Special Thanks to Lord Anime, Law77, sygiko, Ethan Demas, Xenter, Kinunatzs, six samurai of dragon order, Raging Akuma D and 1v2 for their reviews. I'm grateful for it.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Mass Effect or God Eater games except for the ocs that I have made.
Chapter 3: First Contact
For every second that passed, Zanna could feel her heart hammering loudly in her chest as tension completely grips the breathable air around her.
It had only been a few minutes but for Zanna, it felt like hours have passed as she anxiously waits for her communications team to swiftly pick up contact with the alien fleet while the rest of her crew were on nervously kept on high alert due to the heavily armed armada that has completely surrounded them from all sides with its forces, cutting off every possible escape routes the quarians might take while keeping at least several hundred guns aimed at their damaged fleet.
Seeing as how obviously superior the aliens are when it comes to sheer firepower and numbers, Zanna knew that if any of them tried so much as to even move just a teensy tiny bit then the alien fleet would quickly blast them all to oblivion faster than they could say 'oops'. If her crew couldn't manage to contact the aliens in time and explain to them that this is all a big misunderstanding then things will surely get really, really ugly within the next few minutes.
"C-Captain!" Zanna's lead communications officer calls out to her "We are finally picking up a transmission and it seems to be coming from one of their lead ships!"
The officer's claims were further confirmed by the beeping noises coming from his terminal that indicates that they have received a waiting call.
Hearing those words and sounds felt like music to Zanna's ears as she immediately perked up and spoke.
"Establish a channel right now and get it on screen! Quickly before these people change their minds!"
"Aye!" The officer replied before he begins rapidly typing on his console.
Slumping back to her seat, Zanna begins wondering deeply as she tried to imagine the appearance of what this new species looks like.
'I bet they somehow look probably intimidating like the batarians or stern like the turians judging by the fearsome ships they use.' Zanna thought 'I mean seriously, these people could give the Hierarchy a huge run for their credits with the sheer firepower that their ships possess. If at worse, these aliens could even look and act fearsome and barbaric like the krogan for all we know.'
However, when the screen finally displayed the image of the alien contacting them, Zanna, as well as the rest of her ship's crew, immediately gasped as the appearance of the creature was something they had never expect.
"Keelah, it's like an asari." One of the ensigns spoke out in surprise as he stared at the figure on their screen and Zanna pretty much agreed with what he said.
The alien being displayed on their monitor was indeed similar in appearance with the only difference being that the alien's skin is cream colored instead of the standard blue or purple color and rather than the usual head crests the asari possess, this alien have what seem to be blonde colored fur growing on its head. The alien's eyes were also strange, being reddish brown, a color that Zanna hasn't seen before on the eyes of an asari that she has ever met. For its uniform, the alien seems to be wearing some sort of blue military outfit with a strange emblem that's emblazoned on the right chest that depicts the face of a snarling beast that Zanna isn't quite familiar with.
The alien tried to speak but the words that came out from its mouth sounded like complete gibberish to Zanna's ears as she couldn't really understand their language.
"Ensign! Get our translator programs working right now! I can't understand a word they are saying!" Zanna ordered to one of the men in her crew who simply groaned in frustration at her.
"It useless ma'am! The translator program simply cannot recognize the language they are using and-"
"-ello! Um, hello there! Can you understand me already?" The alien spoke out as it suddenly began speaking in a rather familiar language which quite frankly, startled the quarians.
"Hello? I repeat, can you understand me?" The alien asked again as it leaned forward slightly. "I'm not sure if Dr. Sakaki's translation matrix is working or not but…"
Zanna nodded rather enthusiastically "Yes! Yes! We understand you, loud and clear! Please tell us! Can you understand us as well? Please, tell us who you are and we want you to know that this is all just a big misunderstanding! My fleet and I mean your people no harm! We we're just scavenging near the Perseus Veil when a bunch of batarian pirates attacked us and-"
"Whoa! Whoa! Slow down there please!" The alien spoke out "There's no need to be agitated like that! Our fleet has been given an order to stand down by the Director himself so that we can sort this all out!"
Zanna mentally gave out a sigh of relief after hearing that she and her fleet won't get blasted into oblivion by the aliens' fearsome weaponry.
"However, we believe that introductions should be in order first." The alien adds "My name is Captain Annette Koenig, captain of the FSV Nidhogg and representative on behalf of Fenrir's Intergalactic Navy as well as humanity on a whole. I have to ask, who are you and what species does your people present themselves as?"
"My name is Captain Zanna'Kas Vas Dasha of the Quarian Migrant Fleet and I wish to inform you that, on behalf of my entire fleet, I deeply want to apologize to you and to your superiors for our accidental intrusion into your territory. We never really meant for any of this to happen."
"I-I see." Annette replied rather skeptically as if she is unsure of what Zanna said "But still, I have to ask, what are you and your fleet doing in our territory and how did you came through that device?"
"Um, well… it's a bit too long and complicated for me to explain it to you here at the channel. I was hoping if we can meet face to face in person so that I can explain everything perfectly to your superiors."
Annette frowned "Hmm, I'm not sure. Director Feldman or Dr. Sakaki hasn't really given me any permission to honor such a request but I'll see on what I can do. Can you hold on for a minute at least? This won't take much long."
"Of course. Please, take as much time as you need." Zanna said as Annette nodded to her before cutting of her communications for the while.
Zanna held her breath as she waited for almost an entire minute before Annette's image popped back onto their screen with a friendly smile.
"Well Captain Zanna, it seems you are in luck. Director Feldman has given me his blessing to authorize your request. We will be holding meeting our meeting on my ship and we will even be allowing you the right to bring in your own security."
"R-Really?"
Annette nodded "Why yes. You can bring as much as three if you want though we have to inform you that you will have to pass through decontamination first so that we can prevent any cross contamination between our two species here. We'll give you enough time so that you can prepare what you need for our meeting with each other."
Zanna almost laughed at the irony in the part of Annette's statement. To think that she and her people are worried about catching any diseases from them being ironic would be a massive understatement.
***Later***
One hour later, a single small shuttle ship has flown out from the Dasha, carrying Zanna and at least three of her crew's best marines towards the meeting place which is set to happen on the human vessel called the FSV Nidhogg, one of the largest cruisers within Fenrir's fleet.
While they are still traveling, Zanna took a moment to close observe the ship they are heading towards. For Zanna, the designs on the ship were practically overkill especially the weapons as Zanna could see several dozen weapon turrets visibly lining its sides just from her sight alone. The armor alone on the ship looked extremely thick and seemed strong enough that Zanna think that the ship can probably turn itself into a gigantic battering ram to smash other smaller ships apart if it wants to. The ships' single main spinal cannon was obviously too big for the cruiser, its size making it more suited to one of the human's so-called dreadnaughts and looks very strangely organic in appearance. Zanna wondered what could have made the humans so militaristic to have heavily armed their ships like that.
"Captain!" One of the marines accompanying her calls for her attention "Our ship has been given clearance to proceed and dock at their hangar bay area!"
As the tiny quarian vessel approached the massive human cruiser, its hangar bay doors withdrew in order to allow them entrance into its bay. Slowly, the vessel was steered to an empty platform on the side of the bay area and it smoothly sets itself down before cutting off its engines. In a control room, several humans have been watching the small quarian vessel dock into the hangar bay.
"Director Feldman, our guests have finally arrived at the bay area." An officer reported to the communications channel in the room before Isaac Feldman quickly gave him a response.
"Good. Tell our men to guide them first into decontamination before we can begin meeting with each other."
"As you wish Director."
***XOXOX***
Director Feldman, Dr. Sakaki and Captain Annette have been waiting patiently outside the decontamination chambers' doors along with four 3rd Generation God Eaters who will be acting as their security detail. While they have been waiting, Director Feldman, Dr. Sakaki and Captain Annette have been keeping themselves busy by studying the strange 'Codex' given to them by the quarians themselves which inadvertently increased Dr. Sakaki's interest and curiosity about the strange aliens they will be meeting.
Apparently according to the Codex given to them, the quarians were an entire species of nomadic aliens who have been living aboard a large collection of starships dubbed the Migrant Fleet for the last 300 years ever since they were forced into exile from their own planet of Rannoch by the Geth, a race of rudimentary artificial intelligences that the quarians themselves have created and tried to destroy after finding out that the Geth have slowly began gaining sentience. The parallels and similarities between the situations of their species were not lost on Dr. Sakaki.
Aside from their history, their biology also proved to be quite intriguing to Dr. Sakaki. For instance, the immune system that the quarians possess is quite weak due to their bodies evolving to become symbiotic with the local pathogens in their homeworld on Rannoch which were often partly beneficial to them. However, this evolution also proved to be quite disadvantageous to them as after being exiled from their homeworld and living on the sterile environment on their ships for the last 300 years, the quarians immune systems have basically atrophied greatly over the years meaning that the quarians basically have to wear a special environmental suit at all times to prevent themselves from getting infected by any foreign pathogens as just one single germ can get them horribly sick or worse. Dr. Sakaki felt sorry for how difficult life must have been for their species.
Before Dr. Sakaki could think of anything even further, the doors of the decontamination chamber opened and four quarians entered into the room. Upon entering, three of the quarians, which Sakaki guessed were highly trained soldiers due to the way they hold their rifles on their hands, immediately draw their attention towards the four God Eaters in the room and Dr. Sakaki could really blame them for that. Even though they were wearing only standard issue armor, the giant God Arcs the God Eaters were wielding were no doubt proved to be quite intimidating to the quarians considering that they are basically wielding a sword or gun that is almost as tall as a full grown man's height.
One of the quarians, a female from what Dr. Sakaki could guess due to the enlarged chest and wider hips, seemingly tilted her head and said "I'm sorry, I know we have accidentally intruded upon your territory but aren't your weapons a bit too… excessive in the matter?"
"W-We apologize on the matter," Captain Annette rather awkwardly said "but God Arcs have been the standard issue weapons of Fenrir's regular military forces and we basically have nothing else that's smaller than that."
The female quarian seemingly stared at Annette in stunned disbelief before Dr. Sakaki himself decides to speak out.
"I'm sorry, but I believe the two of us haven't introduced ourselves. My name is Dr. Paylor Sakaki , I'm a scientist working for Fenrir's research department and this is Director Isaac Feldman, head of Fenrir's branch here at Shanxi. On behalf of humanity as a whole, we would like to extend warm greetings as well as the hand of friendship to you and your race" Dr. Sakaki extended his hand to suit his actions "We would also like to apologize to you for the way our fleet act upon your arrival. We only recently found out that the strange structure we discovered was actually an interstellar gateway that leads from one point of the galaxy to another and we simply acted based on the situation at hand."
"I-I understand. My name is Captain Zanna'Kas Vas Dasha of the Quarian Migrant Fleet and I want to say that I'm please to meet you, Dr. Sakaki." Zanna said as she hesitantly grasped and shook Dr. Sakaki's hand. "I suppose we should ask each other about some basic questions between our species right? Like history, governments, society and so on?"
"Indeed." Director Feldman agreed "However, this room is not the best area to discuss such matters. Please, follow me to the control room. It is a much more productive place for us to exchange information.
"Of course. Please, lead the way Director." Zanna replied
***Meanwhile***
She was bored. Very, very bored. Considering that only she and her fellow kind were the only ones left on this desolate, half eaten shell of a planet, this is very understandable.
Ever since those very interesting people had left years ago, she was left with nothing interesting to eat except her own fellow Aragami which to her, taste very boring now especially the Ogretails who have been multiplying like crazy now that some major predators have left the scene.
She signed. She knew she was destined to create a new apocalypse that will usher in a new rebirth of the entire planet but after eating a million of her fellow Aragami, she became very bored with her destiny and really wished to explore the entire world instead so that she can find some brand new things to eat. But alas, she can't do anything about it and was stuck on this barren rock of a planet with nothing to do but eat her tasteless brethren.
She stared at the sky and watched the moon that's visible from above, wishing that someday, they will return back to this world.
***XOXOX***
"So you are saying to me that you and your fleet were only on a scavenging mission when you were attacked by a bunch of pirates made up of a race called the batarians?" Director asks as he tried clarifying what had been said to him.
"That's correct Director." Zanna confirmed "My fleet and I were merely assigned by the Admiralty Board on a mission to search for resources or salvageable tech that we can use against the Geth when we were unexpectedly attacked by a bunch of batarian pirates who were seeking to capture us so that they can sell us as… 'products', so as to speak."
Director Feldman frowned while two of the God Eaters accompanying them scowled their faces in response as it didn't take them much long to decipher what Zanna meant about being sold as 'products'.
"So, how did your fleet manage to escape these pirates then?" Dr. Sakaki asks
"Ironically, we owed it to the Geth." Zanna sighed "Those machines have detected our scuffle at the edge of their space and they have been known to kill everyone that dares to intrude upon their territory. Lucky for us, they decide to focus first on the pirates since they are a much larger threat than us which gives us enough time to escape towards the Mass Relay within the area."
Dr. Sakaki's interest perked up "Mass Relay? Is that what you call that mysterious structure we discovered?"
"Yes." Zanna confirmed "That artifact you discovered is called a Mass Relay which is just one of the many mass transit devices that were scattered all over the galaxy. The rest of the Council species use the Mass Relays as a way to achieve faster than light travel as well as for an easy way to travel from one point of the galaxy to another. Presumably, the Mass Relays were built 50,000 years ago by the Protheans, a race of highly advance aliens whose leftover technology became the basis of advancement for every species within the galaxy."
"Wait a minute!" Annette suddenly interrupted "Leftover technology? What do you mean by that? Did something happen to these Protheans?"
Zanna scratched her head as she tried her best to explain it to them "Well, the Protheans have also mysteriously vanished 50,000 years ago after they have established a galaxy wide empire. No one really knows why they disappeared. Not even the Council's best archeologists or historians can provide a decent explanation on why it happened despite the thousands of ruins they have left scattered behind a multitude of planets that formerly belong to the original territory of their empire."
"Wait a minute, did you just say ruins?" Dr. Sakaki asks and Zanna nods to him in reply
"Yes, the Protheans have left a large cache of their technology hidden away in thousands of planets that formerly encompass their empire. The Council has deemed these ruins to be absolutely sacred and important that even excavating them requires a large amount of permission coming from the Council itself. Why is it do you ask?"
"Well, this is just a funny thing." Dr. Sakaki sheepishly said "You see, Fenrir has been destroying every alien ruins that it discovers inside its colonies due to them being deemed too dangerous for the public's safety."
Despite not being able to see the expression on the quarians' faces due to the helmets of their suits concealing them, Dr. Sakaki has a feeling that their mouths are currently held wide open in shock and disbelief at what they just heard.
"You people have been destroying PROTHEAN RUINS in your territories?!" Zanna suddenly exclaimed loudly which made the humans almost jump back in surprise "Have you people realized what have just done?! The Council will totally go pyjack-shit at this!"
The God Eaters accompanying them as security suddenly raised their God Arcs in response but Director Feldman quickly told them to stand down before he turns his glance back to the furious quarian.
"We apologize if we accidentally did something that's wrong according to your laws but I think you have to know our side of the story first." Director Feldman said as he began explaining to her "When we first discovered those alien ruins in our new homeworld on Mars, we at first tried to excavate it in the hopes of discovering something about the previous civilization that left it there but a fatal accident occurred during the dig and it resulted the deaths of over a hundred individuals due to-"
"Element Zero poisoning?" Zanna suddenly asks as she interrupts Director Feldman's sentence.
"Why yes. How did you know?" Dr. Sakaki questions
"It is actually quite a common hazard in excavation sites," Zanna explained "Prothean ruins especially since they always contain a high amount of Element Zero hidden within their remains. That is one of the reasons why you need to ask permission first from the Council before you go digging up any ruins."
"I see." Director Feldman said "However, that's not the only effect Element Zero did upon the people it had come into contact with. It also… changed them."
"Change?" Zanna asks quizzically "Did they develop biotic powers?"
Director Feldman frowned "Biotic powers? What are you talking about?"
"Biotic powers are special abilities developed by individuals that were directly exposed to Element Zero." Zanna begins explaining to them "These abilities allow a person to directly manipulate and create mass effect fields using the Element Zero within their bodies to perform acts or feats that were previously thought of to be impossible by historical science. People with biotic powers are highly sought after by the militaries of their species due to their highly beneficial abilities."
"Well, the transformations those people receive were far from beneficial." Director Feldman said grimly "Those people have mutated instead into Aragami, vicious, bloodthirsty monsters that seek only to devour everything in their path."
Zanna tilts her head in confusion "Aragami? What are those? I've never heard of Element Zero ever mutating a person into something like that you are talking about."
"If I'm going to explain everything to you, it would take at least a few days for me to finish." Director Feldman explained "Sakaki here will just give you a version of our own codex so that you can be properly informed. But anyway, that's what Element Zero did to the people working at that site. As a result, Fenrir has deemed every alien ruin that we come upon to be highly dangerous thus we were ordered to destroy every ruins that we have come across."
Zanna stayed silent for a brief moment before she said "Your people still will have to explain this to the Council as well as your accidental activation of the Relay."
"The Relay? Why? What's wrong about us accidentally activating the Relay?" Annette asks her
"The Council… has made it a law that nobody is allowed to activate any dormant Mass Relay without their permission." Zanna said uncomfortably "This is all because someone previously activated one a few thousand years ago and ended up unleashing a swarm of hostile aliens called the Rachni upon the galaxy. The Council has been strict to enforce that law, especially the Turians who have been known to punish an entire species just because a single individual disobeyed that law. If the Council has heard about this, they will… obviously not like it and will likely attempt to punish your people for that even if you never have heard of the law before."
Director Feldman looked at her rather grimly while Dr. Sakaki replaced his smile with a frown.
"That… has got to be the dumbest law I've ever heard." One of the God Eaters muttered out loud "Punishing a person for a law that they have never even heard from before? That sounds absolutely bullshit to me."
Mentally, Zanna agreed with the man's statement as she too thought that the law the Council made was far too harsh.
"Well, it seems we have some business to do." Director Feldman mumbled "Sakaki, contact the rest of Fenrir's branches and tell them about what we have learned. Captain Annette, tell Admiral Hackett to have his fleet monitor this… Mass Relay 24/7 until further notice."
"As you wish Director." Captain Annette replied before Director Feldman turned his attention back to the quarians.
"Now then, can I request that you provide us with some more knowledge regarding this 'Council' that you are speaking of?"
***Chapter End***
***Codex Entries***
God Eaters- The regular soldiers under Fenrir's military forces, God Eaters are genetically altered humans who have been injected with the P13 Bias Factor or its previous predecessors so that they can control and wield God Arcs, special biological weapons that Fenrir has developed originally to fight against the formidable Aragami. Each God Arc that every single God Eater wields has been personally assigned to them by Fenrir upon them enlisting and taking an aptitude test which will determine the most compatible God Arc that can be paired up with the new recruit. Being the last line of defense of humanity against the monstrous aragami, each God Eater undergoes strict, rigorous training everyday so that they will always be in tip top shape to fight.
Currently, there are three known different generations of God Eaters: the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Generations. The 1st Generation are the very first God Eaters ever created and are made up entirely of Old Type God Eaters who use God Arcs that can't switch between separate forms. The 2nd Generation consists of the regular New Type God Eaters who use the modern kind of God Arc that can regularly change between 3 forms. The 3rd Generation meanwhile, consists entirely of the special kind of New Types which are God Eaters who have unlocked their Power of Blood, a unique hidden power that God Eaters possess which also varies differently within each individual.
Fenrir- Originally a major corporation that specializes in biotechnology, Fenrir rose to the forefront during the first Aragami outbreak in the year 2050 due to its advance research in Oracle Cells and its subsequent development of God Arc technology which became humanity's only hope in fending off the formidable Aragami which have proven themselves indestructible to any of humanity's previous conventional weapons. When the rest of earth's governments finally fell from the onslaught of the Aragami invasion, Fenrir was the only organization left standing and it became the defacto ruler and government for the rest of humanity. Before humanity's grand exodus into the stars, Fenrir was originally centered on their main office in the former Scandinavian region of earth but after the establishment of mankind's new colonies, the colony city of Valhalla which is situated on Mars became Fenrir's new chief headquarters for the rest of their branches.