Standard disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, nor any other content that you recognise. Some characters and systems are original creations. I am receiving no money for my work.
Hackenburg Sector – Shanxi
2112.10.10
Commander Atticus approached the open sided canvas structure ahead of him cautiously. The engineer's vehicles were far behind it, but still in firing range, so he hoped that his own tanks were enough to discourage them from firing. Perhaps they were hoping to kill General Sparatus, not knowing that turian doctrine expressly forbade the commanding officer negotiating in person.
Thankfully, the General was safe in her command APC, watching the situation over the body camera that he was wearing and linked up to his comm system along with other experts. He stepped onto the metal grid that formed the floor of the pavilion and took stock of the situation.
A single unarmoured engineer sat on the opposite side of a plain metal desk in the centre of the pavilion. There was a chair on Atticus's side, but nothing else throughout the entire structure.
"The alien looks unremarkable; it seems our supposition that this race does not have a biological leadership caste was correct." One of the researchers watching his bodycam footage was the first to speak.
"Don't be so hasty. Asari matriarchs and salarian dalatrasses look the same as the rest of their race does to us, but their differences are as clear as day to their own species."
Atticus ignored the squabbling of the researchers; he was waiting to hear the thoughts of his general.
"So, this is the face of our enemy" General Sparatus mused over the communications kink. They'd all seen engineers before, the captured garrison forces from their station colonies were being held and investigated aboard several cruisers after all, but this was the first time any of them had seen an engineer who manned the wall of death. Unarmoured at least.
"Not very impressive." Atticus dismissed the alien with equal parts derision and anger that these engineers had managed to kill so many good turian troops. "Just look at them, their skin looks paper thin, not like the tough and leathery aquatic skin of the asari. Those claws are pathetic, especially compared to the elcor. The digits of the hand are thin and weak as well, at least compared to the drell, and their bulk is certain to make them as lumbering and slow as the batarians. A salarian could probably run rings round them, and they don't seem to have the ability to absorb damage like the batarians do."
"Weak legs as well." General Sparatus commented. "Quarian legs are much stronger, they can break most species bones in one kick. These engineers' legs look like they'd be lucky to cause a bruise. I don't think I've seen a species this unsuited to combat since I first met a volus."
As if taking the lull in conversation as a cue, the engineer stood and retracted its lips, showing its teeth in what was obviously a display of dominance.
The General had another observation. "Blunt teeth as well, no wonder they spend so much time and resources on construction. Biologically they're under protected and virtually weapon-less. Every species except the volus has at least one natural weapon or defence to give them an edge in hand to hand combat, but these engineers don't seem to have anything."
Atticus glanced again at the aliens blunt and useless claws as the General gave her assessment. She was right, without engineered solutions – even one as simple as a wooden spear – this species would be unable to significantly damage anything. All species used engineering to cover for their deficiencies of course, but with the exception of the volus he had never seen a species that had no obvious natural strengths before they even started.
These engineers didn't use tools to compensate for some shortcomings, they used tools to compensate for everything. Physically at least. He snorted derisively as he returned the dominance display, spreading his mandibles to reveal the needle-sharp teeth that were the legacy of turians distant past as a Palaven predator.
The engineer obviously recognised Atticus's superiority as he stopped showing his own teeth and lowered his head before raising it again and sitting down.
The scientist's analysis made Atticus's confidence grow even more. "That must be a recognition of your superiority in dominance ritual. The loser assumes a submissive and vulnerable position while the winner remains standing – assertive – forcing the weaker party to look up at the stronger, as well as giving the stronger an opportunity to strike before the weaker party can stand up and defend itself."
"This bodes well for the negotiations." General Sparatus mused. "If we beat them, capture their colony, then they will recognise our superiority and submit. We should be able to extract enough concessions to make this debacle worthwhile without compromising this race's view of the Citadel."
"Agreed. This bowing to, and then sitting before, the more dangerous participant ritual does support that view of their likely negotiating stance general" The scientists were at it again. "Commander, remove the chair. We don't want to give the alien any indication that we disagree with his decision that you won the dominance ritual."
Atticus picked up the chair and moved it outside the structure before returning. He made sure to bare his teeth at the alien again, just in case it had been having second thoughts about its inferiority. This seemed to work as the alien became even more relaxed, showing its own teeth again as more of the tense, alert, nature in its limbs and stance draining away.
"Surprising that they should use teeth to decide who submits." Atticus commented before looking at the alien's claws again. "Ok, maybe not so surprising."
"Focus Atticus!" The General snapped. "What do they want? Are they surrendering?"
Privately Atticus doubted it, but he couldn't blame the General for the hope in her voice. He looked the alien in the eyes, as you would a batarian, and spoke slowly. "Do you understand me? Why did you call this meeting?"
The engineer just stared. Atticus didn't know enough to guess what the expression was, but he was feeling frustrated.
"I guess you're not as advanced as the eggheads thought." The alien made noises, but Atticus had no idea what they meant which just made his frustration worse.
"Do we not have a translation programme for this spirits cursed language yet?!" He growled at the scientists.
"It's an incredibly complex language Commander." The defensive tone was clear to all listening. "The aliens speak multiple languages, which doesn't help, but the most common one seems to be a mix of three different languages as a root before being influenced by what seems to be every other language these aliens speak. Not to mention…."
"Alight, it's a huge challenge. We get it, just work as fast as you can." General Sparatus cut them off. "Now, how do we find out what they want?"
The alien had been watching this exchange and had decided to use this lull in conversation to do something. It pulled out a bar wrapped in silver covering, showing it to Atticus before opening it and taking a bite.
Atticus just stared as the engineer repeatedly waved the half-eaten food bar at him.
"I think it wants you to eat some. Commander." One of the researchers observed.
"Don't! They're a levo species."
"He has to do something! Commander, can you copy it? You have an emergency ration bar on you, don't you?"
"I do." Atticus's reply was short and to the point as he removed the ration bar and copied the engineer. As soon as it saw Atticus eat his own ration bar rather than take its own, the alien became much more animated.
"Given the repeated pointing, I think it wants the ration bar Commander."
"Give it one Atticus." The General decided after a moments pause.
The alien calmed down once it had got the ration bar, scanning it with a large clunky tool that Atticus supposed must be their version of an omni tool. It then brought out a compact flat tablet that opened to form a 90-degree angle, forming an L shape with a blank screen on the upright half and an actual physical keyboard on the lower half.
The display was awful, but Atticus dutifully made sure his bodycam could see it. On the screen were turians, dressed in only their under-armour fabric and clearly in some form of holding cell. Over and over the recording showed the turians refusing the food that the engineers offered them. Even when the engineers took a bite of it themselves first.
"They're probably trying to convince our people that it wasn't poisoned." Atticus muttered as he continued to watch the display.
The turians got weaker as the recording went on. "For the last time WE CAN'T EAT YOUR FOOD!" Audio was suddenly provided for a moment as a turian prisoner threw the food at an engineer and was promptly restrained. The scene changed to show that prisoner and two others fully restrained while the engineers poured a liquid into their mouths via tubes, giving the unfortunate turians no choice but to swallow.
"Why are they showing us them torturing our people?" Atticus seethed, barely resisting the urge to put out the eyes of the alien opposite. They might not have the same attachment to their eyes as the batarians, but it would certainly hurt them. And make him feel better.
"That's not torture, its force feeding. They don't understand why we can't eat their food. It must seem to them to be perfectly edible to us in terms of digestibility and nutrients, they don't know we're dextro."
The turians on the display all had allergic reactions as the turian watchers expected. The engineers immediately stopped the force feeding and removed the restraints, then the screen went black.
"It looked like a mild reaction, they probably survived." The scientist's analysis was the only thing to break the silence.
After a moment the engineer began to wave around Atticus's ration bar and point back at the vehicles that were waiting close by.
"They want our food." Atticus realised. "I bet those vehicles are APCs, and that they're not carrying their normal troop compliment to make room for cargo. They want to load them up with our food so that they can feed their turian prisoners. Otherwise they'll starve."
"Excellent, this gives us even better projections for the peace negotiations. Empathy with their enemies, they're far more emotional in war than salarians. This could be used to our advantage if the negotiations fail."
"Hold on, what makes you think they empathise with the prisoners.? They could be like the bararians, just wanting to work them to death as slaves. You don't get much work out of slaves unless you feed them at least a little."
"It is possible, but at least they're not eating the prisoners. Like the Yahg did."
The scientist's debate was silenced as General Sparatus made her observation. "Call up the base, have them bring up enough emergency rations to fill those vehicles."
"But General..."
"But nothing! We may not know what the spirits dammed aliens have in store for our people, but we DO know that if we don't give them the food that they want, our people are going starve to death. Slowly."
Dead silence reigned across the turian comm system as they considered that nightmare. Starving to death, surrounded by food and aliens willing to give it to you.
"The base says the transports can be here in 2 hours General. In the meantime, the Commander should try and see if he can gather more data for the translation software. Commander Atticus, we're going to see if we can communicate time units to the aliens. Please tap the table at one second intervals and..."
Toltec – Zapala
2112.10.13
Lieutenant Tadius Ahern – N4 – was in command of the naval special forces on Zapala, all eight of them including himself. Both of the cruiser squadrons assigned to the Centauri Veil cluster had had a single, 4 solider, N4 fireteam assigned to them in addition to their marine complements. When General Williams had conscripted the marines into helping him defend Shanxi, he had sent the two N4 fireteams to General Soberon to help defend Zapala. Now, for the first time since the dinobirds had breached the dome, Lieutenant Ahern felt that they were ready to enact the plan he had taken to General Soberon.
Having finally obtained the General's reluctant permission, he was now leading his N4 team through the sewers of Toltec, Zapala's capital city, toward the target. He had chosen the sewers because they were the deepest of the service tunnels running beneath the streets of Toltec, and thus were the most likely to have survived intact.
The shallow service tunnels were already collapsed ruins from the artillery, and the medium level tunnels were death traps. Filled with running battles with dinobird troops as General Soberon's soldiers kept using them to infiltrate behind the dinobird lines, which had ruled them both out for this operation.
A dinobird appeared, guarding the intersection ahead. Idly wondering who the dinobird had pissed off to be assigned guard duty in the depths of a silent sewer system, Tadius activated his comms twice sending out a faint double click. The return click came a moment later, letting him know that the other N4 fireteam was in position.
He slowly advanced, trying not to audibly disturb the grey water around his knees. The dinobird suddenly turned to face one of the other intersections and Ahern leaped, covering the remaining distance in a couple of seconds.
His combat knife flashed, bypassing the kinetic barriers and digging deep into the chest joint of the enemy armour, severing the links to the comm system. Cut off before he could issue a warning, the dinobird tried to rally, but Ahern pulled out his knife and pivoted. He successfully hit the helmet release and slammed his knife into the small gap that appeared as the clamps disengaged, there was a gurgle and a spray of royal blue blood before the dinobird lay still.
'Good job LT.' The leader of the second fireteam said in combat sign language, appearing from the sewer that had drawn the enemy sentry's attention.
Ahern grinned fiercely despite the horrific stench that the brief combat had caused when it disturbed the settled human waste. He and his men had been practicing, picking off dinobird sentries ever since they had first landed on Zapala. First learning how to kill them, then how to kill them quickly, then quickly and quietly, before – finally – how to disable their armour's comm system and external speakers, before killing them quickly and quietly.
'No problems our area.' His XO signed. 'Mission viable?'
'Mission viable.' Ahern confirmed in silence. His XO returned his predatory grin and disappeared back into the network with his fireteam, heading for the next sewer nexus and their next rendezvous. Ahern lead his team deeper into the sewer network, his belief that his plan would be successful was growing. Hopefully they would reach their destination before the enemy realised some of their sentries were missing.
Qinghai Outskirts – Shanxi
2112.10.14
General Sparatus stared at the comm screen intensely as Sub General Orinia continued to update her superior officer on the status of her invasion of Zapala. "We are successfully grinding the enemy down General. I've recently given orders for a creeping barrage of artillery to destroy all buildings and ambush points ahead of my troops, its had the benefit of revealing the enemy strongpoint positions as well as killing any enemy troops lying in unhardened ambush positions. We've more than doubled our attack speed as a result, but the supply of spare parts for our artillery pieces cooling systems is becoming a problem."
"Good." General Sparatus sounded bitter but determined. "We need some progress. The failure of my second attack on their wall of death was at least less bloody than the first, but it was still a failure. You're to be commended for taking such effective action Sub General."
Taking a moment to divert precious supplies to Zapala, the lack of which was something her own troops would just have to deal with, the General continued. "However, although my second attack was as much a failure as my first, it did reveal something interesting about the engineer's wall of death strategy. It's as brittle as glass Orinia, one good hit and it will come crashing down."
"Are you certain General?" Sub General Orinia asked cautiously, remembering the casualty reports from General Sparatus's first and second attacks on the engineer's fortifications.
"The wall of death is not intended to stop us." Sparatus's eyes gleamed with satisfaction at her revelation.
"I'm sorry, General? I don't understand. Hasn't it repelled two of your attempts to break through now?
"No, it hasn't. Both times I was certain to break through, it was just a matter of time. Then the tide was turned by reinforcements arriving and counter attacking, forcing me to retreat. If I had just faced the wall, I would have broken through, like the battle manuals say we should do when faced with any fixed defence."
The certainty and satisfaction in her commanding officers voice at finally finding the weakness of the engineer's wall of death was a tonic to Sub General Orinia's frayed nerves. "Then all you have to do is stop them from reinforcing the wall and you can punch though and finally assault the colony itself."
"Better than that." General Sparatus explained gleefully. "The wall can't move, so once I breach it, all of it is worthless for defending the colony. None of the money or resources put into its construction will be able to be used in defence of the colony once we secure even a single corridor through it. I'll endeavour to trap the garrison in its forts as well, preventing them from falling back in a last-ditch defence and leaving them isolated. Waiting to be removed or starved out at our leisure."
"This is excellent news General! You can..."
The door in the Zapala forward operating base opened and Sub General Orinia's guard entered, before slumping silently to the floor in a fast-growing puddle of royal blue blood. As he, fell a demon was revealed in the doorway, its jet-black armour coloured only by a red and white stripe and the engineer symbols 'N4' on its right side.
General Sparatus hit the system wide alert, calling every turian in the Theta System to battlestations as she knew it was the fastest way to get help to Orinia.
Orinia herself had reacted quickly, but it was the reaction of a solider. Not that of a hostage. Instead of screaming for help to alert the dozens of guards present in the building, she instead went for her pistol to fight the demon herself. The alien reached her before she could raise it.
General Sparatus was helpless, watching the comm screen as Sub General Orinia was beaten senseless before being picked up and draped over the shoulder of one of the engineers who had slipped silently into the room.
The leader removed its helmet and looked dead at General Sparatus while its fellow engineers exited the room, silently and at speed. The alien said something and pursed its lips at the screen, making a distinctive noise before replacing its helmet and disappearing.
General Sparatus was shaking with anger as she called her research team. "Is that translation programme ready yet?"
"It is not finished yet, but the current version will work with 60% accuracy General." The reply was clipped and short, due to the fury in the General's voice and the blaring alarms.
"Translate this." General Sparatus growled, sending over a copy of the alien speaking to her. "Well?!"
"As far as we can tell General, the alien said: 'You are next.'"
General Sparatus slammed her close quarters combat talon dagger into her desk, screaming in incoherent rage at this spirits cursed planet, its spirit cursed inhabitants, and at everything that had brought the Third Patrol Fleet to this place.
Vancouver – Earth
2112.10.17
Fleet Admiral Thomas Carmichael, the First Space Lord, looked out of his window across the city of Vancouver and towards the sea. Vancouver had been chosen to host the Alliance's military command until Fleet Headquarters was finished nearly 60 years from now. The plans had been authorised 12 years ago, but it was the largest and most expensive project the Alliance had ever authorised, and the construction timescale matched its ambition.
The door to his office opened without warning, ushering in the moment he had been both expecting and dreading as a small Indian woman came barrelling through. "CARMICHAEL! WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT ABOUT LEAVING MY SOLDIERS TO DIE?!"
Fleet Admiral Carmichael grimaced and thanked all the deities he could think of that the First Sky Marshal, Field Marshal Anaya Khatri, couldn't actually breathe fire
Oblivious to his thoughts, the Field Marshal continued to verbally eviscerate him, albeit at a lower volume.
"I've been pushing my logistics officers to the brink of nervous breakdowns to get an entire army group ready to go to war in 22 days! Shiva only knows just how many lawsuits I'm facing for requisitioning anything not bolted down! Troopships have been rushed out of the shipyards and completed on route! With dockyard staff we effectively kidnapped! And you wouldn't believe the ass I've had to kiss for calling in Jewish and Hindu contractors over Yom Kippur and Diwali as well. As if there weren't enough problems!"
Thomas actually had to marvel at the list as Anaya continued venting her frustration.
"Now, after all of the screaming, the bribes, the threats and the outright blackmail that it's taken to knock 2 weeks off our mobilisation estimates, you're saying the useless fucking navy can't take them anywhere?!"
Admiral Carmichael appeared impassive in the face of her verbal assault, letting her vent her rage and frustration at the situation. He'd been dealing with this god-awful mess for the last 12 days. Field Marshal Khatri had been buried so deep in her efforts pull off a miracle of logistics no one thought possible, she'd been totally oblivious to the political shit show that had been developing, and had known about it for less than 2 hours. Her shock and anger were equal to his own when he found out, but he hadn't had a convenient target to vent at at the time.
"The navy is ready to leave this very minute Anaya, the Grand Fleet is fully assembled and Admiral Dresher reported she was ready to sail twelve days ago, we were ordered to wait for your army group to be ready to deploy. I requested the Executive Council authorise our joint deployment as soon as you informed me your preparations were completed. However…" The First Space Lord trailed off and gestured behind him to the person seated in front of his desk, the person that the irate First Sky Marshal had blown passed in her fury.
Ambassador Shen Zenghong sat there calmly. Unaffected by the First Sky Marshal's anger. "Your troops, Field Marshal, will do their duty defending Shanxi and they will not be left to die. It is simply the case that the Peoples Republic of China will rescue our own citizens."
"What?" Anaya Khatri asked, stunned.
"The Alliance Army is a security blanket given to the smaller nations in the Alliance, Field Marshal. Surely you never expected for the great powers to sit back and let peacekeepers and border guards lead us into war? Your army group is welcome to assist the Peoples Liberation Army when they lead the assault to liberate Shanxi, but Chinese citizens will be saved by Chinese soldiers. Real soldiers. Not by you and your collection of security guards."
The shock of what Ambassador Shen was saying pushed Field Marshal Khatri passed stunned and into actual speechlessness.
"When, Ambassador?" Admiral Carmichael remarked mildly. "You've used your allies on the Executive Council to defeat all the votes authorising us to take this war to the aggressors and liberate Shanxi, but in none of them have you ever stated when the Peoples Liberation Army will be ready to move. I must say, the speed at which you're converting cargo ships to carry troops is concerning. The Third Space Lord estimates that at the rate you're going it will be another three weeks before you will have the necessary carrying capacity. Since ships, shipyards, and weapons are her life's work, I won't be the one to bet against her estimates."
Ambassador Shen looked unsure for a moment before rallying. "When is of no concern of yours Admiral. China will liberate her own, without help, and when we decide is appropriate. We will not stand for any interference in our internal affairs, we never have done, and your delusions of supranational authority will not change that."
The Ambassador stood confidently; his earlier uncertainty gone. "You have your orders Fleet Admiral, Field Marshal."
The Field Marshal Khatri simply stared at his retreating back until the door closed behind the ambassador.
"I'm going to have Erwin kill him." She stated it with such a deadly calm that Thomas thought she might be serious.
"That wouldn't solve the problem Anaya." He pointed out tiredly, unable to muster any other defence of Ambassador Sheng.
"It would make me feel better." Anaya Khatri muttered, collapsing into one of the chairs facing the window. "How are they blocking our deployment? Can't the Americans bring enough countries to heel to allow us to launch?"
"Absolutely they can," Thomas replied, "but it will cost them, a lot. And they're not willing to spend that capital, political and otherwise, to save a Chinese colony given that it's the colony's own sponsor blocking the vote, and that the sacrifices they'd have to make to do it will likely cost the current administration their re-election bid."
Admiral Carmichael sighed and sank into the chair next to Field Marshal Khatri, looking out over Vancouver. "The Americans won't do anything. Why would they? When action now will cost the US itself a great deal and cost the current President his re-election, but doing nothing not only won't cause any harm to them, but will actually see their rival take a diplomatic hit when the world sees Shanxi occupied, and knows that China can't even protect its own colonies. As long as they think that humanity can defeat the aliens, which their joint chiefs are confident that we can, they've nothing to lose by waiting. Except the lives of Shanxi's garrison."
Anaya clenched her fists so hard that her nails dug into her palms and blood began to drip onto the fabric of the chair. The betrayal of China and America bit especially deep, because she'd genuinely thought that humanity had grown beyond this petty internal bickering if it were to be faced with an alien threat.
"What are we going to do Thomas?"
Tuchanka Orbit – Aralakh Cluster
Black Communication Log: Salarian Bannership
2112.10.18
From: STG
To: Commanding Officer, salarian contingent, Council Enforcement Fleet, Krogan DMZ
Alert: Third Patrol Fleet missing from Lryae Asteria cluster. Location unknown. Intense supply drawdown ongoing. Intense ground combat likely. Lryae Asteria supply bases NOT receiving extra supplies from Citadel or Hierarchy sources. Actions of TPF likely unauthorised. Highest priority. Investigating using external sources. Stand by to support when required.
From: Commanding Officer, salarian contingent, Council Enforcement Fleet, Krogan DMZ
To: STG
Acknowledged: Standing by.
Codex Entry: Humans – Human Military: The Space Lords and the Sky Marshals
(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)
The five Space Lords are the branch leaders of the Alliance Navy, together they form the leadership of the Admiralty and represent the navy in its dealings with the Minister of Defence, the Prime Minister, and Parliament. They're also responsible for taking the general instructions and budget of the civilian leadership and turning them into a viable military strategy.
The five Sky Marshals perform the same duties for the Alliance Army, forming the leadership of the General Staff. The Alliance marines and flying officers come under the control of the navy, and as such are represented by the Space Lords.
The First Space Lord: In peacetime the first space lord is the highest ranked naval officer and is responsible for the entire navy. They are the public face of the navy to both the general population of the Alliance, and its civilian leadership in the form of Parliament and its Ministers.
The first space lord will also lead the navy through small border wars, as they're outranked only by the appointment of an admiral of the fleet by Parliament. An action that parliament only takes when it is clear that the Alliance is facing full scale total war.
The navy's strategic direction, force structure, management and deployment are all the responsibility of the first space lord.
The first sky marshal performs the same duties for the Alliance army. These officers always hold the rank of fleet admiral and field marshal respectively.
The Second Space Lord: The second space lord heads Naval Intelligence Command and is also responsible for tactical planning. Filtering all of the data that NIC collects and passing the vital parts to the first space lord, so that they can plan the navy's strategy without total information overload, is one of the most vital roles in the entire navy, and the reason why the second space lord must always have the absolute trust of the first.
Active naval officers are regularly subjected to combat exercises designed by the second space lord to keep them ready for battle against any threat that the second space lord believes might break into armed conflict.
The second sky marshal controls the Army Intelligence Command and performs the same duties for the Alliance Army. These officers always hold the rank of admiral and general respectively.
The Third Space Lord: The third space lord is responsible for the physical hardware of the Alliance navy. They oversee new construction, as decided upon by the first space lord, and are also responsible for the maintenance of the current fleet, and the maintenance and security of the reserve fleet anchorages.
The most critical part of their duties is their role as head of the Naval Research Department. Here, new weapons, ships and any projects that may improve the fighting ability of the navy, are researched and developed under the watchful eye of the third space lord.
The third sky marshal heads the Army Research Department and performs the same duties for the Alliance Army. These officers always hold the rank of vice admiral and captain general respectively.
The Fourth Space Lord: The fourth space lord is responsible for the personnel of the Alliance Navy. They oversee both the recruitment of new personnel and the deployment, support, and development of the navy's current manpower. Their most important duty is that of training as they are the head of the naval academies and boot camps.
The forth space lord works very closely with the second and third space lords, so that the training regime that the fourth space lord designs and implements produces officers and crew ready to man the ever-advancing ships of the Alliance Navy, and to protect the Alliance against any threats that may be on the horizon.
The fourth sky marshal performs the same duties for the Alliance Army. These officers always hold the rank of rear admiral and lieutenant general respectively.
The Fifth Space Lord: The fifth space lord is responsible for all medical matters within the navy. This includes the general physical and mental health of the navy's personnel, which can often bring them into conflict with the fourth space lord. As well as being head of the naval hospitals and hospital ships, they're also the ultimate authority for the medical officers of the navy.
When the Chief Medical Officers of Alliance fleets and warships have had to use their authority to overrule their commanding officers, it is the fifth space lord that defends them should the regular officer's protest make it up to the first space lord. These conflicts with their colleagues tend to ensure that only very strong-willed individuals ascend to the rank of fifth space lord.
The fifth sky marshal performs the same duties for the Alliance Army, multiple former first sky marshals confirm that they also tend to be very strong willed. These officers always hold the rank of rear admiral and lieutenant general respectively.
Author's Note
The space lords come from the amazing 'Honorverse' book series by David Webber, following the adventures of Honor Harrington and her service in the Royal Navy of the Star Kingdom of Manticore, it's my all-time favourite military science fiction. It's far from realistic to assume those titles would be used in the Alliance of course, but I'm allowed to have a bit of fun with my story from time to time!
As the generals needed a similar structure, I picked the sky marshals from that sci-fi cult comedy film that is so many peoples first foray into science fiction – Starship Troopers
Timeline Changes So Far
First colony on mars: 27 years earlier than canon
Discovery of Prothean ruins: 64 years earlier than canon
Founding of the Systems Alliance (council of nations version): 63 years earlier than canon
The First Contact War: 45 years earlier than canon