The First Contact War
Chapter 1
First Contact
One seemingly normal day, no different then the thousands that had proceeded it, I was on a dig. Trying to unlock the many mysteries of the Protheans as I had done for the last twenty years. This day would end differently than the others, and even though no one realized it, this day would mark the most important event in galactic history. This day would be the day humanity was discovered and befitting the species, humanities entry into galactic society was nothing but extraordinary. No one knew the importance of this find because no one knew that on that day, all life in the galaxy was saved. Because without humanity, the galaxy was doomed.
Captain Hackett stood on the bridge of the Alliance frigate Bunker Hill. Like every frigate it was named after a famous battle in earth's history. He along with three other frigates and two corvettes made up the defense fleet for Shanxi. The most populated of the outer colonies. Almost a century ago explorers on Mars found the Prothean archives. With proof that not only did aliens exist but had been watching humans for who knows how long, humanity united almost overnight. The Systems Alliance was born and humanities hunger to explore drove us to ever greater heights. By studying the archives humanities technology jumped by leaps and bounds. Although they had never directly copied the technology they merely studied the concepts and made their own designs actually improving the technology in some cases.
"Captain, Shanxi command reports the survivors of the Epsolon are stable enough to transport."
"Very well, take us down to Command."
He felt the ship hum as it broke orbit and entered atmosphere. The Epsolon was a research vessel that was studying the nearby relay. More relics left behind by the mysterious Protheans that for some reason had vanished thousands of years ago. The Epsolon and two other science vessels were studying the relay when unknown ships had come through the relay. They had followed first contact protocols and extended an offer of peace but the aliens had demanded the immediate surrender of all ships to something called the Turian Hirarchy. When they had refused the Turian vessels opened fire on the research vessels destroying two of them. The frigate Marathon engaged the Turians destroying one ship and crippling another before being destroyed itself. The Marathon bought enough time for the heavily damaged Epsilon to limp back to Shanxi. Since then Shanxi had gone dark, no outside transmissions, especially to Terra or Arcturous station. Arcturous was the headquarters for the entire Alliance military. Scanners had picked up a ship at the edge of the system watching them. So, they had cut all comms so a trace couldn't lead back to Terra. In the mean time they had sent a drone loaded with sensors and an AI to get as much information as possible from the Turian scout ship. The AI had broken through the ships fire walls with absurd ease and had begun downloading all the ships data banks. The drone was now on its way to Shanxi where the AI along with the crew of the Epsolon would board the Bunker Hill and jump to a nearby system before using a relay to Arcturous. Normally they would use their jump drives but relays were faster and speed was of the essence.
The Bunker Hill had docked and he was now exiting the airlock where General Williams was waiting for him. Hackett snapped off a solute which the General returned before shaking hands with the Captain.
"The crew of the Epsolon is already loading onto your ship now; we're just waiting for the drone to get back so you can take off as soon as the AI Jessica is on board." Williams said getting right to the point.
Williams then turned and began walking while Hackett fell in step besides him.
"My Marines will buy as much time as we can but you have to get to Arcturous and bring the fleets."
"Understood sir." Hackett said simply.
"Now Jessica has been sending us tight beam data packets when she can and what she's been able to send while limited to avoid detection has been valuable to say the least. I'm taking you to a secure room to show you what we have while your ship is being loaded."
"Yes sir."
Somewhere in alien space
Councilor Tevos of the Asari Republics watched the reports with Councilor Arterius from the Turian Hirarchy and Councilor Narsh from the Salarian Union. The three of them made up the Citadel Council and the ruling body of the galaxy. The excitement over finding a new race had quickly soured after the Turian General Commanding the scout fleet had opened fire on what he thought were warships. After studying the wreckage of the three ships he destroyed, it turned out that only one was an actual warship. The other two ships were unarmed civilian research ships. The General had defended himself with the argument of the aliens were trying to activate a relay without Council permission. Tevos had to remind both the Turian Councilor and the General that these aliens were not part of the Citadel and therefore not subject to Citadel law. Arterius had simply stated that Turian blood had been shed and therefore had to pay. To that end the Turian Councilor had ordered a Turian fleet to subdue the upstart aliens. The Turian Intel agent began speaking again snapping Tevos out of her thoughts.
"Sense our victory over the alien fleet." He began.
Tevos barely managed not to laugh at that. Four ships, only one of them an actual warship verses fifteen Turian warships.
Big victory! She thought sarcastically.
She was more impressed by the lone alien warship that instead of retreating stood its ground and fought against suicidal odds. She saw the warship deliberately take hits meant for the research ship and ultimately sacrifice itself to protect the civilians. In her book the crew of that alien warship were damn heroes. The Turian began speaking again and Tevos forced herself to concentrate.
"No ships have left the system and no communications have left the planet. We believe that means that this is the alien's home world and they don't have any colonies. The fact that they're just now finding the relay so close to their home world suggests they have just begun space exploration."
"What level of technology do they have?"
"Primitive. Imaging detected no Element Zero cores on their ships. Their ships took three times longer than ours to translate our language and their transmission was audio only, no video or data. Finally, our dreadnaughts are four times the size of theirs."
"That's assuming the warship you destroyed was a dreadnaught." Tevos commented.
"It was the largest ship type they have so by definition that is their dreadnaught." The agent said heatedly.
"What's the population size?" Arterius asked.
"Estimates say about 1.3 million."
"Isn't that low for a home world?" Tevos asked.
"They probably killed themselves off in a war like the Krogan." Arterius said dismissively.
"Their planet shows no signs of war." Tevos countered.
"So they terraformed it."
"I thought they were primitive."
Tevos smiled as her last comment caused Arterius to actually shake with frustration.
"What's it matter they only have three warships, one of which went to ground. On the ground they couldn't have more than a couple thousand troops! This invasion can't fail."
"I agree with Councilor Arterius they need to be subdued less their reckless exploration lead to another Rachni War." The Salarian Councilor said.
Tevos couldn't believe what she was hearing. They were deliberately invading a peaceful race for nothing. The Turians wanted another client race and the Salarians just wanted to be able to study them with unlimited access. She couldn't shake the feeling that they were making a huge mistake. She didn't believe that this was the alien's home world for a second.
"Relax Councilor they're too primitive to be a serious threat." Arterius said arrogantly.
"For a bunch of primitives that lone ship gave your scout fleet quite the black eye." Tevos said crossing her arms.
"An isolated incident, it won't happen again." Arterius said waving a three fingered hand at her.
"Ah the fleet is jumping in." Narsh said.
"Sit back and watch Councilors, this will be over in an hour." The Intel agent said proudly.
Tevos watched a hundred Turian ships head for the planet with a sinking feeling. This was wrong; every fiber of her being screamed it.
"Receiving a transmission from the planet!"
"What are they saying?" Arterius asked.
"Don't know, it's heavily encrypted, we can't crack it."
"Where's it being sent?"
"Everywhere."
"What do you mean?"
"It has no direction. It's a repeating pulse that's going in all directions from the planet."
"Not important than, continue the attack."
They continued to watch as the two warships broke orbit and headed for the Turian fleet.
'Brave, but stupid." Arterius commented causing Tevos to scowl.
The two warships then began shooting off light in all directions around the ships.
"All sensors on those ships, I want to know what they're doing." The Turian General commanding the fleet ordered.
"Sir it's just light, it's no weapons or comms… just light." The Sensor Officer said.
"What are they for?"
"Sir a ship just jumped out of the system."
"Was it a warship?"
"Unknown."
"Where's it headed?"
"Unknown."
"Well where did it jump from?" Then General barked losing patience.
"Unknown."
"How the hell do you not know anything?"
"Sir you ordered all sensors in the fleet to focus on the two warships, we're lucky we even noticed the ship leaving."
Tevos did laugh this time earning a glare from the Turian Councilor.
So, they're clever. Tevos thought to herself.
The fleets closed to engagement ranges and began firing at each other. The alien ships could take a surprising amount of damage giving their size.
"Their kinetic Barriers are strong." The General said.
"Sir they're not kinetic, it's something else." The Sensor Officer said.
"What is it then?"
"I don't know, I've never seen an energy signature like this before."
"Is it getting weaker?"
"Yes sir."
"Then keep firing and don't worry about it."
"Sir they've somehow figured out we're the Command ship. They're focusing all their fire on us." The Tactical Officer announced.
"No matter their barriers are almost gone."
When the alien ships shields dropped below ten percent, life pods began rocketing away from the ships and headed towards the planet.
"Sir they're evacuating their ships." The Sensor Officer said as the alien ships activated jump drives and vanished.
"Cowards…" Was all the General was able to say before one of the alien ships re-appeared right in front of them firing every weapon it had which was a lot considering its size.
The alien ship smashed into the Command Ship and the screen turned to static. Everyone in the Council Chamber looked at the screen in shock.
Very clever. Tevos thought again with a grimace.
"General report." Arterius said but only got static.
"Councilor this is Captain Victus of the Cruiser Claw. The alien ships rammed the General's dreadnaught and another one."
"What's their status?"
"Both ships destroyed, we're sending search and rescue teams but the General is dead. Both alien ships knew exactly where the bridge section was and targeted that."
"How did they get that information?"
"Unknown Councilor."
"Who's in command now?"
"General Septimus, patching you into his bridge now Councilor."
"Divert energy to barriers; I don't want another ship to get through!" Septimus barked.
A chorus of yes sirs answered him as drop ships began shuttling troops down to the planet. However the dropships ran into the next catastrophe.
"My dropships are getting massacred down there, what's going on?" Septimus said.
"The dropships pilots are reporting concentrated anti-aircraft fire around the cities."
"Show me."
A video feed appeared next to the screen Tevos was watching and her mouth fell open in surprise. The sky was literally filled with tracer rounds. She saw three dropships explode or plummet out of control in as many seconds.
Goddess, they're being decimated. Tevos thought.
"First wave has landed." The Tactical Officer announced.
"How many made it?"
"Spirits!" Was the Tac Officers only reply.
"How many?" Septimus repeated.
"L-less t-then half." He said in a whisper.
Goddess! Tevos thought again.
"Tell the second wave to stay away from the cities, land in the country side." Septimus ordered.
"Yes sir."
As the second wave began to descend a new contact appeared on the planetary scans.
"Sir some type of aircraft is heading for the second wave. They're fast sir, really fast."
"The gunships will take care of them." Septimus said confidently.
Second later dropshisps and gunships alike began dying at an alarming rate.
"Report!" Septimus almost screamed.
"Gunships report that the alien aircraft are too agile and fast to target."
"Get them out of there!"
"It's too late sir they're being swarmed."
Tevos watched the screen in horror as every single gunship and dropship was wiped out. It was so quite you could hear a feather drop. In less than twenty minutes thousands of Turians were dead.
"Suspend all dropship operations planet side. Load the remaining waves into frigates and take them down that way." Septimus said in a whisper.
"So much for this being over in an hour." Tevos whispered so no one could hear.
The alien aircraft took a couple shots at the frigates but left them alone for the most part. They then unloaded the ground troops although only sixty percent made it down alive. The cities they found out had already been completely evacuated to their surprise. Then reports of ambushes followed by determined, disturbingly fast attacks came from dozens of sectors at once. The Turian forward line actually began to buckle as confusion spread. Only a surge of reinforcements saved it from becoming a disaster and turned the tide. But the aliens didn't simply run they fell back in a leaping way they had never seen before. When one alien defensive line was about to be overrun gunships would arrive and cover the ground troops while they pulled out. When the Turians advanced they ran right into another defensive line. While this group held the Turians at bay another defensive line was being built behind them. It was a shockingly effective tactic that let a much smaller army hold out against a larger one for a lot longer than anyone thought possible. When the Turians retreated the whole army retreated as one, not this retreat by section that the aliens used.
"Have a squad send us video of one the dead alien soldiers, I'm curious to see what they look like." The Salarian Councilor asked.
"Yes Councilor, patching into a squad now."
The Turian squad approached a group of dead aliens and the Salarian Councilor practically bounced with excitement. Grey armor covered them completely and a full helmet with a gold visor hid the face. Three bullet holes in the torso leaked dark red blood.
"Their blood is an interesting color." Narsh observed.
The body's profile suggested similarities to Asari. Five fingers on the hands and identical joint and limb placement. They were bigger in size than an Asari or Salarian and only slightly smaller than a Turian.
"Have you seen multiple genders or are they mono-gendered like the Asari?"
"Multi-gendered Councilor." The squad lead said as the camera panned to another body nearby.
This one was similar but the waist was slender and the hips wider. The body itself was smaller and had two obvious mounds on the chest. Tevos realized that this must be a female of their species and the first body was a male. She was surprised that this race let woman fight in the military. Every multi-gendered race in the known galaxy so far forbid woman from their respective militaries. The Asari being all women were the exception, until now. The Turian's squad put the bodies side by side so the Councilor could compare the two genders.
"Take off the helmet, let's see their faces."
"You heard the Councilor, helmets off."
After some trial and error they managed to get the helmets off and everyone gasped. They looked almost exactly like Asari; the eyes, nose, mouth, jaw, and check bones were exactly the same. The only difference was skin tone, ear structure, and crest structure. The Asari had a crest resembling a wave of water where these aliens had fur on top of their heads. The male's was black and short while the female's was brown and long coming past her shoulders. Their ears instead of being internal like all the other races theirs were external but stream lined and flat against their heads. It actually made them look meant for speed in Tevos' opinion. Finally the skin looked exactly like hers, only differing in tone. While hers was a slight purple theirs was a tan color. They were actually kind of attractive adding one more reason to stop this war. Because of cultural taboos Asari didn't have children with their own anymore. Their unique reproductive system allowed them to have offspring with any species; taking desirable traits from the "father" species and using it randomize the Asari DNA. The offspring was Asari they just had certain traits similar to the father species. Things like the same eye color, personality, or similar voice patterns. It was believed now that if two Asari have a child then nothing is gained to improve the Asari as a species. But because of the different species radical difference a truly satisfying physical relationship was difficult for Asari. Turians were all scales and plates and if the Asari wasn't careful could end up bleeding because of the talons and sharp plates of Turian skin. Salarians had wiry bodies and because of their roots as an amphibious species looked more reptile crossed with a fish. The fact that they only lived for about forty years negated any kind of emotional attachment. Volus were squat fat little things that weren't even remotely attractive. They also came from a planet with high atmospheric pressure and needed methane to breath. If they got out of their pressure suites to have sex with an Asari they would literally explode. Hanar were what humans would later describe as a floating jellyfish. While some Asari were into that whole tentacle thing most weren't. Elcor were four legged behemoths with no emotions so good luck with that. Vorcha were barely sentient and were more likely to eat you then mate with you. Plus their skin reminded her of a geneticist gone mad. Krogan were big reptiles that were obsessed with fighting and death. Not really something to start a family with. The Batarians were similar in body to an Asari with the same limbs and joints and five fingers and toes. But their belief in slavery and gender segregation meant the Asari would be treated little better than an indentured servant. The four eyes and wrinkled foreheads weren't very attractive either. Before this new species the Quarians were the closest to the Asari. They had the same skin and facial features as Asari. The Quarians had three fingers like most species but it was the legs that were different. Quarians legs slanted back unlike an Asari's straight legs. It was the Quarians immune system that was the issue. Their weak immune system meant that a night of passion could kill them. They lived their entire lives in environment suites because after three hundred years of living in sterile ships their immune system was shot. The Drell were very lizard like but were similar enough to Asari to be attractive. But after their home world died they were simply just too few left. If the Turians didn't end up wiping out this new race because they showed no signs of giving up the Asari may have finally found a race they could have a physical relationship and have kids with, they could finally have both.
"Take off the armor; I want to see the rest of them." Narsh said snapping her out of her day dream.
Eventually they figured out how to take off the chest piece and pealed back the skin tight under armor weave of the male and Tevos gasped. He was covered in muscle with the definition of a god. He was completely hairless except his head adding more similarities. Next came the woman and if it wasn't for the fact she was dead she would have been beautiful. Everything about her was exactly like an Asari, same breasts and same …
"Behind you!" Arterius screamed.
Tevos tore her eyes from the alien's privates to see an alien materialize out of thin air behind two Turian soldiers. They just began to turn before a menacing black knife tore out one of the Turian's throat. The second got elbowed in the face and staggered back while two more materialized from thin air. The first alien crouched while spinning causing the Turian return fire to pass harmlessly over his head. A pistol with a long barrel appeared in the alien's free hand. Three completely silent shots whispered out dropping the second Turian he elbowed. He then rolled to the left, bullets chewing up the ground he had been kneeling in a second ago. Bullets followed him as he flipped up and over and crashed down with a fist to the Turian's head breaking the mandible. The Turian howled in pain and blindly tried clubbing the alien. The alien back flipped out of the way while his first foot kicked the Turian's rifle out of his hands. The second foot connected with the Turian's chin actually lifting the Turian off the ground before crashing onto this back. The alien landed lightly on his feet and caught the Turian rifle. Two puffs whispered out from the other aliens dropping the rest of the Turian squad. The alien looked over the Turian rifle for a couple of seconds before raising it to his shoulder and firing a burst into the Turian he took it from. He operated the rifle like he had been using it for years astounding the Councilors. The two other aliens came up besides the first and leaned towards him looking at the Turian rifle. Tevos noticed that one was a woman. The black armor fitting to every curve of her athletic body. The weapon she carried was nearly twice as long as the ones the other aliens carried. Tevos guessed she must be a sniper or something. The one holding the Turian rifle shrugged and tossed the rifle aside. Their armor was different than the dead alien armor. Their armor was black and lighter than the grey of the others plus the face plate was black instead of gold. The one in the middle raised his arm and a screen appeared. Another black face plate could be seen through the holographic screen. The alien nodded and tapped another holo button and the light vanished. He then made a chopping motion with his hand and the two others shouldered their weapons before they vanished right before their eyes. A blue line started at one side of the alien faceplate and slowly traveled across the faceplate to the other side before traveling back. A red dot then blinked on the right half of the faceplate causing the head to snap in that direction. The alien snapped his weapon into a firing position before he began to vanish. The last thing the Councilors saw before he turned completely invisible was the silver N7 logo on the corner of his chest plate. For the second time that day the council chambers were deadly quiet.
"Invisibility cloaks, holo interfaces, weapons that barely make any sound. Pretty good for primitives." Tevos said angrily.
"What the hell were those?" Arterius demanded.
"Some type of special forces obviously." Narsh replied.
"They didn't even bother to cover up their dead." Tevos said torn between awe and disgust.
"Are you sure we can win this. There have been far too many surprises for my liking." Narsh said doubt entering his voice for the first time.
"Of course we can. They have some flashy toys but they don't have the numbers." Arterius said confidently.
"I hope you're right because if this is just a colony and they have a large military that's this disciplined and organized, not to mention brave. We may not survive a war with that kind of power." Tevos warned
As if to emphasize her point reports came pouring in that the Turian ground forces were in full retreat… again. Somehow aliens in fast light armored vehicles had outflanked the Turian advance and wreaked havoc in the rear lines. If the Turians didn't pull back they would be encircled. If the Turians were having this much trouble with a small number of aliens Tevos shuttered to think what would happen if a large number showed up. Then new reports came through of heavy armor smashing through the Turian front line, massed infantry right behind the alien heavy armor.
"Sir these heavy armor are monsters, nothing we have even puts a dent in them."
A screen appeared of a huge vehicle with treads. A top section that swiveled and a really big gun. When it fired you could actually see the shockwave ripple out from the tank. What amazed the Salarian Councilor was there was virtually no recoil. Shocking considering the round obliterated the building the Turians were using for cover.
"Our heavy armor is ineffective?" Septimus asked.
"If hit enough times ours is but they seem to have some type of reactive armor plating that we've never seen before. Also their infantry also carry some kind of anti-armor weapon that can kill our armor in a single hit. Between the alien infantry and their tough as hell armor, ours is getting decimated."
"Show me this weapon."
Another screen showed an alien soldier kneeling with a big tube on his shoulder. A screen extended out in front of the gold faceplate. Suddenly a big plume of smoke shot out the back of the tube before some kind of rocket sped out. Instead of heading straight for the Turian armor it changed direction and climbed skyward. After climbing a hundred feet or so the rocket changed direction and came straight down. Hitting the Turian armor from the top where the armor plating was the lightest.
"Bring frigates in and use their guns to drive that armor off."
"Yes sir."
The first frigate arrived but before it could fire, hundreds of explosions rippled across its barriers completely overloading them. Seconds later a second set of explosions ripped the hull apart and the frigate plummeted to the ground, on fire and riddled with secondary explosions.
"Spirits damn those cursed demons, what the hell happened?" Septimus shrieked.
"Mast artillery several kilometers out, location unknown."
"How can they be so accurate at that distance?"
"Unknown sir."
"General Septimus, pull your troops back and wait for reinforcements." Councilor Arterius said.
"Yes…Councilor." Septimus said shamefully.
The screen then cut as the connection was terminated.
"What, you want to escalate this!" Tevos said stunned.
"If we can't beat them through skill we'll beat them through numbers."
"You already outnumber them and that's turned out spectacularly."
"Yes, but how well will they fare against a hundred to one odds. They've taken casualties too, they can't hold out forever."
"Is it really worth the cost?"
"I think I'm beginning to agree with Councilor Tevos on this. This race might be more valuable as allies instead of enemies. They fight with unmatched skill and adapt faster than anything I've ever seen." Narsh said clinically.
"We'll make them allies after we subjugate them." Arterius declared.
"I'm putting together a diplomatic team to start peace negotiations, if you haven't resolved this by the time we're ready then we sue for peace." Tevos said.
"Narsh?" Arterius asked.
"I support Tevos on this."
"Fine."
Arcturous Station
Sargent David Anderson sat in his bunk with the rest of his squad polishing the N7 logo on his armor when suddenly the speakers crackled to life.
"Attention, attention! Priority message from Shanxi to all commands. Code Alpha, repeat, Code Alpha. All hands to battle stations!"
Red alert lights began flashing and alarms began blaring. Instantly he was up and began donning the N7 armor. Code Alpha had a special virus in the lower bandwidth that when initiated overrode all other comm channels and broadcasted the alert to every ship and garrison in the Alliance. For that reason Code Alpha was used only for real life invasions. Not even in training was it used. The entire Alliance military was mobilizing to repel invasion as fleets were forming defensive screens and marines geared up and prepared for deployment. Fighters and bombers were armed and loaded and put on standby. If a hostile alien fleet invaded they would find humanity ready and prepared to fight.
"You heard the man ladies. I want us geared and on the Spirit of Vengeance five minutes ago!" David shouted to his squad.
Soon they were in a dead sprint for the docking airlocks like thousands of other marines and sailors. Reaching their ship in minutes they quickly passed through decon and the retinal scan and headed straight for the armory. Quickly grabbing his side arm and rifle he attached them to the maglocks at his thigh and back. Next came enough magazines, clips, and grenades stuffed into various compartments of the armor to destroy a city block. Medical supplies and field rations went into pouches slung around a utility belt around his waist. Fully geared he shoved his helmet on and the HUD flickered to life as it connected with his armor's microcomputer. Battery levels, motion tracker, ammo levels, and vital signs of himself and his squad all appeared on his faceplate. Icons noting the position and distance of his squad flickered on as his squad linked with his HUD. His squad headed for their action stations while he headed for the war room. When he arrived the two other sergeants that along with himself lead the three squads of the cruisers N7 compliment arrived at the same time. They nodded to each other and stopped in a holding room with two guards in Alliance fatigues. Rifles were slung across their shoulder but held at ease. A blue light grid then swept over them several times looking for recorders, cameras, or transmitters. Finding none the light vanished and the door unlocked and they stepped through into the empty conference room. Without pause they walked through into the door on the other side of the room. The quite of the conference room was replaced by the buzz of a war room on overdrive. Dozens of holo displays and screens scrolled information that techs rapidly sorted and prioritized. In the back David could see the Captain in the vid-comm terminal speaking to three different people. The blue holo image of the people was life like and to scale so it was like they were in the room with you. Aids were scurrying from one terminal to another cross-referencing data. In the middle of it all was the holo table where all the data was funneled into, where the battle plan would be drawn. This is where they gathered and waited for the Captain. After a couple minutes the Captain finished and saluted the holo image before descending the stairs into the greater war room. The three sergeants snapped off a salute to the Captain.
"At ease gentlemen." Captain Archer said returning the salute.
The sergeants took off their helmets and set them down on the table edge.
"Code Alpha has been confirmed, Shanxi is under hostile alien attack." The Captain said as a holo image appeared of Shanxi surrounded by red icons representing the enemy fleet.
The Captain studied the sergeants faces and was surprised to see calm acceptance. No fear or shock just cold determination to get in the fight. Humans were no strangers to war and this is what the Alliance had trained for, to fight aliens. A smile spread across the Captain's face. It was spirit like this that would make humanity invincible.
"Winter contingency has gone into effect. All outbound comms except for encrypted military channels has been cut. Civilian ships are grounded until further notice. As of now humanity has gone dark. All nav-coms have been set to dead man switches as per scorched earth protocols."
"Understood sir."
"A frigate from the Shanxi defense group, the SSV Bunker Hill arrived moments ago with valuable Intel on the enemy. The colony AI Jessica managed to hack their network and download their databanks. The enemy we face is the Turian Hiearchy, a member of a loose coalition of species called the Citadel." The Captain said as the image of Shanxi was replaced by a Turian.
For the first time he saw worry cross the sergeants faces but only for a second before grim resolve returned.
"Speak your minds gentlemen, what are your concerns?" The Captain offered.
"Sir, one race we can handle. But if we're going up against the whole galaxy…" One said.
"We'll fight to the last sir." Another said.
"But our chances of victory are slim." David finished.
"Fortunately, we won't have to. The data Jessica got reveals this Citadel isn't as powerful as it seems. While this Citadel comprises many races only three hold any real power. The Turians, Asari, and Salarians. Of those three the Turians are the only ones with a sizeable military. The other two only have token forces large enough to patrol their borders against pirates and slavers."
The mention of slavery earned a growl from the sergeants.
"So, what keeps the Turians from conquering the others?" David asked.
"Economic and political reasons apparently. The Asari have a reputation as diplomats and a firm grasp of economics. The Salarians have the best Intel network and pretty handy in the sciences. If the Turians attacked they would lose the benefit of those perks. Likewise the Asari and Salarians get the protection of Turian military if they all play nice."
"Well isn't that just cozy." David snorted.
"It is." The Captain said smiling.
"So, can we expect elements of these different races to get involved in this war?"
"In the battle for Shanxi it's unlikely. However, once the Citadel realizes the size and capability of our military that is likely to change."
"How so?" David asked.
"Apparently they think Shanxi is our home world and the garrison represents the extent of our military capability."
All three N7's exploded in laughter that the Captain tried his best not to indulge, succeeding only in stopping at a wolfish grin.
"Alright lads settle down."
The elite soldiers locked it down with surprising speed and stood at parade rest awaiting their orders. The holo-table expanded to show the entire system where two blue icons on opposite ends of the system appeared.
"As soon as the Code Alpha was broadcasted the nearby system sent two prowler corvettes to recon Shanxi, the Intel is still raw but expect a full brief within the hour from our AI's. From what we can see based off the Turian fleet positions they are not expecting a relief force at all. I'm expecting plans are being drawn up to capitalize on that assumption as we speak."
"Sir, any word on how the garrison is doing?" Anderson asked.
"Some but it is sketchy at best. We know they are still in the fight but don't know anything beyond that. We know that initial contact went in our favor with the garrison forcing the Turians into retreat twice with heavy casualties."
"Hell yeah!" The N7's cheered for their brothers in arms.
The Captain smiled loving their enthusiasm. N7's had a reputation for being fearless and loving the fight. The three N7's in front of him where living up to that as he could see them almost quaking with desire to get in the fight.
"The Turians pulled back presumably to await reinforcements, when that happens we expect the garrison will only be able to provide effective resistance for another twenty-four hours, maybe less depending on how much the Turians want to commit to subduing us primitives."
"Have the prowlers been spotted and the Turians don't care or are they still undetected?" Anderson asked looking at the two blue icons shadowing the much more numerous red icons.
Prowlers where the eyes and ears of the fleet and at only 85 meters in length with almost every inch devoted to jamming equipment and the most advanced radar's, ladar's, and scanners known to man they were very hard to spot. They weren't true stealth craft but they got the job done.
"As far as we can tell they haven't been spotted but the prowlers are still being cautious, we don't want to tip our hand before the counter-attack."
"Understood sir."
Archer then tapped some buttons and the table turned into a regular screen with a rotating icon in the middle.
"This is the initial Intel on our new neighbors, take it and pass it down to your squads, we are going to be doing a lot of studying the next couple of days."
"Any idea when our counter-attack will begin?"
"We're waiting for the expected Turian reinforcements to arrive before we make our push, that way we will know exactly what we are dealing with and won't have to worry about a hostile force popping up in our rear."
With that the three N7's placed gloved hands onto the table and the ship AI downloaded the data packet to their wrist mounted omni-tools. The three then picked up their helmets and saluted respectfully.
As soon as Anderson exited out of the shielded war room he put his helmet on and activated his squad frequency as he assumed the other two men were doing.
"Kennedy, get everyone to the simulator, I'll meet you there."
"Yes sir." A heavy British accented female voice answered him.
"Admiral Athena."
"Yes David?" The artificial voice of the AI Commanding the 5th fleets N7's responded with her face appearing in his visor.
The face smiling back at him was of a beautiful Greek goddess in flowing robes.
"Think you can get a simulation or two ready for our boys and girls?" David asked playfully.
"Of course David, anything for my humans." Athena said just as playfully.
"You're human too and you know it." David said laughing.
"I know, I just like teasing you."
"You've been watching terminator movies again haven't you?"
"…maybe."
David couldn't help but laugh, laughter that was soon joined by Athena.
"See you in five?"
"Wouldn't miss it."
David then cut the comms and got ready for a very long day, he planned to drill and drill and drill to get his squad ready. He didn't know exactly how long they had before they would meet the enemy, but he planned on practicing as much as he could in the mean time.