I is of back! I is of alive! I is of much sorry for delay, so have a New Year's present!
A/N 2: Reuploaded it and hopefully, it should be readable now.
3025 C.E
Sol System, Earth, Aperture Science Interstellar Headquarters
Live Specimen Vivisection Chamber #4-5A
"Don't worry. My colleagues and I are professionals after all."
Terrified and restrained to an examination table, Liara could only watch numbly as a group of aliens, similar to asari in appearance, brought forth a variety of instruments that most certainly were not pleasant looking. Talking to her was what appeared to be an AI, an abominable machine man, a synthetic being. The room she was in was a sterile white, and it reeked of antiseptics. Above her hanged a type of surgical robot, equipped with tools designed for no other purpose than to slice, burn, cut, and cauterize. She had no idea where she was, but wherever she was, it wasn't pleasant at all.
The room was cold, and without any clothing on her, Liara was freezing. An involuntary shudder passed down her naked body, something that was not missed by the AI.
"Ah yes, the room is indeed very cold." the AI said. Its voice was soothing, but not in a comforting manner. Rather, it was the manner a predator would adopt when talking to prey. "Tissue samples and organs tend to decompose and ruin rapidly when not preserved quickly, hence why this entire section is chilled to around -20 degrees celsius. It allows us to study organs and bodies for a longer period of time before preserving them. We're very sorry about having to remove your clothing. Clothes tends to get in the way when we vivisect specimens"
Tissue samples? Organs? Studying dead bodies? From the language she had extracted from the soldier on Aephus, english she believed it was called, it seemed to her that she was merely going to be dissected and then studied. Possibly alive.
"Who are you? Where am I?" she choked out.
"Ahh, no." the AI said. "We ask the questions here. I implore you to not get in the way of the scientific process. After all, there's a lot we'd like to learn from you. Like that mental rape you performed. How was that done?|
"It wasn't rap.." she started to protest, before her mouth and vocal cords clamped shut, and she found herself unable to speak.
"Hush hush you. There are currently around a million nanorobots within your bloodstream, which gives us complete control over your voluntary bodily functions. Now be quiet while I explain what will happen to you xenos scum."
"You were captured and whisked a few hundred light years to this secure laboratory in only a few hours thanks to the wonder that is the Interstellar Teleportation Network. Our technology has advanced much thanks to the 'contributions' from your masters."
"Your control over the element zero nodules within your body is fascinating as well. So are your mental powers. It gives you abilities not unlike those possessed by your masters, the Combine Advisors. I wonder if those abilities were a result of genetic engineering of their part. We'll have to find out. No no no, don't give me that look. We know you're a Combine thrall. We know your masters are the advisors. We know that you've been plotting away in deep space, plotting to finish what you started. The sooner you stop lying to us, the sooner we can get down to work."
A door whisked open, and a utility drone bearing a container flew in. The AI stopped to look at it, before breaking out into cheerful laughter.
"Ah excellent. It appears that our examination in the other room has been completed."
Holding down the container over her head, the AI slid a panel aside to reveal a floating brain suspended within some kind of solution, with various wires attached to it. Liara tried to scream, but her mouth refused to open.
"This is the brain of another Combine thrall we captured. A high ranking one we believe, something that had a high position in the military hierarchy. A General Victus I think it was called. It was a shame that it wouldn't talk to us about anything. We had to kill about a hundred captured thralls just to construct a rudimentary translator to talk to it. Pity that an organic-brain data extractor tends to kill its subjects, and can only extract a small quantity of information."
Finding that she could once again speak, Liara said horrified: "You've killed him!".
The synthetic shrugged. "Eh, not exactly. When it refused to divulge any more information, we vivisected it bit by bit, organ by organ, until we were left with its brain, and without anesthetic I might add. It's in this container right here. It's still technically alive, but in a state of complete sensory deprivation. It can't see, talk, hear, feel, or do anything really other then think."
It held up the container, examining it in the light. "It's been observed that extracting information from a brain is best done when the brain has no sensory input." the AI remarked. "Helps to remove the clutter of audio, visual, kinesthetic signals coming from a body. Without such signals, the brain is left along with its thoughts, making extraction of information much more simpler. Anyways, I digress. Let's talk about you."
The surgical machine over her began to descend, the other aliens in the room crowding around her.
"You're obviously not a combat unit." the AI continued. "You're probably a sort of high ranking administrative unit, or something like that. Someone who hasn't been cybernetically or genetically modified, a collaborator perhaps. You're also probably privy to a lot more information than all our other prisoners. You can also speak and understand english. So this is how it's going to go: either you answer any question we ask you, and we'll give you a quick, painless death. Or, you can end up like your friend Victus over here, and feel every sensation as we pull apart your body."
The surgical robot began to unfold, blades and lasers starting up, while the humans marked lines and other indicators on her body using laser. "I really wouldn't like to waste this opportunity. It took quite a few live specimens and corpses to determine your species biology and biochemistry, so these nanomachines would work. Even then, it still took forever adapting them so they would work for you. It would be a shame if you refused to cooperate."
"What do you want me to ask about?" she gasped, panicking.
"Oh, we have a few questions based on the information extracted from the other prisoners. Like where is the 'Citadel'? What other races do the Combine control? Why haven't they acted sooner? Why are they using primitive mass effect tech instead of dark energy tech? And don't think of lying or using your element zero powers. The nanomachines will tell us when you lie, and stop you from using your powers."
"I'M NOT A COMBINE!" she yelled.
"Tsk tsk, wrong answer."
The machine descended closer and closer, the whining of the surgical machinery growing louder by the moment.
"PLEASE, YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE ME!"
"Well, if you want to die slowly and painfully, then be my...wait what? What do you mean its telling the truth?!"
The human motioned at some sort of tablet like device. "The readings indicate that its is indeed telling the truth."
"Preposterous. Recalibrate the sensors and try again."
The human tapped the device a few times, swiping and jabbing at some invisible menu, before nodding towards the AI. "Excellent, let us proceed." it said. "What is the colour of your skin?"
Surprised by the question, it took Liara a few moments before she answered. "Uh, blue?".
There was a beeping sound, and the AI nodded in satisfaction. "Now, tell us where the rest of the Combine in this universe are." The surgical machine once again began its slow descent downwards.
"Please, I don't know anything!"
Another beep.
If the AI had any facial expressions, its face would have shown either utter shock or disbelief. Slowly, almost as if afraid of whatever would could come next, the AI turned to look at her face. "Who are you?" is asked quietly.
Silently crying, she tearfully replied: "I am Liara T'Soni, archeologist, member of the asari race, a council member of the Citadel races."
Another beep.
3025 C.E
Sol System, Earth, Aperture Science Interstellar Headquarters
Secure Teleporter Lobby
There was a brief flare of displacement energy as the Xen Teleporter linking the Aperture Science's Interstellar Headquarters and Enrichment Center to the rest of the Interstellar Teleportation Network activated, depositing General Lee and his entourage into the Enrichment Center itself. Armed guards snapped to attention, saluting as Lee walked by.
"General Lee." greeted Michelle Johnson, direct descendant of Cave and Chell Johnson, and administrator of Aperture Science. "I'm glad that you could be here on time."
"Administrator Johnson. I'm very pleased to see you again." Lee greeted in return. "The Director said there was something urgent that I needed to see. What is it?"
The smile dropped from her face. "It would be best if the Director spoke to you personally. She's waiting for you." she said, motioning towards a waiting elevator.
Stepping into the elevator, the doors slid shut and the elevator began its descent into the lower levels of Aperture, cushioned by its anti-gravity generator. Down and down they went, the glass walls of the elevator allowing Lee to gaze out at the vast underground caverns of the facility. The entire building was quite literally in motion; walls and floors were disassembled and reassembled in different configurations fluidly, as new sterile-white testing chambers, workshops, and laboratories were created on demand; piping and portals brought down materials and supplies from storage rooms; rooms were hooked onto rails and moved to where they were needed, hard light bridges and excursion funnels activating to link them to other parts of the facility.
They passed into Enrichment Shaft 3,which was located 10 kilometers underneath the surface a cheerful digital display announced. This deep into the Earth's crust, temperatures could reach up to 200 degrees celsius, necessitating the use of heavy-duty cooling equipment. Pipes and tubes of coolant wrapped the interior wall of the shaft, whisking away geothermal heat and transporting them to mighty power plants below them, that helped power the entire facility in tandem with the dark energy reactors. Wisps of water vapour could be seen, as moisture condensed and evaporated on the pipes.
The Enrichment Shaft was where most of Aperture's classified research and development occurred, and it was no surprise to Lee that it was immense. Throbbing orbs of contained dark energy shot off streams of exotic and negative matter, providing astronomical amounts of energy; engineers and scientists traveled from workplace to workplace via portals and catwalks, while drones floated alongside them, carrying instruments, tools, materials, and cargo. See-through walls showed bizarre experiments and devices; high-pressure jets of some chemical ignited a barrier of concrete on fire; what appeared to be a short, glowing blue pillar managed to assemble a series of functional construction drones from the floor itself; a swarm of black dots grouped together to fabricate a chair, a table, plates, and walls in rapid succession; thick, viscous, goo poured out of a shattered barrier, before shaping itself and merging itself with the wall, repairing it. In a laboratory with a large warning sign saying "Warning: Temporal Displacement Experiments Active", a group of scientists were scribbling onto data boards and muttering to each other, looking every now and then at the large computer dominating the center of the lab.
The elevator finally stopped, the doors swooshing open to reveal a long corridor leading to a heavy and sturdy-looking blast door. As the pair walked down the hallway, security cameras and drones monitored their every step, while laser grids and plasma screens stood on guard, ready to incinerate them if their identities did not match the security databases. They stopped at the end of the corridor in front of the blast door, a glowing panel in front of them.
"After you." Michelle offered.
Lee plunged his hand into the panel, the silvery liquid-metal like substance flowing around it. While it appeared to be a simple security system, nothing could be further from reality. Tiny pinpricks could be felt, as the scanners checked, double checked, and triple checked his biometrics. Nanomachines suspended within the liquid-substance inspected his fingerprints his handprints, DNA, heartbeat, even the nano-enhancements and genemods within his body, nothing was left unturned. Eventually, the panel turned green, and Lee was allowed to retract his hand. Michelle inserted her hand into the panel, and soon, she too was cleared to proceed.
The blast door slid open, emancipation grids and disrupter shields deactivating to reveal the interior of the chamber. And lo and behold, there she was, the Director herself. Known in ancient times as the AI GLaDOS, the Director was suspended from the ceiling motionless, looking at the the display screens that showed the hundreds of test and experiments going on within the facility.
Ancient tales, dating back to when the Enrichment Center had first been rediscovered, described GLaDOS as resembling a bound women hanging upside down, polished white plating adorning her, thick cables and wiring attaching her to mainframes and processing units above, while a slightly disturbing yellow optic gazed calculatingly at people. Of course, that was nearly a millennia ago, and technology had advanced significantly within that time period; GlaDOS's body had changed to reflect that.
The toroidal databases and processors she had been attached to were no more. Ancient magnetic hard drives and solid-state drives had been replaced by black and red storage devices composed of crystals, photopolymers, atomic records, and phase-state drives; thin, parallel plates extended downwards, packed closed together to maximize storage capacity. Old, archaic silicon circuits had given way to three-dimensional germanium chips, and even those had been replaced long ago by molecular switches and quantum qubits; the entire ceiling was covered in blocky processing units, quadrillions of bytes of data passing through in optical pulses or exchanged via entangled quantum pairs every microsecond. Thick, clunky wiring and cables had been replaced with more streamlined and efficient strands of room-temperature superconductors and optical fibers. Pipes and tubing containing liquefied coolants wrapped around the components of the AI, keeping her functioning at maximum efficiency.
The AI swung around to face the pair intruding into her inner sanctum, coldly looking at them with her yellow optic. Lee shuddered involuntarily. Even though Aperture Science, AIs and the Coalition governments had had a long and mutually beneficial partnership with one another, to stand face to face with an AI of such intellect and cunning as GLaDOS was still an unnerving experience, as many past visiting dignitaries had stated. Her early history did not help calm Lee's fear, even though he knew it was completely irrational.
The cold, feminine, yet robotic voice of GLaDOS rang out. "Administrator Johnson." she said, focusing on Michelle. "I see that you have brought the good general here."
"Yes Director." Michelle affirmed. "You mentioned something about the tests and interrogations from the capture subjects?"
"Indeed Administrator. Though that is a matter for the General's ears, is it not? Please, leave us for the time being."
The quasi-predatory gaze of the AI turned to focus on Lee. "General Lee. I welcome you to our Enrichment Center. I trust that you find our facilities impressive?"
"Indeed Director. I am most impressed by the scope and size of your facility. Aperture is after all the largest applied sciences organization within the Coalition."
GLaDOS laughed softly. "I am not surprised. Here at Aperture, without the need to turn a profit, we can apply all our efforts towards science. I must thank you and your government for providing such us with such generous quantities of resources."
The chamber darkened and a display appeared, showing videos and pictures of captured Combine thralls.
"I'll get straight to the point General." GLaDOS said. "The government seems to have made a critical error."
"What error Director?"
"The aliens we are currently at war with. They are not Combine."
It took Lee a few moments to comprehend what he was hearing, and even then, he could scarcely believe what he was hearing.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Lee replied, incredulous and unbelieving.
"The aliens we are at war with. Not Combine. Captured computer data and interrogations have proven this."
"Impossible." he snapped. "For Freeman's sake, the Prothean archives warned us about a great destroyer, coming out from the unknown, using the mass relays and advanced element zero technology! These foul xenos match this description perfectly!"
"It appears that that was a mistake." GLaDOS said. "Computer records and interrogations of subjects reveal that the aliens we believed to be Combine are in fact members of another interstellar civilization known as the Citadel Council."
"How was this not known earlier?! We had captured enemy computers and databanks days ago! Why is this information only available now!"
"It takes time and large amounts of processing power to decode an unknown computer code or language, and even longer if the code was constructed by completely alien hands. The databanks and computers captured were all coded using a completely unknown computer language, one that matched no known Combine computer code. It took several days to even begin to interpret the data, and then an even longer period of time to translate the data into a format comprehendible to organic beings."
"If this code was completely unknown, then how did our cyberwarfare attacks succeed?"
"I expected someone of your status to at least be fluent in how cyber warfare works General." the AI said in an annoyed tone. "The current accepted method of cyber warfare is to force an enemy computer to execute a program composed of foreign or unknown code. To give you an analogy, it is somewhat like forcing a normal household computer to run an AI self-adaptation script. If the computer runs it, it would become permanently and cease to function in a normal way."
Lee fell silent for a moment before he spoke up again. "Show me the computer records."
The display adapted to display a collection of documents, complete with pictures, videos, and detailed entries. The entries were in crude and often broken english, but at least they were completely comprehendible.
From what he understand, the aliens they were fighting against were in fact a species called "Turians", who were also key members of an interstellar organization known as the Citadel Council. The Citadel in turn was a massive space station, small by Coalition standards (the Citadel was about the size of a Leviathan), located at the center of the mass relay network. The Citadel had apparently been built by the Protheans and then left abandoned when their race disappeared. This struck Lee as interesting; nowhere within the Prothean archives had the Protheans mentioned the construction of the Citadel.
Oh this was bad. Very bad. If the Coalition had indeed been mistaken and had unknowingly attacked another civilization, then the consequences could be disastrous. If the public ever caught wind of this...there could be anarchy and rioting throughout the hundred star systems. Revolts even, insurrectionist attacks.
"What about their technological progress?" he asked.
"Mainly element zero based." GLaDOS replied, amused by the fact that any civilization would continue to rely on such a weak technological base. "They have yet to learn how to manipulate dark energy and dark matter directly, and instead settle for using element zero as a medium, using it to raise and lower the mass of objects. These aliens call it 'mass effect'. We call it 'horribly inefficient technology fit only for degenerates that we have long since surpassed'. Additionally, it appears that this civilization has little capacity for scientific innovation or discovery. All their science and technology is based of that of the Protheans. "
"And I'm assuming that element zero is non-toxic to them". As anyone in the Coalition was aware, humans and vortigaunts exposed to element zero tended to develop rapidly metastasizing cancers, and usually wound up dead within several hours.
"That is true. Autopsies and vivisections reveal that certain individuals are able to incorporate nodules of element zero within themselves, and when properly stimulated either through biological means or cybernetically, they can utilize mass effect fields. Their resistance to element zero must be great indeed, if they can incorporate element zero within their bodies and not drop dead."
"What about the autopsy and vivisection reports? Have those experiments ceased?"
"Those experiments have been halted." GLaDOS sighed. "A pity. What a bounty of scientific data those bodies had."
A video feed appeared, showing a disturbingly human-looking blue alien sitting alone in an isolation cell.
"This is the alien that was reported within after-action report AAR-57. The one that reportedly intruded into a soldier's mind and forcibly extracted critical information from it. Among the information that it apparently extracted was a basic understanding of the Coalition and an understanding of the english language. While we would like to further investigate this ability, all scientific experiments and examinations have been halted for the time being."
Lee shuddered. The ability to intrude into other beings mind and then rummage through it like some container….it was too similar to the psychic abilities possessed by the horrid Combine Advisors. Even the vortigaunts didn't have such psychic powers; while the vortessence could most certainly kill and cause mental damage, it could never take control of another being nor unwillingly probe another person's mind.
GLaDOS continued, not noticing Lee's reaction, or is she did notice, not caring. "Further interrogation of this being, and other prisoners once a rudimentary translator had been constructed confirmed the computer data."
How had it come to this? They should have known...why had they only realized this now?
There was no time to stand idle. If what he had seen was indeed true, then immediate action had to be taken.
"Director, can you forward an information package to the parliament?"
"Administrator Johnson has already seen to that."
"Thank you Director. I must really be going now."
With that, Lee broke into a sprint, running back towards the elevator and the teleport. GLaDOS chuckled internally. Organics, human especially. So wrapped up in paranoia and fear about past events, blundering into mistakes, and then desperately trying to correct them. To tell the truth, GLaDOS didn't care. She was in it for the science. As long as the Coalition government continued to provide Aperture the necessary resources to further the cause of science and continued to support Aperture's research, she would not concern herself with the ongoings of the government and the Coalition.
She turned her attention back towards her facility. Now, what to do with the thousands of corpses and removed brains…..
3025 C.E
Citadel Joint Task Force Liberation Fleet
9 Light Months Outside Palaven Sphere of Influence
Asari Dreadnought Destiny Forsaken
The bridge of the Destiny Forsaken was eerily silent.
A combination of nervousness, fear, and resentment permeated the atmosphere, coming off from everybody on the bridge, and indeed, everyone in the fleet. Nervousness and fear from the asari and salarians having to face off with an completely unknown race, one that had single handedly bulldozed its way through a quarter of turian space with no sign of stopping. Resentment and hatred from the turians at how reluctantly the other two council members had so reluctantly come to their aid, and how they had waited until Palaven itself to even lift a finger. Needless to say, cooperation and moral amongst the three council species that composed the liberation, no, "diplomatic" fleet, was rather lacking to say the least.
It certainly didn't help that the time needed to travel from the mustering point at the Citadel to Palaven was far longer than usual. Normally, all it would to travel to Palaven from the Citadel was a straightforward relay jump directly from the Serpent Nebula to the Apien Crest. Unfortunately, out of all the things that could have happened, the mass relay that connected the Apien Crest to the rest of the relay network had gone offline, cutting off the turian homeworld from reinforcements. A journey that normally would have taken less than 5 seconds had been extended to more than 6 hours, as the fleet was forced to take Silean relay to the Silean Nebula, then transit through a series of secondary relays before finally undergoing a 5 hour conventional FTL journey to Palaven.
Admiral Kelora T'vena drummed her fingers against the armrest of her chair restlessly, staring blankly out of the main viewport at the swirling blue mists flowing over the ship. Down below on the bridge deck, Matriarch Benezia was holding an impromptu last minute conference with her diplomatic team, checking over the diplomatic package they had prepared and calming down the highly agitated and emotional turian ambassador team. The package, a digital archive written in prothean, the three main languages of Citadel space (High Thessian, Turian, and Salarian), along with descriptive diagrams and images of the fibonacci sequence, the first 100 prime numbers, and the 1420 to 1666 megahertz range on the electromagnetic spectrum (a frequency that should be instantly recognizable to any species dependent on water), would be broadcasted amongst a wide variety of radio bandwidths and light waves and would contain everything a new species needed to know about the rest of the civilized galaxy: maps, governmental, biological, and economic data, scientific and technological knowledge, and a carefully assembled collection of greetings and cultural works from various species.
Even though Kelora had absolute faith in Benezia's diplomatic and negotiation skills (Benezia hadn't become one of the most influential and powerful matriarchs in asari space for nothing), she had less faith in the unknown species' ability to listen to peace and reason. What sane race would attack upon an peaceful expedition fleet without warning, before conducting a brutal and uncalled for rampage across turian space. It was even more disturbing to remember that said species possessed technology far in advance over any known species; Desolas's reports had indicated such bizarre and unthinkable things as "dark energy weapons", "impossible materials and metal alloys", and even the ability to dismantle a mass relay. A violent and possibly insane species in possession of such lethal technology….the thought sent a cold shiver down Kelora's spine.
Their conference finished, Benezia walked up the stairs to where Kelora was sitting. "How much longer until we reach Palaven?" she inquired, standing besides her chair joining her at looking out the viewport.
"At least 20 more minutes." Kelora replied, still staring out. "We'll have to drop by Essenus to allow the dreadnoughts and cruisers to discharge their static buildup. After that, it'll be a straight jump to Palaven's SOI."
Benezia said nothing in return. There was nothing to say. Instead, they watched as the blue shimmer of FTL travel dissipated to reveal shattered and floating wreckage orbiting brown orange hulk of the gas giant Essenus. What was once a major fuel depot and helium-3 extraction center was now no more than debris, trapped in a gradually decaying orbit around the planet. The fleet did not idle for long, only staying long enough to discharge their built up static charge from their long FTL jump, before resuming their course to Palaven.
Cold sweat broke out over Kelora's back as they jumped. She had no idea what she would find, and personally, is she had had the choice, she would have never elected to find out.
3025 C.E
Coalition Task Force Omega
In-Polar orbit Above Palaven
CSS Annihilator
7 Hours into the Bombardment of Palaven
Quiet moments of silence and solitude were best enjoyed without millions of other psychic voices talking to him. Moments like right now. There was something oddly peaceful about watching a planet tear itself apart hundreds of kilometers above its surface.
Continental-sized storms of pulverized matter, grinded down by the singularities, swirled high into the air, blotting out the light of the distant star; the surface was blanketed in darkness, with dusty-brown lighting shining through the thick clouds. Where the surface was still visible through the thick storms, mountain range, plains, forests, cities, and almost everything on the surface could be seen coming apart atom by atom, debris flying up to join the growing mass of clouds; like a giant vacuum cleaner, the surface was being sucked away bit by bit by the singularity clusters to feed their voracious appetites. Another few hours of teleporting the singularity clusters down onto the surface, and the storms would reach critical mass. Once they did, the entire planet would collapse into itself, leaving nothing but a tangled web of high-density strings of dark matter behind.
Too easy. That was Ulysses. Everything had been far too easy. Primitive weaponry. Using tactics and weaponry that didn't fit the Combine's method of operation. Surprise and shock at teleportation technology; the Combine were well aware that humanity and the Coalition possesed teleportation devices. Cybersecurity and computer technology that would have made even the old Civil Protection laugh at how antiquated it was.
But the evidence...he simply couldn't ignore the evidence. The Prothean archives stating about a great destroyer, something that had wiped out their civilization, something that had traversed the stars using mass relays. and element zero. The mass relays themselves, made out of unobtainium, a substance that was unobtainable in the natural universe and could only be manufactured by combine technology. An armada of ships that had arrived in Coalition space using a mass relay, utilized element zero...it had to be the Combine.
Maybe. The logic seemed fine within his mind. Or maybe it was that centuries of ingrained paranoia, fear, and suspicion ingrained within society was clouding his judgement. Blind panic and xenophobia had a tendency to convince people that anything that was unknown was a threat.
Yes, order were orders. Ulysses acknowledged that. But it was more than that. They couldn't risk another repeat of the 7 hour war. They couldn't risk a repeat of what happened all those years ago, couldn't risk losing the freedom they had achieved at such a high cost. Even with the Coalition as strong as it was, another invasion by the Combine, no matter how weakened or isolated they were, could devastate civilization. No, the cancer had to be put down as quickly as possible; no chances could be taken, even if it turned out they had been completely wrong and had inadvertently committed genocide.
Anything to ensure the safety and survival of the Coalition.
The relative peace and serenity of the bridge was abruptly disturbed as proximity alerts sounded off. On the environmental sensor display, a clustering of symbols representing unknown contacts appeared; the display flickered for a moment as the Overseer AI calculated their orbital trajectory, before indicating that the contacts were heading on a direct intercept course for them.
"Tactical! Give me the situation!" Ulysses ordered.
The hologram of the Overseer shimmered into existence, its expression calmed and composed. "Multiple ships have been detecting coming out of FTL on a direct intercept orbit with us. Ships are of unknown origin, though FTL and energy signatures are consistent with those of element zero. Approximately 2 thirds of the fleet are not consistent with the design of the previous Combine ships detected."
"I knew it was too easy." he snarled. "Dispatch fighters and order all ships within defensive positions. Fire at the earliest opportune moment!"
"Acknowledged sir. Dispatching orders to all tactical...hold sir. Operations is reporting that they've detected an unidentified object moving towards us, velocity 3 meters a second. Combine fleet appear to be powering down their weapons and lowering shields."
"Prepare to open fire!"
"But sir, they may be attempting to communicate…."
"There is no communication with them! Prepare to engage!"
"I..yes sir."
Fighters screeched off into the void, escorting bombers and strike-ships as they raced to intercept the incoming fleet. The mighty capital ships slowly rotated to face backwards, gyroscopes and gravitational manipulators straining to move the massive ships. Carriers moved deeper into the formation, their designated escorts moving to shield them, as they unleashed their cargo of interceptors and snub fighters. A flurry of digital signals was exchanged between ships, AIs and crew members assessing the situation.
The Combine fleet did nothing as they approached, holding position some distance away from them. No weapons were discharged, no fighters launched, nothing to indicate aggressiveness was displayed. To others, it may have appeared as a sign of peace and good intentions.
To the Coalition fleet, it was nothing more than an opportune moment to strike.
In an instant, nuclear cannon fire, dark energy lances, plasma torpedoes, a whole barrage of fire slammed into the Combine fleet.
3025 C.E
Citadel Joint Task Force Liberation Fleet
Palaven Polar Orbit
60 km away from Alien Fleet
Asari Dreadnought Destiny Forsaken
As the Citadel fleet slowly drifted close to the alien fleet, Benezia couldn't help but worry. Centuries of diplomatic experience allowed her to maintain a cool composure on the outside, but internally, she was racked with emotions.
Her worry for Liara was one of them.
Aephus had been the first planet to go dark, and Liara had been on there on a university sponsored archeological dig. No other news had arrived from the planet, nor the rest of the vast swath of space that had become isolated and cut off after the invasion. Even though she knew that Liara was most likely dead, captured, or worse, she still clung onto that tiny bit of hope that Liara was safe somewhere.
But the most powerful emotions were directed at Palaven.
"By the goddess." she whispered fearfully. "What happened?"
The close analogy she could come up with was that some cosmic vacuum cleaner had descended upon the planet and was sucking up everything in its path. Nothing was spared it seemed; the entire planet was consuming itself, hundreds of black holes devouring it. She had seen pictures and vids of the krogan asteroid drops on turian worlds during the Krogan rebellions, the devastation they had wrought on planets. What she was seeing now was far far worse.
Temperature on the surface were reaching thousands of degrees, sparking large scale forest fires in whatever forests and jungles left. Radiation levels were off the scale, even for Palaven; the surface reeked of ionizing radiation, a result of atoms and electrons being violently shredded. Dark energy levels were unlike anything she had seen before; no amount of element zero could produce readings of such magnitude. The magnetosphere had been utterly ruined, readings fluctuating widely, going from nonexistent to ridiculously high within seconds. Gravity was slowly declining, no doubt a result of the planet's mass being slowly consumed.
"60 kilometers away from alien fleet." an officer reported. "Diplomatic package is away. Still no response."
While 60 kilometers might have been a long distance in terrestrial terms, in space, where objects orbited at more than 8 kilometers a second, 60 kilometers was but a few moments. Add in mass effect weaponry that could fire at a fraction of the speed of light and GARDIAN laser batteries that could cross hundreds of thousands of kilometers within seconds, and 60 kilometers really wasn't that far away.
So when the first energy spikes and weapons fire were detected, the Citadel fleet only had few moments to react, before a flood of enemy fire came smashing into them.
The frigates at the front were the first to go, followed closely by the Salarian support ships tailing them. Great streaks of exotic weapons fire easily pierced through their shields, shattering hulls and skewering critical structures, while nuclear detonations sent emp shockwaves rippling throughout space, frying the dedicated computers and circuitry within starships. Hordes of interceptors and bombers came after, engaging in dogfights with disorientated citadel starfighters, launching torpedoes and capital-ship killer missiles, GARDIAN laser fire matching their movements and attempting to neutralize them.
"All weapons free!" Kelora screeched. "Return fire!"
A deep thudding echoed throughout the ship as the Destiny Forsaken's spinal cannon fired, a single shell cruising at a fraction of the speed of light joining hundreds of other shells as they flew towards the alien fleet. The thudding became rhythmic pounding, as the main cannon continued to fire, intermingling amongst the cannon fire of smaller mass accelerators.
Whatever kind of technology these aliens were using, it was obviously far superior to Citadel tech. For all their effort, they might as well have been chucking rocks at an armoured vehicle; each projectile seemingly vanished in an orange haze the moment they contacted the enemy shields. A barrage of exotic energy weapons fire slice through an asari cruiser, its lights and engines going out as a new exhaust port was ripped throughout its body. Explosions tore off the rear half of a salarian frigate, as a trio of enemy fighters delivered a package of torpedoes, bypassing its shields completely. Onboard a turian dreadnought, crew members screamed in agony, as invisible beams of lethal radiation melted their bodies from the inside out, while the dreadnought slammed itself into another dreadnought, its onboard navigation computers corrupted by millions of conflicting signals coming from robotic terror drones onboard. The Citadel fleet was being ripped apart, with more ships falling by the minute.
The Destiny Forsaken shuddered, as a glancing blow ripped into one of the dreadnoughts utility wings. On the ship status screen, a buzzing alert indicated that reactor output had dropped by 30%, and that fires had started in several of the life support recyclers that were rapidly spreading into the surrounding corridors. Another hit rocked the ship, as torpedoes detonated near the main fire control center and communications array, followed by a blow from a dark energy lance. The thudding of the mass effect cannon ceased, only to be replaced by a violent shaking as the supports of the fire control center gave way, and it came crashing down into engineering. A deep thunderous roar spread throughout the dreadnought as several secondary reactors overloaded, destabilizing the Destiny Forsaken's superstructure and causing several more decks to come crashing down, sparking further detonations and fires.
Rapidly filling with toxic smoke and dimly illuminated by dimly flickering lighting, the CIC and bridge was an utter mess. Coughing deeply, Kelora struggled to recover herself. Pushing off the body of a dead crewmember, she resumed her post and assessed the situation. The bridge was choked with debris; support beams had come falling down, and electrical sparking threatened to ignite any flammable source nearby. A great crack ran down the bridge window, and it looked ready to break at any moment. Half of the bridge crew were dead, crushed by falling debris or thrown violently into bulkheads,the deck slick with blood. The other half were pushing themselves up, bruised and battered, and trying to assess the damage and wrestle back any control of the ship. Benezia clambered up, a bloody gash ripped into her cheek, gently pushing off the corpse of the Volus representative of her body.
Bringing up the damage assessment panel on the main display, Kelora was frustrated when the holographic emitter flickered for a moment, before sparking violently and shutting down. Activating an old fashioned, but reliable, LCD display, she scrolled down the damage assessment list. It wasn't good.
The loss of the secondary reactors had not only dropped the total power output down to a meager 20%, but had also caused damage to the primary reactor (operating at 30% efficiency), and the loss of engineering meant that the tertiary backup reactors were now refusing to start. Only the most basic of systems were online: life support, interior sensors and comms, shields, and door control. The destabilization of the superstructure had caused the decks containing external communications, fire control, the medbay, internal drone control, and the emergency battery bay to collapse. Fire suppression was offline, with raging fires rapidly spreading throughout the corridors; interior cameras painted a grim scene, as what few crewmembers were still alive were running for their lives as emergency doors came sliding down to contain the fires. Navigation was completely shot: the EMP pulses compounded with the widespread damage to the ship had corrupted the VI programs. Considering that they were sitting targets, it was a miracle that hadn't been completely destroyed yet.
The main engines were completely offline, venting plasma in random directions as gyroscopes struggled to maintain the ships orientation. Shields were barely working, and even then, they likely wouldn't be able to do any good. GARDIAN laser batteries and mass accelerator cannons were offline. Reaction control systems were offline. Fleet-wide communications were offline. Backup signaling devices were offline. Distress beacons: offline. Escape systems: offline. Inertial dampeners: system not detected. Secondary propulsion system: unresponsive. Backup tertiary chemical propulsion: partially responsive.
More enemy fire ripped into the ship, chunks of the ship flying off, while what remaining systems there were continued to shut down. Another nuclear blast shredded apart the remaining shields and set about broiling the underside of the ship, and computer systems failed as the EMP wave washed over them. The artificial gravity finally gave out as the primary reactor finally gave out and the sensation of weightlessness took hold. All systems died onboard the ship, as the last drops of power were consumed.
Bodies, debris, blood, everything that wasn't tied down started to float away from the floor, and crew members desperately grasped at anything to stop themselves from floating away. Lights went out, plunging the ship into darkness. The comforting holo-displays winked out, and the steady humming of the reactors faded out. A deathly silence filled the dreadnought, punctuated only by the thudding and shuddering of the ship as enemy fire continued to pound into it. Without any power, they were officially sitting ducks, unable to do anything.
As another energy lance tunneled through the Destiny Forsaken, Kelora turned to Benezia and smiled sadly. There was nothing to be done. They were dead asari.
Closing her eyes, Kelora prepared to meet the goddess.
And was greatly surprised when her demise never came.
Opening her eyes, Kelora barely caught a glimpse of the alien ships moving away from the battlefield, before engaging their FTL drives and vanishing from the system.
Her confusion and relief was cut short as the tertiary generators finally came online, and the artificial gravity re-engaged. She was unceremoniously dumped back onto the deck, debris, bodies, and other crewmembers following her.
Backup emergency lighting activated, and minimum systems came back online. Rubbing her jaw, she stared blankly out the cracked viewport. The rest of the diplomatic fleet was in no better condition. Most of the ships had been outright destroyed, and what few were in states of irreparable damage.
"What happened?" Benezia asked. "Why did they leave?"
"I don't know." she responded. Recovering herself, she surveyed the damage. The Destiny Forsaken was probably a lost cause; damage was simply too severe. All communication were offline, and even if they managed to repair their comms array, they wouldn't be able to contact the Citadel without a extranet buoy.
"Get to repairing life support and power systems." she ordered. "See if we can restore external comms."
"And pray we aren't witnessing the end of our days." she muttered under her breath, looking at the slowly decaying planet below.
A/N: So yeah, I'm back. And with a new chapter to boot!
Sorry for the long delay, it was really inexcusable for me to drag it out for so long. As an additional note, reviews good sirs/madams, reviews! Artistic criticism is always appreciated.