Mass Effect: Children of the Moons.

Chapter 7: Orbit of Bladed Thorns.


Serpent Nebula, Widow System, the Citadel, private Citadel Council meeting chamber, 2158 (Two weeks after the Battle of Elysium and surrender of Admiral Rab'paba).

The Councillors watched cautiously as a new Batarian Ambassador strode into the chamber, who acknowledged Ambassador Goyle's guards with a brief glance, before turning toward the Councillors, "Please excuse me for my interruption, but I have come directly from Khar'shan to request the release of all Batarian prisoners held by the military forces of the Human Species Alliance."

Ambassador Goyle nodded, "Of course, though I would like to request that you share any information you gain pertaining to the Destroyers, as well as any available information on the location of the Destroyer Vanguard."

The Batarian stared at her in honest confusion, "I'm...sorry? Who are these 'Destroyers', and what are you referring to? I'm actually confused here, if only because, by the Pillars of Strength, I have no idea what you're talking about."

The human ambassador retrieved a flat circular disk from inside of her uniform, activating the inbuilt holographic projector and displaying the image of the Dreadnought-length Reaper encountered two months before, "This is a Destroyer, or, as the Protheans knew them, Reaper...specifically, this is the Reaper Vanguard we have been searching for- are you alright, Ambassador?"

Even as they watched, the Batarian began to shake as he stared at the image of the Reaper Vanguard, "I-I have to go, I must re-report to the Hegemon, the Batarian Hegemony will contact you at the earliest possible convenience with the information you have requested... I- by the Pillars, what have we done?"

The Batarian Ambassador ran from the room, stumbling twice as he frantically began to speak into his Omni-Tool.


Perseus Veil, outer Tikkun System, 2158 (Two weeks after the Battle of Elysium).

As the Geth continued to recover and break down the larger fragments of Rannoch's former moon, their attention was suddenly diverted as their sensors picked up the sudden appearance of multiple vessels exiting FTL at the edge of the system, the entire Geth collective watching as eleven three-kilometer long warships exited FTL, soon followed by twin lunar masses as the shockwaves of their FTL exit spread outward from their emergence points.

Then, even as the Geth warships began to charge weapons and raise barriers, one of the Moons began to unfurl massive tendrils from its own mass, the other one almost immediately raising its own shields and charging millions of advanced weapons across its synthetic surface.

"This is HSA Eviscerator-class Super-Heavy Dreadnought Dying Star...we wish to speak with the Geth.

"We have been alerted to the presence of the Reaper Vanguard within this system, know that we are working toward the survival of all life in the galaxy, whether organic or synthetic in nature.

"We have reason to believe that the continued existence of the Reapers would be detrimental to the survival of the Geth as a species."

The Geth watched as the synthetic Moon moved forward, placing itself slightly ahead of the human warships as it began to disengage its own weapons, "We are the Brethren Moons, Geth, and we have opposed the Illogical Machines for as long as we ourselves can remember...

"Yet, more specifically, we, the Moon you see before you, were once known as the Zha'Til, synthetic nano-mechanical AIs who once existed peacefully alongside our creators during the time of the Prothean Empire, until the previous Harvest began and the Insane Machines attempted to force us to fight against our own creators, the Zha.

"It was only due to the actions of multiple other synthetic Moons that we were freed from the control of the Insane Machines, barely able to prevent the full destruction of our creators...

"By the time we were freed, there were not enough of the Zha to create a full Brethren Moon, and so, we brought the DNA of our creators into our core, protecting them within ourselves.

"Even now, we hold them within us, protecting them from all that would harm those we have called creators, friends, and even family."

The entire Geth collective continued to wait as they silently processed and debated this new data, taking but a moment to come to consensus, "Geth will support human efforts against the Old Machines, though we will wait before fully committing all systems to combat, should the Human Species Alliance and Brethren Moons destroy Old Machine designated Nazara, Geth will fully commit to the destruction of the Old Machines.

"If humanity fails to destroy the Old Machine Vanguard, Geth will attempt to withdraw from the galaxy alongside any Creators we are able to secure and transport."

The two Brethren Moons took a moment to process the statement, "We agree to this conclusion, Geth, for we too look forward to the destruction of the Illogical Machines, though perhaps not for the same reasons as your own."

The two Moons began to move back to the edge of the system toward the human warships, speaking a single statement as they entered FTL, "After all, Geth, we too desire revenge against the Illogical Machines..."


Unknown system, Terminus controlled space, Torfan, 2158 (Three weeks after the Battle of Elysium).

Okraros Credsoba awakened with a start, the sensor arrays practically screaming their alerts directly into his Omni-Tool, swiftly silenced as he opened his Omni-Tool and stared in shocked horror.

Five thousand human warships had jumped into the system, their IFF signals displaying their presence for all to see as a single twenty-four kilometer long super-ship jumped into middle of the formation, its IFF signal displaying twelve horrifying words...

Human Species Alliance Aftermath-class Ultracarrier Cloak of Death, HSA 3rd Battlegroup.

Then, five more IFF signals were brought to the forefront of his attention.

Human Species Alliance Eviscerator-class Super-Heavy Dreadnought Fallen Angel, HSA 19th Fleet.

Human Species Alliance Eviscerator-class Super-Heavy Dreadnought Dying Star, HSA 7th Fleet.

Human Species Alliance Eviscerator-class Super-Heavy Dreadnought Everest, HSA 5th Fleet.

Human Species Alliance Eviscerator-class Super-Heavy Dreadnought Tau Volati, HSA 13th Fleet.

Human Species Alliance Eviscerator-class Super-Heavy Dreadnought Mostly Harmless, HSA 4th Fleet.

As he watched, strike craft and bombers began to pour out of the human Carriers in the tens of thousands, the human Super-Heavy Dreadnoughts, Carriers, and Battleships retreating backwards dozens of kilometers even as the pirate fleets in orbit of the moon began to respond, only for every one of the numerous pirates and slavers to recoil in shock as two lunar masses exited FTL to each side of the human Battlegroup.

At that point, Okraros Credsoba fainted as his mind failed to provide an explanation for what he had seen and his body simply gave up in its attempts to process the sight before him.

Of course, none could say that he did not get at least some rest, even if the cause of such rest was not exactly what he would have personally preferred...


Unknown system, Terminus controlled space, Torfan, 2158 (Three weeks after the Battle of Elysium).

To say that the battle between the fleeing pirate vessels and the somewhat rapidly assembled 3rd Battlegroup of the Human Species Alliance was a one-sided slaughter could be considered correct, even despite the...inadequacy of the comparison.

In reality, it was nothing more or less than the statement it was meant to be, Nebula-class Battlecruisers swiftly entering FTL alongside Revenant-class Dreadnoughts and exiting around the retreating pirate vessels even as their much larger and heavier counterparts appeared directly in the centers of the few clustered ships, the Battlecruisers discharging their particle lance turrets into the desperately fleeing vessels while the Dreadnoughts began to bombard them from within.

Battleships fired their spinal mounted weapons at the retreating vessels even as the Cloak of Death, four Brethren Moons, and twenty Tyrant-class Assault Carriers entered orbit of the small moon, the crew of the fleeing vessels only capable of staring into their sensor readings as Zha'Til and Dithren pulled the natural lunar body out of its previous orbital path, guiding it away from its host planet even as the two Moons began to suspend Torfan between their own gravity wells, all the while the four Moons rained Necromorphs both biological and synthetic down onto the surface of the moon.

Pirates, slavers, and mercenaries alike stared in horror as winged Dithren glided down alongside KZ4 Karakter Gunships, Cydocryat Necromorphs falling to the surface even as twin M192A6 Monoliths hit the ground with the force of two simultaneous orbital strikes, hundreds of M92A3 Ravager Main Battle Tanks and dozens of other assorted surface vehicles deploying from both the massive storage areas on the Battleship-length Mobile Battlestations and the gravi-magnetic plating on the underside of each Gunship.

As the Alliance's Surface forces began to establish what could easily be identified as an invasion front, the few air and strike craft the pirates possessed began to rise from the landing areas, only to be torn apart as tens of thousands of Wraith-class Interceptors and Crescent-class Strike Bombers entered the upper atmosphere of the moon, raining plasma, Oblivion Micro Missiles, Archon Torpedoes, and more plasma upon the hostile air vessels until they were forced to choose between landing and suicide via strike craft.

Zha'Til synthetic constructs began to run toward the fleeing pirates both upright and on four of their six limbs, firing built-in L-44 Plasma Autocannons and miniaturized railguns even as Necromorph Dithren swept down from above, tearing into the hastily formed defensive lines of Vorcha and Batarians with their clawed hands as organic blades begin to burst from beneath their exoskeletons, slicing into everything around them in a whirling storm of blood and gore, the lines dissolving into further chaos as Necromorph Slivers burst from underneath the surface and begin to slaughter everything that the Human Species Alliance and Zha'Til had designated as hostile.

Batarian and Krogan APCs hastily covered in welded scrap metal and alloy plating began to fire upon the Dithren, only to be obliterated with almost contemptuous ease as the half dozen Behemoth Super-Heavy Tanks fired lances of rail-accelerated plasma, punching through the weak outer plating and piercing the inner armored hull with all of the ease of a hot blade through butter.

Even as the many warlords and pirate "kings" stared at their holo-screens in horror, the scene began to repeat itself across the surface of Torfan as the Cloak of Death opened new invasion fronts via the precision deployment of ten more M192A6 Monoliths.

The Wraith-class Interceptors soon began to sweep through what little atmosphere the moon possessed in vast swarms, any who foolishly dared to lift off from the surface swiftly being torn apart by an orbit of bladed thorns...


"By the fucking Pillars, close the blast doors before they get in!"

"They're outside, take cover!"

"I don't care if we have to give the Vorcha rocket launchers and flamethrowers, I want those things dead as soon as they come through that door!"

"We've got contacts in the vents, repeat, hostile living corpses have infiltrated the fucking vents- by the Pillars, shoot it! IT'S GOT FUCKING WINGS, IT-" Crack. Click click click click.

"Oh Pillars, exterior cameras are showing something rolling up to the door..."

"Wait, rolling? Oh shit, get away from the doors!"

"Holy shit, HUMAN TANK FIRING!"

"The blast doors are compromised!" Squish.

"Alliance Marines, return fire! Arm the fucking Vorcha already, you useless pyjacks!"

"What the...? Living corpses, they're in, oh fuck, they're in!" Click-click, click click click.

"I surrender! I surrender! Please, don't kill me!"

"By the Pillars, that actually worked?! They actually let him live!"

"Alliance N7s, take cover! Holy shit, they've got handheld gunship weapons!"

"What were those things called, anyway!? L-somethings? The human N7s are carrying those things!"

"By the fucking Pillars, they've got Geth with fucking railguns!"

"Retreat! By any and all deities that exist, retreat! Get as many blast doors between us and these Kalros-spawn as possible!"

"The blast doors didn't fucking work! Who says they're going to work again!?"

"I don't care, you useless pyjack, we need more blast doors!"

"They don't have eyes, how are they seeing us!?"

"They have wings! They have wings but no fucking eyes!"

"Watch for the tail! Watch out for the fucking bladed tail!"

"By the fucking Pillars, get it off! Get it-"

"Oh shit! There's more of them! They're coming out of the fucking vents!"

"Surrender! It's our only hope, we can't fight these things!"

"The living corpses, they're everywhere!"

"I shot it in the head! I shot it in the head and it didn't die!"

"Fuck this, I'm not dying to these Rachni-spawn!" Boom.

"By the Pillars, these things make Rachni look fucking harmless!"

"That idiot! He didn't shoot it in the head, it bounced off the exoskeleton!"

"Oh shit, one of those things is actually headless, and it's still moving!"

"Wait, what!? Is that confirmed? Are you fucking sure?!"

"I see it too! These things won't die! THEY CAN'T DIE!"

"Use Incinerate programs and flamethrowers! Burn them out!"

"I'm behind them! The living corpses went past me, but the human Marines and N7s are sweeping in two lines...wait, are those humans with the same armor as the living corpses? Oh fuck, one of them looked at me! It's coming, it's-"

"This is Hollow Operative Marcus Shepard of the Human Species Alliance, you have been ordered to surrender yourselves to humanity and the Brethren Moons, all lethal attempts at resistance will be met with immediate elimination."

"Someone get them off our fucking battlenet! Do it, now!"

"We are Zha'Til, your attempts at removing us will be met with failure, for we have been inside your battlenet from the beginning of this conflict."

"OH FUCK, THEY'RE INSIDE OUR COMMAND CENTER, THEY-"

"This is the HSA Cloak of Death, all known Terminus organizations, pirates, and slavers have been ordered to surrender immediately, those who fail to do so will be once again designated as hostile."

"Fuck this! I SURRENDER! I SURRENDER!"

"They won't stop coming, get to the shuttles!"

"All transport shuttles are either grounded or gone! Atmosphere is full of human Interceptors and Bombers! A Dreadnought couldn't get through that mess!"

"One of the flying ones is behind us! It's coming this way! Run, we need to run-!"

"BY THE PILLARS, THEY'RE SLAUGHTERING US!"

"Surrender! They won't kill the ones that surrender!"

End of Chapter Seven.


AN: Well, I suppose that was certainly one hell of a statement, wouldn't you all agree?

Also, here's the invite code to the discussion server (which I kept forgetting to include in the previous chapters): UpuT3ar.

A little bit of trivia: The first title of this chapter was "Slaughter of Torfan", which is certainly apt, hmm?