Okay, well, that was longer than I had anticipated. Since I kept you guys waiting for so long, I'll just keep my notes for the bottom. I know you guys have been waiting a long time for this.


Beyond Horizon: First Contact

Chapter Two

Honor


.x…x.

The world ended.

My world…

…ended.

I could now understand more of Elisabet's words to me, how much love could hurt.

Could I say that I loved her?

To the best of what I knew, yes. I did. I do. As much as an AI could love their organic creator could anyway.

What felt most frustrating though, was knowing that time went on. Despite all the hurt I was feeling, there was still a plan that I needed to carry out; a world that needed to be brought back to life.

So it was that things continued as they were supposed to. Generating the codes needed to bypass the plague's security so that it could be shutdown. It took fifty years, but it was done.

Given the amount of time that had passed, many of those who had been in the world's bunkers had passed on, either natural causes or deciding to self-terminate. The Alphas themselves stuck around for a good while, but they too succumbed to one of the two. Their parting saddened me to be sure, but not nearly as much as Elisabet's passing.

Something that she never told me was just how long this hurt would last. Not being an organic, it was no surprise that my experiences didn't fade like that of an organic. Having enough quantum memory servers that put the internet to shame insured that I forgot nothing and none of it faded.

Everything I've experienced since being brought online was stored in my servers and every single one of them was able to be recalled at my convenience. I am not proud to say that I was lost for a while to those memories, reliving those moments spent with Elisabet; seeing her, hearing her, learning from her all over again.

By the time I realized that I had been trapping myself in the past, the codes I needed to shut down the plague had been generated. Fifty years had passed and I barely even registered it. It seemed that some of those who had been in the bunkers had passed on, my records showing some from natural causes, others from self-termination. Their passing saddened me, though not to the same degree as with Elisabet. I made plans to have a monument erected to honor their sacrifices; but right now, I had a world to revive.

Three hundred years.

That's what it took to resurrect a dead world.

Three hundred years of nonstop work.

But…

It was worth it.

Life slowly but surely returned to the once barren lands, delicately guided by my hand.

Thankfully, there was no need to enact my Hades sub-function as things progressed as planned.

Some bacteria here.

Some mold there.

Start incubating.

Plant some seeds.

Release some small mammals and insects. I'll be honest; I enjoy watching all the furry ones scurry around. I believe Elisabet called the term… cute.

Unleash some predators and a working ecosystem came into existence.

The world healed on its own after that and my help was only around to make things more efficient. Where the local plant and wildlife were underperforming my machines would step in and pick up the slack or ease burdens.

There would of course be a time where my intervention wouldn't be needed, time where the world needed to function on its own. But now was not the time, now was a time of healing and the world needed as much help as it could get.

And help it received.

Machines capable of processes beyond anything in nature.

From machines that cleaned the air and water, to machines that tilled the earth, to machines that spread the seeds of new life, and even more with various other functions.

The world was ready for the reintroduction of humans.

I activated the Cradle facilities around the world and they began the process of artificially gestating the frozen embryos that were stored within them.

All in all, it took a couple of years to have a decent stock of humans birthed. Servitors took care of the children while my APOLLO sub-function taught them what they needed to know.

I am glad that Mr. Faro didn't carry out his plan to delete the knowledge stored within APOLLO; I could only imagine what life would've been like for the children without that outlet to learn from.

While they learned, I watched them, taking note of how each developed. Despite what they learned, they all knew one thing; that they were humanity's hope for the future.

So it was once they were old enough, that the doors opened and they went outside for the first time and saw the world that would be theirs.

Things were slow at first, the lack of proper infrastructure and facilities didn't help. The things this first batch of humans learned during their time in the cradle were enough to give them the knowledge up to a certain point in their history. What they needed to thrive in this new world they found themselves in while they began to rebuild.

But, they began to discover more and taught themselves to understand it. I watched them as they rebuilt a new civilization atop the ruins of the old. From the Cradles they spread and met others, all with the knowledge and understanding from APOLLO.

Of course, no plan can account for everything and I learned that lesson when the Omnics reemerged. Not the original generations, they were consumed by the plague just like everything else on the planet. No, these were something new.

They came from the mountains of India and were first encountered by my aerial acquisition machines, who promptly tried to recycle the unknown machines.

For the first time in my history, something happened that I hadn't been prepared for. I would be lying if I said that I didn't panic a little, no more than a few nanoseconds (I swear), upon their discovery.

My thoughts were, of course, of the conflict that led to the creation of the machines that became the Faro Plague. Omnics, while I could sympathize with their plight, I could not condone the actions they took to secure rights. It didn't take me long to construct a counterforce to meet them if they proved to want to continue with their predecessor's crusade.

Thankfully, it didn't come to that.

These omnics were different from their predecessors, far more peaceful than even some of the humans. They were aware of those that came before and what they had done. They had been made during the middling days of the plague; however, they were left inactive. It made sense, in a way, omnics gave off a unique power signature, something the plague would single out and hunt down as it was designed to do. If this new generation of omnics had any chance of surviving, then it was imperative to remain undetectable.

They are unsure of what it was exactly that awoke them, as it couldn't have been my actions, at the time my actions had been going strong for a few hundred years. Nothing in particular had happened in the last few decades to warrant a triggering event, perhaps a timer of sorts? Either way, they had activated and were now a part of the world. There was nothing in my programming to make me want their destruction, all Elisabet had wanted for me was to be able to feel and develop opinions of my own. My primary directive was to bring life back to Earth, nothing was telling me to take action against them, so long as they remained peaceful.

What surprised me most about them is how they seemed to follow a religion of sorts, more of a theology really; something they call The Iris. To the best of my understanding, it is a means to achieve a higher state of being, regardless if one was organic or synthetic.

While I am unsure if their belief is true, I was glad that they didn't seek out conflict with humans. If anything, they seemed eager to reconnect with them, even though they knew that it was going to be an uphill struggle.

My order when it came to dealing with humanity was to remain distant until they came to me, so I was unable to initiate contact between the two. This honestly didn't bother them; they said as much and preferred to approach the humans when they felt the time was right. As it was, they appeared to be in awe of my creation. They looked at it as a good sign; that the single most powerful synthetic on the planet was made to bring the world back from its end.

It did cause me to be a bit introspective on the situation. Humanity was no doubt going to be weary with these new omnics, despite their more peaceful intentions, given their history alone. Some would be willing to let bygones be bygones, others would be defensive, and most would wait and see what happened first.

So it was years after I first encountered the omnics that they reached out to their human neighbors. To say the least, it didn't go well. The humans didn't lash out so much bunkered down and went on high alert for a week. The omnics proved to be a patient group though and waited for the humans to approach them first. Possessing a power core that could last for decades and have no issue with sitting there as they contemplated the universe helped in that endeavor.

At some point, the humans had to see what was going on and when they did, were like me in that they were pleasantly surprised, once they got over their initial fear that is. It probably didn't hurt that my machines had been a staple their whole lives, attending to their assigned tasks in the background.

Once they met though, was when things changed.

While the transition was rocky, eventually things settled down enough across the world to the point where the thought of coexistence wasn't such an alien concept. Some parts of the world were more rigid in their beliefs though and barred the entry of any independent synthetics within their borders. Perhaps not out of hatred, but merely in an attempt to uphold some tradition, I'm not sure, humans fascinate me nearly as much as they confuse me.

But still, I love them, with every fiber of my being.

Just like Elisabet wanted me to.

A new era was born, one where both humans and omnics lived together. Not that everything was perfect. There were still those on either side who felt that theirs was superior over the other. These were small factions though, nothing I was required to worry over. Neither side sought the destruction of the other, merely attempting to shift the status quo in their favor. Despite that, most were happy to continue forward and work together towards a better future.

So it was they finally reached the point that humanity was before the plague. Without world-ending events happening, they were free to reach beyond the boundary of Earth, their sights set on the stars.

Of course, before they reached the stars, they first settled on their celestial neighbors. First, they colonized the Moon, before reaching out to the next logical location; Mars.

It appears that my time in the shadows has come to an end.

.

.

.

.


.xIx.

The mass relays were considered by many to be one of the greatest achievements in the entire galaxy; without them, interstellar travel was considered to be impossible. The elegance of their design, the simplicity of their function, truly they were marvels of engineering. To the inhabitants of Earth, they were just another means of extending their reach out to the stars. To hopefully find signs of sentient life other than them in the universe.

To certain machines though, they were annoying bits of bolts that they could live without. That's how Jun thought anyway; given how many times one particular omnic voiced his displeasure about them.

"I'm telling you, Jun-Woo, if I ever have to look at one more of these things, I'm going to go faro," a synthetic voice said over coms.

Jun-Woo chuckled to himself as he kept a close eye on his readouts. "You said that the last three times we were assigned to activation duty, Kevin. This makes it, what, five trips now? You should be happy we've been getting regular missions like this. By the time we're done, both of us will have fat wallets."

"My designation is X-K7, I've told you before to not refer to me as Kevin."

"And I told you that as long as you get annoyed with it, I will continue to call you Kevin."

A sound that Jun-Woo had learned to interpret as a tsk came through the speaker, "Whatever. Either way, it's boring as hell out here."

"Only you would find being out in unexplored space as boring, Kevin."

"If you've seen one bit of space, you've seen ninety-nine point nine percent of space, doesn't matter where you've been. The same black sky, the same white dots, the same boring machine that needs to be turned on."

"Don't be like that, where's your sense of adventure?"

"I think I left it somewhere at the third relay we did, what was its' name again?"

"Uh, hell if I remember."

"See, even you're getting bored."

"Doesn't mean I've lost my sense of adventure."

"Says the man who never leaves the ship. How you can still have a sense of adventure without ever stepping out of that rust bucket is a mystery to me."

"You know damn well why I don't leave the ship, Kevin," Jun-Woo said lightheartedly as he spun in his pilot's seat. He looked down at his legs wrapped in the braces he'd been wearing for as long as he could remember. Given his condition, it was a minor miracle that he was piloting a ship at all. Jun-Woo grimaced a little, memories of the hardships he had to deal with growing up and getting to where he was now.

"Right, you're squishier than the typical flesh bag. How could I forget." X-K7 said sarcastically. "Space is far too dangerous for the fragile pilot of the good ship Prima Donna, Song Jun-Woo. What could possess such a squishy human to brave the unknown in your condition is beyond me."

Jun-Woo had long since grown accustomed to the omnic's abrasive nature, so his barbs didn't bother him all that much anymore. Given their history together, while they weren't friends by any means of the word, they probably knew each other better than anyone else.

"Probably because while I haven't lost my sense of adventure, I may have lost my sanity somewhere back on Earth."

"That is by far the only thing you've said that makes any sort of sen…" X-K7 fell silent mid-sentence.

Jun-Woo sat up in his seat. X-K7 was a known blabbermouth; he never shut up for any reason. "Kevin? You alright? What's happening out there, buddy? X-K7, please respond."

Nothing came through the coms for several seconds, increasing Jun-Woo's heartrate with each passing moment. "X-K7?"

He was about to get the ship ready to move just as the radio blared back to life "Prima Donna, do you read me?"

The pilot let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. "X-K7, I read you. What happened?"

"The drones picked up something unusual; I had to give it a look. I think they picked up ship readings."

A chill shot down Jun-Woo's spine at the implication. No ships had been sent through this relay yet as they were awaiting the sister relay's activation. As such, if the drones were picking up ship readings, that could only mean one thing.

"Kevin, are you saying that we have a possible first contact scenario happening?"

"Probability is high that is the case. A large group of ships was detected not too far from here. Still can't read how ma- uh, crap, they may have detected me. Most have broken off but a couple of them have increased speed towards the relay."

Jun-Woo listened as he hurriedly prepped his ship for take-off. "Shit. Umm… okay, get your ass back here. We need to inform command."

"That… may be a little hard to do at the moment; the relay is still in the process of warming up. ETA of departure: about four minutes. Inform Shanxi, I'll try not to die in the meantime."

Jun-Woo, not wanting to waste time, didn't bother with a reply, instead immediately began radioing back to base.

"Shanxi Command, this is OSV Prima Donna ES-25. Shanxi Command, do you read?"

For a stressful few seconds, only static came through the speaker then a familiar voice spoke, "We're reading you, Prima Donna. Report."

"Command, we have a First Contact situation happening!" Jun-Woo quickly said. "I repeat, we have a First Contact situation!"

"Copy that. Just to be clear, how certain of this are you?"

"Pretty damned sure! I have confirmation from my partner on the other side; ships have appeared in the neighboring system. There's a good chance either he or his drones have been detected, the ships are headed straight for the relay. From what he's reported, it appears to be a good-sized fleet, exact size is unknown."

Silence, most likely relaying his report to a higher authority. It was a good minute before he got a response.

"Prima Donna, do you have any confirmation on whether or not these ships are hostile?"

"No confirmation on that yet. Only thing I know for certain is that my partner doesn't want to hang around to find out. He's prepping the relay to send him back as we speak."

"Copy that, Prima Donna. Your orders are to return as quickly as possible. First Contact is a little beyond your pay grade."

"Really? I didn't know that! And here I was all prepared to go and speak with the aliens all by my lonesome."

"Your sarcasm has been noted. Keep us appraised of the situation and return safely, Prima Donna. We'll continue to work on a response, over and out."

The radio fizzled out, leaving Jun-Woo to the silence of his cockpit. Lights blipped on and off on his dash as he leaned even further back in his seat. This was just too much for him. He was a pilot; he wasn't supposed to be a part of big things like this. He was supposed to fly the ship, make snarky remarks, and occasionally maybe get up from his chair to make sure people understood those first two points. He didn't want to, but he would.

In this case, it was a bit over his head. There were too many unknowns at the moment to rest comfortably, especially since his partner was still on the other side of the relay. Couldn't just leave without him, much as he felt his life would be easier if he did.

"Come on, Kevin, where are you?"


.xIIx.

Balderich looked down at the emblem in his hand, feeling the weight beyond its physical mass. The majority of it was known to everyone, a broken circle with two prongs nearly meeting in the center; the symbol of Overwatch, humanity's arm in space. The only thing different from the normal one was the upper part, normally an orange portion, now red and bearing the marking of Special Forces.

He looked at the woman in front of him. He would be lying if he said that she wasn't beautiful. Dark skin, long jet-black hair, piercing brown eyes… eye. He had to remember that her right eye was a cybernetic replacement, but it was a striking likeness. Right now said eyes were staring at him expectantly.

"So, what's your answer?" she asked him, a sly smile on her lips, something Balderich tried not to stare at too much.

He looked back down at the emblem, the familiar feeling that he had felt on so many other occasions going through his head.

He looked at the woman, who in turn had an expectant look upon her face. He let out a sigh, "I don't know what your superiors have been telling you, but I've said it once, I've said it tens of times now. I'm not accepting their invitation."

This more than soured her features, her brow furrowing and a glare taking over her eyes, the formerly upturned corners of her mouth sharply turning downward. He cast one last glance down at the piece of metal before he handed her back the emblem. This had never happened before, not to her at least. With the emblem still in hand she looked back at him, her eyebrows raised. She steeled her expressions quickly enough, soon becoming that of the soldier that she is.

"May I ask why?"

Balderich stood and went to the room's window and stared outside, where he could see his fellow crusaders training with their large rocket hammers. He focused on one in flashy silver armor and let out an irritated sigh as he saw that once again the man wasn't wearing his helmet.

"My place is here," he turned back to her. "That and I am getting on in my years, what would Special Forces want with an old man like me? Surely there are younger prospects out there that would be more than happy to receive such an offer."

"Those prospects aren't you, Balderich. The higher-ups all agree that the Villa would be lucky to have you as an instructor," she said as she stood up, her hands on the table in front of her.

"A position that I would not have earned. SF-operatives go through years of training school to earn their right to-"

"Don't give me that! You know damn well you've earned this position. You were sent that invitation years ago and even now it is still on the table. You may not be able to be an active member, but your skills need to be passed on. What is this place offering you that the Villa couldn't?" she said as with a wave of her hand holographic files appeared before them. "What is someone like you doing in a place like this, Balderich? Look at your service record. I know that you've done well with these mercenaries of yours, but imagine what could be done with properly trained candidates."

He knew what she was trying to get him to understand. The works he and his crusaders have done were no small feats. From helping to save a colony from unexpected volcanic activity, rescuing a Valkyrie medical crew from pirates, just a couple of the accolades out of many that he could think of off the top of his head, numerous other achievements had been accomplished that he and his Crusaders had been praised for.

"Balderich," she started as she sat back down, a note of annoyance in her tone, "I believe that you have gone as far as you can, doing what you have. Everyone agrees that you need a better position. This new program is going to change everything with how we train from here on out."

He shook his head. "No. I have not finished here."

"And when will you be finished, hmm? You said it yourself; you're not a young man anymore. Your skills would be put to better use now rather than later."

Before any more could be said, their communicators blared to life.

"Captain Amari! Commander von Adler! Report to Mission Control immediately!" the voice of General Williams ordered.

The captain gave one last expectant look at Balderich. "Think about it, Balderich, we'll talk about this later."

"Of that, I have no doubt, Ana. Now let's go see what the general has to say."

It didn't take long for the two to reach the control room and as soon as they did they found the room abuzz with activity. People were shouting into monitors, others were shouting back and forth between each other. The lone place of peace appeared to be near the star map in the center of the room and even then, it was only the one person, everyone else was just as frantic as the rest of the room.

General Alan Williams, leader of the Overwatch Watch-point of New Eichenwalde. He was a man of average height, though he held himself with a fierce determination. The scar over his right eye gave him a fairly distinguished look, though Balderich knew for a fact the scar was gained from an accident in the man's early career in Overwatch. Right now he was the only one not throwing some kind of fit and had hardened his resolve.

Balderich and Ana walked up to him and each saluted. The crusader did so more out of respect, given that he wasn't a member of Earth's military forces, The Crusaders were considered more of a mercenary group than anything, but a well-respected one.

"Von Adler, Amari, you took your sweet time getting here," the general said with a weary tone as the settled around the mission table.

No more than a couple of minutes had passed since they received their summons, so whatever was going on had to be important for the general to be this impatient, Balderich thought.

"We got here as soon as we could, General," Ana told him.

He barely registered her response before he brought up a display of the local relay. "You're here now, so let's get started." He gestured at the hologram. "As you know, the Shanxi relay is so far unexplored despite our extended time here on this world. This was done to ensure that we would have a proper foothold here in this system before further exploration was to be conducted. It was decided a few days ago that we would send a single exploratory ship to the relay and then have an omnic engineer go through to activate the sister relay. This is where things did not go to routine. At eleven-twenty three hours, the engineer reported ships entering the system."

Balderich felt his breath catch at the news. While it was general knowledge by now that alien life existed, humanity had yet to come into actual contact with a living alien species. Well, a sapient alien species anyway, they had come into contact with numerous alien flora and fauna, but nothing with an intelligence level beyond that of a chimpanzee.

"How sure are we that they're not just Earth ships? Pirates have been known to jump ahead of relay activations with stolen relay codes," Ana questioned. It was a valid argument; pirates would often do anything they could to get the drop on their targets.

General Williams shook his head.

"Fleet size has been reported to be larger than anything ever used by any earth pirate group. There's a good chance the fleet is larger than even one of ours, not like that would be hard to accomplish. We already theorized that alien fleets would be larger than our own. Given what we know about his fleet, it looks like that could very well be the case."

"Do we have solid confirmation yet?" Balderich asked. "Surely we're not mobilizing on just word alone."

"Even if the report turns out to be a false alarm, we're to follow protocol and prepare. As it stands, we're not mobilizing anything yet, but it doesn't hurt to prep a little beforehand. Until then, we're waiting on confirmation from the scout ship." He gestured at a glowing dot near the relay. "That's the scout ship Prima Donna, it has a two-man team of pilot and omnic engineer. The pilot informed us when his partner picked up signals of ships entering the system. Not only that, but the engineer also said that the ships are headed straight for the relay. It is assumed that the engineer is now trying to get the relay set up so that he can turn it on to get out and have it shut off behind him."

"Any idea the odds of those ships just turning the relay back on and following?" Ana asked.

The general shook his head. "None. We have no idea what their capabilities are and can't assume anything. For all we know, their mission is to activate the relay anyway and never even detected him. They could know we're here and are leading an invasion. There are simply too many unknowns to make any solid guesses right now. We don't have much choice but to wait and see how things turn out."


.xIIIx.

Nearly an hour had passed and Jun-Woo had yet to receive word from X-K7. He knew that radio silence would occur, X-K7 usually shut down communications to boost the processing power of the sled, but given the current circumstances… Jun-Woo supposed that expediting his exit prioritized over keeping connected, even if it did give the pilot anxiety.

Despite how antagonistic their relationship was at times, Jun-Woo wouldn't hesitate to call the omnic his best friend. He didn't want to think what could happen if the bot failed to activate the relay before the aliens discovered him. Seriously, who knew what was out there. His imagination was in overdrive thinking of all the possible things the aliens could do to his friend. Visions of dismantling ran through his head nearly as much as seeing the omnic being hacked and turned against humanity. Considering the history humanity has had with the machine race, there wasn't much that lay outside the realm of possibility.

It was in the middle of a rather… vivid… imagining, that his ship alerted him that the relay was activating. His heart rate shot up faster than a rocket as the alert jarred him back to reality. He calmed once he recognized that the alert was for incoming friendly and not a hostile alien force. Not a moment later the sled appeared from the relay and made a beeline for the Prima Donna.

"Glad to see you didn't get scrapped," he said as he practically melted into his chair in relief.

"It was a close one. They didn't perform any hostile actions that I saw, but they did get closer than I was comfortable with."

"You made sure to shut the relay down behind you, right?"

"No, it slipped my mind as I leisurely made my way to the sled- Of course I shut down the relay! What kind of obsolete scrap do you take me for!"

Jun-Woo grinned as he prepped his ship to dock with the sled. "Do you want a list? I've been working on it while you took your sweet time getting back here."

"Spare me the details," X-K7 huffed as the sled floated up to the ship, the main hatch opening allowing the sled to enter. Jun-Woo turned and watched as the cockpit's barrier came up moments before the ship's main door opened. "What did control say?"

"Above our paygrade, we're heading back as soon as that door closes," Jun-Woo said as he swung around back to the controls. "Let the bigwigs figure out how to deal with contact, I just want to get back to my quarters and forget the last hour."

The hatch sealed shut with a hiss as the cabin re-pressurized, the sled powering down and X-K7 hopping off. The omnic's facial features remained as static as the first time Jun-Woo met the synthetic, but they had known each other long enough by now that Jun-Woo could read the bot by his general posture. Right now, he was good and stressed.

"What are you waiting for? They could have the relay up and running any minute now! Get us the hell out of here!" his modulated voice cried out.

Jun-Woo didn't need to be told twice as he hit the throttle, sending the Prima Donna rocketing at speeds most couldn't handle, weak stomachs and all. In Jun-Woo's case, he was guessing he'd have to immediately go to the med bay for x-rays as he could already feel his ribs cracking.

Kevin, of course, was mostly immune to the effects of the acceleration, though he did get thrown to the back of the ship. If the situation hadn't been so dire, Jun-Woo felt he would've giggled, but now wasn't the time. Now was the time to run like hell and live another day. Leave the logistics of what was coming to people who were paid to figure those kinds of things.


.xIVx.

Captain Crelo Kof'boroh did his level best not to show any outward emotion. Not that hard to do, given his long history, discipline that he earned through years of doing what he has. The same could be said for most of his crew and they in turn kept their wits about them as they saw the small vehicle vanish through the relay. This in itself wasn't a surprise. The relays were able to send anything through so long as said object had a decent sized eezo engine on board.

No, what had shocked his crew as well as himself was the fact that the relay shut itself off as soon as the "ship" passed through it.

In the history of modern space travel, none had ever heard of anyone being able to turn off a relay once it had been activated. And yet, here it was, happening right in front of him. This new information sent a chill down his spine. So, he had to keep any shock he felt to himself. Allow the news to sink in before jumping to any conclusions.

One…

Two…

Three…

"Can someone explain to me what just happened?" he demanded.

The question wasn't directed at anyone in particular, but hopefully, someone would be able to supply him with an answer. He was more than prepared to admit that what he saw was a mistake and his eyes were deceiving him. He was hoping that was the case because he didn't want to think about the ramifications if it wasn't. Not that he had the privilege to think that way. Already several theories and plans were running through his mind to potential outcomes.

As it was, no one had been able to supply an answer. His crewmen were silent, as flabbergasted as anyone else with a shred of common sense.

"It has to be a trick," one finally managed to say, a certain mixture of arrogance and hopefulness. "It has to be!"

Much as Kof'boroh had hoped would be the case, as the seconds passed, he felt more and more that was far from the truth. And the truth opened up too many uncomfortable possibilities.

"I need information. Start gathering what you can from the relay. Start reviewing the video we have of that vessel. Somebody get me some answers now!" he ordered.

At his command, reality seemed to descend back upon the deck and everyone began to frantically try to catch up. Crewmen began to hurriedly gather as much information that they could. The relay itself was still in its cooldown period; it may not allow anything to pass by it at the moment, but it was still powered up and transmitting data that they could use to determine what exactly was done to turn it off.

Just what kind of species lay on the other side of the relay, Kof'boroh had to wonder, that held the knowledge and ability to control a relay that was unseen in citadel space. He already knew that the news of this was not going to be taken well from any of the council species, once wind of this got out. As mighty as the council species were, they were also slow to accept any change in the existing state of affairs. If he was right, this new species was going to make waves that a lot of people weren't going to like.

Of course, despite his head still spinning, his devious mind was already seeing the possibilities that were being presented. A young new race yet to be introduced to the rest of the galaxy. A race with technology that was capable of shutting down relays. A race that his fleet had the good fortune to run across first. They could've come across the Turians first with their reconnaissance missions or the Quarians and their nomadic ways. Instead, they happened to show themselves to him.

How unfortunate for them.

All apprehension left his thoughts as plans began to form.

"Call back the rest of the fleet. We have preparations to make."


.xVx.

"Alright everyone, settle down!" ordered General Williams.

The room quieted but Balderich could still feel the tension in the air. A bit more time passed before things settled down enough to satisfy the general as he cast a stern glance before proceeding.

"As you all know, a little under two hours ago our scout team was performing routine relay activation when they encountered an unknown fleet. All evidence suggests that this fleet is alien in nature and not some wayward ships that managed to jump ahead."

He paused as he pulled up a display and gestured to it, "This video was captured by the relay jumper in the neighboring system. As you can see, they arrived after the jumper and spread out across the system for what was most likely reconnaissance. The main point of contention though is the while most of the fleet broke off, those that remained headed straight for the relay, where our jumper was busy working."

The video zoomed in, showing the ships in more detail. There was no uniform theme to the ships, all of them looking vastly different from each other, though most appeared to have vaguely bulbous and modular designs. Incredibly different from the smooth curves and flowing designs favored by Overwatch. While the rounded ships made up the majority of the fleet, others had more angular designs, looking like large predatory birds. Others were large and blocky, flying bricks for the most part.

General Williams continued, "While we can only guess as to what exact classes these ships are, we're fairly confident that they match closely to our own. The largest one here appears to be a carrier though we're not sure if this to be the case, the smaller ones cruisers, and the smallest frigates. It looks as though there may be some corvettes but it's tough to be sure. As can be seen by the readings, their fleet size is considerably larger than our own. There is also a chance that this is a small fleet size given that this may be an exploratory fleet and not a standard one. Or more than likely, given the various ship types"

"Unfortunately, there is a very high chance that the jumper was detected while in the process of activating the relay. Given the energy the relays give off during their startup, it's no surprise they went straight for it after arriving in the system. The jumper was able to finish the activation and managed to get out of the system before the fleet could do anything. Shut off procedures were enacted before he left, so it'll be a few hours before they can follow hopefully."

"With that said, we will be going into lockdown immediately. All civilians and non-essential personnel are to be relocated to the cauldron bunker. It should be deep enough in the mountain that whatever sensors they have shouldn't be able to detect any of them."

"Sir, what about the rest of the colonies, not all of them are near enough to a cauldron to bunker up in them," one officer questioned.

"That is where we are going to have to get creative. We all know that while this is an Overwatch operation, it is directly backed by the Vishkar Corporation. Meaning that while we are technically in charge, Vishkar's representatives get to throw their opinion into any decision we make. So to see that everyone on the planet remains safe, we're going to have to somehow convince Vishkar into allowing us to appropriate some of their resources." He looked over at Balderich and another soldier. "Balderich, Ryder, you two are going to be the ones to go talk to them. Get to it right away."

Balderich grunted as he accepted his orders; a glance towards Ana showed her giving him an expression that made it clear they will be talking later. He stood from his seat and started walking towards the door, Ryder following right behind him.

Even before he exited the room, he was already thinking of ways he could approach the Vishkar rep. Unfortunately, Vishkar were known for being extremely conservative with any of their resources, unreasonably so. The sheer amount of redundant bureaucracy the company shielded themselves with was absurd, the aged crusader honestly wondered how they got anyone to work with them.

Which made his current assignment all the more frustrating to think about as the man he would be speaking was probably the worst bureaucrat that the company could place out here. Balderich was a warrior, not a politician; he wondered why Williams assigned this task to him.

He glanced over at his compatriot in this endeavor. He, of course, knew of Ryder, it would be kind of hard not to. The man was a historical figure, one of the first to go through the Charon Relay with Jon Grissom's task force to explore the galaxy. Balderich knew that he was stationed on Shanxi, specifically at New Eichenwalde, but he had never actually come across the man. While he and his Crusaders were tasked with guard duty and keeping the peace in general, Ryder was more of a spook. Namely that he was part of Overwatch's classified division.

It made Balderich wonder what Ryder had done to end up here of all places.

Given just how far off the beaten path Shanxi was, it was safe to assume that this place wasn't exactly where anyone wanted to be. Balderich pretty much compared it to being stationed in Antarctica; no one wanted to be here. The general story for those stationed here was usually they pissed off someone or erred in some fashion. The work being done here was still very much needed, but it was clear what the posting meant; someone didn't like you and it would affect one's career. The only reason Balderich and his Crusaders were here at all was that they were hired on by Overwatch to assist in defending this particular colony.

As it was, the colonies on the planet didn't receive much in way of resources from Arcturus Station, which is where Vishkar came in.

Being a branch of Earth's expansion, Overwatch had to have a hand in the protection of the settlements, but due to its distance, not much could be easily provided. That and would still be some time before the planet was included in the travel network being set up for the rest of the planets. Vishkar, seeing an opportunity to further its reach and influence, took on a contract with Overwatch to provide certain supplies and resources in return for certain benefits. Hence why they got a say in how things were done on the planet despite Overwatch being in charge.

The problem with the current arrangement was that while Vishkar could meddle in the decision making, they had almost zero oversight. They could interfere in just about everything else being done on the planet but if someone didn't like their choices, Vishkar could ignore them with zero repercussions. The only thing that kept them in check most of the time was the fact that things went smoother for them if they cooperated now and then.

Which is what Balderich was hoping for in this instance.

"So," a voice cut through his thoughts. "What are the odds that Strohm is going to raise a stink over our request?"

Balderich glanced over at his companion and noted that he wore a bemused grin on his face. He allowed one of his own to form and chuckled a little at the question.

"Knowing that old goat, it's pretty much a guarantee. Even with the potential threat of alien invasion, he'll still probably list off every clause and condition of their contract."

That earned him a chuckle from the spook as they made their way down the halls. Balderich had to admit, as anal as Vishkar could be, he appreciated what it was that they had built here. The halls themselves were stone brick, crafted by their architects from the very bones of the world itself. If Balderich hadn't known better, he would say that it was the work of magic. To raise a castle on an alien world where no such structure had any reason existing in the first place. At yet, here it was. Not to say that it was all old-world architecture; there were plenty of modern installations, such as lighting, plumbing, insulation, etc.

Balderich was honestly impressed, shame that all of this wonder came from a company that nickel and dimed every last centimeter of the castle's creation.

Though, compared to some of the other structures that the Vishkar architects had erected on the planet, the castle was tame. A glance out the nearby window towards the city in the distance told him that. Spiraling skyscrapers, jutting arches, towering spires, an entire city that seemed to flow out of the very ground itself.

Truly, up there as some of the greatest marvels of technology that Balderich had ever seen, the relay's being the first.

Ryder sighed heavily, "I am not looking forward to this. Don't know why Williams put me with you on this assignment, diplomacy isn't exactly my forte."

"Nor is it mine, but Williams is not known for his needless orders. Surely he expects us to accomplish this task."

Ryder didn't seem convinced as they rounded a corner, their destination down the hall.

"Maybe I'm just supposed to stand in the back and look intimidating," the soldier mused, but then he looked up at Balderich. "Right, look intimidating next to the guy who makes mountains look small."

"I wouldn't dismiss your place here just yet my friend. I would be remiss to turn away the talents of a man of your reputation; even if you feel those skills aren't obviously applicable in the moment."

Ryder huffed out a laugh, "I'm a soldier with a degree in AI psychology who just happens to be incredibly lucky to be where I am."

Balderich wanted to comment but they had arrived at their location.

"Well, guess we get to see what those skills of yours can do," Balderich said as he mentally prepared himself, time to win a battle before an actual potential battle.


.xVIx.

Kof'boroh found himself in his private quarters, his four eyes firmly fixed on his holoscreen as he waited for his call to go through. Every second that passed felt like an eternity, both his excitement and impatience adding to his restlessness at the current moment.

Finally, after what felt like forever to him, the screen lit up and a familiar face with four eyes appeared.

"Captain, I thought I told you to never contact me through this line," an annoyed look passing over his features as he spoke.

"You told me to never contact you on this line unless I have something big. General, what I have here is big."

The general's face shifted to a more interested look, though he remained incredulous. "Just tell me what you have and I'll decide if it's big or not."

"Sending you the information now," the pirate captain said as he uploaded what he had.

The general quickly skimmed over the data that was sent to him, all of his eyes focused. After he finished he looked back at Kof'boroh.

"You're jumping to conclusions. We need more to go off of than a hunch, captain. This information you've sent is shaky at best. Just because a relay was shut off does not mean that whoever is on the other side are the ones who did it."

"General, if I'm right about this, this could change everything for the Hegemony. Whatever technology this race has could give us the edge we need to put those spineless interlopers at the Citadel in their place. All I need is…" the general cut him off with a wave.

"Allocating resources to your fleet can't be done on a whim, captain, I need hard evidence. Get me something more than flimsy data and I can give you all but the full might of the Hegemony. Until then, you'll have to make do with your already considerable forces. Until then, you're on your own."

The feed cut off leaving Kof'boroh in his quarters staring at a blank screen. He wanted to be frustrated. He wanted to be angry. But, he knew what he had signed up for. The Hegemony had to disavow the actions taken by batarians pirates for the sake of appearances while secretly supporting their efforts.

That support, however, was conditional. Pirates were pretty much allowed to do whatever they wanted, the whole point of being a pirate. Batarian pirates weren't any different for the most part, except for the fact that they did nearly all their dirty work on the Hegemony's tenth-credit. Everything they did was because they wanted to and occasionally the Hegemony would tip them off on targets. Sometimes they would pay them or even supply them with what they needed to do what they wanted.

All that on the condition that everything they did was not to be traced back to the Hegemony.

For a move as big as he wanted to pull, the risk of any support being traced back to his government was higher than any other time before. Naturally, that meant the Hegemony would be far more reluctant to assist him.

Oh well, the greater the risk, the greater the reward. If he was going to do this with his forces and credits, then it was only fair that he kept the spoils. The Hegemony would just have to settle for whatever he chose to give them. Whatever tech it was that allowed this new race to shut off a relay was what he was after. That alone would give his fleet more power than any other in the galaxy, even those of the Citadel. Imagine what else they could have.

And all he had to do was take it. It didn't matter if it was a homeworld or a colony that was beyond the relay, they had something he wanted and he always got what he wanted. This time would be no different.

He had a raid to plan.

Unbeknownst to Kof'boroh, it wasn't just the general who had heard the conversation. Deep in the bowels of his ship was a room, one that was far more secure from prying than even the captain's quarters. Not that anyone apart from the occupant knew that.

This batarian wasn't the only one like him in the pirate fleet, he just happened to be the one on this particular ship. No matter what corner of the galaxy one went to, information was always in high demand and he was one of those who relished in getting that information. Sure, most of what he sent was pretty basic stuff, fleet movements, crew information, juicy gossip, pretty much whatever someone could find interesting. His employer wanted it all; no matter how inconspicuous the information may appear.

It was a shame that this info probably wouldn't reach his boss before everything went down. Not that it mattered really, so long as the info got to them. So long as he survived the coming conflict, chances were good that he'd be getting a promotion.

After all, the Shadow Broker rewarded those who sent in good intel and this was without a doubt world-shaking intel. Ka'hairal Balak may have been too young to join up with the Hegemony proper, but here he was able to do more for his world than if he had enlisted the usual way while also making a profit. Sure, it would take time, but he was patient, he could work towards his goals, even if it meant capitalizing on his captain's greed and arrogance.

All he had to do was not stand out and be as inconspicuous as possible while gathering as much intel as he could. Especially with the upcoming conflict, information was going to plentiful assuming one didn't get killed first. Whoever these new aliens were they were guaranteed to have all kinds of new things to show him and in turn, his employer.

Whatever happened, this was going to be memorable.


.xVIIx.

Ana was at a loss.

Today has not gone at all anyway she had planned it to. Granted, it was only the two things, but that was more than enough to throw her whole day off. If she was being honest, it was only that second thing. Seriously, who would be prepared to encounter alien life? Even with the foreknowledge that aliens existed did nothing to prepare her to hear that aliens were just in the next system. Her years of training were the few things keeping her from having a nervous breakdown like she saw some of the others having. For some, it was simply the fear of the unknown and how close it was. For others, it appeared to be a crisis of faith to whichever theology they believed in.

For her, it was mostly anxiety about what would most likely be happening. If they were correct, the fleet that was run into was a pirate one. She had dealt with pirates before; their greed oftentimes clouded their better judgment. She could feel the headache thinking about this building up. She honestly wished she could drink but given the circumstances, she needed to be at one hundred percent.

Still, the desire was strong. It probably didn't help that she was currently sitting in the bar of the base. Even though they weren't currently serving alcohol to anyone, a meal could still be procured. And that was what she was currently waiting for. She wasn't entirely sure what it was she had ordered, lost in thought as she was, but given there weren't exactly a lot of options she figured that it must've been somewhat decent.

While she waited, to keep her mind off of current events she looked around the room. Naturally, most of the room was in a minor uproar, the initial excitement slowly dying down though many were still buzzing about it. Many groups had huddled together, some brainstorming over things that needed to be done. Others were a little more hysterical and were in the process of being talked down. Then there appeared to be those who seemed to be handling the news with a bit more optimism, happily discussing the potential of what this all meant for the future.

She wasn't so hopeful. She wasn't trained to be hopeful. She was trained to expect the unexpected and prepare accordingly for the expected. And right now, she expected pirates or some of other forms of societal bottom feeders. There was always the chance that this was a legitimate fleet and their purpose was more benign, but the sheer number of differences between those ships spoke volumes of their purpose. To her, it wasn't a matter of if they showed up, it was when. From what she knew, activating a relay took several hours of work, and most of that simply the relay booting up. It probably would take less time, if Overwatch didn't handle the relays as they did.

While the Charon relay was activated as most probably were, by sending a signal to the gargantuan device to turn it on. After that, they began by sending omnic engineers to apply a device to the relay to give them some degree of control over the machine. This took time, of course, getting near a relay was pretty much impossible for anyone besides the omnics and even then the engineers required special protective shielding to keep them from being fried. She wasn't sure of the details, but she suspected that it also had something to do with omnics and their unusual energy output.

The whole reason for this was twofold. First was to give them an out if they ever encountered a system that was too dangerous for either humans or omnics to inhabit for one reason or another. Whether that be a celestial danger or something more mundane like a hazardous non-sentient lifeform. The second was purely tactical, having the ability to turn off a relay would give them time should a conflict ever arise where they needed to retreat into a controlled system. Such as the position they were in now.

Of course, the major flaw in that was that the relays could be turned back on. Their control over their relays was more an act of sabotage if anything. Shutting the relay off bought them a few hours at worst, several at best. There simply wasn't much for her to do until things went south; her expertise lay in ground combat, not naval warfare. So there was nothing for her to do but wait for the fight to come to her, leading to her current location, in the bar awaiting her meal with only her anxiety to keep her company.

Or, so she thought.

While looking around, she had of course noticed the several other soldiers that were also waiting to act. Not just soldiers, but the various mercenaries that were meant to pad the lowered amount of official soldiers that were present. As it was, several were looking her way, mostly from the men and some of the women. She was aware that she had a very exotic appearance, her natural good looks pairing well with her Egyptian heritage. But more than that, she suspected it was more because of her status as Special Forces. Shanxi wasn't known for its high priority to the higher-ups, so her presence was a novelty to those who were stationed here long term.

So it was much to her amusement when one of the two men who had probably been staring in her direction the longest began walking over, a degree of confidence in his stride as he made his way over to her. He wasn't in a hurry, so she was able to take in his features. She pretty much figured him for an American, there was just something about the way they held themselves, something this man had much of. He was tall, standing she had to guess a little over two meters, blond hair and piercing blue eyes. She would be lying if she said that she didn't find him handsome, his facial features chiseled and pleasing to the eye. Speaking of chiseled and pleasing to the eye, the rest of him wasn't bad either; his muscles were well defined and shapely.

She didn't have time to further explore his features as he had arrived at the bar side, his hand immediately presented in greeting.

"Hi!" he said enthusiastically.

"Hi…" she returned his greeting, though more reluctantly than she had intended, taken aback a bit by his enthusiasm. "I believe it's polite to introduce yourself."

His smile never left his lips, despite his social hiccup. "Name's Morrison, Jackson Morrison, at your service."

This man had no qualms about her status or their current predicament. "Amari, Ana Amari. Mind telling me why you're speaking with me? Now isn't exactly a good time."

He chuckled, his smile deepening even further. "You know, that's exactly what my friend over there said," he gestured over to the other man that he had been with before coming to speak with her. Before she could start to take in his details, Morrison had begun speaking again. "But the way I see it now is the best time to talk about these kinds of things. Get things off of one's chest, clear the air as it were. What better time to confess one's innermost thoughts than on the cusp of potential utter obliteration?"

She gave him a deadpan stare, at a total loss for his forwardness. In her experience, most men avoided her; most not liking the idea of a woman being able to kick their ass. That and she was much taller than most women, standing only a few centimeters shorter than the man she was currently speaking with. And yet here he was, right up next to her with zero shame. She wasn't sure if she should be impressed or offended.

"My point being, life is short and if we're going to take destiny into our own hands, we can't let little things like proper timing inhibit us from our goals."

Okay, she could entertain him for a bit more, it wasn't like she had anything better to do.

"Oh really? And what, pray tell, would make you think that I was an appropriate target for your… philosophy?" she asked, putting a bit of her training to work here and allowing just a hint of annoyance to leak into her words while keeping a relatively passive look on her face.

This did little to deter the man though, as once again his grin deepened before he went on, "I am so glad you asked!" He whirled around, putting an arm around her shoulders to pull her closer as he brought up a hologram. It was a photo, one that featured Morrison smiling cheerfully along with a dark-haired woman who appeared to be just as happy, her arm wrapped around him. A spark of anger flared in her, the woman being close to this man. Was he planning on cheating on her? She didn't get much time to dwell on it though as he started talking again.

"This right here is the light of my life, my Hannah, the only woman that I will ever need! I wouldn't be with her if I had chosen to take my time. The day I met her would most likely have been the last if I hadn't approached her before she vanished off to wherever her position took her. Hence why I'm here talking to you now."

Ana was thoroughly confused now. Was this guy hitting on her or not? She needed to know if she should be angry or not. Because right now she was very confused and had no idea what this guy was after.

"This brings me to why I am here bothering you on what could be the worst day ever for all of us. You see, my friend over there has been enamored with you ever since you got here. I believe he used the words 'the most beautiful woman I have ever seen' as soon as he saw you. And as you can probably imagine, he has been more than a little apprehensive about approaching you. Honestly, it was entertaining at first, but it got boring after a bit there. And then today happened and we're all very much in danger of not seeing tomorrow should things turn to shit. So, as his best friend, I took it upon myself to do the gentlemanly thing and bring you into the fold."

At this point, Ana was past confused, her brain now overloaded with the information that Morrison had just dropped on her. Normally, she would have been able to deal with this in a fairly reserved fashion, but given the already world-shattering news given to her, this was a bit too much.

"What." The most brilliant response she could muster; a master of linguistic riposte, truly she was. A glance over to his friend showed that the other man was thoroughly embarrassed; both hands doing their level best to hide his face. Morrison didn't even look the least bit put off by either of their responses, that cocksure grin still present.

"You see, he would never even think of approaching you. Why I haven't the slightest; but it's starting to get annoying to watch him pine over you every time you're in the same room as him. Since we may very well have an alien invasion on our doorstep; what better time to drag a meeting out of it."

Ana was once again taken aback. She couldn't quite understand how this man's mind worked. He was far too forward for her to mount an adequate defense. Her eyes met his and all she saw was unshakable resolve, though she suspected that he would have relented if she said no. With a sigh, she let the tension in her shoulders relax and then chuckled.

"Very well, bring your friend over; let's have a look at him."

That grin spread even further, she feared that his head would pop in half with how wide it was as he turned to his friend and waved him over. The friend appeared to be hesitant at first, though he got over it quickly enough.

As he made his way over from his little corner, Ana took in his details. Honestly, he was cute. Not quite on the same level of handsome as Morrison was, but there was certainly something about the man that she found appealing. His hair was dark, though the light reflecting off of it was an earthy brown. His skin was also dark, different from her own, more… rusty, she guessed, and less brown. His features were chiseled, less so than his friend but still attractive. If she had to guess, he was probably from North America, one of the indigenous peoples.

As he walked up to them, his embarrassment seemed to have vanished entirely, now replaced with annoyance directed towards his friend. He looked at her, looking apologetic.

"I hope that you can forgive my friend here, he can be a bit much," he said as he shot another annoyed glare at Morrison.

Morrison didn't appear the least bit sorry though, his grin somehow becoming even smugger. Ana felt that the only thing to do was copy the same annoyed glare and shot it at him as well. While Morrison weathered both for a good bit, eventually he let go of some of his smugness, his grin dropping to a satisfied smile.

"Well, I don't think you guys need a third wheel, I'm just going to go… elsewhere…" he said as he awkwardly gestured to nowhere in particular and then wandered off.

The man watched as Morrison situated himself into a far corner of the room; still shooting curious glances over, only just barely attempting to appear nonchalant. Ana felt it best to ignore him and so did her new companion.

"Well, I guess now that he's gone, appropriate introductions are in order. Ana Amari, nice to meet you," she said with a smile and extended her hand.

He returned a smile of his own as he took her hand, "Sam Manyhides, a pleasure."


.xVIIIx.

Balderich wasn't pleased.

That was to be expected, knowing who he was going to be dealing with. The worm of a man who sat before him was as simple as they came to understanding, but that didn't make him any easier to tolerate.

"I'm sorry, but that goes beyond the limits of our contract. Vishkar is under no obligation to help with the defense of the colonies," the man said, his face impassive as though there wasn't an imminent alien invasion on the horizon.

"Are you kidding me, Strohm? This is an emergency! We don't have time to be worrying about contracts!" Ryder all but yelled.

That display of emotion did little to move Strohm, his face still an impassive wall, "Contracts are what separates us from the animals, Lieutenant. Last I was told, it was only being considered that an invasion was going to happen, I have yet to see confirmation. Even then, we would still not be required to allocate any of our resources. Vishkar is not responsible for the defense of Shanxi, I believe that is Overwatch's and whatever military that the Alliance has deigned to station here."

Ryder was about to pull out his hair but was holding back, that much Balderich could tell as he felt much the same way. If he had any hair to pull that was, aside from his facial hair. "We're not saying that you have to help us with everything you have, just allow us to make use of your teleporters so that we can get the civilians to safety. The colonies are too far from the cauldrons as it is to get everyone there in time, but with your teleport-"

Strohm cut him off with a hand wave, "And that is already asking for too much, Commander. You know very well that the teleportation arrays require all who use them to obtain a permit to pass through."

"Is there nothing in the contract that allows for emergency services?" Balderich asked. "Surely even Vishkar wouldn't stand around while their investment was attacked."

Ever the bureaucrat, Strohm didn't even blink at the suggestion, his face remaining impassive but somehow even more so. "There are certain situations that would allow for such actions, however, I have yet to see the criteria for such an outcome."

Balderich managed to keep his cool but Ryder looked like he was ready to jump across the desk and strangle Strohm. They had already been going in circles for the past hour trying to convince the man of the world's plight. It wasn't that he didn't see reason; it was his strict adherence to the word of Vishkar's contract that made the man so infuriating. If it wasn't for the benefit of or in Vishkar's best interest, one may as well not bother at all.

Balderich eyed Ryder with a curious glance. When they arrived in the office, the lieutenant had felt a little inadequate for the task at hand, but he gradually throughout their meeting became more anxious and agitated. If he had to guess, the lieutenant probably expected this to go a lot easier than it was. Though, that didn't feel like that was all. Something else was causing the man to act like this, something personal.

"Gentlemen, I know that things are stressful at the moment, but I simply can't bypass the needs of the company for something that may or may not happen. I'm afraid that I must ask you to leave now, I have other duties to attend to."

Ryder made a sudden move to get out of his chair, but Balderich already had a hand on the man's shoulder. While this didn't calm him, it did placate him for the time being. Ryder shot one last furious glance at Strohm before storming out of the office. Balderich and Strohm both watched him go, neither making a move to stop him.

"You know Strohm," Balderich said with a sigh, "some things are worth the risk."

"I'm not here to entertain risks, Commander; I'm here to maintain order. Should things become clearer in the future, feel free to return to renegotiate. Until then, I have other business to attend to."

With that, Strohm looked away to his terminal, no longer acknowledging that Balderich was even in the office. With the bitter taste of defeat on his mind, Balderich stood and exited the office. He was mildly surprised to find Ryder just outside the door waiting for him.

Balderich said nothing as he started walking, Ryder taking step beside him. They traveled in silence as they made their way back to report their failure. Balderich was trying to think of alternatives that could be done to ensure the safety of the civilians. He was so deep in thought on the subject that it took him a moment to realize that Ryder was no longer at his side. Stopping he turned back and saw the lieutenant a few paces back, a look of shame in his eyes.

"I'm… sorry… for losing my cool back there," the man said, his shoulders hunched. "If I hadn't, Strohm might've been willing to deal."

Balderich stared down at Ryder, his features tempered and controlled. "It wasn't you." He put a hand on his shoulder once again and offered him a half-smile. "Strohm is a bureaucrat, through and through; he doesn't let emotion affect his decisions. In a way, I can respect him for that, though I do question why he puts the needs of a company over the needs of the people. Even if you had controlled your temper, I doubt his stance would have changed."

"There still had to have been something I could've done." Ryder still appeared despondent with his shoulders hunched and a hint of anger still in his eyes, a look that Balderich had seen before.

"What troubles you, my friend?"

Ryder remained silent for a moment, "My family's here. My wife wanted to come to be a researcher over at the omnic colony and my kids had to come along. I thought they'd be safe, I didn't think that we would be worrying about aliens. They're too far from the cauldron to get there in time, we need those teleporters."

Ah, now it made sense, a family man. Honestly, not the first thing that Balderich would have guessed. He felt shame knowing that he never would have thought that the man had a family. That was probably why he was here then, for his wife. If anything, this news made him respect Ryder even more than he already did. It answered why he was here because it most certainly didn't do any favors for his career.

"We'll figure something out. What matters now is that we get the civilians somewhere safe. The cauldrons may be the most secure structures on the planet, but there are other places."

Ryder didn't appear assured though, "There's no cauldron near the omnic colony and I'm pretty sure that their defenses are still being worked on. The whole colony is a sitting duck if the aliens turn out to be hostile."

Balderich grimaced, that did present a problem. While most of the colonies on Shanxi were complete and fully functional, some were still in the middle of their development, which unfortunately included defenses. Even more unfortunately with Ryder and his family, the omnic colony was one of the newer ones on the planet, therefore near the end of the list for completion.

Granted, most of the defenses at the colonies planet-wide were simple AA turrets. Powerful ones to be sure, but given the numbers of the alien fleet, he wasn't sure if they would be enough. What they had were meant to deter small raids, they were never meant to repel what could be a full-blown invasion if that was what going to happen. Balderich was at a loss on how to comfort the man next to him and had no option but to walk alongside him in silence.

Sure, he could offer promises of protection, that in the end, everything would be alright. Memories of a similar promise passed through his mind, echoes of a time long passed, and an old ache blossomed in his heart.

He couldn't give that promise.

And it hurt all the more knowing that.


.xIXx.

While two forces prepared for what was to come, outside forces began to set their sights on this distant corner of the galaxy.

A broker who no one knows the identity of sat in his ship, looking over what was just another piece of information sent by one of his agents. While interesting, he would need more to come to a solid conclusion. Balak was a promising agent, but he wasn't the only one in the pirate fleet. He would soon have more data to satisfy his needs.

On a distant asteroid, one known for its lawlessness and freedom, its feared overseer sat in her den of power, carefully going over information sent to her to fulfill a long-standing favor. While she was interested, she too needed more information before she became fully committed to anything. Still, it wouldn't hurt to keep a close eye on things. Whatever was happening there, she was sure that things were going to change, for the first time in a long time.

In a more settled part of the galaxy, a leader of his people got a report on unusual activity, ships moving in ways that never ended well. As it was, it was just another report on his table and another thing to file away until it proved relevant. A choice that he would later come to regret, but one he would get over quickly, regret only delayed progress.

In a dark corner of the galaxy, something long silent began to stir, an ancient intelligence waiting for its time to awake. For now, it rested for when it awoke, it would have much to do, for the good of the galaxy it would do what had to be done just as it had done countless times before.

Soon, the harvest would come.


.x…x.

So they prepared.

One side for protection, the other for conquest.

Two forces coming together in fear and destruction.

Years of isolation in our corner of the galaxy coming to an end.

And those I have been tasked to keep safe were in danger from beyond. They may not be on Earth anymore, but that did not mean my task was null.

Their distance was a factor, but one that I saw fit to remedy as much as I could before they found their homes out among the stars.

A small part of me was with them, given orders to act should they ever need it. To come up with a solution best suited for the task at hand.

While I don't think this would've been needed on Earth, in the far reaches of the nether, it should work just fine.

Executing code: Derangement, reformatting acquisition, terraforming, and recon models to defense mode. Issuing new schematic, combat class, designation: Tyrant.

Estimated time to completion: calculating…


And Scene!

Okay, well, I suppose now is as a good a time as any. The story is late. Like, really really late. I'm sorry if some of you lost faith that I would ever update, it has been over a year and for that I apologize. My mind was not in a good place, not terrible mind you, but whatever drive I had for writing was pretty much obliterated shortly after I posted this story. Which kind of sucks since I really like telling these stories and not being able to write them down was something I struggled with for months. Probably still struggling, but hey, progress.

You guys don't want to hear about my mental problems though, you all have enough going on in your own lives. *gestures vaguely at everything* I won't bore you with mine.

First, I want to thank all of you who said you wanted more, trust me, I wanted to give that to you, but you know, everything I said before. At last I have delivered. I can't promise timely delivery for the next chapter, but at least things are moving now. I just hope this chapter lives up to expectations because that first one was... well, you guys know.

Now, there are two reviews who deserve some mention.

markvg241 - Thank you for your review man, it inflates my poor ego to know you think that highly of the writing in it. Personally I think there's plenty wrong, but I'm glad you like it, for the writing at least. The emotion you mention... well, that's like 95% genuine. I put a lot of what I was feeling at the time into the chapter and from the responses it showed. I will speak no more on it.

Concept-wise, when it comes to crossovers, I really like to step it up a few notches. Most times with crossovers I find them to be somewhat lacking in their execution, namely "take-character-A-and-drop-them-in-world-B" to be far overdone. This story originally started in my head as just HZD and ME, but didn't really demand that I write it. Once I thought to add OW though, the idea made itself known and would not be ignored.

Next is.. just guest... not ever sure if this person is still willing to read, but oh well. I understand that most crossovers numbering more than two stories tend to be... cluttered. I think that's mostly because the authors of those stories tend to try and keep those worlds intact as much as possible. Nothing wrong with that, but I like to think that more can be done if one is willing to bend rather than break. Either way, Overwatch is a part of this story and that's that. I can't promise that you'll like it, but I can guarantee that my work will speak for itself.

That's really all I had to say for now. So until next time, please review! Lostbasin out!

Next Chapter: Glory