Evolution: A Mass Effect/Section:8 Crossover
Chapter 8
A/N: Yeah yeah I know it's been a long time with no updates. Real life got in the way of writing. Having to look at computer screens and code all day at my job took a lot of my drive to keep looking at computer screens to work on my writing. Add in other stuff real life throws in my way (car accident, switching jobs being at the top) and I didn't have much time for this. I appreciate all the favorites, story updates adds, and reviews I've gotten over the past fourteen months.
As usual, the cast is as follows:
President Hall - Leonardo DiCaprio
Colonel Williams - Sam Shepard
Captain Steven Hackett - Lance Henriksen
Corporal Eva Core - Anne Hathaway
Sergeant Matthew Shepard - Josh Hartnett
2nd Lieutenant David Anderson - Keith David
Also, be sure to visit Freeride600's page to view his awesome OC's who star in the awesome Chaos Effect series!
/Earth Date/ -01.10.2538-
/Planet/ Shanxi, Administrative Room
"Hello madame Councilor." The oddly soothing, feminine voice came from the silver grey case. "I am the Monumental Organic Theoretical Heuristic Environmental Regulator."
Besea's eyes grew wide in shock, "I-Is it self aware? Why is it in control of such a large network? Do you not realize what kind of danger that puts your people in?"
President Hall held his hands up in a calming fashion. "There is nothing to worry about with MOTHER, Madame Councilor. MOTHER is descended from a time in which human need for a massive communication network could also function as a storage and computational framework, known then as a 'cloud' network. It has simply been expanded to encompass a broader range of capabilities and given a better interface with which the zettabytes of information that is produced in a day can be filtered and given proper context to a human analyst. Given human proclivity for naming such things, MOTHER is known as an astral network of computers. Though that name is not entirely true as the MOTHER network here is unable to communicate directly with the networks in other USIF systems." Hall paused to pour himself a glass of water and take a drink before moving on. "In essence, MOTHER is a purely reactive local computing system, waiting to be told what to do."
While her eyes were no longer showing the initial shock, it was clear Besea had not been expecting that sort of reveal. "That is certainly a relief, as it seems like we have a similar network as well in our extranet. However how do you maintain communication between systems if MOTHER is confined to local systems only?"
Hall smiled, "True you do, but your extranet lacks the cohesion of MOTHER. You rely on the extranet for all manner of communication, whether it be military, political, or private. MOTHER is an imperial military asset alone and as such is vastly more capable. In regards to intersystem communication, that is thanks to what we call the Titan array. How it works is something that can be discussed later though."
"Alright then, however your people surely must have done some research in artificial intelligence to have such a mastery of your own computer networking." Besea asked, trying to gauge if there would be any cause for trouble down the line.
Hall nodded slightly, "We do have some projects on going, but all precautions are being taken. The AI we have cultivated thus far have all been stable and taught how to become as human as possible, and what their sentience means not only for themselves but for the rest of the empire."
Besea opened her mouth to begin speaking, but closed it again. Better to have the other Councilors dig holes for themselves on that subject. "I appreciate your openness into what can be considered by many to be state secrets. I do believe it is time for us to move on to more pertinent matters."
"Of course," Hall bowed his head to let Besea start what she most likely came for.
Adjusting herself in the chair and clearing her throat, Besea began. "As you no doubt know, the Citadel Council is the governing body of a number of races. My two colleagues and myself represent the biggest contributors to Citadel space. The Turians with their vast military and policing capabilities. The Salarians with their science and spy tendencies. Then my people the Asari with the greatest trade and political ties. Together the Council sets the guidelines the other species governments agree to adhere to. All told, we have gathered twelve species under the banner of the Citadel."
"If I may interrupt Councilor," Hall interjected, "But I do not believe that you can count four of those twelve."
Now Besea was getting angry, the nerve of this man before her to correct her on Citadel politics! True what she said was not entirely correct, as the Quarians and Krogan lost their embassy, but the fact that he knew their political landscape well enough to make such a claim was outrageous. The humans only had a few days to go over what ever data they found in the salvaged tech from the Turians. While it was to be expected that they could glean some information from the salvaged tech, this level of information analysis was unprecedented.
"Excuse me Mr. President, but how do you come to that conclusion?"
"Simple really," Hall smiled, knowing he caught her in a small lie and that she wasn't expecting him to be this thoroughly prepared. "The Quarians and Krogan no longer have embassies of their own." The president held up two fingers, counting down the races he mentioned. "The Drell remnant are effectively wards of the Hanar. Finally the Batarians." Hall shook his head in disgust, not bothering to raise a fourth finger and rather balled his hand into a fist. "Any race which has not only covered their entire world into a slavery caste system, but has dragged their despicable way of life to the stars and subjects other sentients to slavery and all manner of cruel inhumane acts deserves to have its upper members cast down and its slaves raised up." Hall stood up in anger, "The fact that your Council has not only done nothing to stop their barbarism, but has not sought retribution for Batarian Hegemony backed raids on Council worlds-" Besea made a move to stand up as well, "No I'm not done yet Besea. The Quarians have been adrift for over 250 years in ships that are older than that, the ones alive now have no ties to the Quarians that created the Geth. The Council, to whom the Quarians had aligned themselves with, were given no aid despite the treaties and begging done. The Council failed to not only honor the agreements made to aid militarily, but have been neglecting a species in need for over 250 years." Besea tried to get a word in edgewise, but Hall put up a hand to stop her, "Don't even get me started on what you've done to the Krogan, that's something that will have imperial universities debating for a long time. You expected a race as hardy as the Krogan, who nuked their own world into oblivion, to take your advanced weapons and fight your war then keep doing as they were told? That was like giving a teenager the keys to the house and car for a week with no supervision." With that Hall place both hands on the table, hung his head and sighed. "Why don't we take a short break? I'll meet you here in half an hour. An escort will take you wherever you wish to go." Without looking back, Hall left through the same doors they entered not too long ago.
/Earth Date/ -01.10.2538-
/Planet/ Shanxi
/Ship/ USIF Texas, Command Crew Room
"General Stone, the President has taken a short recess from his talks with the Asari councilor." MOTHER chimed, interrupting Stone's and William's planning session.
Stone looked up slightly at the disembodied voice, "Thank you MOTHER, please send him a priority one communication request and prep an overview of Project Redoubt."
"Request and data sent… Comm line opening."
"General, Colonel what on God's green earth am I looking at here?" Hall's voice came over the room's intercom. "This can't be the Sanctuary project, there's too many Minotaur class stations, not to mention a Titan array, and double the number of sky hooks."
Williams smiled at Stone, letting him answer their commander in chief for the changes they made. The Minotaur class space stations were purpose built to conceal large amounts of scanning equipment and defensive emplacements while maintaining spectacular views for civilian commerce.
"Sir, based on the resources available in this system and its newly found strategic, political, and economic value, we found it prudent for such measures to ensure that not only are the needs of the USIF met, but those of Citadel corporations and governments who will wish to use this system as a jumping off point for exploration of the nearby systems."
Hall laughed just enough to be heard over the comm line, "Following the old 'walk softly, and carry a big stick' routine Stone?"
"It certainly helps when we have the biggest, baddest, and best sticks to show off Mr. President." Stone replied.
"The only point I'm not comfortable on is such a huge military fleet presence with such a robust defense network as what the Sanctuary plans provide. I would much prefer Shanxi be worked into the current fleet patrol rotations, with the primary ships of Task Force 19 to continue their work as planned. We'll leverage the civilian sector to create the infrastructure to our specifications, thereby increasing the economy lines to reach this portion of USIF space."
This time it was Stone's turn to laugh, "I thought elections weren't for another two years sir."
"Never too early to show what you've done for the benefit of the Empire, general."
/Earth Date/ -01.10.2538-
/Planet/ Shanxi
/Location / Training Grounds, outskirts of Shanxi
After Hackett's demonstration of what the USIF's powered armor could do, namely fall from high atmosphere, land its occupant safely, and get to a target area very quickly afterwards, he lead the 517th commando squad to the impromptu training grounds the engineers had set up for the now bored 8th Armored personnel. It consisted of an elaborate obstacle course, live fire training course, firing range, even a motor pool consisting of various Imperial and Turian vehicles. As improbable as it seemed, there were a few dozen USIF troopers speeding along faster than a starved vorcha on illegal stims through the obstacle courses. The sounds of distinct Imperial weapons ringed from the firing range, the targets being already damaged Turian vehicles.
"One would think that your scientists would much rather have intact vehicles to study, rather than waste them in such a manner." Rana noted.
"I'm sure their egg heads already got all the data they need, now they're doing practical testing. Their weapons against our armored vehicles." Delina answered.
"To an extent," Hackett stepped in, "Mostly we wanted to blow some stuff up properly. Given that your vehicles are much less… sturdy than ours, we figured we could get one last use out of them."
As the Asari squad and their human escort entered the training area, several troopers broke off from the various areas, carrying their weapons casually and walked towards the group. As the two groups met, the human troopers all saluted Hackett, who returned it in kind then motioned for them all to take off their helmets.
Before they had done so, all of the humans before them looked nearly alike, only minor variations in height while the powered armor hid all other details. With the helmets off, the 517th were greeted by an additional two human males and a human female.
"Members of the 517th Asari Commandos, meet the rest my squad, the 8th Armored 1st Platoon 2nd Fireteam." Hackett began, "The dark skinned man with the big gun is second lieutenant David Anderson, our support gunner. Next to him with the sniper rifle is Sergeant Matthew Shepard. Finally, the woman who keeps the rest of us in line and healthy when we're too stupid to let our shields recharge is Corporal Eva Corė, our medic and engineer."
"Pleasure to meet you all. I am Commander Kaira T'Suni of the 517th Asari Commando unit. To my left is Delina T'Kasan , my arms specialist and to my right is Rana T'Lan our engineer."
"Since I'm sure you were tasked with gathering intel on our war making capabilities Commander," Eva spoke up before Hackett could take control again, "We've managed to power down our weapons enough for you to be able to fire them without risk of injury."
Kaira raised an eyebrow at the mention of gathering intel, but Delina jumped ahead of her,
"Why the hell would you do that?"
"Because your single strongest weapon, your sniper rifle with all your mods, only produces about thirty-five thousand Joules of energy per round. Our weakest weapon, per round, is the AR-548 Scimitar assault rifle at three hundred million Joules."
As Delina and Rana began to utter how it's simply not possible for a weapon that would normally be used on single seat fighters or even on low tonnage warships to be used in a personal weapon, Eva turned to Hackett, asked a question without the translators running, and began to remove various components of her armor, the first being one of her gloves.
"Please, hold these and you'll start to understand." She asked kindly, holding it out for any of the Asari to grab.
Delina was the first to reach the outstretched glove, and upon grabbing it and feeling its full weight, struggled to get her sense of balance under control as the just the glove portion was heavier than her entire weapons kit.
"Goddess be damned!" She swore. "What the hell is this made of?" Getting both hands under it and cradling it, she finally saw just how petite the human woman's hand was. At that moment, more sections of the armor began to come off, mainly on the back with the primary front chest piece falling off. With a slight hiss, the human corporal's armor seemed to split open from the back, allowing its' occupant to exit in what was clearly only meant for emergencies as Eva had to contort her arms out from the armor, above her head and then pull the rest of her body up and out of the armor.
Once she was fully outside the armor, with only a skin tight under suit on that was crisscrossed with embedded circuitry of some kind, she was shorter and more slender than any of the 517th would have guessed when she was in the armor system.
Eva began to speak but without the armor's translation system, the asari were not able to understand a word just yet.
"What she said was that while she can't tell you details, our armor systems are very comprehensive and allow us to do and survive things a normal human could not." Hackett translated.
"Yeah like falling from orbit without a chute." Delina retorted.
"Believe it or not, that aspect of our military is still in its infancy." Hackett retorted. "All of our analysts though have agreed that once the Patton class armor system has reached full distribution that it is such a game changer that the only way possible for better rate of trooper insertion is via teleportation."
"Well as it stands, your military is going to be making waves across Citadel space." Kaira noted. "Rana and Delina, go ahead and chat with your USIF colleagues, let's get our part of this cultural exchange going."
As their underlings walked away, Rana pairing up with Corporal Eva going towards a work terminal, and Delina going with Shepard and Anderson towards the firing range, Hackett turned to Kaira.
"I imagine your superiors are wanting to know as much as they can about us. If we're war mongers, back stabbers, etcetera etcetera."
"Got it in one Captain."
Smirking, Hackett began, "Well then, let me tell you a few things about humanity."
"So what the hell powers your armor that you're able to fall through the atmosphere, land without injury, and keep fighting, running, and gliding through the damn air?" Delina started, making a beeline for the weapons demonstration area.
Shepard and Anderson looked at each other, with Shepard nodding towards his superior to be the one to answer the question.
"Well, the unclassified answer would be a highly stable and clean miniaturized nuclear reaction." Anderson answered. "The exact process and materials used are classified, but the resulting plasma from the reaction is what powers our armor and is the basis of our shield system."
Delina stopped dead in her tracks at that and spun around. "You mean to tell me that you have personal plasma shields in those power suits?" she asked accusingly.
"Correct." Shepard answered, "From my understanding they use the same principle as your mass effect based personal shields. Rather ours vaporizes incoming harmful items and yours just slaps them aside."
"Well… If your weapons are as powerful as you say they are, I know a few people who would kill to try 'em out."
Shepard smirked. "Let's show you then."
"I must admit, I'm not exactly sure how to go about this or where to begin…" Rana began, as she fiddled with her omnitool to start taking notes. Eva in the mean time had gotten back into her armor to facilitate communication with its translator suite.
"What, you mean how to pry any potentially useful intel from seemingly innocuous conversation between two people who have only been in the same company for less than half an hour?" Eva stopped dead, and looked Rana straight in the eyes, causing the young Asari to start to stutter and mumble before Eva cracked a smile. "Don't worry about it, just ask any questions you have and I'll tell you what I can."
Rana let out a sigh of relief,
"Thank you, although I don't wish to take up all the time we have as I'm sure you have questions of your own as well."
Eva just beamed, "Mainly about what that thing around your wrist that you're using right now is all capable of really."
"There is no way that your entire species would have gone from not having the technology for heavier than air flight to faster than light travel, without the benefit of element zero I might add, in under five hundred years."
"Believe it Commander." Hackett stated. "It wasn't easy, mind you, to unite a population of nearly 12 billion took ten years of hard fighting and set us back a good hundred years development wise as it was used to improve the standard of living for every human on Earth. Thankfully that generation was so focused on the future that they began the early stages of development for our current FTL drive. It took over 80 years after that, with a population that was stressing Earth's resources to the limits and two failed colonization attempts on an in system planet before we finally were able to call ourselves a multi-planet species."
Kaira could hardly believe the human history she was hearing. It appeared that these humans could be as violent as a krogan, yet exceed the genius of a salarian, and out maneuver an asari
in a political deal. Nearly two hundred nations, with dozens of religions, and even more languages and distinct cultures, all brought into the fold of one entity in ten years while progressing their sciences at the same time to preserve what was left of their planet.
"If what you're telling me is just the abridged version of your people's history, I shudder to think what the full volume version will be like." Kaira confessed to the human captain.
"I assume it's because no one currently a part of the Council has ever done what we have as quickly?"
"That… and so much more. Your people could very well be considered the biggest threat to the status quo that several influential groups will do all they can to see you wiped out, discredited, or down right stolen from so they can protect their interests."
"So… New kid on the block then." Hackett smirked. "Wouldn't be the first time a human has had to stand up against a bully."
"So what kind of weapons do you guys all have for infantry?" Delina asked. "I can see you have the typical assault rifle, machine gun, pistols, and sniper rifles -which by the way I want to check out. Surely you guys have cooked up some interesting things to go with that armor of yours."
As Delina asked the question she was looking over the human pistol in her hands. It was nearly the size of a shotgun with the weight matching if not exceeding the one on her lower back. With her back to Anderson and Shepard, she could hear them conversing in their language quickly, a short argument it seemed like, with Anderson giving into Shepard over something.
"Well if you can wait another ten seconds, we'll be able to show you." Shepard replied.
"How do you plan on getting all your weap-" Delina heard it, but it was a fraction of a second too late to do anything. Something smashed into the ground not ten meters from her, bearing the distinct smell of ozone, indicating it went through atmospheric entry. A moment later, the outer casing cracked outwards and separated, revealing a miniature armory.
"That is what we call a supply depot. It is able to resupply a large ground force in a matter of minutes with its onboard systems. With it we'll be able to show you our current weapons inventory."
Delina, in a bit of shock from the sudden orbital deployment but more in awe of the supply depot's contents, turned and grinned. "Let's blow some stuff up boys."
"Certainly seems like Delina will be having an enjoyable time," Rana commented after the supply drop landed. Herself and Eva watched as the arms specialists went ahead and started to pull one of every weapon type out of the supply drop's seemingly limitless stores. Once the entire small arms arsenal of Section 8 were out on display, Delina immediately motioned to the rocket launcher and the sniper rifle for Shepard and Anderson to demonstrate and modify. "Where was I?"
"I believe you were explaining the minifacturing technology of the omnitool, and how it is used in conjunction with the holographic display and bio-feedback circuits to be able to create a mnemonic gesture for a near immediate flashforge of tech mines."
At that moment, the distinctive crack of an Imperial ISD-V4 Vanguard sniper rifle was heard, followed by a loud groan. Looking back to the firing range, Rana could see that Delina was rubbing and stretching her shoulder the best she could.
Turning back to face Eva, she smiled. "Of course! It's a rather simple process really."
"I must say, it's interesting how your own military is set up. Only various defense fleets and commando squads." Hackett observed after getting a primer on asari military doctrine from Kaira. Which naturally turned up better information than what MOTHER grabbed from the local copies of the Citadel codex found in the Turians' ships.
"I believe High Command prefers it that way as it is easier for a squad to get in and out without much hassle than it is for a regiment of soldiers. They also rely on the Turians for the primary peacekeeping fleets, with our ships acting as auxiliary forces."
"From what it sounds like, the Terminus systems could get away with raids for as long as they want if all the gang bosses will face are revenge raids that only hit the direct perpetrators of the attack."
"What would you have the Council do? Start an all out war with half of the galaxy that wouldn't even bother recognizing our rules even after they were conquered?"
"That's one option among many Commander, and I believe there is one that's being employed but not nearly to the extent that it should be."
"And what could that solution possibly be."
"Expand Special Tactics and Reconnaissance."
Administrative Room
When Hall had urged Besea to leave the room, she didn't quite believe that it was truly for him to recompose himself. If humanity were to be judged solely by her impression of the man, she feared exactly how well they would be received by greater Council Space.
Naturally there was the fact that they had a form of FTL that was completely independant from element zero. That alone would cause a massive drop in stock of several big mining companies, most asari owned and operated.
Then there was the fact that their colonial engineers, not a proper military unit, were able to hold off a Turian attack with limited supplies for several days worth siege tactics. The humans were obviously skilled militarily and no doubt had tech that would make the Salarian Special Tasks Group salivate. With such a repulsion of their forces, there would be many within the Hierarchies more audible channels that would claim that the Hierarchy is clearly in need of better equipment, training, and more aggressive tactics when dealing with border situations such as this despite it being first contact.
Finally, there was the obvious economic boons of meeting a new race. Hundreds of thousands would flock to the new system to meet the new species, explore the newly opened sector, and begin making backroom board deals.
That is of course if the humans would let anyone in. Besea recognized the value of the planet not only economically but politically as well. The Empire could use it as a propaganda machine and only let what information they want out, as well as what they wanted to reach their people as well. If she or the others of the Council pushed the Empire too hard to open up, it would not take much for them to blockade Relay 314.
Must tread lightly, there is much to be gained by at least maintaining diplomatic relations with these people. That was her mantra as she waited for Hall to return to the meeting room. This did give her a chance to more closely examine the room, specifically the table, to try and glean some information on the people. As her predecessor once said, 'You can tell a lot by how a species behaves by inspecting the craftsmanship of its furniture. The Asari with their elegance shows in the sweeping curves and comfort of their chairs. The Turian's utilitarianism and conformity in the modularization of their desks, which all have the same base style but allow for only limited customization. Finally the salarians and their hyperactive curiosity comes through oddly in their beds, which due to their increased metabolism and need for only an hours rest, tend to be artfully designed bedrolls that can be carried on their person, ready for them to sleep at a moments notice anywhere anytime.'
Running her fingers along the inlaid wooden material, she could feel the texture of the grain and it made her wonder about the planet it could have come from to get such a wide variation of the mellow red and brown grain patterns. Then she felt the tiniest of grooves between the two sections of the patterns and it became obvious that it was actually two different woods pressed together to such an extent that it looked almost natural. Then of course the wood was surrounded by what felt like an odd material that was like plastic but was far too cold compared to the room to be, yet did not have the same feel as a metal desk. Hmm… Custom craftsmanship… The method used to combine the different materials together shows a love of trying to mix things together to create something new. The weight of it however, shows that either the material cost of transporting such a heavy object here is no issue or it has further use outside of a meeting table.
"Have an eye for furniture Madam Councilor?" Hall abruptly announced himself, causing Besea to jump slightly and let out a small gasp. "This desk was made back on Earth, using two different cedar trees, cut and pressed together by hand using the same techniques as craftsmen of old times, then coated in a nanomolecular varnish to artificially age the wood, seal it, and protect it. Then it was set into the aluminum alloy frame you see before you. What that alloy is exactly, is top secret of course. Needless to say the table could be used as a quick source of cover from a gun fight if needed"
"Are humans always so prepared to face an enemy that they build their furniture to aid as well?" Besea asked candidly.
"Not so much prepared to face an enemy as expecting the unexpected. You never know if you'll need the table to support the weight of a dozen men in armor or to hold up to being dropped from a third floor balcony while moving." The smile that emerged on Hall's face belied a story from his younger years before it disappeared to have the cool and collected face Besea came to know so well. "Now… Where were we?"
"Discussing the current state of Citadel politics as you viewed them if I remember correctly." Besea answered as she took her seat once more, Hall having pulled it out for her.
"Ah of course. Now I should mention that while I am the defacto leader of humanity, I hardly have all the power that one would expect. Humanity much prefers to be represented in the various senates and courts by people who are of the same background as themselves and have their focus on making the lives of their neighbors better. As such, any ideas you or your fellow council may have of either subjugating or forcing us under the Citadel banner will find it very difficult to enforce your rules and regulations across human controlled space."
Letting a small sigh escape, Besea nodded. "While I feel it would certainly smooth things over amongst members of the other races, I do agree with you that pushing for full integration at this point would be foolhardy."
"Any trade agreements and border treaties we can also handle at a later date." Hall continued, and produced a small tablet. "My military commanders and I have come to the same conclusion that until we have prepared Shanxi fully to handle Citadel tourist and trade traffic that only diplomatic and prior approved vessels will be allowed to transition the relay that connects Shanxi and what we call the Theta system. To that end, we wish to establish an office for our chosen representative and support staff to start proper trade negotiations and grant those travel approvals."
"I believe that would be a splendid start Mr. President." Besea leaned forward in her seat a bit, "Would you yourself be present when your delegation comes to the Citadel?"
"Oh naturally Madame Councilor. To be the first President to set foot on an alien space station so far from holy terra?" Hall beamed. "I can't wait."
/Earth Date/ -01.10.2538-
/Planet/ Shanxi
/Location / Training Grounds, outskirts of Shanxi
After a solid two hours of the humans and Asari squads interacting with each other, it was obvious that despite the differences in technology that they could work together. Delina by far was the hardest one to get to stop blasting away with a modified Imperial shotgun, which had to be mounted to a stand for her to be able to lift and fire with any accuracy. After being given an Imperial pistol round for a memento by Shepard, she elected to give the human sniper her own assault rifle which she didn't use as much. The engineers exchanged a repair tool (deactivated and purged of nanites) and spare omnitool, while the Commanders simply exchanged handshakes with each other, and together the group walked back to the back to the staging area where the remaining Turians were finishing up loading of their supplies and wounded.
"Well, I must say I look forward to seeing what you humans will accomplish," Kaira began as an asari shuttle began its final flight prechecks. Besides the Councilor, the 517th would be the last Asari squad to leave Shanxi. "Hopefully it will bring about a new age for all in the galaxy."
"Yeah a new age of kicked asses for whoever pisses off an imperial." Delina not-so-subtly remarked, earning a laugh from Shepard, Anderson, and Eva but got her a glare from Kaira.
"I'm sure we'll bump into each other at the Citadel for the continuation of the peace talks. Wherever the President goes, Section 8 tends to follow." Hackett stated, easing himself into parade rest with his hands behind his back.
"Before we go… I noticed how some of your fellow soldiers who bear the red number eight on their pauldrons seem to garner more respect from those who do not. What is the reason for that?" Rana wondered.
Hackett's chest seemed to puff up a bit before he started speaking, "The name Section 8 was chosen in part for what it used to mean in the middle 20th century for American armed forces. A person who was considered Section 8 was certified to be psychologically insane and unfit for duty. Because of the revolutionary tactics that this unit developed not too long ago, the name Section 8 was chosen to reflect the bravery and courage of the men and women who serve in its ranks. The elite of those are chosen to be the tip of the spear that is Section 8's 1st Recon Platoon."
"If I remember correctly, you four are 1st Recon." Kaira thought out loud.
Smiling, Hackett resumed attention and began "We are indeed the 2nd Fireteam of 1st Recon." Raising his hand up in salute, he continued, "And we are happy to have served as your liaisons Commander T'Suni of the 517th Commando Unit, seconded Special Tactics and Recon."
As the rest of the human fireteam saluted with the end of the Hackett's impromptu speech, Kaira went wide eyed when she heard Hackett reveal her true rank. It wasn't common knowledge even amongst the fleet that they had a Spectre somewhere amongst them, and even fewer people knew it was Kaira.
Quickly gaining her composure, Kaira returned the human salute with the Asari standard salute of bringing her right hand to her left hip, sweeping it out in front of her in a 'look at what I have to offer' gesture and then bowing at the waist.
"Thank you Captain Hackett and your squad for showing us just a taste of what the United States Empire is about. May our paths cross again in good fortune." With that the Asari squad stepped onto their transport, which took off shortly after for the Devout Grace.
"You know…" Delina began, her voice sounding part hopeful, part disappointed as she watched the planet fade from the viewport. "Next time we meet with these guys we need to get them to let us do an orbital drop ourselves."
"The joint Turian-Asari fleet is making best possible speed towards the Mass Relay. Current time estimate to full fleet relay transference… Three hours."
"Thank you MOTHER." General Stone looked up from the holographic display. "How long is the Hephaestus estimating for the rebuilding of the Turian ships?"
"Approximately five days for USIF minimum safety standards, three days for safe relay transversal."
"Tell them they have four." Williams chimed in, "Orders just came down, the President is having all the major corporations send their best crews out here, they'll all arrive by the end of the week, and we need to have all the top secret components of the Sanctuary plans in place."
"Updating construction timetables… Complete. New plans require full use of Hephaestus and Task Forces 19's and 33's ship board fabrication plants to have top secret elements in place."
"Well, seems like our engineering crews will be kept busy." Williams commented. "What about the rest of our soldiers General?"
"Task Force 19 can continue it's original mission as planned and prep Shanxi for habitation. Section 8 on the other hand has some exploratory work to do." Stone answered, bringing up the long range sensor data which included the sub space trails left in the wake of the mass relay, and plotted out systems that were in proximity to it.
"Processing new orders direct from the President. General Stone, Task Force 33 is to begin the training of Section 8's 1st Battalion to operate as their own independant deep infiltration unit, code name Janus. Mission parameters to follow in one day's time. Major Corde to take command."
For perhaps the first time, General Stone's usually imperceptible facial facade broke into a mixture of shock, pride, and fear.
"Inform the President…" Stone stalled for the proper words, "Inform him it would be my honor to carry out these orders. General Stone signing out."
MOTHER Network File Access: Granted
Subject: Titan Array
One of the things that all spacefaring species must handle is how to maintain lines of communication across not only within a single system, but as well as across numerous held worlds in cases like the United States Empire or the Council races. The Council races devised a network using laser communications and their own poorly replicated versions of mass relays made into buoys. By firing the comms laser through the massless corridor between the buoys to achieve near instantaneous data transmission and by having a buoy pair sit at or near the major relay junctions, a relatively high speed comms network is created. Naturally there are bandwidth considerations and having the network out in the open right next to relays leaves it vulnerable to pirate attack or pre-emptive military strikes.
This is where the Empire differs. Their communication facilities, known as Titan Arrays, use some unknown means to maintain a constant network with the other Titan Arrays. If Shanxi can be used as an example, it appears that humanity prefers its communications lines planetside, as the Titan Array for Shanxi began construction just outside the colonies capital city
*Section 8 profile detected. Unlocking full entry*
Utilizing the same technology as the Empire's FTL, the Titan Array accessing a specific subspace plane that has been found to handle communication data at a much better rate than the plane used to transport Imperial vessels at speeds past light speed. Naturally, such manipulation of space-time requires a great deal of power, as such most Titan Array's have a dedicated off site antimatter power station as well as on site backup fusion generators.
A/N: So yeah, the best of the best getting their own group, named after the Roman god of beginnings and transitions. That bit literally came out of nowhere as I was writing and I decided to go with it. You think you may know where it's going to lead, but only time will tell. You guys know the drill. Review (sans the comments about how long it took) and please go check out Freeride600's fics! Top notch OC's are tough to come by.
In other news, considering I've been working on this chapter since April, it'll be some time before I get the next one started. I just ask you all please be patient, real life is a pain sometimes.