Hey guys, TheDoctor1998 here with another chapter! Last time we saw one of the UNSC's science vessels get destroyed by the Turian fleet after the former activated a Mass Relay. Those of you that've read this scenario countless times with Mass Effect fanfiction already know what's gonna happen, so I don't see a point to keep this going. Now, on with the show!
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30th June 2657
UNSC Giant Leap
Interplanetary space
Unknown system
Alice didn't know when she'd stopped breathing, and didn't even realize the fact until her lungs were practically screaming for oxygen. She was staring in horror at the monitor, having witnessed the unprovoked attack of the alien armada on the Humpty Dumpty.
She was shaken out of her thoughts by the teenage hologram next to the monitor. "Ma'am, we have to go back through."
Alice looked at Liz in surprise. "But the Cole Protocol-"
"Doesn't mean anything when there's a clear and practical highway heading straight for Shanxi."
Liz was right. The Fork made it practically impossible to uphold the Cole Protocol, at least as far as Shanxi is concerned. Regardless of what the Giant Leap did, the aliens would find their way to UEG territory. "Helm, take us back to Shanxi. We've got to warn them."
Then, slowly but surely, the Giant Leap turned back to the megastructure that brought them here. As the ship was already practically next to the device, it didn't take long for it to be within its range once more. For the second time that day, the Giant Leap upheld its name and traveled several thousand lightyears in a minute.
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30th June 2657
THV Bird of Prey
Interplanetary space
System 314
Desolas was watching the data that the VI's managed to record. Neither ship was of any design within the database, meaning that they were either made by a wealthy individual who wanted to keep their existence a secret, or they were made deep within the Terminus Systems and somehow managed to stay undetected up until now.
The first ship, currently designated as P-1, had been completely obliterated by his fleet. Not just shot into a floating pile of scrap as he'd originally intended, but turned into dust. The most likely explanation was that their reactor went critical before it could've been completely destroyed, resulting in a massive explosion that removed almost all traces of the ship even existing.
The second ship, designated P-2, had almost immediately fled through Relay 314. Detailed scans were impossible to make, as it was simply too far, but considering how slow it was moving it was likely that its Mass Effect fields were subpar. At least as far as maneuverability was concerned. In addition, what scans they could make matched what they saw with P-1, meaning that they were likely of the same model.
"General?" He heard from his XO, Litrinox. "Permission to speak freely?"
"Granted." Desolas said with a nod. He had a great amount of respect for his XO, always giving him good insights and usually coming up with good theories while having little information. It's given his fleet an edge over their pirate counterparts more than once.
"I believe that these pirates could be mapping new territories beyond the Relay." Litrinox said. "It's possible they could've set up an illegal colony already, maybe even on the Hegemony's payroll."
Desolas thought about it, and it made sense. The Batarians had set up illegal colonies before, both by themselves and through pirates. Sometimes they'd even done so within the territories of Citadel affiliated governments before being evicted, though the clever bastards always managed to make sure the blame was put solely on the pirates. Then add in the facts that they considered this area theirs, and that they've demanded for the activation of Relays within their sphere of influence.
All of that together painted a clear picture, and Desolas didn't like how it looked. "Take us through Relay 314. Any ship within the system that's not of the Hierarchy is to be considered hostile and shall be treated as such."
At Desolas' command, the Bird of Prey and its accompanying fleet headed towards the newly activated Mass Relay, preparing to jump into the unknown.
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30th June 2657
UNSC Grand Discovery
Gargantua's orbit
Shanxi System
Sauron was busy analyzing the data he was given in relation to the Fork, practically giggling at the brand new applications of physics that the device had shown. New information was practically like candy for Smart AI, and data like this was particularly addictive to his kind.
The existence of dark neutronium on its own was enough to make Sauron salivate if he was an organic. While the existence of dark matter and dark energy was known for literal centuries, there hasn't been any known method of interacting with either force.
Dark matter is a largely unknown material, intangible and incapable of emitting or reflecting light. The only known form of interaction it has with other forms of matter is through gravity, with it being the sole reason that galaxies are held together in the first place.
Dark energy on the other hand is an almost mysterious force that exists throughout the entire universe, which generates new space all across the universe. Organics can find the subject difficult to understand, but a good analogy would be a balloon, of all things. If the universe is a balloon, with dots on it to represent galaxies, then dark energy would be the thing blowing air into the balloon, causing the distance between every dot to grow.
Up until now though, there had been no record of anything that's capable of interacting with either force, sans maybe some classified Forerunner tech. And Sauron was eagerly reading every bite of data handed to him.
The potential scientific and practical applications were endless. From transport, as the Fork had already shown, to a near limitless source of energy. After all, if it's possible to interact with dark energy, it could also be possible to transform some of that energy into a usable form. And considering the universe was mostly made of dark energy (approximately 70%, with 25% being dark matter and the remaining 5% being everything else), it would not exactly be in short supply.
Even if these dark energy reactors wouldn't supply as much energy as a fusion reactor, an antimatter reactor or an Energon reactor, it would still be much easier to get the fuel needed to power it. Hell, for all Sauron knew it wouldn't even really be a reactor, but the dark energy equivalent of a solar panel.
The AI was so immersed with his own research that he'd almost missed the UNSC Giant Leap coming back, seemingly appearing out of nowhere several thousand kilometers away from the megastructure that he was analyzing and immediately sending a data package towards the other ships orbiting Gargantua.
Sauron expected the package to be nothing more than the layout of whatever system the Fork connects to, or maybe some interesting planetary features on the other side. He was suspicious though, as neither the Giant Leap or the Humpty Dumpty were scheduled to come back for a few hours. Though it could simply be that the exit point is somewhere within interstellar space.
What he'd actually gotten though was very concerning. Sauron checked all the data that the Giant Leap's AI had given him. For an organic, it would take hours to check every detail in front of him. For an AI like Sauron, it took less than a moment to analyze and understand it all. "Shipmaster, we've got a problem."
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30th June 2657
UNCS Grand Discovery
Gargantua's orbit
Shanxi system
Danny instantly went on edge when he heard the words of the AI. "What kind of problem?" He hoped the Fork wasn't destabilizing. Shanxi would be in direct danger, and the Humpty Dumpty was still on the other side.
"The hostile first contact kind." Sauron replied. "The Giant Leap's AI sent me a data package concerning an alien fleet on the other end of the Fork, as well as the destruction of the Humpty Dumpty."
Danny cursed to himself. "How many ships?"
"146 ships, one frigate and various different corvette classes." Sauron's avatar blinked. "In addition, it seems like the aliens have an unknown type of FTL drive installed within their ships."
That threw the shipmaster in for a loop. "I'm sorry, did you say an unknown type of FTL drive?"
Sauron nodded, or at least did the closest to nodding that his avatar could do. "Indeed. Liz's analysis of the alien vessels has determined that they traveled faster than the speed of light in realspace. No particle of Cerenkov radiation has been detected upon the fleet's arrival."
Danny was still skeptical though. "And you're sure that they didn't just put in a dampener of some kind? We've done the same with our prowlers."
"I am certain, sir. Liz was watching closely when the first ships arrived, and her cameras actively caught the stragglers traveling at superluminal velocities."
Danny cursed again. He knew roughly what to expect when it came to Slipspace capable warships, but the same can't be said about whatever FTL the aliens were using. Add in the fact that the only ships at his disposal were 3 lightly armed and armored scientific vessels and his own frigate, and things weren't looking up. "All hands to battlestations!"
All crewmembers of the four ships started preparing for battle, though the crew of the three scientific vessels were understandably nervous. Their ships were already in the process of heading back to Shanxi, with many of the crew already heading for the escape pods if the worst were to happen.
This was ultimately the decision that saved some of them from oblivion.
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30th June 2657
THV Bird of Prey
Unknown planet's orbit
Unknown system
The fleet arrived in the unknown system without any problems, and as they expected, there was a presence. "Sir, multiple contacts!" One member of the crew reported. "P-2 recognized, and two more ships of the same design, designated as P-3 and P-4. New ship design detected, dreadnought class designated as P-Alpha. Smaller ships are heading further into the system."
"Spirits." Desolas cursed. While it wasn't unheard of for pirates to be in possession of a dreadnought, mostly because of the Batarians, it was also a rare occurrence. Thankfully this wasn't the first time that his men had fought against one. "Take out the smaller craft first, then focus fire on P-Alpha. We will not let these pirates get away."
At his command, the fleet fired on the smaller ships first while his dreadnought was taking on the pirate dreadnought. His analytical mind did notice something though, which was that the smaller ships were lightly armed. 'Converted civilian ships? Could explain why they're running.'
Then, the dreadnought fired. "Sir! P-Alpha just took out a cruiser and 2 frigates in a single shot!" One of the analysts said, much to the shock of everyone on the bridge. It's not unheard of for a dreadnought to take out a ship in a single shot, maybe two if it's lucky. But a single shot taking out 3 ships at once? Desolas would've been amazed at the feat of engineering if he hadn't been consumed with rage.
"What of the other ships?" Desolas demanded.
"Disabled, sir, and launching escape pods." Then, the three smaller ships turned into suns, like P-1 did in System 314. "...Correction, P-2, P-3 and P-4 have been destroyed."
"Then focus everything we have on P-Alpha." Desolas ordered. Make sure those pirates can't kill any more of my men."
Like before, all ships opened fire on a singular pirate ship. Unlike before, the kinetic barriers held strong, even against the fire of the Bird of Prey. And as expected, the pirates kept firing back, both with their main weapon and a slew of other weapons.
The Turians, however, had learned of their initial mistake, and made sure that none of their ships were in P-Alpha's crosshairs. That's not to say that they made it out unscathed, as the dreadnought's secondary weapons quickly managed to drain the kinetic barriers of most ships they hit.
By the time they'd managed to drain the barriers of the dreadnought, they'd lost 17 more ships against P-Alpha's onslaught. "Helm, focus on the engines, do not let those pirates get away with that ship!"
Thankfully, the Bird of Prey was already put behind its counterpart, making sure it was as far away from the main gun as physically possible. The targeting VI's locked on the giant thrusters at the rear and fired, doing more and more damage to the engines with each shot.
And while the dreadnought was extremely durable, it was still being damaged and had no real way of retaliating against the ships that were simply too fast for it to hit with its main gun. That being said, the secondary weapons were still doing major damage to Desolas' fleet.
Luck seemed to favor Desolas, as one particular shot of the Bird of Prey seemed to hit some vital components deep within the belly of the beast.
Unlike the other ships, P-Alpha simply seemed to shut down, much to the confusion of Desolas. "Hold fire. Any idea on why this one didn't blow up?"
"Energy readings are down all over P-Alpha, sir. It's possible we caused enough damage to the ship to force the reactor into an emergency shutdown before it could overload."
"Hmm." Desolas hummed in acknowledgement. "Do we have any readings about a potential colony?"
"Our sensors have spotted radio signals originating from the second planet, a potential garden world sir." Litrinox spoke. "Looks like my hunch was right after all."
"So it seems." Desolas replied. "Raging Claw, I want you to gather up the surviving pirates. Start with any crew left on P-Alpha, then focus on the escape pods. All other forces, prepare to invade the pirate colony!"
At the admiral's command, all but one of the surviving ships headed to the garden world whilst the ship left behind was about to make an enormous discovery.
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30th June 2657
UNCS Grand Discovery
Gargantua's orbit
Shanxi system
Danny woke up with a splitting headache. "Urgh, why do I feel like a pair of Jiralhanae used me in a tug of war?"
"Probably because we got shot at by an alien fleet, sir." Came the familiar voice of Sauron.
Despite the pain, the shipmaster managed to open his eyes and get up, seeing that the bridge was filled with corpses. "Status report."
"Our engines, both sublight and Slipspace, are completely disabled. The reactor went offline before I could initiate the self-destruct system. All crewmembers are either dead or in the escape pods. The Grand Discovery is currently running on emergency power, and the only systems that are functioning are artificial gravity, life support and myself." Sauron stated without pause. "Frankly sir, you're lucky to be alive."
Danny looked at the corpses of his colleagues, then at the flaming eye that represented the AI. "Can you initiate the Cole Protocol?"
"Partially." Sauron replied. "I've deleted all navigational data, and made it nearly impossible for myself to find any Systems Alliance world without assistance. That being said, the ship's hardware is failing, and I do not think I'd be able to fully delete myself before I run out of power." He was silent for a moment. "Sir, the best option that I can think of right now is for you to take out my chip, and snap it if I'm in danger of capture."
Danny raised a bloody eyebrow. "Only then? Not to sound cruel, but why shouldn't I just snap it ASAP?"
Sauron wasn't offended, he knew his destruction would be standard protocol. "Because of all the AI in our fleet, I'm the only one that remains functional. And the only one with any data about the alien fleet." Sauron then seemed slightly hesitant. "I am also instructed by ONI to safeguard any data concerning the dark neutronium and the Fork at any cost, aside from events that could endanger Humanity and the Systems Alliance races as a whole."
"Fucking ONI." Johnson cursed. While the worst of the organization had been purged a century ago, there were still some shady elements among the spooks. Still, orders were orders, and as long as ONI worked with Humanity and the Alliance instead of against it he would follow them.
As such, the shipmaster yanked out the chip in question, instantly causing the flaming eye that looked at him to vanish. Afterwards, he started putting on one of the sets of armor on the bridge, designed for emergencies where life support wasn't reliable.
And it was a good thing he did too, because as soon as he sealed his suit the door exploded, causing the air in the bridge to flow out through the corridor and into open space. The shipmaster held on to one of the consoles, utilizing the magnetic gloves and boots to root himself into place.
When Danny recovered from the disorientating experience of explosive decompression, he noticed the sealed suits of armor around a body shape of an unknown species. The last thing he saw before blacking out was an alien fist coming down on his helmet.
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30th June 2657
Unknown ship
Unknown planet's orbit
Unknown system
Crala sighed in relief after knocking the Batarian out. "Bridge clear, one survivor, knocked out."
Most of the crew had already left in the escape pods, and the sensors on their own ship had determined that the bridge was the only location on this ship that could still harbor known forms of life.
She wasn't sure if the pirates on the bridge would survive, but they needed to blow the door open to get there. The explosive decompression caused several strangely colored Batarian bodies to fly out, though she didn't know if they were ill or simply had a strange mutation. They went by too quickly for her to see any details.
She looked around the bridge, though something felt off. She'd boarded many ships and stations, both belonging to Batarian "pirates" and actual pirates, but none of them were as precise as P-Alpha. Factoring in the sheer durability of the ship, its powerful kinetic barriers and the sheer might of its weapons made Crala feel like these weren't your average Batarian pirates.
She saw one of the remaining corpses, still strapped into the chair it died in, which prevented it from being sucked into space with its former comrades. Crala's first thought was that it was a strangely pale Asari, maybe suffering from albinism.
Then she noticed the fur on top of its head.
"Spirits." Crala started looking around carefully after noticing the corpse. She noticed that the layout of the ship was different from anything she'd seen before. She noticed that the suit the supposed Batarian was wearing was clunky looking compared to those worn by most Batarian pirates.
She noticed the writing on the uniforms, with symbols that her omni-tool wasn't able to translate.
"Someone, open a line to the Bird of Prey, now! We need to inform the admiral of this!" She then hauled the (hopefully) unconscious alien up in her arms. "And someone get a medic for this one!"
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And that's a wrap. Things are starting to heat up in the Shanxi system as the Turians are starting to realize the mistake they made.
And before anyone will go on about how Halo ships are just better then their Mass Effect counterparts, I want you to remember that the science ships are civilian ships, and that the only actual warship was completely on its own against a fleet of highly maneuverable ships.
TheDoctor1998 here, signing out!