For The Republic
"What do you mean they were pushed back?!" roared Desolas. "We sent in two entire companies plus armor support!"
Rurik completely unfazed by Desolas' yelling replied "Enemy resistance was much higher than expected. They encountered what was to be believed to be at least a platoon of enemy soldiers but only 5 were actually counted."
"The reports are exaggerated. There is no way 5 soldiers could hold off that many troops."
"I believed they were exaggerated at first but helmet cam footage has confirmed only five unique individuals. Near the end of the fight two new figures emerged wearing what can only be described as power armor."
"Power Armor is impossible! The amount of element zero required to power such a suit makes it so."
"If you recall sir, this species doesn't use element zero. They might have found an alternative way to create power armor."
"Another reason to bring this species under the Hierarchy" Desolas growled "We can't have primitives running around with advanced technology like that!"
A part of Rurik noted just how contradictory that statement was. If they were primitives then how could they develop what many Salarian and Asari scientist failed to do for centuries? Rurik's attention was drawn to Desolas who just received a message on his omni-tool. Desolas' expression was that of complete and total fury. It was as if he was possessed by malicious spirits.
"Target the city. Full power to the mass accelerator." Barked out Desolas.
The bridge was overcome by silence which was then broken by an ensign.
"But Sir, firing a mass accelerator at a garden world is against Council law…"
"That is an order!" yelled Desolas. "I am in command and any insubordination will be punished with a trip to the brig!"
Wincing at his outburst the bridge crew rushed to complete his order no matter how much they didn't like it. Rurik however was stunned. He didn't think Desolas would actually go this far. If Desolas destroyed the city then Rurik would finally have valid justification to relieve him of command. He didn't know how deep that bunker of theirs was but he doubted it would survive a direct 38 kiloton explosion. Rurik had to make a decision and as the techs began putting in the firing coordinates he knew he had to make it NOW.
"Belay that order!" yelled Rurik
"Rurik what do you think you are doing?!" asked Desolas
"Something I should have done a long time ago! Escort General Desolas to the brig."
"You'll regret this Rurik! I'll make sure you entire family suffers for this!" Desolas yelled as he was taken away by two guards.
"Send word down to the troops. Tell them to cease all combat operations." Hopefully there was still a chance he could salvage this. They would send word to the Citadel and they can send an Asari diplomat who would help them get across the language barrier. In normal circumstances the Asari won't meld with a new race until the race knew them well enough but this could be considered a special case.
"Sir! We are detecting multiple FTL signatures!" yelled an ensign.
Not too far from the planet hundreds of ships dropped out of FTL. The ships ranged from frigate to dreadnought size along with a couple that were beyond that. Rurik noted that even though some of the ships matched the design patterns of the ones they fired on days ago quite a few of the others had radically different styles. Was this species a member of a much larger alliance? If so then this just got a lot more complicated.
"Sir they're charging up their weapons!"
"All ships! Disable all non-life support systems! We need to show them we don't want to fight." Said Rurik.
The fleet having enough of this pointless invasion didn't hesitate to follow Rurik's command. After what seemed like an eternity the alien fleet began to power down their weapons. Rurik breathed out the breath he didn't even know he was holding in. The aliens understood they didn't want to fight anymore but they would understandably want answers. The language barrier still needed to be overcome however. Rurik did have a solution. Unlike Desolas he poured over both Hierarchy and Citadel First Contact Protocols. Sending a first contact packet would be a bit impractical in this situation. They both recommended the use of images and simple animated videos to convey meaning. A good as plan as any. All he need to do was find out the right way to animate "We're sorry for attacking you unprovoked. It was an accident."
They've been here for over a week now. Rurik was sure the Hierarchy was sending fleets to search for them now though it was going to take a while due to the vastness of space. Food was holding so no emergencies there. Progress was slow, the videos helped with the language barrier but it was tiring trying to find ways to animate various concepts without the possibility of misinterpretation. The humans, which was the race's name, were understanding at least as much as they could be considering the circumstances. They were quick to send a video telling him to move away from the planet or they'd be fired upon. They then sent another video telling them if they went towards the relay they would be fired upon. To back up their claim a fleet of ships were sent to guard it. They allowed them to send ships down to collect their surviving soldiers, wounded, and dead. Rurik was worried that the fleet's medical supplies might not be able to cater to the sheer number of wounded. The humans helped on that front much to his gratitude. A few days ago an unarmed ship with a bright red cross painted on its hull approached the fleet. The ship was loaded with what the humans called 'Meddi Jell'. The goop like substance sealed up wounds and had no adverse effects on their dextro amino chemistry. When… If, he corrected himself, the humans joined the Citadel this medicinal substance will net them a lot of points from the other races. Not to mention the other advanced pieces of technology he's seen. Handheld Energy Weaponry, Power Armor, and judging from the scans they did of the ships they found opening the relay they also found an alternative form of FTL. The humans had much to give to the galaxy if they joined the Council.
All Rurik and the rest of the fleet could do besides caring for the wounded was to wait. He sent a video over a day ago detailing, best as they could manage, how they were going to go through the relay and inform the Council and volunteering to escort them. They made sure to show images of the various Council species working together. He was waiting for the human's response and hoped it wouldn't be too long for them to have made their decision.
Orbit over Vietnam
United Republic Space Force 5th Fleet
Venator Class Capital Ship URS Defender
"I can't believe you are even considering accepting their proposal!" shouted Hanoian Delegate To Quan "Need I remind you these alien beasts attacked Vietnam unprovoked!"
Vice Admiral Steven Hackett showed no outward reaction to Delegate Quan's outburst. Personally he could see where he was coming from. Hackett would want to make friends with aliens if they attacked one of the Republic's colonies for no apparent reason.
"Delegate Quan I understand your frustration but I just got word from Earth that both The Wanderer and President Lanh have approved." Said Hackett "We are to go to the capital of these aliens to negotiate. If they don't then we'll it'll be an official declaration of war."
Delegate Quan was still fuming however so Hackett added "The Wanderer has instructed me to inform you that the Republic will make sure Hanoi greatly benefits from the peace settlement if things go smoothly."
Quan was still upset but the offer was good. The materials required to rebuild Vietnam would be substantial and having these aliens foot the bill would be a big help.
"When do we head out?" he asked
"Delegate Goyle arrived an hour ago. The techs have finished compiling the video showing we agree to their proposal. We should be heading out soon."
"What about the fleets?" he asked gesturing to the collection of ships outside the window.
"The XCOM Fleet will remain here to guard Vietnam. The UN Fleet will return to Earth to collect the world leaders."
"The World Leaders are coming?!"
"Yes. They'll do the actual negotiation. We're just laying down the framework."
"God save the aliens from that khốn lén lút Caesar." Joked Quan
"By the end of it Caesar would have negotiated the clothes off their backs!"
2 Days Later
Sur'kesh
STG Headquarters
Director Nolu read the more recent reports of 'The Missing Fleet'. Fleet under command of Desolas Arterius disappeared over almost 2 weeks ago. The fleet was sighted leaving an originally dormant mass relay stealth ships were monitoring. Following them were ships of an unknown design. First Contact? Most likely. Ships don't match designs used by any species. Peaceful First Contact? Probable but unlikely. Turians know for solving problems with violence and Desolas even more so. Desolas infamous in Hierarchy for quick temper and low views on other species. Will most likely turn a potentially peaceful first contact scenario violent in an instant. Fleet is currently heading in the direction of the Citadel. Is fleet willingly leading them or is being forced to? Either way Council must be informed. The fleet will arrive at the Citadel in a day. Time to prepare for a peaceful first contact or judging from the ships a long hard war.
Civilopedia
Venator Class Capital Ship
Length: 2,000 meters
Armament: 10 Heavy Turbolaser Batteries, 1 Forward-facing Plasma Cannon, 80 point defense laser cannons, 4 proton torpedo tubes.
Compliment: 30 F-170 Heavy Fighters, 50 F-44 Attack Fighters, 20 B-71 Bombers, and 50 Low Altitude Assault Transports.
Crew: 5000 permeant crew, 5 AIs, and at least 5000 ground troops.
Description: A much larger version of the Venator Attack Cruiser. The Venator Capital Ship much like its smaller cousin is designed to serve as both a battleship and a carrier. The sheer amount of firepower and fighters allows in to destroy any human or Council ship by itself even when outnumbered 10 to 1. The cost of building and maintaining such a ship is high however. The United Republic can only afford 3 with its current economy. The Resolute, Justice, and Defender are flagships of 1st, 3rd and 5th Fleets respectively.
AN: ...WHAT?! I like Venators...