Earth-40
30 June 2060
11:00
Solar System
General Staff of the Polish Army
Secret Command Bunker
The command room was boiling like a beehive. The number of Reapers overwhelmed the defences but did not, fortunately, break them in large numbers. After the initial fear due to their sheer numbers, it turned out that the Reapers were unexpectedly easy to succumb to the firepower of the Space Navy. While they were able to withstand kinetic cannon fire, they succumbed easily to laser cannons. Unfortunately, the problem is that for every Polish ship, regardless of class, there are as many as 50 Reapers. The situation is much better on planets where the soldiers with territorial defenses and armed inhabitants were able to give an effective resistance to their enemy, and sometimes it happened that the defenders outnumbered the attacking Reaper forces.
Unfortunately, despite the effective defence and the enormous blood sacrifice given every minute, the Reapers are marching forward. There are too many Reapers attacking at the same time and, although they have suffered huge losses, they have made up for it by conquering human colonies. The case looks better for the remaining human nation-states, only some of them have space colonies and they are mostly in the Solar System or far from the front line. Fortunately, the powerful surprise attack of the Reapers on the home system of humanity was smashed by the combined forces of the Home Fleets of the navies of the Republic, Korea, Brazil, Japan, China, Great Britain and smaller flotillas of the other states. The ground forces of the smaller nations in space also did their part, effectively tying down the Reapers in orbital stations and colonies scattered throughout the system on various moons and planetoids.
The hasty gathering of the supreme commanders of the human states and their cosmic allies in the bunker showed this chaos. The fact is that this gathering of chief commanders is a gathering in name only. Each of them has his hands full trying to command the armed forces and keep the civilian population in peace. So their deputies were sent to the meeting with clear instructions on what to do. Not all of them are there in person, of course, some are just there as a hologram. -Ladies and gentlemen, we have gathered in this honourable group to discuss this crisis- began the Crown Marshal Stanislaw Koziekulski, in a tone assuring that this invasion of machines from another dimension is no big deal. -British understatement- said General Susan Wall representing the UK. The tension and stress caused stares that told Koziekulski to get to the point rather than beat around the bush.
-As you know, our interdimensional sensor systems allowed us to estimate the number of the enemy at about 100 thousand. Fortunately, our worst suspicions that they will increase their numbers have not been confirmed by the Heaven Army - said Koziekulski. -So their forces will fight in other dimensions? -Jungjang Dung Park from the Republic of Korea asked. -Yes Mr. Park, a large number of them have already been sent to 3 other worlds besides ours and their original one.- Answered Koziekulski. -What kind of worlds are these? -Divisional General Carlos Costa representing Brazil asked with a distinct accent in Polish. - For the sake of simplicity, I'll say that these are some of the Halo, Star Wars and Starcraft timelines.- replied Koziekulski.
-So they hit the high-tech worlds,- said Wall. -I don't know about you, but I don't want to see the reaper-zergs,‖ said Park with a look of unease that was shared by everyone in the room as they imagined what it might look like in practice. A godless synthetic-organic hybrid capable of wielding technology, assimilating everything and adapting to all conditions sounds like a nightmare for anyone who wants to fight it.
-Unfortunately, intelligence reports that Cerberus ships have also been sighted heading towards the Infernal Veil - said Koziekulski, clearly bitter about this fact.
The whole room fell silent, realising what that meant. -Why didn't your 6th Fleet destroy it, Do kurwy nędzy! -She asked with a strong emphasis on the curse word, which sounded as if it was a Pole saying it, General Yuki Suzuki from the Republic of Japan. -According to the information received from Admiral Tomasz Nowak his fleet can not afford to detach its forces because it is certain to lose them, because the Reapers are constantly pressing his forces and massacring with unprecedented aggression separate flotillas and squadrons, and sending individual ships is as he said a fucking suicide.- said Koziekulski.
-And why is that?- asked Park, -Because they're bigger and stronger versions of the Reapers we know, and what we've seen are forces from recent cycles. Their greatest strengths are just waiting to be unleashed if the situation goes too far wrong for them. He then showed on a hologram the Reaper forces hidden in dark space. The video was taken by a scout ship of the Heaven Fleet. The number and types of Reapers discovered by that ship caused jaws to drop and an argument full of panic.
What is it? -Someone shouted
-How do we fight it? -A woman asked.
-This is crazy! Nobody said there would be something like this. - said another
The argument would have continued if it hadn't been for a loud beep that interrupted everything, forcing people to block their ears. When it finished, they noticed that Koziekulski had his hand over the button for calming the discussion. - As you can see, the danger we have to overcome is greater than we thought and we are the only ones who know about it. I hope you understand that the only people who will know the full picture and the scale of the threat will be us in this room and the supreme commanders of our forces - he said calmly hiding his anxiety caused by looking at the reconnaissance report again.
Seeing that no one wanted to take the floor Koziekulski began -So let's start planning here what we can send to support the future battle for the catalyst and to build the crucible.-Wall spoke first -If we can create a safe zone here- she showed on the galactic map- for our colonies we can send to the battle...
Universe H-2478 Subtype A
Shelter for Delta-8 government officials
18:00
The assault on the anti-aircraft gun was successful for the combined forces of Shepard's team and the UNSC. With the support of the brigade, they managed to smash Cerberus' defences, and destroy the cannon. Then, after a brief explanation to the commander of the incoming brigade, who then helped to repel the Cerberus counterattack, and the Reapers, who they were and why they had come, they left to join the rest of the Blue team to secure the VIP. With the help of the Doctor's TARDIS the task was completed very quickly and then all UNSC forces withdrew from the city as planned. And then the city was bombed from the air by the Air Force inflicting heavy losses on the enemy forces.
Shepard then met with the rescued President Charet and Lord Admiral Hood in the bunker to enlist their help to fight the Reapers.
He was of course assisted in this by the Doctor.
-If I understand correctly the Reapers are actually called the Reapers and as a result of an error by one of the races in the Multiverse they have been given the ability to travel in the multiverse and that something has therefore reprogrammed them to kill all organic races.- said Hood. At this Shepard nodded and added - Yes and their forces are too strong and too numerous to fight them alone, I have miraculously gathered the whole, well almost the whole galaxy to fight them because there is no other way. It will take an enormous force to destroy their largest ships. -The Hood looked as if in disbelief at that last statement. -And exactly how many do you need?-
Shepard mused and then said -To destroy the Sovereign it took the combined forces of the Systems Alliance and the fleet guarding the Citadel to destroy it and we still suffered heavy losses, it can destroy our most powerful dredges with one shot.- Hood asked curiously and how many were lost exactly, and what do you consider a dredge? - Shepard turned on the omni-sharpener to check the reports after the battle carefully, surprising everyone except the Doctor in the room. Once found he read according to the reports for the Citadel Fleet the fleet had lost 50 ships, mostly turians their frigates, a few heavier ships of other races and 20 of those were turian cruisers at 300 each. And the Covenant lost 8 cruisers to rescue the citadel's largest ship and the council aboard it. The total number of people killed is are pretty big losses for us,†Shepard said and was surprised to find Hood and Charet stunned.
-Pardon me for interfering, but what do you mean 2400 men and 8 cruisers are heavy losses. Maybe I am a civilian, but according to my knowledge it is just a very low loss of 2400 men for 8 cruisers. Admiral how many crew does our cruiser have on average- said Charet. The Admiral asked the AI to send information about the number of sailors on all major classes of cruisers used since the beginning of the war with the Covenant. After a brief moment he read from his neural interface.
-Our newest Autumm class heavy cruiser has 800 sailors, the older Marathon has 1000 sailors, then our Valiant class super-heavy cruiser has 1500 of them and the Halcyon class light cruiser had 1800 of them.- he replied startling Shepard by hearing the number of sailors on their cruisers -Admiral how big are your ships? Even our dredges and aircraft carriers do not have that many sailors on board!- Hood answered after a short while from memory - The smallest one is about 1200 metres long and the biggest one is almost 1600 metres long.
Shepard looked on in disbelief -But how is it possible that our dredges are one length long and considered the most powerful ships, how do you build them? -The Hood tried to answer but the Doctor interrupted -Gents I know this is a very interesting discussion about who has the bigger and more powerful ships but this is not the time for that. We are here to discuss terms of alliance and cooperation. And I would like to add that my friend will appear in a moment. - The Hood looked calmly at the Doctor and asked - I understand and what is your friend's name? - The Doctor smiled mysteriously without answering.
Suddenly SI Elizabeth appeared on the table -Admiral Hood, Madam President, General Pluta requests permission to enter the room. Apparently he has something important to convey.- Hood after a brief moment guided by instinct said- Let him come in- Shepard looked at the Doctor with a question but got only a silent response- You will also recognise him though you have rarely seen him.
A man of considerable age entered the room, wearing a uniform that he had apparently been wearing for a very long time. Then he nodded towards Hood greeting him. -So, general, what did you want to say? -The man smiled and as if by magic his outfit and partly his appearance changed. From a man in his prime, he became a slightly younger-looking, but not eye-catching, healthy 30-year-old. His UNSC Army uniform was replaced by a less futuristic one. The worn out General's outfit was replaced by a beautiful looking Marshal's uniform. Where previously there had been UNSC insignia, symbols of the Polish Army appeared. The general's cap worn on the head was replaced by a Polish rogatywka. On the chest, on the other hand, medals appeared, usually invisible for generals nowhere else but on important ceremonies.
They ranged from, for example, the Order of Virtuti Militari, also known in the UNSC, being one of the few non-American medals, although with a different eagle than the one known to Hood so far. To medals that, as Shepard pointed out, no one alive in their time should wear, such as the Hero of the Soviet Union Medal or the Iron Cross, which bore the number 1870, indicating the year of issue.
-Who are you? - asked Charet amazed by the General's appearance. The general smiled and said -I am Bartłomiej Marcin Pluta. King of Poland and Emperor of the Republic. Commander of the Polish Army, and a Divine Guardian of the Hunter class of Assassin. I have been appointed to neutralize the Threat from these Reapers and to prevent their error from spreading to other Reapers of other Universes.- As if anticipating questions he added- I also have many names, nicknames and ranks in many worlds. This is not the first Halo world I have been in. In others I have been for example Spartan-III, Admiral and so on. Apart from me, other versions of me have also been this or that version of Halo.- To say that everyone except the Doctor, of course, was stunned and their jaws dropped is to say nothing.
The surprise was total. General Pluta. The general who was forced to command the fleet. The hero of many battles which he was able to turn into a strategic victory over the Covenant is in fact not from this world? Lord Hood, after thinking about it, realizes that this explains the general's effectiveness in fighting the Covenant both on planets and in space, as well as avoiding fame and honour so that the general population is not aware of his existence. And also the reason why he was not afraid of ONI after all he had dealt with him more than once! For President Charet this explained the incredible speed of his career as well as his ability to get along with many people and foresee the consequences of many events.
For Sherpad it was also a surprise because he had already seen him, namely he was the one who encouraged him to leave the gang and enlist in the army of the Covenant. Moreover, he was the person responsible for his first training. He always wondered where he had gone, because when he checked the training camp where he taught Pluta to new recruits, everyone said that he had gone somewhere else and couldn't find him in the list of soldiers, as if he had never existed, although everyone remembered that there was someone like him. He always wanted to thank him for encouraging him and was something of a father figure, which Shepard did not have, at the Academy.
-As always you have to make a surprise, Mr. Pluta.- said the Doctor in a voice that said it was not the first time he had seen such an entrance.
-Well, that's the job Doctor,-replied Pluta with a shrug of his shoulders. -Hello Cadet Shepard or maybe already Commander Shepard. Long time no see!- he said to Shepard cheerfully. He then politely turned to Charet and Hood and shook their hands when he addressed them directly -Hello Madam President, Lord Admiral.-
Lord Hood spoke up -Please sit down Your Majesty- quickly adjusting to the unexpected turn of events. -Thank you Lord Hood- he sat down opposite Hood and Charet and not far from Shepard- if you please call me Mr. Marshal or Mr. Pluta- then he smiled- or if you prefer Mr. General if I remember correctly I'm still on the UNSC list- Hood nodded with understanding and Charet asked- do you have something to tell us?
Pluta nodded slightly in agreement -Yes I have one piece of good news and unfortunately a lot of bad news. -Shepard looked at him and asked him -What is the good news Mr. Marshal? -Pluta tapped his fingers on the table turning on the holographic projection. -The good news is that my universe has successfully tied up the Reapers in battle and has not let them win, and we have launched a counteroffensive that will allow us to send support to besieged dimensions such as yours. What's more, I've managed to set aside one of my Flotillas to support the UNSC in the solar system. -Hood was pleased to see on the projection that the UNSC would be getting much needed reinforcements to the Home Fleet and then stated -This is good news- and then somberly added -What's the bad news?-
Pluta wordlessly showed the number of Reapers currently attacking and videos of the universes under attack. -Good God, how many are there? And when did they attack them?- said Charet.
-Too many, Madam President,- said Shepard. -I agree with you, Commander. -Admiral Hood said stoically, inwardly shocked that what they've just fought is just an appetizer to the main course. -This is probably an estimate, isn't it, Pluta? -said the Doctor calmly, unmoved by the number shown. -Unfortunately, yes, this number is defined as at least according to our AI and analysts. And the scouts said it was worse for them than for us. And they attacked them at about the same time as you according to our universe time of course, which is about 2 weeks ago for us.- replied Pluta.
-Two weeks ago? Then why didn't we get a warning?- asked Hood accusingly but calmly. Pluta expecting the reaction replied- My deepest apologies but unfortunately we underestimated the Reapers their indoctrinated agents sabotaged our gates in our interdimensional gates effectively shutting them down and I tried another way to transmit the message but it was intercepted by their agents or their allies here.- Hood hearing this was astonished and asked -Are you saying that someone from the UNSC sabotaged the transmission of the warning? - Pluta to confirm his words showed the message he had sent to Hood himself earlier. Hood thought to himself -What do you think, Marshal, who could have done it? -Pluta looked at him calmly and after a long reflection he answered -In my opinion, Admiral, it was probably done by indoctrinated ONI agents or an indoctrinated insurgent group. Of course, it could also be that the culprit did it deliberately, convinced by Cerberus.
Hood nodded -I understand and this Cerberus is, as I recall, the terrorist group from your world Shepard who believes that the Crucible will allow him to control the Reapers?0 he turned to Shepard. Shepard answered him- Yes, Admiral, but I don't believe it is possible- Hood looked at him and then turned to the three of them- Will you allow us a moment of privacy I need to discuss this with the President in private- He then began quietly discussing with Charet.
In the meantime Shepard tried to speak to Pluta but the latter gave him a hand gesture that they would talk later. Then he looked Pluta pulled out his phone after he got a message from a person only he knew and the voice that replaced the ringtone on the phone amused the Doctor who knew where the voice was from. And Shepard wondered why he was laughing at a simple Message Mr.
-I'm sorry Doctor but what's so funny? -Shepard asked quietly. The Doctor who quickly calmed down after his amusement replied -This is the voice of the Scribe from a really old game from the 20th century from the Polish language version of this game. Poles as I was recently on their internet make funny videos with the voice of the scribe - Shepard slightly shrugged his shoulders not knowing that this joke was popular in his universe over 200 years ago. And Pluta winked a communicative eye at the Doctor drawing his attention to it.
The smiles from both men left Shepard perplexed and with the impression that they were making fun of him. Poor Shepard you might say, he didn't know he was in for a few more of these jokes.
Undaunted, Hood and Charet discussed among themselves before finally agreeing on a position and Hood turned his attention to them so that Charet could announce what they had come to.
-After speaking with Lord Hood I have decided that I have the power of the emergency rights temporarily granted to me.- She said and then turned to Shepard- The UEG will support you Commander Shepard and his Coalition in the fight against the Reapers and I am happy to mediate with the Arbiter and his Swords. And then she turned to Pluta -And as for you, Mr. Pluta UEG would welcome your military support although I do have a few questions that I would like answers to I hope you don't mind? -Pluta smiled at her -Wherefore Madam President I would be happy to explain many things to you and Lord Hood and Commander Shepard -The older woman nodded and began -So Mr. Pluta. I would like to know... And Lord Hood and Commander Shepard listened to Pluta's reply supported by the doctor.
ORP Upiorna Sprawiedliwość
A few hours later.
Hangar for landing craft.
Shepard along with his team and the Master Chief looked around the large sized hangar. For the Chief it was technologically different but comparable in size to the hangar on the frigate. For Shepard's team it was a great surprise at the size of the hangar. And to think it was so big on an ordinary frigate! Chief was more struck by the similarity of the machines and soldiers to the familiar look of UNSC Marines and Troopers and Pelicans. If it wasn't for the alien lettering and the fact that the infantry armour looks more sluggish and each soldier has a slightly scary face shield for a helmet and the appearance of the pilots and their machines he might have thought he was seeing the UNSC and their equipment on an alien human ship.
It was all the more striking because in the Hangar there is one team of UNSC marines and their Pelican and a small team of specialists sent on a mission to recover the UNSC Spirit of Fire with its crew. The Pelican, compared to the Bielik as the Polish landing craft is called, is smaller and less heavily armed and armoured, but faster and more manoeuvrable. It also looks less ominous in its green paint scheme than the camouflaged Belik, which gave a strangely disturbing impression. Polish soldiers, as it turned out, are not marines, they serve only on planets and their role in the space fleet has been taken over by the Shock Infantry, a combination of paratroopers, ODST and UNSC marines.
Some of the marines chatted with the Polish soldiers while others admired the work of the crew and the look of the hangar. A particularly heated discussion ensued between a Vega and two UNSC Marines and their Polish counterpart from the shock infantry who looked like an ODST in a green paint scheme but with a visor that looked like a plank over a T. Elsewhere you could hear bragging between a Pelican pilot and a Bielik pilot about who flies better and which machine is better.
To pass the time, the Polish captain decided, at the urging of Garrus and one of the UNSC snipers, to take those wishing to the on-board shooting range. And Tali asked the Polish technicians if she could see the technology behind the entire hangar. Shepard, on the other hand, decided to go to the bridge of the ship, hoping to talk to Pluta and maybe the Doctor, who is there too. In particular, he wanted to thank Pluta for the events of the past and ask why the sailors and soldiers on the ship looked at him and his team and the TARDIS in such a way.
Entering the bridge, the first thing that caught his eye was a little girl dressed in a sailor's outfit, or a schoolgirl from Japan with light hair and green eyes. In the commander's chair and giving orders to the crew. Shepard was puzzled at this not very everyday occurrence. He decided to ask -How does it feel to play captain girl?The laughter of the crew and when he saw Pluta's smiles and the Doctor's calm but pitying expression let him know that something was wrong. He looked again at the chair but found that the girl had disappeared.
Shepard looked around the bridge but couldn't see her anywhere. Suddenly the door to the bridge opened and the same little girl ran through it, holding three boxes and a pen. -Will you give me your autograph for my games Commander Shepard? -said the little girl in a sweet voice and with a charming asking face. The surprised look on Shepard's face when he saw her running through the door, even though he had heard no one was coming out of it. It was replaced by a jaw drop when he saw what she asked him to sign. It turned out that the three boxes were all three games of the Mass Effect trilogy with him on each cover. Thinking very little Shepard simply took them and asked -For whom shall I sign them?- The girl squealed with happiness and said -For Ewelina Upiór-Pluta of the Shipspirit ORP Upiorna Sprawiedliwość- Shepard simply nodded and signed them with a dedication for her.
Then the girl took back the boxes -You may take the pen.- And then squealing with happiness she ran out of the bridge. Shepard looked slowly at Pluta and asked - Is what I think true? - Pluta raised his hands in a gesture of ignorance - It depends what you ask, if you mean that she is the spirit of this ship then it is true. If you mean that in our world and elsewhere you are the hero of a series of action RPGs, that's also true. You really have a lot of fans Shepard- He smiled at the end.
Shepard looked at him deeply slowly understanding the message and then after understanding he said- Oh and where is the bar?-Unfortunately he did not get an answer to this question because one of the sailors on the bridge said. -Wódz, in a moment we will jump into normal space one light minute before the target.-Then the ship jumped out and Shepard saw through the monitors on the front of the bridge simulating glass a huge ship with white writing on the side Spirit of Fire.
Sorry for such a long absence I hope this better and nicer written chapter will make up for it. And please feel free to leave your feedback. Justified criticism or words of support encourage me to make more effort seeing that someone reads it. And for those curious, the look of previous chapters has been improved and from now on it will look like this.
I wish you a pleasant time reading this and greet you warmly. And the next world after meeting our beloved Spirit crew, well guess what.