Sorry for the long absence, been busy at work and so many good games have been coming out. I'm also working on a Hazbin Hotel fanfic so there's that.
Visquez thought she'd be more prepared for this. Her entire life she had heard the stories of the Kanto-Unovan war, every trainer in her father's gym were once part of his platoon and shared with her their stories of valor, their stories of despair. She knew since she was a child that she wanted to follow in her father's footsteps, wanted to serve a cause so much greater than herself, and she achieved that by gaining the rank of Captain, serving proudly under Admiral Hackett.
When her father had retired and the league had approached her with taking his position she had almost declined. It was Admiral Hackett that convinced her to take the position. He had told her Vermillion City needed a pillar, and she had been molded from a young age by everyone around her to be that pillar. So she left to take the position she had been groomed for, and she excelled becoming one of the strongest gym leaders in Kanto.
Now here she was once again, serving under Admiral Hackett, to defend her home and people. 'True honor and glory,' she thought with anticipation. The Ultra Spacians had been advancing though the star systems at a snail's pace, only bringing the grand fleet through when scouting Corvettes gave the all clear. It was a sound strategy, nobody knew how many ultra beasts were at the wormhole and a skirmish before the real battle couldn't be risked.
"Captain Surge, Admiral Hackett and Admiral Dulse are on comms." Visquez nodded to her ship's Rotom and entered the call.
"Admiral Hackett, sir!" She saluted, standing at attention as the two holograms looked at her.
"At ease Captain Surge, it's good to have you back among my ranks." He nodded to Dulse, "This is Admiral Dulse who will be joining this joint operation with me, our scouts have reported that the next system is the host to the wormhole, the beings that seem to be powering the wormhole are a swarm of Xurkitree that are in the middle of the swarm."
"We will be hard pressed to penetrate that many Ultra Beasts Admiral, winning this battle could very well mean the loss of over half of our combined forces." Visquez stated as she looked at the images taken by a scout Corvette, "Not to mention this will be our Turian ally's first time fighting Ultra Beast with Psychic support, they won't bolt at the first sign of trouble right?"
Hackett smirked at Visquez, "Turian military doctrine is ingrained so heavily in their culture that it makes you Kantonians seem sane, the Turians would rather lose their last ship before retreating in disgrace." A map of the star system appeared where his hologram once was, "And that doctrine will help us end this invasion once and for all, the Turian are awaiting a wormhole in Palaven's star system where they will send in their fleets, our job is to be the Anvil to their hammer."
Visquez watched as the battle simulation played, the UTR fleet hammering away in front of the enemy while the US fleets with their Strike Craft abused their flanks while keeping the Human fleets from getting overwhelmed. She then saw the Turians enter the field from the rear of the swarm, their mass accelerated rounds carving a vicious path through the UB horde.
"This is the most critical moment of this operation, we must keep the Invaders from collapsing onto the Turians, they won't break until the mission is completed, so we must maintain enemy aggression." Hackett looked pointedly at Visquez, "That's why I personally requested you, Visquez, I trust no one more than you to take this task and complete it."
Visquez's mind was already running through ideas, trying to find a way to keep the Ultra Beast on her ships. "Sir, do we have any missiles with Rage Powder payloads?"
"No, none of our current ships can fire those, if you wish I can order a small fleet to be teleported in, I believe Unova has some carriers with fighters that use them." Visquez nodded, "Visquez there is no retreating if you use those, there's a reason we don't use them normally."
The Kantonians steeled herself, she wouldn't fear her duty. "I understand Admiral, My fleet will hold." Hackett nodded a small smile gracing his face.
"Make me proud soldier, Hackett out."
"If I survive this, I'm going to open up a gun shop in the Citadel, become a civy." Desolas said as he sat crouched behind a barrier with the commanding officer of the humans: John Shepard Sr. The human laughed at his words as smoke wafted from the muzzle of his rifle.
"Come on Arturius, what's so bad about 4 days of near nonstop battle!" Desolas shook his head, thinking not for the first time that humans were insane. He and his squad had been under fire by the invaders for at least three days now, the only reason they hadn't lost ground was due to Turian and Human shared stubbornness and human healing technology. 'If I see a Chansey again it will be too soon.' the battle for all intents and purposes was going well. The Ultra Beasts were being contained outside of the main city, only problem is the horde didn't cease pouring through the wormholes, so now they just had to hold.
Desolas smirked as he watched the more sturdy Pokemon in their forces take to the frontline, the behemoths began launching large boulders and firing explosive beams into the Ultra Beast horde. He heard an all too familiar roar as the ground seemed to rip open consuming a large number of Ultra Beasts into the fissure. He looked at the Onix, its eyes glancing at him before roaring again.
He hadn't expected to gain the friendship of one of these pokemon, but the wild creature had saved him from a stray shot from a Xurkitree. It had been injured prior to the attack and had fallen unconscious afterwards, luckily Shepard had a spare pokeball in hand and Desolas had caught it to take it to the nearby medics.
Since then the Onix had been regarded as his partner, even Onix regarded him as such taking even more care to protect Desolas. An unforeseen consequence of his becoming an unofficial trainer was many of the trainers looked to him when they needed anything from the Turians, instead of his CO. Luckily they hadn't taken offense, instead using the situation to give Desolas an unofficial field promotion, his actions on the field would determine if the new rank stayed.
"Specialist Arturius, General Shepard, we have dire news from the west portion of the city, General Williams is retreating!" I watched John pale as he looked to the smoke rising in the distant direction where Williams's forces were supposed to hold, "The forces under command of Grimsley are aiding their retreat."
Shepard looked in the direction with trepidation, "Specialist, If I give you command of a squad of trainers and your Turians, do you think you can hold the line until reinforcements are available?" Arturius looked at Shepard in surprise, he could surely lead a small squad but to hold a defensive unit of this caliber, with forces foreign to him, was a large gamble.
"Shepard, this is General Haggen, fleets are engaging with the Ultra Beasts horde in space, get ready for contact with hostiles!" Shepard cursed as he looked at the sky dreading just what it might spit out.
"General, I can do this, focus on defending here." Shepard smiled, grabbing the turian's forearm firmly. "All Turian forces, you are to join Specialist Desolas Arturius in the defense of the western chokepoint."
Admiral Hackett watched the battle unfold in front of him, mass accelerated rounds punching holes into the near endless swarm of UBs, as the horde scrambled to organize after the sneak attack. He watched small strike craft from Ultra Spacian cruisers fly forward, laying out small mines; he hoped that they were as fast as they believed because the UBs were beginning to rally fast. He saw the strike craft begin to return just as the UBs rallied and began to send attackers after them.
Hackett felt the ship rock lightly as it unleashed missile after missile at the horde, seeing the missiles travel like a wave of destruction was almost like art. "Turians, you are free to engage." I said and watched as an explosion of color erupted in the system as the wormhole spat out the massive Turian fleet. They cut a deadly swathe through the unsuspecting UBs as they blitzed towards the main wormhole.
"Captain Surge, it's time!"
Time seemed to slow for her as she and her fleet departed from the wormhole, across the street all she saw was devastation. While they hit the UBs hard, the UBs were hitting back with just as much fury, destroyers and Corvettes float aimlessly as they were melted, some even cut cleanly in halves. Pieces of UBs floated around as the system was quickly becoming a mass grave, and she was about to add to that toll.
"Create a defensive line for the Turians, let no one approach them!" I ordered as my fleet began to stagger our formation. The Turians had finally carved a bloody path to the Xurkitree powering the wormhole and it seemed the other UBs could sense the danger. Almost as one, any UB that was engaged with the main UTR and US fleet, turned and charged towards us intent on destroying the attacking Turians.
I watched as the mines had been triggered, and much of the horde were caught in the explosions, "Fire Rage Power Missiles, keep them busy!" I watched in silence as the missiles were released, exploding as they approached the swarm, releasing spores.
I felt a shiver run up my spine, I could almost feel the collective malice of thousands as the UBs went into a frenzy. "Shields up, keep them back!" I ordered and watched as the guns on the destroyers let loose, "Strike Craft, fall back for resupply!"
Vex couldn't help but look at the human in awe, as she stood silently next to him the only thing showing just what she was doing was the purple energy around her hands. He'd admit that he first thought this was a horrible idea, that the humans were overstating just how powerful these 'Psychics' really were. Now, as he watched beams of energy practically graze off the barriers of the ship, he couldn't help but be thankful for these humans.
He was also having trouble managing the battles due to the much higher speeds his fleets were moving, apparently not having to divert power to shields meant that they could put more behind the engines. He couldn't help but watch the pride of the Turians people carve a path through its opposition, this is what it meant to be Turian, to be the galactic peace keepers. "All ships, advance in formation, show them that the Turians bend to no one."
Tevos drank from the sweet Asari liquor she had as she poured over reports from across the galaxy. It seemed these Humans had already shaken the status quo, Asari living amongst the Krogan reported them being an efficient and dutiful occupation force. They worked seamlessly with the Turians in quashing any potential Krogan unrest, even sparing some altruistic efforts to the Krogan doing food drives and makeshift clinics. The Salarians were growing concerned at the slight jump in Krogan birth viability, but it was keeping the peace as the Krogan females had taken charge of the situation and made the males stand down.
The Batarians had also sent their envoy to contest Human occupation of a number of systems within the Attican Traverse and Skyllian Verge both of which the Batarians had laid unofficial claim to. Tevos had been rather annoyed with the Batarians arrogance, especially since an Asari frontier colony was sacked by pirates not too long ago that STG had connected to the Hegemony. She took no small amount of glee in telling the envoy that their claim was illegitimate as they never went through any official Citadel channels to claim the systems, and now the Humans had 'Sister System' rights to the stars neighboring their borders.
Now she'd be able to meet one of the new aliens as they had sent a representative to meet with the Council and officially swear in as an Associate Race. She wasn't truly concerned, from all reports the Humans have adapted quickly and admirably to the Salarians, Asari and Turians they had been introduced to. She received a notification from an Asari news network and saw a reporter talking with a Human. Quickly she opened the live feed and listened
"-ade quite the shock with your entrance into the galactic stage, but the people of the Galaxy still don't know much about your people." She let the unsaid question hand in the air as the human gave a polite smile. Tevos could admit the Humans were rather attractive, due to their startling similarities to Asari she could see them becoming a favored race to mate with amongst her people. The one on TV currently seems to be a bit older according to the human codex, perhaps around 40 some earth cycles. His hair was a sleek black that hung loosely around his head, but with strands of gray in it. His attire: a stylish black shirt and vest combo, black pants and lilac dress shoes that matched his tie and pendant attached to his vest.
"Of course, I'd have no issue discussing my people with you." He said in a semi robotic voice, the smile on his face endearing him to many already, "But sadly I'd have to wait till after my meeting with the Council, duty calls." Tevos chuckled at the light blush that dusted the reporter's face as the man smiled at her.
She noticed the notification on his Omnitool and sighed, it was time to convene in the Council Chamber.
Callum sighed as he and his team rode the much too long elevator to the council floor. The first things he'd petition for would be teleporters placed within the Citadel. Elevator aside he couldn't help but marvel at the beautiful station, a structure of its beauty he hadn't seen since AZ's weapon. A part of him couldn't help but feel intimidated, Humanity and Pokemon had built some down right impressive things in their time, but these three species have been playing in the graveyard of a civilization that had built this. 'Just what else could they have hidden away, the Citadel alone has sparked so many ideas within the UTR for our own station.'
"We have almost arrived Champion Delacroix, the Council will see you immediately as we enter the Presidium." A young Asari spoke next to him as she fiddled with the Omnitool on her wrist. He nodded and prepared himself, it was his duty to see Humanity welcomed into the Galactic Community smoothly, brokering trade agreements and border adjustments that would work for both of our parties. Any fallout would fall on his head, as well as Kalos. He escaped that grim thought as the elevator came to a smooth stop and opened to show an extremely large lobby area.
Waterfalls, ponds, plant life and countless species walked around hurriedly or talked excitedly. He didn't have to guess what their conversations were about. He sighed as he readied himself, and walked forward with his party.
The presidium, while a grand room, was rather underwhelming when Callum compared it to the Kalosian League building. 'Although I suppose castle is a better description of the home of his league.'. He looked at the large balconies that overlooked the main lobby, filled with the numerous associate species, all here to bear witness to the next species to join their alliance. In front of him, in elevated platforms stood three aliens: an Asari, Salarians, and a Turian.
Smiling, the Asari spoke, "Spokesperson of the United Terran Regions, we welcome you to the Citadel, I am Councillor Tevos of the Asari Republic."
The Salarian spoke next, "I am Councillor Valern, of the Salarian Union." His black eyes seemed to try to stare through Callum, like he was trying to find out how he ticked.
Lastly the Turian stood firm and spoke with a strong voice, "I am Councillor Sparatus, of the Turian Hierarchy." the man nodded respectfully to Callum.
Callum smiled, putting on his 'league politics face' as Shauna called it, "Hello honored Councillors, I am Callum Delacroix, Champion of the Kalos region of Earth, and the current representative of all Terran Regions and planets." he looked at the balconies, "I wish to say, for all Humans and Pokemon, that we are honored to be here amongst the premier minds of the Galaxy."
Tevos smiled as she watched the man play to the crowd, "And we are honored to welcome a new associate race into the Citadel, our Turian allies have spoken very highly of your people." Sparatus nodded with pride at that statement.
"Yes, the Humans and their Pokemon allies are conducting themselves admirably, both on Tuchanka and Shanxi." Sparatus said his mandibles twitching as he smiled, "Tuchanka has overall become a much safer assignment, especially since the Krogan Matriarchs are endorsing their stay for now."
Valern nodded, "Yes, but that is a topic that will have to be discussed, such aid to the Krogan should have gone through the proper channels first."
Tevos smiled down at Callum, "Champion Delacroix, your species has already joined under the Turian banner as their client, but now it is time, like all species before yours, to join the galactic community." Tevos gestured grandly at the gathered delegates as she spoke, "However beforehand, I believe we have much to discuss about your species and its new role in the Galaxy."
Callum nodded before activating his holo-caster, the Rotom appearing, "Honored Council, the UTR already has a standing agreement with the Turian Hierarchy as far as our technology is concerned, as well as our military and humanitarian aid we send to the Republic of Megalo." he sent files detailing the agreements to them, "We are willing to negotiate any terms, as long as they don't put us at risk of breaking our current agreement." Callum sent a nod to Sparatus who nodded back.
Tevos silently scanned the document, "Overall the terms here are agreeable, but there are some points I wish to visit." She said and highlighted a section of the document, "Here there is a provision limiting the creation of what you call Aether, and Rotom technology." She also frowned at another line, "There is also this statement regarding the Ultra Spacians."
Callum nodded, "The Aether Foundation as it stands is facing troubles due to recent issues regarding their leadership, as such they aren't allowing any schematics of their technology to be shared at this moment." He could see the disapproval on Valen's face, "As for Rotom technology, since it is only functioning to its full potential when fused with a Rotom we felt it prudent to not allow its recreation till the other species had a better appreciation for Pokemon and their care."
Valern spoke up in protest, "From what I have seen of your society you use these 'Pokemon' in what is equivalent to blood sport, you yourself are a champion of said activity." Callum frowned at the Salarian.
"Pokemon and Humanity have built our connection since before the first Human civilizations took shape, Pokemon battling is a core part of the partnership between us." He said stiffly to the Salarian who seemed to understand the land mine he stepped on. Tevos cleared her throat, and gave a friendly smile to cover Valern's mistake.
"Will this be a topic that can be revisited at a later date?" she asked and Callum nodded and Tevos asked for him to continue.
"Due to being in another dimension, the Republic of Megalo have decided to not join the Citadel as an associate race, they do however wish to open trade negotiations with the Citadel and its associates." Tevos frowned at that but couldn't really fault it. The Ultra Spacians broke all conventions when it came to the Citadel, how would they enforce their laws on a people they couldn't even reach.
Valern spoke up again, looking at the Rotom with apprehension, "The Union also expresses concerns with the way your technology seems to be developing, many on Tuchanka fear that this 'Rotom-tech' is dangerously close to AI, which is banned by Citadel law." Callum could feel the unease mounting in the room as people stared at Rotom in concern and fear.
"Yes we have been informed of your situation with the Geth and the ban on AI, but Rotom-Technology is moreso the melding of biology and cybernetics, Rotom is a living creature, with desires and wants just like any other biological creature." Callum paused in contemplation and continued, "There were seemingly gains made in creating AI in our history, but most were abandoned with the creation of Rotom infused tech, the UTR is in understanding and in full compliance with the Citadel's AI laws." Valern looked ready to protest until Sparatus spoke up.
"Many Turian generals have spoken to me about the Rotom, some even have used them, from everything they can tell it doesn't pose any more of a risk than a rogue soldier." he looked at Callum, "That being said they pose a serious cybersecurity risk to the Citadel, the Hierarchy and the UTR will begin implementation of 'Anti-Rotom' measures to protect the Citadel, these will be made available to the races after they have been tested."
Tevos nodded and smiled, "I believe those were the biggest issues, if we are all in agreement, let me be the first to welcome the United Terran Regions as an Associate Citadel Race."
Desolas coughed as he took cover behind what few barriers were remaining, the UBs had practically overrun the western portion of the city and his people had been hard pressed to keep them from pushing further. He heard his Onix roar as it tossed boulders at the advancing horde, the rocks crushing some and causing others to fly away due to its impact. "This is Specialist Desolas Arterius, I am requesting Air Support." I spoke into my omnitool as I shot at a Nihilego that tried to flank us. I cursed when I heard the jumbled mass of words that came from the device.
I felt my heart stop when a light gathered in the mouth of a Guzzlord, and before I could order a retreat it fired. I closed my eyes, accepting my coming demise but the feeling of heat never came. Slowly I opened my eyes and saw a great wall of vines stretched out before me, and I fell to my knee.
"Close one, but don't worry." I turned to see two men, one older than the other but both were darker skinned and had purple hair. One had a smirk on his face as he walked up to a creature that kind of reminded me of an Elcor. "Good work Rillaboom."
The older of the two smiled brightly as he walked in front of Desolas, "Thank you for defending my people, now-" a light shot from his waist as a large red dragon formed and stared menacingly at the horde. He tapped a device on his wrist and the dragon began to glow and expand, "It's time to have a Champion Time."