site…" He sniffed. "Not a good impression. Callous at best. Responsible at worst. Recommend assisting… but with caution."
"The crash site was abandoned. There was no one there. There's no one anywhere. It's a dead colony, doctor. It is not our job to find out why." Desolas argued.
The look on the diplomats' faces remained. They wanted to go.
"This is a mistake." Desolas uttered, before giving the order to the pilot.
In a matter of minutes the shuttle was at the main yard of the town. With a soft thud and a jolt, they touched down. The hatch opened and two of the guards moved out first to make an inspection.
They entire colony was empty. Automobiles and equipment sat idly. Lights were on in some buildings, but there was no movement anywhere. No sign of life.
Desolas spoke to the group of diplomats as they made their way out of the shuttle. "There's no one here. It was likely a raider attack. Do not wander off. That's why we have guards."
The four security guards moved out, in two teams of two, while the pilot stayed in the cockpit in case they needed to leave quickly. Desolas and the diplomats stayed in the yard, looking at the architecture, vehicles, and equipment.
"Doctor Solus, you're the professor here. What do you think this is all for?" Mesala asked.
The salarian finished glancing around before responding. "Construction equipment. Also heavy vehicles. Durable. Made for exploring. Likely expanding colony and mapping planet." He and Mesala took a few steps over to one of the vehicles.
A white cup of black liquid sat untouched on the dashboard, easily visible through the window.
"With mild unease: Why would they leave so quickly?" Varot asked the team.
No one answered. There were no answers. A ghost ship in orbit. An empty town on the planet. The wreckage of a military transport. Not a single being to be found.
"Report in. What have you found?" Desolas spoke over the radio. He knew this was a bad idea.
"Broken glass in multiple sections of the exterior, sir. Evidence of small arms fire in multiple locations."
Desolas waited for the other team to report. And waited. "Unit 1, come in." He paused again, hoping for an answer. "Unit 1. Report now."
His mandibles widened and narrowed. "Unit 2, back to the shuttle. We are leaving." He waved his hand at the asari Matron, brushing her off as she moved to protest.
"Yes, sir. Under-shit!" Gunfire broke the silence that had covered the colony. Desolas ran towards his team while turning his head around to shout at the diplomatic team. "Get back in the shuttle! Get in the air and pick us up!"
As he ran around the building, he saw one of his subordinates firing downwards into what looked like a maintenance shaft. The turian's partner was nowhere to be seen. "General, it took him! Some big- black thing!"
"Then get away from the shaft!" He shouted. He could hear the engine on the shuttle's engines revving up even from here. "What was it? A native?"
"It was… it was… black… and-" The turian soldier seemed unable to put words to it. He alternated between looking at the shaft and at Desolas. "Sir, that!" he pointed up towards the roof.
Desolas turned around and looked up. The shuttle had made it over the building and was descending towards them, when a large black creature leaped from the broken windows and onto the side of the shuttle.
'That jump was nearly ten meters.' He thought numbly.
The creature crawled onto the top of the shuttle, when its elongated tail lashed forward and smashed into the cockpit window. The hardened material cracked and dented, but held. Desolas raised his sidearm and took careful aim -not an easy thing to do when the target was on top of a swerving transport- and fired. The small round penetrated the creature through its curved head, and its movements stopped.
Desolas let a grim smile come to his face. It quickly turned to horror. The blood of the creature was eroding the hull of the transport shuttle. It began a wild spiral before dropping heavily into the ground, leaving deep gashes in the ground as it skidded to a stop.
Desolas moved towards the transport while speaking to his subordinate. "Stay there and cover me. Watch for more of those things!" The soldier nodded, raised his rifle and began roving his eyes over the buildings and the maintenance shaft.
The door of the shuttle slid open, with Mordin stepping out first, his head on a swivel and a gun in his hand. Mesala dazedly followed along with Varot. Kar, the small volus, was on the floor unmoving.
"Veris, send a distress call to the ship. Get help down here now!" Desolas ordered the pilot as he pulled up Kar; the volus seemed to be unconscious but breathing. The pilot gave a groan and began to move sluggishly around the controls.
Things went from bad to worse when Mesala threw a biotic blast at one the creatures hiding behind a broken window. It seemed as if a signal had gone off, with dozens of screeches echoing forth from around the colony.
One of the beasts made a run from a nearby car towards the downed shuttle. It moved so quickly that it was mid-leap toward the cockpit by the time Mordin managed to aim and shoot it. His aim was true, but just like before, there was the creature's blood. The bright green ichor sprayed forward from the momentum of the animal's body. It splattered across the broken glass and onto the pilot still strapped into her seat.
In seconds she began screaming.
Desolas would have rushed to help her, but the group was already under attack by more of the animals. Several more of the beasts had rushed out of the buildings, moving towards the downed ship at rapidly.
Desolas and Mordin positioned themselves between the downed ship and the bulk of the creatures, firing as soon as the monsters appeared. But they were already adapting their attack patterns, trying to move to the sides and flank them. Mesala was assisting with her biotics and even Varot was swinging his massive forearms to literally club the creatures away whenever one managed to approach him and Kar.
The sole remaining guard was turning towards every direction, shooting towards everything he could.
One creature managed to get too close to Kar, forcing Varot to strike the animal into the side of the shuttle. Its blood splattered against the elcor's forelimb, causing him to groan in agony.
"Their blood is doing more damage than they are!" Desolas shouted.
"Agreed! Must retreat to greater distance." Mordin answered. The salarian's eyes widened as he noticed something. The guard, in his spinning and firing, had moved too close the maintenance shaft his comrade had been pulled into. Mordin opened his mouth to get the turian's attention-
There was a black, curved talon sticking out the soldier's stomach. From behind him, a spiny, black tail lead to a creature barely visible in the shaft. With a jarring movement the impaled turian was pulled backwards with a scream, disappearing into the dark tunnel.
Mordin's mouth closed. He turned his gun back towards the creatures, trying desperately to keep them at bay.
"We-we're going to die here." Mesala had stopped throwing biotic blasts. She was staring vacantly at where the security guard had been standing seconds before. It was only a shout from Desolas that got her moving again.
But it was true. Varot was slowing down, the injury on his arm hampering his movements. Mordin's and Desolas' weapons were beginning to overheat. Mesala herself couldn't keep up her biotics for much longer.
Then a whistling sound broke the air through, barely audible amongst the gunfire and shrieks. A moment later one of the upper rooms in the building exploded, tossing the carcasses of two of the black animals downward. Then more gunfire erupted, laying low a pair of the creatures.
As one the group looked to where the aid had come from. Running towards them was a group of three aliens, all wearing similar uniforms and body armor. Two carried what looked like standard assault rifles, with the third holding an oversize accelerator cannon that need a motorized arm to help move.
As the trio reached them one began gesturing with is arm, making a motion towards the direction they had come from. One of them reached down to pick up Kar, while the soldier with the cannon continued firing at the beasts.
It was a rescue. It was barely a squad, lightly armed, and probably had little or no backup. But it was a rescue.
"Let's go." Desolas ordered.
The group of diplomats and soldiers moved as fast they could back towards one of the buildings. The alien who was carrying Kar was in the middle with the rest, with the other two aliens at the front and rear.
As the group followed the aliens around yet another corner, the acid-induced injury finally made the elcor falter mid-stride. Varot stumbled and fell behind.
Mesala turned around to help the elcor with her biotics, then rotated once again and kept running forwards. A strangled sob fled her as she kept up her sprint. Varot was already gone. Three of the animals had descended upon him; meaty chunks of the elcor were tossed aside as blood sprayed.
The alien who was carrying Kar seemed to be chanting some kind of prayer. "Shitshitshitshi-"
The trio of aliens led them around the colony, running as fast as they could. The group ran towards a doorway being protected by another alien soldier with a rifle, taking shots at the monsters as they moved around walls and windows.
The survivors ran past the alien with the assault rifle, his head wrapped in bandages, down the corridor to where another was waiting at a wide doorway, her hand hovering next to the control panel. A pair of large gun turrets was set in front.
The human who had covered them was several meters behind, when part of the metal grate he was running on was tossed upwards. In a flash a black beast had risen out of the ground and grabbed the alien who had been trailing them.
Desolas heard one of the aliens shout "Gorman!" even as his comrade was pulled into the floor.
The first one past the door was the female, who promptly turned around and began firing at the creatures. The alien soldier carrying Kar made it past the doorway next, placed Kar on the ground, and joined the other soldier in firing at the beasts crawling towards them.
In a few more seconds, Mesala, Mordin and Desolas had made it past the doorway. The female alien slammed her hand onto the panel and a massive blast door began its descent from the ceiling. One of the aliens shouted into his radio. "Bishop, turn on the turrets!"
As the blast door came down, all the group could hear was quiet sobbing from Mesala and the muted bangs of the cannons on the other side.
They heard some of the aliens speaking to each other, but none of them understood the words. "Hudson, how's the dwarf? Vasquez, gimme an ammo count." "Shit if I know, man. Oh God we lost Gorman, man. We lost Gorman..." "Not enough."
Desolas turned to the pale skinned salarian. "You are not a professor." The accusation was clear.
The pale skinned salarian's mouth was a thin line. "Not true. Am a professor. Am not just a professor. Discuss later. More important matters at hand."
Elsewhere, Present Time
"It's damn early captain. This had better be good and it had better be quick."
"Sir, a ship broke Aria's quarantine. I'm transferring video to you now."
A pause.
"You called me this early… on an emergency line… to tell me that?"
"Sir, I would not have bothered you if I did not feel it was important. Please sir. Look at the video."
He turned on his desk computer and accessed the file tagged: Immediate Response Required. He blinked slowly as he looked at the first image. He grumbled as he tilted his head to get a better look.
The first section of footage was of a ship, angled awkwardly due the movement and position of the vessel that had taken the video.
It was a strange vessel, long and dagger-like with a smooth silver hull. On each side was a flight pod, also silvery and smooth.
He looked at the next few seconds of the recording, showing the vessel firing scores of thin, cylindrical pods toward Omega. He spoke to the captain still on the line.
"It was inserting forces?"
"That is my assumption as well, sir. Please look at the last section of video. This is the most important part."
He huffed quietly but continued watching the silent movie.
Then he saw what had caused the captain such concern. He felt his eyes widen and his mouth moved without speaking.
Over the course of a few seconds, the ship had vanished. Not gone to FTL. Not maneuvered out of sight. Vanished. The hull had ripple with blue light and then faded into the blackness of space. He finally managed to speak.
"…Stealth?" He asked quietly.
"Yes sir. We barely caught sight of it as it fired the pods. Sensors detected nothing, even when it was visible."
"Whose?"
"Unknown, sir."
AN: That's what I've got for this plot bunny. The galaxy is slowly learning about what happened on LV-426. A fractured humanity is trying to figure how to move forward with interacting with alien governments. The Citadel is looking at the xenomorphs as rachni 2.0. Omega is facing a shared threat from Aliens and Predators. Yes, those were Predators dropping in at the end.
In others words: SNAFU.