Not going to lie, but the Mass Effect fanfiction community has some infuriating people in. Let me say this plainly. If you have a problem with the RP. Then tell me. I will not complain at having continuity errors pointed out, or issues with timing. But if you have a problem with the style of writing, or the pace, then the door is there, don't let it hit you on the way out. I've written stories for the HTTYD and Criminal Minds fandoms, but only Mass Effect is the fandom that makes me terrified to look at reviews. Because people are downright religiously devoted to a certain style. So please be aware, the following are acceptable reasons to call me out or put comments in:
- Errors breaking the continuity of the story
- Errors that violate my own interpretations of the laws of physics (For example, breaking laws I established around human FTL)
- Overly egregious errors that make it hard to concentrate
- SPAG issues. (FUCK YOU. But also this is genuinely a problem I have, so I'll take any help I can get)
What is not an acceptable reason to call me out on the review page
- Writing Style or Pacing
- The Direction of the story
- Small leaps in logic or mary sue moments. (Ex, the Asari bonding with the humans and quarians)
I am also about done with responding to big lists, so please do put a long list of reasons why parts of my story. Because I won't be bloody reading it. When your comment has the writer considering just giving up, you've fucked up. And that my friends is why the updates to this Fanfic are so sparse.
Rant over. Now onto something more jolly!
Heartfanglives: Harper was in my opinion, the second-best villain of the Mass Effect series (Behind only Petrovsky, who I really enjoyed). What makes me enjoy his presence is how devoted he is to the future of humanity, and that in spite of his organization's dark reputation, he is doing what is best for humanity. Although I will never condone his complete disregard for human rights and the fact he's indoctrinated. So it only felt right that with this style of more moralistic humanity, he would be someone in the grey area. Hence why he is Minister for Internal Security. Haven't quite decided what I'll be doing with him, but he is a reasonable man. The entirety of Mass Effect 2 is proof of that. I mean can you imagine having to clean up after Commander Shepard? Harper is the manifestation of 'The ends justify the means', which while I don't necessarily agree with that philosophy, allows me to respect him.
Guest: reviews like this keep me writing
Evilhound: It's reviews like this that slow my writing. The door is there. Please try to avoid the landmines on the way out. There are dozens more first-contact stories that probably do a far better job than me.
NOW, More politics! I know not the most fun for the space-enjoyer guys amongst us. But I am fully indebted to the ideals of building up to the first space battle. Which is sooner than you think!
Supreme Council of Ministers, Arcturus Station
Bukharin steeled herself, the knock on the door making itself known clearly as she took a moment to stabilize her breathing. Even after five years as the First Minister, her social anxiety was disruptive. Her first campaign speech had been an absolute farce. And her accession to the First Ministership was just as surprising to her as it was to her homeworld of New Kyiv. A colony with four representatives, and she had been chosen to be the leader of the Humanists party. Waving the door open, she greeted each Minister as they entered, taking their seats at a long table with tablets, folders, and cups in hand. Harper nodded as he passed. The Ministers for War and Industry arrived last and took their seats at the table. Once they were all sat, she began. "I presume you have all been made aware of the goings on in System 31, with respect to First Contact".
The fact she was saying the words felt alien, and it was like having an out-of-body experience as their own surprise clearly hadn't set in. With the exception of Harper who had known first, and Minister Korshunov, the Minister for War, and very rarely surprised by anything. "Now. This is clearly a serious affair, and judging by these updated reports, this first contact is not remotely representative of the situation we imagined ourselves facing. And not at all covered by the First Contact Act. Now, another classified factor of, and that has been mentioned in your data packets, is we have been made aware that this… Quarian Migrant Fleet is not the only alien species out there. In fact, there are 11 separate races that could be considered a part of a galactic community. These range from minor powers to the three main powers, in the form of the Citadel Council, made up of the Turians, Asari, and Salarians. The Hanar, Drell, Volus, Elcor, and Batarians are all client states of the Citadel council and while engage nominally with independence, are almost always convinced by the Citadel to go with pro-citadel policies and decisions.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, now no longer just tending to the occasional insurrectionist, looked up carefully. "You mean like NATO in the 21st century? An alliance where the head member had de-facto control over most of its members". Bukharin nodded, "It is somewhat similar. Though in this case, it is more centralized than NATO, though certainly not as Centralized as the Federation, the Warsaw Pact, or even the original Humanist Alliance".
He nodded, his eyes skimming over the papers. "Now we've received updated information on the nature of the Quarians, it could actually trigger Article 14 of the Benning conventions. This stipulates that the Alliance is duty-bound to help any sapient species suffering from a societal collapse. Which these Quarians clearly have".
The Minister for Internal Affairs looked up, her beady eyes fixed on the tablet in Bukharin's hand, And her south African accent thick. "You're referring to their flight from these robots. They have been evicted from their homeworld by armed force and are steadily collapsing. Combined with foreign embargoes, a lack of recognition, and systemic racial issues have led to the steady decline in Quarian numbers. From their 21 Million height in 2291 to their current population of 17 Million".
"Indeed I am Minister". Next to her, Minister Korshunov, the head of all military-based affairs spoke up, "Have we ascertained the use of these… 'Mass Relays'? If these reports are correct, there are fourteen of them in Human space alone. And if so we would need to consider the destruction of the relays".
Minister for Advanced Development Daniel Lebron shook his head. "The relays are borderline indestructible. In the Quarian data sent, it mentions that even impacts with nuclear yield accelerator rounds of 40 kilotons isn't sufficient to even damage them".
He turned, "The alloy they're made of and shields are very strong. But our division estimates that a sufficiently large asteroid accelerated to a massive velocity could utterly destroy the relay and-".
"-Release the energy in a single moment. Our estimates place the energy production equivalent to a star, producing an estimated explosion equivalent to a kilonova. A neutron star collision. Anything within 4 light years is rendered uninhabitable".
"Interesting. Then destroying them would be off the table. What about relocation?"
Daniel turned. "15 kilometers long? We don't even have a steady mass measurement of them. Who knows what sending them through a wormhole would do to the element zero. That's assuming we can develop a warp core large enough to send the entire relay. It took us four years to stabilize the generators for the Terra class. This thing is 7 times larger than the Valles Marinas, and the wormhole core for that took us 4 years to develop. You have any idea what something that large would require-".
"Ministers! The matter of the Mass Relays can wait. As they have been stable for thousands of years. The larger concern is that of the Quarians. We obviously can't just let them disappear into unknown space. What if this…. Citadel Council comes looking for them?"
Korshunov leaned back, "Have we considered a trade? We allow them to passage through human space in exchange for technology. The Citadel Council shows up. We claim never to have seen them. Cover up the event, place the entire crew of the Belgrade and her sister ships into Project: Azorium".
The Minister for Foreign Affairs shook his head, "If they see a race prancing around with hybrid mass relay and non-recognized technology, they'd infer we killed the quarians and stole their equipment. As with technological development in the two cold wars, the technology of one nation can be the same as that of another nation, but they both have unique signatures that prove their origin. Has the First Minister considered offering aid to these wayward wanderers? Minister Swift?".
The blonde-haired New Englander looked up from her folder, "Yes?"
"I do believe there are numerous Dextro-amino acid aligned planetary systems within Alliance space. Much of these worlds are uninhabited, since terraforming and stabilizing levo planets is far more efficient". Looks like someone has done their research.
"Indeed Minister. There are… as of now 13 uncolonized planets sustaining an earth-like temperature and pressure that have some form of dextro-aligned. 4 of these planets have very basic bacterial life only, and as such may be susceptible to environmental molding by the Quarians".
"But what would we get in exchange for offering them solace and protection?"
Eyes turned to Minister for Infrastructure, Kurt Merkel. His blue eyes and thick bavarian accent accentuated his harsh and guttural voice. "The Quarians have numerous amounts of unknown technology, yes, and their almost-human anatomy may win us public support and keep the Firmists down. But these Mass Relays? If we could find a way to produce our own relays, then trips to the outer colonies could be reduced from a multi-week affair, to a day or two. We could transport colonists, equipment and defenses to new colonies within days of their establishment".
Bukharin's eyes raised, "You think we should open the other Mass Relays?".
"Why not. They can clearly be opened from either side. The sooner we open them. The sooner we can begin mapping and plotting the space around them. I'm sure Minister Singleton would agree".
Daniel nodded. "That has been proposed. With the relays active, we can study them and determine exactly how they function. With that. The potential for permanent deconstruction, or even manufacturing could be nailed down, and it would revolutionize intra-system travel. 3 hours to jump across a well-charted star system, instantaneous travel to the next relay".
The table fell silent for a few moments. "How long would it take you to determine the signal to activate the relays?"
Daniel pulled out his tablet, sending a file over to each of them. "When we first discovered Relay Beta-5, that's the second of the Arcturus Relays… we determined that it was designed to be used by anyone, and as such our analysis of the system architecture of the quarians indicates we could begin activation within a few weeks. But…. With quarian assistance I see no reason why we couldn't start opening relays immediately".
Korshunov sighed audibly. "It all comes back to these damned relays. Sooner we can blow the damn things without frying a system, the happier I'll be".
First Minister Bukharin said nothing, a smile coming across her features as she considered the stance. "Minister you have my support. I think giving these Quarians shelter in exchange for their technological assistance would be an excellent boon to the Alliance. The way I see it is we either open the relays ourselves or wait for something to open them for us. All those in favor of such a course of action?"
She thumbed in the details on her tablet. Five positive votes came in, then seven, then eight. 1 Negative, 2 negatives, another positive. Didn't matter in the end. The council was decided, but now was only the start, since the Parliament was already convening and would need to be informed and involved. "Minister Jiang?"
In a neatly kept suit, the gentleman looked up, his soft-spoken attitude and calm confidence exuberated a heavy controlling streak. "Yes… First Minister?"
"Prepare a press release through the official broadcasters to the populace to announce that a successful first contact has been made. Indicate that relations are established and inform the populace that an ambassador has been sent, and that we intend to invite these new arrivals to the Victory Day celebrations on Arcturus".
"Isn't that a bit… pre-emptive?"
"It will foster a sense of comradeship, if their first appearance in public is celebrating the victory of the Alliance over tyranny and oppression. The populace is hopeful and optimistic at the moment. Whilst it may seem naïve, getting a large portion fully onboard with human-alien cooperation will likely pull the some of the more extreme voters over. Though I can definitely see this radicalizing the Firmists. Minister Harper?"
He looked up, "Yes First Minister?"
"Keep a very close eye on Insurrectionist planets and parties related to them. Quite a few sponsors will be screaming murder at the Aliens and I want to avoid any unpleasant issues if the Admiralty board does visit".
System 314, First Contact
When the human fleet arrived, silence arrived over the system. The Heavy cruiser Thunder Child was one of the oldest ships in service with the Alliance. She was Ironclad class, and a Heavy Cruiser. Her role was that of a ship-buster, a combat vessel that was too large and powerful for any cruiser or frigate to attack her, but far too quick and agile for a larger capital ship to be able to engage her in a drawn-out fight. She had no main battery but had a set of broadside heavy coilguns that were atypical of human ships, and while the final variant of her class replaced two of the coilgun batteries for plasma lances, she was venerable and powerful. (The Ironclad class where legendary for their resilience). They had almost as thick armor as a battleship, on a vessel 50% smaller than the battleships. Their invincibility cast a defensible shield over the Alliance, and the ships had more than proved themselves during the Insurrection.
Breaking from typical Alliance doctrine and utilizing a newer, more unknown design ministry, the result was a ship that completely broke conventions, it had the same central hull as the typical Alliance vessels, however, forwent the two sloping secondary hulls in favor of two enormous rear engine blocks protected by spaced titanium hull blocks. The FTL drive was constructed using a dual-mount, placing two separate synchronized FTL spinners in each engine block ensuring redundancy. The result was a ship that completely took the Insurrection by surprise, and the Alliance dropped any plans to replenish their aging fleet of heavy cruisers with the Feniks or Titan offerings, instead now marking Acidilia Planitia as a vital part of the heavy industries of Sol.
The ship was brutal and ugly, with the enormous coilgun batteries sticking out like bunkers. Flanking it was the Janus class vessel Hades, the only ship to even come close to replacing the Ironclad class. It was of a similar design, but the engine pods where tucked much closer, and it had a centrally mounted heavy Ion cannon, giving it the Versatility of a typical strike cruiser, however even its modern armor and barriers were equalized by the Ironclad class, and it didn't have the raw media power that the Ironclad class, as evidenced by the amusing saying that the Terra class was a failed attempt at producing a ship that could kill an Ironclad.
As the fleet conducted its final jump, the Quarian fleet had finally arrived. With the majority of Quarian ships still making their way through the relay, Admiral Gerrel had left, moving to command the Heavy Fleet on-board the Neema, whilst the other members of the Admiralty board had taken charge over the situation, the Conclave had been vocal over Gerrel's decision to place all their naval eggs in one basket and to take the humans up on their offer, but given the delicate situation, they had passed his vote and the fleet would await here whilst formal diplomatic negotiations where ongoing. The other members of the Admiralty board were in a Quarian-built shuttle, flying across the vast void between the two fleets. The human capital ship was impressive, the size of a dreadnought and looking like a brutal, ugly slugging ship.
The humans were now a sizeable threat, quite handily an imposing and threatening formation, and the fact that they had sent a dreadnought to open negotiations was making Rael feel very small. Especially as a pair of small strike fighters pulled into escort formation. They were short craft, barely larger than a Turian fighter. The rear hull was composed of three small engine blocks, and three pylon wing-shaped attachments for antiquated cold gas steam thrusters. Two small diameter cannons were mounted on the lower fins, while a pair of missiles were attached to rails under the fuselage. He could just about see a figure in the cockpit, which looked cramped, and his attention was drawn back to the table, as Admiral Koris was swiping through a datapad.
"Their over-militarization concerns me. That they sent a Heavy Cruiser on an exploration mission could indicate their intentions. The only race to open negotiations this way where the Turians!"
Admiral Raan nodded, "Indeed, but do remember that we are the outsiders to them. 50,000 warships is an incredible concentration of force, and I don't think we should hold it against them. Not when they allowed the Asari bosh'tet to meld with one of their commanding officers".
Koris sighed profusely, "Yes but it has to be said that they're all pomp and circumstance, just like the Turians, you saw the vids from their greeting with Admiral Gerrel, the military formation! We could have another hierarchy on our hands, one that will eventually meet the Turians and-".
"The Turians are the primary military power in the galaxy, someone else coming along that also lives up to that role is going to be of concern. Provided we play our cards carefully then I see no reason we won't get along with these people. The fact they're levo-aligned means we won't even be competing for colonial footholds and…. Are you even listening Xen?"
The (probably) insane younger Admiral clearly wasn't, as it took her a few moments to respond to Raan's question. "Hmm? Yes of course, I am merely more concerned and intrigued by their technological leaps. Our sensors detect no gravitational distortions, which means either they don't make use of element zero, or don't use it in a way that changes their ship's physical attributes. Not to mention the vertically aligned decks indicating they rely on thrust-based gravitation. It's highly likely their FTL is of some other method, something which would have the Asari salivating over the thought".
Rael turned, suddenly quite annoyed with the youngest admiral. "Xen their technology has nothing to do with our aims here. We secure passage through their space to search for habitable systems. We've detected a mass relay around that Gas giant that they clearly haven't. It's imbedded in the third moon. So we can hopefully wait for them to leave and pass further on into this section of the network".
She huffed, placing the pad down. "Ahh but their technology is fascinating. They've broken the fundamental rule of the universe. Nothing can travel faster than the speed of radiation. And yet they've found a way of doing it".
Koris shook his head, "We've uncovered no information saying they don't use element zero in other ways. And I don't want to tempt fate by asking about their technology. We should focus on securing transportation and nothing else".
"And if they demand subjugation?" Three veiled heads turned to Rael, who was staring at the fast-growing ship. "Face it. They had a dreadnought this close to us and just called it up. We don't know their intentions, and for all we know they aren't limited by the mining of element zero… They might well be in a position to demand subjugation".
Raan nodded, "The Nedas movement will never allow it. Neither will the conclave, but it would be the easiest way to secure our future, and-".
Rael turned to fix her with a glare, "I would rather not sacrifice our species' independence in exchange for survival, we just have to hope it doesn't come to that. Face it. They hold all the cards. We will go onboard, and attempt to secure passage, possibly an alliance of some sort and non-aggression".
"Admirals. ETA is 2 minutes, the humans are directing us to land".
"Good job Flight Lieutenant. Bring us in. Admirals…. We must ready ourselves for what might well be the future of not just our species, but the galaxy".
They all stood, each preparing in their own way. Rael fiddling with a small metal bracelet made by his wife. Xen was flicking her eyes over more data, but he could see her lit eyes flicking to the enormous dreadnought. Raan was nervously pacing back and forth. Koris was staring at the ship as though it had its enormous gun batteries pointed at him. With a hefty metal clunk, the shuttle set down. A hiss of gas indicated that the two atmospheres were merging. As the ship's gangway lowered, they were taken aback by an enormous procession. Long lines of troops on either side of the shuttle in ceremonial-looking uniforms. All the while a large group of humans holding Brass instruments played the anthem of the Quarian fleet.
The military greeting combined with the fact that the humans were emphasizing their arrival was not unnoticed by Rael, who felt a slight smile under his helmet. The humans were clearly well disciplined, intelligent, and knew how to make an impression, but they also seemed to place special emphasis on their own nation. As though they were worthy of just as much recognition as humans. As he walked down, he could feel the admiralty taking in the atmosphere of the ship, those three winged fighters were lined up in rows. Behind them, larger and bulkier shuttle-like craft with short stubby wings were also lined up, armoured vehicles behind them, and much larger shuttles. He could even see 2 swept wing atmospheric craft that would have looked more at home in the atomic age than the space age.
At the end, he could recognize one of the humans, the young rear admiral who had first greeted Captain Danna, but the other was unknown. She had light-ish hair and a white and grey uniform. Her hair was tucked back through a flexible band into tail. One strand untucked. This must be-
"Pleasure to meet you Admirals. I am Ambassador Anita Goyle. The primary representative and extended arm of the Human Systems Alliance. The government and united front of the people of the Human race".
"Indeed Ambassador. I am Admiral Rael Zorah. The Head of State for the Quarian Migrant Fleet. The last remnants of the Quarian people as you already know".
"I have first been directed to extend an invitation to the Admiralty board to visit the administrative capital of the Human Systems Alliance during the Victory Day celebrations. We believe this will be an opportunity to explain human history and culture, as well as foster a sense of comradeship, given you are the first non-human sentient species we have encountered".
Well, there was the first surprise, the humans seemed more than willing to talk diplomacy and politics, and given the invitation, Rael was feeling more than eager to engage with them. As they went deeper into the bowels of the ship, Ambassador Goyle began to explain the recent human history, and a sense of dread settled in Rael's gut. As he had suspected the humans were experienced with war, having fought a 12-year war against itself during the insurrection that had built the foundation for the modern Alliance.
She also went into detail on the human style of governance, and Rael was impressed at the extent and depth of the political theory at play here. With redundancies, multiple layers of democratic election and administration prevented populists from coming to power, but that also affected change, something the Asari political system struggled with, as their open democratic processed tended to rest on campaigning, bombastic speeches, and receiving donations from the rich and influential in Asari society.
Finally, the topic came around to colonization, and Rael made his motivations clear. "Ambassador the Quarian people are tired of wandering the stars, whether this is to be a temporary measure or permanent arrangement, we have intentions to find a habitable planet sustainable for rebuilding the Quarian people".
She listened, not saying a word as the admirals each gave their opinion on the matter, as well as explaining the flaws in their biology preventing them from colonizing typical planets. As well as the political circumstances that lead to their exile. All the while Goyle was most definitely communicating with someone elsewhere. Eventually, after a few minutes spent explaining the fleet's circumstances, she looked up from her tablet.
Well Admirals. I am pleased to inform you that the Council of Ministers has approved an aid package consisting of almost 250 Billion standard units. Including raw resources, medical supplies, components and currency with which to purchase other Alliance goods, they have also indicated their approval of your colonization of known dextro-biologically aligned worlds not currently under Alliance control. Provided you would allow existing resource contracts to run their course, we would permit you ownership of these systems".
That was the second surprise, the sheer magnitude of the words not really hitting Rael for a few moments. "You'd…. you'd take us in like that? In spite of our reputation?"
"Admirals, the human race has had notorious issues in the past with failing to react to situations like this, and it has more often than not led to unnecessary suffering. As such if we can spare you extinction we will do so. That said the offer is not entirely ideological, as there are three requests from the Council of Ministers before we can begin your repatriation".
Well, he praised their honesty, the pragmatic nature of the diplomacy made sense to anyone with half a brain as he calmed himself. "Please do explain".
"Well firstly, that you agree to the Mass Relay Accords. These dictate that no mass relay connected to human space by any means can be opened by anything other than executive approval from two of three branches of the human government. As well as whatever governance you decide to adopt following colonization…"
The offer made sense and was not of too much concern. While he did not want to limit the Quarian people to just a few isolated worlds in another species' space, the mass relay ban wasn't as crippling, especially given at most the few million remainders of the Quarian species could colonize two or three planets properly.
"Secondly…. The human race has always forged its own path through the cosmos. No technologies more demonstrate this than the Wormhole drive and the Plasma lance. However…. Element zero technology has much to teach us of the ways of the universe, and working examples of element zero technology would go greatly towards furthering our understanding and perhaps even joint research of the phenomenon".
Another excellent point. Their lack of proficiency could be dangerous if they ever encountered the council, which would be equally threatened by the human's lack of requirements for element zero. Quarian assistance would remove the inefficiencies of the human technological base, giving them a significant advantage, and hey, there was no reason that some of the more… advanced techs wouldn't remain Quarian. License built perhaps to the humans and providing a requirement for trade.
"Thirdly and finally, the Humanist alliance prides itself on maintaining a nation of the people. Given your own attempts at maintaining democratic rule in spite of your circumstances, to facilitate transportation and trade between your colonies, we'd like to propose a partial diplomatic alliance of sorts. Agreements to allow free travel and trade through borders, as well as free commerce between human and quarian. This could be extended to non-aggression deals, and agreements to inform the other of naval movements through shared or opposing territories".
There it was. They had dressed it up with fancy words to indicate it's benevolence, but with that, the Humans could guarantee a fair deal of control over the Quarians, since any trade alliance would inevitably mean the humans had the blackmail card, especially given how few quarians were left compared to the likely inflated human population. The conclave would undoubtedly be concerned with the measure, but he foresaw a way to deal with that.
"Well ambassador, those are fine deals, and I see no reason why the conclave would object, but we would like to secure two conditions of our own, the first being that the Human Alliance agree not to intervene in the organization of the new quarian state in any way, leaving us independent to conduct our own affairs".
Goyle nodded, "Acceptable, I fear I may have caused confusion about the trade deal, so I would be happy to provide this guarantee".
Rael nodded, "Good, and the other concern we have is that our technology is in some cases top secret and of military importance, so perhaps technological provisions can be of civilian nature for the first four years, before discussions can move onto more clandestine topics in military capabilities".
"I see no problem with that", because at the end of the day, we still get the technology. We'll just have to push the shared comrade's story a little harder. Maybe 3SB could assist with that.
"Excellent, then I will bring your proposals to the Conclave and get back to you at the end of the day. There is one concern we do have. About how we reach the colonies. As our normal FTL drives cannot travel for extended periods without venting, we'd like to secure star maps to these colonies".
"I can send over the information now, including all information related to the colonies in question, and provide star maps. If necessary then the Systems Alliance Fleet Auxiliary has tugboats designed to allow capital ships with crippled FTL drives to be recovered, so we can assist you in reaching the colonies, provided the Quarian fleet agrees that the cost of fuel is deducted from the element zero technological trade".
"We will see for now. A pleasure to meet you ambassador Goyle".
"It was a pleasure to meet you too Admiral Zorah. I look forward to long and peaceful relations with your people".
He nodded, before gesturing to his fellow admirals their time to leave. Jubilantly proud of his diplomatic skills, and confident that the century of humiliation was over. The next century would be the Quarian recovery and their re-rise to power. The conclave would no doubt be concerned, after all this deal placed them quite at the mercy of a foreign power, and the Nedas movement might scream over the homeworld. But they needed to rebuild, restabilize, and with humanity developing besides them, they had a chance to gain something the rest of the galaxy would likely not have for decades.
Codex Entry: Ironclad class Heavy Cruiser
"I got a bet on the Ironclad taking at least one of them. All ahead full Mr Murdoch. Bring the ship about in 1200 kilometers and shove a broadside so far down their mouth they'll be shitting tungsten" – Captain Adam Halsey, First Battle of Benning
Number in Service: 25
Length: 921 meters
Crew: 12,400 (Minimal crew complement of 3400)
Electrostatic Decomposition Barriers: Capital Grade Electrostatic Barriers, Mk 12 Cyclonic Shield Capacitors
Engines: 4 Rolls Royce CE-110 Heavy Anti-Proton thruster
Power plant: 4 Mk V Aerospatiale Antimatter Reactors, 2 Mk VIII Nuclear Fusion Reactors
FTL: Dual-Internal Spinner Alignment, Standard Jump Drive
Weapons:
- 38 Point Defense Plasma Shotguns
- 6 Arm-Winch launchers
- 16 Turreted Broadside Heavy Coilguns
-16 Secondary Broadside Coilguns
Utilities:
- Advanced Shield Capacitor Bank
- Reinforced Whipple Armour
- Reinforced Titanium-C Plating Armour
- Single anti-stealth ship bay
Lore: Venerable, invincible, indestructible, and capable. The four words that capture the Ironclad class of warships. They are the oldest warships still in active service with the alliance. The vessel was designed by the Shipworks in Valles Marinas on Mars prior to the planned terraforming commencement, and the ship took 12 years to perfect and develop. The ship deviated from typical design philosophies, utilizing a central hull with two secondary hulls towards the rear. The arrangement was combined with expensive titanium alloy armor combined with thick ablative armor and a lethal point defense arrangement to produce a ship that is nigh unassailable. The vessel was put into service with rear admiral Heift during the Benning campaign, and compared to the defenders (Including a Federal carrier and 2 battleships), was brutally effective. It was too accelerative to be caught by the larger capital ships and was far too thickly armed and armored for cruisers and fighters to down it individually, with a point defense screen and escort fleet large enough to draw strike craft away from the main fleet.
Even as new ships came and went, the survivability and defensibility of the ship has yet to be matched, with the complex arrangement of sloping armor, ablative protection, chemical mixtures, PDC placement, and the shipyards itself being amongst the most expensive and well-staffed, giving it it's legendary invincibility.