25th April, 2157
Taiyun Base, Shanxi
The alert sirens had come on at the best possible time. It was Anzac Day, so most of the off-duty personnel were leaving the central courtyard after the dawn service. They would have had a briefer one in the Fleet, due to space requirements. The Australasian Marines at the base were apparently going to hold a barbeque, and had enough coffee brewing to launch a blue whale into orbit.
And then the sirens went off, and the Marines who were already up and awake we're dashing towards the hangars and barracks armouries.
Private First Class Shizuka Yoruda sat in the cockpit of her F-61, struggling to pull the flight-suit over her reinforced-suit under-layer. After her mad dash to the squad ready-room next to the hangar, she had shrugged off her uniform, gotten embarrassed again over the kiss marks and hickeys that covered her body, and then squeezed into her under-layer. Then she had tossed her already crumpled uniform in her locker and dashed off to her fighter, flight-suit in hand. She had managed to put on the lower half on her way from the ready-room, and now she was fumbling around inside the close confines of her Phoenix trying to put on the upper half of the suit while simultaneously starting up the TSFs primary systems.
The rest of the squad were already in their fighters, bantering while they awaited orders. As she fumbled with the suit, a communications window opened up on one of the screens. It was Lance Corporal Mirelle Airey, the squad marksman.
"Hey, Zuka, where'd you disappear to last night? You agreed to watch Stellar Sensou Episode V with me."
Corporal Dunn butted in. "I know where she was. I saw her at the bar with two very attractive ladies from the Helljumpers."
The two women looked down at the short young woman currently in their care. She had been very tight lipped, so they'd kept changing the subject and loosening the younger girl up with drinks, getting themselves fairly drunk in the process. Eventually, she'd quietly let out that the VIP's that C and E companies had rescued had been aliens; while on the verge of falling asleep.
Intent on continuing their drinking after that news, they'd requisitioned a few bottles of vodka, before headed back to compartment that Mari and Sasha shared in the 54th's officer barracks. Not wanting to leave the small girl behind at the bar, they'd carried her with them.
"Zuka….what happened?" asked Mirelle, with a certain cheekiness in her voice.
"Please don't remind me…"
As they carried little Shizuka to the bed, she'd started drunkenly spouting nonsensical things about alien movies, very loudly.
Sasha quickly silenced her in the only way her alcohol-addled brain could think of. With a kiss. "Did that calm you down, Private?"
And from there….
Shizuka felt her face flush bright red. Over the comm, she could hear Mirelle and Dunn laughing their arses off.
Sergeant Alenko cut in, "Now, now, Marines, she had a long night of having drinks forced on her by a pair of officers, be gentle with her."
She shivered as Mari held her, as gentle as one would hold a baby…
Shizuka's face went even redder.
Turian Dreadnought Shadows of Menae, 300,000 kilometres from Shanxi
"Are you sure these reports are accurate, Captain Fortix?" asked General Desolas Arterius. He had ordered the fleet to stay alert, but with their weapons locked down, while he reviewed the data transmitted by this 'Lieutenant Vakarian.'
"Sir, as far as we can tell, nothing in this report is falsified. We're still analysing the data on these so-called 'BETA', but our science team is baffled. They have no way of verifying anything short of going down to the surface and taking a look ourselves, but according to the salarian xenobiologist aboard, it is biologically impossible for an organism to generate a beam of coherent light at energy levels high enough to bring down a shuttle."
Desolas' expression darkened. "Of course there isn't."
"There is also the issue of these humans 'TSFs'. When we first arrived at the planet, we detected no Eezo-related radiation, and Lieutenant Vakarian also reported that they didn't use element zero."
"What are you trying to tell me, Captain?"
"Well, sir, our engineers have been pouring over the recordings taken by Lieutenant Vakarian, along with the ones provided to him by these 'humans'. They've come to the conclusion that there should be no way for something like that to exist; without eezo, they would collapse under their own mass."
"I see. So Vakarian must have been fooled."
"However, sir, they did point out that there would be a lot of advantages to having a weapons platform like that. That would be a lot of highly mobile firepower, not limited by terrain. And it also brings to question, what if the humans have some sort of anti-gravity technology, something that isn't dependent on the limitations of element zero?"
"So you're saying we could learn more from negotiating with these people, rather than going to war with them?"
"Yes, sir. Vakarian reports that they are highly militaristic, and that despite their apparent openness, they are most likely highly paranoid of aliens due to their experiences with the BETA. They would most likely destroy any examples of technology that could be captured. Vakarian also reports that the majority of their defensive actions in the records he was privy to turned into 'last stands'. These people are more stubborn than the Krogan. We stand to gain more from working with them than from fighting."
"Alright, I see your point. I'll report this to the Hierarchy, and have the fleet stand down for now."
"Another thing, General. The science team has requested that we report this incident to the Citadel, although they will defer to your judgement."
"Very well. I'll add that to my report. Thank you, Captain."
"General." The link cut out.
"Comms, send out a general order to the fleet. All ships are to stand down while we establish communications with these humans."
UNS Petra, CIC
Group-Captain John Shepard watched on the display as the Petra closed in on the Arcturus Delta Relay. The ship had been almost overloaded with munitions, and its complement of fifty F-60 Yukikaze IIs, had been replaced with an additional two dozen B-7A Silhouette bombers and thirty F/A-13 Sylphs. It was something that had never happened before. No carrier ever went without ground support. And it showed just how seriously the brass was taking the threat of possible attack from spacefaring aliens. Especially since the bombers were armed thermonuclear warheads. Hell, the only thing they weren't armed with were Gray-bombs. Which hadn't been issued since one of the moons in the Alpha Centauri system had practically inverted itself during a large scale test, sixty years ago. That incident had made the military brass collectively facepalm at all of the G-bomb detonations on Earth, and they'd shifted all G-bomb production over to FTL drive construction.
He listened to the idle chatter around the CIC, rechecking the positions of the ships in his group. Two cruisers: Sydney and Johannesburg; Three destroyers: Mumbai, Marseille and Oslo; and five frigates: Ardennes, Saipan, Tours, Coral Sea and El Alamein. A mix of ships from both the Third and Sixth Fleets. The equivalent of a small fleet under his command.
And his crew had been pulled off leave to lead it. John had been forced to leave little Terry with her grandparents in New Vancouver. The hyperactive trailblazer of a three year old had not been pleased to have been left with the elderly Shepard's. City life really doesn't work for that kid, does it? We'll have earned some extra leave after all this is over, I should probably take her somewhere she can explore. Maybe Chiron again? She did love that forest. I'll have to check if Hannah can come with us.
"Captain, all ships ready for relay transit. We are go for cluster-jump. See you all on the other side."
Shepard nodded, before setting his comm to broadcast to the entire group. "All ships, prepare for cluster-jump."
The relay began to glow brighter, as a stream of light and energy stretched out to engulf the small fleet. There was another flash, and a brief jolt of acceleration as the relay slammed the ships down its mass-effect corridor.
There was a second flash as the fleet emerged moments later.
"Drift 12000K. Relative velocity 5km/s."
Good enough.
"All ships, plot warp-jump to Shanxi high orbit. Mumbai, Marseille, overwatch as soon as we break. Sydney, Johannesburg, form up on the Petra. 24th Flotilla, perimeter picket." He turned to his CAG. "I want the Rattlesnakes, Sidewinders and the Razorwings in the void as soon as we break warp. Then start launching the Flamebearers. Have the Oslo back them up. Once they've all launched, begin lining up the Star Sabres, Firesprites and War Eagles for take-off."
The ships AI, Allie, popped up on the CIC holotank. "Captain Shepard, I have made the final adjustments to the coordinates. We are ready to jump on your command."
Let's just hope the shooting hasn't started yet.
"All ships, jump."
UNS Athens, CIC
"General, the probes around the Shanxi-Delta Relay have detected movement. The data is still processing, but it appears to be the support elements under Group-Captain Shepard."
"Keep me posted, Deja. The turians haven't shot at us yet, and I don't want the arrival of those ships to set them off. Once they're within communications range, ping them. We seem to have a cease-fire, and I won't risk that."
Deja went silent for several seconds, before disappearing from the holo-projector. It was unusual, since the processing power that AI's possessed meant that they thought in nanoseconds.
Deja popped back up again. "General, I am currently assisting Ensign Zhao with processing the data, but it appears that one of the turian ships is attempting to open communications with us."
"Put them on screen. And have Lieutenant Vakarian and Professor Goyle brought to the CIC. I want him here for this."
"Please give me a minute to convert the data formats to UN Standard. Vakarian is on his way up."
Shadows of Menae, CIC
Desolas Arterius stared at the strange face that appeared on the display. It was so much like the asari, but closer in tone to those of the quarians, and rugged and scarred like the krogan. The human spoke, but the turian voice that he was hearing didn't match the its mouth movements.
"This is Lieutenant General Williams of the United Nations Marine Corps, Commander of the Fifth Relay Expeditionary Force, aboard the UNS Athens. And to whom am I speaking?"
"General Desolas Arterius, Commander of the Shadows of Menae, of the Turian Hierarchy."
"I'll be blunt with you, General. What are the intentions of your fleet? Are you here to fight us, or intimidate us into submission? Because we do not bow to superior numbers. I'm sure Lieutenant Vakarian's reports would have told you at least that much."
"For now, this fleet will do nothing unless provoked. Originally, we were to bring you to heel for the crime of bombarding a garden world. But Vakarian's report changes things. I've already sent a report to my government, and my fleet will stand down until we receive further orders."
"I see."
Williams turned around, as if looking at something off screen. He said something in his own language, before turning back to 'face' Desolas.
"Don't be alarmed, but we have a group of our ships approaching. They will be joining my fleet in orbit around Shanxi."
Desolas turned to his sensory officer, who nodded in affirmation. He opened up the data on his omni-tool, and saw that there were eleven ships matching the now-known human configurations approaching the planet.
"Affirmative. We will not fire on your ships, so long as they do not fire on us."
"Acknowledged. Athens, out."
UNS Petra, CIC
John reviewed the orders that had come through from the Athens. It seemed that there was a temporary ceasefire between the Expeditionary Fleet and the 'Turian' fleet. As a gesture of goodwill towards these turians, Williams had ordered his ships to join the 5th REF in Shanxi orbit, and that no craft beyond a single patrol flight were to be launched. He frowned at that. His group had emerged from warp expecting to be launching into the battlespace, but instead found two fleets quietly sitting in their respective orbits.
It wasn't what had been expected, and it seemed that the pilots aboard the Petra were getting anxious about the aborted launch. But not having to launch was better than flying into battle against an enemy whose capabilities were almost a complete unknown. The strike pilots were itching for a fight, just like the fighter pilots over Europe during the Second World War.
"Captain, the patrol flight is aweigh."
"Good. Keep the other birds warmed up. We'll need them ready in case something happens."
"Aye, aye, sir."
I don't think our ships would be able to stand up to a fleet that size.
"Comms, send an encrypted message to General Williams, requesting the authorisation of stealth fighter reconnaissance of the turian fleet."
"Message sent sir."
A few seconds later the ensign reported back. "Response from Deja, the Athens AI. She says 'No.'"
Shepard let out a quiet sigh. He turned to his XO, Commander Harper, and his Marine Detachment Leader, Lieutenant Anderson.
"Keep the flyboys in line. We don't need anything setting off the turians. Talk to First Lieutenant Hackett, he usually has some pretty good ideas for calming everyone down."
The two men nodded, before heading to their stations.
Several hours later.
Athens, CIC
"Sir, several ships detected emerging from the Theta relay. Configuration does not match that of the turian ships." There was a pause. "They have jumped to FTL. Launch vector indicates that they are heading this way."
Shadows of Menae, CIC
"General, sir, numerous ships detected decelerating from FTL. Sensors are trying to identify them."
"What's their entry vector?"
"Directly in the path of the relay." The sensory officer paused. "Sir, drive signatures indicate three asari cruisers and a squadron of salarian frigates."
"Acknowledged, Lieutenant." Command went straight to the council. An unusual reaction, given the circumstances. "Open communications with them."
The holo-tank lit up, and an asari in the uniform of the Citadel Defence Force appeared.
"General Arterius, this is Captain D'varis of the asari cruiser Illaen. We've been assigned to escort the Council's ambassadors to meet with these humans."
"Understood, Captain. If I recall, the humans already have their ambassador on hand. Inform the ambassadors that I will contact the human fleet." This should be interesting. The council seems to have over-reacted somewhat.
Desolas turned to his communications officer, who nodded. "Connecting to the human flagship."
The human, General Williams, appeared on the screen.
"Greetings, General Arterius. And to what do I owe this call? I suppose it has to do with the ships that just arrived from your relay."
"It does, General Williams. The Citadel Council has sent ambassadors to negotiate with your people."
"Understood. We have a base on the surface, in the area that we have secured. We can conduct negotiations there in a few hours."
Desolas frowned. "You honest expect me to send my people down there?"
"Yes. I will have my ships move to a geostationary orbit above the base. Your ships are welcome to join us, and you may bring up to a one hundred men as guards."
"Sounds reasonable. I will issue the necessary orders. I trust that you will do the same."
"Of course, General Arterius. Athens, over and out." The connection closed.
This will be very interesting.
Taiyun Base, Shanxi
"Remember, do not, I repeat, do not fire on the incoming shuttles those are the aliens delegates. They will have armed troops with them, so do not provoke them."
Mari Bridges looked down at the hastily assembled honour guard. Dozens of Marines, dressed in their BDUs, since their Dress Uniforms were unavailable, lined up at the landing zone, older M6 Accipiter service rifles held in parade stance. Behind them stood a line of TSFs, of varying size and mass; Mari's Comet was embedded about midway down the line.
She gazed up, watching the unfamiliar silhouettes of the alien shuttles descend towards the runway, where a pair of frigates would have sat, had it not been for the turian fleet's arrival. And now they were waiting for the delegates from the 'Citadel Council' to arrive.
To think that Shizuka was telling the truth about the aliens…I should probably apologise to her later.
Mari threw herself off of that train of thought as the first of the alien shuttles landed; a sleek, yet angular machine that reminded her of a hammerhead shark. Several turians stepped out of each shuttle, before lining up to match the parade formations of their human counterparts. Some of the turian soldiers looked up at the TSFs towering over them, seemingly very uncomfortable at the sight of the metal giants staring down at them.
The final two shuttles touched down, two very different designs from the turian ones. They unloaded a group of aliens that were quite different from the turians. Three that looked like bipedal frogs; a pair that, surprisingly, looked like blue humans; and a mix of short, rotund aliens and slender, human-sized ones, in environmental suits.
The Citadel delegates walked past the line of human Marines and turian soldiers, looking curiously at the humans and human technology arrayed around them as they walked towards the building that was serving as the meeting room.
Meeting Room, Taiyun Base, Shanxi
Sergeant Jor'Reegar vas Rayya of the Migrant Fleet Marines watched as human and Citadel delegates took their seats at the table. Or rather, the delegates that weren't quarian sat at the table, while those who were stood at the back with the guards. Three centuries since the geth, and they were still outcasts from the rest of the galaxy. They were lucky to have even been allowed on the Illaen.
To his right, Ambassador Kellan'Nara vas Iban twitches slightly. The human delegate has begun speaking, in slightly broken turian.
"Thank you for coming. We'll start with introductions. I'm Professor Anita Goyle, the ambassador appointed by the United Nations of Earth and her Colonies. To my right is Lieutenant General Frederic Williams, of the United Nations Marine Corps. He is the commander of the Expeditionary Fleet in orbit."
Williams turned to one of the turians and nodded. "General Arterius." The turian returned the gesture.
The delegates each introduced themselves in turn. Jor noticed that General Williams raised an eyebrow when Ambassador 'Nara introduced himself, most likely noting that the quarian delegate was the only one not seated at the table. If Goyle noticed, she gave no sign.
Goyle began again. "So I'm sure you all have a lot of questions…"
Unspecified amount of time later…
Each of the Citadel delegates finished asking their questions, the asari asking about politics, the volus about economics, the turians about military and the salarians obviously about technology; most of which the humans were vague about or unwilling to answer. Very secretive. Or just cautious. Militaristic culture?
It finally came to be Ambassador 'Nara's turn.
"Representative 'Nara, did you have any questions to ask?"
Jor watched 'Nara fidget slightly, before asking "What are your people's views on the use of Artificial Intelligences?" Jor could almost feel the disdain exuding from the Citadel ambassadors.
Goyle was silent for a moment, obviously noticing the change in the expressions of the Citadel ambassadors, despite how unfamiliar their faces might be.
She turned to General Williams, and they exchanged a few sentences in their own language, before nodding. Williams vocalised the communication.
"Deja."
"Aye, General Williams."
The look of shock on the faces of the Citadel delegates as the small human woman appeared on the holo-projector embedded into the centre of the table.
"Everyone", said Williams, "this is Deja, the AI of the UNS Athens, in orbit. She is the command AI of the Athens and the also the rest of the fleet."
One of the salarian ambassadors nearly lost it. "You have an AI controlling your ship!? Are you mad!?"
Williams raised an eyebrow. "I take it your 'Citadel' has laws against the use of AI's?"
"Yes, we do, due to the extreme risk of betrayal from Artificial Intelligences. Every AI developed by the Citadel has attempted to betray its creators."
Goyle spoke up. "And what about the quarians? Ambassador 'Nara was the one to ask the question."
'Nara began to fidget again, and looked at Jor, who nodded back.
"You can come out, Tikala."
A small device detached from the back of the ambassadors environmental suit. It floated next to him. Almost immediately, the Turian guards raised their weapons at both the ambassador and the floating device. The human guards responded by raising their weapons at the turians.
One of the ambassadors began shouting. "YOU BROUGHT A GETH!"
General Arterius took it upon himself to restore order, first by threatening to court martial his men if they didn't lower their weapons, and telling the collective ambassadors to shut up. He looked over at General Williams, who nodded.
"Thank you, General." He turned to Kellan'Nara. "You asked about AI's, correct? Artifical Intelligences, or Synthetic Intelligences as we call them, have been an integral part of our society for almost seventy years. We treat them as citizens, and they have their own rights, too. Deja here even gets paid."
"A little more down time would be appreciated, but such is military life." Said Deja.
The drone floating next to 'Nara flew down to the holo-projector. "This unit is known as Tikala vas Iban, of the geth. This unit is the companion assigned to Creator'Nara. Greetings, unit Deja."
"Hello there. It is nice to meet an SI who isn't directly for military purposes. I have not had much contact with civilian SI's in the last few months."
"Query: Are there many SI's within your fleet?"
"Each ship has its own control SI, and each combat unit is managed by human operators paired with SI's."
"Query: Do human-created SI's have consensus?
Later
The discussion slowy turned away from that of the geth and SI's. Now, Tikala sat on the table next to the projector, silently conversing with Deja. Jor was thankful that things had quieted down, finally, although most of the ambassadors still had dark looks on their faces.
One of the asari, Ambassador Laris, spoke after a long silence during the talks. "You seem awfully open-minded for a species with such a long history of fighting against alien invaders. Why is that?"
Williams smiled slightly. "Deja."
The holo-projector lit up again, displaying nine planets. Three of them were off to the side slightly, separated from the main group.
"Ishtar, Vulcan, Abydos, Eridanos, Lupus, Tribute. When we found these worlds, they were all in the late stages of BETA invasion. These worlds were inhabited, until the BETA devoured almost every inhabitant. They were unable to fight back, and most of the planets populations were not even past the development of steam-driven technology; we arrived too late to save any more than a few individuals. Barely enough to sustain a population. The ones we've rescued are being allowed to restore their populations. We used that to encourage the idea that the BETA were the enemy, not every alien we came across."
The asari nodded. "A noble sentiment." Then she looked back at the planets. "That was only six planets. What about these three?"
"Chiron, Demeter and Elysium. From what we can tell, someone, something, killed off the populations of these worlds with heavy orbital bombardment. A long time ago, too. The Chiron ruins are at least 500,000 years old. We have only discovered a small number of garden worlds not ravaged by destruction."
"Is that what you're trying to do here? Save the population?"
"No. We found no signs of intelligent life on this planet, barely any life at all, aside from some small bird and rodent species. If there is any, it's probably underground or underwater. We intend to colonise Shanxi for our own purposes."
Jor watched as General Arterius stood.
"General Williams, if you intend to continue operations on this planet, would it be acceptable for turian troops to join your forces? This system is close to turian space, and I want my troops prepared if the BETA ever become a threat."
Jor'Reegar stepped forwards. "Would I be able to get a closer look at these 'TSFs' your people use? It would be nice to have something to show my son Kal and my nephew Rael when I get back to the Migrant Fleet. Kal has the makings of a Marine already. And Rael just really likes machines."
Williams sat silently for a few moments, before turning to the human woman who had entered the room a few minutes earlier. "Lieutenant Commander Shepard, could you please escort Sergeant 'Reegar, and any of the other delegates who are also curious, to Hangar 1."
"Aye aye, sir."
Codex:
Aliens: Non-Council Races – Quarians and the Geth.
Three hundred years ago, the quarians created the Geth as tools of labour and war. That was, until the geths' networked systems began to show signs of self-evolution. The quarians nearly attempted to exterminate their creations to prevent themselves being exiled from the Citadel for creating AI's. Some quarians factions did this, and in self-defence the geth wiped them out.
The majority of the quarian people would have taken up arms at that point, had a prominent quarian philosopher not stated "It is the duty of those who gave birth to life to protect it, nurture it, so that it may stand as their equal. Should we destroy our children, we shall be worth less than animals, and we as a people would deserve worse than extinction." Both sides put down their arms after that declaration. Since then, the geth have been upgraded, so that each individual program is capable of self-evolution, allowing each geth program full sentience.
From early childhood, each quarian child is paired with a newly born geth program, so that they may grow together and support each other. In most cases, the two remain together until the quarians death, at which point the geth will upload all of its experiences into the consensus before self-terminating.
Both the quarians and the geth are looked down on by the rest of the 'civilised' galaxy, primarily due to such a huge violation of galactic law, and because of how dependent they are on each other.
Quarians and Geth: Migrant Fleet
The Migrant Fleet is the largest concentration of star-faring vessels in the galaxy, sprawling across millions of kilometres when all together. In such rare occurances, it can take days for the entire fleet to pass through a mass relay.
When the quarians voluntarily closed their embassy, they lost their right to request protection from the Council, although they do maintain a small diplomatic embassy as an independent state. As such, they, along with the geth, have amassed a massive number of ships dedicated to protecting Rannoch and other quarian held worlds. This population of soldiers and explorers travels through, and beyond, the Perseus Veil, acting as the long arm of the quarian and geth people.
Most of the quarians in the Migrant Fleet are Spacers for life, and spend the majority of their lives aboard such ships. Despite this, most young quarians leave their birth ships to embark on what they call "Pilgrimage", their way of rite of passage. Pilgrims go out to recover something of value to prove themselves. Once they return, however, they are reassigned to different ships, officially as punishment for disappearing, and unofficially because the young quarians seek out a crew to prove themselves to before they leave. Ironically, the ones who stay are reassigned anyway, although they do not have much choice as to what ship they are moved to.
Sorry I took a little longer on this chapter. I'm still kinda bad a character interaction, so I will work on that.
Surprised about the Quarians? You know you are. It always bugged me about the way the quarians reacted to the geth developing sentience. So I changed it. Which makes this an AU fic (I think? I'm new here...)
Question time:
-HolyKnight5: Stop reading my mind. Seriously. Are you an esper or something? Or does it mean my intentions are a little obvious to others? Anyway, the way I see it, the BETA don't use Mass relays. Don't even register that they exist. Because other sentient life is a concept that doesn't exist prior to the ending of Alternative.
-Kinunatsz: I really will get to that eventually, but I do have a complete explanation for why the BETA aren't as adapted as they should be, and for why the Citadel races haven't encountered them. Seriously, I have the entire thing planned out in my head. It'll pop up at some point.
-Imabot: I've been trying to make the Citadel races less flat. So while they might overreact like children at some points, they are more or less a collective of reasonable people. Or at least, most of them are. Making the technology less stagnant is something I'm going to try, but since everything they do in Mass Effect seems to revolve around Prothean worship, well...
Oh, and this might be the last chapter for a while...I go back to University tomorrow :(
I'll write when I'm able to, but until next time, see ya.