Chapter 10
Mobilisation
Epsilon-Aridani System
SSV Napoleon
Admiral Dominic Osoba
He had arrived only a day ago to the Epsilon-Aridani System and met up with now Rear-Admiral Alexios who was very shocked at his sudden and unusual promotion but accepted it with grace and handed control of the system over to him.
So far since the initial destruction of the hostile fleet, nothing had happened in total silence, not even a probe had come through.
Now he was stuck in a conundrum, he could take his 2nd Fleet through the Phase-Gate and begin punitive offensive actions but that also risked complete obliteration just like what happened to Aiken so he was at an impasse.
"What is your recommendation Rear-Admiral?" He asked Alexios who was currently overseeing the rearmament of his fleet as well as repairing the ships that were damaged.
"We have the scans from the Recon by the Predator and the system seems to be empty, either they're luring us or they have another route into our space, one is more comforting than the other." Alexios answered as he looked over a datapad.
"Have you seen the data that the Predator sent over?" Osoba asked him.
"Yes, organisms with chimeric DNA and what seems to be a mix of all different kinds." Alexios answered though he did not seem to understand the significance.
"Our scientists think this new species eat others and adapt their DNA into their own genome." Osoba explained.
"Which means they have ours since they boarded and destroyed the other half of the 3rd Fleet." Alexios concluded grimly.
"Exactly these aliens probably have our entire genetic code open to them, I've already sent an emergency report to HIGHCOM and the Spooks have probably got one from their Predator." Osoba said as he tapped his datapad.
"I think offensive action is all we can do especially with one and a half fleets, my ships are all restocked, repaired and ready for battle." Alexios offered.
"We are in agreement HIGHCOM have said that the 5th Fleet and Grissom are our backup, his ships have been retrofitted with all the latest and greatest ship technology so his Fleet right now is strongest." Osoba said as he brought up a tac-map.
"I shall be the spearhead and you will be the arrows, My fleet will lead the way and I want your ships on the flanks and rearguard," Osoba explained sending over his battle plan to Alexios who looked it over.
"Very well Admiral. When do we move out?" He accepted it easily the plan looked sound to him.
"Time is of the essence let us move in now and crush them quickly." Osoba answered with a grin.
"Copy." Alexios said before Osoba finished the call.
This would be the first true offensive of the war, Osoba knew it had to be a smashing success it would greatly off-set the morale drop from having half of one of their fleets get destroyed down to the last man, they would need a great victory to regain confidence and get the war moving in their favour.
"James take us to the Phase-Gate we are beginning offensive actions." Osoba ordered his helmsman.
"Aye Aye Sir." Was said in reply.
The huge combined fleet of humanity moved perfectly in sync all of them united in purpose, the plan itself was straightforward enter the system and destroy any hostile ships while looking for their planet.
"10 minutes out sir." His XO said from their seat.
"Very well keep her steady on." Osoba replied while looking over his tac-map watching the fleets move forward.
These creatures had shown themselves as a threat and they needed to be neutralized for the sake of mankind.
Rakhana
Kuka City
President Kolye Shiost
Something was going on with the Humans they had one of their fleets stationed up in orbit which were usually ferrying Drell over to their colony called Harmony, it was what they called a garden world with a temperate climate along with an ocean surface of 60% it was not perfect for Drell as from the reports he was getting they found it a bit too cold and wet though it was bearable and most adapted easily.
The situation on the planet had almost stabilised and of course, the help from various humanitarian organizations also helped, a lot of them came with food and other supplies and distributed them for free to any who would ask and that endeared the humans to pretty much all of his people apart from the xenophobic domain who had isolated themselves completely and their border guards had orders to shoot any trying to enter or leave.
Kolye shook these thoughts from his head, he had called Ambassador Natasha for a meeting he had been concerned to see the fleet move through civilian traffic was still going on and even the transport ships taking those Drell who wished to leave Rakhana to Harmony were operating as normal.
"President Ambassador Natasha is here." His secretary called from her com.
"Send her in right away." He said back.
Natasha entered almost right after he said the words, she was dressed in her usual uniform and seemed more stressed than he had ever seen.
"Hello, Ambassador." He greeted.
"Good Morning President." She returned and sat in a chair opposite his.
"I imagine you already know why I have called you here." He said getting right into the issue.
"Yes I know, I think everyone has noticed our Fleet moving out." Natasha said with a sigh.
"May I ask what is happening to cause such movement?" He asked.
"It appears that we have encountered a hostile alien species capable of space flight and use of the Phase-Gates we are reallocating our fleets in order to deal with this new threat." Natasha explained.
"I see and where does this leave us?" He asked curiously.
"In the same place, you were when we signed the agreement this war changes nothing." She answered.
"I see that it a relief." Kolye relaxed more now.
"The Systems Alliance would consider it a personal favour if you kept this war hidden from the Drell populace." Natasha said after a few moments of silence.
"And why would the Systems Alliance want to keep their war a secret?" He said confused.
"The Drell people have only just been introduced to the idea of space exploration and we feel like that the current optimism and revival of your people would be dampened or outright stopped with the revelation of hostile space life." She explained calmly.
Kolye could certainly see where she was coming from with reasons like that, there was a cultural and spiritual revival among his people the note of optimism was obvious and large since many could now see a good future for themselves one that did not involve fighting over the few scraps left on Rakhana.
"I see." Kolye said in contemplation, "I shall keep this to myself for now." He agreed.
"Thank you President Kolye, is there anything else you wish to discuss?" Natasha thanked him with a smile.
"No that has been my only concern thus far." Kolye replied.
"Very well President if I may leave." Natasha asked the picture of professionalism.
"Of course Ambassador." He said and gestured with a hand.
Natasha left the room quickly and as soon as the door shut, Kolyat stepped out of the shadows of the office he had been hiding since before she had even entered.
"Well, that was not what I was expecting." He commented before sitting down.
"This is either a disaster or a great opportunity for us." Kolye said.
"Indeed, I have been reading up on the human's history it appears during these World Wars when the various countries were at war when they pulled troops in from their colonies who were given citizenship for their service at the end of the war." Kolyat explained.
"It could be our first foot in the door, if we send our people to fight on behalf of our sponsor then those who did would gain citizenship in the Systems Alliance." He laid out.
"It could work but we have no actual guarantee that it would be the reward, and I'm not entirely comfortable with sending our people to fight in a war we know nothing about." Kolye explained his concerns.
"I can understand that but we are still severely overpopulated and even with the relief of moving to Harmony we are still too numerous maybe a war would be a good way to thin the herd so to speak." Kolyat said something outrageous as if it was a conversation about the weather.
"Kolyat!" He replied in shock.
"I know it sounds cold but sometimes these things must be done. You cannot win a war without spending lives." He explained himself calmly.
"I know that but you could be less callous about it." Kolye said.
"I will watch my language from now on." He promised.
That was not what Kolye meant but he held his tongue he and his brother always had disagreements about such things.
"Well I will start drilling our soldiers harder now, we had best put our best foot forward before the wave of inspired civilians put their names down for recruitment." Kolyat said with a shrug as he stood up.
"We want our best for the best chance." Kolye said while looking out of the window.
It was amazing seeing how much the city had changed in mere months, once it was half a desert with many choosing to stay inside and ration their food and water but now the city was alive in a way that it hadn't been for a hundred years, people walked the streets and worked with smiles the shipments of food and water from the humans was a literal lifesaver for many of the poorer Drell and even the more well off were happy to actually spend their money on human cuisine that would come down to set up shop and sell their various foods and goods.
The economy was booming now that people were actually spending money instead of hoarding it, this was the beating heart of Kuka City the economic capital of Rakhana and of course, he would trade with the other nations in good faith as long as they knew who was the strongest on the planet so they couldn't rebel since it was his nation which was feeding their people.
A united planet would be crucial for his people's full introduction into the Systems Alliance if all went to plan the Drell would stand as equals to their benefactors within the coming years it was not just to expand his people's standing and power but also to repay the Humans for saving their species from extinction a united Drell would empower the Systems Alliance as they all worked together for a better future.
This was Kolye's dearest wish to stand next to the humans as equals as brothers they would face what the galaxy had to throw at them.
Sol System
Earth
UN Headquarters
"We are at war with a hostile alien species now." A representative said with a deep sigh.
"That is correct, we were lucky with the Drell but these new aliens are hostile and seem to have a taste for eating." Fleet Admiral Ramon informed flatly.
"You must understand that this is hard to believe I mean it hasn't even been a year since the Drell were discovered." President Joseph said with some disbelief.
"And it comes at a convenient time, then vote for your parliament begins soon and all of a sudden we are attacked by aliens." President Zhao added in.
"We have been exploring nonstop since the discovery of Element Zero and the Phase-Gates this was bound to happen eventually." He countered easily.
"He makes a point even our AIs had predictions of meeting a hostile species going up exponentially each month we went opening the Phase-Gates and exploring the systems." The Prime Minister said with a hand on his chin.
"I have informed you that we are now in a state of war, I would hope you understand the gravity of the situation we find ourselves in." The Fleet Admiral forced the topic back on track.
"And what do you expect us to do?" Joseph asked.
"Your jobs preferably, we need a larger budget and the ability to recruit more people for the armed forces." He answered clearly.
Technically the Systems Alliance was only as large as the UN Security Council allowed it to be, though, in reality, that was just about the recruitment of people from Earth as well using resources within the Sol System in reality, the UNs power only extended to Mars and the Jovian belts as such most Alliance personnel came from the colonies were UN influence was non-existent or weak enough that it could be forced into silence if they found out just how many people were actually apart of the Alliance they would lose their minds as it stood now the Systems Alliance was the strongest military in all of human history and could pacify Earth if they needed too.
"We will have to put it to an emergency vote." President Carlotta said with a sigh.
"Okay then." President Joeseph said defeated, he was a man who could see the writing on the walls he knew that the UNs power was coming to an end and though he fought with everything he had to stop it it was far too late.
'As long as we win this war, the UN is done.' Ramon thought watching the men and women vote one by one.
He already knew that it would pass but even so, he stayed and watched this would probably go down in the history books as the last significant vote by the UN Security Council and even then it was mostly symbolic since the Systems Alliance in reality was beyond their control and supervision.
Theta-Aridani System
SSV Napoleon
Admiral Dominic Osoba
They had just entered the system where Carol Aiken and her fleet had died, they had detected the remains of her fleet as soon as they exited the Phase-Gate's Mass-less corridor.
"Anything Julius." He asked his ship's new AI.
"Nothing Admiral it appears dead space just like last time." He answered.
"Okay you heard him I want everyone to look out for dead zones on scanners and report to Julius if you find one, we're gonna advance cautiously." He ordered.
The Fleet advanced cautiously and was very paranoid everyone was on edge waiting for the sneak attack to occur.
"I wish they'd just attack us right away I can't stand this waiting." One of the Comms Officers mumbled.
"Word." Another agreed with him.
Once they began to reach the planets in the system he ordered the remains of the 3rd Fleet to hide in the gravity shadows of the planets and to remain in reserve, when they were attacked Rear-Admiral Alexios would attack from the shadows to counter the enemy ships.
Their enemy seemed to have a taste for ambush tactics and close ship-to-ship combat, no doubt developed from the fact that they were literally their own ships and they are far faster and lighter than any ship because they were made of flesh and of course, boarding ships through their own projectiles also lent itself to that kind of fighting.
"Anything?" He asked as they passed by another planet.
"Nothing sir we're scanning everything and double-checking." That was the answer he received.
It was not the answer he wanted, however, so his fleet went further in and now they had eyes on the star of the system, soon they would be able to see the remnants of the battle which took place.
"There it is." Julius pointed out before anyone else.
On the viewscreen, the remains of Rear-Admiral Carol Aiken's own carrier had been ripped apart when she ordered the overload and detonation of the Element Zero Core which of course also triggered the Nuclear Fusion power generators and ripped the ship to pieces.
What was left was just a fleet of debris though there was far less than they expected with the knowledge that these aliens would literally eat through the ship to get to the people inside it made sense but was no less unsettling.
"Any dead zones in range?" He asked again.
"Nothing sir, I think they might have abandoned the system, I'm picking up a reading that correlates to an active Phase-Gate." He answered.
"Julius, what are the chances they fled the system?" He asked the AI.
"Very high but it doesn't fit with their tactics so far." He answered, Osoba raised an eyebrow at that answer, AIs were just supposed to calculate and report their results but actually dropping in a personal opinion even when based on existing data was a rare occurrence.
"Sir I'm picking up a dead zone!" One of his men shouted.
"Where?" He demanded.
"Below!" That was the answer.
Many people on Earth and the military thought of space as a 1-to-1 analogue of the sea but this was fundamentally incorrect, space was a 3-dimensional space and as such ships could above and below in the course of a battle and not simply exchange fire on a level plane, it was the most important thing that many officers learnt about from military theoretics, though humanity had never fought a true battle in space before encountering these aliens.
"Scatter and reorientate, tell Alexios to hold back for now." He ordered instantly.
He felt the ship shift despite the inertia dampeners present on all Alliance Space vessels, it was a sixth sense of his and his entire fleet shifted and caught sight of the enemy ships.
"They're different from last time, We're picking up metal and more Element Zero than before." His main Sensor officer reported.
"Different shape as well, they don't look like flesh balls anymore, now they look more like redfish." Another added in disgust.
He was not wrong, they had a thing front profile and seemed to get wider the further back and had fin and tail analogues, two eye-like structures on either side like a prey animal and of course there seemed to be some sort of tube on the bottom which seemed to be analogous to a missile tube, there was also pale white bone armour covering parts of them as well in just a couple of days their enemy had completely reconfigured their 'ships' and made a lot of them at that.
According to their sensors, there was around 600 hundred coming up from beneath them in a wedge formation with the larger ships at the front and getting smaller near the back of it.
"Right we've done the simulations this changes nothing we start with our MACs then switch to our nuclear arsenals." Osoba said this was being broadcast to every human vessel in the system.
"Got a lock on the lead ship sir." His XO reported.
"Well send them a present." Osoba replied.
There was a subtle hum in the ship and then a dull thump as the slug was shot out of the ship at a fraction of the speed of light, it streaked across the void of space and hit the lead ship on the side, the shot was just off centre but it continued and hit other ships behind the lead.
"Damaged the lead and took out some of the smaller ones behind it." He said.
"That armour is blunting our slugs." He muttered.
"They've adapted to our weapons already, I'm almost impressed." Osoba said though he did not sound impressed but rather angry at the thought of them doing so.
"Other ships are reporting similar reactions it looks like that white bone-like material is armour built to resist our MACs. We're no longer taking them out in one shot." His Comms Officer said.
"Well, now it's a fight." Osoba commented.
"We'll continue with the barrage and then start evasive manoeuvres when they get close, once we're in knife fight range the nukes will come out." Osoba commanded.
"Build of energy from enemy ships, their firing at us." The Sensor officer said panicked.
Osoba watched as the aliens started glowing bright blue then the white bone spikes shot from then in a barrage similar to their MAC shots earlier.
"Evasive Manoeuvres." He shouted at his crew and fleet.
All the ships in his fleet began to fire their thrusters and move out of the way of the expected path of the projectiles, though it would not be that easy as once the projectile came within a distance of their ships. The bone-like spikes began to warp then they exploded outwards and unleashed hundreds of smaller spikes they were like shotgun shells a larger slug containing smaller projectiles for damage.
Osoba did not expect that and watched in horror as the bones pierced right through the armour of his ships and lodged there, even his carrier was not spared.
"Any monsters coming out of them?" He asked.
"None so far, we've got the Marines heading down now along with a science officer." His XO said as he received the damage reports from all the ships hit.
"So far we have damaged but not destroyed or crippled ships." He continued.
"Good get the Nukes in the tubes and prepare for a second volley." Osoba said relieved, he did not want to deal with horrific aliens eating his fleet from the inside out.
"Understood." The battle would truly begin in earnest now.
The second barrage happened quickly after that exchange and this time they were aiming for the soft points on the aliens rather than aiming for the largest surface area which was covered in their own armour.
They got far more hits and kills after that adjustment, though they were still outnumbered by the bastards they could win as long they kept out of close range.
"Nukes ready sir." That was the report he wanted to hear, his own ship had been outfitted with both SHIVA and ZEUS missiles along with the sizable fighter detachment which was currently being held back, against enemies like these fighters were not as useful as the larger ships which could take a hit.
"Wait for optimal range and highest number of enemy deaths before launching a ZEUS, the Shivas can be used more freely." Osoba said watching the MACs fire again and the enemy ships shot back as well making the fleet adopt a loose scattered formation that was harder to hit rather than a tighter formation where they could concentrate their fire more easily.
"Enemy ships have entered the range Admiral."
"Fire a ZEUS along with a few SHIVAs." He ordered right away.
"Missiles away." He said.
Osoba watched as the missile flew through the void and then explode as they reached their targets, nuclear fire erupted across the enemy line, one was obviously larger than the others the ZEUS had worked well and the sensors were showing a lot of signals disappearing or slowing down.
"Good hits all around." He reported with a smile.
"Other ships are reporting the same but the ships haven't stopped advancing." There was a bit of mumbling after that.
"Julius, what are the chances that they are gonna attack us with a new hidden fleet?" Osoba asked the AI.
"It's very high right now." Julius replied dryly.
His instinct was proven correct as another enemy fleet appeared from above them Osoba realised that the enemy was using the same tactics that Alexios had used earlier to destroy their first fleet.
"Alexios it's time." He sent his transmission to the hidden ships.
Osoba watched as both fleets got closer and closer and more of his ships got hit by their shotgun spikes, they were returning fire at a steady rate but they would be overwhelmed soon.
But Alexios would overturn that with his own counterattack, he watched on the holomap as the friendly signatures appeared on the edge and he smiled when he saw their first volley which slammed into the flank of the fleet above them, despite their smaller numbers the alien ships were more dangerous than before but their armour only blunted their MAC rounds and not the heat and radiation from the nuclear missiles they were launching which would melt the metal and irradiate the flesh.
"Rear-Admiral Alexios reports good hits all around." Osoba could see that as a lot of red arrows disappeared from the holomap.
"Let Alexios deal with the other fleet, we shall advance and crush this one." He decided after a second of thought.
His fleet held their position as Alexios's own moved in and engaged the second enemy fleet, the battle was in full swing now, both sides had revealed their hidden hands and were now playing on the same table.
Osoba could not lose it would be devasting to the Navy losing two fleets not to mention the moral damage that would result from the loss.
"We're in their optimal range, their ships are exhibiting the behaviour from the first engagement and trying to eat our ships." His XO said with some fear creeping into his voice.
"Order the ships to scatter, make sure everyone has spread apart and make them work to catch us." He said instantly.
This would be the most crucial part of the battle, he would have to have a knife fight with ships that specialise in close-quarters combat. He had already ordered the missile pods for the lesser Snipe Missiles which were just basic ordinance but they could be made cheap and fired quick, this was the scattershot approach compared to the Nuke's use as a more precision weapon.
The commands were relayed and his fleet began to move quickly their thrusters at max capacity, Humanity had no true challenges in space so far and this battle more than any other would be the benchmark for future doctrine and he would not let the Osoba name be dragged through the mud by defeat.
"Deploy the Rapiers and tell them to hit the largest ships with their Nukes." He ordered finally using his reserve.
"Rapiers launching sir." Julius reported watching the battle.
Each one of the fighters aboard his ship had been armed with a single ZEUS missile, it was extremely dangerous and expensive but this could be the knife between the ribs that could break them and end the battle.
Osoba watched the action, the Rapier's were the first of their generation specialised Aerospace fighters which could operate easily in atmospheric conditions and in space, they were only recently rolled out and his Carrier was the only one equipped with them so each loss would be a big one from a monetary standpoint but also a valuable test from a scientific point.
"How are they performing Julius?" He asked the AI while checking on Alexios' battle.
"The Rapiers are performing within expectations, 75% have used their ZEUS missiles to full effect while the remaining 25% have used theirs to lesser effects while being damaged or destroyed, I can have a full report sent back to HIGHCOM after the battle." He answered clinically.
"Good have them run interference for the larger vessels and we'll thrust the knife in." He ordered with grim satisfaction as Alexios had the hidden enemy fleet on the run now as he had used all the information gained and his own experience to outplay the enemy even with their new armour.
The battle had now entered the final stage with both sides throwing everything they had at each other, from now on it was just ships launching their armaments at the enemy and hoping they would deal more damage than they could take.
Osoba watched as nuclear eruptions lit up the darkness of space there was also the characteristic blue flash from their Mass Effect Canons volleying out huge slugs.
This battle was going to set the trend for future battles between Humanity and their new enemy and the first true interstellar war they had experienced.
"Admiral, by my calculations our forces will win this fight within the hour." His ever-faithful AI reported blandly while doing thousands of other calculations related to his ship and the ongoing battle.
"Good, let's press the attack and finish them off right now." Osoba ordered and his Comms officers relayed those orders to the rest of the fleet.
Now was the kill shot and the Systems Alliance would devastate their enemy, he did not know if such an enemy could be brought to the table for peace discussions but it was clear they were the hostile aggressors.
The rest of the battle was not worth talking about, after they destroyed the largest of the enemy 'Ships' it quickly became a cleanup operation with both fleets wiping out the enemy combatants that did not flee, it seemed their enemy had a win or die attitude as many of them refused to retreat and were subsequently annihilated.
"Well done Admiral, you have achieved victory." Julius said observing the debris left from the huge battle.
"Hm, indeed but not in the parameters I expected myself." Osoba admitted as the all-clear signal was sent out to the fleet which meant they would approach damaged allied vessels and board in an attempt to find survivors.
"How do you think things went?" Osoba asked the AI as he finally sat down.
"The battle was hard-fought and well won, we lost less than what I was expecting." Julius admitted as he reviewed the battle.
"Right, we'll do a general sweep and then return to friendly territory and make our report to HIGHCOM." Osoba decided as he picked up a tablet computer and began to scroll through the various reports that were slowly filtering to his ship as the others in the fleet gave their After-Action Reports.
"Make sure to also collect samples from these new ships." Osoba said to Julius.
"Already done Admiral." Julius said one step ahead as always.
Osoba looked out to the burning remains of their Bio-Technological enemies along with the shattered remains of their ships, it seemed that this would come down to outmanoeuvring and outplaying their enemies instead of beating them down with raw power.
'I don't think this will be a quick war.' He thought as the reports began flooding in.
CODEX:
First Contact War: Opening
In the year 2160 Humanity and the Systems Alliance first encountered sapient life, unfortunately for both species, it was not a peaceful contact and instead due to the Hostility of the Alien Race (Codename: Harvesters) War was declared after the first major battle between both forces in the Epsilon-Aridani System with the Systems Alliance Fleet lead by Admiral Dominic Osoba along with the remnants of the deceased Rear-Admiral Carol Aiken's Exploratory Fleet, the combined forces defeated a large Harvester Fleet however this would soon prove to be only the opening shots of the First Contact War.
AN:
Here is the long-awaited Chapter 10 of Foreign Ship, hope you all enjoyed it.
So this took a long time because I lost interest in this story after starting up a few other stories.
And yes starting from Chapter 11 I will be putting dates and times in order to give a sense of time between viewpoints and chapters. This was one of the biggest criticisms of this story and in Chapter 11 I will put dates and times for everyone. Just so you know the last few chapters have taken place in the same year and only a few weeks apart, I did work out a timeline but that was one of the few things I did lose when my old Laptop died. So as of right now, the year is 2160 3 years later than Canon War I decided to reshuffle the timeline a little bit so both the Systems Alliance and the Citadel Races are more advanced than in Canon but without really fucking things up. (I hope)
Also, I did fuck up the yield for ODPs so that will be corrected in the future as well.
Of course, I've also not updated anything in a while due to my laptop dying (Luckily I keep backups of every chapter and every story on my USB and Google Drive) and work getting very busy.
If you want news about my other stories then, Bleach SSR has been written up to Chapter 19 and will be back on a release schedule soon, I have Writer's block on Naruto the Chimera so that will take a little longer.
I do have a few other stories I'm thinking of uploading in the meantime due to the fact that they are written but not edited yet which I can probably do over the weekend.