Mass Effect is the property of Bioware. 20th Century Fox owns the Alien/Predator franchise.

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July 15, 2228, human reckoning

USM Auriga, on approach to Relay 314

"Contacts! Multiple Contacts."

'What?!" Captain Jankowski punched in a command on his chair and a copy of the sensor image appeared on the screen before him. "Identification?"

"Unknown, sir. Energy signatures suggest that they have element zero cores, but the pattern is not in the database."

"What is their course?"

The sensor tech checked his screen and made a quick calculation.

"One ship moving away toward the outer system. Five more on an intercept course, sir. It looks like they are trying to meet up with us at the mass relay."

"There isn't supposed to be anyone out here," Jankowski said, more to himself than anyone else. "Well, we'll know soon enough. Doctor Xui?"

"Yes, captain."

"Tell your science team to spin up one of their telescopes. I want an optical view of these ships."

"Of course, captain." She hesitated. "Captain... can we be sure that these ships are human?"

"You're thinking of that first contact situation we discussed, doctor?" Jankowski permitted himself a small smile. "I suppose it's possible, but I doubt it. More likely, these are some rogue traders that have set up a little outpost somewhere nearby. It's happened before. That, or someone is scouting out the neighbourhood for likely settlement spots, trying to get the jump on the competition."

"But shouldn't the computer be able to recognise their energy signatures."

"In theory, yes, but in the early days after the discovery of element zero a lot of people pulled the tachyon shunts out of their ships and had them replaced with eezo cores. That led to a lot of variations. You can be sure that not all of them made it into the database. To be honest, I'm more concerned as to what these people are doing here. No one has been permitted to operate commercially in this sector yet. The Assembly was waiting until we opened the mass relay before granting mining concessions and colonisation rights. If these people have established anything even remotely like a permanent base, there will be hell to pay. Still, you'd think they would be running away from us. Not trying to get closer. I don't like this. I don't like this one bit."

-o-o-o-

"It seems you were right, after all, doctor Xui." Jankowski was no longer smiling. "These are definitely not human designs."
Together with the two senior scientists, he was staring at the first telescope images that the science team had produced. One look at the strange vessels had been enough to convince anyone that no human had had a hand in their design. The ships streamlined with sharp, raking angles in a shape that was vaguely reminiscent of a bird-of-prey. "Beautiful design, though I cannot fathom why they would bother to make them look like this. The cost increase would have to be enormous, just to make them look pretty."

"Could they be atmosphere capable?" Dr. Fasse asked. "Having a streamlined shape helps a lot if you have to manoeuvre in an atmosphere."

Jankowski looked at the tentative data they had compiled so far. "I suppose it could be possible. The smaller ones, I would say, yes. They are about the size of our own frigates. The bigger ones... they are the size of a destroyer or rapid deployment vessel. Usually, we don't try to make anything that big land, but I guess it could be done, if you were willing to pay the price in design limitations." He shook his head. "I can tell you one thing though. Whatever these ships are designed to do, it's not peaceful!"

"How so, captain?"

Jankowski snorted. "Look at the shape doctor. I don't care how alien these folks are. No one designs a commercial ship with such limited internal volume, no matter how much they want it to look pretty. Besides, they're accelerating too quickly. No, either these are the galaxy's biggest sports cars, or they're warships; and ship killers at that. With that shape, they don't have much room to carry fighters or shuttles. Four destroyers and a frigate to be precise, with a second frigate running off to report back to base and get reinforcements."

"Captain," Dr. Fasse said. "Don't you think that it's a bit early to draw such conclusions?"

"They match the facts, doctor. Limited facts, yes, but it matches. Those things over there are doing exactly what I would do, if I was patrolling an empty sector of space and suddenly encountered unknown ships. The question is now, what their standing orders are in case of such an eventuality. Do they open communications, or do they shoot first and ask later. As Rr. Xui said, some people get upset if you trespass on their property."

"So, what do we do, captain?" Dr. Xui asked. "Do we leave the system?"

"You cannot be serious!" Fasse protested. "I mean, this is the chance of a lifetime. Our first-ever encounter with an alien civilisation. Captain, surely you aren't just going to run away from them?"

"The United Systems Military doesn't 'just run away', dr. Fasse," Jankowski said frostily. "In any case, leaving the system would be pointless. These aliens have seen us now. They know we have to come from somewhere around here. If we don't communicate with them, they're bound to come looking for us. That means that we'll be making first contact somewhere else, most likely at Shanxi. I'd much prefer to do this in an empty system, where we don't have a couple of million civilians caught in the crossfire. Besides, this is exactly the kind of situation that Auriga was designed for. I'm sending off a report to Shanxi through the FTL communication buoys to inform them of the situation. In the meantime, we'll maintain our current course and speed. These aliens have taken the initiative to show themselves. Let's see what their next move is."

HNV Primarch's Pride

"Unknown ships maintaining course, captain. They continue toward the relay."

That was not good news. Livestian had secretly hoped that the unknown ships would either make a run for it, or move to approach the 24th squadron. The further they stayed from the relay, the more leeway he had. Still, it seemed that the aliens were not going to cooperate.

"Assume that they maintain their present course. Can we reach the relay before them?"

"I doubt it captain. The approach vector just doesn't work out. Even if we push our engines to the limit, I doubt we'll be able to overtake these ships and still come to a relative stop anywhere near the relay."

"What if we only send a frigate?"

The navigator checked his calculations. "That should work, captain. But the cruisers will not be able to keep up."

"Make it so!" Livestian ordered. "I want to have at least something between them and the relay if at all possible. We'll send our fighters to support the frigate. And start broadcasting a standardized greeting on multiple frequencies. Perhaps they'll understand; and even if they have no idea what we're saying, it will at least tell them that we're open to communications."

USM Auriga

Auriga and her two escorts were continuing on course, just as the aliens were holding theirs, the distance between the two groups was closing steadily. The sensor technicians were focused completely on their viewscreens, looking for even the slightest change in the behaviour of the alien ships.

"Captain, it looks like they're launching fighters. About half a dozen for each of the larger vessels."

"Are they on an attack vector?" Jankowski asked.

"No, sir. It looks like..." the sensor tech was silent for a moment. "Sir, they're splitting up in two groups. The frigate and the fighters are racing ahead toward the relay. The others are holding their current course and speed."

Jankowski studied the new vector plots.

"They may be trying to catch us between them. We'll start decelerating early." He looked at the two scientists. "It'll bring us to a relative stop too far from the relay, but we'll have to accept that. I doubt we'll be activating it anytime soon."

"Sir," The ensign manning communications spoke up. "We're getting a signal. It's omni-directional and they are broadcasting on multiple frequencies. No way to tell what it is, but I think they're trying to communicate with us."

Jankowski relaxed slightly.

"Well, I guess at least they're willing to talk. Still, it does seem a bit optimistic of them to send us that kind of greeting. Let's see if we can do a bit better. Open the first contact instructions and begin."

HNV Primarch's Pride

The unknown ships had decelerated early. They were matching the orbital velocity of the mass relay but from a relatively large distance. To captain Livestian it was a hopeful sign. The aliens seemed to have delayed whatever plans they had for Relay 314, at least for the moment. Now all he had to do was stall them until somebody else could get out here in and take over. Unfortunately, it would be tough to stall people without the ability to talk to them. So far their communications had not been answered, or at least not in a clear fashion. The aliens had activated a broadband carrier wave that they switched on and off in increasingly complicated patterns. The bridge crew of the Primarch's pride had identified parts of it as mathematical sequences, but the actual intention of the aliens was not very clear. Still, it seemed that both parties were willing to talk. That was good and, now that he had their attention, perhaps the next step would also be successful.

"Lieutenant Tirius, are you ready with the prothean data files?"

"Yes sir, a basic translation for galactic standard, though from what I understand a lot will depend on what version of the prothean language they have found; also, some information on galactic society, our government and laws, and a warning to stay away from the relay."

"Good, send the files."

USM Auriga

Captain Jankowski listened to the latest alien broadcast, or, at least, what Auriga's communication section thought was the alien broadcast. Without some external reference there was no way to be sure that their electronics were processing the signal correctly. Of course, even if they were doing everything right it would still be completely useless because they had no way to translate the language. So far first contact didn't seem to be going very well. Auriga had gone through every number sequence laid down in the first contact protocols, but the aliens seemed to ignore it all and instead kept sending their own messages. Either they were not receiving Auriga's signals, or they were disinclined to respond in a similar fashion. Then again, it was possible that they were responding, or at least thought they were; but, if so, they were not going about it in a very intelligent fashion. The broadcast stopped.

"They've changed their pattern, sir," one of the technicians said. "This is definitely not audio. More like some kind of data package and it's big."

"What is it?"

"I don't know, sir. The file structure is complicated. I have no idea what it's supposed to contain."

Stranger and stranger. Why do they think we can understand them. Unless... An extremely disturbing thought occurred to Jankoswki as he pondered this latest development. "Can it be a hacking attempt?"

The tech hesitated. "I suppose so, captain, their might be a routine hidden inside the files but so far it seems completely inert. No executables; just data."

"Captain," Doctor Fasse spoke up. "how could they possibly hope to interfere in our computers when they can have no possible idea of our operating systems? Surely it's more likely, that this is just their way of making first contact?"

For one moment Jankowski was tempted to throw the civilians of his bridge. To interrupt at such a moment... But he stopped himself. The situation was already tense and he needed all the input he could get. Instead, he forced himself to speak calmly.

"By first talking gibberish and then sending us a huge amount of data that we cannot hope to understand? No, dr. Fasse. I don't think a space travelling race would be that stupid. They have to realise that we need to establish basic communication protocols before we can hope to use something like this. As to the likelihood of success. A good electronic warfare package can match a foreign data structure. Even if it doesn't understand the meaning of the data it can still do a lot of damage. Alright, isolate one of the workstations from the rest of our systems. All future communications go to that computer and only that one. I will not give them the chance to infect our systems. Then let's take another look at the first contact protocol and figure out the next step." He looked at the tactical plot. He now had one group of alien ships in front of him blocking the approach to the mass relay. The second group had come to a relative stop at the same time as Auriga and was matching her position. "What do these people want from us? they were already in-system when we arrived. They wait until we've discharged our drive cores. Then they reveal themselves; and now they seem willing to just broadcast on and on. You'd think they would be better prepared for this kind of situation, or, if they weren't prepared, why reveal themselves at all?"

"Perhaps..." Doctor Xui's voice trailed off.

"Yes?"

"Well, they revealed themselves when we set course for the relay. Perhaps these aliens come from the other side. They may want to prevent us from passing through."

Jankowski nodded thoughtfully.

"I suppose that would explain their behaviour. Still, we'd better make sure. We'll send an enquiry to the relay. See if it's still dormant."

HNV Primarch's Pride

"Captain, the aliens are transmitting some kind of signal to the mass relay."

"Damnation. Can you interpret the signal?"

"No, sir. We just got some backscatter of the transmission. Sir, if they are trying to activate the relay..."

Livestian could feel the eyes of his entire bridge-crew on him. This was the very thing he had feared from the beginning. The one thing that the aliens might do that he could not allow. Citadel law was absolutely clear in this regard. Dormant mass relays, especially primary mass relays, could not be opened without consent from the council. Consent that was almost never given. That rule had been in place since the Rachni War and it had always been enforced. Still, citadel law regarding first contact was quite clear as well: No violence until all other options had been exhausted. Whichever law he decided to follow he would fail to uphold the other, and they simply didn't know enough about the aliens to tell which option would have the least dire consequences. But, if they're trying to activate the relay, even with us standing in the way, doesn't that say something about their intentions, their mindset? He looked around, into the eyes of his fellow officers. He knew what they were expecting, but he couldn't start shooting, not yet. Not while there was still time to defuse the situation. Still, it was time for sterner measures.

"All ships lock targeting systems onto the dreadnought. Use maximum power on active sensors. Perhaps that will wake these people up. Then send a clear warning in galactic standard. The Spirits may give that they have finally managed to open that translation package."

USM Auriga

"We're being hit by active sensors, captain. Narrow beam, lots of power."

"What about energy signatures? Are they powering up weapons?"

"No, sir. We're being targeted, but they don't seem to intend to fire."

"That may change soon enough. Return the favour. Cycle targeting between their ships."

"Captain!" This time it was doctor Xui who interrupted. "We still don't know for sure what they want. If we target their ships it may cause them to think we're hostile and-"

"And if we don't we look weak. Besides, we cannot afford to be caught off guard. If they decide to open fire, we need to have targeting solutions locked in advance." Jankowski took a deep breath. "Dr. Xui, between Auriga and our escorts we have nearly three thousand people at risk and none of our ships have been designed for this kind of combat. I am not going to risk all of these lives."

"Captain," that was from communications. "They're hailing us again, more of that gibberish."

"Damn them. What the hell do they think they're doing? Don't they realise that we have no way to translate that stuff?"

"What about the electronic warfare programs?" one of the sensor techs asked. "They're designed to quickly match data patterns. Perhaps, if we turn them lose on the alien communications, at least we'll be able to figure out what those data packages are supposed to be. We can use their own messages as a basis and work from there"

Jankowski hesitated for a moment. Things were going too fast and definitely not in the right direction. He needed information, something that would help him get through this. he was NOT going down in history as the man who screwed up humanity's first contact with an alien civilisation.

"Do it!"

HNV Primarch's Pride

"Captain, the aliens are targeting us."

"Prepare to fire a warning shot. If they attempt to signal the relay again, we fire a shot across their bows."

"Captain," Lieutenant Tirius spoke softly, so the rest of the bridge crew could not hear. "We cannot afford to do that. If we fire a shot, even a warning shot, the aliens may return fire. At this range they cannot miss, especially with zero relative velocity. That dreadnought will tear us to shreds."

"Then what do you suggest, lieutenant?"

"Captain, if it comes to a battle, we have to get in the first shot. With four cruisers targeting that ships simultaneously, we may be able to cripple the dreadnought before they can return fire. It's the only way, captain. Anything else, and we might as well cut our own throats."

Livestian looked at the alien dreadnought. His perception of the ship was changing now that he had had the time to study it. From a distance it had seemed ugly, primitive, unfinished; but up close it made a different impression: raw strength. It was a big ship, with purely functional forms, and whoever had designed it had not cared how it looked, only what it could do. He couldn't help but wonder how the aliens aboard viewed his own vessels. Would they admire the sleek lines of the turian cruisers, or would they just dismiss them as useless decorations, a frivolous insistence on form over function. There was no way to tell and right now, everything rested on perceptions. Why wouldn't these people talk to him? Unless... it was as though the thought had been hovering on the edge of his consciousness. And suddenly burst out.

"Lieutenant, the signals that they started with, the pattern, show them to me again."

Within a second the signal appeared on his display. Livestian studied it intently. "Two, three, five, seven..."

"Captain?" Lieutenant Tirius interrupted his thoughts.

"Take a look, lieutenant. They kept sending this sequence. I don't recognise it, but it has to have some meaning for them. The only thing I can think of, is that they are trying to run a basic first contact package, the kind that you use for a pre-spaceflight society"

"But captain, why would they do something like that? We used the prothean data format just so we could skip those steps. They have to know-"

"To know what, lieutenant? We thought that they had at least some knowledge of the protheans because they use eezo drives. But what if that assumption was wrong. What if they have never even heard of the protheans."

"But then how...?"

"Perhaps they figured out eezo drives on their own lieutenant. After all, the protheans did. If that's the case, Spirits know what they thought of our communications."

"We're getting a new signal. Sir, it seems to be at least somewhat similar to our own communications."

Livestian allowed himself to relax a bit. Perhaps things would work out after all. Maybe the aliens had managed to understand his initial messages after all. If that was the case they could finally start talking and maybe-

"Captain, there is something in that signal. It's like... I don't know sir. I've never seen this kind of signal before."

"That is not helpful," Livestian snapped. A part of him was ashamed that he was taking his worries out on a crewmember, but then again, this was a really pointless report. "What is it doing?"

"It's... It's changing, captain. It's matching the communication format. I've never seen anything like it. Some of the changes it implements seem almost... intuitive."

"What?! Are you saying it's an AI?"

"Captain, I just don't know. It's matched our standard dataformat. Now it's probing the firewalls."

"Close the open communication ports! Leave only the point-to-point signals between our own ships." Even as he gave the order, Livestian could feel the despair taking over. They had gone from a relatively peaceful encounter to imminent hostility and all without actually exchanging a single word and if these people actually used Artificial Intelligence for electronic warfare, they had a whole new problem. He hated to take the next step, but the lives of his crews depended on him and he simply couldn't take any further risks.

"All ships, stand by to fire on the dreadnought. Do not, I repeat do NOT open fire unless at my command."

USM Auriga

The sensor tech who had been operating the electronic warfare package raised his virtual reality helmet.

"It's no use, sir. I have a match for their i/o format, but now they have closed all outside communication links. It's a hardware lock, so, no way to bypass. I can try to get in through their sensor links, but it will be very tough. Their systems are..., well, they're really alien, sir. The VR environment doesn't even know how to visualize them. Even with their comm systems I was playing guessing games."

"Don't try. The situation is too tense already. If they catch us meddling with their systems anymore it might just tip the balance in the wrong direction."

Jankowski thought for a moment. There had to be something else he could do. Something that would increase their odds of survival in case of a battle, without needlessly provoking one. He looked at the alien ships. One ship, the frigate, and its accompanying fighters were blocking the approach to the relay. The other four were deployed in a vertical square, with a ship on each corner, their bows pointed toward Auriga's flank. These were the ones that concerned him most. The frigate on its own was simply too small to be much of a threat. the fighters could be, if they were carrying specialized ordnance, but they were currently out of range, so there would be ample warning if they tried anything. But the destroyers, or whatever they were, that was a whole different story. They were well within effective range for any destroyer sized mass accelerator that Jankwoski had ever seen. From where they were, the four of them could poor fire into Auriga's flank. That's it! If we turn towards them, we'll present a smaller target and the armour is strongest at the bow because of the slope. It'll render half the RDV's weapons useless, but it's not like they have much of a chance against these odds anyway.

"Helm, come 90 degrees starboard. Aim the bow directly toward these ships. Order our escorts to follow."

"Sir, we have an energy spike! They're powering weapons."

HNV Primarch's Pride

"Captain!"

Livestian was rapidly coming to dread hearing that call.

"Yes?"

"Sir, the dreadnought... It's turning toward us."

"Captain," lieutenant Tirius sounded close to panicking. "They're bringing their spinal mass accelerator to bear! We have to act now!"

Livestian hesitated for an instant. On his display, he could see the ominous bulk of the dreadnought as it swung toward them. No cruiser could hope to stand up against even a single hit of that kind of weapon.

"Captain!"

It was too late. He simply didn't have any time left to come up with an alternative, let alone implement it.

"All ships, open fire!"

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I have no idea if a human using a VR interface would appear like an AI, but it doesn't seem impossible. That's why I introduced the TekWar style hacking.

See the relevant chapters in Someone has heard them scream and Intelligence reports for more information about the number sequence game that Auriga is playing as a start for first contact.

It may cause some confusion, but I'm following the modern tendency to use the classification 'destroyer' for mid-sized warships, rather than 'cruiser'. It makes sense that humanity would just continue to do that. So, what humans call a destroyer would be ship of the same size as a turian cruiser, and dedicated to ship-ship warfare. The Rapid Deployment Vessels (RDVs) are of similar size, but designed for patrol duties and landing operations.