Mass Effect:
First Contact War
First Part of the Ascension Trilogy
Chapter One
Prologue
Jonathan Shepard, son of English entrepreneur and colonization advocate Darius Shepard, was born in the British military complex outside of New Mombasa on August 24, 2138, ten years before Shepard Enterprises, in a collaborative effort with the International Space Agency (ISA), discovered alien ruins deep beneath the surface of Olympus Mons. Darius Shepard was an eager and involved man, constantly traveling to Mars and the Moon for business meetings and inspections; his work in space weapons research and investing in affordable basic infrastructure on alien worlds kept him away from his growing son.
Young Shepard grew with his sick mother, Amanda Shepard, who suffered from an advanced form of cancer, in the areas surrounding New Mombasa. Jonathan was enlisted by his father into the Royal Military Academy in Kenya when Amanda died in 2146. Eight year old Shepard was very reluctant to the military school regime, as he had been home schooled by his mother from a very young age. He was almost kicked out of the academy, but at his father's insistence that his troublesome child was one of the brightest kids attending the academy he was not expelled. Jonathan's excellent grades and his father's influence allowed him to enroll into the secondary school level, under probation.
This year marked a significant change in eleven year old Shepard as he transitioned from the basic educational track into a focused military education and training. Over the course of three years, time during which his father was deeply involved in the excavation and study of the alien technologies on Mars, Shepard excelled in almost all of educational endeavors and was recommended by his superiors to attend Welbeck College in Leicestershire, England, where he would finish his military education. Only fourteen years old upon enrollment, Shepard was the youngest of his graduating class, making him an outsider to all the older students who felt uneasy in falling behind in rank and recognition to a younger cadet. But a determined Shepard fought his way through his sixth form, receiving the highest honors in weapons handling, squad based leadership, urban warfare, and a theoretical class on aerospace warfare. On 2154, the year of Shepard's graduation, Shepard Enterprises failed to defend against a major anti-trust lawsuit that had been in court against the company for some years. That very same year, a private team of scientists and engineers funded by Darius Shepard, made humanity's first faster than light jump from Mars across the planet's orbit.
While his father dealt with the legal battle against Shepard Enterprises, Jonathan was accepted into the newly formed Systems Alliance Military Academy on the Moon; his impressive run through the British military school he was able to enlist as an officer in training. Although times were tense for his family, Jonathan got to see more of his father than usual as most of the legal proceedings were held on the United Nations Interplanetary Organization (UN-IO) colony on Luna. Shepard graduated from SAMA four months ahead of time and was immediately assigned to the Martian Marine Corps, but his father, using his influence within the Systems Alliance lobbied for his son to be assigned to one of the ships to make the first interplanetary jump to Pluto. As a result, Jonathan was Captain of the Silver Hawk when it made the first FTL jump to Pluto and the subsequent reconnaissance missions that unearthed the truth about Charon on 2156.
The discovery of the Charon Mass Relay coincided with the rebellious insurgence that took the city of Zanzibar by surprise. For years Zanzibar had been a center of political and military tension; the island was a refuge for terrorist organizations and political exiles of Tanzania while Zanzibar itself was a United Nations Militarized City (UNMC). After the destruction of Mombasa in 2129, the Kenyan insurgents were forced by the British Army to fall back into Tanzania. With help from the UN-IO from Zanzibar, the situation was controlled. The insurgents suffered heavy losses and because the situation seemed to calm with time Zanzibar was never overrun, like the British had expected. But in 2156, under self-proclaimed General Rheb Amir, the insurgents regrouped and led a surprise attack on the militarized city of Zanzibar. Because it was still technically a UN-IO base, the merger to create the Systems Alliance was not yet complete and the UN was severely limited in resources and personnel, private or governmental armies other than the British were unlikely to respond. The conflict was the first time the Systems Alliance would have to prove its competence in battle; it was also the first ever successful Orbit-Drop Assault.
I
Looking down at the Earth from orbit had never made Jonathan Shepard feel vertigo, but the knowledge that in a few minutes he would be free falling into the ocean inside a tight capsule made the sight unbearable. Behind him, fifteen uneasy soldiers dressed in black amphibious jumpsuits stood in silence, each and every one of them certain that their next mission could be their last. It was the first time the Alliance Navy would attempt a planetary attack from orbit and launch a first strike team using the newly designed Meteor Orbital Pod II (MOPs). Shepard had trouble not thinking about the last group of men who tested the original design. Three men in military suits entered the large conference room and immediately the quiet murmur of the soldiers died as they sat around the central stage.
"Look at the man to your right." The oldest of the three officers addressed the platoon, "Now look at the man to your left." After a dramatic pause, "Two of you won't make the jump," he said as if it was irrelevant to anyone in the room. No soldier in the room was willing to complain; he smiled and nodded.
The youngest looking officer, a well built black man, took the stage as the older man sat down. "I'm sure you are all well acquainted with the controversy and public relations disaster that the Meteor Project has been since the moment it was conceived. Today all of you will take part in correcting this. This is the first ever hot drop; execution must be flawless. The global political community has its eyes on how the Alliance responds to this incident"
Without standing up, the old man said, "Within the hour darkness will fall upon Zanzibar, and as the last rays of the sun die out you will plunge into the nearby coastline. We do not expect the enemy to detect the meteor pods on the way down, but you must be ready for the possibility."
"Sir," Shepard said. The old man looked at him, "How possible is it to evade anti-aircraft missiles if we are detected?"
"Not possible Lieutenant. Because of the design of these pods the only directions given are at launch, not unlike a smart bomb. But save the questions for later. Admiral Campbell," he signaled to the other officer who had not spoken, "will brief you on your mission and the present situation."
"Good evening." The phrase had been adopted as a formal greeting while in the darkness of space, regardless of the time, or lack thereof. "The Tanzanian based Eastern African Freedom Coalition mobilized for the first time in nine years, and 23 hours ago invaded Zanzibar. Because of Zanzibar's unique strategic position and militarization it is an important stronghold along the eastern African coastline. Our response must be quick and decisive."
"With the help from British naval forces stationed on New Mombasa we will launch a counter-offensive on Dar es Salaam at the same time as you and British Spec-Ops storm Zanzibar. Your primary objectives will be to infiltrate the city and carry out a series of rescue, fetch, and target operations simultaneously with the British." An aerial view of the city appeared on the projector behind the main stage. "You will operate under the cover of night and avoid confrontations as much as possible. Hopefully the initial move on the Tanzanian capital will distract the EAFC."
"Your main targets are General Rheb Amir, the leader of the EAFC, who is believed to be currently in the city, and Dr. Austin Lathrop, who you will extract from the city. Individual briefing files will be provided for each of you, depending on your assignment. You will all be divided into fireteams, and will operate in two squads through the city to reach your objectives.
Campbell took ten more minutes to talk about the operation and the importance of its success. After talking about secondary targets, collaboration with the English, and the layout of the city he concluded his debriefing. "There will likely be no aerial pick-up; instead you will leave on the amphibious vehicle the British will use to reach the island."
He sat down and the black man stood up to talk. "Because it will be important that you organize into your respective teams once you hit the water only your fireteam and squad leader will appear on your helmet displays. Open radio chatter will be limited to both squad leaders, while rest will be on individual channels within their fireteam; like American standard three-tiered channels. One is for open channel, two squad level, and three team level."
"Leaders will receive their respective squad rosters. Lieutenant Shepard, you are assigned squad leader of fireteams Alpha and Bravo." After receiving final instructions, each squad was sent to a different launch bay, where they geared up and waited for the drop.
II
Entering at a small attack angle, almost parallel with the Earth, Shepard felt the temperature rise as friction with the atmosphere superheated outside of the pod. Travelling at speeds of over nine kilometers per second, friction heated and ionized air to temperatures higher than the surface of the sun. Drogue parachutes released twenty kilometers above the western coast of Africa began decelerating the meteor pod. After a slow decelerating period, the primary heat shield opened up, working as flaps to generate drag and slow down to speeds of a couple thousand meters per second. After a rapid deceleration the flaps would break off from the pod, activating the flight control systems of the pods. As they decelerated over the African continent, the pods traveled more than 3000 km in just under fifteen minutes.
With the help of the drogue parachute and controlled thrusters the pods slowly decelerated to a cruising speed of 600 meters per second. An automated computer would then make corrections in the attack angle of the pod, while deploying additional flaps and parachutes, so that by the time it loomed two kilometers over its target Shepard and his platoon were falling at speeds of four hundred meters per second at a 70º angle with the sea. Undetected, Shepard and his men plunged into the darkness of the Zanzibar Channel, a few kilometers south of the city, and came to a rest on the ocean floor. Shepard felt disoriented from instant shock of crashing into the water; it felt as if the pod itself was about to be shredded to pieces. For a second he imagined the original testers crashing into a Martian plain, metal and flesh crushed into one. He tried to calm his body and orient himself as the pod slowly dropped to the bottom of the Zanzibar Channel.
Upon contact with the ocean floor, Shepard felt the pod slowly pressurizing to adjust his body to the undersea conditions. Searching the insides of the pod, he strapped on any loose gear and opened the COM channels. "Alpha and Bravo teams synchronize and report status." On his visor he saw his fireteams' status lights flicker as they activated and synced with him; five greens and two red. "Bravo Three, what's your status?"
"Sir, my pod is not depressurizing. Controls are jammed. My pod is not pressurizing itself, manual release is locked." They had been told to expect this, and that the pod should break apart manually if the outside pressure was close to one atmosphere.
"Alpha Two, status?"
"Sir, I puked myself."
"No one else wants to know that, Yuri. Keep it to yourself." He imagined puking the small inside of the pod and shuddered. "Bravo team, assist Bravo Three. Alpha, set up the thrusters." A beeping alarm in his pod indicated that within ten seconds the pod would flood. Shepard locked his helmet and underwater suit and began breathing from his oxygen tank. Like any soldier, he had learned that military equipment was not always intuitive but the Navy had outdone themselves in the redesigns of the meteor pods.
"Shepard, Charlie here. What's your status?"
"Moreau. Green, but one of my men is having problems with his pod." As he spoke water rushed inside and the pods cracked open. The sea was dark and thick and his helmet's flashlight did not illuminate very far. He ignored what Moreau was saying about the status of his team and searched the remains of his pod for flood lights like he had been told. Unable to find them, he opted better to find his team.
They were all clustering together around Bravo Three some two hundred yards east of his position. "What's Bravo Three's situation?" With what little light his helmet light gave him he began swimming in their direction. Apparently, his pod's clasps had sealed shut, damaged by the excessive heat during atmospheric reentry. "We'll have to cut him open once we reach shore, the pressure might kill him here," one of his men told him; he had not been given time to memorize all of their names.
From twenty yards out he saw that his squad had found and activated their flood lights. "Moreau, Alpha is regrouped. Begin resurfacing."
"Acknowledged Alpha. Charlie will proceed to Zanzibar International Airport." Charlie and Delta teams' goal was to capture the airport at the same time as British troops landed on the east coast of Zanzibar Island and the Systems Alliance initiated an overnight bombardment of military bases outside of Dar es Salaam.
"Alpha, ready to roll?" said Shepard as he reached the rest of his squad. It was eerie, floating around underwater in total darkness. Flood lights illuminated everyone but their reach was not far.
"Sir, according to satellite intel the northern coast and the harbor of Stone Town are heavily guarded. I don't think we should risk opening Park's pod if we might be ambushed."
"You have any suggestions?" The retrofitted torpedo they were using for underwater travel had been readied and Bravo Three's pod roped to it.
"It will take us longer to reach the Arab Fort, but we can cut through the entire city; but from the slave pits we can reach the city aqueducts. And we can easily cut open Park without being seen or heard."
"We had agreed not to use them. Many of these old aqueducts could have easily been sealed or collapsed." Shepard paused consider the situation. "You're being paranoid, Johnson. We proceed as directed. Alpha team will surface ahead and scout, while Bravo aids underwater by the beach. The pod should open in shallow water. Strap on to the torpedo, we cannot lose more time."
III
To be continued.