A/N: Guest1/Rar: Thank you for saying so about my characters. I'm glad you've been enjoying it.
Coment9: That's fair enough to hear. Command Conquer in its prime had millions of fans, and most of those fans have moved past it since EA killed it, and they wouldn't know if the fan-made games. There are lots of fan-made spin-offs to Command Conquer, Rise of the Reds for Generals, Twisted Insurrection for the Tiberium Series and Mental Omega for Red Alert. As what is original to this fanfiction, everything passed the "classified" part of the timeline, is separate from the Mental Omega canon. And what I did write before that point was from the conjecture of Red Alert 1, Mental Omega and meshing the two timelines together.
If you have Red Alert 2 purchased and have a decent PC, you could play Mental Omega for yourself.
Guest2/Uganda knuckles: Uhuh. Are memes just late where you are in the world? Or are you a bot? Hadn't been this confused since I got spam in the FFN PM inbox.
ivanacco1: A lot of Mass Effect AUs are wank offs, not gonna deny mine is one.
Where did you get the impression I'm uncomfortable with Shepard? If you're questioning where they are, keep in mind my story takes place during this universes First Contact War. Shepard was 3 years old during the canon First Contact War, and he's 3 years old at the moment in my story. It's not a question if I want him in my story or not, he's a toddler. Of course, I'm gonna jump between characters, I've been doing exactly that.
Tyfli barda: Thanks for the review. I see it was only for the first chapter. I'll admit lots of others also gave similar criticism, and that asking readers to skip parts of my book isn't the best solution. The best solution I have is to split my story in two, with the info dump/codex in a separate story.
It's fine that you don't like it, I debated with myself whether losing readers due to off-putting info dump is worth it, and I long decided that it is for the Mass Effect fans that appreciate Codex entries.
Sometimes less is more and I recognise that, but it was a conscious choice of mine to have more.
Happening Now
At least 72 injured in mass demonstrations, continuing in Vekta
72 protesters were injured after demonstrations broke out against the extradition bill allowing people to be sent to Helghan
Profile: Helghast Autonomous Region
529 Demonstrators hospitalised since 2330
World Health Organisation confirms Tiberium outbreak in Nueva Galicia
WHO confirmed the first case of the parasitic mineral since the Tiberium Smuggling Crisis of the 2310s
Profile: Tiberium
Tiberium Containment Protocols
Opinion: Why Mercury is quarantined
May 7th 2341 CE.
1st 2nd Squadron,
Sons of Breko Mercenaries,
Shanxi Planetary Motorway M30,
Shanxi.
09:30. Shanxi Standard Time
Dathor at any other time would take his time to appreciate his surroundings. This alien world they were on, was picturesque in its own way. It was nothing like how pre spaceflight Khar'shan was described. For one, there was a lot more mammals and avians than Khar'shan. Another way this world was different to Khar'shan was that this world had less of an urban build-up. The surface of Khar'shan was at this point one large city. Although he had never seen Khar'shan it breaks so many of his comrade's hearts to know the natural beauty of their homeworld had been paved over by the Oligarchs of the planet.
This world though was quieter and more peaceful than what he was used to. He and his family grew up on Sanctum, a cold and icy planet, far away from trouble. Unfortunately for Dathor, trouble found him anyway, which meant putting him, his family employees, and his brother in harm's way.
Now he, his brother and ten soldiers from his father's Merc company are trudging through forests, barely skirting the main road to avoid being seen. The walk from the relative sanctuary of their ships was short enough, but by the looks of how fast the local's civilian transports were, who knows how much more effective their military vehicles were. They could be easily gunned down without support, so they opted to have the local trees for cover.
The trek toward the city was short enough, although the Batarians were left baffled at the evidence of what appeared to have been a battle. For a full kilometre, the road was walled off by walls of ice, which was now melting in the sun. The road itself seemed to have been torn up as if a steel-jawed Varren had liked the taste of it.
As they followed the carnage, the forest gave way to fields. The fields gave way to a scattering of houses. The housing gave way to what they assumed was the city proper. The buildings were modestly tall and made the city recognized as a city. For the whole time they trekked to the city, they witnessed no natives. The natives seemed to have properly and completely evacuated. He was thankful for such; they didn't need any jumpy alien shooting at them when he and his wanted to switch sides.
"Did you hear that?", asked Dathors brother.
The entire crew had stopped and listened. It wasn't too difficult to pick up the offending sounds. In the distance, he estimated within a kilometre, was the source of the sound. He could make out something they were all familiar with.
"Gunfire. Sounds like one of our own models too." Dathor paused for a moment. "Are you sure about your plan then brother?", he asked.
"We're trapped in this system if we side with that lunatic. Even if this raid is successful and escapes the Hierarchy somehow, they'll still demand more from us.", said Brethor. His face took a determined look. "We survive by siding with the victors."
The squad then followed the sound of battle, hugging the side of the streets as they moved. Brethor was at the lead, directing their men from cover to cover. They were drawing closer to the sound of the firefight. Among the usual noise of mass accelerated projectiles were the sound of alien grunting and battle cries. A loud screeching could be heard as well, it sounded as if blocks of ice were rubbing against each other. It was a sound he and his men knew all too well from their home planet.
As they turned a street corner, they finally found the battle in progress. The remnants of Dhasvins personal men were battling some natives. This was the first good look of the natives he and his squad had. Two of them appeared almost like Asari while the third was built like a shuttle. The small two were using strange biotic powers to through ice and plants of all things at Dhasvins men, while the third simple shrugged off their hits and punched the suckers into the pavement.
Dathor decided to take the lead, his lack of judgement may have gotten them into this mess but now he wanted to harness his impulsive actions to get them out. He fired upon Dhasvins men. His first shot went through one poor bastards' skull. His squad followed his lead and swiftly eliminated the remaining pirates.
It certainly took the attention of the natives. The three stopped in their attack but kept at the ready. The short ones kept behind cover with either plants or ice creeping up their arms. The fat one let its eyes on them with a Batarians leg in its grasp, like a club.
"Friends?", Dathor yelled out. He winced as he realised what he had done. It was idiotic. Of course, they couldn't understand him. And now they'll most likely feel threatened and kill them.
"Umm, yes?", the big guy responded. Now that was unexpected. His massive lips didn't mouth out the actual Batarian words so they must have their own translator. How's and why's will have to wait for later.
"Yes! Yes! We're against them! We want to join you!", Dathor responded, simply happy at how they luckily understood.
"Why exactly should we believe you?", the short white-furred one asked. She and the other small one looked more sceptical than their friend.
"You can't really.", his brother spoke. "We just want to go home. And if that means ratting out the bastard who dragged us into this system then we'll tell your people anything."
The three relaxed their ready stances but kept their improvised weapons on them. The large one waddled away to his transport, ironically being the most passive out of all of them.
The shorty ones were the ones taking charge, walking over to them. The closer look they had of them, made the Asari resemblance more obvious, especially with that disgusted scowl they were wearing. With how undisciplined and barbaric Dhasvins men are known for being, they probably don't have the best impression of Batarians.
"If what your saying is true, I know who exactly to bring you to. And even if you're lying, you still need to be brought to her.", the cold one said.
"We don't ever enjoy dealing with the government, especially not the military. But right now, is a special case. If you're as cooperative as you say you all are, then we're going to be fine.", the other said.
The two natives then walked back to their single-person transports. Along the way, they both went to some parked vehicles and smashed the glass windows. They threw what appeared to be keyed at the brothers.
"Follow us then."
May 7th 2341 CE.
Royal Navy Escort Flotilla,
19 light-years from Shanxi.
10:50 Galactic Standard Time.
Flotilla Admiral Jérémie Moreau now was torn. He sat at a crossroads where either direction will have dire consequences for him. He was to either leave his charge, the King of the United Kingdom, going against his initial orders given by the 1st Admiral himself, or to deny a Supreme Commander of the European Alliance. After much deliberation with his most close officers and fellow captains, the national security of their ally and the orders of the nearest high commanding officer give precedence to previous orders.
"Open the flotilla comms.", Jérémie ordered, a lieutenant complied.
"Admiral.", chorused the Captains under his command.
"We have been given an executive order by King James. An emergency distress signal from a nearby GSA System was detected. No doubt you yourselves have picked it up. Our new orders are that we are to reinforce our allies against an apparent invasion."
The Admiral waited for a response. A questioning of his authority or the authenticity of the signal or what happens with their previous mission. As expected, he received none, the men who chose to guard the King of the UK were chosen for their loyalty.
He looked to his oldest subordinate. "Captain Okeke, you and your battlegroup are to remain with the King and continue to escort him to his destination."
"Of course. With full honour I accept.", responded the Ghana native.
"Captain Jung-jin, Captain Facetti and Captain Özden, we are set to reinforce the system of Shanxi asap. Understood?"
"Yes sir.", chorused the remaining captains, as they disconnected from the flotilla comms.
With a discipline unmatched in UN space, the collective people of the SAS, whose military history is the most storied and prestigious of all of Terra, will once again come to the aid of their brethren. Much of their flotilla peeled off from the King's ship, with only the minimum left to protect him. In a flash of silver-blue, the reinforcing Allied flotilla disappeared in the direction of Shanxi.
Codex Entries:
Humanity: Subspecies:
Homo Sapiens Terran;
Tellurians (Homo Sapiens Terran), from the planet Terra, are the newest sentient species of notable size to enter the galactic stage and are the most rapidly expanding and developing. They are known for developing several dozen fields of science and technology disconnected and foreign to the rest of the Galaxy. They independently discovered a Prothean Mass Relay in the Shanxi System in 2163.
Humans have extremely robust physiology. Their internal makeup and reproductive processes are typical of most bipedal mammals, and their size and proportions give the appearance of being strong, fast and agile. In comparison to the Council races, Tellurians are roughly physically on par with Krogan(as a human in or around peak physical condition can overwhelm a similarly fit Krogan, making them near equals in a hand-to-hand combat situation), and slightly more agile than Asari(whom they closely resemble). Tellurians appear to be just as fast as Salarians, due to the equally extremely elevated metabolisms of the two. Like most organic races, Tellurians are also capable of producing biotic individuals but are severely outnumbered by psionic Tellurians. All cases of biotics in Tellurians are the result of prenatal exposure to element zero, which carries a high risk of medical complications. Whereas most Tellurians are genetically predisposed to developing psionics like how Asari are more likely to develop biotics.
Tellurians can live up to 350 years and beyond, and centuries-old medical advances have eradicated almost all known diseases that afflict them. The extensive lifespan of Tellurians has the side effect of leaving Tellurian society as an unofficial gerontocracy. Tellurians reach physical maturity at approximately eighteen years of age, and mental maturity at thirty years of age, at which point they have usually finished their academic education and either directly enter the workforce or begin training for a profession.
It has been noted that Tellurians are unusual in the galactic community because they have far greater genetic diversity compared to other species with more peaks and valleys. This makes Tellurian genetic material useful in biological experiments, as a control group.
Despite the substantial genetic diversity of Tellurians, certain physical traits have been becoming rarer ever since the 19th and 20th centuries, especially during the tremendous loss of life from 1982 to 1999. This is also the period when the mixing of different Earth ethnicities, due to social progression and acceptance, became more commonplace. To this end, with the merging of genetics, certain traits have declined in frequency. Recessive physical traits like blonde and red hair, as well as blue and green eyes, are even less common in the 24th century.
Homo Sapiens Fidis;
The Lamia (Homo Sapiens Fidis) are a reptilian liminal race with the upper body of a Tellurian and the lower body of a snake. A mono-gendered (female) demi-human race, Lamias are predatory carnivores that form tribal villages on the outskirts of desert oases of Theres. Their serpentine tails are powerful enough to rend steel.
The Lamia are Poikilotherms, organisms that do not have a stable internal temperature and must rely on external sources to maintain a healthy body temperature. As such, they are extremely vulnerable to cold temperatures and will either fall into hibernation and/or die if left exposed to low temperatures for too long. Lamias possess a sensory organ like pit vipers that allows them to see heat signatures. With it, they can follow the heat signature of their prey even in the dark.
As carnivores, lamia have twenty times less the number of taste buds than omnivores (e.g. tellurians), while omnivores generally have half as many taste buds as herbivores.
Lamia will shed their skin occasionally, just like regular snakes. Interestingly, Lamias find being seen skin shedding to be more embarrassing than being seen naked, much like most snakes finding someplace private to shed, and will lash out if someone attempts to handle them, though that's mainly because as with Lamia also when snakes shed, their eyesight becomes temporarily compromised.
Homo Sapiens Poulis;
The Harpy race (Homo Sapiens Poulis) is a mono-gendered (female) demi-human liminal race with the body of a tellurian and the wings and talons of a bird. They colonize mountainsides and similar places on the planet Theres.
A pure and cheerful race that loves the blue sky and singing. Unfortunately, most of the time, they only sing for other harpies.
Harpies are migratory beings and a race that embodies the notion of freedom, going where they please, when they please. Being similar in nature to migratory birds, Harpies psychologically can't stay in one place for very long. However, due to their air-headed personalities, they more often than end up forgetting about their "rules" and just do what they please, with that rule being: "Harpies are not allowed to stay a long time in a place. ESPECIALLY at a guy's place.".
Harpies have a clawed, opposable digit on the joint of each wing, and the wing at the joint has a "palm" which can curl to some small degree. This allows for the gripping of objects, but these improvised grabbers are nowhere near as dexterous as true hands. Since all harpies' hatch from eggs, there's a possibility that the clawed opposable digits served to help them crack the inside of their eggshells (pipping) when they hatch, as harpies don't have beaks as traditional birds do.
Harpies are among the lightest of the demi-human races because of their hollow bones. Harpies can be omnivores or carnivores. Since they don't have hands, one might think daily life would be rather inconvenient; however, their talons and the claws on their wings are enough for most tasks.
Harpies typically have poor night vision and thus, rarely fly at night, except for their Raptor Owl subspecies. Like birds, Harpies cannot discern glass walls, windows and doors and will actively fly into them while trying to get inside a house.
Homo Sapiens Bovinos;
The Minotaurs (Homo Sapiens Bovinos) are a demi-human race with bovine attributes.
Affiliated with Greek mythology, Minotaur's possess cloven feet, horns, a tail, and are easily taller than an average tellurian while also possessing slightly greater physical strength that may rival a Centaur. There are two types of Minotaur, the agricultural "farming" types and the aggressive "bullfighting" types.
Minotaur's are on average over 2m tall, with 1.85m being considered small for them. Minotaur's possess a distinct sexual dimorphism. While females have more human-like heads, the males have more bovine like heads. For cultural reasons, all Minotaur's wear cowbells around their necks.
Homo Sapiens Kapros;
Orcs (Homo Sapiens Kapros) are a race of brutish, aggressive and generally loud pseudo-humans. Possessing prominent fangs and a snout, their features tend to be "pig-like" in appearance. Taller and thicker than a tellurian by half, they would have about the strength of a polar bear and have noses capable of accurate olfactory sense up to a kilometre out.
Considered to be aggressive scavengers and opportunistic carnivores, they possess human-level intelligence and an even higher level of cunning. Violent by nature, they will fight ferociously if compelled but tend towards more chaotic/destructive behaviour such as looting, arson and/or cowardice.
Orc culture is based on the tribal system, with communities being led by a Chieftain or King depending on the community's size. This is the modern-day translates to gang violence.
Male orcs stand approximately 5'11" to 6'2", weighing from 81 kgs to 127 kgs. Females average about 6 inches shorter than males. Orcs are usually carnivorous and are often said to be cannibalistic. Other sources state them to be extreme Omnivores and will eat just about anything out of hunger or curiosity, so long as it looks like food. Like humans, Orc skin pigmentations vary depending on environmental factors. Noted pigmentations include green, brown and pink.
A/N: It's been a while since I last updated. If you read my latest story I explained why I was busy. I spent all of June playing a Crusader Kings 2 Campaign. Time enjoyed isn't time wasted. It was a fun break. If you're curious about that I based my new story around a crossover of that campaign with ASOIAF.
If your reading this story and you enjoy it then thank you. And if you didn't enjoy it then tell me why.