I don't own Mass Effect or AvP.
!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-
Fifth Fleet, Skyllian Verge
The VIP shuttle was state-of-the-art, equipped with the best communications equipment human technology could provide. Normally, Admiral Hackett considered it something of an affectation that existed primarily to make people feel important. Look at how important I am. The universe will collapse if I cannot communicate for half an hour! But under present circumstances, he was glad of it. He really could not afford to be out of touch, even for the short trip from his transport to his new flagship.
"You have the latest updates?"
"Yes, sir. We just received a message from Admiral Singh. The last attempt at containment has failed. He will withdraw his Marines from the surface and proceed with his mission. All quarantine procedures have been followed. There were several breaches, but they were neutralized."
"Neutralized, right." Admiral Hackett scowled. Such a nice, neutral phrase for a Marine emptying his assault rifle into a civilian. But it had to be done. "Very well."
Hackett turned his chair around and stared out of the window to look out over the command he was about to assume. Fifth Fleet was all around them, even though most of its units were too far away to see with the naked eye. Six fleet carriers and over thirty destroyers, including seven of the new large destroyers, or 'battlecruisers' as most people now referred to them. Twelve frigates that ceaselessly patrolled throughout the system. Beyond them, the independent Sixty-Third Scout Flotilla with its four destroyers and eight frigates to act as a long-range reconnaissance and interdiction force. And that failed to account for the dozen or so frigates that were stationed in the surrounding star systems as well as the swarm of Rapid Deployment Vessels, each carrying an elite platoon of Marines in case there was a need for ground combat. It was a massive accumulation of firepower, stronger than Admiral Dresscher's Second Fleet had been at Shanxi or even at Relay 288; stronger, in fact, than any force humanity had ever produced in its entire history; stronger in fact than the entire navies of the Volus, Hanar, and Elcor -and probably the Batarian Hegemony- combined.
And then there was Everest. He could see her now, growing larger as the shuttle approached. She was enormous, a solid dark mass blotting out the stars as it filled the window. The lead-ship of a new class of warships, the largest combat platforms the USM had ever commissioned, capable of annihilating any opponent with the sole exception of the famous Destiny Ascension and even she would be hard-pressed to fight Everest one-on-one. People had been debating whether to classify them as battleships, dreadnoughts, super-dreadnoughts, or go for a different type of name, with appellations such as monitors and devastators being tossed around. Hackett had even heard someone jokingly refer to these ships as battlestars, though he sincerely hoped that name would not stick. In the end, it didn't matter what one called them. The only thing that mattered was what they could do. So much power. And all I can do is hope that I won't have to use it.
It had all gone so quickly. The attack on Eden Prime, the mad rush to quarantine the system, the turian fleet moving into the buffer zone. And now it would all come down to the nerves of the commanders in the field. If any of them panicked, there would be no stopping the war. And not just the fleet commanders in the DMZ. His thoughts kept coming back to the two other officers caught up in this unholy mess.
There was Anderson, the a-political, always reliable, professional soldier with the stalled career that he'd hoped to bolster with the diplomatic assignment on the Citadel. Anderson, who was now trapped in the sort of political swamp that no soldier should ever have to navigate.
And on the other hand, there was Shepard, the Butcher of Torfan, the rabid attack dog that the USM kept on a leash to fuel the nightmares of aliens. That was another career he'd hoped to salvage. The presence of a turian Spectre on a USM ship had been the perfect excuse to get her out from behind a desk and back in the field and maybe, just maybe, giving her a ship to command would have been enough to put her back on track while the rumours died down. And then she slaughtered her way across the Citadel, though this time she killed more humans than aliens. It would have been funny if there weren't so many lives riding on it. Now Shepard had slipped her leash. She was somewhere out there, aboard one of the most advanced ships in space, with a multi-species crew, tracking down a Council Spectre; technically the best, but diplomatically the worst person for the job.
Hackett shook his head. There was no point in speculating over what could have been. Things were about to explode and they needed to be ready to deal with any possible fall-out. Literally.
"Make sure communications are monitored on all channels. We can't afford to miss even a single message. And meanwhile, try to say a prayer that the turians stay calm. Because if they don't- well, I think everyone knows what will happen next."
-0-0-0-
Feros orbit
"The geth remain on the planet."
"They are studying the prothean ruins. I suppose it's a chance they've not often had in the past." Saren gestured with one talon, as though sweeping the whole matter away. "It makes no difference. In fact, it may serve our purpose We have what we need. But there must be no survivors. The geth will help accomplish that."
"Of course."
"In any case, it is time for you to go to Noveria. We can no longer delay."
The Matriarch nodded. "I know. Will you accompany me?"
"No!" Saren's voice was sharp. "I must return to the laboratory. These absences..." His voice trailed off. "I must return to her as soon as possible."
"Of course." Benezia understood. To be absent was... painful. It left an emptiness, a wound almost, that could not be healed, except by returning.
-0-0-0-
The Presidium, Citadel Station
This time, all three Councillors had gathered. With new reports from the Hierarchy just arriving, they all wanted to know the latest news.
"The humans are maintaining their positions. No further incursion into the demilitarized zone. Their posture remains defensive. I suspect that they're waiting to see how we respond."
"A good question," Tevos said. "I sometimes wonder about that myself."
"So do I," Sparaus conceded. "But it is cause for optimism. If they were planning an offensive, they would have brought in further reinforcements. Meanwhile, General Victus has reached Degeris and taken command of all available warships. Tomorrow, he will move toward Relay 288 and take up a defensive position there. The first units from Aephus are already underway as well."
"How many in total?" Valern asked.
"Six dreadnoughts, one carrier. Plus supporting units. Additional units are being readied, but that will take up to two weeks. Meanwhile, once Victus is in position, we will once again have parity with local USM forces, including their new ships."
"Until the humans respond. And then we have to send even more ships." Tevos shook her head. "This is dangerous, Sparatus. I understand the Primarch's motivations, but the more ships we send into the DMZ, the more tensions will rise and the greate th chance of a shooting incident."
"I know, but we don't have much of a choice. We cannot just abandon the DMZ to the humans. Fedorian is right about that. And we cannot leave Corinthus unsupported either. All we can do is play things cautiously and hope that the humans will do the same. Meanwhile, we need to talk to ambassador Udina. That should not be a problem now. Nobody will be surprised that we call in the human ambassador for a private meeting in light of the current situation. And we can use the opportunity to inquire a bit more about our other concerns as well. We need more frequent updates on Shepard's activities. The last thing we need is for Saren to make a move, just as we and the humans are staring at each other over the barrels of loaded guns."
"True." Tevos nodded. "If he wants to start a war, this would be the perfect moment. All it would take is one incident and events may spin out of control. Which brings me to another point."
She looked around. "I've been in contact with Thessia. To explain the situation and appraise our leaders of our change in policy. Reactions are mixed, as one would expect, but more positive than negative. I think the appearance of these new human ships has shaken them. They're finally beginning to realize how fragile our current peace really is. Almost everyone agrees that the Alliance of United Systems needs to be brought fully into the Citadel. As to the price we may have to pay for that, well, that's a tougher issue, but in general, they understand that there will have to be major concessions.
Meanwhile, the Republics have consented to deploy a small fleet toward the DMZ. One dreadnought and a handful of cruisers. Not enough to change the balance of power, but enough that we can present the humans with a multi-species task-force, instead of a Hierarchy fleet."
"You think that would improve matters?" Sparatus seemed sceptical.
"With humans, who can tell? Their experience with Hierarchy fleets in that region of space has not been positive, whereas their last meeting with a multi-species force went a lot better. Then again, they may feel that we're ganging up on them. That's why I would suggest that we don't send these ships in, yet. Let's keep them inside Citadel Space, but ready to deploy if we think it would help. I would suggest the same for the Salarian Union, should they send any forces. And, for everybody's sake, Valern, please keep the STG away from human systems, especially Eden Prime. This is not the moment to test anybody's patience.
"Will speak to them. Will be in contact in any case." Valern was clearly upset, to the point where his speech slipped into the staccato rhythm set by his species' thought patterns, rather than the deliberate speech most salarians used when communicating with other species. "After Shepard's departure, I spoke to STG, set investigation in motion. Received results. Most troubling." He shook his head, clearly trying to arrange his thoughts before continuing.
"Well?" Tevos looked inquiringly.
"They found evidence of links to Saren within STG. Used Spectre status to authorize project. Funding sources unknown, but likely linked to holdings on Noveria. His own or Benezia's or both. STG agents accepted Spectre authorization, started project, hidden even from STG command."
"And the nature of this project?"
"Unknown. Diversion of personnel and equipment found, traced to Virmire. STG sent in team to investigate but still waiting for them to report. Must act cautiously, cannot alarm Saren at this stage." He looked up. "Equipment was scientific, not military. Indicates research most likely biological. Worrisome."
"Indeed. And we may have to act, and act fast." Sparatus said. "Valern, I know that STG likes to keep things in-house, but we cannot risk it. There may be STG personnel out there working for Saren, still thinking that he is acting for us and we cannot reach out to them without alerting Saren. Give me everything you have on this Virmire site."
"You want to send in turian troops?" Tevos asked.
"Not yet. But we need to have that option. I'll locate the nearest assault force and have them send troops and equipment into a nearby system. When the STG investigators report, we can decide on a course of action without having to wait for reinforcements."
Suddenly, Sparatus omnitool emitted a small buzzing sound. He checked.
"Well, well. I think there may be a perfect opportunity to get things moving on this end. I just received a message from the human embassy. Captain Anderson has requested a meeting. Apparently, he has been tasked to deliver a message pertaining to military affairs. No details, but I think we can all guess what it's about."
-0-0-0-
USM Normandy, on approach to Feros
"Any signal?"
"No, Commander. Just an automated landing beacon."
Shepard absentmindedly ran her hand over her new armour while she studied the planet through the cockpit windows. Whether it was Captain Anderson's request, or Lawson and her shadowy organisation, the USM had come through. It had the same kinetic barrier as her old suit, but the armour itself, despite being the same weight was probably about half again as strong on top of being better suited to dealing with the unique aspects of the xenomorph threat, including an extra plexiglass screen over the front of the helmet to protect the vizor and the breathing unit from acid-splash. Combine it with the improved weaponry that ha arrived with the same shipment and she could imagine having quite a bit of fun in the near future. Of course, there was no such thing as a free lunch, and this type of suit was probably at least three or four times as expensive as her old one, which in turn was at least five times the price of the armour Williams had started with.
She grinned briefly. No wonder we practically had to clean Williams' drool off that exoskeleton. As expensive as it is, I cannot imagine this stuff ever becoming standard for line units. More's the pity. It could prevent a lot of unnecessary state-sponsored funerals.
"Anything on scanners?"
"Some signals, but not many. Some of them look like what we've seen from the geth, but there is not enough of it to be sure. No ships in orbit or even flying at low altitude as far as we can tell. If there's anything there, it's on the ground and they're doing a good job of maintaining communication discipline."
"I see. Very well, take us in, Moreau." Shepard turned around. "Mr Pressly, you have command. I'll go ground-side as soon as we're docked."
-0-0-0-
Shepard made her way toward the hangar bay. The prospective ground team was waiting. Shepard had to stifle a smirk as she saw Williams, fully kitted out with her new favourite toy. She had chosen to use an oldfashioned M56 smartgun, rather than one of the more advanced options. Cannot beat the classics I suppose. And they do have an impressive amount of firepower.
"All right, everyone. In a few minutes, we'll be arriving at Feros. Now, do be honest I don't have a very clear idea of what's going on here. There is a small colony here, sponsored by the Exogeni Corporation. They're studying the prothean ruins. According to Exogeni, they reported being under attack by robots, presumably geth, then nothing. No further reports, no signals, no nothing. You can make of that what you want. In any case, with no better leads to follow, we'll check it out, which is what those cheapskates at Exogeni corporate headquarters have been asking for."
Shepard shrugged. "It's an old story. Why pay for your own security when you can get the marines to do it for you at taxpayers' expense? Speaking of which, even though they've been bothering the government to check up on their little colony, the place was not completely undefended. According to the records I received a sizeable fraction of the colonists actually work for Exogeni's security force. Something to keep in mind. If there are survivors, they may well be armed and are probably at least a little nervous. Try not to get yourself shot."
"Any reason why they would come here?" Alenko asked. "I mean, as opposed to other places with prothean ruins."
"Not really. I checked the Exogeni data to see if there was something special about the place, but nothing stands out. It has a lot of ruins, more so than usual, but from everything I could see, the pickings have been rather slim. Feros seems to have been a major prothean population centre, maybe an administrative hub, considering the number of buildings, but there doesn't seem to be much of actual use. Either the place has been picked clean by others, or there was never that much of interest to begin with. Think about it, if you want to find cutting edge human stuff, picking through suburban homes or office spaces is probably not the best strategy and that's basically what Exogeni is doing. I get the feeling that they went to Feros simply because it was there. If they find something, great, if they don't, well, they can afford it and just by being here they're staking a claim on the planet, just in case anybody else shows up.
As for why the geth came here, I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't have a flashlight for a head, so don't ask me to try and think like a geth. It's just not going to work. Anyway, there is really no telling what is going on, so we'll just have to figure things out as we go. However, considering that there is a good chance of encountering either geth, xenomorphs or both, I strongly recommend that you all go in fully armed, and don't let your guard down. Fighting in an urban environment is about as ugly as things can get Fortunately, we've received a lot of toys to play with."
Shepard lifted her assault rifle. "This one you've all seen before. Draco Double Burner, the new standard weapon for the USM forces. Here's the thing. It's not actually a weapon, so much as a framework."
She walked over to the workbench and picked up what looked like only half a rifle, including a shoulder stock, pistol grip and trigger, but no barrel.
"This is the basic frame. Depending on what you're planning to do, you attach the weapon systems. Now, in standard configuration, the way the Marines normally use it, it has two barrels. On top, it's a high powered semi-automatic rifle. The bottom is a full-automatic carbine. It's supposed to deal with all the enemies we normally encounter. A full-auto, low-power weapon to take down shields and soft targets and a high-velocity gun to breach armour and for long-range fire. Both of them chemically powered because, well, a whole lot of reasons, some of which are actually practical and others just a matter of tradition.
But it doesn't have to be that way. If you prefer mass-effect based weapons, there are eezo-based counterparts for both. They're a lot more expensive of course, and you have the inevitable overheating issue, but if you think it's worthwhile, that's what you get. Alternatively, you can replace the lower section with a repeater U1 grenade launcher., the same one we had on the old Pulserifle. Or if you want to go high-tech, you can switch out the top barrel for the same grenade launcher we used to carry on the Lacrimae. And finally, there is this:"
Shepard put the frame down and picked up a second weapon. It started with the same frame but the top half had been filled up with a large cylinder and the lower part sported a short barrel. "Flame thrower. Fuel in the top slot, the burner in the bottom. Strictly short-ranged and the fuel supply is limited, but it can be useful if you need to clear out a building. To be honest, I think they built this just to prove that they could, rather than as a serious option, but we received a bunch of these kits with our supply shipment. They may not be much use against geth unless you can set their lubricant on fire or something, but if there are xenomorphs out there, this suddenly becomes an effective option. According to the old reports, fire is one of the few things that will effectively deter them. Plus, if you don't shoot holes in them, you don't have acid spraying all over the place, though of course, you run the risk of setting the place on fire. We have enough equipment for half a dozen flamethrowers. Keep it in mind, and if you think you need one, come and get it."
"Eh, Shepard, that may work for humans, and for Dr T'Soni, but I don't think that trigger mechanism will be much good for the rest of us." Garrus lifted his hand, showing the three large digits, none of which could ever fit through the trigger guard of the human rifle.
Shepard grinned. "Way ahead of you." She twisted the underside of the pistol grip, which came off and pulled several items out. A second move and the trigger guard came off. Within seconds, the small trigger had been replaced with one that covered the entire front of the pistol grip. "A special option so that you can use this while wearing heavy gloves. We call it a cold-weather trigger, though these days it's more for heavy environmental suits. Plays hell with accuracy, but for a flamethrower that isn't much of a concern."
She handed the weapon to Garrus, who curved his talon's around the pistol grip. It was a bit awkward, but he could use it. "I guess I cannot try it out in here?"
"Eh, no. If you want to start a fire, do it groundside." Shepard stop talking as she felt Normandy decelerate. "Speaking of which, I believe we're about to arrive."
-0-0-0-
Feros
"Welcome to Feros, everyone. Please keep en eye out. I don't want to be taken by surprise."
Normandy had docked half inside a ruined building in what presumably had been a landing spot in prothean times. Shepard looked around with considerable interest. Her only real experience with prothean ruins had been on Therum, but although the buildings there had been quite impressive, they were like nothing compared to what she was looking at now. The building they had attached themselves to, and which presumably hosted the Exogeni colony was huge, big enough to dwarf Normandy and when she looked out from the docking bay they seemed to be surrounded by similar buildings, the ruins of a city-scape so massive it dwarfed anything humans had ever built.
"Got to hand it to the protheans. They knew how to build stuff."
Neither of her companions answered. Shepard had chosen to go in with a purely human combat team. If Exogeni's security troops were on edge, aliens walking in through the doors could be enough to set them off and lead to an unpleasant incident, so the non-human part of her ground team remained at the airlock, which allowed them to guard the entrance to the ship and, at the same time, kept them close enough that they could provide assistance if Shepard ran into trouble.
"Commander, we have movement," Jin, who had moved ahead, said softly.
"How many?"
"Only one that I can see. Human. But there are at least three more on the scanner."
"Hold position." Shepard turned around. "Alenko, any electronic noise?"
"Yes, Commander. There's radio communications. And I think I just got the backscatter from a laser-"
"Shepard!" Tali Zorah's voice cut through the conversation. "Geth signals. Multiple sources."
"Damn." Shepard checked her own motion tracker. Another advantage of the new armour was that the motion sensor was no longer attached to your rifle. Instead, the sensor was mounted on the side of the helmet and the data was projected on the inside of the face-cover; a small convenience, but useful because it allowed the wearer to use their sensors without swinging a weapon around. From her position, she could see no movement, but that meant little. Never the most precise instruments, the motion trackers became increasingly unreliable in tight space with lots of obstacles that could reflect the ultrasound waves. "You heard the lady. Move up people, but be careful."
The squad advanced, cautiously, along the dock and joined up with Jin.
"Over there, ma'am."
Shepard followed his gaze. A single human in coveralls bearing the Exogeni logo stood at the end of the dock, staring at Normandy. He seemed to be oblivious to their presence. Behind him, as yet invisible, she was now tracking multiple movement sources.
"What does he think he's doing?" Shepard shook her head. It was a pointless question. "Never mind. Let's go introduce ourselves."
They moved forward, approaching the lone figure. It took long, much longer than normal before he noticed them.
"Who are- Humans! Is this, is this your ship?"
No, I flew all the way from Earth under my own power. "Yeah, yes, it is. Commander Shepard USM. I take it, the Exogeni colony is nearby?"
"Yes, yes, of course, it's back there." The man waved with one hand, in the general direction behind him. His reactions were slow, almost like he was under the influence of something. In fact, Shepard realized, that was a distinct possibility and it would explain a lot. If the colony had been under attack for a lengthy period of time, the man might have been taking stimulants to stay awake. There was a variety of such combat-cocktails on the marked, both legal and illegal, and they would keep him alert for a while. But in the end, they turned people into slow-moving and slow-thinking automatons.
"Thank God you're here," The man's brain seemed to be slowly catching up with events. "We've been under-"
A cracking sound and blood spurted from his chest as he fell. Shepard threw herself aside behind a crate, the rest of her team was already in motion, diving for cover. Behind the corpse of the colonist, multiple geth platforms were moving into view.
"Take them out!"
Gunfire erupted from all along the dock. The first geth platform was ripped apart by at least a dozen bullets but the others kept coming. Behind her, Shepard could hear the characteristic roar of a smartgun as Williams opened fire, spraying bullets all over the enemy. Well, I guess someone's having fun. A second geth went down, a third. The last, bigger than the others, stood his ground and returned fire but it was hopelessly outmatched. Its shields were stripped away in seconds. Shepard switched to her high calibre rifle and in short order put three armour-piercing rounds through its head. The machine collapsed.
As suddenly as it had started, the fight was over.
"So much for that." Shepard checked the body of the colonist, but it was clear at a glance that nothing could be done for him. She looked around the dock. There was only one visible entrance, which made things a bit easier.
"Vakarian?"
"Yes, Commander?"
"You and the others, move forward. I need you to secure the entire dock, not just the airlock. Remember what we saw on Therum. If any of these geth carry rocket launchers, I don't want them to get a shot at Normandy. Not as long as she's docked and her shields are down."
"Consider it done."
From the corner of her eye, Shepard could see her improvised multi-species combat team moving out of the airlock and along the dock. Not an ideal guarding force for a USM warship, perhaps, but it would have to do.
"The rest of you, follow me. Let's go find ourselves some colonists."
-0-0-0-
Presidium Tower, The Citadel
"Captain Anderson, I understand you have a message for us."
"Yes, Councillor." Anderson held out the datapad, which Sparatus accepted without looking.
"And the nature of this message?"
"Councillor, as military liaison for the Alliance of United Systems, it is my duty under the conditions of the modified Treaty of Farixen to inform the Council that the United Systems Military are currently in possession of five ships that qualify as dreadnoughts as specified in the treaty."
"I see." Sparatus nodded stiffly. "I see, indeed. What precisely is the nature of these ships?"
"They are more than eight-hundred meters long and equipped with spinal mass accelerators. Therefore they qualify as dreadnoughts as specified by the treaty."
"Right. And you say that you currently have five of them in service? Tell me, Captain, why is it that we were never informed when you had four, or three? Did these five ships enter service at exactly the same time?"
"That is correct, Councillor," Anderson said. "They are of a new class and therefore needed extensive testing. By the time the trials were finished, our shipyards had completed five ships. Therefore, they entered service simultaneously."
"Interesting. And how many of these ships do the United Systems Military plan to acquire?"
Anderson kept his face impassive. "The United Systems Military will acquire as many ships as they deems necessary to fulfil their obligations, Councillor. Within the limits set out in the treaty, of course."
"Of course. Thank you, Captain, for the information. Please inform Ambassador Udina, that we would like to confer with him -on this subject and others- at the earliest opportunity."
"As you wish, Councillor." Anderson turned around and strode from the room.
!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-
A/N:
You may be cool, but you'll never be as cool as Captain Anderson staring down the turian Councillor.
If you live in the ME universe and you want help breeding xenomorphs, who would you talk to? Oh wait, there are a whole species of mad scientist types ready to assist.
In Alien: Resurrection, there was a Draco that worked as a flame thrower. So, why not? It's going to be rather wimpy compared to a real-life flamethrower, but the same was true for all flamethrowers in the Alien-verse.
