Title: The What-If First Contact
Rated: T (just in case)
Summary: Galaxy is a huge place, right? Well, this story will explore the what-if situations in first contact scenario. How the Mass Effect races react to different race or different version of human? Each chapter is one-shot.
Warning: This is AU Mass Effect story.Some aliens races are from different franchises or similar to those in different franchises. They are own by their respective owner(s).
Disclaimer: This story is purely written for fun and not for profit. Mass Effect is owned by EA.
"Text" is speaking
"Text" is thinking or sound without ""
"Text" is screaming
Chapter 4: Over-Cloning
Orbiting above Sentenssia, one of the Asari Republic planets…
"And therefore, five of the ships are leaving and we will have to spend more time, orbiting. Any question?" an Asari captain has just finished an announcement and one of the crew members raised her hand.
"Yes?"
"Will we get more break times, ma'am? My daughter's birthday is coming up tomorrow." Normally, this kind of question may upset the Turian officers and a crew member would face a sanitation duty for weeks. Fortunately, this is Asari military and this 299 years old Asari captain is laid-back, compared to other Asari captains.
"Afraid not. The break time will be the same." Captain Lalarie, a 299 years old Asari, answered. "But we are-"
"CAPTAIN! THREE CRUISER-SIZE SHIPS HAVE JUST APPEARED OUT OF NOWHERE!" A purple-skin Asari shouted after spotting something on her terminal. She quickly added, "No match found in our database!"
A circular terminal displayed a hologram of three unknown ships with appearance that any shipbuilder would call it impractical and unoriginal. The unknown ships look like giant cube with four small cubes attaching to sides, giving blocky plus-sign (if Asari have a plus sign). Their shape is terrible as it mean large area of surface for the enemies to exploit, unless they have strong defense.
"Look like we have first contact situation! Crew! Get the other ships in defensive position! But do not fire! We're not Turians! We're Asari!" Captain Lalarie barked out an order, causing the bridge to get busy. Thanks the Goddess, the five ships have yet to embark to their new assignment, meaning Sentenssia has 11 ships defending with 5 more ships patrolling further away.
"All ships are in defensive position, ma'am!"
"Captain! As per the First Contact Protocol, we have sent our First Contact package." A dark blue skin Asari reported, causing Captain Lalarie nodded.
"Good. Now, we wait for their reply. Just in case, their communication system is different from what we use-"
"Ma'am! We got a reply!"
"That was quick." Captain Lalarie stated. Perhaps, the unknown share similar technology?
"Let's see what they say." An Asari Captain said.
"On it, ma'am!" A dark blue skin Asari typed to open a message and called out, "It's their First Contact…" With surprised tone, "in our language! They must have really good translation software!"
"Or we're dealing with possible artificial intelligence race like Geth." A different dark skin Asari darkly inserted her thought, causing Captain Lalarie to nod in agreement, but said, "We cannot take action yet, until we know what they really look like. For now, let's hear it."
"Initializing, ma'am!"
A circular terminal lit up a digital appearance of an alien, causing some of the Asari to gasp while others just widened their eyes in shock. An alien look like an Asari, except she doesn't have tendrils. Just baldness with couple spots of various sizes on head. And her face? Despite her face mostly resembled Asari facial structure, a left side of mouth could be exposing teeth.
"What is wrong with her eyes?" a purple skin Asari pointed out her observation, causing couple Asari including the captain to examine closely. Sure enough, the right eye seems to be positioned lower than the left eye. Suddenly, an Asari captain began to see more differences or disfigurations in her opinion. The left ear is smaller than right ear. Right side cheek is rounded while left side check is completely defined.
And by judging the clothes, an alien appeared to be military.
A digital representative of disfigure version of Asari-like alien spoke with unexpected fluency in Asari language in Asari-like voice, "Greeting, we are the Terrakeran Federation." At this, an alien waved with two Asari-like hands, displaying noticeable difference: right hand has 5 fingers while left hand has 6 fingers.
"Either she had bad surgery for injuries or just born like that. She is hideous." A purple skin Asari muttered, who got hushed by other Asari.
A now identified Terrakeran alien continued, "Here is our brief history and we hope for peaceful contact and co-existence." A Terrakeran was immediately replaced with a picture of what Captain Lalaerie assumed to be a home planet that is blue and green. A pretty looking planet in her opinion.
With the texts in Asari written language appearing over a planet that read, "The Brief History", followed by…music?
"Oh, it seems we're not the only one who includes our anthem." A light blue Asari remarked lightly as she listened to a supposedly anthem of Terrakeran. It was rather unique, in some Asari's opinion as they listened. An anthem played for three and half galactic minutes before being replaced with two Terrakerans in primitive clothing: one female and one supposedly male.
"If we are separated by females and males, this is what they could look like. But with blue or purple skin and maybe thicker tendrils…" Captain Lalarie mused in her thought, "And maybe…what do males called it? Don't remember."
A female Terrakeran's female voice could be heard narrating, "Million years ago, we were primitives. Engaging in simple tribal wars over food and land. As the time passed, we grew and advanced as the society. The one society when we were struck by the plague, affecting our birthrate."
Suddenly, couple Asari felt uncomfortable at the mention of plague that reminds them of Genophage, one of the Salarian creations. And still controversial among the Citadel citizens.
A Terrakeran narrator continued, "Fearing the extinction with many of us dying every day, we turned to one technology that could save us."
Something went sour in Captain Lalarie's stomach as she watched a digital picture of a female and male changed to a picture of hundreds of Terrakerans, all in militant-like clothes and shared similar faces.
"They clone, didn't they?" A light purple skin Asari rhetorically asked.
"Cloning." A Terrakeran narrator continued as if an Asari didn't say anything, "Within 40 years, we were able to best the plague with the cure and we grew. At the terrible cost. We were unable to conceive the next generation-"
"That's…a tragedy." A purple skin Asari commented with few Asari nodding in agreement.
"And for over 600 years, we have been cloning to ensure our race does not become extinct." An alien narrator went on.
"What? They've been cloning themselves that long?" Captain Lalarie thought with shocked expression. By the Goddess, no wonder that earlier Terrakeran who greeted look off.
"-within next 400 years, we finally achieved space-traveling to seek the habitable planets to combat the overpopulation-"
"More like over-cloning." A dark blue Asari muttered darkly as she listened to a narrator. This is serious than initially thought as not only the Asari are dealing with the first contact scenario, but with the race might well be illegal to exist.
"After 500 years of space-faring, we the Terrakerans continued to grow and advance as the society." An alien narrator narrated with the picture changing from hundred Terrakerans to a video showing thousand Terrakerans with all of them sharing identical face, except more disfigured features. And they all wearing military uniform and standing in perfect lines.
"By the Goddess…" Captain Lalarie muttered out loud. They are really dealing with a race that is consisted of essentially by-products of centuries of cloning the clones.
"Wait, why there's no male among them? I don't see one." One of the Asari pointed out. True to her words, not a single male could be spotted as the video slowly moved from Terrakerans to Terrakerans.
"Wait a minute, "A different Asari called out, catching the attention, "They have been space-faring for 500 years or so, though it might be more or less if we converted their number into ours. But there is no mention of if they found Prothean remains. Not even eezo. They might be using different technology."
"Ma'am! I believe she is right! I ran a quick scan of their ships and the result showed no eezo. Plus, they didn't appear from the relay as the relay is on other side of Sentenssia." A light purple skin Asari added.
"Are you telling me that they use different Faster Than Light?" Captain Lalarie asked a crew member, who nodded in confirmation.
Few days later…At the Citadel…
"We apologize for the behavior of our people. We can assure you that we are usually open-mind." An Asari Councilor could be seen giving an apology to a group of Terrakeran ambassadors, who bore disgruntled expression. This is the second meeting with the Citadel Council and once the Citadel citizens learned that the Terrakerans are basically clones of clones of clones, they threw insults and hostility toward them after they came out of the first meeting with the Council.
"Open mind? I seriously doubt that." A krogan-size Terrakeran ambassador named Giantres replied cooly. Aside being 7 feet tall gray skin Terrakeran, Giantress has a patch of long, brown hair growing from left scalp, one blue eye that is bigger than one green eye, and one eyebrow. For her body, she has broad shoulder, muscular arms though right is larger than left as evidently shown by the tight sleeves of ambassador uniform, and the legs shared similar shape.
"What do you mean by that?" Sparatus, a Turian Councilor, asked. He doesn't like what this clone insulating.
"We've read your Codex and searched your Extranet. The Quarians and their Geth, the Terminus, the Batarians and slavery, and the Krogan and Genophage." At the last word, Giantres spat in disgust, "Ring a bell?"
She couldn't believe how the Council dealt with them. Dooming the Quarians by not helping them with the Geth, plus they have poor ability to handle the foreign germs. Letting an outlaw Terminus continuing its existence. Failing to stop the Batarians from practicing slavery, considering they took Asari, Salarian, Turians, and others as slaves. And Genophage? No words required.
"Now you-" Sparatus started with dislike not hidden, but Tevos quickly stopped him and explained calmly, "Please, excuse him. He is fiercely loyal to the Hierarchy and the Citadel. But you have to understand. You have the laws against artificial intelligence and slavery, do you not?"
"Slavery? Yes. Artificial intelligence? No."
"What do you mean no?" Valern , a Salarian Councilor, asked with curiosity. A short, bulky Terrakeran jumped in with thick accent, "It means, Salarian, we don't have laws against the artificial intelligence, because we have yet to create or find one. We only have virtual intelligence, which I see you possess such technology."
"Regardless of your 'fear' of artificial intelligence, there is still Genophage." Giantress spoke, almost sneering, "What give you the right to play GOD on the Krogan, Salarian?" She stared intensely at Valern, whose expression remained neutral.
"They were a threat, so we created a counter to threat. Simple as that." Valern's short answer which doesn't satisfy Giantres, who was about to retort when an old looking Terrakeran ambassador said, "Enough, sisters. We are wasting time. What's done is done. You can argue about the Genophage privately, but not now."
"Yes, let's us forget the unpleasant matter and-" Tevos, smiling and relieved at the chance of tipping the meeting in the Councilors' favor, was interrupted by an old alien ambassador.
"Allow me to get straight to the point. We are here to tell you that we are declining your invitation as to you bunch, we are illegal products."
"Surely, you understand the-" Valern too got interrupted.
"In your eyes, we are not the sentient being and thus, do not have the right to exist. To be honest, I'm surprised we're having second meeting." An old Terrakeran firmly said. The room is filled with tense silence and both parties stared at each other.
A short, bulky Terrakeran broke the silence, "Elder Sister Bawga and Sister Giantress. We should leave. We're not coming back here anyway."
"Yes, yes." Now identified as Bawga nodded before addressing the Council, "Listen here, you bunch. Here is what will happen. After this?" She made a hand gesture with a hand that has 4 bony fingers, "We will not contact with each other again. This is where we stay away from your territories and you stay out of ours. But know this: If we see you trying to trespass our territories, we will take action. Do you bunch understand?"
"Exactly what I was going to suggest." Sparatus said, not hiding contempt toward the clones.
"Good and good-bye. Sisters, we're leaving." All Terrakerans left the room without saying, leaving the Councilors staring at the door.
In the end, the Terrakeran Federation declined an invitation to join the Citadel. Its ambassadors went through storm of insults and few brawls occurred between the Terrakeran bodyguards and the Citadel citizens before reaching to their ship. Within next galactic minutes, the clones' ship left and not a single Terrakeran was seen again.
The Council, agreeing to Bawga's proposal, decided against sending the Spectres or intelligence forces to perform recon within Terrakeran Federation's mapped boundaries. Plus, the military thought it would be expensive as the Terrakerans don't use the Relays and their territories are too far.