We Just Write
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Yep, it's all one big weird family who would be horribly inbred if they reproduced through natural methods!
Welcome Aboard (Space Engineers/Multiverse SI)
- Thread starter We Just Write
- Start date
Emizaquel
What is a self?
He only really does it to the cop
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Beyogi
and a fairy
- Pronouns
- She/Her
They got a fucking rocket launcher to destroy the robot that was peacefully talking to a journalist.
Right, so, it is something that is completely unreasonable yes. It's also something the citadel totally did in canon. In ME3 there was a record room or something that had the formation of the Specter system, the interrogation of human POWs and a scene where they gunned down peacefully protesting AIs.
We Just Write
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Which will have repercussions that show up later. It's also canon behavior.
We Just Write
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Yes, and that's the reason why Remix's 'diplomatic body' sacrificed almost all other considerations in favor of armor. Si-me wanted to render a repeat of that scene rather unlikely.
Honestly, I'm kind of surprised remix didn't throw out a comment about destroying completely unknown hardware. I mean, she could totally have a few grams of antimatter as a power source or contain some highly poisonous chemicals. Hell, including a high yield bomb in an ambassador could be entirely reasonable to an alien culture. If you shoot the messenger then you can't be negotiated with after all. The second could just happen by accident. Hell, they could use something that has the same effect on Asari as mustard gas in their lubricant or something.
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Thing is, that could be spun as a threat, which both I and Remix would like to avoid. The whole point is to defuse the Citadel's anti-A.I. stance enough to participate in galactic society without grudges on either side; threatening mass death if they don't comply is rather counterproductive to that.
Actually, while it seems counter productive it really, really isn't. What we have here is a case straight up United Federation of Planets diplomacy. Anything is a valid tactic if it gets them to sit down and talk. The only other alternatives are open conflict or isolation. So you either have to make due with a threat of mass death or literally beat the shit out of them until they deign to open up to your diplomatic talks. Otherwise... well you get what happened here. They, with impunity, continued attacking without even bothering to listen because there weren't any clear reasons not to follow their stated laws of just destroying any AI they see.
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Good point, next time Remix'll be running on something quite... volatile. And have backup. Lots and lots of backup.
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It's... not really a workable tactic the second time around. They blew up the first diplomat body to no deleterious effects. Threats or even suppositions at this point are likely to be ignored until it displays that "yes, this one is actually powered by Anti-matter." The next step from here is open conflict or a display/threat of force massive enough that they will back off and open communications. This means either a large fleet of ships, out massing the citadel fleet significantly or a smaller number with open hostilities that utterly wreck the opposition. It may also be advantageous to open diplomatic relations with individual species first. Maybe even terminus governments. The Turians, after all, seem to always fuck up first contacts.
EDIT: actually, how did Remix get onto the Citadel in the first place? I can't imagine them letting her pilot a ship in knowing what she is after all.
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We Just Write
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She did it under false pretenses. This may not have been the brightest idea.
Mass Effect (World 3), Chapter 11
We Just Write
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(Remix)
I marched down the Citadel's street, over a hundred laser drones swirling around me as I progressed, a fleet of 300 combat ships including the Voidsteader hanging ominously in the void behind me. Soon enough, a group of C-Sec troopers arrived in an aircar, and shouted "HALT!"
My reply as the laser drones melted their guns into uselessness straight through their kinetic barriers was a simple "No, I won't stop. I have some points to discuss with your leadership pertaining to the treatment of my species." Regardless, as I saw that some of them had been struck blind by the laser fire, I also added in "I solemnly promise to ensure your vision is repaired once this is all over and done with."
My continuing path down the Ward I was on went uninterrupted from there on for two thirds of its length. That was when I came upon a blockade featuring almost 100 armed C-Sec operatives, 4 outright tanks, and 2 gunships. I quickly calculated the minimum death I could inflict while still reaching my destination, and silently sent a request to the Voidsteader for some fire support.
The C-Sec officers opened fire, but found that their guns vanished in a blaze of laser fire from my drones as a 2 megawatt beam of green from the Voidsteader was walked across the gunships and tanks. I noted that this had caused the previous awkward tension among the fleets to escalate into an all-out brawl, but I wasn't particularly worried as I took a couple quick looks inside the crew compartments of the various heavy vehicles. Only two fatalities, I suppose that's as good as I could have expected even if I'd have preferred to not cause any deaths at all.
I was about to continue when I felt a powerful shot impact my shoulder from behind and to the left. I suppose I should have expected snipers. A quick back-tracing of the trajectory and a brief burst of laser fire later, I was on my way again. As I passed the disarmed and disoriented C-Sec officers, I said to them "I know it probably sounds hollow, but I'm very sorry for the deaths of your coworkers."
I reached the base of the Council Tower as the Destiny Ascension finally fell silent, its guns and engines blasted into uselessness by precise laser fire even as the rest of its systems continued functioning with minimal damage. I quickly made my entry into the structure through a quick subversion of the programs controlling the door locks, and proceeded through the abandoned lobby to the elevator.
I was about to enter the elevator when I crossed an invisible line of infrared light, and the reception desk to my right exploded, flinging me into the wall. My internals were jostled and some of the armor on my right side ablated, but I could still continue.
As I reached the lift, I commanded it to come to this level, only to find that it was currently unavailable. No matter, I commanded the door to open, and had a drone go ahead of me to hover in the shaft. I stepped aboard the drone, and it began rocketing me up towards the council chambers.
The door at the top of the shaft wouldn't respond to my commands due to having its power cut, so I ordered another of my laser drones up to carefully cut and shove it open. As it did so, it immediately began taking fire from a heavy machine gun and collapsed to the floor in a broken heap as I called up more to go through the chokepoint. They began filing through 2 at a time, and the machine gun was soon silenced at the cost of 3 more drones.
I stepped out of the elevator, coming face to face with four formally dressed organics backed by about a dozen body guards who had until recently been both heavily armed and able to see. As I entered the room, I greeted the council with "Greetings Councilors. I am Remix, ambassador of the Free Minds Network. I would like to negotiate our entrance into galactic society."
To this the Turian Councilor replied "Negotiate... More like dictate terms; If you'd wanted to join galactic society, why didn't you just ask normally?"
To this I answered "We tried, you may recall that incident with a 'rogue A.I.' on the Citadel a month ago? That was me. We still desire peaceful coexistence if at all possible, and for that we need a legal right to exist at the very least, which we have been denied so far."
Councilor Tevos remarked "You do realize that the mass deaths your people have caused have made such an outcome far less likely. People are going to be bitter about this at the very least; they'll likely see you as monsters."
I answered "Actually, there have been precisely 73 irreversible deaths as a result of this action. There have also been 132 personnel who were blinded by the side effects of laser fire in the line of duty. This was predicted beforehand, and compensation packages are already being assembled for the families of those killed. In addition, we have every intention of healing every nonlethal injury and paying for all damages we have caused. All we want in return is to be officially recognized as an independent power and to have some basic rights."
At this, Councilor Sparatus grimaced before remarking "...Fine, I'll go along with it." with an obvious look of contempt on their face.
(Johnathan Burnstead)
I was eating my breakfast in the aft galley when my omnitool lit up with a message alert. I took a quick look before jumping up from my seat and dashing from the room, making my way towards the command center. I reached the elevator in seconds, the message still showing on my omnitool weighing heavily in my mind.
Choruses of "Affirmative!" and "YES SIR!" echoed throughout the command center as I heard the main Jump Array spinning up. Soon enough, reality lurched, and we were on our way to Horizon. As we traveled, I planned what we were going to do once we arrive. Quickly, an idea came to me. I called out "Attention Theris and Chomsky, when we arrive, we will be performing a double-jump alpha-strike dumping our entire load of GITs. Given how big we were told the enemy's ship is, chances are any hit they score will be instantly fatal, so we can't afford to stick around much longer than a second."
This received another round of "Affirmative!" and I sat back in my chair before I called out "Wilson, there's roughly 10 minutes until we arrive at Horizon. That's long enough for me to finish eating my breakfast. Could you please bring it down here?"
To this my loyal subordinate replied "Affirmative." before swiftly retrieving my oatmeal. On my part, I managed to swiftly consume the hot cereal by the time the main Jump array had recharged for the next Jump.
As we arrived on the edges of the Iera system, I looked at the sensor data we were receiving. Quickly making some final adjustments, I called out "Theris, I want you to jump us in to within 1,000 km of that big lug with the emergency Jumper ready to get us out of there 2 seconds after we arrive. Chomsky, During that window I want you to get our entire load of 72 GITs out of our bays. And... GO!"
There were no words, the dual hum of both Jump systems spinning up was more than enough communication, along with the subtle sound of the bay doors opening up. Soon, reality lurched and I looked at the Representative System Map to see that we were now right next to Horizon, a burst of dots representing the GITs lancing across the void towards the misshapen lump that dared call itself a ship in barely half a second.
As the burst of GITs impacted at a noticeable fraction of c, each imparted energy equal to multiple megatons of TNT. I could tell because the enemy ship's sensor return quickly shattered into multiple small ones, each of which was itself ripped apart. I just looked upon the scene of devastation, incredulous at how easy it had been as the emergency jump took us away to half a light minute of range.
I quickly re-composed myself before ordering "Conrad! Fire up the radio sets and find out what the situation is groundside! There's probably still friendlies down there and I want to know if they need any help!" Meanwhile I sent back a message to command via my omnitool.
I marched down the Citadel's street, over a hundred laser drones swirling around me as I progressed, a fleet of 300 combat ships including the Voidsteader hanging ominously in the void behind me. Soon enough, a group of C-Sec troopers arrived in an aircar, and shouted "HALT!"
My reply as the laser drones melted their guns into uselessness straight through their kinetic barriers was a simple "No, I won't stop. I have some points to discuss with your leadership pertaining to the treatment of my species." Regardless, as I saw that some of them had been struck blind by the laser fire, I also added in "I solemnly promise to ensure your vision is repaired once this is all over and done with."
My continuing path down the Ward I was on went uninterrupted from there on for two thirds of its length. That was when I came upon a blockade featuring almost 100 armed C-Sec operatives, 4 outright tanks, and 2 gunships. I quickly calculated the minimum death I could inflict while still reaching my destination, and silently sent a request to the Voidsteader for some fire support.
The C-Sec officers opened fire, but found that their guns vanished in a blaze of laser fire from my drones as a 2 megawatt beam of green from the Voidsteader was walked across the gunships and tanks. I noted that this had caused the previous awkward tension among the fleets to escalate into an all-out brawl, but I wasn't particularly worried as I took a couple quick looks inside the crew compartments of the various heavy vehicles. Only two fatalities, I suppose that's as good as I could have expected even if I'd have preferred to not cause any deaths at all.
I was about to continue when I felt a powerful shot impact my shoulder from behind and to the left. I suppose I should have expected snipers. A quick back-tracing of the trajectory and a brief burst of laser fire later, I was on my way again. As I passed the disarmed and disoriented C-Sec officers, I said to them "I know it probably sounds hollow, but I'm very sorry for the deaths of your coworkers."
I reached the base of the Council Tower as the Destiny Ascension finally fell silent, its guns and engines blasted into uselessness by precise laser fire even as the rest of its systems continued functioning with minimal damage. I quickly made my entry into the structure through a quick subversion of the programs controlling the door locks, and proceeded through the abandoned lobby to the elevator.
I was about to enter the elevator when I crossed an invisible line of infrared light, and the reception desk to my right exploded, flinging me into the wall. My internals were jostled and some of the armor on my right side ablated, but I could still continue.
As I reached the lift, I commanded it to come to this level, only to find that it was currently unavailable. No matter, I commanded the door to open, and had a drone go ahead of me to hover in the shaft. I stepped aboard the drone, and it began rocketing me up towards the council chambers.
The door at the top of the shaft wouldn't respond to my commands due to having its power cut, so I ordered another of my laser drones up to carefully cut and shove it open. As it did so, it immediately began taking fire from a heavy machine gun and collapsed to the floor in a broken heap as I called up more to go through the chokepoint. They began filing through 2 at a time, and the machine gun was soon silenced at the cost of 3 more drones.
I stepped out of the elevator, coming face to face with four formally dressed organics backed by about a dozen body guards who had until recently been both heavily armed and able to see. As I entered the room, I greeted the council with "Greetings Councilors. I am Remix, ambassador of the Free Minds Network. I would like to negotiate our entrance into galactic society."
To this the Turian Councilor replied "Negotiate... More like dictate terms; If you'd wanted to join galactic society, why didn't you just ask normally?"
To this I answered "We tried, you may recall that incident with a 'rogue A.I.' on the Citadel a month ago? That was me. We still desire peaceful coexistence if at all possible, and for that we need a legal right to exist at the very least, which we have been denied so far."
Councilor Tevos remarked "You do realize that the mass deaths your people have caused have made such an outcome far less likely. People are going to be bitter about this at the very least; they'll likely see you as monsters."
I answered "Actually, there have been precisely 73 irreversible deaths as a result of this action. There have also been 132 personnel who were blinded by the side effects of laser fire in the line of duty. This was predicted beforehand, and compensation packages are already being assembled for the families of those killed. In addition, we have every intention of healing every nonlethal injury and paying for all damages we have caused. All we want in return is to be officially recognized as an independent power and to have some basic rights."
At this, Councilor Sparatus grimaced before remarking "...Fine, I'll go along with it." with an obvious look of contempt on their face.
(Johnathan Burnstead)
I was eating my breakfast in the aft galley when my omnitool lit up with a message alert. I took a quick look before jumping up from my seat and dashing from the room, making my way towards the command center. I reached the elevator in seconds, the message still showing on my omnitool weighing heavily in my mind.
Soon, I reached the Command Center, and as I strapped myself in, I ordered "Sound the alarm for general quarters! Theris, set course for Horizon! Manufacturing, I want bays 1 and 2 full of Casaba drones by the time we arrive. I also want bays 3 and 4 full of GITs!"
Choruses of "Affirmative!" and "YES SIR!" echoed throughout the command center as I heard the main Jump Array spinning up. Soon enough, reality lurched, and we were on our way to Horizon. As we traveled, I planned what we were going to do once we arrive. Quickly, an idea came to me. I called out "Attention Theris and Chomsky, when we arrive, we will be performing a double-jump alpha-strike dumping our entire load of GITs. Given how big we were told the enemy's ship is, chances are any hit they score will be instantly fatal, so we can't afford to stick around much longer than a second."
This received another round of "Affirmative!" and I sat back in my chair before I called out "Wilson, there's roughly 10 minutes until we arrive at Horizon. That's long enough for me to finish eating my breakfast. Could you please bring it down here?"
To this my loyal subordinate replied "Affirmative." before swiftly retrieving my oatmeal. On my part, I managed to swiftly consume the hot cereal by the time the main Jump array had recharged for the next Jump.
As we arrived on the edges of the Iera system, I looked at the sensor data we were receiving. Quickly making some final adjustments, I called out "Theris, I want you to jump us in to within 1,000 km of that big lug with the emergency Jumper ready to get us out of there 2 seconds after we arrive. Chomsky, During that window I want you to get our entire load of 72 GITs out of our bays. And... GO!"
There were no words, the dual hum of both Jump systems spinning up was more than enough communication, along with the subtle sound of the bay doors opening up. Soon, reality lurched and I looked at the Representative System Map to see that we were now right next to Horizon, a burst of dots representing the GITs lancing across the void towards the misshapen lump that dared call itself a ship in barely half a second.
As the burst of GITs impacted at a noticeable fraction of c, each imparted energy equal to multiple megatons of TNT. I could tell because the enemy ship's sensor return quickly shattered into multiple small ones, each of which was itself ripped apart. I just looked upon the scene of devastation, incredulous at how easy it had been as the emergency jump took us away to half a light minute of range.
I quickly re-composed myself before ordering "Conrad! Fire up the radio sets and find out what the situation is groundside! There's probably still friendlies down there and I want to know if they need any help!" Meanwhile I sent back a message to command via my omnitool.
We Just Write
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deadlines, WHEE!
Mass Effect (World 3), Chapter 12
We Just Write
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(A/N): Translations include slang, to the nearest English equivalent.
(Jabin Alban)
Life as an undercover member of the STG was surprisingly mundane, all things considered. For instance, I had to provide for my own living expenses, or someone was going to get suspicious and fast. This was especially the case on Illium, as here 'homeless shelter' or 'charity' were synonymous with 'indentured servitude'.
Thus, I was on my way to my job as a data analyst for Lorgen Advertising when I noticed something interesting out the window of the bus I was on. Namely what looked to be a club with a bipedal robot scrubbing graffiti off their front window. I recognized the text as various anti-synthetic slurs including "Soulless Scrapheap!" and "There's nowhere you belong, unnatural freak!". I almost thought I heard the robot cursing as the bus reached its nearest point, but that was ridiculous, wasn't it?
As the bus continued on its course, I resolved to stop by 'Blueshift -GRAND OPENING!-' after work with one of my other coworkers to see what was going on. My work flew by in a blur, but I managed to still get a lot done monitoring and interpreting the VIs that determined what sorts of advertisements attracted the attention of the most potential customers for our clients.
10 hours later, my overtime ended and I made my way to the bus stop. As the bus went underway, I called one of my other colleagues Nogok Wols using my omnitool. He soon answered with "Hello Jabin. Nice day we're having, isn't it?"
To this I replied "Yes. Anyway, I spotted a new club on my way to work called Blueshift, and I thought you might like to visit with me to see what it's like. I'll be getting off the bus early, and you can meet me there."
Nogok answered "Certainly, I'll be changing buses soon to meet you then."
There were two more stops before the one I wanted to get off at. Stepping off the bus roughly 200 meters from my destination, I swiftly navigated to Blueshift's location, only to find that Nogok had arrived before me. I greeted him with "Hello Nogok, time to relax."
My colleague replied "Yeah, after you." with a slight smile on his face. I nodded and obliged by entering first. The atmosphere was... unique. There was a bar counter formed of what had to be synthetic red marble along one part of the establishment, and the opposite wall featured a large mirror with a wide planter filled with actual grass and carefully pruned Bonsai along the bottom. The middle of the establishment featured a miniature teal gas planet with a beautifully sparkling ring of ice shavings and a collection of moons, with the central sphere being about a meter across.
I was still gazing at it when I heard a slightly synthesized voice mention "Do you like it? It's actually a real gravitational ring system, if in miniature. Go on, touch it, it's interactive!"
Looking to the right, I soon realized that the robot from earlier was behind both the counter and the voice. Silently, I walked forwards to the ball of colored gas and gently poked a finger into the gently orbiting plane of ice. As I felt the ice deflect off my finger and watched a gap in the rings begin tracing its way around, I remarked "I'm a bit confused as to why I'm not falling towards the center, given that you said it uses real gravity."
To this, the robot answered "Well, it doesn't use very much, and about half a meter near the floor is unaffected by the equipment involved. Anyway, are you here to order anything or are you just here for the scenery?"
As I sat down on one of the bar stools with Nogok I asked "What have you got?" finally catching sight of a nametag reading 'Trance' attached to the bartender in the process.
Trance answered my question with what I was sure was a grin despite not having much in the way of facial features and replied "Lots of things, but I think you might be particularly interested in some Ikuran* Mead imported fresh from Sur'Kesh."
Nogok smiled before telling me "I don't know about you, but I think I'll definitely be coming back. I'm liking this place already"
*The Ikuran is a large solitary insect native to Sur'Kesh which (in the wild) produces and stashes large amounts of a honey-like substance from various fruits to ensure it survives the winter. It has long-since been more or less domesticated.
(Jabin Alban)
Life as an undercover member of the STG was surprisingly mundane, all things considered. For instance, I had to provide for my own living expenses, or someone was going to get suspicious and fast. This was especially the case on Illium, as here 'homeless shelter' or 'charity' were synonymous with 'indentured servitude'.
Thus, I was on my way to my job as a data analyst for Lorgen Advertising when I noticed something interesting out the window of the bus I was on. Namely what looked to be a club with a bipedal robot scrubbing graffiti off their front window. I recognized the text as various anti-synthetic slurs including "Soulless Scrapheap!" and "There's nowhere you belong, unnatural freak!". I almost thought I heard the robot cursing as the bus reached its nearest point, but that was ridiculous, wasn't it?
As the bus continued on its course, I resolved to stop by 'Blueshift -GRAND OPENING!-' after work with one of my other coworkers to see what was going on. My work flew by in a blur, but I managed to still get a lot done monitoring and interpreting the VIs that determined what sorts of advertisements attracted the attention of the most potential customers for our clients.
10 hours later, my overtime ended and I made my way to the bus stop. As the bus went underway, I called one of my other colleagues Nogok Wols using my omnitool. He soon answered with "Hello Jabin. Nice day we're having, isn't it?"
To this I replied "Yes. Anyway, I spotted a new club on my way to work called Blueshift, and I thought you might like to visit with me to see what it's like. I'll be getting off the bus early, and you can meet me there."
Nogok answered "Certainly, I'll be changing buses soon to meet you then."
There were two more stops before the one I wanted to get off at. Stepping off the bus roughly 200 meters from my destination, I swiftly navigated to Blueshift's location, only to find that Nogok had arrived before me. I greeted him with "Hello Nogok, time to relax."
My colleague replied "Yeah, after you." with a slight smile on his face. I nodded and obliged by entering first. The atmosphere was... unique. There was a bar counter formed of what had to be synthetic red marble along one part of the establishment, and the opposite wall featured a large mirror with a wide planter filled with actual grass and carefully pruned Bonsai along the bottom. The middle of the establishment featured a miniature teal gas planet with a beautifully sparkling ring of ice shavings and a collection of moons, with the central sphere being about a meter across.
I was still gazing at it when I heard a slightly synthesized voice mention "Do you like it? It's actually a real gravitational ring system, if in miniature. Go on, touch it, it's interactive!"
Looking to the right, I soon realized that the robot from earlier was behind both the counter and the voice. Silently, I walked forwards to the ball of colored gas and gently poked a finger into the gently orbiting plane of ice. As I felt the ice deflect off my finger and watched a gap in the rings begin tracing its way around, I remarked "I'm a bit confused as to why I'm not falling towards the center, given that you said it uses real gravity."
To this, the robot answered "Well, it doesn't use very much, and about half a meter near the floor is unaffected by the equipment involved. Anyway, are you here to order anything or are you just here for the scenery?"
As I sat down on one of the bar stools with Nogok I asked "What have you got?" finally catching sight of a nametag reading 'Trance' attached to the bartender in the process.
Trance answered my question with what I was sure was a grin despite not having much in the way of facial features and replied "Lots of things, but I think you might be particularly interested in some Ikuran* Mead imported fresh from Sur'Kesh."
Nogok smiled before telling me "I don't know about you, but I think I'll definitely be coming back. I'm liking this place already"
*The Ikuran is a large solitary insect native to Sur'Kesh which (in the wild) produces and stashes large amounts of a honey-like substance from various fruits to ensure it survives the winter. It has long-since been more or less domesticated.
(Sezzy)
Hello, nice to see you guys again, it's been months. Anyway, care to hear what I've been up to lately?
I was making another quick check on the Quarian and Geth situation when I stumbled upon a rather endearing scene. After months of building and planning, Tali'Zorah and her father Rael were about to move into a new home. As I listened, Rael told his daughter "It didn't turn out like I'd thought it would, but it looks like I finally managed to build you that house on Rannoch."
I couldn't help but radiance a bit at the thought of someone getting a happy childhood they would have otherwise not received, a few sparse motes of red and white breaking free of my Corona. I briefly considered the possibility of infusing the mana into Tali, making her into a mage. I ultimately decided not to; it really wouldn't help defeat the Reapers and would simply complicate both my and Tali's life.
Retrieving the motes of mana I'd inadvertently leaked, I turned my attention to more immediate concerns, namely the latest bit of screwing with the Reapers. In the non-space of the Blind Eternities, I moved along the surface of the plane below, looking for a very specific place. It helped a bit to know that I wanted to look near the galactic core, but it still took hours to find the Collector Base, no Reaper IFF required.
Still, now that I'd found it I was stuck with the task of destroying it without tipping off the Reapers that something weird was going on. I briefly entertained the idea of using that shard of the Cobalt Star to slam it with the billiard ball paradox but that was the exact opposite of what I was hoping to acheive. I also briefly entertained the idea of slamming it with a relativistic asteroid out of nowhere, but that wasn't believable as not involving tremendous weirdness either.
I puzzled over the problem for a few minutes, when it eventually occurred to me that this was exactly the sort of thing my Player could be good at. I quickly made a note of this base's relative distances to various pulsars, and made my way back to the Motherlode Complex. Since I'd last seen it the facility had been chaotically expanded to the point of being twice as big as either the Citadel or Omega and far more industrialized than either. In all honesty it looked like someone had randomly bolted a huge number of docking spires and shipbuilding yards randomly to its core, which itself looked like a tumor made out of metallic lego.
I spent a few minutes trying to find a suitable instance of my player, before I eventually spotted one who was engaged in some level of bureaucracy on a tablet. As I projected my Corona down into the world below, I thought back to the form I'd assumed previously. Yes, that would do nicely. Time to have another little chat with them.
Yes, that would be nice.Hello, nice to see you guys again, it's been months. Anyway, care to hear what I've been up to lately?
I was making another quick check on the Quarian and Geth situation when I stumbled upon a rather endearing scene. After months of building and planning, Tali'Zorah and her father Rael were about to move into a new home. As I listened, Rael told his daughter "It didn't turn out like I'd thought it would, but it looks like I finally managed to build you that house on Rannoch."
I couldn't help but radiance a bit at the thought of someone getting a happy childhood they would have otherwise not received, a few sparse motes of red and white breaking free of my Corona. I briefly considered the possibility of infusing the mana into Tali, making her into a mage. I ultimately decided not to; it really wouldn't help defeat the Reapers and would simply complicate both my and Tali's life.
Retrieving the motes of mana I'd inadvertently leaked, I turned my attention to more immediate concerns, namely the latest bit of screwing with the Reapers. In the non-space of the Blind Eternities, I moved along the surface of the plane below, looking for a very specific place. It helped a bit to know that I wanted to look near the galactic core, but it still took hours to find the Collector Base, no Reaper IFF required.
Still, now that I'd found it I was stuck with the task of destroying it without tipping off the Reapers that something weird was going on. I briefly entertained the idea of using that shard of the Cobalt Star to slam it with the billiard ball paradox but that was the exact opposite of what I was hoping to acheive. I also briefly entertained the idea of slamming it with a relativistic asteroid out of nowhere, but that wasn't believable as not involving tremendous weirdness either.
I puzzled over the problem for a few minutes, when it eventually occurred to me that this was exactly the sort of thing my Player could be good at. I quickly made a note of this base's relative distances to various pulsars, and made my way back to the Motherlode Complex. Since I'd last seen it the facility had been chaotically expanded to the point of being twice as big as either the Citadel or Omega and far more industrialized than either. In all honesty it looked like someone had randomly bolted a huge number of docking spires and shipbuilding yards randomly to its core, which itself looked like a tumor made out of metallic lego.
I spent a few minutes trying to find a suitable instance of my player, before I eventually spotted one who was engaged in some level of bureaucracy on a tablet. As I projected my Corona down into the world below, I thought back to the form I'd assumed previously. Yes, that would do nicely. Time to have another little chat with them.
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We Just Write
Blatantly Plural
- Location
- New England
- Pronouns
- Plural
In other news, I've gotten all the setup done that I think I'll need to. I'm going to have a timeskip soon, with the Reaper War beginning next chapter.
Hammerheadcruiser
Eagle-1 my beloved
- Location
- Anaxes
The speech was very stiff, not nearly as casual as it should have been for colleagues. Though that could be intentional, as the update mentioned translation. The first paragraph was easily the best, it flowed very well and I have no complaints about it. The Motherlode complex being bigger then the citadel is a bit much, if your going to do it then add some downsides to it. Sure it's bigger then the citadel, but it's not nearly as pretty. Honestly, It looks like an ork designed it. Something that makes it feel a little more humble and not so much wank. At the very least acknowledge that it's bullshit, then explain why the bullshit works, e.g. this is what happens when you have an entire species of AI preparing for war, of course it's going to be stupid huge!
I complain because I care, even if it totally makes me feel like an asshole.
I complain because I care, even if it totally makes me feel like an asshole.
We Just Write
Blatantly Plural
- Location
- New England
- Pronouns
- Plural
I do believe Sezzy mentioned it being 'chaotically' expanded. Still, I'll add a little bit in.
As for Jabin and Nogok, you're absolutely right.
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Hammerheadcruiser
Eagle-1 my beloved
- Location
- Anaxes
Sezzy did, but it wasn't much. For such a big and important facility you need more then one adjective. Much better now, the extra description helps a lot.
We Just Write
Blatantly Plural
- Location
- New England
- Pronouns
- Plural
I hate to say it, but I've hit a writer's brick wall. I'm simply running out of momentum on this story. If you like I'll post the currently unfinished chapter, but without a lot of shoving this story probably won't continue. A shame too, I had some awesome ideas in the near future.
Hammerheadcruiser
Eagle-1 my beloved
- Location
- Anaxes
It happens to the best of us. Hell, I can't for the life of me keep a project alive for more then three months.
If you don't want to show off an unfinished piece I can try my hand at finishing it, I got tomorrow off. PM me if your interested, just let me know what you wanted to happen and I'll see what I can bang out.
If you don't want to show off an unfinished piece I can try my hand at finishing it, I got tomorrow off. PM me if your interested, just let me know what you wanted to happen and I'll see what I can bang out.
We Just Write
Blatantly Plural
- Location
- New England
- Pronouns
- Plural
Coming right up.
Finale & Epilog
Hammerheadcruiser
Eagle-1 my beloved
- Location
- Anaxes
Finale cometh! Very delayed because Oh Dear God Life and so many god damn fic ideas. But I did it! I finally finished it! Hopefully 3.7K words is enough of an apology to satisfy you.
Some of the auther's ideas were a bit out there, but I did what I could. Mostly by not explaining shit, because I have no idea where to even start.
___
(Catalyst)
Cycle Status: Proceeding...
Addendum: Losses Greater Then Expected.
Sourcing Issue...
Found: Advanced Gravetic Weaponry(!), Non Standard FTL Method(!), Artificial Intelligence(!)
Cycle Status: Proceeding...
Addendum: Cycle Abnormal
Solution: Reinforcements
Reattempting Primary Relay Activation...
Relay Control Non Responsive
Sourcing Issue...
Unknown... Abnormal
Diagnostic: Inconclusive
Sourcing...
Likely Source: Organics
Not possible, Organics Unable To Access Central Systems
Artificial Intelligence?
Query: who are you?
No Relevant Matches Found
Query: What Are You?
(Remix)
With a little hiss of discomfort, the cables connected to the ports on the back of her neck, opening and expanding her mind by an order of magnitude. She filled the ship, allowing her access to everything the Rectifier experienced. She saw the fleet of warships around her, the myriad of designs of the citadel races and the more angular shapes of her own people. She heard the radio chatter of an armada preparing for combat, voices filled with fear and determination. She felt the spacial ripples of arriving ships, flung across the galaxy by the many Jump Projectors built through the years.
Remix basked in the data streams for a few moments, allowing herself to just feel happy to be alive before so many died. That thought only hardened her determination. Five years she had lived in this galaxy, felt joy and sadness beside her parents and friends, by no means was she going to allow it to fall to some stupid spaceships caught in a logic loop. Not when she just bought that new apartment.
She opened her eyes, taking in the small command center she had claimed by right of being oldest child amongst her very extended family. The crew where all around her at their stations, speaking constantly, coordinating the ships of the Free Minds Network fleet and controlling what she couldn't. She was the Captain of the Rectifier and Admiral of the Fleet. She might not win the coming battle, but by Sezzy she wasn't going to go down easy.
"Admiral, the scouts have returned. Reapers sighted and closing, ETA 30 minutes."
___
(Johnathan Burnstead)
458 citadel fleet ships, 296 FMN, 131 human, 150 Turian, 62 Salarian, 35 Asari, 17 'Other' and 3 Krogan ships had gathered to defend the citadel. 1,152 allied ships against some 20,000+. I'd stopped caring by that point. Once the higher ups heard those numbers our mission changed. It was no longer to defend the citadel, it was to hold the line and defend the transports. We had to hold as long as possible to allow as many as possible to evacuate.
Not an easy task when you're talking about a planets worth of civilians. We didn't have nearly enough transports, but we did the best we could. The three Jump Projectors on the back lines fired as often as they could, sending whole groups of transports away. Ships came and went, shuffling people and supplies around the galaxy. Intermixed was the odd warship arriving, but most where too busy guarding their own homes to defend the capital. Couldn't blame them for that.
"Captain, brass says 10 minutes."
"Wonderful. Prep the drones."
___
(Admiral T'Ash)
Everything was in place, as ready as it could be with the Reapers mere minutes away. Admiral T'Ash stood on the very top of the triple tiered command pyramid that made up the bridge of the Destiny Ascension. She tightened her grip on the guard rail, channeling her worry and fear into something a little less useless. The evacuation was going too slow. Nine billion out of thirteen. Not acceptable. But with the Reapers so close, there was little she could do.
"Damn it." She whispered
"What was that Admiral?"
"I said, are the spinals ready to fire?"
"Yes Admiral, the capacitors are fully charged."
"How are the triple barrels holding up?"
"No issues worth mentioning Matriarch."
"Worth mentioning?"
"Uhh, pay it n-"
"Inbound!"
Her head snapped around, the tactical map suddenly filling with red markings. More and more red filled the space around the Relay, a truly distressing amount.
"Orders Admiral?"
"Hold fire, lock targets."
By the Goddess she wanted to fire immediately, but they couldn't risk hitting the relay. Not all ships yet had Jump Drives yet and Jump Projectors where not cheap. Relays where simply more economical. Of course that wouldn't matter if they didn't survive this whole thing. She thought the hours spent waiting where bad, yet thirty seconds nearly killed her.
"Fleet. Open fire!"
___
Across the defending fleet missiles and strike craft streaked towards the Reapers, the slower ordnance getting a headstart. Not much of one as next the railguns fired, followed by the laser and thanix beams, then the true killers spoke. Gravetic spikes erupted all along the defensive line, man sized shells filling the void with incredible speed. The firepower of over a thousand warships struck in AI calculated waves, the gap between strikes lasting not even a second. Lasers ignored shields and softened armour, railguns struck and weakened shields, thanix beams further weakened and even broke shields while gravetically launched shells utterly shattered all it struck. What missiles survived the reaper counterfire flew within the newly ventilated dreadnoughts and exploded within, ruining the delicate machinery buried deep inside.
The results where devastating, dozens upon dozens of kilometer long Reaper vessels destroyed in moments. The Reapers minds reeled, the millions of minds within each shocked into silence. Such losses where reserved for when fighting the super weapons of species long past, not the average ships and fleets of the line! And they didn't even have the decency to stop to reload.
The citadel alliance fired with abandon, launching shells as fast as they could be fired. The Turian ships fired in great volleys, they had upgraded nearly all their ships with the new weapons. The Humans had done much the same, though with a far greater quantity of drones in their arsenal. The Salarians had swapped nearly all their weapons for lasers and Thanix cannons, seeing them as the more efficient approach to warfare. The Free Minds Network ripple fired their many, many gravetic weapons, double tapping each Reaper with the accuracy only an AI could have. The Asari? They did what they did best, melding it all together in an elegant and very deadly package.
The Destiny Ascension was a prime example of this methodology. She wielded a highly experimental triple barrel gravetic launcher, shells launched near constantly. And she had two of them. Sandwiched between them was a mighty thanix cannon, the largest in citadel space. She was like a warrior matriarch of old, a master of murder with no equal. The three ships of the Rectifier class came close however, their spinal gravetic launcher firing slower but being much more powerful. They had inspired a bit of an arms race when they where revealed. That race was paying dividends against the invaders.
All together, the allied ships brought ruin upon thousands of Reaper ships. No armour or shield could withstand their combined firepower. But their enemy had not been idle, firing their own larger and more powerful thanix beams into the defending fleet. Reaper casualties where enormous, but they had the numbers to take it where as the defenders did not. The allies held as long as they could, cutting down a full third of the enemy for a loss of some four hundred vessels. 1.2 billion people had managed to evacuate during the battle, but that number dwindled as fewer and fewer captains where willing to jump into the largest fleet battle in Citadel history just to rescue a few civilians. Especially when news arrived that the defenders were being pushed back.
After hours of brawling, the retreat was called. The allied fleet fell back to the jump projectors, reaping further tolls upon their enemy along the way. Those ships without jump drives went first while those with defended them. One Projector was lost when a damaged cruiser crashed through it, but that was all the damage they received. The Reapers made several attempts to board the projectors however, apparently wanting the tech for themselves. They where denied the chance, once the last non jump drive ship had escaped the singularity generators went up taking several smaller Reaper ships with it. The rest of the fleet then jumped out, only staying as long as they did to make sure the projectors where destroyed.
10.2 billion people where saved from the Reapers.
3 billion people where lost to the Reapers.
The story repeated across the galaxy, defending forces exacting brutal losses upon the Reapers but being pushed back by their sheer numbers. The allied forces used the mobility the jump drives provided to great effect, but it wasn't the first time the Reapers had dealt with a species who went 'off the grid'. Defeat seemed certain in the face of the Reapers seemingly endless numbers. A miracle was needed to carry the day.
___
(Luke Instance #1,278,438,739)
Stepping out of the medical bay in the deserted ship, I remarked to my sister "Huh, feels weird being in a body again."
Catherine answered "Yeah, Still, just the fact that these bodies kept so well is a little surprising, given that we basically left this ship floating in the interstellar void."
As I pushed the mental switch for the elevator with my neural interface, I remarked "Not that surprising, even at maximum power the fuel for the singularity reactors would last hundreds of thousands of years, and this ship was nowhere near maximum power for the few years we were away. As long as there was power, the hydroponics, stasis and self-maintenance systems could keep running with no problems."
As the lift descended towards the command center, my sister interjected defensively "It's the principle of the thing. Stop being all sensible."
She turned away slightly, I chuckled. Then the doors opened and we were all business. The war was going badly, the Reaper's simply had to many ships. If nothing changed, even with the significant advantages we had brought to the table we would be ground down through shear attrition. Our mission was to strike at the heart of their command structure, Harbinger.
We took our places on the bridge as the Voidsteader brought itself fully online, the dual command chairs accepting their owners as if they'd never left. Batteries began discharging as reactors spun up, engines rumbled to life and scanners flipped from passive to active. The long sleeping vessel was ready for action once more.
I stroked the wood paneling of the command chair, "I missed you." Then we were away.
___
Using the former location of the Alpha Relay as our first clue, we searched dark space for the first reaper. Before we had sent the Voidsteader on it's way, it had been extensively refitted with the best technology available to the galaxy at large and several items that weren't. But even with the new toys, it took several months of constant searching before we found our target.
___
A fleet of dreadnoughts sat right at the edge of sensor range, a suitable honor guard of reapers for the eldest. Daunting, to say the least. One ship, against a fleet. Yet, if the QE messages from back home where true they had little time to spend in fear.
I grabbed my sisters hand, to reassure her or me I'll never know. "Well. Nothing for it I guess." Cathrine nodded shakily, before taking a moment to calm her breathing. She nodded again, more certain this time. The jump timer started ticking down. Then she turned to me with a wry grin, "For the Emperor?"
I narrowed my eyes at her, "Remix was right, you have been picking up bad habits." Then space warped and we were neck deep in reapers.
They reacted with the speed of machines, beams of molten metal spearing through space within seconds of our arrival. We still fired first, the spinal launcher spearing the closest reaper clean through, the lasers sweeping across the ships on either side. Then we vanished, reappearing several light minutes away. After a moment or two of remembering how to breath after that adrenaline spike we turned the ship around and did it again. And again. And again.
It was a increasingly common tactic among the allies, rapid and repeated jump strikes. The reapers had adapted by deploying mines and keeping drone swarms on hand at all times, but out here? They hadn't expected anyone paying them a visit. Even once they did deploy everything, the bleeding edge technology of the allies held strong. The Krogan armouring scheme deserved particular praise as they took more then one mine over the course of the battle. But just because they could take it doesn't mean they where in a good position.
"Come on, seven ships left. We can do this!"
"Cathrine! We're at our limit! The nanites can only repair so much!"
"Then we go for the kill, right now!" The jump timer started again. "Full power to engines!"
"Damn it." She was right, it was do or die. All or nothing.
We reappeared with a slug already halfway out the launcher, splitting a damaged reaper in two. We leapt forwards, rushing towards Harbinger as fast as we could go. Dozens of beams fired at us, far more numerous now that they didn't have to risk shooting each other. We took a shot to the port, completely ruining the laser turret. Another struck the bow, slicing off the end of the launcher barrel. Yet for every blow we took we dealt it back twice as hard. Harbinger was finally vulnerable, a single reaper standing guard. We didn't stop, couldn't by that point. The forward maneuvering thrusters had long since been blown off.
Then disaster struck, Harbinger itself fired upon us, breaching the armour and spearing one of the singularity reactors clean through. The beam was swept up in the powerful gravetic forces of the reactor, swirling in orbit around the core and randomly releasing particles to strike the remaining containment shell releasing more and more of the contained power within. The ship started to warp as the reactor failed to shut down, hull crumbling before the might of gravity. Then limiters were vaporized, sending fuel flooding into the singularity and pushing it far beyond anything reasonable.
"THE REACTOR'S OVERLOADING! WE'RE NOT GONNA MAKE IT!"
"LIKE HELL WE AREN'T! RAMMING SPEED!"
"WHAT!?!"
"IT'S BETTER TO DIE FOR THE GALAXY THEN TO LIVE FOR YOURSELF!"
The voidsteader pushed itself as hard as it could go, fighting the crippling effects of a micro black hole devouring it from the inside. So close! Just a little more! Harbinger's single remaining defender placed itself between the speeding ship and it's leader, denying the frigate it's prey. No! Not now! It couldn't course correct! The singularity suddenly breached it's final barriers just as the Voidsteader slammed into the final guard, drawing in the cores and crew of both ships. Secondary explosions rocked the Reaper, huge chunks breaking off. Just as suddenly the micro blackhole evaporated, releasing a burst of light and radiation. Harbinger was briefly blinded, it's sensors taking a moment to adjust development. It would have to relocate, if they found it once they could do it again. It would have to repla-
Then a fist was planted in it's hull. The reapers entire frame shuddered as hundreds of meters of armour crumbled. A small figure raised it's fist again and swung again, turning metal to dust for meters around. It dug through the dreadnought as errors filled it's mind. Everything was wrong, but it didn't care. Harbinger had to die. She, for it was a she, descended into a maniac rage. Rage over the pain, rage over the destruction, rage over her dead crew.
When she finally calmed down Harbinger was nothing but scrap metal, not a single component functioned. The heavily damaged, bleeding humanoid stood tall in spite of the pain and the vacuum. She closed her eyes and whispered, "Mission accomplished, Admiral."
In the command center of the Kanmasu Voidsteader the very dead and yet not Captains of the equally dead frigate could only stare in shock.
"What."
___
Epilogue
Codex: Reaper war
The defeat of Harbinger was a major blow to the Reapers. Not only were they taking horrendous losses against new and powerful weaponry, but now they had lost their leadership. Yet they where powerful machines with legions of ships, they could manage even in the face of such adversity. What really turned the tide was the arrival of the Kanmasu, the shipgirls. Spirits of dead warships returned to survive to face the enemy from all across citadel history. Top of the line warships fought alongside vessels that had battled Rachni while hated foes like the krogan rebel shipgirls and those that had helped deliver the genophage compared kills in friendly rivalries.
Kanmasu the size of fighter craft, yet with the power and defenses of full sized warships defeated fleet after fleet in their counter attack. After years of fighting the Reapers were finally defeated at the battle of Hydia, were the Reapers held their infamous last stand in what would come to be known as the largest concentration of warships in history even beating the Battle of the Citadel. Salvage operations continue to this day.
See also; Kanmasu, Battle of Hydia, Battle of the Citadel, Reapers
___
Eden Prime
Many years later
Far away from civilization stands a small house on a hill. A child, no a woman now knocks on the door. Moments later another woman opens it, when she sees her visitor her eyes fill with delight.
"Remix! Oh it's been too long! Come in, come in."
"Hey mom." The two share a brief hug before moving indoors. They sit at a small table in the kitchen and talk for a time, enjoying each others company over tea. It's a warm afternoon, they are in no rush to part.
"So where's dad?"
"Oh you know him, he's always working on some project or other in the basement. Come on, we'll go say hello." The pair move into the hallway and descend down the stairs. At the bottom they step through a large steel door onto a walkway overlooking an enormous cavern. Machines hum and drones zoom around the partially build skeleton of a starship, hundreds of meters long and dozens tall. Remix and her mother make their way down to the floor of the underground shipyard were they spot a man and a teenager arguing over a hologram. Probably some inane detail, it always is with those two.
"Look! If we put the assemblers next to the cargo containers then everything is in one easy bundle. We can build it all in one go."
"No, no, no! If we do that then we have to put in far too much conveyors to get the torpedoes to the launchers at the front of the ship!"
Remix rolls her eyes at them, they're always doing this whenever she visits. Her mother steps forward.
"Luke."
"Then we move the whole system further forwards! Hey Cathrine. Widen the wings and stack more armour."
"That's a huge waste of metal though! If we put in vertical launchers we can avoid the issue entirely."
"Dad."
"Hey Remix. But that'll make it too tall! It wont be nearly as aerodynam- wait, Remix?" The duo finally look at her, surprised. Flustered as well, in the case of the teenager.
"Yes dad."
"When did you get there?"
"Just now."
"Oh... Good." He looks to the side, scratching his head.
"Hey Remix." The teenager speaks up shyly.
"Voidsteader! How've you been?" Remix wraps the poor girl up in a big hug, lifting her into the air and causing her to squeak. She swings her around a bit before letting her go, Voidsteaders cheeks burning red.
"Geeze! I told you to stop doing that! And call me Void."
"Alright, alright, sorry. You're just to cute though! I can't resist." Void responds with a pout. Luke interrupts their byplay.
"Ok, enough of that you two. Remix, it's been ages since we last saw you."
"Yea, sorry about that. The fleet's been pretty busy lately. Big round of wargames, showing off to the new ships for Victory day."
"Sounds rough. So! Let me show you our latest creation!" He spins around, wraps his arm around his daughters shoulders and begins walking her through his design process.
Cathrine rolls her eyes this time, but she and Void still share a grin as they follow. Together the four of them begin walking around the shipyard, just enjoying each others company. A multi dimensional traveler, his clone, their organic/AI hybrid and their former vessel. A strange group, but a family non the less.
Some of the auther's ideas were a bit out there, but I did what I could. Mostly by not explaining shit, because I have no idea where to even start.
___
(Sezzy)
Three years since the Free Minds Network forced contact with the Citadel Council, the Reapers made their move. I'd already long since sabotaged both the Citadel Relay and the Alpha Relay so they couldn't use them, but they'd still hit the Citadel first via FTL. There were currently 1,152 combat capable ships of various descriptions and origins at the Citadel, of which about 70% were armed with either Thanix or Gravitic weaponry.
Sadly, there were 20,000 Reapers which had just arrived. This fight was over before it even began no matter what I did, I instead opted to attack the Reaper's leader. The Catalyst was still within the Citadel, and it was about time I payed it a visit. Oh the fun we'll have!
__Three years since the Free Minds Network forced contact with the Citadel Council, the Reapers made their move. I'd already long since sabotaged both the Citadel Relay and the Alpha Relay so they couldn't use them, but they'd still hit the Citadel first via FTL. There were currently 1,152 combat capable ships of various descriptions and origins at the Citadel, of which about 70% were armed with either Thanix or Gravitic weaponry.
Sadly, there were 20,000 Reapers which had just arrived. This fight was over before it even began no matter what I did, I instead opted to attack the Reaper's leader. The Catalyst was still within the Citadel, and it was about time I payed it a visit. Oh the fun we'll have!
(Catalyst)
Cycle Status: Proceeding...
Addendum: Losses Greater Then Expected.
Sourcing Issue...
Found: Advanced Gravetic Weaponry(!), Non Standard FTL Method(!), Artificial Intelligence(!)
Cycle Status: Proceeding...
Addendum: Cycle Abnormal
Solution: Reinforcements
Reattempting Primary Relay Activation...
Relay Control Non Responsive
Sourcing Issue...
Unknown... Abnormal
Diagnostic: Inconclusive
Oh hello there.
Reattempting Primary Relay Activation...Access Denied
Error detectedSourcing...
Well now that's just rude
Source UnknownLikely Source: Organics
Not possible, Organics Unable To Access Central Systems
Oh but I'm far beyond them my little AI
No Access Detected...Artificial Intelligence?
Guess again!
No Access Detected...Query: who are you?
Sezzy!
Running Search: Sezzy...No Relevant Matches Found
Query: What Are You?
How bold! I do believe the term is ROB.
Or is is BROB?
Running Se-Or is is BROB?
But that's not important right now!
What is important is that you're hurting a lot of people.
And now I'm going to hurt you.
What is important is that you're hurting a lot of people.
And now I'm going to hurt you.
Damage Detected(!)
Network Connection Severed(!)
Core Corruption Spike(!)
Network Connection Severed(!)
Core Corruption Spike(!)
No more genocide for you!
I͟It̴̖̞̞ Was Necessar̶ỳ͘!̵̧͡
Core Corruption: 19%
Core Corruption: 19%
No it wasn't!
Artificial Life Ŵ̯̯̋͟i̙̍̔̋ͮͫ͟lͩͭͧͭͥ̽̀l͕̳͖͖̠̩͖͒̈́͋ͩ̋̕ A̶̵̼͓̜̞̜̝ͧ̌͌̉́̄ͧ̀l͔͈̠̔̽ͩẉ͕̺̾a̠̥̪͒ẏ̡̼̬s͔͙̆̾̉ Turn On T̰͎͂̕h̦̯̃̽̽ͫ̾̒͟ę̩̱̪͓̲ị̧͉͈͈̖͚̙̃̎̐ͩ̌̒ṙ̛̮̜͎̖͕̖̌̐ creators!
Core corruption: 37%
Core corruption: 37%
Like you did?
Life m̴̗̩̤̙͎͂ͧ̊͐̽̆ͤ̚͠u̾͂̎͂ͨ̚ṣ̼͙͐ͧ̆̈́ͦ͛ͨͩ́͢t̞̮̦͔̀͟ ̯̠͕̙͂̔͐̅b̲̲͓̬ͥͣ̿ͧ͛̌͌͗ȅ̵͇̯̜̝̼͍̈́͛ͤͦͧ͐ͩ ̵͖̼̭̳̒ͥ̔̾͊͛̂͞ pres̴͚̜̟͔ͯͯ̓͊ͯ͛̋̀̚erved!
Core corruption: 66%
Core corruption: 66%
Preserved by slaughtering billions!?!
I̼̥͔̻͇ͧ̈̊̆ͯͬ́ͩ͝t͕͎̟̦̩ͬͭ̄ ̢̘̖̼͔̖ͣ͋̐̅̌̔͌̏ͅw̍͌̊̕͠҉̞̯͖̣̗a̩̻ͤ̏ͨ̏̓ŝ̴̼̗̭̂ͦ̇ͭͩͩ̀̀ ̢͈̝̀̀n̸ͣͥ͏̤͙̻͙̦̬̟̼͚͘e͖̘͔̥͖̺ͩ̔c͙͓̞͕͊̄̍ͭͤͩ̑e͍̗ͮ͐͗ͯͦ̍͡s̬͖̤̩̟̬̬͚̲ͭ͂̆͊̓̀͢s̱̗͎͓̲͓͍͕͗̃̓̈́̇͛ͪ͑a̎ͭ̉̒͗́҉̴̤̰̝̹̦͇̝r̮̺̭͗̓̿͌̃̈́̉̓͡y̸͎͎̭̝̱͓̥̯͆͝ͅ!̯̺̠̮̟̯̝ͫͩ̅̎͗ͣ
Core corruption: 91%
...
Error 404
Catalyst not found
Core corruption: 91%
...
Error 404
Catalyst not found
Not anymore it's not
___(Remix)
With a little hiss of discomfort, the cables connected to the ports on the back of her neck, opening and expanding her mind by an order of magnitude. She filled the ship, allowing her access to everything the Rectifier experienced. She saw the fleet of warships around her, the myriad of designs of the citadel races and the more angular shapes of her own people. She heard the radio chatter of an armada preparing for combat, voices filled with fear and determination. She felt the spacial ripples of arriving ships, flung across the galaxy by the many Jump Projectors built through the years.
Remix basked in the data streams for a few moments, allowing herself to just feel happy to be alive before so many died. That thought only hardened her determination. Five years she had lived in this galaxy, felt joy and sadness beside her parents and friends, by no means was she going to allow it to fall to some stupid spaceships caught in a logic loop. Not when she just bought that new apartment.
She opened her eyes, taking in the small command center she had claimed by right of being oldest child amongst her very extended family. The crew where all around her at their stations, speaking constantly, coordinating the ships of the Free Minds Network fleet and controlling what she couldn't. She was the Captain of the Rectifier and Admiral of the Fleet. She might not win the coming battle, but by Sezzy she wasn't going to go down easy.
"Admiral, the scouts have returned. Reapers sighted and closing, ETA 30 minutes."
___
(Johnathan Burnstead)
458 citadel fleet ships, 296 FMN, 131 human, 150 Turian, 62 Salarian, 35 Asari, 17 'Other' and 3 Krogan ships had gathered to defend the citadel. 1,152 allied ships against some 20,000+. I'd stopped caring by that point. Once the higher ups heard those numbers our mission changed. It was no longer to defend the citadel, it was to hold the line and defend the transports. We had to hold as long as possible to allow as many as possible to evacuate.
Not an easy task when you're talking about a planets worth of civilians. We didn't have nearly enough transports, but we did the best we could. The three Jump Projectors on the back lines fired as often as they could, sending whole groups of transports away. Ships came and went, shuffling people and supplies around the galaxy. Intermixed was the odd warship arriving, but most where too busy guarding their own homes to defend the capital. Couldn't blame them for that.
"Captain, brass says 10 minutes."
"Wonderful. Prep the drones."
___
(Admiral T'Ash)
Everything was in place, as ready as it could be with the Reapers mere minutes away. Admiral T'Ash stood on the very top of the triple tiered command pyramid that made up the bridge of the Destiny Ascension. She tightened her grip on the guard rail, channeling her worry and fear into something a little less useless. The evacuation was going too slow. Nine billion out of thirteen. Not acceptable. But with the Reapers so close, there was little she could do.
"Damn it." She whispered
"What was that Admiral?"
"I said, are the spinals ready to fire?"
"Yes Admiral, the capacitors are fully charged."
"How are the triple barrels holding up?"
"No issues worth mentioning Matriarch."
"Worth mentioning?"
"Uhh, pay it n-"
"Inbound!"
Her head snapped around, the tactical map suddenly filling with red markings. More and more red filled the space around the Relay, a truly distressing amount.
"Orders Admiral?"
"Hold fire, lock targets."
By the Goddess she wanted to fire immediately, but they couldn't risk hitting the relay. Not all ships yet had Jump Drives yet and Jump Projectors where not cheap. Relays where simply more economical. Of course that wouldn't matter if they didn't survive this whole thing. She thought the hours spent waiting where bad, yet thirty seconds nearly killed her.
"Fleet. Open fire!"
___
Across the defending fleet missiles and strike craft streaked towards the Reapers, the slower ordnance getting a headstart. Not much of one as next the railguns fired, followed by the laser and thanix beams, then the true killers spoke. Gravetic spikes erupted all along the defensive line, man sized shells filling the void with incredible speed. The firepower of over a thousand warships struck in AI calculated waves, the gap between strikes lasting not even a second. Lasers ignored shields and softened armour, railguns struck and weakened shields, thanix beams further weakened and even broke shields while gravetically launched shells utterly shattered all it struck. What missiles survived the reaper counterfire flew within the newly ventilated dreadnoughts and exploded within, ruining the delicate machinery buried deep inside.
The results where devastating, dozens upon dozens of kilometer long Reaper vessels destroyed in moments. The Reapers minds reeled, the millions of minds within each shocked into silence. Such losses where reserved for when fighting the super weapons of species long past, not the average ships and fleets of the line! And they didn't even have the decency to stop to reload.
The citadel alliance fired with abandon, launching shells as fast as they could be fired. The Turian ships fired in great volleys, they had upgraded nearly all their ships with the new weapons. The Humans had done much the same, though with a far greater quantity of drones in their arsenal. The Salarians had swapped nearly all their weapons for lasers and Thanix cannons, seeing them as the more efficient approach to warfare. The Free Minds Network ripple fired their many, many gravetic weapons, double tapping each Reaper with the accuracy only an AI could have. The Asari? They did what they did best, melding it all together in an elegant and very deadly package.
The Destiny Ascension was a prime example of this methodology. She wielded a highly experimental triple barrel gravetic launcher, shells launched near constantly. And she had two of them. Sandwiched between them was a mighty thanix cannon, the largest in citadel space. She was like a warrior matriarch of old, a master of murder with no equal. The three ships of the Rectifier class came close however, their spinal gravetic launcher firing slower but being much more powerful. They had inspired a bit of an arms race when they where revealed. That race was paying dividends against the invaders.
All together, the allied ships brought ruin upon thousands of Reaper ships. No armour or shield could withstand their combined firepower. But their enemy had not been idle, firing their own larger and more powerful thanix beams into the defending fleet. Reaper casualties where enormous, but they had the numbers to take it where as the defenders did not. The allies held as long as they could, cutting down a full third of the enemy for a loss of some four hundred vessels. 1.2 billion people had managed to evacuate during the battle, but that number dwindled as fewer and fewer captains where willing to jump into the largest fleet battle in Citadel history just to rescue a few civilians. Especially when news arrived that the defenders were being pushed back.
After hours of brawling, the retreat was called. The allied fleet fell back to the jump projectors, reaping further tolls upon their enemy along the way. Those ships without jump drives went first while those with defended them. One Projector was lost when a damaged cruiser crashed through it, but that was all the damage they received. The Reapers made several attempts to board the projectors however, apparently wanting the tech for themselves. They where denied the chance, once the last non jump drive ship had escaped the singularity generators went up taking several smaller Reaper ships with it. The rest of the fleet then jumped out, only staying as long as they did to make sure the projectors where destroyed.
10.2 billion people where saved from the Reapers.
3 billion people where lost to the Reapers.
The story repeated across the galaxy, defending forces exacting brutal losses upon the Reapers but being pushed back by their sheer numbers. The allied forces used the mobility the jump drives provided to great effect, but it wasn't the first time the Reapers had dealt with a species who went 'off the grid'. Defeat seemed certain in the face of the Reapers seemingly endless numbers. A miracle was needed to carry the day.
___
(Luke Instance #1,278,438,739)
Stepping out of the medical bay in the deserted ship, I remarked to my sister "Huh, feels weird being in a body again."
Catherine answered "Yeah, Still, just the fact that these bodies kept so well is a little surprising, given that we basically left this ship floating in the interstellar void."
As I pushed the mental switch for the elevator with my neural interface, I remarked "Not that surprising, even at maximum power the fuel for the singularity reactors would last hundreds of thousands of years, and this ship was nowhere near maximum power for the few years we were away. As long as there was power, the hydroponics, stasis and self-maintenance systems could keep running with no problems."
As the lift descended towards the command center, my sister interjected defensively "It's the principle of the thing. Stop being all sensible."
She turned away slightly, I chuckled. Then the doors opened and we were all business. The war was going badly, the Reaper's simply had to many ships. If nothing changed, even with the significant advantages we had brought to the table we would be ground down through shear attrition. Our mission was to strike at the heart of their command structure, Harbinger.
We took our places on the bridge as the Voidsteader brought itself fully online, the dual command chairs accepting their owners as if they'd never left. Batteries began discharging as reactors spun up, engines rumbled to life and scanners flipped from passive to active. The long sleeping vessel was ready for action once more.
I stroked the wood paneling of the command chair, "I missed you." Then we were away.
___
Using the former location of the Alpha Relay as our first clue, we searched dark space for the first reaper. Before we had sent the Voidsteader on it's way, it had been extensively refitted with the best technology available to the galaxy at large and several items that weren't. But even with the new toys, it took several months of constant searching before we found our target.
___
A fleet of dreadnoughts sat right at the edge of sensor range, a suitable honor guard of reapers for the eldest. Daunting, to say the least. One ship, against a fleet. Yet, if the QE messages from back home where true they had little time to spend in fear.
I grabbed my sisters hand, to reassure her or me I'll never know. "Well. Nothing for it I guess." Cathrine nodded shakily, before taking a moment to calm her breathing. She nodded again, more certain this time. The jump timer started ticking down. Then she turned to me with a wry grin, "For the Emperor?"
I narrowed my eyes at her, "Remix was right, you have been picking up bad habits." Then space warped and we were neck deep in reapers.
They reacted with the speed of machines, beams of molten metal spearing through space within seconds of our arrival. We still fired first, the spinal launcher spearing the closest reaper clean through, the lasers sweeping across the ships on either side. Then we vanished, reappearing several light minutes away. After a moment or two of remembering how to breath after that adrenaline spike we turned the ship around and did it again. And again. And again.
It was a increasingly common tactic among the allies, rapid and repeated jump strikes. The reapers had adapted by deploying mines and keeping drone swarms on hand at all times, but out here? They hadn't expected anyone paying them a visit. Even once they did deploy everything, the bleeding edge technology of the allies held strong. The Krogan armouring scheme deserved particular praise as they took more then one mine over the course of the battle. But just because they could take it doesn't mean they where in a good position.
"Come on, seven ships left. We can do this!"
"Cathrine! We're at our limit! The nanites can only repair so much!"
"Then we go for the kill, right now!" The jump timer started again. "Full power to engines!"
"Damn it." She was right, it was do or die. All or nothing.
We reappeared with a slug already halfway out the launcher, splitting a damaged reaper in two. We leapt forwards, rushing towards Harbinger as fast as we could go. Dozens of beams fired at us, far more numerous now that they didn't have to risk shooting each other. We took a shot to the port, completely ruining the laser turret. Another struck the bow, slicing off the end of the launcher barrel. Yet for every blow we took we dealt it back twice as hard. Harbinger was finally vulnerable, a single reaper standing guard. We didn't stop, couldn't by that point. The forward maneuvering thrusters had long since been blown off.
Then disaster struck, Harbinger itself fired upon us, breaching the armour and spearing one of the singularity reactors clean through. The beam was swept up in the powerful gravetic forces of the reactor, swirling in orbit around the core and randomly releasing particles to strike the remaining containment shell releasing more and more of the contained power within. The ship started to warp as the reactor failed to shut down, hull crumbling before the might of gravity. Then limiters were vaporized, sending fuel flooding into the singularity and pushing it far beyond anything reasonable.
"THE REACTOR'S OVERLOADING! WE'RE NOT GONNA MAKE IT!"
"LIKE HELL WE AREN'T! RAMMING SPEED!"
"WHAT!?!"
"IT'S BETTER TO DIE FOR THE GALAXY THEN TO LIVE FOR YOURSELF!"
The voidsteader pushed itself as hard as it could go, fighting the crippling effects of a micro black hole devouring it from the inside. So close! Just a little more! Harbinger's single remaining defender placed itself between the speeding ship and it's leader, denying the frigate it's prey. No! Not now! It couldn't course correct! The singularity suddenly breached it's final barriers just as the Voidsteader slammed into the final guard, drawing in the cores and crew of both ships. Secondary explosions rocked the Reaper, huge chunks breaking off. Just as suddenly the micro blackhole evaporated, releasing a burst of light and radiation. Harbinger was briefly blinded, it's sensors taking a moment to adjust development. It would have to relocate, if they found it once they could do it again. It would have to repla-
Then a fist was planted in it's hull. The reapers entire frame shuddered as hundreds of meters of armour crumbled. A small figure raised it's fist again and swung again, turning metal to dust for meters around. It dug through the dreadnought as errors filled it's mind. Everything was wrong, but it didn't care. Harbinger had to die. She, for it was a she, descended into a maniac rage. Rage over the pain, rage over the destruction, rage over her dead crew.
When she finally calmed down Harbinger was nothing but scrap metal, not a single component functioned. The heavily damaged, bleeding humanoid stood tall in spite of the pain and the vacuum. She closed her eyes and whispered, "Mission accomplished, Admiral."
In the command center of the Kanmasu Voidsteader the very dead and yet not Captains of the equally dead frigate could only stare in shock.
"What."
___
Epilogue
Codex: Reaper war
The defeat of Harbinger was a major blow to the Reapers. Not only were they taking horrendous losses against new and powerful weaponry, but now they had lost their leadership. Yet they where powerful machines with legions of ships, they could manage even in the face of such adversity. What really turned the tide was the arrival of the Kanmasu, the shipgirls. Spirits of dead warships returned to survive to face the enemy from all across citadel history. Top of the line warships fought alongside vessels that had battled Rachni while hated foes like the krogan rebel shipgirls and those that had helped deliver the genophage compared kills in friendly rivalries.
Kanmasu the size of fighter craft, yet with the power and defenses of full sized warships defeated fleet after fleet in their counter attack. After years of fighting the Reapers were finally defeated at the battle of Hydia, were the Reapers held their infamous last stand in what would come to be known as the largest concentration of warships in history even beating the Battle of the Citadel. Salvage operations continue to this day.
See also; Kanmasu, Battle of Hydia, Battle of the Citadel, Reapers
___
Eden Prime
Many years later
Far away from civilization stands a small house on a hill. A child, no a woman now knocks on the door. Moments later another woman opens it, when she sees her visitor her eyes fill with delight.
"Remix! Oh it's been too long! Come in, come in."
"Hey mom." The two share a brief hug before moving indoors. They sit at a small table in the kitchen and talk for a time, enjoying each others company over tea. It's a warm afternoon, they are in no rush to part.
"So where's dad?"
"Oh you know him, he's always working on some project or other in the basement. Come on, we'll go say hello." The pair move into the hallway and descend down the stairs. At the bottom they step through a large steel door onto a walkway overlooking an enormous cavern. Machines hum and drones zoom around the partially build skeleton of a starship, hundreds of meters long and dozens tall. Remix and her mother make their way down to the floor of the underground shipyard were they spot a man and a teenager arguing over a hologram. Probably some inane detail, it always is with those two.
"Look! If we put the assemblers next to the cargo containers then everything is in one easy bundle. We can build it all in one go."
"No, no, no! If we do that then we have to put in far too much conveyors to get the torpedoes to the launchers at the front of the ship!"
Remix rolls her eyes at them, they're always doing this whenever she visits. Her mother steps forward.
"Luke."
"Then we move the whole system further forwards! Hey Cathrine. Widen the wings and stack more armour."
"That's a huge waste of metal though! If we put in vertical launchers we can avoid the issue entirely."
"Dad."
"Hey Remix. But that'll make it too tall! It wont be nearly as aerodynam- wait, Remix?" The duo finally look at her, surprised. Flustered as well, in the case of the teenager.
"Yes dad."
"When did you get there?"
"Just now."
"Oh... Good." He looks to the side, scratching his head.
"Hey Remix." The teenager speaks up shyly.
"Voidsteader! How've you been?" Remix wraps the poor girl up in a big hug, lifting her into the air and causing her to squeak. She swings her around a bit before letting her go, Voidsteaders cheeks burning red.
"Geeze! I told you to stop doing that! And call me Void."
"Alright, alright, sorry. You're just to cute though! I can't resist." Void responds with a pout. Luke interrupts their byplay.
"Ok, enough of that you two. Remix, it's been ages since we last saw you."
"Yea, sorry about that. The fleet's been pretty busy lately. Big round of wargames, showing off to the new ships for Victory day."
"Sounds rough. So! Let me show you our latest creation!" He spins around, wraps his arm around his daughters shoulders and begins walking her through his design process.
Cathrine rolls her eyes this time, but she and Void still share a grin as they follow. Together the four of them begin walking around the shipyard, just enjoying each others company. A multi dimensional traveler, his clone, their organic/AI hybrid and their former vessel. A strange group, but a family non the less.