June 28th, 2399 CE, Yao Guai City, Shanxi System
This was it. The enemy was advancing. They took the bait on the Yao Guai Stadium and were mobilizing most of their forces to take it from them. And that's exactly what they wanted. Once they took it, it would send those bird-looking fucks and most of their fresh reinforcements to the embrace of Atom. Literally. They had set up a medium-yield nuclear device in it. It would wipe out the city - they could always rebuild it somewhere else later - while they relayed back to the Teleporter Terminal. The underground building was designed to take hits way more powerful than that, so they should theoretically be safe. After that, Major Simms would take his men and teleport right into and capture the enemy's HQ. They still had to worry about the fleet above them, especially now that it had been reinforced with new ships. But commander West was fairly confident that they wouldn't bombard their own men. The birds did have SOME form of humanitarian principles, treating their wounded and such. So they were hoping that they would either leave or agree to some sort of cease fire. They could always just mass execute the prisoners and keep fighting anyways. However, Gunderson was still a few weeks away, so they had to do this on their own.
"Major Simms, the crows are telling us that the birds are approaching your location fast. Retreat back to the Stadium and await further orders." His radio told him.
"Copy that." He answered shortly. "Alright, ladies! HQ told us to get inside. Pack your things and get moving!"
As the marines disengaged their stealth fields and entered the ballpark, Simms stayed behind to watch as the massive gate closed upon the entrance. That was a massive door. It only needed to delay the birds, but he reckoned they would be trying to crack that one for a while. As he proceeded to follow his men inside, he could only wonder if the Capital Ghouls had managed to make it to the finals of the Galactic Series.
Year 2899 GS, Planet Codenamed "Valluvian Rest", Relay 314 Alien's System
Maclianus had to admit, things could be worse. Seven days ago, he was honestly believing that he would die on this blasted planet. That all changed when the 3rd Siege Fleet arrived to reinforce them. They had made more progress in five days than they had made during the entire time before that. Now he and his unit were going to be part of the assault to the final line to the enemy's HQ, some large amphitheater thing in the middle of the city. It was really big. Larger than a city of this size would need, really. He couldn't exactly understand what it was meant for, but from the few times he had glanced at it from afar, he could see the large banners unfurling from the top of the entrance. It showed two of the aliens in some sort of primitive armor, each swinging a thick wooden stick. Was it some kind of gladiator arena or something? Guess he would find out once they stormed the damn place. It'd be hard, however. He was aware of that. The fly boys had been bombing the building for days now. Still no sign of bringing it down. It was built like a Spirits-damned fortress. No wonder the apes were using it as their HQ. He was still in deep thought when his sarge poked him with his captured laser rifle.
"Damn it, private! Are you listening at all?!"
"Uhh, y-yes, sarge. What's up?" He stammered.
"Get your ass back to the outpost. The captain said that HQ found your brother."
"W-what? Really? But… Don't I need to be at the final assault? It's about to star-"
"Just go, private! We'll be fine without you." The sergeant interrupted.
"Uhh… Yes, sir!" The private finally said.
He hitched a ride on one of the light vehicles and made his way back to the outpost on the edge of the city. This would take some time, as they would have to navigate through all the debris. As he rode along the crater-filled road, he made sure to notice all the destruction caused by the orbital bombardments, suiciding Geth, grenades, demolition charges, day and night bombing runs, even a few biotic attacks, you name it. If it went "boom", then it was used at some point in this place. That the unfinished city was still half-standing spoke volumes of the apes' construction prowess. Say what you will about them, they knew how to build shit. Hell, he was using some of their tech right now. This laser gun, or whatever it was called, was amazing. How something that should use so much energy didn't run out of ammo was mind boggling to him. And how it just completely ignored kinetic barriers - not that it mattered in this situation, as the Geth things didn't have them - was beyond impressive. He really didn't think he could get used to firing his old Phaeston rifle ever again. No matter what they did to the damn things, they didn't break. Mud? Nothing. Sand? Nope. Shooting at it? Bounced right off the polymer. Seriously, these things wer-
"Private, wake up! We're here. That lieutenant over there is waving you over" The driver said.
"Oh. Uh, thanks for the ride." He said as he jumped off the all-terrain car.
As he approached the LT, he got a sinking feeling in his stomach. That was a medical officer. And he didn't have a good expression on his face. Had something happened to his brother? He had been missing for almost a month, now.
"Private Maclianus, correct?" The officer asked.
"Yes sir. I was told my brother was found?"
"Yes... He was. Unfortunately-"
Oh no.
"I'm sorry to inform-"
No. Spirits, please don't.
"-bravely served-"
NO! FUCK! Don't do this!
"-body was torn apart by wildlife-"
He swore he had been kidding before. He didn't really hate his brother. Please don't do this.
"-vate. Private. Private! Are you listening?" The officer broke him from his spell.
"Wh-what? What are you saying?"
"Your brother. He's dead. I'm sorry."
"... Ca-can… Can I at least see his body..? Sir." Maclianus asked after a long pause.
The medical officer looked at him with a sympathetic expression for half a second before answering.
"I don't think it's a good idea, private. His convoy was attacked by some sort of aggressive wildlife. We… We were barely able to identify him."
"... Pl-... Please... Sir?"
"... Sigh… Alright. Be warned, however. His state is… It's quite bad... Follow m-"
Whatever he was going to say was interrupted as a large, blinding light came from the city forcing both of them to cover their eyes..
"What in the name of Palav-"
The officer again couldn't finish his sentence as a gigantic shockwave followed by a deafening "boom" broke all the windows and sent the two Turians flying. The medical officer split his head open on some road post, while Maclianus, still wearing his helmet, managed to stay conscious. The wave of dust that followed blinded his vision. He could barely make the silhouettes among the thick cloud that had formed in the base. If it hadn't been so bright, he might have not seen the strange blue lightning cracking around him. Suddenly, he felt himself being grabbed by an oversized metal hand around his waist. He barely had time to register what was going on before he was slammed to the ground, and again, before finally losing conscience.
Year 2899 GS, THS Vanker, Relay 314 Alien's System
"Radiation readings confirmed. It was an atomic bomb, captain."
Spirits. And things were going so well. They had finally been reinforced with the Siege Fleet. They were taking more and more ground down there. They had set up a new comm buoy. All that tech they had sent back to Palaven... Their luck was bound to run out, Protanis supposed. Still... To think that the aliens would rather nuke themselves than surrender… How many Turians had died down there? How many of the aliens? There could be no honor in that much needless death… This really had been a needless massacre. And he couldn't shake the fact that he was at least partially responsible.
"That's it then… We're done here. Tell Maurcolus to pack up. We must-"
"Sir! We've received a priority message from the General's HQ. They are requesting an orbital bombardment on… Spirits, they want us to bombard THEM, captain." One of the officers frantically said.
"What? What madness is this? What is going on down there? Get me a video feed to the command center!" Protanis barked
"Aye, sir… They are answering now… On the holo display!"
If Captain Protanis was expecting the scarred face of General Maurcolus, he had been sorely disappointed. Instead of the general, he came face to face with a gigantic white mech.
"What is this? Where's gene-"
He interrupted himself as the mech stepped aside to reveal the command center. Most of the Turians there had been killed, with Maurcolus and a few other officers in the middle, being held hostage by other mechs, surrounded by the alien Geth. The one that had answered the call stepped closer to the general, before dragging him to the console. Poking the commanding officer of all Turian ground forces on the planet, the general understood what the giant meant and began to speak.
"Captain. The enemy has detonated a nuclear device on their own city, killing most of our troops. They then… Teleported… To our base. Thousands of them, butchering their way to our commanding center. We tried to fight back… But I've seen myself forced to announce our surrender to save the rest of my men. They took us by surprise... I'm sorry… I have failed the Hierarchy, captain."
Kaeeus Protanis was speechless. How did this happen? They were winning, with absolute orbital superiority. And the Hierarchy had been defeated? Wha-... Ho-... Thi-... Impossible! Did these aliens have no morals? They were willing to cause that much death, on both sides, to win? He was irate. Any respect he had garnered for those apes disappeared at that point. Before he could talk back to the general, another mech took him away and the lead one was again occupying the entire screen. It did some kind of hand gesture before cutting the transmission.
"Uhh… Si-... Ahem, sir, we're receiving some kind of information package containing a message from the HQ. Doesn't seem to contain any kind of virus or anything. Should I open it?" The same officer said again.
"I… I… Ye-yeah. Yeah, open it."
"Affirmative, sir. Opening it on the display."
This time, instead of a view from the command center, Protanis was faced by some sort of animation. It was crude, and it looked hastily put together, but it's meaning was clear. The aliens were calling them to talk, on neutral grounds. 'The terms of surrender, no doubt' he thought to himself. But whose surrender was still up for debate.
"Where's Adracus? Did he and his team finish the translation of the enemy's language?" He asked one of the crewmembers on the bridge.
"A-almost, sir. He was transferred to the science ship. However, according to his report, there's still quite a few glitches to fix before it's completed."
"It will have to suffice. Tell him to upload whatever he has and to get my security team outfitted with it. I'm going down there myself."
June 29th, 2399 CE, Outskirts of Yao Guai City, Shanxi System
And there they were. West was still skeptical on how they had managed to translate their language so fast, but the aliens somehow did it. The birds actually called them back to iron out the details of their meeting, from location to how many guards they could bring. And that it had to be between the two highest ranking commanding officers. He didn't exactly trust them on that part. As such, he had a million eyes on this spot, and he and the marines around him were ready to teleport right out of there. But he dispelled those thoughts. The "Turian" - or however you said it - dropship was landing. As it touched the ground and its door opened, five figures stepped out. He was assuming it was the captain and his security detail. As the aliens approached the table in the middle of nowhere, West stood up.
"Captain Protein."
"Name Protanis. Co-man-der West direc-tion, yes?" The Turian answered in broken english.
"Just West. Alright, introductions are done. Let's get right to business. I have your entire ground force hostage at this very moment. All four thousand that are still alive. My terms are simple. Get your fleet and leave the system in 24 hours. Fail to comply, and I will execute a man for every minute you remain in this system after that."
"Do that, and all my ship bomb planet to dust. I not leave, until Turians returned." The alien replied.
"Unacceptable. If I return your men, how can I trust you to keep your word?" West asked back.
"Honor important to Turians. I not lie."
"Says the people who shot us for no reason and started this whole mess."
"Your people open Relay. Not legal. Shot is just." He simply answered.
"Just? Justified?? Based on what? Some law we didn't even know about? That doesn't even apply to us?! We are not subjected to your laws! What you did was a deliberate and unjustified act of war! How can you say it was just?!"
As the commander suddenly raised his voice, it caused the alien guards to tense up, which caused his own marines to do the same. Realizing what was happening, the Turian captain raised his hand, as if to tell his own men to stand down. West thought to himself that he was really pushing the limits of being without anti-ferals, now. As tensions cooled, the alien simply replied.
"Just... As atomic bomb to large settlement. Tell, how much Turians dead? How much 'Hu-man'?"
"Many invaders dead. Almost none of our own. We only had synths in the Stadium. You brought this upon yourself. We are not affected by the destruction of Yao Guai City. We can always rebuild it later. We will bomb however many cities it takes. And if you don't leave our system, we will bomb yours soon enough."
As he said that, this Protanis' face contorted into what he assumed was a scowl.
"Pri-mitive, beast! Threat scare I, not. Turians fight to dead."
"Then we will send wave after wave after wave of synths until every last 'Tu-rian' in this galaxy is dead. We will fight for our right to exist, alien." The commander quickly spat out.
"Rhaarghhhh." The Turian did something with his mandibles. "No choosing, I have… I leave… How trust you, Turians good treat?" The captain… Asked? West wasn't exactly sure.
"Uhh… If… You leave, then your soldiers will be treated according to our own rules. It demands that surrendering prisoners receive fair treatment, regardless of their crimes. You have not only my word, but the word of the Commonwealth, our government."
The Turian seemed like he was in deep thought. He made a counteroffer.
"I leave… Before... You, give Maurcolus to I."
"That's the general, right?" The alien nodded at his assumption. "Hmm… We might give him back… But first you must return all the weapons you stole from us. Yeah, you think we didn't notice, but we did. Return those - all of them - and then we give you Marcolus or whatever his name."
"Can not do that, I. Guns, I send home, now. Ga-la-xy, other side, now. Much dis-tance." The alien replied.
"Then I guess the good general will stay with us, then. I hope your technicians have fun tinkering with those rifles. Word of advice? Don't try to open the cores. They have a tendency to explode… Actually, no, tell them to go crazy with them. Anything else to discuss?"
"Not, Hu-man. Here, I done. I leave food for Turians. Turians not eat you food. I give ad-vice for you, too. Turians return, take Turians back home. Take planet, too." The captain ended.
"Good. We'll be ready for you. Now get off my planet, smoothskin."
July 2nd, 2399 CE, PM's Office, City of Boston, Earth.
Minister DeLoria was walking to the Prime Minister's office. He had just received word that the Siege of Shanxi had been won, with Commander West successfully repelling the invaders, even without a friendly fleet above him. How he had managed THAT was beyond him, but when you serve for three hundred years, you're bound to become a good general. Now he only had to inform the PM. It was pointless, but it was protocol. He did have appearances to maintain, after all. As he knocked on the door, he could hear the television inside.
"Prime Minister Hawthorne. I have goo-"
"Shhhhhh! Can't you hear the game has already started? Is it about Shassi, or whatever? Look, it's the final game. My Diamonds are gonna beat those stinking New Vegas Bulls, so unless there's a bomb about to go off on this very building, I don't care about what you have to say! Now either grab a beer and a seat or get out!
"As you wish, Prime Minister." DeLoria simply said.
Making his way to a very little known room in the parliamentary building, DeLoria could not be bothered by the PM's crass attitude. The man was a fool anyway. More importantly, he was a figurehead fool. While the Commonwealth might look like a democratic system, where the people chose their leader, the few at the very top knew the truth. The Prime Minister's office hadn't held any real power ever since their esteemed "Founding Mother" had retired from politics, decades ago. He scoffed. "Founding Mother", what a joke. He had read her autobiography. That the woman had had the gall to describe herself as an antifascist was an insult to truth. It was a closely guarded secret of the Commonwealth, but ever since the very first elections, all votes had been tampered with. Oh, sure, she hadn't been a complete genocidal totalitarian, like some of her opposition had been. But she had been no saint, that's for sure. You don't stay for over twenty eight years in power, with that much power, without being some sort of dictator. Although, DeLoria supposed he shouldn't really badmouth the old hag… After all, he was one of those who had inherited her legacy. It had a stupid name, but the "Shadow Council" was the actual power behind the Commonwealth. Every decision, every order, every single societal change… It was decided by them. And he was one of the Council Members. As he reached the ancient room, he could see that all other members had already assembled.
"Mr DeLoria. Good of you to join us. I shall be acting as mediator today. Has the Prime Minister been informed?" One of the other members asked.
"He dismissed the information, Ms Wright. After all, it's the final game of the season." DeLoria answered, and small laughs could be heard in the room.
"Of course. Well, Admiral Gunderson is about to reach Shanxi. We must decide what his new orders will be, and what we, as the Commonwealth, shall do next." Wright continued. "Would anyone like to start?"
Only two of the Seven buzzed their signs.
"Mr Cooke. Why don't you go first?"
"Thank you, Ms Wright. I say we should keep going. These 'Turians' have no way to counter our technology. They are still using organic soldiers. We can just drown them in synths if we increase production. Our lasers cut right through their men. Not only that, but the captain's reaction shows that they were surprised by our use of nukes. We might just be able to annex their entire civilization. I say we keep going. Let's bring the Human way of making war to their doorstep."
"Interesting argument, Mr Cooke. But let us hear Ms Wilks' opinion."
"Thank you, Ms Wright. I believe the best course of action is to tread carefully. We still don't know just how large their society is. For all we know, this was just some small scouting force. Despite our great production capacity, our resources are limited. With the Galactic Series ending today, the celebrations will extend for weeks, and we all know how useless our people are then. Let us fortify Shanxi, send more ships there and wait for these Turians to respond. Their willingness to leave the system shows that they might be willing to go through a more diplomatic route, despite their initial hostility."
They debated for a few more hours after that. Their little club could take days to decide on a matter, but time and time again, their decisions proved to be the correct ones. As they neared their fifth hour of deliberation, Ms Wright decided that all possible arguments had been heard.
"Fellow Council Members, we are nearing the end of our discussion. After hearing so many arguments, we must finally put forth a vote to resolve the matter. Please, choose your position on the matter on your displays."
DeLoria patiently waited for the rest of the members to finish voting on a matter he had long made his decision on.
"And with a majority of 4 to 3 votes, the matter is decided. Admiral Gunderson will be informed of our decision. The Commonwealth and its people, shall go to war."
CODEX - Baseball
Baseball is, undoubtedly, the most important sport in the Human Commonwealth. Played almost everywhere Humans can be found living, it is one of the most influential things in the Human society.The sport shares the same name as the Pre-War game of baseball. However, despite having the same premise of hitting a thrown ball with a bat to get bases and score points, the many differences added along the years marks modern baseball as a completely different game. For example, the new version is much more violent, with the constant brawls that happen through every game actually counting towards the final score. Injuries are extremely common, and it's not unusual for professional players to have multiple expensive replacement limbs. Despite this vicious behavior in the field, the attending crowds aren't as aggressive, with very few fights happening in the stands or outside the stadiums. Semi-organized free-for-alls are common, but only within pre-set boundaries and with consenting participants. Hitting an unwilling bystander is extremely frowned upon.
The interplanetary championship, also called the Galactic Series, is one of the most important events in the Human society. The best teams in the Commonwealth congregate every four Human years to dispute the Galactic Title. In the later stages of the Championship, it is extremely hard to get most Humans to do anything while a game is being played. When the series ends, the fans of the winning team will usually celebrate for weeks, and most law enforcement agencies have given up on patrolling Human inhabited areas when this happens.
The sport has garnered fascination from a lot of the Citadel Race's citizens. Despite many describing baseball as barbaric, the large commotion caused by it is more than enough to attract the curiosity of various onlookers. Although the sport is technically banned on multiple planets, it is not impossible to find clandestine games being played on discrete avenues. Most are busted by local law enforcement due to the unsubtle nature of the sport itself, but very few officers bother with actually trying to stop them due to the rowdy crowd that the game attracts. Krogans, particularly, have taken a liking to baseball, and it has become an increasingly common sight in Tuchanka. Many Krogans have also begun to regularly watch the Galactic Series, and a few all-Krogan teams have started to form.
The most successful professional team is the Boston Diamonds, with 6 Galactic Titles, closely followed by the Boneyard Bears with 4 titles and the Capital Ghouls, with 3 titles. Other teams like the New Vegas Bulls, the Chicago Deathclaws and the Miami Mirelurks are all tied with 1 title each.
Author's Note:
Did I really just finish another chapter? An update hat trick? Sheesh, I'm on fire. Alright, les goooooo. KingBanana: You, my friend, are treading far too close to certain things. If you're not careful, the Council might just send the Railroad after you… Wait, I haven't introduced the CRR yet, have I? Nevermind what I just said then. So! The Siege of Shanxi is over. I can already see people complaining about it, how it was unrealistic that Protanis just up and left. But 4k soldiers is a lot of lives and he did take West's threat of executing them all seriously. That man did just detonate a nuke on top of his own head. Plus, he has no way to take the colony from space, and he does value the lives of the Turians under him, so him leaving to fight another day does seem reasonable to my point of view. Besides, you have to consider that even with the reinforcement fleet, he is still concerned about the Humans sending their own fleet. He's fighting on their territory, and he almost lost his fleet of 37 ships against less than 10, while attacking with the element of surprise. He's wary of humans, and honestly? He should be. They did nuke themselves. Imagine what they'll do to their enemies. That's it for today, folks. Peace
RM.