Chapter 5:
Hawking Station - 10.01.2141
Lerrex continued to bang against the transparent glass, but it refused to shatter under his might. He looked around the outside of his containment cell, where humans took notes on him and other yahg in similar positions as him. It was clear they were studying them, but they all refused to pander to the questions they had. He doubted they had the stomach to torture him so he could hold out until the empire came for them.
A human in a human military uniform similar to Captain Baker came up to him. "Apologies, Lerrex, but we're on a short timetable," the human said. "I am Commander Hoffman, and I am authorized to force the information out of you sadly."
Lerrex was silent until he started howling with laughter. "I knew you humans were soft. How could you be so weak-willed that you'd feel sad to torture me?"
The human commander just had a light chuckle. "I can see why you would think that, but no. It's sad cause the pressure will most likely kill you. So this is your last chance. Talk, or you'll have a painful day."
Lerrex hit the glass again. "Do your worst, human," he dared.
Hoffman didn't hesitate. "Go ahead, Dr. Ivanov."
Two big cylinders on mechanical arms came down from the top of his cell, and they began to emit strange energy. He knocked one to the side, but it snapped back into place like nothing happened. He began to strike against the glass more, but a sheet of metal started to cover the glass. Then he felt the pain of his mind tearing apart while it felt as though his body was on fire. The humans couldn't hear him pleading for them to stop.
Earth
The rain was pouring down outside the cave for days now. After being on the run for so long, the exhaustion was taking its toll. There were so many chryssalids. There were so many screams of friends being torn apart or violently incubated.
His hands were shaking as he was counting the number of shells he had for his shotgun. He only had five loaded and seven to spare. Eleven for the chryssalids. One more for himself. He refused to be caught by them.
He was so tired. Maybe if he just laid down to rest, then perhaps he'd be okay. He laid his body down slowly on the cold ground with his weapon in his arms. He was out of tears to shed over the loss of his family. Only fear and anger remained for ADVENT now.
His eyes began to close, but then he heard a distant screeching outside the cave and sprung up from the ground with his shotgun aiming at the entrance. Those monsters found him.
He began to walk back to the other end of the cave while still aiming at the entrance. The screeching was getting much closer. It sounded like just a few of them were heading his way. Unfortunately he knew they were hard to put down with simple weapons like his. He doubted he could kill four or five with just the shotgun.
He could hear their insect legs approaching the cave. His shaking began to stop. He wanted to see the end of ADVENT before he died, but now he wouldn't be able to. But he'd die here knowing he had tried his best.
Two of them showed up and dashed him. Several shots rang out from the shotgun before everything went back.
SSV Butcher - 10-06-2141
David Anderson woke up from his worst nightmare in a heavy sweat. He got his breathing under control and took in his surroundings. The room was dark, but his eyes adjusted quickly.
He and the rest of his team were still in their sleeping quarters. He thankfully had gotten the screaming under control decades ago, so no one had woken up from his reaction. David sat up and stared at the wall in front of him and was in thought.
Two weeks now since the last one. That has to be a new record. I should request some shore leave when I can.
He checked the time, and it was thirteen minutes before six. The operation was going to commence in a few hours from now. He pulled out a picture of a caucasian woman with blonde hair. She was standing next to him in it with the biggest smile on her face. They took the image the same day that the UPE got established and the day she found out she was also a PSI. He prayed she was doing well and that he would come back to her alive.
He got the rest of his team up, and they got ready for their assignment.
Ketih Ascends - 10.08.2141
Admiral Kean was anxious as he waited for Foon's shuttle to arrive in the hanger. He was there with a dozen of his men that were only loyal to him and him alone.
Foon informed him he was bringing live prisoners of this new species to him with what useful technology they had, which wasn't much. Something that had surprised the admiral was the yahg leader of the small fleet Foon had had to deal with the other day. It was clear to Kean that Foon was trying to get on his good side. Kean could only imagine how a species new to space travel helped Foon in his battle with the yahg. Maybe with the use of weapons of mass destruction? Maybe through tricks and traps laid out for the yahg? Kean didn't know, but he was sure Foon would give him all the information he wanted in the meeting room.
He saw three shuttles approach the hangar's two-way atmosphere barrier and straightened his posture. His men were already in position, ready to unload the prisoners as the shuttles landed. The first shuttle opened to show Foon with two men for his escorts. Kean could have sworn he saw something shimmer behind Foon, but he blinked once, and it was gone. He knew he should have gotten some rest before they showed up. The vice admiral walked up to him and gave a firm drell salute.
"Greetings, Admiral Kean," Foon said. "It is my honor to bring these human and yahg prisoners to you."
The second shuttle then opened with eight figures to show. Half were Foon's men holding the other half, which Kean correctly assumed were this new species, at gunpoint. Then the third one opened to an unconscious yahg with both of his arms and legs in restraints. Foon stripped both the new species and the yahg of any armor or clothes they might have been wearing. It looked like Foon wasn't taking any chances with them. When the human group began to walk forwards to him, Kean realized just how imposing they appeared even with their arms restrained behind their backs.
The lead human was a male, from what he could tell, with a very tan complexion. He had a look of defiance in his eyes while the other humans were looking around in confusion. He saw in the back that one of Foon's escorts was unloading a crate from the shuttle as well. Possibly helpful tech the humans created.
A few loader mecs were hauling off the yahg to a cell while Kean wanted to get a first impression of these humans.
"It's a shame you can't understand me, humans," Kean said. " It would be nice to hear your story, but time isn't on my side at the moment. Maybe I could put soldiers on the front line to lessen drell casualties. A much better fate than your kind reaching into the stars. It's not like your species would have made it much further." He singled his men to escort the humans to their shared cell.
Foon turned to him once more. "Shall we continue our conversation in the meeting room, sir? My men can stay with the shuttles. I'm sure yours are much more capable than mine."
Kean smiled at the compliment. "Of course. It's good that you realize the difference between us now. Come along."
...
It looked like the human's plan was working out so far. Foon wasn't sure when the three captains had initially talked about their strategy, but Captain Baker convinced him to give it a try after a couple of days. He was in Kean's meeting room with said admiral boasting about how Foon had come to his senses about coming into the fold. Foon would sooner go into that yahg cell than ever work with Kean. All he had to do was hold Kean's attention.
"Honestly, this is perfect timing," Kean continued. "Perhaps we could strike the yahg if we let drop the human homeworld. They could focus their attention on the humans while I lead a frontal assault on yahg's inner colonies and homeworld."
"That won't work," Foon said. "The humans are too tiny of a target for the yahg to take an interest. But there might be a solution for your idea. Have you taken notice of the decrease in the yahg's activities? They usually go no more than a few days without at least a small fleet attacking us. Something has their attention right now."
"What are the odds of that happening? Not likely Foon. Just leave the strategies to- "
Kean couldn't finish what he was saying because the ship-wide alarm started going off, and then his commlink started beeping. "Kean here. Are yahg ships attacking?"
Foon couldn't hear what the person said to his superior, but he kept his face stern as Kean's face became one with fury. Kean shot up and aimed his now unholstered pistol at Foon, but then an unseen force hit an arc of electricity at the admiral, making him unconscious. Foon just let out a sigh.
"I hope your men don't get themselves killed, Captain Willow," Foon told the now uncloaked reaver.
"Don't worry about them. As long as Anderson and Jackson are quick to execute the plan, we'll all make it home," the captain said as he and two of his team began to seal the door.
...
It had been about five minutes since Foon had brought Anderson and the rest of his squad under false pretenses to this ship. Admiral Kean's guards didn't catch on because all four of them were wearing the bodysuits' mimic function that covered them from their necks to feet so the guards just assumed Anderson's team was naked with no gear.
Now that they had portrayed that they were a vulnerable new species, it was time to go into motion. Anderson moved his head counter-clockwise twice, which was the signal that the reavers following them were waiting to shock the random yahg they had brought with them to awaken. It only took a few seconds, but they all heard the sound of a confused and angry roar a few hallways down. The drell guards had what Anderson could describe as a look of panic as most of them took off towards the direction of the now active gunfire. That now left three guards to watch them, but they were all put down quickly by several cloaked figures.
Anderson and his team were free from their bindings, and their black body suits were now on full display. Anderson took charge and had his team pick up the guards' weapons. "Stick to the plan. My team will head to the admiral's private corridors, and your team Corporal Jackson will head to the server room."
"Copy, sir. Good luck to you," Jackson said. He and the rest of the reavers cloaked and proceeded to their objective.
The sound of gunfire was getting further away, thankfully, which meant that the yahg were very angry right now. Then the ship alarms began to go off. Anderson turned to the dropped crate that came with them and opened it. Inside were some Gen III Phable Chest Vests, Gen II Phantom Helmets, Gen II Plasma Pistols, and some X-4 charges just in case. They geared up and began to move out. They all memoried the blueprints provided by Foon, so they knew exactly where to go.
They quickly began making their way throughout the ship. They ran into a few of the admiral's men on the way, but they were not as hard to take down as the yahg were unsurprising. They just had to keep an eye out for Kean's raiders. They found the stairs that ran throughout each level of the dreadnaught and made their way up. After killing more drell as they went up, they made it to the second level, which wasn't as heavy with enemy drell. They were likely focused on the rampaging yahg if it was still alive or running to secure critical areas on the ship. They turned down a couple of corners and now stood in front of the admiral's room door. Anderson was about to open it until he felt neural feedback coming from the room. That was the first red flag since he got on board this ship.
Neural feedback is the passive ability humanity obtained from Meld. It was a natural defense against psionic mind attacks along with the mindshield built into the helmets. That meant something in the room was attempting to at least probe his mind. He was sure his team felt it as well since all XCOM operatives had the same enhancements. The second red flag was that none of the typical purple streams of energy that came with psionic powers came from the room, yet he was sure a small presence was attempting to get in his head. He turned to his team.
"Wash, you and Jackson stay out here and watch Hicks and myselfs' back. We'll check out what's in there and get what we came for as quickly as we can," Anderson ordered. He and Hicks moved in with their weapons raised into the large room. Everything looked normal for the most part, but the feedback was getting stronger.
"I believe I found the source, captain," Hicks announced, and Anderson quickly made his way over. What he saw for some reason has sent a chill down his spine. It was no bigger than a typical household plant. It was black and looked like an alien thermos. "Any idea what this could be?"
Anderson shook his head. "No idea." He picked up the odd object. "We'll give it to the lab for analysis. I'm not sure, but something doesn't feel right about this thing."
His HUD lower-left corner blinked yellow five times. Corporal Jackson had made it to the server room and made it to the backup control room. Meaning it was showtime. Wash and Jackson ran into the room and hard locked the door. Anderson sent one green light to the reavers. Now they would wait.
...
Corporal Jackson got the go-ahead from both captains that they were ready for part two of their plan. His team had already sealed the doors to the control room, and he was hearing the sounds of extra drell troops trying to reopen the door. He turned to the central console where a Philmore, the advanced VI from the SSV Monarch, was already uploaded into the ship's systems.
"What is the status Philmore?" Jackson asked impatiently.
"Just locked the bridge out of the ship's closed network. We alone have access for about two minutes. Orders, sir?" the machine asked him.
"Cut off life support to the entire ship and vent the ship where you can besides where our allies are," Jackson responded. "Then start going through what files they have and save all that Captain Rodgers would deem necessary."
Tartus Station - 10.10.2141
Lerrex awoke from another short slumber in pain. He no longer could tell how long he had been captive. He checked around his surroundings once more to see that he was no longer inside his clean containment room but was now in a filthy hallway.
All he remembered seeing was the indifferent looks on the humans' faces as they observed him. Never before has he felt more vulnerable and scared for his life.
He saw another yahg limping down the hallway he was in as he rose from the floor. He was going to call out, but his instincts told him to run. Told him to run? He was a warrior for the emperor, but for the first time, he felt like he should leave the area as soon as possible. The limping yahg turned to face Lerrex, and it began to move as fast as it could towards him. The dim lighting in the place was all Lerrex needed to see that this limping yahg looked more like a walking corpse with massive blisters on his body. What startled him the most was the soulless eyes peering into him.
Lerrex ignored his instincts and charged into the amination with all the remaining energy he could muster. The husk of a yahg didn't put up much of a fight after it was slammed into a wall and hit the ground.
Lerrex let out the most intimidating roar he could muster. Then he heard multiple feet moving his way. He turned to see four-legged insectoids moving towards him. He was ready to take them head-on until he listened to a hatching sound behind him right before he felt something pierce his leg. He turned back to the yahg body to see a much bigger insectoid standing on top of the corpse, which looked like it was burst open from the inside.
The giant insect sunk its mandibles into his neck as the other insects made it to him and began to bite all over his body. He didn't have the energy to retaliate as the insects used his body to bring life into the world.
...
"It looks like our CE was a success," a man said, watching the footage of Lerrex being caught off guard by the large chryssalid.
It was challenging to enhance the chryssalid embryo, but it looked like their work paid off. In the past, the chryssalids had always remained the same size, regardless of how large their host was. Even when a whale became their victim and multiple chryssalids born from it, none of them matched the whale's size.
They also just kept the same traits as they were. Nothing unique is gained depending on the host. This breakthrough is scary but exciting for the group of scientists to observe.
Not only was the chryssalid born from the yahg bigger, but it also had more durable skin, better predatory senses, and was more aggressive in its attacks.
Another scientist nodded in agreement. "Send the report to Dr. Ivanov and Commander Hoffman. We'll need more yahg POWs for our other tests."
Alaro Ascends - 10.10.2141
"Are you sure there was no one left?" asked president Hora Raol of Rakhana and what was left of its colonies.
Foon looked back at his spineless leader's hologram with a stoic face. "Not a soul. Just the damaged dreadnought without its crew when I found it. I even searched the planets in this system for clues and nothing. There were signs of combat throughout the inside of the Ketih Ascends with traces of yahg blood and drell in the detailed report I sent you. It seems that all hands are lost to us now."
President Raol looked worried but moved on from the subject. "At least you're still alive. Without Admiral Kean around we need to replace him, and none of our other high-ranking officers have the experience as you do. Can you lead our people to salvation?"
"I'll die to make it happen. Our people will be safe. I have an idea, but I think it's best if I show you when I come back to Rakhana," Foon said.
"Very well, Admiral Foon. Should I expect anything?"
"It's best if you prepare for a large address to our people the day I return. On our survival, what I am bringing will ensure our existence," Foon assured him. He was referring to the humans, but he was hoping on the weapon they are close to finding on Itoros. "Trust me, President Raol. We have about two months to prepare based on yahg information we recovered."
That had Roal confused since yahg intelligence was nearly impossible to get. "Where could you have found such reliable information?"
Foon answered kindly. "Through one of the yahg ships I had encountered while by Itoros. We crippled one of the ships and successfully took it over, but not without casualties. Shortly afterward, the captured ship received a message. A very sizable yahg fleet will be gearing up in the coming months to wipe us out for good. While we may get a few scout ships or a small token fleet, nothing serious will attack us for a couple of months. These two months are the window we need to push the tide back, sir."
Roal was quiet for a while as he pondered what the new admiral was telling him. "Very well. I'll be seeing you soon with what good news you bring. I'll inform the rest of our chain of command of what has happened and what will happen soon. You'll need to have an in-depth meeting with us when you do get back."
"Of course, sir," Foon said, and the call ended.
"It's a shame the call couldn't wait until after the discovery," Mita Krios said from the corner of the room.
"Speaking of which, any updates on that?" Druta asked his friend.
"Yes. I got word during your conversation." Mita said. "Our ground teams just found a massive structure beneath the canyon. We should head down there as soon as we can."
Itoros
Druta and Foon had been following their escort down these underground passageways for just over half an hour. The newly appointed admiral would have been irritated under any other circumstance but not this time. He was now feeling too anxious to be in a bad mood.
Captain Hackett and Rodgers were out of the system for reasons unknown to him, but Captain Baker was aboard his ship in orbit. He requested the captain to come down for the discovery, but he turned it down, which Druta couldn't understand.
"I still can't understand why you went with the humans' plan. How do you trust them with such a sensitive matter? You have drell blood on your hands, Druta," Mita told him.
Druta had a look of genuine surprise on his face as they continued walking. "Don't act so surprised. For me, it was no different than killing the loyalist during the civil war years ago. My reasons are the same as they were then. Kill a few to save the many. We're on a timetable at the moment with no other options available to us. These humans have proven to be trustworthy so far. It's too late to turn back what I have done. If I hadn't done it, then we would be without an ally."
Druta stopped and looked Mita right in his eyes. "I would do it again in a heartbeat. The humans are a perfect safety net if this discovery turns out to be a disappointment. If it turns out to be a godsend, then our people will have double the assurance."
"I... I understand, sir," Mita said with doubt as they continued their walk. "But what about Kean? You're fine with letting the humans take him?"
"What they do with him is none of my concern. I was told by Captain Rodgers that their reasoning involves something of great concern. If it eases your mind, I'll ask about it later."
Mita stayed quiet until their escort brought them to a giant door they saw. It was bigger than any house they had seen, with a dark green glow to it, just like the prothean beacon they had found on their moon over two centuries ago.
In front of the door were several fireteams and engineers driving excavators.
"What did your scanners pick up when you found it?" Mita asked.
"A massive structure," the escort said. "About the size of one of the orbital stations. We could barely trace the signal when we were digging near it. If this is prothean in origin, they went through a great deal trying to keep it hidden. It makes me curious how those scientists knew it was there."
"Questions for another time," Foon said. "Can we open it?"
They spent a while trying to hack the door until it finally began to open by sliding into the ground. Foon and the rest could see the inside until it began to light up itself. They walked in with the soldiers aiming their guns around for possible threats. Foon thought that the interior even resembled the basic design of one of their shipyards. What he saw in the center of this chamber just confirmed it.
Though it looked incomplete, it was a ship the size of a dreadnaught. No, it was at least more significant than any of the Forces of Judgements' current dreadnaughts. It shared a similar dark green glow as the rest of the chamber. Its shape reminded him of a flying jabgre. It had a long barrel built into the ship's front with a half-cylinder constructed right above the vessel's center, where he assumed the CIC was. Its engines were formed like a spiraling curve, just like the tail on a jabgre. Parts of the ship were missing, however. Many armor platings were missing, and from the significant chucks that weren't there, he could see that some of the interiors were also incomplete. Even so, this was much more than he expected.
A Prothean Dreadnought.
Earth - The Final Conflict Memorial Park. 10.11.2141
President Noah Dotson was your average man to those that didn't know him personally. Like how most people in the UPE didn't know he had hunted ADVENT troops for sport until the end of the war. How he had once survived being pursued by the Elders' Chosen Hunter for one day and lived to tell the tale to his closest friends. That same man was now about to address humanity about the new conflict they got themselves into with the yahg with a species called the drell. Beside him were his wife holding their newborn son behind the stage.
She kissed him on his cheek. "Good luck, hun. Michel and I will be right here supporting you," she told him with a perfect smile on her face.
He gave her one in return and thanked her before walking onto the stage.
Memorial Park was around Central Park's size in New York but located on a remote island where the last of ADVENT made their last stand. It was a battle that had many casualties as hostile forces were dug in with artillery support. The fight went on for a week before humanity won the day. The victory cost the lives of many armed civilians and what military personnel was left. It was a costly day that is the most celebrated throughout Earth and its colonies. A day to pay respect to the fallen that died, freeing them from the shackles of the Elders.
Noah looked out into the open park where thousands stood in applause with reporters being blocked by security. He raised a hand which got everyone to be silent as he began.
"My fellow humans and terrans," he started. "I bring to you news that will change our way of life. As you all know, alien life exists. We have experienced it for twenty years. We knew of the Prothean Empire that we might face one day. We haven't found this Prothean Empire, but we have found a different one." Above him, a massive hologram displayed footage caught on from their ships and solder head cameras. It revealed alien ships and footage of the drell and yahg.
"We have found two alien civilizations," he said, which caused people to start a minor panic across Earth and her the guards and Noah calmed them down the local audience, some riots began to start in most major cities. "All will be clear soon.
"As you see, there are two aliens shown above me. The smaller ones are known as drell while the other is called yahg. Our expedition team stubbled on the drell but made peaceful first contact, and all was well. Then the yahg showed itself. They began to attack the drell ships and threatened to subjugate us after killing the drell forces, who were our first friendly alien species. Together with the drell, our forces were able to defeat the yahg despite being outmanned and outgunned. When discussing with the drell and gathering intel from yahg ships to confirm what the drell told us, the yahg are violent conquering slavers. The drell have lost multiple colonies to the yahg since their first contact and are on the brink of extinction. Extinction. That is something we are all familiar with with the Elders. Some of you think we shouldn't be helping any alien group after what we experienced firsthand. I can understand that. I witnessed some horrible atrocities committed against us, which is why this is our fight. The yahg won't stop at the drell. They'll continue to expand. While leaving the drell to their demise will buy us time, it's not the right thing to do.
"They'll surely die without our help. The drell are in worse shoes than we were. The Elders were powerful but few. The yahg have fleets at their disposal, and we won't stand a chance alone. But together with a common ally, we WILL win. We WILL survive. From this moment forward, humanity has declared war against the yahg. We will have a meeting with the drells' leaders for cooperation soon enough. The yahg have no sense of peace so that they will receive the full extent of our might. They spilled the blood of humans. Now they will get the same tenfold from the Alliance and XCOM!" he exclaimed. The most massive crowd began to cheer in agreement while some began to yell in disgust and breaking out into fights
...
A few hours later Noah was getting much feedback from the public. While a few on Earth and the colonies weren't keen on the idea of helping aliens, most surprisingly were all for it. This outcome made things much more manageable. The local forces would manage the riots on their own.
Now he sat in a meeting room with High Command, Supreme Commander Carter, the Spokesman as his usual distorted hologram and the three naval captains from the first contact including Hackett.
The rest of the holograms in the room were of the rest of his cabinet. The room was more than big enough for them all to have a seat at the table.
Noah stood up from the head of the table and spoke. "Let's get right to business, everyone. We are the war committee. We all agreed before this meeting to war, including the senate. Now it's time to offer plans to execute." He activated the central console on the meeting table, which displayed the current war theater in their part of the galaxy. Blue showered the UEG's territory, green for the FoJ's(Forces of Judgement) territory, and red showed the Yahg Empire territory. Red was deep into the green, but the committee knew they had a two-month timetable. Their goal was to treat it like one month.
The UEG Funds Director spoke first. "We need to transition our economy in wartime if we don't want to have a crash. I suggest we repeal the Safety First Act until the war is over. We already own the biggest supply of elerium in the Hades Gamma Cluster. We need to harvest it along with all the other raw materials through Shen Corporation. Lastly are the reserves we have been saving for the past seven decades that we can tap into as a last resort depending on what projects we greenlight."
"If I may start first," the Spokesman said. "As some of you know, we have a couple of big projects happening right now that are on hold with these discoveries. These new technologies that run on Eezo would work great on our classified works. We already used the drell and yahg star charts to search for a planet rich in eezo." The map highlighted the spot on the border outside of all three borderlines. "The yahg found this planet using probes but didn't make a move on it yet. If we don't take it for ourselves, the yahg will use it to fuel this war, making our lives hell. For good cooperation, I suggest we split it between our group and the drell."
"Why should we share any with the drell?" asked the Director of Foreign Affairs.
"Last time I checked, we were going to be allied with them," said the Spokesman. "What we don't need is an ally that can't fight back within a reasonable time. With the right resources, they can make a sizable force to assist in their war."
The directory spoke again. "Are we sure we can trust the drell? They could be hiding something from us."
"I find that to be very doubtful," said Captain Rodgers.
The Director of Foreign Affairs glared at her. "What was that, Captain Rodgers?"
She did something on her wrist pad, and a sleek alien ship appeared as a hologram. "This here is the weapon the drell was looking for on Itoros. It is an incomplete Prothean ship. Captain Willow took this image on the orders of Captain Baker."
This news caused a few murmurs for some of the committee.
"How does this prove we can trust them if we only know about it through the captain?" asked Noah.
Then Captain Baker spoke with an infectious smile. "Because Admiral Foon told me what they found personally. That is the level of trust we earned from who is now the head of the drell navy."
"I see," the president said. He would trust in Baker's judgment for now. "We'll put trust in him for now, but we won't drop our guard just yet. Next?"
"I recommend the push for more dreadnaughts and carriers," fleet Admiral Myers suggested. "We're already going into our wartime economy. I believe five more dreadnaughts and seven more carriers should more than suffice. It won't take long to build more Vulcan shipyards, but they are built over at Reach. It has plenty of asteroid fields with resources for what we need. The problem is getting people to sign up for the war. As for our wartime fleet, we still need someone to command it."
"I suggest Vice Admiral Chen." All eyes turned to the Supreme Commander. "What? He's our best choice at the moment based on his records at the academy and service record so far. While we're at it, Captain Baker should serve directly under him since he has direct combat experience with the yahg."
"Just because he has had the first battle with the yahg doesn't make him qualified," Said the vice president for the first time.
"Look, I say give him a battle group to show his true worth. He worked great under the pressure of a first engagement, completely dismantled a small fleet while disadvantaged in numbers, and took good initiatives to further our alliance with the drell. He's ready."
"It sounds reasonable to me," the president said, then looked at the captain in question. "Does that sound like something you can do?"
"Yes, sir. I'm ready and able to lead the battle group for humanity." Baker said with pride.
"I think it's time we start discussing ground strategy," said Kovalenko with a hint of impatience in his voice. "The yahg are more than just savage meat heads like the Muttons with bare minimum tactics from what I have seen. They're quick, adaptable, and a perfect predator for unsuspecting prey. Some even possess these powers called biotics. It's an ability that lets the user manipulate gravity in different ways, unlike psionics that affect the mind of those around them and conjure physical anomalies. Even some of the drell have biotic skills. I have already sent out all of the information to our troops to prepare them.
"But back to the yahgs' speed. We need to train our men in their speed and reaction time when a yahg rungs up to them for close combat. That is a normal tactic for the yahg since their culture is very warrior based on combat and lifestyle. When they get the opportunity, they will close the distance on you faster than you'll realize."
The meeting went on for a couple more hours as the war council discussed everyone's battle strategies and recruitment and possible advance with the new technology. They even discussed the possibility of dropping the C-Venom onto key yahg military installations or planets. The meeting ended with sending Captain Baker and his recent battle group and an ambassador to the drell homeworld to solidify an alliance.
Citadel - 10.11.2141
"Greetings. I am Moeez Lesan of the Citadel NewsNet, and we have some breaking news about the current war with the yahg and an interview with Tuiran General Metrius Orocolus.
"Another colony had been lost yesterday. It appears to have been another asari world in the Kepler verge cluster along with its patrol fleet. There has been another warning of surrender from the yahg, but the council turned it down once more. Many have been wondering when the time to strike back will be, and here to help answer that is General Orocolus of the 74th Armored Legion," Moeez finished, then turned to turian in question.
The 74th Armored Legion was the most famous armored legion in the Turian Hierarchy. It was first established back in the krogan rebellions and was one of the most influential forces on the ground; and was responsible for a few crucial victories at the time. Now, they were preparing for war once more centuries later.
"Thank you, Moeez. As everyone knows, we are at war, and the Turian Hierarchy is ready to mobilize and push the invaders back to the planet they originate from. We have several fleets guarding our relays that are in battle as you and I speak. By tomorrow, five turian and two batarian fleets will begin the push into what we lost and beyond. It is not easy to deal with so many lives lost, but we will avenge them, and the Hierarchy will ensure everyone's continued survival," he finished.
"That I have no doubt General," she told him with a smile. "There are rumors that krogan mercenaries were hired to join the war effort. Is there any truth to that?"
Moeez could see his face become annoyed at the question but he kept his composure. "Not my choice, but yes, the rumors are true. The krogan love a good fight, so the council decided to hire as many as we can. We will, of course, keep those brutes in check. But just so you also know, the elcor will be involved too. Ground warfare, of course."
"Thank you, General, for your valuable time. I'm sure you need to get back to your legion for your upcoming battles."
"It's the least I can do in the meantime to ease everyone's tension on this temporary war."
…..
Notes of Central Officer Bradfard after the establishment of the UPE
I never know what to write in these things but the Dead thinks it'll help me organize my mind or whatever. Can never really tell with him.
Things between us humans and the skirmishers are getting better by the year but there is still some bitter resiment between some of the populace and them. Betos actually wanted to rebrand their species names as Terrens which honestly sounds better, but we'll see if it sticks.
I'm not sure why Dead thought it was a good idea to keep that Elder A.I. I don't trust it in the slightest, even if it's programming is mostly degraded. Guess we'll see in due time who was right.
Hello everyone. Sorry if this took awhile but I hope it was worth the wait. Also in case anyone was wondering, the chimera squad in the last chapter has nothing to do with the game that was dropped. I have many things planned out that should really change the scale in the future. SPOILERS INCOMING FOR FUTURE CHAPTERS. The UPE will be getting another one or two allies in the near or distant future. Guess who they could be? Until next time!