8Contact Light
Disclaimer: This story stands on the shoulders of giants: BioWare, as well as many science fiction authors and other assorted inspirations.
4.
November 11, 2182
T'Soni Residence
Armali, Thessia
"Garrus, cover our rear!" Behind them, the commando team hastily organized themselves behind cover, glittering beams dancing intermittently as they laid down a suppressive cover.
"Lieutenant, we seem to be surrounded on both faces," Liara noted calmly. "Shall we cover this door?"
"That was my plan precisely, milady. We'll have to assume whoever comes out is hostile. If you would send them a warp, I can detonate it."
The door to the restroom swung open and an arm with a particle rifle swung out; Shepard noted that it was a Turian arm, and the rifle of Turian make. Interesting. The shot was scattered by her biotic barrier as Liara sent a crackling warp down the length of the ballroom, followed shortly by the small, focused pulse of her own biotic throw. They could hear a metallic voice cry out in pain, followed by the sound of a biotic explosion as the throw made contact and pushed the attacker, with the explosion, into what sounded like more attackers. So that angle was taken care of, at least for a short while.
"Liara, I'm sure you have another unit of commandos aiming to catch our friends in their own rear?" At her nod, Shepard continued, "Please have them standby. And keep covering that door." She grabbed the stem of the cocktail table she was using as cover and uprooting it, lightening its mass as she did so, and began advancing towards the door. Splashes of glowing green particles bounced off the mass effect fields of the table as she moved, though considering how heavy the table was it was sure to have quite a bit of charge left. In the back of her mind, she noted that her arm was beginning to grow tired; enough of the momentum of the beams was making it to the field projector that she was being bodily pushed back.
Looking down the iron sights of her sidearm, Shepard was able to see that here were more Turians; typical of the barefaced terrorists who resented the Empire for the Hierarchy's vassaldom. There, one of the terrorists went down to a headshot from Vakarian's own sidearm. She began taking shots at the various body parts that appeared as the Turians began panic firing at her as she moved towards their position, step by step. Then came the moment she was expecting. One of the Turian ladies Garrus had been getting to know stepped up next to Liara, seeming to ask her host for direction in the chaos of the ballroom. Shepard set down the table and turned around, confident in the table's ability to withstand fire for just another minute or so. The Turian woman, while still talking to Liara, reached down into her clutch purse.
Shepard fired off a biotic throw at the woman, who was swept into a wall just as her suicide bomb exploded. The umbrella of the table Liara was using as cover did the rest. "Now you can send them in," she said with a wink as Liara's face blushed a fetching shade of magenta.
iv.
October 18, 2149
SUSV Pa'ao
Near Iera Relay 3, Shadow Sea
Radio chatter from the year-old colony of Horizon washed over her as she watched the stars, delighting in the output from the ship's sensors. Meanwhile, the exploratory team was in the slow, careful process of opening a new relay. The relay was projected to connect to the Nimbus cluster, which was some light-years away in the trailing direction. Gentle blue lights started to strobe down the length of the relay as the bootup sequence began. Telepresence robots retreated to the ship as it prepared to transit the relay. Susan thought to herself that relay bootup was one of the most majestic sights one could see; a marvel not only of Prothean engineering, but also of their art and aesthetics.
"Jumping in 5... 4..."
Susan started to organize the communications and sensor gear in preparation for the jump. After all, the captain was sure to want a prompt report on the star and their exact position in the galaxy.
"3... 2... 1..."
In a flash, they arrived—and almost exactly where they'd predicted, as well. Only they weren't alone. Seemingly guarding the dormant relay was a strange, if beautiful ship; it looked rather more grown than built, though her sensors indicated that its hull was every bit as metallic as that of the Pa'ao. The realization dawned on her that this was a first contact scenario, with a species likely quite different from humanity, judging only by their construction techniques.
She started to engage first contact protocols. Lights along the outside of the Pa'ao began strobing in mathematical sequences; what little armament the ship contained also was held at the ready, and a courier drone was sent off using the relay to inform the Union of first contact. With any luck, it would be peaceful.
October 18, 2149
Hivemind Sthenia Tendril 6
Near Pelion Relay 4, Nimbus Cluster
The basic-forms all watched carefully as the Pa'ao entered the Nimbus cluster. Some minutes ago, the relay had begun spinning up. So far, it had none of the indications of being an Imperial vessel. This new vessel was steel grey, with gentle curves and sharp edges both being quite different from the forty-five degree angles of Imperial craft. Furthermore, its weapons did not indicate the typical Imperial particle cannon, and it did not come with an armada to avenge the War.
Lights began to strobe along the lines of the new ship, and Tendril 6 began moving its mechanical appendages in the same pattern. When radio contact was established, they knew that this first contact would be peaceful.
October 18, 2149
SUSV Pa'ao
Near Pelion Relay 4, Nimbus Cluster
"First contact package away, sir."
"Good work, Susan. Now let's see how these aliens reply."
She'd set the radio to be just audible, with careful controls on the volume; if the ship happened to be hostile, at least they wouldn't allow the aliens to overwhelm the ears of any humans aboard. But what came over the radio was like nothing they expected. A truly beautiful song played out over the speakers of the Pa'ao, seemingly rich and full of meaning. Perhaps it was indeed. On that hunch, Susan began looking for the patterns of language in the sounds of the radio.
A few minutes later, she'd gathered enough to sing "Hello" to them. "We come in the name of humanity, to explore the stars."
The song changed and began repeating something else. After a few seconds, Susan was able to understand. "We are Tendril 6 of the Sthenia Hivemind, and we welcome you to our space. The Great Hive of the Rachni welcomes the Human Systems Union as a friend."
IV.
January 8, 2183
Systems Union Colony Tree of Knowledge
Orbiting Eden Prime
Okay, Shepard told herself. The Batarians were scattered around the colony, doing God knows what. But the hidden tracking beacon on the holographic data cube containing the Zha'til indicated that the majority of the invaders were clustered around the cube.
"Shepard, we've got some bad news," came Anderson's voice over the comm. "A super-dreadnought of some kind just jumped into the system. Unknown construction. Assumed hostile; we're going to have to leave you without a fallback ship."
"Acknowledged, Captain. What's the ETA on the Fifth Fleet?"
"I'm afraid they're still jumping in. ETA is two hours."
If the ship is there to exfiltrate the Batarians, then there's no way the in-system assets could prevent it from doing so, Shepard realized. First priority, then, would be to delay the Batarians. Capture of the Zha'til would have to come as a secondary priority. She directed her troops to make double time towards the nearest spaceport.
Fortunately, some of the robot platforms under her command were able to hover using mass effect fields, and the additional mass effect cores in each trooper's suits allowed them to hang on to the aerial platforms for a tremendous boost in speed.
As the Marine company sped down the corridors and through the wide open spaces of the colony, Shepard began formulating a plan. "Jenkins, what's the layout of the colony like near that spaceport?"
It was time to put Shepard's little plan into action, Vega thought to himself. He was pretty sure she was grooming him for N training, so he'd better not fuck it up. The Batarian picket lying stretched out beneath him provided the basis for the ruse; Tin Man had volunteered to be the bait. The AI platform had already used its holographic projectors to assume the form and bearing of the soldier they had just taken out. Vega grinned; the thought of stealth soldiers from a stealth ship tickled him.
"This new form is acceptable," Tin Man said to Vega. "Though it certainly lacks the... humor, of my usual form." He messaged Balak, the leader of the Batarians on board the Tree of Knowledge. "We've got some humans incoming from behind us," Tin Man sneered.
"Finally, some resistance. Took them long enough to stop protecting their precious civilians and face the real threat. Rear pickets, withdraw to the main group! Forward pickets, if you miss a flank attack I will personally feed you to my varren!"
Well, it seemed that the Batarian leader was many things; but an idiot wasn't one of them. Still, the plan was still proceeding as expected. Tin Man projected the image of a jogging Batarian as he made his way to the main group of invaders, while most of his processing power was occupied with simulating the sleight of hand he'd have to perform to pull off the secondary goal of the plan.
Vega nodded at the retreating AI and began issuing orders to his platoon.
Balak cast a cool eye at the withdrawing rear pickets as his troops prepared to receive an attack from Union forces. It seemed that his gamble of taking human prisoners was about to pay off; he always had the upper hand in a hostage situation. Besides, they had time to spare despite the drop in speed escorting the hostages produced.
Shepard smiled tightly as her own worst fears were confirmed. Good thing this had been built into the plan.
An AI soldier nearby began relating the gist of a broadcast the Batarians were making. "Sir, the Batarians say that they have hostages, who they will release if they are allowed to withdraw from the colony. There's a lot of rambling going on, though. Something about the glory of the Batarian race, and the weakness of humans."
This enemy commander may be smart, Shepard thought, but I can use his ego against him. "Tin Man, we're going to go with a bit of a variation here; I think it'll be easier for you..."
Most of the company was now arrayed in various cover positions along one end of the park adjacent to the spaceport. Unfortunately, their control of the station's environmental controls wouldn't be usable in this scenario; not if the hostages were to be spared. Balak's troops were mostly in the central portion of the park; the North side of the park was almost completely devoid of cover, though if they could reach the spaceport then they'd have a much stronger position, if only for the chokepoint the walls afforded. The company's snipers had already demonstrated that it was a bad idea to attempt a crossing, so the two sides were at a temporary stalemate. The enemy knew that if it weren't for the human shields, they would likely be sealed off and asphyxiate in the artificial environment.
It was a study in contrasts; the marines were equipped with the best gear credits could buy, with a couple bot swarms providing excellent disposable firepower, and some of the most advanced mass effect kinetic barriers in the galaxy. But most of their weapons were conventional firearms powered by the mass effect. The Batarians had demonstrated that those particle rifles of theirs really did work, another indication of tremendous resources from an unknown source. It seemed likely that they had a Salarian benefactor, as most of the rifles were of Salarian make. On the other hand, their armor was typical for a mercenary force; that is to say, highly variable. Balak's armor was likely of excellent make; the assorted other troops barely had barriers at all.
Presently, one of the Batarians peeled off from the main group and seemed to be launching an all-out futile charge on the Union positions, though the Batarians soon realized that none of its shots seemed to be hitting anything. Shepard grimaced; it was unfortunate to have to reveal their capabilities like this, but hopefully they would simply believe that the traitor was one of theirs.
"We now have the Zha'til," said one of the AIs in Batarian, "but we are willing to exchange it for the lives of your hostages."
Balak said something that indicated an affirmative reply after a tense minute, if they would also be allowed to escape; one of the VI drones picked up the case with the decoy memory core and ferried it over to Balak, who scanned it with some sort of tool before nodding to his troops. He began speaking: "A continued demonstration of the weakness of the Humans! They give us what we came for, even after they stole it from us; but is it not the thief's prerogative to do what they will with the theft? Show these humans just how weak they are! Execute the prisoners!"
Fortunately the park was built on top of a set of powerful mass effect field projectors, used to generate opposing teams for sports games, or various other simulations. The Batarians found it difficult to kill the hostages; in fact, simulated Empire soldiers used in the colony's defensive drills appeared on the field and began killing the Batarians. But Balak had absurdly powerful mass effect barriers, and had already managed to run most of the way to the spaceport before the hostage takers could be killed; a combination of insanely fast reflexes and powerful barriers allowed him to escape, with the decoy.
The mission was a complete success, though it was going to get hairy fighting the scattered pockets of Batarians in the colony. Already, three hostages in other areas of the colony had been killed. But there would be time to mourn later. Shepard had a job to do.
Codex: The Turian Hierarchy
Although the Turian Hierarchy comprises only the fifth largest economy in the Empire, it remains a potent political force due to the strength of its military. This, too, is not the largest or most powerful in the Empire. But the two-thousand-year line of Turian heroes who have served under the Imperial banner is far out of proportion to the size of the Hierarchy. Aggrippinus, who commanded the defense of Relay 934; Junius Brutus, who led the army that destroyed the leadership of the Second Krogan Rebellion; and Quintus Camillianus, the legate from Palaven who guarded the Everlasting Gate with his own life in the Zorya Revolt of 1401; these are only a few of the illustrious names of Imperial Turian worthies.
The secret to this success lies in the dedication to service of its people. The Turians have the highest rate of military and civilian service in the Empire, even past the age of mandatory service that is also unique to the Hierarchy. While its command structure is, at times, rigid to the extreme and exceedingly proud, it has also been able to foster this, the longest political tradition in the Empire, since the Turians' own Unification War 2,500 years ago.
But the Turians' pride is often their own downfall. In the 1632 Salarian and Turian Rebellion, the combined Home Fleets of Palaven and Sur'Kesh blockaded Zorya for ten months. While Imperial citizens starved on the world below, the leaders of this weak rebellion were unable to gather the political will sufficient to seize Imperium from the Everliving Emperor, May His Name Be Hallowed. The combined strength of the Empire smashed through the pickets guarding Palaven and Sur'Kesh and made craters out of one major city on the surface of each planet until the blocade of Zorya was lifted. But the pride of the Turian Hierarchy was brittle as well as strong, and the betrayal of the Salarian Union was sufficient to smash it. The ecological damage to Sur'Kesh was terrible to behold; parts of Palaven still resemble the surface of Menae.
Many have attempted to seize the throne. None have succeeded, By the Grace of the Dawnbringer.
Legislative Summary: SUSV Normandy, For Your Eyes Only
The Normandy is named for the defense of Normandy beach in GWII. Its appearance is similar to that of the standard SU frigate of the Ci Bi class, though it lacks the small fin on the rear ventral surface. The reason for this is simple: the Normandy's reactor is of sufficient power that aerodynamics are simply less of a concern. Instead, the larger concern is that of evading detection.
The Normandy's sensor evasion suite is centered around a single, enormously powerful AI, who has chosen the name Edith. Her avatar is that of a very human-like robot, though obviously synthetic. She is armed with several of our most advanced packages for VI blinding and spoofing, targeted to all of our allies, as well as Union AI. This last, however, should not be relied upon, as a similarly equipped AI will not be fooled by our software.
The Normandy possesses a suite of holographic sensors that allow it to mimic any model of ship into which its profile can fit. This, in conjunction with the anti-VI packages, should allow the Normandy to bypass the security of any of our allies in order to conduct stealth missions, retrieve VIPs, and serve as a test bed for our first-strike capabilities.
Its internal layout is also typical to Union frigates, with horizontally-oriented decks and a central bridge. In fact, this layout is almost identical to the Ci Bi class as well. The main exception is that the Engineering deck is quite a bit larger, in order to accommodate the huge MAMA reactor and its twin in size, the S03 element zero core, as well as a cruiser-sized battery system.
It has a standard command and engineering crew, with an additional infowar AI focused on the internal security of the ship. Its Marine complement consists of several marines, as well as the typical AI and VI controlled mech swarm.
AN: The longest chapter so far; I'm stretching out my muscles for that, I suppose. I think in the future I'll bounce around about as much, but stay on each viewpoint longer. I couldn't figure out where to drop the Empire's identity in here, but I've revealed much more of the political situation as a consolation prize...