Disclaimer: I dont own Mass Effect
Hey guys, I'm back and Mass Effect 3 is approaching its final days (at least in turns of the added content) and we've seen the unfortunate passing of Robin Sachs, voice actor for Zaeed Massani, he played the role brilliantly despite playing a downloadable character, he will be missed.
I hope everyone enjoys the chapter, and I've decided to give Orio/Rise a face beyond his simply Phoenix trooper model. Jack's back in action this chapter, along with the the debut of many other OC's.
Project Phoenix: Turning Point
Chapter 2: First wave
Jack sat checking her shotgun. It was a tense ride inside the Kodiak transporting her team. The biotic students were the trump card of the operation. James Gallows had apparently formed the plan; first a defensive formation to wait for the enemy forces to tire themselves out, then when the attack had reached the twelfth wave, multiple Kodiak shuttles would fly in a formation that would appear to be them picking up the worn out ground troops, but in actuality they would be flying to conceal a wave of fighters that would commence hit and run bombardments on the Cerberus base. A covert team of the ground force would then move through the jungle and attack Cerberus from the front while a covert team from the Normandy would infiltrate the bases interior and carry out sabotage operations until meeting with the main force.
'The asshole's like Shepard,' she thought, remembering the man's reassurances to her students.
He even tried to reassure her, but Jack shoved his reassurances. The man had been with Cerberus for years, she didn't trust that he was an honest to god infiltrator, that he somehow hadn't been conned into Cerberus's quota. As the shuttle touched down Jack remembered the man's regretful face and his pathetic attempt at an olive branch.
"I read the file on the project that kidnapped you Jack, they never succeeded in infiltrating Ascension, you stopped them from doing what they did to anyone else!"
'Just like Shepard, a pussy but a bit of an attractive pussy,' Jack shook the thought away, now wasn't the time for her to get close to anyone.
She was the first to step out of the shuttle, her students following behind her. They were all dressed in Alliance coloured light armour, carrying pistols and submachine guns on their hips. Jack looked to the shuttle that landed across from hers and saw Gallows squad exiting it. He wore Cerberus issue Ajax armour and carried a Mattock rifle. His squad consisted of men and women dressed in Cerberus assault armour, the model of armour Shepard left in his locker for most of the suicide mission. An Alliance marine ran to Gallows, followed closely by an Asari Justicar, Jack recognised the heavy armour as Samara had once explained that her outfit wasn't what other Justicars wore.
"We've picked up radio chatter from the main fortress, they're preparing a strike force against us sir," the marine explained.
"Very good Commander, is sub…I mean Orior nearby?" Gallows asked.
"He insisted on going to the frontline, we tried to take him into protective custody before you arrived but he disarmed our guards and locked himself inside the hut containing the second subject's stasis pod," the commander explained.
"Has Cinis awoke from stasis?"
"The pod has a lock on it, but we've been trying to drain it of power, once that's done we believe it'll open automatically for the sake of the subject."
"Yeah cause Cerberus cares a lot for its subjects," Jack scoffed.
"They cared for investments, where is Orior now?" Gallows asked.
"Preparing for combat with several other squads, he's taken a defensive position at what you hypothesised would be the brunt of the Cerberus assault," the Justicar explained.
"Okay, Commander, report to the command centre, also I need a vantage point, Jack as we agreed spread your students throughout the camp and have them form the base wide barrier," Gallows pointed to the sections of the camp he wanted soldiers to go to and Jack felt reminded of Shepard even more.
She never admitted to him, but she had an admiration for Shepard that had grown beyond his physical attraction for him. He'd always been nice to her and his other crewmembers, never asked for anything in return but her trust and friendship. She tried to hide her disappointment with her usual foul mouth, but she knew Shepard wasn't fooled. His eyes had always been on that Asari Liara and Jack hoped they did find one another; she didn't want to have let Shepard go only for him not to go with Liara. She nodded to her students as they began taking positions throughout the base. Jumping down into one of the trenches, Jack took position with several Alliance marines. She looked over her shoulder for a moment, seeing Gallows walking into a crowd with a Widow over his shoulders.
'Pussy wont even lead at the front,' she growled.
The students focused as they were taught to and together formed a barrier that encompassed the whole camp. Jack smiled with pride for it was her drills that instilled that level of focus in the teenagers. The trees ahead of the camp began to collapse and Jack knew that the first wave already consisted of at least two Atlas mechs.
"Steady," she heard the Batarian Commander Korvac reassure his troops.
Gunfire erupted from the trees and two Atlas Mechs walked towards the barrier. They fired their cannons, bombarding the blue dome. Warp rounds pierced through the barrier, hitting a soldier next to Jack. She aimed her pistol, but a voice over the radio made her hold.
"Everyone hold your fire," Gallows said.
He looked down the sight of his rifle, waiting and watching for an opportunity. Gallows was an observer and a long distance fighter. As a spy he was taught patience and above all the endurance. He saw men cut down by the gunfire, even Paladins with their shields were shot in the chest by the warp and drill rounds.
"Demolition teams form up, Rodriguez and Copeland, lower your barriers on my mark, ready…" he paused, waiting for the break in the Cerberus formation.
The break came when the synched unit began reloading. As soon as they moved to eject their thermal clips, Gallows yelled. The barrier faded and the demolition teams fired their Hydra missile launchers. Salarians fired the grenades from their Venom shotguns. As the explosives struck their targets, the Cerberus line broke and Gallows yelled for the unit to fire.
Jack yelled as she fired her pistol, hitting the Cerberus troopers that came out of the trees. Korvac fired his Harrier assault rifle, mowing down several Cerberus troopers. Gallows fired a single shot from his widow, the drill round piercing through one of the Atlas mech's cockpit and blowing up the pilot's head. As the Atlas mech went down the Alliance line fired, spraying the trees with gunfire. He observed Orior on the frontline, firing shots from his Mattock rifle. The Cerberus Phoenix trooper fired single shots into the heads of his targets, ducking for cover as the two soldiers beside him were gunned down.
"Raise the barrier again," Gallows ordered.
He fired one more shot, hitting a Cerberus engineer before the barrier went up again. For good measure the Alliance soldiers went into cover, using bits of rock and scrapped metal that had been set up. Ray activated his riot shield, slamming the edge against the ground as he protected several soldiers from a flurry of Warp rounds. Gary immediately came up behind him, his Destroyer armour protecting him from the warp rounds as he fired his own warp bullets through the barrier. His armour, paired with the N7 Typhoon made him a walking fortress and perfect for the absolute defence strategy Gallows had planned.
More troopers came out of the bush and the defensive line stood firm. Again Gallows had the biotic students lower the barrier; just enough for the main defence line to shave the Cerberus force and destroy their remaining Atlas mech. He watched Orior ruthlessly pull one of the nearest troopers through the dome with one of his coils. The helpless trooper landed by the Justicar, who biotically stomped his head like a melon. Orior took his eyes off the battlefield to watch the trooper's final moments. Gallows took note of this, having no idea whether Orior had watched out of curiosity, to make sure his target was dead or sickly pleasure.
"Rodriguez, Daniels, get ready to lower the barriers, everyone else move up to the tree line once the barrier is down, lower the barriers in 10…" Gallows began the count down and some of the soldiers changed their weapons.
Jack drew her shotgun and Korvac took out his Kischock. Rodriguez watched her clock and listened to the former Cerberus soldier. As soon as the number zero left his lips she lowered her part of the barrier. Copeland was just a second out of synch and he would hear about it later, but the job was done. With no Atlas mechs to support them the front line of the Cerberus formation fell apart. Jack created a shockwave, throwing several troopers against the trees. Takeda and Carina quickly followed up with their own shockwaves; joining several other adepts and Vanguard in a biotic artillery strike. The sheer number of shockwaves ripped some of the trees out of the ground. Gallows widened his eyes slightly; noticing a flicker of movement within the bush Gallows activated his radio.
"There are Phantom operatives waiting to ambush us within the trees, anyone with a grenade, throw one into the jungle now," the order didn't come from Gallows but Orior.
Gallows looked at Orior as the man pulled a scatter grenade from his belt. He and several humans and Drells threw scatter grenades into the forest, creating several biotically enhanced explosions. Jack heard the screams of the Phantom operatives and looked to Orior. The man had to have been either extremely observant or have had prior knowledge about the formation to have been able to spot the Phantom ambush. She had heard of a few operatives that could kill Geth Hunters at long range before they had deactivated their cloaks. But this man had reacted at the split second before they reached the range of the Phantom's attack.
"THEY'RE STILL NOT DEAD!" he yelled.
He threw his hand forward and pulled it back, pulling a Phantom out of the bush. He slammed her head into the ground, crushing her skull with a single slam. Jack raised her shotgun as a Phantom appeared before her. She pulled the trigger, blowing chunks of the woman's chest and throwing her aside. Double A caught her attackers hand, tripped her to the floor. She fired several shots from her Carnifex into the woman's chest, killing her before shooting at another. Two more Phantom's appeared around Jack. They slashed the necks of two soldiers and lunged at Jack herself. She created a Biotic explosion and threw both women back, but a third then appeared behind her. Suddenly, a bullet tore through the woman's head, spurting blood across the side of Jack's face. She knew that the shot had come from Gallows.
"Move and establish the second line of defence now," he ordered across the radio.
'So like Shepard,' Jack thought.
Orior ejected his thermal clip and moved with the other marines to the tree lines. Many of the trees had been blown to bits, but it was still classed as the second defensive line. The objective of the first wave was a success, or so the unit believed. Orior looked at the ground, seeing slight humps in the ground.
"GET BACK!" he yelled, biotically pushing two soldiers in front of him.
As the soldiers flew back, a rampart mech burst out of the ground and slid out its omni blades. Orior assumed a guard position, catching one of the blades with his rifle. He kicked the mech back and drew his Cerberus issued Talon. The pistol functioned more like a shotgun, allowing Orior to rip through the mech's armour with a few shots. He fired the last shot and blew the mechs head off. Around him, other rampart mechs rose from the ground. Jack threw two up into the air and biotically tore another apart. The rampart mechs cut several soldiers in their way before they were cut down by gunfire and tech attacks.
"Beginning to set up defences," Double A removed a portable generator from her back and began setting up a shield booster.
Her efforts were bolstered with the assistance of other tech experts, each one setting up shield boosters for the new defensive line. Jack watched for any sign of movement, but as she suspected the first wave of the attack had passed. Gallows picked up his widow and ran to the nearby Mako. It took him to the new defensive line the engineers were building. The allied forces had finally dug a line in the sand and had begun the earliest stages of pushing Cerberus back. Jack wiped the sweat from her hair and gave her students the thumbs up. She wouldn't say it out load but she was proud of what they had done today. Casualties on their side had been minimum but more importantly she hadn't lost any of the kids. There was no great cheer amongst the soldiers, after all this was only the first wave. The engineers continued to set up their defences, whilst infiltrators and hunters began setting up traps and sniping positions.
"Good job out there Jack," Gallows said.
"Whatever," she huffed.
"You should probably try watching your back a little next time," he smiled.
"Don't start thinking I owe you or anything," she said.
"Oh Jack, you being thankful is the last thing I'm counting on, now I'm pretty sure you'll want to get your students rested before the next wave comes, I'll contact you on your Omni tool when we need them again," the man explained.
"I don't take orders from you," Jack said.
"Then consider it doing me a favour, a favour I'll owe you for," Gallows shrugged his shoulders as he walked away.
Gallows began following his fellow Cerberus defect, the man people called Orior, or the English translation of his designation: Rise. The Phoenix Vanguard walked across the plains, ignoring the looks the other soldiers gave him. He broke off into a run as the alliance marines began running towards him. The man slid into the warehouse containing the pod for subject Cinis. He flashed his omnitool over the door, locking it from the inside.
"Shit, every time the enemy passes us he locks himself in there," the captain growled.
"Is there anyone else in there with him?" Gallows asked.
"A few doctors and scientists but other than that no body else, don't worry Commander, he's not using them as hostages, they are there willingly to assist in the full repair of subject Cinis, in fact Rise insisted that Cinis be repaired and that he be at the front of an attack on the Cerberus base when the time comes," the captain explained.
"Rise should be taken into protective custody, as soon as the second wave begins I want your men to arrest him," Gallows said.
"Sir, he's proven to be effective on the battlefield so far, he's also very good for morale," the alliance marine, the Justicar that seemed to be his bodyguard stepped in.
Gallows took a closer look at the man; he was young for his rank, perhaps just twenty-two. He had short brown hair shaved around the back and sides.
"And you are?" Gallows asked.
"Lieutenant William Strauss sir, I was in charge here until you came sir, our commander was killed when Cerberus was pushing us back, in fact our whole squad would have died if not for Rise breaking out of solitary and cutting down the enemies with a Typhoon," the young man explained.
"He's too precious a resource for us to risk in the battlefield, need I remind you Lieutenant that this man is seemingly immune to Reaper Indoctrination, that could be the key to the war effort son," Gallows said.
"I thought the key to this war effort was this Crucible device the council is building…sir," Strauss lowered his head in forced respect.
Gallows frowned at the young man and gestured to his assault troopers. They crowded around the door and one began tapping buttons on his Omni-tool.
"We can have the door open in five minutes sir," the trooper said.
"Commander Gallows I recommend you stop, Rise will not react well to this," Strauss said.
"Subject Orior, can shove it," Gallows said.
The door suddenly slit open a blue blur slammed into Gallows. Before anyone could react Gallows was thrown cheek first onto the dirt. A black metallic arm, decorated with synthetic muscle fibres pressed against Gallows's cheek. He struggled to look up at his attacker, a man a few years older than him. The man had armour on his lower legs, but had removed his upper armour to reveal a layer of synthetic parts across his body. Black cybernetics similar to his right arm had also covered his neck to his chin. He had a mess of unkempt blonde hair and the faint, subtle scar of a bullet wound between his green eyes.
"Question is commander, where do you want it shoved," he smirked.
"We need to protect you," Gallows growled.
"If the Justicar couldn't arrest me with her authority what makes you think your Cerberus rejects with…Equaliser shotguns-grade 1 can do?" the man asked.
Jack watched the scene from a distance, along with Double A and her squad. Even Korvac took interest in the scene, for Rise, AKA Project Phoenix Subject Orior rarely went out without his full armour to conceal the multitude of primitive (by project Lazarus's comparison) cybernetics that had been used to repair his body.
"You forgot one thing, overload tech," Gallows smirked.
Rise's overconfident expression quickly fell as an electrical current ran through his body. He collapsed to the ground, his cybernetic arm going limp while the right side of his face looked numb, as if he had suffered a stroke of some kind.
"Tech that you are very vulnerable against with your cybernetics," Gallows said as he got off the floor. "Believe it or not this is for your own good!"
Rise tilted his head at Gallows, his mouth hanging open as if to say something. When he finally spoke it was as a man whom had just remembered something.
"I've heard that before," he said, before falling face first into the ground.
Korvac narrowed his eyes into a glare as the Cerberus troopers dragged their fellow defector into the warehouse.
"This is the first time you and I agree on something," Rolus said.
"And what would that be?" the Batarian asked.
"We can't trust that human, Gallows," the Quarian gestured to the Commander as he walked into the warehouse.
"I'm still wondering whether we can trust that other one, the one supposedly immune to Reaper indoctrination," Korvac said.
"I suppose only time will tell, not that I like waiting for surprises," Rolus sighed.
"What was your family banished for?"
"My father discovered and deleted experiments that might have put us back on the home world, that was of course back in his day, back when he went my ship name would have been Nar Iktamy…and please don't make any jokes about what my parent's names would have been," Rolus explained.
"I'm not human so the joke means nothing to me, what I was getting at is that your good with spy programs right?" Korvac asked.
"Yes, why though?"
"I think we need to keep an extra eye on Gallows!"
Rolus shook his head as he pointed to the one spying on them. Korvac turned to see Double A with her helmet resting underneath her arm.
"Count me in," she said.
Normandy Shuttle Bay
While the first wave had ended on Virmire, the N7 squads onboard the Normandy were already preparing for the ground based mission. Richard Corban, an Alliance soldier of British origin stood beside his stepdaughter Yuel, Liara's half sister. As Yuel looked down the sight of her executioner pistol, Richard fixed heavy plates to his suit. Another Asari by the name of Drayna adjusted the optics of Richard's Death mask with her Omni-tool. Across the table, men and women were prepping their weapons and armour. An N7 slayer in pitch-black armour looked over an N7 Hurricane and slowly screwed an extension over the barrel.
James Vega whistled as he picked up the massive heavy assault rifle, the N7 Typhoon. "Now that's what I'm talking about," he said.
"I prefer a more subtle form of combat," a brown haired girl said.
"Singularity's do shit against...well any kind of enemy Laurie," A man in Kestrel armour like hers scoffed as he put on a recon hood.
"You're just not using them well enough Spike," the girl retorted.
"Easy you two, the last thing we want is our best biotics fighting each other," Richard said.
"Technically I'm not under your command Corban," Laurie smirked.
"I'm in charge and when I'm not around Magnus is, quit jerking off the both of you," a Turian in orange armour growled as he activated his sentinel armour.
The N7 Slayer twirled a sword between his fingers before sliding it down a sheath on his back.
"Still don't know what damage a sword can do," James muttered.
"Then you obviously haven't seen Slayer's or Shadow's in action Vega, their N7 status is well earned," a dark skinned man smiled as he gestured to the N7 symbol on his tank like Destroyer armour. "But I do admit, good old fashion firepower can get the job done more efficiently than a sword, no offence Skieth," he chuckled as the N7 Slayer turned his head.
"Man seeing all of you guys here, we got two Turians, a Quarian and three Asari, and it's a real honour to have met the original N7's," Cortex shook his head at James's giddiness, the man was a professional on the field but off it he was as much a joker as…well Joker.
"Where is Magnus anyway?" Laurie asked.
"Up in the command centre, he's talking to Shepard, Mikhailov and Boris about the mission," Torgas said.
"Whose Boris?" James asked.
"Doctor Boris Rasputin (no relation to the original) he's working on a project for the alliance infiltration regiment," Torgas said.
"What does he study?"
"AI's, the freak couldn't take his eyes off that robot co pilot," Yuel shivered.
"I don't know, she's pretty nice to look at," Laurie said.
"I agree, very graceful and her voice is nice too," Drayna said.
James and Cortez smirked, knowing that EDI would probably be beaming with pride if she were open with her emotions.
"What do we know about the situation down on Virmire?" Richard asked.
"Our fleet is currently engaging Cerberus's in a stalemate, but the main focus of the campaign is the ground battle, we have already begun a siege operation against Cerberus's indoctrination facility. While we have to recover Subject Orior, our priority is also the elimination of the Cerberus facility, or the assassination of their commander, that's were we come in. While the frontline unit distracts the main Cerberus force, we will infiltrate the different parts of the base in an attack reminiscent of the original Normandy and STG's assault on Saren's facility," Torgas explained.
James lifted the Typhoon off the table and fired a full burst into the target they had set up. He grinned as Laurie and Drayna swept away the steam the gun had generated. The target had been cut apart by the Typhoon's storm like rate of fire.
"Nice, do you have any of those T5-V battle suits spare?"
Next Chapter 3: Subject Orior: Rise
Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter,I'm sort of on the fence about the Citadel DLC at the moment, more content of course but it also means we wont be getting anymore from mass Effect 3 DLC. It'll be interesting to see what they do with the follow up game. But I'll still continue to do Mass Effect fan fiction about the galaxy at war and of course our various versions of the beloved Commander Shepard