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Bold-My Own Words
Bold & Italic-Locations, Time & Calendar
Normal-Narrative
"Normal"-Person Speaking
'Normal'-Thoughts
"Italic"-Foreign Languague
'Italic'-Radio Chatter
/Italic\-AI/Computer typing
9th Age of Reclamation (05.23.2105)
Kandul System, Perseus Veil, Bordering the Terminus Systems
51,000 Light Years From Earth
Quarian Ship 'Hirule'
3 Decks Above Engineering
"Why the Hell is no-one responding from downstairs? Someone tell me WHAT! THE FUCK! IS GOING ON! DOWN! THERE?!" An enraged Batarian Major roared at a squad of troopers, numbering 10 including himself, in a hallway of the Quarian Cruiser.
About 10 minutes ago, communications downstairs went quiet, even though they could still hear gunfire going on. Then, about 2 minutes ago, the engines came back online, despite the fact they were heavily damaged, restoring power to the entire ship. And all the while he had been unable to establish any kind of communication with any other Batarian squads anywhere on the ship. Someone was jamming them, he knew that much. But he couldn't even contact the people in this room. How the hell does that happen?! The damn Salarians didn't even have anything this good.
Suddenly, he heard the sounds of the ship's elevator rising, more than likely coming to their floor. The Batarian Major puffed out a sigh of satisfaction. Now he could get some answers as to why the hell they haven't been responding and why the hell they turned the engines back on. Someone was going to get their ass kick when he found out why.
The elevator opened. And his train of thought was replaced with dumbfound shock.
There in the elevator was a single Batarian soldier being lifted off the ground by what looked like twin whitish blades piercing his chest. His head hung limp, obviously dead. There were several Quarian Marines in the elevator, but also what looked like several bends in the lighting all around them, moving and flenching. Then he realized it. Those were cloaks.
As if on Que, numerous monsters decloaked, including one white clad monster that was holding the impaled trooper. It flung the Batarian to the ground in a heap.
Kolre Uzinaree snarled and activated a second Plasma Sword in his other hand, duel wielding twin blades of death. With a roar, he lunged forward and impaled the Batarian Major, who screamed out in agony as he was hoisted into the air. The Batarian soldiers, who hesitated due to them being completely caught off guard, began to open fire. The Sangheili and Marines returned fire in kind, spewing death at the outnumbered slavers.
Kolre flung the now deceased Major at another Batarian, sending the corpse crashing into the hapless trooper. He charged towards two more slavers and struck them down with relative ease. 'Hardly a challenge.' he thought as he saw another slaver fall by the bolts of a Plasma Rifle, the weapon's signature whining sound echoing through the hallway. Several more seconds later, and the Batarians were all dead. The hallways grew silent save for the occassional sound of battle happening elsewhere on the ship.
All around the ship, the Batarians came under attack by the Covenant SpecOps soldiers, who showed no mercy to the hapless slavers. Unggoy used shear numbers to suppress the four-eyed bipedals while Kig-Yar advance under the protection of their wrist shield gauntlets. Sangheili used their superior tactic to overwhelm the Batarians. And the Mgalekgolo... well, let's just say it didn't end well for any slaver unfortunate enough to cross paths with them.
Yulren'Lovik nar Neema remembered watching one of the 'Hunters' slam its giant shield into one unfortunate Batarian and sent the poor bastard flying 20 feet into a wall. Another one simply slammed its shield down onto another slaver who was on the ground and severed the Batarian in half. He shuttered at the memory of that particular moment. He was glad they were allies, well, for now, anyway.
He was still a little distrusting of the 'Covenant'. What was their motive? Why help them? When he asked Kolre, the Sangheili Ultra always replied with, "We have a common goal and objective."
What exactly did he mean by that? When questioned once more, the reply simply came, "Fret not, all of your questions will be answered in time. For now, let us focus on the battle."
Deciding that for now, he would withhold the questioning until they retook the ship. The Quarian Marines and Covenant SpecOps push up through the hallways of the deck, clearing out the various rooms and hallways of the deck from the invasive slavers.
After some time fighting amd killing off the Batarians on board, Kolre spoke, "Yulren, where is the bridge?"
"It's towards the back of the ship, on this deck."
"Good, when we retake it, we can pilot the ship and dock it with one of our ships."
"Y-your ships? What do you mean?" He knew those ships were large, but docking? Surely he's joking.
"Yes. We'll dock it with the Walk of Divinity."
"Which one is that?"
"The 6 km Vessel."
"Keelah, how do you have ships so massive that don't run on Eezo?"
"Because we've never heard of this 'Element Zero', or Mass Relays. Our technology is derived off holy relics left behind by our Gods."
Oh right. The Forerunners. Yulren was still curious to learn more about these supposed Gods. He questioned the legitimacy of them being gods, more than likely an ancient Civilization that left some tech behind that they reversed engineered, like the Citadel Races and the Protheans. Nonetheless, this technology that they had was so much better than anything they had. Hell, maybe even the Asari or Turians. He knew that if the Migrant Fleet secured an alliance with the Covenant, they could possibly save their species from extinction, maybe even reclaim their Homeworld from the Geth.
All in due time, of course. For now, retake the ship.
05.23.2105
Sol System
Earth's Orbit
The Fleet was mobilized, ready and waiting to retake Terra Nova from the Insurrectionists. 17 ships, and 50,000 soldiers, were waiting for the order to jump towards the Sirius System and put down the Rebellion. While Rear Admiral James Cutter and the Spirit of Fire's crew had experience in war and combat, this would be the System Alliance's first true test of their Military.
Cutter was already having a bad feeling about the mission.
In his personal opinion, they weren't ready. If the Alliance lost too many ships in the space battle, it might compel other colonies to rebel due to the Alliance's inability to properly respond. They had the numbers on the ground, but the Navy was still being developed. Heavy losses in space were something the Systems Alliance could not afford, not at the beginning of its colonization efforts. At least they had a seasoned Officer commanding the Fleet, so they had some hope of coming out of this with minimal casualties.
"Sir, all ships are reporting ready to jump." Ensign Rebecca Holmes spoke, her light brown eyes looking up to the Rear Admiral. He could see anticipation in her eyes, along with nervousness and fear.
He could understand her nervousness, the first time anyone sees combat is a life-changing experience. You never really are the same after it. He remembered the first time he was in combat, nothing more than a weapons officer on board the UNSC Frigate 'Jerusalem' when their battle-group of 5 Frigates came under attack by 7 Rebel ships of various design, in the Epsilon Indi A System.
The UNSC won the fight and destroyed the Rebels, but not after losing 2 ships and a third one being severely damaged. He never looked at the Military the same way after that fight.
And now, this young 26 year old woman, in the prime of her life, was about to have her life changed forever too. He could sympathize with her, but she still needed to be able to do her job. He would have a talk with her in a moment after they entered Slipspace.
He looked back to the holo-pad projection of the Fleet. "Good. All ships, prepare to jump."
"Sir, the Fleets' being hailed. It's Admiral Pavlenco." Cutter nodded and motioned for it to be patched through.
The holo-pad projection changed to a profile of Admiral Nicu Pavlenco appearing. The Admiral seemed to collect his thoughts for a moment, before speaking up.
'Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen of the Systems Alliance Military. You are about to embark on a Campaign to retake the Colony of Terra Nova from a radical group of rebels, who have risen up and overwhelmed the Garrison and local Law Enforcement. A few Alliance Marine units are still fighting on the planet's surface, and have sent back critical information on the strength of the Enemy we are to engaged in combat. As of now, the Rebel Forces number 64,000 strong, with several military vehicles and aircraft looted from Military Bases. Their naval force consist of 3 Athens-Class Frigates, the 'Malta', 'Amsterdam', and 'Shanghai', and 1 Gettysburg-Class Destroyer, the 'Stalingrad'.'
'You're task will not be an easy one. You will be facing a determined enemy, who is solid in their resolve to get what they desire. They will do everything in their power to defeat you and stop you at every turn. You shall prevail. Remember your training and you shall make it back. You will overcome them and you shall be victorious. Now, go forth and liberate Terra Nova. Admiral Pavlenco, out.'
And with that, the holo-pad returned to the display of the Fleet. Cutter was impressed. The Romanian Admiral had managed to inspire and motivate the soldiers of this invasion force. He looked over and saw a little less fear in Ensign Holmes' eyes and a little more courage than before.
"Alright, then. Now that the motivational speech is done, I want to address everyone on board. Men and Women of the Spirit of Fire, our duty is to protect Earth and her Colonies from any and all enemies, both foreign and domestic. We shall preform this task to the best of our capability and beyond that. I won't lie to you. People are going to die today. This is the terrible price of war. Nonetheless, we shall preform our duties, engage the enemy and destroy them. That is all. Cutter, out."
He finished his little speech and breathed a small sigh, "Initiate jump."
17 white portals appeared before the fleet, and the ships went through the Slipspace Portals, to the fields of battle. Cutter's only wishes were that this would be over quick and that this wasn't the prelude to something bigger.
9th Age of Reclamation (05.23.2105)
Kandul System, Perseus Veil, Bordering the Terminus Systems
51,000 Light Years From Earth
Quarian Ship 'Hirule'
Outside The Bridge
Kolre, Yulren, and the rest of the Quarian/Covenant Coalition laid ready to assault the bridge of the 'Hirule'. Kolre had his Carbine out, ready to spew death out. He looked over to a couple Kig-Yar and spoke, "Breach the door."
The two Kig-Yar nodded and went to work hacking the door, but on of the Quarian Marines walked over to the controls and override the controls to unlock the door. The door opened and the warriors charged in. What they came across was not what they were expecting. "What the hell?" was all Yulren could get out.
The Batarians had left the Quarian bridge crew tied and bound up. They went about to check the status of the crew. Besides the dead bodies, no one was severely injured, save for a couple. It appears the Batarians fled the fight when they realized that they were gonna lose. Ironic, as their only means of escape was a Frigate that was attached to the ship. It had fled after the Covenant boarded the ship, but was destroyed by a Heavy Destroyer that intercepted it.
Captain Kelan'Hamr vas Hirule awoke to the site of Quarian Marines tending to the bridge crew and anyone wounded, walking along side creatures she had never seen before. One species looked like volus without their suits and with large triangle packs. Another looked like featherless birds, most being equipped with some kind of wrist shield. The third and final species looked like a Turian with the muscle and size of a Krogan, and a head that was made up of four mandibles and no bottom jaw.
"Mam, are you alright." She looked over to see Corporal Yulren kneeling next to her, looking to see if she was alright.
She waved him off and proceeded to get up, "A few bruises, but nothing life-threatening. I suppose I have you and your... 'Friends' to thank for saving us." She looked over the strange newcomers once more. "Who... are they exactly?"
Yulren chuckled, looking over the Sangheili Ultra, before turning back to the Captain, "It's a long story... short version is, they're called the Covenant, and they're on our side."
Kolre walked over to the duo at that moment, "Indeed we are. You are the Shipmaster of this vessel?"
"Um... Y-yes I am." She assumed Shipmaster is what they called a Captain, "Captain Kelan'Hamr vas Hirule, Captain of the Hirule, Quarian Cruiser of the Migrant Fleet." It was blatantly obvious that she was intimidated by the sheer size of the Sangheili warrior. He was bigger than a Krogan, and could probably beat one in a fight.
"Kolre Uzinaree. Commander of the Covenant SpecOps for the Fleet of Divine Fury."
Covenant? Fleet of Divine Fury? Well now. Considering that if what Corporal Yulren told her was correct, that 15 of their ships destroyed a Batarian Fleet of nearly 50 without losing a single ship, then Divine Fury was a proper name for it.
"Well Kolre, I don't know why your people chose to help us, but you have the gratitude and thanks of my people." She brought her hands together about chest level, and bowed her head down towards them. This gesture confused the Sangheili Ultra, but he assumed the gesture was one of gratitude, so he thought nothing of it.
'Commander, the ship is secured and the fiends are vanquished.' The Sangheili's headset came alive with chatter.
"Excellent. Commence patrols of the ship to ensure no more of the Batarian filth is on board."
Kolre looked back to the Quarian Captain, "The Fleetmaster has requested an audience with you, Shipmaster."
Kelan was surprised by the sudden request. But in truth, her people aren't in any position to refuse. Hell, they wouldn't be able to escape the system with those monster ships in position.
"May I ask why the Fleetmaster requests such?"
"He wishes to speak with you in order to arrange a meeting with your people's leaders."
They're wanting to meet the Admiralty? So soon? There had to be a catch to this. There was no one in the Galaxy that was this kind to the Quarians without wanting something in return. They must want something.
"Why do you want to speak with the Admiralty?"
"These questions will be answered in due time. I assure you, though, that there is no ill attempt intended."
The Sangheili spoke plainly, not going into too much detail but maintaining professionalism within the voice. No surprise considering the creature before her was definitely a career soldier if Kelan ever saw one.
She turned and looked to Yulren. The young Corporal looked at her, knowing already what she was about to ask. They were in no position to refuse. Plus, the 'Covenant' went through all the trouble of saving them. The least they could do was go and see this 'Fleetmaster'.
She turned back to the Sangheili Ultra, "Very well. I shall go see your Fleetmaster, on the condition that I bring a security team with me as escort."
"They will not be needed, but they will be allowed. Come. We shall prepare a dropship to take us to the Walk of Divinity."
Kelan motioned Yulren and a couple other Marines to follow her as the Covenant SpecOps and her proceeded out the Bridge and down the hallway towards the hangar down below. Suddenly, a question popped into the Quarian Captain's mind.
"Kolre, which ship is the Walk of Divinity?"
"The largest of the ships. An Assault Carrier."
He pointed out the window towards the massive Covenant Assault Carrier, to which she could only gape at the sheer size of the ship. Keelah, what has she gotten herself into?
05.24.2105 - 8:20 a.m SAT (Standard Alliance Time)
Sol System
London, UK, Earth
Alliance Parliament
"What is the status of the Fleet?" President Carlos Santiago spoke, asking a assistant who was monitoring a data-pad. The Alliance Parliament was a relatively new building, fashioned in the form of the old United Nations Building in New York City. "Mr. President, the Fleet should be entering the Sirius System in about 1 hour."
The 56 year old Honduran nodded, and turned to Admiral Pavlenco, "Admiral, give me your opinion. Do you think our Military is ready for this?"
Admiral Pavlenco sighed, gathering his thoughts, before speaking up, "In all honesty, Mr. President, no. I don't think they are. Our Navy has not been in a serious engagement before now, nor has our Army been in a serious conflict for nearly 50 years, so our tactics are not refined. I doubt we're going to lose, but I don't doubt for a second that we will suffer considerable casualties before this is over. I just hope this isn't a prelude to something bigger."
The President pondered the Chief of Staff's words, knowing to take into consideration the man's judgement.
"At least he's being honest. What say you, Admiral?"
Admiral Preston J. Cole, for the most part, had been silent as he watch the events unfold in the Parliament building. Over the past day he had been brought up to speed with what was happening and was for the most part, up to date with the history of 'this' Humanity. He was still having trouble believing everything that had been told of him.
At least he knew what happen to Captain Cutter and the Spirit of Fire. No, wait. Admiral Cutter.
"In all honesty, I'm in complete agreement with Pavlenco. They're not ready, but sooner or later they're going to have to get some experience under their belt or when we come into contact with an alien race for the first time and it turns hostile, we'll get our asses handed to us."
This statement unnerved alot of people in the room. The President wasn't surprise by that remark about alien contact. He knew from Captain Cutter about the UNSC and their war with the Covenant. They even showed Parliament various videos from space battles to helmet cams on the ground of the UNSC's struggle with the Covenant. It was only part of, but for the most part the main reason they went on such a massive building spree on naval warships.
"Well, we can only hope that our first contact won't be hostile. Clarisse, how is the public handling the news?"
Clarisse Gallois, the Minister of Public Relations, was a 44 year old woman from Southern France. She had studied at Aix-Marseille University and became a intern in for the previous Presidents and their Cabinets, before being chosen by the current President.
"There is some panic, but more as to worry of the violence coming home to Earth over anything. We're doing everything in our power to assure them this is just an isolated incident, and will be resolve soon." The Frenchwoman spoke.
"Admiral Pavlenco, will General Bhandari be able to manage the task set out before him?"
"Yes. His record with the Indian Army is solid. Made a name as a capable and competent leader in the fight against Muslim Rebels in the Rajasthan Province during the Pakistan-India War of 2082. I think he'll prove himself once more here, even if it's on another planet."
"Okay, then." The President turned to Cole once more, "Admiral, we still have some time to talk before the Fleet arrives to its destination. Come with me, please."
Cole nodded silently, and followed the President down a couple hallways to another room, this one with a balcony that overlooked downtown London and the Thames river. They could see cars going across Tower Bridge and people walking the streets below. "Beautiful, isn't it?"
Cole glanced at the President once more, staying silent as he continued silently to watch the city's citizens went about their daily lives.
"I grew up in a small town in Honduras. You won't find it on any maps." He chuckled at this, "I worked hard to get where I am today. Spent nearly 30 years in low level politics, you know, like regional level, before I was able to advance up into the upper level Alliance Politics. The level of Politics that effect the entire planet. I wanted to change so much about the Alliance." He continued, deep in thought as he stared out towards the city before them.
"The way things were being run, the way politics were being handled, by god. You could smell the corruption in the air. Back in 2086, finally got onto a Cabinet as the Minister of Treasury, and made massive changes to the handling of currency and policies regarding trade. Must of made enough of an impression on the right people, cause I was nominated as a candidate for President in 2098 and won. Now, I'm running my second term and I'm facing the largest crisis of my time as President."
Cole looked over and studied the man beside him. The President was an interesting man, and a smart one, too. He already knew what the President was trying to do.
"With all due respect, Mr. President, but I'm done with the Military." Cole responded simply. The President turned to him, "I'm not asking you to come back into Military service for the Alliance. I'm asking that you help us out. Work as an Instructor for the Alliance Naval Academy, we could use a man of your caliber to teach future generations. Then, as you put it, we won't get our asses handed to us in first contact, if it turns hostile."
"When it turns hostile. From the moment they meet us, aliens are going to look at us as weaker and inferior to their own kind, and that may be all the motivation they need to try and enslave us, or worse."
"Which is why I chose to incorporate UNSC technology into our own, and that has jumped our civilization nearly 300 years ahead. Granted, it hasn't been fully integrated, and probably won't be for another 10 to 15 years, but with 500 years of experience, you and your people have given us a chance to learn from your mistakes and advance our civilization beyond anything imaginable. And think what our Naval force could turn into if they had experienced men like you and Admiral Cutter."
"I'm sorry, but the answer is still no, Mr. President. I will, though, vouch for Cutter. He's one of the best Captains I ever had under me. I know he'll do everything in his power to turn the Alliance Navy into the power house it needs to be."
President Santiago sighed. He knew that Cole would be tough to crack through. He could see it the moment he met the man during Parliament's first meeting with the man. And from the combat videos that the Everest's databanks showed them, it looked like the UNSC was losing its fight with the Covenant. But it also showed that the man that he was speaking to right this moment was a Goddamn Military Genius. The type that appeared only once in a lifetime, like Sun Tzu, Charlemagne, or Rommel. The Alliance needed a man of his caliber.
"Will you at least consider being a Naval Instructor?"
Now it was Cole's turn to sigh. It wasn't necessarily Military Service, but it was still close enough to it to where it might influence him in the future. He wanted to distance himself from the enlisted life and settle down, start anew. But when you spent so many years in the Military fighting, its a hard habit to break out of and get away from.
Seeing that the War Hero was still pondering it, President Santiago was quick to speak, "I'll tell you what. Make you decision after we hear word from the Fleet after they finish their naval battle with the Rebels. They should be entering the system within the next 15 minutes."
At that moment, an intern came in and spoke up, "Mr. President, the Fleet is about to enter the system."
Santiago nodded and looked back to Cole, "Shall we head back?"
Cole knew the man, rather the Alliance, weren't going to relent on trying to reign him into service. But he made his mind up long before he met the Alliance. They proceeded back toward the main Parliament Room, where the highest ranking members of Parliament and the Military were gathered to watch the events unfold. A large television screen was set up on one of the walls of the room, an enormous theater-sized screen that filled over half of the the wall.
"Well, let's just see how this unfolds." Cole whispered to himself as he focused on the screen to watch the upcoming battle.
05.24.2105 - 9:18 a.m SAT (Standard Alliance Time)
10:18 a.m Local Time
Sirius System
365,000 Kilometers from Terra Nova
38,000 Kilometers from Kelvic (Moon)
In the Sirius System, 17 white portals opened up to expel the 17-strong Fleet of System Alliance Warships, ready to retake Terra Nova from the Rebel forces that had taken over the planet. The SSV-Spirit of Fire exited Slipspace at the center of a largely scattered Fleet, some of the ships being over 4,000 km from the Spirit of Fire.
As the ships exited Slipspace, Satellites in orbit of Terra Nova's moons, Kelvic and Durant, picked up the Slipspace entries and alerted the Rebel forces to the Alliance's presence in System. Battlestations were called on the 4 former Alliance Warships, crews running about and manning their post.
On the Planet's surface, at Yukima City, Rebel forces prepared barricades and defenses as AAA defenses were loaded with ammunition and prepped for the coming battle. Soldiers grabbed their various rifles and loaded up on supplies and ammunition, then proceed to their assigned position for a possible defense of the city.
Spirit of Fire-Bridge
"Slipspace jump complete. All ships are being accounted for, Admiral." Ensign Holmes spoke. Rear Admiral Cutter nodded, and looked over to the holo-pad, which projected the Alliance's positions and the Rebel's positions above the planet. "How's the VI system holding up?"
The Virtual Intelligence, or VI, wasn't a full fledge AI. They wouldn't even classify as Dumb AIs, but in essence, they were designed to do the same things as a Dumb AI, just not quite as capable. A relatively brand new invention, one that had been in research and developement for the better part of 15 years before the first prototypes came out in 2102, they were first installed to help maintain and simplify city infrastructure, along with assisting humans on board ships. The Alliance Navy were some of the first ones to be installed with VI programs. In the Military, their main role is to assist with Naval Targeting and coordination of forces. And so far, they've been performing well in their roles.
But this would be their first test of the VIs in a combat situation.
"SENTINEL is reporting all systems are green and good to go. It's already communicating with the other VI systems and working to regroup the Fleet back into formation." the VI specialist spoke up. Good, he thought, at least that was going for them.
The Alliance Military's idea for VIs was the more of them there were together, the better their computing power and performance will be. The VIs were designed to work and coordinate together so that the naval ships can work and coordinate better. So far, it looked like it was working.
"Okay, I want standard screen from the Frigates, divided into two 5-ship groups in wedge formation, designations are ARROW-1 and ARROW-2. Spirit of Fire will have both destroyers on her flanks, standard wedge as well. Our designation is SWORD. Support Ships will hold back and stay out of the fight all together. Their designation will be SHIELD."
Communications went about sending out orders and Cutter turned to the holo-pad once more, "What's the enemy Fleet doing right now?"
"Sir, the enemy is maintaining position in front of Kelvic. Standard formation, Frigates in the front, Destroyers in the back."
"Good to know. What's the status of the SSV-Minsk?"
"Minsk is currently holding position about 100,000 kilometers above the planet's North Pole, well out of the Rebel Fleet's fire range. They've been sending out probes to scout out the Rebel Navy's position and to scout out what's going on groundside."
"Okay, send a message to the Minsk and tell them t-"
"Admiral, we're being hailed." Holmes spoke up.
"By who?"
"The Stalingrad, sir."
The Rebels were hailing them? Well now. What could they possibly have to say to him? Unless they were offering to surrender, he wasn't interested in whatever it was they were going to say. But, he decided he'll humor them and listen anyway. It would give his Fleet a few more minutes to get set up the way he wanted them.
"Patch them through."
An Officer handed him a data-pad, which he took in his hand and looked towards it as the screen changed to show an man of African descent, bald, late 30s, looking back at him.
"This is Admiral Cutter of the SSV-Spirit of Fire, Commander of the System Alliance's First Fleet. To whom am I speaking to?"
The African spoke, 'I am Captain Negasi Ruphael, Commander of the Defense Fleet of the Terra Nova Republic. This is now a sovereign nation to whose territory you are trespassing on. You are to leave now or you will be fire upon.'
The Terra Nova Republic? That was fast. They have been planning this for a while.
"I don't think so. This is a Systems Alliance colony, therefore it has no sovereignty. I am ordering you to stand down, power down your weapon systems and surrender. If you surrender now, you have my word that you will be treated fairly and no harm shall come to you or your men. If you fail to do this, I will have no choice but to engage and destroy your forces."
The look of agitation on the Captain's face didn't go unnoticed by Cutter. He could see the look in the Captain's eyes that he was trying to look for some kind of edge over the larger and stronger Fleet.
'We will not surrender. We are bound and determine to our cause. You will leave this system or you will be fired upon.'
"Captain Ruphael, this is your only chance. Surrender your Fleet or I will engage. You will not get another chance to surrender." Cutter was starting to lose patient. Back during the years of the Insurrection, the UNSC wouldn't have even offered a chance to surrender unless the Rebels offered to first. They would have been put down and destroyed. But this wasn't the UNSC. President Santiago requested that he offer them a chance to surrender before going straight to the guns. He could already tell this was going to go nowhere, though.
He was in luck, though. Alliance Frigates and Destroyers were of similar hull designs, in order to ease manufacturing of the vessels. Hell, the Odysseus-Class were based off the Spirit of Fire's design, just on a smaller scale and no MAC gun. Their designs were also similar to and based off their UNSC counterparts, which gave Cutter an edge in this fight. He already knew the strengths and weaknesses of the vessels, along with their limitations. When this turned into a fight, he could already exploit this in the opening engagements.
'Then I'm afraid we will fight.'
That's all he needed to hear. He cuts the connection with the Rebel Captain and snaps the data-pad onto his pad holster on his belt.
He looked back to the holo-pad, and over towards the two battlegroups of Frigates projected just 2,000 kilometers ahead of his trio of ships on their flanks.
"ARROW-1 and 2, are you in position, over?"
'Affirmative, Spirit of Fire. We're ready to go, over.'
"Roger that. You are clear to proceed. Move into firing positions and prepare to fire on my command, out."
'Roger, that. Moving, ARROW-1 and 2, out.'
"Spin up our MAC gun and tell the Destroyers to do the same." Cutter barked out as the sound of the Spirit's 150 ton gun warming up and prepping to fire. The Destroyers 'Gettysburg' and 'Somme' diverged further away from the Dreadnought and warmed up their own MAC guns as well. The 150 ton MAC guns, when ready, could fire three times before the weapon had to cool down and reload, otherwise the MAC's coils would be melted and render the gun useless. Able to reach out and hit targets at upwards of 40,000 kilometers while traveling 100 km/s, they were designed to pierce and tear apart armored targets and basically gut them.
The 50 ton Mini-MACs, however, were designed for mass volley fire. Having a cluster of Frigates fire simultaneously and overwhelm the enemy with quantity of fire, sacrificing killing power for speed and rate of fire, capable of firing 4 rounds every minute at 150 km/s. However, the Frigates would normally fire only 3 rounds before cooling down and recharging, due to the fact that firing all 4 rounds in rapid succession have been known to cause damage to the coils.
"Sir, MAC gun spinning up. ETA to ready, 2 minutes. Same is being reported for the Destroyers."
"Good. We should be in optimal firing range by then. What of the Frigates?"
"They'll be in position in about 30 seconds."
"Sir, Enemy Fleet is firing a massive missile volley at ARROW-1. Count is at a little over 600 missiles and counting."
Hundreds of red dots were shown streaming towards ARROW-1's position on the holo-pad. Shit, he thought. The armor of those Frigates should be able to hold off the missiles, but each one was going to get at least 120 missiles that they would have to deal with. That was going to cause some significant damage to their hulls.
"Tell them evasive maneuvers and shoot down as many missiles as they can. ARROW-2 move in and fire MAC salvo at the enemy."
The Frigates of ARROW fired with their 50mm deck guns and numerous AA guns positioned across the hull, the SENTINEL VIs coordinating the guns to accurately aim and destroy numerous missiles in rapid succession. The Frigates and their new VIs preformed admirably, but the sheer number of them overwhelmed the Frigates' defense.
All in all, a little under 350 missiles still reached their targets. Missiles slammed into the hulls of the Frigates, causing explosions and fires all across the hulls of the Alliance Vessels. The fires were quickly put out by the crews as the decks' atmospheres were vented. "OK, good. The crews were paying attention to my instructions on ship fires." He muttered to himself. His data-pad was already sending him damage reports from ARROW-1.
/ARROW-1 Damage Report\
/SSV-Cairo:
Hull Integrity: 82%
Casualties: 62 KIA, 23 WIA
SSV-Madrid:
Hull Integrity: 76%
Casualties: 50 KIA, 35 WIA
SSV-Bangkok
Hull Integrity: 79%
Casualties: 78 KIA, 21 WIA
SSV-New Delhi
Hull Integrity: 61%
Casualties: 101 KIA, 45 WIA
SSV-Wellington
Hull Integrity: 69%
Casualties: 80 KIA, 48 WIA\
/Total Casualties: 371 KIA, 172 WIA\
/End Report\
Casualties were already to be expected, this Cutter knew. But they were lower than he expected. So far, a good thing.
He could see on the holo-pad ARROW-2 counting down to fire, before the count went to zero. 10 Mini-MACs thundered to life as their 50 ton payload went sailing to their targets, followed 5 seconds later by 10 more, then another 10 rounds 5 seconds after that salvo. The 30 MAC rounds went sailing through space towards their targets, that were 16,000 kilometers away, travelling at 150 km/s.
"MAC rounds away. ETA to targets, 1 min 50 secs."
"Good. Once we get a little closer, we'll open fire as well." Cutter spoke up.
Ensign Holmes spoke up, "Sir, SSV-Cairo from ARROW-1 is reporting a strange signal close to their battlegroup coming from a cluster of missile debris. They don't recognise the sign-"
An mini-star appeared in the blackness of space, engulfing the 5 Frigates in a fiery mini-nova. The Alliance personnel were horrified and confused as to what they were witnessing, but Rear Admiral Cutter and the UNSC personnel knew full well what that was.
A SHIVA-class nuclear weapon detonating in space.
In space, there was nothing to offer resistance to a nuclear weapon when detonating, meaning every bit of the weapon's energy was used and expelled in the blast, multiplying its killing and destructive power. The five Frigates stood no chance against the nuke, not when it exploded from 10 kilometers away.
Rear Admiral Cutter couldn't believe himself. He had completely forgotten that Alliance Destroyers had a nuclear weapon stored on board. To his credit, before coming here to the Systems Alliance, he hadn't fought a against an Insurrectionist Ship in 8 years, 5 of those were spent fighting the Covenant. He wasn't used to fighting Rebels who had nukes. And the bastards just deployed it to neutralize five Frigates. He could see on the Holo-pad that they were still alive, but their hull were showing badly damaged, barely holding together, and thousands dead. "Goddammit." He muttered.
His incompetence and lack of consideration had gotten 5 ships knocked out and a couple thousand dead.
Shock and horror ran amok the ships of the Systems Alliance. They all had just watched five state-of-the art ships get decimated in basically one move. Ensign Holmes could only look in horror as her screen kept showing the casualty figures, which kept rolling in, numbering in the thousands at this point.
"S-sir, Enemy Fleet is firing MAC guns."
He turned to the Officer who spoke, "At who?"
"At ARROW-1, sir."
Admiral Cutter's eyes widened at this, 'Jesus, they're gonna finish them off while they can't fight!', he turned to Comms, "Holmes, contact them. Tell them they have to shut down and restart their engines, that EMP's effect will be nullified. It's the only way they're gonna be able to move and avoid certain death. Do it, now."
Ensign Holmes, however, was still in shock as to what she just saw, didn't move. Her eyes were glued to the screen in front of her. "REBECCA! CONTACT THEM NOW OR THEY'RE GOING TO DIE!" The sudden shouting snapped her out of her daze and she scrambled to establish communications with the five ships. She sent out one message, but there was no response. She sent out another, but no response.
The closeness of the nuke's detonation and the EMP wave were probably the culprits responsible for this lack of communications. However, UNSC ships were designed with countermeasures to combat the effects of an EMP, so the Alliance ships, which were based off the UNSC, did have a chance to survive the coming onslaught.
"T-they're not responding. I-I-I can't raise them." She stuttered out.
"1 minute 30 secs till impact!"
"Keep trying to raise them, they have to restart their engines. If they don't, they can't fire their emergency thrusters to move out of the way."
Holmes kept trying to raise the immobile Battlegroup, but still no response came from any of the ships. She mentally cursed as she tried once more to raise them.
She slammed her fists in frustration on the typing pad as she yell out, "Sir, I can't. I've tried everything I can think of to try and get ahold of them, but nothing's working. Their communications relays must have been damaged or destroyed by the nuke."
Cutter knew he had to act, there were still at least a thousand people alive on those five ships. If there was a chance to save them, he would do everything in his power to do it. He could possibly use his... no. That wasn't an option. He was going to save lives by sacrificing his ship's personnel.
He ran over to the now panicking Holmes, and kneel down next to her. "Ensign Holmes, listen. You can do this." Holmes was desperately trying to contact the ships now, her hands looked like they were typing a thousand words a minute. "Rebecca, you can raise them. I know you can. You have to try." He tried being as comforting as he could be but also tried to show the urgency in them reestablishing communications.
"Sir, Battlegroup SWORD is requesting orders."
"Tell them to pick their targets and fire at will, same with the Spirit of Fire." He turned back to Holmes, leaning close and placing a hand on her shoulder, "Holmes, it takes a Frigate 20 seconds to shut down and restart its engines. You still have plenty of times, keep trying." The Spirit of Fire's MAC gun thundered as the cannon fired, lightning striking outward as the first MAC round went flying out towards its target. 8 seconds later, another MAC round went flying out. The Destroyers fired away with their own MAC guns
He got up and went back to the holo-pad, just in time to hear, "Sir, one of the Enemy Frigates was hit by two Mini-MAC rounds. She's lost an engine and her main gun is losing power. They're evacuating the ship." No cheers were given. One enemy ship at the cost of five wasn't anything to celebrate over.
Rebecca Holmes was desperately trying to reestablish communications with the disabled Battlegroup ARROW-1. "ARROW-1, come in, over." She called out.
"45 seconds till impact with ARROW-1." An Officer shouted out.
"Damn. Damn. Damn! ARROW-1, come in. You need to restart your engines, over." She pleaded out, desperate to receive some kind of confirmation of the order from the Frigate cluster. The enemy rounds were closing in and they were running out of time. She saw an alert come up on her screen, indicating lifepods were being deployed from the Frigates. In total, she could count about 26 lifepods in total deployed from the Frigates.
She breaths a sigh of relief, there would be survivors after all.
"30 seconds till impact. Sir, I'm detecting lifepods being deployed from ARROW-1."
Cutter heard and responded to the alert, "Good, have the Minsk move in. Commence a search and rescue mission."
On the holo-pad, the icons of the lifepods were shown moving slowly away from the the battered Battlegroup. But they weren't moving fast enough for Admiral Cutter's comfort. If one of those ships' engine decided to go critical, a good portion of those lifepods would get caught in the blast.
"15 seconds till impact."
"Come on. Come on. Get away from the damn ships." Cutter muttered under his breath, watching the lifepods slowly drift away while the incoming salvo were screaming towards the doomed Frigates.
"Impact in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..."
All but 2 of the MAC rounds connected with the Frigates, slamming into them and utterly devastating the ships. The SSV-'New Delhi', the worst damaged of the five, was split in half by two Mini-MACs hitting it in the center. The SSV-'Wellington' didn't fair any better, taking a 150-ton round to the engines, tearing through them. The impact caused them to critical, and the ship exploded in a fiery mini-nova. Sure enough, several lifepods were caught in the blast and winked out of existence.
There were now only 17 lifepods being shown on the holo-pad.
The other three ships, while still being hit, fared better than the New Delhi and Wellington. They were still heavily damaged and out of the fight, but their hulls were mostly intact, so they could still be repaired and brought back into service.
But that was going to take months, even a year before that happened. That and he had to win this battle first.
"Sir, the Rebel Ships are separating. I don't understand. What are they doing?"
Rear Admiral Cutter observed the holo-pad. Sure enough, the Rebel Ships were moving away from one another. He narrowed his eyes, knowing full well what they were doing, "They're trying to level the playing field some more. Trying to separate us and take us out one by one."
It wasn't a bad strategy. The goal wasn't to win. The goal was to inflict as many casualties as possible by dividing the Fleet up and picking it apart piece by piece. And so far, they've been doing a damn good job of that. But he was done taking the beating. It was time to dish it back out.
He began to formulate a plan in his mind, when a stroke of genius came to him. One straight from Admiral Cole's Playbook.
"What's the status of Battlegroup SWORD's MAC guns?"
"Sir, all guns are ready to fire."
"Good. Prep MAC guns to full charge and tell both Destroyers to prep a missile salvo and arm their nuclear warheads."
This order would have normally given pause for the Alliance Personnel, but after watching thousands of friends and family get butchered in the blink of an eye, there was only one thing on their minds. That there would be blood. That they would have payback for their comrades.
There would be Vengeance.
"Done. Shall I give the order to fire, Sir?"
"Negative. Tell SWORD to prepare for an immediate Slipspace Jump to these coordinates." Cutter typed in the coordinates onto the holo-pad.
Upon seeing the destination, the Officer's eyes widened, "S-sir, these coordinates will put us dangerously close to-"
"I'm aware, son. That's the idea. They'll never see it coming." Admiral Cutter actually smiled some at the devious, and risky, plan he had brewing in his mind, knowing that the Rebels won't see it coming. In the words of a more vulgar man, that Rebel Destroyer was about to have its entire world fucked up.
"All ships are ready to jump."
"Commence Jump."
3 white portals appeared in front of the trio of ships. Battlegroup SWORD entered Slipspace and disappeared from the battle, utterly confusing the ships still caught in the battle.
Sol System
Alliance Parliament, London
"What the hell is he doing?! Did he just leave the battle?" An Alliance Politician angrily shouted, outraged by the sudden and confusing move. The sudden disappearance of the Alliance's most powerful warships shocked the entire Parliament room. None of them could make sense of what Rear Admiral Cutter was doing.
President Carlos Santiago was unnerved, to say the least, didn't dare show it to anyone in the room. He couldn't afford to look weak. However, the shocking loss of 5 Alliance warships so quickly had shaken everyone in the room. The battle had only been going on for a total of about 10 minutes and the Alliance had already loss some 2800 personnel. He was glad the Admiral had kept the Support Ships back. He didn't want to think of how many would have died if that nuke had detonated amongst the Troop Transports.
"Admiral Cole, do you have any input as to why Admiral Cutter appeared to flee the battle?"
Cole, however, didn't hear him. He was simply smiling as he watch the battle unfold on the screen. He knew full well what Cutter was doing. And it was a move right out of his playbook from the Human-Covenant War. He knew the Rebels will never see it coming.
"Simple, he didn't. This battle will be over in the next 5 minutes."
President Santiago simply looked at the man with intrigue, "And... What make you think that?"
"Because he's pulling a stunt from my own playbook, Mr. President. Trust me, this fight's about to be over."
"And what makes you so sure, Admiral?" A Politician spoke up.
Cole turned and faced the crowd, "Because I know that man better than any of you in this room. And I know he's not the type to run away from a fight. He's going to win this fight."
After he finished speaking, he turned back to the screen to continue watching the battle unfold. Santiago continued to eye the man for a little longer before he turned to the screen as well, his mind having numerous things to think about already. This Battle was already going to be a nightmare with the public.
But, then again, this could be the spark he needs to get approval from Parliament for an expansion of the Alliance Navy. 35 ships was not enough to effectively guard 14 systems. If they could raise the number to 90 or at the very least double this number, then the Alliance could be able to effective guard and protect its territory. Now he was starting to really ponder it.
If they could maintain a building average of 4 ships per system while colonizing at least 2 systems every year, then hopefully the Alliance navy would have a standing force of some 380 ships, give or take, by the year 2150. Alliance scientist have already estimated that they should encounter an Alien Civilization by the year 2150, and the words of both Cutter and Cole were both ringing in his head that they should be prepared for the worst when that day comes.
In the words of a famous United States President, speak softly and carry a big stick. Wouldn't hurt to have a few big ones on first contact, right?
05.29.2105
Serpent Nebula
Widow System
Council Chambers, Citadel
"On behalf of the Batarian Hegemony, I thank you for allowing me to have an audience with you today, Councilors." The Batarian Ambassador spoke.
In front of him on raised platforms, stood the councilors of the Citadel. The three most powerful people in the known Galaxy, representing the three most powerful races in the known Galaxy. Councilor Hyleen, of the Turian Hierarchy. Councilor Kilish, of the Salarian Union. And Councilor Tevos, of the Asari Republics. They were the collective heads of the Citadel Council, the ones who made the final decision on all key issues of the Galaxy. Such as the one they were hearing out today.
"Ambassador Gulen, I hope whatever you demanded this meeting for is worth our time." Councilor Kilish replied, narrowing his eyes as if to get the point across.
"I assure you, Councilor. I would not be hear if the issue was not a serious one."
"Then, speak."
"Very well." The Batarian tapped a few commands onto his Omni-tool and a projector screened a rocky planet with several Supply Depots around it, "This is Rugon-1, just one of 4 of our Resupply Center bordering the Perseus Veil. We established these supply centers in case we needed to set up a defense against a Geth Assault."
'Bullshit. Those are where you process slaves captured in those regions of the Terminus System.' Was what Councilor Hyleen was thinking, but didn't speak aloud. He wasn't in the mood to listen to the Batarian screech about their slave practice being a Batarian Cultural Heritage or whatever the hell they called it.
He personally didn't hated the Batarians, just their backwards Civilization as a whole. The very idea of owning slaves disgusted him. He wanted nothing more than to overthrow their oppressive regime, but Tevos was unwilling to start a war in the Terminus System, and Kilish didn't seem to care one way or the other. His hands were effectively tied. So, whatever was giving the Batarians hell was okay in his book, as long as it didn't cross over to Citadel Space.
"Roughly 1 week ago, the 9th Fleet was conducting a patrol in the region and traveled to the Kandul System, where they were attacked and destroyed by an Unknown Fleet."
This caught the Council's attention. Tevos finally spoke up, "Who attacked the Fleet? Was it the Geth?" Had they finally decided to leave the Perseus Veil and start venturing outward? Goddess help them if they had.
"This is what we thought at first, but a single cruiser, Fiery Glory, survived the engagement and reported that the ships didn't match any known Geth signatures. The Fleet was compromised of 15 ships, all of them being massive, with even one of them being 6 km in length."
"Impossible. There's no way a ship of that size could exist. The Eezo needed to power such a monster would be ridiculous." Kilish spoke, obviously not convinced, as did the other Councilors.
Ambassador Gulen tapped another command on his Omni-tool, and the projector screened a photo of a massive purple ship, bulbous and very strange in design to the Councilors.
"I assure you, Councilors, I'm not making this up. I didn't believe it myself when I was told about it until I was shown the combat video recorded from a scout probe during the battle." He pressed a button and the projector began to play the probe's recording.
The Council watched in silence as the video showed the battle between the two Fleets. The Batarians were firing everything in their arsenal at the massive warships, but the Unknowns seemed to have incredibly advance barriers. None of the ship's barriers seemed to break under the onslaught of fire as the Batarian Fleet fired round after round into the hostile ships.
Then the Unknowns returned fire.
In a display that visibly shocked the Council, the Unknown Ships fired with what appeared to be Plasma Weaponry, tearing through the Batarian ships as if they were nothing. They tore through the armor, setting numerous ships ablaze and alight. The cruisers and dreadnoughts attempted to pull back so they could fire their main weapons, but something happened before they could.
The massive warship opened fire with a dozen bluish color blobs of plasma that flew through space towards their targets. The Frigates tried to shoot them down with their GUARDIAN lasers, but were shown to be ineffective against the strange weapons. They continued towards their targets. After a few more moments, all but one of the dozen projectiles connected with their targets. The results were gruesome to say the least. One Dreadnought was cleaved in half as the Plasma burned and melted away the armor of the 1 km vessel. A Cruiser was hit in the engines and set alight, exploding into a fiery mini-nova. All the other vessels met similar fates before the video ended.
"The Cruiser fled to Rugon-1 and reported the incident to the local Garrison, each of which were comprised of 20 Frigates and 10 Cruisers for each of the Resupply Centers. 3 days later, All four systems were attacked simultaneously. We don't have any video of the battles, but I do have photos of the aftermath of these battles."
He pressed a button on his Omni-tool and the picture of Rugon-1 changed from a rocky planet with several settlements shown dotting the planet, to a wartorn planet. All the settlements were scorched craters, the massive Resupply Centers in orbit were nothing more than fiery wreckage, along with the corpses of the slain Batarian warships. All three of the Councilors were left speechless by the carnage being shown to them. Tevos, mortified, had her hand raised halfway, almost as if she was going to cover her mouth in shock.
"It's the same case for all of the Resupply Systems. This has been a massive, devastating blow to our Military capacity in the Northern Terminus Systems. We won't be able to effectively operate in these areas for at least 10 years."
Gulen was fairly certain that he had them sold, and they would lend support to the Hegemony. It was a good thing they left out the part about the Quarians being in the System, but in all likelihood they wouldn't have cared. Now, they could get some payback on these Bastards who dared insult and attacked the Hegemony. Nobody gets away with that.
Hyleen was impressed. Those weapons were far more advance than anything the Council Races had. That kind of technology was something to die for. He could only imagine what the Hierarchy could do with those weapons. And while he wouldn't admit it aloud, he was glad someone was knocking the Batarians down a couple notches.
Kilish would love to get his hands on that technology as well. This was obviously not some newcomer race they were dealing with. Those ships were massive and were superior to anything the Citadel Races had. He needed to get some more info on these Newcomers and find out just how powerful they are and what the STG could do to get their hands on their technology.
Tevos, was unnerved to say the least about this apparently violent race. They needed to be either reasoned with or dealt with before this turned into another Rachni War. While she didn't love the Batarians' slave-loving Empire, she knew that if they fell apart, the whole Terminus Systems would fall into anarchy. While the technology was impressive, she wasn't sure if this new race would be willing to negotiate and submit to the Citadel Council.
Ambassador Gulen, noticing the look on their faces, decided to seal the deal. He spoke up once more, "There was one more thing. When we entered the systems, a message was left in each system. The message was the same in every system."
He typed a command onto his Omni-tool, and the message played.
'Attention Batarian fiends, your wretched days of a Slave-Driven Empire are numbered. We will rid this Galaxy of your filth. We are the Swords and Shields of the Great Journey. We are the Covenant.'
The Covenant? Great Journey? Was this actually a coalition of races and not just one? This was quickly deteriorating into a dangerous situation. But what was said next sent nerve-shattering shivers down the Council's spines.
'Your destruction is the will of the Gods. And we are their instruments.'
30 minutes later
Private Chambers
"This is a very disturbing matter. We need to decide quickly on what our course of action is." Tevos spoke. The three Councilors were seated at a small round table in what was basically a private room for the Council to retreat to if they didn't want to be bothered.
Hyleen scoffed, "I say let them kick down the Batarians a few more notches before we step in."
"Are you insane? If the Hegemony falls-"
"Then the Terminus Systems will go on like nothing happened. Those lawless systems haven't change in 2000 years, why would they now? Just because some new race comes in and kicks out the Batarians? That doesn't mean they're gonna lash out at us for it. Hell, Aria will probably sit there in her little fortress and laugh about the whole ordeal."
"I agree with Hyleen. Their Oppressive-Government should have been taken down centuries ago. I say we let the... 'Covenant' beat down the Batarians. Not just outright destroy them, but weaken them enough so that they might not have enough of Military Capacity to maintain order in their Territory. And then, we'll step in and negotiate a peace treaty between the two." Councilor Kilish piped in.
Tevos wasn't surprised by Kilish taking sides with Hyleen. He would take sides with whichever side would benefit the Salarian Union more. The chance of the STG acquiring advance technology that was far greater than anything they had ever seen before was too good to pass up. That is, if they could get their hands on it first and if the Batarians could actually take down one of these 'Covenant' ships, which they didn't seem to be able to at the moment.
But Tevos knew that the technology, and this was just from what she saw from the video, that the 'Covenant' were using was far more advance than even the Asari Republics. Anyone of the massive warships looked like they would tear apart anything the Asari Navy had. As much as she didn't want to, it maybe was time to expand and upgrade the Asari Military. She knew the other Councilors were already thinking this thought, and the Asari needed to keep their edge over the other races.
Hyleen was seeing this as a golden opportunity to take down the Hegemony and increase Citadel influence in the Terminus Systems. Plus, there were bound to be some Covenant Ships lost in the conflict, ships that could be studied and reverse-engineered to leap Turian Society forward by hundreds of year, making them a powerhouse, no... the powerhouse of the Galaxy.
Tevos sighed, knowing that she had been outvoted by the other two Councilors, "Despite that, we can't sit here and do nothing throughout the conflict. We have to lend support or we'll appear to the other races that we don't support our allies in times of need."
Hyleen once again scoffed, "Tell that to the Quarians." Unlike most Turians, he didn't hate the Quarians. Did they break the law? Yes, but it wasn't intentional. Do they deserve to go extinct over this? No. It was an accident plain and simple.
Tevos glared at him, "They broke Galactic Law when they created the Geth. Their punishment was completely just for the illegal creation of AIs."
"Regardless, we will lend just enough support to keep the other races quiet, while at the same time, it won't be enough to turn the tide in the Hegemony's favor. We'll patrol their systems and give them a heads up if we catch wind At the same time, STG will lie in wait, shadowing the Batarian Fleets and waiting for them to engage this 'Covenant'. When the battles are over, they'll go in and salvage the wrecks for anything valuable. Weapons, Armor, Databanks, etc."
Kilish leaned in, bringing his hands together, "It seems reasonable. I think it's a sound strategy. It should get us some major technological advancements, or at least a couple eye-opening techs. How much support will we give them?"
Tevos went deep in thought, trying to see what kind of support the Republics would give the Hegemony. She knew the Republics wouldn't be too keen on giving the Slavers any form of support, especially since they had a fondness for Asari slaves. She figured the most they would be willing to send was a Patrol Fleet's worth of ships.
After giving it much thought, Tevos spoke up, "We could send 4 Patrol Fleets, 1 Asari, 3 Turian; along with an STG element totaling 8 ships, Cruiser-Class. All in all, the total would compromise of about 14 Asari, 42 Turian, and 8 STG ships. In terms of ground forces, I don't think we should provide any. Batarians aren't the most popular people in the Galaxy, and placing boots on the ground on colonies that are bound to have slaves on them is asking to for an incident to happen."
Hyleen nodded, "Fair enough. How long should we wait before talking about negotiating a peace treay?"
"1... 2 months maximum." Kilish assured, confident in that statement, which also stated his sureness that this conflict won't be that long.
Tevos didn't look so certain. She spoke up once more, "I'm still not fully convinced this is the path we should take. I think that if one of our Fleets encounter this 'Covenant', we should open communications with them first, try diplomacy before resorting to violence."
"Very well, but I'm not convinced that they'll listen much." Hyleen spoke, "If there is nothing else, I'd say this meeting is adjourned. We should go tell the Batarian Ambassador our decision."
They all rose from the table and set about to return to the Council Chambers, Kilish stopped when he received a message on his Omni-tool, that read top secret. He opened up the message and read it.
/Priority Message\
/To: Councilor Kilish\
/From: STG Black Ops: 5th & 6th Battalions[]Jerlys System, Terminus Systems\
/Operation: Revelations\
/Security Level: OMEGA\
/Message Details:
Councilor, our progress at the Facility is still proceeding, albeit at a slow pace. The security of the Space Station is proving more complex than previously expected.
Our scientist have been conducting test on the site, and have come to a startling conclusion. This facility isn't Prothean in origin. In fact, they claim the site is at least 100,000 years old. This site predates the Protheans and must have belong to a Civilization that came before them. Another surprising discovery is that despite the age of the facility, it appears to still have power and is still operating, and it doesn't run on Element Zero. We're still trying to figure out how this is possible, but most of the doors are heavily locked and secured.
Ever since we discovered the site a year ago, we've been able to access and explore roughly 15% of the Facility, due to its massive size and our limited numbers. I'm requesting another 2 Battalions of STG to help in the exploration of the site.
We have also had a new development in the exploration of the Facility. We've come into contact with what appear to be some kind of Security Drones that are present in the Facility. We're not convinced that their AIs, but they're far more advanced than some mere VI program. A couple of instance, we were engaged by these drones and lost several soldiers to them every time we come into contact with them. But, if we retreat, they don't pursue us. It's as if they don't want us here and want us to leave. Nonetheless, we've continued our exploration and have quickly come up with countermeasures to combat these drones.
On a side note, I've been having this strange feeling every time we enter the Facility, like we're being watched. And I don't mean by the drones. I'm fully convinced that something else is in the Facility, watching and waiting. For what, I don't know. But we'll continue to explore the site and update you on any new developments.
End Message\
Kilish was pleased for the most part about the update, albeit worried a little about the drones. As for the mention of being watched... well, all soldiers get cold feet every now and then, so he didn't think much of it.
This was the Salarian Union's most heavily guarded secret. Only himself and the STG units involved knew about the site, some kind of Facility orbiting a Gas Giant in the Jerlys System.
He started typing on his Omni-tool, and wrote back a reply.
/Excellent news. Keep sending updates every 2 weeks on your progress. As for the request for Reinforcements, approved. However, they will not be able to arrive for about a week due to recent developement.\
After he finished typing, he sent the message and proceeded back outside to catch up with the other Councilors to inform the Batarian Ambassador of their decision.
He just hope this wouldn't come back and bite the Citadel Council in the collective ass.
And that's all for this chapter. Left the battle between the Alliance and the Rebels on a bit of a cliffhanger, and introducedthe Citadel Council finally, which will go over changes and different leaders as the years progress. We will go back to the battle of Terra Nova, as well as show the battle on the groundside. The Covenant's war with the Batarians won't last, but things are heating up. And the new found Alliance with the Quarians will be explored in more detail next chapter.
BTW, thanks again for all the support and input that's been given. I just wanted to go ahead and thank a few people who actual sent me a private message and either gave me some ideas to explore for the future or gave me some constructive criticism and pointed out some flaws in my story that needed to be fixed.
StarSerpent- Thank you for taking the time to pm me and pointing out some key flaws in my story. I know that marathon of a message must have taken forever to write.
War Cry- You pm me and gave me some pretty awesome ideas for me to consider and I'm definitely going to use a couple of them in the future.
revan913- You asked me a couple key canon questions that influenced what I will write into future chapters.
project 501D13R- You pointed out the flaws in my original MAC numbers and made me realized just how OP they were.
Thank you all for your support and input for my story. It really helps out when the fans write the author and give input or call out some flaws in the story. I hope you continue to show this support and encourage others to do the same in future chapters.
As for my earlier statement of possibly pursuing a minor romance in the story, I've decided against it for now. I'm going to focus on building the story up and setting the stage for the events of the Mass Effect Games. I'm already starting to think this story will have to be split into two separate stories.
Anyway, that's all for now. Hope you enjoyed. See you next time. :)
