Resistance
Chapter 1: Retreat
There will be no white flag above my home for
A day of freedom is worth a lifetime of slavery.
-Unknown (I can't remember)
Admiral Anderson watched as the Normandy accelerated off towards the horizon. The evac shuttles had been destroyed but had left a half dozen marines behind, as Anderson came up to them three old fashioned petrol powered trucks arrived on scene. These were heavy duty off road trucks designed to handle any terrain a man stepped out of the lead truck and shouted "Which one of you is Admiral Anderson?"
"That would be me, and just who the hell are you." Anderson replied the newcomers were heavily equipped with military grade weapons and light armor.
"My name is Jackson and I'm the man who's gonna save your sorry ass." The man wasn't overly impressive at just over six feet he was of average height a build nothing about him would stick in your memory he was just normal. "Shepard contacted me a while back and had me make a few preparations for when the Reaper's arrived. I don't have time to explain, we need to leave the city as fast as possible."
"That was the plan but where are we going?" Anderson was more than willing to let him have the lead this man was clearly a local and knew how to get around the city.
As they moved towards the vehicles Jackson responded "The mountains sir just an hour outside the city." As soon as Anderson was in the passenger seat and the marines loaded in back they trucks took off headed towards the west.
"Sounds good but how did you know I would be here." Anderson wanted to know how this man knew where to find Shepard.
"I wasn't looking for you, Shepard had a tracking device I placed in him so if the Reapers attacked and he was unable to get off-world I could find him. I was able to track him until he got on the Normandy. That's when EDI informed me that you were remaining behind. Just a second." The man reached for the radio on the dashboard and asked "Veetor can you broadcast what I'm about to say on all frequencies?"
A Quarian accented voice replied "Of course, but it's only a matter of time until the Reapers manage to block the signal, you probably have a minute at best."
"Good start broadcasting know… Attention all forces in the Vancouver area! Fall Back! Get out of the city as fast as you can. Evacuate what civilians you can. Engage the enemy with guerilla tactics until you receive further orders. Independent action is authorized under condition SABER 1 per Admiral Hackett's orders."
As Jackson got towards the end of that sentence a tone similar to the one Anderson had heard earlier on the crashed gunship came on. "Well that's it no more radio broadcasts for a while."
The city was in shambles piles of rubble almost as tall as the trucks occasionally civilians could be seen running trying to find loved ones or get to safety. The trucks had no problem navigating over what rubble they came across their larger tires, long wheel base, and off road suspension easily compensated. However the going was slow at best they managed a decent running pace at worst a slow crawl but they were moving.
They continued moving through the city right under the reapers at some points Anderson asked "Why aren't the Reapers firing on us, we're an easy enough target?"
"They have bigger things to worry about, right now they have plenty of air targets to take out but that won't last long. SHIT!" The truck screeched to a stop as a horde of husks came into sight. The husks just ambled along until one of them noticed the trucks and let out an unnatural roar and then they all just attacked. "So much for getting out unnoticed."
The marines in the back of the truck hopped out and started firing at the advancing husks. Limbs went flying and husks fell at an impossible pace but they were hardly making a dent, for every one they killed it seemed two more took its place. Noticing a nearby alley Anderson asks "What about there can we fit through there?"
"Don't have a choice at this point" Yelling out at the marines "Get on, were moving!" Jackson waits as the marines hop back into the truck and then turns the truck down the alley as the other two trucks follow suit. Taking off as fast as possible down the alley they soon come to another crossroad and find it mercifully empty of husks almost at the edge of the city now, nothing but open farmland1.
Seeing the edge of the city Anderson relaxes a bit thinking that they are in the clear as the trucks begin to accelerate on the open farmland. Then a reaper lands right in front of them, the ground shakes with the force of the landing and for the briefest of seconds it feels as if the truck is going to spin out.
The thing is massive but Jackson doesn't even hesitate he just steps on the gas and says into his mike "Hit it with the Cain!" In the truck directly behind them Anderson watches as one of Jackson's men charges a Cain it's a race now between the Cain and the Reaper beam and if they lose Anderson probably won't even know it. Anderson hears the unmistakable sound of the Cain launching its nuke he watches as just before the Reaper fires the nuke connects with one of its legs. The Reaper fires but it's off-balance and the beam fires wide and before the thing can charge another shot the trucks pass under it heading for the mountains that are just barely visible in the distance.
By the time the Reaper turns around the trucks are well out of range and it decides to make its way toward the city to begin the harvest after all there would be time later to gather the strays.
"Looks like were clear for now" Jackson states and allows the truck to slow the other two trucks pull alongside for now it's mostly a smooth ride as the trucks suspension easily absorbs the uneven farmland beneath the tires.
Anderson takes a closer look at the vehicles they are traveling in. Standard trucks for the most part, with little in the way of armor or armaments, but clearly customized to handle any situation. Thinking back on his knowledge of older model trucks he realizes it's an early 21st century, a rather old vehicle but clearly reliable as it had just saved all of their lives. "You mentioned earlier that Shepard set all of this up how is that possible, he's been under lockdown since he returned to earth."
"Who says I talked to him after he returned to earth? He sent me a message shortly after that fiasco with the alpha relay told me to trust him and to get prepared for a possible invasion. I told him okay and made my preparations, I owed him that much." Jackson had that same air about him as the Commander did. He followed his gut and his gut was rarely wrong.
"How much have you been able to accomplish?" Anderson asked his curiosity getting the better of him.
"I called up a few friends; ex-military, mercs, and even a few aliens to help me out. I got them everything they would need equipment wise and even manage to secure a Cain although we only have three shots left for it now. We're hold up in the Rocky Mountains because no one knows those mountains better than me and the caves underneath them are extensive and fortified from the Contact War. Hopefully they'll help us avoid the Reapers at least for a time, if they send a Sovereign class Reaper to attack us I doubt we will last long, the ground forces we can handle with ease in these mountains. I sent other groups into the cities to secure weapons and personnel no telling if they will be successful."
The trucks had to slow down even more now as they approached the foothills and the woods, pretty soon they would have to be on foot. "I give it two weeks maybe more before the Reapers start coming out of the cities probably less if we start harassing them like I plan."
The trucks finally came to a stop as the woods was too thick to allow them to pass a few of Jackson's men quickly covered them with military grade camouflage cover2. "Alright on your feet, the easy part is over, hopefully the other teams made it out with their targets as well. Let's move toward home and food."
The hike is brutal especially on Anderson's already worn and battered body. It takes them almost an hour to cross what Jackson considers a hill but to Anderson is more of a mountain. On the other side the wood are even thicker to the point that it's almost impossible to see the sun. As they approach the bottom of the valley an owl calls out to them Jackson replies with an extremely convincing crow. Then Anderson watches as four figures rise up out of the ground surrounding them on all sides, startled he reaches for his pistol only to realize the mounds are men with their guns pointed at the ground. "Got some nice reflexes there donchya pops?" one of the camouflaged men asks.
"Shut it Max, if you'd been in the city with us you would probably be on edge to." Jackson replies as Anderson stows his pistol. It's impossible for Anderson to tell anything about this Max as he is covered from head to toe in a ghillie suit and woods colored paint.
Max responds "Didn't mean no harm by it. It's a good thing to be dat quick wit ur guns."
"Anyone else come through before us?"
"None I know of but we cut de radio off to keep quiet ya know."
"Understood get back to watch now."
The four men move off and merge back with the ground as they stop moving Anderson notices it becomes almost impossible to find them again. "If you want them to be invisible why not just give them cloaking devices?" Anderson asks this tactic is one he's only read about in old military textbooks.
"Because cloaks have two major drawbacks one they are expensive and two even when your cloaked your feet would still make impressions on the ground." Jackson states as they continue on their march by the time that he finishes they come to a cavern in the side of a sheer cliff Jackson walks into the dark and around a bend. Anderson follows suit and is greeted by a massive cavern about 200 meters long and 70 yards across. The entire area is lit and clearly is some form of command center/barracks a table towards the middle is covered with maps of the local area and there are countless bunks in the back. "Welcome to our humble abode. It may not look like much but this is just the front room the entire cave system that spreads across the entire mountain range we're only using a small fraction of the entire cave network."
"How have you managed this in such a short amount of time?"
"Come here I'll show you." Jackson leads him to a table with a map of the entire mountain range, with crisscrossing lines the more organized in blue and the more disorganized in green. "The green line are natural cave systems that have been fortified and expanded. The blue are man-made connections between them. The entire system was finished during The First Contact War, it was designed to be a place of last resistance in case the Turians ever attacked Earth."
"You said that you had prepared I guess it just didn't really sink in how well prepared you were." Anderson was pleased with a good base of operations they could plan an effective resistance maybe even keep the Reapers out of the mountains all together.
"Not as prepared as I'd like. We're well stocked on assault rifles, pistols, and thermal clips but severely lacking on heavy weapons, meds, and food. We should check and see if any of the other groups have checked in I have over a dozen teams out there securing everything from weapons to food to soldiers."
"What about coordinating with other members of the resistance? Do we have some form of communication available?"
"Yes and no. Back during the first contact war the Alliance buried communication cables all along this mountain range and fortified many of its caves. So we can communicate along this entire Rocky Mountain range but anything beyond that is going to take some time."
"What about survivors? We need to find a place to house noncombatants."
Jackson just laughed at that. "Against the Reapers anyone that can hold a rifle without falling over is a combatant. There are no survivors now, everyone is now a soldier like it or not."
"You can't mean that. What about the old? Children? Or injured?"
"I don't mean to sound cruel but the old are dead. The injured soon will be. As for the kids if they can hold a gun I'll take them as recruits."
"You can't mean that?"
"Look around! It doesn't matter who you are! If you want to survive you have to fight!"
"Sir we've got incoming and a lot of them."
1: Since the turn of the 22nd century almost everyone lived in the cities and the area immediately surrounding the cities was used as farmland to provide food for the ever growing population. Colonies had helped take the burden off of Earth but the population of Earth was still confined to the cities in order to make enough room for farms. More developed countries were also allowing for forests to grow to try and combat global warming.
2: Standard camouflage similar to what the armed forces use today except with thermal dissipation making it invisible to thermal imaging.
