"... Miss Vice-Admiral, Mister Speaker, representatives of the House of the Civilian Governments of the League... Yesterday, July 7th, 2752, a date which will live in Infamy! The Black League and her allies were suddenly and deliberately attacked by Naval and Ground Forces of the slaver kingdom of the Batarian Hegemony! We were at peace with the wider Galaxy and attempting a slow opening of contact with the Galactic Government to ensure a peaceful connection. [...] The People of the Black League, in their righteous might, will win through, to absolute Victory! I believe I interpret the will of the Council when I state that, not only will we defend ourselves against such terrifying aggression, but we will make it certain that this treachery SHALL NEVER AGAIN BE REPEATED!"

-The Lord of the Admiralty, the Declaration of War heard across the Galaxy

New Reach

Orbital Naval Yard 03

Some days after the Speech

Naval Shipyards were lively, Marines and Infantry from the three peoples of the greater Black League marched aboard, crews arming up for the first Great War they'd experienced since the War against the Covenant. The only difference between then and now was that the UNSC, the wider Black League, had prepared for the battle ahead. Amidst the starlit void, great warships came to life, manned by loyal crews and Marines, Army and Special Forces packed their equipment for the war to come.

Estimates showed relative destruction of Batarian Hegemony fighting power after the loss of several of their Dreadnoughts. Their picket fleets, according to Prowlers sent forward yesterday evening, were already coalescing into greater fleets, unaware of the size of the enemy's fleet. The Black League's forces would leave defensive formations above their own planets, ensuring that the Galactic North-East remained safe, but the bulk of naval power would focus on the Batarian Hegemony.

It was to this end that the UNSC's first new warships, the Titan-class dreadnoughts, were to be the tip of the spear. One kilometer long, but armed with the latest in terms of the UNSC's weaponry, the vessels, powered by half-a-dozen large fusion engines, pushed out to join the 100-strong Battle Group Titan, their namesake flagship. The Captain of the leading Dreadnought and the Vice-Admiral aboard with him looked at the gathering force.

Half a million Marines, ten thousand prototype battle androids made with the help of the Geth Consensus, multiple shipboard AIs and an entire suite of advanced sensors, dropships and equipment stood at their disposal. As the vessels powered through the void, moving away from the clutter of New Reach's orbit, they powered Slipspace Drives and made jump calculations, synchronizing to jump out together for their AO.

Yellow alert initiated across the ships, muted alarms echoing distantly in the ears of all crew as the vessels slowly approached Exit Vector. Their first target would be the Batarian world where the captured Science staff were being held. A decent target if one were to say so, considering it was probably the closest to the Batarian home systems. Intel also spoke of several important moons acting as defensive outposts in the area.

When the Battle Group arrived at their designated Exit Vector, away from Civilian traffic and the clutter of celestial bodies, their Slipspace drives powered in complete unison, the heavy weight of humanity's fury propelling them forward like a catapult toward their intended target. It would take them a day to reach the RV point with Battle Group Moscow. When they hit that point, they'd engage the Batarian fleet.

It was with this in mind that Marines aboard all warships within the fleet prepared their gear for a hot drop. Within the hangars of carriers, dreadnoughts and even Frigates and Destroyers, they loaded magazines with AP ammo, prepared Jackhammer rocket launchers and manned the combat vehicles born out of the HACS progams of various companies. Thumping feet slammed into the deck as quadrupedal mechs went to their berths for final maintenance.

Scorpions armed with railguns, anti-air tanks loaded with missiles, a company of god-damned rehabilitated Biotic infantry on each ship, not to mention hundreds of the newfound light war bots ready for drop. The Black League and, by extension, the UNSC, their military arm since time immemorial, was not going to hold back. Now that they had weapons to fight the enemy with?

Every Marine aboard itched for a fight. A few of the men aboard the Titan had family that had been captured and they'd been made aware of it. They almost religiously checked and re-checked their weapons, while the Spartan teams summoned on board the various battle group elements maintained their MJOLNIR armor sets tenaciously. There was only one unified thought among the crews:Never again. Never again would their people be caught on the side of a genocide campaign, or, in this case, slavery. Never again would they be unable to respond to aggression.

The Navy and Air Force would punch a hole and the Ground Forces would exploit it. It was how their battle doctrine was. Now, with the new weapons, including prototype shoulder-mounted plasma weaponry being deployed amidst the ranks, they'd make double sure the bastards wouldn't get away with doing what they did. They'd neuter the Hegemony completely if allowed.

The rest of the Galaxy probably watched with bated breath, since that transmission had been sent out across all channels and onto the wider Galaxy's ExtraNet, too. Humanity had, at the request of their peers, covered their faces with masks, meant to symbolize their survival among the harsh conditions of what was called the 'Terminus' Systems, the Galactic North.

It was a day on the clock when the squadrons arrived at the first Batarian Colony and met their allied warships. The greater Battle Group soon picked up sensor marks of the enemy's vessels, about a dozen frigates and cruisers, from the looks of things, all waiting in orbit over a harsh-looking world. Intercepted communications spoke of the slaves being used for mining.

At the front of the Black League's naval formation, the crews were surprised to see a single humanoid suit, bathed in red and cradling a missile launcher and an autocannon of some kind. The suit's two lilac eyes glowed for a moment, tracking Batarian fighters on a fast approach with them. It was that new combat suit developed on the raided planet... And it looked pissed.

Citadel Council Chambers

A young-looking humanoid woman with purple-blue skin and strange, short tentacles for hair, stared at the reports arriving from their allies and fellow Council Species. The avian clad in an armored carapace and in a rather fancy-looking, if wide-collared outfit of white, red and black, stared back. She read through the data and mumbled, "So, let me get this straight... Your scouting ship went missing near Omega about four months ago. They came back now, unharmed, but with no memory of-"

"Yes," The avian representative interrupting her, arms crossed. He told her, "We went over this ten times, Tevos. The scout ship Innocentia went missing four months ago near Omega, reappeared just a couple days ago near Turian space and the crews say they don't remember anything," which honestly surprised the woman. He shrugged at it, as confused as she was.

She, however, furrowed her brows, the tattoos on her face bending with them, then asked, "... My Brother in the Goddess, do you know how likely it is they just went onto Omega, shut off their coms and started binge-drinking there?" which caused the Turian to wave his arms dismissively. She sighed, rubbing her forehead and said, "Sparatus, look. I wouldn't put it past them. We've all been wound up tight for the past few decades, ever since the Terminus Relays started turning off at random. We can't even send a probe in there without losing contact. You think they maybe just wanted to let loose?"

"No," Sparatus shook his head, "The entire flight log was scrubbed. And I mean this, scrubbed. There was nothing, not even an inch of data that we've recovered yet."

"That's not that strange. They could've easily scrubbed it themselves in order to avoid suspicion and went a little too far," Tevos almost did not want to believe the Turian Hierarchy's troops would do something so stupid, but she also did not want to believe that Sparatus's men had been somehow abducted by a hostile alien force now living in the Terminus. Hell, the Geth had been quiet for the past few years, too. Them building up and seizing the Terminus was a possibility and the reason those Scout ships were out there.

Sparatus sighed deeply, then told her, "It was an external wipe," and soon saw the confusion spreading across Tevos's face. Knowing he now had her attention, he continued, "All we had was a cryptic message and drawn borders, but we know the Wipe was external simply based on the fact no command was given from the shipboard computer to wipe the data..."

"Cryptic message?" Tevos perked up at that.

He nodded again, then pulled up the images on a display next to them. Demarcation lines around various systems very close to Omega, including the sole System with a Mass Relay active within the Terminus Systems at this time. He told her, "Nothing short of a KEEP OUT Sign plastered onto the Galactic North. Something's been shutting down Mass Relays within the Terminus Systems. Said something also nabbed one of our Scout Ships the moment it went anywhere close to their territory and then sent them back with this warning. Demarcation Lines, a DMZ..."

"Think the Geth have had enough of people encroaching on the Veil...?" Supposed Tevos as she peered over the map, eyes wide, "Or that they went full Imperial? We lost contact with the Quarian Flotilla some time ago, too, though we haven't been able to investigate it. A lot of the Representatives supposed it was... I don't know, Pirates, the Batarians or something."

"If the Geth are mobilizing, we need to set Alert levels all across the Citadel's Fleet," Sparatus shot back. Young and brash as he was for one of the Turian Hierarchy's representatives and her Councilman in the Council, he had a point. So thought Tevos as she peered over the information. He told her, "I've already sent a message to the Fleets near Palaven to prepare for the worst, but-"

The door hissed open with surprising speed. Black, googly eyes peered at them from behind the cover of an ornate robe's hood, while gradient grey skin and a long face greeted them. A female voice spoke, "Have you two been here this whole time!?" coming from the Dalatrass of the Salarian Union herself, Linron. She spoke, "When I recalled Valern to Sur'kesh for our usual bi-monthly briefings, I never thought I'd have to be the one to wade into the Citadel to greet you, Councilors..."

"Dalatrass," Tevos spoke, stunned, "It's certainly been a while since we've seen you on the Citadel. Must be urgent, then..."

"You haven't the faintest idea, Councilor Tevos," The Salarian female replied as she walked up to them, activating her handheld Omni-Tool, one of their standard arm-mounted computer/three-dimensional printers, connecting to the Network of the Council Room and speaking, "We received a message nary a day ago across the wider Extranet. A tap and a message posted across all boards and data centers. Here, take a listen before we go any further!"

A sound synthesizer system appeared on the screen where the data from Sparatus's own ship had been displayed. A strong, booming voice played over the com, translated by their in-built systems, profoundly angry, "... Miss Vice-Admiral, Mister Speaker, representatives of the House of the Civilian Governments of the League... Yesterday, July 7th, 2752, a date which will live in Infamy! The Black League and her allies were suddenly and deliberately attacked by Naval and Ground Forces of the slaver kingdom of the Batarian Hegemony! We were at peace with the wider Galaxy and attempting a slow opening of contact with the Galactic Government to ensure a peaceful connection..."

Tevos's eyes widened, while Sparatus pinched the bow of his nose at hearing the words playing over the com. It was an outright declaration of war on the Batarian Hegemony. Tevos murmured, "Why is it always the Batarians getting us into trouble... Black League?" she then looked at the Dalatrass. The woman stepped forward and stopped the recording, with Tevos stating, "I'm gonna hazard a guess that's the faction that abducted the Innocentia and her crew."

"It would seem so..." The Dalatrass replied with near-annoyance in her voice, "I've sent a scout vessel to the closest Batarian System to the Terminus. We should have live video feed from them momentarily..."

"Peaceful connection, huh..." Tevos mumbled the words of the unknown leader of this 'Black League' back ironically, watching as the screen began displaying. As the Salarian scout ship Sur'kesh's Light emerged from the Mass Relay at a distance, the trio of Citadel Politicians watched. Distant flashes of explosions filled their video feed as the Salarian ship's captain identified the Batarian Naval assets arrayed in defense. That, or their wreckage.

Sensor suite readings played across the screen, Sparatus staring with wide eyes. He mumbled, "The Batarian defense picket's ships... Their transponders are winking off with each shot," and pointed out their locations on the display. Flashes of blue, white and red once more filled their sights and more Batarian vessels disappeared off the viewport. He then asked, "Can't we zoom in? See what's going on?"

The Dalatrass didn't say a word, sending a coded message to her ship, which was supposedly hidden from the enemy's line of sight, to enhance the visuals. They did as asked, zooming toward the two Fleets. A dozen Dreadnoughts, dozens of Frigates, Cruisers and support ships, hundreds of fighters and more rained gunfire down upon the Batarian fleet.

"By the Goddess..." Tevos gasped as she watched one of the smaller ships fire a lance of light from its bow, a continuous, streaming beam of energy. It cut into the belly of a Batarian Frigate trying to bring its remaining guns and missiles to bear, shearing it in half amidships and causing its reactor to go nova. Around, dozens of smaller fighters and larger Delta-wing Fighter Bombers swarmed, firing what looked to be anti-ship payloads at another vessel.

Three missiles connected and cut gashes into the Batarian Cruiser that had come to greet the hostiles' frigate. A fourth struck the ship's midsection and the flash was so blinding, it caused pixel ghosts on the Screen for five minutes, followed by the Salarian captain reporting, "Nuclear Detonation! I repeat, unidentified ships have Nuclear weaponry on board!"

"Nukes..." Sparatus growled, "I thought we'd rid the Galaxy of them after we neutered the Krogan."

"Seems not..." Tevos murmured, rubbing her chin as she watched the unknown vessels drive forth. Their Dreadnoughts fired massive maw-mounted kinetic cannons in a volley reminiscent of early Turian history's line battles. Their targeting computers gave accurate readings as two Cruisers were nailed by the kinetic blasts, their hulls torn asunder, ripped and split in half.

Smaller kinetic and energy weapon batteries soon flashed as Batarian Fighters scrambled from the planet's surface engaged the enemy's own fighter contingent. The larger Delta-wing fighter-bombers' autocannons seemed to make short work of the first wave, while the much smaller and more agile fighters dived in. Sparatus blinked and said, "Wait a minute, keep tracking that fighter at point two-two-five..."

The camera locked onto said fighter. It was small, agile and aerodynamic, obviously. It utilized specialized thrusters to ensure great mobility, tracking hostile targets. The one telling feature of it, however, was that it had no actual cockpit. A single baleful pod of sensors glowed, however, as it tracked Batarian aerospace assets around it and launched missiles and gunfire.

Tevos covered her mouth, "... Those design cues... It's almost as if..." and she pointed out various markings. Radiators, blue landing lights, the shape of the fighter resembling a flying animal... It flew with all the grace of one, anyhow. Like a bird of prey from Thessia, or like a Turian youngster during their early training days on Palaven. More terrifying were the symbols in Quarian Standard painted on its side.

"As if they subsumed the Geth into their forces," The Dalatrass confirmed, "Early intelligence suggests that's the case. Alongside them, we've seen Quarian vessels that have been refit for direct combat, too..." before she told the Captain to unlock the camera and focus on the larger concentration of vessels. Quarian warships appeared, indeed, amid the fleets.

Kinetic battery fire from remaining Batarian warships flashed. It struck the bow of one of the Quarian-made and heavily-modified support vessels, only to splash and disperse harmlessly off what looked to be a bright blanket of golden light. The return fire from the Quarian vessel was quick and concise, a blast of plasma from one of its bow-mounted batteries eviscerating the opponent warship.

"Impossible..." Sparatus whispered, leaning against the desk, "Then..."

"They made peace between the two sides," Tevos murmured, "Hundreds of years of animosity. Did they brainwash the Quarians? Or did they just steal the ships and kill the crew...?"

The Dalatrass shut that down, "Doubtful. Captain, how long until you crack their encryption so we can hear what they're saying?"

"Ma'am, it is much harder than we thought. The Black League fleet's encryption schemes are..." The man in charge of the scout vessel hesitated. The Dalatrass hissed, which made him continue fearfully, "They're adaptive ma'am. It's almost like they're alive..." which made the entire group pause. A moment's thought gave way to the Captain stating, "It must be the Geth algorithms. What the..."

The entire group paused, however, when they saw a single, Asari-like mech dancing amidst the enemy's fighters. It looked almost like a soldier in an EVA suit, but it was much bigger, colored the same inky black as the hulls of the UNSC's starships... And was agile enough to dodge through the fire of enemy fighters and bombers while cutting them down with its weapon.

"Incredible..." Mumbled Sparatus, "A humanoid warsuit..."

"No time for that. Keep trying to breach, Captain," The Dalatrass ordered, then looked to Sparatus and Tevos and told them, "We need to mobilize our fleets. Prepare for the worst."

"The Batarians made a mistake, Dalatrass," Tevos replied, staring at the engagement still, watching as the last few of the enemy's orbital defenses dwindled. She told them, "They poked a faction we had no idea about and woke up getting their behinds kicked. Speaking of not knowing," she turned to her, "How did the STG not know about them?! Don't you have crews tracking the ExtraNet each waking hour of each waking day?"

"We do," She replied, "The 'Black League', as they call themselves, has just recently connected itself to the ExtraNet. The STG Cyberwarfare division is working on cracking their firewalls as we speak, but I would suppose their network has similar adaptive capabilities to the Battle Network of their warships and units. If they truly installed the Geth across they systems..."

"We'll crack them," Sparatus said, "I'll ask the Hierarchy's leadership to start directing our own Cyberwarfare suites to-"

"Contact..." The Captain of the Salarian ship voiced in disbelief, "Enemy ship just appeared off our starboard bow. We barely detected it-" only for the entire group to gasp out of fear as they looked up. A strange alien warship soon decloaked ahead of them, like a layer of film peeling back, revealing the massive armored hull, the heat sinks and the gun ports mounted on its wings. Laser batteries, going by the charges.

"Unidentified Citadel Starship," a female voice boomed over the com in a deadpan, "You are currently within a UNSC Area of Operations without authorization. Strike your colors and prepare to be boarded, or leave the area. Any attempt at resistance will be met with force, as we have a targeting solution on you. This is your only warning," and the lateral lines of the warship's laser batteries seemed to immediately heat from dull red to burning white as the weapons prepared to fire.

"They were in Stealth," The Dalatrass stared in disbelief.

Tevos asked, partially mocking, "Your ship, or..."

"Yes..." She hissed back, "Heat sinks on, data linked and everything..." then she leaned forward and ordered, "Captain, get the Sur'kesh's Light out of the system. We've seen enough..." only for the camera feed to cut. She looked at the two Council representatives and told them, "Summon your cabinets and contact your leadership. A Hostile First Contact Case has been enacted. I'll be calling up our security committee."

With that, the woman stormed out of the room, the door hissing open and shut behind her. Tevos, her heart thumping in her throat, murmured, "The Matriarchs aren't gonna like this. I'm gonna call Benezia first, tell her to prep them, then I'll take the first flight to Thessia to start the consultation. We'll probably have a decision by next week..." only to turn back toward the screen, looking at a Still taken by Sparatus of the strange Asari-like Suit.

He told her, "The Batarians might not be around for another week," as he turned to face her.

"Big fracking loss for the Galaxy that's gonna be," She mumbled, then sighed as she saw him staring at her, "I know. I know. I'll get to it, get them to talk to us, get them to make some sort of decision..." and she murmured, "One that doesn't involve us getting into a war with a power that has energy weapons operating alongside standard kinetics..."

Sparatus felt a pit in his stomach for the first time in years. There had been greater crises in the past, perhaps, but these people, the 'Black League', had managed to subdue and subsume two majorly problematic groups of people. Two groups that had been at each-other's throats for a century and some due to the Civil War on Rannoch and the subsequent Exile of the Quarians. And they made them work together somehow.

The planet the UNSC was assaulting was a slave world. Sparatus wondered if Tevos was right, that the Batarian Hegemony itself wasn't gonna be a great loss to the Galaxy? But what would other Citadel associate species say if they just let the Batarians be wiped? They didn't know what the Black League's angle was, but it was obvious that this kind of First Contact was probably not gonna be good for future relations with the Citadel. And knowing the fact they had Energy Weapons worried him even more.

If there was gonna be a war between the two sides, the Council probably had the overwhelming numbers over the Black League, considering. Still, that they appeared the moment people started researching why Mass Relays had been going dark in the Terminus the past few Decades was too close to be coincidence. What if they used a different FTL? What if they were way more powerful and whatever Decision their governmens may make was worthless in the end? He sighed and made a mental note to try and contact the League directly at some point, talk to them.

Nobody wanted another war.