Chapter 7- Civil Strife
March 21st, 2159, Unknown System
The Batarian frigate jumped out of FTL, engines already going at full tilt as soon as it decelerated. The crew inside tense and afraid.
"Kranak, please tell me we lost them." The captain said to his pilot.
"I think so, but we can never be sure until its too late. There were several hegemony ships after us when we jumped, and one of them may have gotten a lock." The pilot, Kranak, replied.
"Is our distress beacon operational?" The captain asked.
"Yes, it is. We can signal the humans now, although it would take at least an hour until it reaches one of their worlds."
"Signal then, and pray to the gods that the humans are the only ones to hear it."
"Yes captain." The pilot pressed several keys, sending out the standard council distress signal.
"Now, we wait." The captain said, settling into his chair, nervously gripping the armrests.
A half hour passed without incident, then the pilot spoke up.
"Remind me, what are we going to do when we meet the humans?"
"We are going to request political asylum, and then present our case to them. Hopefully, they won't turn us away like the council did, and give much needed aid to our resistance. We must not let the corrupt tyrants in charge of our people stay in power, holding our people in chains."
"Very well, hopefully the humans will- SHIT, 9 HEGEMONY SHIPS HAVE JUST EXITED FTL! THEY'VE FOUND US!" The pilot started to reply, before screaming as he saw the new sensor contacts.
"Attempt to stay hidden, try to hide our sensor contact in that planet's rings!" The captain ordered, as alarms blared throughout the ship, calling the crew to battle stations.
"Not enough time! They've already seen us!"
"EVASIVE MANUVERS!" The captain screamed, as the batarian ships opened fire.
Batarian ships were built for broadsides. The sides of their ships were covered with mass drivers and GARDIAN systems, with the only forward facing armament being the spinal cannon. In combat, batarian ships would close with their enemy, raking them with broadside fire while disrupting their formations. Several frigates attempted to do just that, as the cruisers and dreadnought stayed back, sniping with their spinal cannons. Two frigates came alongside the separatist ship, mass drivers blazing as they attempted to rake the sides of their foe. The separatists fired back, although their ship was too pre-occupied with evasive manuvers to score many hits. A round from the dreadnought, capable of gutting the frigate in one shot, screamed past, less than 100 meters off the port bow. The pilot turned into the shot's wake, narrowly avoiding the shells from the cruisers passing through where his ship was only seconds before.
"FTL drive is ready when you are captain!" The pilot called from his station.
"Do not jump. We need to hold out until the humans get here, or this would be all for nothing!" The captain said.
"If we don't jump now, the humans will only find a debris field here!" The pilot screamed as another round from the dreadnought screamed by. Then, a portal opened in the system, three massive human ships coming through. One of them exited directly in the dreadnought's line of fire, its shell slamming into it, doing absolutely nothing. The hegemony ships ceased fire as captain Bayrig opened a channel to the lead human ship, uttering a prayer to the gods as he did so.
Captain Johannes Faust answered the incoming calls from the batarian ships, the battle his patrol had jumped into stopping as soon as his ships entered the system. One call was coming from the batarian dreadnought, while the other coming from the frigate the batarian force was firing on.
"Greetings, human. We are glad that your patrol answered our distress call. My name is Bayrig, and I would like to request political asylum in the human alliance." The captain of the frigate spoke.
"In the name of the hegemony, you are to immediately turn over these terrorists and fugitives, in order to bring them to justice. If you do not comply, we will open fire on their ship." The dreadnought's captain demanded.
"Please, we are not terrorists! The hegemony leadership is corrupt, and they slaughter any dissidents without mercy!" Bayrig said.
"You have twenty seconds to hand them over before we open fire." The hegemony captain said.
"You are within human territory, and as such, your firing will be considered an act of war!" Faust replied to the hegemony captain.
The captain's response came in the form of a shell, fired not at the separatists, but at Faust's ship, the Crecy. The entire batarian fleet quickly opened fire.
"All ships, engage." Faust said, cutting the comm channels. The high pitched whine of a Shiva antimatter cannon spooling up was heard throughout the ship, before the cruiser fired, discharging both its main guns at once, one shot aimed at the dreadnought, the other aimed at an enemy cruiser. Both shots impacted almost simultaneously, each one destroying its target. The two patrol frigates each fired their main armament as well, destroying two ships each. With two thirds of their force wiped out in mere moments, the batarians barely had time to begin evasive action before the main armament of the Crecy fired again. Only one hegemony ship was left, trading fire with the separatists. The separatists had the upper hand, as evidenced by the chunks of hull flying off their opponent. Finally, the last hegemony ship in the system was destroyed, its eezo core compressing it into a microsingularity, before it exploded in a brilliant flash of white light. Bayrig hailed the Crecy again, and Faust answered him.
"We would like to re-state our request for political asylum. We are the leaders of a group of separatists, dedicated to fighting the oppressive hegemony government. We came here to seek assistance, in any form, with our struggle. We cannot succeed without help, and the council has refused us. Now, the hopes of our people rest on you. What will be your reply?" Bayrig said.
"We accept your request for political asylum, and you may plead your case before the parliament. Personally, I wish you luck." Faust answered.
"Thank you human. We will do that." Bayrig said, before closing the channel. His ship closed in, docking with the human cruiser. Then, the jumpdrives fired, and the human ships headed to Earth with their new guests.
2 days later, Citadel council chambers
"This is an outrage! The humans fired on, and destroyed, one of our task forces! This unprovoked attack must be punished!" The batarian ambassador screamed at the council. "In addition, they are harboring some of the most dangerous terrorists in batarian space! You cannot just let this go!"
"This council would be more willing to support you if your government had not been so frequently breaking our laws! Your practice of slavery is an affront to everything this council stands for, and cannot keep going unpunished." Sparatus replied.
"The batarians have been part of the galactic community for centuries, and you are choosing some violent upstarts over us?" The ambassador replied, eyes twitching in rage.
"Perhaps if your kind had not played so loosely with council laws, we would have sent our fleets in to reinforce Kar'shan already, but the humans have been more useful to this council than your kind will ever be!" Sparatus said.
"So our people are just tools, to be cast aside when we exhaust our usefulness?"
"No, your people are a magnificent culture, but we are not going to throw ourselves-" Tevos started, attempting to defuse the situation, but the batarian cut her off.
"Your words ring hollow. You care nothing for the batarian people or their culture. None of you councilors do! As of this day, the batarian hegemony has cut all ties with your insolent government!" With those words, the batarian stormed out of the chamber, livid with rage.
"Could you not have handled that a little better?" Councilor Valern, Verlin's replacement, asked Sparatus.
"And thrown our fleets away in a futile war against humanity? I think not! Look at that station they constructed in the 314 system! It is massive! We could attack it with our entire combined fleet and still not be able to scratch it! Better to lose a disobedient, minor race than lose our entire military in a useless war!" Sparatus replied, before the council went their separate ways.
A/N: Here you go! Enjoy the new chapter, the beginning of the Batarian separatist storyline! More coming soon!