Beyond the Horizon

[MarkWarrior]

R&D Sidestory Part 2


“Well, we know what it looks like, but what does it do?” Dr. Rogers’ aide asked as they looked at the wraparound eyepiece that Dr. Hale and her had put together the night before.


“From what I remember from last night, we were trying to find a way to block the strange thing that the Asari do from working,” Dr. Rogers shrugged. “I’m pretty certain that we destroyed three or four neurohelmets trying to make this thing in the process though.”


“There are also five slates here that you dismantled,” another engineer spoke up. “Looks like you decided that we needed some of the microchips and solder that go into them for your device here.


“It looks like a cut-down neurohelmet at first glance,” one of the assistants spoke up. “But you included a whole HUD interface on this eyepiece. It’s actually nearly identical to the OS that we use on the Mithril in functionality.”


“It’s all starting to come back to me, just give me a moment, and then I’ll explain,” Adamina said as she took a massive gulp from her cup of coffee.


“So, the theory that Dr. Hale came up with is that the Asari generates low-level psionic fields in order to make themselves appear more attractive to whatever species that they are interacting with. From what we can tell, it affects everyone universally unless they are wearing a neurohelmet. From observations, the Asari don’t even realize that they are doing this, but the psionic field helps them figure out exactly how to shift their body language and speech patterns to assist in helping them find a mate or to influence whomever they are talking to. The Neurohelmet blocks this because it’s essentially already communicating with our brains at all times. Every suit of Mithril has one built-in for the HUD interface to work after all.”


“So by cutting down the Neurohelmet and turning it into something like this,” the assistant held up the eyepiece that the two doctors had drunkenly created the night before. “You think it can block the field?”


“To be honest, we were drunk and just basing everything off of Dr. Hale’s theory,” Rogers replied. “But if it works, then her theory will be proven right.”


“But how would someone not know about that sort of thing?” One of the aids asked. “You’d think that it would be fairly obvious to the Asari that they’re unduly influencing folks.”


“If this is true, then I’d assume that this is kept in the dark for all but the highest levels of society,” another assistant spoke up. “The more people that know a secret, the easier it is for it to leak. So, based on that theory, the field probably grows stronger the older the Asari is as well, which is why that Matron was so influential to that Quarian guy we had helping us.”


“But it can be resisted normally,” another engineer pointed out. “Because we have evidence that she tried to get Sura to leave as well but she chose not to.”


“We said low-level for a reason,” Dr. Hale said as she entered the lab. “I’m fairly certain that it can’t make you think things that you didn’t already think, but it does make it easier for them to get people to see things from their point of view. Which would explain why they have a reputation for being the diplomats of this galaxy.”


“Everyone feels like whatever Matriarch they send is on their side, even when negotiations aren’t necessarily in their favor.”


“That, and they probably make sure to only send Matriarchs that are ‘in the know’ as it were,” Dr. Hale replied. “They wouldn’t want to have a mistake happen by someone not trained using their field right.”


“Most of the Asari probably don’t even realize that they’re using this field,” Dr. Rogers stated. “They’re probably just going about their life, and are simply happy that everyone finds them attractive.”


“Well, this doesn’t exactly fix our whole mind control issue yet, does it?”


“Not until we can get these into production,” Rogers indicated the eyepiece and headset. “We’re going to need to see how we can improve this, and if we can make any of these compatible with some of the aliens down below.”


“Sounds like a plan,” the lead engineer said with a grin. “Just promise me one thing.”


“Yes?” Rogers asked with a raised eyebrow.


“No more drunk science without supervision,” the rest of the scientists laughed. “This is our lab too, and we’d appreciate it if it stayed intact.”

 

[ATP]

Drunk science,best science!
And - true about pirates.Pity,that those on Madagascar or Carribean never formed real state.History would be more interesting,and better for at least part of Africa.

 

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 20


“Did you find my son?” A Batarian woman asked as we moved back into the civilian passenger ship.


“Ma’am,” I knelt down. “I’m afraid that the pirates killed all of the slaves that they had taken onto the barge they brought with them.”


The Batarian wiped tears out of her four eyes as she looked at me and the fireteam that surrounded me. “Did you recover any bodies?”


“I’m afraid the pirates used the explosive collars,” I replied with a shake of my helmeted head for emphasis. “The pirate captain detonated them while we were breaching the bridge, and we only managed to get a handful of collars off before they detonated.”


“Can I go and see if I can find him?” The woman asked.


“As soon as a medic clears you you’ll be free to go and check,” I replied. “I’m not going to deprive any of you from administering the last rights that your species might follow.”


“Thank you,” the woman inclined her head.


“We’re going to be staying here until we’ve managed to police everything and get the ships moving with us back to the Imir system,” I informed the civilians. “If any of you were a part of the bridge crew then please let one of these fine people know. We’re going to be patching the ship together and limping it to the Imir system. “


“They killed the bridge crew,” the Turian who had been defiant earlier spoke up in a subdued tone. “I don’t know why they captured those of us who were in the security forces and killed the bridge crew, but they did.”


“Alright,” I said. “We’ve got enough trained personnel that we can make it work, but if any of you volunteer to be of assistance and are trained then we could use the help.”


–

–


“It’s been a while since I piloted anything other than the Messenger,” I muttered as I began to sort out the controls for the passenger ship. “It’s a good thing that this isn’t much bigger than that.”


“The FTL might throw us off though,” my copilot muttered. “That’s why we’re borrowing him,” he jerked his head backward at the Salarian that was helping us to figure out the correct calculations for jumping to FTL.


“Everything looks to be correct,” the Salarian said as he finished typing something into the terminal. “You should be good to go ahead and take us into FTL.”


“Here goes nothing,” I muttered as I pushed the ship up to the proper acceleration before punching the button that sent us into FTL. “Wish we had the Matriarch with us, but she was needed on another ship.”








“We need to get you into surgery within the week,” the medic informed Tela. “We have the facilities and cloned replacements for some of the damaged tissue on standby, but we’re not going to operate without your consent.”


“What would the surgery entail?” Tela asked as she sat in the chair of the apartment that she had been issued by the armored aliens. “And do you have any idea on what the recovery time would be like?”


“We’re having to replace some of the tendons in your legs,” the man said bluntly. “We’re also going to be doing a more in depth scan to make sure that the rest of your internal organs didn’t suffer any major damage and that may require another surgery further down the line.”


“Can I meet with the doctor who would be conducting these?” Tela asked. “I would like to ask about the possibility of transferring to a facility in council space.”


“We can do that if you would prefer,” the medic replied. “We are sending a couple of your fellow passengers back to Council space in a couple of weeks, it’ll take time to get a crew together though.”


“I just want the information so that I can make an informed decision,” Tela told the man who had been treating her for the last week or so.


“I understand,” the medic replied. “Informed decisions are always better anyway.”


–

–


“Girl, you are really messed up, aren’t you?” Aethyta asked the younger Asari as she sat down next to her on a bench to look at the internal ‘park’ that the aliens had set up. “Your insertion method was good, it just ran into a few kinks. Next time, you don’t put up as much of a fight when faced with pirates. You’re good, but if you had succeeded in fighting them off then it would have played your hand too early.”


“Matriarch,” Tela inclined her head at the older Asari.


“Don’t pull that shit with me,” Aethyta shook her head. “Just call me Aethyta,” She leaned forward to look at the greenery that was in full bloom. “I knew what you were when we met, but I didn’t think that Tevos would send you in without good intel.”


“What do you mean?” Tela tilted her head in confusion.


“These people are paranoid,” Aethyta indicated the armored people walking the streest of the domed city along with the aliens that were helping them rebuild some of the subpar construction. “They go everywhere in their armor, they all conduct themselves with a military efficiency that not even the Turians can replicate.”


“And all of this means, what exactly?” Tela asked. “I’m not exactly in a position to do anything with this sort of information.”


“It means that you would have been here for years before you managed to get anything useful,” Aethyta replied. “These people are soldiers first and foremost. When you ended up getting caught, they would have pulled you into a dark room and you would have never been heard from again.”


“And you won’t be?” Tela asked. “You’re not even making an attempt to hide.”


“I’m not supposed to hide,” Aethyta responded. “I’m here to see if any of this will change my opinion on the galaxy,” she shrugged. “And if I have to mentor a Spectre who got caught up in something bigger than expected then I’ll do so.”


“I’m of no use to you,” Tela gestured towards her injuries. “And I’m not certain that I should continue in my current career anymore.”


“No,” Aethyta turned and glared at the Matron. “You’re not allowed to quit. We’re getting you fixed up, and then I’m training you properly after you’re healed up,” Aethyta stood up. “Let’s get you into surgery, we’ve got a lot of work to do if we want you to be good at this.”

 

[xachariahxx]

Hello. I started reading this story then realized that it seems to be a sequel to your other story, Blood on the Horizon. I bounced off that one a little ways in, but in the part up to what I'd read I didn't remember much mass effect crossover, so I was wondering how they were integrated. I'm trying not to read too far here (or on the end of the other one) in case there's spoilers.

Is this story a direct sequel to the other story or more of a side sequel?
Should I read the first one if I want to read the second?
And is the sequel a genre shift or was it always a BT/ME crossover (I thought it was just a straight, 'SI with a warship' BT story)?

 

[MarkWarrior]

Hello. I started reading this story then realized that it seems to be a sequel to your other story, Blood on the Horizon. I bounced off that one a little ways in, but in the part up to what I'd read I didn't remember much mass effect crossover, so I was wondering how they were integrated. I'm trying not to read too far here (or on the end of the other one) in case there's spoilers.

Is this story a direct sequel to the other story or more of a side sequel?
Should I read the first one if I want to read the second?
And is the sequel a genre shift or was it always a BT/ME crossover (I thought it was just a straight, 'SI with a warship' BT story)?

This is a sequel. It’s not absolutely necessary to read Blood on the Horizon first, but it will help.
Edit: the crossover is a natural way that the close of BOTH worked out.

 

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 21


“So, a cruiser-sized Eezo core works extremely well on our Stings,” Dr. Kelley explained as he showed off the proper calculations and research that they had been conducting. “But it isn’t quite as economical as using a frigate-sized core is. Further implementation should involve turning the frigates that we have captured into system defense forces while mounting their eezo cores to our escorts.”


“But why not just utilize the enemy frigates?” Another engineer asked. “They seem to have figured out all of the problems already.”


“Because we can’t sustain or maintain the ships that we have captured,” Dr. Kelley explained. “And with this new technology, we can start to develop in-house ways to implement everything while also taking advantage of some of their schools of thought.”


“Can you give us an example?”


“Sure,” Kelley pulled up a diagram of the ship that they were all familiar with. “This is the DRoST IIb. It’s something that we all know forms the base of the Sting personnel dropship/gunship. It weighs in at 5300 tons and is capable of being both an effective infantry deployment vessel, as well as escorting both dropships and Warships. It is the staple of our escort craft, but it has a couple of weaknesses that have been exposed here. Can anyone tell me what those are?”


“It lacks the range and defenses to handle something that is it’s equal in size,” one engineer pointed out.


“Before we started using the eezo cores, they couldn’t keep up with the local ships,” another scientist spoke up.


“Both of those things are accurate,” Kelley replied. “And while we can’t fix the range problem without an entire redesign of the vessel, we can start to figure out ways to significantly upgrade the firepower at medium ranges now that we have the capability to match the speed of enemy ships.”


“That’s not a refit,” one of them said. “That’s an entire redesign of the Sting.”


“We’re calling this one the Glamdring,” Dr. Kelley explained. “It’s based on a lot of experimental technology that we were working on with NAIS.”


“Are those capital lasers?” An engineer asked as he looked over the specs?”


“No, they’re shrunk down to be able to fit onto a dropship,” Kelley replied. “Due to mass savings we tried to make a full capital laser fit, but we just weren’t able to cram more into the design with everything else that we had in play.”


“These are experimental though,” one scientist raised an eyebrow. “So it’s possible that this won’t work at all.”


“We’ll burn that bridge when we come to it,” Kelley stated. “We’re working in the high 70s as far as the rate of success goes.”


“I take it that this is approved by the Duke and by Dr. Rogers?”


“Affirmative,” Kelley took a sip of some water. “This was something requested by the Duke personally. So we’re going to try and make sure that it happens.”


“We don’t have any shipyards though,” someone brought up. “How are we expected to be able to start manufacturing?”


“Shipyards are projected to start construction in the next year or two,” Kelley replied. “With the first line done by year five with four more lines coming online every year after that.”


“Is there a reason why we’re going to be moving towards such a rapid expansion?”


“Everything in this galaxy focuses on space combat to a level that we are not able to compete with yet. So we’re going to be moving towards producing things that we can manufacture and maintain as fast as possible.”


“That’s an awfully short amount of time to be getting entire shipyard lines set up,” one engineer spoke up. “It took us that long just to assess the New Rhodes shipyards to see what could be salvaged and rebuilt.”


“We’re going to be using some of the Omniforges to speed up construction,” Dr. Kelley explained. “Our rough calculations put it as being able to fabricate more than 75% of what we need on the large scale. The main issues will be programming, design, and ensuring that we do the small parts and operating systems properly.”








“Well, I always knew that I wanted kids,” Melissa sighed as she looked at one of the Iron wombs that were growing the next generation for the colony. “I just didn’t expect this to be the way that it happened.”


“You did request that you get one,” Kerlin Ward stated.


“I’m just surprised by how quickly everything was set up,” Melissa said after a minute. “I know that all of you trained to do this before we left Kentares, but I didn’t really appreciate it until I saw it in action.”


“Well, the new technology certainly did not hurt,” Kerlin gestured towards the one Omniforge that was by the edge of the colony. “We would have taken far longer if we hadn’t had that set up a couple of months ago.”




“It’s certainly a new experience though,” Melissa said as she touched the glass of one of the tanks where the new colonists were being grown. “In nine months there’ll be two to three children for every adult in the colony.”


“We have a need for the numbers, and this is the best way to increase our numbers in a timely manner,” Kerlin stated as he looked at the pods with a sad expression. “But I had hoped that we had moved on from this method. The lack of warmth that stems from this disturbs me in a way that it never would have decades ago,” the man stroked his no longer grey beard, “But needs must and we are not in an environment in which we can take our time in preparing defenses or for war.” The once old man, now made young again looked to the stars as the two leaders of the colony stepped outside. “A war is coming, I feel it deep within me. And so we must be ready, with both soldiers and machines prepared and ready.”

 

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 22

“Migrant Fleet Ship Vakor, this is the Defender. Please remain where you are until your assigned escort arrives,” a roughly translated voice came through the comms system. “Do not deviate from the course we are transmitting to you or you will be fired upon.”

“Understood Defender, we are holding until escorts arrive,” the Captain of the Vakor responded before turning to the rest of his bridge crew. “Start initiating low-level scans of the system,” he ordered the sensors officer. “I want to see what we are dealing with,” he turned to the weapons officer. “And keep our barriers up and weapons charged. I don’t want this to end up with us having to fight our way out, but we will if we have to.”

“I know we’re here to pick Sura back up and to reaffirm our salvage negotiations, but why all of the caution?” The security officer asked. “Sura has been consistent in her messages to me that these people have already cleared out all of the pirates in this sector."

“We're here to gather intel, and these people are new to this corner of the galaxy, if we can use them or their technology against the Geth then it will be worth whatever price we have to pay," Captain Heeme replied. "If that means that we make enemies of them but obtain their technology, then that is a price that the Admiralty has decided to pay if necessary."


–
–

“Captain Gaas'Heeme!” Sura saluted the Captain of the Vakor as he walked down the shuttle’s ramp onto the surface of Korlus. “I’m glad to see you again!”

“We’re here for negotiations and to take you home,” the captain stated as he responded to the salute with one of his own. "Now, we've gotten some of your messages, but we weren't sure if they could be trusted given that Seetor'Shaama's reports were vastly different from your own both remote and in person."

"Well, they are most definitely primitive in quite a few ways," Sura began. "This is actually shown best in some of their ship designs. They didn't have artificial gravity or Element Zero in any form."

"So they would be limited to whatever speed they could get out of their thrusters, and gravity would have been generated by moving at certain rates of speed," Captain Heeme said as he walked beside the female Quarian. "Are our computer systems compatible with their own? I would be interested in seeing if there's anything we can use against the Geth that we can pull from their systems."

"No, I am afraid that while the hardware interfaces fairly easily, the actual software is radically different in design and is incompatible at all levels," Sura reported. "While I have tried to persuade them to use Omnitools, they have instead opted to use what they call 'slates'. Seeing them as a superior option due to it being able to interface with their own technology."

"Interesting," Captain Heeme responded. "Have you been able to obtain any knowledge of the inner workings of some of the technology that you spoke of in your messages?"

"Surface level only," Sura replied. "I've been given explanations and allowed to see how things work on the surface, as well as see the actual output of the reactors and the ship-scale Overloads, but that is all."

"I was afraid of that," Heeme sighed. "We're here to not only negotiate for salvage but to also do whatever is necessary to get some of that technology back to the Fleet."

--
--

“Where are you going?” Kal’Reeger asked as he watched one of his marines leave her post.

“I’m going on a perimeter sweep, Captain’s orders,” the Marine replied as he then turned a corner and vanished.

“What is going on here?” Kal muttered to himself as all but a couple of Marines left their posts and vanished like the first one. “Do you three have any idea?”

“No sir,” they shook their heads. “We’re just as in the dark as you are on this one.”

"Lieutenant Veel'Wal, " Reeger said into his comms systems. "Fitor, Coto, and Hin have vanished here, permission to go collect them and return them to their posts?"

"That's a negative, Reeger," Lieutenant Wal replied."They're following their orders as they have been given."

"Their orders?" Reeger asked. "Sir, this is the sort of thing that ends up in disaster."

"Not our call Sergeant," Wal replied. "This comes from the very top of the chain."

"Sir, with all due respect, it's our job to tell our superiors when a stupid decision is being made," Reeger replied.

"Not this time, Reeger," Lieutenant Wal responded. "We're deniable assets on this one. Should anything go wrong we were simply a ship and captain who went rogue."





“Do you believe that Captain Gass and the Vakor will succeed in their mission?” Rael’Zorah asked Han’Gerrel and the rest of the Admiralty while they were conducting a meeting.

“I believe that they have some of our best people for that sort of job,” Han replied. “And if they should not succeed then we will have only lost one ship and its crew. Which for technology that will give us an edge against the Geth is something that we cannot afford to waste time on."

“If we obtain even a fraction of the science behind some of the technology then it will be worth it,” Daro’Xen spoke up. “We can find salvage, but new technology is something that we cannot obtain through normal channels. Aside from that, we have nothing of value to trade with them for their technology. So why take the chance that they side with the Council and the rest of the galaxy?”

"I still believe that we should go and negotiate with this Systems Alliance," Shala'Raan spoke up. "Before the Council and their cabal sour any potential relationships that we might be able to foster."

"Which is why we are sending a delegation over to the new species on the other side of Relay 314," Zael'Koris said with a sigh. "We are more likely to get favorable results from negotiating with a developed interstellar nation than from some poor primitives in the Terminus Systems," He paused as he looked over the messages that Sura'Gaalas had sent along with the reports that had been filed by Seetor'Shaama. "The discrepancy in the reports does cause me to worry though. Sura notes that they have a professional military, and are making solid progress on actually building up Korlus to be a world worth living on. Whereas, Seetor insists that they are a primitive race who would be easily swayed by our fleets."

"Sura's reports also focus much less on the actual people and their procedures to instead show the technology that they have developed," Shala spoke up. "That is part of the problem with having an engineer stay behind. She states that they have taken out several small pirate groups, but that means very little. Most pirate groups are made up of individuals with little to no coordination and ships in ill repair."

"Indeed," Rael stated. "Being able to take out a few small bands of pirates is no indication of them being capable of the levels of security needed to secure their technology from us should we find it necessary to take it. But if they do have that level of security-"

"Should the Vakor fail, then we disavow them," Han'Gerrel finally stated as he interrupted Rael. "Claim that they went rogue and do not represent the Fleet in any form or fashion while also sending in a group of negotiators as well as people to pick up our 'traitors' so that we can handle them internally."

"I am in agreement with that," Dao'Xen stated. "Keeping open the source of salvage could be useful and ensuring that either way we are able to benefit from the situation will be difficult but worth it."






“What are you doing here?” a voice asked one of the suited crew members of the Vakor. “This is a restricted area.”

“Take it easy, I was just exploring for a little bit,” the Quarian raised his hands in a non-threatening fashion with his omnitool still glowing a solid orange on his arm. “No need to get upset here. I’ll even go back willingly.”

“Stay there,” one of the massive armored figures stated. “Don’t move or reach for any weapons or we will shoot you.”

“We’re taking you back to your shuttle,” one of the armored figures instructed. “We’ve recorded your specific suit profile and will be monitoring you for any further suspicious activity.”

–
–

“I’m afraid that that’s not enough salvage for our needs,” Captain Gaas'Heeme tried to explain. “The previous contract-,”

“The previous contract that you had was with a slaver baron who had your people taken as captives and enslaved," I interrupted. "I'm sure that I can find him to negotiate with you should you so desire. But I believe that he's currently in salvage sector ten working on feeding the Omniforge there."

"Surely you don't need as much salvage as our fleet does though," Heeme argued. "Korlus is a wasteland."

"That we are working on turning into a viable world," I stated. "In the past three months, we've seen an increase in immigration of over five hundred percent. We're barely able to keep ahead of the population's living needs by throwing up more habitation domes and prefabricated homes and apartments," I leaned forward. "All of the salvage out there is feeding a rapidly growing machine. We've already cleaned up two percent of the world out there and are hard at work getting the rest of it cleaned up as well," I sighed. "We can do two-thirds of what the previous contract stated, along with you not needing to send more than the transport ships here or sort through the salvage for the parts you need. We'll handle that end, so that takes out a large portion of the time that you would have spent on it anyway."

"I suppose that seems agreeable," Captain Heeme replied. "Is there a contract that I can take a look at that lays these out in detail?"

"I've had it translated into Khelish for your convenience," I replied as I handed him an actual folder with paper inside of it. "Now, I have some other business to attend to at the moment, I'll be back in around fifteen minutes or so to finalize the discussion on this."

–
–

“What is going on here?” Reeger finally snapped as he watched his Marines disappear and then reappear at different times. “Private Coto! What were you doing away from your post?!” He asked with his command voice, trying to figure out exactly what the orders that his marines had been given by both the Captain and the Lieutenant.

"Captains orders Reeger," the private replied. "You know just as well as the rest of us do that sometimes we have to get down and dirty to make sure that the Fleet comes out on top."


"I hope that this decision doesn't come back to haunt us," Reeger muttered as he began to lock down his personal squad of marines.

Author's note: Before anyone jumps down my throat. The Admiralty board is all young members, they've only had the post for five years or less here in my personal headcanon. Also, I'm going to be interpreting the Migrant Fleet a bit differently than Canon portrays them. The PIlgrimage is only important to the Migrant fleet, and they don't care much if the Quarian who brought the gift had to lie, cheat, and/or steal to get it. So there are a lot of potential conflicts that can arise when they are willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that the fleet stays on top. Also basing some of this on actual canon where the Quarians literally stole the design specs for the Normandy from Tali having been on board. (Which got the Systems Alliance in hot water with the Turians due to it being a joint project between them). The Admiralty is very much not your standard leadership, having to ride herd on a bunch of people who had to beg, borrow, lie, cheat, and steal to get their pilgrimage gifts done. Now, that's not to say all of them did those things in order to obtain their gift, but the perception of Quarians exists for a reason here in this fic.

 

[MarkWarrior]

Glamdring Dropship
Type: Military Aerodyne
Mass: 5,900 tons(16000)
Technology Base: Mixed (Advanced)
Introduced: 3145
Mass: 5,900 (16,000)
Battle Value: 50,912
Tech Rating/Availability: F/X-X-X-E
Cost: 10,743,796,800 C-bills

Fuel: 200 tons (6,000)
Safe Thrust: 5
Maximum Thrust: 8
Heat Sinks: 711 (1422)
Structural Integrity: 50

Armor
Nose: 1670
Sides: 1400/1400
Aft: 1130

Cargo
Bay 1: Cargo (200.0 tons) 2 Doors
Bay 2: BattleArmor (IS) (6) 0 Doors

Ammunition:
432 rounds of LRM 20 (Clan) Artemis-capable ammunition (72 tons),
384 rounds of Gauss Rifle [Clan] ammunition (48 tons)

Escape Pods: 14
Life Boats: 0
Crew: 6 officers, 15 enlisted/non-rated, 27 gunners, 36 bay personnel

Notes: Mounts 1225 tons of ferro-aluminum armor.

Weapons: Capital Attack Values (Standard)
Arc (Heat) Heat SRV MRV LRV ERV Class
Nose (400 Heat)
6 ER Large Laser 72 6(60) 6(60) 6(60) 6(60) Laser
6 ER PPC 90 9(90) 9(90) 9(90) 0(0) PPC
4 Gauss Rifle 4 6(60) 6(60) 6(60) 0(0) AC
Gauss Rifle Ammo [Clan] (96 shots)
4 Large Pulse Laser 40 4(40) 4(40) 4(40) 0(0) Pulse Laser
6 Laser AMS 30 2(18) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) AMS
6 LRM 20+Artemis IV 36 7(72) 7(72) 7(72) 0(0) LRM
LRM 20 (Clan) Artemis-capable Ammo (144 shots)
4 Sub-Capital Laser (SCL/3) 128 12(120) 12(120) 0(0) 0(0) Sub-Capital Laser


RW/LW (334 Heat)
4 ER Large Laser 48 4(40) 4(40) 4(40) 4(40) Laser
4 ER PPC 60 6(60) 6(60) 6(60) 0(0) PPC
4 Gauss Rifle 4 6(60) 6(60) 6(60) 0(0) AC
Gauss Rifle Ammo [Clan] (96 shots)
4 Large Pulse Laser 40 4(40) 4(40) 4(40) 0(0) Pulse Laser
6 Laser AMS 30 2(18) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) AMS
4 LRM 20+Artemis IV 24 5(48) 5(48) 5(48) 0(0) LRM
LRM 20 (Clan) Artemis-capable Ammo (96 shots)
4 Sub-Capital Laser (SCL/3) 128 12(120) 12(120) 0(0) 0(0) Sub-Capital Laser

Aft (354 Heat)
4 ER Large Laser 48 4(40) 4(40) 4(40) 4(40) Laser
4 ER PPC 60 6(60) 6(60) 6(60) 0(0) PPC
4 Gauss Rifle 4 6(60) 6(60) 6(60) 0(0) AC
Gauss Rifle Ammo [Clan] (96 shots)
4 Large Pulse Laser 40 4(40) 4(40) 4(40) 0(0) Pulse Laser
10 Laser AMS 50 3(30) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) AMS
4 LRM 20+Artemis IV 24 5(48) 5(48) 5(48) 0(0) LRM
LRM 20 (Clan) Artemis-capable Ammo (96 shots)
4 Sub-Capital Laser (SCL/3) 128 12(120) 12(120) 0(0) 0(0) Sub-Capital Laser

Credit for this goes to @Knowledgeispower

 

[ATP]

Poor Quarians.Many would die for nothing.

 

[The Whispering Monk]

I'm wondering how much was actually observed by the BattleTechers and how much was allowed to happen by them when they observed it.

 

[AmosTrask]

Well. It looks as though the Quarians want to die. I'm waiting to see that look of smug superiority wiped out by a Naval PPC coring a Heavy Fleet unit in a single shot. Let's see how they like facing humans that haven't been infected by the Mass Effect brainwashing.

 

[AmosTrask]

The precious contract,”

"The previous contract-"

“Not need to get upset here. I’ll even go back willingly.”

"There's no need" or "No need"

“The Admiralty won’t like that one bit,” Gaas responded. “Why, they might decide to show up with the entire Migrant fleet in order to display their displeasure at the negotiations not going the way that we wish.”

Sure they will. I hope they do so they can lose whatever unit they decide to dispatch.
I do believe this is the most incompetent version of the Quarian government I've ever seen in fiction. The malice of alternate universe Star Trek but none of the competence

 

[MarkWarrior]

"The previous contract-"


"There's no need" or "No need"


Sure they will. I hope they do so they can lose whatever unit they decide to dispatch.
I do believe this is the most incompetent version of the Quarian government I've ever seen in fiction. The malice of alternate universe Star Trek but none of the competence

Honestly, the Quarian government seemed that way in canon too. Blaming Tali for the sins of her father, deciding to retake Rannoch in the middle of a gorram reaper invasion. Honestly, the one they said was cowardly always seemed to have the most sense to me. He just wanted to settle the Quarians down on a planet and be done with it being the Migrant Fleet

 

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 23

"Captain Heeme," I said as I walked back into the negotiating room. "Perhaps you have an explanation for why we caught some of your crew trying to gain access to one of our Omniforges?"

"He probably was just trying to see what has changed," the Captain tried to brush it off. "We were the ones to bring our previous negotiators and salvage inspectors here to Korlus after all."

"I would understand that if it were just one or two members of your crew," I replied. "But we keep all newcomers here under surveillance, and when ten people attempt to vanish and gain access to areas that are more than off limits?" I asked rhetorically. "I can accept spies. I expect it even, I even know who most of the ones that are here trying to spy on us are. But attempted espionage is another story entirely," I glared at the Quarian Captain. "Even if I wanted to be in some sort of alliance then you just burned that bridge. I'm sympathetic to your plight, but if I were to offer you anything other than the contract that we just signed I would have a mutiny on my hands. Where I come from, any attempts at stealing technology are dealt with very harshly.

You have two options here Captain, you can turn over the crew members who were found, and leave them here to be tried and sentenced, or you can try to hold onto them and see what the consequences are."

"I will not be turning over crew members who were following my orders," The Captain said with fire in his voice. "So I shall see what your consequences are."

"I respect you for that," I said as a couple of Ducal Guard members made their presence known from the shadows. "But that does not change reality, unfortunately. Take him to a holding cell," I told the Guardsmen. "And have Paige and her Marines board their ship. Keep it as nonlethal as possible though, hopefully having his crew still alive will help change the outcome of this entire situation."

--
--


"Come on Captain, you have to give me something to work with here," I said to the Quarian who was seated in the interrogation room. "It took me hours to get my people to agree to simply have your people serve their time as penal laborers instead of just having them executed."

"I'm afraid that my crew and I are not beholden to the Admiralty," Captain Heeme stated. "We acted of our own volition, and must now face the consequences."

"I see that you won't be budged," I said as I stood up and made my way out the interrogation room door, sagging as it closed behind me.

"Everything alright sir?" the Guardsmen who was on guard asked.

"Yeah," I replied. "Just dealing with people who have more stubbornness than common sense."

"Should've just spaced the lot of them if you ask me," the Guardsman said with some venom in his voice. "Trying to steal tech like that."

“O’Neill right?” I asked, before receiving a nod. “You’re new to the Ducal Guard, right? Earned your way in via skill after being a part of the Kentates Militia if I remember correctly?”

“Yessir,” the young man stood up straight. “That’s correct.”

“Have you started on your degree yet?” I asked. “We normally require that you at least be working on furthering your education aside from the cross-training that we have you go through.”

“I had just started my distance learning work before this whole mess,” O’Neill replied. “I’m still working on what I can with some help from some of the other members of the Guard.”

“Something that would have been covered in your second year is the basis of deniable operations,” I said as I leaned back against the wall. “Unless we have undeniable proof that this was ordered by someone high up in the Quarian Admiralty then we have to operate as if what they say is true.”

“Then what are we going to do with them?” O’Neill asked.

“We’re going to put them to work,” I replied. “They’re still capable engineers, and we will need their help in clearing out the sections of salvage that we have started work on.”

“And what if they leak data?” O’Neill asked. “Most of the Quarians have their Omnitools built into their suit or implanted into their wrists, so it’s not like we can restrict their access to them.”

"There's a couple of options on the table to deal with that," I replied tiredly. "But I'm not going to get into the details right now."

“Thanks for stopping to explain all of that, sir,” O’Neill shuffled nervously. “I know I’m just a grunt, but I appreciate you taking the time to do that.”

“If you’re a member of the Ducal Guard then you stopped being ‘just a grunt’ a long time ago,” I chuckled. “Mathis doesn’t pick people who are willing to settle for being grunts,” I jerked my thumb at the shadow behind me as it morphed into the massive shape of Mathis, causing the younger Guardsman to snap to attention.

“O’Neill,” Mathis nodded his head at the shorter man. “I’ll be assigning you a tutor soon. Expect to be quizzed on everything that Hull here covered today, but in far greater detail.”

“Understood sir,” O’Neill replied. “I’ll do my best.”

“Yes, you will,” Mathis then melted back into the shadows as I inclined my head at O’Neill before leaving the interrogation area.









“I’ve finally gotten everything sorted out,” Natasha told me as we sat in my office while relaxing for the first time this week. “The new Mercenary Review Board will be up and running in a couple of weeks, with Korlus being the world that is the center for our operations.”

“How’d you manage to pull that off?” I asked. “I’ve been a bit too busy dealing with the Quarian delegation to keep track of all of the reports that have come across my desk.”

“It took some help from Melissa and then we needed to go and enlist Carter’s aid as well given that she was the one that had the most direct dealings with the MRB back home,” Natasha stated. “But after negotiating with the major merc groups and figuring out a rating system and means of submitting jobs we finally managed to get it done,” she took a sip of the drink that she had in front of her. “And Aethyta was made the current head of the MRB,” Natasha shrugged. “For some reason, all of the major mercenary groups weren’t willing to cross her.”

“I’ll have to make a note of that,” I replied as I typed said note into an application on my slate. “Given her age, I wouldn’t be surprised if she had some dealings with all of the merc leadership at some point.”

“Well, Aethyta has really taken to it,” Natasha said as she stood up and stretched, emphasizing her figure in certain ways.

“We can worry about that later,” I replied as I stood up and moved over to my wife. “Right now though, it’s our break time.” I kissed her and she responded in kind before the door opened behind us.

“What?!” We both turned and yelled at Melissa who just stood there awkwardly for a minute before smirking.

“Nothing that can’t be dealt with later,” Melissa replied. “You can continue, I’ll just be here taking notes for future reference.”

 

[AmosTrask]

Nothing that can’t be dealt with later,” Melissa replied. “You can continue, I’ll just be here taking notes for future reference.”

Gods damn. She went from Shy Introvert to near Ranma Panty Raider Pervert parody right quick

 

[MarkWarrior]

Gods damn. She went from Shy Introvert to near Ranma Panty Raider Pervert parody right quick

She is in her 40s now. In Blood on the Horizon she was the shy wallflower. By 3050 she was 45. Now they’re all de-aged so why not be a troll?

 

[ATP]

She is in her 40s now. In Blood on the Horizon she was the shy wallflower. By 3050 she was 45. Now they’re all de-aged so why not be a troll?

Reasonable plan.People with smart leaders,smart grunts,and trolls - i like this version of humanity more with each chapter.
And,i hope for them trolling rest of Universe,including Reapers.

 

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 24

“Captain Gaas’Heeme,” the Rael’Zorah spoke for the rest of the Admiralty Board “You have returned with a salvage contract, but no crew, and with a ship that has been stripped of everything useful, and no information on the technology that we sent you out to acquire.”

“Where is your crew, Captain?” Han’Gerrel spoke up. “Why have you returned without them?”

“Because I was the only one allowed to leave,” Captain Heeme stated. “My crew was caught trying to steal technical data and breaking into secured areas. I had no recourse but to surrender myself and my crew if I wished to still bring about a benefit to the Fleet.”

“The contract is still good, but it appears that we have forfeited all rights to trade with them for any technology in the near future,” Admiral Koris said as he read the contract that had been sent to their Omnitools. “Captain Heeme, while not successful in all aspects, it does seem that you did your best to ensure both the safety of your crew and secure the salvage that we will need for the Fleet to endure.”

“The question now, is what is to be done with you?” Daro’Xen stated. “You are a captain with a worthless ship and no crew.”

“I ask to be sent back to Korlus to serve out my term with the rest of my crew,” Captain Heeme stated. “When we finish our labor period then we will be able to return to the Fleet.”

“Should that happen then you and your crew will need to bring about a new pilgrimage gift,” Shala Raan said. “We have no space for you with the loss of your ship and are having difficulties keeping the liveships stable as is without adding more personnel to their life support systems.”

“I understand,” Captain Heeme said as he inclined his head. “I will share this information with my crew upon my return to Korlus.”

“Captain,” Rael said after a moment of silence filling the room. “You did well in securing the salvage as well as returning with information for us. For that we and the rest of the fleet thank you. While we cannot secure your return without a ship, we will keep space open for as long as possible should we secure another ship that is similar in size to the Vakor. It is the least that we can do to reward the sacrifice of your ship and crew.”

“Thank you, Admirals,” Captain Heeme said as he bowed and left once dismissed. “My crew and I will be back one day.”

–
–

“That could have gone much worse,” Rael stated once the Captain had been seen out. “Thankfully, our negotiations with the Humans seem to be going well. They aren’t too keen on making the Turians happy at the moment and so we were able to step into the opening that the Asari and Salarians left empty for the moment.”

“Agreed,” Han’Gerrel said. “We have been extremely lucky on both parts, and anyone that can make the Turians back off from a war, even if it was only temporary is someone that I want to get to know better.”

“While we still desire to take Rannoch, our current negotiators are trying to obtain the rights to any Dextro-amino worlds that might be in the Systems Alliance space,” Koris stated. “While the rest of you concern yourselves with finding a way to retake Rannoch, I will be trying to establish a colony so that our ship systems are less taxed.”

“At least then we will have a way of obtaining fresh food and other supplies,” Shala’Raan agreed. “We just have to arrange things so that they stay loyal to the Migrant fleet instead of turning out like those of our cousins.”

“The Terminus Quarians are not a part of this,” Rael spat venomously. “They have refused to assist or render aid to us when it was required and have turned their backs on us too many times to count.”

“They were never a part of this,” Han agreed. “They left Rannoch even before the Geth Rebellion, and have not considered us as anything beyond distant kin in centuries.”

“Either way, we must complete our negotiations with the Systems Alliance,” Daro’Xen changed the subject. “If we are extremely successful, we may be able to gain access to their Prothean Beacon and the data that lies within.”

“We’ll have to wait on that update,” Koris said. “But we have discussed all that there is to discuss for now.”

“Agreed,” Raan said. “We shall reconvene when we get a full response back from the Systems Alliance.”






“So you’re heading where again?” I asked Natasha as she prepared to board one of the Stings that we had added an eezo core to. “You told me last night, but I got distracted and forgot.”

“Aethyta, Carter, and Tela here are going to finish filing the paperwork for the MRB to make it an official entity not only in the Terminus but in Council space as well,” Natasha said. “Mercenaries are considered just above pirates here for some reason and I think we can change that perception. But we have got to get the paperwork done properly first. Aethyta has some contacts that will help with that, and it will give us the chance to see more of what intel we can pull up after we get established.”

“Try not to take over the galaxy while you’re gone,” I said with a chuckle. “I don’t think I could handle you being made Empress of the Galaxy.”

“Please,” Natasha scoffed. “Who do you think I am? I would be IlKhan and you would be my Bondsman, having tried everything to stop me and being found wanting.”

“I’m sending Mathis with you,” I said after a minute or so of laughing and joking with my wife. “I doubt you’ll even know that he’s there unless something goes wrong.”

“I am leaving Winson here,” Natasha said. “She still has work to do in order to completely reform the Krogan.”

“I’ll divert what resources I can spare to help her out,” I said with a shrug. “But getting the militia set up is taking up most of my time currently.”

“Get some proper rest,” Natasha ordered me. “If I return and hear that you overworked yourself again I will take you back to Veil for some vacation time.”

“I’ll do what I can,” I replied. “I love you,” I pulled Natasha in for a hug, squeezing tight before giving her a kiss and letting her board.

“I love you too,” Natasha whispered under her breath as she boarded the gunship. “I love you too," she repeated as the ship took off and began to leave the Imir System.

Author's Note: Both Chapters 22 and 23 got a rewrite due to some good criticism that I received on another board.

 

[ATP]

They must knew about other humans now - what they would do?

 

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 25


“Are you sure that you’ve got a handle on this?” I asked Melissa one last time before I stepped away to take a well-deserved break.


“I’m sure,” Melissa waved me off. “Go spend some time on Veil getting some mech training in and some R&R. I’ll make sure that the place is still standing when you get back.”


“Alright then,” I pulled Melissa in for a hug. “I’m proud of you, you know that?” I said. “And both your father and mother would be proud as well. I’m telling you now because they’re not here to tell you that.”


“I know they would be,” Melissa buried her head into my shoulder as a couple of tears traced their way down her cheek. “It’s just hard thinking about what they’re going through right now. Did they spend a lot of time searching for us? Or did they just give us up as lost in the depths of hyperspace?”


“I’m not sure that’s something we’ll know,” I replied as I continued to comfort the Steiner blond. “But we know that they would want us to thrive no matter where we are,” I met Melissa’s eyes. “So if you need a break, I can continue working for a bit longer. I know that we’ve been relying on you to float between Veil and Korlus a lot, and if you need to just sit for a bit and process then I can continue to handle things here until you’re ready.”


“I know it’s selfish,” Melissa wiped her tears up. “But I think I’ll take you up on that. I’m sorry for making you do more work.”


“Everyone has a breaking point,” I reminded her. “Sometimes we have to push past them, and sometimes it’s more important that we take a break before we break down completely. Go take a break, I can handle this for another week or two. Natasha might even take it easy on me if it’s to give you a break.”


“Are you sure?” Melissa’s watery eyes looked up at me. “I don’t want to make more work for you.”


“I’m sure,” I replied with a soft smile. “Go take a break. I won’t die from a little extra work after all. Besides, I finally have a secretary again!” I cheered, breaking the somber atmosphere. “So that means that it’s nigh impossible for me to overwork on the level that I used to.”


Melissa just giggled for a minute before giving me a peck on the cheek and leaving my office. “I’ll be back in a month,” she promised. “So please don’t make Natasha have to come and pay me an angry visit.”


“No promises,” I laughed. “At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if Saint Murphy had decided to permanently stake me out.”







“I was told that you had good news for me,” I said to Dr. Kelley as I walked through the corridors of the Argo.


“Yessir,” Kelley replied. “We finally finished drawing up the plans for the Glamdring, and have started the planning stages for something quite a bit bigger.”


“Oh?” I asked with a raised eyebrow as O’Neill flanked me on the right side. “How much bigger?”


“Something that would compare to the Redemption,” Kelley grinned while he opened the engineering lab door. “Because we took apart the first cruiser that we obtained from pirates we were able to get a look at those spinal guns of theirs, and we got some ideas.”


“I’ll take a look at them after I see the plans for the Glamdring,” I told the excited engineer. “I’d rather us have one ship that we know we can produce rapidly first before we branch out and start overspecializing on things.”


“The Glamdring honestly isn’t that complicated,” Kelley said as we sat down at one of the lab desks and began to go over the plans. “Given that we have experts in getting factories set up, and that the advanced tech is made easier to construct with the scaled-up Omniforges, we should be fine,” Kelley then pointed to one critical area. “The hardest part of getting all of this set up is going to be building a working eezo core. Until we can figure that out, we’re going to be bottlenecked there.”


“It’s going to be the same for K-F drives as well,” I told Dr. Kelley. “Veil has the only Germanium supply that our intel ships have found while searching so far.”


“Then we’re going to be limited to local monitor-style ships if we cannot lock in a supply of Element Zero,” Dr. Kelley stated. “If we want our ships to be able to compete in speed or to be able to run some of the experiments that we are slated for then we cannot afford to go without it.”


“There are some plans in the works,” I told the Scientist. “But the point is entirely moot until we’ve gotten our shipyards up anyway,” I turned to look at the planned projects and ship designs that were being worked on. “We’re not going to be building anything bigger than the Glamdring here in the Imir system,” I said after a minute of looking at some of the ship designs for ships that were the size of the Redemption or Manassas. “I want to keep some of our big sticks in reserve for emergencies.”


“Having a sizable defense fleet for our colony will be essential of course,” Dr. Kelley agreed as he sent me the data on a project that they were calling Narsil.


“Keeping the Lord of the Rings theme going?” I asked with a grin.

“It suits our purposes,” Dr. Kelley replied with a smug look on his face. “Besides, I think you’re going to like this.”


“Hmm,” I said after a minute of looking at it. “I’m no expert, but it looks like this is much more automated than most of our ships.”


“We took a lot of inspiration from both the upgrades made to the Manassas and the Sovetskii Soyuz,” Dr. Kelley stated proudly. “We’re hoping that this could be run by a crew of ten to fifteen with a platoon of Marines on standby to repel boarders if necessary.”


“I’m assuming that you’re going to have remote atmospheric controls?” I asked. “Because if you don’t, then this thing is just asking to be boarded and taken over if someone manages to get in close.”


“If someone manages to get that close then one of these ships is most likely dead anyway,” Dr. Kelley stated. “After all, it still retains the docking collars and should be able to carry both a pair of Stings and a pair of Glamdring’’s along as escorts.”


“That’s a fair point,” I said after a minute. “If we can get K-F production started then I’ll see about trying to make this a reality, but we may be bottlenecked to just Sting and Glamdring production for a little while.”


“As long as it’s taken into consideration,” Dr. Kelley said after he closed his slate. “That’s all that we’re asking for.”


“I’ve got a couple of years to work out the bottlenecks,” I replied as I stood up and began to leave the engineering lab. “Hopefully by the time the first yard is up and running we should be ready to go.”