Hello again, damn 700 hits already within 24 hours, that's a first.
It took my first story a while to gain traction, but I guess you all are here for a good story, and I'll give ya one. I promise, learning from past mistakes I'll go slow and let my ideas develop and speak for themselves, (of course with me providing translation to you all).
Review Responses:
RandomReader: Yeah the fact that Mars gets terraformed instantly in other fics irks me greatly, i'm a fan of the Mars Trilogy so I try my best. (Also my YT feed is just Kurzgesagt)
'European' Guest: Alt *clap* er *clap* nate *clap* Hist *clap* or *clap* ee, Alternate History not that hard, seriously give me a break, there are obviously more glaring issues (That as you read I am attending to) that I need to attend to then get in an argument about WW2 with a self-proclaimed European and whether it's 'historically accurate' for me to portray my fictional version of events to a Science-FICTION story. Next time don't be lazy and put at least 2% of your effort (or GDP) into an account, I promise it'll give more weight to your review next time.
(Yes I am aware the bombings were in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and yes I am aware that Hamburg fell and that the European theater ended around 4 months before the Pacific ended, I am and will ALWAYS BE A HISTORY NUT, and when you're a history guy that shit never get boring, you simply move on to another aspect of it, aka Alternate Scenarios)
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Also, I am aware from snooping around on the Mass Effect x Halo Fanfiction pages that a whole majority of you do not like UNSC Curb Stomping (Understandable), nor equally do you like it when the Citadel Council seems powerful (Less Understandable). Both factions will have their ups and downs, treats, and whatnot, just need to get that out there.
Please Read and Review and don't forget to criticize, (constructively). Also if leaving a review I prefer you make an account (ahh yeah I'm so evil I know) so I can respond in a PM, mainly because it gives you a faster response than having to wait for a week or 2, but I mean that's IF I'm not drunk on Redbull or Chai Boba Tea with 4 hours of sleep (worst combo btw don't do it).
Edit 8/3/2023): I did a fucky wucky and this chapter was replaced by the timeline, I'm sorry it was my bad, I got to name my documents better.
Enjoy!
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Location: UTNS Guantanamo Bay (DFA-0395)
343-Jiani System, New Shanxi
Commander Jason Kitridge (05220-07537-JK)
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The stars dotted the background of space as ships dodged in and out from New Shanxi's surface below, a desert world with little green dots indicating the beginning of terraformation.
Something that reminded Commander Jason Kitridge of Mars, his home planet, the red planet now has added green and blue to its mixture of red and black undertones. If the Commander was going, to be honest, New Shanxi had an uncanny resemblance to Mars, just with a few mismatched patterns here and there.
New Shanxi, the only Colony in the relatively isolated 343-Jiani System, located in the Frontier area was a sprawling desert world, though it had a lot of water underneath it surprisingly, aquifers that stretched for hundreds if not thousands of feet below the surface of the planet, meaning if one was to go down there they would see a fuck ton of water pumps aiding in turning parts of a desert world into green dots.
It's Capital City, well more like the only city was New Peking, the lights emanating brightly from the ground though it was barely visible to the crew of the UTNS Guantanamo Bay due to the glare caused by the system's yellow dwarf star, Jiani.
New Shanxi was one of the 5 Planetary worlds in this system, it was about as big as the Earth itself, the Earth being a tad bit bigger than New Shanxi, out of the 5 New Shanxi was the most habitable, and there were 3 other rocky planets, all having thick hazy toxic atmospheres made of nitrogen, methane, and carbon dioxide, all about the same size as Mercury as well, as a result, all were nicknamed 'Mini-Titans' after Saturn's infamous moon. The last one on the outer edges of the system was a massive gas giant, about twice the size of Jupiter, it had massive red stripes mixed with a little bit of beige, basically if Jupiter was about as red as Mars, leaving it with the name Mariter, a rather uncreative name in Kitridge's view, they were definitely running out of names from the old mythology legends.
But the isolated beauty of the planets below him was not Kitridge's concern, his concern was with New Shanxi's moon. The moon, not even receiving a name yet, under the designation, 0622-2581-Jiani, was really just a massive compressed ball of ice, if Kitridge remembered the sayings of some of the USRD nut jobs he had talked to the other day when summoned to this relatively new colony system.
What was interesting about the moon was the massive structure embedded in it, from the scans and physical exploration and investigation it was around 14-ish to 15-ish kilometers long, meaning it was a full 4 kilometers longer than the UTNS Reach and 10 kilometers longer than the current Infinity Class Carriers.
"So… any idea on what they found?" asked his second in command, Lieutenant Donaldson Froca in a heavy Scottish accent. The young man from New Glasgow was munching away on a ration kit bar as he came close to the table as he scarfed down the last bits of the crusty wafer.
"None, USRD Folks are just being skittish about it," said Kitridge, in all essence, this was either a weapon, like Halo, or something else entirely.
"Heh, you'd think it's a massive energy sword," said Donaldson, likening to the fact that the structure on the scans bore a resemblance to the infamous Sangheili energy swords.
Energy Swords, it was a weapon that was ingrained in Commander Kitridge's head, quite literally, he was but a young boy when the Storm Covenant invaded Mars, he saw his family gutted in front of him as he ran with the crowds escaping from the carnage, all screaming bloody murder, he suppressed these thoughts in his head as he formulated a response.
"I see that, weird, wonder if its a massive superweapon," said Kitridge as he muttered the last parts, a superweapon wasn't new to Kitridge, he had seen the NOVA Bombs and their effect on Covenant Planets after the war, to see the least it wasn't pretty. Then the Halo's a galactic superweapon that would wipe out all life, at least that was what was released from the OSNI leaks.
Getting it off of his mind he returned to his original objective, "Che! Make course for the moon! We have some materials and personnel to drop off at Research Base WHISKEY," Kitridge as a figure appeared on the tactical table, the avatar of the AI was akin to the legendary Che Guevera, sporting curly hippie hair as well as a beret to compliment it all. Che was an 8th generation Smart AI of the UTSC, being the AI for the Mombassa Class Light Frigate Guantanamo Bay, since its refit in 2578.
He was quiet, brash, and most often one to use 'unconventional' tactics as he described them, such as taking the Guantanamo Bay for a wild loopty loop ride to take advantage of the hole in a Covenant CAS Carrier's bubble shield and firing its MAEC Gun point blank and breaking numerous regulations, of course, the Guantanamo Bay was damaged severely by this and was nearly scrapped.
Commander Kitridge nearly had his ass fucked by HIGHCOM and the Admiralty but Che had saved him, explaining that by not doing the crazy ass maneuver, Guantanamo Bay would have been destroyed as well as putting the Frontier Colony of Prarie at risk. It also helped that he was an esteemed officer of the Navy, climbing the ranks pretty fast as he got the hang of commanding large vessels the size of skyscrapers.
"Yes, Commander! Full course heading displayed on the table below, our ETA is 12 minutes at the current burn, if your feeling a bit risky we can push our reactor modules past their safety thresholds and make the trip in 4," the AI said smiling all the while as it puffed on its virtual pipe Kitridge just shook his head once more.
"I'd like not to take that risk Che," said Kitridge in a calm and collected voice though his face had the slightest bit of concern on his face. The Guantanamo Bay made its way towards the Ice Ball that was the moon of New Shanxi, making close to the base as the Mombassa Classes few hangars opened letting loose 2 of the 6 D-78EA Super Pelicans, the beefy younger brother of the Pelican as well as 4 D-82-ESTIV's of its complement to the ground, carrying the materials for the new base on the moon.
"So, you think they are gonna dig it out?" asked Donaldson again as he stared out of the 'port view' of the Guantanamo Bay, which per 2560 Naval Standards was now a digital rendition of an actual bridge.
"Not supposed to be our concern, they can cause as much damage to this moon as possible I just don't want my men on it," said Kitridge, he crossed his arms as he stared into the frozen ball in space, he huffed a bit as he turned back to the table. "Besides, we have orders to set up an exclusion zone and call for reinforcements in case one of them eggheads get a bit too 'curious' for their own good."
All was normal as 2 Pelicans began to climb once again as it approached the Guantanamo Bay, the Flight Controller on the bridge echoing orders through the comms as it broke the silence of the bridge. So far this mission was about as boring as any mission in the Frontier, at least there were no 'Flood' or whatever the little throwup-greenish fuckers were called in Kitridge's opinion.
Staying in geosynchronous orbit with the moon was boring to say the least, he waited until the last of the D-82's had come through, scanned and checked to make sure no contaminants made it through, he didn't need another Flood outbreak, in fact the galaxy didn't need one either.
There were a few reports of small seismic activity on the moon, a moon completely made of ice, it slightly concerned Kitridge though nothing bad had happened yet, he was under orders of an Admiral to hold position anyways.
"Sir! Incoming transmission coming from the ground, it's for you," said Che suddenly as Kitridge turned and nodded and accepted the offer a communications portal opened up as the avatar of a man in a white doctors uniform appeared on the table, he looked a bit frantic, though composed… barely. To Kitridge it looked as if the man had a bit too much caffeine to drink.
"Commander! I'll spare the pleasantries for later but I have an urgent message for you," the Doctor said, hands behind his back as he stood tall, he had a skinny build and his jet black hair paired nicely with his rounded head. Nurga was on a nameplate on the upper left side below his breast pocket.
"Likewise Doctor Nurga, what is it that I can do for you today," said the ship Commander as the Doctor glanced around the room and returned his attention to the Commander.
"We have been monitoring the artifact for a while and right now its giving us trouble, theres seismic activity all around and its been going in a pattern for a while now, I am requesting you pick us and your men up from the surface for a while until it passes over," said the Doctor as another rough shaking event happened for a few seconds before the avatar of the doctor went back to normal.
"So I have heard, we'll be sending evacuation crews inbound, ETA 5-10 minutes, sit tight," said Kitridge as he nodded to the Space Traffic controller as all of the Guantanamo Bay's Pelican contingent of 6 flew down to the surface, they went from noticeable green dropships, a blurry green object, then a speck of green on a backsplash of whitish blue and finally nothing more than LADAR blips from the multiple sensor suites that dotted the Guantanamo Bay's superstructure.
"They probably tried to stick a shovel in it, eh?" said Donaldson as he chuckled lightly as Kitridge broke a small smile.
"You know they have the hammer in search of a nail," he said as some crewmates smiled at this, the line wasn't even funny it was just the boredom of the situation they were in that made it so, but soon boredom would be thrown out the window.
"Sir Pelicans are returning, they have the full contingent from Base WHISKEY, they report that seismic activity is increasing, we are advised to wait an hour or so until it passes," said the LADAR operator.
"I thought snowballs never got earth-quakes," quipped a crewmember.
"They don't," said another as the bridge went right back to work, the Pelicans began their final approach.
Kitridge stared out at the moon for a while, the Pelicans getting larger and larger as they approached the hangars, it would be 3 minutes till they reached home safe home. Then he noticed a faint blue light, almost as if the moon was glowing. He rubbed his eyes, maybe the caffeine was also getting to him, the moon was now brighter, maybe it was because he rubbed his eyes, correct? Nope, it's still getting brighter.
"So… do you also notice that snowball getting brighter?" asked Donalson in a questioning tone as the Commander nodded. Now he was concerned.
"Che! Get me a status report on that moon!" he yelled as the AI popped up, reports began flooding the Tactical Datatable as Che selected the best ones for the Commander.
"Here Commander, sensors detect large energy outputs being released into the moon itself, it's destabilizing…" said the AI as he fell short, soon an electric beam lanced out and slammed into the Guantanamo Bay. Alarms blared as the bridge began to be flush with red lights as emergency power supplies began to be activated.
The whole ship began to creak and groan as if in pain, crew members were thrown around as some had minor-major concussions and fractures from being tossed like dice in a palm.
"DAMMIT! I want a full thruster retreat and I need those Pelicans inside NOW! Then find out what the FUCK is hitting us," said Kitridge as his voice resonated with the crew who got busy trying to override console commands and get control of the engines.
"SIR! Lost control of all 4 main engines! Backups aren't responding!"
"Shields at 37% and falling!" said another ensign as the Guantanamo Bay glowed a violent bluish-yellow.
"Get those PELICANS INSIDE! I want all hangars shut except Port Hangar-1!" Kitridge reiterated again, if he couldn't escape, might as well get the Pelicans inside as well.
"Pelican's Alpha 1-1 and 1-2 have touched down! Alpha 1-3 is ETA 10 Seconds and Alpha 1-4 is reporting troubles with engines!" said the Space Traffic Controller, his eyes frantic as sweat beaded down his forehead.
Then the ice moon cracked, its crust finally giving away as ice debris fell off and headed towards the Guantanamo Bay, the chunks of ice being deflected by the shields as CWIS capabilities were flatlined at the moment, maybe because there was a giant beam hitting them?
"Sir! Navigation has been hijacked! I can't gain access to it!" said Che as his avatar flickered a bit, the navigation console began going wild, it was seemingly going all around the galaxy, here and there, going towards USTG Space, out near the open, the Galactic edge? The fucking middle of the Bar Spiral of the Milky Way. It was like a drunk teenager with a Prius.
"Sir slipspace drive is spooling up! It's going beyond safety thresholds!" screeched a navigation officer as the target was broadcasted to the Tactical Datatable. The Sagittarius Arm. Now this mission wasn't boring.
"Fuck! Brace for acceleration!" said Kitridge as he looked out from the side windows to see the looming figure of Pelican Alpha 1-4, it was nearly to the hangar but it would be too late for them to make it, meaning instant collision. "Tell Alpha 1-4 to abort!"
"Too late!"
The Guantanamo Bay was involved into a purplish-blue shell as it accelerated past Alpha 1-4, the Pelican making contact with one of the many Mk. 51 Thunderbolt Naval Coil Cannons as a small explosion took out both the bird and the turret as well as the Turret mount and a 20-meter section from the Guantanamo Bay as the Guantanamo Bay accelerated to FTL as the space began to stretch a bit.
The Guantanamo Bay was gone in a flash as a blue trail was behind as the wreckage of the Pelican was hidden amongst the ice debris.
Leaving behind the Colony world as an aghast civilian population looked to the skies as military vessels began to frantically try to contact the Guantanamo Bay to no success. Ships of the United Terran Navy Command moved in to investigate as a Priority Message Alpha was sent to HIGHCOM.