Chapter 3
Aftermath

The battle had been sudden, surprising, and devastating. In only one minute and 34 seconds of combat, his patrol fleet had lost around 50% effectiveness. To make things worse nearly a dozen captains and ship commanders were being detained following their sudden homicidal behaviour, including himself.

He was waiting in the brigg reviewing the vid file of his head suddenly being covered in a purple glow and his eyes glowing purple as well, ordering his ship to fire upon one of his cruisers. When his- …. When his weapons officer replied confused at why and refusing, he was shot for “Insubordination, and failure to protect the homeworld.”

He had just nearly killed one of his own crew when under the power of… something. He was still alive thank the spirits, and his bridge marines had just restrained him. Others were not so lucky, having either taken their own lives or forcing their own bridge crew to kill them.

He had sent a flotilla of frigates to report back to Palaven with this information and to request reinforcements. Whoever they were, they seemed to like a few strong ships, and his fleet had been very close at destroying the cruiser and its escorts when they seemed to teleport out of the area after having destroyed or crippled a good portion of his fleet, four cruisers and a frigate would have to be abandoned, all of them hit by those green beams. His own ship needed serious repairs as well; the once-proud ship had its main cannon damaged, no open fighter bays or lander ports, and a loss of a fourth of its crew to injuries or death.

Of those fighters sent, over a hundred had been destroyed or damaged in the fight with the enemies ten. To make things even worse, all of his ships had suffered electrical damage from the enemies CWS and ECM, and crew sabotage had been pandemic, with several trying to overload the drive cores. None succeeded thankfully.

The most terrible blow to morale had been the impunity those ships had with their weapons, going through the barriers as if they didn’t exist, melting through a ship's thin armor and destroying it. His ship only survived because of how big it was, and the last two shots it received had been fired to target its fighter bays, which caused more damage than if they shot anywhere else, cooking off ammunition and fuel. At least it seemed that their mass cannons lacked the same punch, with none of them piercing the shields of his ships. But then again it had only been two frigates and a large cruiser.

On the bright side he had also gotten a wealth of information from the Havincaw’s captain. Vibiana Orinia’s report of enemy ECM and CWS capabilities were enlightening and he had already forwarded the information to the acting captain of his ship with his recommendation and was being sent back with the frigates as well.

They had been caught wholly unprepared for the ferocity of this fight, and they suffered for it. From Malraka’s report it had all started when Captain Vitadas had fired a warning shot to stop them from using the relay. Instead of flying through empty space, it had hit some kind of stealth ship by accident; completely destroying it and its crew. The small thing was barely corvette sized, at 150 meters. It had no shields and no drive core, and the only thing left of what his engineers assumed to be its powerplant was a lot of shielding and a hole down the center where its reactor had been.

No wonder they returned fire, the “big scary aliens” had just killed one of their ships, had a fleet of seven warships, and somehow targeted one of their stealth corvettes.

What made this a royally political nightmare as well was the fact the cruiser had been carrying royalty. So not only had they accidently destroyed one of their ships, they had also attacked one of the royal family and attempted to assassinate one of its leaders.

“It just gets worse and worse doesn’t it?” He asked himself, mandibles twitching in indecision.

“Captain, your brain scan is complete, we can find no traces of whatever happened to you.” Looking up it was one of the medical crew reporting.

Shaking his head he grasped his fringes and let out a breath, “And what of Tarkus? Is- is he?-”

“He’s alive sir. Although he has lost a significant amount of blood. You nicked his aorta and it took the doctors an hour to try and stop the bleeding. Sir, I suggest another brainscan, what ever happened to you must have left-”

“Do it again, deeper this time….. I can still see the vision doctor.”

“The ones of Palaven burning?”

“Yes. What ever they did to me, I don’t want it happening again. To anyone….”

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Twilight was unconscious, the strain and violent trauma of orchestrating the barrier over the Enterprise had taken a significant toll on her mind, and she was suffering from magical burnout. Spike was worried horribly and keeping watch over her sleeping form in her chambers. He had written a letter to Princess Celestia, personally reporting her condition and the situation. He still hadn’t heard back.

Judging from the last time Twilight had gotten seriously hurt she was probably quietly seething, too angry to write back. That or Discord had intercepted the message and when he read it, and decided to protect her by keeping it from her for now.

Colonel Perry had asked Spike if Twilight needed anything and he worked diligently to see every need met. He wasn’t sure if it was loyalty to his mission, or the danger Spike posed to his well being if he decided things weren’t adequate for Twilight. He had grown quite large and intimidating over the decades as he amassed his wealth and status.

Laying in his treasure trove, breathing black brooding smoke, it got into the ventilation system and produced a suitable dark atmosphere in the entire ship as the shock of what happened came to everyone.

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It would be half an hour until they reached Shanxi. Dr. Vahlen had assured everyone they were much faster than the Alien Turians, and was already busy translating, organizing, and prioritizing the flood of data. It needed to be compressed again after bypassing the security systems by accessing it on as many personal electronics as possible in the ship. Then it needed to be sorted in categories.

So much needed to be done and she was wishing Hope or Twilight or some other AI had been there to help. Whenever called by the crew she had allowed her subroutines to show her harried state by disheveled clothing and ruined hair.

X-Com operative Perry had told her that collating the data and separating the wheat from the chaff was top priority, and to place a copy of whatever she had finished on his desk and that of Twilights when they reached Shanxi. He also told her to route information to the scientists on board to the correct department. Even as she saw a report of ancient autopsies performed by doctors on their species she sent it to the xenostudies group, already having their hands full with the culture, life cycle, religion, and variety of species now known to the Terran Alliance.

When they dropped out of their artificial wormhole, battered and bloody she immediately received a handshake protocol from Mack. Accepting his invitation she invited him to her “Home” and started a private chat.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Mack, AI SID 23349582874 has joined your channel.

Mackie Roonie = “Whoo-whee! Y’all sure have been busy haven’t you.”

Dr. Vahlen- “No time for chatter Mack. System defense? How much do we got?”

User “Dr. Vahlen” is sharing data [combat data and damage reports.TXT]

Mackie Roonie=“Damn. We’ve got your three ships, about 100 Firestorm Mk. IXs, 10 more frigate class Ethereal Battleships armed only with outdated atmospheric fusion lances, and three cruiser class System Monitor ships crewed by students. Planetary defenses include three standard Fusion Lance silos and two dozen BL anti dropship silos.”

Mackie Roonie=“When I got your distress signal I immediately called for reinforcements from the Unconquerable and they say they can be here in less than an hour if they aren’t delayed. I’m also prepared to start civilian evacuation and call up citizen reserves.”

Dr. Vahlen-“Which is all of them. The Turians’ only way of winning I predict will be a ground war to capture the planet and use it as a shield, forcing us to land ground forces to dislodge them while more of their reinforcements come. They won’t be able to do their standard tactic of orbital bombardment with our Kinetic barriers up and with our fusion lances destroying any who try it.”

Mackie Roonie=“But they don’t know X-Com. It’s bound to be a slaughter as they drop down. We wait for the first wave to drop, then activate BL silos to take out enemy reinforcements. We keep them in the game, bleeding them of resources, stopping them from bombing the planet by keeping their own troops here as a further shield. We do it just enough so they follow our path, stay here until our fleet shows up to annihilate their own.”

Dr. Vahlen-“And the best part? They won’t even know they’ve been played since the beginning.”

User “Mackie Roonie” has changed his name to “Military Intelligence AI Loki”

Military Intelligence AI Loki=”Vigilo Confido.”

Dr. Vahlen-”Vigilo Confido.”

Military Intelligence AI Loki has left your channel.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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To say the good Princess Celestia was upset was an understatement of the entire Council session. She dominated the large room that seated thousands of people and over two-hundred Alliance Councillors.

Made impressive by the fire ball that was her mane and tail she stood in the center of the room, speaking first. She was not known for her violent, bloodthirsty nature. But after hearing about what happened to Twilight and how she and many of her people and top scientists were almost killed in an unprovoked attack, she was angry.

Brushing off the ash that fell on his suit, Councilor Zero, as was his honorary title, took control of the situation. While all the other Councilors and many thousands audience members were visibly scared or taking cover behind something, he had not even flinched. She had not been this angry since X-Com attacked.

“Princess Celestia. You will calm down, or I will have Commander Good Wind, and Operative Bay Watch escort you out. After putting out your mane.”

She looked right at him, eyes aflame, her attention solely upon him. ‘Good,’ he thought as he leaned forward to meet her gaze.

“You are disrupting this session and if you want me to seriously consider your proposal you will calm down. I understand that your are,” visibly searching for a suitable word he finished, “infuriated. But you must understand one thing. It is a Terran Alliance planet at threat here, not just your ponies or the people of Equis.”

“So I can assure you; me, and the entire Alliance are deeply troubled by this unprovoked action. So X-Com, and the the Human Coalition, will be sending all they can to this problem.”

Talking Celestia down she hid her embarrassment at her monumental outburst in the middle of her speech asking for immediate action. While she did not like some of the Human councillors, Councilor Zero especially, with him always sitting in his darkened booth, the gloom effect made unnaturally so no one could see his face, he had a point.

“The people of Equestria shall henceforth send all its ships to help repel the Alien invasion, and protect the people of Shanxi. I can also assure the Confederation of Equis States will send in many of their ships in support as well.” Celestia claimed this as fact, and all of the Equis planetary representatives nodded their heads in agreement.

Councilor Zero nodded. Hitting a button he brought up the voting system for all the councilors, “As is stated in ratified Council Constitution, article 1, lines 1-5, we shall now have a vote for declaration of war.”

A few seconds went by and all the votes were made, a light coming on above the voter to represent how they voted. 17 abstained, 249 for.

“Motion passes, let it be noted that at 2000 hours Geneva time the Council has voted to go to war with the Turian Hierarchy and by extension all of these ‘Citadel races’ who decide to involve themselves in this matter, and will fulfil its war goals for the survival of all Alliance member species by any means necessary. May the Gods show mercy upon the enemies of the Terran Alliance. Vigilo Confido.”

The last sentiment was echoed by everyone in the room. Afterwards it was deathly quiet as the occasion set in. The AI hovering above the room, acting as the archivist for this session, turned its light on Councilor Zero once more as he called for attention.

“As in following articles detailing the declaration of war, emergency powers will be given to Shanxi’s planetary AI, calling up all reserves, and authorizing the activation of X-Com Stasis Operatives and the use of tier 10 weapons of war. Any who oppose?”

The room was silent. Looking to Celestia he added, “To lead the Reinforcement fleets, I nominate Princess Celestia, of the Equestrian Principality, and Major leader of Equis. May you lead us to victory.”

Those who opposed the Princess politically didn’t object, knowing that no one had more fury now then the Princess of the Sun, who could incinerate them with but a glance if she so wanted. Her hundreds of years of experience in war, and interest in the cosmos made her a perfect choice anyways to support Grand Admiral Kastanie Drescher.

“You shall lead the First and Second fleets, and the ships of Equis you are authorized by the Confederation to use. You will be given the temporary rank and title, X-Com Fleet Commander.”

Suddenly the Muton delegate rose and let out a blood cry, pounding his chest, “The Muton Tribes, will also pledge its resources for the People! We do not wish our allies to have all the fun!” He bellowed in a deep baritone, the chest pounding being echoed by all the Muton audience and council members.

The Sectoid Hierarchy lead counselor, not wanting to lose face with his people at not giving in the time of need also rose, not very tall, he was on top of his desk. Linking with his speaker he shouted, “The Sectoid Hierarchy also will contribute its fleet to this cause.” This was met by the Psi cheers of the Sectoids in the room, adding to the rising cacophony.

Next, the largest member of all the species of the Terran Alliance rumbled. Moving to his full height, nearly hitting the roof of the Council chambers, the great dragon Sota Ratkaisija spoke in his deceptively soft voice, “The Ponies of Equestria have helped my kind in the past, and this debt will not go unpaid. I will support the movement for the Dragon Holds to contribute their armies to your use. our young ones will crush the enemy beneath their claws.”

It was almost a show now, as the dragons in the crowd, few they were, scraped their seats, the metal making a shriek as Dragon claws swiped over it rhythmically, to show support.

Councilor Zero smiled, the feature hidden behind the gloom as then the Sabilians, Ethereals, Griffons, Zebra, Changeling, Minotaur, Saddle Arabian and Donkey Conglomerate, and Cyberdisc blocs added in their own forces.

By the time Cyberdisc 1 changed over to his vaguely humanoid form promising the use of the Drop Carrier Eternal Light, every race was making some kind of noise vying for war, except the Humans.

Councilor Zero frowned, that would have to change. ‘Can’t be outdone by the Ethereals now.’ the mentioned Ethereals were adding to the Psi cheering sounding like distant whoops.

He did something that was never done until a Councilor Zero’s retirement. He rose from his seat, so that all could see his face. Pointing his hand to the Princess, palm up he sang out X-Com’s unofficial anthem,

“War for War,
Into the shot and the shell,
Into battle we go once more,
The standard-bearers of Hell,
War for War,
The best and last of the free,
Sworn unto Armageddon,
Honour the Cavalry.”

This was soon echoed by the majority Humans in the room and then taken up by the other races as the full cadence came out. Sitting back down after riling the entire room to a frenzy Councilor Zero smiled behind the gloom.

‘Just as planned’

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This meeting was recorded, and sent by Hyperwave Relay, shown in real time to every colony, base, station, and ship, no matter how small. Even transmitted to the Stasis pods as the Ethereal War veterans were being awakened. The cadence at the end was shouted by billions of all worlds, with the final cry being two words. “Vigilo confido.”

The Terran Alliance was ready for war, they had been training for it, preparing for it, and now that it was at their doorstep, no one would step down from this honor, from this chance to show what they were made of.

The inhabitants of the Shanxi system were confident, prepared, and for many, happy. They would be on the frontlines, over 100 years since the last war, and as a taunt to the Turians they sent it out on all radio frequencies and tight beam messages, the Omni-translated recording with some alterations to prevent the enemy gaining undue intelligence.

Decades later it was noted to still be ringing across the galaxy, and even cause several scares with planet born species with access to radio.

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Codex Entries

Communications: Terran Alliance
While all citadel races use comm buoys, transmitting data through a relay of tight beam lasers, the Alliance uses Hyperwave Relays.

Hyperwave Relays use a supra-dimensional wave which travels almost instantaneously. The principles of this work by capitalizing on a parallel universe called Hyperspace. Forcing a microscopic opening, the device transmits its message by radio.

The radio message is then sent through Hyperspace which is compressed into a smaller space than “Real space” allowing for faster than light communications. It is approximately 1000 times faster than light.

The message is then caught by a receiver, which translates the static noise made by the radio signals in Hyperspace.

The entire device is smaller than a stasis pod and is relatively cheap to produce in bulk.

With more research into Hyperwave Relays, it was found how to further encrypt the transmission by using regular encryption methods and software.

Species Alliance Government
The Council of Terra
The Species Alliance Council is a body of representatives from all the Terran Alliance species. The way of choosing a representative is not universal, many are democratically elected, others are assigned the job by the species government.

Planets are allowed one representative per species, and a planet qualifies to have another representative if it has more than one million of another species. Ethereals are the exception, with extremely low birth rates their representative population cap is 10,000.

Planets are allowed to govern themselves independently after they have been established by a patron species. They each build an Alliance building and populations democratically elect their leaders every year to decide on policy, planetary and solar construction, as well as chose their Council member.

Sabilian
Sabilians were first encountered months before the first shots were fired in Berlin. Reports go that they had been attacking infrastructure and probing defenses months before.

Their homeworld was told to have been destroyed beyond recovery in their pacification and assimilation. It was reported as being located to the galactic “North”.

Sabilian culture is close to Human’s, major differences being their natural enigmatic nature and naming conventions to be aloof, distant, and bland. It is possible to meet a dozen John and Jane Does in a single city sector.

Their greatest cultural phenomena is their Grand Masquerade. Each Sabilian has a cabal they work within to keep secrets that are meaningless to the regular citizen, but to Sabilians are a matter of pride to keep it safe and will fight fanatically to do so. They sharpen their skills on each other, fighting, scheming, and tricking each other.

Sabilian biology is, while aesthetically Human, actually closer to a snake, often resulting in people referring to them as such. Their limbs are like that of a snake’s body, able to curl and flex, making it extremely difficult to break their limbs, and excessively strong, able to jump atop three story buildings. They have redundant internal organs which can inflate and deflate to allow them to form different body types, and attached to their DNA sequences are easy to access junk data that affect their appearance. Combined with Meld, it's possible to change the outward appearance seamlessly and much more efficiently than previous Ethereal efforts.

Sabilians breed like reptiles, releasing a clutch of eggs. When the gene for unlocking the second sex were released it allowed Sabilian’s to resume on their natural genetic course and hopefully with gene therapy they will return to their more natural form.

Sabilian’s find their natural abilities in high demand as technicians, general workers, espionage and counter espionage, corporate work, and as light infantry and law enforcement.

In matters of war they enjoy a comfortable relationship with the Sectoid Hierarchy as partners. Sabilian’s fast movement with Mectoid and Sectoid hunter killer teams allow for rapid reaction, target acquisition, and destruction of soft targets.

Their government is very secretive, forming an intricate weave of contacts, representatives, and false leads. It is accepted by the general public that while they do have a leader, he or she is likely the secretary of Espionage and interior and exterior defense, the most classified known position in the entire Alliance.

Currently the Sabilians have an award-winning spy show, Apocalypse set in the current day Terran Alliance on Mars, holding back another alien species of micro-bacteria from another dimension, who wish to infiltrate and destroy the Alliance.

Author's Note

And here is where I can spot my first mistakes, i tell to much instead of showing. Especially with the ending codex entries, things that will be fixed in my restart story I promise.

The Sabilian could have had a section later on that covered this, and the Hyperwave could have easily been incorporated with an aside.