For those who've been waiting, I feel the need to explain myself a bit. You see, I had everything ready on Halloween, but when I attempted to access the site to upload it, I discovered that my internet was not working. After checking for the usual suspects (unplugged cables, dead router, ETC,) I phoned my ISP. Turns out there was a wee misunderstanding with their online billing, and the notice of the bill being paid got 'lost' somewhere between their billing server and whatever arcane method they use to keep track of who gets internet and such. This resulted in me not having internet access for almost a week while they fixed the problem. I'm assured that this kind of thing almost never happens, and they apologized profusely. Considering this is the first time I've ever had this problem in five years, and nobody I know who uses it has experienced similar, I'm inclined to believe them. However, this little incident has prompted me to say that there may be times that I have everything ready to go, but am unable to post for whatever reason. I will, however, do my very best to make updates within ten days of when I said I'd update, barring major natural disasters or other Real Life stuff eating up my time (and/or cutting off internet and/or power.)

I thank you for your patience, and hope that you find the first chapter enjoyable.


Chapter One: Second Contact

Part one: A Fire is Lit


Outskirts of Harvest system, July fifth, 2580

ONI prowler Seeker in the Dark, CIC (Combat Information Center)

"What the hell am I looking at?" the captain asked

"Honestly sir? I've got no idea. But it's big, nearly the size of a cruiser. I've got no idea what it is." this came from a small, glowing orange figure is a 21st-century US marine Sargent's wear, glowing lines of data cascading down strips and scars. "I've had the stealth up since we detected it, but there's no way I could take on something of that tonnage. With respect, our best course is to jump off per Cole protocol, then head to Reach and get a proper task-force to investigate. We aren't equipped for first-contact by any means, sir." the AI finished.

"Very well, but leave a drone on lookout, it'd be pointless to miss it if it jumps. Then take us to Reach at best speed."

"Sir,Yes Sir!"


"...and then we came straight here. It sure isn't SNS or Covenant, and doesn't look Forerunner either. I'm not sure what to say, Admiral, other than recommending some sort of investigation-"

The woman, appearing in her late forties, cut him off. "I'm interested now. I'm going to send a priority message to Highcom." and knowing the board, she thought sarcasticly, I'll end up heading the investigation myself. The price of fame, I suppose. "Captain, I may not technically have jurisdiction over an ONI vessel-"

The captain chuckled. "Ma'am, ONI or no, I'd probably find myself buffing bulkheads if I said no to a Fleet Admiral. It's your show, and we'll follow your lead."

"Thank you captain. I guess I still expect ONI to be... less pleasant and co-operative. Fires Actual out."

"Ten-four. Seeker Actual out."


July tenth, 2580 (outskirts of Harvest system)

"Ma'am, we've been hailing the thing for three hours, in every language we can think of. At this point, we're down to languages that are almost as old as written history. If there is anything over there, it sure doesn't feel like talking. I think it's safe to move in now."

"Very well. Take us in, but slowly, no sense startling anyone."

"Yes, ma'am."

Task force Foxtrot (a highly ironic name, in hindsight, given what they were to stumble into later) advanced on the strange object cautiously. Glittering in the blackness of space, the engines of seventeen ships propelled them towards destiny...


Three days later...

"...and that concludes my report. Do I have any further orders?"

"Admiral, this is possibly the most important event in human history since Harvest. I almost wonder-"

then a man who looked distinctly out of place in a room full of admirals stood. He was rather unremarkable, dressed in a simple suit, and appeared, truly, utterly average. Considering he took great pains to that effect, it was rather unsurprising. "Admiral, this, whatever it is, falls under my jurisdiction now. Obviously, my... department, does not have the resources to maintain operational security on a find of this magnitude. With the board's permission, I would like to... borrow Task force Foxtrot as site security while we investigate the object."

"I don't see any issues with that sir, unless-"

"I'll admit to some reservations, but I am willing to set them aside in this matter."

"Excellent! I would expect nothing less." the Director of the Office of Navel Intelligence said with a barely-perceptible smile.

Admiral Miranda Keyes (for so she was) sighed mentally. Oh, lord. Here we go again...


Good god, this is boring Admiral Keyes thought to herself, at least playing guard-dog I had something to do other than stare at... that, whatever it is.

The thing that she had been staring at for nearly a week while scientists poked and prodded it. It floated serenely in space, undisturbed and, as far as anyone could tell, inactive. The thing looked like some kind of exotic, massive tuning fork. At least part of it did. The other end, however, contained three rings, arranged concentrically, with a sphere of black, mirrored... stuff in the center. Tenders and science ships flitted about it like fireflies, making the preparations that would bring it online.

Which reminded her of the conversation she'd had an hour ago.

"What do you mean,'we're going to turn it on'?"

"Exactly that, Admiral. The writing on the object indicates that it is some form of faster-than-light bridging system, and details the steps required to activate the device. So, assuming it is still functional, we are going to attempt to bring it online. So, we'd like most of the ships to back away to a safe distance should something go catastrophically wrong."

"By 'catastrophically wrong,' you mean 'explodes.'"

"Er... yes ma'am."

she sighed. "Alright. I'll just assume the damn thing's a Nova then, shall I?"

and so, she had the fleet (Fleet! Ha! More like flotilla... she'd had to give up her heavy cruiser flagship for something with the legs to keep up with the task force, and she was still rather sore about it) back off nearly a light-minute for safety. She turned her attention to the chatter being exchanged as the science ships coordinated.

"Light to Hunt coming in on your six..."

"All ships in position, mark-three-niner!"

"Activating in three... two... one..."

Then all hell broke loose.


Codex

UNSC Navel Subcapital vessels and armament of the Post-covenant era

After the utter defeat and destruction of the Covenant, significant time and effort was put into understanding the principals behind the technology and the replication thereof. By the eve of the Second Contact War, great leaps had been made in shielding and plasma technology, as well as the more mundane sciences such as metallurgy. This lead to vast improvement in ship construction and armament, as well as other, more classified projects.


Reaver-class General Purpose Frigate

in service from 2620 to 2944 (Obsolete due to advances presented by Mass Effect technology)

The Reaver-class mounted three medium MACs spinally, arranged to give the ship its distinctive triangular forward profile. Further, it mounted twelve Crossbow missile pods, six Light Pulse Lasers and twenty-four CWIS-20 180mm Rotary Autocannon (in individual turret housings, arranged radially, as were the Pulse laser emitters,) as well as a pair of Rapier Space Superiority Fighters and a single Broadsword heavy bomber/gunship hybrid. Variants existed, the most common being a version with the MACs stripped out in favor of a single Heavy Plasma Torpedo Launcher (the infamous 'Type-7,' which was duplicated from those mounted aboard Covenant CSS-class Supercarriers, a version for 'close-range' fighting that removed two MACs in favor of and additional six Pulse Lasers and sixteen CWIS turrets, and a 'pocket carrier' version with a single MAC, six Rapiers and two Broadswords. Additionally, the Reaver carried a full marine compliment and retained the ability of its predecessors to perform orbital insertions of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODSTs) or SPARTAN Super-solders. As the first UNSC frigate designed to operate without support for extended periods, the ship was significantly larger than previous UNSC frigates, measuring six-hundred twenty meters long, one-hundred and ninety five meters wide, and one-hundred sixty eight meters tall. In addition to its 70-inch Titanium-A Ablative Battle Plating, it mounted ferroceramic armor Appliqués, and a core hull of Covenant-derived composite material later dubbed 'Super-ceramocalcite Ferro-Fiberious Armor,' and medium-strength shielding systems. However, improvements to the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine were minimal, only improving the speed at which a slipspace portal could be opened and the relative speed by twenty-five percent.

Silencer-class Prowler Stealth Recon Ship

Operated exclusively by the UNSC Office of Navel Intelligence (ONI,) these ships used advanced, prototype weaponry, shielding, and stealth systems. Unfortunately, further details about the class are still classified as Top-secret.

[FURTHER INFORMATION REDACTED BY ORDER OF THE OFFICE OF NAVEL INTELLIGENCE OF THE UNITED NATIONS SPACE COMMAND.]


Every alarm on the ship went off at once.

"Warning! Immenent collision! Warning! AI core offline! Warning! Primary drive nodes offline! Warning..."

"WHAT IN THE HELL JUST HAPPENED LIEUTENANT!" Miranda shouted over the raucous noise of the alarms, "AND WOULD SOMEONE SHUT THE DAMN ALARMS OFF!"

The alarms faded, and the lieutenant answered.

"Some sort of shockwave, Ma'am. Looks like it put all the electronics through the wringer, even Rachel's offline right now. We've also got an imparted delta of about one and a half Gs, nothing serious, even for the science ships. We've still got comms though, if you want to-"

she interrupted him the moment her brain caught up with 'we've still got comms.'

"Hail the eggheads that just crippled my fleet. Now."

"Yes Ma'am"


Three hours later...

"Well, that was... interesting."

They'd been tensely waiting (at a much greater distance) as the scientists activated the device. This time, there was no massive, ship-disabling shockwave of energy as the dark-matter core happily flared to life.

"Take us in, lieutenant."

"Yes, Ma'am. Taking us in now."


The void was rent by hundreds of white-hot projectiles, as the birdlike ships spat fury and defiance at the smaller number of odd, almost insect-like ships that charged them. Then one of the insectile ships spoke, and great gouts of white fire rained among the the birdlike fleet. Smaller ships vanished in clouds of smoke and fire, while larger ships raved back with all the fury and desperate courage of those with nothing to loose.

However, an event that would forever alter history was about to take place.

A new age dawns...


Codex

UNSC Navel Subcapital vessels and armament of the Post-covenant era


Valkyrie-class bombardment vessel

The Valkyrie was by far the most terrifying weapon of the post-Covenant, pre-Mass Effect era. The Valkyrie was an old Halcyon-class cruiser with almost all of its systems stripped out and a single type-One Ultra-heavy Plasma projector, a weapon capable of reducing worlds to glass, mounted 'facing front.' while the type-one was originally used for planetary bombardment, the Valkyrie was intended to be a mid-range strategic artillery asset for the UNSC Navy. While essentially incapable of defending itself, the Valkyrie was never intended of solo operations, instead, almost all of the class was assigned to wolds with incomplete or nonexistent Planetary Defense Grids. Capable of devastating anything that had the courtesy of staying more than eight-hundred kilometers away, the ship was considered a potent example of UNSC military design, and remained in service during the Second Contact War.

Rapier Aerospace Superiority Fighter

A direct descendant of the Longsword used by the UNSC during the Human-Covenant war, the Rapier was the mainstay fighter of the Second-contact era UNSC navy. While the Rapier was, at a glance, superficially identical to the Longsword it had replaced, further examination would reveal the craft to be nearly eight percent larger. The armament, however, is where the largest difference lay. While it retained the 110mm roatery cannons, the 120mm ventral gun batteries were removed in favor of two Light Pulse Lasers, additional engine power, and a chin-mounted plasma cannon. With a nominal crew of three (a pilot and two gunners) the ship could be operated by a single man, or by remote, making it a versatile and powerful weapon.

Broadsword Heavy Assault Craft

Where the Rapier was lacking, however, was in the air-to-ground support and anti-capitalship roles. Rather than reducing the effectiveness of the Rapier, the UNSC created a massive air platform the would be called the Broadsword. Fully twice the size of the Rapier fighters, these ships carried two nose-mounted 150mm rotary autocannon in a ball-turret housing, a rear-facing light Pulse laser, four individual 40mm rotary guns in ball-turret housings, and seven modular hardpoints for weapons that ranged from air-to-ground howitzers, rockets and high-caliber autocannon to anti-capital plasma cannon, torpedoes, and nuclear armament. While an AI could remote-operate the ship, it normally required a minimum crew of two, with a nominal crew of five. While incapable of operating without support of extended periods, the Broadsword was capable of short-range FTL jumps, to allow it to slip past fighter screens engaged with Rapiers and other light craft. It was also equipped with a light shield generator, in order to survive close-range strafing runs with capital ships and small-arms fire while supporting ground operations.


It took Miranda nearly three seconds to process what she was seeing before she, and the rest of her fleet leaped into action.

"Battle Stations! Shields Up! Launch Fighters..."

"Spin up the MACS, ready point-defense..."

"I want Crossbow solutions on everything but us..."

The tacnet was flooded with captains shouting their crews into action. The fleet sprang from a extended cluster of individual ships to an ordered battle line in seconds. Miranda, however, had more important things to worry about. Of all the first-contact scenarios she'd envisioned, she hadn't ever thought of arriving in the middle of an inter-species war. Typical. But did they want to get involved-

"Ma'am! Contact Alpha-one-niner just opened fire on the planet! We're getting what look like large civilian settlements, and one of 'em just got leveled!"

"OPEN FIRE ON THAT SHIP!"

"Ma'am?"

"You heard me. Anyone bombing civilian targets from orbit is hostile in my book. We'll sort this out after there's no civvies getting roasted."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Rachel! MAC firing solution on Alpha-one-niner! Relay my orders to the fleet, target the Alpha contacts, leave the Beta! Formation Delta-Delta-Two-one-eight! I'm authorizing the release of nuclear armaments if things get hairy, code Juliet-Oscar-Hotel-November-one-one-seven!"

"Yes, Ma-" the AI was interrupted, as Miranda had only paused for breath.

"As soon as the MACs go off, jump us to waypoint Charlie, put the frigates at Alpha, Bravo, and Delta! The device is waypoint Sierra! Two of the frigates are to remain here-"

The MACs went off.


General Septimus Oraka snarled amidst the ruins of his bridge as another of his cruisers burned.

"Concentrate everything we've got on the nearest Geth ship! Order the fleet to open the range, we need more time to-"

"Sir! The inactive relay! it- it's coming online!"

"What?"

The ship shook as another salvo of plasma rained down on it. Then Septimus's eyes went wide when he saw what came out of that long-inactive relay. Nearly three dozen ships, large blocky constructions that didn't look like anything built by the races he knew of came streaming from the relay. They quickly snapped into what had to be a military formation, but it was one unlike anything he'd ever seen.

"Sir!" the voice with filled with horror and anger in equal measure "One of the Geth cruisers just opened fire on the planet! Ne- Neverim is gone, totally destroyed-"

Then the sky exploded with light.

"What in the name of the ancestors was that?" Septumus asked, stunned by the suddenness of the lights.

"Good Gods..."

"What is it Lieutenant!"

The lieutenant swallowed audibly. "That came from the newcomers. It- it looks like a cannon, but the size..."

"What about it?"

The lieutenant swallowed again.

"Sir, if these readings are anywhere near correct, the smallest weapon that fleet just fired shot a projectile the size of a dropship, at nearly fourty-eight thousand meters per second. The largest...

Nearly twice that speed, with a projectile nearly the size of a Frigate. Every single one hit a Geth ship, Sir. Not even one missed!"

"Sir!" This was another sensor operator.

"The unknowns just vanished off all our sensors. It's strange though, we were only getting them on light and grav. We couldn't see their M.E. cores at all. That's some impressive core shielding they've got."

"Wait! I've got them again! They must have gone FTL!"

"The unknowns are launching fighters... well, I think they're fighters."

"You think?"

"It's just that... those 'fighters' are enormous! If those unknowns are the same size as us, I'd estimate a five man crew, maybe three with good computer support."

"These people clearly do not pull any stops in the waging of war." the female voice pierced the air.

"Matriarch! We feared-"

"Fear not, daughter. The Geth will have to try much harder than that to kill me. So these.. Newcomers. They seem quite fierce, and ready to jump into a conflict-"

"Matriarch, if I may interrupt?"

"Yes, General. What do you wish to say?"

"The unknowns... that is, these newcomers, they did not act other than to take what I believe is a defensive formation of some sort until the Geth fired on Neverin."

"I see. This tells me much. First they clearly did not expect to encounter a conflict between two races, and were hesitant to commit to a fight without knowing who their foes are. Second, they clearly do not approve of the mass slaughter of innocents, as it is clear the destruction of Neverin provoked them into firing on the Geth. Their weapons and command of battle shows us they are no strangers to war. I believe-"

Suddenly, a panicked shout from a sensor operator cut the alarms and other sounds on the bridge.

"Sir! We're getting what look like high-yield fission bombs on some of the larger fighters!"

"WHAT?" Septimus shouted, fear evident in his voice.


"This is Admiral Miranda Keyes to all ships. I want this ended. Release of Shiva-II's is Authorized. Repeat. Release of Shiva-IIs Authorized. Blow those civvie-killing bastards to kingdom NONE!"

"Yes, MA'AM!"

Twenty Geth ships remained from the fleet that had been there when Task Force Foxtrot entered the system.

Twenty Broadsword bombers released their implements of doom in a single, synchronized moment.

Eighty independently guided four-hundred Kiloton Thermonuclear warheads tore the space around each Geth ship into a raging, vengeful hellfire of nuclear fury.

By the time the hash cleared from the screens of the two fleets, little else remained of the Geth fleet but an expanding cloud of irradiated dust.


a/n:

I put this on endless loop while writing in order to get in the proper frame of mind: .com/watch?v=M0mQk7JEVq4&feature=feedlik

Geth and Turians and Asari, oh my!

And for those who will complain about the Nukes, remember, the last time humanity encountered any alien species, said species almost wiped them from the face of the universe. Needless to say, Humanity in general (and the survivors of the Human-Covenant war in particular) have a dim view of anything that even resembles attacks on civilian population centers. Namely, that shooting them with the biggest gun close to hand is the only choice. And when you're a Fleet Admiral...

(and don't worry. While she's quite justified in blowing the heretic Geth to kingdom come, I imagine her superiors will be... somewhat displeased with the amount of overkill that just happened. (Hint Hint Wink Wink Nudge Nudge)