Intervention

Prologue: Discovery, Anticipation, Arrival

January 7th, RY367, 1339 Hours

Republic of San Magnolia, Liberte et Egalite, Palace Blancneige

Kris yawned and crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned back in his chair. The wrinkles this caused in his blue uniform did not concern him in the slightest. No one really cared about that stuff, at least not after the first month. That was how long it had taken him to stop worrying about uniform regulations. Now his uniform was as messy and disheveled as the officers he always saw drinking in the lobby. With a content sigh, he closed his eyes and smiled, letting his mind drift away from his tedious duty. This was the life, receiving a government paycheck to sit around and stare at screens for eight hours a day.

"You sure you should have your eyes closed kid?"

Well, there was one small downside to his job. It was named Manfred, and was usually seated in the corner of the room, drunk and second guessing Kris' every move. Kris swiveled in his chair to face the older man. Sergeant Manfred Kostov was a man in his late forties who clearly hadn't gotten into the military with his intelligence. He was tall, had a noticeable beer gut, but seemed to be in decent shape. He was not particularly attractive, with a mouth that seemed too wide for his face, and round eyes that gave him a perpetual look of surprise and confusion. He also possessed the silver eyes and hair one would expect of a citizen of the San Magnolia Republic, but even among the Alba intelligence was not distributed evenly.

Hence why he'd basically been shoved in a closet and told to watch people who stared at screens all day.

"Yes, it's fine." Kris replied, doing his best not to snap at the man as he pushed his glasses back up his nose. "Nothing is going to happen if I close my eyes for a few seconds. Hell, nothing has happened in the past three years." He gestured back to his screen to emphasize his point. To someone like Manfred, who knew nothing about technology more advanced than his phone, it probably looked like a jumble of numbers and images. To Kris... it had stopped being interesting after the third month.

"Look, all I know is you're watching a bunch of stuff in space. That stuff could cause a bunch of damage if it came down." The older man spoke after staring at the screen for a few seconds, clearly not comprehending a thing. Kris did his best not to sigh, scratching the back of his head. Yes, satellites falling from orbit could be dangerous, but the likelihood of a satellite suddenly drop out of the sky was nonexistent. It was even less likely that one of the Republics satellites to fall, being made with superior Alba technology.

"Look, Manfred, if falling space junk really was that dangerous, the Republic would have a lot more than five people in a broom closet watching it." He continued to placate the sergeant, this time gesturing to the poorly lit room the two were stationed in. It was a cramped space, barely large enough for the the two rectangular tables and chairs that served as the work station for the five technicians that worked there. Six computers sat on the tables, though one had a few cobwebs on it from lack of use. They weren't even modern computers, but old, outdated models with liquid crystal screens. No fancy holographic screens like the Handlers got for this group.

Manfred sat on a stool in the corner.

This was the San Magnolia Army's Satellite Monitoring Center... which was not nearly as interesting or authoritarian as it sounded. It was five people in a dark room who's job was to monitor telemetry from the Republic's old scientific satellites, stuff the military had no interest in, and report at the end of the month that everything was normal. It was one of the easiest jobs in the army, assuming you had the technical smarts to understand the data. It was so easy that only one of the five people assigned to the department were actually necessary to run it. Kris had drawn the short straw today, so he was stuck here while the rest of his "colleagues" were goofing off.

"Yeah, I suppose that makes sense I suppose." The older soldier agreed, returning to his stool and sitting down. Kris refrained from rolling his eyes and returned to watching the same numbers he had been watching for the past three years. "Hey, you mind if I ask you a question?" Yes. Yes he did, but he didn't have anything better to do, and he'd be here for a few hours. Might as well shoot the shit with Manfred, even if he was only one braincell away from being an 86.

"If you're so smart, why are you working here. Shouldn't you be up at R&D or a Handler or something like that?"

"And listen to a bunch of pigs squealing in my ears all day? No thank you." Kris answered, adjusting his glasses again. "And R&D is overworked as all hell. Half those guys look like they're dead on their feet." Although that Penrose girl was cute. Wasn't she rich too? Working with her might be worth... no. Kris was happy here. Boring, repetitive work that barely required any effort on his part, when he bothered to show up.

"Uh, your computer is beeping."

Manfred's comment roused Kris from his thoughts, and he realized that there was an annoying, shrill noise coming from his computer. That... had never happened before. Kris felt something akin to excitement at this. For the first time in three years, something interesting had happened to rouse him from his apathy. With an excitement he hadn't felt in years, he began typing on his keyboard. He was vaguely aware that Manfred had risen from his stool, but ignored him.

"It looks like a flare of infrared, X-Ray, and gamma radiation. It's not coming from the sun though. Looks like it's coming from deep space..." Kris murmured to himself, again ignoring Manfred as the older man leaned over his shoulder to examine the computer in a vain attempt to comprehend it. Kris' fingers continued to dance across the keyboard as he reviewed the data, dusting off all the energy and physics knowledge that had been festering in his brain since he'd taken this position. The flare definitely hadn't come from the sun, or anywhere in the inner solar system for that matter. That meant it came from outside the solar system... but what could cause that?

Kris took his glasses off to rub his eyes, then returned them and leaned forward in his seat to resume his work.

"Okay, this is weird. It looks like it came from within the solar system, not from outside the Kuiper Belt..."

"What does that mean?" Manfred asked, reminding Kris that he was still present.

"It means that something around... Pluto, I think, just sent out a huge burst of radiation. That... shouldn't be possible. Flares like this should come from the sun, or maybe from outside the solar system. There's nothing near Pluto that could create the readings I'm seeing." Kris explained, his fingers pausing as a thought crossed his mind. He turned to the soldier and spoke again.

"I need you to go and get the rest of the team. If I'm going to figure out what this is, I need more hands." Manfred didn't argue or question. He merely nodded and left the room. He was a well trained soldier. Give him orders, and he obeyed. Unless you were telling him to get out or stop bothering you.

But, with his watchdog gone, Kris was now free to get... creative. He returned to his keyboard, punching in a very specific set of codes. The SMC did have the authority to take direct control of some satellites, usually to perform remote maintenance or for minor orbital corrections. However, San Magnolia had maintained a small group of research satellites with some rather powerful telescopes on them. They hadn't been used since before the war, but they were still in working condition. Perfect for investigating this little anomaly. An energy spike like this had to be the result of some kind of some kind of physical phenomenon. Something that could be observed.

Screw working a boring, low effort military post, he was about to make a major discovery in the field of astrophysics. He'd get his a place in the history books, right alongside heroes like San Magnolia!

Before long, a picture of Pluto appeared on his appeared on his screen. The quality wasn't the best, and he was not trained to operate a satellite mounted space telescope, but it would serve his purpose well enough. He'd get as much of Pluto as he could, and take a look at its moons, just to be safe. With luck, he'd find whatever the cause of the spike was, and turn his cameras off before Manfred returned with his fellow operators.

Nothing seemed to be going on with Pluto, at least nothing obvious, so he chanced a look away to examine the moons. Hydra, Nix, Stix, Char-

Kris nearly fell out of his seat when he moved to Charon... because there wasn't much left of Charon! Somehow, the entire moon had broken apart, reducing it to nothing more than massive chunks of ice and rock floating in space. Kris realized almost too late that he'd forgotten to breath, taking a deep breath before he returned his now shaking hands to their work. Something had just caused a moon to break apart and release a huge amount of radiation. He needed to figure this out.

He wouldn't be able to sleep until he found out what was responsible...

He wouldn't be able to sleep anyway.

He barely registered as the door opened behind him, the annoyed voice of one of his colleagues demanding to know why he'd gathered them here. He didn't respond, he merely continued to stare at the image on his screen. Around him, the voices of his fellow technicians soon fell silent as the too saw what he was looking at.

A grainy, yet unmistakable image of an artificial structure, floating amongst the shattered remnants of Charon. It had two long arms, like a tuning fork, and a set of strange, rotating rings that seemed to contain a glowing ball of energy. The six assembled individuals had no idea what they were looking at, but they knew one thing for certain: humanity was not alone. Intelligent life existed somewhere out in space...

And they'd just blown up a moon.


July 20th, SY2148, 0548 Hours

Federal Republic of Giad, Sankt Jeder, Adler Holst

"How long do we have?"

President Ernst Zimmerman sat at his desk, hands clasped in front of him. It made him look relaxed and professional, and hid the fact that his hands were shaking. Unfortunately, that did nothing to hide his disheveled hair and bloodshot, bag-lined eyes. Standing across from him were two groups of people in military uniforms. One group was the National Defense Council, the body responsible for commanding the Federacy's military in their war against the Legion. The second was Skywatch, a hastily assembled group of military personnel, mostly ex-air force, and civilian scientists. The unit had been slapped together after the destruction of Charon, and given the mission to monitor alien activity in the system. Both groups showed similar signs of sleep deprivation, much like the President.

"Four hours, likely sooner." Lieutenant Colonel Grethe Wenzel, Commander of Skywatch, stepped forward. She was usually an upbeat, somewhat playful woman, but now she couldn't keep the uncertainty from her face.

"Alright... do we have any idea what their intentions are?" Ernst continued, running his hands through his hair and doing his best to hide a grimace. Forget knots, his stomach had been found like it had been woven into a rope ladder. He'd likely die of an ulcer before the aliens reached orbit.

"In addition to the fleet currently approaching Earth, several smaller flotillas have also entered the system, and have begun spreading out to other planets and moons in the outer system." Grethe continued to report. "We believe they're here to build infrastructure to support further operations in the system. Whoever they are, they're here to stay." The temperature in the room felt as though it dropped several degrees as she finished.

"Worst case scenario?"

The gathered officers and scientists all began to share uncertain looks.

"Can we defend ourselves if they're hostile?"

A dark haired man with a sword at his hip cleared his and stepped forward. "Sir, our forces are stretched to their limit fighting the Legion. We can't afford to reallocate anyone to fight a new foe." He told the President grimly.

"That assumes they even bother landing troops." Grethe added. "We have no idea what they're capable of, but if they want to wipe us out, they can just fling an asteroid at the planet. Or, if they don't want to destroy the planet, they could bomb our cities and armies from orbit, and deploy troops to wipe out the stragglers." She continued in a somber tone, unable to keep a defeated look from her eyes.

Ernst hummed, or perhaps grumbled, and rose from his chair, walking over to the window. Below, the city of Sankt Jeder stretched out before him. He liked to think that, if he looked closely, he could make out the sight of early risers leaving their homes to begin their day. Unafraid of the Legion at their gate. Unaware of the alien fleet growing closer by the second.

He regretted ordering the presence of alien life to remain a secret. At first, he had told himself it was simply to avoid panic. Now... he was beginning to think it was some foolish attempt to deny the possibility that humanities days could be numbered. To let his people die in blissful ignorance. It was unlike him. He was an idealist, and proud of it.

It seemed even he could not remain optimistic in the face of extinction. The Legion could be defeated, but these aliens...

Taking another deep breath, he turned back to his gathered advisors, and forced himself to smile. Then, in the most cheerful voice he could muster...

"Then let us hope they come in peace."


July 20th, RY367, 0728 Hours

Republic of San Magnolia, Liberte et Egalite, Main Street

It was another day in the glorious Republic of San Magnolia. The streets bustled with silver haired citizens making their way to work, school, or going to enjoy their leisure time. In a cafe on a street corner, couples young and old were happily conversing together as they dined. A small park hosted a duo of magicians who conjured a flock of doves for a crowd of mystified children. On a rooftop, a holographic screen projected a familiar female newscaster, reporting the same thing she did every day. That the Republics forces were soundly routing the Legion across all fronts, and that no lives had been lost.

It was the only indication that the country was at war.

There was one person who seemed unaffected by the relaxed atmosphere. A young woman wearing the cyan and white uniform of the Republic's army stared up at the screen, feeling cold despite the pleasant summer breeze. After watching for another second, Valdilena Milize sighed and continued on her way. Those reports had never failed to put her in a bad mood, but recently she'd felt... indifferent to them. It wasn't that she'd stopped caring. She would never give up on her mission to end the persecution of the 86. However, She couldn't muster up the same contempt she had for those news broadcasts she had before.

Not since learning Shin's secret.

The Legion would not cease operating in two years, as the Republic believed. By that time, they'd be running out of 86 for the meat grinder.

"Will the Alba fight? Will you even remember how?"

With that knowledge, hating a simple piece of propaganda seemed rather trivial.

She continued on her way, her body moving on autopilot as she continued down the street. The familiar path left her mind free to wander. The Legion hadn't been very active recently. That could mean they were gearing up for an assault, but for now it meant Spearhead wasn't in danger. She'd need to take advantage of the calm. Find a way to convince her uncle of the danger. Maybe she could also have Spearhead recover some Legion parts and have Annette take a look at them? If she found something, would that be enough to convince Uncle Jerome? Would Annette even go along with it? Sure, she'd been willing to help Lena with small things like looking for a map, but wasn't exactly supportive of Lena's views on the 86.

"Mommy, what kind of rainbow is that?"

The voice pulled her from her thoughts and she looked to the source, a small boy pointing skywards with a look of wonder. Lena looked up, keeping a hand on her cap to keep it from falling off. Her mouth opened in an involuntary gasp as she beheld the sight before her. Streams of light danced across the sky, twisting and turning in patterns she'd never seen before. Greens, blues, reds, yellows, and pinks all swirled together in the sky. It was an aurora. She'd never seen one outside of pictures and videos before. How was this possible? Aurora's were only visible near the poles. There had never been a time in San Magnolia's history when an aurora was visible from the capital, or any territory the Republic controlled. Didn't auroras have something to do with the Earth's magnetosphere? Could there be something wrong with that?

Slowly but surely, the aurora began to fade. The patterns began to dull until there was nothing but a featureless sheen of color spread over the sky like a blanket. Soon, even that was gone. The cloudless sky returned to its natural blue, but a weight still hung over the city. No one spoke. No one moved. Everyone continued to stare blankly upward, as if expecting an encore. None came of course, and Lena almost looked down to continue on her way. Before she could, something caught her eye.

There were several specks, much too high up to be a bird. Lena squinted to try and make them out. She needn't have bothered, they were getting bigger fast. In mere minutes, they were close enough for Lena to identify.

Fourteen spacecraft now hung over Liberte et Egalite. There was no way they could be anything else. Nine of them were long, powerful looking vessels with swept back wings. They reminded Lena of great birds of prey. Three more appeared very ornate, more like something out of a fantasy series than a space craft. They had strange holes in the center of the vessel, though what purpose they could serve Lena couldn't even begin to speculate. The final two ships were long and needle-like. Compared to the other two they seemed strangely unobtrusive. It felt like they would fade away if she took her eyes off them.

A million questions ran through the young officers mind as she stared up at the ships in... wonder? Terror? She had no idea what she was feeling. What was the appropriate reaction to an alien fleet parking itself above your nations capital?

"People of Earth, we are the Citadel Council. We have seen your plight, and we have come to offer our aid."

CODEX: The Eighty Six (Post War)

After the end of the Legion War, one of the first problems faced by both the nations of Earth and the Citadel Council was the fate of the so-called Eighty Six of the San Magnolia Republic. By the time the war ended, less than three-hundred-thousand Eighty Six remained, and none were above the age of twenty. There was great debate among the nations of earth about how to care for the survivors. Some saw them as innocent victims of San Magnolia's genocide, proposing they be placed with foster families and given psychiatric care so they could reintegrate into society as quickly as possible. Others argued that they should be institutionalized until they were deemed psychologically stable. The Citadel Council took no official stance, deeming the matter an internal human affair. There are however rumors of several unofficial communications between the Council and several human officials on the topic.

Eventually, compromise was reached where the Eighty Six would be placed under the care of families with members who had background in military or law enforcement, and would be given regular psychological evaluations. When some Eighty Six voiced an interest in traveling off world, the Council created their own protocols for Eighty Six veterans to seek citizenship within alien nations. To the sorrow of much of the galaxy, most Eighty Six who chose to leave the planet immigrated to the Turian Hierarchy with the intent of enlisting in the Turian military. Most of these soldiers were sent to "garrison" the arctic garden world of Gellix. To this day, the planet has the largest population of humans outside the Sol System.

War Asset: Vladilena Milize

Military Strength: 100

Nicknamed "Bloody Reina" by her Eighty Six subordinates, Lena was played a key role in both the end of the Legion War and the Salarian backed coup that overthrew President Ducharme. Though placed on trial for her role in San Magnolia's Genocide, her actions earned her a greatly reduced sentence. Post war, she was given a position in the new Alliance military, and travelled the galaxy as a military observer, studying the tactics and military doctrines of various races to aid in the development of the Alliances own military. She eventually retired from this position, and emigrated to Gellix, a Turian planet that had become a de facto colony for many Eighty Six veterans who left human space.

When the Reaper invasion hit Gellix, Lena was quickly given command of the theatre, along with an unofficial promotion to the rank of general. She proved incredibly adept at countering Reaper ground forces, noting that their main tactic of combined arms horde assaults was not dissimilar to those used by less advanced Legion forces. After the evacuation of Gellix, she and the new christened 86th Gellix Armored Division have managed to pry several close victories from the jaws of defeat across several fronts.

A.N.

Phew, managed to get this out just under the wire. Happy N7 day folks...

So... this is awkward. I haven't really planned this story out beyond the first two or three chapters, and I'm frankly can't guarantee this won't wind up as a one shot. I've had writer's block pretty much since the pandemic started, and my main reason for writing this story was because I needed to get something on paper (metaphorically) to try and break it. That's why i included a codex entry and war asset post war and Reaper War, to give you some idea of what would happen after the Legion was defeated.

The next chapter, if it's released, will focus on the Council: their discovery of Earth, their reaction to the Legion War and 86 Genocide, and their first meeting with the governments of Giad and San Magnolia.

Well, that's all for now folks. Hopefully I'll put out another chapter for this before ADHD drags me away again. I know i said it once, but happy N7 day to you all.

I should go.