Hey everyone and welcome back to Xcom: Incursion! Last time, Eden Prime's defenders were rallying for their last defensive against the aliens. Above the planet, Species Alliance ships were destroying what remained of the Turian ships, boarding the lead Turian ship and taking Ganus and several other officers hostage. The mysterious being fled to who knows where and Sparatus was forced to confess about the Turians secret offensive to Valern. And now we come back to where we left off!
"If the enemy is in range, so are you!"
-Murphy's Law
2109 July 11th 4:30 PM Earth Time
5:01 AM Eden Prime Time
Species Alliance Colony; Eden Prime, The Garden Of Eden, Downtown, Species Alliance
Johnas popped over his roadblock turned cover and held his breath…. Still nothing. It had been quiet since the reinforcing fleet arrived in system and started to destroy the attacking aliens and drop in reinforcements. Rumors from the command staff was that the Xenos were trying desperately to find a way to escape, but more than a few ET remnants had surrendered already, and with the new fighter coverage from the fleet above, no "Turian", ship was getting through. Already, several squads were making their way into the city and reclaiming what the Alliance had lost.
Another benefit of the reinforcing fleet, was the Comms had cleared up, and reports were flowing steadily through once more. Mostly just squads engaging the last Turian stragglers that refused to surrender. Casualties for the Species Alliance had been higher than normal during the beginning of the fight thanks to the uncertainty of the enemy's capabilities. But it was only temporary,as it was soon realized just how terrible the Turian's infantry grade weapons were.
Once they realized they could be far more aggressive, they limited the effectiveness of the Turian's only advantage, orbital artillery, by doing what the Chinese did in WW2, keep close to the enemy's line so they cannot accurately provide fire support without hitting their own soldiers.
The artillery by far was the biggest killer, but after the first few hours they had sucker punched the invaders. And judging from his own skirmishes, had taken very heavy casualties during the entire fight.
"Attention all units. This is Militia HQ, Alpha Site has been reclaimed. All Reserves are to rally at the position. General Williams out."
Johnas Sighed out in relief as he collapsed onto the wall. Translating it in his head, basically they had retaken the primary city plaza, all non-defensive forces were to regroup there, and then they'd hit the nearby turian HQ which had been holding stiff resistance.
He and his squad had been positioned for defensive duties, so unless he got called on- "Shepherd! Fifth Platoon is down a man, you're being added onto them."
He looked at his sergeant with a "you gotta be kidding me face", before standing, cracking his back , and saluting. "Yes sir." Vaulting over the low wall he jogged towards where Fifth Platoon was forming up to report in.
The once proud city plaza had been reduced to rubble and the scars of war were clearly visible, nearby buildings toppled, pellet holes visible on nearly every surface. Self Propelled AA and AT, what was left of the armored corp of the city, were hidden in alleys and under camo netting, but it wasn't like there as much left to fight of the Turians, and the use of such weapons on them would be overkill.
The first rule of war for an infantrymen however said otherwise, Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong
Already the Zudjari engineers had gotten work, making an FOB under the plaza. Several bunker entrances were present, from medical to even a small canteen. And remembering the aforementioned law, he did a self equipment check. Determining he needed to restock his kit, he jogged to the armory which had a large dispersed crowd gathered around and prone on the ground, either resting or hiding. This was still a war zone after all.
"Attention all units, new message from Militia HQ. You have five minutes to get your gear and get ready. If you are separated from your squad or undermanned, now's the time to complain!" A corporal yelled form one of the few intact buildings around the plaza.."
2109 July 11th 5:20 PM Earth Time
5:51 AM Eden Prime Time
Xcom X dreadnought, SAV Confido
Engaging Turian fleet in orbit of Eden Prime
"The last remaining hostile Turian ship has been disabled sir." The gunnery officer reported to Winchell who was smiling grimly.
"How are our ground forces doing on Eden Prime?" Winchell asked one of his ground officers.
"They're rounding up the Turians now sir. Just about all of them have surrendered." She replied, a small bit of pride evident in her voice for her comrades on the ground. Winchell thought he might as well let that slide, right now everyone was proud at what they had accomplished. Such a victory after being untested for so long was worthy of celebrating.
"Navigation, set a course for the Mass Relay. We're about to pay the aliens a surprise visit. Communications, signal First fleet, tell them to assume Garrison duties around the Eden Prime Relay. Signal the Assault fleet's to prepare for deep insertion strikes. And signal the Raider fleets, I want everything not bolted down or a fortress stolen and repatriated to the Species Alliance." Winchell said growing excited, anticipating the first counter attack of this war. Hopefully the show of substantial force would show the aliens they weren't safe anywhere, and allow a bit of time for some looting.
"Plotting course for Eden Mass Relay sir, ETA one minute." Winchell's navigation officer reported.
"First Fleet has acknowledged and is bringing the towed stations. Assault fleets have acknowledged and are in prepared positions for the Hyperspace buoys. Raider Fleet has acknowledged, and is ready to come in right behind us." His Signal's officer droned out, her eyes glowing purple from the psionic power as she communed.
"All ships, prepare for Mass Relay Jump in sixty seconds." Winchell announced over the fleet comms. While all Alliance ships had the capabilities to use the Mass Relays, it was at best, inconvenient. As Hyperspace proved to be a much more efficient and versatile method, as well as using the relays was generally discouraged in the Alliance. High Command was at best reluctant to use an alien way of transportation such as the Mass Relays. There was just too much not known about for them to be relied upon.
However the possible applications of them particularly in their nearly instant transportation capabilities, meant that they remained useful in narrow situations, like trying to find an enemy territory that relied upon them.
"Prepare for Mass Relay jump in 5...4...3...2...1…" The ship's computer counted down, as Winchell held onto his chair. The ship shook slightly as it went interstellar, everyone holding onto something, even if it wasn't needed.
"Arrival in 3...2...1… Destination reached." Everyone released a breath held, the bridge once again became a hub of activity, the external vids came online and Winchell readied himself to lead an attack that would be written down in history as one of the most important engagements of the war; the first push for an alien stronghold since the Ethereal Invasion.
"Acquire targets, immediately, engage at will, and let none of them escape! Prepare all Xcom teams for combat!" Winchell ordered, watching the Vid screen as it relayed the position of a mere handful of ships and unfinished military installations, most of the ships were the relative scraps that had escaped the Eden Prime engagement..
"Firing solutions acquired, firing on nearest Turian vessel." The ship shook slightly as a several blue lasers shot out from the Confido, hitting and annihilating the Turian Cruiser which had been unprepared for such an assault.
It appeared the Turians weren't expecting retaliation, or at least, not as fast as the attack that occurred now.
"All hostiles neutralized." The voice of the ship's AI reported. Literal seconds later.
"Excellent work, but no time for cheering, this was nothing but the scraps of what were left from the last engagement." Winchell declared
"Sir, you might want to see this." Reported Glen Trescott, the commander of the Xcom forces in one of the Turian installations said over a private connection.
"Anything useful?" Winchell said, non-chantingly.
"According to what we can understand, these 'Turians' are part of a bigger galactic community called 'The Citadel Council', which is essentially an Oligarchic Confederation of multiple species and independent planets. And the Turians are the military and peacekeeping arm of the big three in the organization" Winchell's face remained impassive before responding.
"Can we expect retaliation from this 'Council'?" Winchell inquired, his voice had hardened and the gears were turning in his head over what the Alliance could do against several organized alien forces.
"Not likely sir, their main goal appears to be peace above all else, the Turians are the only ones in the entire council focused on military strength it seems." Winchell visibly loosened up a little bit at that. Only a little.
"And ship communiques from their flagship's logs indicate most of the fleet we were facing was called in an emergency alarm, like galaxy ending alarm, I wouldn't be surprised if their high command is still trying to figure out what is going on." Glen said, forcing Winchell to suppress a chuckle.
"And what's even better, they seemingly have a galactic trade and diplomatic hub called the 'Citadel' in which all of the species representatives called 'Councilors' meet and talk diplomacy." Winchell's face began to form a smile.
"We may never get another opportunity like this to display our might to this Citadel Council, not to mention the possibility of ending this war. Do we know where this Citadel Council is?" Winchell asked.
"The coordinate and route were one of the first things they gave." Glen said with a smile.
"Well, let's go and say hello then, make sure they know we have the biggest gun boats…"
2109 July 11th 5:30 PM Earth Time
6:01 Eden Prime Time
Eden Prime Orbit, Species Alliance
The Being drifted in Limbo, watching silently as the puny mortals reclaimed their planet from these 'Turians'. Ganus' ship had been captured by this 'Alliance'. A major setback yes, but not a permanently crippling one The Being had been forced to leave Ganus with no other choice left, abandoning him and his impure mind.
By now, the planet had been rid of the Turians presence and feeble attempts at pacification, the final holdouts wiped out not more than five minutes earlier. Such fragile and pathetic toys. However the Being would be back, yes, he would be back to find the Chosen one. And once he did, it would be glorious. 'Yes, it shall be glorious!' The Uber Ethereal thought, disappearing without a trace.
Or so it thought.
2109 July 12th 9:50 AM Earth Time
Citadel Tower, The Citadel
Sparatus' mandibles flexed with agitation, as he and the other councilors stood before a crowd of of several Citadel species in the councilor's audience chamber. Turian, Asari, Salarian, Elcor, Hanar among others were present at the public press conference concerning the Relay 314 "incident". A gross understatement if anyone ever heard it.
Valern looked irritated, having to explain Sparatus' mistakes, often times vividly, to the public while Tevos kept a quiet poker face on.
"The Relay 314 Incident as many of you have heard of recently concerning Turian ship movement to dispatch some supposed pirates by Relay 314, has recently been exposed as a Turian cover up." Tevos began but was soon cut off by the crowd, mostly reporters, shouting questions at the councilors. Tevos waited patiently for the shouting to die down before continuing.
"In light of this recent reveal, we have decided to reveal the truth about this disastrous event to the public." Tevos stated, glancing at the ashamed Turian councilor.
"Two days ago, A Turian patrol lead by Septus Paplianus was patrolling by a nearby Mass Relay dubbed Relay 314. Near this Mass Relay were several unknown Contacts, activating the Mass Relay. Septus' officers had already identified that this might be a new Race and that there were several ships with no detectable weapons. Despite this however, Septus opened fire on the new contacts. The patrol fleet killed off most of the presumably defensive warships while the 'civilian' ships got away. The patrol fleet led by Septus was heavily damaged by lasers and Plasma weaponry. The only reason the patrol fleet survived at all was because of their sheer numbers. After all of this happened, the Turians pressed onwards aggressively through the Relay and into the contact's colonies which the Turians. The small naval garrison present by the planet was assaulted illegally, delivering further serious damage to the Turian forces. The Turians led by Admiral Ganus Dardus, then proceeded to illegally orbitally bombard the colony, breaking several citadel treaties regarding first contact and rules of conduct for neutral worlds. And proceeded to land troops on the surface. While information is incomplete, Turian army forces in surrounding sectors were drawn into the illegal conflict through internal deception by Ganus, and Turian casualties on the planet from last reports have reached 50% dead or wounded, we have no knowledge of how heavy the contact's civilian or military casualties were, but we assume them to be catastrophic. That is where the last report ends, and presumably fighting is continuing even as we speak." Tevos let that sink into the stunned audience, a turian who had deceived tens if not hundreds of thousands of Turian soldiers, engaged in aggressive attacks against an unknown species illegally, and then the Turian government directly lying about the entire incident with a cover up claiming it was pirates. Each of those on their own were bombshells, and that wasn't getting to the point where the Alien's main armaments seemed to be laser and plasma weaponry, meaning who knew just how advanced and large the contact's empire was? Tevos continued..
"We have since then lost all contact with the Turian fleet with the last message sent by the Relay 314 observation post saying remnants of the turian fleet on the other side were returning nearly destroyed. Since then we have lost all contact with the post and we can only presume the aliens have proceeded to strike into council space. And now, we have what could be possibly the biggest political and diplomatic error in the history of the Citadel Council. Which if not handled correctly could very easily bring the in Council into a war not seen since the Krogan rebellions and the Rachni Wars-" That was as far as Tevos got before several screams and shouts forced her to stop short.
"What are those ships?!"
"By the Spirits, look at the size of them!"
"There's hundreds of them!"
"They're transmitting something!"
2109 July 12th 9:55 AM Earth Time
SAV Confido, Citadel
Winchell smirked, sitting comfortably in his command chair. The 'Citadel' was surrounded by alien warships of every kind, with a ten to one ratio of Civilian to military traffic. From the smallest tub boats to the largest dreadnoughts. Having control of all of the Alliance's non-defense orientated fleets had its perks. All of the Citadel military craft had dispersed into a defensive formation, and the civilians scattered since the Alliance's sudden arrival.
"Athena, could you hack into the station's systems and get us some information?" Winchell asked the ship's AI. The AI responded quickly.
"Unknown sir, attempting infiltrating now. Handshake protocols successful. It should take up to an hour for me to get serviceable data, as I suspect there to be much information with most of it in an unknown language and format." The AI responded, beginning to hack the Citadel.
"Transmit a verbal message to the Citadel on all channels, encrypted or not, and run it through our translator." Winchell told his communications officer who nodded and brought up the program on her view screens
"Ready sir." The officer said, looking at her screen intently.
"Peoples of the Citadel Council, I am Admiral Winchell Gaillard, speaking on behalf of the Species Alliance. We are here to demonstrate the power of our alliance against the aggression of the Turian Hierarchy. This is in response and retaliation of the Turians assaulting and destroying the SAV Imperial in our own territory without warning, going further to attempt to destroy several civilian science vessels at the Eden Prime relay 48 standard hours ago."
Leaving a dramatic pause for all those listening, he didn't know if the contempt in his voice translated, but he made sure it had plenty of it, "The Turians had been unprovoked, and our ships had hailed the Turians repeatedly even before they were attacked. They then went and attacked one of our minor colonies, destroying the small System defense fleet, killing some and wounding many of the relatively small militia on the planet. This very fleet then counter attacked and proceeded to show NO QUARTER to those who attacked our world. The fleet surrounding your 'Citadel' is but a small portion of our available forces that are even now running amok in your star systems, numbering only in the thousands. We see the actions of the Turian Hierarchy as deliberate and premeditated act of war against our people, and as of the time of the act we are in a state of total warfare against you, and we will not stop attacking your empires until we have reached a peace agreement. If we truly wished to, we could have destroyed this station with ease, and any and all civilian vessels around it. But instead, we believe it the more humane option to seek peace with the Turians and bring an end to this conflict." The communications officer nodded, and making sure to translate the full message to Turian Standard, sent it out to the Citadel blaring as loud as she could on all available channels.
For several minutes, nothing happened. The vessels around the station maintained their guard, scrambling to their positions, and Athena hacked into their comms networks and translated what she could, showing that the defense fleet had well and truly been shaken up by their arrival and threats. Since the dreadnoughts of ay fleet for the Council were precious resources and sources of pride, he directed the full firepower of 5 ships per dreadnought, so just in case of hostility he would annihilate them instantly and show his strength more clearly, and hopefully break the back of the Citadel's resistance.
"Message sir. Audio only, repeating at around one minute intervals. Shall I put it on speakers?" His comms officer asked.
"Play it." Winchell confirmed. The message began to play, in simple Turian.
"This is the Asari councilor Tevos. It is our regret that this entire incident occurred and the proper punishments and who was responsible were being decided upon as you arrived… We thank you for your mercy, and impress upon you that this first contact is not representative of the Citadel Council's mission. We too wish for peace between our two empires." The transmission ended, while Winchell could explore the word choice, the limited words and language they had at their disposal meant that it had been remarkably well worded despite the lack of options and eloquence.
However the reply confirmed that Winchell's intimidation and bluffing worked. The speaker had a clear and concise voice so that it would be impossible to mishear the words spoken, she had remained calm to his ears, and it spoke of many years of experience in crisis. Winchell mused, smiling slightly. 'But words aren't everything.' Winchell thought, telling his communications officer to send another transmission.
"We demand an audience with you, this in nonnegotiable. We will land at this docking ring in 6 standard hours with a diplomatic delegation. Any attempt to spy, attack, coerce, or mentally influence the staff or the diplomat will have immediate consequences for those involved. I expect you to be prepared for our demands." Ending the open transmission, he ordered a quarantine of the system, and the disabling of their comm buoys after a 10 minute delay for the Council to send out orders to stand down to all its forces. They were to have the entire station and its fleet at gun point with no hope of calling for help or interference. As a show of power for the Species Alliance.
A/N: So there's the end of the chapter! Act: 1 is getting wrapped up with the negotiations in the next chapter, you can expect the next Act in about 1-2 chapters. The next Act will most likely feature exploration and the time before the Mass Effect Games, but I won't give anyway anything else. Anyway, I will be away at Scotland for 2-3 weeks with the family so I won't be doing much online. Actually, I probably won't be online at all. So this is the only chapter for a while (sorry). And yes, the 'Being' was the Uber Ethereal as by this point, everyone knew. And now, answering the reviews.
HaywireEagle- Yes, I agree, the first few chapters are fairly cringe worthy. However, I get a lot better later on with the help of my Beta Bloodraven and practice. (Your second review)
Actually, not a bad story plot, right there. But I added those two franchises in the story because 1) I really liked those franchises 2)They'll be featured later on in the series.
Lightninghawk101- Thanks
Nevos- Thank you and I agree, I always wondered why Spartus wasn't verbally punished that much.
Blinded in a bolthole- Yeah, the first chapters were fairly bad. But I did get better in the latest chapters.
Major Simi- Thanks
Scottusa1- Thanks, I will
5 Coloured Walker- Thank you, your help is always appreciated and helps me become a better writer.