WOW! Let me first start out by saying that I am super happy with how much of a following the story has garnered in only 4 or 5 short days! I really appreciate you guys!

So, I was really feeling the second chapter, and I started on it as soon as I could. Once again, any suggestions are appreciated, and if you have any info that I may have gotten wrong regarding Turian ships, ranks etc. let me know and I will correct it.

Also, I feel like the first chapter may have been a bit dull wording wise. For now, we'll chalk that up as simply trying to get the introductions in and such, but after a point in this chapter where a lot of the character building things end I'll step it up a good bit. Also, please review if you have any suggestions!

Well now that that's out of the way, here's Landfall Ch. 2!

I don't own Mass Effect, but my characters and the storyline are my own.

-break-

Hours after the Turian frigate crashed down to earth, Corporal Conti sat near to the hatch, eating a rations pack and watching the newcomers walk about. The remaining Germans agreed to go back to what remained of their lines, neither group wanting a fight to erupt after the events that had transpired. That left the American squads time to eat and restock ammo.

As for David, he was one of the first to resupply, as he was intrigued by the aliens and wanted every opportunity to observe. Looking up from another bite of his canned dinner, he was surprised to see one of the aliens making its way towards him. As he looked closer, he noticed slight differences from this one to the others, namely no 'spikes' on its head. Mere seconds later, his visitor was sitting on the same log, pulling up the orange tool that he supposed translated for them.

"I noticed you've been watching us, any particular reason why?" the strikingly feminine voice asks.

"Uh… not really? Can't say I've met any aliens before though so I wanted to see what you all were like." Conti answers, obviously nervous.

"That's fair. I'm Ancia Veriso, I'm a Corporal in the Turian army." She flares her mandibles, giving the impression of a smile.

"Corporal David Conti, United States Army. You're the first of your kind I've met, I'm excited to finally talk with one of you!" he turns to face her, "I have so many questions, like how far did you fly to get here? How can you get into space even? Are there more aliens out there?" the list of questions grows as David rattles off more and more.

"Woah, woah one at a time! I have my fair share of questions too, you know. As for how far we've come, I can't really say since we've never been in your system before. How we get into space is basically a really complicated tech called a drive core, and something called the mass effect happens. That's about all I can explain, ask one of the engineers. My turn now; why are you at war with your own species?"

Conti sighs, satisfied with her answers but trying to find a good way to come up with his own. "You see, there are tons of nations on our planet. One of them, Germany, came together with the idea to try and conquer the world under the Nazi banner, and along the way herd different kinds of people into horrible labor camps. We're here to try and stop them."

"Hmm, I see. Well, it seems like you're in the right for trying to stop them. Where I'm from, our home planet and all the colony worlds are united, but under a just government." Ancia replies.

"So, you're a soldier too, right? They let women fight in your army?" David asks quickly, confused by their culture.

"Of course, they don't here?" the Turian seems puzzled as she raises a brow plate.

"No, only us men fight in our army…" the human explains, just as confused as she.

"Seems a bit backwards if you ask me."

The conversation continued like this for a good while, causing some laughs from both as they learned about their homes, families and the like until the Lieutenant and the Turian leadership returned. While the two new friends talked, the Ship Master and Lieutenant shook hands awkwardly while Palidus spoke. "I'm happy we were able to come to an agreement Lieutenant Davis. I look forward to speaking with you again soon. I'll leave you with the Major to talk Army business."

With that, the naval officers returned to their ship as Major Baculus started talking forces with the human leader. As part of their agreement, the Americans promised safe harbor in return for aid in the waning days of the war with the Germans. The Turians tentatively agreed, so long as none of their tech were used by the humans at any point. After a quick discussion of squads and leadership, it was decided that Turian and human officers would coordinate on the field, leading combined units of rangers mixed with a few Turian soldiers. Given that the Human platoon had only 47 soldiers left after their engagements recently, they were divided into three squads of eight, and one squad of seven. The Turian army soldiers numbered only twenty including the three officers, leaving one sergeant for each squad, three soldiers for the eight-man teams, and the rest going to the seven-man team. In the end, the numbers worked surprisingly well, leaving each team at eleven soldiers under the command of dual-species officers.

After a night's rest and apprehensive human soldiers meeting their new comrades, the newly found allies set off through a bleak, snow covered Europe. It was January 1945. Little did they know they would be in for the fight of their lives.

-break-

Winter was nearing its end, a very welcome fact for the Turians as they marched alongside their Ranger brethren. It was early March, nearly a full two months since the crash landing in the dense forests of the Ardennes. Since that day, both species have become friends under fire, advancing through the European countryside with both fear and excitement for the humans, and a sense of honor and duty for their visitors. The skilled officers of both races kept their subordinates safe, having only a few wounded in comparison to the losses sustained by the rest of the Allied forces.

The motley crew that was 2nd Platoon made their way through the trees, new leaves rustling from the breeze while the focused soldiers slowly advanced towards their objective. At first, the battalion was supposed to stage at Remagen, waiting for someone to construct a makeshift crossing of the Rhine. Much to their General's surprise, however, the German defenders had yet to blow the existing bridge, and they were eager to keep it that way. The somewhat small town came into view, with Baculus and Davis ordering the group into the town. It was all too quiet, until they spotted the towers.

The three-story, stone behemoths looked like something out of medieval times, with small windows for easy defense. The two bastions guarded the entrance to the river crossing, and as some sharp-eyed German spotted the first Allied trooper, all hell broke loose. The terrifying sound of MG-42s broke though the silence, sending hundreds of rounds towards the many companies advancing. As 2nd Platoon scrambled to find cover, the ground around them was churned up with fire from the gunners and the occasional crack from a Kar-98k.

Sergeant Andrews was in charge of 3rd Squad, and as his group formed up against the wall of a house he barked orders to them, "Veriso, Conti! You two advance street by street towards the left holdout! The rest of you, covering fire and be ready to leapfrog forward! Go!"

Without hesitation the two Corporals nodded their affirmative, moving to the corner of the building. Before they ran out, Ancia put a hand on his shoulder, "I have your back friend. Covering fire!"

Those words triggered a wall of lead to be thrown towards the German defenses, the surprised forces in question slowing their fire enough that the two allies rushed out, along the house to the next street ahead. David could have sworn that he heard the snap of rounds past his ear as they charged forth. Barely seconds later, their backs thumped up against the wall of a small shop, out of breath from their sprint. Conti was first to call back to the rest of his team, "Got you covered! Move up!"

Rounding the corner, the two soldiers peppered the windows with fire, a human Garand rifle mixed with that of an M-8 Avenger mass accelerator. The sound of boots thudding across the paved ground was broken by a blood-curdling scream, followed by a string of curses as Andrews dragged the injured ranger to cover with the rest of the squad in tow.

"Dammit Peters, you had to go and get shot, now I have to haul your sorry ass all over Germany!" The sergeant joked, waving over a medic to hopefully keep the man from bleeding out.

A quick look from Conti and he knew there was little to no hope. The young private had been shot clear through the gut with German small-arms, the pool of red underneath him steadily growing as the order to push yet again was given. Grenades were being thrown both ways, mortars and artillery shells whistling overhead as both sides tried to best the other in a mass-scale, deadly dance. Though under heavy fire, the allied platoon pushed further, and eventually found themselves holding behind barbed wire and hedgehog traps.

Setting up to breach the tower was the easy part. Actually doing the breaching was a whole different animal, not knowing how many were on the other side of the thick door. So, when 3rd squad was ordered to lead the charge, they shook their nervousness and stepped up. David lined up third behind Ancia and a male turian named Lucus, known for his fearsome abilities in close combat. With a kick of the door, the squad rushed in, and the turian soldier garnered the same response from the Germans as every experience before: pure fear. It was understandable, looking up into the face of a tall, plated monster as he rushed you with a long blade, but the fear did not last long as the male swept through the first floor, cleanly slicing through multiple soldiers while the rest of the squad mopped up.

The rest of the structure was similar to the first floor, Lucus leading the charge with his fellow soldiers bringing up the rear. Finally, though, the Germans realized they were trapped, and the few remaining guards dropped their weapons, rifle and sub-machinegun alike clattering to the ground. With a triumphant cheer, the rangers led their captives back outside, as the humans muttered a few choice words.

Not long after, the second tower fell, and a final push from the regular infantry assured that the bridge would be theirs. After securing a small 'beachhead' and setting up strong defenses, the Americans that led the assault were relieved, and meandered into the town for some well needed r-and-r. It wasn't surprising that the soldiers of 3rd squad (after getting the ok from Sarge) found the closest bar, keeping out any other troopers that tried to enter while setting up a large table for the nine of them. Some of the vets, Conti included, were the first to raid some of the bottles and glasses, while the three turian members of the unit brought out previously hidden bottles of their own dextro liquor.

"Hey, hey everybody, shut up for a sec!" David's call quieted everybody down. "Let's all raise a glass for Peters, so that tough son-of-a-bitch pulls through!"

His small toast caused everyone to raise their glass as one, shouting "To Peters!" or the occasional "Hear hear!" Taking a pull from his glass of German schnapps, he sat next to his squad mate Ancia, smile still on his face.

"Glad you made it out ok today. Makes me think, what will you do when the war is over? We're getting closer to Berlin every day, and it seems more and more like you might be stuck here after all…" He looked down into the clear liquid before looking back over to her, the light white markings on her mandibles striking against her darker tan complexion.

The female seemed puzzled at the question for a second, putting down her own glass of oddly purple drink, resting her chin on her hand. Mandibles fluttering as she thought, she finally replies, "Honestly… I haven't thought much of it until now. But I think I will just end up staying with my people, wherever we end up. I'm not sure how it would be trying to make my way in a world where no one knows what you are…" She trails off again in thought while Conti nods to himself. Out of nowhere, he smacks his hand down on the table, startling her.

"I have a great idea! Come back with me to my hometown, NYC! It has everything you could possibly want, and I'm sure we could find a way to get you your food. Those navy types just make nutrient packs anyway, right? At least, until we can get you your real food." He looked over with a smile on his face, proud of his self-titled 'great idea'.

Ancia turned her head towards him, raising a brow plate questioningly, "I don't know, David, I'm sure it would work with my food but at the same time how would I fit in?" She ran the option over and over in her head. She had been interested in human culture after living and fighting with them for the long months, everything David had told her made her want to go with him, but at the same time, could she really live so far from her people?

"Don't worry about fitting in, New York has people from nearly every nation across the world! So many different cultures! I'm sure they wouldn't mind having one more." Conti replied, nudging her with his elbow as he poured yet another glass of his captured schnapps.

"Let me think about it, would you please? It's a big choice for me and I need time. I'll tell you as soon as I make up my mind" Ancia promises, finishing off her second glass.

With a nod and another smile, the two friends tune back in to the banter of their squad, laughing and drinking the rest of the night away.

-break-

It was May 7th. 2nd Platoon had made it through this long, only losing a few rangers and a single turian in the line of duty. While the squads rested in their makeshift camp, only 100 miles from the capital Berlin, the Lieutenant quickly organized the troops with a smile on his face. "Gentlemen, and ladies" He noted the few female turians present, "I have great news! You all know that Adolf offed himself a good week or so back, but it's official, the war's over!"

This was all it took for the soldiers of 2nd Platoon (And most of the 1st Army) to break into a loud cheer, shaking hands with each other, close friends hugging each other, dancing, even some select few crying tears of joy as the all in all six year-long conflict finally came to a close in Europe. "This means" the officer continued after his troops had regained some composure, "you are all getting shipped home, unless you choose to stay, volunteer to keep the peace here until we can officially call it quits. Good work, all of you. I was proud to lead you all."

Ancia found herself in an odd mood. Where she should be overjoyed, she only felt torn and upset, still stuck between two paths for her life. Stay with her kind, or venture into the unknown that was America. She talked with the Major about her options, who happily told her that the entirety of the crew would be living on base at Fort Meade, in a place called Maryland. Apparently, the government was kind enough to grant the 'visitors', as they were called, housing and the space to grow their own food to supplement their own supply. All turians had the opportunity to live where they pleased if they wished, as reward for their service, as well as being given dual citizenship in return for some study of their technology and culture. From what the Major told her, the Ship Master accepted this deal with glee, knowing that his crew and soldiers would be able to live somewhat normal lives for a long time, or until rescue arrived.

Knowing this eased her mind some, since her people would be reasonably close to New York, so she made her decision. Gathering her belongings, she went to find David, to tell him about her decision.

"David, I found out what I want to do now that the war's finished." She told him, grabbing his attention as he worked on getting his own things together in his pack. With a nod for her to continue, "I'd like to go back to New York with you, if I'm still welcome. I worked things out with my people so that I'll get shipments of food, and apparently your president is letting us become somewhat of citizens. I figure that I can learn a lot from going back with you. Of course, only if you can…" She looked down at her armor's boots, nervous to hear his reply.

"Ancia," She looked up at him, hearing her name, "You're more than welcome to come back with me. My apartment has room that you can take up. Even a big couch you can use to sleep, at least for now…" He chuckled at the thought. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'd really be happy to have you." The genuine smile was enough to let Ancia know he meant what he said, and with a smile of her own, they finished packing and climbed onto an army truck headed for the coast.

Within the week, the two were boarded onto a cramped transport, on their way on the long journey back to the East Coast, a fresh start to both of their lives.

-break-

Well that's that! What do you think my fantastic readers? I really like to hear from you as well as see all the love this story is getting in follows and favorites! Stay tuned for the next chapter! For now, peace!