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July 15, 2228 Human reckoning

HNV Primarch's Pride, uninhabited star system

Captain Livestian watched with approval as a flight of shuttles soared upward from the planetary surface toward his squadron. Not that there had been anything worth visiting on that particular dustball, but the landing operation had been carried out flawlessly.

"I believe the exercise went well, sir," lieutenant Tirius remarked.

"Indeed it did, lieutenant. Please pass my compliments to the Pride's crew, as well as to the rest of the squadron. Patrolling empty sectors may not be the most exciting duty in the fleet, but our officers and crews have reason to be proud of themselves." Captain Livestian took another look at the map. "It also looks as though we have inspected every speck of dust in this system, so I see no reason to delay our departure. The next system is the one with the dormant relay, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, I suppose that makes it at least somewhat interesting. Let's get the squadron underway."

USM Auriga, in FTL, approaching LV-758

"Less than an hour until we drop out of light speed," captain Jankoswki said with obvious satisfaction. "We are exactly on schedule."

Jennifer Xui threw a look at Leon Casse. The captain had invited the two senior members of his science team to observe from the bridge as Auriga approached her destination and he was clearly intent on making sure that they realized that the navy, and in particular captain Jankoswki, had so far fulfilled their part of the operation perfectly.

"That is good to hear, captain," she answered. "I hope that the rest of this project will proceed just as smoothly."

"You are concerned that it might not, doctor Xui?"

"I am always concerned, captain. Oh, I have little doubt that we will be able to activate the relay. We do have some experience in those matters, after all. No, I'm more worried about the next phase. With the previous relays we always had a good idea of the general area in which we would end up once we passed through the relay. This time, we're taking a leap into the unknown. There is no telling, what we will encounter on the other end of that relay. Or who."

"First contact? Do you actually think that might happen?"

"Strictly speaking, it wouldn't be the first time, now would it, captain?"

Jankowski stiffened. This was not a subject that was open to general discussion."I'm not sure what you mean."

"Please, I have top-level security clearances, captain. So does dr. Fasse. We are all aware of what Weyland-Yutani found on LV-426. That was evidence that there has been at least one other space-travelling species other than ourselves. Two, if we count whoever build the relays, and, no, I don't believe for a moment that they were the same species. The technology is just too different. Both might still be around somewhere and there might be others. It's a big galaxy and we have only explored a tiny fraction of it."

"Which also means, that we might never meet each other, doctor. As you say, it is a big galaxy and inhabitable planets are few and far between. A score of sentient species might travel around for thousands of years without ever encountering each other."

"Under normal circumstances, yes, captain. But the circumstances are far from normal. The relays change the whole situation. Any species that encounters such a relay will inevitably start to use them. They are just too convenient; and that creates a highway system through the galaxy where we are all destined to run into each other sooner rather than later." Jennifer paused a moment. "Look, captain, I don't want to sound alarmist, or be the woman that cried wolf, but it is something that we have to consider, especially in a situation such as this. We have absolutely no idea, where in the Milky Way we're going to end up and there is a possibility that we're going to emerge on somebody's doorstep."

"And you believe they might be hostile?"

"Captain, humans can be quite hostile when it comes to unannounced visitors and we also have a tendency to be scared of anything we don't understand. Those are survival traits. Any species that has managed to reach the stars is likely to have similar attributes. Let's not forget, the one alien ship we've ever seen carried a cargo of xenomorph eggs. I can think of very few peaceful applications for those. I'm not saying that another species is going to shoot us on sight, but I think it's better that we are prepared to encounter some difficulties."

"Well, I suppose we'll just have to wait and see, doctor. In any case, we have our escorts and Auriga herself is not entirely defenceless. I'm confident that we will at least be able to escape back through the relay, should we encounter hostiles on the other side. Besides, we are dropping off FTL communication bouys to maintain the link with Shanxi. If we run into serious trouble rear-admiral van Buren will come to our aid with the Shanxi system defence squadron. Half a dozen destroyers should be enough to give anyone second thoughts about taking us on." Jankowski smiled. "Knowing van Buren, he's probably hoping for just such an opportunity."

"Really?" Jennifer Xui kept her voice carefully neutral.

"Oh, yes. Admiral van Buren is well known in the navy. He has been agitating for years against the reduction in active naval strength. He would relish an opportunity to prove his point." A light started to blink on the captain's console. "But never mind that now. Dr. Xui, dr. Fasse, we have arrived at LV-758."

HNV Primarch's Pride, near Relay 314

The 24th reconnaissance squadron had dropped out of FTL several hours earlier and was slowly making its way through the system, which, despite the presence of the dormant mass relay, was even more boring than the last one. At least that system had a few real planets that had proven useful for a landing exercise. This system boasted only one single gas giant and two asteroid belts, none of which held anything even remotely of interest.

"Anything of interest, lieutenant Tirius?"

"Nothing, sir."

"As I suspected. Very well, set a course for the gas giant. We'll discharge our drive cores before we proceed to the next system."

At that precise moment, alarms started ringing.

"FTL transit spotted! We have multiple incoming ships."

"Captain Livestian, we have spotted three unknown ships. Their energy signatures do not match any known profile."

Livestian did not hesitate. "Cut all power to the engines and stop active transmissions. Signal the squadron to copy."

Within seconds the 24th reconnaissance squadron turned into six seemingly inanimate objects, floating through space as though they were part of the star system.

"Send out recon drones. Passive censors only. We will do nothing to alert them to our presence until we're ready. Do we have enough data from their energy readings to estimate the size of those ships?"

Lieutenant Tirius looked at her display.

"It's tough to say, captain, but from the look of things, two of them are cruiser sized. The third is bigger. A lot bigger."

That was not a good sign. Still, it might not be as bad as it sounded. "Let's not jump to conclusions. Even if the smaller ones are warships, the third may be a large transport. We'll know soon enough In the mean time, let's see if we can determine where they came from. Search the reports from the original explorers of this sector. There are not supposed to be settlements in any of the surrounding systems, but it might be worthwhile to see if any of them contain planets that might be worth colonizing."

-o-o-o-

It took more than an hour for the drones to come within passive sensor range of the unknown ships. The drones were small, provided with the best stealth systems that salarian technicians had been able to provide. It seemed to work, because the unknown ships gave no indication that they were aware of the little observers.

The arrival of the first scan results came as something of a relief. Livestian and his officers had searched for more information on nearby systems. Unfortunately, this had proved to be rather frustrating. They were on the very border of council space and the neighbouring star systems remained largely unexplored. Some of the available information predated the Rachni War and there were large gaps in it. Most likely the result of abandoned exploration programs that had never been resumed afterwards because of the council's reluctance to continue exploring and, potentially, encounter more hostile species.
As Livestian looked at the first set of images, the sense of relief disappeared. The two smaller ships seemed identical and, although the design was utterly alien, they were clearly warships. The Pride's computers were were analysing the images and had already made tentative identification of multiple gunports as well as several small cupolae that seemed designed for a type of GARDIAN short range laser defence system.

"What about the larger ship?"

"Images coming in right now, captain." Lieutenant Tirius was silent for a few seconds. When she spoke again there was a tautness in her voice. "It doesn't look good, sir. That ship is more than a kilometre in length and the energy output of her eezo core is simply too large for a freighter that size, even if such a freighter could be economical. I can see multiple launch bays for small craft at the underside of the hull, at least three GARDIAN lasers just on one side. They seem to have some sort of turret on top of the hull, but the drone came in at the wrong angle. I cannot be certain what they've mounted in there, but I don't think it's something peaceful. Captain, that's a warship, just like the other two."

"A dreadnought."

"Judging by the size, yes sir."

Can you spot any resemblance to known ship designs?"

"No captain. Nobody builds ships like this. I mean, look at them. It's as though somebody slapped a bunch of cargo-boxes together and called it a ship."

"I agree that they're lacking in aesthetics, lieutenant, but that leaves us with two questions: Who are these people; and what are they doing here? There aren't that many dreadnought designs around and they should all be in our database. Even if it these are old ships, perhaps sold for scrap and refurbished by mercenaries or pirates, the general design style should still be recognizable."

"Captain..," The lieutenant hesitated. "Do you think...? Is this a first contact situation?"

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Livestian felt amusement at the excitement in her voice. It had been centuries since the last time any of the citadel races had made first contact with a spacefaring civilization. It was the one-in-a-million chance that made years, even decades of dull, monotonous patrols worthwhile, and would be a major career boost to everyone involved.

"It seems the most likely explanation, lieutenant." "

But what are they doing here?" Turius asked. "This system is all but empty. Why would anyone patrol an empty system with a dreadnought?"

Livestian looked up. "The mass relay! They have to be here for the relay."

"But the relay is dormant."

"Or so we think. If these people have an inhabited planet nearby, they may have activated it."

Lieutenat Tirius looked shocked. "That would be a blatant violation of citadel law."

"And how are they supposed to know that, lieutenant? If, as I suspect, these ships belong to an unknown species, then most likely, they are not even aware of the existence of the citadel. Never mind the citadel council, let alone citadel law. Or they may actually come from the other side of the relay." He thought for a moment. "Alright, let's not borrow trouble. Send a signal to the relay to see if it has been activated. If it is, well, then the damage is done and we should make first contact as quickly as possible. If not, we can take the time to observe these people for a bit."

USM Auriga, system LV-758

"Welcome to LV-758," captain Jankowski said as he surveyed the holographic map of the star system. "I'm happy to say that the the FTL communication-buoys that we dropped off on our way here seem to be working well. We'll be able to maintain direct communications with Shanxi and keep them updated on our progress." He gestured toward the map. "As you can see, the system is largely empty; but it does contain a gas giant, which comes in useful. We will be able to discharge our drive cores, before we proceed to the relay.

HNV Primarch's Pride

The waiting had been agonizing, but so far the news had been better than expected. Relay 314 was still dormant, which had bought captain Livestian a little time. The unidentified vessels had moved in system and were in the process of discharging their drive cores in the local gas giant, just as the 24th squadron had intended. As Livestian watched on his sensor screen the massive alien ship moved away from the planet to join its smaller companions. The question was, what they intended to do next. The answer came quickly.

"Captain, there is no doubt about it. They are moving toward the relay."

"Spirits! So much for waiting and observing. The question is, what do we do now?"

"Surely our duty is clear, captain? We cannot let them activate a relay, especially a primary relay! Who knows what might be on the other side? Citadel law-"

"I'm fully aware of citadel law, lieutenant. I'm also aware of citadel rules for first contact. Unfortunately, those two seem to contradict each other. I doubt the council, or the Hierarchy would approve of us using violence against an unknown species. Especially, against an unknown species that builds dreadnoughts. The whole purpose of the citadel law regarding dormant relays is to prevent wars with unknown species. Not to start them. But even if we ignore that point, or the legal issues concerning jurisdiction, how do you suggest that we stop a dreadnought from going wherever it wants to go? That's a big ship out there and there is no way to tell how much firepower she packs. Frankly, I'd rather not find out the hard way."

Lieutenant Tirius had no reply to that. Unfortunatley, neither had Livestian, which rather limited his tactical options.

"If we cannot let them activate the relay and we cannot use force other than as a last resort, we only have one option left. We'll have to convince these people. We'll detach one of the frigates. Send it back to Relay 288 to contact fleet command with our findings. The rest of the squadron will move in and make contact. Once we've established communications we'll try to disuade them from opening the relay, or at least delay them until the fleet can send us some support with trained diplomats."

"Captain, there may not be time for that. Starting a first contact routine from nothing can take days, weeks even."

"That may actually work in our favour. The longer we can stall them, the better. In any case, we have a first contact package based on prothean data formats, right? We'll use that. Whoever they are, their ships use eezo cores and they seem to be familiar with the mass relays. They must have at least some understanding of prothean technology."

-o-o-o-

The commanding officer of the frigate Talon Strike was far from happy to be selected to run errants under these circumstances, but the strict chain of command that ruled the turian Hierarchy was very useful for these situations. As much as the young lieutenant might dislike it, he would obey orders; and frankly, Livestian would be glad to see him go. Although Saren Arterius was generally considered a 'good turian' with a great career ahead of him, Livestian had not taken a liking to him. The young officer was a bit too convinced of both his own talent and the inherent superiority of all things turian. That kind of attitude was the last thing Livestian needed right now. No, it was far better to keep Arterius as far away from this new species as possible.
Livestian closed his eyes for a moment, steeling himself to give the next order.

"Signal the squadron: Resume active scans and start your engines. Make for the relay. I want to arrive there before these aliens."

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A/N Thanks to A Mountain Sage who mentioned in a review of Someone has heard them scream that the use of prothean technology by the ME races would increase commonality of systems. Hence the turians' plan to communicate that way. Too bad they stumbled upon the one species that doesn't use it.

Some people are bothered by me reducing the size of Auriga,'nerfing' the humans, but that is not my intention. I'm not necessarily reducing capabilities, just the sizes.
Please keep in mind: 1) Alien Resurrection took place 200 years after Aliens, not 50 as in my story, so by all means think of this as the canon Auriga's predecessor. 2) I had already decided to give the human military eezo drives for FTL, which limits ship sizes (see the companion story intelligence reports). 3) The canon Auriga was the size of the Destiny Ascension. The turians would have to be suicidal to start shooting at something that size, and while she isn't designed for combat, they have no way to be sure of that. She is built to military specifications and she does have some weapons for self-defence.