Hello, long time writer but first time I've thought I'd actually write something while other people view it. Heavy AU, Prepare yourself for a humanity simultaneously familiar but also extremely alien to 2017.
This fanfic is gonna be quick and dirty (short chapters, frequent updates), the sci-fi is gonna be about as soft as it comes (really Mass Effect is not exactly 'Hard' sci fi in the first place) but overall true to the setting. No humanity ROFL-stomps (at least none that don't make sense), no dichotomy of Humanity is a diverse group with many distinctions but every other race embodies a singular feature.
Will be a bit of non-chronological storytelling but don't worry, it will all fit together and should be pretty clear. I already know how it ends so everything will flow toward a natural conclusion.
2 things I am going to change because they always baffled me about the setting:
Armour is now useless against mass-accelerated projectiles.
Without shields ships may as well be made out of tissue paper as far as that much kinetic energy is concerned. Armour is still useful against other weapon systems like lasers/etc.
This means once you bring ship's shields down to failure or critical, you start firing slower rounds designed to spread out on impact and transfer their full kinetic energy into the hull, normal rounds would just smash straight through leaving a clean hole and minimal damage. So even once a ship's shields are down they might still be able to remain in the fight for a bit longer as it is easier to dodge the rounds that would finish them off. (Of course if your opponent is just too fast you can keep firing high speed rounds at them, each shot will do minimal damage unless it is lucky enough to punch a hole through something vital, but eventually you will hit something important)
Numbers of ships are roughly 1000x lore
Your civilization has existed for literally thousands of years with vast industrial infrastructure spanning multiple planetary systems and you have built a couple dozen (if that) kilometre long ships? Honestly I think x1000 is very conservative but it will allow me to retain my sanity.
Reviews and criticism where I get the Mass Effect lore wrong (I'm only human) especially welcome, with all that said, let's get this show on the road.
: - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - :
: - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - :
Chapter 1
: - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - :
: - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - :
2 Hours after First Contact / Council Space, The Citadel, Councillor's Chambers:
Asari councillor Tevos stood beside her fellow councillors, their attention set intently on the screen a local com-bouy was directing into the room, the Turian General Caius standing alone in the feed. Turian's were known for a somewhat stiff body posture as a default but Tevos noted Caius stood like a man defeated.
"This is General Caius Noster" the recording stated "I fear I have made the greatest mistake since the Rachni war"
The councillors remained still, unsurprised, watching. They had each already seen the recording themselves, the purpose of this meeting was to decide a course of action from its revelations. Salarian councillor Valern had called the meeting, Spartacus the Turian Councillor coming straight from an unrelated Hierarchy related matter had only seen it once while in transit and had requested the group viewing.
The recording continued
"At your time of watching through the frigate dispatched to the nearest comm bouy it will have been 2 hours since first contact with an intelligent space faring race." The General spoke with an even and level voice, all emotion bar a slight hint of dread removed from his voice.
"Shown here are the bodies we have recovered so far from the wreckage" At that cue several images and diagrams appeared before the councillors revealing the corpses of a few dozen of these creatures. Tevos was surprised that viewing the bodies still unnerved her, it was her fourth viewing but these aliens were just so, so similar to an Asari. The likeness was enough to evoke the instinctive revulsion of looking at one of her own dead. It did not help that almost all of them looked unharmed, almost like they were sleeping. The vast majority had perished in the vacuum of space after the destruction of their craft. Tevos wasn't sure if she heard Valern mutter 'unfortunate' under his breath.
The General was far from finished, backtracking from his jump in the timeline of events "Upon routine patrol past Relay 314, an unidentified vessel roughly 400m length and similar overall dimensional proportions to galactic standards" a slight pause "and no eezo signature". The recording waited for a moment, anticipating the shock Tevos had indeed felt the first time she had seen the footage. "… which at the time was assumed to be a unknown stealth technology somehow capable of hiding a detectable signature"
"Impossible" Valern stated matter of factly "Element Zero manipulates fundamental force, no obscuring possible"
"Valern, please" Spartacus gestured vaguely toward the screen, contemplating deeply.
"…which given our own inability to decipher their response and their apparent refusal to cease the activation of the relay, demanded a more decisive response…" General Caius was slowly allowing more emotion to leak into his words as he spoke, Tevos was not surprised; she knew what came next.
"I ordered a low velocity shot, 10% power, from the Cruiser 'Valient' to be fired on the vessel; Whilst manoeuvring ourselves between them and the relay to make our intentions abundantly clear." The general swallowed " I did not anticipate the result, our assumptions of stealth were incorrect, as later observations of the wreckage in the attached file would confirm; the vessel indeed contained no eezo and no external shields. The single round tore into their front section, ripping off a full third of the ship and putting the other two thirds into a lethal 20G angular spin."
A reconstruction of the incident played across their screen as the general spoke; Tevos saw the alien ship, utilitarian, functional and frankly bland in design sitting motionless as the general's flotilla consisting of 4 frigates and the single cruiser Valient manoeuvred inbetween the newcomer and Relay 314, firing the single shot near the end of the reposition. As the ship exploded into pieces, Tevos once again found it hard seeing the close ups of the aliens, many alive as they initially spewed out into space spinning and flailing, quickly becoming still. The likeness to an Asari was uncanny. In a morbid irony, those in space likely survived longer than those still trapped within the high speed spin of the wreckage, 20Gs was enough to kill even a Krogan in less than 10 seconds.
A new series of images were now displayed, and these were why the Council had met immediately. General Caius spoke as estimated material costs, power requirements and other figures ship construction related figures played across the display. "The revelation of non-eezo based technology being possible is deeply concerning, the technical details are too much to cover here but my 2nd has included a detailed analysis of the implications in the attachment marked 'priority'. To put it simply, any species that has mastered the previously thought impossible field of non-eezo based space faring technology we must assume has also achieved an unrivalled mastery of eezo technology beyond our imagining. Additionally, the fact they see fit to construct ships without any eezo suggests that their fleet must further exceed what their incredible eezo mining capacities must be."
Tevos weighed the general's words just as she had been ever since first seeing the report, they were undeniably true. The vessel had been found activating a relay, which meant not only were they aware of eezo technology but also how to use a Relay without an on-board eezo core, another technical feat thought impossible before today. The recording was almost over, all that remained was the general's request.
"Which is why what we do now is of the utmost importance" the general appealed "I cannot spare any ships from the recovery efforts, we are attempting to reduce the remaining spin if by some chance this race possesses a technology that has kept them alive, we have taken in many bodies and my examiners observations have provided what I believe is our best hope of a diplomatic solution"
The final image of the recording appeared, it showed detailed diagnostics of the 'corpses ', electrographs, thermal imaging and a dozen other readouts "The aliens may not be dead" There was hope in Caius' voice "Limited nerve conduction and fluid transportation throughout the bodies implies a possible hibernation state induced by vacuum conditions. Given this race's technological advancement, an artificially engineered vacuum survival response is within the realms of possibility"
Putting aside the troubling implications of a race that freely modified its citizens' genetics, Tevos agreed with the final words as the general spoke them "I am requesting specialists that can care for and prevent any further damage we may be unknowingly causing, my soldiers are doing their best but are woefully underqualified for this task, we will depart as soon as the recovery of bodies is complete but time is of the essence, Spirits protect"
And it was done. A course of action must be decided.
"He's right" Spartacus said "The military implications of such technology are indeed deeply troubling"
"Violent reprisal for perceived unprovoked attack and deaths likely" Valern added "Speculation of combat doctrine equally troubling"
"What do you mean?" Tevos asked grimly.
"Likely large portion of fleet eezo-free with small number consisting of powerful eezo powered ships" Valern explained "Approach to combat, swarm enemy with inexpensive and easily replaceable non-eezo ships, once weakened, finish with more advanced eezo weapons."
Valern was right, the implications of this incident and what it could mean for the council races hung in the air. Of course like a typical Salarian, Valern was not finished speaking.
"Technological advancement implies age, age implies ample time for expansion, 'small number' of eezo capable vessels could be comparable or greater to entire council fleet" He concluded with something Tevos could tell he was not entirely convinced of "Possible Prothean progeny"
"I don't believe so" Tevos reasoned "Unless the scope of Prothean technology and aesthetics is far wider than first thought. No. I believe this is first contact with a new race. Furthermore they are likely a slowly expanding culture who builds up each system with a lot of infrastructure and people before venturing further. It's the only way I can explain how they would have time to reach this level of technology whilst also avoiding any contact with the council before now"
"There is also a chance we are greatly overestimating their capacity" Spartacus added
Valern spoke what Tevos thought "How?"
Spartacus explained "Relay 314 is in a region known for many eezo 'dry' systems. It is possible there is a localized absence or extreme rarity of eezo in nearby unexplored space. This race could be native to an eezo free system and have spent millennia trapped around their local star. Now that we know non-eezo technology is possible I believe it equally likely that a race given ample time and necessity could derive its methods without having any knowledge of eezo until after they had expanded outside their home system."
"Naively optimistic" Valern interjected
If Spartacus was insulted he hid it well, surprising Tevos with his reply "I agree, we should assume the worst, as at this stage the most likely scenario is of an ancient, large and powerful foe… I mean race. We should dispatch the specialists, a diplomatic envoy for when they inevitably come looking for their lost ship and mention reparations as soon as communication becomes possible." And after a slight pause "But we do not give away our hand, our success may even come down to a well-played bluff"
Tevos hated what Spartacus was saying, it seem disingenuous to play politics around an incident given everything was essentially their fault, but she could not disagree with his logic. "Agreed, nearby fleet resources should be diverted to assist in any way possible"
Valern nodded while agreeing "Departure should be immediate"
So the Council was in agreement, Tevos doubted this would be the last time they met on this incident today.
: - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - :
1 Minute before First Contact / Near Relay 314 system (EDX-243), The Cruiser Valliant's Bridge:
Captain Caius was uneasy. System designation EDX-243, their current destination, was as unimportant as they came. No mineable resources, no habitable planets, strategic placement insignificant. This was exactly the problem, the next system with any chance of breaking the monotony of the past 4 weeks of fringe patrol was another 2 weeks away. Still, one of EDX-243's three secondary Relays was dormant and Council Law required all dormant Relays regularly inspected for any signs of interference.
"Arrival in 30 seconds Captain" Dexsia, his second, spoke.
Caius was glad to have her. She was very capable, likely to have her own command within the decade.
His patrol consisted of 5 ships, the 4 frigates Chias, Niphon, Rextus and Sillo. Finally the cruiser Valiant from which he commanded,
"Standard readiness" Caius stated "I want everyone as sharp as our first jump 4 weeks ago" he reminded himself more than anyone. His crew likely felt the same as him, but he trusted Turian discipline completely, his men could do this for months and he would never hear complaint.
They were not approaching via any of the existing Relays, having come from a series of non-Relay systems that occasionally harboured piracy; this meant they would drop out near the inactive Relay using their own engines.
Dexsia managed the entry "Coming out of FTL in 3..2..1.. successful arrival. All systems green, Sensors up. Standby…"
Caius waited for the sitrep.
"No eezo bar Relays and the Patrol in system" Dexsia sounded off "2 Active Relays show 14 uses since last inspection, standard expected traffic" So far so good "Dormant Relay 314 is… wait a moment… … confirmed inactive, system clear and secure Captain" Dexsia finished with the usual satisfaction.
"Excellent" Caius said, successfully hiding the uncharacteristic melancholy his boredom had seemed to put him in this morning. "Begin impulse toward Relay 315 and preparation for-"
"-Sir unidentified object detected point blank range, 1023 Kilometres from Relay 314! Approximate size 400m" Dexsia cut in
"What?" Caius stuttered "What is its designation? Are our sensors damaged?"
"Unclear sir, we are picking up no eezo signature" Dexsia's concern was clear "No thermal profile, we picked it up on optics when it passed in front of a star and we now have a lock"
"Space debris?" Caius inquired. Though incredibly rare in the vastness of space, large space debris gathering around Relay's between inspections was not unheard of.
"Standby" Dexsia stated waiting for her readouts to refine "Correction sir, minimal thermal signature, it's hotter than space debris sir"
That settled it then, either it was an enormous chunk of radioactive material, frankly almost impossible, or it was artificial. "Begin full burn for interception" Caius ordered "Why am I not looking at it on our screen now" disappointed Dexsia had not brought up a more detailed scan of the object already without having to be told.
Was it a spy satellite? No, far too large Caius thought.
"Trying sir" she said "It's almost entirely dark and somehow further obscuring optics, we are only 3000 kilometres away but I can't get a detailed resolution. Hold on, its passing in front of another star, got it" Dexsia said as she pinned a few keys and an image came up across the bridge.
Caius could feel the tension in the room as the image of an alien vessel, a design never seen before played and rotated across the screen. It was strange, similar and yet alien to any design he'd ever seen. It had the same vaguely rectangular and elongated geometry of other interstellar vessel yet also had no discernible edges; the entire surface was a barely defined series of smoothed mounds and protrusions, its sleek profile looked as though it could squeeze between a hole half its actual size. A ship that size should have a centrally mounted spinal cannon, yet no obvious weapons existed on its external structure. Some kind of Stealth Freighter? No that didn't make any sense. Then it hit him.
Time seemed to stand still a moment. First Contact? Here? It was always a possibility, something he had trained for, but no one ever thought they would be the Captain to initiate diplomatic relations with a new species. Caius realised his arm was sore, he was gripping his chair tightly. Loosening his grip, he steadied his mind and mentally fell back into his training, then took action.
"Cancel interception burn; readjust to 2000km holding distance on alien vessel. Prepare to release a first contact package.
"Yes sir" Dexsia said. Caius could hear the trepidation in her voice, no the doubt the realisation of exactly what was happening had also occurred to her.
"Continue system scans for other possible 'stealth' ships" he added
That is what it was, wasn't it? A new race's stealth ship, capable of hiding its eezo signature, containing its thermal profile without cooking those inside, blocking most optics somehow. What an amazing technology, game changing. Were they cautious explorers? Or probing invaders? Caius hoped for the first but would be prepared for the later.
"We are at 2000km sir" Dexsia reported. "First Contact Package is prepared to be sent on your order"
"Okay" Caius felt serene, like a spectator in his own body. His name would be in history books, he quickly pushed that distracting thought from his mind. It was time to initiate contact.
"Begin.."
"Sir!" Dexsia cut across him "Vessel has made sharp course correction toward dormant Relay 314. They've transmitted their mass! It's activating, 20 seconds to jump, what are your orders?"
No No No. This was all wrong. "Have Chias and Niphon move to block their path" Caius ordered
The Relay had been inactive, it was not their way home, more than likely the Dormant Relay 6 systems from this one in EDD-221 was where these aliens had come through, it should not take much discouragement to dissuade them from their path.
"Sir Chias and Niphon are moving to block, alien vessel's path unchanged" The tension was palpable in the room as Dexsia raised her voice higher for the next report "Vessel has increased speed by a factor of 20, they are exceeding the interception buffer, Niphon and Chias will not close the gap in time"
Dammit. Caius' options had just rapidly diminished, protocol was clear. Council law now permitted and indeed would soon require pre-emptive ordinance. The only time any vessel could be allowed to pass through forbidden Relays was by Council Order. Perhaps if they were an alien race returning home he could have liberally interpreted the laws, but since they were activating a dormant relay not passing through a recently activated one, such exemptions could never apply.
"All ships max burn to intercept as close as we can, calculate firing vectors. 10% Velocity" Caius said the last part with dread "Charge weapons, all ships prepare to fire on my order. "
"Sir" Dexsia interjected "The foreign vessel has shown the capacity to accelerate more than 5 times faster than our best engines could ever achieve, we have no idea how they are keeping their crew alive through such a burn"
"What is your point 2nd?"
"Are we sure we want to fire on a ship that has demonstrated multiple points of technological superiority?" Dexsia said, coming uncomfortably close to insubordination.
Council Law was clear, absolute. Surely his Patrol's intentions were obvious? How could the alien's fail to perceive he wanted them to not activate the Relay?
"Ship course unchanged sir" Dexsia added grimly "5 seconds until jump"
"Niphon, fire one warning shot on their shields" Caius ordered. The display in the bridge showed the single round leave the Niphon flying toward, missing and then sailing past the alien vessel. It had done the impossible, dodged a kinetic round despite their near point blank range, even with its 10% velocity no Council ship could ever manage such a manoeuvre without killing all on board crew, anything larger than a frigate would have actually torn itself apart.
Caius now had two choices. Allow them to jump through the relay and be Court Marshalled or fire to disable.
"All ships… target engines… fire"
'Engines' was a loose term, his Patrol targeted the rear section that although having no discernible openings was radiating thermal energy more than the rest of the vessel.
Caius didn't know when he had stood up, he steadied himself against the side of his command chair as the Valiant mildly shook with its low power shot. It was done. Several dozen sets of ordinance closed on the foreign vessel from multiple angles.
To Caius' amazement he witnessed a near miraculous display of agility as the alien vessel performed course adjustments that at times would have exceeded 200Gs, in the end only failing to avoid a single round. The image of the impact on his display would stay with Caius for the rest of his days; the ship possessed no shielding whatsoever, the single round tore into and gutted it like tearing apart dough. Metal flowed as much as it fractured, red hot mush generated from the friction spewing out into space followed by the contents and occupants of dozens of decks, writhing and grasping at the nothingness as they slowly became still; the ship flying off in two large chunks roughly a 3rd and 2/3rds of the whole respectively, still haemorrhaging their contents out into space.
Caius had never fired first. He'd never realised it until this moment but in his entire career he had never fired first. He had only ever been involved in defensive battles or coming to the rescue of those already under attack. This felt different to those times, his opponent hadn't fired back. They hadn't fought at all, just tried to run and he'd shot them in the back. They were not pirates, criminals; he didn't know what they were. This didn't feel honourable, this didn't feel right.
"Dexsia… status report"
None of this made sense. They had no shields. Did they really have no eezo core? How had they entered this system, started activating a relay?
"Enemy vessel is destroyed sir, all vessels report no damage" she spoke slowly.
"Does the wreckage show any signs of armaments?" Caius said. If it turned out this vessel was nothing more than a transport he was not sure he could bear the shame.
"Captain?" Dexsia did not know how to respond
"I.. Good work Second" Caius recovered "Begin recovery of the enemies' dead and initial salvage of the wreck. Prioritise establishing a workable translation for 2nd contact… and deciphering the fundamental workings of their stealth technology… then meet me in my quarters, a report must be urgently sent"
Caius had a feeling things were going to get alot worse before they got better.
