Big Lies a Parade and lots of explosions
Onboard The Batarian Heavy Cruiser The Kurhes 7 hours since First Contact
Captain Balak was enduring a catastrophic day; he had just suffered the loss of two ships to what he deemed mere primitives. Without the Hegemony persuading the council to sanction an invasion of these primitives, he knew a retaliatory strike would be impossible. The constant surveillance by the STG on the fleets left them vulnerable. But before his thoughts could spiral further, he halted them abruptly.
Uncertain if his plan would bear fruit, he decided to take the risk. Navigating through the debris of glass bottles scattered across his quarters' floor, he made his way back to the bridge, his presence immediately noticed by the crew as the door slid open.
Reaching his center console swiftly, he demanded, "Somebody get me a line to the nearest Turian fleet and patch it through to my quarters. This move will either elevate me to hero status in the Hegemony or seal my fate in the slave camps."
After a brief wait of about 15 or so minutes, a face appeared on the screen of his desk console. "This is Admiral Adrien Rix of the 7th Fleet. Why is a Hegemony Relay Expedition Fleet contacting a battle fleet instead of the closest patrol fleet? Don't tell me you stumbled upon another Rachni Empire."
The admiral's tone dripped with sarcasm and irritation, clearly implying that anything Balak needed was beneath him. Balak, however, maintained his composure and responded, "In fact, Admiral, I have indeed made such a discovery." The admiral's jaw visibly slackened at Balak's claim.
"Seven hours ago, my fleet traversed a reopened relay as planned. However, upon reaching the other side, we encountered an unknown ship that disregarded all attempts at communication and opened fire, even after we sent a first contact package. Regrettably, they destroyed a ship that had already surrendered, as well as another in combat" Balak hoped his story of lies was convincing, knowing it was his only real chance.
"Fortunately, no Ezzo was detected on the ship. Since the council will never endorse the Hegemony establishing a client state of any primitives, I thought you knowing your famously colonial primarch could seek vengeance for my lost ships," Balak concluded, hoping his lie would convince the admiral enough to consult with the Primarch as long as Fedorian hears of this he will want a piece of those prims.
The admiral was silent for a moment before finally opening his mouth to speak "I will have to speak with the Primarch but until then I will reposition my fleet to your relay we can not allow aggressors into council space, but no aggressive action will be taken until the Primarch consents to it"
Captain Balak stood taller and smiled "I completely understand"
SDF Ares-Class Carrier Pavonis 9 Hours since first contact
"Admiral Derhachov sir we just launched the probe" The crew all stood to salute him "Sit back down now is not the time for formalites Get me Captain Vass on the Horn we need to know what we are dealing with and it will be a few more hours before we crack the disabled cutter open".
The Comms officer quickly got to work "Do you want to talk to him here or in your office sir?" Derhachov briefly mulled over it before deciding to "send it to my quarters" As he turned and made his way there hearing a lone "yes sir" he cringed already sick of the endless bombardment of "yes sirs"
SDS A-jack's CIC center
"Alright we got the order probe just broke off our cutter it is making its way to the anomaly with a 15-second time till arrival" The dozen or so scientists and Naval personnel sat in silence "Second probe is away preparing for signal relay"
The 1st probe was surrounded by blue energy for a brief time before zipping off at truly ridiculous speed and the 2nd probe lined up in the position to receive the 1st transmissions. "just got our first signal from the other side, it has 1 earth-like planet, 2 gas giants, an exoplanet a G-type star and…" the scientist went pale it wasn't long till a crewmen spoke up "oh come on you civvy what the fuck is it?"
The man leaned back into his chair before responding "Over 2 and a half thousand ships, a war fleet, and considering they fired first I would say, that they here to finish the job"
SDF Ares-Class Carrier Pavonis 11 Hours since first contact
Admiral Derhachov had finished the briefing and contacted Mars and then lord admiral Kotch only to then learn that the aliens were preparing a war fleet to invade Sol or were they? he noticed the ships were of a very different design than those from first contact and had taken up defensive positions instead of any viable forwarded attack position. While that was good it had the unintended effect of making HIGHCOM unwilling to notify Earth of the situation
While that would be fine if the treaty of Mars prevented up from having more than 300 ships in Sol and meant the UNSA were watching the system closely forcing us to make do with the mere 16 ships already at the relay for now as they wouldn't notice the Kuiper fleet being gone but they sure as shit couldn't hide the other one without raising suspicion
And while Olympus Mons and nearly 5 thousand other ships were forming a fleet that could reach Sol in 48 hours to ensure a rapid response it didn't matter as Earth could hold for decades it was hilariously over fortified, Mars however was not it would fall quickly to these aliens
But before he could think himself into a deeper dread he was snapped out of his brooding by his crew losing their shit. "The probe reported nearly 4000 more ships arriving in the anomaly before going dark!" He practically jumped out of his seat "WHAT!"
"OH DAMN IT ALL", have all ships enter combat alert alpha and tell the Olympus Mons to get its ass in the system! Then he saw it thousands of blue streaks popping into existence mere seconds after no less than 8000 ships entered Sol
Geneva Earth May 7th, 11:33 AM 13 hours since first contact
"Sir we have possible first contact we need more ships and well, I don't fucking know this is your realm."
When Admiral Raines had summoned Lieutenant Reyes he hadn't known what to expect but sure did not expect to listen to intercepted Setdef Communication about, well he wasn't really sure what it was about
Admiral Raines was the first to speak "This due to its absurdity wouldn't warrant a response or an investigation it could have easily been chalked up to Setdef screwing with us by saying random shit over channels they knew we could hear, but only 1 hour after this was intercepted the SDFs entire 77th fleet was deployed to the rough area that communication came from"
Reyes replied after a moment he had taken to process "Sir, who else knows about this?"
"Right now? Joint strategic air command, and you" As Raines was saying this he had gotten up and flipped a switch on the wall turning the lights and sound dampeners off allowing the cheers of the crowds in Geneva softly be heard from outside
"Sir we need to do something about this if Setdef thinks whatever they found is a threat, then so should we"
"Admiral Raines let out a deep sigh "Due to the circumstance we are prohibited from taking Definitive action"
"So we stand with our barrels in the sand and watch a fleet week parade?"
"Lieutenant Reyes" the Admiral raised his voice ever so slightly "Make no mistake my instincts which are aligned with your own are that we need to do something."
Reyes Paused at this "Then why don't we?"
"The politicians Reyes believe this is yet another joke some Setdef Admiral is pulling on us. And on top of that, the idea of telling the people anything about aliens triggers a fresh and unplanned piss, for now, there is no war and no aliens and until then the warriors aren't in charge."
"sir you're the one that told me" "Hesitation is a hole in the head"
Admiral Raines let out a light chuckle "You were always a fast learner, STRATCOM is well aware of our grievances and as of now there is nothing you or I can do to change the situation, understand?"
Reyes let out a weak "yes sir" before the terminal sprang back to life this time with a female naval officer on it "Admiral Raines E3N is in position on the roof"
"Thank you, petty officer"
"What is E3N?" Reyes inquired
Raines turned back around to face him "Go take a look for yourself. I think you will be quite impressed. Dismissed."
With that Reyes stood up giving a salute before making his way out of the office to the waiting room waiting there for him was his wingman and close friend Nora Salter
"Anyone dead?" she asked "Not yet he replied
"What was that about then?" he seemed to hesitate but gave in "Setdef fleet movements after a very weird transmission"
"Weird how?" "It's best if you don't know but the jist of it is the SDF is losing its cool over something that might also affect us"
"Okayyyy?" that seemed to have satisfied her as they began their walk toward the roof
"The entire Home fleet here in Geneva doesn't feel right. We should be in our jackals flying watch or, well anything else really."
"We do this every year. Salt god forbid you have more than an hour of free time" Reyes said with a playful bout of exasperation.
"After you lieutenant," Nick said opening the hallway door "Thanks Slick" was her offered reply.
As they were walking along they passed multiple walls of black marble with names chiseled into them and after a moment of quietly walking Salter spoke first "Not a list you want to make" Her tone was somber and quiet. his response was a simple "peace to the fallen"
At the end of the hall, Salter opened the door and seemed to say something but whatever it was it was drowned out by the sound of 2 Jackals doing a close flyby near the balcony they walking out to, and just behind them was the armored beast that was a SATO Admiral-class Aircraft carrier they called home
"There she is, home sweet home," Salter said while elbowing Reyes and wearing a wicked grin "We've only been down here a day Salt."
"I prefer the wild black yonder."
"You and me both," Reyes told her staring at the Retribution as it flew by his ears under the assault of its engines and the crowds cheering
"Raines mentioned a thing called E3N, Heard of it?"
"Raines's got all kinds of tricks up those 4-star sleeves."
Reyes chuckled a little at that "he's flying with us, Better not let him hear you call him that"
"Never to his face" she quipped before nearly running into the line of marines and sailors waiting to get past the checkpoint "Make a hole" The entire line turned to face them most likely to berate and or insult them, until they saw the Scar insignias and uniform… and there sidearms
After weighing their options the crowd cleared the way for the 2 Scars. "service has its perks, come on we have a plane to catch." they made their way up a steep staircase just in time for the UNSA Cario to do a low flyby Reyes could hear the civilians cheer down below as someone on the loudspeaker listed off its accomplishments during the 7 Hour War
He could only shake his head "Crowds eating this shit up"
"Public Relations Reyes"
"It's propaganda Salt"
"Take a little RnR today, and get that stick out of your ass Reyes, that's an order" Her tone was full of humor she was clearly enjoying screwing with him
"You can't give me an order we are the same rank." his tone was mostly serious but the small and growing smile he was trying to hide gave it away
"Got me there lieutenant" Salter replied as Reyes opened the Raven dropship door only for her to jump back a little as a slightly larger-than-human-sized drone, bipedal and covered in armor reached out with its hand to grasp Nicks
"Lieutenant Reyes." it started helping him up into the raven
"What the hell is that?" Slater asked as she followed Reyes inside
"I think we found E3N Salt"
"Indeed Sir." the Robot said cheerfully "Petty officer first class. Tactical Humanoid, Third revision
"That's a mouthful," Salter said eyeing the bot with slight suspicion before finding a seat
"You aint kiddin." with a slight southern accent "Call me Ethan Ma'am."
"What are your orders?" Reyes asked
"Im assigned to the Retribution, reporting to Captain Alder" Before Reyes could ask the same thing himself Salter asked
"You programmed for combat?"
"Thoroughly Ma'am, born to kill."
"You sure look like you can kick some serious ass" Reyes added
"Oh well now you are just making me blush sir," Ethan said as he turned to help Admiral Raines into the Raven only for him to brush his hand aside while saying "I see you both met Ethan"
Before he found a seat he tapped the pilot's shoulder and gave him a thumbs up"Well now that we are all acquainted, let us get underway" he said while getting into his seat
The raven after a brief moment of waiting finally lifted off the ground and began to make its way to the UNSA Austin
"You kept the E3N project under the radar pretty well admiral," Reyes said
"Captain Alder knew. first troop-ready model, quite remarkable, we are revealing him at the ceremony today"
"You know I get stage fright sir" Ethan quipped"
"You have feelings Ethan?" salter asked with a small amount of nervousness in her voice
"I do Lieutenant, I do, I carry the brain of a human farmer," he said with complete sincerity and seriousness in his tone
Salter's eyes went wide "Holy shit! Are you serious?
Ethan stared at her for a brief second "No Ma'am, Not at all." that got Raines to let out a laugh and a real smile no one had seen the admiral with publicly in years
The 2 kept at it while Nick kept his eyes on the AATIS guns down below that dotted Geneva Lake massive Railguns that could rip the Retribution apart in just a few shots "AATIS guns working overtime today admiral" Reyes observed
"Lots of allied Traffic" the admiral replied nodding "Always vigilant, Lieutenant" Reyes let his mind drift for a moment listening to the wind whipping around the still open hatch they all sat near after Maybe 30 or seconds passed until he heard the Airsirens start going off in the distance
"What the hell is going on down there" the admiral while getting out of his seat to stand at the door to get a better look
Reyes with confusion in his voice asked "Salter anything on the Radio?" she shook her head in response "Got nothing"
"Maybe it was an error with the-" Ethan cut himself off when he jumped out of his seat and wrapped one arm around the admiral and the other on the overhanging handle and yelled out "INCOMING"
No one had any time to do anything but hold on for dear life as the AATIS gun they were just looking at fired 3 shots into the sky 2 of the rounds passed by harmlessly but one clipped the cockpit and set shrapnel into the cockpit as well as throwing the aircraft into a complete spin with the sheer force of the projectile
"Pilots Hit" Salter yelled out
"I got the door and admiral you 2 get up front" Ethan yelled out as he slammed the door closed and guided the admiral to his seat using himself to keep Raines stable and upright
"I got the Stick" shouted Reyes as he dragged the Eviscerated pilot out of his seat and put his entire strength and body weight into pulling up
"Pull up!"
"No joy, I can't control her!"
"Unknown Ships inbound our fleet and AATIS are engaging them!" Ethan was quiet before saying before yelling out again "There are 2 SDF cutters in orbit engaging them as well!"
"What did you just say?" Admiral Raines shouted
There was more shouting coming from behind Reyes but he couldn't make any of it out as they got closer and closer to the ground he yelled out right before impact "EVERYBODY BRACE"
Then his world went black
Well as per usual please let me know if this is just a dumpster fire and of course, i hope you enjoyed reading this is a combination of what was chapters 3 and 4 with some fat taken off so it will be a bit longer till a new chapter see ya then (:
Updated September 14th 2024