Important: I'm going to do something a bit different here. As a general fan of science one of the things I love learning are theories on how Star Wars technology can be implemented in real life. Lasers do not work like they do in Star Wars, not to mention light can not cause the damage that they can do in the movies and games. So I'm changing the science behind it just a bit to something more realistic and even in a way that would equalize the technology between Star Wars and Mass Effect, I am a very huge fan of science so these are actually current theories to how the science of star wars could be turned into fact.
Also, I do understand many of the cliche's that Star Wars has. For example the terrible aim of storm troopers and in no rendition did it ever show anything close to realistic and practical military tactics. To rectify this I will have them have their own unique style to war, one that stays true to the cliche's of the games/movies but at the same time be practical and useful in the Star Wars universe. For example, most soldiers will not use cover like Shepard or real life modern tactics, this is because their armor is so useful at stopping Blaster rounds it's not as practical. Heavy armor really makes it difficult to take cover and move easily so if it can take a beating it's more effective to stand in the open then duck in cover. Like I said, making the cliche's of the games/movies sensible and practical in the Star Wars universe.
Chapter 4: War Without Blood
Shepard was pacing for a good while, he was currently in a room in the crew quarters of a Republic Starfighter Carrier. It was surrounded by dozens of Star Cruisers and other warships. The ships had red and white paintings, the colors of the republic, and shaped like a cylinder with large engines in the back. It came complete with large guns and blaster technologies to protect them from an enemy attack.
Currently they were at the Republic fleet, a large collection of capital ships that acted as the command center of the entire Military of the Republic. The best way Shepard could describe it was a city in space. There were trade stations, armories, training rooms and command centers where officers would go about developing plan to win the war.
Shepard was not exited in the least bit, with his experiences in dealing with politics he knew that this was going to be nothing more then days of debating, being labled as crazy and constantly being ridiculed for whatever reason because his information could effect the power of some rich ass politician.
Shepard has been cooped up too long so he decided to explore the ship a little bit, maybe find a workout area to train and work off some stress. It was strange going through the ship, there were men in all kinds of different uniforms moving around and acting in a similar fashion to the Alliance. Shepard was also amazed at the large diversity of the dozens, even hundreds of species that he could never hope to learn them all. There was never this many species and nver a place where they all concentrated in one place. Back then there was a level of bigotry between species but it seems that this era the only form or bigotry was between the light side and dark side Religion.
Shepard used this opportunity to learn more about the political situation of the Galaxy. From what he gathered this Empire came out of no where 30 years ago and has been at war with the Republic since. Not too lon ago the warrin factions entered a stalemate that is now on the verge of collapse. Each side is arming and preparing for another open conflict but until then they lick their wounds and prepare for battle.
This Religion was the center of the conflict. The light side promoted the values of peace through knowledge and justice while the dark side, the Sith promoted peace through strength, passion an control. Same goals but different methods.
I eventually found the training room where that one soldier that hit me in the head was training. Cross I believe his name was, a part of Hammer squad or something.
"Good to see you." He nodded at me. I got to speak with him a few times and we shared a respectful attitude towards each other. Though we were from different eras and armies that comradery you get from meeting a man that went through the same hell as you supersedes all else.
"You too, mind if I train with you for a bit?" I asked. He nodded.
"Ever used a Blaster before?" He asked.
"I used something similar, instead of blasting energy it shoots out a piece of metal the size of a grain of sand at a fraction of the speed of light." Shepard explained.
"Well, let's see what you can do with a blaster." He said and handed Shepard a basic blaster pistol.
"How does it work?" Shepard asked curiously.
"This box in front of the trigger is a container that houses Hydrogen Atoms. Those Atoms are forced into the main chamber of the gun, located behind the barrel. From there the Atoms are fused together, creating super heated gas. This Gas solidifies and turns into Plasma." Cross instructed.
"So it's the same principle that powers a star?" Shepard asked.
"Something like that, this Plasma is forced out the barrel and stays condensed enough to impact and object like a solid mass. However, when it impacts an object it looses it's density and is instantly cooled down back into a Gas. Problem with super heating Plasma that fast is that it cools just as quickly. The end result is a severe burn that can penetrate as far as 3 inches without armor. With Armor though it's rather easy to survive." He continued to explain.
"How does the Armor work?" Shepard asked.
"You have 3 main classes, light, medium and heavy. Light Armor normally goes to the Jedi's. It's light, easy to move in and works fine for them. They mainly use it to stop shrapnel from an explosion or something like that. After all, you saw that even a Padawan can block a Blaster bolt." Shepard nodded, knowing from experience that even the young Adrial was capable of blocking a few shots. "Medium and Heavy Armor is made from a dense kind of polymer, Medium Armor is usually thinner and less dense but Heavy Armor is very dense. It's capable of stopping most bolts but will wear down if constantly hit."
"I think that makes sense." Shepard never was too bright with science. Aside from basic schooling he doesn't know much beyond that. He's a soldier, nothing more.
"So let's see what you can do." Cross pointed to a few targets down the range. The Targets were holograms that moved realistically like normal people. They had some kind of strange armor and Shepard assumed it was the armor of the Sith Empire. Would make sense, he used to shoot at Batarian and Turian targets during his days in Boot Camp.
The Plaster itself was interesting, it looked very similar to a Mauser pistol, an old Earth gun from WW1. It was even complete with the trademark Broom handle grip which was considered one of the best designs of the day. On the top though was a small scope that helped greatly with aim though Shepard didn't understand why it needed one. Pistols normally have a very short range so iron sights are more effective than scopes but then again this is a different time and most likely different tactics.
Holding it in the traditional Alliance stance, his arms extended and both hands on the grip to keep it steady he squeezed the trigger at the targets. The blast itself was actually pretty light, the recoil was more comparable to a very weak pistol. Shepard instantly managed to switch targets and fire bursts in rapped succession, taking out all of the targets quickly and efficiently.
"Interesting stance." Cross commented.
"How so?" Shepard asked. Cross too his own blaster, which did not look familiar to Shepard at all, and stood relevantly straight with one hand holding the Pistol out.
"Keep your body turned to make yourself less of a target." Cross demonstrated. "And use only 1 hand, keeping the other one near your other weapon, either a second pistol or thermal detonator." He said and fired the shots down range. Unlike Shepard they were less accurate but with the tracer effect of the moving plasma accuracy meant little when you can compensate easily. Shepard noticed a distinct difference in their styles. Since his armor's shields could only take a burst of fire before dropping he needed to be accurate and keep in cover. With the powerful armor of these Republic troops they don't need to be in cover as often and their style is more about lessening your profile than staying hidden. For how their technology is, this is actually very effective for them.
"Pretty good, but i think the 2 handed approach gives better accuracy." Shepard commented.
"True enough but it also gives you a larger profile, making it easier for the enemy to hit you." Cross countered. For another few minutes they just began bickering back and forth about which way was better. Even though they didn't agree they silently understood the reason behind the differences and why it made sense for each man.
After a bit more time passed and the 2 veterans practiced some more it was finally time for their arrival to the city planet of Coruscant, former home of the Jedi Temple and the center of the Republic. Shepard watched as the ship descended through the clouds from a window located in the mess area. The city was amazing, even more so that he learned that it spread across the entire planet. He was both appalled by the destruction of the natural world but completely amazed at the shear scope and technological scale to do such a thing.
The city itself reminded him of Illium, even the buildings looked very similar but this dwarfed Illium to the point that it looked more like a town in comparison.
The shipped docked and was already getting loaded with supplies and fuel as the Military officers, politicians and Jedi made their way down the large ramp that allowed exit from the Republic ship.
Shepard walked out and looked around in subtle amazement, Adrial studying his reaction like a researcher would a mouse and Dack kept a clam face, clearly not interested in anything other than reaching their destination. Cross parted ways to ensure they got the food and other supplies for the Starfighter Carrier but he said he would join them again when it was time to depart.
"Did you have any worlds like this?" Adrial asked out of the blue.
"Sort of, it's very similar to Illium but much larger in scale. Hope it doesn't suffer from the same crime infestations and legal corruptions... Then again, going under Council Law helped me on more than one occasion." Shepard snorted, still very sore about how the Council treated him. The though provoked a pang of guilt as he remembered that they most likely died a terrible death during the war. Shepard hated them but they didn't deserve what the Reapers did, if only they...
Shepard stopped himself there, no use thinking of what ifs and could have beens. Time to look forward and ensure this civilization doesn't follow the same fate as his. With his sorrow and anger replaced with conviction he dropped the conversation and continued on with his current task. Adrial studied his reaction and knew that he was deep in thought and decided to respectfully drop the subject, even though her curiosity demanded compensation.
The Senate Tower was without a doubt proof to Shepard's secret theory that Politicians are more theatrical than practical. It was large, shiny and completely adorned with amazing decorations and expensive looking furniture.
"The meeting will begin soon, this is not going to be easy to convince the Senate to take any kind of action with this." Dack said to Shepard.
"We'll find some kind of compromise, I know how politics work. Worst case scenario I'll go with plan B." Shepard said cryptically.
"Which is?" Dack asked, clearly wanting to know Shepard's plan before putting his reputation and metaphorical head on the line. Shepard knew Dack would probably call it off if he knew his history with politics. What did Udina call it, a "Political Shit-storm"?
"Let's go." Shepard said, ignoring the question.
As they entered the Senate chamber Shepard was again amazed by the scale of the place. Convincing 3 council members took almost 3 years, dozens of life threatening missions and the Reapers falling from the skies for them to believe him. How the hell is he going to convince a thousand Senators who didn't even have a legend about the Reapers outside of crappy ass cave drawing from a tribal race?
"I swear Ash." Shepard mumbled to himself angrily. "If there is a God please tell him to go fuck himself for me."
"Come again?" Dack asked, not entirely sure what Shepard said.
"Nothing." Shepard said and walked up to the massive center box where he would have to give his speech.
The Senate stopped their chatter as the final Senators and Jedi finally arrived. Shepard felt somewhat nervous but he was more concerned about them not listening or taking the threat seriously and having to watch a second Reaper invasion. Finally after what felt like hours Dack went up to what looked like microphones and began to speak in a loud and powerful voice.
"My fellow Republicans, I am Master Jedi Dack Enz. Recently, on an Archaeological dig we discovered the ruins of an ancient civilization. The technology was advanced and it was a massive collection of Alliances and Empires that lasted for thousands of ears. This civilization however was wiped out around 50,000 years ago. The only survivor is this man..." He motioned to Shepard. "Commander Shepard, he has been frozen in Stasis all these years and he has extremely important information to share with us all, that could bring to light a greater threat than the Empire." With that he motioned for Shepard to begin his speech.
"50,000 years ago..." Shepard began carefully, making sure to make it sound like he wasn't a lunatic. "My civilization was at the height of its power. The 4 major Council races, our version of the Galactic Senate, was comprised of the largest and greatest Military force in the known Galaxy at the time. All our technology was based off of what we believed at the time to be Prothian Technology. The Prothian's were the dominate race that existed 50,000 years before our time. One day however their Empire was destroyed...
At first, the scavenged technologies that we found, the Mass Relays, the Citadel etc. were thought to have originated from them. We couldn't have been more wrong however. The technology was built by a race of sentient machines, what we called Reapers. They were machines built by a race we called the Leviathans, considered to be the first true Race. They built an AI system to protect organics from Synthetics, but were caught up in their own foolish pride. They were harvested and became the first true Reaper, Harbinger...
They sleep in Dark-space, the empty space outside of the Galaxy and return every 50,000 years to harvest advanced civilizations to create new Reapers. The AI, or the Catalyst is what controls them. The time is soon approaching when they will return to harvest your civilization. In order to survive we must prepare and defeat them." Shepard concluded, waiting for either a barrage of questions or being out right denounced.
"What is their purpose?" One Senator asked.
"To protect Organic life. Organics create Synthetics, Robots capable of sentient thought. In turn they rise up against their Organic creators. If left unchecked Synthetics would wipe out Organics. To protect the Organics they Harvest the advanced civilizations, leaving the younger ones alone and preserving the older in the form of a Reaper. Or so they say. In reality they are nothing more than Synthetics, contradicting themselves by destroying us."
What followed was loud chatter among themselves.
"Do you have any viable proof?" A Senator asked.
"Other than my existence and the data stored in the ruins I was found in... no." Shepard knew what was coming.
"He speaks the truth." Dack stepped in. "The data recovered from the site shows undeniable proof that this "Reaper" race exists." He defended.
"For all we know they could be extinct as well." Another Senator countered.
"They've been around for millions of years, it's unlikely." Shepard said, though secretly hoping that they were dead. Ok, the odds that they were are almost non-existent but it's nice to fantasize.
"We do not deny that you have been in stasis for 50,000 years, just that there is not nearly enough proof to waste resources to defend against some fairy tale. We are in the middle of a Cold War with the Empire right now and are too busy amassing enough resources to win this war." A Senator said logically.
"What if it is real?" Shepard asked.
"What if it isn't? Than we would have wasted valuable resources and that can only hurt our efforts in this war right now." Other Senators voiced their agreements.
"And if it is real than you will all die and your entire way of life will become extinct!" Shepard yelled, silencing everyone present. "The Council of my cycle was nothing more than a bunch of egotistical, frightened children that did not take the threat seriously until it was too late. By the time they began preparations it was already too late. I was hoping that this Cycle would maybe have a little bit more of a spine and a bit more sense to actually prepare for an invasion instead of sitting on their asses again."
Shepard's little speech was followed by a deafening silence. Shepard guessed through some of their faces that at least some of them thought this would gather looking into.
After some time the meeting was put on hold for the Senate to discuss. Shepard had to wait outside along with Dack and Adrial, who looked at him shocked.
"Are you crazy?" Dack asked. "You just screamed, denounced and insulted the entire Senate. Not a very good idea to get them on your side."
"I think it was awesome." Adrial said, clearly still at the rebellious stage. Shepard wondered just how sheltered these Jedi were if a 20 year old was still acting like a teenager.
"Awesome? I bet my reputation on you... This is nothing but a..." Shepard stopped him there.
"An old "Friend"..." Shepard used the term loosely. "Called it a Political Shit-storm, pretty accurate if you ask me. Besides, those high and mighty rich snobs need a good humility check every now and again." Shepard said, clearly not a big fan of politicians.
"You'll be lucky if they just decide to disregard everything you say. They may just denounce you and make you seem like a crazy fool and lock you up." Dack said.
After some time they were finally allowed back in, the Senate has finally reached a decision. An old Senator stood up with the verdict and said...
"Commander Shepard, in light of the possibilities that this thing can exist, we will allow you to assemble a crew and search for hard evidence of this threat. If you manage to find reliable evidence of this threat than we will consider how best to deal with it." Shepard was no fool in politics. He knew this was just a clever way of getting him out of their business. By sending him on what they consider to be an impossible job they effectively take him out of the equation.
"You will be permitted a ship, along with Master Dack, his Padawan and Havoc squad, led by LT. Cross." Another Senator said.
"So be it." Shepard said, although knowing they were trying to get rid of him he would play fetch for now and get the proof they need. Shepard savored every moment when he finally got to show the Council that the threat was real, he would enjoy this just as much. "I will get your proof, just hope that I can convince you before they return from Dark-space and kill us all." And the meeting was finally concluded for now.
About an hour later Shepard was in the mess hall, arm wrestling Cross, who he'd developed a very good friendship with. Despite their differences they were still soldiers and had a massive amount of respect for one another. Shepard was strong but Cross easily beat him each time, showing that he was stronger than Shepard physically.
"It takes more than Strength to be a good soldier." Shepard defended with a laugh.
"If it makes you feel better Commander." Cross mocked Shepard playfully by using his Rank.
"Keep in mind who's in charge LT." Shepard countered. Adrial was on the couch, absently twirling a few small objects with the Force and bored out of her mind. She's not exactly into the whole macho display of strength thing. While not exactly a girly-girl, she didn't act masculine either.
"Good news." Dack entered. "I managed to get us a really good ship, decent speed, good weapons and enough armor to hold it's own against most Imperial ships." He showed Shepard the hologram of the ship. "It's a Light Corvette, Defender Class. Since you're the Commander I think you should come up with the name."
"Wow, it's blue..." Adrial said. "Much better than the plain old Red color."
Shepard thought about calling it the Normandy but somehow it didn't feel right. It looked nothing like it. Shepard kept the name Normandy for the SR-2 because he felt that the upgraded version carried the spirit of his old ship. This looked nothing like it so it would feel insulting to name it that. With some thought Shepard thought of the perfect name, one that carried on the spirit of one of his oldest and closest friends.
"We'll call it the Vakarian." He said.
"That's a strange name." Cross said. "But I like it, got a good ring to it." And with that it wa settled. Tomorrow they would christen the knew ship. Shepard insisted that they do an old Earth custom where they would break a champagne bottle as it is launched. While they had no idea what champagne was Cross would look for a good alcoholic beverage to be used in its place.
With everything settled for now they all retreated to their rooms for a good nights sleep. Despite everything that has happened since the battle for Earth Shepard went to sleep with determination and feelings of pride. He would not be beat a second time. With the Crucible a no go this Cycle he would have to find another way to win. For now though he had to play politician and fetch in order to even get that far. Soon he fell into a dreamless sleep and his breath slowed down to a steady and rhythmic pace.
End Chapter: 4