Captain Vorhess watched the news on the extranet, a strong drink in his hand. It was two years since he was hired by Edan Had′dah to protect Camala. The small eezo rich world quickly became very important in the eyes of the Hegemony, its mining and industrial output were easily the largest in the Verge.
And as its wealth was growing so was the danger of pirates. To prevent any...incidents so to say, the batarian aristocrat hired a bunch of mercenaries like Vorhess to safeguard the world and its shipping.
All together thirty warships were always present in its orbit, not including the traders, pirates and slavers that stopped to spend some free time away from the ship.
Vorhess welcomed the opportunity to relax for a short time and visit his favorite bar on Camala, there was only so much to do on his ship before he went still crazy.
He snorted Again the Asari are complaining...if they don't wish their worlds attacked, then they should invest in better protection.
"Pardon, are you Captain Vorhess?" asked a voice from behind him.
Turning around to see who was asking he spotted a turian "Yea, what do you want?" he snapped. The Hierarchy and Hegemony were not fond of one another, that also normally applied for their citizens, one of the quirks of group mentality.
"I was wondering if you are looking for additional crewmen" said the newcomer.
"Don't need em, get lost" snapped the batarian as he returned to his drink. He actually did need crewman since a few of his were arrested for theft, but he didn't want any turians on his ship. Stinking militarists...
Saren cursed inwardly. He hoped by framing those fools under his command he will be able to infiltrate the ship and by proxy get close to Edans most trusted partner. The Council has its suspicions about the batarian aristocrat, but they needed proof before giving the all clear for his elimination. If only the STG did its job properly...If I try to hard he will get suspicious, better to make him come to me.
His thoughts were interrupted when the underground bar shook violently. Thanks to his Spectre training he managed to remain on his feet but many a patron found either himself or his drink on the floor.
"What the hell was that?!" hissed the bartender.
Another tremor shook the bar, then another this one either being stronger or closer than the first.
Saren had a bad feeling...This sounds like...he quickly jumped over the bar and ducked under the counter.
Then all hell broke loose. A tremor stronger than any before hit the bar, damaging the building to its core.
Glass, metal and concrete fell from the ceiling injuring or killing the unsuspecting patrons.
The Spectre coughed from the dust that filled the place. He slowly stood up and looked around. The bar was a mess, but surprisingly it didn't suffer that much damage as he first thought. Guess being build deep underground did have its good sides.
Slowly the rest of the mercs, slavers and other trash of the Terminus started to rise from their cover or even from the floor...at least those that were lucky enough not to be crushed by falling junk.
He looked at the bartender that wasn't quick enough, his head was split open, blood and brain-mater dripping down. He snorted and pushed the body away, as it fell on the floor Saren quickly accessed the computer terminal to see if the cameras were still functional.
No luck...the damned things are off-line.
"What the hell happened?!" said an asari, an Eclipse mercenary from the look of it. Saren ignored her, and all the rest as they started to repeat the same thing.
Наш Coветский Союз покоряет весь мир
Как огромный медведь на Востоке.
Овцы бродят безцельно, без всяких забот
А Советский медведь на охоте.
Наше братство - хорошая жизнь,
Наша щедрость ни с чем не сравнится.
Все кто с нами - сильны
Все кто против, держись
Чтоб нам всем не пришлось потрудится.
Все народы, не стоит того
Что бы мы превратили вас в пепел.
Благодарны вам, низкий поклон,
От самой могущеcтвенной nation.
All eyes turned to a salarian that fumbled with his omnitool. The poor alien tried to switch to some other frequency...but everything he tried ended the same.
"Shut the damned noise off!" roared a krogan.
The salarian complied and turned off his omnitool, but it didn't take long that the same noise started again when someone else tried to use the omnitool for communication.
"What in the name of the Spirits is going on here!" hissed a turian "all the channels are jammed with something, I can't reach anyone!"
Saren cursed inwardly, someone attacked Camala and in the worst possible time imaginable..at least for him. But chaos also brings opportunity, if the whole city is in turmoil then he could probably infiltrate Edan's home and take any incriminating files present. Any tempering may even be blamed on the attack or on looters...
Saren moved quickly to the lift, pressed the button and waited for the insanely long and boring way up...with the same irritating music might he add...as he waited other survivors had the same idea and rushed to it.
After ten minutes of waiting the group had enough, the krogan used its biotics and pushed the doors apart...the picture wasn't pretty.
The lift it seems lost its support because of the tremors and fell down, and if anyone was inside...well they will be most definitely dead.
"It looks like we have to climb" said the asari from before.
Saren nodded and turned the corner, he forced the emergency exit doors open and started the long climb up. One by one the others followed, that wasn't all that surprising most were cold-blooded killers who didn't back off easily, none of them would have stayed down there in ignorance, hoping that everything is alright. He had to give the people of the Terminus some credit, when it came down to it they acted, didn't simply cover in the corner like most in the Citadel space would do.
Slowly they made their way up, to him it looked like forever but finally they reached the top. Breaking through the door they exited into a long, dark tunnel that will take them outside.
Saren raised his hand "Someones approaching" he said silently. Who ever it was, he..no they were in a hurry. He griped his pistol, a classical reaction when dealing with an unknown factor.
The footsteps came closer...
"Stop!" he commanded, his voice made the approaching group halt in their steps.
The asari illuminated the corridor in front and came face to face with a frightened, dirty group of batarians.
"H-help us, please!" begged a female batarian "save us!"
We don't have time for this cursed Saren "You" he pointed at a raged batarain "what the hell happened, what were those tremors"
The alien looked frightened being singled out all of a sudden "W- t-"
"We are under attack" interjected a batarian female "I don't know what happened, but when the first tremors started I looked out of the window..and the city...the city burned!" she started to talk nonsense after that when the shock finally caught up to her.
That is what I thought.... "By who?"
The civilians could only shake their heads "W-we don't know, when the bombardment stopped we thought its over but then we saw landing craft descending and we ran...please...please we don't know anything else, please let us go."
They bombarded Camala from orbit...and bombarding garden worlds is against Citadel law. Although a serious crime by who ever made such a foolish move, that still didn't solve his present problems. First I need to reach Edan's residence, then reach Citadel space...and the second wont be easy...since they are landing troops then its safe to assume that they have a blockade around the local Relay and they have most probably either neutralized the dockingbay or have captured it.
Saren shook his head I will think about that when I finished my original mission...he turned to the refuges "This corridor is a dead-end, you might as well stay here or go down the stairs to the Privateers Nest".
Not wishing to lose any more time he walked past the batarians, he had a job to do.
As they neared the exit the sound of combat was the first thing they perceived. Saren and the asari merc carefully approached the end of the tunnel. The sight was something he expected, the city was hit hard. Fires were burning all over the place, from the buildings to crashed vehicles and ships.
Saren retreated back a bit when a strange flying machine raced over the sky. Glancing around the area he found it safe enough to leave the cover, so he made a sprint to the closest building...er rather ruin. He easily entered the building closely followed by the asari and the rest.
"Well, so much for Camala's business opportunity" she spat "I don't know about you people but I will follow the example of those batarians and keep my head down until this is over."
"Hah, coward!" said the krogan but smiled never the less "this is what a krogan lives for, battle!"
"I don't know about you people and frankly I don't care, the only thing that concerns me is my ship!" the batarian hissed "if those bastards even scratched the paint of her they are as good as dead!"
Saren had to restrain himself not to snort, whoever these people are it was obvious they were military, no band of mercs will be able to make a difference here "Do what you will, I'm leaving" without waiting for the rest he started to move through the building.
Glancing behind he saw that the band has disbanded and most returned to the tunnel, a few went to pursue some private matters, be it saving ships or stealing valuables.
He ducked behind a wall when one more of those strange flying machines flew by. He cursed for bringing only a handgun with him, an assault rifle would have been so much better now.
Saren peeked round the cover and satisfied that the threat was gone resumed his mission. Since he reached the end of the building he took time to see if the area was clear.
He was about to dash over the street when the ground beneath his feet started to vibrate. The Spectre hid deeper in the building, but so that he still had view of the street.
The vibrations came closer and closer...what first appeared was a long tube of sorts, then came a strange machine on tracks, strangely clothed soldiers standing on it or running beside it.
He heard the sound of glass breaking under heavy footsteps coming towards him so he took cover behind a desk and waited.
Then steps stopped. Have I been discovered?
To his surprise he heard another voice "NO! *hiss* Don't kill me *hiss* I surrender! *hiss*"
Saren almost wanted to kill the volus himself. The steps started again "руки вверх!" came the guttural reply. The Spectre prepared his gun but was relieved when the footsteps started to move away from him.
When he finally left the cover the strange armored machine and the soldiers were already gone. He sighed, it wasn't very far now to Edan's penthouse, he will first go there, if he doesn't find any evidence then he will go to his villa.
He peeked again down the street and confident that he was alone made a dash for the next building. The Specter repeated the process until he finally reached the aristocrat's Spirits cursed skyscraper...and by some miracle it wasnt blown to bits like a few other of the taller buildings.
Again the lift wasn't operational so he started a long sprint up.
When he finally reached Edan's room he hacked the door and let himself in. He didn't lose time and quickly went to look for any information that should be useful or should he say in any way incriminating.
It took some time but he smiled when he checked into the bedroom.
"Come on open the thing!" hissed the scantily clad female batarian.
"I'm working as fast as I can!" snapped the male "Edan placed good security on the safe."
Saren didn't know who the male batarian was, but he did recognize the female. She was his lover and obviously planed to make some extra cash while he was out.
"Got it!" said the batarian happily, a split second later a shot spread his brain over the wall. Before the female could scream a second shot repeated the same process.
Saren walked over the two corpses and opened the safe, he ignored the credits but quickly read through the datapads. Bingo!
His mission finished he turned around and proceeded with the - get the hell out of here - part of the mission.
The way down was far easier than going up, when he finally reached the ground floor he took cover. Slowly glancing outside he noted that all the fires made the sky pitch black from smoke.
He then ran to the next building Now to find a transport to get the hell out...Saren suddenly stopped when he heard the sound of shooting. Quietly he approached the noise, with every step the sound becoming louder.
He wasn't prepared to help against the attackers, but he was curious about their combat capabilities.
One of the attackers emerged from his cover and died when a sniper made a head-shot, Saren could only stare at the bizarre battle.
The attackers didn't have any form of kinetic barriers, the accelerated round easily breaching their armor, killing them on the spot.
He actually emerged behind enemy lines, so he had a clear view of their backs as they fired at the defenders...and that amazed him even more. They used no mass effect tech whatsoever it seemed, for their weapons didn't fire projectiles but a beam of red light that burned everything it touched.
He saw a krogan receive a hit in his head, the red light easily going through it and burning a hole in the wall behind, leaving the reptile to fall down dead, blood staining the street.
Lasers?! Hand held lasers! Saren was left speechless, no wonder they had no barriers, they were useless...though if they did, this battle would have been an one sided slaughter, this way it was somewhat even.
A biotic used its power to lift a few attackers from behind their cover before well placed shots ended their lives.
"граната!" came a shout and small objects were thrown at the defenders, it all ended in a series of strong explosions that shook the ground. Before the defenders could orient themselves from the smoke, shrapnel and loud sounds a barrage of lasers came down, melting through their armor like it was paper, the kinetic barriers not stopping the onslaught in the least.
Saren saw enough, he quickly pulled his gun and with precision eliminated the attackers from behind. One of them turned around and pointed his weapon at him but was soon lifted from the ground by the biotic from before and slammed hard into a wall.
Since the battle stopped Saren started to look at the newcomers. The armor wasn't known to him, it was fully insulated so it was designated for space combat as well as planetary operations. He saw a strange symbol, something that looked like a primitive hammer and something else, like a crescent moon with a handle...
He grabbed the helmet of the dead alien and found the release mechanism, it made a hiss and opened. After pulling it from the body he had the second shock of the day, the alien had a face very similar to an asari's...it was ridiculous, only differences he could note were that instead of a head crest it had fur on its head, and its skin was...well white would be the closest color.
He didn't bother glancing up when the other defenders approached, far more interested in the laser weapon he took from the dead alien.
This!..bringing this to the Citadel was of utmost importance! Edan was irrelevant, but this...could change everything.
Then a thought crossed his mind...why should the Council get this...the Hierarchy needs this far more than they.
"Appreciate the sav-" said a female voice, but that turned into shock when she saw the unmasked attacker "by the Goddess!"
Saren finally turned around and saw the ragtag band, an asari biotic and a bunch of batarians... "Whats the situation" he demanded.
His words shook the asari out of her stupor "Wha-oh that" a grim expression crossed her face "its bad, the city is practically overrun, we tried to reach the docks to commandeer a ship, but then we encountered another group of survivors. Apparently the enemy has complete space control, nothing except their ships can leave."
"What about the ships that were guarding the planet?" not that he didn't already know.
She shook hear head.
Thought so... a movement from the side made him tense, one of the enemies, the one that the biotic slammed in the wall moved.
The others followed his stare and when they saw a survivor they pointed their guns to finish the job.
"Stop!" Saren hissed and rushed to the alien, he removed the helmet and slammed his fist into its face. The body stopped moving, but it was still very much alive – only unconscious.
"What are you doing?" asked the asari.
"Yes, get out of the way so we can finish off the trash" growled a batarian angrily.
"We need to know who these people are, any information we can get our hands on could mean the difference between life and death" was the only answer he gave before he picked the alien up and started to walk to the underground bar, the safest place so far. He stopped and looked at the asari "can you get information when mindmelding?"
The asari nodded.
"Then follow me, its time we find out what is happening here" carrying the alien on his back Saren proceeded to walk as fast as he could over the damaged road without stumbling.
He was pleased to note that the rest of the group was following behind, there was a possibility he will need fodder for a distraction.
The Spectre had to admit that he was exhausted but they finally managed to return to the bar. And he wasn't surprised when a lot of guns were pointed in his general direction.
"Ah, its only you" said the asari that decided to wait it out here "and you brought company...but unfortunately we don't have either food or drinks for them so they will have to leave."
"We first need to rest" he glanced at the asari that accompanied him from outside "perform the meld, I want to know everything."
He placed the alien on the ground and she sat in front of it, placing her hand on his head
The rest watched, some in amazement at the asasri lookalike, others that came with him with hatred.
The meld didn't take long and soon the asari removed her hand and opened her eyes, a grim expression on her face.
"What have you found out?" he demanded.
She sighted "Their species is called human, a relatively young species that left their planet a few centuries ago."
Saren heard the batarians sneer and call them primitives, the Specter was prone to agree with them but the laser weapon that he took warned him not to jump the gun "And?"
"They are a deeply fragmented species, almost in a constant state of war since they can remember. Their various nations that were formed on their world called Earth managed to form two opposing systems. One are the Allies, or the free democracies...the other is the Soviet Union, a militaristic superpower dedicated to conquest and spreading of the Marxist theory."
Saren had the urge to punch someone Great we are dealing with asari-like krogan with laser weapons and Hanar-like devoting to a cause...can it get any worse "And what is this Marxist theory?"
She tilted her head attempting to make heads or tails about the foreign philosophy "Basically its about a conflict of interests, or rather a class conflict between the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. The end result should be the formation of a Communist society.." when she saw that the things she said didn't really make any sense to the rest she shrugged "They wish to make the society like the Quarians have it, where there is no private and all is communal."
Saren snorted "How did we get into this mess.."
She coughed "It seems that a few years back one of their worlds was attacked by batarian slavers, they failed and were captured. After managing to learn the language they tortured the prisoners for information" explained the asari.
All eyes were now directed at the batarians.
The four-eyed aliens shifted uneasily "Hey, it was a good idea at the time!" one of them protested.
"I knew that you idiots will cause us trouble one day" hissed Saren Unauthorized opening of a Mass Relay, another breach of Citadel Law... its like the perfect day to search for dirty little secrets.
"Watch your mouth turian!" growled another batarian, the rest of the four eyes grabbed their weapons.
"Stop it!" came the shout and all eyes turned to the asari "we don't have time to fight among ourselves, this wasn't the only attack" she said much to their confusion "this" she motioned with her hand at the destroyed bar "is happening all over the Terminus, their armada is attacking even Omega if his memories about the attack plan is true!" she raged "if we don't stand together we will fall!"
She pointed at Saren "You think laser weapons are special? It's a weapon for common foot soldiers, there are other...enemies, far more powerful then the Conscripts" she indicated at the unconscious soldier "their ships have barriers that make them invulnerable for a set amount of time! By the Goddess, the only accelerator weapon they have is the Chinese Nuke Cannon! And it fires an accelerated nuclear warhead worth 750 kilotons..." she started to breathe heavily, not that surprising considering that a Dreadnought's main gun fires a round worth 25 kilotons...this was more than even the Citadel defenses could handle.
A stunned silence filled the room as everyone thought about the military capabilities of the Soviets, and they were only one part of the species.
Saren didn't care what happened to the Terminus, but these humans were a threat to the Citadel, to the Hierarchy...so they had to be stopped at any cost.
"Now that we roughly know what's going on, I suggest that we think about escaping this place" stated Saren and smiled "and you will help us do that" his smile making the asari shiver from his gaze.
"You have a plan?" she asked.
"Ohh yes, I most certainly do."
AN: Sorry for the long wait, but simply couldn't make a good chapter if you killed me, they all seemed so stale and boring - so I came up with this. It will be based mostly about Terminus trying to stop the Soviet invasion, the rest...well the other factions will slowly be dragged into the conflict irrelevant if they like it or not.
I didn't give the Soviets any barriers since on Earth nobody uses projectile weapons anymore, and it would be too costly to make them now. But the rest of the Soviet army will have far superior armor so a single Tesla Trooper or Desolator will be a big threat even alone against squads with biotic support. And I didn't even start about the war machines - Kirov spaceship anyone? Or perhaps an Apocalypse Tank...well all in its time. And can someone recommend me a better tank name then a Rhino? Something that the Soviets would actually use.
And yes I crammed in the Nuke Cannon from C&C Generals, why? I needed a better alternative to V3s.