A/N: So, I watch Falling Skies, and once I got passed the plot holes and apparent, I found it entertaining. I thought it would be pretty cool to do some kind of Crossover with it and Mass Effect, because everyone likes crossovers, right? I don't know if I'll continue with it, I just kind of want to see where it goes. This should be considered non-canon for BOTH series, as I will be making changes to ensure that they work. Also, it will not focus on the adventures of Commander Shepard, Tom Mason, or any other main characters, although they will be referenced. It will focus on how Humanity reacts to an alien civilization that isn't trying to kill or enslave them.
Mass Effect: Shattered Skies
Chapter One: First Contact
The human race, in their twilight, had known nothing but war. As their final hour neared, they struggled to resist an invading alien species as they bombed their cities, kidnapped their children, and slaughtered their military. The Skitters had infested every corner of the planet, and all forms of organized government were destroyed, leaving pockets of militarized resistance to defend the civilians from the six-legged menace that defiled their homeland.
Once the occupation had become a one sided slaughter, the true commanders of the skitters showed their face: the Espheni Overlords. Using a wide array of biological and mechanical weapons, they attempted to infiltrate and destroy the resistance from the inside. Children were harnessed with a parasite that would subjugate their minds and use them as labor forces as well as, over time, turn them into skitters themselves. Once a child was harnessed, there was no way to release them without ending their life.
Despite this, the resistance continued to fight on, routing out moles and adapting to the new weapons that were used against them. Powerful aerial vehicles, known as beamers, were constantly scanning for their location, and Mechs were hunting down the small pockets of survivors. Each time there was a setback, the resistance took two steps forward, determined to finish this war that the Espheni had started. On the eastern seaboard, a resistance force known as the 2nd Mass had dealt a powerful blow to the Overlords, taking out an Anti-Orbital Cannon that was aimed at destroying an unknown force high above the clouds. Once it was destroyed, the real war had begun.
Twenty drop pods plummeted through the atmosphere, no longer hindered by the Orbital Cannon. The Volm, as they were called, had landed on the surface of Earth, telling the humans about how they had lost their planet to the Espheni as well, and how they aimed to avenge their fallen people by aiding those who were being exterminated by the Espheni. Using a wide array of technology given by the Volm, the human resistance grew bolder, and began to go on the offensive. It was then that the Espheni devised their contingency plan: the Espheni Defense Grid. Within three months of its activation, every living thing on planet Earth was going to be fried.
The Volm, aware of this device, began construction of a weapon that would overload the Grid and destroy it before it was able to complete its purpose. The humans bought time for the Volm, using energy weapons and advanced medical technology to keep up the good fight. Near the end of the three months, the weapon was complete, and it was fired. The Grid was destroyed, and the Espheni, no longer able to contain the human resistance, attempted to go on a massive offensive. More Volm dropped to the surface from other ships to begin the construction of orbital cannons, and the war continued to rage.
For two more years, the fighting went on, and the Volm and Human Forces, known as the Earth Alliance, had dealt blow after blow to the Espheni, completely shattering their occupation. Raids on beamer hangers had given the Alliance a form of aerial dominance, and though it was small, it was enough to free the former United States from Espheni control. The Overlords grew desperate, using their atmospheric dominance to bombard the Alliance with orbital strikes. The Volm ships, which were using optical and thermal camouflage to hide from the Espheni, shielded the planet with themselves to protect the Alliance on the surface.
The Volm on the surface had finished constructing Orbital Cannons, much like the ones keeping them off of the surface earlier in the war. Using them to cut off the Espheni supply lines, the Overlords on Earth were stranded, and the Espheni Fleet was forced to move out of range from the cannons. The Earth Alliance, while they still had a lot of work ahead of them, had become the dominant force on Earth.
Using the stolen beamers, the Alliance discovered that they had two roles within the Espheni Military: they were used as air support, such as bombings and scouting on the surface of a planet, as well as small fighters used in orbit to engage enemy vessels. While we had only seen them use the first function, the Alliance continued prodding to find a drive core within each of the ships that allowed them to travel faster than the speed of light. The drive core was able to rip a hole in space, allowing the beamer to enter a dimension where distance was shorter than its equivalent in our dimension. The Alliance didn't know how it worked, but they knew how to replicate it.
The Alliance began construction of a wide array of Beamers reengineered with human ingenuity to begin bombing the rest of the Espheni Resistance into oblivion. With the surface of Earth secured, and the Espheni unable to get close enough to the planet, the Earth Alliance had beaten the odds and were once again free. The Espheni had fled the Sol system and retreated back to their homeworld, waiting for the day that the Earth Alliance sought revenge on them for their invasion. The war was over. The Humans had won.
However, the Espheni, before they fled, had given the Earth Alliance a warning: they were preparing for something massive, using every resource they could find to fight something that was going to envelope the entire galaxy. The Alliance waved it off as an excuse to their invasion, but nonetheless, the message left a nagging feeling in the back of their heads. Something that made the Espheni afraid? That was bad news. So, while the reverse engineered mechs began to rebuild their planet, the Alliance began building every kind of weapon they could think of. The Espheni had left them large caches of technology in their hasty retreat, allowing the Alliance to adapt mechs, harnesses, and other devices to be of valuable use.
The Earth Alliance continued the construction of a massive fleet and reverse engineered mechs to be the primary force of the Earth Alliance. The population was hit hard during the war, since 90% of the human race was killed in the first six months. However, the reproduction rates began to rise once again, and scientists estimated that, by 2100, in 85 years, the human race will have surpassed their old population numbers and Earth will have become overcrowded. The Alliance needed to prepare for colonization efforts, and with their newfound technology, they were able to do just that. Unfortunately, the last of the Volm were unable to reconnect with their exiled fleet, and they died off on Earth. Their aid would be forever remembered within the Earth Alliance.
Studying the harnesses, although immoral, allowed the Alliance to make leaps and bounds in the field of genetic manipulation. Over the course of 85 years, all known diseases were essentially wiped out from existence and reproduction was able to be accelerated. The lasting effects of harnesses, such as becoming stronger and more aware, were also studied and adapted into the Alliance military without the need for a physical harness. Using the last of the skitters on Earth, the Alliance also discovered their means of communication from a harnessed individual and a skitter itself, allowing for instantaneous communication in short distances. Adapting this technology with Volm devices, this ability could be amplified to communicate across massive distances.
Finally, in the year 2101, the Earth Alliance was renamed to the Systems Alliance as it established its first colony on Mars. There, they discovered an old Espheni Listening Post that was long abandoned, but other than that, the entire planet was barren. The Systems Alliance began spreading across the red world, forming massive metropolises and military strongholds should the Espheni return.
By 2125, the Mars population had reached 12 million, with 7 million in its capital of New Charleston. The Systems Alliance continued to research into Espheni technology, adapting their soldiers with energy pulse rifles and adamantium, the name of the metal used in the mechs, armor plating. Their fleet was primarily based off of Espheni technology, using the warp drive they discovered in the beamers as the basis of travel. However, the Systems Alliance didn't want to be reminded about the Espheni War every time they looked at a ship, so the hulls were based off of human design.
Shipyards on Mars were created as the staging point for future expansion. In 2129, the Alliance colonized Titan and had established hydrogen mines on the gas planets, which was the primary fuel source used by the Warp Drive Cores. They made plans to explore the ice planets in the exterior of the Sol System and establish listening posts to monitor for Espheni activity. When they began scanning Charon, one of Pluto's moons, they discovered that it wasn't a moon at all. It was some kind of alien artifact encased in ice.
After the Systems Alliance freed the artifact from ice, they scanned it and discovered that it wasn't Espheni technology at all. Instead, it was some unknown species. Judging by the age of the ice, the artifact had been frozen for over fifty millennia, and hadn't seen use since. Odds are, the Espheni didn't even know of its existence. Upon scanning again, the paranoia set in about the Espheni warning that they gave before fleeing the system. Could this be involved with whatever they were preparing for? There was only one way to tell, and that was to find the Espheni and ask them, which was out of the question. If they found the Espheni, the only talking the Systems Alliance would do would be with Neutron Bombs.
The artifact was activated by a science vessel, which was instantly teleported by the device to an unknown location. Using the telecommunication that was discovered from the skitters, the ship reported an identical device on the other side of the teleportation, which was next to the star Arcturus. This wasn't a weapon, it was a transportation network. It was much faster than the Warp Drive, making a trip that would take several days turn into one that took seconds. The Systems Alliance immediately scouted Arcturus for an Espheni presence, but only found another set of alien artifacts.
Thirty years later, the Systems Alliance had colonized three terran planets outside of the Sol System and numerous barren worlds ripe for mining. The three terran worlds, Shanxi, Terra Nova, and Eden Prime, boasted an initial colony population of ten thousand each, and the Systems Alliance had made enough ships to protect each planet from a potential Espheni attack. The colonists appreciated the military presence, as the effects of the Espheni War had instilled a fear of aliens within the human race.
The year 2159 was the year that would change everything. A Systems Alliance Advanced Scouting Team was nearing a new Relay near Shanxi, preparing to activate it in order to continue their search for the Espheni and continue the war they fled from over a century ago.
"This is Captain Carter Grant, confirming mission orders," I said through his telecommunication implant as he stared at the datapad in his hand. Although they could technically send mission assignments through telecommunication implants, it was much easier on the User to read in on a screen than sift through the information in their minds.
"Orders confirmed by Director Orion himself, Captain. You are to open the next relay and begin scanning for an Espheni presence," the thought from Admiral Lucas came back, and I shook my head. They were giving me a Frigate and four corvettes to hunt for the species that almost wiped out the entire human race. Why does that make me feel sick to my stomach? The fact that they've either been avoiding us or have been in isolation for a century doesn't help. Who knows what kind of technology they could've cooked up in that time… and here we were, playing catch up.
"Rodger that, sir. Orders confirmed." I sent the pilot the confirmation to begin the warp jump to the designated relay, and I felt the familiar buzz in the back of my head as he complied. The SSV Volm's Guidance quickly approached the Relay, and we the corvettes that accompanied us were flanking our left and right.
We came to halt in front of the massive relay, which dwarfed our five kilometer long Frigate and the even smaller corvettes. "We've arrived, Captain," came the pilot's confirmation. I nodded to myself and began to think to myself. I planned to tell one of the corvettes to approach the Relay and dispatch their resident science team, but I was interrupted before I could go over.
"Captain Carter Grant, this is SSV Volm's Guidance's resident AI, Tom Mason," the synthesized voice rang in my ear. I turned around to see the AI's avatar, based off of the war hero during the Espheni War, staring at me with synthetic eyes. Tom Mason, after the War was over, had given up all of the information he had to the Systems Alliance. An Artificial Intelligence based off of his personality was created to provide assistance during an event that would potentially lead to conflict with the Espheni. That AI was installed into every ship currently in use in the Systems Alliance. The fact that he popped up is bad news. "I began scanning when we arrived, and have important information. The Relay is already active."
The last line went right over my head, as I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "I'm sorry, but can you repeat that?"
"The Relay is already active, unlike the other ones that we have encountered in the past. Someone else has used this Relay in the recent past," Tom explained. "The Espheni could have used the Relay before, or perhaps we are dealing with a new species. Of course, this could also be some kind of cosmic circumstance. However, the Systems Alliance doesn't believe in cosmic circumstances."
"Have you sent this information to High Command?"
"Yes. They told you to continue with your orders, but be prepared for anything. I will use my programming to provide you with combat expertise against the Espheni should they appear. I've also alerted the corvettes to the situation, and they have entered full combat alert. I recommend you do the same." I nodded in agreement and relayed the orders through my implant to everyone in the ship.
"Haven's seen you in a while, Tom," I said, looking back at the Ai. "How's the digital world treating you?"
"I've been better," he replied. "I'm glad I get to watch the human race grow as it has. I remember back during the War, when we were still sitting in holes, waiting for the end to come. Now I just get to sit back and wait. And I hate waiting." Although this wasn't the Tom Mason, it was an exact copy of his personality and his history. It might as well be talking to the real deal.
"We'll find the bastards soon enough, Tom. They can't hide from us forever." Tom nodded in agreement, and his avatar powered down. "Alright, everyone. Let's go through this damn thing and find out what the hell turned it on." I got several confirmations, and the four ships approached the Relay and sped off into the dark void of space.
When we arrived, I ordered for scans to begin and for everyone to remain on high alert. The corvettes began to fan out slightly, but remained in defensive formation. A few minutes felt like hours as I stared at the radar, nothing popping up from the scans. "Looks like we can call Command and tell them it was a cosmic-"
FIVE UNKNOWN SIGNATURE DETECTED. BEGINNING SCANS… SCANS COMPLETE. THREE TARGET VESSELS ARE ESPHENI. TWO VESSELS ARE UNKNOWN. SCANS REPORT THAT THE VESSELS ARE FIRING ON EACH OTHER.
Tom reappeared with a grim look on his face. "Three of those ships are Espheni, Captain. Under the Systems Alliance Xeno Relations Doctrine, the Espheni are a Zero Tolerance Race and are to be fired upon immediately. I have already activated weapons and attempted to hail the other two ships, but they are failing to comply."
"What kind of ships are we looking at?" I asked, and Tom disappeared for a moment. He returned a few seconds later with an answer.
"One Espheni vessel is an Alliance Cruiser Class, and the other two are Frigate Classes. However, the two unknown ships are Cruiser Class as well, and appear to be holding their own. I recommend we neutralize the Espheni ships with non-lethal weaponry and extend communications to the other two ships," Tom replied. I relayed the information to the Combat and Weapons Deck, where all of the ordinance and cannons were located. They asked for confirmation, and I gave it to them.
"I want these ships intact, you hear me! This is the first time we've seen an Espheni vessel since they fled! If we can capture that ship, we can find out what disgusting rock they live on and bomb the living hell out of hit!" I ordered, shouting it in my head and vocally. Since the Espheni War, the Systems Alliance has upgraded the Neutron Bombs we recovered along with the Beamers, and are even working on a Spartan-Class bomb. A Spartan-Class bomb is one that would be able to turn a planet the size of Earth into nothing more than a few rocks floating in space.
I could hear the sound of energy weapons being fired from the Combat and Weapons Deck, and the visual I got directly communicated to my head told me that they were striking the ships and frying their systems. "It appears that our energy weapons are super effective against their hulls, since they lack any form of shielding. Hull integrity is around 72%," Tom reported, and I couldn't help but laugh. These were the Harbingers of Humanity? "Do not underestimate the Espheni, Captain," Tom told me, and I realized I was thinking on the telecommunication channel.
"My apologies, Tom. Now, what kind of damage are the other ships doing to the Espheni Cruiser?" I asked, and once again, Tom disappeared. This time, however, he was gone much longer. I waited for two minutes, with only the sound of laser fire to keep me company. Tom arrived once more with loads of information he forwarded through my telecommunication uplink.
"The other vessels are, unfortunately, not penetrating the adamantium hull. They appear to be using Mass Accelerator weaponry, a phase we skipped entirely thanks to Espheni technology. They also do not use Artificial Intelligence, instead using a Virtual Intelligence, which is much weaker than myself, for example. If we had arrived any later, than these ships would have been slaughtered," Tom explained, and I nodded in agreement.
"Tell the corvettes to double team the Espheni Frigates and allow us to focus on the Cruiser. I want to know who the hell these other guys are, and whether they are hostile. Did you let High Command know of our situation?" I inquired, and Tom grunted in confirmation.
"I let High Command know as soon as Espheni ships appeared on the radar, and shortly after, I let them know that either the Espheni are engaged in a civil war," Tom paused and scoffed audibly, "which is unlikely given the difference in technology and ship design, or we have made contact with another species. High Command has dispatched a Dreadnought, five Cruisers, eight Frigates, and a large amount of Corvettes and Beamers from the Shanxi Defense Fleet to wrest control of the situation. A diplomatic envoy is also en route."
"So which one activated the Relay then?" I asked, remembering the original mission.
"We believe it was the Espheni, but they opened it from this side, which in turn, activated its twin near Shanxi. If this other species hadn't shown up when they did, the Espheni would have had a straight shot to our colony world," Tom replied. "Given our current doctrine regarding Xeno Relations, we would have discovered them and annihilated them the second they went through that Relay."
I closed my eyes and activated the visual display of the Telecommunication Uplink once again, looking at the battle from the eyes of the commanding officer in charge of one of the corvettes engaging the Espheni Frigate. The ship was around the same size as a Systems Alliance Frigate, as per its designation of a Frigate, but its actual classification was unknown. For all we knew, this could be an Espheni Corvette, and their Dreadnoughts were the size of a Mass Relay. The corvette was managing to melt the hull with ease, and its smaller size allowed it to dodge incoming missiles. Those that weren't dodged were taken down by the point-defense laser turrets that covered the sides of the corvette.
I canceled the telecommunication uplink and returned back to my view, satisfied with how the battle was going on the corvette's end of things. The two cruiser class ships appeared to be firing with everything they had and seemed to be making progress on the Espheni Cruiser, which was attempting to turn its focus on the Volm's Guidance. I checked their shields, which told me that they were at 46% and steadily dropping.
"Okay, we want to neutralize the ship, not destroy it. Deploy an EMP and fry their systems, then prepare a salvage team to secure the ship. Tom, I'm going to need you to hack into the other ships' systems and see if you can get any record of their language. We're going to want to communicate with them as soon as possible," I ordered through the uplink, and I received several confirmations.
"I already did that last time I was over there, and I am compiling translation software as we speak. It should be complete momentarily. I also received a summarization of their history, and have begun analyzing it. It appears that they call themselves the 'Turians' and that they attacked the Espheni because it is against the law in their society to activate Mass Relays. It also says that they are part of a galactic spanning civilization known as the Citadel Council, and that the Turians act as Peace Keepers," Tom told me. I sat there for a moment, analyzing what I was just told. The Systems Alliance couldn't keep up with something like this Council with only four colonized planets, even if our technology was superior.
"Does it say why it's against the law to open Relays?"
"Yes, actually. It seems that they had a war with another race that nearly wiped them out after opening a Mass Relay. They had to uplift a species known as the Krogan in order to win."
"Ok, tell me when the translation program is finished, and we'll hail them." I turned back to the battle and saw the EMP burst fired off, and the Espheni Ship was enveloped in the field and stopped firing. I heard orders being barked on the uplink as the salvage team was sent out to kill or capture those inside, and scour the ship for information. I sent the order for the Volm's Guidance to begin helping the corvettes, who were beginning to get damaged by the frigates, but nothing too serious.
"Salvage team reports no survivors on board, Captain," Tom reported. "All corpses match an unknown species, however. They appear to be insectoid in nature, but wear harnesses. It is safe to assume that this is one of the many races that the Espheni have subjugated."
"Understood," I replied, but was cut off due to the sudden explosion of one of the Espheni Frigates. One of the corvettes was enveloped in the explosion, severely damaged, but still flying. I glanced over at the other fleet, which was just sort of floating there, unmoving. "I think we've impressed them, Tom."
"It would seem so. The translation software is complete, and I've taken the liberty to install it in your vocal implant." The vocal implant corresponds with the telecommunication implant, which allows me to relay direct vocal commands through my thoughts. It isn't used very much anymore, since the Systems Alliance made English the required language for officers, but I still had mine since it was mandatory when I enlisted.
"Hail them," I said. Normally, Alliance vessels would communicate directly through telecommunication, but First Contact has always been at the forefront of the Alliance's mind, and they had to be sure that they could reach out to anyone possible. A screen descended over the cockpit's view, and flashed on, giving the ever-hated word of loading. After a few moments of waiting, the other ship connected, and I was face to face with an alien that reminded me of a skitter. "Greetings, my name is Captain Carter Grant, representative of the Earth Systems Alliance."
"You… you speak Turian?" the captain of the other vessel said in surprise.
"Captain Grant, I just read something in the history of the Turians," Tom said silently in my mind. "The reason they don't use AIs is because they are illegal after a race of rogue AIs known as the Geth kicked their masters, the Quarians, off of their homeworld. It would be best for relations to hide my identity for the time being."
"Yes," I told the turian captain slowly, trying to think of a response. "We were unsure of who you were, so we hacked you in order to obtain your language and history so we could properly communicate. I apologize in advance for that, but I thought it would end better for the both of us if I did so instead of tempting fate."
"A new species…" the turian muttered quietly. "We fired on a new species…"
"Two, actually," I told him, which made him gasp in surprise. "The ones you fired on are known as the Espheni, and, if I am correct, you fired on them because they were activating a Mass Relay." The turian nodded in shock at my knowledge. "We are unaware of your laws, so I hope that you will not fire on us for any that we may have unknowingly have broken."
"You talk like you have already broken other laws," the turian replied sharply. "We do not take these things lightly." He took a second to breathe and take this all in. "No, we will not fire on you because you do not know our laws."
"Glad to hear."
"Answer me this, though," the turian interrupted, and I looked at him intently. "Why did you fire on the Espheni? Your ships are very similar, and I would've thought that you were allies. If you hadn't fired on them, we were prepared to call in reinforcements to destroy you as well."
"The Espheni invaded our planet a century ago. Our technology is based off of theirs. We can go into specifics later, as I'm sure diplomats will go over all of this when we enter negotiations with your Citadel Council. Have you notified your officials yet?" I asked.
"They ordered me to destroy all transgressors, but as far as I can tell, you haven't done anything to fall into that category. I will send for a diplomatic envoy as soon as possible."
"I look forward to working with you."
A/N: I always hated how the turians and humans hated each other over the deaths of like 1200 people in the First Contact War thirty years after it. And... humanity as aggressors because we defended ourselves? Not cool. Doesn't make much sense. In this, I wanted the humans to totally hate and go crazy on the Espheni, but not fire on everything non-human. The Volm, I feel, are supposed to make us not hate everything non-human, just the stuff that hurts us. That's my take on it. Next chapter: Negotiations!