March 6, 11,990 CE
Outskirts of Hay'ga System, Klukk Domain, Outer Colonies of the Batarian Hegemony…
Senior Captain Abdelaziz of the Space Colonial Administration's Capital Star-class transport, MSV Bradbury V, walked onto the bridge of his ship, as the transport emerged out of mass effect travel.
He sighed exasperatedly as he watched two of his lieutenants laughing as they were playing a video game, while the other bridge crew were cheering them on.
"Lieutenant Goldberg, Ensign Philhellene!" Abdelaziz barked. "I know this isn't a top-level posting, but could we preserve some decorum here? We've just entered the target system! I want everyone on their toes!"
"Captain, with all due respect, we've done this colonization thing a dozen times," Lieutenant Rube-Goldberg waved. "This isn't the Navy."
"Well, there's a reason why the Navy assigned me to command this mission!" Abdelaziz snapped. These undisciplined SCA slackers were just the worst. "Sure we all wish everything will go smoothly, but we are on the doorstep, if not within Batarian space. And the Navy has had enough bad run-ins with those four-eyed freaks to expect the worst."
"That's just for show, sir. If they were really expecting trouble, they would've sent more than a single diplomatic frigate and a trio of old gunships. This is not nearly enough to protect a trio of three poorly-defended and unmanuveurable transports."
Abdelaziz fell silent, knowing the Lieutenant had a point. He had reservations about the mission from the beginning- the warnings that Command gave about the potential Batarian threat didn't match the light escort they were given. He'd known routine supply mission with more security. Either the Command was telling the truth about the threat level, or the whole thing stank of a set-up. But he'd received his orders and he was going to follow through with them.
"It doesn't matter. We have our mission, and we're going to carry it out! Everyone to your stations!" Abdelaziz barked authoritatively, asserting his command. "That's an order!"
As the crew hurriedly returned to their positions, Abdelaziz sat down on his captain's chair. "Comms, has the convoy checked in?"
"Affirmative, Captain!" Ensign Philhellene confirmed. "The Icarus, Kirkwall, and Faraday have sent the all-clear! The three gunships have also been accounted for!"
"Excellent, set a course for the target world."
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Hegemony Navy Dockyards around Ste'gyn, Hay'ga System, Klukk Domain, Outer Colonies of the Batarian Hegemony…
Having finished a fancy lunch, Batarian Rear Admiral Krath Mathat was enjoying a gambling game with one of system's newly-minted local nobles (and toady to Warlord Dretor), Lord Eeythor, and making considerable earnings from the look of it.
But before he could score a serious win, an aide burst into the room.
"Lieutenant, didn't I say I didn't want to be disturbed?!" Mathat growled irritably. "What is wrong with you?"
"B-But, sir!" The Lieutenant flinched. "An unidentified fleet just appeared in the system! They might be the so-called 'Artemis Tau Authority'!"
"What?!" Mathat exclaimed, leaping to his feet. "Are they so dumb as to actually invade Hegemony space?! And this far from Artemis Tau? Do they think we're weak?!"
"I- I don't know- we wanted to check it out, but we d-didn't have orders-"
"Then what are you waiting for?! Launch a flight of fighters right away, and take a close look! Don't shoot though, and withdraw if they show hostility. I want to lure them in closer if we can." Mathat ordered, before putting on his uniform and rushing to the Command Center.
Once there, he watched on the tactical screens as the Batarian fighters flew noticeably closer to the incoming Union convoy.
"Sir, it doesn't look like there rabbiting it out of here," The sensors officer reported nervously. "Our data on Authority ship classes is… rudimentary at best, but it looks like a trio of minimally-armed transports, what appears to be a frigate, and three gunships."
"Of course they're not rabbiting," Mathat snapped. "That's not the make-up of a recon fleet. And this is known and marked Hegemony territory, not even one of the disputed regions. They can't have popped into this space without a clear plan. But why the transports? This looks more like a colonization force, or a scientific convoy, not an invasion fleet." He looked to the communications officer. "Comms, hail them! Broad-spectrum frequency!"
"But sir, Warlord Dretor said-!"
"I know what he said, and I intend to carry it out!" The Admiral snapped. "But I'm curious what they're doing here, and what they have to say for themselves."
"Y-Yes, sir!"
Mathat cleared his threat. "This is Admiral Mathat of the Batarian Hegemony Navy! You have engaged in an unprovoked intrusion into the Klukk Domain of Hegemony Space, one of the domains of the wise Warlord Dretor! Despite this flagrant violation of our sovereignty, I will give you fifteen minutes to broadcast your surrender immediately or be destroyed! Power down your systems and prepare for boarding! Consider this a mercy. That is all."
A few minutes later, the communications officer nervously spoke up. "Sir, they're hailing us back!"
"Interesting," Mathat's lips curled into a smile. "Let's hear what they have to say."
A rather stilted voice of translated Batarian came through. "This is Senior Captain Abdelaziz of the Union of Earth and Artemis. We are a peaceable colonization fleet on a settlement mission. We deeply apologize if we have intruded your sovereign space, as we did not know this system was inhabited. We will, of course, cancel our mission and return to Union space. If you would like to speak with a diplomat, we have several in our convoy for the express purpose of first contact. If you would like, we can host a diplomatic team on one of our vessels, or send an envoy over to yours."
"Are they pulling our leg?" A Batarian officer muttered. "Everyone knows this is Batarian space, it's on every map in the galaxy. And what is this 'Union'? I've never heard of it?"
"It could be a front group, or a new upstart group," Admiral Mathat pondered seriously under his breath. Then he spoke up. "Are you in any way affiliated with the Artemis Tau Authority or the Hades Gamma Peacekeeping Fleet?"
"Yes, they are indeed extensions of the Union of Earth and Artemis, used to patrol some of our frontier territories," Captain Abdelaziz replied. "However, I haven't had much experience with them personally. If you have questions, we would be happy to address them once we establish diplomatic relations."
"That's enough- if you are affiliated with those terrorist organizations, we have nothing to talk about!" Admiral Mathal barked. "As criminal accomplices, I demand you surrender immediately! Any attempt to resist or flee will be met by merciless destruction!"
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
On the bridge of the MSV Bradbury V…
"…Any attempt to resist or flee will be met by merciless destruction!"
The crew now stared wide-eyed at the open threat from the aliens they were communicating with.
"Yikes!" Lieutenant Goldberg muttered.
"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I cannot do that," Captain Abdelaziz replied to the Batarian Admiral. "The Union bows to no one. We are willing to talk, we are willing to leave this space, but my orders say that, under no circumstances are we to surrender to you. If this is your attitude, I have nothing more to say. We are leaving this place, and if you try to block our departure, we will fight our way out. Abdelaziz out."
As Ensign Philhellene cut off the communication, he turned to Lieutenant Goldberg. "Plot us a course back to the Mass Relay! Immediate retreat!"
"Captain, we are detecting a large number of Batarian vessels exiting the orbit of one of the moons of the fifth planet!" The sensors officer, Ensign Carter-226, reported. "A dozen frigate and cruiser-sized vessels!"
"Yeah, we'd be seriously screwed if we went up against that!" The Weapons Officer, Ensign Earhart-82 chirped up.
"Sir, the UDC Faraday is falling out of formation and powering up weapons!" Ensign Carter reported again.
"What the-?! What is she thinking?!" Abdelaziz exclaimed. "We're vastly outgunned! Ensign Philhellene, hail Captain Jessica immediately!"
A moment later, the Faraday's captain, Jessica-993, appeared on the communicator screen.
"Captain Jessica! What the hell are you doing?! If you fight, we're all going to die! We transports need you as escorts! As Senior Captain, I order you to retreat now!"
Captain Jessica cast a grim look at Abdelaziz, but the corners of her mouth turned upward slightly in a barely-perceptible, eerie grin. "I'm sorry, Senior Captain, but I have my own secret orders from above. Besides, isn't it a little late for escape?"
"What?!"
"Um… she might be right," Ensign Carter spoke up. "Eight capital ships exiting the asteroid field, on intercept course! Over twenty fighters and gunships too! They're putting themselves between us and the Mass Relay!"
"Damn it, can we go around them-?" Abdelaziz demanded.
"In that slow, unmanuverable tin can, Captain?" Jessica scoffed. "The Hegemony may not have the most top-notch vessels in the galaxy, but they can certainly outmaneuver and outpace your transports. I might be able to pull it off, but that would mean leaving you behind and going against my orders."
"Whose fucking orders?!"
"I can't tell you, good sir," Jessica smirked in a smug way that made Abdelaziz want to punch her. "But it was signed by two members of the Union Council. These orders come from the top. Surely you must have had some suspicions about this mission?"
Abdelaziz's eyes widened as he realized the implications. "So this WAS a set-up all along! I had my fears…"
"Good job with the performance earlier, by the way. We captured the transmissions of your conversation with the Batarians and beamed it back to Union space- as per the orders I was given. Soon the Union will see how aggressive and unreasonable the Batarians were, their attitude to a peaceful settlement force offering diplomacy. I also launched camera probes earlier- they'll capture and relay the Batarians assaulting your nearly-defenseless transports and my diplomatic frigate, while we make a valiant last stand in self-defense."
"You bitch…," Abdelaziz muttered.
Jessica shrugged nonchalantly at the insult. "This is all for the betterment of the Union. You might be in some second-rate transports, but you still have some defenses. I expect you might still be able to do a little damage before you do down. Don't disappoint me… Senior Captain."
"You are in no position to give me orders, I outrank you," Abdelaziz retorted. "This conversation is over." He turned to Ensign Earhart. "Arm torpedo tubes! And what are the status of our point-defense guns?!"
"A-Active sir! But they might well destroy us before they even get in range of-"
"I know," Abdelaziz nodded. "Initiate Override C-62! Even we can't target effectively, we should be able to at least score a few hits at this range!"
"This… went to shit real fast…" Lieutenant Rube-Goldberg muttered. "What I wouldn't pay for another peaceful, uneventful colonization mission on a dreary rock…"
Abdelaziz looked down at his tactical screen as he watched the UDC Faraday charge headlong toward the Hegemony warships bursting out of the asteroid field, firing off every weapon in their arsenal. Clearly, they intend to expend every bit of ammunition they could before…
"She's going to ram one of them," Abdelaziz realized. "Well, we can't match her speed, but it's not a bad idea."
"Ensign Philhellene, notify all ships, including the gunships! Charge the enemy ships that the Faraday is engaging at maximum speed! Engage with all available weapons!"
"Yes, sir!"
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Hegemony Navy Dockyards around Ste'gyn, Hay'ga System, Klukk Domain, Outer Colonies of the Batarian Hegemony…
Admiral Mathat shook his head as the self-proclaimed "Union" ships charged headlong into a far-superior Hegemony force. "Are they mad?"
"Perhaps an extremely proud or martial race, sir?" His Army liaison, Colonel Mneome muttered. "Clearly pride trumping common sense. Turian? Krogan?"
"Or one of our own," Mathat muttered, causing Mneome to shift uncomfortably. "Dretor would never admit it, but can't discount that possibility. Or perhaps the 'undiscovered race' of rumor."
"That could be automated. Mechs like the Artemis Tau Authority would explain the complete disregard for self-preservation, sir," A Captain Ba'araslau offered.
"Well, I doubt I could have had that conversation with a VI, so they're likely to have at least a few crew on board. Regardless, we have our orders from Warlord Dretor. Captain Ba'araslau, prep my flagship- I'm going to oversee this in person."
"Yes, sir!"
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Two days later, March 8, 11,990 CE
On approach to the Hectu Space Telescope, in orbit around Vay'gn V, Vay'gn System, Medes-Mean Province in the Viper Nebula, Inner Colonies of the Batarian Hegemony…
On the bridge of his flagship, the battlecruiser Pack Hunter, Admiral Mathat grinned diabolically as his target came into view of his fleet.
The Hectu Space Telescope was a beloved cultural artifact of the Batarian Hegemony, as the first space telescope to spot a Salarian ship and establish first contact with the Council races. Of little strategic value, it was barely guarded, for no sane Batarian faction would dare commit such a taboo act as attacking it, even with the frequent border conflicts and mini-wars between rivaling Governors, Warlords, and Factions throughout Batarian history. Unfortunately, as it turned out, the nascent Nationalist Faction might have been a short in both the tradition and sanity departments.
The Hegemony kept the area relatively clear of traffic in order the keep the sacrosanct world "pristine". Which meant a low chance of witnesses- at least ones that might be able to escape. Mathat would personally make sure the skeleton crew on duty did not live to tell their tale. All that would remain would be a destroyed base, dead bodies, and scattered remains of a small foreign fleet. The political fallout would do the rest.
A hail came across the intercom, no doubt one of the poor staff stationed there. "Esteemed vessels of our Navy, please identify your purpose here. We have no records of a military exercise scheduled-"
Ignoring the hails, Mathat raised his own communicator. "This is Admiral Mathal to all ships, target the comm station and the auxiliary satellite first! We have one shot at this!"
A barrage of missiles streaked out, pummeling their targets, destroying all hope they had of sending out a coherent warning. Then the fleet drew in to nearly point-blank range (by space standards) and used both kinetic and laser turrets to pummel the nearly-defenseless space telescope, and adjoining orbital facilities such as maintainence stations, docking bays, and staff quarters.
Mathat could only imagine the terror and confusion the civilian and security staff inside must feel in their last, fiery, and violent moments. He was frankly quite impressed that the security staff on the station managed to get their defenses online in time, even managing to score a series of hits that crippled the starboard turrets on one of his frigates- before being blown to smithereens by the Pack Hunter's guns.
Once the massacre was complete, the Pack Hunter and the other ships in the fleet opened their cargo bay doors and began dropping debris of the alien "Union" ships that had turned up in the Hay'ga System. At Warlord Dretor's orders, he'd gone to great pains to collect the debris after the battle, precisely for this purpose.
"The last debris is away, Admiral," Captain Ba'araslau reported, saluting.
"Good. Let's get out of here, then!"
As his fleet jumped out of the system, Admiral Mathat mused about how this was all rather ironic- it was the rise of the Artemis Tau Authority and the Hades Gamma Peacekeeping Fleet in the first place that allowed the Nationalist Faction to rise from a fringe group into a major fixture in Batarian politics. For centuries, the various dominant Conservative, Centrist, and Civic Factions had all advocated against expansion into the Artemis Tau and Hades Gamma clusters for a simple and pragmatic reason- as a vital trade route close to Batarian space, it was a ripe zone for piracy and slaver raids. And since it wasn't part of Batarian space, the Hegemony could deny any responsibility for ship disappearances in the region, while a partially-complicit Council largely turned a blind eye.
All that changed when the enigmatic Artemis Tau Authority and the Hades Gamma Peacekeeping Fleet appeared on the scene. It all began with mysterious outposts cropping up everywhere. Warlord Dretor, who at the time was outwardly a member of the Civic Faction, even as he secretly sympathized with the Nationalists, suspected they were backed by someone powerful, so he decided to take a gamble and intentionally "poke the dragon in the eye", so to speak, hiring pirates and mercenaries to attack them. Sure enough, the Hades Gamma Peacekeeping Fleet and the Artemis Tau Authority emerged, cracking down on piracy throughout those star clusters.
Thus slaving raids and piracy became precipitously more costly and dangerous, robbing Batarians of a key cultural cornerstone and sending the economy into a recession. Facing a political crisis, more and more Batarians turned to the outspoken Nationalists, then a fringe group who demanded that the Hegemony outright annex those territories. Dretor shed his Civic Faction disguise and openly-embraced the Nationalists, becoming their poster-child. He especially appealed to the poorer, lower-tier citizens, promising them riches, wealth, and land to be found, if only the Hegemony could conquer these fringe territories and drive out the "terrorists" currently occupying them. Now that its old base was undercut, the Civic Faction soon collapsed completely, with most of its supporters being absorbed into the Nationalist fold.
The rise of the Nationalists had unintended, far-reaching effects as well- for the first time in centuries, the old three-party system had been shaken down to its core. This political earthquake revitalized hope in other fringe ideologies, especially the more egalitarian ones, that they might see the light of day as well.
To the shock of many Batarians, Emperor Ghogar Khe'pavan IV, ruler of the Grand Empire of Dem'novan, one of the Old Nations on Khar'shan- appointed a Reformist as Premier, the first ever non-noble to hold that position- and sent Reformist Representatives to the Hegemony's Imperial Assembly. The idea that Reformists- who advocated such extreme ideas as reducing the power of the old nobility, and that slaves such be afforded certain rights and standards of living- could sit in the highest echelons of Hegemony power was viewed as a bitter affront by the Conservatives. The other Old Nations rapidly began treating Dem'novan as a pariah state, leading to increased tensions and the threat of war. Many saw the Reformists as little better than the Republican and Abolitionist insurgent "terrorists", which, by the way, also saw a boost in their recruitment during this political upheaval.
This, of course, had little to do with Dretor and the Nationalists, who did their best to distance themselves from the Reformist upstarts and the even more radical insurgents, though this did not stop attempts by the Conservatives, and even some of the Centrists to clump them all together. Mathat, of course, despised this "slander"- it was Dretor who'd raised then-Commander Mathat up to Admiral for his pro-Nationalist views, for which he remained deeply-grateful.
All that mattered to Mathat now was that the Artemis Tau Authority, Hades Gamma Peacekeepers, and their "Union" backers, who had inadvertantly contributed to the rise of the Nationalist Faction, must now fall by the hand of those same Nationalist forces.
Then the Pack Hunter emerged out of the Mass Relay back to into the Hay'ga System.
"Admiral, sir!" The Communications officer spoke up. "I'm picking up multiple distress calls! They seem to be coming mainly from the Dockyards!"
"What?!" Admiral Mathat exclaimed. "Sensors, can you bring me up a visual?"
"On it, sir!"
The image left the bridge crew flabbergasted- Ste'gyn Dockyards, a massive, imposing orbital facility with extensive defenses and armor, had been violently broken into multiple pieces. Jagged, melted, broken debris spun through space. Among them were the picket force that Mathat had left behind to defend the Dockyards- their ships now reduced to charred hulks.
"Scan for any hostile ships in the system!" Mathat hollered. "Navigation, take us in closer!"
"Yes, sir! None found, sir! I'm only detecting a small number of our own vessels, mainly shuttles and maintainence vehicles. Looks like they're attempting search and rescue."
"Admiral, we're being hailed- Batarian codes!"
"Patch it through!"
An image of frazzled Batarian Lieutenant inside a cramped shuttle compartment emerged. "This is Lieutenant Pra'praff of the Second Maintainence Unit! Am I coming through?"
"Yes, what happened there, Lieutenant?!"
"Admiral! I'm so relieved to see you! You see, about two hours ago, the station's computers were suddenly hit by what seemed to be a cyberwarfare attack, a virus. I don't know the full story, but rumor is it was apparently sent from a distant Hegemony repair station somewhere. We were able to purge it from the systems, but all the defenses were temporarily knocked offline. We had to go and manually reactivate them one by one. We were just beginning the process of doing that when the attack occurred. It was a huge, circular ship- I could even see it from the hangar where I was stationed- and it had a fleet accompanying it!"
"What fleet?! Was it the same as the previous intruders? How many ships?!" Mathat practically bellowed.
"I'm afraid I don't have any idea, sir!" The Lieutenant replied frankly. "I'm just maintainence staff! I could only tell you what I saw! And I saw an enormous circular ship, bristling with strange constructions- it came really close, perhaps only a couple dozen kilometers, and pummeled the Dockyards point-blank! With most of our guns still in the process of rebooting, we were virtually sitting ducks!"
Mathat groaned- he had forgotten that auxiliary staff would not have been privy to the same information that the command crew were. "Just... tell me who's in charge!"
"I'm afraid... I am, sir," Pra'praff muttered reluctantly. "Well, until you got here. One of the first shots it made destroyed the Command Center. So far, I'm the ranking officer among the survivors- and I only narrowly survived because the section of hangar I was in managed to remain pressurized."
"What about Lord Eeythor?!"
Lieutenant Pra'praff grimaced visibly. "He... took a shuttle down to the surface the moment unidentified ships were detected. He should be 'fine' down there. The enemy left without any sort of orbital bombardement."
Mathat sighed in relief. Eeythor may have been a coward, but there wasn't anything he could have done in this situation, and he was more useful to the Nationalists alive than dead, even if it meant he was just cowering in his palace bunker planetside.
"Fine, if that's all-"
"There's one more thing you should know, Admiral."
"Oh? What is that?"
"We tried to send out distress calls to nearby systems, but communication is spotty. A lot of comm relays are either offline or overloaded with other distress calls. We've only been able to pick a few spotty signals, but it seems they've been other attacks in nearby systems- an emergency search and rescue station and a repair station, and reports to beware of enemy infiltration. I'll forward that information to you."
"Thank you, Lieutenant," Admiral Mathat managed hoarsely as he slumped in his seat, exhausted by all that he was hearing. This day had been far more eventful than he'd bargained for.
