A War of Tragedy, A War of Sorrow: The First Contact War (Rewrite)

by DeafeningEcho

A single spark, a single event, can change the lives of many and shape civilizations. From a silent Relay far from everything, to worlds only freshly known, to a grand space station that has served as the time to a million peoples across a million lifetimes, one such event was the First Contact War. [Version Two]

9. IX: The Actors Get Into Place

Normal text and unspecific thoughts.

'Specific thoughts'

"Character Speech"

Transmission

Written Text

"Language Unknown To POV"

Third Person POV

Xingyun Cluster, Da Ling Liu, Baikonur, Baikonur Outpost, Conference Room 1, Director Theodore Brooks, 1730, April 5th, 2157

I hear the holographic projectors come to life, their odd humming sound foretelling the arrival of Admiral Hawking and another Alliance officer, a blond man that looks to be in his early 30s, a commander's rank clearly shown on his uniform. "Director, Commander." In the corner of my eye, I can see my counterpart, Commander Patel, giving the Admiral and fellow Commander a salute, one reciprocated.

"Admiral, while it is a pleasure to see you here, I am wondering why you and so much of the 6th are here." 'And damaged too.' Almost all of the ships the Admiral had brought with her showed at least some damage, even her own ship.

The Admiral sighs, seeming to have two ton weights on each shoulder. "First contact, doctor. A hostile first contact. Yesterday morning an unknown cruiser attacked Task Force Sagittarius, damaging the Athans and destroying the Cannae and Yamen before being disabled. Later in the day, a full squadron's worth of cruisers invaded the Da Ling Er System. I've ordered all civilian and military forces to regroup in Da Ling San, but considering the value of your expedition, the 6th is to bring you back ourselves." While she was speaking, a projection appeared in the middle of the conference table, one of an alien vessel, almost avian in appearance.

One second, Two seconds, Three seconds. No sound comes from either me or Commander Patel. 'Our greatest fear has become our reality.' "How strong? Do we have a chance?" According to the Admiral, Sagittarius managed to take one out, but it also outnumbered the single cruiser ten to one when considering the exploration cruisers.

My thoughts are rather rapidly turned to another subject when I see something on the projection of the ship. On its side, is what looks like script- no, is a form of scrips as it is the same type as we've been spending the last few months working with. 'It can't be, can it?' "Admiral, could you zoom in on that section of the hull."

Somewhat confused, she zooms the projection into the area I point out, the rest fading away from the projection. 'Yes it is. the declension seems to be a proper noun, perhaps the ship's name, or the name of a person the ship was named after?' I stop contemplating this when I fully comprehend the true meaning of this revelation. Looking over to Patel, his shocked expression confirms he understands too. "Ma'am, I think the species we're studying and our new foe are one in the same."

The Admiral's expression seems to harden even more, probably understanding what that means from her briefing on the expedition's findings so far. "300 years, that was your estimate for the age of the ruins on Baikonur. It seems they've been at this before us for a long time. Director, tell your people to pack up and prepare to leave, bring everything you can from the ruins, I'll send my marines and shuttles to assist."

I remember something, and move to interrupt the Admiral. "Ma'am, there is something you should see." I swiftly move my hand to my omni-tool. Soon after, the section of the alien ship's hull disappears, replaced by another vessel, ice covering much of its hull, but with many sections of the ship uncovered, both from our recent work and the short time, compared to natural change, it has been there. "This was found by the Cabot four hours ago in orbit of one of the system's gas giants. It's about 400 meters long and half a million tons. The ship has been dead for the last three centuries, but a lot of the equipment is in surprisingly good shape according to the preliminary report on the first searches inside it." I pause for a moment, unsure how to bring this up. "Ma'am, this is a golden goose. On Baikonur we've been dealing with broken and fragmented tech that's been fighting a losing war with the planet's ecosystem for three centuries, and we still managed to get some interesting ideas and concepts out of it. This is a fully intact alien ship, it could provide so much more. Even not considering the civilian posabilities, I think the Navy would like to see the inside of an alien vessel, imagine the information you could glean on their psychology and ship design philosophy." 'A bit of a stretch, but better if we find out I'm being over optimistic then never get the chance.'

I see the Admiral pondering this, pondering that goes on for several seconds, each increasing my concern. Finally, she gives an answer. "We already captured one of their ships, a military vessel." I feel my heart sink. "But even the Hamburg's exterior scans showed it too be little better than a wreck. Ok Director, we can't study it here, but have the Cabot affix the ship to its hull, we'll drag it to Da Ling San. Commander Patel, organize the evacuation, ensure that no threatening information to humanity remains on the planet. Dismissed."

The projections of the Admiral and the other Commander quickly fade, and soon after I begin typing into the display, ordering the Outpost to send a courier drone to the Cabot, something finished just after Patel leaves the room. 'The Captain may not like it, but he'll understand.' I chuckle. 'After all, how often does someone get to put "Stole an alien starship" in their record.'

Xingyun Cluster, Ibn Battuta 2157-3, Outer System, SSV Ibn Battuta, Captain Joseph Garibaldi, 1525, April 5th, 2157

"Sensors, talk to me." The words come out of my mouth almost immediately after I feel the Battuta come out of FTL.

There is some delay, the sensor officer swiftly examining her board before speaking. "Reading the Outpost as intact and responding to FTL comm hails. Near it is an object in a clearly artificial orbit spitting out heat not far off what we put out. We're too far to get good scans, active or passive, but I'm routing the Outpost's readings to the display now."

In the bridge's main display, the star system is replaced with a large ship of unknown design. The closest description I can find for it is one of those old 20th and 21st century fighters my niece collects models of. A modest sized cylinder, capped with a rounded point, extends around a hundred meters beyond a 300 meter long triangular section that is as wide as it is long, finished by two protruding fusion drives. The ship's dorsal and, according to the projection built by the Outpost, ventral sides are covered in domes and pods of varying sizes, a large hole in the dorsal side seeming to hold a hanger bay of impressive size. Several suspected weapons are highlighted, including a pair of twin turrets, mirrored on the ventral and dorsal sides, that seem to be the ships main offensive weapons, though some suspected torpedo launchers of unknown power have also been marked alongside a decent number of defensive lasers, enough for a civilian ship, but far below the concentration found on warships.

"Launch courier drones 01 through 03, send one off each to inform Bainonur and Task Force Sagittarius, both could be useful in first contact, especially all those scientists on Baikonur. Send another drone to Shanxi to inform Governor-general Williams and Alliance Command, even if we don't make it out of this, at least the Alliance will know what we've found so far. After that, jump us 75 thousand kilometers out from the alien vessel with the Outpost between us." 'Worst case scenario they'll have to go through the Outpost to reach us.'

"All hands brace for FTL!" The voice of the navigation officer echoes throughout the bridge and the rest of the ship, followed by him counting down from 15. At the countdown's end, I feel the distinctive sensation of FTL activation, one I can't quite describe. It takes about 15 seconds to reach the inner system, the in system jump seeing us move 'only' a few dozen times the speed of light. Once the ship ends its jump, a grossly out of proportion projection fills the main display, showing the Battuta, the unknown ship, and the system's Outpost in an almost straight line, 71 thousand kilometers between us and the Outpost, and another nine thousand kilometers out.

Not long after our arrival, my comms officer speaks up. "Sir, we're being hailed by the unknown vessel."

I nod my head, intrigued. "Put it on."

Soon the bridge is filled with what almost sounds like chirping, or perhaps hissing? "This is Captain Tracatra Varis of the MSV Long Haul. I greet you in the name of Long Haul Explorations Limited, the Turian Hierarchy, and the Citadel Council. It is my great hope that our peoples can live in peace and harmony. If possible I wish for me and some of my crew to meet you on the surface of the system's second planet."

Not long after the message ends, the comms officers speak up again. "There is another message coming in, two data packets, one small one very big, give me a moment." For the next few seconds, his hands move swiftly across his display, orange lights increasing in brilliance at each touch before fading again. "Ok, the first one seems to be another copy of the first contact passage sent to the Outpost, the other one seems to be an animation of sorts. It uses a prothean format, so I should be able to put it on, one moment."

Soon after, the main display is filled with an animation, showing an effigy of the alien ship, alongside a somewhat inaccurate rendition of the Battuta and a better one of the Outpost. From both the Battuta and the alien ship, a single object exits, both looking to be shuttles of unknown design 'most likely their own design.' They both head towards the system's second planet, a terrestrial planet with a relatively thick atmosphere, specifically a plateau on the planet's equator, landing on either side of the plateau. I quickly bring up the data on the planet from the ship's archive, though I can bring it from my mind quite easily due to being here only shortly ago. 'Relatively habitable, breathable atmosphere, if a bit thick and lacking in oxygen. Class-3 by our standards, seems like it's also at least partially habitable for them.'

I stand there, pondering what to do for quite a while, before finally speaking. "Wake the XO up, he has command until I'm back. Prep the best squad and shuttle 01 for departure to the planet. Tell him that if I stop responding, blow the plateau up and escape, this information is more important than me and you must ensure I don't fall into alien hands."

"Sir, are you sure that is wise?" The question comes from the navigator, a rather young Lieutenant who joined the crew not long ago.

A turn to him and smile. "Trust has to start somewhere, and as humanity's first contact, it needs both daring and caution." The smile leaves me. "Besides, if this is a trap, all they'll get is a crater and a few bodies, both ours and theirs."

Xingyun, Da Ling Er, Outer System, Courier Drone Ibn Battuta-03, 0328, April 6th, 2157:

[2157.04.06.03.28. 24.119]

-Exit FTL-

-Send Message: This is Courier Drone Ibn Battuta-01 to SSV Athans. This unit has a secure communication from Captain Joseph Garibaldi to Rear Admiral Fredric von Braun. Please retrieve this unit and the communication. Repeat:This is Courier Drone Ibn Battuta-01 to SSV Athans. This unit has a secure communication from Captain Joseph Garibaldi to Rear Admiral Fredric von Braun. Repeat-

-Continue message and wait for response-

[2157.04.06.03.28. 51.734]

-Laser strike on unit, main drive disabled-

-Activate passive sensors-

-Unknown vessel detected 55 kilometers away-

-Send message: Attention all Alliance assets in the area. This is courier drone Ibn Battuta-01. This unit is under attack from an unknown vessel. Please assist. Repeat: Attention all Allian-

-Laser strike on unit, communications system disabled-

-Laser strike on unit, fusion reactor damaged, emergency shutdown initiated-

-Emergency power system activated-

-Laser strike on unit, emergency power system disabled, shutting down-

Xingyun, Da Ling Er, Outer System, PFS Silent Stalker, Lieutenant Fravia Salasis, 0328, April 6th, 2157:

"Drone is disabled sir." I tell my Captain, the commanding officer of the frigate Silent Stalker.

"Good, bring it into the hanger." Soon after, the pilot expertly moves the ship into position only a few dozen meters away from the Stalker and its hanger.

I bring up the grappler controls on my display, activating the system and aiming it at the drone. 'The gravitic tether shouldn't damage the drone, but I should probably account for its low mass. This thing was designed to reel in shuttles and hoppers, so I should lower the mass to ensure no damage.' "Grappler firing in three, two, one, firing." From the Stalker's open hanger, a small object launches out from a turret, still connected to the ship with a thick tether. Not long after, a few seconds traveling at half a dozen meters per second, it connects with the drone, its lightened mass still causing a small dent in its hull. I wince. "Contact, minor damage to the drone, but it's mostly fine. Reeling it in." Slowly, the probe comes to the ship's modest hanger, a team of mechanical arms grabbing it once it is inside, setting it down, soon surrounded by technicians and EOD teams to ensure it won't explode. "Reeling successful."

"Good job Lieutenant. Let's get this thing to the eggheads to figure out what it's doing here."

Ginnungagap, Ymir, Inner System, Midgard-Stockholm L4 Point, PFS Solana Hanus, Francis Rook, 1000, April 5th, 2157:

I watch as one of my workers slowly maneuvers his drone through the warped hallways of the alien ship, acting as if a single mistake will cause the entire ship to turn into a collection of scrap and free floating particles. 'Well, that may well be true.' When the Alliance contacted me, I knew something was wrong. My newborn company, Midgard Fleetworks, is the only group outside the Alliance within the Cluster with workers rated to work with antimatter. Due to this, the Alliance sometimes brings problems with their ships or antimatter transports to Midgard for fixing instead of heading back to Sol. However, the Alliance contacting me when there are no antimatter transports near the area means something is wrong, and when wrong and antimatter are in the same sentence, there is a problem. I did not expect the problem would come in the form of a wrecked alien ship with a supply of antimatter stuck 'somewhere' inside.

Of course, the Alliance won't go poking through this goldmine until the likelihood of it exploding at the slightest mistake is gone, so now my workers are using drones to poke around an alien cruiser, very alien bodies floating around in zero gravity, desperately searching for the giant magnetic bubble of antimatter before it turns everything into the aforementioned scrape and free particles.

"Ah." The reaction of one of the drone operators, Kevin, brings both my and the Governor-general's attention towards him. We're all on my station, about 20 thousand kilometers away from the cruiser to ensure our safety. "Boss, I think I found the antimatter, or at least something interesting."

I look over his shoulder and see the drone's primary sensor showing what looks like an antimatter container, or at least somewhat like one. Like Alliance antimatter containers, it's a large sphere, but I'm pretty sure the Alliance containers don't glow. Many segments of the sphere show a brilliant blue glow that reminds me of what shows up when eezo is active.

"Lots of mass effects around this thing, boss. I think they're using mass effect instead of a magnetic bottle to hold the antimatter, probably a lot simpler than our system."

"Can it be removed?" The abrupt words of the Governor-general, a dark skinned woman by the name of Jane Walters, come almost immediately after those of Kevin.

"Doesn't seem to be damaged, and it's near the ship's surface, I think that may have been purposeful like on Alliance ships. We cut off the outer hull, we should be able to take it out in a few hours without setting it off. We'll need more equipment though, a couple of survey drones aren't doing that."

"Good." The Governor-general says to Kevin, before turning to me. "Mr Rook, I trust you have the equipment to do this?"

I run the numbers in my head. "If we strip the work teams from the Athans, we should have enough to get this done, though probably in no less than 6 hours, it's delicate work." I pause for a moment. "However, we need a place to put the antimatter, putting it anywhere near Midgard is out of the question, and anywhere unguarded is definitely not a good idea."

"The Alliance will handle that Mr Rook." The Governor-general says. "There is an Outpost in the outer system, far from anything inhabited. A frigate patrol in the area should be able to hold off any troublemakers until forces can reinforce it from Midgard. Until then, get to work Mr Rook."

'Good' I think. 'At least that dam antimatter won't be my problem. I should call Philip. The Athans' CO will be pissed, but this takes priority by far.'

Xingyun, Da Ling Er, Outer System, PFS Jaxim Vadimos, Brig, Lieutenant Hannah Shepard, 0200, April 5th, 2157:

The world is foggy, my senses barely bringing in anything, and definitely nothing coherent. As the seconds tick by I slowly leave my half awake state, my senses coming to me. Something is soft yet cold touching my skin, skin that shouldn't be open to the world in a hardsuit, but my mind doesn't catch that point. Some areas of my body are in pain, I can feel a throbbing in my left leg, the one stuck by shrapnel on the escape pod, alongside a few other areas.

I feel my lungs take in a breath of air without any thought. It is weird, not bad, but definitely not the same mixture from Earth's atmosphere or on most ships.

It almost reminds me of the air on Odyssey, a colony in the Ginnungagap that the Savo Island's crew got shore leave on not too long ago. Susan brought me and some of the other crew to see her folks, them having decided to settle on the world. -Lieutenant Henderson drifts by, her face pale and lifeless, nothing left, no one left.-

I shake my head for a second, noticing that my hair is out of its bun as I do. Slowly, I open my eyes, the right one protesting with some pain, but both eventually acquiescing, revealing the sight of an off-gray roof.

I sit up slowly, my field of vision moving from the barren ceiling to instead show a room not much larger than an M-29's troop compartment. It's wider than it is long, about one and a half times as much, with one end holding the cot I'm laying on now. The other end holds a modest window about a meter and a half wide and a meter tall. Looking around the rest of the cell, for what else could It be, I find a toilet, or what I think is a toilet, right next to the cot, a sink sitting on the opposite side of the cot. In the four corners I can see what look like security cameras. 'Definitely a cell.'

"Hello! Anyone here?!" My voice echoes throughout the cell, inciting no response I can see. I repeat my call a few more times, each one sounding more pleading than the last. In the end, no one comes, there is silence, and I am alone.

Alone. Alone, Alone.

Xingyun, Da Ling Er, Outer System, PFS Jaxim Vadimos, Cargo Bay 2, Lieutenant Trasius Yavraric, 0205, April 5th, 2157:

"The muscular structure of their face shares many similarities to asari, but they seem to lack much musculature on the rest of their heads, probably a result of the solid skull instead of a more flexible structure like the asari have."

"Interesting wound response. A blood clot is hardening over the wound, preventing infection and stopping more blood loss. Seen similar systems on many planets, but the first time I've seen it on a sentient species, far different from the plate and skin contraction we use."

"Faldrius, have you got that analysis on their skin follicles ready yet?"

"No professor, it will be done in a minute."

I fight not to twitch as I stand in the unending cacophony of professors and students that have taken over the ship's cargo bay. When I heard that the Admiral was raiding General Oriarkis University of half its xenobiology department, both professors and senior students, I didn't think it was a bad idea. That changed quite quickly when I was assigned as their glorified chaperon while they're on the cruiser. Even with only a third of the students of professors working at a time, rotating to ensure round the clock observation and analysis, the bay is still overflowing with 30 of them, barely a single square meter existing without some kid gawking at the aliens who just destroyed three Hierarchy cruisers.

Hovering in the air are a dozen displays showing the prisoners we'd captured from the battle. Some are in cells with three prisoners together, some with only two. Some are alone in their cells. In total about 30 of the unknown race are sitting in the Vadimos's brig, a mixture of fighter pilots and frigate crews either saved from their escape pods or the cold void of space.

'Just six more hours, just six more hours.' The thought repeats in my head like a mantra. It increases in frequency as I hear a trio of students get into an argument about something. 'One of the prisoners crawled into a ball?'

On and on it goes. A pair of students escorted by a small drone leave to grab something from a different cargo bay, some blood samples taken from a few of the corpses I think, another student making a joke about what else they'll be doing alone. A professor bumps into someone, dropping a piece of equipment that probably costs more than I make in a week on the floor, luckily with no damage. That argument about the curled up alien seems to have devolved into a shouting match between one person who thinks it's supposed to make them look less noticeable, while the other somehow got the notion it's a vestigial reaction from an earlier stage of evolution where they had spikes coming out of their spine, a shouting match with quite the audience watching in annoyance or amusement.

The Admiral is looking for a better agreement than the current one, trying to find a place to put the prisoners and xenobiologists that won't reveal the new race's existence immediately, a search I dearly hope ends soon.

The shouting match ends with a fist hitting one of the students from the other, starting a fight that some bystanders try desperately to stop, while others just continue watching.

'Just six more hours.' I think as I move to end the fight. "Just six more hours."

Xingyun Cluster, Da Ling Liu, Outer System, PFS Bloody Claw, Bridge, Commander Tralasic Erodoris, 2030, April 5th, 2157

"Vessel leaving FTL in 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 leaving FTL".

I feel an indescribable sensation as the Bloody Claw exits FTL, which leaves almost as quickly as it came. The bridge is abuzz with activity, the Claw's crew, 'my crew' I think with pride, move to fulfill the standard checks done after every jump; the external hull, eezo core, mass effect shapers, and every other system checked with the swiftness expected of any Hierarchy crew.

"Sensors report!"

My words reach said officer. "Three planets, two gaseous, one terrestrial. No contacts yet-" He pauses for a moment, looking at his console. "Scratch that, multiple, repeat multiple contacts across the system. Eight active engine plumes detected, most centered around the terrestrial planet."

Surprise overcomes me, then a triumphant pleasure 'We've got you now.' "Passive sensors to max, I want every scrap of data possible."

For the next 30 minutes we observe the aliens, getting what limited data we can at this range, mostly from their engine plumes and a few grainy pictures. Eventually I decide to take a risk. "Send the Specter all the data we have gathered and order for it to remain in position." I tell the communications officer in relation to the Claw's partner frigate, the PFS Silent Specter. "We are moving in. Prepare to jump into the inner system, one million kilometers from the terrestrial planet. We'll jump out once we're spotted."

A chorus of 'yes sir' is the response to my orders, and only half a minute later, the Claw reenters FTL and comes out a bit over a million kilometers away. "Sensors report!"

The officer takes only a moment to respond. "Reading 3 cruiser contacts, 5 frigate contacts, and 3 unknown but potentially corvette contacts. It's the enemy fleet from the Relay 313 system, plus some additions."

"Get everything you can Ensign."

It takes less than half a minute for the response to come. "Three enemy frigates just jumped, detecting them within 10 thousand kilometers of us."

"Activate FTL, get us out of here!" While part of me wants to test the mettle of these aliens against the Claw, the rest understands that this information could be vital to the fleet.

As the unique feeling of FTL washes over me, I smile, knowing that the information I obtained will bring an end to this upstart group, one of countless to fall at the hands of the Hierarchy, but one I will have a hand in destroying.