Chapter 2: The Meeting of the High Council
Sentient Coalition High Command Former Human Alliance Fortress world of 'Filmar IV' Main Assembly Chamber
It was one of the most heavily defended and protected planets in the universe. And one of the most inhospitable worlds in existence, adding to it's sheer impenetrable nature.
Eight worlds, covered in horrific corrosive atmospheres and incomprehensible diseases and hostile life made up the core of the system. The moons that the planets boasted were just as horrible, be they volcanic abominations incapable of supporting even the most rudimentary life, to the swampy orbs of death that had viruses that could kill a being in seconds, this system seemed to be hell. Even the space surrounding it was deadly, the harsh gravitational pull of the system was enough to fill the space around it with dense asteroid belts and clouds. Radioactive Nebula and dust clouds could kill unprotected organics, and scramble electronics.
The Human Alliance colonized the 'Filmar' system during the early years of it's interstellar expansion. The 'Filmar' system was a primary choke point for trade lanes into Terra, that made it a vital corridor to defend against invasion. Despite the general inhospitable nature of the entire system, colonists were sent.
Unfortunately they didn't last long. Every single planet was equally uninhabitable. The diseases and horrific surface conditions wiped out every living thing sent there. But, the Human Alliance Military saw the utility of having such a deadly system under its control. Orbital assaults were nearly impossible.
So the Human Alliance began to dig, and dig. They mined out all the resources on the eight worlds that the 'Filmar' system possessed and constructed massive, elaborate underground bases. The entire system boasted ten billion inhabitants. All of them military personnel living beneath the harsh surfaces of the planets, they manned the orbital defense weapons, the missile batteries and cared for the fighter garrisons that would beat off any assault at Terra.
Each world was honeycombed with subterranean fortresses. Orbital defense guns sat protected within underground silos and bunkers, ready to open up and bat any attacker from the skies. Fighter wings lay in wait within their hangers, shielded from the harsh surface conditions and weather, prepped to leap forth and engage their foes. Missile silos and bases covered the surface of the worlds like hairs on an animal. Energy shields enveloped the surface, each layer capable of defending against massive amounts of bombardment.
In the surrounding space, orbital weapons platforms and fortress moons made slow careful elipses of the planets, their own dense shielding and weapons systems just as deadly as those on the surface.
Within the clouds of asteroids that enveloped the system black holes and quantum singularities were artificially created, a stellar minefield that was infinetly lethal if any vessels varied from the proper approaches. Asteroids were mounted with automated weapons emplacements and even with cloaking devices. A lethal minefield awaited any attackers, or any foolish enough to enter the system at all.
At any one time nearly three thousand military vessels were on patrol in the asteroid minefields, scouring the space for intruders in addition to the innumerable automated sensor units. Within the space-docks around the worlds of the system, another thousand ships could be under refit and repairs at any time.
Through out the seven hundred cycles that the planets were garrisoned, they repelled one hundred and eighty seven different pushes on the home-worlds of Terra, and repulsed innumerable planetary assaults. Thanks to this bulwark, no invading force ever reached to perimeter of Terra.
But now, with the threat of the Covenant Hegemony looming larger than that of the Antarans and Ithkul, the Filmar system was re-tasked for another purpose.
The system was to become the command center for all coordinated efforts by the Sentient Coalition to battle the Covenant Hegemony. After a year of construction, the system was the nerve center of every effort that the Sentient Coalition could mount against the genocidal Covenant pressure.
The Sentient Coalition Main Council Chamber
Deep within the core of Filmar IV, beneath miles of rock, Adumantium, Zortium, Durasteel, Neutronium, shielding systems and Neosteel, it was one of the safest locations in the universe. Direct Anti-matter weapons fire or even sustained plasma bombardment could not penetrate the heavily protected Council Chamber. The attackers would have to crack the planet open utilizing immense amounts of force.
That was why the Council was assembled, to discus whether or not immense amounts of force and horrific weapons of war that the Sentient Coalition could boast would be leveled against the Covenant.
They sat silent within the massive chamber. The semi-circle arch of the room set into risers and tiered levels that rose up from a central platform and podium. Only the podium was illuminated, the rest of the chamber sat in darkness.
At the Podium stood Ambassador Hiktar, the Human Alliance Representative to the Sentient Coalition. The Human Alliance was in charge of the assembly for the simple reason that they had built the base and it was their territory.
The dark skinned human looked up and about the darkened room. He drew breath and began to speak.
"Esteemed colleagues, you are all aware that in the last year of conflict with the Covenant that we have managed to solidify our lines and make great strides towards making a uniform military organization to resist. In this time however, we have avoided discussion of one matter that is of extreme importance to our efforts. Conventional munitions and weapons aside, all our respective races have at our command an extremely potent cadre of weapons that have not been used thus far." Hiktar said.
"I am speaking of course, about our Weapons of Mass destruction and our Superweapons." Hiktar said, as he finished, his words were punctuated by the anxious mutters and hushed voices of the assembled representatives.
"I have arranged for various organizations to come forward and discuss the weapons they have available and then we shall see if we are willing to utilize the munitions that are available. First, I wish to call Lt. General Burnlow of the Human Alliance." Hiktar said and stepped away from the podium.
As he did so, another human rose and moved forward to the podium, his uniform cut along the lines of a Human Alliance dress uniform. Only those with extremely good vision could see that the patches on his shoulders displayed a fist clutching lighting set before a mushroom cloud.
"Greetings. As you are aware from the Battle of Earth, and the Retaking of Reach, much of the Human Alliance's standard munitons could be considered Weapons of Mass Destruction by less capable races. But there are forms of firepower that even we consider to be WMD. Firstly, our Stellar Converter capital ship weapon." Burlow said and behind him a holographic appeared. The date and time tag was replaced with a caption of 'Second Antaran War: Planet Justinain VII'. The view was looking out through the bridge of a starship, down upon a blue green planet. A small audio was attached with the display.
'Stellar Converter is online. Awaiting firing order.'
'Captain Wimington, authorization Gamma-6-Harrold-Philip-35.'
'Confirmed, voiceprint match.'
'Commander Rawlings, authorization Kirkland-53-32-Epsilon-Quarter.'
'Confirmed, voiceprint match.'
'All confirmed, firing.'
On the main screen, a golden beam of light shot out from somewhere beneath the bridge and lanced towards the planet. It connected, and blew through the world with ridiculous ease. The crust of the world splintered and broke apart and the disembodied portions drifted into space.
'Firing complete, planet killed.'
The General stood silent before the audience before continuing.
"This is the Stellar Converter weapon. That was one of only a handful of firings that were undertaken by the weapon. As you can see it was extremely effective in the destruction of an entire planet. This weapon was created as both an anti-planetoid weapon and an anti-starship weapon. After the disarmament after the second Antaran war, we limited our numbers of Stellar Converters in exchange for a reduction in the number of Antaran Star Killers." General Burnlow said in a very common tone.
"Our second set of weapons is more traditional. Nuclear, Biological and Chemical weapons are familiar to all races; although not in the same sense technologically. Nuclear weapons have been miniaturized to the point that they are standard issue infantry weapons. Chemical munitions are extremely common place as infantry support weapons. Biological weapons are also infantry support pieces. All three of these weapons are in standard use with battle plans, no special authorization is needed." Lt. General Burnlow said.
"Technologically however, our weapons differ from yours in design. Biological weapons are genetically engineered to be targeted at specific populations. Also, chemical weapons are designed to affect particular forces in specific ways. We are much more discerning with our WMD capabilities than ever before." Lt. General Burnlow continued.
"Also, we possess Nanological weapons, something that many of your peoples cannot field effectively. We have several Nano weapons at our disposal, all are self sustaining and capable of reproducing autonomously. We have multiple variants; one is a nano-plague, mimicking a viral or bacteriological weapon by infecting an organic and reproducing. We also have a nano-swarm, it is a completely free floating weapon that acts like an artificial locust, devouring anything that it is programmed to attack and consume. Organic, or inorganic." Lt. General Burnlow said.
"That is the major extent of the weapons we deem to be 'Weapons of Mass Destruction', I shall turn over the briefing to X-Com Wing commander Jon Charles." Lt. Burnlow said and moved away from the podium. He was replaced by another human, this one wearing the dark black with silver medals and regalia of an X-Com fighter pilot. His shoulder flashes boasted the insignia of the 52ND Nova Bomber squadron.
"Although X-Com has had extensive experience with Alien technology, we only have two potent weapons that are classified as 'WMD' or 'Superweapons'. First, is a chemical agent that targets the genetic structure of a series of alien species, none of which are present in the Coalition. One form is a liquid injected toxin; another is an airborne chemical gas. Both are exceedingly lethal and debilitating, but completely harmless to humans, and Sectoid-Human hybrids."
"Our other weapon is the Nova Bomb, it is a weapon capable of sending a star into an instant supernova explosion, completely destroying every planetoid in the system. We used this weapon in the Frontier Worlds conflict and also used it to destroy a weapon that was aimed at the destruction of earth." Charles said. He gestured back to the holo screen and it showed a completely healthy star system, the orange star blazing away.
'This is Inferno 1, preparing for launch.'
'Conformation Inferno 1, you have weapons free for test firing.'
'I am lining up, targeting systems are online.'
'Affirmative.'
'Launching.'
'Confirming launch, ordinance is away.'
On the screen a reddish torpedo launched forwards and accelerated towards the sun. Within a few seconds the projectile was gone.
'Jumping out of system.'
On the screen a crescent shaped craft arched by the camera and disappeared. The small time counter in the screen sped up until about fifteen minutes had elapsed. The star began to write and morph. Its surface wheeled and shifted drastically, then exploded outwards in a mass of fire. The blazing sphere engulfed several planets before reaching the camera probe and decimating it.
"Fifteen minutes after the firing, the weapon compelled the star to supernova, at seventeen minutes after firing, the system was annihilated." Charles said and walked away from the podium.
In his place marched the gray clad uniform of an Imperial Officer.
"My name is not important, but I hold the rank of sector general. As the New Republic is fully aware, the military and political forces of the New Order have always possessed Superweapons and weapons of mass destruction." The Imperial officer said.
"First, our Superweapon capability. First and foremost is the Death Star. Our original construct of a large scale artificial planetoid that carried a massive superlaser, capable of doing the same as the Human Alliance's Stellar Converter. Only three Death Stars were constructed, one that was destroyed at the Battle of Yavin, another that was lost at the Battle of Endor, and a test platform that was lost in the Maw cluster. All three weapons platforms were operational and capable of destroying a planetoid. Our second weapon is the Sun Crusher. This weapon is much the same as the X-Com Nova Bomb. Although the warhead is a fraction of the size, and the delivery platform is nearly invincible. The original Sun Crusher had to be destroyed within the gravitational fields of a Black Hole. It had been buried at the heart of a gas giant with no ill effects."
"One of our more debilitating weapons is the Galaxy Gun. The weapon fired a self propelled, extremely resilient shell capable of causing a 'Matter shockwave' effect. This means that each round is capable of destroying something as small as a city, or something as large as a planet. The Galaxy Gun was unfortunately destroyed at the Battle of Byss."
"The most, original, weapons system that has been in use are the World Devastators. These are massive automated weapons factories and mineral extractors. They were designed to be used as mining devices, but they are very potent weapons. That was demonstrated on Calamari."
"These weapons have all be destroyed, our Death Stars, our Sun Crushers, our Galaxy Guns and our World Devastators. These were all lost during the Civil war. But the New Order retains the plans and specifications for all of these weapons, in preparation for the next time that they are needed."
"As for Weapons of Mass Destruction, our most potent example is the Krytos plague that was released on Coruscant. That disease was designed to affect only non-humans, but it could be cured with Bacta. This was designed to bring the New Republic to economic ruin. But that plan failed. A host of other Biological weapons are also at Imperial command. Hive viruses and other insidious weapons that are extremely effective. The New Order possesses the genetic codes for these weapons, but lacks the large scale manufacturing capabilities for these weapons."
The Sector General nodded quietly and walked away from the podium. He walked off to the row where he sat and an individual in the red and black of a Federation Admiral walked forward.
"Although the Federation finds any kind of indiscriminate weapon of mass destruction abhorrent and horrific, at the compulsion of the High Council, I have been ordered to inform the Sentient Coalition of the Genesis weapon." The Federation officer said.
"The Genesis project was not intended as a weapons system. IT was created as an instrument capable of spawning life on dead worlds and making them inhabitable. They system was an extreme success, but it does have unintended side effects. On already inhabited worlds, it will destroy all life present. From macro scale humanoid and alien life, down to microbes and viruses, nothing will escape the Genesis effect." The Federation admiral said.
He turned and walked away from the podium very quickly, as though fleeing attack.
Ambassador Hiktar took his place at the podium once more.
"The New Republic must state that we find any use of Super Weapons or Weapons of Mass Destruction to be a gross violation of everything that this body is supposed to represent! These weapons have historically been used against civilians and not military personnel!" The New Republic Ambassador shouted.
"The Federation does wish to point out that we hold a similar stance! We only disclosed the existence of the Genesis system under duress!" The Federation ambassador added.
"I must make it clear that the Asguard are in agreement with the Federation and the New Republic on this matter."
"The Tollan people will never stomach the use of any such weapons against any foe for any reason! We have witnessed the affects of a race using such weapons against one another, and it is an outcome of only destruction for all." The outraged shouts and cries filled the chamber, the noise reaching a high level.
The UNSC ambassador stood up and walked down one of the aisles to the main floor, then into the light of the podium. Ambassador Hiktar nodded and stepped away from the raised dais and his place as head of the assembly.
"Might I have the floor?" The UNSC ambassador said softly, but her voice was filled with malice and rage. The look on her face was one of silent and suppressed anger.
Slowly, the shouted protests and admonishments died away, leaving all eyes glued to the human that stood before them.
"While I can respect the positions of those that have suffered at the hands of such weapons, I cannot understand the need for so many to protect the Covenant. Your peoples have not know the war in any extent. Your fleets have fought the battles and your soldiers have fought theirs. But your people have not suffered. Your people have not been slaughtered."
"Almost one hundred billion innocent lives have been lost to the Covenant Armadas' standard practice of 'sterilizing' a planet with plasma fire. Have any of you seen a plasma bombardment? Have any of you seen a planet's atmosphere boiled away to nothingness? To see oceans turned to steam, forests burned to cinders, deserts made into epic expanses of charred glass?"
"The Covenant Hegemony has resorted to practices that have carried out planetary genocide, and you have the gall to stand up and debate whether using our own weapons is 'distasteful' and 'abhorrent'?"
"Of course it is. How could you even suppose that the rest of this assembly does not understand what these weapons are capable of? They are for the most part, indiscriminate weapons of mass murder. But they are tools that we can use to gain an advantage against the Covenant, however slim an advantage. I know that many of your peoples have suffered at the hands of these weapons and you all know how terrible they are. But none of your peoples have suffered like mine. We've lost over a hundred billion people in this war, and it's still not even close to being over."
"Right now, the Covenant and our militaries are fighting against each other in space, and we're fighting against destruction people. Anything that we do will be an improvement to our condition. Whatever we must do to preserve our way of life is a good thing."
"But what of how our way of life will exist if we resort to these weapons! How will we be judged for wielding our most terrible weapons of war against the enemy?" Someone –though it sounded like it came from the Federation section– shouted.
"For us to be judged for what we do, someone must survive to live on. If we lose this war with the Covenant, then we shall care not for how history judges us...because no one shall be left to admonish us for our sins."
"We are not fighting each other, we are not fighting for conquest. We are fighting for survival. And no matter who you think you are, be you the Tollan who think that this war will pass you by, or the Klingons who wish for the glory of battle...this war will find you and it will not be stopped by a plea of 'no, stop'. The Covenant always glasses a planet, and that is their weapon of mass destruction. We must use every weapon we have in our arsenals to fight against them. No matter how insidious or distasteful they may be." The UNSC ambassador finished, her voice trembling as she looked up at the other representatives hidden in darkness. They were safe on their high ground. They thought that morals and honor would be worth more than victory.
They were wrong.
Admiral Hiktar returned to the dais and looked back at the ambassadors and representatives.
"I must make it known that this is not a vote to decide whether these weapons will be used. This is an assembly to inform you that they will be used. The Human Alliance is authorizing the Imperial New Order, X-Com, and other races to cooperate with our scientist in the refinement of their Chemical and Biological weapons. Also, the Imperial New Order has begun working with Human Alliance engineers to redesign and rebuild their own weapons systems." Hiktar said.
The cries of outrage from the assembly were horrendous.
"May I remind you that the UNSC ambassador is right. Many of you may claim that you hold the moral high ground and many of you may think that counts for something. It doesn't. The Covenant will not care so you should stop thinking it is true." Hiktar said.
More outraged cries came from the council chambers.
"This matter is settled, and regardless of what happens, the Covenant shall finally feel a small portion of the wrath that they have so willingly vested upon others." Ambassador Hiktar said.
"Still! The Federation shall never knowingly support any kind of attack with such indiscriminate weapons of mass murder! We shall do so under only extreme protest!" The Federation ambassador shouted.
"You find yourself seeking moral high ground ambassador! That is something that is unattainable in this situation! The Goa'uld would see your world subjugated without a second thought for their Covenant masters. The Tok'ra know that they shall never be defeated short of total annihilation!" The Tok'ra representative said just as loudly.
"If we abandon the moral high ground and that of justice, what are we left with?" The New Republic ambassador retorted.
"Victory." The X-Com representative answered back. This assembly was rapidly turning into a shouting match, if not two steps removed from a brawl.
"I concur with the X-Com representative. The Council of Earth fought a war against the Reticulans and we were on the verge of annihilation. In this circumstance there is no time or opportunity for us to be paragons of morality." The representative from the Council of earth said. His world had been nearly wiped out by an alien race intent on creating a 'super- brain' they'd fought hard and managed to destroy the experiment and the aliens. But almost all the world's population was gone.
"But we make ourselves no better than the Covenant if we resort to these weapons. We become just as horrible as they are." The New Republic ambassador continued.
"Is this really the time to be better than they are? We're looking for victory, not good PR. We have to aim for genocide if we are to achieve victory. None of the members of the Covenant Hegemony are willing to submit to rule or accept peace. And that means that we must aim to eradicate them from the Universe to hope for peace. No negotiation, no deliberation, we have to sweep them from the face of the worlds they control to hope to liberate them." The Imperial Ambassador interrupted. While the Empire and the New Republic were on semi-civil terms after the Yuuhuzan Vong invasion, they weren't exactly chums.
"That's rich coming from a group that survived on Xenophobia for control of their people." The New Republic ambassador snapped.
"Enough!" Hiktar shouted over the arguing voices. Slowly, begrudgingly, they quieted.
"As I said, this matter is not open for debate. Victory and survival are at stake here, and we do not possess the luxury of honor at this point. We do possess the ability to fight and win on terms that have the capacity to make even the Covenant and their assembled subjects' quake in fear of us. They can devastate the surface of a planet. We can wipe out all life on them, destroy entire solar systems and wipe out only a select sample of their population. With these weapons we can compel the Covenant to fear us. And with these weapons we can kill them all." Hiktar said gruesomely. His tone and demeanor sent the clear message that the Human Alliance had never been above wholesale destruction.
But it also showed how this people had fought and survived dozens of wars against superior forces, and why the Antarans, the most technologically advanced force in this galaxy was so afraid of them.
They were willing to do whatever it took to win.
Chappie. I know this one was short, but I wanted to give the impression that this alliance of peoples is not perfect, they're only organic and they won't necessarily get along on all matters. I also wanted to show that the Sentient Coalition has weapons at its command that are slightly more horrific than the Covenant.
And that among them, there are those more than willing to engage in Total War against them.
Okay, now the next Chapter that everyone is going to enjoy.
Chapter 3: Spartans, the Next Generation
Sentient Coalition High Command Former Human Alliance Fortress world of 'Filmar IV' Main Assembly Chamber
It was one of the most heavily defended and protected planets in the universe. And one of the most inhospitable worlds in existence, adding to it's sheer impenetrable nature.
Eight worlds, covered in horrific corrosive atmospheres and incomprehensible diseases and hostile life made up the core of the system. The moons that the planets boasted were just as horrible, be they volcanic abominations incapable of supporting even the most rudimentary life, to the swampy orbs of death that had viruses that could kill a being in seconds, this system seemed to be hell. Even the space surrounding it was deadly, the harsh gravitational pull of the system was enough to fill the space around it with dense asteroid belts and clouds. Radioactive Nebula and dust clouds could kill unprotected organics, and scramble electronics.
The Human Alliance colonized the 'Filmar' system during the early years of it's interstellar expansion. The 'Filmar' system was a primary choke point for trade lanes into Terra, that made it a vital corridor to defend against invasion. Despite the general inhospitable nature of the entire system, colonists were sent.
Unfortunately they didn't last long. Every single planet was equally uninhabitable. The diseases and horrific surface conditions wiped out every living thing sent there. But, the Human Alliance Military saw the utility of having such a deadly system under its control. Orbital assaults were nearly impossible.
So the Human Alliance began to dig, and dig. They mined out all the resources on the eight worlds that the 'Filmar' system possessed and constructed massive, elaborate underground bases. The entire system boasted ten billion inhabitants. All of them military personnel living beneath the harsh surfaces of the planets, they manned the orbital defense weapons, the missile batteries and cared for the fighter garrisons that would beat off any assault at Terra.
Each world was honeycombed with subterranean fortresses. Orbital defense guns sat protected within underground silos and bunkers, ready to open up and bat any attacker from the skies. Fighter wings lay in wait within their hangers, shielded from the harsh surface conditions and weather, prepped to leap forth and engage their foes. Missile silos and bases covered the surface of the worlds like hairs on an animal. Energy shields enveloped the surface, each layer capable of defending against massive amounts of bombardment.
In the surrounding space, orbital weapons platforms and fortress moons made slow careful elipses of the planets, their own dense shielding and weapons systems just as deadly as those on the surface.
Within the clouds of asteroids that enveloped the system black holes and quantum singularities were artificially created, a stellar minefield that was infinetly lethal if any vessels varied from the proper approaches. Asteroids were mounted with automated weapons emplacements and even with cloaking devices. A lethal minefield awaited any attackers, or any foolish enough to enter the system at all.
At any one time nearly three thousand military vessels were on patrol in the asteroid minefields, scouring the space for intruders in addition to the innumerable automated sensor units. Within the space-docks around the worlds of the system, another thousand ships could be under refit and repairs at any time.
Through out the seven hundred cycles that the planets were garrisoned, they repelled one hundred and eighty seven different pushes on the home-worlds of Terra, and repulsed innumerable planetary assaults. Thanks to this bulwark, no invading force ever reached to perimeter of Terra.
But now, with the threat of the Covenant Hegemony looming larger than that of the Antarans and Ithkul, the Filmar system was re-tasked for another purpose.
The system was to become the command center for all coordinated efforts by the Sentient Coalition to battle the Covenant Hegemony. After a year of construction, the system was the nerve center of every effort that the Sentient Coalition could mount against the genocidal Covenant pressure.
The Sentient Coalition Main Council Chamber
Deep within the core of Filmar IV, beneath miles of rock, Adumantium, Zortium, Durasteel, Neutronium, shielding systems and Neosteel, it was one of the safest locations in the universe. Direct Anti-matter weapons fire or even sustained plasma bombardment could not penetrate the heavily protected Council Chamber. The attackers would have to crack the planet open utilizing immense amounts of force.
That was why the Council was assembled, to discus whether or not immense amounts of force and horrific weapons of war that the Sentient Coalition could boast would be leveled against the Covenant.
They sat silent within the massive chamber. The semi-circle arch of the room set into risers and tiered levels that rose up from a central platform and podium. Only the podium was illuminated, the rest of the chamber sat in darkness.
At the Podium stood Ambassador Hiktar, the Human Alliance Representative to the Sentient Coalition. The Human Alliance was in charge of the assembly for the simple reason that they had built the base and it was their territory.
The dark skinned human looked up and about the darkened room. He drew breath and began to speak.
"Esteemed colleagues, you are all aware that in the last year of conflict with the Covenant that we have managed to solidify our lines and make great strides towards making a uniform military organization to resist. In this time however, we have avoided discussion of one matter that is of extreme importance to our efforts. Conventional munitions and weapons aside, all our respective races have at our command an extremely potent cadre of weapons that have not been used thus far." Hiktar said.
"I am speaking of course, about our Weapons of Mass destruction and our Superweapons." Hiktar said, as he finished, his words were punctuated by the anxious mutters and hushed voices of the assembled representatives.
"I have arranged for various organizations to come forward and discuss the weapons they have available and then we shall see if we are willing to utilize the munitions that are available. First, I wish to call Lt. General Burnlow of the Human Alliance." Hiktar said and stepped away from the podium.
As he did so, another human rose and moved forward to the podium, his uniform cut along the lines of a Human Alliance dress uniform. Only those with extremely good vision could see that the patches on his shoulders displayed a fist clutching lighting set before a mushroom cloud.
"Greetings. As you are aware from the Battle of Earth, and the Retaking of Reach, much of the Human Alliance's standard munitons could be considered Weapons of Mass Destruction by less capable races. But there are forms of firepower that even we consider to be WMD. Firstly, our Stellar Converter capital ship weapon." Burlow said and behind him a holographic appeared. The date and time tag was replaced with a caption of 'Second Antaran War: Planet Justinain VII'. The view was looking out through the bridge of a starship, down upon a blue green planet. A small audio was attached with the display.
'Stellar Converter is online. Awaiting firing order.'
'Captain Wimington, authorization Gamma-6-Harrold-Philip-35.'
'Confirmed, voiceprint match.'
'Commander Rawlings, authorization Kirkland-53-32-Epsilon-Quarter.'
'Confirmed, voiceprint match.'
'All confirmed, firing.'
On the main screen, a golden beam of light shot out from somewhere beneath the bridge and lanced towards the planet. It connected, and blew through the world with ridiculous ease. The crust of the world splintered and broke apart and the disembodied portions drifted into space.
'Firing complete, planet killed.'
The General stood silent before the audience before continuing.
"This is the Stellar Converter weapon. That was one of only a handful of firings that were undertaken by the weapon. As you can see it was extremely effective in the destruction of an entire planet. This weapon was created as both an anti-planetoid weapon and an anti-starship weapon. After the disarmament after the second Antaran war, we limited our numbers of Stellar Converters in exchange for a reduction in the number of Antaran Star Killers." General Burnlow said in a very common tone.
"Our second set of weapons is more traditional. Nuclear, Biological and Chemical weapons are familiar to all races; although not in the same sense technologically. Nuclear weapons have been miniaturized to the point that they are standard issue infantry weapons. Chemical munitions are extremely common place as infantry support weapons. Biological weapons are also infantry support pieces. All three of these weapons are in standard use with battle plans, no special authorization is needed." Lt. General Burnlow said.
"Technologically however, our weapons differ from yours in design. Biological weapons are genetically engineered to be targeted at specific populations. Also, chemical weapons are designed to affect particular forces in specific ways. We are much more discerning with our WMD capabilities than ever before." Lt. General Burnlow continued.
"Also, we possess Nanological weapons, something that many of your peoples cannot field effectively. We have several Nano weapons at our disposal, all are self sustaining and capable of reproducing autonomously. We have multiple variants; one is a nano-plague, mimicking a viral or bacteriological weapon by infecting an organic and reproducing. We also have a nano-swarm, it is a completely free floating weapon that acts like an artificial locust, devouring anything that it is programmed to attack and consume. Organic, or inorganic." Lt. General Burnlow said.
"That is the major extent of the weapons we deem to be 'Weapons of Mass Destruction', I shall turn over the briefing to X-Com Wing commander Jon Charles." Lt. Burnlow said and moved away from the podium. He was replaced by another human, this one wearing the dark black with silver medals and regalia of an X-Com fighter pilot. His shoulder flashes boasted the insignia of the 52ND Nova Bomber squadron.
"Although X-Com has had extensive experience with Alien technology, we only have two potent weapons that are classified as 'WMD' or 'Superweapons'. First, is a chemical agent that targets the genetic structure of a series of alien species, none of which are present in the Coalition. One form is a liquid injected toxin; another is an airborne chemical gas. Both are exceedingly lethal and debilitating, but completely harmless to humans, and Sectoid-Human hybrids."
"Our other weapon is the Nova Bomb, it is a weapon capable of sending a star into an instant supernova explosion, completely destroying every planetoid in the system. We used this weapon in the Frontier Worlds conflict and also used it to destroy a weapon that was aimed at the destruction of earth." Charles said. He gestured back to the holo screen and it showed a completely healthy star system, the orange star blazing away.
'This is Inferno 1, preparing for launch.'
'Conformation Inferno 1, you have weapons free for test firing.'
'I am lining up, targeting systems are online.'
'Affirmative.'
'Launching.'
'Confirming launch, ordinance is away.'
On the screen a reddish torpedo launched forwards and accelerated towards the sun. Within a few seconds the projectile was gone.
'Jumping out of system.'
On the screen a crescent shaped craft arched by the camera and disappeared. The small time counter in the screen sped up until about fifteen minutes had elapsed. The star began to write and morph. Its surface wheeled and shifted drastically, then exploded outwards in a mass of fire. The blazing sphere engulfed several planets before reaching the camera probe and decimating it.
"Fifteen minutes after the firing, the weapon compelled the star to supernova, at seventeen minutes after firing, the system was annihilated." Charles said and walked away from the podium.
In his place marched the gray clad uniform of an Imperial Officer.
"My name is not important, but I hold the rank of sector general. As the New Republic is fully aware, the military and political forces of the New Order have always possessed Superweapons and weapons of mass destruction." The Imperial officer said.
"First, our Superweapon capability. First and foremost is the Death Star. Our original construct of a large scale artificial planetoid that carried a massive superlaser, capable of doing the same as the Human Alliance's Stellar Converter. Only three Death Stars were constructed, one that was destroyed at the Battle of Yavin, another that was lost at the Battle of Endor, and a test platform that was lost in the Maw cluster. All three weapons platforms were operational and capable of destroying a planetoid. Our second weapon is the Sun Crusher. This weapon is much the same as the X-Com Nova Bomb. Although the warhead is a fraction of the size, and the delivery platform is nearly invincible. The original Sun Crusher had to be destroyed within the gravitational fields of a Black Hole. It had been buried at the heart of a gas giant with no ill effects."
"One of our more debilitating weapons is the Galaxy Gun. The weapon fired a self propelled, extremely resilient shell capable of causing a 'Matter shockwave' effect. This means that each round is capable of destroying something as small as a city, or something as large as a planet. The Galaxy Gun was unfortunately destroyed at the Battle of Byss."
"The most, original, weapons system that has been in use are the World Devastators. These are massive automated weapons factories and mineral extractors. They were designed to be used as mining devices, but they are very potent weapons. That was demonstrated on Calamari."
"These weapons have all be destroyed, our Death Stars, our Sun Crushers, our Galaxy Guns and our World Devastators. These were all lost during the Civil war. But the New Order retains the plans and specifications for all of these weapons, in preparation for the next time that they are needed."
"As for Weapons of Mass Destruction, our most potent example is the Krytos plague that was released on Coruscant. That disease was designed to affect only non-humans, but it could be cured with Bacta. This was designed to bring the New Republic to economic ruin. But that plan failed. A host of other Biological weapons are also at Imperial command. Hive viruses and other insidious weapons that are extremely effective. The New Order possesses the genetic codes for these weapons, but lacks the large scale manufacturing capabilities for these weapons."
The Sector General nodded quietly and walked away from the podium. He walked off to the row where he sat and an individual in the red and black of a Federation Admiral walked forward.
"Although the Federation finds any kind of indiscriminate weapon of mass destruction abhorrent and horrific, at the compulsion of the High Council, I have been ordered to inform the Sentient Coalition of the Genesis weapon." The Federation officer said.
"The Genesis project was not intended as a weapons system. IT was created as an instrument capable of spawning life on dead worlds and making them inhabitable. They system was an extreme success, but it does have unintended side effects. On already inhabited worlds, it will destroy all life present. From macro scale humanoid and alien life, down to microbes and viruses, nothing will escape the Genesis effect." The Federation admiral said.
He turned and walked away from the podium very quickly, as though fleeing attack.
Ambassador Hiktar took his place at the podium once more.
"The New Republic must state that we find any use of Super Weapons or Weapons of Mass Destruction to be a gross violation of everything that this body is supposed to represent! These weapons have historically been used against civilians and not military personnel!" The New Republic Ambassador shouted.
"The Federation does wish to point out that we hold a similar stance! We only disclosed the existence of the Genesis system under duress!" The Federation ambassador added.
"I must make it clear that the Asguard are in agreement with the Federation and the New Republic on this matter."
"The Tollan people will never stomach the use of any such weapons against any foe for any reason! We have witnessed the affects of a race using such weapons against one another, and it is an outcome of only destruction for all." The outraged shouts and cries filled the chamber, the noise reaching a high level.
The UNSC ambassador stood up and walked down one of the aisles to the main floor, then into the light of the podium. Ambassador Hiktar nodded and stepped away from the raised dais and his place as head of the assembly.
"Might I have the floor?" The UNSC ambassador said softly, but her voice was filled with malice and rage. The look on her face was one of silent and suppressed anger.
Slowly, the shouted protests and admonishments died away, leaving all eyes glued to the human that stood before them.
"While I can respect the positions of those that have suffered at the hands of such weapons, I cannot understand the need for so many to protect the Covenant. Your peoples have not know the war in any extent. Your fleets have fought the battles and your soldiers have fought theirs. But your people have not suffered. Your people have not been slaughtered."
"Almost one hundred billion innocent lives have been lost to the Covenant Armadas' standard practice of 'sterilizing' a planet with plasma fire. Have any of you seen a plasma bombardment? Have any of you seen a planet's atmosphere boiled away to nothingness? To see oceans turned to steam, forests burned to cinders, deserts made into epic expanses of charred glass?"
"The Covenant Hegemony has resorted to practices that have carried out planetary genocide, and you have the gall to stand up and debate whether using our own weapons is 'distasteful' and 'abhorrent'?"
"Of course it is. How could you even suppose that the rest of this assembly does not understand what these weapons are capable of? They are for the most part, indiscriminate weapons of mass murder. But they are tools that we can use to gain an advantage against the Covenant, however slim an advantage. I know that many of your peoples have suffered at the hands of these weapons and you all know how terrible they are. But none of your peoples have suffered like mine. We've lost over a hundred billion people in this war, and it's still not even close to being over."
"Right now, the Covenant and our militaries are fighting against each other in space, and we're fighting against destruction people. Anything that we do will be an improvement to our condition. Whatever we must do to preserve our way of life is a good thing."
"But what of how our way of life will exist if we resort to these weapons! How will we be judged for wielding our most terrible weapons of war against the enemy?" Someone –though it sounded like it came from the Federation section– shouted.
"For us to be judged for what we do, someone must survive to live on. If we lose this war with the Covenant, then we shall care not for how history judges us...because no one shall be left to admonish us for our sins."
"We are not fighting each other, we are not fighting for conquest. We are fighting for survival. And no matter who you think you are, be you the Tollan who think that this war will pass you by, or the Klingons who wish for the glory of battle...this war will find you and it will not be stopped by a plea of 'no, stop'. The Covenant always glasses a planet, and that is their weapon of mass destruction. We must use every weapon we have in our arsenals to fight against them. No matter how insidious or distasteful they may be." The UNSC ambassador finished, her voice trembling as she looked up at the other representatives hidden in darkness. They were safe on their high ground. They thought that morals and honor would be worth more than victory.
They were wrong.
Admiral Hiktar returned to the dais and looked back at the ambassadors and representatives.
"I must make it known that this is not a vote to decide whether these weapons will be used. This is an assembly to inform you that they will be used. The Human Alliance is authorizing the Imperial New Order, X-Com, and other races to cooperate with our scientist in the refinement of their Chemical and Biological weapons. Also, the Imperial New Order has begun working with Human Alliance engineers to redesign and rebuild their own weapons systems." Hiktar said.
The cries of outrage from the assembly were horrendous.
"May I remind you that the UNSC ambassador is right. Many of you may claim that you hold the moral high ground and many of you may think that counts for something. It doesn't. The Covenant will not care so you should stop thinking it is true." Hiktar said.
More outraged cries came from the council chambers.
"This matter is settled, and regardless of what happens, the Covenant shall finally feel a small portion of the wrath that they have so willingly vested upon others." Ambassador Hiktar said.
"Still! The Federation shall never knowingly support any kind of attack with such indiscriminate weapons of mass murder! We shall do so under only extreme protest!" The Federation ambassador shouted.
"You find yourself seeking moral high ground ambassador! That is something that is unattainable in this situation! The Goa'uld would see your world subjugated without a second thought for their Covenant masters. The Tok'ra know that they shall never be defeated short of total annihilation!" The Tok'ra representative said just as loudly.
"If we abandon the moral high ground and that of justice, what are we left with?" The New Republic ambassador retorted.
"Victory." The X-Com representative answered back. This assembly was rapidly turning into a shouting match, if not two steps removed from a brawl.
"I concur with the X-Com representative. The Council of Earth fought a war against the Reticulans and we were on the verge of annihilation. In this circumstance there is no time or opportunity for us to be paragons of morality." The representative from the Council of earth said. His world had been nearly wiped out by an alien race intent on creating a 'super- brain' they'd fought hard and managed to destroy the experiment and the aliens. But almost all the world's population was gone.
"But we make ourselves no better than the Covenant if we resort to these weapons. We become just as horrible as they are." The New Republic ambassador continued.
"Is this really the time to be better than they are? We're looking for victory, not good PR. We have to aim for genocide if we are to achieve victory. None of the members of the Covenant Hegemony are willing to submit to rule or accept peace. And that means that we must aim to eradicate them from the Universe to hope for peace. No negotiation, no deliberation, we have to sweep them from the face of the worlds they control to hope to liberate them." The Imperial Ambassador interrupted. While the Empire and the New Republic were on semi-civil terms after the Yuuhuzan Vong invasion, they weren't exactly chums.
"That's rich coming from a group that survived on Xenophobia for control of their people." The New Republic ambassador snapped.
"Enough!" Hiktar shouted over the arguing voices. Slowly, begrudgingly, they quieted.
"As I said, this matter is not open for debate. Victory and survival are at stake here, and we do not possess the luxury of honor at this point. We do possess the ability to fight and win on terms that have the capacity to make even the Covenant and their assembled subjects' quake in fear of us. They can devastate the surface of a planet. We can wipe out all life on them, destroy entire solar systems and wipe out only a select sample of their population. With these weapons we can compel the Covenant to fear us. And with these weapons we can kill them all." Hiktar said gruesomely. His tone and demeanor sent the clear message that the Human Alliance had never been above wholesale destruction.
But it also showed how this people had fought and survived dozens of wars against superior forces, and why the Antarans, the most technologically advanced force in this galaxy was so afraid of them.
They were willing to do whatever it took to win.
Chappie. I know this one was short, but I wanted to give the impression that this alliance of peoples is not perfect, they're only organic and they won't necessarily get along on all matters. I also wanted to show that the Sentient Coalition has weapons at its command that are slightly more horrific than the Covenant.
And that among them, there are those more than willing to engage in Total War against them.
Okay, now the next Chapter that everyone is going to enjoy.
Chapter 3: Spartans, the Next Generation