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In the year 2593 CE, the galaxy once again found itself in war. The Citadel Council once again found itself pitted against a new foe that threatened all of civilization. But it was not a new alien race hellbent on conquering Citadel Space or an old one.
It was the forces of the Great Beyond. From a plain of existence beyond the physical world. They were called many names: the Ones from the Great Beyond, the Nara Sa'ki, the Sapient Rage, and many more.
But most knew them by one: the Abyssals. The spirits of the past come to seek retribution and revenge for the past. A mysterious force, yet so powerful that it smashed any defence, counterattack, raid, or strike with ease.
It took the Citadel Council half a decade to stabilize the frontlines, losing dozens of worlds in the process. It seemed hopeless as fleet after fleet was battered or smashed.
But a new force arrived on the scene to save them. Spirits of the past first arrive and then are summoned to fight for all of civilization.
The spirits of the ships of old, of vessels that had been destroyed or scrapped yet dutifully returning to serve their species.
In the Asari trade language Sari, they're known as Rebekha or Gaurdians. In the Salarian tongue Vresh, they're the Garit or the Reincarnate. In the ancient Krogran tongue the New Krestnock, they go by Bhad-Ynei or Voidstars.
But for the Turians, they're simply known by one name: The Ship Spirits. Simple, but simple is all the Turians needed when it came to naming.
It's been over two hundred years since the First Abyssal War. Two hundred years of uneasy peace, occasional flare-ups, and Abyssal raids, as the galaxy prepared for the next invasion.
But it would be apparent war that would not come to the species of the Citadel.
Instead, they would search for war. And end one with a new ally.
()
Tribune System, Turian Hierarchy
2729 GST (Galactic Standard Time)
Hierarchy 43rd Combined Strike Fleet
"(Comms) THS Rena, come about to heading 048903, engage VI fighters in the region. Engage at your own discretion."
"Yes, control! Burning to head 048903, attacking VI fighters," Rena acknowledged as she heaved herself upwards and lit her thrusters.
Her LiDAR and Radar lit up her Visor, scanning for every target within range-
"Gotcha," Rena whispered to herself as she caught the half a dozen unmanned fighters. "Oh, this will be fun."
"(Comms) Careful not to crash into one Rena. Rolon complained about fixing two dozen spirits with collision injuries in a day."
"Yeah, got it control," Rena sighed as she primed her pair of light mass accelerators and Gaurdian lasers.
Rena, formerly the Claw class frigate THS Rena, was a ship spirit summoned from the void to defend the Turian people. Summoned to defend the world of Chatti when the Abyssal forms of Krogan Rebellion ships wanted to burn the Turian colony to the ground.
It was a hard fight, but in the end, they won.
Now decades later, she was retraining with upgraded Gaurdian and Mass Accelerator weaponry added to her rigging and sparring against several VI-controlled drones.
Speaking of which-
Rena raised her arms and her rigging responded to her commands by spatting a pair of 5-kilogram slugs right at the fighters from her arm-mounted Mass Accelerators.
One of the fighters exploded as its kinetic barriers was ripped by the pair of slugs. Another had their wings clipped by collateral damage and spiralled out of the way.
The remaining unleashed their tiny mass accelerators, flinging hundreds of rounds narrowly missing or smacking into her.
The frigate didn't mind, with kinetic barriers taking the damage for her. She was focused on the fighters that zipped past her.
She flipped, her thrusters pushing themselves to the limit so that she could see the ass end of the fighter's engines.
Not ideal for MAC rounds.
So instead, the 6 Gaurdian Laser Nodes that Rena carried took this chance to burn right in the drones.
3 of them suddenly found their kinetic barriers worn down and then broke as invisible beams began cutting into the fighters' engines.
"And there goes three," Rena commented as the trio of fighters spun out of control with portions of their hull burned away.
Where was the last one-
Rapidly, she let off another pair of Mass Accelerators at the remaining fighter, ripping the poor machine in half.
And with that, her sensors went dark, clear of any hostiles.
"Control, this is Rena. All drones destroyed," the frigate simply stated into her comms.
"(Comms) We see it Rena. Good shooting. Running last analysis…..rigging is good. Diagnostics complete. 6 drones dead in less than a minute. Not bad."
"Thank you Control. Standby for new orders."
"(Comms) Now that tests are complete, we're lifting the system-wide network block. You are free to rejoin your flotilla, where you will receive new orders. Control out."
Rena waited until she was sure control was gone before toggling her communications systems and strategic network.
Her hud rapidly shifted and soon her comms started to light up.
"(Comms) -range, 18,000 klicks. All dreadnaughts, lock on-"
"(Comms) -Ravan, you've been destroyed. Disengage and head to heading-"
"(Comms) -Nezza 3 and 6, follow me in. Lock your disruptors and-"
"(Comms) -Flotilla 7 and 45, new orders and engage hostile frigates-"
"(Comms) -someone makes sure those supply ships are ready to receive. We've expended enough fuel-"
"(Comms) -THS Fela, Kova, Jana, Jeko, you are cleared for landing on the Courageous-"
The Tribune System was home to the Turian colony of Rocam, a major Turian industrial world and various orbital shipyards that produced a vast number of products like weaponry and colonization equipment for the Hierarchy.
Currently? The outer system was occupied by the Turian 7th Fleet and the accompanying 43rd Spirits Fleet. Regular Turian navy hull ships and their Spirit counterparts trained alongside each other in a live-fire combat exercise.
500 warships and nearly a thousand spirits engaged in combat-
"(comms) Barefaced Spirited Tuber!"
Ah, there was the rest of her wolfpack.
"Pazur? Something wrong?"
"(Comms) My Controller is an asshole, that's what."
"(Come) Don't mind Pazur," this was another sister frigate, Wendra. "She's just mad her controller denied her advances."
"(Comms) he's such a dense brick of Omnicrete!" Pazur screamed.
"(Comms) She tried to bribe him with Graxen, high-quality stuff," Karom, another frigate spirit added helpfully.
"You know regulations prohibit flirtations in a field combat environment, right? Spirits you're like horny teenagers." Rena sighed, being the older sister sucked.
"(Comms) But we are teenagers," Pazur responded drily.
"..." Rena looked down at her body, reminded that when she self-summoned, she was summoned in the body of a Turian Teenager like all other frigates were.
While being a ship spirit was absolutely great, it also meant they had biologies of Turian kids. That included hormones.
Damn puberty-
"(Comms) This is Indomitable Spirit Control to Wolfpack 23. Wolfpack 23, come in over."
Ah, there was control.
"Indomitable Spirit Control, this is Spirit THS Rena of Wolfpack 23. What can we do for you?"
"(Comms) Apolgize for intruding in your family bonding but we have something new. You can link up with Wolfpacks 17 and 92 for torpedo drill training. There's an old derelict freighter that needs ripping apart. You still up for it?"
"Well, that sounds fun. Send us the coordinates. We'll join in."
"(Comms) Understood Rena. Coordinates heading your way. Safe travels."
"Well, hear that girl? We have torpedo practice tonight!"
"(Comms) I'll go get Pazur, don't want her curling up and crying in the void." Karom sighed and Rena could her own riggings lighting up their thrusters.
"Alright, on the way," Rena lit off her own thrusters, before beginning the traversing back to her wolfpack.
A simple, quiet training mission with friends and family. That was all.
Citadel Codex…Claw Class Light Frigate
A staple of Turian design, the Claw Class Light Frigate has been a staple design for the Turian Hierarchy for over a millennium of Citadel Years. An updated variant of the post-Krogran Rebellion Kraxus class, the Claw, has been produced and updated until the Council-Abyssal War where designs were eventually phased out by designs meant to counter the Abyssals.
The Claw Class follow the praying hunting wing design followed by most Turian military ships, with the iconic pair of wings and long, narrow main body. The Claw is around 244 metres long, and 122 metres wide, and displaces around 360,000 tons in its latest variant. Like most Citadel ships, the Claw is built around a Mass Effect Core that allows for FTL and faster sublight propulsion and is powered by a Fusion Reactor Plant (Can use either Helium 3 or Deturieum) and a secondary hydrogen energy plant in emergencies.
The ship relies on articulating three fusion torches for baseline propulsion in non-combat situations. In combat or in need of speed, Claws can inject antiprotons into a reaction chamber filled with hydrogen. The matter-antimatter annihilation provides unmatched motive power for a short time, with Claws capable of maintaining this state of high speed for 5 hours before requiring a refuel. The Mass Effect Core also allows Claws to have a modest FTL speed of 15 lightyears a day.
For protection, Claws are covered in forms of Ablative Armour wherever possible. This provides modest protection against kinetic and energy-based weaponry (primarily lasers for the latter). Kinetic protection is provided by a light kinetic barrier system capable of protecting against light or point defence, such as mass accelerator rounds, micro missiles, and shrapnel, but does little against directed energy weapons like lasers.
Where the Claw shines is its armament, considered disproportionately heavier armed than most frigates of her time. She's built around a pair of light frigate grade light mass accelerators capable of firing slugs for a force yield impact of a half-kiloton nuke. It's also capable of firing at a sustained rate of fire or in a rapid burst depending on the situation. Claws are also equipped with 8 Guardian Laser Defence Nodes capable of defending against missiles and starfighters. Finally, Claws were eventually retrofitted with a pair of disruptor torpedo launchers, with Claws carrying 16 and able to launch 4 in a single barrage. This is all fed with sensor data from various Laser-based LADARS and Radar systems.
Thousands of models of Claws have been produced over the generations, ranging from the Pristine Shipyards of the Trebia system to frontier yards bordering the Terminus systems. While the base design and idea of the vessel have been updated to keep up with new technologies and doctrine, Claws built before the Abyssal War were nearly identical to those built generations ago.
Unfortunately, the Claw would see its end as frontline warships during the Citadel-Abyssal War. Abyssal forms dating back to the Krogan Rebellions would engage their manned counterparts, wrecking bloody toll after bloody toll against their Turian opponents. While the Claws did serve admirably, they were eventually phased out of Hierarchy Service by the more modern Gannet class that was better suited for anti-abyssal warfare. Still, Claws serve to this day as third-line warships or in the independent force like the Quarian Patrol and Scouting Fleets.
However, the Claws would come back with a reckoning in the years after the Abyssal War, in the form of Space/Ship Spirits. Summoned, either intentionally by the Hierarchy or by themselves, to defend the Turian people and its vassals from all threats, the Claws have continued to fight for the civilized galaxy in their new personified form.
ray id: php-master
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
When humanity left its cradle world to explore and colonize new worlds. They had thought they would get a fresh Start. A new beginning from all the old wars, bickerings, and grievances of old Earth. And for a time, this was true.
In the 2300s, humanity was plunged back into war. Not with itself, not planet versus planet, not even against aliens or rival nations, but the past brought into life.
The Abyssals, twisted manifestations of battles and ships from the past, appeared on every planet with an ocean, regardless of nationality, race, religion, or any other form of human difference. Hundreds of cities burned and broke as the Abyssal rampaged through the seas and skies while the defenders of humanity put their resistance wherever they could.
But in the form of the Kamusu, the shipgirls, did humanity receive a chance to fight back on even ground? Spirits manifested from the past fighting against the Abyssals. Human and shipgirl forces fought across every world, moon, and colony, beating back the Abyssal metre by metre, kilometre by kilometre, island after island.
By the end of the 24th century, the Abyss had been beaten back at the cost of half a billion of lives. But the Abyss swore vengeance against both man and kamusu.
It is now the year 2632, AC and humanity is at an edge. The third Abyssal War rages, not against the abyss that humanity is familiar with, but now against the abyss of aliens.
Having recently toppled the alien megacorporation Minimar Specialized Industry, the United Nations Allied Forces now find themselves in a war against the vengeful spirits of the aliens they defeated. It is a war humanity is not ready for.
And now, humanity is forced to defend several alien species freed from MSI, all of whom remain defenceless against the Abyss, while defending its borders.
The 7th fleet of the United Nations Allied Forces has launched a brazen raid into Abyssal helf space, hoping by time for the arsenal of humanity and its allies to be built up.
It is here we start our story, with a young Corvette Spirit
3000 Lightyears Away from the Tribune System
Rota System, 2632 UNC
"Warrior Command, This is Sarsfield, no hostiles in sight. Continuing sweep."
"(Comms) Wilco Sarsfield. Keep up the good work."
And with that last report, Sarsfield stretched her back.
Sarsfield was a corvette Kamusus of the 192nd Light Patrol Squadron (both spirits and steel hulls) that was currently gliding through the void spread across many hundreds of thousands of kilometres.
They were on patrol duty for the UNAF 7th fleet that had sain an Abyssal Shipyard Princess. A hard-fought but necessary victory. But now the 7th was resupply and rearming, leaving it fairly vulnerable to an Abyssal strike.
That was why Sarsfield was here, sailing out to patrol the void to make sure nothing was going to sneak up on them.
"Jeonbuk, this is Sarsfield. I'm done my sweep, heading to join you."
"(Comms) Copy that Sarsfield. There's nothing here anyway. Heywood and Piaui are also done by the way."
"So I'm last, on my way!"
The Corvette spirit lit off her impulse drive thruster, pushing herself in a new direction. While her guns and missile turrets swivelled to cover herself in all directions, Sarsfield was content to sail serenely.
She took a sigh of relief and stretched out, it would be a fairly serene day.
"(Comms) You're looking relaxed," Jeonbuk reported.
Sarsfield cracked open an eye. She could sense her sister nearby, just floating in outer space.
"Is it too much to ask for a break?"
"Nope, just like to keep you on your toes."
She flipped her body so her rigging drives could slow her down more effectively and decelerate. Maybe not the most fuel efficient but it was fast.
She continued her deceleration burn right until her velocity had nearly been halted and Jeonbuk was in sight.
"Hi Jeon! How's patrol work!"
"The usual. Boring." Jeonbuk shrugged.
"(Comms) But it is important work." Another voice the radio stated.
Sarsfield looked up to see two more Corvette spirits decelerating towards them. "Hi Heywood, Hi Piaui!"
"Sars, Jeon! You're back! How were your patrols?"
"Empty for now, which is good," Heywood nodded. "It's been empty for now."
"So when can we head back? I'm spent?" UNSV Piaui added, stretching out her back.
"Soon, as soon, as soon as the last of the patrols report in," Heywood nodded.
"I'm bored, can we go join someone else?"
"Jeon! No! Are you just persistently wanting to get-"
"(Comms) All Patrol units, all Patrol units. This is Warrior Command. Shunt to alert status Yellow. Be advised destroyer UNSV Ascot and Vigil 7 have encountered several flights of Abyssal fighters. All units within the vicinity of UNSV Ascot, move to assist, how copy?"
"Ascot? Abyssals?" Jeon's eyes widened. "They're not far!"
"So what's the hold up-"
"One moment," Sarsfield held her hand up. "Warrior Command, this is Sarsfield of Vigil 11. We heard Ascot's distress call. Requesting permission to engage."
"(Comms) Affirmative Sarsfield. We are greenlighting your request to engage and destroy the Abyssal force accosting Ascot's patrol group. Good hunting and stay safe girls. Warrior Command out."
"That's it then, the war is back on," Sarsfield primed every single combat system. Shields, Impulse thrusters, Lasers, missiles, everything was coming online.
"So, guess this it then? Back to Abyssal hunting?"
"You right Jeon. Come on girls, Ascot needs some help. Let's bring some to them!"
And with that, four Impulse Drive Engines lit up and four shipspirts ventured further into darkness. It was a signal that humanity's war with the Abyss was back on.
Stellar Wiki…Zhan-Hao Class Corvette
The Zhan Hao class Corvette, named after UN/Korean Admiral Josuha Zhan Hao of the Third World War, was a corvette design of the United Nations Space Force used from the Oum Crisis to the end of the Second Abyssal War. It's emblematic of both the United Nations and human design, and its style and design are carried on by corvettes succeeding it.
The Zhan Hao is designed in the fashion that defines human military vessels from the Post-Oum Crisis to the present: a narrow triangular hull with a utilitarian look. It has a length of 210 metres, a width of 70 metres, and a displacement of 500,000 metric tons. Its primary power plant is a deuterium cold fusion power plant with a Secondary fission power plant capable of providing plenty of power.
The Zhan Hao's primary propulsion comes from a single high-speed Impulse Drive Thruster and a pair of secondary plasma engines. This allows it unprecedented speed, capable of crossing a medium-sized star system in just under a day. Its primary FTL system is a Lawerence Industries Generation 3 HyperSpace Drive, capable of travelling the Cosmic Hyperlanes between Star Systems. However, after the Earther-Colonial War of the 2500s, most UNSF ships were retrofitted with Cosmic Jump Drives capable of FTL outside of hyperlanes with a range of ten lightyears.
The Zhan Hao's primary protection comes from a single small energy shield generator. This provides modest protection against primary radiation and energy-based weapons such as lasers and plasma. However, these shields are notorious for being fairly ineffective against Kinetic weaponry, missiles, and smaller energy weapons mounted on strike craft. As such, the Zhan Hao is also layered in Plasteel armour, which can compensate for the energy shield's deficiencies. Later models of the Zhan Hao were fitted with crystal-forged armour plates, which were fused to their hull to provide additional durability.
However, it's not the end of Zhan Hao's protection, it also has a unique Amoboe-derived Bacterial Regenerative Hull Tissue dispenser. This odd technology inserts bacteria through the ship's hull and armour and can slowly repair the vessel even in critical situations. While it cannot fully fic a ship in a reasonable time frame, this….quirk allows the Zhan Hao to survive situations larger ships couldn't.
The armaments of the Zhan Hao are varied enough to counter most threats. It's equipped with a pair of Gamma Ray Pulse laser turrets, a pair of turreted anti-ship missile launchers, one turret of Flak Artillery, and one Guardian Hybrid Plasma and Kinetic point defence Turret. These weapons are split, with three turrets on the dorsal and three on the ventral sides. This diversity of armament allows the Zhan Hao to combat most threats. However, the Zhan Hao is noticeable in not specializing in destroying specific threats and it is generally agreed that a Zhan Hao should operate alongside more specialized classes like Frigates or more corvettes. The Zhan Hao also has 8 Blue Pulse Laser nodes of a last-ditch anti-missile and fighter defence.
The Zhan Hao started out as a joint production project between the Pacific Rim Coalition and the United Nations Allied Forces, with a modest few dozen being produced before the 1st Abyssal War. When the Abyssal did appear on almost every terrestrial world with a major ocean, the Zhan Hao was among the space fleets that relieved defending forces with pinpoint orbital laser and missile strikes.
Since then, the Zhan Hao has continued production, becoming the standard corvette-class vessel for the United Nations Space Fleet. Constant upgrades and doctrinal changes allowed the Zhan Hao to remain a formidable threat even when the Second Abyssal War, a space and maritime war, occurred. Many classes of the ship were present in the Earth-Colonial War, where it outmaneuvered, outran, and outranged its colonial counterparts.
However, by the 2600s, the Zhan Hao had steadily been phased out of UN service and relegated to anti-piracy operations and colonial garrison work. Some squadrons of the Zhan Hao fought in defensive actions against Minimar's Specialized Industries where they fended off mercenary groups. One notable wolfpack survived the war under the UNAF 6th fleet during victory parades over Earth, only for the Third Abyssal War to kick off once the UNAF declared victory against MSI. During the opening stages of the Third Abyssal War, humanity finally realized the Zhan Hao was completely obsolete and the ships were either scrapped or turned into museum ships. The Zhan Hao succeeded with the multiple classes of vessels in national fleets but the true successor was indeed the Marcus Olsen Class, named after a South American Admiral.
However, the Zhan Hao class would not face its true end as Kamusu spirits of the class began rising and summoning during the Third Abyssal War. This fresh arrival of spirits and firepower provided the UNAF precious time to regroup and defend the former vassals of the Minimar Specialized Industries, now independent and with extremely battered militaries. Wolfpacks and squadrons have been charged with the defence of humanity's new allies, striking at targets to buy time for the former MSI vassals to build up their defences.