History Fanfic / XCOMSecondContact

** The AxCrazy leader of the Batarian pirates that attacked Mindoir is named [[FarCry3 Vaas]], and we meet him torturing a human named Jason.

* AllThereInTheManual: While many Mass Effect fics have in-universe codex entries to flesh out details that couldn't fit into the story proper (such as ''ProtocultureEffect'' and ''MassEffectHumanRevolution''), this story does it in a unique way- by having X-COM "Research Reports," showing both what X-COM's scientists can determine about the enemy by an after-action autopsy, but also what potential upgrades can be created out of them. For example, the Reaper Blackstar weapon is noted for potentially being able to be stuck onto a Blaster Bomb guidence package, vastly increasing the destructive potential.

** Considering that it's a crossover with X-COM, it's pretty obvious that this would have happened eventually.

* AttackDrone: The basic unit used in X-Com's space battles are heavily armed and armored fighters deployed in large numbers to support the manned ones. There are also ground drones from canonical SHIV size to tank-sized.
* TheBattlestar: X-COM's supercarriers are an aversion, not being meant for direct combat despite their sheer size. They use psi-portals to deploy smaller craft in the field and their "main guns" are actually four one-kilometer long Fusion Lance/MAC hybrid mobile artillery ships.
* BadAss: Shepard, Wrex, really the whole crew. Lets just expand that to all of X-COM to be safe, since even the OC X-COM grunts that didn't make it past Eden Prime were badass. They just ran into a Reaper.

** X-COM, according to WordOfGod, is meant to operate under these rules. They are always, as a rule, concerned that the latest alien menace will be the one to exterminate humanity. They are ''supposed'' to take massive casualties as a rule, and understand that they are selling their lives to save the human race. Even if they go down taking down an enemy, they know that in doing so they give X-COM time to build up their forces and utterly wipe out the enemy. It's very, very dark.
** Pretty much everything from Mass Effect is given this treatment. The Thorian? Now the source of all psionics, and practically an eldritch abomination capable of shredding your brain- ''literally''. The rachni? In this story, there were hardly ''any'' survivors at Peak Fifteen, whereas in canon there were dozens of survivors who were able to keep the bugs in check. And it turns out it wasn't some "Sour Yellow Note" that made them attack- it was that they were ''running away.'' The Krogan Cloning and Indoctrination facilities? Those are now upgraded to cloning horrible, muton-esque Ogres, capable of shrugging off even X-COM's vaunted weapons. Geth? They now have Vahlenite armor and ''biotics.'' Oh, and they can create black holes out of dreadnoughts.

* MookHorrorShow: The narrative switches to the perspective of the Turians at several points during their [[CurbstompBattle fight with X-COM forces]] in chapter 1. The descriptions of them being on the receiving end of psychic powers and plasma weaponry is...unpleasant to say the least.

** One of the X-COM troopers in Anderson's squad is [[Franchise/{{Halo}} Sergeant Avery Johnson]].

* TheUnfettered: X-Com in general, They will stop at nothing to protect Humanity, including [[spoiler: dropping Chryssalids onto a batarian city that was selling human slaves captured on Mindoir.]] If their actions make you feel uncomfortable about who to root for... [[IntendedAudienceReaction it's entirely intentional.]]
** Jack Harper counts; he [[spoiler: manipulated the son of a high ranking X-Com captain to assist him in getting the batarians to attack the colony of Mindoir so as to prepare humanity for war.]]

** X-COM's standard tactics. If you attack them, then be ready to run like hell. They reacted to a slaving raid on Mindoir by dropping ''living Chryssalids'' (thankfully sterile) on the world that the slaves were taken to. In the next fifteen years, they proceed to ''shatter'' the Hegemony and decapitate its leadership. The humans ''then'' decide to attack Rannoch after the geth attack them, launching a complete and total assault against the main geth fleet with the intention to exterminate their species utterly.

** The AxCrazy leader of the Batarian pirates that attacked Mindoir is named [[FarCry3 Vaas]].

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: What's it take for ''Udina'' to actually become awesome?...Grow up amongst the Humanity of XCOM.

** Shepard [[spoiler: referring to Sovereign, damaged in the nuke on Virmire]]: [[{{Predator}} "If it bleeds, we can kill it."]]

* CanonDiscontinuity: Per WordOfGod, in this setting,the Catalyst does not exist. [[http://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/xcom-second-contact-me-xcom-fifth-thread.268597/page-26#post-12104806 Neither do the events of]] ''Enemy Within''.

[[http://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/xcom-second-contact-me-xcom-fifth-thread.268597/page-33#post-12268597 On hiatus as of October 30 2013 due to author's writer's block.]] [[http://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/xcom-second-contact-me-xcom-fifth-thread.268597/page-34#post-12390781 On November 16, citing a loss of interest, he posted up his outlines for how the rest of the story would have gone.]]

[[http://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/xcom-second-contact-me-xcom-fifth-thread.268597/page-33#post-12268597 On hiatus as of October 30 2013 due to author's writer's block.]]

* DarkerAndEdgier: With the much more militant and paranoid XCOM taking the place of the System's Alliance, their interactions with the rest of Mass Effect's races are far more stark. The best example of this is when XCOM responds to Batarians enslaving humans by [[spoiler: dropping chryssalids on a Hegemony world. In the political aftermath, the Coalition continues to play hardball with the Batarians by stating that they will only pay reparations if the Hegemony finally makes good on banning slavery, forcing the Batarians to leave the Citadel.]]

* FantasticRacism: In an interesting inversion of canon, it's Tevos (the asari Councilor) towards humans (she even calls Udina a pyjak), while Sparatus actually goes out of his way to defend human actions (blaming his own race for the First Contact disaster).

* PretentiousLatinMotto: XCOM, as in ''Enemy Unknown'', has "Vigil Confido." Cerberus appears to have "Terra Victoria."

* DonLaFontaine: As part of a revenge prank, Shepherd modifies [=EDI=]'s voice files to mimic him at his InAWorld best.

* CanonDiscontinuity: Per WordOfGod, in this setting,the Catalyst does not exist.

* PintSizedPowerhouse: The ''Normandy'' here has a space-grade Blaster Launcher with the yield of a dreadnought main gun[[hottip:*:Shot-for-shot, the energy transfer is very similar, although the dreadnought's spinal mass driver can fire about nine more times while the ''Normandy'' reloads.]]. [[spoiler: Per WordOfGod, the Normandy has a decent shot of taking out SOVEREIGN with a surprise attack, but no one in-universe actually knows that.]]

** The commander of the Citadel Defense Fleet is a turian named [[Literature/CodexAlera Rufus Scipio]].

** The Turian general responsible for nearly bringing the Citadel and Coaltion to war is affectionately named 'Blast Hardcheese' by readers.

** Wrex is canonically the most dangerous organic in the galaxy. More combat experiece than the rest of the cast combined, biotics, mammoth physical strength, and a really big gun. Word of god has put him at comparable to 2 platoons of Geth Assault troopers in combat.

* GodzillaThreshold: When the heretic Geth attack the Citadel, Sparatus authorises fire support missions, stating that the possible loss of thousands is preferable to millions or more if they get to rampage.

''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8861606/1/XCOM-Second-Contact XCOM: Second Contact]]'' (discussion threads [[http://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/xcom-second-contact-xcom-mass-effect.244744/ #1]], [[http://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/xcom-second-contact-xcom-mass-effect-thread-2.247086/ #2]], [[http://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/xcom-second-contact-thread-the-third.250288/ #3]] and [[http://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/xcom-second-contact-me-xcom-thread-four.256455/ #4]]) is a ''Franchise/MassEffect[=/=]VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'' crossover written by Agayek.

** The commander of the Citadel Defense Fleet is a turian named[[Literature/CodexAlera Rufus Scipio]].