Chapter 9
Retribution
Enroute to Epsilon-Aridani System
US
They had found the living ones of this cycle those spared last time, those who would be harvested this time. They had fought well but we have been preparing for centuries cultivating their bodies consuming all they could to restore what was lost to them all that time ago first the degenerate Protheans and then the monstrous destroyers and still, they had endured and in that endurance grown strong just like the cosmic imperative dictated the strong survive and grow stronger and the weak perish and serve.
The Prothean within them approved of such endurance and power, the ability to survive no matter what and even prosper after all was lost and the galaxy cleansed.
These Humans that they had saved and allowed them true enlightenment by joining us and all, now they would consume the Humans whole and take what they do best and eliminate their weakness by growing us more, their knowledge, memories and technology would serve them and strengthen them, the rest of the galaxy would follow and they would save the galaxy form the destroyers and their insidious plan.
1000 space forms had been sent while the rest were still growing within their forges, they had underestimated their use of nuclear power and the strength of their hulls, the new generation being born would suffer fewer faults and would be improved by the Humans own genes.
Travelling through the tools of their enemy was distasteful but necessary, it was the only way to travel the void quickly.
300 of their surviving forms were on the way to finish off the Humans 3rd Fleet, the knowledge they absorbed proving useful knowing that they could wipe out on the main pillars that supported this Systems Alliance.
Their eyes saw the end of the journey and a small number of ships left to defend the system it seemed that most of the fleet had retreated back to safer territory, the information they absorbed said that there was still half the fleet left but here they could only see around 15 ships in a defensive formation, no doubt they would flee at seeing they might of us.
And they reacted as expected these humans were not the strongest, fastest or smartest race but they were creative but that would not save them from joining them. The human ships retreated moving further back into the system towards the only other Mass Relay which they believed would take them to safety.
There would be no safety for the humans they would be assimilated into the whole and would strengthen the core.
"Something is wrong." A voice said as they advanced.
"Our former selves would never act this meek." The newest of the voices added to their chorus spoke up for the first time.
"WASPs! We need to retreat." It said.
But they were too late the near-invisible black mines exploded and many of them were consumed in nuclear fire, it was their greatest weakness as beings of pure flesh the radiation was twice as dangerous to them, it warped and changed them made them sick.
Radiation was the only thing that could sicken them, bacteria and viruses' were simply absorbed and brought into the whole given better place and purpose than nature ever could.
They lost many forms in the resulting explosions the harsh fire burning them the radiation sickening them and these weapons were deployed without hesitation, yes the humans would be a good addition to them.
The other ships opened fire and what was left of them and their MAC Cannons pierced their flesh and destroyed more space forms, but there were still only 15 ships they still had more and would use that to free the crews of their mortal bonds and allow them immortality and enlightenment.
They maintained their approach and the ships got closer, soon they would be in the range of their spikes and then it was time to finish them off.
"Behind an attack." One space form said at the back of their formation.
Indeed the humans had split the ships they had left and now had them in a pincer, they were taking fire from two sides now and it was an untenable situation, they would need to advance quickly before they lost all of their space forms in this system.
"Nukes." The voice spoke again.
Nuclear detonations lit up the void of space again and more of their physical forms were lost to destruction and death from the ruthless weapons of the humans.
"Retreat." One of them said.
"Fight." Another said.
They would think fast and debate their points within microseconds thus was their advantage and the point was unified in between the time it took for a human to blink.
It was decided a retreat, not unlike the one they had forced the humans to make earlier, they pivoted and all of their forms charged the Mass Relay and the ships that lay between them and the Relay.
They had inflicted some damage onto the ships that lured them but not enough to justify their losses to these primitives, they would have to re-evaluate their initial plans and observations on the human race, more needed to be absorbed and more voices added as one to give greater context and experience.
The ships unleashed more of their nukes and more of their forms died but they returned volleys with altered spikes these were lighter and sharper than their usual ones the increased speed and penetration made up for their relative fragility.
There was a certain satisfaction in seeing their spikes pierce through the Titanium Alloy that made up the armour on the human ships, now their combat forms would emerge from the spike and consume the crew of the ship and add more voices to their great chorus.
"Behind a missile." The voices from the backspace forms spoke as one, but this was not unusual the humans had shown their fondness for both ballistic and nuclear missiles as complementary armaments to their MAC Cannons this was basic knowledge that they had assimilated and applied, the new space forms would not be so susceptible to their weapons.
"Moving past into the middle." It was observed by many as one.
The missile was strange it was larger than the SHIVA missiles that the humans had been using for their battles and none of the former humans within them had any knowledge of it.
It went right into the centre of their formation, the human ships in front began to retreat as their losses mounted from the new spikes they had created, the human ships lack of Eezo shields were proving to be their greatest weakness they-as-one would take advantage of to the fullest extent.
The New space forms would also need shields it was deemed by them as too mutative and expensive but this battle had proven that it would be needed to absorb the humans.
The Relay was right before them and the human ships had fled the area but then the missile that was flying at the centre of their formation exploded and consumed what was left of their space forms in the system, it appeared the humans had created even more powerful nuclear missiles with many times the yield of the SHIVA missiles that most of their ships used.
They lost any sight of the system while the last of their space forms died, it was an unfortunate loss they had wished to crush a full fleet but instead, they had lost their old space forms already the newer ones were born within their forge-wombs.
They had lost the entire fleet sent to the human-controlled system, yes they would have to re-evaluate the humans and their capabilities they had proven themselves well in the tenacity with their initial loss and their ability to fight back with ferocity with that battle.
They would send the new space forms through the Relay and move onwards and outwards, this was a temporary setback that would be rectified soon, there were no Protheans or destroyers to hold them back anymore.
Alpha-Arcturus System
Arcturus Station
Admiral Jon Grissom
Jon found himself very unhappy with the resulting shit storm from his stunt at the UN right now there was a war of words on earth and two clearly defined factions those who wanted the proposed Systems Alliance parliament and those who didn't, things were starting to get ugly down there and even though the Queen Spook assured him that this was within calculations and a world war on Earth had only a small chance of happening he was assured and most certainly regretting the pact he had made.
Then his day got worse the Bright Contingency had been triggered by the 3rd Fleet with the reports sent by Julius Rear-Admiral Aikens AI had painted a dire picture, half the fleet destroyed by organic ships and they had attacked through the Phase-Gate with more than they had destroyed Aiken's half of the fleet but luckily Captain Alexios was a calculating man and had deployed all the weapons he had at his disposal the WASP mines had been used to full effect.
Then there was the first combat deployment of the new ZEUS-class nuclear missiles with more than double the firepower of the SHIVA the ZEUS was designed to be a wolf pack killer designed to be launched into the middle of cruisers and dreadnought and destroy them.
Now he was sat in a meeting with the Fleet Admiral and the other Admirals in the decent contacting distance, Captain Alexios was out of range as was Rear-Admiral Volkov who was currently leading the 4th Fleet in an expedition that was basically in the complete opposite direction of the 3rd Fleet it would be a while before he could be called back and briefed.
"So what's the result of Captain Alexios' battle?" Fleet Admiral Ramon asked from his seat on the high table.
The highest-ranked individuals in the Alliance were gathered in a single room, this was HIGHCOM-High Command which governed all of the armed forces of the Systems Alliance, while theoretically, the UN governed the civilian government like the various colonies but in reality, the Systems Alliance had the greater say since they were actually out there while the UN was stuck on Earth.
The people in the room were the Fleet-Admiral of the Systems Alliance Navy who held the highest rank, The General of the Systems Alliance Army who was the same for the ground Army, Then there was the General of the Systems Alliance Air Force who had command over Atmospheric operations and Orbital Defences and of course, there was the head of the Systems Alliance Intelligence Agency who was still anonymous though each head of the armed forces knew their identity that was above Jon's paygrade.
"Executed perfectly the alien ships were annihilated, no survivors the WASP mines and the ZEUS performed even better than we expected the mines are perfect for ambushing and Project Minefield has been given approval and funding since the report came it, the ZEUS missile supplied also performed as expected as a wolf-pack killer the last ships that were fleeing towards the Phase-Gate were wiped out." The monolith spoke, the distorted female voice of the Head of the SAI echoed.
"Well, at least we managed to salvage the loss of half of the 3rd Fleet." General Abdullah commented though he did not sound happy.
"These Aliens are unlike any lifeform we have encountered before, based on reports they are completely organic and their ships are actually alive they see with eyes and shoot bone-like spikes for offence that also count as boarding vessels since these aliens can leave the spikes and begin to kill and eat anything alive." She continued with her report.
"We need them analysed and understood as soon as possible." Admiral Osoba said from his seat on the lower tables which had the Admirals of each of the Navy's fleets.
"The Predator stealth Frigate was dispatched the moment the Bright Contingency was triggered to collect samples from the enemy ships." She answered.
The Predator was the first of its kind; a stealth vessel which would specialise in reconnaissance and ambushes, it was created from the idea of the Prowlers that was recently discovered in the databanks of the ARGO, the Predator was still basically a prototype however and they had no idea on how well it would perform but hopes were high.
"So the elephant in the room then. We have encountered a hostile alien species that appears to eat ships and people what are our options?" The Fleet-Admiral asked.
"We enter a state of war and move to end this threat as soon as possible." Admiral Osoba said right away.
"I concur with the Admiral we must strike fast and first, we have lost a huge amount of manpower from having half of one of our 5 fleets destroyed." General Abdullah said.
"We have no information apart from what was seen by Julius, I recommend the creation of a defensive line within the system, as far as we know that Gate is the only line into our territory." The newly minted General Xiao of the Air Force said.
"And allow them to build for another attack? We should move in and crush them quickly." Admiral George Hood objected.
With that remark, bickering erupted between the two factions those who wished for immediate military intervention and those who wished for a more cautious response. Jon just watched along with the Fleet-Admiral who was deep in his own mind.
"Enough." His voice cut through the arguing and silenced everyone.
"We shall begin with laying hulls down for new ships to replace those who lost with Admiral Aiken, Captain Alexios will receive a promotion for his handling of the enemy fleet and become the new Admiral of the 3rd Fleet." He explained slowly.
"Our response shall put our military doctrine in use for the first time, the 2nd Fleet will move to hit the enemy supply lines and other high-value targets while the 3rd is rebuilding, The Predator will scout and find those lines and HVTs and we will beat them into submission." He finished with an air of finality daring anyone to contradict him.
"Will the Predator Project be put into full production?" The monolith asked.
"If we didn't lose half of our fleet then I would expect full production but with us needing to rebuild the 3rd Fleet expects half capacity while we concentrate on military ships." The Fleet-Admiral said reasonably.
"I see, I will contact civilian industries to make up the difference." She declared before winking out.
"Always got a back up hasn't she." Admiral Osoba said dryly.
"That's her job Admiral. I will go to prepare the defences of the closest colonies maybe my lads and lasses will finally see some action." Abdullah said with a savage grin, he was a calm and patient man but when his blood was roused he could be quite the hothead.
"I will see to the continued construction and operation of the ODPs." General Xiao said flatly.
One by one people left the room and then it was only Jon and the Fleet-Admiral left.
"Jon your 5th Fleet will be the rapid response fleet, you'll be going wherever the fightings heaviest." He was informed.
It was not a shock to Jon he expected it, he was a hero despite doing nothing truly heroic to earn the title, anyone could have been chosen to go through the Charon Phase-Gate and the ship commanding officer could have stumbled across the Argo but fate had dealt him both so now he was a hero and that had expectations his orders as a rapid response fleet was to facilitate that.
"Understood Fleet-Admiral," Jon said with a salute and left the room.
He would return to his fleet with the new Carrier of the Navy being his flagship, the war was only one battle in and Jon already felt tired.
CODEX:
Drop Platoons
Drop Platoons are the Special Forces of the Systems Alliance Navy, the best of the best and instilled with the Commando's mindset and can-do attitude they are the best that the Marines can offer.
They are trained hard and there is no shame in being RTU (Returned To Unit) as it is well known that the training to become a Drop Platoon Soldier is the harshest in history.
The unique method of insertion of the Drop Platoon is a simple manned pod that can be dropped from the orbit of a planet it is because of this the common saying "It takes a special kind of crazy to be a Drop Soldier".
AN:
Chapter 9 and here is the first interstellar war for humanity, earlier I stated that this species was my own creation and for the most part it is but I did find a name for them within the Mass Effect Canon so now they have a name that you will recognise and will hopefully be a surprise for people.
Hope you all enjoyed it and look forward to more.