3 days later– Shanxi Colony
CMA Bulk Discount
"Still can't believe it, Cap. Freakin' aliens," said Jenkins as the Bulk Discount floated motionless in the middle of space. Through the viewport, the crew watched the Gladius slip away, bound for Harvest.
"I'm betting ten bucks first contact went horribly wrong," Jenkins added, leaning back in his seat and folding his arms.
"Really, Jenkins?" Jane rolled her eyes. "Fine. Ten bucks says everything went okay."
"I'll throw in ten that Captain Sarata ran away," the Captain chimed in, lounging in his chair with a steaming cup of coffee. A faint smirk tugged at his lips, but there was a subtle edge of unease in his tone. "Let's just hope Jane wins. If you're right, we're all screwed."
He took a long sip of coffee, his gaze fixed on the Gladius as it shrank into the void. "Harvest fleet should get here in… what? Half a year?"
Jenkins shrugged. "Add a month. Do you really think the Senate's gonna send them right away?"
The Captain grunted in agreement, his brow furrowing as he mulled over the odds. The cabin fell quiet for a moment, the humor fading under the weight of the unspoken question hanging in the air: What happens if the aliens show up before help does?
"The CMA has what? Eleven ships? And most of them are corvettes—not even Gladius-class, just Mako and Scholte-class," the Captain said aloud, though it wasn't directed at anyone. "Sure they have two frigates, and a destroyer, but that still only 3 light MACs."
He leaned back with a sigh. "We're fucked."
"You forgot about the ODP and the defense satellites," Jane reminded him, her tone mildly defensive.
"Oh, yes, the unmoving turrets," the Captain shot back, his smirk turning sardonic. "Do I need to explain why they're useless most of the time? And the ODP—what does it have? A LIGHT MAC? Not even a heavy one."
Jane fell silent, her expression tightening as the Captain's words sank in. Jenkins, for once, didn't interject with another joke.
For a long moment, the bridge was silent except for the faint hum of the ship's systems. The hopelessness of their situation seemed to fill the room like a weight pressing on their chests.
Finally, Jenkins broke the silence with a low mutter. "Yeah. We're fucked."
The Captain nodded grimly, sipping his coffee. "At least we can all agree on that."
The sound of the bridge doors opening broke the tension. Jacob entered, carrying a steaming mug of coffee. He glanced around, noticing the somber expressions on everyone's faces.
"What did I miss?" he asked, frowning in confusion as he sat down in his chair.
"Nothing important, Jacob. Nothing important," the Captain answered, taking another sip of his coffee.
Jacob nodded, though his expression remained puzzled. "So… how soon is the Harvest fleet supposed to get here? About six months, right?"
The Captain took a long sip of coffee without responding. Jacob glanced around the room, hoping for an answer, but no one acknowledged him.
"Yeah, sure. Forget about me. Such good friends," he muttered, shrugging as he pulled out his tablet and began scrolling through it.
1 Hour later
"Sir, we just got an emergency message from the CMA Resolute!" Jenkins shouted, breaking the silence. "We're ordered to land at the spaceport and wait for refugees."
"Refugees?" the Captain repeated, sitting up straight. He glanced at Jane. "You heard him. We got the port number?"
Jane nodded. "Yes, sir. Moving to the spaceport now."
The Bulk Discount turned and began descending toward the colony. Around them, nearly a dozen civilian ships also adjusted course, heading for the same destination.
The Captain's gaze flicked toward Jenkins. "Do we know what's happening?"
Jenkins hesitated, his expression grim. "Looks like you were right, Cap. A few minutes ago, the UNSC Bastion arrived in-system. They reported an alien fleet was closing in fast, using some kind of unknown FTL method. No response to communications. The aliens just… kept coming, and Bastion jumped away."
The Captain exhaled sharply, his coffee forgotten as his mind raced. "Shit."
UNSC Bastion
– 5 Minutes Later
"Fucking idiot!" Captain Sarata cursed at himself, his head in his hands. "We shouldn't have jumped straight to Shanxi. They must know where we are—or at least the general location."
John stepped closer, placing a reassuring hand on Sarata's shoulder. "We were in a stressful situation, sir. Mistakes happen, but we need to focus on preparing now."
Sarata took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. After a few more seconds, he leaned over the tactical table, his eyes sharp. "Nova, give me a list of all military ships and orbital defenses in the system."
Nova's holographic avatar nodded, and a list materialized on the table in glowing blue text:
-UNSC Bastion (Halcyon-class Light Cruiser)
-CMA Resolute (Able-class Destroyer)
-6 Frigates (2 Paris-class, 4 Stalwart-class [2 CMA])
-8 Corvettes (5 Mako-class, 3 Scholte-class [all CMA])
-1 Orbital Defense Platform (Light MAC B-variant)
-6 Unmanned Defense Satellites
Sarata studied the list for a few moments, his mind working through their limited options. "Have the corvettes form into two delta formations. One with three ships, the other with five. Name them after their flagship's name."
On the holotable, Nova split the CMA corvettes into two groups: the first comprised three Mako-class corvettes, and the second included three Scholte-class and two Mako-class corvettes.
"Move one Scholte-class corvette into the first formation," Sarata ordered.
Nova adjusted the formations, swapping a Scholte-class corvette with the flagship of the first group.
"Perfect," Sarata said, nodding. "Their job is to defend the ODP at all costs."
The holographic labels updated as Nova assigned the formations their names: Group Sunlight and Group Pegasus. Both began to shift into position, heading toward the orbital defense platform.
"Okay, for the rest of the fleet," Sarata continued, straightening. "Have the CMA Resolute and its two frigates form a delta formation and hold position close to the ODP. I want them ready to reposition at a moment's notice."
Nova nodded, rearranging the CMA Resolute and its accompanying frigates as instructed. The delta formation took shape, marked on the holotable as it moved to guard the orbital platform.
"What about us?" Nova asked, her avatar turning toward Sarata.
"We'll form a beta formation," Sarata replied. "Have the Stalwart-class frigates at the front and the Paris-class frigates in the rear. The Bastion will hold the center."
Nova swiftly arranged the UNSC ships into the beta formation, with the Bastion taking its place as the centerpiece. The ships' holographic icons shifted into alignment, glowing steadily on the table.
"Move us closer to the ODP and launch half of our fighters in scout configuration," Captain Sarata ordered, his tone steady. "I want them holding position just outside our effective radar range."
The UNSC Bastion turned to port, its escort group adjusting formation to follow closely as they maneuvered toward the orbital defense platform. The other group's fleet mirrored the move, aligning themselves into defensive positions near the ODP.
A few minutes later, the Bastion's hangar doors opened with a deep metallic rumble, and four Longsword fighters emerged, gliding smoothly into the void. Their hardpoints were completely stripped of weapons, replaced with extended sensor suites that glinted faintly in the dim light of Shanxi's distant sun.
The fighters formed a loose formation, their thrusters firing in short bursts as they drifted toward their assigned positions. Once they reached the designated perimeter, their sensor arrays began sweeping the surrounding space, gathering data beyond the fleet's effective radar range.
"And now we wait" Captain said sitting back on his chair. "Ohh and have the rest of the fighters ready to launch in anti-ship configuration and deploy everything we can to the ground"
9 Hours Later
"Action stations! Action stations! All hands to battle stations!"
The alarm blared throughout the bridge, jolting the crew into action. Captain Sarata shot up from his chair, leaning over the tactical table as his eyes locked onto a flashing red icon. One of the Longswords had triggered an alert.
"Nova, report!" Sarata barked.
Nova's holographic avatar materialized beside the table, her sharp, angular features mirroring the gravity of the situation. "Sir, Longsword 2841 has detected three alien corvettes. Their design matches the ships we encountered previously."
She gestured toward the tactical display, where a glowing red circle appeared near the Longsword's position. "Designating them as Scout Group 1." The circle pulsed faintly, and a small counter appeared beside it, showing the number: 3 Ships.
Nova expanded the holotable view, adding a breakdown of the UNSC and CMA forces present in the system. On the left side, the fleet's groups appeared, each labeled: Group Bastion, Group Sunlight, Group Pegasus, and Group Resolute.
Sarata's jaw tightened as he studied the display. The alien ships were still well outside their weapons range but closing in steadily. His mind worked quickly, weighing their options.
"Have the scout Longswords fall back toward the fleet," Sarata ordered, his voice calm but commanding. "Once they're back, rearm them with anti-fighter payloads. Nova, bring up the rest of the fleet on the table."
Nova nodded, and the tactical display shifted as the entirety of the UEG fleet appeared. In the lower corner of the holotable, the ODP and its defense satellites materialized, represented by a cluster of glowing blue dots. To the left, another blue dot labeled Group Sunlight hovered near the perimeter, while on the right, a similar dot with the label Group Pegasus appeared.
Directly above the ODP, Group Resolute took its place, represented by a single dot with accompanying data. At the front of the defense line, Group Bastion was displayed in full detail—each individual ship represented by a glowing icon. Unlike the simplified representations of other groups, Bastion's display showed every vessel in its formation, a standard feature for monitoring one's own group more closely.
Sarata's eyes darted across the holotable as he processed the new information. "Good. Let's tighten our formation and wait to see their next move. John, start broadcasting the first contact package."
"Aye, sir," John replied, his hands flying across the console as he began transmitting.
Meanwhile, the Longswords started landing in the Bastion's hangars, their sensor configurations being swapped out for anti-fighters weaponry.
Nova's voice broke the tense silence. "Sir, the unknown contacts have stopped."
Sarata's gaze snapped to the holotable, a flicker of hope crossing his face. "Maybe they got our first contact package?" he said, almost to himself.
That hope evaporated in an instant. A new alert flashed red on the holotable as twelve more ships emerged behind the initial three corvettes.
Nova's tone remained calm but firm. "Sir, it's the same fleet from before: two frigates and thirteen corvettes."
Sarata nodded grimly as the display updated, marking Scout Group 1 as Alien Fleet 1. The counter on the right adjusted to reflect the fleet's updated composition.
He leaned forward, his fingers gripping the edge of the table. "What are they doing?"
Nova's avatar flickered as she split the alien fleet into three distinct groups. "Analyzing…" Within seconds, the holotable updated:
Group One (Left Flank): 5 corvettes.
Group Two (Center): 2 frigates and 3 corvettes.
Group Three (Right Flank): 5 corvettes.
Nova straightened, her voice crisp. "Sir, they've split into three groups."
Sarata studied the formations, his mind working rapidly. "Launch the fighters," he ordered. "Anti-ship variants will stay back and wait for my order—or until an advantageous situation presents itself. The rest of the fighters are to protect the ODP."
The bridge erupted into activity as Sarata's orders were relayed. The Bastion's hangars opened once more, releasing another wave of 4 Longswords, their hardpoints bristling with anti-ship missiles. The fighters moved deep into the ODP grid, their engines leaving faint trails of blue light in the void.
"Group Resolute, move to strike them from starboard. Groups, Sunlight and Pegasus, move in front of the ODP grid. Take us port," Sarata ordered, his voice calm but firm.
Nova hesitated before responding, her tone edged with unease. "Sir, Group Resolute has only three ships. I don't think that's a good idea."
"Relax, Nova," Sarata replied confidently. "I know they can't engage the enemy head-on. But if the aliens shift to focus on them, we'll smash into their rear."
The ship's engines flared as the Bastion surged forward, its formation shifting as ordered. As Sarata suspected, the alien fleet reacted immediately, splitting further. Group Three of the alien formation turned to engage Group Resolute, while the rest of the enemy ships adjusted course toward the Bastion.
"Nova, on my order, have Groups Sunlight and Pegasus engage Group Three. And position the anti-ship Longswords behind us."
Nova repeated the orders across the fleet as the tactical display updated in real time.
The next few seconds stretched into an uncomfortable silence. Sarata's eyes flicked between the holotable and the viewport, his mind racing.
"Time until MAC range?" he finally asked.
"Two more minutes until we're in weapons range," Nova replied.
Sarata nodded, leaning forward slightly. "Prepare for missile launch."
Nova acknowledged with a nod, her avatar fading as she sent out the orders. The tension on the bridge was palpable, every second dragging on like an eternity. Then, Nova's voice rang out, sharp and urgent: "Incoming!"
Sarata's head snapped to the holotable, his eyes widening as seven rounds appeared on the display, streaking toward the Bastion at alarming speed.
He felt a jolt of fear, but quickly masked it. Nova, calculating the trajectories, briefly considered firing the emergency thrusters. But she dismissed the idea—those thrusters were single-use, and the odds of avoiding the incoming rounds were high.
The bridge crew braced themselves as the enemy fire closed the distance in seconds. Of the seven rounds, six missed, skimming harmlessly past the ship. But one found its mark, striking the Bastion with a deep, resonating clang.
"Report!" Sarata barked.
Nova reappeared, her tone clipped but steady. "Minimal damage. The round pierced a few decks but didn't reach critical systems—Incoming!"
Her voice shifted to a sharp yell as the enemy fired again. Without hesitation, she activated the emergency thrusters, jerking the Bastion starboard. The sudden maneuver sent the crew gripping their consoles as enemy rounds streaked past, missing the ship by meters.
"Pegasus, Sunlight, engage and fire all missiles!" Captain Sarata ordered, his voice cutting through the chaos. He knew the enemy would fire again, and they needed to act fast.
"All ships in our group, full ahead! Engage them from the port! Leave the Bastion behind!"
The four frigates in their formation broke off, their engines flaring as they surged forward. The air on the bridge buzzed with tension as the frigates unleashed their payloads, firing over a thousand missiles in rapid succession.
The Bastion joined the assault, launching 200 Archer missiles from her bays as she tried to dodge incoming fire. Nova fired the emergency starboard thrusters forcing the Bastion to port, The maneuver paid off as the enemy rounds streaked past, narrowly avoiding impact.
Group Resolute wasn't as fortunate. Lacking a smart AI and with its crew less experienced than their UNSC counterparts.
A flurry of enemy rounds ripped through Resolute, the impacts punching through multiple decks and striking critical systems. On the holotable, the Resolute's icon flashed red, a stark warning of catastrophic damage.
Captain Sarata gripped his console tightly, bracing himself as the Bastion ran out of emergency thrusters. He waited for the inevitable impact, seconds stretching into what felt like minutes. When nothing came, he frowned and glanced at the tactical table.
"Nova?" he asked, his voice tense.
"Sir, the enemy is backing away—the missiles scared them!" Nova reported, her tone uncharacteristically happy.
"Good. Have the Longswords engage the enemy," the Captain ordered, his confidence returning. "And fire our MAC—target their frigate. Paris-class frigates, do the same!"
The alien warship, to Nova's surprise, didn't attempt to evade the incoming MAC round. It left her momentarily confused. Why aren't they dodging? She wondered. Could the missile swarm be overloading their sensors?
She shook off the thought, allowing herself a small smile as the MAC round found its mark. The shot tore through the enemy frigate, gutting it completely.
Moments later, the Paris-class frigates fired their own MACs at the remaining enemy frigate. Four slugs streaked through the void, their velocities making them nearly invisible to the naked eye. Three rounds missed, but the fourth struck the forward section of the ship dead-on, ripping the bow clean off.
Nova's attention shifted as the swarm of UNSC missiles reached the alien fleet's point defense range. Her sensors flared with new data, and for a brief moment, a flicker of fear crossed her systems.
Lasers?
Instead of kinetic point defense guns, the alien ships deployed laser-based systems. The continues beam sliced into the missile swarm, destroying warheads with precision, but to Nova's relief, the lasers were painfully slow and there were to little of them. Far too many missiles broke through.
Each alien ship was hit by dozens of high-explosive rounds, the impacts tearing through their thin hulls. Nova observed something strange—when the missiles struck, a faint yellow glow shimmered across the impact points. Some sort of shield? She speculated. But whatever it was, it did nothing to stop the high-explosive detonations.
The alien ships' hulls buckled and fractured under the relentless assault, and Nova couldn't help but feel a strange satisfaction as the enemy fleet began to falter. As the last missile hit, Nova reported to captain extremely happy.
"Six ships destroyed—four corvettes and all frigates. The rest are damaged, and the fighters are engaging now," Nova reported.
Captain Sarata glanced at her hologram, noticing the subtle shift in her tone and demeanor. For the first time, he felt a flicker of unease at the change in her personality.
Nova focused on the enemy fighters as they launched missiles toward the battered corvettes. The alien point defense guns, either overheated or disabled by prior damage, didn't return fire. Likely overheated, Nova reasoned, since the odds of every corvette losing power to their point defense systems simultaneously were slim to none.
Still, she mused, if this is a design flaw, I certainly wouldn't mind. Overheating itself is a pretty big flaw too. The faintest hint of satisfaction crossed her matrix as she considered the enemy's vulnerabilities.
Splitting her matrix to check on the rest of the fleet, Nova winced internally. Group Resolute was completely gone—every ship either destroyed or disabled. The loss stung.
But Pegasus and Sunlight had performed admirably, destroying three enemy corvettes with their missile salvos. Nova watched intently as the remaining alien ships turned and disappeared into the void, their strange FTL method activating again without warning.
"Sir, all alien ships are either destroyed, disabled, or retreating," she reported, her tone calm but precise.
Captain Sarata exhaled slowly, his grip on the console relaxing slightly.
Nova's gaze returned to the tactical table. The data was staggering—three minutes and forty-three seconds. That's how long it had taken from the first shot to the end of the battle. She processed the outcome: the UNSC and CMA had won, but at a cost. Still, the alien ships' design flaws had given them an edge.
And Nova had no intention of letting her analysis of the battle end here, after all it was so fun.
Author's Note
Okay, so the UNSC won this battle pretty easily. Why? Well, the Turians only know that the UNSC ships are big, don't use mass effect tech, and have a different kind of FTL. The Turian commander (or whatever his rank is) likely assumed that the UNSC's weapons were underpowered compared to their own. There was no reason for them to expect the UNSC would launch over 1,000 missiles at once.
Their sensors tried to track and count every missile, but the sheer number completely overloaded their systems. For context, when fighting other races, Turians probably deal with, at most, 20–40 missiles in a battle. Their overwhelmed sensors also failed to register the incoming MAC rounds, and the rest is simply the result of the UNSC's massive missile salvo.
But don't worry—the next battle will favor the Turians. The ship that escaped will bring back critical data on UNSC and CMA ships, giving them the advantage.
Fordo14: Yes, there will be Spartans, but only Spartan IIs. The Spartan III and IV programs happened because of the Covenant, and since there's no Covenant in this story, those don't exist.
hellothere45: FTL tech? Probably, but it would only be on prototype ships, not in mass production. As for Forerunner ruins—no, there are no Forerunners in this universe. As for the Infinity, maybe. It wouldn't serve the same purpose as the one from Halo, but I could see the Infinity and the Strident-class ships becoming second-generation vessels that fuse both Mass Effect and Halo technology.
Sci-Fi Guy 22: I fixed the dates, and no, this isn't a prequel. I just disliked the original first chapter. When I wrote it, I was basically just throwing whatever came to mind without caring about the lore. Plus, the changing POVs in that chapter were… not great.
And relax—UEG isn't joining the Council. I don't see any reason why they would. The only thing the Council can offer is element zero, and the UEG will find it on their own. In fact, I'm thinking they'll need to fight the Batarians for it.
The Cole Protocol will probably exist, but it won't be as critical as it is in Halo lore.
As for the Hanar and Drell—I haven't decided yet. I don't know what role they'll play.
For the Geth, I see two possible directions:
The Geth tell Sovereign to fuck off, but he corrupts most of them anyway.
Some Geth join Sovereign, but most don't. The majority just continue building their megastructure.