History Fanfic / RenegadePeptuck

** He's also mentioned that [[spoiler: Specialist Locke]] from ''Eagle's Fall'' will appear as well.

* XanatosGambit: [[spoiler: Nod taking the Tacitus from Eden Prime]], causing conflict between GDI and the Citadel that allows [[spoiler: Kane to walk in and negotiate a compromise]], thereby coming off as the reasonable and diplomatic one to interstellar politics. [[spoiler: Kane]] even outright admits this to Shepard, who is forced to acknowledge that she can't act on the information because it make her look bad or ruin the compromise and only serve to make Kane look better.

* XanatosGambit: [[spoiler: Nod taking the Tacitus from Eden Prime]], causing conflict between GDI and the Citadel that allows [[spoiler: Kane to walk in and negotiate a compromise]], thereby coming off as the reasonable and diplomatic one to interstellar politics. [[spoiler: Kane]] even outright admits this to Shepard, who is forced to acknowledge that she can't act on the information because it make her look bad or ruin the compromise.

* BroadStrokes: WordOfGod is that canon has been "massaged" to allow for a better story, with things like precise numbers and weapons yields being glossed over to create a stronger and more realistic drama. For example, when one reader complained that the salarian STG were so easily defeating GDI information security, the author replied that the STG had been infiltrating other species' security networks for a thousand years and were using advanced computers when humanity was still using the abacus. They ''should'' be running rings around GDI in the intelligence arena. In addition, ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert Red Alert]]'' events have been oh-so-briefly mentioned in passing.

* DoomedByCanon: Subverted - [[spoiler:Nihlus]] is still alive.
** Played straight when it comes to [[spoiler: Corporal Jenkins]], but see below.
** Well, zig-zagged with [[spoiler: Jenkins]], who makes it much further through [[spoiler: the Eden Prime mission]] than he ought to.

* EnemyMine: Shepard working with Nod in the prologue to rescue the captives from Elysium. Of note is that Shepard is pretty much forced to do this; she's been stripped of her weapons and gear and is on a Nod ship, and they make it clear that she can either go along with them or bad things will happen.

* BroadStrokes: WordOfGod is that canon has been "massaged" to allow for a better story, with things like precise numbers and weapons yields being glossed over to create a stronger and more realistic drama. For example, when one reader complained that the salarian STG were so easily defeating GDI information security, the author replied that the STG had been infiltrating other species' security networks for a thousand years and were using advanced computers when humanity was still using the abacus. They ''should'' be running rings around GDI in the intelligence arena.

** Also, [[Batman Observation Team Oracle]].

*** He calls what Garrus becomes in canon Mass Effect 2 "Sniper {{Batman}}."

* CurbstompBattle: [[spoiler: Sovereign vs. Ion Array EP-4.]]

The story opens with then-Lieutenant Shepard, a biotic GDI Commando who finds herself forced to accept the assistance of the Brotherhood of Nod when slavers attack Elysium, and as a result is catapulted into heroism and fame. Seven years later, on the way to the GDI colony world of Eden Prime alongside a Council Spectre, she discovers an old enemy has emerged and attacked the human colony: the alien Scrin, working alongside the synthetic geth and a mysterious alien dreadnought.

Written by the same author behind ''Fanfic/{{Tiberium Wars}}'' and ''Fanfic/{{Forward}}.'' Notable for the level of depth involved in depicting the effect that a GDI-led humanity would have on the galaxy. It is indicated that this universe's Earth is set after the "good" ending to ''Tiberium Wars'' where the Liquid Tiberium Bomb was not used. The story also draws a great deal of inspiration from the canceled ''Tiberium'' game, using various designs, weapons, and uniforms from the game, such as the Integrated Combat Suit and a variant of the GD-10 weapon.

* AwakeningTheSleepingGiant:

* DeathWorld: The general perception of Earth is that it's an even deadlier world then Tuchancka with one of the key differences being that when presented with the possibility of getting off the planet like the krogan a large portion of the human population chose to stay put. Which of course lends itself to the perception of humanity as a species of crazy [=BAMFs=] by the rest of the galaxy.

* ForWantOfANail:
** Garrus' shift from a somewhat impetuous CowboyCop to "[[TwentyFour Jack Bauer]] meets the [[ThereWasADoor Kool-Aid Man]]" appears to be a direct result of GDI's presence in the timeline. Thanks to GDI aggressiveness, the Council expanded the number of Spectres, and he was given an opportunity to join. He made the choice to become a Spectre, and as a result never got the instilled restraint he would have otherwise received as a police officer. The result is a Spectre who is overly aggressive.
** To a much lesser degree, there's Jacob Taylor. In the traditional ME timeline, he joined the Corsairs because he thought it would cut down on the red tape that the SA puts on its military, and left to join Cerberus when even Corsairs proved little better than the Marines. In the ''Renegade'' timeline, the GDI's time honored tradition of "Step 1: identify problem. Step 2: apply military force. Step 3: repeat Step 2 until problem ceases to be problematic," seems to have prevented Jacob from ever wanting to leave the standard military.
** Zaeed's presence on the Citadel is apparently as a result of this. Due to GDI's friendliness with the krogan, Wrex got a job on Eden Prime as a bodyguard. As a result, Zaeed was the one hired by the Shadow Broker to deal with Fist.
** [[spoiler: Tali has already completed her pilgrimage when the story starts, which means rather than a sole Quarian on the run from Saren, she had a team of Migrant Fleet Marines with her, of which Kal'Reegar is the only survivor. This also explains the larger merc presence.]]

* GreyAndGrayMorality: The author has made it quite clear that neither GDI nor Nod are complete good guys or villains. In fact, Nod seems to get more positive points than negative ones in this timeline, though in [[WordOfGod his commentary]] the author notes that both the Brotherhood and GDI are different entities than they were in the ''CommandAndConquer'' games, being separated by more than a hundred years.
** In one of the author's own comments, he said that (paraphrased) "Neither side is right. However, both sides are wrong on certain points."

* {{Jerkass}}: Councilor Velarn.

* {{MacGuffin}}: The [[spoiler: Tacitus buried on Eden Prime]]. Lampshaded in the author's Spacebattles chapter guide.

** Shepard is implied to be one of these. She is very good at manipulating others and knowing how to keep negative personality traits (such as Garrus' and Admiral Parker's tendency for overkill) under control.

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: GDI does ''not'' take the Batarian Hegemony's funding of pirates and slavers lightly.

* ShoutOut:

* SpaceColdWar: Between GDI and the Citadel. There ''was'' a cold war between GDI and the Batarian Hegemony, but GDI didn't take those slaver raids very well....
* StandardSciFiFleet: WordOfGod has laid out that the different navies of both GDI and Nod have distinct compositions and doctrines. GDI's fleet primarily consists of carriers and lighter ships, with an emphasis on base-hopping and resource and convoy interdiction, with enormous, heavily-armed fleets for destroying hardened targets and "super-heavy carriers" based on MCV technology that are designed to supply cluster-wide operations. Nod, on the other hand, uses larger numbers of lighter cruisers, complete with long-range fighters and light carriers, with an emphasis on destroying enemy supplies and support and avoiding a decisive engagement, causing the enemy to waste resources and spread himself thin defending against constant attacks. Both navies make use of MCV/Crawler technology to let them operate deep in enemy territory.

* TankGoodness:

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: GDI's approach to warfare is pure, unrelenting firepower coupled with DisproportionateRetribution. For comparison to the original timeline, the assault on Torfan was a costly ground attack through the pirates' tunnels. In this timeline, Torfan's base was orbitally obliterated by an ion cannon barrage that destroyed the complex and everything within fifty kilometers of the base. GDI, furthermore, has ''twenty'' defense platforms surrounding the Charon relay, each with six dreadnought-grade ion cannons on it. They're very serious about possible invasion.

** Peptuck has confirmed that [[spoiler: Kal'Reegar will join Shepherd's crew alongside Tali.]]

* XanatosGambit: [[spoiler: Nod taking the Tacitus from Eden Prime]], causing conflict between GDI and the Citadel that allows [[spoiler: Kane to walk in and negotiate a compromise]], thereby coming off as the reasonable and diplomatic one to interstellar politics. [[spoiler: Kane]] even outright admits this to Shepard, who is forced to acknowledge that she can't act on the information because it make her look bad or ruin the compromise.
* XMeetsY:

** Garrus is, per WordOfGod, "the fusion of [[TwentyFour Jack Bauer]] and the [[ThereWasADoor Kool-Aid Man.]]"

Has an official prequel in the form of ''Fanfic/EaglesFall'' by Charnobyl, which covers the Shanxi War between GDI and the Turian Hierarchy.

Has an official prequel in the form of ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6965762/1/Eagles_Fall Eagle's Fall]]'' by Charnobyl, which covers the Shanxi War between GDI and the Turian Hierarchy.

* EpilepticTrees: To say this story sparked some speculation on the Spacebattles forums is like saying a monsoon dampens the landscape. It doesn't help that Peptuck [[WordOfGod regularly drops minor hints at random]].

* NightmareFuel:
** Buzzers slaughtering [[spoiler: Corporal Jenkins]].
** The Scrin have apparently gone to work on the husks: now they're armed with energy cannons on their arms, and their hands are ''four foot long blades.''
** These three words coming from Kane: "I don't know."

* LesYay: There's a small but noticeable amount of this between Shepard and Miranda.

** Peptuck has confirmed that [[spoiler: Kal'Reegar will join Shepherd's crew alongside Tali.]] AndTheFandomRejoiced indeed.

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: Buzzers slaughtering [[spoiler: Corporal Jenkins]].
** And the Scrin have apparently gone to work on the husks: now they're armed with energy cannons on their arms, and their hands are ''four foot long blades.''
** Nothing compares to these three words coming from Kane: "I don't know."

* [=~Mathematician's Answer~=]: A lot of Peptuck's responses to questions.

** [[TheManYourManCouldSmellLike "Smug: I am on a rachni."]]

** Three in Chapter 8: [[spoiler: Tali]]'s stealth systems have a certain [[{{Crysis}} mechanical voice announcing when they activate]], there's a [[{{FEAR}} REV]] MiniMecha, and one of the mercenaries mentions getting [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique "biology lessons" on a quarian prisoner]] from a guy named [[BattleLosAngeles Nantz]].

** Tali is her canon self mixed with the stealth skills of [[SplinterCell Sam Fisher]] and [[MetalGearSolid Solid Snake]], with a [[Crysis Nanosuit]].

* BadassArmy: GDI and Nod. The former fought the Turian Hierarchy almost to a standstill on Shanxi, without much understanding of mass effect technology. The latter is implied to have some incredibly badass troops (if lacking in the raw numbers and sheer firepower of GDI). When asked what Nod's troops were like, [[WordOfGod Peptuck's response]] was to put up pictures of [[DeusExHumanRevolution Adam Jensen]], [[{{FEAR}} the Point Man]], and a [[{{Halo}} Spartan]].

** WordOfGod regarding the Scrin is that the forces seen in-game are the equivalent of a few hundred mercenaries with armored cars and assault rifles, and the ''true'' Scrin armies and navy are "an entirely different beast." Among their assets are [[spoiler: phasing tiberium kinetic impactors with liquid-tiberium cores]], [[spoiler: short-range teleporters]], [[spoiler: phasing technology]], [[spoiler: [[WaveMotionGun rift missiles]]]], and some of them use [[spoiler: large-scale versions of the Masterminds' mind-control rigs.]] The implication is that [[spoiler: the Scrin are preparing for war with the Reapers.]]

* AwesomeButImpractical: Firestorm barriers, per WordOfGod. Their power draw is enormous and they only go in one direction, and the projectors are still vulnerable to enemy fire, making them only really useful as a surface defense system with the projectors armored and buried underground. The Firestorm can be angled to create a pyramid-shaped defensive dome, but this won't work on spacecraft because they can be attacked from any angle, and the shield would draw about three times as much power as the rest of the ship's systems put together. Peptuck has explicitly described them as "'OH GOD WHY' expensive."

* AwesomeButImpractical: Firestorm barriers, per WordOfGod. Their power draw is enormous and they only go in one direction, and the projectors are still vulnerable to enemy fire, making them only really useful as a surface defense system with the projectors armored and buried underground. The Firestorm can be angled to create a pyramid-shaped defensive dome, but this won't work on spacecraft because they can be attacked from any angle, and the shield would draw about three times as much power as the rest of the ship's systems put together.

Archived story thread on Spacebattles can be found [[http://forums.spacebattles.com/showthread.php?p=7319274 here]] (with active discussion by the board), current story thread [[http://forums.spacebattles.com/showthread.php?t=215314 here]] and Fanfiction.net version available [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5851454/1/Renegade here]].