All was quiet, only the normal sound of aircars zooming around in the late night Armali airspace. Tarraya Kyaos was bored, nothing interesting had happened for years. 'And I gave up patrol duty for this'.

The guards of the Armali central power station were always bored, that was a fact. There was nothing to really guard, a bunch of automated systems and VI cores that managed the plant itself and the dozen or so technicians making sure it all ran smoothly. To guard the technicians the Armali council had decided to post a permanent squad of huntresses.

Tarraya Kyaos was one of those few guards there. She had been posted at the main entrance with two of her battle sisters. Nethia was currently on patrol between the crates that were stacked infront of the entrance and Anyala was with her at the door.

"You see the presentation of the newest Serrice combat software package?"

Anyala was purple as a ganala plant when it came to experience, she was the youngest daughter of an influential family and they had probably gotten her the safest, most well paying position from where she could gain experience.

Because she was so purple she didn't adhere to the standard guard protocol to be quiet and observe the surrounding area. She was laid back against the wall and was browsing the extranet with her omnitool, leaving only Tarraya to keep a lookout.

"No, I haven't, are they any good?"

The kid might be purple as a ganala, but she had the right idea. It was boring as a salarian mating ritual, nothing ever happens here, nothing will happen if she has a bit of a conversation with her fellow huntress.

"They had some kickass new stuff, an omnitazer for civilians and they managed to lengthen an omniblades duration by ten seconds."

"That sounds nice, the civvies will finally have something to stop those two bit thieves with knives from holding them up, makes our job easier."

"Yeah, don't even get me started on those bastards. During my brief stint in the mid rim of the city I had to deal with so many of them."

'huh, so maybe she isn't as purple as I thought'

"The mid rim? How long did you work there?"

"A decade, I didn't want to see another maiden who lost her firstborn to a batarian babysitter. Who the hell would fall for that old slavers trick?"

"We had none of that in the outer rim, people there either went missing by the families or were outright killed."

Anyala had nothing to say about that. Instead, her face scrunched up with worry.

"Shouldn't Nethia be back already? She's been on her route for an awful long time."

Tarraya turned to assure her but then saw a shape coming from the perimeter. She felt relief that her battle sister had returned.

"Look at that, we start speaking about you and you come running. We were worried for a second."

Anyala turned to greet her as well but froze as Nethia came close.

"When did you change your armor?"

Now that Tarraya started to think about that, her armor is off, the breastplate is way smaller and the secondary color of it was white instead of beige. Nethia didn't respond verbally, instead, her hand flew to her pistol that Tarraya noticed was for some reason, suppressed.

Before either of them could react, Anyala's brain was decorating the wall, the shot had carved straight through her kinetic barrier and through her head.

Tarraya flashed her biotics and pushed the attacker into the stacks of boxes. However, before she could put up a barrier or call for backup, her head was atomised by a 50 caliber BMG round travelling at 853 meters per second.

The round, while solving the problem of the guard, had also tripped the external sensors of the facility and now an extra pair were on their way to check out what had happened.

"2-2, are you hurt? Still combat effective?"

The woman that was thrown into the boxes pushed herself up with a groan. The brief flight and sudden stop had done her no favors, but she could still fight, that's what's important.

"I'm good 1-1, clearing the doorway."

Another female soldier stepped out of the shadows and picked up the one that was shot and dumped her behind a box. 2-2 did the same to the other one and the other one wiped down as much of the gore as possible.

Just as it all looked presentable, the door opened, allowing another two Asari outside, this time one of them had the markings of a commando squad leader.

"We had a sensor detect something metal flying through here and It was suppose to impact around here. You two hear anything?"

The two prayed that the voice modulators would work with the samples they got from the real guards's talk.

No my lady, no sounds here. Maybe the sensors are on the fritz again?"

The elder commando looked weirdly at 2-2 and she knew she was made. A quick hand signal to her partner had her put her pistol to the Asari's back of the head and pull the trigger. The other Asari could only watch in shock as how her leader was executed by her 'fellow guard'.

"What ar….."

Before she could even complete her sentence, 2-2 had pulled out her own pistol and shot her in the face.

"Clear, Bravo, move up, Alpha guard the perimeter, Sev, exfiltrate."

As soon as the orders had left the mouth of 1-0, the overall commanding officer of the attack, several shapes emerged from the shadows, four of them setting up an ambush for any possible reinforcements while five formed up on the now open door.

"Remember, for Earth."

All of them echoed "For Earth" before running after him into the facility. The first person they met was a technician who was checking on a console, paying them no mind. 2-3 didn't waste the ammo and slit her throat, almost severing her head with that oversized knife of his.

The next stop was the guard post that was halfway to the control room. All of the guards in there were playing cards or having a nap. Not even considering the possibility of being attacked. So it came as a surprise when a thick white smoke started seeping from a canister that was rolled in the room. For the first few seconds there was no reaction, then the streams started. Multiple pairs of fists and even some biotic attacks impacted the suddenly locked door for another five seconds after that. Then it all went quiet.

By that time the team had already moved forward, protecting one of their own in a diamond formation and executing any Asari they came across.

Finally they made it to the control room door. They couldn't use the gas because they were afraid to use the consoles. So they had to clear it the old fashioned way. The door was locked but a quick knock on it and it was opened by an Asari commando.

"So what happe….."

She didn't make it any further before she noticed the myriad of weapons pointed at her and was promptly filled with lead, her barriers not being able to stop the volume of fire. The squad quickly charged amongst the confused Asari and started slaughtering them.

The commandos partner dived towards a big red button on the wall, with the half full mug of human coffee still in hand. She was riddled with bullets before she made it though, ending her life quickly. But nothing was stopping her momentum, although her body was dead, it still impacted the button, triggering the alarm.

"Shit"

The commander jumped on the horn with other units. "Alpha, be advised, we have hostile en route, be prepared for contact within the next five minutes."

Then he switched frequencies. "Overlord, this is Armali 0-1 we are compromised but our objective is secure for the moment. Armali 0-1, out."

"Armali 0-1, be advised, local commando bases lit up like a Christmas tree with activity. You will have hostiles on your doorstep in five mikes. All other commando teams have already completed their objectives aside from the orbital team. They have had an equipment error and say they need another ten minutes to do their part. Hold onto that station. How copy?"

"Roger that Overlord, holding station."

He turned to the rest of the team and started barking out orders for them.

"Slicer, get that bomb in the reactor chamber, just as we practiced. Ark, you and me will cover the main hallway incase they break through Alpha squad, 2-2, keep Slicer company and see to it that he lives long enough to plant that bomb if there are any automated systems. Fixer, man the monitors and keep us informed on enemy movements."

All of the troopers gathered there nodded their ascent and started following their orders. 2-2 followed Slicer through a narrow tunnel and a few doors with warning signs plastered on them and radiation suits lining the walls. The last door took a bit of time to open and by the time they had it open the unmistakable sounds of explosions shook the compound, along with the callous on the battlenet. Ever so often a casualty was called out until the final surviving member of alpha team called out.

"Goddammit, Wraith is down, I repeat, wraith is down. Be advised Boss, they are going to overtake me any second now, you'll be swimming in blue bitches any moment now"

We could hear his minigun revving up for its next burst.

"I'll make the end memorable…. COME GET SOME HUMAN DICK, YOU BLUE SLUTS."

His minigun could be heard for a few seconds until an loud crack signified him meeting the wall and being splattered across it.

The door opened and I moved ahead of Slicer on the narrow walkway, ready to face some automated defences. Defences that seemed to be absent from the reactor chamber.

We made it to the shielding unit and I left Slicer to set it up while I guarded his back. The sounds of battle had moved on to the corridors of the facility.

Suddenly Slicer started cursing in his weird colonial accent.

"Kuurat. Fuck, work damnit."

I turned to him, hoping that all the sacrifices made today were not going to go to waste.

"What's wrong Slicer?"

A few extra curse words made it out of his mouth before he answered me.

"The body detonator won't connect, we have a faulty signal receiver on the bomb and I doubt we have enough time for me to fix that."

Not good, not good at all.

"Boss, we have a problem. Remote detonation is a no-go, the receiver is busted."

I could hear the sounds of intense fighting on the other end of the link, explosions from explosive ammo used by the troopers was really fucking up the Asaris day by the sound of it.

"Affirmative 2-2, tell Slicer to set it to manual detonation, Ark is down and me and Fixer won't last long anyways, been an honor serving with you troopers."

I looked to Slicer who just nodded and started messing with some wires on the bomb, connecting a datapad to it and started typing away.

"Overlord, this is Armali 0-1, our bombs signal receiver is a dud and we are switching over to manual detonation. Awaiting you call on when to detonate."

" Copy that Armali 0-1, orbital team has just gotten to their objective, they are clearing it now. Estimated time until detonation, T-minus two minutes. Hold on."

Just then an eerie silence fell over the facility. It was only broken by Fixers whisper over the comm channel.

"For Earth."

Then a loud explosion rocked through the building, shaking it so much that I lost my footing for a moment. Slicer was shaken as well but he remained upright. He put down the datapad and pulled me over to it.

"Press the green button when the time comes, I'll hold the door."

I just nodded and took cover behind a piece of the ornamental railing, popping up my Rorch mk2 railgun dmr and sighted the other side of the hallway. Slicer took cover by the doorway at the end of the walkway and started physically pulling the door closed.

As he was exposed the first commando rounded the corner and lifted her gun, only to get her head blown off. I popped the casing out and thus was powerless to help as the next commando put a burst into Slicer. The barrier stopped the first few rounds but then broke through to puncture the lightly armored stealth suit he had to wear.

He was on the ground in a second, the rounds having made Swiss cheese of his torso and chest. The Asari commando teams charged onwards, laying down suppressive fire and preventing her from doing anything against them.

"Armali 2-2, the orbital team has done it's work, we are waiting for you to start the party."

Without giving myself time to think about it, I threw myself out of cover and at the bomb. The massive amount of suppressive fire overwhelmed my barrier immediately, cutting through me and leaving me bleeding on the ground.

My sudden Das had surprised the Asari so much that they had stopped firing and approached me as I dragged myself slowly onwards towards the datapad.

"Uhh, do we take prisoners?"

One of the Asari asked her squad leader. Before she could answer to her subordinate, I forced my own answer out of my throat at a volume heatable to them.

"I don't."

With that I forced my finger on the green button on the pad and detonated the bomb, immediately consuming me and all the commandos in the facility. The explosion forced the reactor to go critical, exploding in an explosion large enough to be seen from space as an orange flood.

The overload caused by the explosion carried over the huge city state, destroying electronics plugged in to the main grid, also having the effect of overloading the city's orbital defense grid.

That same explosion was repeated across the planet, in every major city, destroying the infrastructure maintaining the orbital defence stations around the planet.

As chaos descended over the planet and airspace, groups of freighters got into formation and revealed hidden weapons which they used to indiscriminately rain down fire on the planet. The independent orbital facilities maintained by the Asari space program turned its guns on the shocked defence force and laid into it, tearing apart the lone dreadnaught like wet paper in the first salvo and taking shots at civilian ships when they didn't have military ones in their targeting reticule.

The small amount of Asari fleet element over Thessia were in total disarray, the platforms they were supposed to supplement had been turned against them. The fire was dying down fast though, as the automated platforms ran out of energy stored in backup capacitors and turned into giant paperweights.

The remnants took no chances, obliterating any station that had fired at it, remaining smaller frigates and light cruisers went to engage the small transports that were still firing their cannons at the surface, killing thousands with each shot. As the defence forces engaged the freighters, a stream of Asari vessels came out of ftl near the battle, too far out to help but lessening the distance at a fast pace.

The main home defence fleet was never stationed over Thessia, instead being broken into smaller patrol fleet and the main force that was stationed at the mass relay to catch any invaders while they are exiting the mass relay one by one.

The patrol force that was stationed over Thessia was largely obliterated by the time that main force made it there to reinforce them, few remaining and those that were still in the fight were mostly heavily damaged. The orbit was filled with debris and bodies. Everywhere there were rapidly cooling ship hulls that were venting air, clumps of frozen bodies signifying where there had been a hull breach and small clouds of metal where there was nothing much left of orbital stations or ships.

The mostly intact human force used the chance and accelerated into ftl, heading towards the mass relay that now had a severely understrength flotilla defending it.

It is unknown to the galaxy the exact number of casualties either side sustained. Council controlled news agencies report human casualties in the hundred thousand range along with the destruction of the remaining Alliance fleet core strength. Private networks and conspiracy theorists suggest more realistic numbers, couple thousand in manpower and hundreds of small modified freighters

The asari lost over two billion civillians (casualties are still being counted to this day), their newest dreadnaught fresh from the dockyards, the Light of Athame went down with all hands. The whole flotilla that defended Thessia was counted as lost, surviving ships were scrapped because it was cheaper to build new ships from them than to repair the ships. The flotilla numbered 24 cruisers and 68 frigates.

Overall it was a massive victory for the humans for the moment, having destroyed the heart of the galactic economy and temporarily crippling their enemies. But the success of that attack had a major flaw, the asari started fighting harder than ever before, almost never taking prisoners and not even trying to differentiate civilians from actual combatants. The asari took a more direct role in the conflict, replacing turian forces patrolling borders, giving more fround forces to the fight and even occupying some systems where the turians were seeking to pull out to move to other hotspots.

Overall the attack bought some much needed breathing room for the humans but worsening their overall situation in the long run by ruining any possible peace that the asari had been voicing support for before the attack and unleashing another enemy on themselves.

AN: So I got a suggestion from Mularac to make something like this. And yes dude, I know it's a mess, it's a source of many a headache for me.