Mass Consequences Chapter II: Mass Revelation

Date unknown. Location: Dxun, moon of Onderon, Onderon System.

Mission Countdown: 8:32hrs.

“Personal Log, Commander Zen Markus, Executive Officer and acting Captain of the SSV Midway…

We thought we were safe. We’d been sitting in the gutted remains of an alien fighter carrier, I now know they are called Mandalorians. The ones who attacked this planet call themselves the Republic and their leader, a man called Revan, claims that they are not the aggressors in this war and that they mean us no harm.

Of course at the time I, we, knew none of this and we were just trying to stay out of sight and repair what we could. Everything had been screwed to hell when the engines malfunctioned, several major power conduits had overloaded, shields were all but gone and most of our GUARDIAN defenses were offline.

We could see their salvage ships going through the wreckage of the battle on our sensors. Everything from one man salvage ships to frigates trying to find sections of the great battleships that still held breathable atmosphere, and crew members, trapped inside. Fighters patrolled constantly but they took no notice of us, or so we had believed. Their patterns never altered as they approached our hiding spot, their sensor sweeps never intensified as they scanned the section of the hanger where Midway was docked but the whole time they, and their leader, knew exactly where we were… or so he claims. Either way, it was about six hours after the battle when they finally made it known to us that they were aware of our presence. The message was short and direct, and simply said they knew where we were and that it would be easier for everyone if we just came out. Of course, I wasn’t just going to surrender the Alliance’s most advanced ship just like that…”

"Sir, status reports coming in from all systems."

"Have them relayed to the thrown." Markus immediately winced as he used to phrase so loved by his former captain, she had always claimed her ancestors were royalty on Earth and said every queen deserved a thrown. Even as he read through the status reports, Markus couldn't keep her out of his mind. He kept expecting her to waltz onto the bridge and tell him the whole thing was a setup, a test of his abilities under stress. She had always joked that he should’ve been a captain long ago and was always putting him in the hot seat. At the time, he’d always hated it, but now, when he needed it most, he was thankful for her harsh training.

He finished the report, engineering was the only mission critical system that still needed repair. Several other systems reported minor errors or damage, but they were mostly non-essential - well, as non-essential as anything got on a starship. Weapons and shields had been repaired, though one of the torpedo tubes had been partially collapsed on the accident and there was nothing his crew could do about that.

"Commander, we just received a message. It's from the enemy flagship. They‘ve found us."

Markus approached the officer at the comm station. “Did they send it as a general broadcast or was it beamed directly to us?”

“They hit our antenna directly.” The officer replied.

“Shit, he’s not bluffing then… Very well, arm torpedoes, raise shields, bring all GUARDIAN defenses online and take us out. If he thinks we‘re giving up without a fight he’s sadly mistaken.” The Commander returned to his chair and barked out more orders. “Engineering - give me all the power you can muster we may need to get the hell out of system. Lieutenant, Status report on enemy fleet movements and strength.”

“Sir, I count twenty-one cruiser sized capital ships, several flights of enemy fighter-craft and several salvage ships working on crippled battleships. I also have their flagship dead ahead, sir.”

“All hands prepare for evasive action.” Even as he said it, Markus could feel the great ship’s inertial dampeners strain as his pilot dove, frantically searching for an escape from the capital ships bearing down on them from all sides. The sensor data being fed to Markus’ chair showed no pursuit however. The enemy ships had not powered weapons, and their shields were only minimally charged. He paused to consider… no it wasn’t possible. There was no way these aliens, who had slaughtered their opponents to the last, had any other intentions for his ship and crew… or was there? “Open a channel with their flagship.” The sight that greeted Markus was not what he had expected at all. He had expected to see something like the six and a half feet scaled monsters the Turians, the only other aliens Humanity had encountered, were. Instead he saw a Human in his early twenties wearing a dark colored robe that appeared to have some sort of armor underneath. He tried not to let any of his surprise show as he addressed the other man.

“This is Commander Zen Markus of the Systems Alliance Vessel Midway. Who are you and what are your intentions with my crew and ship?”

“Admiral Revan, Jedi Knight and Commander of the Republic Third Fleet. You’re a long way from home, Commander, judging by the design of your vessel - Midway you called it?” The man facing Markus was a puzzling character. He seemed to know much, but looked so young to command a whole fleet. Revan had very short black hair, the beginnings of a goatee, average height for any human in the Alliance, though he seemed taller than those around him and he carried two metal cylinders on the belt at his waist.

“You could say that, yes. We actually have no idea where here is, our drive core malfunctioned and this is where we ended up, right in the middle of your war.” Markus suddenly wondered how this other man from a distant part of the galaxy could even understand him. Midway carried the translation software adapted from the Prothean ruins on Mars, but he doubted this man’s language would have been known to the Protheans.

“I have no wish to cause you harm. It is unfortunate that you arrived when you did, Onderon is normally a very peaceful place and will be once again when we’re done clearing Dxun of the Mandalorians.” The way the man, Revan, said the word Mandalorians was as if everyone should know and fear the name, which further confirmed Markus’ suspicions that they were a very long way from home. He decided to play it cautious and learn what he could.

“The… who?”

“If you have never encountered the Mandalorians than you must be from a long way away, friend. The look and design of your vessel had me convinced you were from the outer rim or even the unknown regions. Simply put, I have never seen anything like your vessel in known space. But the Mandalorian invasion began in the Unknown Regions... where are you from?”

This question concerned Markus, simply because the location of Earth was a closely guarded secret, it was never mentioned in any databases on any of the Alliance’s outposts for fear a hostile enemy might seek to destroy Humanity’s homeworld. All Alliance officers were trained never to reveal it’s location, for any reason.

“I can’t reveal the location of my home system. My people are fighting our own war, and the enemy must never learn where Earth is…” Even as he said the word Earth the Commander regretted it. Not that the name really made that much of a difference, but he had already said enough to be court-martialed. The less this Revan knew about the Alliance, the better as far as Markus was concerned.

“Very well, have it your way. Neither my people, the Galactic Republic, nor the Mandalorians have that luxury; the Republic covers most of the Galaxy and the Mandalorians have never made their homeworld’s location a secret. They want everyone to know, and attack it so they can have the ’honor’ of battling to save their planet.” Revan paused here, as if trying to make up his mind about something. Finally he looked back at Markus. “Enough of this small talk, my techs have been going over your ships schematics and noticed that your vessel has a very unique method of propulsion. Does it truly reduce the mass of Midway in order to increase velocity beyond light speed? It has me and several of my people very intrigued.”

Again Markus was taken aback by not only Revan’s knowledge but his forwardness. Markus was also shocked that Revan’s people didn’t use mass effect fields to achieve faster than light travel, as even the Turians used an identical technology to navigate the stars.

“That is correct.” Again he wasn’t going to give away anything more than he needed to. “If I may, how does your ship achieve FTL speeds if not by utilizing Mass Effect Fields?”

“Hyperspace, an alternate dimension where the normal laws of physics don’t apply. It allows for travel at many times the speed of light.” Markus had heard of alternate dimensions such as this before, but he was no physicist and didn’t know anything of how to reach these dimensions. “Commander, I was wondering if you would be willing to trade my knowledge of the galaxy for any information you have on mass altering technologies. My scientists are attempting to build something that will do the opposite of what your drive core does and anything that can help them would be appreciated. In return my people and I will supply you with galactic maps and anything else you may need to return to your own home.”

‘And so we finally get to the bottom of this.’ Markus thought to himself. It’s technology he’s after. To Revan he replied. “I will talk to my Chief Engineer and see what he can do for you.”

“I will send a shuttle in an hour to bring both of you to my ship.” Revan closed the channel and Markus was left wondering what he had just agreed to.

“Bao-Dur was very exited when I told him I may have found a solution to his problem with the Mass Shadow Generator. When he saw the sensor data I gathered he said the results looked promising, at which point I contacted the Commander of the unknown vessel, a human - Commander Zen Markus of the SSV Midway.

General Blukam has reported that the assault on Dxun is going well, the jungle is almost as fierce as the Mandalorians hiding in it. Close air support has been effectively removed as the Mandalorian AA guns are hidden deep in the jungle and the fighting is being diverted away by the Mandalorian defenses. If Dxun and it’s indigenous species weren’t so vital to my plans I would simply destroy the Mandalorian base from here. By the force I wish I could… every dead soldiers echoes across the surface and into space. It must be hell for those fighting down, especially for the Jedi.

It will all be over soon though. When the Mass Shadow Generator is completed Malachor will be ready and when the Mandalorians take that bait, nothing will remain. And we will see how the Republic fares without the Jedi."