Reborn

Chapter One

Born Again (Redux edition)

With a deep breath, I came into being once more, the feeling of taking the first breath in a new world is yet to be lost on me, the air here is different from my previous two worlds, it is weird, and a lack of condensed magic like this world doesn't have any, 'Amy where are we?'

'Welcome back Zach, I hope you enjoyed your time off with your new family, to answer your question, your next Universe is set in 'Mass Effect' with large crossover elements. I'm not going to spoil what crossovers are here, so look forward to the surprise!'

Mass Effect huh, where are we in the timeline?

'100 years before the first contact war, the system had a slight update while you were away, I have been changed into a grand strategy system for this universe! You will be the leader of your faction and the leader of your race. We are currently standing on your new Homeworld, please name it!'

'Quest Issued: Name your Homeworld!

Rewards: Unlock Systems features, Unlocks Empire UI.'

The name I'm going for is Lucifuge, naming it after my first wife won't be an issue right? Oh well, deal with that when I can summon them here.

'Quest complete!

Opening Empire UI...

Citizen Species:?

Homeworld: Lucifuge

Potential: SS

Other Planets:

Military Rating: None

Economic Rating: None

Diplomatic Rating: None

Research Rating: None

Please choose Empire Ethics:

Materialist

Militarist

Xenophile

Xenophobe

Spiritualist.

Please select Militarist and Xenophobe.

Done, Please select your Ship Type:

UNSC

Covenant

Banished

Flood'

As much as I would like to choose the flood, I'm pretty sure that choosing this will give me them as my citizen species, the Covenant would make the most sense as I could explain away our origin but given the choice, I can't go for anything but the UNSC. How am I going to explain a second Human faction? No idea, will cross that bridge when it comes to it.

'UNSC is selected.

Citizen Species: Human Unlocked. Racial features:

-Highly adaptable: Able to colonize and adapt to various Planets and situations.

-Unyielding: There is no surrender, Humans fight to the last and excel at beating odds that many would consider impossible.

-Political Shitstorm: The various factions within Humanity constantly vie for the Emperor's Favour, good luck balancing them all.'

The screen in front of me vanished as the planet got further and further away, as I was flung into the air, I noticed various cities spread along the surface of the planet, the once-dead desert world sprung to life and various lights lit up the atmosphere.

'The first colony was completed! The UNSC has been reborn, congratulations, teleporting you to your Citidel!'

6 Months Later...

As I sit on my throne I gaze across the room of the citadel, the progress we have made in the past six months is staggering, mainly down to the two civics that were assigned to my empire:

Imperial Cult- All Edicts issued by the Emperor are doubly effective and last 5x as long. All subjects are extremely loyal to the Emperor, bordering on complete dependence...

You may be thinking that it isn't that powerful but the thing is these edicts are massive boons, right now I have Forge subsides and Research subsidies active, increasing our Alloy production and research by a flat 30%.

Master Shipwrights- Ships are 50% cheaper to build and 50% faster to build, +20 to fleet command limit, +100 to navy capacity.

With my alloy production as big as it is at the moment I have nearly filled out my navy capacity to the max, I have a quest to do so and once it is done, I will learn of my location within the Milky Way. The one major thing setting us back is the lack of systems near us that we can access without the information of where our relay leads.

Our military research isn't anyway near where I want it to be before I intervene in the first contact war, right now the biggest ship size we can build is destroyers, while they will do decent damage, I only have access to pretty basic kinetic weapons on them. This is my fault however as I have demanded my scientists focus heavily on civic technologies first. I want the planet to be able to fully support itself before I go off to war.

On the civic side of things, we produce enough energy on our planet to power it three times over, you might be wondering why I have all of this excess energy. Well soon I plan to create the Spartan program in full, I want shock troops for when the war begins. My biological research team is working on gene tailoring right now, with the view to bringing out the full potential of Human genes. Alongside the Biological team, the Physics team is working purely on Ai, I want each spartan to have a fully compatible Ai in their suits, as well as help with the administration of the Empire as it expands. My engineering team is in the process of researching upgrades for our starports, the bigger the ports the better facilities I can offer them.

Currently, we have two spaceports in our home system, one for Military affairs well the other for the civic populace, the civic one has solar panels as well as hydroponic bays, increasing the food available to the people. reducing the cost of it. Meaning no world hunger, not yet at least, we need to keep upgrading the station to provide more and more food.

The military one is set nearer to the relay, filled with shipyards and gun batteries, it is essentially a tiny fortress waiting for something to try and come through the relay, it is also where our fleet is based, allowing the officers and crew to relax on their off days.

Today was a day like the rest, with four or five advisors bursting into the room at the same time, one for each of the research teams, one for the Military, and the Prime minister herself.

Walking up to the throne they all bowed, waiting for me to speak, "From right to left, tell me what news you bring."

A tall woman, with deep red hair, rose from her feet, Sam, named after her father, the former leader of the Biological research team, who is retired now.

"My lord we have broken through in our research, we should now be able to remove the negative traits within the Human Gene pool, we believe with continued funding at its current rate we will be able to add beneficial traits to those who take the treatment within two-three weeks."

A massive smile covers my face as I almost leap from my throne in excitement, they seem to have skipped a small section of the research tree and already started the next technology in the Genetic ascension path, Genetic Resequencing, soon I will have my super soldiers, I hope they can effectively compete with the Krogan in ground combat.

"This is amazing news Sam I honestly don't know what to say, your team is exceeding expectations and I'm grateful for the effort you are all putting into your work, I request you keep going until you can add the beneficial traits and then take a few weeks off, paid of course."

Sam stands there stunned, I get it I do, I'm normally stoic barely acknowledging my advisors, those days are gone, I have got through most of the harder work and now the empire will run itself mostly, allowing me to focus on expanding it while the capital is run safely by my team here.

"My lord I-"

I raise my hand, "You have excelled in your service to the throne and are due to be rewarded for it, go and finish your work, then spend some time with your father, send him my regards."

The young woman nodded her head before leaving the room, the other two research leads told me their progress before leaving the citadel in a huff, neither of them finishing their tasks and thus not getting paid time off.

"You do like to play us off one another don't you, your majesty?

An older woman said, her deep brown eyes staring into my own as I smile, "Of course competition breeds a desire to do better, how fares the civic state of the Empire?"

The woman smiles as she says, "The opening of the paradise domes in the capital and Kyto was as effective as you planned, people are rejoicing at the new ways to spend their leisure time, increasing the productivity in the two cities massively. The synthetic crystal factories have just been opened in the factory district. They will be starting production soon, the natural resources of the planet are stabilizing, and the farms are recovering thanks to the hydroponic farms."

I nod my head, "Any concerns?"

"Yes, we seem to be having a small shortage of consumer goods in one of the newer cities, may I use some of our resources to rush the roads so it is connected to our supply network sooner?"

"Of course, use whatever you need, also schedule the building of a few factories for Tvs and the like in the city, and make sure the citizens are getting a few luxuries here or there."

The older woman nods her head before bowing, leaving to carry out her duties as I make eye contact with my Grand Admiral, the leader of my fleet, the one in control of the military.

"You will have your super soldiers soon Admiral, how is the fleet coming along?"

The man smiles, parting the long silver hair that covered his face, "I hope we will have time to direct the science teams to make better weapons and get a new ship type, we know our enemy will most likely have bigger guns than us but how the fleet is as ready as it can be, The battle simulators in the Fortress Styx are a godsend, training the pilots in combat without having to send them to their death."

I nod my head, "Any pilots that are excelling in their training? We will need squadron commanders for the small groups."

"There are a few, would your Majesty like to meet them?"

"Yes, prepare them, I will give a speech in a month, my final public speech before preparations for our arrival is ramped up."

Quest: Super Soldiers Complete!

Rewards: Coil Guns Level 2, Level 3 halfway researched. +25% army damage.

It appears Sam has begun to remove the negative traits of the Spartan candidates, interesting.

"Of course my lord, I will prepare them, our navy will hit 100 destroyers strong within this week, the max we can safely support with our current command structure, will your majesty be increasing it?"

"As soon As I'm able."

The man nodded, acknowledging the dismissal in my voice he left the throne room, as I glanced over my empire screen...

Citizen Species: Human

Homeworld: Lucifuge (19 million Population)

Potential: SS

Other Planets:

Spaceports: Two

Military Rating: Fledgling Navy: 90 Destroyer Class Ships, 10 more in production.

Economic Rating: Decent Economy (250 Alloy excess a day produced, 75 consumer good excess, 700 energy excess, 1000 Mineral excess, 700 food excess)

Diplomatic Rating: None

Research Rating: Budding Research (25 Civic pieces of research complete, 15 Military pieces of research complete)

4 Months later, ?'s Pov

"Why is this happening?"

I scream as our science vessel is torn to pieces just outside the Suen system, it was meant to be a routine check on the observation post, making sure it was all in check however what we found...

An unknown fleet waited for us, ambushing our vessel and boarding us, the aliens spoke a language not known to our translators, the scariest thing about them is the lack of understanding of what is below the armor.

Every member of this new species I have seen is covered head to toe in thick armor, their ships are configured in a way not standard to the galaxy...