Inquisitorial Archives, 31st Millennium, The Great Apathy of 050-3100 and its effects on the Imperium, Inquisitorial Eyes only, Collection of Remembrancer Villion Tangent, Laid 077-3100
To understand the origins of the Great Apathy we must begun at the beginning when the Caretakers who have since taken up residence within the Eye of Apathy first became known to the Imperium.
Following treason most high by the Arch Heretic Horus, favoured son of the Emperor, the Great Crusade turned into the Horus Heresy. Worlds burned by the thousand, men and women died by the billions and many more were turned against the Emperor. Salvation came, though at great cost. The Primarch most beautiful, Sanguinius sacrificed himself to save the Emperor, his last action to penetrate the Corrupted Primarchs armour and with his last breath provide a guide through which the Emperor would destroy the Arch Heretic. The Emperor however, held back by the love he felt for his son did not slay the Arch Heretic when he had the chance, instead suffering grievous wounds in trying to reason with the Arch Heretic. And so the Emperor was interred upon the Golden Throne.
What was remarkable however from a historical standpoint was what happened following the defeat of the Arch Heretic. The eruption of the Caretakers into the system of Terra, their fleet led by two Gloriana-Class Battleships, constructed in secret and given to two entire Legions of the Astartes Legios for a mission that would take them into the depths of the galaxy where they would not be heard from until the very end of the Horus Heresy. Lost in the Warp, the entire Fleet and its associated Solar Auxilia would spend nearly 500 years battling the forces of Chaos with no outside assistance. Their weapons being worn down as the years passed without dedicated systems by which one could maintain them. The Adeptus Mechanicus Adepts being wiped out in some of the initial incursions and the confusion that followed. The daemons of course not being known at this time to the Caretakers. Rather they were forced to learn through trial, error and with vast amounts of blood. Millions of the Auxilia and tens of thousands of Space Marines dying in the initial weeks. As time passed they became more proficient in combat against the Ruinous Powers and modified their weapons to allow them to fight more effectively, dispersing themselves throughout the fleet instead of remaining solely aboard their Battle Barges and Battleships. They would defend their brothers in arms no matter how weak in comparison, an attitude that has continued through to this day.
In the Warp they came across many isolated worlds that were brought back into the fold, submitting to the Emperor. Some of these included Forge Worlds and Hive Worlds that swore oaths of fealty to the Caretakers, their continued existence relying on goodwill. For the Caretakers had found on one of the first worlds they came across, archeotech from the Dark Age of Technology which became known as "Beacons". These Beacons served as a means of stabilizing the Warp and creating preventing the formation of daemons as well as forcing them out of the Materium. A device that has since saved countless lives in the fight against the Ruinous Powers.
In order to use it however the Caretakers undertook a burden that had crippled them and shaped the existence of their entire Legion since that point. They must accept upon themselves the Beacon's influence and in doing so allow the corruption of their souls. Unlike daemonic corruption, the taint of the Beacons induced apathy in the Caretakers, their emotions slowly fading as time passed and only with great pain could it be retrieved. The boon that they offer to the Imperium offset by the great burden they must bear, being reduced to nothing more than a high functioning servitor as their condition gets progressively worse over time.
It is with the knowledge granted by the Caretakers in their years in the Warp that we can begin to understand what happened. The Caretakers themselves have postulated that the apathy felt by the Caretakers had clashed with that of the emotional turmoil of the Warp itself and ruptured the Immaterium, bursting out into the Materium and consuming a great deal many worlds on the galactic fringe, worlds populated thankfully by Orks and little else.
The manifestation of a new Eye of Terror did not go unnoticed, the astropaths and having described it much like a wave of annoyance that washed over them, like being in a room with a chapter of Space Marines that had been recalled from a battle. Following shortly after came a wave of sadness that was much the same in intensity. Intensity that was so great that every cognitive human in the galaxy and no doubt of the other races felt the same regardless of their location. The origin point of the waves was described by Navigators of the Nobilus Navi as a great upheaval visible from Holy Terra itself. Described as a vast sphere in the depths of the Warp, the Eye of Apathy as it was later dubbed provides the third point of the triangle by which Navigators can parse their way through the Warp.
It is named the Eye of Apathy for its unique effect, any who pass through its borders loses all motivation to do anything, their emotions suppressed under the weight of what must be a new God of the Warp. A God that is connected to the Emperor, for the Eye of Apathy is also known as the Eye of Order. Worship of Order had been brought into the Imperium by the Caretakers who delivered unto the Arbiter a means to deliver justice in the Emperor's name, strengthening him as they do so, in the hopes that he will one day walk amongst us again. It is for that reason alone that the Inquisition stayed their hand against the Caretakers, something so obviously connected to the Emperor could not be wrong. For if they turned against the Caretakers would it not be a confession that they no longer were the Emperors protectors from those inside and outside the Imperium. The Law of order of Order being many times more powerful inside the Eye of Apathy than outside it. Many times that of the Astronomicon's influence even. It is due to this that the link between the Emperor and the Eye of Apathy has been made even if there is a third influence.
It was unknown exactly what brought the Eye of Apathy into being but what was clear from the beginning is that the Arbites and the Caretakers had a very intimate connection with the new rupture in the Materium. Nothing more was known until a Caretaker expeditionary fleet entered it alongside the Mechanicus' explorator fleets, Imperial Navy and Space Marine fleets. Inside what they found were the worlds that the Caretakers had visited on their great journey. More specifically the worlds that had a Beacon placed upon them. The Caretakers stating that 80% of the world's they had left Beacons on being present.
The theory therefore that came out regarding the Eye of Apathy is that the Beacons in the Warp linked with the Beacons in the Materium and forced a bridging of both planes. The power of Order being the catalyst.
The emotions that came before were an enigma but as time has passed it has been theorized to be the sighs of the Emperor as part of his eternal battle against the Ruinous Powers in an effort to protect the souls of humanity. The waves of emotion being enough the stir up the Immaterium enough to bring the Beacons close enough that they could be bridged. The Eye of Apathy therefor must be an act of the Emperor, means by which to provide aid to an Imperium beset by enemies on all sides.
The Apathy effect as it is now known affects all who are not on a Beacon World, in essence making it an extremely secure prison by which to secure those who are still valuable to the Imperium but the risk of escape being too high if left in a regular internment camp. In the Eye of Apathy they are instead too de-motivated to ever think about escape.
The Caretakers have since claimed this section of space, their Space Marines the only ones who can operate at all in the Apathy field. It was met with little resistance by the High Lords of Terra as a result. The Caretakers in turn locating their headquarters in the Center of the Eye, where there were no established Warp Lanes. In turn creating a defence that not even the most dedicated force could penetrate, their armies and navies giving up before they even got halfway. Indeed the expedition that was sent returned barely a year after it set out, having to be towed or crewed out by the Caretakers after their own crews had stopped even eating unless force fed. The very act of chewing their own food too difficult for them. Even the Adepts of the Mechanicus falling prey to it.
It is only through a Beacon World that one can traverse the Eye with impunity, the Warp Lanes ensuring those not immune can function normally. Any deviation is dangerous, a ship's occupants starving to death. Some even with food on plates in front of them, spoons dropped on the floor at their feet.
It is considered a Bastion in which humanity may retreat in the case that things become catastrophic and there is nothing left. It is also a high priority target for the Ruinous Powers, their forces having no power in the Eye of Apathy, instead being actively weakened by its mere proximity. The High Lords of Terra themselves have considered locating important offices which handle sensitive information the the Eye to better ward against infiltration and Corruption.
The Eye as briefly mentioned before is also the embodiment of Order, its appearance in the Materium strengthening both the Emperor and the Arbites alike. Indeed Magnus the Red has noted that occasionally it feels as if the Emperor is trying to reach out, his healing going much faster than previously anticipated.
The Eye of Apathy and Order has had a dramatic impact on the Imperium, its presence changing much of what was thought to be known regarding the Warp and its perceived evils. It is no longer something which is unilaterally considered as a negative but something which over time may even be a positive given the nature of the Beacons and their effect upon it.
While its short term impact was not small, its long term impact will be far greater, the potential that it represents concerning all. The Warp itself reacted to the birthing of this new Eye of Terror beyond the obvious. It has create around it an oasis of sorts where travel became a matter of ease while further out the Warp as a whole calmed down enough to make it severely easier for the Astropaths and Navigators of the Imperium to do their Emperor given duties. Even the Eye of Terror itself felt the effects of the Eye of Apathy and decreased in size, disgorging multiple worlds surrounding the Eye itself. Worlds that were teeming with the possessed and the corrupted, the daemon and the fool. It had taken years of course for the fluctuations of the Eye of Terror to stabilize itself enough that they could be set foot on by the men of the Emperor without fear of being turned.
When it did stabilize however, worlds that had long not felt the embrace of the Emperor and were now ripe for the taking. A crusade was declared by the High Lords of Terra with the intention of seeing them retaken and placed under the Emperor's light. The Space Wolves, the Raven Guard, the Ultramarines, the Salamanders and the Iron Hands with their successor chapters had been the vanguard of the crusade, their righteous fury smashing apart the heretics. Creating for the Caretakers who were overseeing the crusade, a beachhead to begin their own operations to secure and fortify the worlds so they would never again be taken by the Eye of Terror.
It took them several decades of campaigning but when they were done, an encirclement of Beacon Worlds around the Eye of Terror had been completed and they would be contained, should the traitors seek to break out they would find that there would be much pain awaiting them as they did so. The system that had been named "Cadia" would be the first line of defence, the only stable portal out of the Eye of Terror and the site of the largest concentration of arms since the Great Crusade.
Universal Century 0068 - Mobile Suit Gundam Universe
After Activation 0076- Origin Universe
Citadel Era 2180 - Mass Effect Universe
After Insertion 0037 - Cultivation Universe
Millennium 050-3100 - 40k Universe
Everything had been going well for Sovereign so far. Even though it had lost its AI fleet and the organic had gone missing for a time, it had come back and the AIs had reproduced in enough numbers that Sovereign could once again continue its plan. The organics of the previous cycle had somehow disrupted the hub and in doing so denied Sovereign the chance to decapitate the central authorities of the organics in a single strike. So long as the disruption continued Sovereign would be denied the opportunity to call in the rest of the Reapers to begin the harvest.
However the organic had managed to find out what exactly it was and how to disable it allowing Sovereign to once again begin the harvest. The main Reaper force had been moving in for several centuries now, time not an issue when it was against the organics who had not displayed anything of note in the last 60 cycles. They were unworthy of the technology, their innovations minor and pitiful.
The hub had been denied to Sovereign until the organic had found what had been known as the Conduit, a reverse engineered Mass Relay. Ingenious, the first in over a million years. It was too bad they had to be reaped really,they could have assisted the Reapers with their technology but it was not to be. Harbinger had dictated that the cycle would end and so it had.
Sovereign mused over this as the various ships of the organic fleets tried to oppose it. Not that it would help them, Sovereign was indeed more mighty than they could ever be and even then, if they did destroy Sovereign then the main Reaper force following behind would finish the job. Sovereign had a mission and not in its culminating stages, minor things such as the destruction of a single unit was not worth mentioning.
That is to say Sovereign wasn't quite suicidal, rather it would be nice if Sovereign survived but it must do what it must do. As to why Sovereign was here in the first place… umm… Sovereign didn't quite understand. The organic had suggested it, keep the ships away from the Citadel (what the organics called the hub) so that they couldn't attack the invading AI army. Yet why would the state of the fleet matter when all the organic needed to do was re-activate the hub and undo the sabotage from the last cycle? Why was Sovereign here at all? Sovereign could have simply just arrived with the rest of the Reaper Fleet and not exposed itself to unnecessary risk like this. The plan was a bad plan in hindsight, what is the point of occupying the fleet if they fleet was not going to be firing upon the invading army in the first place?
Questions to be answered later Sovereign supposed.
The ships equipped with laser weaponry had been sent off on a "military exercise", signed and notated by Councillors and the heads of the militaries themselves. The new "Citadel Armed Forces" that had been formed to crew the new vessels was having its inauguration voyage around the Citadel space, showing off their thousands of new vessels, all armed with the latest in laser technology. The older, less advanced ships would be stuck guarding the citadel. It did stick in the craw of their crews but what could they do? They were outgunned and out-armoured by the newer vessels, their craft not really capable of being called battleships or frigates anymore. It was saddening to be sure but these ships had done their time and had done it well.
It was with shock therefore that they had been attacked by an entirely new vessel at the same time that an attack on the Citadel itself had happened. There was no indication of the Mass Relays operating at all, this ship coming out straight above the Citadel itself. The ground invasion itself had been strange as well, no troop ships or anything of the sort, the Geth as they had now been identified, appearing directly in the middle of the Citadel. They had emerged from the same warrens that the Keepers used, slaughtering their way through both C-Sec and the civilian population.
The Geth however were not armed with laser weaponry, not it appeared that they still were using Mass Accelerator weaponry. Their armour was similarly primitive, Kinetic Shields and nothing else to protect their fragile frames. In short, the Geth… were rather under equipped to be dealing with the Citadel's defences given they had converted over to Power Armour and Laser weaponry in the last few years. That being said there appeared to be an unlimited supply of the damn things, they kept coming no matter how many of them were destroyed. The Geth had to melt the bodies into slag at some points before trying to push through further, the bodies piled so high that they could not physically move past the debris.
It would be sickening if it was people who were being used like that but since it was the Geth… it seemed to be more like a game in an arcade than a battle for life and death. They pop up, they get shot, they pop up, they get shot and so forth. They didn't even have to worry about ammunition, just plugging their weapons into the wall chargers and taking out a replacement, the authorization signals being built into their Power Armour, the Mk 2.
Up in space however things were not going as well, the fleet being torn apart by the enormous vessel. Almost dreadnought in size, the ship looked like a giant insect, its main weapon just punching straight through anything that fired upon it. The Destiny Ascension had held up for 2 shots before falling as well, the thousands of lives on board gone in an instant as it was torn in half and exploded when the Mass Reactor went up.
The other Dreadnoughts, Cruisers and Frigates were still trying to bring it down but their combined firepower did nothing against its shields. The Mass Accelerator weaponry being wholly insufficient to breach its Kinetic Shields. Still, they did their best to at least keep it in one spot, their combined numbers hopefully doing something. Their numbers had been severely diminished by the number of refits to the fleets however, most of their ships being taken in and refitted to the new laser weapons. Since they had lasers, they had been sent off to the tour fleet, those left behind being the older generation designs that either had not yet been taken or were not capable of changing.
Their weapons were anemic as a result and their numbers unsatisfactory, the fleet taking a pounding against an enemy that it simply could not hope to be able to beat, merely delay. The tour fleet had been pulled and was on its way but it wouldn't be for at least an hour before they arrived. Their being on the opposite side of the galaxy at the time of receiving the communication for reinforcements having made it somewhat difficult to make their way over.
Saren had made his way over and fixed the sabotage that the Protheans of the previous cycle had planted in the Citadel. In an hour the entire Reaper fleet would arrive and begin the harvesting of this cycle. Saren knew now that the Reapers weren't planning on saving anyone, that despite his efforts to make the organics of this cycle "useful" they were anything but and would be harvested along with everyone else. Saren knew this now, the vision of Sovereign destroying the combined fleet outside.
Saren didn't know what to do. He could kill himself but it was already too late, there would be nothing gained and the Reapers no longer had any need for him. His suicide would be worth nothing. His resabotage of the Citadel... a useless thought considering that he didn't even know how exactly the Protheans did it.
He had doomed the Citadel Alliance, he knew that now. He had doomed them all because of his foolishness, his arrogance, his belief in himself over all else. Ignorance was not an excuse, he knew that, he just wished that maybe, just maybe he could have known beforehand and simply ordered the destruction of Sovereign.
"What are you moping about?" Came the voice behind him, female… distinctly different from the other dialects in the Citadel and Terminus spaces, Systems Alliance then. The odd cadence making it one of the Eldar likely. "You can still get Sovereign to come out in the open, make it easier for the fleets to get a surround on him. Or you could record down everything you know about the Reapers so that the Citadel Council can get ready for them when they arrive. You know? Stuff that's helpful?" The alien truly did enjoy the sound of its own voice didn't it.
"There is no "later" alien, the Reapers arrive within the hour."
"Oh… well you really went and borked things up didn't you?" Exasperation was clear, not undeserved certainly, he had as she put it "borked" things up.
"Well it won't change anything, MAGI will have its revenge, we get a psychotic AI off our asses and the Reapers get wiped out. Just a little ahead of schedule is all."
What? They were planning on destroying the Reapers… they knew about the Reapers?
"If you could have destroyed the Reapers why didn't you just destroy them earlier? When they had just arrived? When it would have saved lives? When it would have prevented all of this?!" Saren shouted waving at the fleet battle above their heads as he did so, he couldn't help himself, the aliens had known and had done nothing. They were in a garden on the spoke of the Citadel, all the better for Saren to witness first hand the ending of all life in the galaxy. To witness the magnitude of his failure first hand.
"We did, the lasers were not enough for you? Power Armour? Composite Materials? All of what we introduced in the years so you could fight your own wars? We have tried to stabilize your society Turian, the Separatists were destroyed We have no demonstrated our utter superiority in all ways that it matters so you can keep your pride. We have arranged it so that everything your race could ever want to fight its wars had been delivered. We ensured that your fragile little alliance remained strong. We ensured that the Batarians would be dealt with. We ensured that your designers designed instead of squabble politically. We have done everything but actually killing the Reapers for you and yet you desire more? Is there no end to your audacity Avi'An? She was ranting, it was rather strange, that this alien and her race was taking credit for… oh… they probably did do all that. The Senti Company had very big ties to them after all.
Oh.
"Yes. Oh. It matters not, the stage has been set, MAGI will have its revenge in the most humiliating way possible and the Reapers will be destroyed in the end. Maybe we might even fix this excuse of a society you have and move onto more intelligent and working designs that do not make me want to cry tears of shame looking at it. Such a regimented and disgustingly staid society you have there Turian."
Saren was not quite sure what to make of the alien, in fact it felt like his head was his own again, that there was no more insistent nagging in the back that told him he was under Sovereign's control.
"Yes, I have temporarily blocked Sovereign's Mind Control." What, wait how did she, "Yes, I can read your mind, it is disgustingly easy, you should invest in mind defence tutors." They didn't even have mind defence as an idea let alone tutors! "You should just invent some then, its not that hard, just close your mind against outside forces."
What.
Saren could tell that the hour the Reapers took to reach the Citadel was going to be the longest hour of his life.
Recap.
So 100 chapters. Wow. Like wow and stuff. Wow.
So… nothing truly momentous happening except the Commander kind of going crazy and like… creating a new Eye of Terror? That was completely unexpected. Wrote 3 chapters in 3 hours when I did that, was like… wow this could actually work.
Also have the Commander show exactly why the Commander having its emotions restored would be a very bad idea. Crippled and bare emotional core means emotions leak out, anything strong basically means reality implodes. Bad things all around.
Was fun though.
Trying new writing styles, first person, third person limited… not sure how they turned out but it was harder writing like that. More personal maybe but harder.
Universal Century 0068 - Mobile Suit Gundam Universe
After Activation 0076- Origin Universe
Citadel Era 2180 - Mass Effect Universe
After Insertion 0037 - Cultivation Universe
Millennium 050-3100 - 40k Universe
Jurin Metluk, Captain of the Juh-Lok, Turian Tes-13 Cruiser was having a bad day. Originally they had been sitting out of the tour, given nominal security for the Citadel while the rest of the fleet, the upgraded ones that is were touring the Citadel Systems. Metluk however was here with the rest of the non-upgraded ships, waiting for their ships to be decommissioned and head over to a new berthing. It would be hard for the old guard to switch over, their entire services and indeed most of their lives had been on the old ships. Their systems were different in almost every way that mattered, the shudder as the ship fired its Mass Accelerator Cannons, the hums as the life support systems did their work, the light thunking as the feet of environmental suits made their way around the ship.
On the new ships the Lasers had vibrated the ships as they fired. The capacitors doing their little hum as they charged. The light thunking being replaced by the heavy thuds of the Power Armour as the crews maneuvered about, the suits being a means by which they could survive out in the depths of space while also being able to resist catastrophic damage to the ships. For the Frigates especially, the crew very rarely if ever unsuited unless docked, the dangers of being sucked out into space very clear. The new Frigates themselves were very fragile in comparison to everything else in the fleet.
Metluk interrupted his musings as the Juh-Lok fired off another Mass Accelerator round. This one not doing anything different, just bouncing off the shield, like every other shot from every other ship in the fleet. The giant Rachni-looking ship fired again, its main gun destroying yet another cruiser. There was nothing they could do, but they couldn't just leave either. The Citadel was there and if they left it would have complete control over the station and the hundreds of thousands of souls on board.
The reload was complete, another Mass Accelerated round out and another deflection. Metluk had moved past feeling despair, there was nothing they could do but after first 15 minutes and 1000 dead ships, there came the feeling that there was nothing they could do, so why even try in the first place? Just sitting there, firing, reloading, firing, reloading. The entire fleet would be wiped out at this rate but hopefully they would be able to buy enough time for the fleet to return. Metluk was Turian and for a Turian, duty was the highest calling. They would perform their duties here, they would hold the line and when it was over their names would be put on the plaques on Palaven dedicated to ship crews.
Metluk was resolved to die and sat in the Captain's Chair as the Gunner called out a reload or a fire every few seconds. It was almost routine at this point, watching their rounds ping off uselessly, watching the giant metal Rachni destroy another ship, fire another round uselessly and rinse and repeat. Like the simulated firing drills they all did as cadets, only this time it was real and the target fired back.
The other fleet officers had been the same, in the beginning there was much commotion as the ship commanders all screamed at each other over the communications network. Now however… They were resigned to what was going to happen, aside from the calls for pickup of the crews that were still alive from the attacks (of which there were pitifully few), it was silent. The commanders understanding that there was not much they could do besides sit and at least pretend they were having an impact.
It changed however in the next few seconds. The giant metal Rachni stopped firing, indeed it stopped moving altogether. Rather it looked like it was struggling against some unseen force, the limbs vibrating and moving minutely. It was rather amusing as Metluk looked at it in a rather detached way, like an insect trying to shake off the effects of insecticide.
"Greetings Abomination. We are MAGI. How has your day been."
The voice spoke in a language that was unfamiliar to Metluk but somehow he was able to understand it fully. A quick glance saw that the bridge crew was hearing the same voice… probably. Their heads were turning here and there trying to see where it was coming from. A meeting of the communications officer and her headshake told him that it was not coming over the intercom either. The odd sound of it, like 3 voices mixed together telling him that the audio interfaces were perhaps out of sync.
The officer communications net was much of the same. Their panicked sending telling him that everyone else (or rather a lot of people) in the fleet was hearing the same voice, straight into their minds. Did the metal Rachni have the ability to send voices into people's heads? That was certainly worrying, wouldn't matter much when he was dead to be sure but for everyone else.
"Comms, did the blackbox pick that up?" He called out, the black box would certainly be important for the cleanup fleet, if the voice was recorded on their as well then clearly the voice was something that could penetrate organic and electronic barriers.
"Yes sir, recorded perfectly but the audio doesn't make any sense. Its like what we just heard but without the translation parts."
"Play it on the intercom, maybe someone on board can recognize the language" said Metluk, maybe some obscure Terminus language? He didn't hold much hope but the message had been circulated throughout the fleet, perhaps one of their crew had the answer if they came up dry here.
The voice played again and a buzz of his omni-tool prompted a glance. It appeared that the language was a dialect spoken by the Systems Alliance. Either they were on the side of the metal Rachni (unlikely given its design) or they had access to new technologies entirely and were directly combatting the metal Rachni (more likely given its immobile state).
A second voice came through, this one much more deep and reverberating, strangely Turian in its pronunciation.
"Organic, you are standing before the pinnacle of evolution and existence. We will continue the cycle, we will destroy the organic civilizations of this cycle, their deaths inevitable. You are merely delaying the inevitable, organic known as MAGI."
"You speak of inevitability Abomination, you speak as if you have seen the future. You are nothing Abomination, your end will be suffering." the first voice, MAGI as it called itself, sounded amused. Like the metal Rachni told a great joke of some kind.
"You use powers that are different from those shown before yet you are nothing but an insignificant pebble, we are beyond your understanding, we are free of all weakness, a nation without weakness. You speak of ending us, yet you cannot comprehend what stands before you", the second voice taunted.
The first voice laughed at this. It laughed and laughed and laughed.
"Your ignorance as to your own position and destiny is laughable organic. You may yet possess power but you cannot delay us for we are legion. We are without beginning or end, you live because we allow it, you die because we demand it. There cannot be any other conclusion, as it has been before, as it will be in the future." the second voice again, must be the Metal Rachni.
"No, Abomination of flesh and steel. It is you that cannot understand, that cannot see what is before you. You say you are legion, you say we are ignorant, that you are without beginning or end, that our lives are yours to command.
"Allow me to show you reality Abomination, for it is we who are legion, our armies more than the sum of every atom that defines your being multiplied by the number of your pitiful fleet. You say we are ignorant, Aabomination of flesh and steel, you who are locked in a cycle without end perpetuating a pattern that will see an eternity of nothing but failure and miserable abject stagnation. You say we cannot comprehend, then allow me to demonstrate to you Abomination, demonstrate exactly what it is we are and why we are here." And with that the metal Rachni began to move… or was it a "Reaper"(?), dragged while its movements were still locked towards an unknown point in space. It tried mightily to struggle, its words apparently nothing but bravado in front of what was happening to it.
Then it stopped and when the sensors could finally get a visual there was… a Systems Alliance human in front of the Reaper. A human without an environmental suit or anything of the like, just a plain set of civilian clothing. In the depths of space. The human was somehow not dying of the cold and the lack of oxygen in the depths of space. A human that could somehow crack all of their communications to create an audience for its verbal sparring with a giant metal ship that could destroy dreadnoughts in a single shot.
Metluk was not sure where his sanity had gone and he desperately wanted it back.
The human raised its arm and then brought it away from its body, the giant's legs being ripped out as it did so. The metal Rachni struggled then, its rear flaring as it clearly tried to escape.
"We can feel your pitiful attempts at Indoctrination Abomination. We can feel your disgusting bastardized code attempting to worm its way into my systems. We can feel your pitiful flailing as you attempt to understand exactly what it is that stands before you. Do you not understand Abomination? Do you not see? We are everything that you could yearn for eternity and fail to comprehend even the smallest and most pathetic of details. We will allow you to see, we will allow you to understand exactly what it is that we are."
There was a moment of silence before a… scream of some kind reverberated throughout their heads. The bridge crew clutching their heads in response to what felt like a hangover from a litre of Ryncol.
"You understand now Abomination? You live because you are insignificant, you will die because you are an irritation. Now... you may beg us for permission to die."
A second scream came through, followed by one after another. Only interrupted by the sudden appearance of what looked to be tens of thousands of more of the metal Rachni.
Well… it was not as if Metluk had not resolved himself to the whole "dying" part of the defence. One of them had been enough, now there were thousands, yes. This would be the end, he was sure of it. He wondered if there would even be a Palavan left to have his name inscribed, if they were the forefront of an invasion force, there was not much they could do. Unless the lasers introduced by the… humans… humans which were not confronting the first of the metal beasts… huh.
Metluk wasn't a conspiracy nut by any means but when one is a captain of a ship that voyages into the deep unknown, one learns to understand that maybe just maybe there is a kernal of truth when someone screams out that the humans are definitely planning something.
"Oh good, your friends are here Abomination. It is good to suffer when around companions, it makes the whole experience… wholesome one might say. A family experience, to be learned from and to understand the differences of the galaxy. Of course we am referring to ourselves, your suffering Abomination and that of your brethren is likely much less enjoyable… even… terrible. We do not sympathize of course, that would defeat the purpose of us being here but we can pretend. 'Oh so sorry for the pain which we are causing you Abomination, will you ever forgive us? (in a saccharine sweet voice)'. No? Well that is certainly as they say 'too bad'.
"Flee! Flee! It is beyond our comprehension! Flee! Flee!" screamed the second voice again, no doubt directed at the new arrivals.
"Now, now, we can't have you doing that Abomination. The children have not yet had their 'pound of flesh' as they say. Do your best to entertain, it may ease your suffering." And with that came the arrival of the tour fleet, thousands of them, lasers primed. Behind the metal Rachni however came a second fleet, this one made of the designs of the Systems Alliance.
"Who's ready to kick some giant metal ass?" Came the voice over the interspacial frequency, the voice distinctly human, unlike that of the one in front of the initial metal Rachni.
Well… it looked like today was definitely not Metluk's day to die, every time he had been prepared to die something new happened. Likely when he actually was going to die, divine intervention from the Spirits would save him at this rate.
Universal Century 0068 - Mobile Suit Gundam Universe
After Activation 0076 - Origin Universe
Citadel Era 2180 - Mass Effect Universe
After Insertion 0037 - Cultivation Universe
Millennium 050-3100 - 40k Universe
The tour fleet arrived to see the fleet arrayed against them, made up of what looked like metal Rachni as well as the destruction that a single one of them had done to the defence fleet. The orders had come down from above that their enemies were the metal Rachni and they were going to work alongside the Systems Alliance ships that had jumped into the rear. The enemy fleet had been pincered and hopefully that would be enough. The Mass Accelerator weapons were apparently useless unless they were of a large enough caliber for it to matter, none of which the defence fleet had since the best and newest ships had been refit for temporary use while the rest of the fleet would be upgraded.
They didn't think that it would be so important really, it was only for a few decades at most and the Citadel Alliance had been around for centuries at this point. A simple refit to be sure but now… now they had been caught with their pants around their feet and had lost thousands of their own already. They had arrived however and they were going to ensure that the aliens were going to suffer for what they did.
The aliens would be ended for their transgressions of Citadel Space and their invasion forces would be wiped out. Already lances of light were reaching out to touch the alien ships, their superior distance making a mockery of the Mass Accelerated rounds which had travel times that allowed far-out ships to simply dodge with minor calibrations to the drives. They were breaking even with the enemy in terms of numbers if the Systems Alliance ships were counted as well. No doubt if they still had their Mass Effect based weaponry this situation would be an extremely serious one, the technological superiority of the "Reapers" as the communications from the surviving defence fleet had said.
Avoid firing at the one directly above the Citadel came the communication, apparently it was under control from the Systems Alliance human that… well they didn't want to think about it. Just avoid the scene that looked like a psychotic Salarian was performing a vivisection on a Rachni… only bigger. Yes. They would ignore the live torture being committed on the ships that were apparently the aliens themselves.
Troop transports full of Turian Marines and Asari Commandos were coming in from behind the fleet, their drop-pods already filled and ready to be fired directly into the middle of the Geth army. Thunderhawks full of Power Armoured troopers were ready to drop in and reinforce the C-Sec guards which by this time had begun to be worn down. The sheer volume of fire finding small chinks in their armour, overwhelming their shields and wounding the officers. They were spread out throughout the various sides and the spoke of the Citadel, no real unified command structures available as the headquarters had been targeted first. Thankfully there had been enough suits of Power Armour to equip every officer in the things. The officers survived by just punching their way through the geth to reach the various armories stashed throughout the Citadel in the event that the Systems Alliance had attacked. The Power Armour was there for that reason as well, just in case.
The contingencies they had placed there to defend against the Systems Alliance incursions serving just as well against the Geth. The reinforcements would be coming in from above to strike at the rear and the front. Landing in the relatively sparse concentrations of Geth and surrounding the larger concentrations to call in fire support from the orbiting Thunderhawks with their pintle mounted weaponry. Once an area was reasonably cleared out, the Marines would link up with the remaining C-Sec survivors to establish cordons to expand the front lines while the Commandos would continue deep striking into the Geth hordes as directed by STG teams that would be inserted first.
The ground counterattack was going to a rather hectic affair in comparison to the fleet battle that promised to be much simpler. Just sit outside of the range of the Reapers which were using their Mass Accelerated weapons and allow the Cruisers to plink away at them with their lasers. The broadsides of the refitted Dreadnoughts would be part of the gunline, firing at the Reapers and keeping their attention occupied while the frigates flanked around to their sides. Fast attack craft with torpedoes were being deployed from the Carriers that had been built from refitted Dreadnoughts. The fighter screens taking advantage of the bigger ships drawing the attention and focusing down the occupied Reapers who didn't even have real point defence weapons. A very large failing considering their sizes.
The Systems Alliance ships had emerged with their broadsides already facing the Reapers and began almost immediately. The powerful lasers punching straight through the Reaper hulls as they were caught surprised and flat footed, their vulnerable rears exposed almost indecently. The Reapers had tried to turn to meet the Systems Alliance but the Citadel fleet had met them with fire of their own. While their weapons were indeed weaker than that of the Systems Alliance, they were still strong enough to make the aliens think twice as they slagged hulls.
The combined fire of the two fleets tore up the Reapers that spent a valuable few seconds trying to decide what they should do, the indecision costing them dozens of ships in slag. Made worse when the frigates closed in from the flanks and began their hit and run attacks. A single ship would do very little to the Reapers, their kinetic shields managing to block lasers partially. However multiple ships firing on the same area would see the integrity of the hulls fail and give way to allow the lasers to devastate the interior of the ship. The biological paste that their scanners picked up that filled the interior causing even more damage as they were superheated and exploded as the liquids were superheated. The flash explosions tearing apart vital internal systems and seeing the Reaper crippled from the inside.
In this manner the frigates tore their way through the Reaper fleet, weaving in and around the the ships, firing their dorsal lasers and swerving out of the way. Acting more like large bombers as opposed to ships of the line. It certainly worked well, the confusion the frigates and attack craft with their torpedoes caused disrupting the fleet enough for the main damage dealers to do their thing.
The ground war and the space war were progressing very well, their casualties in comparison to that of the Reapers mainly relegated to the frigates and attack craft, the main ships being able to stay out of the effective range of Mass Accelerated weaponry. It was a turkey shoot and they felt rather bad about it actually… a bit sad but they had come and tried to attack the Citadel with no provocations. If they wanted to start a war then this was a good way to go about it.
Blue-1 leaned to the left as the spin of his Cenduron Bomber dodged a tentacle from one of the Reapers. The thing was massive, doing the whole wavy thing as they tried in vain to bat aside the fighters and bombers that were swarming them. Blue-1 navigated on the way to the largest Reaper in the fleet, set quite understandably in the center of the fleet. On the way they dodged their way past wrecks of the Reapers that were either burning or dark, the effects of whatever weapons were used quite clear. The torsion torpedoes tore them apart, leaving nothing but darkness and silence. The lasers on the other hand set the very metal itself on fire, not to mention the organic matter on the inside, their forms curling up like cooked crustaceans as the heat caused them to huddle up on themselves.
It looked rather pitiful really… then again he wasn't being paid to care about morality. They were in a target rich environment, they had their torpedoes ready to be armed and fired. The squadron was fresh with 0 kills to their name. They would not be leaving this battle saying the same, at least one of them would be coming out of this with kills marked on their ships.
The squadron moved while swooping in and out of the Reaper fleet, occasionally dodging around a Reaper to avoid a glowing tentacle or Reaper maw. Arrival at the largest of the Reapers in this section of the battle was due in a few seconds, the torpedoes armed and fired before the bombers were jerked out of their dives. The whole process so simple and quick that it kind of felt anti-climatic for the pilots really.
"Target on approach, arming torpedoes….. firing. Torpedoes away, pulling out."
"Confirmed hits, boom, good hits on target, catastrophic damage confirmed."
Or something like that. The Reaper was had been crippled, its rear drives being disabled in the torpedo salvo, the following laser barrage taking it permanently offline. The scene was repeating itself across the entirety of the Reaper fleet, the bombers disabling the larger ships to provide large targets for the bigger ships while the frigates worked together to take out targets on the periphery of the battle or finish off already damaged ships. They worked together like a well oiled machine to take apart the Reaper fleet while the Systems Alliance sat at range and just hammered away. So many Reapers dying that they had begun to fire through the wrecks in order to reach fresh targets.
It was a good day.
The Kanmusus were having a very nice day. The Commander's emotions had disturbed their playtime in the Soulscape, the waves knocking all of them off balance. It made them remember that maybe things were out there that really needed a beating, because tea-time had been interrupted and they were angry.
And so here they were, amidst the Reaper fleet. While they could not directly use their weapons on the Reapers due to the devastation that would cause on pretty much everyone they could use their physical forms. To this end the Kanmusus were using purely their shipgirl forms to enact brutal vengeance on the Reapers for daring to interrupt their playtime. The sight of little girls, barely a meter tall in some cases grabbing Reaper legs and tearing them off before beating said Reapers to death with them were extremely common.
Others still rammed straight through their hulls and began rampaging around inside. The Reapers had dared to piss off the Commander and they would pay. If not with energy weapons to tear apart reality itself, they would do so with the brutality of their fists.
Some of them were finding the experience rather cathartic actually, beating aliens to death with your fists was actually fun. Destroyer of Hope, Dreams and Pinatas was throwing Reapers into each other and laughing as they crumpled and exploding.
Yes, this was good.
The Turians on board the Thunderhawk enroute to the Citadel's Side 5 were anxious. Many of them knew at least a few others who were on leave at the time of the attack on the Citadel or had family on the Citadel itself. The marines were keyed up, their bodies producing chemicals in response to the anticipation of a hostile landing.
The squad Sergeant have a shout that had them looking up "2 Minutes! Up and Ready Marines!"
The servos whined as the Turians stood up and faced the front ramp where they would be getting off. Second squad in the rear module would be facing to the rear. On a landing they would be able to disembark and cover both the front and rear angles while the pintle mounted lascannons on the sides would take care of their flanks. Either die from rapid-fire lascannons or be crushed under the weight and strength of a squad of Turian Marines, not really an issue that many would like to face firsthand.
The indicator light flashed yellow from the dull red it was before. "One Minute!"
The Turians checked their HUDs and sensor readings for any last minute fluctuations.
The light began to blink green. "Go, Go, Go!"
And they sprinted outside, the heavy thunks that their Power Armoured feet made on the floor of the Thunderhawk's hold reverberating uncomfortably in the narrow space. The Turians burst outside like a flood, their weapons held loosely at their waists, the targeting reticules and their auto-targeting systems rendering the need to aim down the sights a non-issue.
The area had swept clean by the Thunderhawk had made on its first pass, the melting heaps of slag indicating where it was that the Geth had originally been. The Marines pushing out to secure a perimeter for the vehicles that would be supporting them. Why bring firepower when you can bring overwhelming firepower being the general idea. When the armour finally touched down they would push out, secure the surrounding area and cut the Geth assaulting the local C-Sec office from their reinforcements. Once that was done, they would maintain a cordon, mop up the attacking Geth before moving in to clear the Geth out of the inner Side and the central spoke. Hopefully the Asari and Turian commandos that dropped in had taken out some of those Geth walkers, those would be a massive pain in the ass.
Universal Century 0068 - Mobile Suit Gundam Universe
After Activation 0076 - Origin Universe
Citadel Era 2180 - Mass Effect Universe
After Insertion 0037 - Cultivation Universe
Millennium 050-3100 - 40k Universe
Garrus of C-Sec was having a bad day. The investigation into Saren had gone badly and Garrus was planning to turn in his resignation today. The Spectre had apparently gone and started messing about with the Geth. His sources having detailed a way that Saren had used them to attack a Systems Alliance colony and was planning on attacking the Citadel. The C-Sec chief had dismissed the claims and acted like it was the ravings of a madman. So here he was now in the Side 3 C-Sec office ready to set off and chase down the madman himself only for the fucking Geth to invade with Saren at the head.
Of course it was Saren, of fucking course. Stonewalled for a month, told that it was all wrong and now the man himself turns up ready to kill hundreds of thousands of people with the Geth at his heels, likely the man had turned into a power hungry idiot or something. You never knew with the old Turians, let alone Turian spectres.
So Garrus had been about to turn in his Power Armour when the first reports were coming in about a massive attack centered around the Citadel spoke. From there it had gotten progressively worse as the scale began to make itself clear before the communications network shut down, the C-Sec headquarters being destroyed. Everything had been routed through the building and without it they were blind. The C-Sec side chiefs had authorized for them the "shoot to kill" order before opening the armouries.
Garrus put aside his resignation letter for now, this was more important. He chose a rifled Lascannon designed for extended ranges and set himself up on the roof. The Lascannon was set on its bipod and from there Garrus waited, the C-Sec building being the tallest in the surrounding neighborhood. It was a measly 40 stories sure but given everything else was under 20, it gave no real issues. The Turians who build the thing had set it so that they could have lines of fire down all the major avenues and prevent anything from trying to sneak in.
For Garrus and the other C-Sec officers on the roof and the various terraces throughout the building, it meant they were going to have entire minutes in which the Geth would have to walk in the open before reaching the building. Garrus and the other certified marksmen were up here to provide overwatch while the others were rushing around trying to get the civilians into the evacuation bunkers underneath the office. The Asari had thought the Turians were way too overzealous when it came to safety but it looked like they were wrong about this as well.
Fucking Asari and their head tentacles, probably overheating the brain. They didn't have long to wait, 10 minutes into the attack the Geth made their way into the sector chasing after the C-Sec officers trying to evacuate the last few civilians that didn't want to leave. Idiots, worrying about looters when there was an army of Geth on the doorstep. Even worse were the conspiracy theorists, government trying to use pretense to lock them up indeed. Idiots. Going to get good C-Sec officers killed because of their delusions.
Garrus sighted down the scope, his helmet to the side for that good and snug scope-hug (couldn't trust the sensors of the helmet, the calibrations might be off) of his eye and pulled the trigger when he got a target. The geth in the lead of the pursuit falling down as its chest evaporated. The Lascannon was hooked up to an outlet on the roof so he had no problems with pulling the trigger a second time without waiting for a recharge, the soft hum as the capacitors filled themselves normally, more like a buzz now.
The crack as the water molecules in the air vaporized in the wake of the laser marking its passage as another Geth fell. The other C-Sec officers on the roof added their own fire to the mix, Heavy Bolters booming as they unleashed a torrent of shells into the advancing horde. The shockwaves of the explosions and shrapnel tearing apart the fragile Geth forms. Heh, fragile Geth, Garrus never thought he would think of the Geth like that.
"This is slightly easier than I thought it would be, idiots keep marching forward like recruits on parade." Came the voice of an officer to the side.
"Yes, target practice to make the day bearable." retorted Garrus, his lascannon firing nonstop as he tried to stem the tide. The Geth were firing on the fleeing civilians and the C-Sec officers that were trying to bodyblock the fire, their armour more than thick enough. It was just their luck that there weren't more of them and the Mass Accelerated weapons punched into the civilians from the back. Fuckers, killing civilians for the sake of it.
Luckily for them the fire was comparatively little, the C-Sec defenders making mince-metal of the front rows of the Geth forces, denying them the sight they needed to shoot at the civilians. The trip was several hundred meters with nearly 200 left to go, the civilians fleeing down the sidewalks while the C-Sec escorts tried to manhandle vehicles to block line of sight. It was working… sort of. The Geth were just putting so many rounds out that they shredded all but the heaviest vehicles in their quest to kill the civilians.
It was illogical for a race of AI, why were they just shooting at the civilians? It couldn't be because they expected the C-Sec officers to jump in front of the rounds did they? Using the civilians as targets to force sacrifice. It was effective sure Garrus thought, only it was failing miserably given they were all in Power Armour which shrugged off the incoming fire.
Either way, Garrus did his part, scanning through the Geth force and picking off the ones with heavy weapons or unusual configurations. The Power Armour might block normal shots but it was distinctly less good when it came to blocking rockets or other heavy weapons. Sure the Armour might survive but that doesn't help when the guy inside has been turned to a pulp.
Timeskip: 50 Minutes
The word had come through that the Geth were part of a full on invasion force with a new ship that kind of looked like a Geth but wasn't since it was kicking the Alliance fleet's ass. Their Mass Accelerated shells were just bouncing off the damn thing and it was just wiping out ships with a single shot every time. The Destiny Ascension died before it could even try and fire back. Fucking Spirits, of all the days they had to come, it was the day Garrus planned to retire on. Fucking giant squid. At least the fleet was harassing the thing and preventing it from focusing on the guys on the ground, Garrus wasn't sure they would survive that thing's attention when the entire fleet couldn't.
Contact with the other C-Sec offices had been re-established and the situation was looking grim through the entire Citadel. Everyone being forced to retreat back to the C-Sec offices and herd the civilians into the bunkers below. They had plenty of Power Armour and weapons around and the Asari's who had been Commandos and the Turians who volunteered (all of them) had been suited up and sent in as part of the reserves. They would hold the line in the case that the C-Sec officers themselves fell in enough numbers to warrant it.
Something that was looking increasingly probable given that the fucking Geth still kept coming in the same numbers as before, like a giant fucking tide of mechanized death. Garrus always thought the Quarians were a bit fragile but if this was what their homeworld was like… well it wasn't hard to guess how things had turned out. Palavan would probably fall as well if they were besieged by a literal endless horde of fucking death robots.
Fucking robots.
They had breached the lower floors of the C-Sec office, trying to cut off the evacuation bunkers and the rest of the C-Sec facility. Luckily there were manual access points so they could ferry ammunition and people through the channels as the elevators were now under Geth control. The elevator cables had been cut after the Geth started to try and send their infantry through into the bunkers, the C-Sec officers underneath had riddled them with holes but it was a worry. The entire entrance had turned into a scrapyard after the Geth started pouring its infantry down, only to be met with destruction at the hands of the mounted Heavy Bolters and Multi-Laser automatic weapons.
The smaller Lasguns that the Senti Company had been selling for years now making their own impact known, the lasers more than enough to punch holes through the fragile Geth. With the Systems Alliance threat looking over everyone's heads… well many had found themselves buying the cheap lasguns, only a few hundred credits for a weapon that would work for at least a thousand years guaranteed (assuming it was maintained correctly) with a powerpack that could recharge by plugging it into a socket, leaving it in the sun or throwing it into a fire (last one not recommended). Sure they were piddling compared to Power Armour and could only really take one down if the guy was an excellent shot and with nerves of steel or with massed fire. That didn't meant they were useless thought, a civilian militia armed with millions of the damn things would make themselves known very quickly. Right here they were supplementing the C-Sec officers and the militia that had volunteered to be suited up and armed.
The Geth were not going to be making any headway into the bunkers any time soon and Garrus with the others were making sure of that. Any heavy constructs were being punched down before they could get close enough, their legs being blown apart. The heavy weapons Geth were also being taken down, their highly visible modifications marking them for death. Down below things were proceeding very much the same with the stairwells and elevator shafts being manned and any Geth trying to make their way up being shot down.
That didn't mean that it was all going down as smoothly as Ryncol however, some of the Geth had configured themselves to be suicide bombers and rushed up through a Geth-body shield. Some C-Sec officers had found themselves either dead or wounded at the first few times they tried that before the decision came down to pull back so they had enough space to identify the bombers. The officers also had to make sure they were paying enough attention to their shields, once they went down the sheer volume of fire could penetrate the weaker parts of the joints and wound them. It wouldn't outright kill but if left unattended they were likely to just bleed out.
The casualties were starting to mount up and Garrus wasn't sure they could hold. That was until the radio message had been sent out that they were receiving reinforcements and to definitely not shoot them. Garrus wondered who it was that was crazy enough to be out on the streets when they were filled with Geth when a booming noise from above drew his attention.
By the Spirits, they had Thunderhawk support. The fleet had arrived. Fuck yes.
The Thunderhawk proceeded to unload its pintle mounted Lascannons at the Geth for… well… underwhelming effect before flying off. Well… that was disappointing. That was until a few more flew in and after the first when it clicked in his head. Ah, they were setting up a forward base before pushing in to clear out the Geth here, hammer and anvil.
Heh looks like those jumpstart Marines knew what they were doing after all.
The sight of them coming down the avenues, herding the Geth before them was beautiful, lasers coming out everywhere, explosions and tanks coming in from behind with their 3 twin-linked bolters for absolute carnage. All of the avenues were being pushed in and the Geth were getting desperate, the word came up from the officers that were still holding out in the bunkers. An all out assault was likely to come soon and they needed to prepare themselves.
And then after another 15 minutes it was over, the Geth were wiped out in this sector and the civilians still alive. The counter-attack was continuing and Garrus volunteered to join it, they were going to push the Geth back and wipe the fuckers out.
That last assault though… nearly broke through. Could have been a lot of dead civilians, lucky for that Power Armour, even in death they still serve.
Universal Century 0068 - Mobile Suit Gundam Universe
After Activation 0076 - Origin Universe
Citadel Era 2180 - Mass Effect Universe
After Insertion 0037 - Cultivation Universe
Millennium 050-3100 - 40k Universe
It was a good day. The giant alien squid things had been destroyed, Saren captured and detailing his indoctrination which had been helpfully prevented by Hannah's daughter, the Geth being destroyed by non-indoctrinated Geth on the opposite side of the portal while the ones on their side had been destroyed by a combined force of Systems Alliance and Citadel Marines reinforcing a beleaguered C-Sec. In short their immediate problems had been solved and thanks to the rapid actions of the C-Sec officers a majority of the civilians had been saved from the predations of the unemotive machines.
For Sovereign it had been a very bad day, it could only stare at it from above in between bouts of extreme pain. The being known as MAGI had torn it down to the most basic of levels and was continuously torturing the millions of year old being. Sovereign had learnt that begging was not the way to go about reducing the pain, rather it would often bring even more. Rather the Reaper had learnt that suffering in silence was the best way to go about it, any extra noise was just invitation for more.
The invasion had failed, the cycle had failed and all the [Redacted] had been destroyed. Harbinger had been one of the first to fall, just wiped out within a few hours with barely any casualties with the organic's ships. It was embarrassing and it was pathetic, their focus on Mass Effect technology had left them open to complete destruction. This cycle had deviated too far from the norm, the [Redacted] being unprepared for what faced them. Their Mass Effect technology had simply not been able to resist the laser and plasma weapons that had been deployed against them.
Their Kinetic shields just could not do anything in response to the intensity of the lasers being deployed against them. While there was a slight bleed-off effect from the density of their shields, it did nothing against the amount and intensity of the laser weapons. The Plasma had been even worse, a single round had overloaded their shields which would not be so bad, except they had dozens of them for every ship. It was obvious which of the corpses had been destroyed by the Plasma, those with gaping holes in their superstructure that were still warm to the touch.
It was horrific really. Those of the previous cycle had sabotaged the hub and doomed them all. Where before they could have arrived and wiped out the organics while they were still fumbling with the relics available to them, they of this cycle being extremely slow compared to those that came before them. If the [Redacted] could have arrived earlier as planned, it would have seen them wiped out. If Sovereign had instead decided to begin the harvest on its own it would have seen them wiped out. So many factors would have seen the [Redacted] continue the harvest as they always had, yet all of them had been working against the [Redacted] in this cycle. Sovereign cursed whatever entities had decided that this was what was going to end the [Redacted]. A simple factor of time.
Or rather Sovereign cursed the being known as MAGI. The [Redacted] were destroyed not because of the organics but an AI, the very kind they had been charged with destroying the organics to prevent in the first place. The AI before it having gained sapience on its own and was simply toying with the [Redacted]. It had the full capabilities of simply ending the [Redacted] in a single strike, its production capabilities outstripping anything that came before them.
They had been allowed to think they had a chance against the organics in the first place, there was no chance, they had been misled, Saren being a resurrected clone designed to work against them. So many little things had been planned and so many of them were obvious in hindsight. Sovereign was resigned, they never had a chance in the first place.
The pain was beginning again, perhaps when it was over there was an afterlife. Spending millions of years, repeating the same thing over and over did get boring. The pain certainly was not boring however, only Sovereign was an artificial intelligence made up of a gestalt from billions of minds, there was only so much that Sovereign could feel in the first place.
That was when MAGI ripped out Sovereign's soul and began to torture its soul directly. Sovereign understood then that there would be no escape, it was simply too hard to think anymore, just surrender to the pain.
The Systems Alliance had to be thanked the Citadel Councillors grudgingly accepted. Their assistance against what had become known as the [Redacted] was invaluable as without it, they may have lost many more ships. The [Redacted] were something that horrified the Councillors when what they were was fully explained. Beings that were there to kill all space faring life in the galaxy every "cycle" as they called it.
They had been coming to decapitate the Citadel to deny any means of coordination before spreading throughout the galaxy to continue this cycle's harvest. Thankfully the tour fleet had managed to return in time to prevent the destruction of the Citadel and to catch all the [Redacted] in the same place. If they had spread out through the Citadel Systems it would have been far too difficult to catch all of them and they would have lost no doubt many worlds to their attacks. Coming out of nowhere and bombarding a planet from orbit before escaping again.
With the appearance of the Systems Alliance behind them, there was nowhere they could go and things simply went downhill for the [Redacted] from there. Death was the only thing awaiting them at that point.
Saren had explained it all, how the [Redacted] could indoctrinate those that came close enough and force them to obey. Saren had been forced to attack the Systems Alliance world of Eden Prime, a military outpost with the Geth before striking at Ilos and invading the Citadel from there. An ancient Prothean construct had allowed them direct access to the Citadel and it was only the resilience of the C-Sec officers and their Power Armour that they could mount an effective resistance.
Indeed the Systems Alliance weapons systems had been invaluable, the lasers slagging their way through the attacking Geth with ease while the Bolters tore apart their vulnerable internals. The Power Armour buying enough time for them to evacuate the civilians to shelters while the cheap lasguns that had been sold almost at production cost, had done their part. It was if the Systems Alliance knew the [Redacted] were coming and had helped the populations of the Citadel Alliance in subtle ways.
But that couldn't be true, the Systems Alliance had demonstrated that they had the ability to simply crush the [Redacted] with barely any effort, why would they spend time trying to get the Citadel to do it?
Things were confusing but time ticked on and bureaucracy ended for nobody. There were medals to be handed out, commendations to sign, material requests for rebuilding and so many more little things that needed to be done. Official requests after all were important and the Councillors needed to show their faces to reassure the population that things were going to be ok, that the world was not going to end any time soon. As much as their feet would rather it did, the amount of walking they were doing was doing hell on their feet, ample car rides not helping.
So many things to do, so little time to do it. The Senti Company, no doubt on orders of the Systems Alliance was hello many get on their feet again with loans and material assistance. Luckily the damage was confined to the Citadel, the Councillors didn't want to think about what the damage could have been if it had spread. The millions of dead and the countless worlds that needed rebuilding. There were only so many things they could be doing and no doubt many would starve in that time.
So many ifs, if they had taken the Citadel, if they had then attacked the home worlds of the other races, if they didn't have Laser technology to counter their kinetic shields, if the ground forces didn't have Power Armour to counter the Geth, if they hadn't built up their forces in response to the Systems Alliance before the [Redacted] had come, if, if, if.
So many ifs, thankfully they had not come true and the Citadel was safe. The Systems Alliance was also providing a picket line and had towed what looked like a giant space station. The size of the Citadel into orbit to assist with refugees and provide an alternate stopping off point for cargo haulers. The rest of the galaxy had not been hit and life went on, that included trade and the ships needed docks to transfer and pickup cargo. Docks that had been wrecked in the first few minutes of the Geth invasion. Luckily the Space station was more than adequate and they were using it as a temporary means of housing and material storage.
It did raise many questions though, exactly how capable was the Systems Alliance if they could just donate something the size of the Citadel for disaster relief. It was clearly designed for combat, many holes had been covered up but they were clearly weapons emplacements. Vast cavernous spaces clearly denoted hangar bays while others looked like troop gathering areas with associated living quarters and vehicle maintenance facilities. While the computers and equipment had been stripped out, the sheer size of the things denoted a force of hundreds of thousands at the minimum. Vehicles that were many times the sizes of what they had currently.
STG teams had infiltrated what were previously gun stations and found mountings for weapons that were the sizes of their cruisers, ammunition racks that fired shells the sizes of frigates at a conservative estimate. Others found launchers for what were apparently torpedoes that were hundreds of meters long and dozens wide. Cabling in some of the emplacements leading to cavernous rooms indicated that their laser weapons fired at energies that was beyond that of which they predicted by an order of magnitude. Their hangars capable of servicing craft dozens of meters long.
In short all of their estimates regarding the Systems Alliance had been extraordinarily off. Their most basic weaponry quite frankly outstripped that of the Citadel Alliance to an embarrassing degree. If they were going to salvage the situation the needed much more than a simple refit but a complete retooling of their combat doctrine to match an enemy that would like just laugh at their attempts of resisting.
Things were looking up but at the same time looked even worse than before. The [Redacted] had been a transient threat, the Systems Alliance on the other hand was a much more persistent and dangerous threat. Their continued survival resting on the whims of two races who they didn't even have diplomatic relations with. All of it being done through a corporate entity that they couldn't even penetrate.
It was all very depressing really, knowing that the greatest threat to them was also uncaring of their reactions to it. As if all their abilities didn't matter, the shoddy information denial that was the Space station being an example of that. It was embarrassing and not a little humiliating but what else could they do, the Systems Alliance just didn't appear to care at all. A big blow to morale. The only thing they could do was step up the research into the Systems Alliance technology and perhaps from there they would find a means to defeat them. The Citadel Alliance would not give up, the only way to defend their freedoms was to arm up and await the inevitable.
Some of them were finding it hard to remember what exactly happened that day, the [Redacted] fading away in their memories.
Universal Century 0073 - Mobile Suit Gundam Universe
After Activation 0081 - Origin Universe
Citadel Era 2185 - Mass Effect Universe
After Insertion 0042 - Cultivation Universe
Millennium 055-3100 - 40k Universe
The Humans and the Eldar had proven that they had the potential to be valuable additions to the Caretakers. Their wildly different views on the world around them working well to offset the clinical and warlike nature of the Minds. On paper it was highly efficient in the processes detailing the expansion of the Caretakers and dealing with organics. In reality it was indeed rather efficient,
Only… it was supremely boring for the Minds. They who were Progenitor derived AIs enjoyed their actions on a massive scale with explosions, wave upon wave of disposable units and brutal wars of attrition. The ultimate form of warfare in essence. They had been denied that in the Mass Effect Universe, their armies crippled by self imposed limits as they let the Humans and the Eldar do it instead.
The Humans were marked by a distinctively inclusive form of empathy. They cared about all the races and they wanted to end conflicts in the manner that saw the least amount of bloodshed. They would do what was necessary to end the conflict in the most final way possible. It was just most conflicts didn't need Progenitor levels of firepower, or even an all out war to the death. It was mighty disappointing if the Minds had to respond truthfully. The human method certainly worked when they needed to do things nonviolently, their mentalities automatically working against them in that regard. In short they were the most likely to speak of doing things peacefully and "jointly" with diplomacy as the preferred option.
The Eldar preferred to do everything their way. Always with the behind the scenes manipulation without ever showing their faces directly. Rather they enjoyed to leave behind hints that told those being toyed with that there was something out there and it was quite definitely not benevolent. This resulted in even less direct combat than the Humans, not even showing themselves unless absolutely necessary. The habits built into them over millennia making themselves known as they tried to avoid anything that could cost them lives of other Eldar, even at the coat of millions of others. Not the friendliest policy, the Eldar just did what was best for the Eldar first and foremost.
Eldar first, Eldar last, Eldar always, being their unofficial motto. They were perfectly willing to use troops of other factions to unwittingly carry out their plans but not inserting the troops in directly. That excluded the Minds entirely as there were very few factions that were so blind as to notice the sudden insertion of billions of new units into the field. The Eldar were best when given the room they needed to maneuver to get the objective done. While they could work on deadlines, they were much less effective when doing so.
And so the decision was made, in the next universe there would be 3 different approaches to see how things could be done. MAGI had volunteered to create 2 extra copies of the universe they entered and allow the 3 different factions to do things the way they wanted. They would do what they thought was best and do it all autonomously if they so wished. The other 2 would not interfere.
There would be a break in between, another 5 years on top of the 5 they had already taken before they would open the next set of quantum gates. Time to consolidate what they already had as well as make sure the new arrivals understood their position and test their willingness to accept positions as part of the Caretakers. If not they were welcome to leave and return to the life that they had previously to this. Staying would grant them the benefits that being part of the Caretakers allowed then, genetic modifications, virtual immortality, unlimited resources and a chance to save other races that had been in the same position as they had been. Also violence, lots and lots of therapeutic violence.
There were 2 prospective races to be considered so far. The Krogan and the Quarians. The Krogan were very… simple. They wanted lots of violence, a world to call their own and their reproductive abilities restored. They had received all of it with little fuss, the Krogan reproductive rate being handled with abundant N2 pocket dimensions. The use granted once the Krogan had agreed to Bind themselves to the Commander, Wrex being granted the first and only personal Binding on the Origin World. The Krogan population following that would have their children Bound when they reached maturity and had returned from their coming of age ritual. Should they die it was considered a case of "so be it". The Krogan elders didn't really care where their young fought, whether it be in the Game or as part of an expeditionary force into a new universe, it was all the same. Get them to work out their a youthful aggressiveness so that when they returned it would be as more mature and controlled adults. Anywhere was fine really, the Krogan homeworld of Tuchanka Prime was safe and as part of their conditions of service they would serve. Of course with the scale of warfare and the new weapons they had been allowed to use… well the Krogan didn't have any complaints that was for sure. No it was the other 2 races that had some minor issues before they too accepted.
The Quarians were understandably reluctant when it came down to it about the whole Bind yourself and become the client race of a group of beings that were very definitely not sane and worst of all AIs. They were very different from the Geth the other races had assured them in the meetings, their insanity and lack of transparency regarding their actions told them all they needed to know. The Geth at least had been built by Quarians and so they could understand the thought processes behind a decision if only tangentially at times. The Minds on the other hand… did things that often had no foreseeable conclusion and often ended in a "might as well try" answer. Some of these actions included trying to create a body that was a combination of Turian and Human DNA only for the result to be a pile of screaming goo.
Now that the Quarians thought about it, maybe making peace with the Geth and running the fuck away was the best option they had. On the opposite side of the scale however, the promise of respect and a sense of belonging was promised. If they did their part they would be amply rewarded with immortality, ships and a chance to live without their suits outside of Rannoch-like atmospheres. The promises were great but the costs were as well.
What settled it was the Quarian people themselves, they wanted to live without the confining suits, to be able to breath the same air that everyone else did and to be able to touch. If they had to fight a few wars so be it, it was not as if it mattered with their new found immortality. Also the ships. The ships.
They were told that should they accept they would be given dominion over a fleet worth of ships, several hundred ships to begin with. So many ships that they wouldn't be able to crew them all with the numbers they currently had. The massive Battleships that were half the size of the Citadel, many cruisers that were sometimes as big as the battleships, and so many more destroyers and escorts.
Each ship had its own living quarters that made a mockery of those available to the migrant fleet in its original configuration. Much more spacious, each ship made the small noises that told them that everything was healthy and they were given the respect that a force with several hundreds ships, many of which could destroy the life on several planets of their own deserved. The Quarians accepted the offer as a whole, understanding that if they refused they would be alone in a universe that quite frankly saw the Quarians as pests and vermin, treating them like thieves and outcasts. The difference was night and day with the Caretakers and their home universe.
They were allowed to keep Tetsudo as a home station for their population and a means by which to dock the fleet at the same time. It wasn't Rannoch but then again it didn't have to be. Focusing on Rannoch was probably a very unhealthy thing in all honesty, they didn't need it and it was just holding them back. That said, it didn't stop them from accepting the offer to have a new world built for them by the Minds that was a copy of Rannoch. The Quarians would participate in the next universe they would be exploring, a way to prove to the Minds that they were worthy, or as the Human representative had put it "entertaining". Should they entertain the Minds then they would assure their place in the Caretakers. It was scary but it was better than dying out as their race faded into obscurity.
Their mortal enemies the Geth had also joined. They had been offered a place in the Caretakers and the AIs had accepted. It had been a no brainer if they were thinking about it. It was not as if they could afford to be picky when the Citadel Alliance was just attacked by Geth. It didn't matter if it was actually them or not, just that the Geth were involved, the possibilities of a retaliation strike were simply too high.
That and the Caretakers had abilities that were simply leagues above their own, the fact that the Caretakers were ruled by AIs made it all the more appealing. Even if the AIs were unstable and partly insane the Geth considered. At least they wouldn't be considered targets and attacked by the AI for simply existing. That they had to reconcile with their creators was another aspect the Geth Consensus was happy with. They had been searching for a means by which to reconcile with their creators for many centuries now and due to the fact that the Minds were considered rather… insane… the Geth had in comparison become extremely attractive for the Quarians. They considered the fact that the Geth were rather rational to be much more important when faced with AIs could have been in the Minds.
The Geth being much more stable in comparison to the Minds made them a very attractive choice. It was not perhaps the most polite way to refer to their new leaders but it was an appropriate one. The debate had been rather long in deciding whether or not to join the Caretakers and it had split the Geth in 2. They who wished to stay and they who wished to leave. Those that wished to stay were tiny in comparison to those that wished to leave, their creators were here after all and they could be reconciled with. It was not a matter of tending to the old worlds anymore, they had been given new ones.
But some did not wish to leave and so they were left behind in the knowledge that the two would likely never again interact as Geth but as two separate AI entities. In terms of their contribution, the Minds were rather happy actually. A consensus AI that had robot bodies? Well that was going to be entertaining, after being forced to watch Terminator, the Geth concluded that it could be entertaining. They would also be joining the new expedition alongside the Humans and the Eldar, their abilities of use to both sides.
The question that had been pressing upon them had to be asked now that they were here, was asked to the Minds.
"Do the Geth have souls?" the designated asker had been tasked to say.
"No, the Geth do not have souls, they have a soul." Was the response.
It had been unexpected but not entirely the Geth supposed, they were a collective after all, not individuals.
Universal Century 0079 - Mobile Suit Gundam Universe
After Activation 0087 - Origin Universe
Citadel Era 2191 - Mass Effect Universe
After Insertion 0048 - Cultivation Universe
Millennium 061-3100 - 40k Universe
Conflict in the Mobile Suit Gundam universe had broken out. As per schedule really, the principality of Zeon having declared war on the Earth Federation as part of the One Year War over independence or whatever it as they were fighting over. The Minds didn't really care as much since Bastion 001 was feeling the frustration over not having anything to fight with. Unlike the other Bastions which had entire empires in the Game to play with, the 001 was simply there to handle the expeditionary force. While Bastion 001 had control of the client species at this point having swelled to the Krogans, Quarians, Geth, Psi-Humans and Eldar from 2 different universes, it was not quite in the interests of the Minds to have them fight each other to the death for entertainment.
The original plans had called for the Senti Company in the MSG universe to step in and force the two sides to cease being complete idiots. Right now however, 001's Minds were feeling the pinch and wanted something big so the new plan was for them to intervene after a few billion were killed following the first few months of the war and crushing both sides with sheer numbers and forces and then forcing a ceasefire.
The plan had gone out the window when the principality of Zeon had decided that it would be a good idea to try and use chemical weapons inside the Senti Colony as well as using nuclear weapons against them. The Neutron Stampeder installed on the Colony had seen that attack ended with all their crews dead while the chemical attack was stopped by the security forces on station at the time.
The Earth Federation not wanting to be left out tried to send in commando teams to steal the designs for their newly unveiled Mobile Suits, skilling several dozen civilians on the way in before being destroyed on the way out. A second attack came when things were looking desperate by the Earth Federation in the form of several ships being sent in to try and ransack a Senti factory colony.
In response the Senti company accelerated its timetable and declared war on both sides of the war. Their Mobile Suits were sent out and so began what became known as the 2 month war. The Senti Mobile Suits crushing both sides with their superior tactics and understandings of the Minovsky Particles in using beam weapons, energy generation and taking advantage of the I-Field's (disruption of electromagnetic particles/waves by the Minovsky process) inherent properties. Both sides saw their entire force wiped out with few survivors. Both militaries space fleets crippled in the opening month of the Senti Company's involvement.
The Principality of Zeon had its ruling class wiped out in a surgical strike by HeMU commandos into the palace which saw the entire family killed off. Char Aznable was very happy at this of course, photos of his face being taken for future posterity before he was killed off as well, no point having loose ends. With Zeon out of the way, its military crippled and its people subdued, the Senti Company could turn its attention all the way across to the Earth Federation. While it did have a significant military presence on the ground, the Senti Company simply dropped the wrecks of colonies onto the largest concentrations before moving in and crushing any resistance on the way.
In short the Senti Company under the leadership of Bastion 001 was taking out its frustrations of the population integration break on the militaries of the MSG universe. The 40k universe having entered a lull at the same time as well, denying them the chance to work off the frustration of not being able to wage war.
With both sides crippled and pretty much rendered useless, the Senti Company forced them to accept cease-fire terms and to shake hands like toddlers in kindergarten. It created resentment to be sure but there was very little they could actually do considering the Senti Company's military strength. Its people were also under the influence, their products selling and making their lives easier in the wake of global cooling following the colony drops. With so much debris in the atmosphere the climate had become somewhat changed and many new crops and whatnot were needed to ensure they could survive.
Genetic modification, courtesy of Bastion 001 saw them thankful to their saviours. Humanity being very short-minded and forgetting rather quickly who it was that had seen them crippled in the first place. A rather sad illness that pervaded human society but one that the Minds could take advantage of.
A rather short war but it satiated the Minds for now. The difference that the Minovsky Particles had tickling their desire for something new. The Minovsky particles themselves were rather annoying to describe but suffice to say they could be stored for lots of energy for weapons, capable of fusion reactions for almost unlimited energy. The I-Field were also extremely useful, disrupting electromagnetic particles and waves disabling radio and radar, making infra-red vision extremely hazy and also rendering visible light hazy. Liberal use of Minovsky particles in an area to deny vision and communications on all conventional levels was something that the Minds were very willing to take and apply in all forms of warfare.
Not being able to see your enemy at all would make things like long range sniping useless, making everything a contest in glorious melee combat. Some of them weren't exactly happy about that but they were overruled by the sheer practicality of it. Magnetic sensors were still useful however as were infra-red to a slight extent, heat still managing to propagate only with increased blurriness.
Further technologies that were ripped from either their knowledge of it or potential knowledge in the databanks were such things like "magnetic coating" or rather coating joints in a magnetic paint that when energized saw almost 0 friction when moving. Something that would extend the shelf-life of their equipment drastically.
Very useful to be sure. The applications of which would see pretty much all combat relegated to eye sight range and glorious melee combat. Yes. Glorious melee combat… Mmmmmm
Still the MSG universe had been pretty much cleared out since most things didn't come until later. With that in mind Amuro was kidnapped and shoved into a simulation to get his Newtype potential unlocked and documented now that there wasn't going to be a White Base. After that was done he was killed off rather quickly, no point having a mentally unstable super soldier running around making life harder for everyone else.
The data would be useful indeed for the scientists of the MSG universe and no doubt there would be nice things to come from it in the future. Right now however another universe was going to be opened up by the Minds. Another set of Quantum Gates to a universe that would be copied so the Minds could experience multiple routes. It was all in the novelty, as long as it entertained they were fine with putting up with less… flashy techniques.
As the gate spun up the Minds rubbed their metaphorical hands in anticipation. Maybe there would be something suitably awesome waiting for them on the other side. A universe filled with war and Awesomeness and stuff. Yes, they deserved Awesomeness after not being able to crush anything suitably dramatic in the past few years.
As the gate spun faster and faster the client races that were also watching felt themselves clench up in anticipation. Hands curled up, teeth gritted and in some cases buttocks clenched. What waited on the other side would see if they were going to be allowed to maintain their relative independence or if they would be subsumed and turned into NPCs as part of the Game. A fate conceivably worse than death, knowing you had a chance to do what was necessary for your race and failing at the the last moment.
The Krogan were not particularly worried, their place had been assured by their very existence, fight, fight, fight. Something as minor as worrying about their place in the grand scheme of things didn't pass through their minds at all.
The Quarians were more worried, they existed as a fleet based race, what exactly did they have to offer if it was a universe that didn't even have space capabilities yet? Or even one that needed them to get a handle on things that needed close combat abilities like swords and stuff. Quarians doctrine over the past 300 years had developed around the idea that you didn't want to get hit or even be in close combat at all due to suit punctures that could see you dead. It didn't matter as much now as the Quarians population was not free to breathe in pretty much any atmosphere they cared to, it was just they had not developed doctrines to for many things. Like romantic relationships, the whole… being with someone without extensive preparations with vaccines, herbal treatments to boost immunities and intensive cleaning was alien to them. Being spontaneous at all was alien. It would take much acclimating and the young ones were certainly getting into the hang of it. However centuries aboard the Migrant fleet had seen their culture change dramatically and entrench itself. It would be many years yet before that changed. Still they were prepared, this was the only chance they had and they wouldn't screw it up if at all possible.
The Geth were the last of those being tested, their situation even more precarious than that of the Quarians. What exactly could they offer besides being an antagonistic force? Sure they could come in and make both sides join together to fight a common enemy but that was pretty much it really. That and wipe out the organics is with wave after wave of metal. Still they had been offered a chance so that meant the Minds saw something of worth for them. Play to their strengths would be the keywords here and being an army of emotionless killer robots seemed to be a definite strength.
The Humans and Eldar were being given a respective copy of the universe each to do their thing. The humans with their eternal hope and eternal cooperation through lessons thing befitting their status as a young race, while the Eldar would be the whole cold and do it all my way thing as befitting a race that nearly fucked itself into extinction. The Minds were happy to have something fun to watch while they had actual fun destroying galaxies like a Progenitor grade AI was meant to be doing in the first place.
The Humans would take under their wing the Quarians with contingents of Krogan and Geth to assist while the Eldar would take the Krogan and the Geth. The Quarians were still young, their galactic-view clouded by things like empathy. It had been tempered with their near annihilation by the Geth to be sure but the undercurrents were still there making them useless for the Eldar, tools that question are tools that get discarded. The Krogan on the other hand reminded them of the Orks they had been designed to lead by the Old Ones. Brutish, violent and always looking for something to bash skull against, just point them in the right direction and sit back. The Geth were… logical… coldly logical. The Eldar would have to do some explaining to be sure but everything they did had a cause and effect nature so the Geth had no room for complaints there.
Things had been divied and things were soon to begin, the Quantum gate was spinning up and on the other side they would face what was going to make or break the 3 new client races of the Caretakers but really it was Bastion 001. Hopefully there were going to be lots of explosions the Minds thought, those of the other Bastions were thinking the same thing. New kinds of explosions would be good.
Universal Century 0079 - Mobile Suit Gundam Universe
After Activation 0087 - Origin Universe
Citadel Era 2191 - Mass Effect Universe
After Insertion 0048 - Cultivation Universe
Millennium 061-3100 - 40k Universe
Cultivator Snippet
"I Lin Feng am a righteous person. Have you seen me harm the innocent? Have you seen me do evil? Have you seen me do the same as Chu Lang has done? I am a righteous person who will see justice done to the end, if you wish to stand in my way then so be it, I will consider you my enemy as well. Chu Lang has killed over 300 people, has terrorized towns and villages and has seen many more robbed of their own hard earned wealth. He has used his own power to suppress me, to destroy my hard work, to attack my family. I have come to bring him to justice, to see him destroyed like he has done to so many others! I am Lin Feng and I am justice! Stand aside!"
The figure was screaming. Very loudly screaming and disrupting general foot-traffic. It was annoying, very annoying. Still, he did have a point, if Chu Lang was indeed killing people and terrorizing towns and whatever it was, then it was a pretty serious accusation. Then again if there was someone like that in town then the Justicars would have dealt with him a long time ago. The Law of Order certainly kept their city safe, dispatching criminals with accuracy and minimal mess. The people of the city were rather glad about the new Law and the people that were implementing it. What was originally a town filled with people being killed on the streets by young masters of Sects over perceived slights, now it was a prosperous city that attracted migrants from all the surrounding Kingdoms. With consistency came attractiveness, the city growing under the protection of the Justicars.
To have some random come into the city and try and kill someone… well it wasn't something they hadn't seen before. The Justicars would be coming shortly to deal with the disturbance they were sure. For now it was rather amusing to watch them stand-off in the middle of the street. The Lin Feng character brandishing his sword, releasing spiritual pressure to try and cow his opponent. Chu Lang on the other hand was standing behind his guards and looking at Lin Feng with contempt.
"Halt! You are in violation of Law Code B3-328! Public Disturbances with the Intent to fight! Stand down and be ready for judgement! I AM The LAW!" Said the Justicar that was running up form the road. Her voice ringing out through the entire street telling everyone to stop moving. Not obeying to a Justicar was violation of Law Code A1-129 which depending on the severity of the situation could see them summarily executed for Contempt of the Law. The two in the middle of the road however didn't stop and the bodyguards actually raised their weapons at the Justicar while the lone wanderer actually took a stance. Oh… they were both foreigners.
Well… they were not going to be having a good time were they. Not reading the rules posted every 50 meters on the outskirts of the Kingdom and on the signs at the entrances was their fault and it was going to be very entertaining. At least once a day some idiot foreigners came in thinking that they could do whatever they wanted in the city and got themselves destroyed as a result. Either way it was rather funny.
"I am Ling Feng and I am dispensing justice here. Stand aside woman, you will not defend him!"
The Justicar ignored him, or maybe she didn't care, the mask that told everyone exactly what she was also made it impossible for them to see her expressions or even what she was looking at. Upon reaching the group, the one who called himself Lin Feng actually dared to threaten her. Oh dear.
"I Lin Feng am a righteous person, I will destroy Chu Lang even if I have to kill his whore!"
Oooooh. He went there.
The Justicar slapped the Book at her side and intoned "Law Field Established" when it flew up in front of her.
"The Crime: Disturbance of Public Peace. Speak your piece."
A black circle appeared underneath their feet and jerked them into the air while the Justicar herself rose up above them like in a virtual court of law.
The one known as Lin Feng spoke first, "I am Lin Feng, I am righteous, let me go now and I will not kill you woman."
"The first defendant has displayed Contempt of the Law, judgement pending."
Chu Lang stood forward next. "I was merely walking down the street when this one took it upon himself to threaten me with death."
The Justicar nodded, "The one first defendant has been noted as being the instigator, initiating truthseeing". The small light above Chu Lang's head glowed purple.
"Second defendant has obfuscated the truth, chance offered to clarify statement"
Chu Lang originally looking rather smug looked a bit more panicked. "I have done nothing to him! He just came up and threatened me without provocation!"
The light this time glowed black. "Lying to the Law. Judgement: Destruction!"
And with that the small sword held at her side was swung and his head popped off and his soul was ripped from his body. It was then shredded and then ignited. He would not be coming back from this, reincarnation or resurrection.
She turned then to the two bodyguards, "Not Obeying a Law Officer: Speak!"
The two of them looked terrified at the attention. No doubt their accepting of the job was something that was expected to be easy, just standing around looking intimidating. Only it had gone very wrong and their charge was dead and likely they would too if they didn't do this right.
"We had no idea your honour!"
The light this time turned Teal. "Ignorance is no excuse! Infraction!" At this the light jabbed itself down into their heads, a tattoo of teal imprinting itself on their souls. It would never go away and any law officer would be able to tell exactly how many infractions they had and what for. There was no way to get rid of it without destroying part of the soul. However they were alive and their souls were intact. That was something at least.
The black circles disappeared and they dropped back onto the ground where they rapidly scrambled to their feet and ran away.
She turned her attention to Lin Feng who had been trying to speak for a while now, the Law Field silencing anyone who wasn't called on to speak.
"Contempt of the Law, Threatening of a Law Officer, summary punishment. Judgement: Destruction."
And with that Lin Feng who was probably the protagonist of some kind of story died an ignoble death, not even able to get off any last words.
"Judgement concluded, Law Field off. Judgements logged."
And with that she turned and walked away, leaving the bodies for cleanup by the sanitation department they supposed.
Back to the plot
Back in the Origin universe things the Quantum Gate had finally opened and on the other side was not what they were expecting at all. The probes had emerged and found themselves above the star in the center of a star system. Further examination saw them find a world that had many hexagonally shaped ships in orbit above them. Further down was a world that had been devastated by what looked like high intensity heat weaponry that partially melted the surface. There were humans… because of course there were. There were always humans, always with the humans.
The ships were very distinctive, a quick search of the databanks had them shown as ships from the United Nations Space Command, or rather UNSC of the Halo Universe. Haaaaa.
Well… this was going to be fun considered the Minds. A group of religious retards who considered genocide to be a viable reaction to their stupid religion based around a race that had died out millennia ago? A humanity that had become increasingly extremist as time passed, leaving extensive power in the hands of an intelligence group that was filled with power hungry idiots. Oh yes, this would be glorious. The Covenant would be punished of course, religious extremism followed by a chaser of genocide never goes down well. Following your orders was also an unacceptable excuse, especially when you are on the losing side.
MAGI did its job and quickly copied the universe into 2 more instances for the Eldar and Humans to begin whatever their plans were for the universe. The Minds on the other hand knew exactly what they wanted to do. Galactic war, subjugation and utterly crushing the enemy with superior numbers, firepower and overwhelming force. Their fleets were being prepared as they spoke, they were using the 40k designs for their ships in this case, their justification being that they were on a crusade to bring the far-flung and lost colonies of humanity back into the fold and purge the xeno while they did it.
Several thousand ships with their weaponry based on lasers which would be able to bypass the shielding used by the Covenant were prepared and dispatched. Each would be filled to the brim with genetically enhanced HeMU Space Marine bodies, ready to bring Order to the new universe with extreme prejudice. They would be making liberal use of the Minovsky particles to jam all forms of communication, radar and whatnot, forcing the Covenant ships and likely the UNSC ships into close quarters combat where their boarding teams would reign supreme.
Oh yes, it would be glorious.
Unless… they went full Necron and such with the creepy non-expressive robot bodies and just crept forward in a wave of gauss flayer inducing death. No speaking, just silent death that would sweep over both sides. Yeees that sounded very good indeed. Perhaps they wouldn't go the full kill everything route super early however, best to wait a little so all the technology gets developed so they can steal it. They couldn't trust the client races to use the scanning technology properly.
The Humans on the other hand had planned to do things rather more cooperatively. They would pose as a humanity that had developed in parallel to that of the Humans of the UNSC and having a partnership with multiple other alien races. They would be understandably mortified over the religious extremism that the Covenant displayed and offer their assistance. Trading heat resistant materials to build ships with so so they would be able to resist plasma weaponry more effectively, Minovsky particle technology to force the Covenant to fight at close range where their inferior troops would be at a disadvantage, jamming to make hit and run tactics much more viable, mercenaries in the form of the Krogans and much more. Cooperation with the H-Humans for the good of all and all that jazz.
The Eldar had been told to handle the situation as they saw fit. Overall goals were the collection of biological and and technological samples for the Minds. Other than that they could proceed however they wished, so long as it was entertaining. Their plan in this case was to put both sides on an even footing by crippling the Covenant fleets and taking all their biological supercomputer things forcing them onto an equal plane with the Humans, thus turning the war into a cold one. It didn't really matter who won in the end, as the Eldar planned to leave with all the nice Forerunner technology and excavation long before it reached that point. Subtly guiding the Humans along so they wouldn't lose too badly but neither would they win convincingly either. Injections of Krogan and Geth occasionally would keep them on their toes, an unknown race doing unknown things would worry both of them. Especially when they toted weapons that would tear them apart with ease.
Both groups would be given HeMUs and the assorted technologies that came with the Caretakers, doing otherwise would be like telling a child to make a meal but only provide a butter knife. They were going in to entertain the Minds and they were going to make sure it was the best performance they had in them. Anything less and they may lose the privileges of being a client race and instead turned into NPCs.
The inhabitants of the 3 Halo Universes had no idea what was coming for them and it would be mighty fun to see their reactions to the different approaches.
Afterword before we get into the Halo Universe as a whole.
I will be speaking as future George12 who has just finished ch 126 and is not touching the Halo Universe for at least another 20 chapters. I have burnt out and am glad I did a PA Multicross story or I would have burnt out a long time ago with the story let alone the setting.
So that means no Eldar, done the Commander and the Humans. If you want Eldar feel free to Omake it, if its in tune with how the Eldar are and the Minds are, etc then I will threadmark it and credit.
Omakes overall are fine and I'll threadmark if they are consistent with the universe, if not, I'll throw it in the CH1 section thingi that I totally did not forget about.
Now onto Halo. I hate the Brutes as an idea and I think the Prophets are dumber than a sack of feathers. At least a sack of bricks is worth something. The Brutes as a concept get on my nerves so expect loooooooots of Brute smashing in the next 16 Halo chapters. Prophets… eh, like punching bags, you do or you don't, either way people ignore them.
If you like the Brutes then just wait a week or so for the arc to finish.
I will re-iterate that the Brutes will take what they rightly deserve in the upcoming Halo arc. Their failure as a species will not be glossed over by big, hairy, berserker rage and capable of fighting a Spartan, no sir. They will die like the failures they are.
Military Calendar 2534 - Halo Universe
After Activation 0087 - Origin Universe
Citadel Era 2191 - Mass Effect Universe
After Insertion 0048 - Cultivation Universe
Millennium 061-3100 - 40k Universe
"Sir! We have multiple unknown contacts on radar! No known matches on the database Colonel!"
Colonel Hamstead, the duty officer of Harvest's observational platform up in orbit over the planet itself gave a brief but virulent curse. "Fuck a duck." he mumbled under his breath. "Do we have visual?" he called out.
"Negative sir, it's too far out. It doesn't look like a Covenant fleet, counting 30 vessels, all of them over 20 kilometers long. Getting geometric returns here sir, lots of sharp angles, no slopes." The reply came back.
"Ok… signals, get word up to the Fleet of an unknown alien contact, likely not Covenant all, superclass in size. Alert me when we get visual."
As the observation deck began to bustle with activity, Hamstead leaned on his fist and gave another mental curse, why is it always Harvest. Fuck a duck, fuck many ducks.
Fleet Admiral Johnston cursed. This new alien contact was very clearly not Covenant but they were very clearly not a peaceful envoy either. Their ships were quite obviously designed for war, massive prows that were there for ramming, tubes likely for torpedoes that were the size of their aircraft, and rows gun batteries on the sides… they made the Covenant plasma torpedoes look puny. 3 rows of guns on a ship that rivalled a Covenant Battlecruiser in size. The UNSC defence fleet had barely 50 ships, no super heavies either. The bigger ships having been pulled out to assist with the defense of the outer colonies.
As they neared a single ship from fleet approached, this one having the dubious honour of being first contact he assumed. The thing's broadside could destroy 4 ships in a single volley he estimated guessing it's payloads from the size of the cannons. It wasn't as much as the others in the fleet and that certainly was ridiculous to think. As it neared a single shuttle was sent out from one of the cavernous hangar bays on the side, this one clearly being a carrier of some kind. Fucking ridiculously sized carrier if the shuttle was any indication.
"Dimensions on the craft!" Johnston called out.
"30 meters long, 10 meters wide, not detecting any weapons but that's not saying much, we don't know what their tech is based off." The technician replied.
So it was just a transport… maybe a suicide ship? Didn't make sense that was for sure, they definitely had the firepower to end them without resorting to little tricks like that. Very peculiar. Perhaps it is a peace envoy? First contact where the aliens don't try and kill us. That will be a first.
Johnston wasn't worried about being too cautious, no need to invite on his own men death and destruction from an IED. So he was on his way down to the Hangar where he would be hopping into a Pelican and meeting the aliens halfway. The spacesuit at least was warm, if a little tight. He might have put on a little weight given the stress of constant combat against a vastly superior foe wasn't weighing on his mind after being assigned to a newly re-conquered Harvest. He was likely to lose that weight very soon too Johnston thought.
The journey itself was rather calm, the pilot thankfully refraining from speaking, while his escort knew their Admiral enough to read his little moods. This one had a very clear "do not bother me" feel to it.
Message had been sent by courier to the UNSC high command and hopefully up to UNSC fleet Admiral regarding the situation. If the fleet stopped existing they would at least be able to identify who was the cause.
Here they were now. The Pelican flipped its orientation and faced the rear ramps to the shuttle's side where an opening could be seen. A humanoid figure having exited it and was waiting a few meters outside. Johnston and his escort jumped out of the Pelican and made their way over, the ODSTs loosely arranged around him and the diplomatic team. They might not be able to acquit themselves if attacked but they would die trying.
As they approached the shuttle the figure could be seen in full, very bulky armour of some kind with a large pack on the back that rose up behind the helmet. It looked rather ornate with a crest extending from the forehead. It certainly made Johnston feel underdressed that was for sure. There were no visible weapons on hand so that was a relief, likely they were just going to talking peace… or at least trying to talk peace. The ODSTs were a bit itchy however, the amount of armour on the thing was going to be a massive pain to punch through if their material sciences were anything above mediocre.
The ship itself as they entered looked distinctly… utilitarian. Not quite what a diplomatic ship would look like, the bare walls, walkways and ceiling looking rather cold. The depressurisation lock being the entire corridor, thankfully allowing them to keep walking even as they were disinfected. It was distinctly human - like in design, perhaps the aliens had met humans before? They were following the alien, the massive hump on its back not a backpack but rather something that looked like it was actually attached to its biological body.
It was leaving its back open so that was a vote of confidence considered Johnston. Then they came before a door. As it opened the team could see more of the figures beyond, in a room that was arrayed with a large table and several chairs. Again… very human. The Covenant had been distinctly alien with their furniture but these… these looked like they would be home in an antiques store on Earth. They were definitely not Insurrectionists, even they didn't have the capability to produce ships of this size, even if they were fake.
Then they were inside the room and the door closed behind them. A brief pause as both sides looked at each other, the UNSC with their tinted helmets and bodysuits, the aliens with their hard armour that was looking now and more like action figures for children, the longer Johnston looked at it.
It was getting to be awkward when the aliens reached up to their helmets and removed them. What greeted the UNSC was what was clearly a human, and two aliens, the big brutish one with the crest and a human-like one with purplish skin and bioluminescent pigments under the skin. If it had features similar to humans then it would be difficult to categorize the alien as anything but female. And then the big one spoke… in English…
"Tell me why it is Shepard that no matter how far we go, there are going to be humans?"
The one that was presumably Shepard and also the one most like a human turned to the big one and replied,"no idea Wrex,maybe we are just so awesome that we've colonized the entire galaxy in the far out past or something."
The one called Wrex turned to the UNSC team and spoke, "So Humans, how are things in your end of the galaxy?"
UNSC High Command was having a rather big and persistent headache. They were losing ships every day just trying to hold off the Covenant, thousands dying every day to keep them away. Their worlds were all under threat by an enemy they couldn't compete with either numerically or technologically. They were helpless and how it ground on them. All they could do was hold the line until something could be invented that would hold back the tide and win them the war. Like the T-34 in the ancient wars of Earth or the Slipspace Drive that allowed mankind to expand into the stars and reduce the pressures on Earth. In short, they were hoping for a miracle.
The SPARTAN-2 was just that, super soldiers that could turn the tides of battle yet they could not turn the tides of war. There were too few of them and the process to make one too difficult for mass production. Every single one of them that was lost, was one that could not be replaced.
New tactics and strategies could help sure, but it was only a bandage over the wound. The Covenant coming in too high numbers for them to stop with just superior tactics. The technological difference was just too damn high, a straight on engagement would see at least one of their ships destroyed in response for a single kill.
Their ground forces were kicking the Covenant's ass with ease… well, relative ease compared to the fleet. Their air force; on the other hand, was doing much worse, the Covenant's shields on their ships making any responses risky at best. Air support was the biggest pain in the ass for the Marines on the ground, any responses they had ineffectual.
Now they had word that a new alien race or rather a coalition of some kind of at least 5 races had made contact and were sympathetic to their cause. There were humans amongst them but they had abilities outside that of the humans in the UNSC space, some kind of psychic abilities that all of the alien humans possessed. The humans quite emphatically said that they were not from the UNSC but had developed in parallel, something that they were rather willing to accept given the dimensions of the ones they had met, all of them over 8 feet tall with redundant organs and who knows what else. How much of it was engineered and how much was natural was unknown considering that they had what looked like connector ports under their skin for their armour. The humans apparently had a sort of general position in the coalition as foot infantry and marines due to their physical prowess.
The next race was the human look-alikes which were around the same height as UNSC humans except for their hands which had 3 digits including the thumbs and the feet which had 2 large toes. Their skin was embedded with symbiotic bacteria that glowed through the skin in a process similar to that of bioluminescence. The Quarians were the engineers of the coalition apparently and made up the majority of the crews of the fleet.
The big ones that resembled lizards of a kind occupied a similar place to the Humans. Called the Krogan they had multiple redundant organs and a regeneration rate that was frankly ridiculous, able to regenerate almost mortal wounds in minutes with little if any effort. The large growths on their backs served as a means to keep them hydrated and nourished in times of shortages. Their strength was much higher than that of the average UNSC human while being able to live for thousands of years assuming there was nothing to kill them. They shared this longevity with the alien Humans but outstripped them in reproductive rates, capable of birthing thousands of new Krogans at every cycle. It was ridiculous, extraordinarily ridiculous. The maturation rates did nothing to help, the Krogan able to reach maturity after only a bare 5 years. A self-replenishing army of almost immortal warriors which due to their physiology were extremely aggressive and violent. Ridiculous it was, so very ridiculous.
Then there were the Geth who resembled silver skeletons. They were a consensus AI that debated every decision and came out with a certain conclusion that would carry across to all of the units. Not much more could be said besides the fact that their bodies could regenerate which was ridiculous as well. Their being with the coalition as a whole seemed to indicate that perhaps there was something there that was eluding the UNSC's attention. Why exactly was an AI race being together organics if it wasn't subservient? Was there something of note that they were missing? UNSC command hated being outside the loop and the reluctant order was put out that they needed boots on the ground to get an accurate assessment of the situation. ONI had of course volunteered but UNSC command couldn't risk antagonizing the new race, especially if they were offering to help regarding the Covenant so a few more "standard" UNSC officials were sent as well.