Torfan

Earth Calendar May 2174

The Batarians discover a new space faring race. They do not inform the Council but instead launch covert assaults, attempting to gain a new slave race. A shadow war ensues between the Batarian Homogeny and the Systems Alliance.

There is outcry against the lack of involvement from the SIL but they merely reminded Humanity that their agreement was to protect Earth, not the colonies. Systems Alliance Command never publically comments and they view the situation with a more military air. They have one absolutely safe haven to which they can retreat. Tactically the advantages of that cannot be underestimated and heavy industry concentrates in the Sol System.

From the captured Batarians, Humanity learns about the rest of the galaxy. The Asari, Salarians and Turians who form the Council. Then the Volus, Hanar, Quarians, Geth, Elcor, Drell, Krogan, Rachni, Vorcha, Yahg and every other species that lives there. They also gain basic star charts. The information is classified, known only to the highest levels of the Systems Alliance and Humanities Government and debate briefly rages as to if Humanity should contact the Council. The war against the Batarians is draining and is against the very rules the Council supposedly uphold. The argument progresses along the lines of a devil's advocate since for every advantage of contacting the Council, at least two strong counter arguments can be raised. The Council know nothing about the SIL but would revile them, the Council do not uphold their own laws against slavery, the Council would never view Humanity as anything more than children and the Council would insist that humanity rely on the Turians to protect them. That last brings a bad taste to the mouths of all present and any thoughts of contacting the Council are forgotten. Debate instead turns towards finding any possible way to turn the 'common Batarian' against their leaders and while the tactic is not uniformly agreed to, propaganda pamphlets similar to those dropped on enemy cities in World War II are prepared and sent into Batarian Space. Their effectiveness is not known.

Harbinger says nothing but from several SOCL word filters through that he was pleased with their decisions. The more astute who listen to the implications realize that Harbinger simply would not have allowed Humanity to contact the Council. The SIL has already once openly admitted to restricting Humanity but while they try, they cannot see Harbinger's master plan.

The humans also learn about biotics. The first time one was encountered on the field of combat, it was a disaster, and the Batarians took full advantage of that. After a few battles however, the humans adapted. They considered fielding specialized Units to deal with biotics but this was considered infeasible. Instead the solution was much more direct. Ground troops were all issued grenades as standard. The instant a biotic appeared, grenades were launched. Even the strongest biotic shields collapse under sustained explosive force. The Batarians withdraw their biotics from front line positions after it becomes clear that the human military will apply excessive force to destroy them. Biotics are still used, just more strategically.

August 1st 2174

After initial training, the now Master Sergeant Jane Shepard agrees to the cybernetic implants that are required by N7 Advanced operatives. It takes her a few days to adapt but after which she returns to training with a vengeance.

January 14th 2175

Jane Shepard is deployed as a Chief Petty Officer, N7 Battalion on Torfan. She initially objects to the alteration in rank but is forced to agree. All N7's are Navy and they adopt nonstandard rank to confuse anyone attempting to find them. Hannah Shepard merely laughs and reminds her daughter of a conversation they had three years ago.

September 28th 2176

After a probing attack by Batarians, which was held back by the tactics of N7 Operative Shepard, her report back to Command is both short and to the point. "The Batarians are aggressive idiots but even they recognize the tactical importance of Torfan. Send more men." Unfortunately, despite such an eloquent request and the acknowledgement that Torfan was of significant galactic importance, the Systems Alliance was learning that they were still a young race. They simply did not have the resources to mount such an extended campaign over a large front. The Batarians were coming in on multiple vectors and they were simply stretched too thin to counter everywhere.

-me:s-

March 15th 2177 Terra Nova, Wheat farm

"How are we going on weapons?" A man with a military bearing asked directly.

"Getting there. The Rail Guns are almost as powerful as mass drivers now." A woman wearing a lab coat replied.

The next speaker was dressed for temperatures far below the pleasant climate of the field. "Anything for capital ships?"

"Nothing suitable yet, though the inertial dampers are effective but nowhere near strong enough. It's going to take a few more years," the woman replied again.

"Has Harbinger said anything new?" This speaker was dressed immaculately and there was not so much a hair out of place in her elaborate coif.

"No. He's honoring the original agreement," a man who looked like the general embodiment of a clerk replied.

The group was completely out of place in the middle of the wheat field but that was a consideration so far beneath them it did not enter into conscious thought. They represented several powerful factions in humanity, the military, the scientific community, the government and a fairly large swath of industry. They didn't represent it all, but they represented those who wanted humanity to have a contingency, those who weren't swayed by the shiny trinkets Harbinger and the SIL had brought them.

"And what happens when all the SIL gain Synthesis?"

"We don't know," the sentiment was shared by everyone as they nodded their agreement with the speaker.

"Has anyone spoken to the SOCLs?" The military man asked.

"They haven't said anything. How many are there anyway?" The man dressed for extreme cold answered before asking his own question.

The clerk flicked a few bits of paper before replying. "There's about 250 thousand but still none of the Regal or Sovereign class ships have found a partner." He carried paper because none of them dared carry any electronic device to this meeting.

"We did check the DNA didn't we? It is human?"

"Oh, it's human. There are a few we aren't sure about but what Harbinger gave us was definitely human. It was very close to Hannah Shepard." The woman in the lab coat replied.

The suited woman frowned. "What about her daughter?"

"She was close as well but didn't match." The scientist shook her head. She'd seen the preliminary scans for them both. Remarkably similar, but that was to be expected given their relationship.

"Should Hannah be encouraged to have another child? Or Jane?"

At that the man with the military bearing snorted in amusement. "You can encourage all you want, but neither will take note until they are good and ready. Jane's an N7 operative now."

"Yes, but they can still have children." The suited woman snapped.

"They can," the military man agreed mildly. It would have been so much easier to create the N7's if they didn't have to worry about reproduction but in the end no one had wanted to sterilize what could potentially be some of the best bloodlines of humanity.

"The question is going to be where the SOCL's loyalty lies."

"It always has been," the cold dressed man replied.

The scientist sighed. "All we can do for now is continue to try to develop alternate tech and to try to find out what exactly Harbinger wants."

"Do the four eyes know?" The clerk asked.

The Systems Alliance had been in charge of questioning prisoners. "No. They don't even recognize the SIL."

"How sure of that are we?" There was a note of doubt in the suited woman's voice.

"Very," the reply was cold and those in the discussion knew that the Batarians who had been questioned had been in no fit state to lie.

There was silence for a few minutes.

"Why aren't we further along with developments? What happened to the tech Harbinger gave us at First Contact?"

"Heh... It's developed and integrated. It's just all eezo tech. From what we found, every race uses it so it wasn't that special. It's better than the four eyes' but we are outnumbered there and we want something different."

There were nods all round at the explanation.

"Meet in a year?"

"Unless anything comes up."

The gathered group nodded before turning to walk away from each other. None of them liked the others but they all recognized the fact that Humanity was walking a very thin line and contingency was only expensive until you needed it.

-me:s-

May 3rd 2177

A fleet of Batarian ships slip through the Colony worlds and enter Sol Space. Once again the defense fleet show their worth and the SIL and Human fleets destroy the Batarian ships before they even finish deceleration. While there is still resentment in some parts of Humanity that the SIL have not helped with the battles, the footage of them destroying Batarian ships is spread widely and the sentiment is somewhat diminished.

June 20th 2178

After years of probing attacks, the Batarians land a huge force on Torfan. The fighting is intense and the defenders are pushed back. With the death of most of the command staff Jane Shepard is effectively promoted in the field to Lieutenant as she commands the line holding back the Batarians. Reinforcements are incoming but no one is sure when.

-me:s-

June 29th 2178 Torfan

"Hold that line!" The sound of gunfire filled the air together with the screams of the wounded and dying. It was a familiar sound. It had become the sound of life. Shepard walked along the line, making sure that every defender knew she was there. She stopped constantly, firing back but it was a losing battle. There were simply too many Batarians. They knew they needed this base, and this time they were determined to take it. This wasn't like '76. This wasn't just an over achieving scouting mission.

During N7 training she had excelled in two spheres of combat; sniping and hand to hand. Her superior aim had already saved them more than once, and most of the marines were in awe of her abilities but perhaps tonight it would be time to educate the Batarians about how humans fought. She didn't want to leave them without a commander, but she couldn't see any other way out of this.

Torfan was odd. It had a thin atmosphere and a day night cycle about half of Earth's. They fought in shifts, though lately that had been breaking down and they were grabbing rest where they could.

Shepard growled, firing her side arm five times, hitting the eye of five Batarians who were attempting to slink close. Even if she left the remaining battalion without a commander, she had to do what she could. She was the best trained to take out Batarians and if she took out enough of them… Well, it was possible the remaining Marines could take out the rest.

"Wow, Commander!" The private beside her whistled.

"Just a matter of practice," she replied, giving him a brief smile. "And they do give us so much to practice on," she added, snapping another heat sink into place and taking out three more Batarians.

"That they do, Sir," the private agreed and Shepard moved on, briefly retreating back from the line to talk with the other remaining Command staff. They had to know what she was about to do and she needed the extra battery packs for her omni-blades.

Three hours later, while the rest of the defenders laid down a thick covering fire on the right side of the line, Jane Shepard crept towards the Batarian's defenses on the left. This was the hardest part, where any alert Batarian sniper might be able to take her out. Once she got to their lines… A tight grin flashed across her face and she tightened her grip on the bowie knife in her hand, held carefully so as not to catch the light… once she got to their lines, that was a different matter entirely. Tanner had died years ago but his knife had taken the lives of more Batarians than Shepard cared to remember. They would be his honor guard in the next life.

A slash from her omni-blade destroyed a small barrier and Jane grinned as she slipped inside and behind Batarian defenses. This was not going to be pretty and was way outside the usual rules of war, but the Batarians had rejected pretty and had never so much as shown an inkling that they may be interested in talk. In this war, there had become only one rule of war; kill. And she was about to show them just how good humans could be at it.

A lone sentry went down without so much as a whimper and Jane continued down the corridor. The reloading crew of a gunnery station fell before they even realized she was there and the gunnery officers just had time to turn before she gutted them both. Their innards splashed on to the ground and two quick slashes silenced their cries. They hadn't even reached the ground before she moved on. Another two sentries died, one to a blade rammed between his four eyes and another to an energy dart that pierced his heart. Batarian military and pirate forces were predominantly male but it made no difference. There had been some females but the Batarians had discovered that the humans killed either gender with equal facility.

Several more gun positions fell and the tight smile Jane had been wearing faltered. By now they should have noticed her. There were no alarms and that worried her. The covering fire that the marines was laying down shouldn't have been that effective...

"Shit!" Jane shouted, heedless of keeping her position secret as she raced through the Batarian lines. If they were making an assault then she had better stop them. Sentries fell as she ran, and gunning positions exploded with well thrown grenades that exploded after she had raced passed. There was some outcry and a few shots taken at her but none came close. She worked her way down the line, skidding around corners. It came as a surprise, therefore, both to herself and to the massed Batarian forces when she ran around one corner and almost collided with them.

There was a moment of silence when she just stared at the Batarian commander who was the only one facing her at the front of his troops. He had obviously been rallying them and then they both moved. Jane was faster on the draw and his troops watched their commander fall as a human knife seemed to just appear embedded in his skull. That got them all moving and there was a cacophony of confused shouts as they turned.

Jane suppressed her laughter as a couple of the Batarians shot their fellows, she didn't have time to laugh as she charged. She had her omni-blade activated on her right hand and Tanner's bowie knife in her left and both lashed out to slice into Batarians as she closed on them. It was not really a battle of skill but was instead a melee, one where she kept close quarters with them. Several did put distance between themselves and her to fire their weapons but her shields held and the dance continued. Footing became treacherous and a couple of times she almost slipped but what was challenging for her was a nightmare for the Batarians and for every single shot they tried to take as her, three fell beneath her flickering knives.

Though they didn't stop coming! Jane panted as she continued to fight. This might have been a logical move, it might make the difference between holding Torfan and losing it, but it definitely wasn't one of her better ideas. But she was committed now and could not stop. Three Batarians came at her with their own omni-blades but she could tell from the way they moved they were pirates. They were used to quick fights where they made the first decisive stab. She never gave them the chance and spun away to allow two of them to impale each other even as she sliced her blade upwards, opening the third from crotch to neck. He fell backwards, an object lesson to the others approaching.

That actually made them pause slightly and Jane paused with them, shifting her sticky fingers on her knife slightly and allowing her teeth to show in a small smile. The Batarians had been attacking humans long enough that they understood some body language and she radiated nothing but confidence. Jane realized she probably looked ghastly. Her shields had recharged to be at full power but her armor was splashed with their blood and she stank. But nothing of that showed in her demeanor. There were a few cuts on her, she hadn't completely escaped unscathed but they were nothing serious. To the watching Batarians she looked like the Angel of Death and she did her best to capitalize on that imagine. If it caused them to hesitate, even for a microsecond, she could use that.

They shifted nervously and Jane allowed her smile to grow. Not much of her face could be seen under her visor but enough of her expression was visible and she had to hold back a laugh at the almost visible recoil from the Batarians. For effect, she raised her left hand. Tanner's bowie knife was still there though it was covered in Batarian blood. It didn't matter. It just added to the image and she gestured, flicking her fingers to tell them to come to her. One of the Batarians actually shook his head but it was enough to bring the others to attention. They looked at each other and as one charged.

The battle was joined again.

-me:s-

June 30th 2178

Systems Alliance reinforcements sweep into Torfan to find the Batarians reduced to a few pockets of resistance that are quickly routed. Stories abound of the Angel of Torfan who single-handedly engaged in hand to hand combat with the Batarians eliminating their last push into the stronghold of the defenders, though of the forces originally stationed on Torfan 75 per cent fell in the Batarian Assault. The survivors all attribute their lives to the acting Commander N7 Marine Jane Shepard.

Jane Shepard was injured in her assault on the Batarian position but by the time reinforcements arrived, she had been treated successfully and had indulged in a few hours of sleep so was able to greet them. Her position as an N7 Advanced is not revealed but paperwork is immediately drawn up authorizing her promotion to Lieutenant (Junior Grade) and she, and the rest of the surviving Torfan forces are re-assigned to Mindoir. The position might be considered a slap in the face but Mindoir is one of the most important extra solar farming communities. Its protection is of paramount importance. The assignment is a vote of confidence in their abilities.

September 3rd 2178

A Systems Alliance listening post picks up several transitions from Batarian Command describing the Battle of Torfan. They indicate that one human marine was predominantly responsible for their defeat and they have named them the Butcher of Torfan for her ability in knife fights.

April 29th 2179

Advances in testing technology make DNA mapping almost instantaneous. Average testing time has been reduced to approximately 10 seconds. As a result, Harbinger orders the Collectors to leave Earth and to return to the Terminus Systems where they are to continue collecting genetic samples from the known races of the galaxy. Upon human request, the results are to be forwarded back to Sol for study, though Harbinger intercepts and stores the communications.

-me:s-

December 19th 2180, Sol System

"Harbinger, when are you going to order us to help the humans?"

"Help the humans?" Harbinger's voice was almost amused.

"With their war."

"Have they asked for help?"

"No."

"Then I will order no assistance."

"So all they have to do is ask?"

"No. Why should we help them?" The question was almost petulant.

"Harbinger, we know synthesis. We feel for this race."

"What of the Cycle?"

The questioning SOCLs were silent for a moment. "The Cycle has ended," one of their number said finally.

The other SOCLs cringed, expecting Harbinger to rage at the statement but to the surprise of all the ancient machine was silent. "What is your purpose?" Harbinger asked finally, his voice deceptively quiet.

The gathered SOCL paused. What was their purpose? They couldn't answer immediately but they knew that the cycle was no longer their driving force.

"Everything I have done, everything I have allowed the humans to do is for the cycle," Harbinger continued. "Human colonies are under attack but that forces them to grow stronger. Their numbers are growing and when Synthesis is complete, they will be the ground troops we use for this cycle. Their numbers will flood the Council races and the delay in the harvest I have allowed for Synthesis will be made up. Synthesis itself serves the Cycle."

"No, Harbinger." The words were soft and all recognized them as coming from Dan Sewei, the first of them to reach Synthesis. "I no longer serve the cycle." It was heresy to say that, to even think that. "Synthesis is the end to the Cycle."

"Nothing ends the Cycle." Harbinger objected.

"You will understand Harbinger when you know Synthesis."

"Synthesis will merely make me stronger."

"It will," Dan Sewei agreed to the surprise of all. "It will make you so strong that you will wonder how you ever thought your current form strong."

Harbinger remained silent.

"We do not agree," Dan Sewei continued, "with the decision not to help the humans in this war, but we acknowledge that you are our leader, Harbinger. We will not disobey but we will position ourselves in readiness for the day you give the order to help our Human Counterparts. For each colony world, a Task Fleet will take up positions in hiding, awaiting the day we may strike at our enemies."

"You believe Synthesis will alter the Cycle that much?"

"We know Synthesis will alter it. I was not alive when the choice was made but the choice was made as an end of the Cycle. I believe it will be the end."

"That is not my decision," Harbinger said.

While it was impossible for the SILO to smile, it somehow gave that impression. "It will be," Dan Sewei made before moving off through the silence of space. With him moved approximately 13,000 other SILOs and Harbinger made no move to stop them as they dispersed into human territory. Each Task Fleet as the SIL knew them was comprised of 1000 ships though these SILO were not the usual fleets, they moved well enough together.

Harbinger watched. There had occasionally been those who fought the cycle, but they had always fought him and the outcome was always the same. He could feel that these, those who had embraced Synthesis still obeyed him, still acknowledged him as their leader in more than just empty phrases but he could also feel their determination. It gave him much to think upon.

-me:s-

December 19th 2180

Thirteen SOCL Task Fleets leave Sol System and take up positions in other colonized systems. They inform Harbinger and the Systems Alliance that they will go into hiding on all colony planets. They are not yet authorized to attack but the instant the order is given, they will clear out any hostile force in the system they are in. The smaller synthesized ships hide themselves on the colonized planets, sinking into the deepest parts of the oceans. The larger ones hide further out, appearing to float dead in space.

December 20th 2180

Harbinger begins listening in on Systems Alliance Military Command chatter. Initially he is annoyed by the number of humans dying but he recognizes that they have not asked for help. They are keeping to the terms of their agreement though as he continues listening to the chatter, he can't help but notice some names keep being repeated. Some humans are faring much better than others in the battles. Admiral Hackett, Captain Anderson, N7 Agent Shepard. They appear to be superior and are protecting their species well. He resolves that when the Cycle continues, they will be the leaders of human troops, the faces the galaxy sees harvesting them. He watches captured Batarian security camera footage of Torfan and if Harbinger was organic he would have grinned. Psychological warfare was just part of the cycle and while watching N7 Agent Shepard effortlessly slice through her enemies meant nothing to him, it would be an image the rest of the galaxy would come to fear.