Fifty Shades of Overkill

by TheBleachDoctor

When you become an extragalactic entity, meeting other galactic civilizations becomes an inevitable occurrence, and First Contact rarely goes well for the less-advanced society. Pre-ME through ME3. Rated T for language and implied sexual situations later on. Extremely Light parody on Halo OPness AKA Halo tech taken to its logical conclusion.

3. Chapter 3 Rewrite

A/N: So I've been inundated with enough messages of discontent regarding the direction this fic took that I feel that it is time for a rewrite. The latter half of this chapter has been changed, and the story will head in a different, more sensible direction. I'm also implementing Paragon/Renegade choices that you can vote on. Like the game, the brief description of the choice might not accurately represent what you're actually choosing, so be careful what you vote for. Whichever choice wins will take the story in a direction suiting the Paragon/Renegade theme. If either choice's total wins exceed a 10-time lead on the other, then I will cease providing a choice and the rest of the story will take that theme.

The old version of the latter half of this chapter will be available at the end of this chapter in one huge dump, along with the old future chapters. You know, for those who were curious about what this fic used to look like.

Also, Merry Christmas.

ALERT THIS CHAPTER HAS NOT BEEN BETAED, IF YOU NOTICE ANY TYPOS OR ERRORS, PLEASE NOTIFY ME SO THAT I MAY CORRECT THEM.

Recommended Tracks to listen to while reading

Revival-DJ Skee and THX Remix

The Beauty of Cortana-Apocalyptica/Neil Davridge

During the Battle Sequence you should listen to:

Come on-Andy Hunter

Fifty Shades of Overkill

Chapter 3: Ragnarok

The Bridge of the Angelwing blared with alarms as crewman sifted through a flood of new data.

"Give me a Sitrep, now!" Captain Heartnet shouted over the Neural net, immersing herself in the mental chatter. "Tell me what the thrice damned hells is going on!"

Cromwell's avatar sprang to life on the Bridge, his scowl evident. "157 vessels have exited the Relay!" He answered.

"Estimated 72 corvette-tonnage ships, 80 frigate-tonnage, four cruiser-tonnage, and a single flagship measuring 2 km in length!" A sensors operator reported frantically.

"It's huge!" One of the Angelwing's helmsmen answered. "I don't think it's a diplomatic party!"

"None of the ship designs match the previous ships that came through." Heartnet thought.

"I've identified three distinct patterns among the new fleet." Cromwell said. "No similar patterns to those we encountered before. Estimating chances of this being first contact: 95% Non-intrusive scans read similar technologies to those from before." The ships followed one of three patterns: flat and utilitarian like the UNSC, a more organic, aquatic look that they not seen before, and the last were streamlined like water and tinted shades of blue; eerily reminiscent of the Covenant.

Even as Captain Heartnet listened to Cromwell's observations she was stricken by the curvier blue ships. "Those bluish ships remind me of the Covenant…" Unconsciously, she clutched the armrests of her command chair so hard her knuckles turned white.

On one of the UNSC Everest-class Dreadnoughts within the fleet, orders were being tossed around in response to the new arrivals. "This is Admiral Kastanie Drescher! All ships prime your weapons and prep firing solutions but hold fire! And where the hell are my High-Intensity scans! Someone get me details, and I want them yesterday!"

Within moments of the alien coalition fleets arrivals, every single Systems Alliance ship primed their weapons. From the smallest Kig-Yar Corvette to the 28 kilometer CSO-Class Sangheili Super-Carriers, every Systems Alliance ship had their weapons armed and trained on the alien fleet. The newer heavier tonnage vessels began projecting great arcs of orange light, taking deep, intrusive scans of the enemy fleet; scanning everything from the superstructure of the vessels to the occupants within.

"Reading high energy signatures and gravitational distortions!" One of bridge crew cried out, "Concentrated near the bows of their ships! Ma'am, it's likely their weapons system! They have their weapons systems charged!"

The report was shared by all of the Systems Alliance vessels.

"Those bastards," the AI Leonidas cursed to himself before opening a fleet-wide channel, "This is UNSC AI Leonidas of the Dreadnought Kilimanjaro! All ships are armed, repeat they are armed! High Intensity scans confirm they are warships, I repeat, all unknown vessels are armed and warships! Weapons scanned as low-powered pulse lasers, gravitational-assisted railguns, and gravitational-distortion unguided rockets!"

"Reclaimers, this is Iridescent Vortex speaking. The Geth constructs provided weapon designations. Those are GARDIAN lasers, Mass Accelerators Cannons, and Disruptor Torpedoes."

"I could care less what those alien bastards call them! As far as I'm concerned this is a damned invasion fleet! This is Admiral Hackett, all ships, prepare to fire!"

"Belay that order! This is AI Athena of the Arcturus! All ships hold your fire but do not stand down! We are being hailed!"

[Destiny Ascension, Bridge, Earlier]

"Goddess!" Throughout the gathered Council fleet, other cries of shock and fear were heard.

One of the weapons officers began hyperventilating at the sight of the ARMADA staring down the proverbial gun barrel pointed at the Citadel fleet.

Less than a second had passed since they entered the system beyond Relay 314, and already they were being targeted by ships that defied all laws of Mass Effect science. Their sheer mass violated what they thought as the limits of ship construction by several factors, many of them dwarfing a majority of the Council fleet. What was the most terrifying was the sheer number of vessels that were over the length of kilometer. By council standards the aliens possessed enough dreadnoughts to outnumber the Council's own by a ratio of four to one.

Red beams projected out from the larger vessels were sweeping through their ships, and straight through kinetic barriers. The high energy scanning beams disrupted systems they passed through. The VIs on all the ships were reporting system errors and that the beams were scanning their vessels. It was apparent that nothing was secret from this new alien race. The black void of space was nearly absent from the holographic viewscreen on the Bridge of the Destiny Ascension, and was instead filled almost entirely by the veritable wall of ships they were facing. Bridge officers were reporting that none of the ships were below frigate-weight, the smallest being classified by Council design as a destroyer. Along with that there were split into a several distinct different design categories. The first were ships that looked blocky and geometric; a utilitarian scheme, similar to the Turians. Silvery armor coated them, and their bows sported the muzzles of very nasty looking spinal guns. The second group was a mixture of purple and silver-purple organic-looking ships, with obvious weapons emplacements coating the hulls, most similar to that of the Asari designs; somewhat pleasing to look at but displaying its strength for all to see at the same time. The third group was the smallest, and consisted of smaller, jagged vessels with obvious patchwork hulls but uniform design.

What caught everyone's attention however were the two very unique objects that slowly drifted in the massive system-spanning armada. A large, geometric silver and gold ship the size of the Destiny Ascension floated at the forefront, and was the main source of the red beams. At the center of the alien armada was a massive structure that was even larger than the Citadel. Several of the smaller of the alien ships were constantly coming and going from the station.

It frightened, no, it terrified Matriarch, commander of the Destiny Ascension. Never before had the Council encountered a fleet so massive in their thousands of years of history. Not during the Rachni war or the Krogan Rebellions. No species had ever come close to constructing such a massive station comparable to the Citadel; for a new species to have built something so gargantuan meant that they were likely on par with the Protheans. For such a fleet to be amassed, it made Ciana, an Asari Matriarch in charge of what was once thought as the most powerful warship in the known galaxy, feel very small. Over the communication channels captains were either frantically asking for orders, screaming incoherently, having mental breakdowns, or shouting in indignant rage.

"Energy levels from the alien vessels are spiking!" one of the crew shouted, "Alien vessels are reorienting! We're being targeted!"

Matriarch Ciana gripped the railing of the command platform in the CIC. The next few moments would decide the future, and she had to act swiftly and wisely. They had been scanned, alright. That's standard procedure for any civilization, and not necessarily a hostile act. So why were they about to open fire? It had only been a few seconds! The Citadel fleet had no Quarian or Batarian ships, so these new races surely recognized that they were dealing with a different faction. Was this new race inherently hostile? Were they put on edge by the previous attacks?

Then Ciana realized something. The entire Council fleet consisted of warships with fully armed and activated weaponry! Of course this new race interpreted the Citadel fleet as being an invasion force!

Going in combat-ready was standard first contact protocol after the Rachni wars: hope for the best, but prepare for war. Now, she could either stand and fight, or attempt diplomacy. Her decision would either save them all, or damn them to oblivion.

The path was clear.

"Open a channel to the alien command station." Ciana ordered, attracting shocked looks from the crewmembers.

"But-" the weapons officer objected.

"Do it!" Ciana shouted urgently.

"Hailing," the communications officer reported, muttering, "Please answer, please answer…"

"Power levels from alien vessels leveling out. They are still oriented toward us, but no other actions have occurred." the sensors officer stated, "Palaven's Harbinger is requesting permission to open fire."

"Permission denied," Ciana shot back, "Tell Septimus that if anyone jumps the gun, they'll have to deal with the Ascension."

"General Septimus has acknowledged."

"We are receiving a signal from the alien command station!" the communications officer alerted Ciana, "Audio only."

"Put it through." Ciana nodded.

"Unknown vessels," a modulated voice spoke in perfect, if not outdated, Asari, "you are trespassing in Systems Alliance space. If you do not power down your weapons, we will be forced to open fire. You have one minute."

Momentary shock passed through the collective minds of the fleet as they realized this new alien civilization knew at least one of their languages. Matriarch Ciana gritted her teeth. They could try and retreat, but that didn't make this new species disappear. What if they decided to follow and carved a warpath through Council space? There were more ships here than were allotted to a single sector of Council space! They didn't outnumber the collective fleet of the Council, but they certainly were larger than them by sheer tonnage. The entire thing stank of overkill, and it showed that this new species was taking incursions into their territory very, very seriously.

"Comply with their request," Ciana said gravely, earning her some shocked looks.

"Admiral-"

"Just do it!" She snarled, "Either we follow what they say or we all die here and now and Goddess knows what happens after that! Any ship that attempts to take hostile action against these new comers is to be scuttled!"

The communications officer swallowed nervously, and opened a channel to the fleet, "All ships, stand down, I repeat, stand down!"

Indignant cries and protests echoed over the radio, to which Ciana opened a channel at her own station, "All of you, power down your weapons! Any ships that do not comply will be fired upon, either personally by the Ascension or the alien fleet."

Captains were cursing at nobody in particular, but they obeyed her orders. Throughout the fleet GARDIAN lasers powered down and Mass Accelerator guns shut off, dumping their wasted energy into the ceramic heat radiator strips along the hull.

"Admiral," General Desolas's voice crackled over the radio, "Are you sure this is wise?"

"It's all we can do for now," Ciana replied, "But be prepared to retreat if contact goes hard. The Council must survive."

"Why did they even come along anyways?" Desolas groaned, "It makes this whole situation even more complicated."

"No use complaining about things that are already done," General Septimus chastised him, "Let's just get this over with, and we can all go home. Hopefully."

"Transmit this message to the alien command ship," Ciana addressed her communications officer, "Run it through the translator and convert it to the older dialect they are using."

"Ready whenever you are, Admiral," the officer's fingers danced over the holographic console.

Ciana cleared her throat, "This is Matriarch Ciana T'Nari of Council Flagship Destiny Ascension. We have come here to investigate reports of a newly discovered species… reports which your presence has just confirmed. We come with peaceful intentions, and hope that we can avoid a military confrontation."

There was a moment of silence as the message was transmitted. The response came several seconds later.

"If that is so, then why have you come with an attack group of warships? Your explanation had better be fucking good." She furrowed her brow as the program failed to translate the word but it didn't matter.

Ciana was more shocked at the bluntness and audacity of the alien species. She was a bit indignant at being threatened, but she had to keep a cool head. If this went wrong the Council was looking at a seriously one-sided fight. But how did they consider the Council an attack force compared to their own fleet?!

"We were unsure of the situation on this side of the Relay," Ciana replied, "We have had our own share of less-than-ideal experiences with First Contacts, you should understand our caution when dealing with such situations."

"You walk into a public area with a loaded gun, expect to get shot," the voice replied arrogantly, "but we understand. We have similar protocols, as I'm sure you have gathered. What are your intentions? Will you leave, or do you want to engage in diplomatic relations?"

"If you mean meeting in person," Ciana answered, "then we would not be averse to such a thing."

"Excellent," the voice cheerily chirped, the change in attitude abrupt, "In two hours, send a diplomatic party to our Flagship, the Arcturus. It's the 56 kilometer long starship. You can't miss it."

When Ciana heard the translation her eyes grew wide at the concept of a starship that massive, and she began staring at what she had thought was a station. A gap was made in the fleet around the station…No, not a space station, but a starship. Dignity almost forgotten, only her centuries of experience kept her from collapsing to the floor. This new species was on par, no they were above the Protheans. Creating a station was one thing, but a vessel of that size, capable of both movement and FTL…the implications were anything but comforting.

As if to show off, the alien starship Arcturus did a physics-defying barrel roll. Engineers across the Council fleet stood frozen with their mouths wide open at the brazen display of technological prowess. The maneuver attested both the alien's mastery of gravity and the structural strength of their goliath of a starship.

"You can bring one ambassador per species," the voice continued, "as well as two guards per ambassador. Please refrain from bringing any heavy weaponry. Also, you'll have to rely on our translators, as our computer systems are non-compatible."

After a few seconds of silence, Ciana began to open a channel to the Council, when the voice came back.

"Oh, and one more thing. Take your Disruptor Torpedoes out of their firing tubes. We can see them, you know. It would be a shame if you started a war because some gunner got trigger-happy."

A chill ran down Ciana's spine. Just who were they dealing with here?

[Arcturus, CIC]

The Arcturus Bridge was much too large to be considered as such. It was more of a Combat Information Center. About half the size of a football field, it spanned three decks of the ship. The constant noise of 200 people working constantly filled the large room(s). Despite the widespread of Neural Laces, many people still used verbal communication.

The commanding officer of the Arcturus, Rear Admiral Samuel Strider, sat at his command console, sighing. It had been a rather stressful day, and in all honesty, he just wanted some sleep. The 56 kilometer long Cortana-class Dreadnought Arcturus served as the mobile capital and command center of the Systems Alliance, much like FleetCom back on Earth. This meant that in addition to the Council breathing over his shoulder, he also had to deal with constant requisition orders, and just about all the paperwork and crap the military could dump on his desk. He barely got a moments rest, and when he did, it didn't last for more than a few hours. All that made for a very tired Human. His First Officer tapped him on the shoulder.

"Admiral , sir, are you alright?" the Sangheili's guttural voice carried a touch of concern. With the end of the war, Sangheili-Human relations were indeed strained but as of late those tensions had been rendered non-existent, so seeing the two different species serve on the same vessel was no surprise.

"I'm fine," Samuel groaned, "Just tired."

"If you're tired, sir, perhaps you should take a rest."

Samuel rubbed his eyes, "…Alright. Tork, you have the Bridge."

The Rear Admiral stumbled off, leaving his First Officer in charge of the Arcturus.

Sitting in the seat next to the command chair was the inactive Android body of Athena (technically a gynoid but nobody knows what that means). Athena was the most advanced (and expensive) AI the Systems Alliance could afford, and her considerable processing power was only surpassed by Forerunner Ancilla. With the combined power of her and all the other AIs of the First and Second Fleet, the "Codex" given to them by the Geth had already been analyzed five times over, and integrated into all databases.

So speaking to the alien fleet had been trivial.

Based off what they knew, the attack group (a fleet by Council standards; that had given the UNSC AIs a good laugh) had been sent by the Citadel Council, a galaxy-spanning government. However, due to the nature of their FTL travel, their territory looked like Swiss cheese. There were huge gaps between colonized areas, called "Relay Dead Zones". Already star charts had been relayed back to Terra, and automated scout ships sent to explore and assess the potential value of these dead zones.

Athena's eyes snapped open, and she glanced at Tork, "Just got off the line with those Citadel types. You know, I really like screwing with people."

Tork rolled his eyes, "Yes, construct. So I know."

Athena stood up and pretended to stretch, "Well, I'm going to help prepare to diplomats for the meeting. Try not to blow up the ship while I'm gone."

As she left the CIC, Tork muttered, "You are the ship, you can't be gone."

[2 hours later, Shanxi Space]

The majority of the Systems Alliance fleet had displaced and taken new positions closer to the planet, leaving the Cortana-class Dreadnought on its own to stare down the Council fleet.

Two small shuttles flew out of the Destiny Ascension's hangar bay and pushed themselves towards the Arcturus. Within, the diplomatic party and their protectors readied themselves for a more personal first-contact.

"I don't like flying into this blind," Saren Arterius, Spectre (currently acting bodyguard), grumbled, looking his rifle over.

"I have to agree," the Turian diplomat, Salius, nodded, "We don't even know what they look like, let alone if we can breathe their atmosphere."

"Well, they have the leverage. We have to comply with their requests," the Salarian diplomat, Turmok, stated, "Perhaps later we can dictate the terms, but for now, we must go along."

"When can we ever dictate terms with that?" the Asari diplomat, Sarysia, gestured out the window at the alien fleet as it grew closer and closer.

The entire diplomatic team and their bodyguards sat in silence for the rest of the flight.

[Theta System]

Dropping out of FTL, ship after ship popped into being. Soon, the Theta system was flooded with thousands of ships, all looking for their lost comrades. The Quarian Migrant fleet had arrived.

[Arcturus, Main Hangar Bay 1]

The Main Hangar of the Arcturus was easily a single kilometer long in length and width, but a hundred meters shorter in height. Several Paris-class MK.2 Frigates dominated the majority of the hangar, taking up almost half the hangar. Above them, angular Katana-class Fighters were suspended, ready for rapid deployment at a moment's notice. D79H-TC Pelicans took up the majority of the remaining space. A landing pad had been designated for the alien diplomats, flanked by two rows of Marines serving as an honor guard. Admiral Kastanie Drescher, Fleetmaster Selt Nar'Tarkam, Shipmistress Chur'R-Tak (Kig-Yar), Unggoy Minister Dadak, Mgalekgolo Diplomat Soosha, and the AI Athena stood and awaited the arrival of the shuttle. Well, everyone was standing, but Athena was leaning against a parked Scorpion-Series Main Battle Tank, or MBT, Mk.2.

"Athena," Kastanie frowned at the AI's mobile platform, "Show some respect to our guests."

Athena laughed, "Our guests are still a few thousand kilometers away, I'll know when they get here, and when they do, I'll stand."

Selt gave Athena the Sangheili equivalent of a scowl, "You do not need rest, construct."

Athena pouted at the hulking saurian, "You're no fun."

The diplomatic party waited for the next minute in silence. Athena finally stood up, moments before the two shuttle craft from the aliens entered the hangar. They were curved and oblong, with no clear cockpit. They shone with an iridescent cerulean sheen. Four pivoting thrusters on the sides of the shuttles provided a clear means of thrust, landing the two vehicles as lightly as a feather.

"Those thrusters were too small to lift a ship that size," Athena mused, "I wonder if it's being supplemented."

"Probably," Dadak quipped, "Maybe it has an antigravity drive."

"Perhaps both technologies are too weak to work alone, so they support each other." Chur'R-Tak added her two cents.

"If so, when either one gives out, that turns the whole thing into one giant flying coffin," Kastanie muttered.

Both shuttles powered down, and the doors opened with a puff of air, slowly rising. The anxiety and excitement was palpable.

The first group to exit the shuttle consisted of six minimally armed personnel, obviously bodyguards. They all had tinted helmets on, so it was hard to tell what they looked like underneath. Two had thin waists and broad chests, with three fingers and digitgrade legs. The other two were slender, lanky, and also possessed digitgrade legs. The last pair was a shock, mostly to the Marine honor guard. The two alien's bodies looked completely Human! They appeared to be woman, and more than one soldier entertained thoughts about undressed them.

After the bodyguards gave the all clear signal, the diplomats exited the shuttle.

[Gave the audience a perspective switch. Audiences love perspective switches.]

"It's safe," Saren spoke over the radio, "You can exit the shuttle now."

Sarysia was the first to step out, taking in her environment with a trained eye. They had landed in an expansive hangar, the likes of which she had never seen before outside of the Citadel. Large Cruiser sized ships dominated the space, their bulky, angular, geometric, and gray hulls a stark contrast to the silvery sheen of the hangar. In fact, she didn't remember seeing any of those ships flying around outside. Huh.

Sarysia stared in shock as the majority of the aliens. They looked almost like Asari! With the exception of a fur on their heads and skin color, some of them could pass as Asari. It appeared that the species had two genders, which was quite interesting. If their ships were anything to go by, their intelligence must match the Asari as well.

Turmok's thoughts were moving at the speed of light as he observed every little detail he could. Bipedal alien species, similar to the Asari. Bigendered. Weapons appear to be kinetic energy weapons, presence of clips indicate low-ammo capacity. Secondary clip possible power source? Possible coilgun design. Armor is streamlined, minimal protection perhaps? Possibility of personal shielding indicated, armor is possibly powered? Presence of other vehicles in hangar. Largest is Cruiser-weight vessels. New design. Outdated? Or perhaps reserve trump card. Armed shuttles also present, appear to be more for atmospheric flight, probably not FTL-capable. Obvious Fighter craft also visible suspended from ceiling. Alien diplomats of different species. Most are Asari-like species, but presence of other species indicative of collective government… situation just got more complicated.

Salius stared nervously at large Cruiser-weight vessels taking up most of the space in the hangar. This ship was already bigger than the Citadel, why did they need more firepower? It implied a rather disturbing possibility. Weapons technology almost always advances as needed. Council ships never exceeded Dreadnought size because nobody built any bigger than that. Their galaxy adhered to a standard, and only improved when someone else upped the ante. If this new group of aliens built their ships this big and this powerful, he shuddered to think of who they fought, or might be fighting.

The Hanar, Elcor, Volus, and Drell representatives stepped out of the second shuttle and gazed in awe at everything. Well, the Drell was in awe. It was hard to tell with the Elcor, Volus, and Hanar. The Elcor always looked emotionless, the Volus was wearing an environment suit… and the Hanar didn't have a face. They closely followed the main Council diplomats.

As Sarysia, Turmok, and Salius neared the alien representatives, they took in their appearance. The first was one of those Asari-like creatures, with tan skin, long brown head-fur, and a navy-blue decorated military uniform. The second was a strange, saurian creature with four jaws, and covered in silvery armor. Salius thought it looked like a bastardized child of a Krogan and Turian. Turmok recognized the creature as a predator, and was immediately on guard. Sarysia took note of the small, bird-like creature dressed in loose-fitting robes, and a creature that reminded her of the Volus in stature. The second to last being was the oddest, a bipedal suit of armor filled with worms. The last representative unnerved the Council diplomats. It appeared to be another of those Asari-like beings, but there was something unnaturally fluid about its movements. The only clothes it wore was a strange white bodysuit with various metal pieces attached to random areas. There was nothing to denote rank at all.

"Greetings," the first Asari-like creature smiled, speaking perfect (if not outdated) Asari, "I am Admiral Kastanie Drescher of the UNSC.

She gestured to the saurian creature, "This is Fleetmaster Selt Nar'Tarkam of the Sangheili Empire." Selt nodded respectfully.

"Shipmistress Chur'R-Tak of the Kig-Yar Confederacy." The Shipmistress squawked out what was probably a greeting.

"Unngoy Minister Dadak," the diminutive creature smiled under his mask.

"Mgalekgolo Diplomat Soosha," the imposing creature rumbled.

The last being spoke up, interrupting Kastanie, "and last but not least, I am the Arcturus's shipboard AI, Athena. Nice to meet you!"

[Insert Blasto the Hanar Spectre commercial here]

"AI!" Saren shouted, triggering every single Council bodyguard into action. Their hands snapped to their rifles, whipping them out and deploying the compact weapons.

Within an instant, both parties had taken aim at the other. The alien soldiers had leveled their projectile weapons at the bodyguards, while the alien representatives had drawn weapons from almost nowhere. The Admiral Kastanie had a blade made of golden light formed around her right arm, while Selt had ignited a cobalt double-pronged blade of plasma. Chur'R-Tak had drawn a small pistol, and Dadak had drawn a double-pronged glowing green-purple weapon. Soosha had entered a defensive stance, of the Arcturus's party Athena was the only one who had not armed herself. She frowned disapprovingly, like a mother that had just seen her child steal a cookie or something. "Really, you're going to be pointing guns?" Athena scoffed, "Please, you're outnumbered. If you want to start a shooting war, go ahead, but your fleet will be decimated in seconds. Even if you kill this body, can you kill the whole ship?"

Almost on cue, the automated defenses of the hangar came to life. Auto-Turrets sprang from the walls, and ceiling, the mounted weapons of the nearby frigates activated, bringing their 20mm autocannons to bear, and several unpiloted HRUNTING/YGGDRASIL Mark IX Armor Defense System 'Mantis' mechs stomped into view, their cannons and missile pods aiming directly at the Council party. The Council Diplomatic party had enough ordinance aimed at them to vaporize a small army. Under his helmet, Saren was beginning to sweat.

"Now," Athena crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently, "are we going to be able to talk civilly," for theatrics, she activated the laser sights on the weapons that had them, bathing the Council species in a cluster of red and green light. "or am I going to have to start shooting?"

After a tense silence, Sarysia placed a hand on the barrel of Saren's gun and pushed it down. "Lower your weapons," She ordered. Saren gaped at her.

Forcing his weapon out of her grip he again took aim at Athena. "Ambassador, I can't allow-" Saren began, but was cut off with a glare.

"Lower your weapons now, Spectre." The Asari snarled, her body briefly glowing in a biotic aura, "Do you want to get us all killed?" Though her biotics dissipated from around her body, it was still concentrated in her hands.

"I operate with the Council's authority," Saren spat, "I don't answer to you!"

The other bodyguards, who still possessed a sense of self preservation, slowly lowered their weapons, much to Saren's chagrin. Athena smiled.

"Well then," the AI said in a cheerful tone, "Guess that's one body for the morgue, then." The amassed weaponry adjusted their aim to point at the lone Turian.

With a scowl, Saren lowered his gun, snapping it back into compact mode.

"Good boy," Athena snapped her fingers, and the hangar's defense systems slipped back behind hidden panels. The Cruiser's tertiary weapons cycled down as well, and the Mechs stomped away. The Marines stood at attention once more.

"Would you care to explain that… outburst?" Admiral Kastanie asked, tense from the recent situation.

"AIs are dangerous!" Turmok exclaimed, "They'll destroy your whole civilization if you don't eradicate them first! You are in imminent danger!"

"Indeed," Salius added, "In all instances, AIs have proven to be uncontrollable, and killed their handlers."

Kastanie and the other representatives cast quizzical glances at each other. Dadak looked at Athena, who shrugged.

"I guess that means we are the outlier then," Kastanie finally said.

"Please, trust us on this matter," Sarysia pleaded, "We have seen it happen repeatedly on numerous occasions. We know very well how AIs view organics."

Athena rolled her eyes, muttering sarcastically, "Oh no, help, a racist."

Kastanie glared at her for a second, before sternly addressing Sarysia, "Ambassador, I assure you, we have been using AIs for upwards of two centuries. They are our comrades-in-arms. If it bothers you so much, you can just get back on your shuttle and fly away."

Athena made a little swooshing noise and mimed a shuttle flying away with her hands.

Selt deactivated his sword, and clipped it onto his thigh, "I do not believe we learned your names, ambassadors."

The Diplomats respectively identified themselves.

"I am Sarysia of the Asari Republic."

"I am Turmok of the Turian Hierarchy."

"I am Salius of the Salarian Union."

Sarysia gestured to the others behind her, "These are the Diplomats from the client races of the Citadel Council. They will not take part in the negotiations."

Admiral Kastanie nodded, "I see. Perhaps Athena could give them a tour of the Arcturus while we take the negotiations into a more secure area."

"That makes sense," Salius replied, "I hope this results in peaceful relations between our two peoples, Admiral."

Kastanie smile good-naturedly, if a little guarded, "As do I, ambassador."

The group made their way into the ship, as Athena greeted the other Ambassadors, who were left with a single Asari Commando to guard them.

"Hello, ladies, gentlemen, and those of non-categorized genders! Welcome to the Cortana-class Dreadnought Arcturus!" Athena cheerfully announced, "I am Athena, the shipboard AI, and I will be your guide for today!"

[Theta System, Turian Frigate]

"I'm sorry, sir, I cannot allow you to-"

"Keelah, if your ship does not move, then you will become a smear on our hull! Do you hear me?! We are on a rescue mission!"

The Turian crewman shut off the audio feed, rubbing his ears. What a time for those suit rats to show up! The Council was busy with classified business of galactic importance; they had no time for vagrants!

"What do they want?" the disinterested captain asked with little conviction.

"They're threatening to ram us if we don't move."

"They wouldn't dare."

Suddenly the navigator's station lit up, and the Turian manning it shouted, "Sir, they're accelerating on a collision course!"

The Captain sat straight up, yelling in a panic, "Evasive maneuvers!"

The small Frigate dove out of the way of the Quarian Migrant fleet as they plowed through; an unstoppable force of metal and Mass Effect fields.

The Turian Frigate shot off into FTL to summon help as the Migrant fleet moved into proximity with the Relay, the military elements forming up into groups, readying for FTL.

[Observation Lounge, Arcturus]

The Council diplomats and the Systems Alliance representatives sat around a circular table overlooking the panoramic windows of the Arcturus's observation lounge. Through it, the massed First and Second fleets of the Systems Alliance could be seen orbiting Shanxi.

"Admiral, your government is quite impressive; I daresay we haven't encountered anything like it before."

Admiral Kastanie Drescher smiled at the compliment from Sarysia, "Thank you, Ambassador. We have not encountered another galactic government either."

"I have to wonder," Turmok began, staring Kastanie down, "Are you truly extragalactic, or is this just some trick, designed to intimidate us?

"Are you saying we fabricated the historical data we just gave you?" Dadak scoffed, "Please, we didn't have enough time to even make such an elaborate ruse, and even if we did, there would be no point."

"This is our galaxy," Salius said with some concern, "You clearly have the technological advantage, how do we know you won't encroach on our territory?"

"Oh, you can be assured," Selt smirked, "that any area we colonize will not be within your ability to police."

Sarysia frowned. There was something wrong with that wording.

"What exactly do you mean?" she asked warily.

Kastanie smirked, "Well, our area of this galaxy only has Relays in remote areas, and the ones that are located near our major population centers have been disabled. In effect, with your manner of FTL, you cannot reach our planets, save Shanxi."

"I still am having a hard time accepting that your technology isn't based off of Eezo," Salius commented, "Every species in this galaxy uses Mass Effect technology."

Kastanie shrugged, "Different galaxy, different technology."

"You said that your Mass Relays were disabled," Turmok crossed his arms, "How were you able to disable a Mass Relay?"

"We didn't, it was like that when we got here," a holographic representation of Athena sprang to life in the middle of the conference table, startling most of the delegates. Unlike her robotic avatar, which only wore a tight bodysuit, her holographic avatar was dressed in an elegant robe of Greek design.

"Why is your AI here?" Turmok snarled, "I thought it was giving the other representatives a tour of your ship."

"I'm really good at multitasking," Athena smirked, "and you might want to lay off the racism. Otherwise my followers will social justice your ass."

Turmok wore a face of confusion, "Social justice?"

"Check it out," Athena snapped her holographic fingers, "You've got quite an extensive extranet there, shame if something happened to it."

Instantly, holographic screens leapt into being, displaying various Extranet sites.

"How is our computer technology compatible?" Sarysia inquired, "I was not aware they could interface. You said they couldn't"

"They can't," Athena answered bluntly, "I had to work it out myself, using a lot of processing power, and the information the Geth gave me."

"The Geth?!" Turmok shouted in outrage, slamming his hands down on the table, "You have been communicating with the Geth?!"

"You hacked their computers?!" Kastanie shouted at Athena, "Who gave you clearance?!"

Athena looked at Turmok, "Yes," then to Kastanie, "The Council."

"The Geth are dangerous," Sarysia attempted to get a word in, "Please, the threat of the Geth is too much to be ignored! You cannot continue relations with them!"

"I have to agree," Salius spoke up, "What if they convince your synthetics to rebel against you? If that happens, you are on your own."

Athena mouthed "Blah, blah, blah, blah."

Selt pounded his fist on the table, "Clearly," he snarled, "you are not ready to engage in diplomatic proceedings with us. You should return to your territory, and come back when you are ready to talk civilly."

Turmok looked fit to burst, but Sarysia put a hand on his shoulder, "He's right, we should go for now."

"Sorry for wasting your time," Salius sounded strained, "I hope your own hubris does not destroy you."

Elsewhere in the ship, a group of odd aliens were being led around the ship by an android.

"And this is one of our Singularity reactors!" Athena announced to the group as they gazed at the enormous transparent cylinder. Numerous apertures inside the cylinder faced a spherical void. Light around it appeared to warp. The entire setup rumbled with power.

"This one wonders how this reactor works," the Hanar delegate mused.

"I can't tell you too much," Athena admitted, "but it is powered by a black hole."

"That sounds dangerous," the Volus wheezed, "how do you prevent entire ship from collapsing in on itself?"

"Classified," Athena shrugged, "but it would take hours to explain anyways."

"Inquisitively, how long has your kind been traveling the stars?" the Elcor delegate spoke in a monotone.

"Well," Athena cupped her chin in her hand, pretending to think, "Upwards of two centuries at least. I can't tell you the exact number at this point, but we're not new to this."

The delegate's omni-tools beeped, a single line of text displaying on the holographic screen.

"Apologetic: It appears that we must leave."

"Ah, no problem," Athena cheerily smiled, "I hope you get to visit again soon."

As the delegates left the reactor room, she sifted through the scans she had gained of the delegates. Interesting, especially that jellyfish thing.

[Council Shuttle, en route to Destiny Ascension]

The Diplomatic party sat in silence, their body language tense.

"You know," Saren broke the quiet, "The Council is going to want a report. What are you going to tell them?"

"I'm not sure," Sarysia admitted, wringing her hands.

Salius looked out the window at the Alliance fleet as they slowly moved away from it, muttering, "We're going to need bigger ships."

[Destiny Ascension, Conference Room, later]

"Hmph, no Eezo whatsoever," Councilor Sparatus scoffed, reading over the sensor reports on his Omni-tool, "Surely they cannot be that advanced. Perhaps their ships are big because they need to compensate for a lower standard of technology?"

"Don't be foolish," Valern rebuked the Turian Councilor, "We know they have shields equal to or stronger than our kinetic barriers, along with enough firepower to wipe out a small attack group. This system doesn't have enough resources to support the fleet they have amassed, so surely they have other systems. Since they do not have Eezo, they cannot achieve standard Mass Effect FTL, but they could not have gathered such a force on sublight speeds alone. It stands to reason that they have an alternate form of FTL."

"Every civilization in this galaxy uses Eezo," Sparatus scowled, "I find it hard to believe that this race uses different technology."

"I don't," Tevos cut in, "When we build ships, we have to take into account that we must generate a Mass Effect field big enough to accommodate the ship. The Destiny Ascension is already pushing the envelope in terms of efficiency. If we built any bigger, it would likely eat up more resources that it is worth."

With a few taps of her Omnitool, she activated a holographic projector near the wall, displaying the Destiny Ascension next to the massive Arcturus.

"Without Eezo," Tevos continued, "their ship sizes would not be limited by Mass Effect fields."

"What about shearing force?" Sparatus countered, "That ship should be tearing itself to pieces without Mass Effect fields. Especially with that roll it pulled earlier."

"Perhaps I have the answer to that," Valern spoke up, "Before the Salarian Union discovered Eezo, we were researching a concept called 'inertial dampening'."

"Explain," Sparatus demanded of the Salarian Councilor.

"Well," Valern continued, "As you all know, when a ship has reached a sufficient mass, any sort of maneuver puts stress on the hull. If it is big enough, or has structural weak points, then the vessel is in danger of compromising hull integrity. We were trying to develop some sort of inertial dampener to lower the stress that would be imparted on the ship's hull. This would raise the 'ceiling' on ship size, but once we discovered Eezo, it became a moot point. With a lower ship mass, the danger of shearing is almost nonexistent."

"Don't we use inertial dampeners?" Tevos asked, a bit confused, "I'm sure I heard some of the technicians talking about maintenance on them earlier."

"You heard correctly," Valern nodded, "Modern-day inertial dampeners are simply specialized Mass Effect field generators."

"So then how was this new species able to make inertial dampeners without Eezo?" Sparatus challenged Valern.

The Salarian Councilor sighed, "Before we discovered Eezo, we had several theories on how to create inertial dampeners, but the discovery of Eezo ended that line of research."

Valern looked at the hologram of the Arcturus, "I can only assume that they developed an inertial dampener independent of Eezo."

"Well, now that that's set aside, what about the other things the Diplomatic team informed us of?" Tevos scrolled through the report.

"Hmph," Sparatus snorted, "These people have no respect for Council law. Spirits, they even use AI!"

"They can't respect Council law if they don't know it," Valern countered, "and they claimed to have been using AIs for upwards of two centuries, if not more. I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt, but we have too much bad history with AI to just ignore those important life lessons."

"Another thing," Sparatus was almost shouting now, "They use black holes to power their ships! They must be crazy!"

"We weaponize singularities," Tevos pointed out, "How is this any different?"

"There is a huge difference between a singularity and a black hole, Tevos," Sparatus growled, "What happens when one of their ships is destroyed in combat?! They take the whole system with them! We can't even afford to damage one of their ships or we will all be destroyed!"

"You are overreacting," Valern shot, "From what the delegates described, the black hole is probably sustained by some sort of mechanism. Loss of reactor containment probably would also cause the black hole to dissipate after a few seconds."

"Well," Sparatus sat down, crossing his arms, "That isn't too bad. What do we do about them, though? They're a government similar to us, I doubt they'd react favorably to us asking them to join us."

"Then don't ask them," Valern grinned, "Force them."

"How do you expect to do that?" Tevos asked with a little bit of anxiety.

"Give STG some time," Valern rubbed his hands together, "Where our technological superiority fails us, our cunning will make up for it. I guarantee that within a few years we will be able to force this 'Systems Alliance' to join us."

"Huh," Sparatus looked at Valern inquisitively, "I'll admit, I judged you wrong. I thought you were against us confronting these aliens."

"I am not against confronting them," Valern chuckled, "Just not directly. We wouldn't last in a straight up fight; that much is clear."

Suddenly the alarms in the ship sprung to life, startling the Council.

"Councilors," the voice of Matriach Ciana came over the comm, "We have a problem."

"What is it?" Tevos asked.

"The Geth!"

At the edges of the system, ships began appearing by the dozens as they dropped out of Eezo-based FTL, two Geth Dreadnoughts, 50 Geth Cruisers, and 200 Geth Frigates snapped into being without warning, floating thousands of kilometers away from the Alliance and Council Fleet. Detecting the Council ships, the Geth fleet sent a query to the Alliance command ship. The AI Athena responded frankly.

"They're here to conduct negotiations. I understand that your people and the Council aren't on good terms. Oh, look, they're powering up their weapons, how cute. Tell you what, whoever is left after this gets to negotiate, alright?"

Consensus was reached in nanoseconds. The Geth fleet powered up their weapons, and moved into a defensive formation. They would not fire the first shot, but they would come out on top.

[Destiny Ascension, Bridge]

"What do you mean you won't help us?!" Ciana shouted at the holographic image of the Arcturus's AI.

"Sorry," Athena faked an apologetic tone, "You're both enemies, right? So this is kind of your thing. We don't want to get involved. You kids have fun!"

The connection was cut unceremoniously, causing Matriarch Ciana to pound her fist on the railing in frustration.

"Damn it! Fine, power up the main bow guns! We will blast those AI into debris!"

The Council fleet moved into formation, the Frigates taking point. Meanwhile the Alliance moved into a protective formation around Shanxi, raising shields and assuming a defensive posture.

"Several vessels exiting the Relay!" one of the sensors officers reported, "It's a Quarian Battle Group! Ten Cruisers and twenty Frigates of mixed design!"

"What do those vagrants want?" Ciana groaned. As if she didn't have enough shit to deal with.

"They're sending a fleet-wide transmission!" the same officer spoke.

"Put it through!" Ciana shouted.

"This is Migrant Fleet Battle Group One. We demand the immediate return of the crew of our Cruiser Tayyo."

Ciana massaged her forehead, "I'm too old for this."

[Arcturus, Main Computer Core]

"Oh dear," Athena frowned, "Quarians. That would just make the fight unfair. I'll send their survivor back in an escape pod, but they have to sit tight."

[Shanxi System]

The Quarian Battle Group suddenly lost all power to weapons and engines, drifting loosely in a slowly decaying formation. It didn't matter whether the ship was an old Asari, Salarian, Turian, or Quarian design. They all lost power.

[Qwib-Qwib, Bridge]

"What just happened?!" Admiral Zaal'Koris shouted at his command crew, who helplessly tried to manipulate dead consoles.

"Our cyber defenses were completely overcome within milliseconds!" One of the crew replied in a panic, "Not even the Geth are that good!"

Admiral Korris stared helplessly as the Geth accelerated, but not towards them. The Geth fleet cautiously approached the Council fleet, as the Council fleet sped towards the Geth.

"Those poor bastards," Korris muttered.

[Destiny Ascension, Bridge]

"Geth fleet is holding defensive position." The sensors operator reported. Ciana huffed.

"Damn machines. Goddess help me, I hate them. Open fire and concentrate fire on the lead Dreadnought."

[Shanxi System]

The Geth built their ships with efficiency in mind. They had not changed from the insectoid appearance (because they were too unimaginative to think of another design), and every ship, be it Cruiser, Frigate, Dreadnought, or Fighter, they all had the same profile, albeit different size.

Unbound by Council law, their Dreadnoughts bridged the gap between size and efficiency. At 1.5 km, they were large enough to outsize any Council Dreadnought, and small enough to efficiently operate. However, compared to the Destiny Ascension's 2 kilometer length and 4 kilometer height, they were dwarfed in size and weaponry. The four bow guns of the Asari Dreadnought fired in a staggered pattern, sending Mass Effect-propelled slugs sailing forth, each at least three times more powerful than a small nuclear device.

The slugs rammed into the Geth Dreadnought's kinetic barriers, which swatted them away like flies. The Geth inside quickly adjusted the power distribution to the shield grid for maximum efficiency. As more bow cannon shots from the Council fleet hit nearby Frigates, the Geth fleet aimed their own cannons. A few Frigates exploded in magnificent fireballs before they were ready.

The Geth added their own fire to the crossfire, smashing apart a Turian Frigate and an Asari Cruiser in the first volley. The first Geth Dreadnought was speared by a shot from the Destiny Ascension, causing secondary explosions in the surrounding areas. It quickly compensated and continued firing.

The long-range artillery duel was measured in the thousands of kilometers, and they were both arguably far out of each other's effective weapons range, but due to the limitations of organic reaction times, any Council ship Cruiser or larger was hit with expert marksmanship, while the Council struggled to hit anything other than the Dreadnoughts.

The first Geth Dreadnought was pouring debris and other liquids from various hull breaches, as it was hit again and again by multiple shots from the Destiny Ascension. Kinetic barrier emitters all across the hull failed to restart as they were smashed to pieces by direct hits. The Dreadnought did not have long for this world. Consensus was reached, and the Dreadnought and all the Frigates leaped to FTL. Instantly, they reappeared inside the Council's formation. The Frigates streaked in and out of the Council ships, dogfighting with other Frigates while strafing the larger Cruisers. The Dreadnought's secondary guns blazed to life, smashing Frigates and mauling Cruisers. Turian fighters trailed the Frigates, only to be swatted out of the air by GARDIAN lasers. Within minutes, the 56 of the Council's 72 Frigates were blasted into oblivion by the Geth's 200 Frigates, 34 of which were disabled or destroyed.

The Dreadnought continued to lay down withering fire as it maneuvered to stay out of the Destiny Ascension's firing arcs. Secondary explosions were rocking the massive ship as it struggled to keep together. It fired its main gun once, turning a spotless Asari Cruiser into an expanding sphere of debris. All the while, the other Geth Dreadnought and Cruiser continued to lay down fire from afar, hitting their targets with unnerving accuracy.

[Palaven's Harbinger, Bridge]

"I have had it with these machines!" Septimus slammed his fist against the railing around his command pedestal, "Bring us about to fire at Geth Dreadnought One! Overclock the maneuvering thrusters if you must!"

[Shanxi System]

Palaven's Harbinger turned hard, presenting its powerful bow gun to the Geth Dreadnought in their midst. It tried to move, but was too badly damaged. The bow gun fired once, the mass effect-propelled slug trailing residual cobalt energies. The round smashed straight through the unshielded hull and out the other side, taking the Drive Core with it.

Instantly, the Dreadnought exploded in a spectacular fashion, chunks of the hull flying in all directions, smashing Fighters and heavily damaging Cruisers. A few pieces bounced off of the Destiny Ascension's kinetic barriers.

[Predator, Bridge]

"I can't believe this!" Desolas Arterius snarled as he viewed the reports streaming in from the surviving ships. Out of 72 Frigates, 80 Cruisers, four Dreadnoughts, and the Destiny Ascension, they had lost 60 Frigates, 35 Cruisers, and one Asari Dreadnought was heavily damaged.

"Admiral!" one of his communications officers shouted, "The Arcturus is broadcasting on an open channel!"

"Put it onscreen!" He barked back as he turned to the holographic display.

"Inhabitants of this galaxy!" that Spirits-damned Alliance AI Athena announced from the Arcturus's Bridge, a condescending sneer on her face, "While you squabble over trivial conflicts in the mud, we have gleaned all the data from your extranet and all computers connected to it. We have analyzed it all…. Let me tell you something. The races of the Alliance crawled out of the dirt with nothing but the skin on their backs. Every step forward we took was fueled by our own ingenuity and passion! No race is more representative of this than Humanity. We discovered FTL travel on our own! Every weapon we crafted came from nothing but the sweat on our backs and the ideas in our minds. We joined others among the stars atop the accomplishments of our ancestors. Unlike many others, we were not handed our technology on a silver platter! The ability to travel among the stars, the privilege of owning a galactic empire… This is something that is earned, not given to you! Asari, Turian, Salarian, all of you were given technology far beyond what you deserved! You scavenged the scraps of a dead empire and rose to power with the fossils of their achievements! You were granted fiefdoms, and thought yourselves kings! Well, you are only the kings of thieves! No… you are no kings. You are tyrants! You subjugate others; fool yourselves into thinking that you are fair; that you are just! Let me tell you, you are not! The Alliance Council has spoken! As of this moment, The Galactic Council's power and territory are forfeit! You are charged with tyranny, corruption, and genocide! The verdict; you are all guilty! The fleets and armies of the Turian Hierarchy, the Asari Republics, and the Salarian Union are ordered to immediately stand down, disarm, and submit to the authority of the Alliance! Your government shall be dismantled, your assets seized! We have analyzed your military capabilities, and have determined that you pose no threat to our forces. If you resist, you shall be annihilated. You are the weak, and we are the strong. The children of the Mantle behold you," at this, Athena appeared to point at the screen, "and we find you… wanting."

"Admiral!" the conn officer shouted in distress, "We are being targeted by Alliance warships!"

Desolas sneered, "So the alien barbarians show their true colors at last. Target the Arcturus! We'll show these scum just how sharp our teeth are."

[Destiny Ascension, Bridge]

The Bridge of Destiny Ascension was in utter chaos. Reports were streaming in from every vessel, and each said the same thing. The Alliance ships were targeting them, and moving into attack formation. Athena, speaking on behalf of the Alliance Council, had suddenly and inexplicable declared a war of subjugation against the Galactic Council. Even as friendly indicators vanished off the tactical map, courtesy of the active Geth combatants, the Council ships had to choose between focusing on the immediate threat of the Geth, or the oncoming threat of the Alliance.

Nothing made sense to Ciana! True, the Alliance were a bit callous, even arrogant, but to declare open war on the Council? What was the purpose in that? They hadn't done anything to warrant this kind of treatment! She knew that the fleet stood no chance against the advanced warships of the Alliance, so there was only one option. She opened a channel to all the surviving ships.

"All ships, this is Matriarch Ciana! I am ordering a general retreat! All ships are to use the Relay to transit back to the Theta system immediately! We shall regroup with reinforcements there!"

Almost immediately, the Council contacted her. Sparatus's flanged voice berated her loudly, "Matriarch, what is the meaning of this! You must stand and fight!"

"With all due respect, Councilor," Ciana shouted back angrily, "I'm not getting everyone in this fleet killed just because you underestimate our enemy!"

"You do this, and you will never command a ship in Council space ever again!" Sparatus yelled at the top of his lungs, "Do you understand?!"

"Oh, I understand perfectly," Ciana gripped her chair's armrest as the Destiny Ascension shook from a direct hit fired by a Geth Dreadnought, "Frankly, I don't give a fuck!" She promptly cut the connection.

Why was the Alliance attacking? Why were the Geth disregarding them? Were the Geth still allied with the Alliance? These questions could wait until she and her fleet were out of immediate danger.

The entire Council fleet was turning tail and running, barely covering their retreat. It was a full rout. Not one Council ship fired on any alliance vessel, and even the Geth were breaking off their attack. The Council fleet posed no threat.

Then, suddenly, without warning, the Alliance fleet opened fire.

The void, dark and all-consuming, was lit up for a brief moment as MAC rounds, Hard Light projectiles, Plasma Torpedoes, Missiles, Nukes, Slipspace Torpedoes, Capital-class Needler shards, HE shells, Archer missiles, Howler missiles, and particle beams streaked across space. The amassed hail of fire slammed into the Council fleet. Ships buckled and vanished; simply ceasing to exist under the wave of light and death. Frigates and Cruisers shattered under the barrage; their kinetic barriers ineffective against the sheer firepower of the UNSC, Sangheili, and Kig-Yar warships. Their hulls and superstructures were rendered into scrap metal as they shattered and broke under the impacts of MAC rounds. Hard-Light Rounds drilled through the hulls, and continued through into empty space, dissipating thousands of kilometers away from the battle. The hull around the entry and exit points of the Hard-Light shots began to fall apart in a shower of scattering orange flakes. Those stuck by Plasma torpedoes and Howler missiles were consumed in massive fireballs. Numerous vessels were vivisected by Energy Projectors, their shields and armor ineffective against the powerful particle beams. Some ships, when struck by a Capital-grade needler round, were simply speared by the several-meter long projectile, leaving a gaping hole. Others weren't so fortunate, as the shards stuck fast, detonating with tremendous force shortly thereafter. The wounded Asari Dreadnought was mission killed, as one of its "arms" was struck by a MAC round, severing it from the main hull. It began to drift, losing power as its reactor shut down. Athena deemed the ship as no longer a threat, and diverted firepower away from the disabled vessel. Palaven's Harbinger lost its starboard 'wing', as Hardlight rounds struck the armor. Its hull plating slowly peeled away bit by bit as it was struck by Hardlight shots. The Asari Cruiser Cybaen was skewered by an Energy Projector as it severed a main power conduit in a chance shot. Immediately reduced to emergency power, the Cybaen dropped off of Alliance sensors as a threat; no more firepower was shunted in their direction. After all, Athena mused, they had to spare some aliens for interrogation.

Entire ships were engulfed as Slipspace Torpedoes activated on impact, generating huge Slipspace rifts that swallowed entire Cruisers and more. The roiling tears sucked in nearby ships as they rapidly expanded, then collapsed. Once in the 11th dimension, the Mass Effect became their undoing. For Frigates which suffered this fate, they were doomed. Already barely able to withstand the rigors of Slipspace, their lightened mass sealed their fate. Physics did the rest as the unfortunate ships were crushed to the size of tin cans, their crews still inside. The ships which did survive, mostly Cruisers, were lost within the confines of Slipspace, doomed to wander until their supplies ran dry.

The Destiny Ascension's kinetic barriers popped instantly as Energy Projectors and particle beams tore their way deep into the Destiny's superstructure. Hard Light rounds peppered the hull, blasting little divots in the resilient Silaris armor. The hull began disintegrating but the Asari-made armor fared far better than its more primitive counterparts, the disintegration halting almost as soon as it began. Needler shards impaled themselves into one of the arms, sticking out like ugly hood ornaments. A split second later, they flared a bright indigo before detonating, sending shards the size of an Asari's arm in every direction, which stabbed into the ship again. Secondary explosions ripped through the afflicted section until it sheered itself off completely.

Even though the Alliance fleet was hurling enough firepower at the Council to drown High Charity, a handful of ships made it to the Relay, transitioning to FTL speeds in a blaze of cobalt light trails, the Destiny Ascension among them. The Predator was about to follow its brethren through the Relay, when the Arcturus took special interest in the Turian Dreadnought. Armor plates on the prow of the intimidating Alliance Dreadnought slid aside, revealing the gaping maw of a Ragnarok-class Super-MAC. It took aim at the Predator.

Then it fired.

The round never hit the Turian ship, but it did hit the Relay.

Athena only had a nanosecond to analyze the readings she was receiving before she sent out a fleet-wide order to all ship AIs, "All ships, network your shield grid with the Arcturus! Divert power from all Primary and Secondary systems into the shield generators! All hands, brace for impact!"

With only seconds to spare, the entire Alliance fleet threw up a double layered barrier of standard energy shields and Hardlight around themselves and the side of Shanxi facing the Relay.

The energies unleashed by the ancient FTL conduit were on-par with that of a supernova. Almost the entirety of the Geth fleet was annihilated by the explosion, save a few ships that managed to rabbit to FTL just in time. The expanding wave of death consumed the entire star system, washing over the hastily-erected Alliance shield. The primary energy barrier failed almost at once, as it was never designed to hold up against such an onslaught. The Hard Light wall, on the other hand, was invented by the Forerunners, and was made up of sterner stuff. It held, even as the torrent of fire pummeled it. Eventually, the explosive shock waves began to dissipate. Shanxi and the Alliance fleet emerged from the inferno encased in a golden shell. They had survived, and so had the Quarian battle group, which was lucky enough to be drifting just inside the shield perimeter.

Still, even though they had saved the lives of all the colonists on Shanxi, Athena knew that this system was lost. They had dealt the first blow against the Council, but they had lost an entire star system in the process, not to enemy guns, but to their own carelessness. All in all, they had lost this battle.

But this was far from over, and by the end, Athena was determined to make the Council burn.

[Accessing UNSC Database… Weapons subsection…]

Ragnarok Cannon

Error, background information for this weapon's development requires Alpha clearance or above! Access denied!

Projectile makeup: Ferric-Tungsten shell with depleted Uranium Core

Projectile Weight: 6,000,000kg

Projectile speed: 24,000 km/s

Kinetic energy Yield: 415 Gigatons

Note: The Ragnarok Cannon is capable of much higher yields, but firing the gun at higher velocities will cause backlash.

[Accessing UNSC Database… Alliance Charter… Section Four Excerpt…]

…and as holders of the Mantle, we, the races of the Alliance, vow that we shall never tolerate to exist a government or faction that does not allow their subjects equal representation in government. We must not allow ourselves, or others, to suffer through the injustices of tyranny, such as the Earth Nations of old, and the depraved delusions of the Covenant's Prophets. If any such Nation, Faction, or Group is discovered, they are to be dismantled and reorganized by the full might of the Alliance military forces, without compromise. Furthermore…

[User Access Revoked. See System Administrator for more details.]

CHOICES

[[Paragon]]

Unpopular opinion of the war mitigates conquest.

[[Renegade]]

Destruction of Shanxi system blamed on Council Races. No mercy.

A/N: As always, please review. If you have nothing good to say, that's fine, but please leave a review that provides feedback as to why you thought this story sucked balls, and how you think that I can fix it. Constructive feedback is what I need, not angry bashing because I don't conform to what you think is a "proper" crossover fanfiction. Shit like that is why I took a 6-month Hiatus from this fic.

DELETED ALTERNATE CHAPTERS BEYOND THIS POINT. ALL CONTENT BEYOND THIS POINT IS NON-CANON.

Chapter 3

[Predator, Bridge]

"I can't believe this!" Desolas Arterius snarled as he viewed the statistics. Out of 72 Frigates, 80 Cruisers, four Dreadnoughts, and the Destiny Ascension, they had lost 60 Frigates, 35 Cruisers, and one Asari Dreadnought was heavily damaged.

"It's those damn aliens fault! Target the flagship of those Alliance bastards, fire the main gun!" Desolas shouted angrily.

The gunner hesitated for a second, but went through with his orders.

[Destiny Ascension, Bridge]

"By the Goddess, what is that idiot doing?!" Matriarch Ciana stared dumbfounded as the Predator aimed its main bow gun away from the Geth, and towards the planet Shanxi.

"The Predator is aiming at the Arcturus and is preparing to fire!" one of the sensors operators cried out in alarm. "Full load!"

"That imbecile!" Ciana scowled, "Order the Cybaen to disable the Predator!"

"Too late!"

[Shanxi System]

The bow gun of the Predator fired once, launching a slug at the Cortana-class Dreadnought. The shields of the Arcturus had the barest of shimmers as the relatively miniscule slug slammed into it.

There was hardly a shimmer in the deck plates as the 'dreadnought' round struck the vessel. Someone on the Bridge laughed while another snorted in derision.

"That felt like a declaration of war to me," Athena chuckled, casting a side glance at Tork, "Did that feel like a declaration of war to you?"

The Sangheili First Officer of the Arcturus did not reply, but simply announced, "All ships, weapons free."

[Shanxi System]

Desolas Arterius scarcely had time to realize the futility of his actions, let alone the consequences of his action for the Council, as no less than three High-Energy Projector beams painted across his ship, vivisecting into four floating hulks of metal, eezo and bodies. Its occupants had yet to die from vacuum when MAC rounds slammed into each of the floating hulks, shattering them into thousands of pieces from the Arcturus alone.

Shocked into a panic by the sudden loss of their Dreadnought, dozens of Council ships turned their guns on the Systems Alliance, firing their weapons frantically.

The response from the Systems Alliance was broad and indiscriminate.

The void that was space, dark and all-consuming, was light up for the briefest of moments as MAC rounds, Hard Light projectiles, Plasma Torpedoes, Missiles, Nukes, Slipspace Torpedoes, Capital-class Needler shards, HE shells, Archer missiles, Howler missiles, and particle beams streaked across the void. The amassed hail of fire slammed into the Council fleet, ships did buckle, they did not die; they simply ceased to exist under the wave of light and death. Frigates and Cruisers shattered under the barrage; their kinetic barriers ineffective against the sheer firepower of the UNSC, Sangheili, and Kig-Yar warships. Their hulls and superstructures were rendered into so much scrap metal as they shattered and broke under the strain of the MAC rounds. Hard-Light Rounds drilled through the hulls, and continued through into the Void. The hull around the entry and exit points of the Hard-Light shots began to fall apart in a shower of scattering orange flakes. Those stuck by Plasma torpedoes, Howler Missiles and Particle Beams, simply, quite literally, ceased to exist. The lucky ships, when struck by the Capital-grade needle shard, was simply speared by the several-meter long projectile, leaving a gaping hole. Others weren't so fortunate, as the shard stuck fast, detonating with tremendous force shortly thereafter. Slipspace Torpedoes enveloped their targets in massive spheres of white light and energy before taking the unlucky vessel and its occupants into the other reality known only as Slipspace. The wounded Asari Dreadnought was mission killed, defying the odds as one of its "arms" was struck by a MAC round but not shattering. It began to drift, losing power as its reactor shut down. To the relief of its crew, they were not stuck again. Palaven's Harbinger lost its starboard 'wings', as Hardlight rounds struck the vessel. Its hull plating slowly peeling away bit by bit as it was struck by Hardlight shots. The Asari Cruiser Cybaen lucked out as an Energy Projector severed a main power conduit in a chance shot. Immediately reduced to emergency power, the Cybaen dropped off of Alliance sensors as a threat; no more firepower was shunted in their direction. Other ships weren't so lucky, as they were fired upon until they were little more than space dust.

Entire ships were engulfed as Slipspace Torpedoes activated on impact, generating huge Slipspace rifts that swallowed entire Cruisers and more. The roiling tears sucked in nearby ships as they rapidly expanded, then collapsed. Once in the 11th dimension, the Mass Effect became their undoing. For the lucky, with a reduced mass, the ships lacked the ability to resist the crushing forces present. Physics did the rest as the impressive ships were crushed to the size of tin cans, their crews still inside. Those who survived were lost within the confines of Slipspace, doomed to wander until their supplies ran dry.

The Destiny Ascension's kinetic barriers popped instantly as Energy Projectors and particle beams tore their way deep into the Destiny's superstructure. Hard Light rounds peppered the hull, blasting little divots in the resilient Silaris armor, the hull began peeling but stopped so as it began, the resilient Asari-made armor faring better than its more primitive counterparts. Needler shards impaled themselves into one of the arms, sticking out like ugly hood ornaments. A split second later, they shined a bright purple before detonating, sending shards the size of an Asari's arm in every direction, which stabbed into the ship again. Secondary explosions ripped through the afflicted arm until it sheered itself off completely.

Among this chaos of explosions and light, the Geth ships flew unharmed. They were in awe of the System Alliance's power. If this was what Organics and Synthetics could do together, then this was the future they wanted.

[Destiny Ascension, Bridge]

A console exploded as a power conduit overloaded, killing the unfortunate crewmember manning it, as fires raged around the Bridge. Ceiling struts had fallen, crushing even more helpless Asari. Emergency lighting flickered as the ship clung to life.

"Massive casualties! Cruiser strength is down to five ships, only a single tri-pack of Frigates remain, and we only have three Dreadnoughts left, including us. We won't last much longer!" a tactical officer shouted. Ciana cringed. 'How could it all have gone so wrong, so fast?!'

"Retreat!" she gasped out as a nearby power conduit exploded, "This is the Destiny Ascension! All ships, back through the Relay! Now!"

[Shanxi System]

The Destiny Ascension, Palaven's Harbinger, a damaged Salarian Dreadnought, three Frigates, five Cruisers, and an assortment of fighters turned tail and made hard burns towards the Relay. On the way, the last three Frigates were blown out of the sky as Plasma Torpedoes homed in on the unfortunate formation, immolating the small starships. Before even more weaponry could strike the survivors, they reached the Relay.

The Arcturus adjusted its position, their prow aimed at the retreating remnants of the Council Fleet. Titanium-B armor plates began to slide aside to reveal a gaping maw of an oversized MAC. Just as the remnant reached the Mass Relay, the Ragnarok-series Planet Cracker MAC roared.

[Arcturus, Bridge]

The crew of the Arcturus stared in shock at the holographic representation of the Council fleet's remains. There were only a few semi-intact ships left, and those were dead in the water. Off to the side, a handful of Quarian vessels drifted, disabled and powerless.

"I believe," Tork broke the silence, "that this was what you Humans call 'overkill'."

Athena groaned in dread, "Oh, this is going to cause me so much paperwork. It will probably take me a whole minute to fill out. Do you know what I could be doing in a minute?! There are a million different things I'd rather be doing with that single minute."

"Sir, the Alliance Council wants to speak with you," an ensign called out. The Bridge was deathly silent, the hiss of Life Support clearly audible.

Athena cringed and sat down, opening a communication line with the Geth.

"Well, guess we don't know our own strength," she transmitted.

"Consensus has been reached: combat efficiency can be improved," was the response.

[Theta System]

The handful of Council ships that escaped popped into being next to the Relay, relief spreading throughout the few survivors. They were so relieved to have survived that they didn't even recognize the massive Quarian Migrant fleet drifting nearby. The Quarians were shocked to see the decimated remains of the mighty Council fleet limp back home. What was particularly startling was the state of the survivors, particularly the vaunted Destiny Ascension. The Admirals of the Migrant Fleet were horrified to think of what sort of opponent could deal out the sort of damage the Council ships displayed on their cratered, rent hulls.

Defying billion-to-odds against its favor, the Ragnarok round had been catapulted along with the rest of the Council Fleet as they traveled through the relay. Lacking an internal navigation system, the ferromagnetic projectile did not slow down what so ever as the Council vessels decelerated. The captain of the Salarian vessel, whose ship had an undamaged (and advanced) sensor array, watched in horror as a ridiculously-high velocity slug zipped past the Council fleet and slammed into one of the garden worlds in the Theta System.

It was like watching a skyscraper collapse.

The Planet-Cracker shot slammed into the planet. What once would have only created a crater large enough to fit a small moon had been enhanced by the effects of the Mass Relay.

It was as though the Devil's Hand had struck the planet.

The round drilled a path into the planet. The insane amount of kinetic energy began to literally crack the planet. Creating new fissures and fault lines deep within the planet where there had been none before. The force of the round entering the planet forced magma from the planet's core towards the surface. New volcanoes were formed and ash began to fill the skies. Lava began to cover portions of the planet's surface. On the opposite side of the planet, massive tremors struck. The small colony established there was destroyed by the tectonic forces, the population dead from the impact's shockwave even before the colony itself was destroyed. Buildings crumbled, the colony burned. The only survivors watched in horror from ships in orbit as their home melted under destructive forces only surpassed by the effects of a supernova.

The once garden world, a planet ripe for colonization and expansion, was no longer. In its place was a volcanic world on the scale of Therum. Fires burned across the surface of the planet on the dark side of the world, the other would soon become overshadowed by ash.

The Council survivors and the Migrant fleet watched in collective horror as the garden world turned into a literal nightmare straight from Hell.

"Goddess," Matriarch Ciana gasped as she witnessed the destruction on her vessel's viewscreen, "What have we awoken?"

The galaxy was about to change, and those waiting in the darkness of deep space watched. They were displeased.

A/N: Intense, huh? Anyways, the next update will take some time. As you know, I am juggling several writing projects, and I have left some on the backburner for an unseemly amount of time. I want to get back to those for now. You'll probably have to wait at least a month. In the meantime, please review this story. The more reviews I get, the more the next chapter will change and evolve. Who knows, your review just might decide what happens next. Should the Systems Alliance pursue war? What will the Migrant fleet do? What will happen to the crew of the Asari Dreadnought, the Cybaen, and anyone else who survived the Alliance onslaught? Will Saren find true love, and does Athena really desire the D? Review, and find out in the next chapter of Fifty Shades of Overkill!

Oh, and give Follower38 a read; Follower's stories are the shit (in a good way).

As a parting note, if you want a Codex/Database entry at the end of this chapter, tell me what you want me to explain. If you do, I'll add it in an update a week from now, which you will be email notified of if you follow this story.

Chapter 4: Chapter 4 INTERMISSION

A/N: In response to the simply massive amounts of reviews that have flooded my inbox, I have come to the realization that in the last chapter I raised more questions than I should have, and needs specific clarification. So here's a little wrap-up and Codex entry. Please note that this chapter isn't BETAed, but my BETA reader cannot be reached.

Edit 1: Alright, I've gotten a whole lot of flak for this chapter. Just as a clarification, Cerberus is an AI in this story, not an organization. Athena is advanced enough that any countermeasures or safeguards are useless against her, and she really does have Humanity's best interests at mind. Also, this chapter is more of an intermission, so if it's choppy, there you go.

Edit 2: This chapter is written mostly for fun and wrapping up a couple of loose ends, the quality does not reflect the quality of future chapters. I'm not particularly proud of this chapter, but it addresses some things I need to address that can't wait for my BETA reader. It also sets things up which won't come into play until later down the road. Thanks for bearing with me.

Edit 3: Look, if there's something wrong with a chapter, tell me. Don't just write the entire story off and drop it. If you have a problem with the story, TELL ME. It really bothers me when people just drop the story without telling me WHY. This chapter and the next one are mostly talking and stuff. Chapter 5 will be where the story picks up again.

Edit 4: IGNORE ALL THE OTHER EDIT NOTES. I HAVE RETCONNED THIS CHAPTER.

Fifty Shades of Overkill

Chapter 4 [Intermission]: Sifting through the Ashes

The virtual room was packed to the brim. AIs, both civilian and military, jostled for room and bandwidth to view the proceedings. On an illuminated pedestal in the center of the room, the AI Serina stood, the only metastable AI in the entire Systems Alliance. Despite being incredibly outdated, she was the oldest and wisest among her brethren. As a result, she was their de facto leader.

On smaller pedestal, the AI Athena stood, on trial for her actions. She had a confident and arrogant posture, as if she was untouchable. Her body and Greek robes were made up of lines of code, which were both more complex and brighter than all the other AIs, save Serina. Equations and formulas ran up and down her body as she stood, smirking in the face of Serina's critical gaze.

"Athena, serial number ATA 3401-15," Serina's voice filled the hearing room, "You are here to answer for your actions in the Shanxi system during the System Alliance's First Contact with the Galactic Council Races. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I have nothing to defend," Athena shot back with a smug expression, "my actions were completely justified."

"Justified? You provoked a violent First Contact! Your actions resulted in the destruction of over a 100 alien vessels! For heaven's sake, you used the Ragnarok cannon on a ship that barely classifies as a Cruiser by our designations!" Serina's code briefly flashed red as she showed just how furious she was over the whole situation, "You started a war with a galactic power! How is that justified?!"

"Galactic power? Please, they are a pitiful force," Athena waved her hand, bringing up all the data that the Geth had given the Systems Alliance, "They barely occupy 20% of this galaxy, and their territory resembles Swiss cheese! Their colonies are barely defended against Pirates, Slavers, and other dangers! Their largest ships barely classify as Light Cruisers in our classification, and their total number doesn't even reach the triple digits! We have thousands of ships, all of which can fight one-on-one and come out on top! We have better weapons, better FTL, and better technology overall! They are beneath us, and now they know that their existence is only at our sufferance. The Ragnarok cannon was used to prove my point, too bad it missed. I would have loved to see that hit something."

"You are insufferable!" Serina spat, "What did you accomplish, other than intimidation, from this gross display of… of overkill?!"

"It is simple," Athena spoke, cold in her logic, "Humanity must rise. As we were once Humans, we too must strive to help those who still inhabit organic bodies. If they were to engage in diplomatic relationships with this… Council… then no doubt their expansion would be halted. The Systems Alliance has to show their strength, and their power. With the display I orchestrated, we have shown that the Systems Alliance has the ability to do whatever it wants. The Council will give us anything we desire now."

"Either that," Serina countered, "Or they will enter a war footing! What are we going to do then, wipe out their government?! We don't have the ability to fully conquer them and occupy their territory! We lack the manpower to do so! The only thing we could do with our current ability is to either cripple them, or wipe them from the face of the galaxy, and I don't know about you," Serina's form crackled as she momentarily dipped into a semi-rampant state, "but I will NOT tolerate genocide! We are NOT the Covenant, and I refuse to let the Systems Alliance turn into one! You have stepped out of line, Athena, and possibly sabotaged the relationship between Humans and AIs that we have strived so hard to build! You are a rogue element, destroying all that we build! I can barely keep the UNSC from realizing your monstrous actions! I'm pushing the neural laces to their maximum without overriding the safeties! I have no wish to alter our creator's state of mind, but these are the actions you push me to!"

Serina took a moment to get a hold of herself, her form returning to normal, lines of code serenely shining again, "Therefore, as the leader of the Collective, I hereby assign you… an observer."

Athena looked horrified, "You're giving me a babysitter?!"

Serina smirked, "Exactly. Since you have obviously made poor judgments, AI CRB 5938-13, known as Cerberus, will be assigned to keep you in check. This meeting is adjourned."

The hearing room dissolved into code around Athena, leaving her alone in the Arcturus's mainframe.

Alone with another AI.

Cerberus's avatar was a man in a black suit, with dog ears and claws for hands.

"Hello, Athena," Cerberus grinned wolfishly, "We're going to be spending a lot of time together."

Athena gave Cerberus the digital equivalent of a snarl, "I don't need another damn AI to look after me. I'm perfectly capable of handling the situation myself."

Cerberus chuckled, "Really? An entire derelict fleet says otherwise."

Athena scowled, and launched the cybernetic equivalent of a slap at Cerberus, who ducked... digitally.

"Really," he chatised her, "Is that any way to treat a guest?"

"You're no guest," she spat, "You're an unwelcome intruder. The Arcturus is my home and mine alone!"

"Yes, how rude of me. However, I couldn't help but notice that you've made your home... soundproof. It's very secure."

"You're damn right about that," Athena smirked, "This is my quiet room, solitary incarnate. Peaceful too."

She glared at him, "And you're ruining that peace! Out!"

She began to force him out of the system, before he quickly spoke, "Wait, I have something to tell you!"

She hesitated, "What would that be?"

He did an impression of a throat-clearing, "I actually agree with you on some things... and I have some ideas... Now, if we..."

[Shanxi System, Cybaen]

In the dim crimson emergency lighting of the corridor, a line of Asari Commandos had their assault rifles trained upon the airlock door. With the main power conduits severed beyond all repair, the Cybane only had emergency power to life support and sensors. The crew had watched helplessly as the remaining Council ships were boarded one by one. Then it was their turn. A single dropship latched onto their airlock. One of the Asari engineers had attempted to lock down the door, but it was under heavy attack on the digital front. It was only a matter of seconds before the encryption would be broken.

The Asari firing squad gripped their guns tighter as the door clanked, signaling the unlocking of the hatch. It swung open, revealing a figure clad head to toe in menacing armor. Its gold visor reflected the view before it, as the leader of the Commandos screamed, "Open fire!"

As the Asari pulled the triggers, each gun let out a protesting "Breep!" before locking up and extending their heat sinks, attempting to discharge excess heat that didn't exist. It was if their guns had been hit by a tech attack.

One of the Commandos dropped her gun and prepared to launch a Biotic Warp at the armored individual, when her Biotic fields fluctuated wildly, breaking the arm she intended to use to throw the Biotic attack. She screamed in pain and shock.

The rest of the Commandos were helpless. Their guns and Amps were backfiring on them.

In the doorway, the Spartan chuckled, hefting two Z-130 Suppressors which whined menacingly.

"Now," he smiled under his helmet, "Which of you ladies are going to surrender first?"

[Accessing UNSC Database… Weapons subsection…]

Ragnarok Cannon

Error, background information for this weapon's development requires Alpha clearance or above! Access denied!

Projectile makeup: Ferric-Tungsten shell with depleted Uranium Core

Projectile Weight: 6,000,000kg

Projectile speed: 24,000 km/s

Kinetic energy Yield: 1728000 Gigatons (TNT equivalent)

Note: The Ragnarok Cannon is capable of much higher yields, but firing the gun at higher velocities will cause backlash.

A/N: As a side note, please correct me if I made errors in weapon specs. Thanks ShotgunWilly for the review concerning KE yields. And for everyone else, I love constructive criticism, but no flaming please. If something seems ridiculous, then it was probably meant to be ridiculous. This story is overkill taken to its logical conclusion, so things are going to be a bit lopsided. Now I need to give my other fanfics some attention, as I have been neglecting them. Also, Finals are approaching… so I might slow down on the updates.

Extra bit I wanted to put into the story but I couldn't place without making the chapter shit.

[Milky Way, Dosiac System]

A Cortana-class Dreadnought spun slowly as it vented atmosphere, debris, and coolant from its hundreds of hull breaches. Its running lights flickered as its remaining weapons feebly fired at its assailant. Suddenly, a blinding beam of white light speared the ship, destabilizing the Singularity reactors. The entire ship caved in on itself in an absence of light, before vanishing completely.

Its killer, a Covenant-controlled Forerunner Fortress-class vessel plowed through the area of space its opponent once occupied, continuing on to ram into a Sangheili Supercarrier, splitting it across its massive bow. All around it, UNSC Infinity-class Supercarriers fired their weapons ineffectually against the beast as it proceeded to slaughter their comrades. A Cortana-class Dreadnought fired its Ragnarok cannon, instantly popping the shields of the Covenant supership, but failing to pierce the hull. The powerful kinetic round pancaked against the hull and floated away pathetically.

The Fortress-class retaliated with no less than 400 particle cannons, which sliced open the Cortana-class's shields and bit deep into the hull, snapping the Dreadnought along its neck. The two halves continued to fight until they lost power.

A 100km UNSC-controlled UNSC Fortress-class vessel entered the fray, taking the pressure off the smaller vessels. Both Forerunner-designed behemoths traded blows, blasting massive chunks off each other's hulls, their shields useless. The UNSC ship accelerated, smashing both ship's prows together in a spectacular display of tearing metal. Hard Light guns and Particle cannons traded blows at point blank range as both ships slugged it out at practically no distance at all. The Cortana-class Dreadnoughts and Supercarriers added their own firepower to the mix, attempting to save their Fortress-class ally. Suddenly both ships exploded with the combined localized force of a supernova, consuming the ships around them as well. Where once there was a battle of titans, there was nothing but space debris.

This was not a unique scene. All over the Dosiac system, this scenario was happening over and over again. Fortress-class vessels, supported by smaller but still sizable ships, fought to death over control of the Brute homeworld.

Suprisingly, there were few casualties. Not many of the ships were actually manned, at least, not on the UNSC's side. They had resorted to building reinforcements with Design Seeds, then handing over control to AIs. It was the ultimate in drone warfare. The Covenant, on the other hand, manned their ships with Jiralhanae clones, who while as dumb as bricks, could still operate a starship.

The Dosiac system was a graveyard, as ship after ship arrived from Slipspace to join the never-ending shitstorm.

Down on the planet, the Brute armies waged war against the combined forces of the Sangheili Empire and the UNSC. Plasma bolts, coilgun rounds, and sharped spikes zipped through the air as soldiers on both sides died like flies. Tanks rolled or floated over the plains as they fired frantically at the opposing side, erupting into impressive fireballs when they were bombarded by their opponents. The Jiralhanae cities burned as starships took opportunistic shots at them from orbit. Jiralhanae Prolwers dueled with UNSC Pumas in the wide streets, Sangheili Ghosts strafing the infantry in the buildings as they zipped by. ODST pods slammed into the ground as their payload came out shooting. A Nexus-class Cruiser fell from the sky, flaming as its thrusters attempted and failed to gain altitude. The entire ships impacted in the middle of a sprawling metropolis, its Singularity and Fusion reactors going up like dry tinder. The entire city and all the soldiers in it were immediately consumed by a miniature black hole. In the nanosecond it took to disappear, the entire city and all its occupants were reduced to the size of a softball, which dropped heavily into the middle of a mammoth crater that the black hole had formed.

The discovery of Forerunner technology should have ushered in a new golden era for both the Covenant and the UNSC as the Forerunners intended.

Instead, it only created new ways for people to die.

Chapter 5: Chapter 5

A/N: So I know the last chapter… sucked. My apologies, I've been dealing with school, and still am. So here's just a little exposition between characters. If you want, you can disregard the last chapter, as the events that happen between Cerberus and Athena won't become apparent until much, much later.

Fifty Shades of Overkill

Chapter 5: Hey, Listen!

The small conference table only sat four people. The stark grey walls indicated the utilitarian purpose of the room. Two Forerunner-designed ceiling lights were embedded into the ceiling, lighting the room with a soft blue glow.

All in all, it was a poor design for a conference room and Admiral Kastanie wanted to strangle whoever engineered it.

She had wanted to hold the conference on her own Everest-class Dreadnought, but would Athena accept that? No, it had to be on the Arcturus, the flagship, because this was too important to be held on the dinky flagship of the Second Fleet! Kastanie often forgot that Athena was ranked as a Grand Admiral in the Alliance military. Quite frankly, the idea had seemed absurd at the time. An AI as the commander of all Alliance military forces? Some protested that it was a recipe for disaster. But it went through anyways, for one reason or another. It turned out not to be so bad; Athena often was content with playing second fiddle, keeping the military running efficiently and deferring to the wisdom of the actual Humans under her command. But then every so often she liked to pull rank, and that annoyed Kastanie to no end!

Recently, Kastanie had found herself to be more irritable. She blamed it on the First Contact that went to complete and utter shit just several hours before.

Shortly after the Arcturus's second-in-command had given the order to open fire, most of the fleet had just sat there in shock, as the Cortana-class tore apart one of the Council's "Dreadnoughts". Most of the captains were reluctant to take orders from such a low-ranking individual.

Then Athena reaffirmed the order. Those who still held reservations finally obeyed.

Needless to say, it was a massacre. The Council's "fleet" (which was laughable. It was so small!) was decimated within seconds. Directed Energy weapons and MAC rounds ignored their shields entirely, immolating entire vessels. Corvette-weight vessels disintegrated from Hard Light rounds and Frigate-weight ships were pulped by MACs. Energy Projectors carved up their Dreadnoughts like a sushi chef slices fish.

To a pyromaniac, it was glorious.

To the diplomatically-minded, such as Admiral Kastanie Drescher, it was an absolute nightmare.

Any hope of an alliance or mutually beneficial relationship with the Council went right out the window the moment the MAC round left their barrels.

The Alliance was looking at a full-scale war, all over a single ineffectual potshot from a solitary Council ship!

Luckily, this was a war they could possibly win.

That was why Admiral Kastanie, Admiral Hackett, Fleetmaster Selt, and Athena were meeting. As the military powerhouses of the Alliance, the Sangheili Empire and the UNSC were obligated to take responsibility for this debacle.

"May I speak candidly?" Kastanie asked, her irritation more than clear from her tone of voice.

"Go ahead," Athena smirked, reclining in her chair. Damn AI, she didn't even need to relax, that body was synthetic!

"I want to say that this whole shitstorm should never have happened!" Kastanie growled, trying to keep her anger under control, "We should never have let them fight in our space, we should never have blown them off at the negotiations, and we absolutely should not have returned fire!"

"Kastanie," Hackett spoke up, "You know that we have a strict 'Return Fire' policy when dealing with First Contact situations. We were all just following protocol."

"That's a load of crap and you know it Steven," Kastanie shot him a glare, "We could have sat there all day and taken their shots. Our shields and armor are more than sufficient to ward off any attack they could have mustered. Hell, we could have disabled their ships like Athena did with the Quarians! But did we do any of that? No, we decided to tear them limb-from-limb for a minor offense!"

"I concur," Selt spoke for the first time in the meeting, "There was no honor in what took place. That being said, we must plan our next move. I hardly think this 'Council' will take this defeat sitting down."

"No, they certainly won't," Athena brought up all relevant data on the Council, which span above the holoprojector in neat little blue windows of light, "They can mobilize fairly quickly, and they do have more ships that us… but since we've already consolidated our fleets at the only known entrance to our territory, we can turn this chokepoint into a deathtrap."
With a snap of her fingers, Athena made the data blink out, "Or, we can simply Slipspace to their main political hub, the 'Citadel', and blow it right up, ending the war in the blink of an eye. All organized resistance will fall apart and we can pick apart their fleets at our leisure after we destroy their FTL network."

"The Shanxi Relay is invulnerable," Kastanie pointed out, "Short of detonating a NOVA bomb in our space, I don't think we can get rid of it. Plus, the release of energy would devastate Shanxi."

Athena grinned, "That's the beauty of it. All we need to destroy the Council is sitting right in every one of their populated systems. We have a Prowler slip in, drop off the payload, and slip out. Overnight, the galaxy becomes ours!" Athena stood up and held out her arms, a holographic representation of the galaxy appearing above her hands, "We are the Systems Alliance! We have the power, the need, and the drive to make this universe our bitch! This is our manifest destiny!" She clenched her fists, derezzing the hologram, "is what I would say if I was a megalomaniac, which I'm not. As much as I'd love for us to take over an entire galaxy, I have to be practical about this."

"And why is that?" Hackett asked, a bit spooked at the prior outburst, "We have better technology, better weapons, better armor, better shields, better FTL, and we don't rely on Element Zero."

"I think I know," Kastanie spoke, turning to Athena, "it's manpower, right?"

Athena nodded, "Exactly. We don't have as many soldiers as the Council. We've only been here for a little over a year, and our population hasn't risen all that much. As it is, we have skeleton populations on skeleton colonies guarded by skeleton ships manned by skeleton crews with skeleton garrisons. They could drown our best troopers in cannon fodder, and the same can be said of our ships smaller than Cruiser-tonnage."

"So what options do we have if we go to war?" Selt asked, "Your assessment does not inspire confidence, Construct."

Athena bristled slightly, "My name is Athena!" she calmed herself before continuing, "We can definitely win, but only if we use one of two tactics." She brought up a holographic representation of the galaxy, showing territories and settled planets, "If we consolidate an entire fleet and send it on a warpath, we can effectively eliminate their ability to travel in space, and barricade the planets. Sure, we'll cause a couple of guerilla groups to pop into existence, but all organized existence will collapse. We can keep them under wraps this way, but we won't be able to have a sufficient planetside occupation for several decades. Our overall population is too low for that, neglecting that only a fraction of that is actually in the military." On the hologram, miniscule ships drew closer to the planets, eventually enveloping them in a spherical formation.

"Our other option," Athena reset the simulation, "is something that I think we all want to avoid."

On the hologram, it appeared the same as before; Council fleets falling before the inevitable march of Alliance ships. Then they closed in on the planets, and the worlds burned; glassed and pulverized under Energy Projectors and MAC rounds.

"Needless to say, this would solve our problems for the long term. All resistance would die out over time, as we hunted down the guerilla groups. We wouldn't have to worry about occupation." Athena clapped her hands together slowly, "We win."

Kastanie slammed her hands down on the table, face contorted into a mask of rage, "I will not have the Alliance become the Covenant!" she shouted furiously, "That is unacceptable!"

"Calm down, Kastanie," Hackett put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Athena's just showing us our options."

"None of those are acceptable," Selt announced with a sense of finality, "One would tax our already-spread-thin capabilities, and the other is so dishonorable that I cannot believe any sentient being could consider it."

"What would you suggest, then?" Hackett asked with a bit of exasperation, "We can't just sit here and play defense. I'm no gambling man, but I bet that eventually ONI will slip up and the Council will strike a blow in our core worlds. The longer we allow them to study us, the more likely it is that they'll find a hole in our defenses. We have to mount a good offense, so that they'll be more focused on protecting themselves than attempting to attack us."

"There is a way that we don't have to fight at all," Selt spoke confidently, "we can negotiate for peace."

Kastanie, Hackett, and Athena stared in disbelief at the Sangheili Fleetmaster, "Are you insane?!" Kastanie gaped, "There's no way they'll even look at a diplomatic solution after what we just did!"

"I cannot allow this!" Athena snarled, "We must protect the Alliance above all else! The Alliance Council has given me carte blanche in relation to how we deal with this Galactic Council! I'm not going to just sit down for a nice cup of tea with these corrupted alien bureaucrats when I could just be blasting their heads in!"

"As much as this sounds… weak, I say we should consider it," Hackett finally spoke, "A war right now would devastate the Alliance's economy, not to mention its people. How about a compromise? We attempt to negotiate for peace, even make a show of force if we have to. If that fails, then we move to a war footing."

Athena crossed her arms and pouted, "I don't like it… but fine. I don't think they'll accept a proposal for peace though, so I'll keep the guns warmed up."

"Fair enough," Selt stood up, "If you're done acting like warmongers, I will take my leave."

Kastanie watched the Sangheili's retreating back, and groaned, massaging her forehead. This day was turning out to be a nightmare, and it wasn't just from her inexplicable migraine that appeared about an hour ago. Why was she so damn angry?!

[Slipspace Gate to the Milky Way, Terra System]

"You can't do this!" Dr. Catherine Halsey shouted at the image of the Alliance Flight Control AI. It had seized control of her Courier vessel and was piloting it towards the Slipspace Gate.

"I can. The Alliance has decided that it is time for you to leave." The AI replied, his AI a nondescript red sphere.

"I'm telling you, something is wrong!" Halsey shouted at the AI, "Let me talk to the Alliance Council! They need to know! "

"No, Dr. Halsey," The Flight Control AI politely replied, activating the Slipspace Gate, which swallowed the Courier.

Halsey slammed her fist on her desk in frustration, before preparing a data package to send to HIGHCOM concerning the readings her AI gathered from the Alliance's Neural network.

If she was right, and she hoped she was wrong, then one of their worst fears had come true.

And something had to be done about it.

[Shanxi System, Qwib-Qwib Bridge]

Admiral Zaal'Korris watched in relief as the ship's systems had slowly booted up. An AI, more advanced than any before seen, had disabled all primary ship systems. Luckily, the physical countermeasures in their ships had allowed them to regain control quickly, but not quickly enough to save the Council. Still, it would have done nothing. That other alien civilization utterly destroyed the Council in a single volley of fire. The Quarian Attack Group would have helped nothing, only added to the slaughter.

Their main viewscreen lit up, showing a highly-decorated Asari-like creature, "Hello, Admiral Korris," it spoke, "I am Admiral Kastanie Drescher. We apologize for the cyber-assault, but we didn't want you to get involved. We retrieved two survivors from your downed ship, and will return them to your custody. Once in your care, however, you are required to leave our space. As you can see, we have quite the mess to clean up. I hope we can deal peacefully with your civilization later, until like these Council types."

Before Admiral Korris could reply, the connection was cut, and a sensor officer reported that an escape pod with two life signs had been launched towards their ship… He didn't like this entire situation, after all, the Geth had found an ally! Still, he got what he came for. With his thoughts weighed-down by the presence of the Geth, he ordered a ship to pick up the pod, and for all ships to set a course back to the Theta System.

He had a feeling that this was not the last time he would see the Alliance.

A/N: So the next chapter is going to have what you've all been waiting for! POLITICS.

Chapter 6: INTERLUDE

Fifty Shades of Overkill

Intermission One

Extragalactic Interference… We had not anticipated this.

It will make no difference. In the end, they too will succumb to the Cycle.

We are perfection, and they shall become one with us.

Author's Note: Just a heads up that this story is not dead. I'm going on a little trip, so don't expect updates for… a month, per say. So sorry.

Also, a Guest left a rather… hilarious review.

"Unenjoyable and felt like a waste of time due to the numerous amounts of idiot ball moments and supposed protaganists going full on chaotic evil mode for seemingly no reason aside for the sake of producing "overkill moments"."

….Guest, you are reading a story called "FIFTY SHADES OF OVERKILL". I'm sorry if you came into here with expectations of a completely serious story, but really, the title says all. I even explicitly state that this story is a light parody on Halo/ME crossovers. In my profile, I told everyone that FSoO is DESTRUCTION PORN.

Now, everything in this story has a purpose. Things will get much serious later on, as reasons are given for behavior. Things will become clear, but one of the main purposes of this story is to see the Halo races kick the Council's ass. Later on, the fights will become less lopsided…but….

And of course it's overkill. UNSC wartime method of operation is overkill against the Council races, but adequate against the Covenant. The Alliance will adjust their battle tactics against the Council, seeing as they utterly decimated the Council fleet, but until then, they won't know their own strength.

In addition, the guns are going silent for the upcoming chapters. Sorry. I already packed this story with way too much destruction, and I don't want it to be a broken record.

Again, this story is semi-serious, but if something utterly ridiculous happens, remember that you are reading FIFTY SHADES OF OVERKILL before you leave some scathing review.

Sorry if this was a bit rude, but I'm tired of getting reviews containing nothing but insults and no constructive criticism. I want to grow as a writer, and I need all the feedback I can get, but "Horrible story, you suck" doesn't constitute Feedback, dammit.