THE FOLLOWING THINGS ARE THE PROPERTIES OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS; I DO NOT OWN THEM AND MAKE NO MONEY OFF OF THIS VENTURE
Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha (Teana, various other characters) – 7Arcs
Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (Shion, the "Keiichi Crew") – 07th Expansion and Studio Deen
Shuffle! (Kaede Fuyō, Rin, Asa & Ama, Sia & Nerine, Primula) – Navel and Asread
Erika's New Perfume (Marie, Sarah, Erika, Timmy, Veronica) – Deviant-Art artist Lance the Young
Mai-chan's Daily Life (Mai, Kizuna) – Waita Uziga
Star Wars (Ahsoka, Cody, Rex, Force Unleashed cast) – George Lucas, Lucasfilm
Halo (Forerunners, UNSC, Sangheili Alliance) – Bungie and 343 Industries
StarCraft (multiple characters, events, and devices) – Blizzard Entertainment
Naruto (jutsu, abilities) – Masashi Kishimoto
Mahō Sensei Negima (spells, abilities, characters) – Ken Akamatsu
Kingdom Hearts (Keyblades, Heartless, Nobodies, Unversed, Aqua, other characters and concepts) – Square-Enix
Neon Genesis Evangelion (Mana Kirishima, other characters) – Studio Gainax
Elfen Lied (Kaede K., others) – Lynn Okamoto, Arms
Red vs. Blue (The Blood-Gulch Crew, the ex-Freelancers) – Rooster Teeth
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (stuff, mentions) – Hasbro, Lauren Faust
Transformers Film Series – Hasbro, Michael Bay
Transformers: Beast Wars – Hasbro, Mainframe Entertainment
Sonic the Hedgehog - SEGA
Mass Effect – Bioware
Gears of War – Epic Games
Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles – Columbia Tristar (I think)
PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE & CHARACTER PAGES
NOTE: I don't mention shinobi presence at the meeting because I want to wait and see if the manga ends up sparing Tsunade or not.
-BOOK 16 START-
Dimension ME-N7
Phoenix System (Argus Rho cluster), close to fifth planet Vebinok
LOCAL DATE: August 12, 2185 AD
DATAFILE – VEBINOK: "Vebinok is a small terrestrial world with a thin atmosphere of krypton and xenon. Its frozen surface is mainly composed of carbonaceous material, water ice, and low-density silicates. Rare but concentrated lodes of light metals have been deposited by asteroid impacts. One hemisphere of Vebinok is covered by surface deposits of oxidized copper. Approximately 270 years ago, a Turian bulk gas transport was attacked by pirates in the Phoenix System. Damaged, it made a rough landing on Vebinok. The heat of the landing melted significant quantities of surface ice, and ruptured shipping containers spilled LOX across the surface. Before this evaporated and escaped Vebinok's weak gravity, it reacted to cause the widespread rust."
Space-time shifted and warped, bluish-white rifts in reality forming. Ten ships emerged into realspace – the Starshot, the UNSC Marathon-class cruiser Ars Arcanum with three frigate escorts (Forward Unto Dawn, Aegis Fate, and Tennyson), the TSAB destroyers Asura and Preta, the Sangheili Alliance assault carrier Shadow of Intent, the Hyperion, and the Phoenix League Conflagration-class carrier People's Voice.
These were the coordinates that Agent Connecticut had given them for the meeting of the coalitions. Within 20 seconds of arrival, they all received a signal from nearby (in astronomical terms). They moved forward as a group, following the signal, and soon enough a new trio of ships soon became visible: a bronze-hued vessel with a rounded nose and sharper edges and angles almost everywhere else, around 1.19 kilometers long; a ~1.33-kilometer long ship with a blunt-tipped nose, a long boxy body with few right angles, and two stubby 'arms' toward the back that held some heavy weapons and some of the thrusters; and a smaller ship, around 570 meters long, composed of a large circular structure divided by a straight, thin structure, with two backwards 'branches' going back from the top and the bottom, and a long, thin body of what looked like various blocky segments locked together.
"Check out the size discrepancy" Shion said, she and the rest of Gamma standing on the Starshot's bridge. "And the little one looks… older, too. Less streamlined, a little beaten-up… I think I see some armor pieces that don't look like they were part of the original design."
The ships' names, written on their sides, were soon discernible. The bronze-shaded one had light-green writing in two scripts – one composed of bars, dots, & circles, and the English writing "Iacon"; the long grayish one had "Valley Forge" printed on its side in big white letters; and the small, old-looking ship had writing on the side in two scripts – an alien language different from the bronze one's, and English, the latter reading "Tesleya".
"Sir, the Valley Forge is hailing us" the communications officer said.
"Patch them through" Zhal Arum replied.
"Starshot, this is Valley Forge" the female voice of the VF's commanding officer said. "We are requesting permission to send shuttles from our ship, the Iacon, and the Tesleya to your ship for diplomatic relations."
"This is the Starshot" Zhal said. "Permission is granted. We await and welcome you."
Several minutes later, Gamma Team stood with Shipmaster Arum, Col. Holland, and several other personnel in the Starshot's portside hangar, looking out past the atmosphere-retaining field as a dropship from the Valley Forge approached. The somewhat blocky-looking craft flew in, VTOL thrusters flaring as it spun around so its rear was facing inward, and then setting down atop four 'legs'. The sound of the engines died down, and several seconds later a side door opened, a ramp unfolding from below it and extending down to the ground. A squad of soldiers in impeccably-tended dark green armor descended in formation, taking position at the bottom, and then a woman in her late 40s or early 50s wearing an officer's uniform with the insignia of a Naval Captain. She walked up to Arum and Holland, shaking their hands.
"I am Captain Michelle Jacobson, present Captain of the Antwerp-class battleship Valley Forge. On behalf of the Strategically Integrated Coalition of Nations, I extend a hand of peace."
"Well met, Captain Jacobson" Arum replied. "And who is this well-disciplined group of soldiers escorting you?"
"These are Lt. Jean Razak and his squad. They're one of SICON's most accomplished field teams."
Listening in, Sarah's eyes went a little wide. "Razak… SICON…" A smile formed on her face. "Oh man, it's the Roughnecks! Awesome!"
"Huh?" Teana asked.
"It's from an old sci-fi show that I really liked. It, ah… got cancelled toward the end because of production problems and executive meddling. But I have every episode that was made on DVD. I'll explain later. …It seems that Razak survived in this timeline, though. And I think I see Brutto, too; in the original series, he had to retire due to injuries at the start of the second-to-last arc."
The second shuttle soon flew in from the Iacon. This one was similar in design to its parent ship, and it set down and lowered the hatch below its tail. Out from it walked a synthetic being – humanoid in shape, with a chestplate of dull-orange and brown that looked like a well-muscled chest, dull-purple arms with silver plating, light-grey legs with metallic blue knee-plates, and a surprisingly organic-looking face with orange photoreceptors and a brief view of what looked like teeth. He walked over to the Shipmaster and Colonel.
"Hello Shipmaster Arum, Colonel Holland" he said, and his voice – intonation, inflection, everything – was something you'd expect from an organic. "I am Optimus Primal, commanding officer of the Ironhide-class battlecruiser Iacon."
"Oh… my…" Marie was quietly freaking out. "It's him… It's really him… W-We've got the Maximals…"
"Hello to you as well, Primal" Holland shook his hand. "…I must say, you seem pretty… advanced for a synthetic being."
"We've had several million years to evolve from when we were created" Optimus replied. "And even then, the being that created us was, depending on who you ask, either an extraordinarily advanced and powerful mechanical entity who came into being and evolved naturally rather than being built by someone, or an actual honest-to-goodness god."
"The Cybertronians are, for all intents and purposes, just like us" Capt. Jacobson chimed in. "They eat, they sleep, they feel, they are born and they die, they have culture and all that. They just happen to have wires for nerves, mech fluid for blood, and such. They are as far above the machines and robots that most organics create as we humans are above the earliest proto-primates."
"And now we are simply waiting for…" Zhal asked.
"The Quarian delegation from the Tesleya" Optimus replied.
"…Q-Quarians?" Marie squeaked out, barely audible.
Within a minute, a UT-47 'Kodiak' bearing Quarian script on it flew into the hangar, setting down. The side hatch opened, and out stepped four humanoid beings – clad head to toe in environment suits, their hands three-fingered and their legs digitigrade. One of them, bearing silver trim to parts of his armor, stepped toward the other ship COs.
"Hello, travelers" he said with a slight hint of a British accent. "I am Captain Dorn'Vessek vas Tesleya. None of the Five Admirals were available to attend this meeting, unfortunately, so I am here in their stead."
"Of course," Capt. Jacobson cut in, "those leaders not present here in person will be able to join this meeting via FTL communications."
"Very well" Zhal Arum said. "If you would please follow us to the meeting room, we'll set up communications with those who are unable to attend in the flesh."
As Arum and Holland led Jacobson, Primal, and Dorn'Vessek out of the hangar, the girls of Gamma walked up toward the Roughnecks, who turned and noticed them.
"Gamma Team…" Lt. Razak said. "From the footage we've seen, you girls are pretty good soldiers. I look forward to maybe working with you in the future."
"Looking forward to it" Teana replied. "…Sarah claims that she's seen the fictional equivalent of your timeline, similar to how Marie knew of the Blood-Gulch crew before we met them."
"Oh?"
"Yeah" Sarah replied, a grin on her face as she was thankful she had better hold on her fangirlness than Marie did. "Unfortunately, though, executive meddling and production problems led to the series being cut short in the final arc, right after the defense of Hawaii."
"Well," Razak replied, "after that the bugs dug a huge caldera underneath SICON HQ, kidnapped the Sky-Marshall. They got a group of 50 Marauders modified for lava traverse, sent us and a few other squads in. We made our way down the levels, like descending through the stages of Hell itself. In the end, we cornered the Bug Queen, and Rico took her down. So… Anyone here part of the squad right now who didn't survive the original timeline?"
"You, sir" Sarah said. "During the Earth Campaign, blew yourself up to take out a Rhino Bug that had a hold of you."
"I remember that. Depth Charge saved me."
"Also, at the start of the Klendathu Campaign, Brutto got caught between two faulty doors on the Valley Forge. They slammed shut on him, broke his spine. He was declared medically unfit for duty, honorably discharged and made to retire."
"Well, that sucks" the short-tempered Sergeant in question said. "Good thing that this me was quicker through that door."
"Wait" Marie interrupted. "Depth Charge saved you? As in, the Maximal?"
"Yes."
"But… Primal's in his Transmetal form, not his 'Optimal Optimus' form… Was the timeline for them radically different than the original?"
"No, actually" Dizzy Flores spoke up. "Primal can switch between those two forms now, thanks to some… magic, I guess. He busts out his big form whenever he needs some extra firepower, but he normally stays in the form you saw him in. The Maximals got pulled into things by the Z-Group, right after they got off of the ancient Earth they were fighting on; they had a Precursor Resurrector, and it brought back Dinobot, Tigatron, Airrazor, and Depth Charge. Megatron tried to make a break for it, but the Z-Group beat him down and sent him to the Maxis' & Preds' Cybertron, where he's been locked up in jail ever since."
'Their Dinobot's alive…' Marie thought. 'Hell, yes!'
"So how many groups make up your coalition?" Teana asked.
"Plenty" a new voice chimed in.
The girls of Gamma looked as one of the Quarians approached them. Her enviro-suit had a purple color scheme to it. It took Marie a few seconds to recognize her, but when she did she barely stifled a gasp (she didn't wanna look like too much of a weirdo by fangirling in front of the guests… which was getting harder and harder not to do).
"Hello, Lieutenant Lanstar" the Quarian said with what sounded like an Eastern European accent. "I am Tali'Zorah vas Neema."
"Pleased to meet you, Miss Zorah" Teana replied, accepting Tali's offer of a handshake. "You'll have to forgive my friend here."
"It's okay" Tali chuckled. "I'm one of the few Quarians who actually got to watch the footage rather than being given a broad outline of your coalition's existence, so I know that I have a fictional counterpart in Swanson's universe."
"S-So, uh…" Marie chimed in. "As you probably recall, I only got to play through the first game – the Saren/Sovereign Saga – before I was… changed. How long has it been since then, and has anything interesting happened?"
"It's been two-and-a-half years since Sovereign was destroyed" Tali replied. "And… half a year ago, the Normandy was destroyed in a surprise attack by an unknown enemy. Most of us made it out via escape pods, but 20 people didn't, including Navigator Pressly… and Shepard."
Marie's eyes widened. "…That can't be right."
"I'm afraid it is" Tali replied with great sorrow. "Shepard is…"
"No, I mean it literally cannot be right. I only got to play the first game, but a second was made, and a third was in development when I left my world. I highly doubt a trilogy could be made if the main hero dies after the first game, especially since the box art for the second game has Shepard on it… though he did have a scar or two on his face, if I remember right. There's no doubt about it: he has to be alive, somewhere."
"Shepard's… alive?" Tali said in a quiet, hopeful tone. "He might still be alive?"
"He's got to be. …Though I wonder what would keep him MIA for 2 years…"
"Maybe he spends a lot of that time being put back together by whoever finds him" Kaede suggested. "You said he was aboard a ship that got blown up; that had to have done some serious damage to him."
"By the ancestors, this is… a lot to take in." Tali said.
"Do you need some time?" Teana said.
"…No, I… I'll be fine. I'll be better than fine. You had some questions, as I recall."
"What happened to the rest of the gang after the Normandy got scrapped?" Marie asked.
"Garrus dropped off the grid after a few months; we don't know where he is. Wrex went back to Tuchanka and started working to unite the Krogan clans, instigate reforms. From what I hear, he's doing quite well. Liara settled on Ilium, working as an information broker. Ashley and Kaidan went back to the Alliance and-"
"Wait, wait, wait. Ashley and Kaidan?"
"…Yeah… What's so surprising about that?"
Marie took a deep breath. "In the original game, on Virmire, when the team-member with Kirrahe and the team-member at the bomb are both in trouble, the player has to choose which one to go save. There isn't time to save both of them, and whoever isn't chosen will die when the bomb goes off. Thanks to save-data importing the rest of the series is changed to fit whoever survived or died, but…"
"Ooh… Well, thank goodness we had the Roughnecks and Delta Squad. They went back to help Kaidan, while the rest of us and Shepard kept going to save Ashley. They're both alive and well in this timeline. Word has it that they're thinking of making Kaidan a Spectre, and Ashley's moved up in the Alliance NCO ranks – the old 'Williams Curse' is starting to fade, I guess. Well, Kaidan's been promoted too, to Major. I keep in contact with him fairly frequently."
"Anything else interesting happen?" Shion asked.
"Well, the Migrant Fleet and the Systems Alliance have close ties now" Tali replied. "Three and a half months ago, a human colony was hit by a devastating groundquake. The Flotilla responded to the distress calls before anyone else, and we helped in recovery, rescue, and repairs. The Alliance was very grateful. About two weeks after that, a Quarian fleet of around eight supply ships and two old frigates was attacked by heavily-armed pirates. The Systems Alliance responded to our distress call, and jumped in with a big battle-fleet – blew the pirates away, protected our ships, and even provided armed escort for the rest of the way. After that, the Alliance brass and the Five Admirals instituted formal talks and forged closer friendly ties. Three weeks ago, the Systems Alliance formally and publicly announced that all Quarian ships are welcome within Alliance space. The Council was a bit riled, but they learned to live with it. We've started sharing tech and volunteering personnel. Quarian warships are being outfitted with top-of-the-line shields and improved VIs and eezo reactors, while our engineers and technical specialists have started helping the Alliance with various things; you're starting to see Quarian crewmembers aboard Alliance vessels now. The Alliance's medical research institutions have even started looking for ways to maybe bolster our immune systems."
"So, who else besides your people, SICON, the Maximals, Galen Marek & his group, and C.T. & her boyfriend make up your coalition?" Teana asked.
"Well, we've got the last Saiyans and their group, an Optimus Prime and company from an entirely separate timeline from the Maximals where the Autobots showed up on Earth in 2007 instead 1984, Sonic and his friends, the Coalition of Ordered Governments, and from this realm the Systems Alliance. We've got plenty of powerful individuals, equivalents to you girls, the shinobi, and Mahora's mages, but our naval assets are… lacking compared to your coalition's."
"Wow…" Sarah said. "Things'll be fun from here out."
"I'm surprised that you're so nonchalant about working with Cybertronians" Marie said. "From what I remember, you were kinda… bigoted against synthetic beings."
"I've worked with the Autobots and Maximals long enough to see that they are radically different from the Geth and other such beings. They may have synthetic bodies, but their body language, their culture, their thought processes, everything about them is so… organic that I just can't really see them as machines. They're people, just like us; they even have souls… though they're called 'sparks' and they apparently have mass rather than being intangible and immaterial. …I must admit that, from the recordings I've seen, some of your UNSC's smart AIs, like Cortana and Roland for example, give me the same vibe; they're so advanced mentally that I can't help but view them as complete, emotional, soul-bearing beings, not tools or programs. Of course, seeing as how they're created by making a neural map of a human brain and copying the result into a quantum crystal matrix, I suppose it makes sense they'd be a lot more organic in their behaviors, motivations, and such."
"Do you have any timeline data for your coalition's activities?" Teana asked.
"Sure" Tali replied, forming a complex holographic interface over her arm. "I'll bring the data up now for you."
"What's that?" Mai asked.
"This…" Tali replied "is an Omnitool. And once you get one of your own, it's going to be your new best friend."
-SCENE BREAK-
Starshot Meeting Room
One Hour Later
The meeting was nearing its end. In addition to Arum, Holland, Optimus Primal, Capt. Jacobson, and Dorn'Vessek, several individuals were attending via hologram: Fleet-Admiral Hood, Arbiter Vadam, Chairwoman Staunton-Howard, Commander Raynor, Hierarch Artanis, Admiral Lindy Harlaown, Headmaster Konoemon, Commander Yui Ikari, Master Yen-Sid, Celestia, the alt-verse Optimus Prime, SICON Sky-Marshall Sanchez, COG Colonel Victor Hoffman, Systems Alliance Admiral Steven Hackett and Councilor David Anderson, and three of the Five Quarian Admirals –Shala'Raan, Han'Gerrel, and Zaal'Koris.
"Then it's settled" FADM Hood said. "We'll hammer out the details later, but for now we can consider our two coalitions officially united into a single larger one; our respective politico-military entities will remain sovereign and semi-independent, but with tight alliances between each other, with technology, intelligence, and personnel freely shared, as well as certain locations and ships that are considered joint property of all involved parties. On this day, we bear witness to the birth of the Dimensional Defense Force."
"We'll send you folks what information we have on past and present foes," ADM Hackett said, "such as the Arachnoids, the Locust (though it's highly unlikely any of them are left), and the Reapers."
"And we'll give you intel on the Covenant, the Dark Voice and his underlings, and other threats we've faced" Col. Holland replied.
"Now then, before we bring this meeting to a close," Chairwoman Howard said, "does anyone have any last-minute questions or concerns?"
"A minor issue has been brought to my attention as of a few minutes ago" Admiral Zaal'Koris replied. "Veetor, a young Quarian on his Pilgrimage, was assisting on a human colony world called Freedom's Progress. As of 50 minutes ago, the colony has gone completely silent. I was planning on having Tali'Zorah and her team head there to investigate as soon as possible."
"We'll give them a lift" Col. Holland said. "Is it alright if we have one or two of our people join the op?"
"I don't see any issues with that."
"Freedom's Progress is out in the Terminus Systems," Hackett added, "so unfortunately I can't send any Alliance teams out to investigate without risking an… incident."
"Meaning?" Zhal Arum asked.
"The Terminus Systems are very volatile" Han'Gerrel replied. "There are pirates, crime syndicates, and mercenary groups, outlaws on the run and such, and a lot of that sector is controlled or overseen by the Batarians, who have an intense, burning hatred of humanity. Any noticeable Alliance presence anywhere near the Terminus' borders, much less within them, could trigger a violent response. The only place that could be considered 'safe' for humans is the Sahrabarik System, the seat of power for Aria T'Loak, an Asari crime-kingpin whose opinion of humanity is 'neutrally interested' rather than hostile. And even then, it's a risk."
"Exactly" Hackett said. "Sending our forces into the Terminus, for whatever reason, could start a war, so we'll have to rely on your help. I'll ask that you folks please keep us apprised of the situation, and inform us of anything you find."
"Will do, sir" Col. Holland replied.
"Delta Squad's on the Valley Forge right now" Col. Hoffman said. "I'll give 'em a call, see if any of them wanna join in too. Y'know, just to give 'em somethin' to do."
-SCENE BREAK-
Starshot – Portside Rec Room
20 Minutes Later
Marie's head was spinning just a little right now. So many famous heroes were part of things; so much had happened. One of the biggest shocks from the timeline record was that two years ago, SICON had been on Sera helping the COG deal with the end of the Human/Locust/Lambent three-way war, and the Roughnecks had arrived with a gunship and bailed Delta Squad out at the town of Mercy; as a consequence, Dom was still alive! And judging from the later records, he was (very, very gradually and slowly) moving on from his past traumas. Though Chairman Prescott and Adam Fenix had still died 'as canon'; she supposed that some things couldn't be helped, really. Another event of around two years ago, fitting in with GOW3's events and Shepard's disappearance, was on the Earth that the Autobots had found and settled in on, when The Fallen had emerged from hiding and tried to destroy the Sun to forge Energon, only for Optimus to take him down. It was mentioned that assistance (read: a well-timed energy-disk that took Scorponok out midair right before it could latch on and start shredding) from Depth Charge had 'ensured the survival of Jetfire'. Also, from what she could tell, Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends were the most recent additions to that coalition; the defeat of the Black Arms was only two months ago, and the events of Unleashed and Colors hadn't happened yet.
"Things are gonna be so awesome from now on" she said to herself. "We've got the Maximals, we've got the Gears, we've got the Mass Effect universe, we've got Sonic, we've even got frickin' Goku and company!"
Meanwhile, Teana was in a video chat with her third-cousin/surrogate-little-sister.
"Mama's been helping me train" Asuka said. "In fact… Look what I've got now!"
She activated her Sharingan, displaying that she had unlocked her third tomoe. Teana smiled.
"Good job" she said.
"I still haven't unlocked the advanced form, though."
"The Mangekyō isn't something that can be awakened through simple training, Asuka. It takes the proper emotional stimulus to trigger."
"I know, I know. So, how's the new coalition looking?"
"They've got a lot of powerful and skilled individuals. Things are going to be more interesting now, that's for sure."
-SCENE BREAK-
45 Minutes Later
The Starshot broke off from the small flotilla of ships, slipspace drive coming online. Inside the port hangar, Tali and her team of six other Quarians lounged around outside their shuttle. With them were two humans: a small young girl with shoulder-length black hair, green eyes, and a Type-33 'Needler', and a tall, blond-haired man with goggles, blue-tinted COG armor, and a Lancer assault rifle.
"Any ideas what to expect, Tali?" Baird asked.
"Over the past couple months," Tali replied, "human colonies in the Terminus Systems have been going silent. Whenever someone gets there to investigate, they find the worlds completely empty – no signs of struggle, but not a single person remaining. Apparently, the world that Veetor is on has become the newest target. We don't know what we'll find, so we need to be prepared for anything."
"Not to mention that Veetor has never really been all right in the head" said fireteam leader Prazza. "Whatever happened down there might've pushed him over the edge."
"If h-he's even still there, that is," Erika chimed in, "and wasn't t-taken like the humans of the colony."
"Either way, we need to try and find out what happened" Tali said. "Veetor's one of us. If he's alive, we need to bring him home."
A blue-black rift in space-time formed, and the Starshot slipped through, beginning its jump to Freedom's Progress.
-BOOK 16 END-
The next book, "Collectors' Edition", will be coming soon (hopefully). Until then, see ya next time.