Mass Consequences Chapter 1

Coruscant, Jedi Archives - Year 20,000 Galactic Standard. (Author’s Note based on information I've looked up, this would be about the time of the prequel Trilogy or just before)

"It was just another ordinary day - well, as ordinary as a day got when you served in the military during a war - when we got the order. The Midway, the first ship of our newest class of destroyer, had just received orders from Alliance Command to join Battle Group Alpha, which was currently engaged with Turian units in Sector 273. Our crew had been together in the simulators for weeks preparing for this moment, training to use the latest technological advances that were exclusive to the Midway.

We had the finest Captain in the Alliance, Kyra Mcmyle, and she had a well earned reputation for her aggressive strategies and high number of victorious battles. She was the glue that held this crew, composed of raw cadets and survivors on the battle that claimed Mcmyle's former battleship, and I was damn proud to serve as her second-in-command.

My name is Zen Markus, a Commander in the Systems Alliance Military, and this personal log shall be created in case this ship, or its crew gets destroyed or killed. May those who read it know, we fought to the end.

Anyway, now that the formalities are over with, let me tell you a little bit more about myself: when I first joined up with the Military, I signed up for the special forces and served as a counter-terrorist for seven years. By that time I had earned a good reputation and had the rank of Lieutenant. Within the next five years I rose through the rank of Lieutenant-Commander and became a Commander. Of course back them the military was merely a precaution, a measure to keep the underworld in check and keep the colonies in line. That was before we had evidence other life within our Galaxy, before the Turians.

Humanity's first contact didn't go over too well, and from that small skirmish the so called "First Contact War" broke out. It's only been going on for a few months now, but the border colonies have been devastated by the war. Those Turian bastards don't understand the concept of anything less than total war; no skirmishes, no small contact, just huge fleets and attack groups, total devastation and total annihilation for those who don't surrender.

If it wasn't for that tech we found on Mars - forgot about those extinct Martians, guess we did know there had been life in the Galaxy - we would have been utterly destroyed and all of humanity would be dead; dead or captured. I've heard the Turians treat their prisoners well, but even the best treated captive is still a captive...

We're about to leave orbit, I'll end my log here for now."

Commander Markus leaves his quarters and heads for the Bridge. Markus is around 6ft tall, with brown hair and eyes. His eyes show a vast intelligence, an intelligence that had enabled him to strategize and think like his enemies. According to the computer data about him, many of his strategies had been used against the Turians to great effect.

The screen shows Markus enter the Bridge as a Comm. Officer announces that the Midway is cleared for departure.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, let's see what this thing can do." Says a woman identified as Captain Mcmyle.

Midway exits its port in the gigantic space station referred to in the databanks as Arcturus and heads towards open space.

“Prepare the mass effect drive for the jump to the Arcturus relay.” Markus orders as he approaches the helmsman.

“Laying in the coordinates now sir.” Replies Lt. Samuel Carson as he pauses awaiting his commander’s order to engage.

“Let’s get this show on the road.” Markus was beginning to return to his command chair when it happened. When Lt. Carson activated the drive Midway lurched forward, stopped dead, and then disappeared completely from the view of the Arcturus station.

“This is Commander Zen Markus of the SSV Midway. Two hours ago we made the jump from Arcturus and ended up… somewhere else. Midway malfunctioned and we were sent trillions of lightyears away, we can’t even locate the Milky Way on our longest ranged sensors. That’s not the worst of it though. The engines overloaded and caused a ship wide power surge. There were several severe explosions along the main power conduits, which ultimately resulted in the deaths of several crew members… including the Captain.” The Commander paused here and took a moment to regain his composure before continuing. “The internal cams weren’t damaged and the video of the aftermath has been retained for official review. End of log.”

The Captain lay slumped in her chair, one of the large support beams that crossed the roof having impacted the back of her head, snapping her neck and killing her instantly. Commander Markus rushed forward and checked for vitals, but turned away immediately after.

“Damage report.” He barked taking control of the situation and giving his staff something to think about besides their dead comrade.

“Reports of ship wide damage, nothing too serious as far as major systems are concerned. Several decks are reduced to emergency lighting and propulsion is totally gone.”

“Have LaPierre begin a damage assessment of the engines and see what the hell happened” Markus replied, speaking of Midway’s Chief Engineer.

“Aye, sir.”

“Sir!” Markus turned to face his tactical officer, a seasoned vet he had served with from his last assignment named Nathan Low. “We’ve got large movement dead ahead.”

“On screen.” The sight that greeted the bridge crew could only be described as awe inspiring. A small planet and a barely smaller moon lay before them. An armada of large warships and smaller support craft sat right between the two and another large fleet approached from Midway’s starboard. The invading fleet charged in at about three-quarters Midway’s attack speed. Once they had closed the distance both sides opened up with laser and torpedo fire. The front lines on both sides crumbled as shields and armor plates were melted away from the sheer heat of the explosions. The debris field created provided the cover needed for the surviving ships to launch all fighters.

“My god.” Lt. Carson said under his breath. “You could double the size of the Alliance fleet with the debris from the first volley.”

The space between the twin planetoids lit up again, this time because of the laser fire coming from thousands of one man fighter craft and the resulting explosions. Hundreds of craft were destroyed instantly, but thousands more made it past the fighter screens and neared their objectives. Torpedoes were launched as anti-aircraft batteries opened up on the approaching waves. More explosions, more light, then, right when the crew thought there could be nothing left on either side, reinforcements appeared. The new ships arrived from the same direction the invading fleet had and shared a similar design as well. In addition, they also included what had to have been the flagship of the fleet. The ship was a goliath; fifty percent bigger than anything else in the battle, the rest of the fleet was arranged in a semi circle before it.

During the course of the battle Midway had been drifting closer as they had no way to alter course. They now were within communication range of the fleets and one of the defending ships seemed to notice their presence. A man dressed head to toe in metal armor was the sight that greeted them when the comm channel was opened. The bridge behind him was covered with blood and the soldier himself had a large piece of bloody metal sticking out of his chest. When he spoke, it was in a harsh language the crew of the Midway had never heard. He had barely gotten out two words (or so it had seemed) when an explosion rocked his ship and communications were cut completely. A view of the exterior of his ship showed that one of the enemy fighters had crashed into the entire forward section where the bridge was located. By this time the reinforcements had arrived and were making short work of the remaining defenders.

“LaPierre what’s the status of my engines? The shit’s really hitting the fan here and I need maneuverability, now” Markus said, realizing how close this battle was to being finished.

“You should have thrusters sir. Engines will be online within the hour.”

“Lieutenant, take us… there.” He indicated the wrecked remains of a former carrier. The hanger bay had been blasted apart and the ship had been plenty big to accommodate a destroyer of Midway’s size.

“Onderon has been retaken with acceptable casualties. The ground forces led by General Blukam have begun their push towards the Mandalorian based on Dxun. An unidentified vessel was scanned during the battle, it’s design was unfamiliar to myself, and it did not appear to be of Mandalorian origin. It disappeared, and we have begun salvage operations for any survivors, both Republic and Mandalorian as well as the wreckage of this unknown vessel.”