AUTHOR'S FOREWORD:

Hello ladies and gents.

Welcome to Battlefield 2157.

This is a prequel story to Battlefield 2183, a Mass Effect story with the background of the Battlefield 2142 FPS game. You don't really need to read that to enjoy this, but you might want to read the timeline on that story's prologue up until the First Contact War. Also, if you haven't played Battlefield 2142, and don't know what an assault walker or a Titan is, you may want to check out the trailers for that game.

I'm largely writing this because I find the end of the First Contact War to be very convenient. The canon says the asari and salarians stepped in and stopped the turians from annihilating or subjugating humanity. It doesn't say why, beyond vague mention of the asari's preference for diplomacy and the minor defeat inflicted on the turians at Shan'xi by Admiral Drescher. While that works in its own way, it's also an anti-climax. I am not satisfied.

So, I will write the secret history of the First Contact War. Enjoy!

Prologue:

Shan'xi Colony, 2157

"Hello, my love.

We've just settled down, but our regiment is being moved out further into the wilderness. Our company moves out tomorrow and it seems likely that I will be unable to send any more messages until it's all over.

Don't worry, I'm safe. Shan'xi is different from what they've told us. When they say that it's like Earth, don't listen to them. The animals are different, the plants are different, the sounds at night, and of course, the sky. It's all so beautiful.

It's been a week and the aliens have not shown up yet, and our commanders are beginning to believe that they won't show up at all. They have said that our regiment will be the first shipped home, even as they work us to the bone. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, I guess. Either way, it shouldn't take more than a few months. I'm really looking forward to seeing you again. I'm thinking of you every second and I miss you."

Cassandra's writing was interrupted as a private entered her quarters in a fuss, hastily saluting as he straightened his uniform. Looking up from her letter, she narrowed her eyes at the interloper.

"You forgot to knock, soldier," she growled, standing up to her full height. The private looked startled as he realised she was taller than he was, but soon remembered why he was there. Cassandra grimaced as he held out the piece of paper. He had not even bothered to apologise for the transgression. She quickly decided against further reprimand. It was written all over the man's face that it was an urgent matter.

She looked over the piece of paper. It was an order to proceed to the position of the United States Colonial Marine Expeditionary Force, and to place her unit under the command of its leader, Colonel Ryan. It was signed by General Williams. Supposedly.

Cassandra slapped the order down on top of her tablet in frustration, and looked back up at the private. He seemed to be waiting, as if curious as to the response. She ground her teeth for a moment. The little bastard was annoyingly earnest.

"What do you see here?" she asked, pointing at her lapel.

"Captain's stripes, ma'am?" the private ventured, his voice unsteady with uncertainty.

Cassandra rolled her eyes. There were the stripes of a captain to be sure, but that wasn't the point she was trying to make.

"Let's try again, what flag do you see here?" she said, pulling her collar out from her armour.

"South Africa's flag, I think, ma'am," he replied.

"Good, I'm glad to see your powers of observation haven't packed up and went to a beach on Eden Prime for a nice little holiday," she said, smiling now, "And what flag is on your sleeve?"

"The Stars and Stripes, ma'am!" he declared proudly, his former uncertainty disappearing as if it had never existed at all. Cassandra sighed with exasperation. At least he was acting more like a soldier now.

"Yes, it is," she said, "Now why would General Williams split off my company from its regiment, and assign us to a foreign unit, without telling me why directly? Over the head of my own commander, who is in fact a citizen of my own country?"

The private looked sheepish for a moment, but confusion or deception was not present on the man's face. Cassandra contained her urge to ask again more politely, and sat down. This was going to be good.

"The General said to say that it was none of your God-damned business, ma'am, that all operational details from now on were to be issued on a need-to-know basis, that the Alliance was in supreme command now, and that you didn't need to know the details yet," the private said finally, "And he told me to say it exactly like that."

The man looked physically relieved, taking a sharp breath before standing to full attention, awaiting a response. A chuckle burst from Cassandra's lips. She knew the man was telling the absolute truth. It also meant the aliens were here, or at least, in the system somewhere. The General was probably afraid of comms interceptions, something that ET was apparently very good at. She stopped laughing slowly and nodded.

"That sounds like General Williams," she conceded, standing up again.

"Your response, ma'am?" he asked.

"Inform the General that C Company will move out on the hour," Cassandra said.

"There is already a guide waiting for you at checkpoint three," the soldier added. The private saluted, and left in as much a hurry as when he came, pushing the door open violently. Cassandra winced as he left. Whoever's house it was Cassandra grabbed her helmet and placed it on her head, the computer at the back humming on as it linked with the armour covering her body. The battlefield network system flashed up onto her visor, and she activated her communications.

"Nandi, copy," she said, "Get everyone ready and assembled at checkpoint three, we move out in ten. Combat loadouts."

"Yes, Captain DeRuyter," replied Lieutenant Botha.

The Captain brushed the General's order off of her tablet, and sat down, looking at what she had written.

"Until we meet again,

Cassandra."

She sent her now-completed letter quickly, not thinking about it any further. After putting away her tablet, she grabbed her pack and weapon. There would be time for letters later, Cassandra hoped, as she started on her way to her troops. For now, there was fighting to be done.

Alliance Forward Fleet Base Arcturus

Flight Lieutenant Hannah Shepard watched the shuttle fly away from the docks through the plate window. Watched her three year old daughter fly away, along with all the other kids that had been on Arcturus. It wasn't safe for them anymore.

Aliens had attacked the 63rd Exploration Flotilla past the Shan'xi Theta relay. Everyone had known that there were advanced species in the galaxy, and that humanity would eventually run into them. That is why there was an Alliance Navy in the first place. No one had thought that they would attack entirely unprovoked. It made no sense.

Very few people even knew what enemy they were fighting. Shan'xi's defence flotilla had retaliated and won a stunning victory against the aliens and bodies had been recovered before the aliens counterattacked, sure. No one except for the biohazard teams and the top brass had been allowed to see what the dreaded opponent looked like.

Hannah didn't care what they looked like. Her daughter's future was the only reason she needed to fight. An aggressive alien species with no regard for diplomacy or decency was seemingly on the warpath, and she would fight with every fibre of her being to see them stopped.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned around. It was John. She put her hand on his, and turned back to watch as the shuttle shrunk and shrunk, until it disappeared.

"She'll be fine," said John, "Your mother can take care of her until it's over."

"I know," Hannah replied, smiling, "Let's do what we can, Deck Chief."

TIMELINE:

Pre-War

2103:

The European Union founds Lowell City near the Martian South Pole, the first permanent human settlement on Mars. The achievement is feted as a triumph of European engineering, and threatens to trigger a space race between the European Union-African Union bloc and the massive Pan-Asian Coalition. The US plans further afield, investigating Jupiter's moon "Europa" for possible colonisation.

2105:

Arctic and Antarctic summer ice begins a stunning reversal of 21st Century norms, extending to the Eurasian and Canadian mainlands for the first time in fifty years. The discovery and development of fusion technology is celebrated as having finally undone the climatic damage done during the 20th and 21st centuries.

2100s:

Technological progress in all areas continues at pace, with anti-gravity technology based on controlled air pockets and plasma weaponry being developed in the Pan-Asian Coalition. US espionage places most of the advances in the hands of the Western powers.

2112:

The winter of this year is particularly harsh. The North Sea and the Baltic Sea freeze. Huge glacial flows stretch far into Russia, China, Korea and Japan. Canada nearly disappears under the ice, but its major urban centres are untouched. Populations further north than Moscow are displaced southwards for a number of years.

First anti-gravity aerial assault craft, or Titan, is launched by the PAC, soon followed by European and American projects.

2119:

The first year of permanent glacial flows. Emergency session of the United Nations hears evidence that the Earth is entering a new Ice Age. Evidence points to variance in solar output as cause. Treaties of mutual assistance are signed.

2123:

Pan-Asian Coalition begins to feel the effects of population movement and loss of huge amounts of agricultural land and resources. Unrest begins, measures put in place to insure order, elections permanently suspended. European Union and United States condemn the Pan-Asian Coalition, but refrains from economic sanctions due to fragility of global economy.

The European Union and Union of African States sign formal military and economic alliance treaty.

2120s:

Ice continues to extend further southward each year. Huge areas of Russia and Canada permanently under ice by decade's end.

Space colonisation efforts by the PAC cease as resources are strained, but existing settlements on Mars are maintained.

Assault walkers are field tested.

2134:

Titan deployments for humanitarian purposes save millions from starvation in the PAC, but the government of that state foresees mass starvation and economic ruin by the middle of the century without a change in circumstance. PAC begins mass military build-up along border. Europe and Africa respond in kind, concentrating their forces along the Mediterranean. The US increases its defence budget in response, leading to the same from South America and Australia.

Europe builds the three defensive lines in Northern Europe: Minsk, Brandenburg and Maginot.

Steven Hackett is born in Buenos Aires, in the South American Federation.

2137:

The last real effort to come to a diplomatic solution for resource distribution between the PAC and EU fails. The attempted US-brokered peace would have seen PAC military technology and resource wealth traded for food and energy technology. Both parties continue diplomatic talks beyond this point, but both use it to stall in order to complete their war preparations.

The Eldfell-Ashland Energy Corporation demonstrates helium-3 extraction from Saturn, causing a severe drop in the American stock market as helium-3 extraction from Luna is put under threat. Luna is an exclusively American holding at this time. The United States falls into a state of civil unrest as its economy is already badly affected by the climatic changes, precluding involvement in the Eurasian Crisis.

David Anderson is born in London, European Union.

The Cold War

2139:

With coordinated offensives from the Baltic to Africa, the Pan-Asian Coalition declares war on the European Union with the objective of capturing its resources and land.

The Union of African States honours its alliance with the EU and joins the fight. The PAC first strikes prioritise Africa in a conventional assault, drawing away many regular units of the European Army.

The United States' economy begins to recover quickly as European firms and government contracts pour into the country to fill war logistics demands, allowing Washington the time to solve some of its internal problems.

Kahlee Sanders is born in the Texan Megapolis, United States of America.

November 2139: Minsk

Operation Canute: Three battalions led by General Arkadi Petrov attack Minsk, the EU's command centre for the Minsk Defensive Line. First deployment of the militarised Titan in live combat operations, changing the nature of human warfare forever. Defence and destruction of titans becomes basis for military strategy during the war.

2140: Breaking the European Lines

PAC offensives concentrate on the Balkans primarily, as the region has yet to feel the full brunt of the new ice age. PAC divisions trap EU forces in the region in Belgrade in February. Despite a spirited defence by the EU 9th Armoured Corps lead by General Emil Nikoli, Belgrade falls in March.

The PAC attacks the Brandenburg Line in force. By July, PAC gunships have air superiority over the battlefield, and PAC Titans drop entire regiments behind Berlin. In August, the PAC offensive against Berlin begins, and the city falls two months later. Remaining EU forces retreat to France to make a stand while populations and industrial base is evacuated to Africa.

2141: Verdun & America

The PAC control much of Europe, but the ice advanced to its furthest point recorded, rendering almost all of the land useless. The Mediterranean remains firmly in EU hands.

The next PAC offensive quickly bogs down at the Maginot line at Verdun. Caught between huge iceflows and the European defences, the PAC walkers and tanks found the attack impossible to sustain. EU tank formations using the less-sophisticated but reliable A-8 Tiger were well able to match the Nekomata hovertanks fielded by the PAC. The EU uses infiltration tactics to destroy PAC titans.

The South American Federation, seeing the other major powers distracted by war, declares its own war on Mexico. Mexican forces defend their borders valiantly, and contrary to the hopes of the SAF, the United States declares war immediately, unable to tolerate the possibility of another world power directly on its doorstep. US Titans deploy to the front, against which the SAF deploys anti-Titan missiles.

By the end of 2141, the PAC copies European anti-titan tactics and Verdun falls, but the EU's strategic objective has been achieved; populations and industry have been moved to Africa. The US and Mexico holds off the SAF, but can make no progress to halt the enemy as their military had not been at high readiness when war broke out.

2142: The Fall of Europe & The Venezuela Offensive

With Verdun in PAC hands, the offensive swept through France and into Spain.

Cerbere in southern France stands as a stronghold temporarily until the intervention of PAC General Yuri Vladormirovic. Commando units using advanced optical camouflage technology breach the port's defences, but the EU leaves its crack infantry unit, the Hell Brigade, behind to defend the port. The Cerbere Landing establishes itself as the most costly battle of the Cold War.

US Titan forces attack Venezuela en masse, taking heavy casualties but successfully establishing a beachhead. The region is one of the SAF's industrial centres, and they retaliate with a general offensive on all fronts to draw away the Americans from the sector by the year's end.

The assault on Africa begins soon after with the PAC attacking Camp Gibraltar in Morocco. In May, the PAC strikes at the Suez Canal with large scale Titan forces. The EU responds in kind with their own Titan forces, and a campaign of attrition begins. Raids on Tunis and elsewhere fail to stop European and African reinforcements.

2143:

Mass migrations, diminishing food supplies and extremely insufficient energy generation ravage the PAC's population. With the political situation becoming increasingly desperate, PAC military forces turn their attention to the EU agricultural city project at Shuhia Tabia. Both sides deploy a dozen Titans, and the fighting over the city lasts a year, after which only two Titans are left. The region will become known as the Titan graveyard.

A similar offensive to capture the huge energy plants at Sidi fails after only two months, as PAC Titans divert to capture Shuhia Tabia or are reserved for logistics roles.

The US are repelled from Venezuela, but not before destroying the facilities there, including the SAF's Titan project factories. Furthermore, a joint US-Mexican offensive takes Panama and the path into Columbia. The entire north of the SAF is under threat.

On Mars, the European Union manages to land specialised military equipment, and attempts to bombard PAC settlements from space without success. The colonists in Lowell City begin training, and the first military unit founded on an offworld colony is raised: the European 1st Martian Armoured Regiment. Given the huge distances and harsh terrain, the government is reluctant to use its military forces aggressively until the right moment.

2144: Stalemate and Prothean Ruins

The EU repulses the PAC from Africa, and launches limited offensives eastwards from its holdings. A successful raid on a Titan facility in Karkand leaves PAC Titan production crippled. The Europeans prepare to take back their homeland.

US and Mexican forces sweep into Columbia, Peru and Chile as the Titans lead the way. The success of the attack draws the attention of Brazil, which intervenes in order to preserve the balance of power that has reigned in the Western hemisphere for nearly a century. Brazilian reinforcements push US forces back from Chile and Peru, and the first and only Titan battle between the US and Brazil occurs over Lima in September. The Brazilians copy EU and PAC tactics, using missiles to overwhelm the defences of the enemy titans and then infiltrating them to destroy their reactor cores.

The European Union orders its Martian colonies to use its newly raised military force to finally attack PAC settlements on Mars. The Martian 1st Armoured leaves Lowell City on the months-long journey to Vladivostok-on-Mars. The armoured column runs into something entirely unexpected after a modified rover falls into a large pit.

Inside the pit are the ruins of an alien outpost, complete with a cache of technology and a new material: element zero. The offensive against the PAC colonies is called off as the scientists in Lowell City examine the technology and information. News of the discovery is suppressed.

2145: Endgame

After half a year of examination of the alien technologies found on Mars, the European Union discovers the mass effect. As its first act, it integrates the new technology with existing orbital military satellite strike capabilities.

The planned counteroffensive to retake Europe from the PAC proceeds at a blistering pace. PAC titans and anti-titan missile installations are subjected to orbital bombardment and are annihilated. EU Titan forces are able to range at will and without contest, and PAC forces are swept back. By the summer of 2145, the EU has restored the pre-war borders.

The PAC refuses to surrender, and the EU retaliates with an all out invasion of its own. They quickly capture vast swathes of territory in Asia. The PAC response is to turn to its nuclear arsenal, which has gone unused until this point out of fear of damaging valuable productive land and further lowering the global temperature. European anti-ballistic missile systems shoot the nuclear strike down before the aging missiles can reach their targets.

The European Union responds to the attempted genocide with targeted orbital kinetic strikes on major PAC government facilities. The PAC collapses into a state of anarchy, and the rump government finally gives in. It surrenders unconditionally on November 11th 2145.

The next day, the EU declares war on the SAF and Brazil, and targets Brazil's titan forces from orbit, forcing the South American allies to the negotiating table with the US and Mexico. The cost of peace is war reparations to Mexico and a demilitarised zone in Central America, as well as the resignations of all those who voted in favour of war.

Victory to First Contact

2146:

The European Union formally annexes the majority of the Pan-Asian Coalition, setting up client governments in Japan and Korea. This causes it to become the single largest state in the history of humanity. The population of the former territory of the PAC has dropped significantly due to mass migrations to other states as well as starvation and combat losses. Millions of displaced Europeans are resettled. Surviving PAC citizens are granted citizenship of the EU and receive generous subsidies. Those responsible for the start of the war are hunted down and tried for crimes against humanity.

Earth's economy begins to recover.

The advance of the arctic ice halts at last and recedes slightly.

2148:

The European Space Agency ship Ariane makes the first manned FTL flight between Mars and Luna. The ESA begins a worldwide recruitment campaign for the best pilots and astronauts.

The United States demands full payment of the massive European war debt, hoping to gain FTL technology. The European Union refuses, stating that it would pay its debts as agreed previously and that its new technologies were not for sale. The US begins serious diplomatic efforts to rally the rest of the world against Europe for its position, calling the hoarding of the technology to be selfish and without regard for the cause of humanity.

The European Union accepts Canada as a member state, allowing millions of Canadian refugees to enter Europe as citizens from the massive refugee camps in the United States.

2149:

The secret of European advances in technology is leaked, and the human race learns that it is not the sole sentient species in the universe. Demands from other world powers to share the technology gleaned from the Prothean Archives on Mars are met with military brinkmanship from the EU.

Production of mass effect technologies explodes, with everything from small-arms to spaceships being constructed by European state-firms. Petitions to open the technology to private firms are shot down in the European Parliament, which wishes to insure their own military superiority before allowing civilian applications.

The Charon Mass Relay is discovered. The American test-pilot Jon Grissom is the first man to leave the Sol System, travelling by mass relay to the Arcturus system on board the European Space Agency ship Ragnarok.

2150:

The European Union gives in to massive international pressure from friends and rivals alike, and forms the Systems Alliance, a political and military compact for the exploitation of space by humanity. As the largest polity on Earth, the EU dominates the alliance along with the US. Two military wings are formed, the Navy made up of the European fleets under unified political control, and the Army, made up of modernised military forces from all member nations.

Arctic ice recedes partially, releasing parts of Canada, Britain, Ireland and Europe from the glaciers. Mass effect technology is released to the private sector, leading to a boom period of population growth and economic development.

The Systems Alliance begins its first surveys of other systems for habitable planets. Demeter and Eden Prime are among the first to be discovered.

Miranda Lawson is born in Werrington Downs, Australia.

2151:

The Systems Alliance accelerates the original European fleet construction programme in anticipation of first contact with extraterrestrials, as well as for the colonisation of space. Ships of all classes as well as orbital-deployed Titans and assault walkers are built en masse. US, African and EU armies are equipped with mass accelerator weapons for the first time.

The first colonisation congress is held in the Palace of Versailles. The European Union cedes the entirety of its rights to the colonisation of Terra Nova to the Union of African States, in compensation of its contributions during the Cold War.

An airport accident in Singapore leads to mass exposures to element zero in dust form.

Kaiden Alenko is born in Singapore, EU-Administered Malaya.

2154:

Jane Shepard is born in Lorient, European Union, to Hannah Shepard, a Canadian cadet of the Systems Alliance Navy.

2155:

Jeff Moreau is born on Arcturus Station, the new forward naval base of the Systems Alliance.

The ten year anniversary of the end of the Cold War is held, with massive parades in Paris, Mexico City, Cape Town and Washington.

2157:

The First, Second and Third Fleets of the Systems Alliance are declared formally ready for combat operations. Exercises in space with the various new weapons designs are ordered as exploration continues at a rapid pace.

Jacob Taylor is born in New York State, the United States of America.