Chapter 2: Ally Unknown
The Lorion was the fastest and most maneuverable of the frigates of her flotilla. It was a little painful to transfer her flag from the Hatak, but it was necessary. Fortunately, she'd managed to get Semmi over as well, so she hadn't had to leave her beloved ship in his hands. Her third officer, Adas'Ganu, was a competent, if aggressive, officer she could trust.
Fortunately the Pathine's observations and V.I. had given them a functional, though probably not elegant, translator for the two most common native languages and Rena'Nara vas Pathine, the ship's electronic warfare expert had traced numerous communications from the most elite of the native's troops to a single structure. The communications were encrypted, but not to a standard able to defeat the processing power of an, almost, modern frigate.
First contact, with an unknown alien species, under attack by an entirely different and equally unknown species, by just about the last person, besides a Batarian slaver, that the galaxy would have chosen to make first contact…
After a great deal of debate, rather than attempt some delicate bullshit that would probably convince a group of probably correctly paranoid soldiers that they were being played, Niva was just going to break into one of their non-combat communications and do her best. After all, she'd been briefed on everything they'd been able to get out of the decrypted communications, which wasn't much, as even behind the encryptions it was a wall of acronyms, code-words and pure nonsense that barely made sense, even with the translator program.
"Attention, X-Com personnel, this is Commodore Niva'Zorah Vas Hatak of the Quarian Migrant Fleet. I apologize for the intrusion, however our scouts detected what appears to be a planetary invasion occurring. Is that correct, or is this some internal matter?"
A light voice responded after a second of shocked silence. "This is the Commander of the X-Com project. That is correct. We are being invaded. I assume you are not with them?"
"Correct. As I said, I represent the Quarian Migrant Fleet, I have no information regarding your invaders, except what our scout has detected."
"And how are you speaking English?" the voice asked, with a deceptive calm, if Niva could read tone through the translator and across species. The question was straightforward, intended to begin the process of gathering facts which would reveal inconsistencies, if she chose to lie. Which she would not.
"I am not. One of our scouts remained on station while the other returned to me. Based on the broadcasts, a translation program was created, which I'm currently using. Do you know why you've been attacked? Have you had any communication with the invaders?"
"N—"
Another voice broke in, this one deep and unreadable. "The Council will handle this matter. Defense is your responsibility, speech is ours. Why are you here, Commodore?"
"There are moral, cultural and political reasons, but the reason which affects you is quite simple. The technology we've detected is different from ours. Superior in some ways, inferior in others, we would like to access that technology in order to improve our own. We are prepared to ally with you in order to gain that access, both because your enemy is obviously acquisitive, aggressive and bizarre and because we haven't been able to detect any communications, or decode their language."
"And in exchange for access to the technology we've captured, what do we get?"
"I will land the frigate I'm on and provide samples of our technology, as well as experts in various fields. Those experts will provide training and assistance to yours in exchange for your experts providing the same to us. In addition, for the duration of our…technological exchange, I and my scout flotilla will assist you in defending your planet. I have a single cruiser and eight frigates."
Silence answered that, as they attempted to figure out what a space-cruiser and space-frigate were and how they stacked up against the invading ships.
"Before you make a decision, there are two additional facts you should know. First, though I represent the Migrant Fleet, I am not the final decision-maker for it. I have sent a message to command. It will take at least two months to get a response. If that response should order me to withdraw, then I will obey. I do not anticipate that outcome, but it is possible," her voice was lapsing into the awkward, pseudo-academic style she adopted when speaking with the Conclave. Better to be clear, than misunderstood.
"Understood," the Commander put in, with a tone that indicated actual understanding.
"Your second point?" the Council Spokesman asked, neither agreeing with the statement, nor disagreeing with it, not even acknowledging it, merely noting it as having occurred and adding it to his mental files on Quarians and Niva.
Niva projected an image onto the screen, showing almost thirty ships, varying in size from the smallest scout ships that had attacked Earth to the larger craft which had launched abduction assaults, or terror attacks, and still larger transport craft, with shuttles buzzing to the other ships from them. In his hidden office, the Council Spokesman's hands shook, though he hid every other reaction. In the X-Com Situation Room, the Commander didn't react at all as his mind raced to calculate the sheer number of aliens that fleet represented, without even considering the firepower the ships themselves possessed.
"I am uncertain why they are attacking one at a time, but there are quite a few of them hiding behind your moon, and more arriving every few days. However, that's our problem, I will take care of that."
"If we have a deal?" the Spokesman asked, voice layered with irony as he considered the question of whether any of his experts would be able to detect alterations to the image if it was done by extraterrestrials with unknown technology.
"No. I'll take them out either way. If we don't have a deal, I'll take everything we get from them and leave your space, as you wish. If we do, then we'll bring the salvage back to your base to be worked on."
"I thought you had nine ships. Do you really think you can take out all of those?" the Commander asked, his light voice deliberately dubious, attempting to get a feel for the capabilities of her ships.
"Yes," Niva said bluntly.
There was a moment of silence as the Humans considered whether they wanted to try to push this, even over an encrypted channel, which was, as proved by Niva's presence, not as secure as they'd previously believed. Then they considered why Niva had shown them the fleet at all, if interception was feasible. Before they could decide to ask anything, she continued, requesting landing coordinates.
XXXXX
Semmi and Dr. Shen were talking math in the corner of the Foundry. Dr. Vahlen was there, but the younger woman was staring at the element zero core and muttering about its pure impossibility as she ran power through the core, watching the mass of the SHIV she'd attached it to fluctuate, driving it into the concrete floor so hard it cracked, then letting it float up. She seemed to find that oddly hypnotic.
Their supply of element zero was apparently extremely limited, but they'd provided an element zero core salvaged from an aircar (the mere reference to which had almost sent Dr. Shen into a sketching, designing frenzy which ended only when it was pointed out that they didn't have a large enough EEZO core to lift anything with enough armor to venture anywhere near a battlefield). Apparently the element was relatively rare and didn't degrade significantly with use, meaning the scout ships only had small excess amounts for repairs and the somewhat larger amounts they'd managed to mine or salvage while scouting, but not enough for widespread use in construction.
Codex: Migrant Fleet Scout Flotilla Activities, Unlocked.
What ground forces the commodore had available she'd unloaded and placed under the command of the Commander, but the Spokesman had balked at letting a dozen heavily armed and armored aliens into the base, so they'd been shuttled to the regional airbases, to provide security and support. Some spare armor and weapons had been provided for X-Com's study, but until she understood how Element Zero worked, she couldn't even look at the shielding and mass accelerators. It would distract her. Still, she'd heard about it and some part of her was already working on designs for improved armor which could handle the plasma and laser weaponry of the invaders.
In turn, various Quarian scientists were down in the Elerium generator Dr. Shen had finally managed to get working, examining the power output and the Elerium itself with almost equal awe. Its absurd power generation was far beyond the fusion/fission/solar/geothermal plants that powered Citadel Space and far smaller. They were already considering the various usages for such a material and how it could be replicated.
Another group of engineers were down in the Workshop, experimenting on the Alien Alloys. They were not nearly as impressed as the others, though the materials were extremely durable, they didn't do too well against thermal energy, which was obviously going to be a major part of all future engagements and, even worse, were relatively rare. Though per-inch it was stronger than the Quarian's armor, it was so rare and difficult to work that you could outfit a platoon of troops in equivalent (if heavier) armor for the same expense as creating a single suit of armor out of the Alien Alloys.
Several of Dr. Vahlen's acolytes were directing various scanning and recording devices at a young Quarian male, the only 'biotic' amongst the group they'd dropped off. The man had some sort of bizarre powers, able to move and affect matter, similar to the way some of the aliens had proven able to affect the minds of their attackers, or the minds of their allies…the parallel worried some, the rest took the view that if the invaders had that sort of power, they'd have used it already, just as they had so many others.
The Commander sat in his office, flicking through the security feeds, watching the scientists talking, experimenting, and boggling. A slight smile crossed his plump face. Great things would come from them, he was sure of it. All he had to do was buy them the time they needed. And now he finally had help. Soon it would be time to reconsider his contingency plans and where the Council fit in them, or the extent to which the sixteen self-appointed guardians of the planet would be permitted to continue giving orders. But that was for later, if the Quarians proved as effective as he hoped.
XXXXX
Semmi and Dr. Shen were experimenting with the two weapons X-Com had managed to capture intact and an extra suit of Quarian armor. Meanwhile, Dr. Vahlen was still trying to figure out the theoretical and practical functionality of element zero (it turned out to be quite a lot of work to speed-read a thousand years' worth of physics texts, not made easier by the lack of theoreticians amongst the crew of the scout flotilla).
The shields held up against the plasma without much difficulty, as there was almost no mass to the shot, but the temperature sensor indicated that the single hit was enough to heat the chest plate enough that anyone inside the armor would have minor burns. Two or more hits would cook the soldier inside their armor and five or more and the armor would start to melt (or so said the math, they weren't willing to actually damage the armor in testing if it could be avoided).
That wasn't a great increase in survivability over the armor X-Com had already developed. But Semmi was examining the data, excitement flowing through old nerves as he realized a better way. All thoughts of which vanished from his mind as his omni-tool shook, indicating a message from Niva. The first signal appeared inside his helmet, commanding him to broadcast the rest to X-Com, once the download was finished.
It took mere moments for his omni-tool to finish receiving the streamed video. It took far longer to gather the people who would need to see what the Commodore had sent, but the video itself was less than a minute long. Everyone was gathered in the Situation Room, even the Spokesman was watching on a live link and behind him, sixteen figures sat, wreathed in shadows even deeper than those which concealed the Spokesman. The Commander took his seat, opposite the main screens, with Semmi and the X-Com senior officers arrayed between him and the screens. The man looked nothing like any of them had expected, a plump, middle-aged man, going prematurely grey, with a truly jolly smile and truly calculating eyes.
The sensor package they Quarians had dropped showed the X-Ray ships, flying in a rigid formation. Three more ships had appeared since the first image was taken, one replacing the ship lost in the most recent raid on Earth, two others taking up other positions, all three were the larger craft which launched abduction raids, snatching up entire towns. Staring at a might which would shatter every air force on the planet, the Commander suddenly looked much less like a jolly grandfather and much more like the man charged with defending the planet from unknowable evil.
Then eight of the smaller ships shattered as if hit by a nuclear bomb. Five seconds later another eight vanished. Five seconds after that, four of the larger ships broke apart, each displaying the signs of having been struck in two distinct locations, one in the prow and one in the stern, shattering armor and ripping them to shreds. The invaders finally began to move, scattering from the unknown threat that their sensors did not see. The smaller ships moved away swiftly enough, but two of the larger ships caught a single hit each, spinning away from the heavy strike, desperately trying to escape. Behind them, the Commander noted explosions on the surface of the moon as the shots which missed impacted the surface.
The remaining eleven ships were still scattering when nine other vessels appeared amongst them. Two of the large ships were in position to fire on them and did so instantly. Slow to flee, but fast to fire, that was the invaders in a nutshell. GARDIAN arrays sprang to life returning fire as the Quarian frigates split into two groups of four, attempting to bring their spinal mounted cannon on target. The heavier cruiser moved to place itself, its shielding and its heavier GARDIAN array between the packs of frigates and the other ships which were now attempting to reverse their direction and bring themselves back around, to cluster together and not be defeated in detail by forces they outnumbered (though perhaps did not outmass, it was hard to tell on the projection).
Plasma fire impacted the frigates, shields flaring and protecting the ships, dodging was impossible as the projectile moved at light speed, or near enough to make little difference at the range the Quarians had chosen to engage the invaders at. Though their mass was low, the energy transfer into the shields was doing significant damage. Fortunately, they quickly realized that the X-Ray ships' power peaked at detectible levels, immediately before firing, giving them a chance to try to move out of the line of fire, but the Quarians had to be lucky and good to evade even one shot.
The Hatak's broadside smashed a pair of the smaller of the ships while each quartet of frigates destroyed its target. The remaining seven ships flared and vanished, reappearing in tight formation englobing the Hatak. To the Quarian observer, it was the suddenness of the jump, without any build-up of speed and the fact that they reversed direction which was impossible. To the Human observer, the mere fact of moving at least a thousand kilometers (it was hard to tell scale on the projection) in less than an instant was merely shocking (as Humanity had lacked an explanation for FTL travel, to them is was not impossible).
Fortunately, they were all small ships and it took a moment to transfer power from whatever FTL drive they had to the weapons, an instant the Hatak took advantage of. Though the ships had carefully placed themselves outside the line of her cannon, they didn't yet have the range of her GARDIAN batteries and had appeared well within them. Three of the ships were sliced apart by the powerful lasers before they got off a shot and the Hatak dove towards the hole she'd opened in the envelopment by their destruction.
The invader's ships raced after the fleeing Hatak, the individual plasma shots didn't do much against the cruiser's heavier shields, but the firing rate on the plasma was absurd and the light-speed weapon didn't miss, unlike the much slower projectiles the Hatak spat as it passed beyond GARDIAN range. The X-ray ships started to burn through the Hatak's shields and ablate off portions of the hull.
Getting out of a trap was an instinctive reaction, which it took a moment to overcome, then the Hatak flipped over and began to burn her engines back towards the enemy ships, trying to get back into GARDIAN range, which prompted the invaders to mimic the action trying to keep clear of the approaching lasers. Unfortunately, the frigates were out of position and it was going to take quite a while for them to get turned around. Even more unfortunately, one of the enemy ships chose to abort its reversal and attempt to ram the Hatak. The cruiser was not a nimble vessel, but it's hard to bring two objects together in space (as the Hatak's gunnery crews were demonstrating) and the ships missed one another with the X-Ray ship came apart in a blaze of laser fire.
The others used their rear guns to pour plasma fire at the trailing Hatak, whose bulk made dodging difficult. The frigates were even further back, too far back for any plasma to be directed at them, but the first quartet was finally properly angled with some momentum. It vanished. A few seconds later, they dropped out near the fleeing ships and GARDIAN lasers ripped the fleeing ships apart. The battle was over in moments, except for cleanup of the few damaged ships, which the other quartet of ships accomplished at the same time.
"How the fuck did you do that?" Dr. Shen asked. It was the first time anyone could remember hearing the decorous engineer swear.
"Fortunately, they use short range weapons, so they didn't take precautions against long range fire, instead maintaining a regular path and constant positions. The fleet took up position behind this system's fourth planet and fired the projectiles at where the ships would be when the rounds finally reached them. As they travel slower than light speed, the projectiles passed through where Mars was, while the bulk of the planet blocked any sight of the fleet itself. Then it was just a matter of timing the arrival to coincide with the barrage. Simple math."
"Hardly simple," Central Officer Bradford muttered.
"It's not that bad for a computer with a complete model of the solar system," Dr. Vahlen put in.
"You also have to have an accurate model of local space, even minor disturbances in the local gravity can have major impacts at that sort of range," Semmi added.
"In any case, our ships are taking position around your moon, to ensure any further incursions are intercepted. Given that none of them escaped, we think we've got a good chance of defeating any more invaders as they arrive."
"Good."
"But we need to know more about their tech, especially their FTL drives. What they did in that engagement…shouldn't have been possible."
"Unlike your own jump to FTL speeds to catch up to those fleeing ship?" Dr. Shen asked, with a raised brow.
"Exactly, I'm so glad you understand."
"Well, based on what we've found in the recovered vessels, we think—" Dr. Shen began.
"Folks, you can talk science elsewhere, this room is needed to decide strategy to handle EXALT forces and the remaining infiltrators and scattered, escaped remnants of their forces. The balance has shifted and we need to take advantage of that, now," the Commander said, dismissing everyone except Bradford with whom he began reviewing the intelligence they'd gathered.
The scientists retreated to discuss their speculation and science elsewhere.
Codex: Faster Than Light Travel, Unlocked.
XXXXX
Rish'Reegar's shot blew through the Thin Man's throat, nearly decapitating the X-Ray. Like most of the Marines the Commodore had dropped off, he'd adopted the slang of the X-Com soldiers and he sang out over the secured comm system they'd set-up "X-Ray down, east flank secure. No movement."
Ten seconds later, he regretted that statement as a Thin Man dropped out of the sky less than ten meters in front of him, firing as it landed, ignoring the twenty-story drop as easily as if it had been wearing an Eezo drop harness.
Codex: Drop Harness, Unlocked.
The shots impacted his shields before he had time to bring his weapons to bear. The light plasma rifle's burst shot sent half a dozen bolts of plasma into his shields. Only the upgraded shielding kept him safe and even then, his external temperature sensors were screaming that his armor was close to melting. He could feel the heat transfer, even through the armor and inner suit.
Codex: Anti-Plasma Shielding, Unlocked.
Rish spun away, diving for cover, "Under fire!" he shouted into the radio, then began to curse vilely. The broadened shielding continued to take hits despite the fact that he was in cover. The stone wall acted as a thermal buffer, but his shields were continuing to drain. A single shot from a laser sniper rifle cut the invader in half.
"X-Ray down," Major Alexia Shepard bragged from where she was crouching on the rooftop of a skyscraper six blocks away.
"Thanks," Rish muttered, a little embarrassed.
"Local forces are reporting an attempted breakout three streets north," the Commander's light voice cut in.
"Moving to support," Rish said, obediently.
A pair of X-Com troopers in Skeleton Armor, ideal for getting around the tight urban environs of downtown Mexico City, joined him as he headed towards the breakout area. He'd made it almost halfway there when he was almost swept from his feet as displaced air smashed windows and knocked down the unarmored. An invader battleship simply materialized two hundred feet up. Massive, anti-ship balls of plasma rained down on the city indiscriminately, killing civilian, soldier and invader alike.
"Re-route. Any X-Com personnel who can reach that ship, do so. Be aware, all available air-forces are en-route. Space forces are repositioning for an orbital strike. Take that ship down before I have to order kinetic strikes on a populated area," the Commander spoke before Rish had broken out of his horrified staring at the enemy ship.
The troopers looked at the grappling hooks built into their armor and then at the ship and silently wondered what two men with hand-weapons could do against that behemoth. Rish managed to speak, "What are our orders once we get on board?"
"Based on the last battleship we encountered, there's a central core, with four nodes powering the outer systems. We don't have time to play with the nodes and try to capture it, take out the main power core and the whole ship will go down."
"That'll kill—"
"Less people than are dying every second we discuss this trooper," the Commander's voice was as light and high as ever, but Rish shut up.
"Get me up there," he ordered the troopers. They were young, younger than him, if he read Human ages right and wearing the odd little patches that marked them as citizens of different countries on this absurdly divided little world, though he could not remember which ones the patches signified. For all that, they worked together, grabbing one arm each and making the three jumps which got them to the top of a nearby skyscraper. Only once was their jump further propelled by the rising air caused by the passage of superheated plasma.
Then they were on the roof and it was just a matter of lining up two shots from their grappling hooks. Rish's arms ached from being hauled around, but it was better than being dropped to splatter on the pavement. Their shots were good, the hooks hit firmly, magnetic and physical attachments locked in place, spools yanking three bodies up only slightly slower than they'd have lifted two, but it wasn't fast enough to outmaneuver the point-defense gun which slewed towards the incoming soldiers, believing them to be an extremely large, extremely slow, missile (which, in a sense, they were).
The anti-ship plasma bolt impact his shields, overloading them for a moment and superheated air surrounded the rising soldiers. The Humans, lacking the hardsuit Rish was wearing, cooked alive around him. Despite their horrible deaths, their hands never faltered in their grip on his forearms, nor did the cable hauling them upward melt, not until they reached their destination. Their screams were terrible to hear, and Rish could do nothing but watch them die and the temperature gauge on his armor rise and rise, until finally, after a subjective eternity, they escaped the superheated air and hit the strangely accommodating hull of the battleship.
A flash on his HUD and he had the plans for the battleship, its central power core lighting up, a gift from the Commander, watching all this on satellite alone as his video feeds from his soldiers ended when the cameras melted. A whispered command and his VI gave him the most direct route to the core. It was only three hundred meters away, but even before beginning the run he was gasping for air, the interior of his suit uncomfortably hot. He waited one moment for his shields to start recharging and the doors at the far end of the platform snapped open, revealing a quartet of Sectoids.
An overload sent the fragile invaders into convulsions and he sprinted forward. "I've got no eyes on you once you're inside," the Commander said. "I'll warn you when forces are in position, but I can't hold fire for you to escape."
A shouted command had his suit VI transmitting from his sensors to the Commander's frequency (the only reason that hadn't been done before was absurd turf battles between the marine commander and the Commander, which hadn't mattered when all they were doing was clean-up, but which Rish was unwilling to engage in at the moment). The marine didn't bother to respond, to the Commander's words, instead gasping commands to his suit's systems as he raced down hallways, sliding away from a pair of Mutons that reacted with the characteristic aggression of their kind.
He outraced them, with the help of a dropped grenade which took their legs out from under them. His omni-tool was building more grenades, draining the omni-gel reservoirs which acted as insulation throughout his suit. Three dozen anti-armor grenades were being generated and he attached each one to his armor as it completed, never breaking stride.
Three doors, and a dodged cluster of Floaters later, Rish literally ran into a Berserker, rebounding painfully and rolling back, dodging razor bladed fists. A scrambling dive sent him through the giant beast's widespread legs. Unfortunately, that exposed him to the quartet of Mutons following the Berserker and who promptly opened fire. Fortunately, they were far enough back that his shields were still between him and them.
A scrambling, crawling rush got him into cover, though his outer armor was smoking, the few cloth decorations had already burnt off, only metal still held. The vacuum of the empty omni-gel reservoirs acted as better heat protection than the omni-gel itself, so his inner suit wasn't warm yet. The grenade he'd dropped to protect his back did so, flattening the Berserker, but it was inside his expanded shields when it went off. The armor piercing grenade had a small damage radius, but it flung off shrapnel which punctured both layers of his armor and punched into his flesh easily.
He was only twenty meters from the power core, but the quartet of Mutons pounding on his shields and a door were in the way. Luckily, the aliens didn't appear to have any concept of locks, which was good as a single locked door would definitely screw him. A snapped command brought his shields back in to minimum distance as if the plasma hit his armor, than he was completely screwed. The heat transfer wouldn't be immediately lethal. Hopefully. Without the shielding stopping the shots, plasma began to eat away at the metal of the ship, melting cover and panels alike.
His training made him wish there was time to fabricate a flash-bang, but he lacked the omni-gel for that, as his armor was festooned with anti-armor grenades (which fortunately could not be set off by mere heat, but needed a triggering message from his omni-tool). Even if he'd had the materials, there was no time to wait, the Berserker was getting up behind him, the grenade having not, apparently, killed the beast, to Rish's disbelief and irritation.
He vaulted the bench he was hiding behind, stumbled and almost fell as his injured leg hit the ground, then sprinted down the hall. One of the Mutons rose and charged towards him. There was no room for more than one of the giant green invaders in that hall. Rish waited until the beast was almost atop him, then launched an incinerate into the creature's face. It screamed, clawing at its eyes as the fluid in them boiled. A quick step had him sliding under a flailing arm, then Rish was past and sprinting. Plasma rounds impacted his shields and the metal surrounding him. Twice he almost stepped in molten metal, barely managing to dodge. His armor was hot against his skin, cooking him from the outside in, but his muscles still worked as he hit the door.
He'd been moving too fast for the sensor to open it before he hit the slab of armor plate. It opened as he rebounded, staggering back. It was lucky he did so, as a Chryssalid's talons sliced through the air where he would have been, the moment the door opened. Six feet of chitinous death screamed its frustration at him, but the Quarian controlled his fear and rushed forward, knocking the off-balance insect backwards. He tried to scream defiance at the beast, but his armor was cooking its way through his throat, so it came out a pained croak. A step on chiten, then another on the hull and he was over the monster. The insect's talon slashed against the back of his leg as he entered the power core. He could see the Elerium generator ahead of him, just like the one that the scientists were working on back at X-Com headquarters. The blow cut through his armor like it wasn't even there, severing muscle and tendon alike, but it was also so powerful it knocked him forward. The other Chryssalids in the pack closed to dice him to pieces, but Rish'Reegar, nar'Quib-Quib, vas'Lorion was close enough to the generator and he detonated every grenade on his armor.
A quarter of them had melted too badly to be functional, but the remainder detonated, turning the power core into thirty meter in diameter hole in the ship. You could look up from beneath it and see the sky (not that that would be a good idea as the engines failed when the power did). The battleship plummeted to the ground. If it had been higher up, backup power systems could have saved it, but so close to the surface, nothing could. Its momentum plowed it through a few buildings, but its guns were silent as it impacted the ground with the force of a cruise missile.
X-Com and military forces raced to secure the downed ship, but the battle would not be over for another eight hours.
Codex: Defense of Mexico City, Unlocked.
XXXXX
At precisely 1100 Eastern Standard Time, every television, radio, cell phone, wireless and cellular device displayed the same thing. The Commander did not hide his face, he did not need to, no one knew his plump features, not after the…alterations the Council and then Dr. Vahlen had made to them.
"Humanity is under attack," his voice was light, even and calm, as images began to play around him of the various attacks. "I am the Commander of the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit, also known as X-Com. For the last four months, I have led the efforts to defend this planet. I have done so in secrecy, to attempt to preserve calm. The events in Mexico City," the sight of the battleship raining death and destruction down upon the helpless citizens, replaced his face "reveal the folly of that approach. All military forces willing to work against these invaders will be provided with the knowledge and resources we have gathered. I ask that we gather the full force of our world to hurl back those who would destroy us. I invite you to join us. For though Humanity is under attack by a mighty foe, we are not helpless," images of the battleship falling from the sky and a dozen other smaller victories filled the screen, "we are not doomed and we are not alone."
"Enemies have come from beyond our solar system, but so have allies," images of a pair of Quarians, one male, Rish'Reegar, and one female, Niva'Zorah, appeared on the screen. "These are members of the Quarian Migrant Fleet, who have fought alongside us to defeat the invaders. They have suffered alongside us," Rish's form faltered and burned in the camera, "died alongside us," images of Quarian Marines and X-Com Troopers fell, burned beyond recognition, blown up, or ripped apart by Berserkers or Chrysallids filled the screen, "and won alongside us."
"We have done the best we can, but this is total war. Our enemies have proven that. It is time we showed them what Humanity is truly capable of. Plans for new aircraft, new weapons and new technology have been provided to the United Nations and to all member states. When next they come to Earth, they will meet the full might of an entire world. X-Com will be in touch with all militaries to provide coordination, tactical advice and support."
"Vigilo Confido."
Codex: The Unveiling Unlocked
XXXXX
"The Council is going to kill you, sir," Central Officer Bradford said.
"We'll see."
"They want to see us both in the Situation Room, sir. And they asked me to bring my gun. They are going to order me to kill you, I am absolutely certain of it."
"We'll see, Bradford, just relax and follow orders. I'll take care of it."
Semmi and one of the Quarian naval officers was waiting outside the Situation Room and followed the officers inside. The Commander was pretty good at telling Quarians apart, but the on-duty naval officers had a tendency to wear identical uniforms and rely on their electronic systems to tell who they were talking to.
The Commander was surprised to see them, as he hadn't invited them, but Semmi, for all that the old Quarian was a grumpy stick-in-the-mud, was a skilled politician. Though he lacked on-the-ground experience with Humanity, even after a month downside, he was aware enough to know that revealing this secret would have consequences.
Trying to keep him out would be hard and possibly futile, especially as the naval officer was carrying an assault rifle that could probably blow its way through the Situation Room's armored door. They shuffled inside as a group, the Commander's steps were light despite his bulk, but his were the only light steps there. Semmi had the steps of an old man, the naval officer the steps of a tired one and Central Officer Bradford had the steps of a man who might have to shoot his commanding officer in the head.
This time every screen lit up the moment they entered, except for the Council Spokesman's. The Council chose to speak to them directly, not through its Spokesman.
Germany spoke first, as they did retain sufficient self-control not to interrupt one another. Barely. "You had no authority to reveal the X-Com project to the world at large."
"After Mexico City—" the Commander began.
"We could have covered up Mexico City. We've done it before," Mexico interjected, voice scrambler making tone hard to decipher, but the Commander thought he heard despair hiding behind fury.
"Nonsense. This isn't the 19th century, you don't just have to lie to a few reporters and knock off a few witnesses. Even with the usual X-Com blackout, there was video of that ship on the net thirty seconds after it appeared," the Commander countered.
"This is irrelevant," Japan put in sharply, before the debate could get off track. "The issue is the Commander's unauthorized actions, nothing else."
"I am authorized to take any and all actions necessary to protect this planet from the invaders. When it appeared this was some sort of scouting or raiding operation, I could do that with the resources of this project. Mexico City made it clear that we are at war and for that, I need the resources of the world, not what scraps you can funnel me through black programs."
"Oh, please. We destroyed their fleet. This is a last futile attempt at revenge," United States interjected.
"We do not believe that is correct," Semmi said, before anyone else could respond to that. The engineer waved to the officer beside him.
"Lieutenant Kal'Tova, liaison officer. The Commodore is extremely concerned that this ship broke protocol and appeared in atmosphere and launched its assault, rather than appearing on the far side of the moon, observing, then attacking. That indicates to us that it was somehow warned of the attack. We don't know how that's possible as we didn't detect any transmissions and none of the ships escaped. She's ordered all our ships into low orbit, flying pseudo-random patterns to attempt to intercept any further assaults. But even split into three flotillas, there will be large areas that are unprotected and eventually we will run out of fuel, unless someone's got a supply of Helium-3 we can use?"
Japan nodded. "I've been looking into that, our reactors can produce small amounts, but not the amounts requested."
"Well, if we stick close, and only use the thrusters for course corrections, let the planetary gravity do more of the work, we can stay mobile for a couple of months, but the more we have to divert and the more we have to drop into and out of atmo, the less time we'll have," Kal said.
"Any update on when the rest of your Fleet will arrive?" France asked.
Kal shook his head, "No news."
"We're drifting from the point. Is your alliance with us contingent upon how we handle this internal matter?" Germany asked.
"No," Semmi said, stepping in for the, more junior, liaison officer. "However, we have been impressed with the Commander's abilities. And though this is an internal matter, we agree that more resources are needed. That's why we hope the Fleet will agree to come here. If we can gain additional resources here, we are all in favor of that. However, we recognize this is an internal matter and simply wished to register our concern regarding the future actions of the invaders. As a cultural note, I will say that the Migrant Fleet has little respect for those who criticize without offering a superior solution. Practicality is a necessity forced upon us by the difficulties of living in space. On that note, I leave this matter in your capable, and practical, hands," Semmi saluted the screens sharply, saluted the Commander equally sharply and took his leave, with Kal dogging his heels.
"Do you have anything to say in your defense?" Germany asked.
"I did not mention the Council, or EXALT, merely that which was already going to leak out. If you wish to dissociate yourselves, you can. I know none of your identities. Indeed," the Commander shot a bitter glare at Australia, who had left the Council, only to rejoin when the Quarians arrived and turned the tide of the war. "You all know I neither could, nor would take any action against you for such a choice."
Codex: The Council Unlocked
"Giving us a way out of our own organization is hardly a defense!" France put in sharply.
"Enough, of this nonsense," Nigeria said. "We were already discussing how to reveal this matter to the public. We're all pissed that our media consultants didn't get to earn their money and we didn't get to control the narrative, but the results are good enough. I move we give the Commander a commendation for the defense of Mexico City and a reprimand for overstepping his authority and be done with it. Can I get a second?"
"Second," Argentina agreed.
There was a quick vote, which came out with five abstentions, nine ayes and two nays and the meeting was handed back over to the Council Spokesman. It returned to the usual administrative business of running a growing organization and Bradford drifted out to get back to his own work.
XXXXX
Codex: Migrant Scout Flotilla Activities:
Scout Flotillas serve a number of purposes. Most obviously, they scout paths for the Fleet to travel, ensuring that they are safe, or at least, providing information by which the Conclave can pick the least dangerous route (or the one which provides the greatest risk-reward ratio). Somewhat less obviously, they also do basic surveys, searching for materials the fleet can mine, even conducting basic salvage and simple mining operations if feasible. Less obvious still, they act as distribution points and support for those Quarians on pilgrimage and keep a careful eye out for Geth. About as obvious, but far less openly discussed, is their usage as tools of blackmail, as, if provided with sufficient "donations" of materials, the flotillas may also accept "donations" of information regarding the suitability of the system.
The vast majority of the time, those bribes, along with the actual information are passed along to the Migrant Fleet, which abides by the terms negotiated by the flotilla's commodore. The other instances end either with the sudden and meteoric collapse of the commodore's career, or the flight of the commodore from the Fleet in a stolen shuttle, or ship.
Codex: Faster Than Light Travel:
There are three known forms of FTL travel. The first depends upon the use of Mass Relays, either the unidirectional ones which connect to specific other relays (with an unlimited range), or the omni-directional secondary relays with a range of a few hundred light years. This is limited by the nature of the relays.
The second is the standard Mass Effect Drive, lowering the mass and using standard engines to accelerate the ship to FTL speeds. This is limited by fuel, power, and the need to discharge the drive core into a planetary body periodically.
The final and most recently discovered means of FTL travel is that used by the Ethereals and their slaves. Known as the Jump Drive, it uses an entirely different means of travel, folding space to permit the ship to travel almost instantly over large distances.
However, though the distances are large on any terrestrial, or stellar scale, they aren't large on the interstellar scale. The exact distance varies by the size of the ship, the size of the drive and the amount of power available. However, such drives need to cooldown after each jump. The cooldown period is at least an hour for the smallest drives (usually capable of a jump of about a light-hour) and the cooldown period scales with the size of jump (or, more accurately, the size of the jump the drive is capable of). For this reason, there is occasional debate over whether it truly counts as an FTL drive, as the jump plus cooldown usually approximately equals travel at the speed of light. Given that the travel is instantaneous, those arguments are usually treated as an attempt to undermine the importance of the Jump Drive. Especially given the capabilities of extremely large Jump Drives.
Folding space does nothing to change momentum, so the ship will come out of the portal moving at the same speed and in the same direction as it went in.
Codex: Drop Harness:
A Drop Harness is an attachment for most forms of body armor consisting of an Eezo core, sufficient straps and connections to spread the field over the entire body and a self-regulating power supply to change the mass of the soldier wearing the armor. Typically used for rapid deployment planetary assaults on areas where shuttles would be shot down, but an orbital strike would do too much damage, they are relatively inexpensive (compared to a shuttle) and reliable pieces of technology. Originally used solely by Krogan launching assaults on Rachni (and later, Citadel) worlds, they've become much more common over the intervening centuries.
General tactics include deployment of a swarm of soldiers using the harnesses. Gravity is altered to accelerate their descent, until the pre-arranged height when their mass is reduced until they can land safety. Generally, anti-air defenses can pick off only a handful of the plummeting soldiers, enabling the attacker to land a significant force.
However, the very speed which makes the assault possible, also makes it extremely risky. If the harness malfunctions, or any of the information is wrong, or, the height of a location changes since programming, or, most commonly, electronic warfare confuses the harness's small onboard computer, then the attackers will almost certainly die to the last.
Codex: Anti-Plasma Shielding:
A creation of the combined engineering talent of the Migrant Fleet and X-Com, anti-plasma shielding was a result of the simple realization that the risk of plasma weaponry was the heat transfer. It depended upon the fact that shields were as close to the armor as possible (usually a good idea to avoid wasting defensive power on shots which would not have hit the soldier wearing the armor).
They realized that due to the lesser mass of plasma shots, it was possible to expand the field radically without risking an easy breach. It did mean that the soldiers needed to be more spread out, but given the effect of one of the alien grenades had on shielding and Quarian or Human armor alike, not clustering was a good idea. The Elerium-cored explosives were an order of magnitude more powerful than either Human or Quarian grenades.
The end result of this experimentation was to render the Quarian marines essentially immune to plasma fire. This did not extend to a Beserker or Chryssalid's claws, a Drone's laser burst, or the cannon mounted on Cyberdiscs, let alone the grenades they could hurl half a dozen city blocks. Still, the Quarian marines had far greater survivability than X-Com's forces, at least until additional shield generators could be manufactured and deployed.
Codex: Defense of Mexico City:
The Ethereal Assault on Mexico City was launched without warning, or provocation. Before the X-Com fire-team's sacrifice brought the ship down, it levelled a large part of downtown Mexico City. More than a half a million people were killed or injured. None of the X-Com team which had been purging the city of X-Ray troops survived, as they were either killed by the bombardment, killed onboard the ship, or killed when the ship crashed.
A surprising number of the battleship's crew survived the crash, especially amongst the Muton shock troops. Fortunately, they did not scatter into the city, or go hunting for civilians, but rather followed the last order their Ethereal master had given them before being killed in the crash, doing their level best to defend the ship, especially the, now destroyed, power core. This meant that the attempt by the first responders to the scene, members of the Zeta Cartel, to loot the ship ended in complete disaster. So did the boarding attempt by the Special Unit of the Mexico City Preventative Police Department. Finally the police decided to simply hold a perimeter and called for military support.
Fortunately, Mexico was part of the X-Com council and they managed to put that response on hold until another X-Com team could be brought in to spearhead the assault. That assault was long and bloody, but, spearheaded by a platoon of Quarian marines, seeking vengeance for the losses they suffered in the initial attack, the blood was mostly shed by the Ethereal invaders.
Codex: The Unveiling:
The Council had gone to a great deal of effort to attempt to keep the Ethereal Invasion secret. In this they were aided by the natural incredulity of people when informed of an alleged alien invasion. It was also aided by the fact that the aliens had mostly targeted outlying areas for their abductions and raids.
Still, for the most part the Council's actions merely managed to create a tissue-thin plausible deniability for those in power and for those people who were too busy with their lives to try to deal with an alien invasion. It was that comforting blanket of lies and misdirection which the Commander ripped away with his announcement.
The reaction of the public was immediate, but hardly coherent, with a singular exception. Everyone demanded more information. They wanted to know everything. As the Commander had not mentioned EXALT for fear of inducing suspicion and distrust amongst the very forces he was looking to unite, the populace did not understand why so many secrets were being kept. However, the story that the aliens were monitoring communications covered a multitude of secrets.
For the most part, the nations of the world did pull together, under the banner of X-COM. Though the debates over the expansion of the Council to other nations and the appropriate means of controlling and funding the project would continue throughout the war (and beyond), X-COM's visible successes and alliance with the Quarians, made the project responsible for Earth's defense.
Codex: The Council—Pre-Contact:
The Council originated in a fraternity/secret-society of bureaucrats. Representatives from the great powers of the world felt the need to interact, regardless of the desires and goals of their nations and political masters.
In order to avoid a single discovered person from destroying the whole group, they adopted the practice of going only by the name of the country they were from/were representing. This practice persisted long after the group was discovered and reported by various intelligence agencies. As they were not, in fact, an espionage group, they were simply coopted as a back-channel, deniable means of conducting diplomacy. A larger, less accountable, less visible, but surprisingly useful version of the UN Security Council.
They attempted with varying degrees of success to address any number of global issues. The X-COM project was by far their largest and most successful endeavor and it led the Council out of the shadows and into the light. The effects this would have on the group are substantial, and addressed in other histories of the Council.
Author's Note: You may say that they came to an agreement awfully fast. Given that they didn't have any options, X-Com didn't bother with a lot of talk about it.
We're moving fairly fast, as the meat of this story is during the time period of the main Mass Effect series. If there's any interest, I may write a few shorts about the Ethereal War.
As you can see, I went with a not particularly believable cover-up/denial of the invasion. Mostly because if it was widely acknowledged then I'd have expected total war, not squad based actions. A lot of that is the result of the engine and the structure of X-Com, but I'm running with it a bit.
Comments/reviews/critiques are always welcome. Death to all typos!