AN: Wow, wasn't expecting that number of Favs/Follows so quickly. Thanks guys and gals! I hope you continue to enjoy.
[+]
13-05-2157
1705 [Arcturus Time]
HS INSCRUTABLE
Ophellus (Lovell) System
Taetus scowled at his personal monitor, barely able to restrain his seething anger. At the start he'd desperately hoped that the mystery ship's bizarre actions would preclude them to stand and fight, giving him the excitement he'd so craved. But no, they had to run. But to say that was the main source of his rage would be wildly inaccurate. It also wasn't a result of the enemy perfectly defeating multiple torpedoes barrages unleashed by his frigates. Nor that the enemy's torpedoes had mockingly succeeded where his had failed, even going as far to destroying one of HIS frigates. Even the fact that one of the bastards just managed to escape (and through ANOTHER relay they'd irresponsibly activated none the less) failed to incite his fury. No, none of that even came close to the realisation that he, Taetus Arterius, was wrong and that cowedly bitch Lorakian was RIGHT.
Even as the lone survivor of the enemy's flotilla fled towards Relay 315, Taetus had ordered two of his frigates to start combing through the debris field and secure any escape pods. Obviously, rescuing the crew of the destroyed Menae's Arrow was a priority, but he'd also intended to capture and interrogate any of the pirate scum. How glorious it would be to present them to the Council, revealing their crimes and receive the recognition he deserved as a potential saviour of civilisation. Surely that would have raised his standing enough that Fedorian would have to recall him from this Spirits-be-damned assignment.
But all his hopes died as he watched, slack jawed, as the marines broke into the first recovered pod. The pod's spartan interior was bathed in a dull red light, but there was more than enough to see that the interior did not, as expected, contain pirates, Krogan or even Batarians. No, the aliens inside almost resembled Asari, but…they clearly weren't. Their facial features and skeletal structure looked eerily similar, although instead of the scalp crests arcing back over their head, these aliens had an array of fur that varied in length and colour. They also had different skin tones, none of which looked like any kind of blue, instead ranging from light pink to dark brown. Every single one of them was also wearing what Taetus presumed to be a military uniform. The final nail in the coffin hit when one of the aliens pulled a firearm on the marine team. They responded as drilled and put the alien down but not before the alien shouted at them in a language that he couldn't understand. Couldn't understand because his universal translator couldn't identify it. All together the evidence was pretty much overwhelming.
It was exactly as that damn Nextra had postulated; this had been first contact with a new alien race…and he'd just killed dozens, if not hundreds of them in his lust for battle. He tried to reassure him own conscience that he'd still been justified in his action; Maybe they weren't aware of galactic law but they were trying to open dormant mass relay! The consequences could have been catastrophic for all they knew. In fact everyone involved was damned lucky that one of his cruisers had managed to shut the relay back down before it fully activated. Still…they didn't know. Did they deserve...fuck!
Taetus' mind was beginning to race. He needed to do something! But what? What should he do? What the fuck COULD he do? Five minutes passed as Taetus descended into a downward mental spiral, before he realised that an unnerving quiet had blanketed his Bridge. The Admiral's head slowly lifted to find dozens of deeply concerned gazes and more than few of the same looks he'd seen given to his mutinous XO only hours before. He hated that. How dare they judge him when they'd all been as equally bloodthirsty. But deep down he knew that ultimately, it was going to fall on him and him alone. Taetus wished he had a clever plan; a grand deception that would, at worst, absolve him from blame and at best, bury this incident forever. But he had nothing. It would get out eventually. Likely it would come from Captain Nextra Lorakian or maybe from one of the thousands of other naval personnel under his command. Or worst of all, maybe these aliens would soon enter the galactic community calling for his head. The damage that this could do to the Hierarchy's standing would be immense. The Asari in particular would be apoplectic.
There was no doubt now that this situation was way above his capability to resolve, so he resigned himself to the only option left open to him. He ordering them be patched into the nearest comm buoy so he could report this disaster back to Palaven. Maybe High Command would understand…understand that he did what he thought was right.
[+]
SSV BRISTOL
Shanxi-Theta Relay, Hua Mulan System
Beth was compressed violently forward into her crash harness, the tight straps painfully knocking the wind out her as the Bristol lurched to a sudden halt. Normally the effects of a relay transit weren't nearly as pronounced but power needs had necessitated a routing away from the inertial dampers (as much as they safely could anyway). As a result, it took Beth nearly 20 seconds to recover and she certainly wasn't alone; her ears being met by a cacophony of sharp breaths and pained grumbles all throughout the CIC.
"All *huff* stations *huff* report" she finally managed out.
"All thrusters *huff* spun to zero. We…we're drifting Ma'am" Ouellet was the first reply.
"Fire control computer is down; I'll need to re-boot the system" followed the Gunnery Officer.
"Do it."
"Ma'am, Engineering reports the core is overheating. Chief Engineer requests immediate reduction in power output by 50%." Came another report.
"Approved, reduce to 50%." Honestly, losing so much power still worried Beth immensely given that there was nothing stopping the aliens from jumping through after them. Were it not for their pursuers seemingly breaking off when they'd been on the home stretch, she would have seriously considered overruling Voigt's concerns.
They'd been damn fortunate all things considered. Following the disastrous ambush, the alien ships that couldn't re-accelerate quick enough to continue the pursuit, moved in to search the debris field left by the two brave Alliance warships. The same debris field also forced the ships following her through the slingshot to decelerate and take avoiding action. By the time they'd manoeuvred around it and it had become clear that the Bristol would escape, they suddenly hove-to, instilling much relief amongst her crew.
But that feeling wouldn't last long, as the CIC could only look on in horror as a number of the Tours' escape pods were intercepted by their accosters and seemingly captured. Beth could only pray that aliens held similar attitudes to the Alliance regarding prisoners of war, but given how this all started, she wasn't holding onto that hope very tightly. One silver lining existed in that her fighter complement were able to recover three of the pods, which had luckily maintained a similar momentum and vector to the Bristol. Beth had hoped beyond hope that Martinez would bee amongst the survivors, but that was asking the universe too much it seemed; The pods hadn't launched from anywhere close to the Tours' CIC, so none of the occupants knew of their captain's fate. Still, she had her fingers crossed for whatever good that would do.
"Sensors, Captain. First indication the relay is preparing for an inbound, flash report it immediately. We might not be out of the woods yet."
"Aye Captain" replied the Senior Chief Petty Officer.
With that, there wasn't much else they could do but lick their wounds and wait until engineering got propulsion back, so Beth considered it to be as good as time as any to break the news to FLEETCOM.
"Fedorov, get us patched into the nearest comm buoy asap. I've got quite the report to make."
[+]
14-05-2157
0015 [Arcturus Time]
Systems Alliance Joint Headquarters
Arcturus Station
The atmosphere within the ministerial briefing room was, in a word, tense. Understandably so given the sudden urgency of this unscheduled meeting of the Emergency Cabinet. It only been a few hectic hours since Fleet Admiral Henri Fredriksen had been rudely awaken in the middle of the station's night cycle, only to be informed that a small group of his warships had been set upon and nearly wiped out. An incredibly alarming situation in of itself, what with their belief that they'd successfully suppressed most pirate activity in the recent months. An attack like this against Alliance warships would have been beyond brazen. But that would have be simple, almost preferable to their new reality; a reality that had half of Fleet Command running around like headless chickens. Highly unprofessional behaviour that he would have to address when he had a free moment. The growing hysteria was the result of a very concerning report provided by the commander of the brutalised ships: A very comprehensive and adamant assessment that concluded the identity of their attackers to be of extra-terrestrial origin. The Admiral couldn't say that he knew the young British officer personally but he did manage to secure her service record and recent psyche evals. She'd been described as a model professional who was well deserving of command and there was absolutely nothing to indicate that she'd been liable to suffer a mental breakdown or whatever else. She most certainly didn't seem to be the type to joke about something as serious as this. As a result, Fredriksen was more than willing to believe her account until proven otherwise.
The dark, medium-sized, briefing room at the heart of the Alliance's military nerve centre was permeated by the concerned mutterings and musings from over a dozen ministers and military personnel, all of who'd been called out of bed at short notice. Fredriksen led the military component of the group as the Chief of Defence Staff, a position hard earned over a long and rewarding career, the majority of which was before the Alliance even existed. In fact, he'd already been a high-ranking admiral in the European Space Defence Force before transferring over. Flanking him on the right side of curved mahogany table were three other officers of note; Fleet Admiral Tanya Hollister was the American Chief of the Navy; General Kuroe Itzumo, the dour Japanese Commandant of the Marine Corps and finally a sickly looking Polish officer from the Alliance Intelligence Service's Section-I. Also known as AI-1, they were the division responsible for Naval Intelligence. As such, Captain Thom Stanislav would be responsible for conducting the briefing.
The chatter quickly died down as the main doors opened to reveal the most important individual in human space. Catherine O'Hagan was remarkedly young to be the Prime Minister of even an Earth-bound country, let alone the largest and most powerful political body ever created. At only 32 years of age, she'd led her Alliance Prosperity Party to a narrow victory in last year's election and had quickly proved to all but her harshest critics that she was the strong leader the budding extra-national state needed. In fact she'd become a real force of nature in those first few months; stamping out multiple corruption rings within the civil service and cracking down hard on the growing piracy crisis that had emerged after the discovery of eezo-based propulsion. In the Admiral's humble opinion, she was exactly the kind of person they needed in charge at moments like this.
"Alright people, lets all get up to speed," she said, instantly taking command of the room.
The intelligence officer made eye contact with Fredriksen and after a his confirmational nod, took up position to the side of the large screen that covered the opposite wall to their seats. He pressed a button on his wristpad and the screen lit up to show the system chart of Lovell with the superimposed images of the star's position in Alliance space as well the pictures of three Alliance warships: two frigates and a light cruiser.
"Madam Prime Minister, Sirs, Ma'ams. Yesterday afternoon at 1225 Arcturus Time, three Alliance warships, the Bristol along with her escorts Bannockburn and Tours, were attacked by as of yet unknown alien aggressor." He added the images taken of the alien vessels by the Bristol's long range cameras to the screen and paused to allow the seriousness of the situation to sink in. "Our ships belonged to the one of four exploration taskgroups in the 63rd Scout Flotilla, which from here on out will be referred to as TG63.4. The primary intent of their mission was the activation of the Beta relay in the Lovell system." He highlighted the relay in question on the screen. "They had been part way through the activation procedures when their long-range sensors detected a fleet of unknown vessels approaching at high speed. If we use size alone to classify them, then by our standards, the aliens had the equivalent of 18 frigates, 9 cruisers and a dreadnaught so large it dwarfs our largest warship in length by a factor of 33%. We also have reason to believe that each and every one of these vessel are equipped with a mass effect-based shielding tech that we only have in the early prototype stages."
These revelations induced a half dozen whispered conversations until the PM herself stepped in, and brought about hush back to the room. "Please continue Captain."
"Thankyou Madam Prime Minister. Now, undaunted, TG63.4's senior officer, one Commander Elizabeth Norris.." Stanislav paused again to display the official photo of the pale and planish-looking brunette in her dress blues. She sported a slight motherly smile, vibrant green eyes and looked all the consummate professional Fredriksen expected from reading her record. "…identified that they were in a potential first contact scenario and followed the procedure to the letter. Regrettably however, after multiple attempts to establish communications, the unknown ships fired on and destroyed their contact package probe. Fearing the imminent outbreak of hostilities, Commander Norris ordered TG63.4 to retreat at full speed back to Shanxi."
"Dare I ask Captain, but were there any casualties?" interrupted the PM.
"Unfortunately Ma'am, the taskgroup was attacked multiple times during their retreat and I regret to report that both the Tours and the Bannockburn were lost. It was also reported that the Bristol received minor damage in the engagements. The Tours managed to launch escape pods, only some of which were able to be recovered by Commander Norris. Worryingly, we believe the rest may have been captured by the unknown warships. Moreover, I can also report that the Bannockburn was likely lost with all hands when her core went into meltdown following Lieutenant Commander's George Makute's brave decision to take shots meant for the Bristol. AIS has been able to confirm at least 37 dead and another 214 presumed dead, missing or captured."
"Dios Mio!" exclaimed the Defence Minister, Estaban Valdez. "Captain, was the Bristol pursued through the relay? Because that would put a hostile fleet in the backyard of a thriving colony."
"Thankfully they did not Sir. For reasons we have yet to fully determine, the alien ships broke off pursuit not long after the Bannockburn's destruction. The current working theory is that maybe they mistook us for someone else in the initial engagement and only discovered our true nature when they recovered one of our pods."
"So you're saying that it could just be a misunderstanding?" Asked the Interior Minister. "We could still resolve this peacefully then."
Fredriksen finally spoke up in response, "that's only a theory, Minister. We need to stick to the facts. And the facts are that our ships were the recipients of an unprovoked attack. Regardless of whether they misidentified us or not, they still ignored all attempts of peaceful communication and ruthlessly hunted our ships that had done them no wrong. As such we must presume hostility until proven otherwise and plan accordingly. Only once we're secure can we try to determine if peace is achievable."
"Admiral! That's not…" He began before being cut off by the PM.
"I share you're concern Francois and I assure you, we will endeavour to stive for a diplomatic approach should the opportunity arise. But the Fleet Admiral is right, we must ensure that we can protect ourselves should that not be possible." She turned back to Fredriksen and his officers to ask, "what can we send to Shanxi and how soon?"
Admiral Hollister was the one to reply in her southern drawl. "Unfortunately, Madam Prime Minister, most of our formations are either spread far and wide on existing deployments, understrength or undergoing maintenance. I CAN confidently say we can muster the 2nd Fleet within 72 hours but I wouldn't fancy their chances one-on-one with that alien fleet, not with that monster of a dreadnaught and not with the enemy having that shielding tech."
"So what is your recommendation Admiral?" She gestured to the Chief of the Navy, who stood up and moved up to the briefing screen.
"I suggest we hold off deploying to Shanxi in force. For now, at least. We know very little about our opponent, but it's looking likely that we may need a significant numerical advantage to ensure tactical victories in space. At least until we can get our own shielding out to the fleet and that could take months, if not years. Ultimately, I'd advise extreme caution. If a major slice of our fleet goes to Shanxi now and gets jumped by a superior force, worst case could leave us completely combat ineffective. I propose that we continue to mobilise our forces here in the Arcturus Stream and deploy recon pickets and small patrol groups along our border systems. In fact, I already took the liberty to redirect four such patrol groups to the system an hour ago. This way we can hopefully fend off any small incursions whilst delaying and gathering the intel needed to counter anything larger. We can't forget that just because we've only seen them in Lovell, doesn't mean they couldn't attack us through other border relays."
"That's all well and good Admiral, but what about the people of Shanxi? Surely, you don't suggest we abandon them when it's their door the aliens may come knocking on?" Queried the Interior Minister again. Sounding borderline offended that they'd leave people to fend for themselves.
"We'll begin evacuations asap, Minister. We'll redeploy marine units to reinforce their Colonial Guard until we can get them off-world." Answered Fredriksen before turning to his Marine Corps colleague. "Kuroe, do we have any formations close-by that can re-tasked?"
"Yes Sir. I've got about one and a half brigades of the 8th Frontier Division; the 134th and elements of the 201st under one Brigadier General Liam Williams. I can have them at Shanxi in 24 hours.
The Chief of Defence Staff nodded and then turned back the PM. "With your permission of course, Madam Prime Minister?"
"Honestly Admiral, I don't like it. It doesn't feel right to let them potentially waltz over our borders like this and not heading them off at the pass." She paused and Fredriksen was about to interrupt but she held up her hand to stall him. "However, I am not a military woman and I immensely value you and your subordinates' judgements on this matter. I do also see the wisdom of Francois' view that we make every effort to keep channels open and hope for a diplomatic solution. Being more reactive in our defensive strategy, in my eyes, may give us the chance to avoid further violent misunderstandings."
The room was deathly silent and Catherine O'Hagan made eye contact with every last person in the room. Fredriksen could see the steely determination that hopefully mirrored his own and knew that they had the right woman for the job here.
"Fleet Admiral Fredriksen, you have my go ahead. My cabinet and I, especially Estaban, will do our utmost to get you everything you need. But I must insist that I be kept abreast of the situation as it develops. I expect regular reports."
"Of course, Madam Prime Minister. I will liaise with you directly."
"Good. Remember people, we can't afford to screw this up, so I want everyone firing on all cylinders. Now, if there's nothing else, my ministers and I need to work out a strategy for the impending political shitstorm that the press, parliament and goodness knows who else are about to dump on us. Thankyou for your time everyone."
And with that, she nodded to Fredriksen before standing and walking out of the briefing room, her cabinet hot on her heels. The Admiral knew he wasn't the only one of his officers who at that moment was glad to have a politician that actually listened for once.
Still, it was going to be a very long day.
[+]
15-05-2157
SAV QUIBERON BAY, Bay-class auxiliary troop transport
Shanxi orbit, Hua Mulan system
Brigadier General Liam Williams strode up the wide gangway of the of the Chariot-class light dropship that would soon ferry him and his HQ Company down to Shanxi's surface. It had barely been a day since the 134th Marine Brigade had been re-tasked from their existing deployment and picked up by the two auxiliary transport ships, SAV Quiberon Bay and SAV Gulf of Aden. That really hadn't been long for the general to formulate a plan to defend and evacuate the threatened colony. Not long at all.
William's first course of action was to establish his brigade command post, which was why he was going planet-side in advance of the rest of his men. In a surprising turn for a Chinese Federation backed colony, the Shanxi People's Defence Force, the local Colonial Guard unit, had so far been very co-operative. They'd even immediately offered the use of their command bunker situated below the central garrison. The decently sized complex was conveniently located close to the colony's only space port on the outskirts of the sole city-sized settlement, New Taiyuan. it was decently equipped and would give William's forces good lines of communication throughout the region, the capital city and off-world.
The main dilemma besides convincing the locals that they even needed to be evacuated, was how to defend an entire farming colony of six hundred thousand people as they did so. With only the two and half thousand marines and around three thousand colonial guardsmen, his options were regrettably limited. Spreading his forces throughout the colony to protect as much as possible was unfortunately way out of the question. That would only invite them being quickly cut-off and destroyed in detail should the aliens gain air-superiority and land in force. So instead Williams elected to concentrate the vast majority of his brigade, including all of their artillery, air-defence and combat engineering units, in the vicinity of New Taiyuan. The brigade could then dig in, and protect the largest possible number of people as they were ferried off-world. With their position secure, he'd then divide his single air-mobile battalion into platoon sized elements that would assist the SPDF in evacuating remote settlements back to the capital. Obviously the finer details would have to be worked out with the local officials once they were groundside, but for now the plan sufficed.
He made his way into the cavernous troop bay and chose a dropseat at the far end, closest to the cockpit, where he could quickly communicate with the pilot if necessary. Shaking his kitbag off his shoulder, he secured it in the rack above the seat before locking his M-15 carbine into the mag clamps on its side. Personal kit secure, he strapped himself into the safety harness as the rest of his HQ company started to do the same. His second in command (2I/C), Colonel Zoya Kravchenko took up the seat next to him and strapped in herself. Williams could tell she was pissed. Not that that was an uncommon occurrence. She was certainly an intimidating woman with her tall muscular frame, short silver-blonde hair, sharp grey eyes and her almost permeant scowl. Many a junior officer (and some senior officers) seemed to be terrified of her despite the fact she'd never barely done anything to warrant it.
"Aghh! I don't like this Sir. Not one bit. Feels like we're being pushed up shit creek without a paddle here!" She said in a low accented growl.
"I know Colonel, I know. But orders are orders," replied Williams with a sigh.
"I get that, but these alien bastards could come through that damned relay any moment and we have fuck all real ships in system! What does FLEETCOM think a couple of patrol groups and a recon picket's gonna do against a fucking alien battlefleet."
The general was well used to these angry rants after a year of working with Kravchenko. Honestly, he was just relieved that: 1. They were never actually directed at him and 2. That she was professional enough to ensure that he was the ONLY one that ever heard them. That was unless she was specifically chewing someone out of course. Something that tended to only happen to person once…He sure as hell couldn't say she wasn't effective.
"You know as well as I do that the flyboys are overstretched. It's going to take them time to properly mobilise. We've never had to face a situation like this before, but they'll get it done." He replied.
The colonel let out a deep sigh, letting her anger cool somewhat as she closed her eyes and rested her head on the back of the dropseat. "Blyat…won't be much of a consolation if things go sideways up there in the meantime. An event that will see us cut-off and besieged by who knows how many of the alien Suka!"
Williams couldn't refute that and didn't even try, simply allowing her statement to linger in silence. A couple minutes later, with all his marines seated and secure, he received the thumbs up from the dropship's Loadmaster, indicating that they were ready to decouple. He returned the naval Petty Officer's hand gesture to confirm his approval. And not a minute later, the lighting switched to a menacing red, followed by a loud *clunk* as the dropship disconnected from the Quiberon. Now began his most hated part of the job that always reminded him why he hadn't joined the airborne. Liam Williams had no idea what the coming days and weeks would bring, something that genuinely did frighten him. So, he fell back on the one constant in his life, the one thing that always brought him peace; he prayed.
SYSTEMS ALLIANCE OFFICIAL CODEX
[ENTRY: CDX_M0032 - Ranks of the Systems Alliance Armed Forces]
When the System Alliance Armed Forces was in it's infancy, there were countless debates regarding the doctrines, procedures and traditions that would end up being adopted. One of the biggest discussions was over the new rank structure. Some advocated for the one-to-one replication of existing structures, particularly those of the United North American States, the European Union or the Chinese Federation. But, it was ultimately decided that a modified version of the NATO/Commonwealth style structure would be chosen, being as it would be familiar to the vast majority of the Alliance's member states without caving to favourtism.
The Colonial Guard units that provide the majority of garrisons across Alliance space have more freedom when it comes to rank nomenclature. However, they are still constrained by it's underlying structure, equivalent responsibilities and command authority. This is vital to ensure that inter-operability between the CG and regular military units remains smooth and effective. An example in differing names can be demonstrated by the ranks of the majority-Chinese Shanxi People's Defence Force, where the Marine Corps equivalent ranks of Chief Sergeant and Gunnery Chief Sergeant are instead Shang Shi (Staff Sergeant) and Yi Ji Shang Shi (Staff Sergeant 1st Class) respectively.
[+]
OFFICER RANKS
Code: Navy / Marines:
OF-10 Fleet Admiral / no equivalent
OF-9 Admiral / General
OF-8 Vice Admiral / Lieutenant General
OF-7 Rear Admiral / Major General
OF-6 Commodore / Brigadier General
OF-5 Captain / Colonel
OF-4 Commander / Lieutenant Colonel
OF-3 Lieutenant Commander / Major
OF-2 Staff Lieutenant
OF-1 First Lieutenant
OF-1 Second Lieutenant
OF-D Ensign
[+]
ENLISTED RANKS
Code: Navy / Marines:
OR-9 Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy / Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps
OR-8 Master Chief Petty Officer / Sergeant Major
OR-7 Senior Chief Petty Officer / Senior Chief Sergeant
OR-6 Gunnery Chief Petty Officer / Gunnery Chief Sergeant
OR-5 Chief Petty Officer / Chief Sergeant
OR-4 Petty Officer / Sergeant
OR-3 Leading Serviceman / Corporal
OR-2 Serviceman 1st Class / Lance Corporal
OR-1 Serviceman 2nd Class / Private
OR-D Recruit
AN: Very much a preparatory chapter here, but necessary context for the story going forward. Promise there'll be more action in the next one.