AN: You know the drill, Halo meets and clashes with Mass Effect, but with a twist. Unlike everyone else who had, *gag*...compassion and merciful kindness for the Mass Effect universe, I am an advocate for justly representing universes and characters as they truly are in their canon. So no buffing ME or nerfing Halo, if you have complaints about that, ok but at least give this a chance, hundreds of Halo v Mass Effect fanfics are mostly the same stuff with some variation here and there, with ME being either somehow level, to inferior but has advantages over Halo and rarely just inferior yet still failing to truly show the sheer disparity of power between them. I, as an immense hater of neutering a character or IP's power just because they're too strong, had finally given up and threw my hands in the air in exasperation, and decided that I'll have to do it myself.
Also to everyone that is done with lazy timelines, I'm sorry but I got another fix and one in the oven I'm doing, can't be creative right now and I'd like to get to the point quickly. Also, there will be lots of AU edits done by me since I find it hard to believe that across over 800 colonies only thirty-nine billion humans were alive and the Covenant killed twenty-three billion when they should have killed more because that would mean that a majority of humans live on Earth and NOT the billions of square kilometres of free real estate waiting to be claimed by a few billion opportunistic humans. Seriously, Reach is bigger than Earth and it has less than a billion people? There are at least a dozen or so million square kilometres of more space than Earth and ONLY that many live there?
I call bollocks.
Either way, sit back, relax, grab some holy Coke blessed by the MAN Emperor himself and enjoy the slaughter.
NOTICE: This is not the original chapter, several changes were made to it to improve overall quality.
March 3rd, 2553: The Human-Covenant war officially ends, however, when estimates on the damage inflicted by the aliens have been revealed the logic and rationale of returning to a civilian-run government and state are questioned. Pre-war the population of UEG/UNSC space was 156.357 billion across 813 colonies, of which 296 of the 367 Inner colonies remain and all but 31 of the Outer colonies are left, taking 98.593 billion lives, which puts the current population across all 327 colonies, including the 29.778 billion that we're born during the war, at 87.532 billion. Less than half of the population before and during the war combined. This has caused massive and overwhelming support in favour of a military government, with the UEG being relegated to overseeing the civilian population and its problems whilst the UNSC is the face of humanity. The Security Council becomes the new leader of humanity with Fleet Admiral Lord Terrence Hood as the de facto leader.
This sudden change caused outrage among many politicians before many were promptly imprisoned and executed for several crimes such as corruption, bribery and blackmail as well as more serious criminal charges. A poll was held to help smooth the process, the results came in a massive 94.11% majority in favour and a 5.89% minority against the change. Most shipyards are repurposed for the construction of warships with few left for merchant and civilian ships.
In April, over a dozen billion people volunteer to colonise lost worlds, most being survivors seeking to reclaim their homes and others seeking to be part of the effort to help humanity get back on its feet.
June 2553: The Insurrection has resurged against the UNSC however, many within the rebels have become disillusioned with the movement, with some even going as far as stating and believing that the Insurrection was only good for getting humanity to get its act together and prepare itself against the Covenant with some "target practice" and nothing else. Public Opinion of the Insurrection is even worse, with many calling the rebellion ungrateful and traitors that would rather fight against humanity than the aliens that nearly wiped it out. This hatred and scorn for the Insurrection would become larger when files, audio and video of all the Insurrection leaders discussing and deciding on selling The Covenant information on the whereabouts of UNSC colonies in exchange for sparing the rebels are "leaked".
With this, the already abysmal recruitment rate of the rebels would drop to zero and most Insurgents would mutiny against their leaders, and some would join in the mutiny, capturing and selling them to UNSC to be pardoned for their crimes. Violent protests and riots calling for blood last for days. On August 7, the public execution of most Insurrection leaders was carried out, ending the sixty-year-long civil conflict against them.
November 1st, 2553: ONI, seeking to undermine the UNSC, attempts to destroy Section 0 with agents they had inserted into the 'secret' division. Several hours later many of Sections 1, 2, 3 and 4 have been detained, the rest killed in the ensuing firefights and over a third proving loyal, with the Commander in Chief Margaret Parangosky, herself being tried and executed for her crimes. Serin Osman would later become Commander in Chief for organising the takedown. Having realised decades ago that Parangosky and ONI were becoming threats to the security of humanity just as much if not more than its own enemies, she has turned many ONI's sleeper agents against it until many agents have also come to realise the threat to human safety and security ONI has become. Especially the withholding of information that would've been vital to the war effort and saved many lives, such as the knowledge of the luminaries.
She releases Dr Halsey from her incarceration with full a pardon. It would after be more blind stupidity than the entire Covenant to not admit that she has created the very soldiers that have saved humanity countless times and she is simply too brilliant and valuable to keep even house arrested for a year.
November 20th, 2553: As a gift, Arbiter Thel'Vadam gives Humanity designs for better, faster and more efficient communication satellites designs, work on reverse engineering them reveals methods and configurations that have only existed as theory and barely working prototypes, allowing Humanity to reliably communicate across Interstellar distances with ease.
January 18th, 2554: All satellites and Waypoint servers have been replaced with the new Covenant-based designs that allow for communication measured at a mind-boggling 5,877.4 Lightyears per minute, making communication with the farthest colonies and ships quicker than ever before. Improvements to the designs are constantly researched.
February 11th, 2554: The civil war between the separatists and loyalists Covenants and the various splinter factions of the old empire has spilt into human space when the Slaves of Truth invade the Outer colony of Mazraea, in response, Lord Hood on behalf of the Security Council issues a declaration of war on the Covenant remnants, allying with the Sword of Sangheilios, marking the entrance of humanity in The Covenant civil war fought between the Separatist Sangheili, Unggoy, Lekgolo, Kig-Yar, Yanme'e, Jiralhanae and humans against the Covenant Loyalist Sangheili, Unggoy, Kig-Yar, Jiralhanae, San'Shyum and Lekgolo.
March 13th, 2555: The Infinity Class-SuperCarrier UNSCN Infinity and its fleet under Rear Admiral Del Rio and Captain Laskey find the Forward Unto Dawn and its shipwrecked inhabitants inside Shield World Requiem, leading a day-long battle against a fleet of Covenant remnant ships in orbit of the planet, and a devastating six-day-long battle against the mad Forerunner the Ur-Didact, where unfortunately Del Rio would be KIA'd protecting his crew from enemy forces. The battle would end with the death of the Didact by the hand of The Master Chief, pacifying the Prometheans and allowing humanity to seize control of the army. The Covenant Remnants now fearfully know him as a 'God killer', demoralizing many loyalists and emboldening Separatist forces.
As per an agreement with its allies, the UNSC will allow its fellow Separatists to participate in the exploration and reverse engineering of Forerunner tech. A fleet of state-of-the-art Forerunner warships, vehicles, armament and armour are found and become the bulk of Separatist efforts on Requiem, several dozen facilities are found, reactivated and later sold to all major weapons companies and assemblies with the express goal of building and retrofitting warships, vehicles and armament for the war effort, allowing hundreds of facilities and shipyards in human space alone to be relieved and able to serve the needs of the public once again, though the vast majority of shipyards across Separatist space are still reserved for the war against the Loyalists.
April 30th, 2555: Admiral George Denzel Davis of Logistical Operations Command under Naval Command proposes Operation Ascending Phoenix. The plan is for the UNSC Navy, Army, Air Force and Marines to be heavily upgraded with gear that can stand up to and even surpass Covenant tech. It specifies that ALL Naval ships are to be retrofitted to become exactly 2.65 times larger, be outfitted with powerful kinetic, Directed Energy and Hardlight weapons, MAC cannons to have Solid Slugs, Hollow Points that mimic Shredder and Hollow Point rounds used by small arms, payloads such as a nuke, EMP device or depleted uranium to simulate HEATs, and Plasma and Hardlight rounds. Warships must also have their engines upgraded to Repulsor Engines and armour replaced by a Nanolaminated Titanium Carbon superalloy.
The Army is to be retrofitted with Plasma, Hardlight, Rail and Coilguns, augmented to be able to wear basic MJOLNIR MK IV armour with energy shields proficiently and all their armour and vehicles be equipped with a cheaper variant of starships armour and anti-gravity propulsion drives, the Marines are to be equipped with an updated more streamlined MJOLNIR MK V. ODSTs are to be given MK VI MJOLNIR. Spartans are to receive new augmentations to be able to wear Class 3 Combat skins, as even the MJOLNIR MK VII falls under Class 2 despite making the MK VI obsolete in every way.
Airforce is to be equipped with the best anti-gravity propulsion drives and personnel augmented and outfitted with light MJOLNIR armour designed to be as light as possible and give airmen much faster reactions and reflexes comparable to Spartans outfitted with MJOLNIR MK VII GEN 3 while providing ample protection.
After four days of intensive and harsh reviews by HIGHCOM and UNICOM Davis's proposal is approved and executed immediately. Though it was the most expensive plan ever, with estimates putting it in the hundreds of quadrillions of credits bankrupting the entire UNSC, it was decided that a "blank check" will be given to all Forerunner facilities owned by the UNSC, however, estimates still put the date the operation would be fulfilled at 2615 at the current speed, several scientific teams are put to the task of rummaging through all Forerunner databases to find a Forerunner world dedicated to the construction of weapons.
May 27th, 2555: Through the Janus Key, gifted to the esteemed Dr Katherine Halsey by a Forerunner construct known as a Liberian, the real-time location of every piece of Forerunner tech in the galaxy is now known to The Separatist Alliance. Including terraforming and planetary engineering technology, a much sought-after science by The Separatists and a nearby "Forge World" known as Telum Smith 2,173 lightyears away from Earth to the "east" of the galaxy.
An ONI Prowler discovers Venezia, the staging ground of an Assualt on the Inner Colonies consisting of over twelve hundred and thirty-two ships, including three hundred and thirty-two CAS-Assualt Carriers and three CSO Class-Super Carrier, confirmation was received that the Insurgents were harbouring the Loyalists, effectively making them traitors to all of Mankind. A low-tier NOVA bomb was detonated between the planet and its moon, destroying nearly a thousand ships and decimating the populations on the planet and moon. The destruction of one CSO was confirmed.
June 8th, 2555: Telum Smith is fully activated, analysis from several hundred of the best Sangheili, Human and Unggoy experts put the production capabilities of the planet into perspective, it being capable of manufacturing 68.37% of ALL production for the Separatist Alliance militaries, from Warships, munitions, armour and so on, reliving tens of thousands of shipyards and facilities across Separatist Space to be repurposed for the construction of civilian craft and recolonisation efforts.
October 3rd, 2555: The Loyalists launch a simultaneous assault upon Requiem and Telum Smith, invading the worlds with 673 ships each, many being survivors from the Venezia genocide. The defence fleet at Requiem is put through a gruelling three-day-long battle until both forces retreat to recover, on the ground the Loyalists have taken 3 shipyards that belong to the Sangheili and put them to use for repairing their fleets.
The Fleets at Telum Smith are forced to retreat after two days, leaving the Sentinels and ground forces to fend off the assault from the millions of Loyalists soldiers deployed from the hundreds of Carriers and single CSO of the attacking armada. On October 8th, reinforcement in the form of the UNSCN Eternity and its fleet of Reach Class-Battle Carriers, Autumn Class-Heavy Cruisers, Valourous Class Super-Heavy Crusiers, Reveangeance Class-Heavy Battleships, Crucible Class-Super Destroyers and Strident Class-Heavy Frigates commanded by Admiral Roland Freemont and a CSO Class-Super Carrier and it's fleet of CAS-Class Assualt Carriers, ORS-Class Heavy Cruisers, CCS-Class Battlecruisers, CPV-Class Heavy Destroyers, CAR-Class Armoured Frigates and SDV-Class heavy Corvettes commanded by Supreme Commander Jul'Mdama.
The Requiem and Telum Smith Campaigns would last until November 9th and 7th respectively.
The location of both facilities is heavily classified, with all civilian personnel being forced to go into Cryo for the trip and navigation data erased by an onboard agent deployed by ONI, the organization launches an investigation for the traitor(s) that leaked the data.
October 23rd to November 7th-9th, 2555: Seeing an opportunity to greatly benefit from the war, Warmaster Atriox sends his fleets to assist the Separatists at Requiem and Telum Smith, turning the tide of the previously brutal stalemate, participating in Telum Smith himself his show of support further emboldened Separatists, turning what would've been four-month bloody and destructive campaigns into short and decisive thirty-nine and thirty-seven-day campaigns. In return, is gifted three dozen Forerunner facilities and shipyards for him to do with as he pleases.
November 16th, 2555: With the battles over, analysts are finally able to provide conclusive estimates for when Operation Ascending Phoenix can be completed, before the battles estimates put the date at mid-2581 however unless the damages are quickly repaired, estimates put the date at late-2584 early 2585. Considering how in less than three months The Covenant went from winning the war to being completely dissolved, Murphy's Law states that a seemingly minor setback could allow a catastrophe that has never been seen since the Forerunner-Flood War to decimate Humanity and its allies. Repairs are a priority.
December 30th, 2555 Atriox Challenges Alpha Lydus to earn rule over the Clans of Doisac, the duel ends in a draw between the two titans of the Brute world though Atriox still surrenders to Lydus under the belief that the man's aged body is the only reason he did not win and that the elder is more wise and fit for the role than him. Lydus accepted, under the condition that Atriox keeps his and his Clan's independence and becomes his Warmaster of the now United Clans of Doisac(UCD) Navy.
January 1st, 2556: Repairs for both Requiem and Telum Smith are completed, analysts now put the date of completion of the Ascending Phoenix doctrine at late 2582 to early 2583, however, plans to find another world to repurpose for war production are drawn once again, nine viable facilities and locations are discovered with seven being claimed for the Sangheili, Jiralhanae, Unggoy, Kig-Yar, Yanme'e, Lekgolo and humans, the last two are once again shared by the alliance. New estimates put the date at early 2581 for the completion of operation Ascending Phoenix.
March 17th, 2557: 48 out of the 71 glassed Inner colonies are completely recolonised with only a few million square kilometres of damaged land left on them, however, issues with eccentric and harsh weather changes have made any further terraforming and land repairs a low priority, efforts are now focused entirely on the construction of cities and taming the weather. 200 Outer colonies are halfway through the re-colonization process with promising results. Population analysis notes that a minor population spike or baby boom has occurred, raising the population to 106.987 billion, estimates put the expected population at 170.972 billion by 2567.
August 30th, 2557: The UNSC Spirt of Fire is found drifting near The Ark, the crew is taken to Earth where they are debriefed on the events of the past twenty-six years and the current situation. They are then sent off for indefinite shore leave with a ceremony celebrating their return and their actions at Shield World 0459 Trove that saved humanity from certain extinction. One Rion Forge would join the Marines to properly honour the memory of her father, she would also give information on several illegal salvage rings and their buyers, allowing the UNSC to conduct a takedown operation of them.
September 16th, 2557: The truth of the Halo Array is leaked into Loyalist networks and Extranet, splintering them and causing many to defect to the Separatists and mass mutinies that decimate Loyalist forces, nearly three hundred star systems surrender to Separatist control. The end of the war draws nearer every day.
November 3rd, 2557: The traitors are discovered to be several generals and an Admiral within HIGH COM, Kaidons and the WarChieftan Council. Rear Admiral Mattius Drake would escape to Loyalist space, though not without serve wounds. Murok' Vadam and three other Generals of the Swords of Sangheilios attempt to escape, Murok would be killed by a Kig-Yar sniper the remaining three Generals escape. Chieftain Treturous would perish in a fight, taking dozens of Jiralhanae warriors with him to the grave.
Expecting an imminent Siege, worlds and colonies are fortified and reinforced, and the production of ships is put on hold in favour of retrofits to current ships and armour. Two weeks later the entire Loyalist military force, every single Unggoy, Lekgolo worm and unmanned drone launch a massive assault that spreads across all of Separatist space, every single Colony is attacked. This would become known as The Seige of All, as none were spared.
Late April 2558: Conclusive results on the combat effectiveness of 'Ascended' and 'non-Ascended' units are cross-referenced, the difference is astounding. Ascended ships need a 1.5 to 1 ratio of the equivalent enemy ship to be matched. Ascended Marine and Amry squads suffer minimal casualties from enemy Lances, and in some cases, none at all, and have been seen performing 'Spartan level feats'. Non-Ascended squads suffer higher casualties and squads being wiped out are often. The new M850 Main Battle Tank can endure five hits from Wraith Mortars before suffering a structural and or mechanical failure, this is thanks to the powerful energy shield that can endure four hits before needing to cool and the new Nanolaminate Titanium Carbon Super Alloy Ablative armoured hull, which can endure another four hits before being destroyed or the miniature plasma reactor is breached. The Hybrid Plasma 135mm coil cannon, dubbed the Nano MAC by servicemen, is able to punch through a Wraith's shields, through the armour and explode with 49.7+ MJ of energy, making it effectively a one-shot kill by way of damaging the Wraith beyond repair, effective combat usage and killing the crew.
Aerospace and Air superiority is now a certainty with the latest batch of Small Sword Air Superiority Fighter/Interceptor, Xiphos Aerospace Superiority Fighter/Interceptor and Multi-role strike craft, Greatsword Aerospace/Air support and Strategic bomber and countless more aircraft.
March 28th, 2559: The Covenant Civil War officially ends in a climatic battle over the Last Fortress World, a three-day-long battle that ended in the planet's subsequent glassing, bringing an end to the Loyalists. Splinter Cells and stragglers are expected to remain for seventeen years but peace has effectively been achieved. War production has been slowed to a more leisurely pace, recolonisation efforts are doubled and the production of colony ships is in full blast, by 2567 all of the Inner Colonies and two hundred Outer Colonies are expected to surpass their previous peak statuses, and by 2569 221 Outer Colonies are expected to become Inner Colonies.
May 12th, 2559: With the war over it is decided that The Separatists shall be officially known as The Wardens, each member would maintain full independence, however, any matter that concerns an entire species member is a matter that concerns all. Militaries will be merged and mixed to maximize interspecies relations though will maintain a degree of separate individuality, such as designs and rank systems. It is essentially a coalition created for the express purpose of handling the Mantle gifted by The Precursors and an elaborate show of unity for everyone.
June 13th, 2559: A salvage operation to Trove finds that large quantities of the debris have become a new mineral compound, the mineral has an atomic mass of zero and when subjected to an electrical current produces a quantum magnetic field of dark energy that can manipulate mass, as of now the only known way to utilise its power is to subject it to a positive electron to increase mass and a negative electron to decrease mass, how it does this is that it manipulates the Higgs boson particles that give atoms mass by weakening or strengthing the field it emits. Research into the mineral is given further funding, it is named Bosonite(1).
July 2nd, 2559: Bosonite is investigated for its potential as a substitute for powering many anti-gravity technologies, however, it is decided that it shall be mainly reserved for civilian uses. The possibility of being used in MACs is also explored, several companies are contracted to construct MAC guns that employ Bosonite to further enhance the already nigh-world-ending power of the Ultra-Heavy anti-ship weapons.
July 2560: All Inner Colonies are recolonised with 73 Outer Colonies being reclassified as Inner Colonies, the population grows near to pre-war numbers at 135.971 billion, and several dozen worlds vetted for colonisation are explored, besides dangerous fauna and megafauna that require some military-grade weapons to deal with all are deemed suited for colonisation.
December 2560: The Arcturus system is discovered to be rich in Bosonite, and a large device the size of the revised Infinity Supercarriers is discovered in the system, ONI science teams are immediately set upon the device to discover its purpose. Designs for a new class of ship are devised and, in honour of the Forerunner that saved the galaxy are named Bornstellar Class-Dreadnought. Due to its massive size and mass as well as the fact that its entire surface is covered in guns, the first three ships would not be completed until 2571, 2574 and 2577, with them being the only ships of the Bornstellar class.
2563: The first MAC guns that make use of Bosonite are field tested, produced by Shepard Industries the results are promising however concerns over the "Mass Effect" fields of Bosonite interfering and "talking over" the Hyper-dense and intense fields of MACs are raised after an incident where the gun malfunctioned when fired at full power, heavily damaging it and launching the round at a tenth of the projected velocity. With further funding of two billion credits, Shepard Weapons tech R&D are pressured to find a solution.
Early June 2565: nearly five years of research and development of attempting to rip data out of the device with compatible computer soft and hardware finally bear fruit. The device is what's called a 'Mass Relay', it utilises a Bosonite core to launch objects, primarily ships, through a near-zero mass corridor across large distances, it is currently connected to five other relays that lead to habitable systems with large quantities of Bosonite, small fleets of varying amount of Corvettes and Frigates are sent through each Relay to scout ahead. Reports state that all possess planets with no intelligent life and some have another relay that leads to a different system. Slip space routes to these systems are chartered and render the Arcturus Relay worthless. The Relays are to be further researched, once all knowledge is gained from it, it and its partner relays are to be decommissioned and scrapped for their large Bosonite reserves and resilient metal comparable to old Covenant armour.
2566: The first MACs to effectively make use of Bosonite are realised, results of the second testing are phenomenal, by making MAC rounds lighter the same amount of energy can be used with less mass to launch. The new Cole Class-ODP had been fitted with the first proper Bosonite Super MAC, the solution was a basic 3,000-ton depleted Uranium projectile accelerated to 24% the speed of light(96% full charge), Bosonite was used to make the round 900 tons lighter. The result was the round velocity jumping to 28.42% SOL and the cracking of a moon a third the size and mass of Luna, more than enough firepower to destroy the old war-era CSO-Super Carrier and even the newer SHD-Dreadnought. However, the MAC was unable to fire for a full minute afterwards and dozens of minor damages to the barrel were discovered.
2567: 587 of the original colonies have become Inner colonies, with 209 new Outer colonies established. The population has surpassed previous expectations at 172.542 billion, concerns of overpopulation are raised but are put at rest with the reassurance that food production will be able to keep up with demands with extra food in stock. Housing is not a problem as there are tens of billions of square kilometres across all colonies, more than enough room for the masses to occupy. Bosonite mining becomes a lucrative business, turning Bosonite-rich systems into one of the fastest-growing new colonies in human history.
Early 2568: Telum Smith and Requiem become open to colonisation efforts, opening countless millions of job opportunities and bolstering the production of warships and retrofits of older ships. Economic analysis shows that the economy has recovered and is expected to boom even further. A new defence plan for outer colonies is devised, each colony will have a small fleet consisting of an Autumn Class-Heavy Cruiser, two Poleaxe Class-Destroyers, three Valkeryie Class-Light Frigate and seven Cutlass Class-Heavy Corvette. The Autumn is deployed in orbit of the colony, the primary colony if there is more than one in the system, the destroyers patrol around the inner part of the system, the frigates the outer part of the system and two Corvettes are to accompany each of them, one is to accompany the Autumn or orbit the secondary colony.
2571: The commissioning ceremony for the UNSCN Bornstellar is interrupted by a terrorist attack by the new Loyalist organization the Seekers of Divine Truth led by the San'Shyumn, killing thousands in the process, including hundreds of Sangheili, Unggoy, Kig-Yar and Jiralhanae citizens, sparking outrage across Warden space. Counter-terrorism operations are executed, with varying levels of success as they prove apt at guerilla warfare and evading capture, nonetheless, the campaign against these dissents is unfortunately expected to last for six years until it can be stomped out.
2574: Shanxi is evaluated for possible SDT activity when a strange First Contact is made...
1. Yes I named Eezo something else, why? Because Element Zero and Eezo are damn stupid names for what's a mineral. Seriously why couldn't they just give it a proper name and say Element Zero and Eezo are the improper inaccurate names used by the Idiots downstairs known as the common people?
Again sorry for the bloody timeline of all things, couldn't think of anything better. But don't worry I left out a crap ton of details, so now I have to expand the story through proper world-building!
I hope you find this satisfactory, next chapter will be a little different from the canon of Shanxi, and not in just how humanity deals with the aliens.
Chapter One is not far behind.
Chapter word count: 4,348
AN word count: 492
Total word count: 4,840