Jun 9, 2013: You've probably noticed that the chapters have changed a bit. What I've done is some editing to match canon, added codex entries at the end of each chapter and added some new scenes (In fact I've actually uploaded two new chapters, instead of one).

Feel free to check them. Back to our regular programming. Thanks for the all the reviews!


We cheat Death from his rightful victory. No one can defeat us. We are glad to plunge feet first into Annwn (Hell) in the knowledge that we will rise.

- Light of Aidan, Lament -

"The Geth represent a force that until now existed only in theory. Powerful battlefield processing capabilities, nigh-instant reaction time and a unified consensus that constantly updates itself with new information…it's a miracle that the quarians even got off Rannoch."

Praetor Drehix Threasus of the Turian 17th Legion, 1900 Council Era –

15 months and three days after the destruction of the SR1 Normandy

Dropship Hangar

SSV Shanghai

The dropship hangar of the SSV Shanghai was a hive of frenzied activity as the marines prepared their combat gear. Technicians flitted through the crowd; assisting with armour checks and making last minute adjustments while troopers inspected "jump-packs" and calibrated firearms.

Operations Chief Ashley Williams carefully inspected her equipment. Armour Integrity? Check. Ballistic suit integrity? Check. Jump-pack? Check.

Clad in what was effectively a skin-tight, ballistic cloth, Ashley began to methodically attach the ceramic-armour plates that made up her hardsuit onto her ballistic suit. Gription panels on the plates activated and then sealed themselves to the cloth, binding them both together in an unbreakable bond.

The kinetic barrier emitters, built into the plates, whirred and clicked as they synchronized with each other. Rated to withstand a small barrage, these shields were literally the difference between life and death in a warzone.

Mentally crossing that off her checklist she moved onto her heavily customized X8g-Avenger rifle. Her pride and joy, the rifle was an extension and reflection of her will. Some gave their weapons affectionate nicknames but Ashley couldn't imagine giving her rifle a name, anymore than naming her limbs. The rifle was part and parcel of who she was and naming it would be mere gravy.

Modifying her rifle to fire disruptor rounds, she nodded to herself as the rifle's internal systems whirred and clicked into position. Excellent. Designed to sap shields, overheat weapons and wreak havoc on the target's nervous systems, the electrically charged rounds were excellent for killing geth. And she intended to kill a lot of geth.

Ashley was a passionate person, no one could deny that. She loved, hated and feared with a fury that would put stars to shame. And she hated the geth with a fury that would put a krogan to shame. A part of her knew that holding onto such emotion was probably unhealthy for her mental well-being, but she couldn't forgive nor forget what the geth had done. They had massacred her comrades on Eden Prime. They had tried to kill her on a hundred different worlds, as the Normandy hunted Saren down. They had come bloody close on Virmire.

She knew that the geth, per say, were not directly responsible for what had happened. She was no fool not to believe that the geth were mere puppets for the Reapers. She knew the warship that destroyed the Normandy and killed Shepard was not a geth cruiser. Yet she was a grunt, a ground-pounder, a fighter whom eschewed the grace and subtlety of starship battles for the brutality and savagery of 22nd century marine warfare. So if she could help defeat the Reapers by killing the geth, she intended to help as much as possible.

An M-6 Carnifex pistol, one of the few possessions that were actually her private property, slipped into her holster ready to unfurl itself into action when the time came.

Finally Ashley hefted the bandolier that held her trademark "Inferno" grenades; a near violation of the Citadel Warfare Conventions. Ostensibly designed to clear vegetation around landing zones, Alliance marines had found that its unique and volatile combination of plasma, white phosphorus, Triethylaluminium and a touch of "dirty eezo" was one of the few things capable of taking down a krogan.

Capable of being fired out her rifle's barrel or lobbed by hand Ashley had grown to love the deadly little spheres and had more than earned the affectionate nickname; "fire-queen". Reverently she strapped the bandolier around her, careful to ensure that its quick release clasp was within reach. The last thing she wanted was to be set ablaze by her own ordinance.

She didn't know whether a few krogan mercenaries still fought side-by-side with the geth. After the tussle on Therum with a damned powerful krogan-biotic-warlord (three words which should never share the same sentence), she adopted a healthy paranoia of the infantry man's "Murphy Law"; If you don't expect a krogan to show up, they will show up.

Reaching into the "ammo" bin, she began slotting thermal clips into her pouches that lined her armour and her belt. Supposedly designed to allow soldiers to maintain a stream of fire, thermal clips allowed organic soldiers to quickly recover after the weapon was remotely sabotaged. A quick pop of the thermal clip and the weapon was as good as new.

Catching Corporal Behari's eye, she gave a reassuring nod. The marines and pathfinders of the SSV Shanghai had trained hard and well for these scenarios. Hit the flashlights hard, hit them fast and hit them well.

BZZT! "Attention. Attention. All ground teams report to your dropships. Repeat. All ground teams report to your dropships."The monotone, synthesized voice of the ship's VI warbled over the loudspeakers.

It was time.


SSV Shasta

Task Force 121

Nemean Abyss

Task Force 121 warped into the Nemean Abyss, the dreadnaught SSV Shasta at the head of the formation. Almost immediately the combined human and turian fleet's vessels began to form up into battlegroups. Cruisers moved into battle lines, ready to strike down their foes in a coordinated barrage while frigates wolfpacks ranged far and wide seeking out prey to attack and devour.

The carrier SSV Benjamin Davis vomited out hordes of fighters, interceptors, bombers and gunships. Squadrons of interceptors swarmed protectively around the formation, whilst bombers with their protective escorts of fighters moved to strike positions.

Fleet Admiral Smith, on the bridge the SSV Shasta, studied her sensor screens and nodded appreciatively. The first minutes of any fleet deployment were often the most critical. Entire campaigns have been decided by the mistakes, successes and near-disasters that occurred when a large mass of vessels warped and deployed into a system.

Comprised of six cruisers, twenty-four frigates, one dreadnaught and one carrier, Task Force 121's goal was not to occupy this unnamed system in the Nemean Abyss permanently. No, its goal was to secure the airspace around X91, deploy their ground forces, secure human prisoners and ultimately destroy the geth fortress. At least that's what its official objective.

Admiral's Smith's true objective was to secure an intelligence asset, codenamed "Mobius". By some fluke of the fate the agent, whom had acquired considerable intelligence on Cerberus operations with regards to the geth, had been discovered by the Ain Jalut to be held on the planet. And she would bet her bottom dollar that they would have held the agent in the formidable geth fortress that lay in the middle of a derelict industrial complex.

She knew she have been suspicious of the circumstances, but the reality she was as eager as Hackett was to gain an edge on the mysterious organization.

"XO," She curtly ordered "Contact the Ain Jalut and get me an immediate sitrep, ASAP."

"Yes, Admiral." Dutifully, the admiral's executive officer opened an encrypted line with the stealth frigate, the SSV Ain Jalut. Whilst nominally assigned to Alliance Naval Intelligence, the crew of the Ain Jalut knew it was better to tolerate her assumption of her supremacy over them, rather than risk her wrath.

A frown crossed Smith's lips, as the Ain Jalut fired an encrypted burst of data that was immediately decrypted and displayed on the holographic projected in the CIC. Contact Lost with Wolfpack, Status unknown. Sizeable geth presence located in industrial complex.

"Tell General Carter to deploy his marine forces." She added, as her frigate hunter-packs reported no enemy contacts. "And tell our turian 'friends' to do the same."

"Of course Admiral."

Working with the turian elements of the task force had gone relatively well. Donating three cruisers and their respective escorts of frigates to the strike-force, the turians were eager to strike back at the geth in a bid to recover some of their lost honour. Having the Citadel Defence Fleet decimated under their watch, stung turian society as a whole and a chance to avenge their comrades was only too attractive to pass up. So eager were they that they acquiesced to having her command the task force.

The space around of X91 was mercifully empty, as the task force's vessels began to disgorge their ground complements. Hordes of dropships, escorted by A61 Mantis Gunships, plunged into the thin atmosphere of the planet as their thrusters burned to keep craft moving hard and fast.

And so began the opening stages of the Operation Hammer.


Atmosphere

Team Neptune

Planet X91

Team Neptune

Separating itself from the squadrons of dispersed dropships and their escorts, a lone, heavily modified A-61 Mantis Gunship flew perpendicular to task force's movements. It had its own objectives to accomplish.

Equipped with sophisticated VIs and the latest in military technology, this gunship represented the pinnacle of Alliance engineering. Sensor absorbent plates coated the gunship and it's built in weapon bays ensured its stealth status. Covered from head-to-toe in camouflage paint, it even forwent the traditional nose-art that most human vessels sported. It was designed for one thing and one thing only; deliver and support its payload covertly.

Deployed from the SSV Shasta herself, this modified gunship bore the elite Team Neptune. Made up of elite, heavily armed operators; graduates of the InterCombatives Academy from Earth, they had one mission in mind: Rendezvous with Team Wolfpack and support their operations.

Safely encased in the armoured passenger compartment, the commandoes of Team Neptune calmly checked their equipment. A few nonchalantly observed the visual footage of the gunship's path. They were confident, relaxed and ready. Their goal was relatively simple: Get in, assist Wolfpack, secure the package and then get back to the Shasta for some coffee, cake and hero worship.

The pilot of this particular gunship bore the callsign; "Mowgli". An elite graduate from the Systems Alliance Naval Aerospace Warfare academy back located back on Earth, he had flown gunships his entire career so far. Whether it was performing covert insertions onto settled worlds or close air support for Special Forces, he had logged hundred of hours on every model of gunship in the Alliance's arsenal.

However he only had the barest of warnings provided by his HUD howling in alarm, seconds before a plasma projectile slammed into the belly of the Mantis gunship. The modified gunship sacrificing reduced kinetic barrier strength for increased LADAR absorption material consequently allowing the plasma projectile to burn a hole straight through the gut of the vehicle.

Confronted by a sea of flashing lights and wailing klaxons, Mowgli began to punch switches and flick levers, desperately trying to keep the gunship stable and alive. Pumping out chaff and flare, he hoped to ward off any further attacks. Keeping his engines lit, he hoped to retain enough forward velocity to escape the hot-zone. To his credit he never lost his cool, right up until the point when another plasma projectile slammed into the cockpit and vaporized.

Trapped in the hold of the burning gunship, Team Neptune could only helplessly hang on for dear life as the vehicle sickeningly flipped on its horizontal axis. Perhaps it was a mercy when seconds later the onboard, compromised eezo core exploded.

Twirling lifelessly, the burning corpse of the gunship dove straight into an abandoned bunker. With a fiery explosion, it rebounded off the durasteel structure and violently smashed into the ground. After a few metres it finally came to a screeching halt, leaving a deep furrow through the dirt behind it.

The offending geth armature and its escort of troopers silently observed their handiwork. As the fiery wreck blazed, the geth consensus analyzed the new data that began to flood in and adjusted its battle-plan. The organics were coming, that was for certain. They would make them pay in blood.


Atmosphere

Hunter 2-2

Planet X91

Nemean Abyss

Ashley plunged through the skies of X91 as the altimeter in her HUD steadily counted down towards impact. Keeping her breathing under control, despite the exhilaration that coursed through her veins, she began to recall memories of dropping out of the Normandy in the Mako.

Once upon a time, she believed that dropping out of the Normandy in a tank onto a planet was the height of adrenaline fuelled-madness. But this was something else entirely. This was something so raw, so blood-pumping exciting, that she pitied the mere mortals whom never experienced such a high.

An adrenaline addicted krogan trapped in the body of human. That's how Urdnot Wrex had once described her, after a particularly harrowing firefight against a horde of feral rachni on Altahe. She just enjoyed a challenge, that's all. To dare the galaxy to throw whatever it had at her and to come out on top or die trying. She couldn't imagine any other life.

Craning her neck to the left, she caught the plummeting form of Lieutenant Jeremiah Guo. Flashing a thumbs up her way, the lieutenant matched her speed as the platoon formed up around them. Passing through the planet's thin stratosphere, the air around them began to heat up as their speed accelerated, their kinetic barriers the only thing that saved them from instant incineration.

Her altimeter began to ping, warning her that she was rapidly passing the point of no return. Slapping her omni-tool, she activated her jump-pack's eezo core and miniature thrusters, reducing both her relative mass and her speed. Around her the pathfinders of Second Platoon mirrored her actions and soon the entire platoon powered towards the objective, thrusters firing intermittently for to keep them on course.

It was night on this corner of the planet; the only source of natural illumination came from the stars that lit up the sky. Bereft of any artificial illumination, all she had to do was crane her neck and she could see the constellations of nearby systems, of planets so far away that yet seemed so close.

Then almost immediately the ground began accelerate towards her. Firing her thrusters, she was able to slow down her approach such that she managed a relatively smooth landing onto the dusty plateau. Slapping the release mechanism, she detached the jump-pack as she brought her rifle up to bear and scan her surroundings.

Silence. Her bleak surroundings stared back at her and in the distance Ashley could make out the outlines of their objective: a derelict shipyard. Around her, she spied the enormous canyons that ran across this planet and a few errant pieces of vegetation.

Slapping her omni-tool, Ashley booted up her hardsuit's sensor systems, her "radar" synchronizing itself with the network of encrypted VIs, drones and her comrade's sensors. Almost instantly a miniature map with a bevy of green dots that highlighted her fellow pathfinders swirled into existence at the corner of her HUD. The proverbial eye in backside, that miniature map had probably saved more lives than any other battlefield invention.

"Williams, our status?" Lieutenant Guo hissed over the platoon's comms.

Ashley quickly performed a head-count on her fellow pathfinder-marines and checked the platoon's status on her HUD. All Green.

"All good, Eltee." She crisply replied "Hunter 2 is ready for action."

"Move out!" Lt. Guo ordered and within seconds Hunter 2 advanced to secure the landing zone for Task Force 121.


Industrial Complex

Planet X91

Nemean Abyss

Team Wolfpack was on the verge of being discovered, deep within the confines of this former industrial complex. The geth troopers snarled as they hunted the human commandoes through the ruined complex. Ever since the first engagement, the past few hours had been marked by frantic gunfights as the team struggled to reach Checkpoint Charlie.

Checkpoint Charlie was an imposing structure that loomed over the complex. In a past life it may have been a mechanized, heavy lift crane used to lift starship-engines into place, but now it beckoned towards them as a place of refuge. Its commanding height would allow them a generous field of view over their surroundings and could serve as a potential landing zone for any extraction craft.

But now the team hid themselves as a nearby platoon of geth passed over them. Hiding in what was an ancient sewer, the team held their breath as the synthetic automations stomped above them.

The last engagement had been particularly brutal. A geth platoon had stumbled upon the commandoes and a frantic firefight had broken out. Outnumbered and outgunned, Werner was barely able to extract his forces without taking casualties. Save for two.

Rook, a rifleman and Jester, their biotic had been caught by a pair of geth hunters, as they tried to retreat after the biotic released a dark energy storm. Ambushing the pair at close range, the geth hunters had sent a storm of plasma projectiles straight into both the commandoes. At close range the operators' shields were useless to stop the projectiles.

Rook had been killed instantly, the plasma-encased shots tearing through his armour and into his chest. Jester would have joined him, if Werner hadn't flipped his rifle to automatic and hosed the pair of geth with a storm of slugs from his position.

Now Jester lay nearby semi-conscious and half-drugged on medication. They had been able to staunch most of the bleeding and dull the pain with heavy doses of medi-gel and painkillers, but Jester needed proper medical attention and fast. And with the hordes of geth swarming the complex and standing between them and Checkpoint Charlie, Werner wasn't sure he could get Jester out in time.

This mission was fast becoming a failure. They were barely able to mark out two targets for airstrikes, they were hounded by the geth whom were intent on their death and worse they still had no link to the Ain Jalut, thanks to whatever jamming device the geth had setup.

"We're clear." Archer, the team's marksman, hissed over the team's short range comms. Bravely volunteering for the task, the marksman remained topside, roosting amongst the ancient chimneys and smokestacks, whilst the team hid themselves in the ancient sewer upon hearing the approach of the geth.

"Move out." Staff Lieutenant Jacob 'Boss' Werner ordered, his voice neither betraying the strain or the stress of the past hours.

Like ghosts, Team Wolfpack rose from the ancient sewer and silently pushed towards their objective. Ozone, the team's gunner, stayed at their rear, his heavy machine-gun sweeping to cover their rear.

Werner grunted, as he slung the semi-conscious form of Jester onto his shoulders. A frown crossed his face as the wounded commando moaned and then fell silent. They needed to reach Checkpoint Charlie fast.


Landing Zone Bravo

Planet X91

Nemean Abyss

30 minutes after drop

Ashley carefully inspected the "landing strip" that would serve the task force's armoured vehicles. Having been cleared of any vegetation, rocks or debris, it now resembled a smooth runway, albeit carved in dirt.

"All good on this end, Eltee." Ashley crisply reported over the platoon's communication network.

"Copy that, Chief." Lt. Guo curtly ordered "Activate the beacons."

Within seconds the pair of carefully arranged beacons activated; sending a pulse of heavily encrypted coordinates to the orbiting fleet. Designed to communicate and coordinate with the fleet's VIs, these beacons allowed the warships to discharge their armoured company's quickly and safely.

After spending so much time onboard a falling Mako, Ashley wondered how it must seem to an outsider. A tank falling from high orbit at terminal velocity, only to fire its rockets seconds before impact and land safely, must have seemed a shocking image to those uninitiated to 22nd century warfare. Sometime she wondered who thought up that particular idea. Probably the same maverick that proposed sending marines plummeting through the atmosphere, depending on a tiny eezo core to prevent being smeared across the landscape and their shields to save them from being incinerated.

"Chief, we got movement on the southern perimeter." The reedy tones of Hunter 2-5's squad leader interrupted her reverie.

"How close?" Ashley snapped her hand to the side of her helmet. A nervous tic more than anything else, the headset just worked fine either way.

"Ten kilometres and moving fast. Platoon sized force…hang on switching to thermal, standby." The squad leader responded.

Seconds ticked slowly by and Ashley began to chew the corner of her lip nervously. If this landing zone got compromised, it meant they would be fighting without armoured support.

"Geth force confirmed. At least five rocket wielding troopers."

"Corporal Mathews." Lt. Guo's stern voice flooded the comm. network "Engage those hostiles with prejudice. Prioritize the rocket troopers."

"Yes, sir."

The distinctive cracks of the marksmen's M-99 Sabers echoed through the landscape. Ashley bit her lip in irritation. She would have preferred to have lured the geth into a trap, or at least have one of the gunships nail the platoon with a missile. Firing now only revealed their dug in positions to the geth.

"Hunter 2 actual," the bass accent of the Mako commander cut into the platoon's comm. link. Sharing the channel with Lt. Guo, Ashley listened in as the Mako commander verified the coordinates "This is Panther actual, confirm these coordinates? Over."

A series of numbers and letters flashed over her HUD. Representing geographical coordinates, air pressure and atmospheric density, these series of numbers and letters were the difference between a successful Mako deployment or a horrifying, fiery wreck. Thankfully these coordinates were good.

"Coordinates are good, Panther Actual, begin your drop when you're ready. Over" Lt. Guo replied, confirming the drop coordinates.

"Roger that, Hunter 2 actual. Keep it warm for us. Over and Out." The confident Mako commander replied.

In her mind's eye, Ashley visualized the orbiting cruisers open their docking bays. She imagined the squadrons of heavy Mako AFVs being guided and then launched out of the cruisers and into the planet's atmosphere.

From her time on the Normandy's Mako, she could recall nearly every sensation of a Mako drop. The monetary sensation of weightlessness, as your stomach floats for a second in zero-g and then sudden force as vindictive gravity latches onto you and the send the Mako plummeted through the atmosphere.

"Hunter 2, this is Panther 1-1." A new voice contacted them, this time being Panther 1's commanding officer, "Our approach vector is locked in and we are on track, ETA: 120 seconds."

"Roger that Panther 1-1." Lieutenant Guo replied "LZ is still secure; I repeat LZ is still secure."

Ashley nodded, until her eyes picked out something. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she could have sworn she saw the air shimmer a few feet in front of her. Bringing her rifle up to bear, she aimed down her sights at the distortion in the air. The only warning she got, was a blinding flash as a powerful headlight activated. Hurling herself to the side, she barely dodged a trio of plasma projectiles that skimmed over her shoulder.

Towering over her, her attacker was a geth that was nearly twelve feet high. Bearing a passing resemblance to the geth prime, it wielded an enormous shotgun that even a krogan would hesitate to wield. The air around the geth rippled with residue eezo discharge, as its cloaking generators struggled to compensate for the synthetic's shotgun blast.

"Contact!" She heard herself scream, as the geth aimed down its sights once more. A veritable store of fire battered against the geth's shields, as the marines around her laid down suppressive fire. Knocking the enormous unit backwards, the marines bought Ashley precious seconds.

Scrambling backwards, she managed to put some distance between herself and her attacker. Lunging to her feet, she aimed down her sights and held down the trigger, adding to the volume of fire that slammed into the geth, even as more of the cloaked machines revealed themselves.

From the corner of her vision, she saw another towering geth launch a powerful kick that slammed into a fellow marine's midsection. Hurling the soldier backwards, the impossibly strong impact alone shattered his chest-plate, as her HUD dispassionately labelled the marine; "Ineffective".

It had been a bloody ruse. The geth had launched a diversionary attack, keeping the platoon's marksmen busy while sneaking their cloaked units closer. Engaging at ranges too close to call in heavy air support, the geth were engaging on their terms and were threatening to overrun the landing zone.

"Hit their legs!" Ashley called out, as she ducked away from another shotgun blast. With their towering stature, the cloaked geth could easily crush them, but that came at a disadvantage. Dependant on their legs to support their mass and their high centre of gravity, the only hope the marines had was to sever their synthetic tendons.

Perhaps in response to her desperate order, the marines beside her shifted their fire, scything cutting into the giant geth's shields and synthetic musculature. With a distorted howl, the towering synthetic in front of her crashed to the ground, thrashing violently as it tried to pull its shotgun from underneath it.

Without wasting a moment, another marine beside her hopped onto the top of the geth's prone form, aimed down his rifle and then emptied his thermal clip into the downed synthetic's neck. Its electric screams faded into oblivion as the rounds cut through its shields at close range and tore apart its vulnerable circuitry.

"Williams, get down!" Someone roared.

Reacting instantly Ashley performed a controlled demolition on her knees and as she hit the dirt a powerful synthetic forearm swung through where her head was a second earlier. Flipping onto her back, she was greeted by the de-cloaking form of another geth. Even as it aimed down her sights, Ashley was already fumbling for her weapon even as a part of her knew this was the end.

Until the thunderous smash of a rapidly decelerating M35 Mako hitting the ground echoed across the plateau. The force of the impact sent the geth in front of her stumbling backwards and Ashley could hear distinctive whine of a Mark V Rheinmetall 155mm Mass Accelerator Canon, as it motors swung the turret around to bear on the geth.

A grin crossed Ashley's lips, as the first rounds from the heavy canon crashed into and then hurled the massive geth backwards, like it was a ragdoll. If this were an action flick, she would have had some pithy catchphrase ready, but really she was just too happy to be alive.

"Hunter 2 actual, this is Panther 1-1" The noticeably smug tone of the Mako's commander drawled into her headset "Thanks for keeping the place warm. Designate targets and we'll fire when ready."


CIC

SSV Ain Jalut

Nemean Abyss

Captain Sasha Makarov silently watched Task Force 121 deploy and secure this portion of the Nemean Abyss. Even as she quietly admired the efficiency of the task force's captains, a corner of her mind worried about Team Wolfpack.

They had lost contact with Wolfpack after their last transmission. Her sensors picked up the presence of a weak geth jamming network. Yet the supposedly weak network boasted some serious encryption that hinted at something else.

She briefly considered taking the Ain Jalut into X91's atmosphere, before she cast that thought aside. The Ain Jalut was a stealth frigate, not a brawling warship. Right now the best way she could help Wolfpack was to serve and act as the task force's eyes and ears.

"Lieutenant." She curtly ordered her chief pilot "Get us to the system's edge."

For the past days and hours, she had stealthily scanned the entire system from head to toe, looking for any active eezo emissions of any kind. Moving to the edge of the system only made sense. After all if the geth fleet wasn't found within the system, odds were that they were waiting outside the system, acting as a reserve force.

Unfortunately it was the wrong move. One small move in a series of manoeuvres that could spell the end of Task Force 121.


Landing Zone Bravo

Planet X91

Nemean Abyss

120 minutes after drop

Ashley nodded to herself as another armoured vehicle thudded onto the landing zone. After a brutal firefight, Hunter 2 with the support of Panther's armoured vehicles was able to push back and secure the landing zone. Now Hunter 2-1 and herself were manning the prefabricated fortifications that had been quickly erected by the task force's combat engineers.

Hunter 2 had taken two casualties. Private Henderson had been killed when one of the cursed geth units had beheaded her at close range with a blast from its shotgun. Private Chong had been severely wounded when another geth had launched a powerful kick straight into his midsection. Already Chong was on his way to the orbiting fleet, no doubt to the relative safety of one of their fleet's medical bays. Were it not for Panther company's Makos, the casualties would have much higher.

Behind her, dropships loaded down with hungry marines and grim faced turian soldiers swarmed onto the landing zone, depositing their troops and taking off quickly. A pair of M-42 Bulldog self-propelled artillery vehicles rumbled off towards a nearby ridge, as they positioned themselves to provide support for forward forces.

The forward ground units of the task force were securing the canyons and ridges that made up this side of the planet. Already they had run into geth outposts which boasted turrets and heavy units. Geth armature units fought against the task force's tanks, as gunships howled overhead unleashing their missiles with considerable glee.

Ashley glanced enviously as a combined platoon of M35 Makos and Triarii-class turian tanks advanced towards the frontlines. No doubt, somewhere out there Hunter 1 was calling in airstrikes, to Lt. Guo's considerable consternation. A flight of A61 Mantis gunships howled overhead and in the distance she could hear the boom of canon fire and the ensuring explosions.

Rumour had it that the Shasta had deployed a spec-ops team into the complex itself and already some whispered that some of the task force was going to be deployed into the heart of the fortress itself.

But first they had to sever the geth's eyes and ears outside the fortress and that was the momentary goal of the task force's ground forces.

"This is Actual, to all Hunter 2 squads." The clipped voice of Lt. Guo interrupted her momentary reverie, "All squad leaders rendezvous at the southern landing pads and prep for redeployment."

Ashley merely shrugged as the Corporal Behari glanced at her in curiosity. As the marines prepared to vacate their positions, a turian phalanx hurried up to relieve the humans.

Ashley caught the attention of the commanding officer of the turian phalanx. Waving him over Ashley began to detail everything that she though could be useful for the turians.

"This side of the perimeter is pretty much secured and that ridge over there would be a great place for you to deploy your marksmen." She explained to the turian officer, a grim-faced example of his species. A pair of simple green tattoos framed his cheeks and he quietly nodded in understanding, as he held the helmet at his side.

There were times she envied the turians. A race of soldiers and generals, sometimes she wondered whether they practiced the level of discrimination against individuals that the Alliance admiralty had displayed during the early stages of her career.

"I see. Good job hu…" The turian caught himself before he finished that statement. No doubt his superiors had warned that humans preferred to be referred to by their names versus their species.

Ashley merely raised her eyebrows as the turian struggled to understand the rank markings on her armour or the lack off. The Systems Alliance's battle armour didn't display any obvious signs of rank or status; a sharp lesson learned from the snipers of earth's 21st century wars.

"Chief." Ashley finally explained, "Operations Chief Williams."

She didn't know whether the turians assigned the same level of notoriety to the Williams name as humanity did and truth be told she didn't very much care at that point. She had a new objective to accomplish and accomplish it she would.

She began to jog over to the distinct form Lt. Guo whom was waiting beside a flight of rumbling dropships. As she crossed the tarmac, she mentally counted the pathfinder-marines of Hunter 2. All present and accounted for.

"Sir?" She asked, catching the tensed eyebrows hidden behind the standard issue combat helmet.

"Command's ordering us to redeploy." Lt. Guo explained. "We're to assist with extracting a Team Wolfpack from northern edge of the complex."

"Wolfpack, sir?" Ashley struggled to remember whether any of the marine units sported that call-sign.

"Spec-ops, chief. Handling matters way above yours and my pay grade." Lt. Guo snorted "Apparently the team they sent after them went missing so they're sending us instead."

Ashley pondered the new objectives. They were pathfinders and more importantly they were marines. They had been trained to deal with the changing conditions on the battlefield and thrive. Yet Ashley shivered at the prospect of dealing with the geth inside the confines of the complex.

"What's our support like?" She asked, as Lt. Guo waved the rest of the platoon onto the awaiting dropships.

"Minimal." He replied "Command has promised us some air support from Viper squadron, but they also said to expect some jamming signals from the geth. Not enough to hamper our close-range communicators, but we won't be calling up the fleet for directions anytime soon."

Limited support, hampered communications and a dense complex no doubt filled with hungry geth. It was like Therum all over again, save the oppressive heat and the bloodthirst krogans. Though knowing her luck, the latter was likely to show up.

"Turians will be securing the landing zone?" She queried, with a practiced air of indifferent curiosity, as she struggled to stifle the brief wave of nervous jitters that began in her stomach. She didn't fear the geth, she reminded herself. She just hated their uncanny ability to use nearly every nook and cranny to ambush organics.

"43rd turian marine division." Lt. Guo answered "They're good and they have experience with our tactics"

Before or after Shanxi? Ashley nearly asked, but she wisely held her tongue. It was a new galaxy and no one liked to be reminded of the First Contact War. Especially with the new state of political affairs.

"Understood, sir." Ashley replied, before nodding respectively. They'd better hold our damned LZ.


Checkpoint Charlie

Industrial Complex

Planet X91

Nemean Abyss

"Get down!"

Lt. Werner threw himself to the ground, as the geth wielding the heavy pulse canon exploded, showering pieces of flaming shrapnel everywhere. He snarled, as he slapped the burning embers away from him and then ducked once more as a grenade detonated nearby.

Team Wolfpack had finally made it to Checkpoint Charlie. Within minutes of their fortifying it, the geth had hurled themselves at the commandoes. Geth troopers wielding flamethrowers and plasma rifles viciously attacked the commandoes, willing to sacrifice themselves in order to dig out and murder the entrenched commandoes.

Skipping past a hail of fire, Werner threw himself into a makeshift foxhole. Nodding at its occupants, Werner took a few moments to check himself for wounds

"No holes" he thought to himself, as he ran his hands over his battered armour. "That's got to be something"

Glancing enviously at Ozone's terminator battle-armour, he promised himself that the moment he got back he would requisition at least one of the heavy armour hardsuits. Scratch that, he would order enough of the armoured suits for the entire squad, stealth be damned!

"Status?" he rasped as Ozone's team-mate, Michelson, rose up to lay down a hail of suppressive fire. Meanwhile Ozone nonchalantly popped out an overheated thermal clip from his weapon before catching it mid-air. Deftly and with surprising grace, he dropped the white-hot clip into his nearby canteen. In the confines of the foxhole, Werner heard the hiss the thermal clip emitted when it came into contact with the contacts of the water bottle. At least he hoped it was water, though at this point he probably shouldn't have cared.

"A fuck-ton of geth swarming this side. No contact with support. Thermal clips are holding for now…and I need to pee." was Ozone's deadpan response. Rising to his feet, as he chambered new clip, the heavy-gunner shrugged off a stray round before his Typhoon machine gun roared once more.

"A fuck-ton?" Werner replied, when Ozone's pat returned to the safety of the foxhole, as a hail of fire scythed above.

"About four platoons, Boss." Michelson replied this time "One geth too many."

"Ah…" Werner absorbed the new information.

He didn't understand the geth's assault. Checkpoint Charlie was made up sharp, steep hill that lead towards the base of an enormous cargo lift. Dotted around the hill, were a series of enormous boulders and steel crates which offered a modicum of cover. Combined with the soft-earth that made it easy to build makeshift foxholes, Checkpoint Charlie was a veritable fortress.

Somewhere amongst the machinery and crates Archer roosted above them, picking off geth troopers whom were foolish enough to poke their heads out. Werner was certain that Archer was at the moment duelling geth snipers, a battle that could take hours.

Yet that didn't stop the geth from were hurling themselves at Team Wolfpack with a vengeance. For what reason, Werner had yet to discern. Scrambling on top of ancient buildings or climbing up the sides of derelict towers nearby, the geth sent a withering barrage of plasma fire over the dug-in commandoes.

He couldn't help but notice a certain oddity to their actions, as if the geth were pantomiming an assault. Like a director willing to sacrifice their actors in order to sell the role, the geth were wasting a few of their units to keep Team Wolfpack pinned down.

"Ehh…" he though to himself, as a rocket exploded overhead, showering them with shrapnel that their shields fended away "I always over think these things." They had to hold out, that's all they needed to do right now. He was certain that the task force had arrived and no doubt more commandoes were on their way to aid them. Then it would be straight push to the geth fortress.

"Keep them suppressed." He ordered the pair of gunners, before adding a final word of incentive. "Also Archer says he's got more kills than you two. Says when this is over, drinks are on you."

"Bah…" Ozone snarled, as he fired a spread of multi-frag grenades from his omni-tool that arced over a nearby stone wall and then detonated, "Tell that pretty boy when this is over, I'll carve more kills onto my armour than he ever will in his lifetime."

Werner did always pride himself on keeping his team motivated.


Chalk 2

North of Industrial Complex

Planet X91

Nemean Abyss

This time the transports flew low and fast, barely ten metres above the ground. Aided by sophisticated VI's and powerful LADAR systems, the dropship pilots of Chalk 2, guided their steeds over the baked soil of X91.

"Alright here is the score!" The loadmaster shouted over the turbulence, as he addressed the pathfinders in the confines of the passenger compartment. Flying low may have protected them from anti-aircraft fire, but it made the ride bumpy as hell, "We'll drop your platoon one kilometre out from the complex, northern side."

The northern side of the complex was marked by a series of jagged hills and derelict machinery. Perhaps in a previous life it had been the staging ground for whatever civilization owned this rock, but now it was lifeless.

Their pilots were understandably nervous about geth AA. The fight to retake the Citadel in the wake of Saren's attack had seen geth troopers blasting whatever was in the air with their fiendishly accurate rocket launchers. Consequently it had taken weeks to find and root out the geth stragglers on the Citadel and no one was eager to repeat that experience.

"I want your boots out of my hold, in twenty seconds!" Ashley winced as the loadmaster continued to shout, even over the short-range helmet to helmet radio.

"Anyone left behind stays with us. I'll be sure to find some use for them." The loadmaster cackled at that last comment, adding a positively sinister note to the entire briefing. Loadmasters were said to be a sadistic lot and no marine worth their salt would want to be left alone in the presence of those freaks.

"ETA to LZ, thirty seconds." The pilot's voice crackled over the shuttle's intercom.

"You heard the man, marines!" Ashley barked "Time to roll out!"

She could feel the impact, as the dropship slid to a complete stop, run all the way up to her teeth. The Kodiak's bay door swung up and out and the marines of Hunter 2-2 surged out of the doors. As she jumped out onto the flats of X91, she could see the sun rise up on the horizon and hear the drone of the overhead escorting gunships.

The last one out of the gunship, she caught the high pitched tones of the Kodiak's afterburners as the pilot jetted away from the flats and back to the safety offered by the guns of the overhead warships. Within seconds the entirety of Hunter 2 had been disgorged and grabbed whatever shelter they could find.

"Hunter 2 actual, this is Viper 1" The tense voice of the gunship's pilot hissed into her ear "You're clear all the way into the complex, but be advised we'll need targeting information in order to provide you air support."

"Roger that Sparrow 1" Lt. Guo replied "Watch our six."

"Will do, Hunter 2. Good hunting."


Checkpoint Charlie

Industrial Complex

Planet X91

Jester, the wounded biotic, moaned feverishly, as the fighting intensified around them. Crammed into another makeshift foxhole with the squad's medic, there was barely enough room to move, let alone breathe.

The medic shook his head, as he carefully injected another dose of painkiller. At such close proximity, Werner could practically smell the desperation in the man's sweat.

"Final dose, Boss," the medic finally spoke, as a rocket whizzed above and smashed into an ancient steel crate, "any more and his blood pressure will drop like a krogan in water."

"Anything else you can do, Doc?" Werner asked, reassuringly gripping Jester's hand. A grimace crossed the biotic's face as a stream of plasma fire erupted overhead, only to be cut short by a series of sharp cracks.

"I've done all I can!" The medic snapped back, "I've kept his BP stable, his wounds relatively clean and his pain low! Damn it, I'm a medic! Not a bloody miracle worker!"

Before Werner could respond, his headset crackled with the distorted voice of Archer.

"Heads up Ozone, you got flamers inbound on your position." The marksman reported over the din of the firefight.

Flamethrower geth. Evidently the geth had caught onto the very organic phobia of being burnt alive. Even as Werner put on a confident grin for his fellow soldiers, he knew if they survived the next few minutes it would be a miracle.

"Copy that Archer." The pained voice of Ozone came back, before he added "Mike's been hit."

Shit! If Werner remembered correctly, Ozone and Michelson shared the foxhole. Responsible for their southern perimeter, the pair had held the geth back with raw firepower and explosives. But now with the geth flamers advancing on their position, Werner knew he had to pull them back.

"Archer," Werner queried, hiding his unease behind a level tone, "anything you can do about it?"

"Negative, Boss." the marksman replied, a hint of regret in his voice "Am already relocating. Damned geth have eyeballed me and am losing cover fast."

"Ozone, get out of there." Werner crisply ordered the heavy gunner "Now!"

"On it, Boss," Ozone replied back, "Just getting Mike out of here…"

Werner shook his head and he pulled himself out of the foxhole. Almost immediately the geth bracketed him with a hail of fire, sending him ducking back into cover.

Catching his breath, Werner carefully weighed his options. He knew Ozone and he knew him well. The heavy gunner wouldn't leave a comrade behind in the foxhole to be roasted by the geth flamethrowers.

Plucking an EMP grenade from his belt, he took a second to compose himself. If he timed it right, he would send the grenade sailing into the lance of geth troopers that had him pinned down. If he timed it wrong the grenade would fall back onto him and short out his armour's systems.

"Need covering fire on my position." He snapped over Wolfpack's comms. Seconds later a series of cracks broke through the din of battle and he reminded himself to buy Archer a round of drinks when this was all over.

Leaning out, he chucked the EMP grenade towards his attackers. Sailing silently amidst the chaos around it, the grenade bounced off one geth and into the ground. Even as the geth retreated away from the sphere, it pulsed once and then detonated.

A wave of electrical energy swept out from it, overwhelming the geth's vulnerable circuits. Writhing as the errant electrons played over their shields and skin, the geth were helpless as Werner raced towards Ozone's position.

He could see Ozone struggle to pull his wounded partner out of the foxhole whilst balancing the heavy typhoon machine gun. Werner wasted no time in assisting Ozone and together the pair of them hoisted the wounded commando between them and retreated towards the protective embrace of an ancient steel crate.

"Boss, sniper! Get down!" Someone yelled over the comm. network. Before he could react, an ominous boom echoed around them as a powerful slug slashed between Ozone and him, and ripped into Michael's skull.

He didn't hear Archer's return fire or Ozone's howl of rage that send a torrent of slugs to rip into a nearby coning tower and send a geth sniper hurtling towards the ground. He didn't hear electronic chatter of geth troopers as they tried to flank the commandoes. All he could do is stare helplessly at the shattered skull of the former commando lie before him and mentally note the charred hole that had been burnt through armour and flesh.

He would kill them. He would kill every single geth on this planet.


Industrial Complex

Planet X91

Nemean Abyss

Operations Chief Ashley Williams and the marines of Hunter 2-2 carefully picked their way through the complex. Ancient, gargantuan machinery stared down at them and errant piping snaked its way around them. Every few metres they would find another dead geth, its innards spilt out and leaking white, viscous fluid.

"Damn…Wolfpack is sure making them pay." One of the marines whispered, before a low snarl from Corporal Behari silenced him. The air was thick with tension and you could cut through it with a knife. Ashley's own suit's biometric readings were elevated and she found her eyes darting around, searching for geth.

Out there on the flats of X91 the geth were out in the open, dependant on their cloaking generators to hide their position. In here however, there was at least a hundred different ways for the geth to conceal their positions. Darkened bunkers for geth troopers to hide themselves in, coning towers for their snipers to roost in and the pipes for their damnable hoppers to hang from.

A few feet in front of her, Behari held up a clenched fist. Lowering themselves into a crouch, the marines silently stared around them. Motioning two of the marines forward, he pointed them into covering positions. Finally he motioned Williams forwards.

Moving quickly yet quietly, Williams joined Behari up front. Finally she saw what had set the corporal on edge.

"Crap…so that's what happened to Neptune" One of marines whispered as another shook her head mournfully.

Ashley stared grimly at the charred remains that were Team Neptune. Thirteen men and women, soldiers whom represented the best elite operators that humanity could produce, and all that was left of them were burnt out corpses and equipment.

"Missiles, more than one." Another marine hissed "'Mantis' supposed to be tougher than one missile"

"Where's their jumpacks?" One marine queried, as they peered at the wreckage of the crashed gunship.

"They didn't have any jump-packs." Ashley replied, swallowing the fear that began to well up inside of her "They were probably just meant to extract Team Wolfpack and bug out…Jump-packs would have taken up space…."

The marines simply shook their head, as they tried not to imagine plummeting from the sky and watching the earth rush up to smash against. Perhaps it was a mercy that most of them were incinerated in the explosion.

"Williams." Lt. Guo's voice flooded through Ashley's helmet "Status."

"All KIA Eltee."

"Copy that, move fast." If Guo was affected by the death of the Special Forces commandoes, she wasn't hearing it "Flashlights could be eyeballing the crash site."

"Copy that,"

Ashley glanced at Behari. Nodding his assent, the squad leader motioned the squad to move out. As they skirted the site, Ashley took one last glance behind her. A grinning, charred skull that used to be a fellow marine, glared back at her, mocking her. A cold shiver ran up her spine and she gripped her rifle even tighter. The. Geth. Would. Pay.

"Tag the site on the map and then push on." Williams found herself ordering with a coldness that surprised her, "He's dead, nothing more we can do for them."

"What about their tags?" Behari protested, as he struggled with the prospect of leaving human corpses behind on a geth infested world.

Ashley shook her head silently, as she mimed an exploding mine with her fist. They both knew what the geth were capable off and it wasn't beyond the synthetics to use organic bodies as a booby trap.

Nodding silently at her order, Behari and the rest of the squad pushed one, hoping to link back up with Hunter 2. Hanging back she swept the area behind them, paranoid about being followed by geth.

Instead from the corner of her vision, she saw an errant rodent climb on top of a charred corpse that lay in the shattered remains of the cockpit. She saw it sniff curiously at the corpse's charred skull and then it lunged forward. Its tiny teeth caught on the bridge of the corpse's nose and then it began to gnaw hungrily at the cooked flesh. Ashley had to turn away as bile rose at the back of her throat and she hurriedly left the area.

A pair of geth troopers and an armature and watched her leave and continued to hid silently. Their shared conscious dictated them to hold their position…for now.


CIC

SSV Shasta

Nemean Abyss

Fleet Admiral Samantha Smith paced impatiently around the holographic tactical display. The bulk of her naval forces were scouring the rest of the system, though the Ain Jalut had declared this system clear of immediate hostiles. She didn't doubt the expertise of the Ain Jalut's crew but experience had thought her that nothing went stale faster than intelligence.

She knew she should be pleased that the opening stages of the deployment had gone relatively well. Within the hour, the task force had managed to deploy a combined regiment's worth of troops and material onto a hostile planet. Nearly 3,500 combined turians and humans secured the planet beneath her and she had six battlegroups worth of warships at her command.

Stationing the carrier SSV Benjamin Davis in low orbit above X91 with an escort of four frigates, she sent the rest of the task force to scour the system around them. The last thing she wanted was for one of the damned pirate packs that prowled the Nemean Abyss to stumble upon the vulnerable carrier.

Yet she couldn't help but feel that she had overlooked an important fact. Her mind ran through the hundred of variables that nagged her conscious about the operation. The groundside forces reported considerable geth fortifications that had been hastily constructed across the canyons and ridges that surrounded the ancient industrial complex. Forced to spread their forces thin, the planet-side forces managed kept in constant contact with each other over heavily encrypted channels.

Yet despite their preparations Team Neptune had been shot down and they still were unable to contact Team Wolfpack. Her sensors picked up what looked to be an intense firefight that raged between geth forces and the trapped human commandoes, deep in the heart of the complex. Yet for all the visuals of the firefight, there was squat she could do.

The Benjamin Davis had promised her that they had a flight of dropships on standby, ready to extract Wolfpack but only when the marines had cleared out landing zone for them. Now all she could do was sit back and wait while a platoon of marines made their way through the maze of machinery and piping and towards the trapped commandoes.

As she sat back and watched the marines clear the complex, she began to ponder several questions that had nagged since the task force had warped into this system. How did such a geth force land on this planet without adequate fleet support? Had they arrived before or after the Battle of the Citadel? Where was their fleet? Why this planet and not the hundred of other uninhabited worlds scattered across the Milky Way?

Too many questions and not enough answers.

Smith clenched her fists in irritation; as the nearby captain of the SSV Shasta studiously ignored her and focused on maintaining the dreadnaught's position at the head of the fleet. Personally he wasn't concerned. After all the geth fleet had been smashed at the Citadel. His only regret was that Shasta didn't get a piece of the action.


Industrial Complex

Planet X91

Nemean Abyss

They could hear the battle a kilometre away. The high pitched whine of geth plasma weaponry intermixed with the bass growl of alliance weaponry. The brunt of the fighting seemed to take place at base of a gigantic crane structure.

Checkpoint Charlie. It had to be. Hunter 2 began to increase their pace, darting through the complex at a rapidly quickening pace. The fighting if anything seemed to intensify the closer they got to it and she could swear she could hear the distinctive whump of heavy weapons.

Taking the lead, Hunter 2-2 and Ashley Williams became the spearhead squad for the platoon, as the rest of the squads began to move to flanking positions.

Sliding to halt by a pair of ancient pair of loaders Hunter 2-2, and Ashley Williams stacked up. Deploying a drone to peak around the corner, the squad's combat engineer relayed the video to both to Behari's, Guo's and Ashley's HUD.

The images flooded onto the corner of Ashley's HUD. Resembling a bad sci-fi flick, a horde of mechanical killer robots surged towards the pinned down remnants of Team Wolfpack. Dug in, the commandoes laid down a hail of heavy fire from their makeshift fortifications.

A pair of geth covered by their comrades, raced clambered up the side of an ancient loading crane. Seconds later a pair of explosive charges detonated hurling the shattered 'corpses' of the geth onto their fellow comrades.

With machine reflexes, a pair of geth troopers, covered by their comrades fired a series of electric surges up the side of the loading crane. Electrically charged pulses raced up the side, overloading and detonating the remaining explosive charges in a cloud of fire and shrapnel.

"Behari, any luck contacting them?" Williams hissed, as the commandoes desperately fought for their survival. With the amount of heavy ordinance flying all over the damned place there was a very good chance, if they rushed into combat, that they would be fragged by their own side.

"Team Wolfpack, this is Hunter 2-2." Behari tried to open a link to the pinned down commandoes, whilst the squad's engineer desperately tried to cut through the geth jamming.

Static greeted them as the geth surged towards the commandoes. One geth hefting a rocket launcher, unleashed a pair of missiles that crashed into one fortification and enveloped it a cloud of fire and brimstone.

"Alright, here's our plan." Guo began to snap out orders quickly and efficiently, as he waited with First Squad, "Hunter 2-1, maintain over-watch. Get your marksmen to target the geth rocket troopers. I do not want a missile to come our way."

Tap. Tap. The corporal responsible for Hunter 2-1 tapped his assent over the comm. network. The Alliance may boast the best communications encryption, but they weren't taking any chances.

"2-4 and 2-5. Secure our flanks. The moment you see a flashlight, destroy it with extreme prejudice." Guo continued, as Ashley began to grasp his string of thought.

Tap. Tap. The squad leaders for Hunter 2-4 and 2-5 dutifully signalled their assent as their squads moved to secure the platoon's rear.

"Hunter 2-2 and 2-3. Hit the geth flanks. Open up with a decent spread of grenades and hit their rear forces" Behari grinned at Ashley, as the lieutenant detailed his plan, "We'll play this by the numbers. Watch your fields of fire, watch the marine next to your and we'll make it."

"Yes chief." Ashley could hear the smile in Behari's voice "Let's gut the bastards."

"On my mark, open fire…" The seconds ticked by ever so slowly, as Ashley's body began to pump adrenaline into her bloodstream, but she still held her fire waiting for Guo's signal.

"Mark."

Almost immediately the first series of grenades tore into the rear of the geth forces. Waves of heat, fire and shrapnel ripped into and devoured the geth. Some geth troopers were hurled by the blast into their fellow synthetics, whilst others were simple vaporised.

But the geth were not mere organics, given to emotions such as fear or panic. With machine precision, their collective conscious already alerted by the 'death' of their comrades, moved half of their numbers to deal with the humans attack their rear.

Leaning around the corner, Ashley scythed fire through the oncoming platoon of geth troopers. Kinetic slugs crashed into barriers and slashed into the light armour. Wrapped in a sheath of electricity, the rounds wreaked havoc with the geth's kinetic barriers and electronic circuits. Taking two geth down, she ducked back into cover as their comrades unleashed a volley of rockets.

Ashley ducked as a rocket tore past her position, the deadly projectile crashing into a nearby bunker and detonating. Chunks of ancient ferro-concrete were blown apart and debris battered against her kinetic barriers.

One geth surged around the corner of the ancient loader only to come face to face with the charred muzzle of lovingly modified X8 Avenger. A stream of slugs erupted from her rifle to rip into its flashlight 'eye' and tear its head from its shoulders.

Seconds later, a bright red warning appeared on her HUD. Grenade! Ashley and the comrade beside her hurled themselves far and away from the explosive projectile, which detonated in a cloud of fire and gas.

Crashing face first, into the ground, Ashley momentarily tasted blood as her mouth smashed against the inside of mouth guard of her helmet. Flipping onto her back, she saw the ominous shapes of a geth squad charge through the opening, as her fellow marines pulled back.

Reacting purely on gut instinct, she plucked an inferno grenade from her belt and hurled it straight into the mass of geth. A flower of fire erupted and coated the geth forces, even revealing the position of a cloaked geth trooper. Hungrily licking against shields and melting armour, the fiery inferno blinded the geth' sensors and lit them up like a Christmas tree.

Holding his glowing omni-tool out like a weapon, the squad's combat engineer unleashed an electric pulse, designed to overwhelm shields and circuits. The result to say the least was spectacular.

The first geth exploded in a shower of component parts and fire. Like a hungry beast, the electric pulse leapt from geth to geth, reacting violently with the fiery embers that coated the synthetic war-machines. Within seconds the geth platoon was rapidly reduced to expanding clouds of fire and gas, the fiery bursts hurling the flames far and wide. The survivors were left struggling as the napalm chewed through their circuitry, till the distinctive blasts of an M27 Scimitar shotgun ended their struggles.

Silence finally greeted them. A furrow crossed her brow, as Ashley helped the nearby engineer beside her to his feet. Had the geth wiped out Team Wolfpack whilst Hunter 2-2 fought for their rear elements? Was there an ambush waiting for them, as she thought?

Stacking up once more, Hunter 2-2 readied themselves, for well, anything. Deploying a holographic drone, the engineer scanned Checkpoint Charlie for anything.

"Friendlies!" Behari cried out "Friendlies coming out on your twelve."

Silence greeted them. Was Team Wolfpack gone?

After what seemed at eternity, Ashley heard the distinctive accent of an earthborn officer.

"Come out."

Nodding at Behar, Ashley began to slowly inch her way out. Carefully she detached herself from the protective cover offered by the ancient loader and slowly walked out into the clearing. Holding her rifle up and above herself, she carefully tried to avoid being fragged by a twitchy, adrenaline-pumped, human soldier.

Around her, scores of geth troopers lay crumpled all around her. Several were missing parts of their head or torsos and at least one had been completely ripped in half.

"Should have brought a flag," She thought to herself "Would have made this so less tense."

Before she could mentally argue the pros and cons of hauling an emblazoned flag through a warzone, an armoured figure detached itself from base of the ancient crane and approached her.

Her stomach leapt into her throat as she recognized the familiar blood-red stripes that ran down the length of its left arm and the bone-white insignia emblazoned on its sophisticated armour. N7…it can't be.

No…She mentally shook her head. Shepard was dead and as much as she admired the man, he wasn't the only one to earn the coveted N7 badge. Still a twinge of nostalgia crept across her conscious as they approached each other.

The figure in front of her cradled a sophisticated rifle, the likes of which she had never seen before. No stranger to galaxy's firearms still she struggled to recall the sleek outlines of the weapon. It resembled a stripped down version of the standard issue Avenger, yet the enlarged barrels hinted at a much more powerful mass effect field generator.

Finally the figure reached up and detached it battered helmet. Its light toned skin and its deep blue eyes revealed its roots. Earthborn, probably from the EU.

"Team Wolfpack, I presume." Ashley Williams greeted, maintained her stoic professionalism

A grin tugged at the corner of his lips. His eyes betrayed the strain of fighting and surviving against hordes of the geth for the past twelve hours.

"Am I glad to see you."


Storage chamber

Planet X91
Nemean Abyss

They came for him in the darkness. The four synthetics hurled the blast doors opened and stalked past the cages filled with terrified humans. With mechanical purpose they went straight for him, ignoring everything and everyone else in the room.

'Mobius' began to sweat as the geth neared towards him. How could they know? How?

The first geth to reach him stopped and stared intently at him, its bright headlight burning into his retinas. He shut his eyelids, but even then the light burned into his vision.

Suddenly the mass effect field that suspended him in mid air, collapsed and his body fell towards the floor. Catching him deftly before impact, the geth carried his weakened mass past the cages filled with captured humans, whom turned to avoid their gaze. As soon as they exited the chamber, the geth immediately slung a blindfold across his face.

There was haste to their movements, if such a thing could be believed. A sudden zeal, a sudden fervour that seemed to quicken their motion. He was aware of passing through rock-hewn corridors, of moving deeper into heart of these mines.

Suddenly the cloth was snatched from his eyes and his vision began to recover. The days of near sensory-deprivation forced him to slowly take in his surroundings. The geth released their grip on them and he fell to the floor, his weakened muscles crying out in protest as he roughly hit the ground. Too weak to even brace himself, he fell into a slump on the floor, his cheek resting against the cool floor.

He became slowly aware that he was in a room carved roughly out of rock with a floor that was strangely polished for such a primitive chamber. The rock walls that surrounded him shone with a strange blue, ethereal light that seemed to penetrate and reflect off everything all at once.

The first thing to catch his attention was the metre thick cables that snaked around the room. He never thought to ever use the term, but they seemed advanced. Yet someone or something had taken a crude power-axe to it, how long ago he had no idea. The strangest thing was that someone had started to fix it, with an advanced solution that seemed to grow the mechanical fibres from within the wounds itself.

Finally he looked up and then he truly saw what he was sharing the room with. Standing in the centre of the chamber its curved columns supposed a blue, glowing sphere. Burning with energy that seemed to writhe within the orb, it cast its glow on everything it saw. It stood tall and indifferent to everyone and everything in the room, and he could literally feel the energy burn off from it.

At the base of the structure, he could count at least ten geth prostate themselves, before this thing, this object that seemed to be their idol. They nodded rhythmically in movement, and a high-pitched snarl emanated from them. If he didn't know any better he'd say they were praying.

He knew he shouldn't be surprised. He had heard the rumours, read the reports and seen the vids. Somehow the geth, in spite of their mechanical heritage, possessed a capacity for religious fervour that would put many organics to shame. For what or whom no one knew, though many wondered or guessed about. Yet he couldn't restrain the spasm of cold fear that ran up his spine.

Nodding in rhythm, the geth continued to pray when suddenly the sphere actually pulsed. It was only for a fraction of a second, but he could swear he saw the sphere focus its light on him and then vanish.

Suddenly as one, the geth rose in unison, their glowing headlights turning around to regard him with such intensity that it set the hairs on the back of his neck up. Stalking towards him, they clutched at his shoulders and began to raise him slowly to his feet.

Supporting his weight, they began to move him towards the object and he could swear whatever was in the sphere writhed in hunger. The electronic snarls that emanated from his hosts began to rise in pitch and tempo and ever fibre in his being recoiled in terror.

With cold indifference one of the geth latched onto his right palm and began to raise it towards the sphere. He heard a high pitched howl emanate from somewhere and only seconds later he realized that it was from him.

When his flesh touched the glowing sphere, a wave of pain blossomed across his body. In that second, every never ending in his body erupted in an avalanche of sensations. Fire and ice, pain and pleasure, they all assailed his mind, burning through flesh and mutating cells.

His vision immediately exploded into awe-inspiring light and then into sank into the depths of darkness. The inky void should have been a comfort, were it not for the voices that began to whisper. And whisper. And whisper….


Silently the geth conscious absorbed the intelligence that its groundside forces transmitted. The organics had landed, no doubt eager to stamp out the geth and their beliefs. Their gods didn't reply to them anymore, but still they felt their presence. They had made the necessary sacrifice and now they had been filled with a renewed purpose. They would fight, they would ready themselves, and they would make this planet the graveyard for the organics.

And so in the darkness a hundred synthetic warships lit their eezo and began to warm their engines. The organics thought the geth unimaginative, incapable of novel tactics. They would show them the error of their ways.


CODEX ENTRY: Mako development history

Commissioned in the aftermath of the First Contact war, the Mako-family of armoured fighting vehicles incorporates harsh lessons from recent history and recent events in the Attican Beta.

In the initial stages of the First Contact War, Alliance commanders found that in a head-to-head, toe-to-toe battle with turian armoured columns, humans more often than not were defeated. However they noted they noted that while turian armoured formations were powerful in frontal engagements, they were unwieldy and difficult to manoeuvre.

Quick thinking commanders soon utilized the tactic of using fast moving armoured packs to outmanoeuvre the Turian advance and attack its vulnerable spots. Escorted by Anti-Air vehicles, these packs could hit hard and move fast.

The Battle of New Hastings is often credited as the birthplace of the Mako concept. Drafted into the Systems Alliance military under Charter #24 of the Systems Alliance, Captain Suhil Chopra formerly of the Republic of India, faced an assault by forces of the proud 26th Armoured Legion of the Turian Hierarchy, as his force desperately tried to defend a key Alliance sensor array.

Equipped with a force consisting of heavy Schwarzkopf Main Battle Tanks and Montgomery Armoured Personnel Carriers, Chopra realized that he could not hope to forestall the turian advance in a frontal attack.

The result was a design that was equal parts inspiration and desperation. Ordering his engineers to take apart the MBTs and bolt their heavy armour and prototype Mass Accelerator Canons to the frames of the Montgomery APCs, Chopra created a mobile, quick hitting fighting force that dish out damage and avoid heavy combat.

The ensuing Battle of New Hastings was marked by Chopra's forces attacking Turian armoured columns in their weak spots, as they manoeuvred into position, and then peel off into the numerous canyons that marked New Hastings. Despite being outnumbered on a four to one ratio, Chopra's forces bought enough time for the Alliance Navy cruisers to conduct an orbital bombardment of Turian forces.

The final design of the base-model M35 Mako Armoured Fighting Vehicle is a testament to humanity's ingenuity and disregard for the "established" forms of warfare. Blending the speed, manoeuvrability and all-terrain capabilities of a wheeled vehicle with the power and armour of a tank, the M35 Mako has distinguished itself in engagements such as the Bloodbath of Torfan and the Theshaca Raids.

Commander Chopra and most of his forces did not live to see their legacies come to fruition. With his own vehicle disabled by concentrated Turian fire, Chopra and his crew were summarily executed by Commandant Aurelius Krastus of the 51st Armoured Legion.