Mass Effect is the property of Bioware. 20th Century Fox owns the Alien/Predator franchise.
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Geneva, earth
"General, general Spears! Is it true that earth is about to be invaded?"
Spears ignored the calls form the assembled reporters. They were just so much noise. Stupid, uninformed noise at that. In any case, he had to concentrate. It wasn't the first press conference he had given, not by a long shot, but it was certainly the most important one of his career as well as the most complicated. Several of his aides had worked through the night to put it together, even as a few junior officers spread the rumor of imminent invasion. It had been a delicate balancing act for everyone: make enough noise to get the press to pay attention, but not so much to cause outright panic.
Of course it hadn't helped that Spears had been unable to tell his people the whole story for fear of potential leaks. As far as they were concerned their boss was about to make a desperate plea to the general public in an attempt to put pressure on the delegates in the United Systems Assembly. In fact, some of them had actively argued against it on the grounds that it would be futile and highly damaging to Spears' position.
The content of his presentation had to be carefully weighed. Whatever Harper might be planning, Spears didn't intend to play lightning rod for the man. Despite some discrete inquiries he still hadn't managed to find out exactly what Harper's position in the intelligence community entailed, or what his duty assignment was. Spears had to take into account the possibility that Harper would turn out to be a agent provocateur, working for Hammerstein or one of her cronies. If so, his entire purpose might be to trick Spears into speaking out too loudly, giving Hammerstein the opportunity to rid herself of the troublesome general.
The presentation started rather simple as Spears went through the highlights of recent events. It was necessary to bring the reporters up to speed, because so far the information that had been released to the public had been rather limited; lots of speculation about the alien lifeforms, but very few real facts as Hammerstein and her friends in the Assembly tried to underplay the alien threat. Now it was time to change that and Spears painted a bleak picture as he described the unprovoked attack on USM Auriga and her escorts and the loss of Gallipoli and Bomarsund. Then came the counterstroke as admiral van Buren's squadron annihilated the alien aggressors, followed by the scouting missions, and culminating in the news that a massive armada of alien warships was now on its way.
"Even as we speak, an alien fleet is approaching Shanxi. They outnumber the local defense force by approximately ten-to-one. Our planning has always taken this into account. As far as the USM was concerned there was no need for a stronger fleet presence at Shanxi, because reinforcements could be brought in quickly from Arcturus."
He pressed a button his console and a bright green line appeared connecting the two relays.
"The moment that the alien force arrives as Shanxi, a message will be sent through the relay, alerting Arcturus headquarters. Within an hour, admiral Drescher's second fleet can redeploy to Shanxi, with sufficient firepower to drive off the invaders. However..." Here Spears paused briefly. "... admiral Drescher cannot move second fleet away from Arcturus without special permission from the Assembly. Permission, which has not been granted. That, ladies and gentleman is the primary obstacle to an effective defense of Shanxi and it spells disaster; not just for the Shanxi defense force, or the millions of defenseless civilians on the planet, but for humanity as a whole."
He paused again to let his words sink in.
"Without reinforcements, Shanxi will inevitably fall to the enemy and with it the local relay. That will change the situation completely." He pressed the button again and the green line was replaced by a red one. "Not only can the aliens strike directly at Arcturus, but there is an additional danger as well."
Another touch on the button and another line appeared, reaching out from Shanxi, to a spot further along the border of human space.
"The second connection of the Shanxi relay is within a week travel time of our colony at Thedus. As you can see, the Shanxi relay is the key to our security, not just in the colonies, but here on earth as well. As long as we hold it, it creates a choke-point that allows us to contain the alien menace. However, should Shanxi fall to the enemy, that same relay will grant the aliens multiple access points to the rest of human space. Should that occur, humanity will be facing disaster. The United Systems Military simply doesn't have sufficient resources to defend on two fronts. While second fleet is certainly capable of keeping our front door closed at Arcturus, the back door at Thedus has been left wide open. Should the aliens chose to utilize it, they will be able to overrun no less than six mining colonies that are crucial to our economy, and from there they will be able to reach earth within two weeks. When that happens, the next battle will be fought here, in our home system, and only first fleet will be standing between humanity and utter destruction."
Spears paused again. "Ladies and gentleman, this is why we MUST act; why we must defend Shanxi with every ship and every soldier available. This is why we can no longer wait while politicians in the Assembly engage in endless debate. Humanity stands on the edge of a cliff and it's crumbling beneath us and we're wasting what little time we have left by talking."
"General!" Most of the assembled reporters had their hands in the air and were shouting questions. If nothing else, at least Spears had managed to get their attention. He picked one out, more or less at random.
"General, surely chairwoman Hammerstein and the other delegates are well aware of this situation. If what you say is true, what possible reason could they have to endanger humanity?"
Spears carefully kept his face in the same 'earnest and concerned' expression that he had worn throughout his presentation. He had hoped to delay this particular question at least for a little while.
"I cannot judge the chairwoman's motives, only the results of her actions. The truth is, that ms Hammerstein is confronted with a crisis that is so far beyond her experience that she seems incapable of dealing with it. That is not her fault. However, she should listen to those of us who have the necessary experience. That is the duty of all leaders when they find themselves out of their depth."
It was the compromise that his staff had worked out when they wrote his speech and planned the press conference. He wouldn't attack Hammerstein directly, would not accuse her of corruption. Instead, he would take the 'in sorrow rather than in anger approach', using her lack of military experience as a way to undermine her with hints of incompetence. It was not perfect, but it allowed him to engage her without committing to an open attack. Whether Hammerstein would take the bait, only time would tell.
"But general," another reporter this time. "Under the constitution, the military is subordinate to the civilian government. Are you suggesting, that the military should be able to overrule the Assembly?"
That was not at all, what Spears had said, but it was certainly at the back of his mind. He had never been a great admirer of the way the United Systems was being governed and recent events had done little to change his opinion. He decided to push a little further.
"The constitution is not a suicide pact. The rule of civilian oversight exists to stop the United Systems Military from seizing control of the government, not to hamstring the USM as it tries to defend humanity against alien invaders.
"General!"
The questions continued.
Shanxi
One moment, all was quiet, the next, all hell broke loose. Aboard the warships defending Shanxi alarm sirens started screaming as a massive formation of warships entered the system in a flawless simultaneous FTL transit.
HNV Righteous Fury
"Well, here we are."
General Arterius studied his tactical display. He had chosen to come out of FTL in the outer reaches of the star system, then proceed in-system at sub-light speed. It meant the loss of any element of surprise, but that mattered little considering the expected disparity in force. It would also allow the turians to retreat from the system, if the humans had brought in significant reinforcements. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it would give the defenders a good look at the massive amount of firepower arrayed against them, giving them them the opportunity to either flee, or surrender, granting the turians a bloodless victory.
One of the sensor techs spoke up. "No sign of reinforcements, admiral. Enemy numbers correspond to the latest reconnaisance data."
"Good. Is the translation software operational?"
"Yes admiral."
"Then give me an open communication channel. Let's find out if these people are willing to be reasonable." He activated his transmission link.
"This is general Desolas Arteriusm, representing the turian hierarchy and the races of the citadel council. I have come here to take control of this system and call upon all military forces to lay down their weapons and surrender. This is your only warning. Any attempt at resistance will be met with lethal and overwhelming force."
USM Osawa
"What the...? How the hell did they learn our language?"
"Uncertain, sir" Captain Shen looked at the transcription of the message. It was poorly phrased, but perfectly understandable. "They may have intercepted enough transmissions to be able to translate. Or perhaps..." He hesitated.
"Well, spit it out."
"Admiral, we know that Gallipoli was destroyed with all hands, but according to Auriga's logs, Bomarsund wasn't. They may have taken prisoners."
"And gotten them to talk." Van Buren nodded. "It's possible, though that would mean they achieved a lot more than we did with our own prisoners. According to the latest news from Arcturus, we're still struggling to feed them, let alone speak." He shrugged. "I suppose it doesn't really matter, how they managed it. At least it will make things a little easier. Let's see if they can listen, as well as speak. Give me an open transmission line. Same frequency."
Van Buren waited until his display showed that he could transmit live.
"This is rear-admiral van Buren, commanding officer of the Shanxi space defense forces, to approaching fleet. You have violated Shanxi system space as well as the territory of the United Systems. Leave immediately, or you will be fired upon."
Brave words, but even as he spoke them, van Buren knew, just how empty they were. His squadron was moving in position between Shanxi and the approaching fleet, but the six destroyers were a pathetically small force to stop the approaching juggernaut and neither the frigates that were scattered around the system, nor the rapid deployment vessels in orbit around the planet would contribute significantly to the balance of force. The alien armada counted approximately fifty ships, not including a the transports that were lagging behind the main force. In the vanguard of the alien formation were three massive vessels, similar in size to the USM's fleet carriers. Approximately twenty destroyer-sized ships were deployed around them with an equal number of frigates interspaced within the formation. It was a formidable sight, a solid wall of firepower that was moving steadily toward the small defensive force.
HNV Righteous Fury
"..To depart from here, at this moment, if not, shots will be aimed at you."
The translation was awkward, but sufficient to convey the meaning of the alien words.
"Well, " Desolas said thoughtfully. "I suppose it was too much to hope for that they would be sensible. Still, I suppose it would not hurt to try again. At least now we know that the translation software works correctly. He activated the transmission again.
"To the defenders of this star system. You cannot hope to defeat the forces arrayed against you. Know, that it is not the wish of the hierarchy to engage in pointless slaughter, but simply to bring an end to this conflict. Surrender now, so that we can work toward a peaceful resolution."
USM Osawa
"He's brings a fleet to invade us, orders us to surrender or we will be destroyed, but he still wants us to believe that he comes in peace?" captain Shen asked disbelievingly. "Is this guy stupid, or does he think we are?"
"Perhaps," van Buren shrugged. "or perhaps it makes sense to him because he is an alien. Either way, that's not how this is going down. Contact the base and tell them to launch every fighter they have. We're only going to get one shot at this, so let's make sure it counts. Tell them to copy the signal to Arcturus command and wait for a response. If second fleet will not deploy, the station must evacuate immediately. In that case all surviving fighters will retreat through the relay after their strike."
It was the plan that they had worked out in advance, a compromise to preserve as much of Shanxi's naval forces as they could without abandoning the planet completely. The full weight of Shanxi's five fighter squadrons would be brought to bear in a single massive strike before van Buren's destroyers came within range of the enemy. If there was a reasonable chance of reinforcements arriving in time from Arcturus, the fighters would return to the station and rearm. If not, they would continue on to the relay that was positioned on the far side of the planet, and fall back to Arcturus. The remaining personnel on the station, no more than a skeleton crew would embark on the Radid Deployment Vessels and transports and follow them, with the destroyers acting as rearguard.
To the untrained eye, the tactical situation seemed ideal for such a retreat. The alien fleet, van Buren's squadron, Shanxi with its orbital base, and the mass relay were stretched out almost perfectly along a single line, with the aliens on one end and the relay on the other. It would seem as though the base personnel could evacuate and run for the relay while van Buren's destroyers brought up the rear. The aliens would first have to overtake them, then fight their way past the destroyers, before they could engage the transports.
Unfortunately, the reality was slightly different. In order to use the relay, the fleeing ships would have to decelerate, while the pursuers, unconcerned with matching speed with the mass relay could keep accelerating. As a result, they would overtake the fleeing ships well short of the relay, firing their spinal mass accelerators as they closed. The result would be a slaughter, unless they either evacuated the base well in advance, abandoning the planet ahead of time and throwing away whatever chance hey had to strike back, or van Buren managed to inflict enough damage that the aliens would have to slow down their pursuit. The first option was politically unacceptable and the latter was unlikely in the extreme considering the difference in firepower between the two forces.
-o-o-o-
HNV Righteous Fury
"General Arterius! The orbital base has deployed fighters. Approximately fifty, no sixty in total. They are accelerating toward us, moving past the warships."
"Deploy our own fighters, but keep them close to the fleet. Then order the frigates to move forward."
The fighter complements of individual turian warships was not large, but between twenty cruisers and three dreadnought, they could field more than three times as many fighters as the humans had launched. Still, so far they had no knowledge whatsoever of the capabilities of the human craft, nor their pilots, and Desolas was reluctant to risk losses. If the humans insisted on contending the planet itself, his fighters would be needed for ground support.
USM Osawa
"Sir, the station has started evacuation procedures. They estimate three hours until the last transport departs."
"I see." It had not come as a surprise, but even so it was an ugly moment. The news from Arcturus had been very clear. No permission had been granted to move second fleet, and without that permission admiral Drescher would not move to reinforce Shanxi. Intellectually, van Buren understood. For officers to disobey orders and 'do what was right' made for great movies and television drama. In reality it usually led to complete chaos that merely aggravated the problem, stopped the military organization in its tracks, and ultimately achieved nothing. Still, that was the theory. Experiencing this form of betrayal in practice was a different story and van Buren could only hope that someday the USM Navy would be able to redeem the honor and pride that was lost this day.
As he watched, the fighter squadrons streamed past his small flotilla, two squadrons of Starfuries to open the way, followed by two more squadrons of F-302s to do the actual damage and finally, one more Starfury squadron to guard their backs. By any standard it was a powerful strike force, but against the alien, or turian as they apperently called themselves, fleet it looked rather underwhelming. As van Buren studied the plot, the alien formation changed. They were advancing on his position in cone-like formation with the three massive ships at the point and the smaller, destroyer-like ships that he had encountered before, all around them but somewhat behind them. Now a group of about twenty frigates that had initially been behind the larger ships moved forward, interposing themselves between the larger ship sand the oncoming fighters. Meanwhile large numbers of fighters were deploying throughout the alien formation.
"So, they do carry their own fighters."
"Yes sir" Captain Shen was watching the same plot. "the fighters are launched in small groups from each ships. Even those big ships only carry a small number of them. They cannot be dedicated carriers."
"They wouldn't be in the vanguard if they were," van Buren remalrked, more to himself than anyone else. "No, those big boys are battleships, dreadnoughts, whatever you want to call them; artillery platforms, not carriers."
He continued studying the enemy formation. The frigates were clearly intended as a barrier to ward of the fighter attack, with the turian fighters behind them to engage any that made it through. If his own fighter squadrons continued their attack as planned, targeting the three massive warships in the center of the formation, they would be massacred. They would take serious losses as they passed the frigates, then as they made their attack runs they'd have to contend with the massed point defense of the larger ships while alien fighters picked them off in individual dogfights. Still, the alien formation also had its weaknesses. While those frigates were in a perfect position to protect their big brothers, they themselves were awfully exposed, and since van Buren couldn't stop this turian fleet anyway, he might as well use his assets where they would do the most good.
"Contact the fighters: change of target. Engage the frigates and do not, I repeat NOT, penetrate into the enemy formation."
HNV Righteous Fury
The swarm of human fighters was closing rapidly. By now they were close enough that the turian sensors could clearly distinguish two different models. The fighters in the leading and trailing units had a strange double-wing design with engine pods on the tips, probably for enhanced manoeuvrability in space, though the additional drag would severely handicap them while operating in an atmosphere. In between them was a different model of fighter that seemed to consist solely of a massive, forward swept wing that would have seemed more in place on an old fashioned pure-atmosphere craft.
Desolas Arterius watched calmly as the warm closed. In order to reach his dreadnoughts they would have to pass the picket line of frigates, taking point defense fire all the way. Some would undoubtedly make it through, but not enough to pose a threat to the massive ships, and the turian fighters were waiting, ready to take on the survivors. Suddenly, as he watched, the leading squadrons veered aside, manoeuvering with enviable agility to make way for the second. He hesitated for a moment, trying to understand what they had in mind, then he realized it.
"Send the fighter patrol forward! They're going for our frigates!"
The warning came too late. Even as he spoke twenty four F-302s opened their underwing weapon bays exposing the homing sensors of the weapons within. Within a second, six heat seekers underneath each fighter had acquired their targets and locked on. In each fighter a weapon officer pressed the trigger and a total of one hundred and forty-four missiles streaked away. Behind them the F-302s veered sharply of course scattering in all directions.
-o-o-o-
The massive salvo closed rapidly on the wall of turian frigates that was not prepared for the attack. Confident that the humans would focus their attack on the most dangerous targets, the three dreadnoughts at the center of the formation, the turians had intended to let the human fighters close to minimum range and engage them with their GARDIAN lasers as they passed. Instead, they now found themselves trying to deal with an unexpected threat. Jammers came online, but the missiles, relying purely on passive infrared sensors, ignored the electronic noise. These were not the complex, highly versatile ASAT missiles used by destroyers and planetary defenses. Instead they were simple throw-away weapons that relied on high speed and numbers to penetrate enemy defenses.
GARDIAN lasers lashed out from the frigates downing missile after missile, but the small high speed objects were tough to hit and there were simply too many of them. More than half the missiles made it through and detonated just outside the frigates' shields. The missiles were not particularly large, which limited the size of the individual warheads. However, the designers had taken this into account. As each missile reached the end of its flight, a small charge in the nose exploded sending a rain of small pellets forward in an expanding cone. Each single pallet was negligible, but hundreds of them,, inpacting over a relatively small area causes the shields to weaken. Behind the initial charge, a second warhead was triggered an instand later and this was a rather different design. It consisted of a large chunck of the strongest explosive humanity had been able to produce, hollowed out at the front and covered with a layer of soft metal. As the explosives detonated the metal was instantly heated up and liquified and shot forward in a thin jet that impacted the already weakened shields of its target.
Alarms flared on the bridges of more than half a dozen turian frigates as the jets of molten metal slammed into their hulls. Three frigates, losing multiple thrusters, spun out of formation, while several others had to deal with hull breaches.
The turian fighters streamed past the frigates in an attempt to exact revenge, but the F-302s had already reversed course and were accelerating away. Behind them, three squadrons of Starfuries were hanging in space, nearly stopped relative to the turian fleet. The turian fighters swept down on their opponents, firing as they came. The human pilots, waiting until the last moment suddenly lit of their thrusters, scattering in all directions. Even engaging with only part of their force the turian fighters outnumbered their opponents by a margin of three or more to one, but in the chaos of a dogfight that was not necessarily an advantage as turian pilots had to be more careful to avoid hitting their own people. The problem was enhanced by the clear dissimilarity in fighter designs. The turian fighters could accelerate more steeply, but found that they were unable to follow their opponents in tight turns, nor could they match the Starfuries' ability to simply dodge sideways or reverse course. The result was utter chaos with turian fighters sweeping in and out of the dogfight while the humans twisted and dodged, trying for deflection shots. The situation did not improve when the F-302s came around and charged back into the fray. Although primarily designed as fighter bombers, the F-302s actually came closer to matching the performance characteristics of the turian fighters and were able to stay with them whenever they tried to break free.
The battle lasted only for a few minutes, but for the participants it seemed like hours, then as soon as it had begun both sides turned away from each other, many of the pilots incapable of fighting on as their weapons had overheated and would require time to cool down. On both sides squadron leaders tried to reassert control and establish the status of their units. The final tally was dire on both sides. Of the thirty six starfuries that had entered the battle, nine were gone, with four more damaged but able to keep up with the rest. Three more F-302s had been lost as well. On the turian side twenty-three fighters had been lost on top of the crippled frigates.
First blood had been drawn. Considering the odds, it could be counted as a human victory, but if so it was Phyrric one. To all intends and purposes Shanxi's fighters squadrons had shot their bolt. Now only six destroyers stood between the planet and the advancing turian fleet.
Geneva, earth
"... and I can assure the people of earth, that the Assembly is fully aware of the situation, contrary to what general Spears has insinuated. We have been working tirelessly to ensure that humanity's response to the discovery of sapient alien life will not only keep us safe, but will guarantee our continued progress as a species and a society. However, such as decision cannot be taken in haste. It must be based on solid information and grounded in clear, rational thought. It is a shame, that the general, like so many in the military profession, is led by his emotions to throw baseless accusations at those of us who have worked so hard to ensure that peace and democracy, rather than brute force stay at the cornerstone of human civilization."
"Clearly, two can play a game," Spears murmured as he watched chairwoman Hammerstein's performance. "No direct condemnation, but she's steadily eroding my reputation."
"Quite so." Harper agreed. They had met again to discuss the next step, in case Hammerstein failed to respond in person. Fortunately, that was not the case and the two men now watched Hammerstein's hastily laid on press conference. "Did you notice her words though? She was assuring the 'people of earth'. Not a word about the colonies. Right now that doesn't mean much, but once the rest of our plan has been put into effect, people will start to analyze this speech and pick it apart word by word. I'm sure they'll notice then."
"Ah, yes, the rest of our plan." Spears said. "And exactly what is 'the rest of our plan', now that I have put myself forward as political lightning rod?"
Harper smiled. "Don't worry, general. I'll make my move within the next few days. However, it is probably best that you don't know. Your response will become a matter of public record, so the more genuine it is, the better."
"You'd better hurry up, Harper. Because we have very little time. "
Harper simply lifted an eyebrow.
"The alien fleet has reached Shanxi and the media will find out within a few hours. There is no way to keep that from happening. When that happens we have to be ready. Otherwise, if we lose our momentum, Hammerstein will be able to spin it her way; and all of this will have been for nothing."
"Agreed. As I said, don't worry general. Just make sure, that admiral Drescher doesn't go rogue. If she moves to Shanxi without permission, the story will be all about the out-of-control military and we cannot afford that. Not yet."
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A/N
Wow, I have a whole new regard for professional speech writers. Writing pompous speeches, or even small parts of them, is tough.
The warheads on the missiles actually exist in real life. It's a combination of a fragmentation warhead with a shaped-charge armor piercing warhead behind it. This kind of warhead has been tried for missiles that are supposed to work against both airplanes and armored vehicles. In practice it doesn't seem to be very successful, but I figure that in two hundred yeras we should be able to get it to work.
Yes, those were predators in the last chapter. I'm keeping them a bit in the background for now, but they will have a small role to play in coming events. Besides, even without the need to visit Shanxi, I can imagine them watching an ongoing war just for fun. Something like: 'Hey, the turians are about to invade a human colony, lets get some popcorn and make sure we have good seats.'