Mass Effect: Line in the Sand

by Jshep16653

Three years after the Reaper war, and the galaxy is in turmoil. The Krogan are locked in a desperate civil war for territory, the Turian Primarch is held captive, an Asari commando team goes missing, and the newly formed Galactic Alliance is doing everything in their power to maintain a fragile peace. Through it all Delta squad is deployed to deal with the worst of the worst.

Lars reaches up and grips one of the handles inside the shuttle. The drop door is already open as they make their approach. The barren and rocky landscape flashes by faster than the eye can follow. Gunfire steaks across the surface of the planet and anti-aircraft rounds pierce the sky. A shuttle near them is hit and explodes in the air, sending shrapnel flying in every direction. A chunk hurtles towards his shuttle and he only just manages to grab the Turian next to him and pull him out of he way. The shrapnel passes cleanly through he shuttle door and out the other side. The Turian shouts his thanks him over the sound of the wind screaming through the shuttle. Lars waves it off and activates his helmet's com link. "Watch yourself, Candonis" he shouts, "we are have already lost too many and we aren't even on the ground yet."

"Major," Candonis growls from inside his helmet, "what are we even doing here?"

Lars points down at the surface below. "Tuchanka is seeing its third civil war since the destruction of the mass relays. After the Genophage was cured they were promised a new planet. This is their fist attempt at colonization, and it seems the war on their home world has followed them here. With the GA's interest in creating a lasting peace with the Krogan, it is our job to make sure that the ruling clan comes out of this war victorious."

Beside them the big Krogan Warlord scoffs. "It is shameful that we even accepted your help. Wrex is relying on other species too heavily. Support for him is waning fast."

Lars grabs the Warlord by the front of his armor and pulls him down to eye level. "That is not your place to decide Thresh." To punctuate his point, Lars slams his head into Thresh's head plate, a sign of Krogan superiority. Thresh growls low, but then chuckles.

"What, I said that you were my chief didn't I? No need to worry about me, sir."

With a nod Lars shouts to the pilot, "How long until the drop?" Another nearby explosion rocks the ship. Now the Krogan on the ground are using explosive rounds. Probably hoping to take out more than one shuttle at a time. Why the GA insists on using these mass 'Hammer' maneuvers Lars will never know. The massive amounts of casualties they suffer can't be worth it.

"ETA three minutes sir!"

Lars pulls his rifle from the magnetic clip on his back. As the weapon unfolds fully he plugs in a fresh thermal clip. "You heard the man ladies, lock it up!" The four other members of his team immediately stand and attach rappelling cables to their hardsuits. Lars attaches his own and looks over at the greenest member of the squad. "Private," the man looks up quickly, beneath his visor Lars can see the fear in his eyes, "keep calm and stay next to me. That big Krogen over there will soak up most of the enemy fire for you!" Thresh laughs and primes his shotgun for emphasis.

"Sir yes sir!" Lars nods, satisfied that the Private won't do anything too foolish. He has been too tough on the boy so far, they all have. He is a replacement for a squad member they lost no more than three days ago. Normally they would have longer to grieve, but with this conflict going on, time is not a commodity. The shuttle slows slightly and a green light comes on.

"This is it Delta!" The pilot shouts. As one the squad leaps backwards out of the shuttle and rappels down to the planet surface. As soon as their boots hit the ground they release their cables and take cover. Above them the shuttle hovers for a few seconds longer before taking off. "You are clear Delta. Returning to base to refuel. I will be making low airstrike runs once I am back, over."

"Affirmative, good hunting." Lars moves forward and his squad follows. Their first objective is to retake a Krogan FOB. Once done they are to radio the Warlord in charge of operations here and get him to reinforce that position. Further orders will be coming from Command once they set up in the FOB. "Move out Delta. The rest of Hammer will be converging on that FOB at 1600 hours." As a singular unit the five soldiers move forward.

"Tracking movement ahead sir," Lilla calls from a vantage point. "Two Krogan inbound. Potential Hostiles."

"Lilla take up snipe manuver." Lars orders. "Private, Candonis, take cover behind those rocks! Thresh, with me!" The squad breaks to take up their positions.

A shotgun cracks nearby. "Hostility confirmed Delta." Lilla shouts. Lars can hear her scrambling forward on her stomach as she prepares to give them sniper cover. "They are coming up fast. They know you are here." Soon as she finishes speaking the Krogan's in question come charging into view.

Lars lets out a battle cry as biotics surge through him, propelling him forward with unstoppable force. He slams into the nearest Krogan, knocking it to the ground! Before the massive warrior can stand Lars pumps two rounds from his shotgun into its chest! Red-Orange blood spurts upwards onto his armor! He turns to assault the second Krogan, but Thresh arrives first.

The two warriors roar like animals as Thresh grapples the other to the ground. Lars moves to assist, but the Krogan he already downed reaches up and grabs him, dashing him against nearby rock faces. Air rushes out of Lars's lungs and his gun is knocked from his hand. The Private and Candonis open fire on the Krogan's exposed back, but that only seems to enrage it further. With a snarl it grabs Lars and lifts him above its head. It kneels, intending to break his back! Lars struggles to break fee! A crack splits the air and half the Krogan's head bursts outwards as its corpse topples to the side. Lilla shouts in exhilaration through the com link.

Lars wastes no time and jumps to Thresh's side. He latches himself to the attacking Krogan's back and drags it downward. Thesh takes the opportunity and grabs the Krogan's head plate. With a savage sound he rips the plate from the Krogan's head, exposing its brain. Lars pulls his sub-machine gun from his belt and empties a magazine into the exposed matter! "Lets see your fucking redundant nervous system fix that you fucking bastard!"

Standing, Lars wipes as much of the Krogan blood from himself as he can. The private runs up to him and hands him his lost shotgun. "Figured you would want this sir." Taking the weapon and making sure it is not damaged, Lars decides the kid is okay.

"Delta, we are wasting time, lets move! Lilla, scout ahead! I don't wan't any more unnecessary fights." Delta squad maintains a quick pace after that, moving double to make the FOB on time. As the target area comes into sight, Lars realizes why the Krogans lost it in the first place. "You have got to be fucking with me right now."

The FOB is set up around a monument of the Krogan leader Wrex. The monolith towers above the landscape, making it an easy target for anything within range. Not to mention it is set down hill in a gully. The attackers would have high ground from any direction. "That," Thresh growls, "is a fools way to defend. I don't know of any Warlord stupid enough to try defending such a place. Look, even these renegades know it is foul place." He points out the outlier forces surrounding the hills. "They at least have guards."

Lars kneels down and surveys the whole area. The Krogan renegades have erected two makeshift guard towers on the perimeter of the base. There are also several patrols moving across the various hills surrounding the area. "Lilla, tell me how many patrols they have and how many are in the base."

Lilla climbs up a rock face as easily as if she had done it hundreds of times before. Asai flexibility comes in handy for more than pole dancing it seems. She disappears over the top and there is a short pause. "I count six on patrol and fifteen in the base." She makes a small noise. "There is movement opposite us. Possible friendlies."

Lars opens a com link. "Any GA forces in the area this is Major Lars Yeliskey, Delta lead, do you copy?"

A voice answers, "Delta lead this is Bravo lead. What is your position? over."

"Bravo we are on your 12. We count a total of 21 defenders. Six are patrolling the perimeter. Where is Charlie? over."

"Charlie was engaged by a Krogan assault force. No word from then yet. Proceed without them? Over."

Lars presses a hand to his helmet as he thinks. Together Bravo and Delta squads hold a number of ten units. Even with Charlie squad they would be outnumbered. They still have the element of surprise. "Bravo, get your squad into position, have your sniper lay down cover. We will take the base. You and your men deal with those patrols. Make sure none of them get away. Over."

"Copy that Delta. Bravo awaiting your signal. Bravo out." The com link closes.

Lars turns to his team. "All of you get that?"

Thresh nods and strokes his shotgun, "This will be, exhilarating."

Candonis pulls out his assault rifle and pops a thermal clip. "Ready and waiting sir." Lars signals Lilla and she signals back.

"Right then, Move Delta!" Lars breaks cover and charges down the rise. One of the watchtowers notices him and rounds begin to spray in his direction. A shot from Bravo's sniper quickly puts an end to that however. Lars clears the barricade and lets loos a biotic shock-wave to scatter the Krogan defenders. As the defenders scatter Delta moves into the center of the base. Candonis and Lars go back to back, spraying rounds at any Krogan foolish enough to leave cover. Thresh laughs gleefully as he makes his way around the base, obliterating anything in his way with his rocket launcher and shotgun.

The private is caught by a grenade and goes down. Lars runs to his side and pulls him into cover. "Candoins!" Lars leans out and provides covering fire as the Turian administers medi gel to the Private. "Stay with him!" Lars orders as he breaks cover. He uses his biotics to create a powerful barrier around himself as he moves to the center of the fighting. He soaks up rounds until he finds a target. Once again using his biotics he pulls the krogan towars him while amping up his fist with a charge. The Krogan is pulled through the air and Lars slams his fist into it, breaking some of the armor and obviously causing a lot of pain.

The Krogan roars and blood flies from its mouth. It slams its plated head into Lars, disorienting him. The Krogan grabs both of his arms and starts to pull them apart, attempting to rip him in half. Lars grits his teeth against the pain and kicks at the Krogan's head. One of his boots finds an eye socket and the Krogan releases him as the eye bursts. As his feet hit the ground Lars propels himself forward, tackling the Krgoan. He wraps his arms around its thick plated neck and twists. He feels the spine snap and the warrior go limp. Just to make sure, he pulls his pistol from his belt and puts a round into its skull.

"Lilla, report! Any of the patrols get away!"

A crack sounds through the air followed by a curse. "Bad news sir, one of the Krogan managed to get outside of my range before I had a shot. He is moving west by North West. Intel says that is the direction of a Renegade encampment. I managed to wing him, but we should assume that we will be getting some company soon."

Lars curses under his breath. "Delta, status!" Everyone checks in, even the private. Lars runs over the the wounded member of his team and examines the wound. The Private's armor is badly burned, but it seems that he himself is okay for the most part. "Private, when I call for a status report, that means everyone, even if you are wounded!"

The private pulls off his helmet. "Sorry sir, I think the blast did something to my coms. I tried responding but nothing went through." Lars is once again struck by how young the Private it. He truly is a greenie. Fresh from the academy.

"Understood, see what you can do about fixing it." Lars stands and opens a link to Bravo. "Bravo squad this is Delta lead, we have secured the FOB. Radio the Krogan Warlord and let him know he can move his forces up and then join us yourselves. Have your sniper maintain position. We are expecting company from a nearby encampment."

"Understood Delta. Bravo out."

"Delta, see what you can do about fortifying this position. Anything will help." For the next hour the two squads work together to move any crates or debris into a more suitable barricade. Bravo squad consists of two humans who don't say much, A Drell, a Batarian, and a Turain commander. The Commander's name is Sergeant Octavious Variln.

Variln approaches Lars with an extended hand. "Yeliskey," Variln greets with a smile, "good to see you again." The two of them have served together in the past. Most notably on Earth when the Reapers were finally beaten back.

Lars shakes his hand and returns the greeting. "How long has it been?"

Variln cracks his neck. "I would say almost a year. Last time I saw you we were running an op on one of the the moons orbiting Omega. Very covert. Needed to stop some weapons dealers."

Lars nods. "I remember. As I recall I ended up having to pull your leathery ass out of the fire when your cover was blown." Variln laughs and moves to oversee his team. A crash echos through the base and has Lars sprinting to the source. the two humans from Bravo squad are arguing near a shatter crate. Lars ignores them and examines the crate's contents. He picks up a plastic brick and turns it over in his hands. He has seen this before. C4. A plastic explosive used long ago in human warfare. It is troubling that the Krogan's have it. "Where was this crate?"

The two humans snap to attention at the commanding tone in his voice. "Sir," the female states, "we found it along with three others sir!"

"Show me." The two lead him to where the crate originated. Without a word he opens one of the other two crates. There is even more explosives contained within.

"Major!" Lars turns to see Variln and Thresh hurrying towards him. "We heard a commotion. What is going on here?"

Lars points to the crates. "Seems your squad found the reason the Krogan's wanted this FOB so badly. It is packed with explosives. What we have here is C4. Humans used to use it. It is made of a charged plastic that is easily smuggled. It was put out of commission several years ago, but still used in training operations back on Earth." An idea begins to form in his head. "We could use this to fortify our position." He explains how it works and how to prime the explosives.

Variln rushes off with the two humans from his squad to place the C4 around the perimeter. Lars requests an update from his squad. All four check in. Thresh and Candonis finished the barricade they were working on and assisted the Private with repairs to some of the monitoring systems set up around the monolith. Lilla reports having seen no movement in the direction of the hostile Krogan. "Sir," Lilla sounds worried, "I have some movement from behind out position. Looks like it could be a large force."

"Lets check it out." Lars radios the rest of the squad to let them know where he is going. He ascends the rise and meets up with Lilla. She has taken her helmet off for a moment and is drinking from a canteen. She whips some sweat from her brow and offers him the water. He takes it and downs a large swallow. "Thanks."

"Yep," she nods and motions for him to follow. She leads him up a nearby rock face. Once at the top she hands him some binoculars. "There has been no communication from Charlie squad, but it could be them. Or it could be our allied Warlord coming to reinforce our position. Cant tell from all the cliffs in the way. Honestly, what happened on this planet to give it such weird topography?"

Lars shrugs his shoulders. He can't see any movement. "Where did you see them?"

Lilla laughs. "You wont be able to see anything now sir, I caught it from a higher elevation and from further away. Now they will be masking their movement a little better."

"You dragged me up this hill to show me nothing?"

"No sir, you will be able to get a better signal for your com from up here. Through you might appreciate it."

Lars shakes his head. The Asari woman's head works in ways he does not understand. He opens com line anyway. "This is Major Lars Yeliskey, Delta lead. Is there anyone on this channel?" There is a pause accompanied by some broken static. "Repeat, this is Major Yeliskey, Delta lead, is there anyone using this channel, over?"

There is more static, but this time he makes out some works. "Delta... Charlie lead... Held back by Krogan... Warlord with us now... Your position? Over."

Lars activates his omni-tool and clears up the channel. "Repeat Charlie."

"Delta this is Charlie lead. We were held up by a Krogan party. Warlord Kin arrived and reinforced us. We are en-route to the FOB now, ETA five minutes. What is your position? Over."

"Charlie lead, we do not have eyes on you. Advise sending up a flare for a shuttle pick up. We expect to be engaged by a large hostile force. The FOB has been taken and we are fortifying our hold. The faster you can get here the better." As he speaks an explosion goes off on the rise behind him. He and Lilla whirl around and go prone. Lilla pulls out her rile and looks through the scope as Lars observes with the binoculars. "Scratch that Charlie, we are engaged with hostile forces. I repeat, we have been engaged!"

Krogan warriors are swarming down the opposite embankment. As he watches two explosions go off and several of the Krogan are sent skyward. Variln is putting that C4 to good use. Beside him Lilla starts to pick off hostiles one by one. She is very precise, never wasting a shot. Every round used equals a dead enemy.

Lars leaps down the rock face. He equips his shotgun and sprints towards the barricade where the rest of Delta and Bravo squads are engaged. He joins the fight just as Thresh pulls a smaller Krogan over the barricade and stomps its skull in. "Ha ha," the warlord laughs, "more fighting!"

Lars lobs a grenade and it takes out two Krogans. He empties his shotgun before poping the thermal clip and reloading. A Krogan comes over the Barricade before he can finish! He pulls his pistol from his belt and shoves it under the Krogan's head. BLAM! The round passes through the warriors head. Despite the wound the Krogan still reaches down and attempts to throttle him. Lars forces a new thermal clip into his shotgun and puts the barrel against the Krogan's midsection. He holds down the trigger, his arm going numb from the multiple discharges. Krogan blood sprays all over him! He kicks the corpse off of him and stands.

"Variln!" he shouts as the attacking Krogan get smart and instead of charging the barricade start spraying rounds, "Charlie and our Warlord are inbound! We need to clear a landing zone for them!"

"Got it covered Major!" All of the remaining C4 is detonated, including what was left in the crates. The result is the attackers being scattered and a large space being left empty within the FOB. Lars runs to the now empty area and pulls a flare from his kit. He quickly attaches it to his pistol and fires it upwards. Moments later the familiar sounds of GA shuttles and gunships fills the air! Thee shuttles appear above the LZ and their doors fly open. Lars leaps out of the way as several Krogan Warriors in full armor jump from the shuttles before they land.

The largest of the warriors approaches him. "Finally, we will retake this blasted hole! Will will smite the renegades and show them what it means to be true Krogan!" His warriors cheer and rush to join the fight. "Yeliskey?" Lars nods. The Warlord offers a hand, "I am Chief Kin, leader of this pack. My idiot broodbrother lost this ground, now I have to clean up his mess. I have heard a lot about you. They say you are essentially a Krogan disguised as a human. If you managed to take this place and defend it without my help, I'd say the stories have to be true."

"We will see by the end of the day. If I'm still alive, then yeah, I might as well be Krogan." Kin laughs and claps him on the back before moving off to join his people.

Lars looks up and step back as the shuttles land. Charlie team dismounts and from the looks of it, they had a rough time getting her. The command runs up to him and salutes, "Major," she shouts over the fighting, "sorry we are late."

"Sergeant, where is the Captain?"

The woman shakes her head, "He didn't make it sir, his shuttle was shot down before hammer could land. We were pinned down at the LZ until the Warlord arrived. They knew we were coming and they gave us hell, but we are here now sir!"

Lars orders her to send any of her combat ready troops to the barricade and for the rest to patch themselves up and start setting up their equipment. The fighting with the renegades is running down, all that is left is to ensure there were no survivors left in the field who could get back up and attack them again. Lars helps set up the long range communicators, and as soon as it is ready he patches himself in to the fleet orbiting the planet.

The screen flickers briefly before the faces of Admirals Yorn and Saja appear. "Admirals," he salutes, "we have taken the FOB and are establishing ourselves. We have repelled an assault from a nearby Krogan encampment already. From the looks of thinks Warlord Kin has this well in hand. More and more of his troops keep arriving via shuttle. Captain Reede was shot down before he could land. Charlie team has sustained casualties and has many wounded. What are our orders?"

Admiral Saja speaks first, "Major Yeliskey you have done very well. We realize now that the FOB has poor defenses, but now that the Warlord is there we believe he will be able to hold the position. We want you and your team to move on. The renegade encampment that assault the FOB is now your main priority. We are sending a shuttle that will transport you there."

Yorn continues, "That encampment is where the renegades have set up the majority of their anit-aircraft weaponry. It has hindered our movement greatly. We need you to take it down before we can proceed any further. The shuttle we have sent you has stealth capabilities, but it is still visible from the surface. You will have to be careful. Once in the base you are to place a beacon. That will give our capital ships a target to lock on to for an orbital bombardment. You and your team are best suited for this. You will not be getting any other support. Do you understand?"

Lars salutes. "Yes Admirals. We'll get it done."