History
Humanity made its way into the stars long before 2905 after developing several technologies to allow them to circumvent the laws of physics. First was the Mayfield Battery, developed in 2056. The MFB is powered by Mayfield Energy, a unique form of Cosmic Background Radiation that is incredibly potent yet extremely hard to harness without the proper know how. In July of 2056 a scientist named Grant Mayfield, who had spent his entire life trying to harness the energy, finally crafted the battery which would go on to change the world. A single MFB is capable of powering entire cities for centuries. The MFB was quickly mass produced and before long was used in every facet of military and civilian life. However, a space vessel requires more power and as such the Mayfield Core was crafted in 2077. The Mayfield Core is made from a dozen MFBs circuited together and can provide near limitless energy. With a Mayfield core a ship is capable of reaching 99% the speed of light, which is fast, but still not enough. Humanity wanted to achieve the highly coveted Faster Than Light travel.
The answer to this was made in 2107 after scientists finally discovered the elusive graviton, a particle which mediates the force of gravitational interaction. The Quantum Drive harnesses gravitons and manipulates the mass of an object to negative levels in a controlled field around it, when this phenomenon is performed on a ship and combined with the incredible power and high speeds of the Mayfield Drive the ship can reach speeds far exceeding the speed of light. In a single hour human ships can travel 90 lightyears. This was a truly monumental step in human advancement, yet still it wasn't enough. So in 2160 the Portal Drive was created. The Portal Drive rips two holes in the fabric of space-time and allows instantaneous travel between those two locations. It has a range of several thousand lightyears, but also requires time to recharge depending on how far the two portals were created. The shortest recharge is about 7 seconds, the longest is around one day which is needed after traveling the full distance of 8620 light years, though ships rarely ever go that far.
As truly amazing as this creation was, it would eventually become the catalyst to the most violent period in human history. By 2270, humanity had spread reasonably far among the stars and began colonizing and mining dozens of planets. This was made all the easier by the Terraforming Satellites that were able to reshape the surface of planets into lush, Earth-like worlds in only a few months. They were of course powered by Mayfield Cores. On the way to start a mining colony on the planet Therum in the Knossos System of the Artemis Tau Cluster, the Everest-class science Carrier ship Faraday was lost in between Portals. This was the very first time this had ever happened and humanity was beyond shocked, it had long been theorized that there may be some kind of space between the Portals, perhaps an entirely different dimension, but all attempts to observe the inside bore no fruit. The Faraday was 6 kilometers in length and carried upwards of 500,000 humans; civilians, scientists and soldiers, all of whom were lost to the void.
This tragedy marked the decline in usage of the Portal Drive. The mining colony on Therum was postponed in light of the "Therum Tragedy" and humanity chose to move on with solemn regret. The next 60 years were spent in peaceful expansion, the many nations of Earth had long since settled their differences and, while not united under a single banner, worked together to further the advancement of the species. Disagreements sparked occasionally but never extended into full blown war. As such the amount of dedicated warships were limited and generally were not much more powerful than the water-bound navy ships of old.
This all changed on June 6, 2334 when a rift opened in the Pacific Ocean on Earth and the Faraday burst from the ocean off the coast of Tokyo, Japan. The ship quickly took to the sky and casted its harrowing shadow over the city. Countless attempts were made to hail the ship and speak to the survivors that were long thought to be lost to the unknown. Every nation on Earth was called in to monitor the ship and the rift in the ocean. It was quickly observed that the Faraday had been outfitted with various weapons of unknown design and capability. As such every warship was called in from the hundreds of planets across controlled space, no one was taking any chances. Humanity's total war capable ships numbered at just barely over 270 compared to the over 3,000 science and colony ships. Also called in were the navy vessels of every nation on the planet, well over a thousand ships, submarines and aircraft carriers amassed off the coast with weapons aimed at the mythic ship.
Of course these ships and spacecraft would take time to arrive. Unfortunately, when the Faraday attacked, only about a dozen space warships that were already in orbit and Japan's naval fleets and one of China's three fleets had made it in time. Two hours after its reemergence, the Faraday opened a hatch on its underbelly and dropped a 57 meter (188ft) tall crustacean-lesque monster into the heart of the city. It quickly began tearing through the city, demolishing everything in its path. Luckily the city was already being evacuated, but it had only been two hours and Tokyo had a population of 35 million, the loss of life had still been monumental. This was further hampered when smaller creatures began to flood the streets, slicing through the armed forces that were sent in for evacuation. The Japanese and Chinese naval fleets and air forces had tried to counter the monster but it was incredibly resilient. It was only made worse when Faraday began firing into the buildings and ships, decimating them with ease.
Whatever happened to the ship during the sixty years it went missing it was significantly more formidable than it was before it left. Nothing they threw at it left a scratch and more and more monsters continued to fall from its belly. Eventually the fleets were forced to retreat after suffering more than 60% losses. The decision was made to nuke the city in the hopes of preventing the giant monsters from invading nearby territories. Twelve B53 Nuclear Bombs, each with a yield of 1.2 Megatons were launched at strategic points around Tokyo to avoid pushing the radiation inland. The once sparkling metropolis, a testament to humanity's creativity and advancement, was no more. Fortunately, the monsters, now classified as 'Kaiju', were killed in the blast as well. Unfortunately, the Faraday managed to escape into the portal from whence it came.
This wasn't the end, however, and humanity knew it. Immediately a United Nations summit was called consisting of every single nation on the planet. On June 7, 2334 the Human Alliance was born with the sole objective to prepare humanity for the next attack. No expense was spared as resources were pulled in from every single colonized planet and more and more credits were pumped into R&D and no idea was off the table. After combing through all of their options the Alliance decided to focus mainly on robotics and warship development. Over the next decade the Alliance developed many offensive and defensive technologies: Railguns, various missiles, particle-beam cannons, and energy shields for the navy and the "Space Force."
The most important inventions, however, were the highly advanced mech suits called Javelins for the ground troops, and more importantly, the Jaegers. They are massive robots controlled by two pilots that are linked by a process called "Drifting" that allows the two pilots to share memories, instincts, and emotions. When fully linked they are able to act as one and essentially become one with the machine, acting as its brain. The first ever Jaeger created was "Tokyo Avenger" (東京アヴェンジャー) and was the only one fully capable when the Faraday returned.
Tokyo Avenger stood at 80 meters tall in its first iteration and was loaded with a bevy of heavy ordinance and capable of getting up close and taking on the kaiju with deadly melee and hand-to-hand combat. When the Faraday returned on June 6, 2344 it did so with a fleet of ships and an army of kaiju. Portals opened all across the planet, nowhere safe from the monsters. This time the kaiju ranged in size from the small, dog sized creatures, to 100 meter tall monstrosities that had no correlation to any Earth creature.
The war that followed would last for several centuries across hundreds of planets and even into space itself.
Tokyo Avenger was lost in the first 3 years but had accomplished over 30 kaiju kills before a new kaiju, standing at 150 meters in height, completely demolished it, leaving nothing to be scavenged. By then dozens more Jaegers had been completed and continued the fight while Tokyo Avenger was remade from the ground up.
In the 12th year of the war the kaiju managed to capture a Space Force dreadnought and drag it into the rift in the Pacific Ocean. Not long after this, portals began to open up on other planets and in the space between and the war continued. It was theorized that something on the other side was controlling, maybe even creating the kaiju. Unfortunately, the Alliance was unable to act on this theory as they were now fighting a war across the stars instead of on and around Earth. Supply routes were cut off, colonies vanished and all the while the enemy grew stronger behind their rifts.
Humanity grew stronger as well, developing weapons capable of blasting apart kaiju in a single strike and obliterating asteroids at will. The Jaegers grew in size and capability, the new and improved Tokyo Avenger standing at an impressive 250 meters in height and packing enough ordinance to level a mountain. Their Javelins were capable of taking on legions of kaiju ground forces and running distractions for the Jaegers with fly-by bombardments and precision strikes. The Space Force was their backbone, massive ships were crafted, the largest coming in at 8 kilometers long with its main weapon able to blow chunks out of planets, a tactic that had to be enforced several times when the forces guarding said planet failed to hold back the enemy and the planet was overrun.
In the 153rd year of the war the unthinkable happened, a massive kaiju, comparable in size to Mount Everest, climbed its way out of a rift off the east coast of the United States and began making its way inland. This kaiju was like nothing humanity had ever seen before, it resembled a bipedal lizard with massive spikes running down its back getting smaller as they reached its tail, strong stubby arms, a maw of impossibly sharp teeth and a hide so thick the various weapons of the Space Force were no more dangerous than a spitball from a highschool bully. When it roared the sound was heard across the planet, every step it took in the ocean sent tsunamis tearing across the coast. Its very presence destabilized the environment, creating tornadoes and hurricanes. It was a walking natural disaster of god-like power. They dubbed it…
Godzilla.
Many attempts were made to stop Godzilla from reaching land, airstrikes, orbital bombardments, nothing worked. The Alliance refused to use the main weapon of Obitus, the 8 kilometer Super-Dreadnought, as if they missed then Earth would be destroyed, or at least suffer enough damage to become uninhabitable. Their only option was to begin evacuating the entire continent of North and South America. Godzilla did not move very fast, and as such 65% of the population was evacuated into space by the time the monster reached the coast. Everyone who couldn't make it was unfortunately incinerated when Godzilla, with an ominous and ethereal blue glow along the spikes on its back, unleashed an explosion that reshaped the entire landmass of the former United States of America. It would go on to do the same in Canada and the South and Central American territories, leaving that entire side of the planet unrecognizable to what it once was.
Then it just kept on moving, heading to the other side of the planet to do the same there. It was clear then that there was no stopping this monstrosity with their current technology, to attempt it would see the extinction of humanity. So… they ran. On March 5, 2497, 9 billion humans fled from Earth in a mass exodus and watched from orbit as their home planet was made unrecognizable. Their hearts were broken and when morale fell so too did their will to fight. Worlds began to fall by the dozens, overrun by the kaiju until Humanity was cast out into the stars. By May 2, 2519 a total of 27 billion humans were living in a massive flotilla of ships as they searched for a new, albeit temporary, home. They had zero intentions to let things lie as they were.
The largest ship of the fleet was 160 kilometers in diameter, it was spherical in design, and could house upwards of 12 billion humans and animals. The Alliance had begun constructing it shortly before Earth was lost and were simply trying to finish construction before they called for a full retreat across all systems. They named it Requiem as a tribute to all of the lost souls. The rest of humanity was spread out across the other 75,000 ships ranging from 800 meters to the 8 kilometers of the Obitus. It was clearly a tight fit but they had to make it work.
In 2531 humanity found a dormant Mass Relay which showed proof of the existence of alien life in their own dimension. They avoided it like the plague, determined not to come into contact with any alien life until they won back their home. Two years later in 2533 they came across a garden world with large similarities to Earth that was certainly not on any of their previous star charts. It was twice the size of Earth and had slightly more gravity but nothing too noticeable. When scans showed no presence of intelligent life they quickly landed and began colonizing and building their strength. They named this planet Recovery and would spend the next 100 years planning their return to Mother Earth.
When Humanity returned to the Sol System in 2657 they did so with a show of force. They had spent their time in constant technological advancement, specifically in the design of their Jaegers. Their most powerful Jaeger to date, Gaia's Revenge, stood at 9 kilometers in height and had enough strength to shatter a mountain with just a few strikes and was powered by the most complex Mayfield Core ever designed. Gaia itself was made from a new metal native to Recovery and its neighboring planets called Phrik that was nearly indestructible once mined and shaped. It was piloted by 100 humans all permanently linked together through the Drift, these men and women would never be able to leave the mech and were aware of this when they signed up. They became one in the same, a new being with the sole purpose of protecting humanity from any external threat. They became Gaia's Revenge and as such the mech was regarded as a living being.
The 100 humans that became Gaia all shared one specific similarity that was transferred into the machine. They were no strangers to war and would all fight to the bitter end to protect themselves and the rest of humanity, but most importantly they truly desired peace above all things. But in this war there was no peace to be found, they would show no mercy. Provide no reprieve until every single one of humanity's enemies were wiped from existence.
Gaia's Revenge was backed up by a legion of Jaegers ranging from 80 meters to 2 kilometers and each Jaeger was fully space-worthy, employing the same methods of FTL travel as the ships in the Space Force. They would become known as the Jaeger Fleet. Javelins were still made but were no longer the primary focus and therefore didn't see too much advancement in that time. After all, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The Javelins had performed expertly well up to this point and mostly only required some tougher weaponry and armor made from a synthesized version of Phrik, in the case of the Colossus platforms, that wasn't quite as durable as the natural metal, but still significantly more durable than any Earth metal.
When the humans arrived with Gaia's Revenge and the newly outfitted and war ready Requiem leading the charge, the enemy fleets surrounding Earth were unprepared for the ferocity with which they fought for their home. In their arrogance they had assumed that they had defeated humanity, broken their spirit.
They would not live to regret that mistake.
In only three hours they managed to push through the blockade and land over 7,500 Jaegers on the home planet along with countless troops and Javelin soldiers. This was also where humanity finally came into contact with the real enemy, the ones pulling the strings behind their curtain of giant monsters. The Precursors bore a striking resemblance to humans, though without any hair, noses, ears, and very thin lips. They reached up to nine feet in height and the few soldiers they actually had were admittedly quite capable in battle. Though they preferred to command the lesser kaiju against any ground troops and Javelin forces.
When Gaia landed they immediately made their way toward Godzilla, moving with much greater speed than the hulking lizard could achieve thanks to the lighter weight afforded to them by their Quantum Drive.
Their fight was god-like in power, truly a battle between two Titans of Greek mythology. Where Godzilla had strength and sheer stubbornness, Gaia had speed and grace. They were able to match Godzilla blow for blow, slicing off chunks of flesh with their incredibly sharp Phrik Metal Wrist Blade. The already unrecognizable landmass of what used to be Japan was transformed again as their battle caused massive tremors across the land, destroying cities and wreaking havoc across the entire continent formerly known as Asia. Their battle lasted two days with each of them having to fight to regain the advantage.
When Godzilla charged up for an Atomic Blast, Gaia didn't give it a chance. They dashed behind the monster and sliced off the spikes on its back, cutting off the attack before it could happen. Then Gaia performed an incredibly risky maneuver by Portaling several miles away and charging full tilt back at the still dazed Godzilla. Gaia's blade punched through the monster's heart and Godzilla let out one last world shaking death rattle before falling over dead on the ground. Gaia didn't stop there, though and proceeded to slice off Godzilla's head and held it aloft for everyone to see. The bane of humanity was no more and from here on out the war for Earth would shift firmly to the human side.
In space the Precursors had called in every ship from the many worlds they had stolen from humanity, but it wasn't enough, as advanced as the Precursors were, they were no match for a truly vindictive humanity.
After many months of fighting both on the ground and in space the kaiju and Precursors retreated back into the rift to plan a counter attack. But Humanity wouldn't give them the opportunity. In the last century they had been very carefully and discreetly studying the Portal Drive and had discovered how to open a portal directly to the home dimension of the Precursors. When they fled the Humans followed after them with everything they had. It took another 20 years but finally every last Precursor and kaiju was destroyed. No prisoners, no hostages, no one was left alive, no chance for a sudden comeback. Humanity left nothing to chance and when they emerged from the Precursor Dimension 20 years later they immediately set out to return Mother Earth to her former glory.
The next 200 years were spent terraforming and rebuilding all Earth's most famous cities. Slowly but surely the landmasses and oceans returned to normal and the radiation from Godzilla's blasts evaporated. By 2899, Earth was nearing something similar to pre-war status. Tokyo, London, New York, Hong Kong, and other famous cities were fully rebuilt as close to the original as possible, though many humans still lived on Requiem and Recovery, Earth was slowly but surely being repopulated. Regardless of where they were from, however, every human regarded Earth as their true home.
And no one would ever take it from them again.
Chapter 1: Second Contact
On September 23, 2905 while studying the alien artifact discovered during the "Exodus" the Heavy Battlecruiser Resolution accidentally activated it was sent hurtling through space, ending up a hundred thousand miles away from a large space station of alien design. They are quickly met with a substantial fleet of alien ships.
XXXXXXX
"We're being hailed, Captain." Said Lieutenant Lewis on comms. The bridge of Resolution was a buzz of activity, everyone was either trying to get a handle on how the ship had just been transported thousands of lightyears from where they previously were, or running hundreds of scans on the alien space station they just appeared near, including the fleet of a thousand ships rapidly approaching them.
Captain Indigo Walsh, however, was not worried in the slightest. Walsh was a veteran of The Kaiju War. He was very, very old, kept alive by advanced cybernetics, top of the line biomechanical augmentations, and occasional bouts of cryo-genic stasis. But it was this extreme age and experience that allowed him to keep calm in an otherwise chaotic situation. Whatever happens he will assess the situation and act accordingly, the Alliance knew that there was a strong possibility that tampering with the alien artifact would introduce humanity to a new, possibly hostile alien civilization. As such, Resolution was purged of all star data and anything that could so much as hint at the location of Earth and Recovery to ensure that whatever they found would never be able to try and take their home away from them again. The 5 kilometer long Battlecruiser was also outfitted with the latest in magnetohydrodynamic weaponry and the finest energy shielding ever crafted. Quantum Entanglement Communicators enabled them to send messages all the way back to Earth, only after bouncing the signal across countless other star systems so it couldn't be traced. The Quantum Drive, Mayfield Core, and the newly reinstated Portal Drive had all been upgraded to the standards of a full on 9 kilometer Super-Dreadnought. To put it simply, Resolution was shooting far and above her weight class and these puny alien ships weren't even in the same league.
"Quiet on deck!" Indigo boomed and immediately everyone shut their mouths. "Accept the hail, Lieutenant and broadcast to everyone on board. Send over a language package, maybe they'll have some kind of translator."
"Yes, sir." She sent over the language package, and everyone on board the ship waited patiently for the aliens to speak. It took several tense minutes but a voice finally came through, speaking with a somewhat posh accent, not quite British, but definitely full of money. She spoke in what was supposed to be a commanding tone, but did nothing for the war torn Captain Walsh who simply stood completely unbothered.
"Unknown vessel, you are intruding in Citadel space, identify yourselves or be fired upon! You will not receive another warning."
"Do you hear that, people?" Walsh asked with a smirk.
"Hear what, Captain?" Asked one of the lieutenants.
"The piss dripping down her leg. She's nervous. She's hiding it well, I'll give her that, but I'm willing to bet that they've never seen a ship half as big as Resolution. They're all just hoping and praying to whatever god they believe in that we come in peace."
"So what do we do?"
"Let 'em sweat a little more." Sure enough, a few minutes later, despite their claims to the contrary, another warning did come.
"Unknown vessel, do you copy? Answer us or we will have no choice but to open fire upon you!"
"And that ladies and gentlemen, is called asserting dominance." He chuckled heartily. "Alright, Lewis, open comms."
"Comms open, sir." She said not a moment later.
"Reading you loud and clear. This is Captain Indigo Welsh of the Resolution, to whom am I speaking?" His gruff and leathery voice spoke with the true weight of a commanding officer.
"I am Matriarch Lidanya, Captain of the Destiny Ascension, flagship of the Citadel Defense Fleet. Captain, you are intruding upon sovereign space. Explain yourself."
"To be frank, Matriarch, I have no idea. You see we were investigating an alien device we found floating in space a few years back, when suddenly the damn thing activated and sent us to your doorstep."
Destiny Ascension
'They don't know about the relays? How is that possible with ships that large? They would have to be incredibly advanced to mitigate the monumental amount of eezo required to move a ship that large.' Lidanya thought to herself after the man, at least she assumed it was male, finished speaking. This entire situation was absurd to say the least. Just moments ago she had been sitting in the Captain's Quarters, enjoying a cup of Thessian tea when suddenly the alarms started blaring and her XO informed her that a ship had just come through the relay, a big ship, huge ship, she emphasized. She couldn't help but wonder what kind of ship would make the executive officer of the largest ship in the galaxy feel the need to emphasize that it was massive.
Goddess, was she surprised though. The alien vessel was just shy of 5 kilometers long and boasted weapons systems along the hull that looked to be the size of Turian dreadnoughts. The ship itself was metallic blue in color and very sleek in design. No fins or wings like the avian-like turian ships, not bulbous like salarian ships. It was slim and sleek, almost like some kind of archaic rifle, if only judging by what looked to be a massive cannon at the bow. She decided that she did not want to see what that weapon could do.
"Captain, if you don't mind me asking, how long has your species been space fairing?"
The voice on the other side was silent for a moment, possibly judging whether or not this was something they wanted to share with aliens. "Listen, I'd love to stay here and play twenty questions with you all day, but I am a soldier, Matriarch. Not a diplomat. The way I see it there are two options here: One you open fire on us, we open fire on you and we find out just who has the bigger stick. Second option, and probably more preferable for you, we peacefully go our separate ways. We never wanted to come into contact with any of you in the first place. As far as we are concerned, you stay out of our way, we'll stay out of yours. How does that sound?"
Lidanya, as well as everyone else listening in, was stunned at the bluntness of this alien. To so easily dismiss a First Contact scenario. To say nothing of his utter lack of curiosity at seeing the Citadel. Never before had a species denied any interest in joining the galactic community. Just who were these aliens?
"I… Captain if you'll just give me a moment. I must speak to my superiors. I'm certain they will want to speak with you, perhaps even invite an assigned diplomat onto the Citadel to speak in person."
"Did you listen to a single thing that I said? We want nothing to do with you. I don't much care about your superiors or your Citadel. Clearly tinkering with that artifact was a mistake, we'll be sure to avoid them in the future. Now then, you all have a wonderful day." The Captain said, agitation clear in his voice.
Lidanya began to panic somewhat, she couldn't just let them leave, a new and unknown species running amok in the galaxy could cause untold problems. They could start a war with any number of aggressive races, namely the Batarians. They might find their way into the Perseus Veil and get themselves into a war with the Geth. That would be disastrous for the entire galaxy if the Geth interpreted it as a joint attack on them by the organic species of the galaxy. No! She had to reel them in somehow. "Captain, wait! There is an entire galaxy of sentient, space-faring species out there. All of whom are a part of the Citadel Community. Your people may want to be left alone, but it will only be a matter of time before you run into some of the more unruly characters of the galaxy. If you speak with Council they can provide insight and guidance on how to properly navigate the wider galaxy that you've now been exposed to."
Once again the Captain was silent for what felt like an eternity before he finally answered. "The best I can do is speak to the big wigs back home, it'll be up to them if they want to deal with you or not. I don't want a damn thing to do with this."
"Perhaps we could send a diplomat back with you, it'll hasten the proceedings somewhat."
"Absolutely not! Let me make something clear, if you or anyone else ever tries to follow us or locate our home planet or any of our colonies, you will have a war on your hands the likes of which you have never experienced before! Is that clear?!" He roared, showing the most emotion since the start of this short conversation.
"I… Understood, Captain. We shall eagerly await a response from your people." It was plainly obvious to her that there was no arguing this point. She could only hope that the people he answered to were more open to negotiation. "We'll let you be on your way."
"Right, you'll let me." He cut the comms and shortly after the massive ship turned so that its port side was facing them and then did something that left everyone's jaws on the floor long after the ship was gone. A portal, larger around than the ship itself, opened up in space about a mile ahead of the ship. It was so surreal to witness, it was as if the empty space, emptied even more. The ship began moving toward it and began to disappear inch-by-inch until the entire ship was gone and the portal promptly disappeared.
Every single person aboard the many ships of the Citadel Defense Fleet was left completely stunned with one question running through their minds: What had just been unleashed on the galaxy?
Codex:
Human Population circa. 2905
37 billion (Milky Way Galaxy)
2 billion (Precursor Dimension)
A/N: I've been sitting on this story for a long long time, really just perfecting it and fleshing out the world. I'm still in the midst of getting treated for my ADHD so don't expect any updates anytime soon. I just really want some feedback on if this story is even worth going forward with. It's a bit sloppy, a little all over the place, but I'll fix it up in the future. Please leave a review and let me know what you think.
-illFatedSuccess
