[Updated chapter to fix lore issues]
The IMC transport ship jumped right in front of the massive alien structure, the four Pilots looked at it with awe. "Damn thats beautiful" Cypher said as they watched the giant alien space structure become bigger as the transport ship flew to the small IMC base which had been build onto the much bigger structure, docking into the IMC station.
8 heavy 20mm turrets were guarding the outside of the station with another 2 inside the moondock. The transport opened its hatch, letting the Pilot pilot their titans and supplies out of the transport ship. Looking around, Venom saw almost only spectre and MRVN units.
"Damn, really looks like the higher ups wants as few as possible up here" Cypher said.
"If you don't count 20 Pilots and Titans defending this small station as overkill, then you don't know the IMC" Chatter said.
"We are the IMC" Kitkat replied as the Atlas walked forwards. The ogre, and two stryders followed suit.
A scientist opened a door in the far end of the giant cargo hall. "Welcome, I'm assuming you're the new squad here?"
"You'd be right" Venom replied.
"Good, very good" The scientist said, "I am doctor Samuel Richard, I will show you to your quarters while the MRVN's take care of your titans."
"Very well," Venom said and the Pilots disembarked their titans.
"Good, now please follow me and I will give you a tour" Dr Samuel Richard said.
The four Pilots followed the scientist, coming up to an elevator. The five humans entered it before stopping at the 2nd floor. "This is the main hub, this is where the Commander will hold meetings and speeches." He explained, they walked down to the far west corner. A door automatically opened letting the Pilots look at a ship in construction, "We have deciphered some more information and we believe we are able to create a Jump drive compatible with the Relay station, the ship is called the IMS Normandy."
The 155 meter long blue and white ship stood proud in the hangar bay. "Damn, that's beautiful" Chatter said.
"Indeed, she looks like a true beauty" Cypher replied.
"Yes, the IMC have invested roughly 250 million credits in developing her" Dr. Samuel replied, "We believe she will be able to make a jump through the relay in roughly 18 days"
"That's good news" Venom said.
"Yes, it is. Now please follow me so I can show you the labs, cafeteria and your living quarters.
/
18 days later, Shadowbase
"IMS Normandy is ready for relay jump in T-minus 5 minutes" Dr. Samuel said through the speakers. 20 lucky humans had been chosen to travel through the relay, Venom and his squad however. Weren't a part of the 20 chosen. The ship had been loaded with enough supplies for 6 months.
"Man, I still can't believe we aren't allowed on that ship" Chatter said.
"Well, what if it was to blow up when they try to make the jump?" Kitkat asked.
"You…. have a very good point" Chatter replied.
"She always does." Venom replied.
"What do you all think they're going to encounter out there?" Cypher asked.
"Most likely just some wildlife," Chatter said, "Albeit it would be cool with an alien civilization… one that is actually still alive"
"Yeah, but let's just hope they're gonna be friendly and come with peace instead of being all 'Mars Attack' like" Venom said.
"Mars attack?" Kitkat asked.
"Old sci-fi movie from the nineteen hundreds." Venom asked, "By the way, how do you think the IMS normandy will return?"
"Heard some of the engineers talk about it, they say it also has a jump drive so that its able to return." Cypher said.
"Really? How far are they going with that Relay?" Kitkat asked.
"Most likely to the next relay station, the jump drive is there if they arent able to make the relay jump back to Shadowbase" Venom replied.
"How does the relay work by the way?" Chatter asked.
"The white coats say it creates a path with little to no mass so that any ship can instantaneously jump through" Cypher replied.
"Besides, if anything was to go awry," Kitkat said, "The IMS Africa is only a jump or two away from the system" [1]
"Yeah, it's one of the old Core system ships. Build like the old Andromeda class supercarriers" Chatter said.
"And those things are unbreakable" Venom continued.
"Except for the Odyssey" Cypher said.
"That beast didn't go down in live fire, it was a mutiny that caused it to get downed" Chatter replied.
"Yeah, I was one of the grunts on that ship," Venom replied, "I wasn't in on the mutiny, three days after we arrived at an IMC base I got promoted to Pilot training for extreme loyalty"
"Must have had some kind of Plot Armor," Chatter said, "I've heard they killed all of those who resisted on there."
"That rumour is false," Venom said, "It was only me and 14 others that didn't betray Graves out of the 2000 souls onboard and there was almost no violence."
"Damn, thats one big mutiny, thank god it wasn't violent" Kitkat said.
"Yeah, it was" Venom said.
"IMS NORMANDY JUMPING IN 30 SECONDS" Dr Samuel said over the speakers.
"Looks like the ship is about to jump soon, let's hope this goes well" Cypher said as she looked at the screen in front of them. The screen had four displays. One showing the cockpit of the aerospace craft, the outside of it, one showing the command room of Shadowbase and one showing the relay station outside of Shadowbase.
"IMS NORMANDY JUMPING IN 10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. JUMPING"
The IMS Normandy flew by the massive arcs which had begun to wind up as the heavily modified jump-drive in the IMC vessel began to connect with the Relay station. The arcs began to glow a bright blue as arc waves of energy connected with the vessel. The modified jump-drive was connected to the Relay now. "Initiating jump" The IMS Normandy jumped. A bright light shot out of the 'arms' of the Relay. The IMS Normandy had taken its jump into the unknown.
Shadowbase was silent as the displays for the IMS Normandy had gone static. None breathed… Until the displays turned back on revealing the Captain's face "This is captain Howl. Jump successful, the modified jump drive is a huge success."
That night, the Shadowbase and IMS Normandy would celebrate.
/
"General Desolas, we have pinpointed the location of the mass relay" An officer reported to the general.
"We have?" Desolas said, "Good, where?"
A holomap of the galaxy appeared, zooming in on the unexplored space next to the Batarian Hegemony. A solar system appeared on the holomap, shoving a total of four planets. "The system has one class 1 garden world," The officer said, "The Mass Relay is located at the far end of the system pointing into citadel space. It is only connected with Relay 314 and we have not detected anyother Relays in the nearby vicinity"
"Very good," Desolas said, "Who do you think they are?"
"Most likely some smugglers that got stuck there for a while," The officer answers.
"Hmmm, very well. Give the order to engage any ships at will, opening fire is only allowed on non-citadel ships"
"Roger that sire" The officer said.
A few moments later the same officer returns. "General, a small ship exited jump near our location. The PFS Fury of Heinas opened fire on the small vessel, they hit it once before it jumped back into the unknown."
"It didnt use a Mass Relay?" Desolas asked, just starting to show concern. He shook his head decided it was a stupid thought, "Nevermind, focus on the system where the Relay is located."
"Of course General" The officer replied and turned around to do his tasks.
/
"SHADOWBASE! COME IN, SHADOWBASE!" A scared and shocked voice said over the radio, Dr Samuel had been wakened by the screaming from the radio, walking over to the radio he answered, "This is Shadowbase, what is wrong?"
"We've encountered hostile lifeforms, we took a shot dead on but our shields took most of the blow." The captain replied, "We are jumping back to IMC space now"
"Alright, we will ready the defenses in case they try to chase you back the Shadowbase," Dr Samuel said, realising the situation, "How many are they and what are your damages."
"Thank you," The captain reported back, "Its at least a smaller sized fleet, couple hundred ships and we have only taken minor hull damage."
"Alrighty," Dr Samuel said, "I'll notify IMC higher ups, hopefully they can get a fleet here in time."
An IMC fleet was nothing to mess about, there was 20 IMC core system fleets and 10 IMC Frontier systems fleets. A single fleet had around sixty-thousand ships not counting fighters and at least 50 million troops counting Grunts, hackers, spies, Pilots and aircraft pilots. At Least 1% of a fleet are fully trained Titan Pilot so for a single IMC fleet to show up in a system was a big deal. Overkill or not, the IMC don't care when it comes to defend what is theirs. One time an entire Militia fleet showed up in a key-IMC frontier world which was essential for protecting Demeter, albeit the Militia didn't know that. Two IMC fleets showed up. A total of 75 million IMC troops were deployed to fight out 2 Million Militia troops. The battle came to be known as the Bloodbath of Axura's Light.
The IMS Supernova, IMS Dread of Luganta, IMS New Africa and IMS Anubis' Light had all shown up. 4 super dreadnoughts reaching lengths up to 4 kilometers armed with Orbital Defense Cannons, Missiles, Heavy turrets and 40mm Dual AA turrets. Shielded with Borium plating and XC-71 energy shields. The ships were so strong that they could survive carriers crashing into them. One super dreadnought is bad, but to go against 4 is a suicide mission.
"Thank you" The captain said, "IMS Normandy out, standby for our return.
/
Shadowbase had been put in high alert as the turrets scanned for any non-IMC fighters. During a lockdown like this, the turrets would fire at any non-IMC units with deadly precision. The 8 Heavy turrets had a total rounds per minute of 4000. Albeit very slow, they were firing up to four 20mm slugs at the same time. A single 20mm slug could tear through a Grunt's armor and the organs inside. Pilots however, were a different talk, fast enough to confuse the turrets auto aim with erratic maneuvers. Pilots could very easily get in a turret's blind spot and light it up. They could also take a different route and hack the turret making it fight for whatever site hacked it.
Inside the research station, the two Heavy Turrets inside had also been primed in case that forces should be deployed inside. Several spectres had also put up a defensive line in case of a breach. Four elite phantoms had been readied as well to fight any hostile fighters. An elite phantom had a thin layer of Borium plating and high tech energy shields as well as Titanhammer missiles and a Tri-barreled 15mm minigun.
The IMS Normandy had just jumped in as well before being escorted into Shadowbase. The ship itself hadn't taken any damage but the crew had been shocked. Venom watched as the crew were taken to the medical part of the base. Sighing he rested his head against the wall.
"Anything giving you trouble?" Cypher asked.
"Nah, just some memories and worrying about the whole operation" Venom answered.
"Ah, I see" Cypher answered as she took place besides him, "I'm really hoping that the whole hostile alien thing was an accident."
"So do I" Venom answered.
/
"General, we are ready to jump through the Mass Relay."
"Roger, you can jump through it at will" Desolas answered.
"Yes sire" The turian answered.
The Turian fleet approached the Mass Relay that the small unknown vessel had passed through. The Turian fleet consisted of two dreadnoughts, as well as a lot of lower and mid tier vessels such as friggattes, battleships and so on. The dreadnought was the flagship of the fleet, being named 'The Axalia'. Axalia was turian for Supernova. The other being named The Retaliation.
The Turian Fleet began to jump through the relay. Once they had arrived on the other side their sensors picked up multiple signals. Looking out of the ship's windows he saw the mass relay. A small station had been built onto it. Multiple smaller fighters seemed to guard it. Multiple turrets has also been built onto the station which had begun to fire at the fleet.
"I want that station captured, preferably without causing damage to it." Desolas commanded, "Get some soldiers inside."
"Yes sire" The officers answered.
"Sire, the small fighters are engaging ours," An officer reported,"Our shields seem to be useless as their weapons shoot right through them, same for the turrets"
"Hmmmm" Desolas hummed, how had the smugglers developed something like that? He wondered before shrugging it off, "How are the boarding squads doing?"
"Not too great, turrets are tearing them up."
Desolas leaned back in the commander's chair looking at the different charts. "How about the fleet?"
"They don't have any capital class ships at the Relay. Our ships are requesting clearance to eliminate the turrets and fighters"
"They have their clearance to engage turrets, I want minimal damage done to the station itself if possible"
"Yes General"
/
The alarms blared throughout Shadowbase, the Turrets outside were spending ammunition too fast trying to shoot down enemy fighters. IMC forces couldn't arrive in time for reinforcements. The Pilot's had been commanded to escort the scientists to a spaceship which was designed for fast, but short jumps at the sacrifice of armor, weapons and shields.
"Get it moving people!" Venom yelled as he guided the scientists, waving with his titan's hands. The stryder tumbled as a new series of shots hit the turrets, "Chatter, how are the turrets doing?"
"We've got three left on the outside, one of our inner turrets is busted too due to an Ogre tripping over it!" Chatter replied.
"Roger that," Venom replied, "ALL SHADOWBASE FORCES, WE ARE TO EVACUATE!"
"Venom, the moondock's been breached, hostile forces are boarding!" Chatter said.
"Roger that, Kitkat, with me" Venom replied. The two titans ran towards the moondock, opening fire on the hostile forces. Spectres were trying to flood them with mixed results.
Running forwards, Venom fired his 40mm at the hostile forces, tearing them apart. Kitkat did the same with her 20mm. XOBTR-16 Chaingun. Dashing to the side to avoid an anti-heavy weapon he ran over multiple forces, "Shadowbase is taking too much damage, we must evacuate now!" Dr. Samuel said over the comms.
"Roger" Venom replied as the two titans began retreating while opening fire.
/
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Hello everyone, I am sorry for the wait for the chapter. I have been on a bit of a writer's block due to the holidays. Which will most likely continue as I have some very big and important tests coming up here in January, I will try my best to update, but I cannot promise anything. Other than that, lets get onto the reviews shall we?
Review: Tdritzman: Very interesting concept. There aren't that many titan fall and mass effect crossovers. I look forward to seeing how this story turns out.
Answer: Yeah I figured it would be a cool subject to do despite my limited knowledge on Mass Effect. And I hope it will turn out good.
Review: Guest: It seems to lean more to the ICM side than the Milltia. Be sure to balance both sides. Both sides have their good and their bad.
Answer: This story will be leaning heavily towards the IMC being the good guys, I will balance it out, but the IMC will be showed as the good guys in this story
Review: pushtrak1: Play Mass Effect. No credibility for a fic that the author hasn't actually played.
Answer: I respect your opinion about credibility fully, and again, thank you for being so polite in our DMs.
That was the reviews, happy holidays!