Bioware owns Mass Effect. The OC's are mine.
Chapter 10 - Human Shields, Day 3 Morning
The mission had kicked off a few minutes before, and everyone already knew that their feelings were correct; it had quickly become a clusterfuck. The shuttle was flying in formation with an attack shuttle, with two Turian APC's traveling along the ground underneath them. If any of them had any supplies, it would have been news to Lieutenant Royce Mason as he watched four other similar missions kick off at the same time. He knew instantly what it was; one mission was the right one, while the other four were simply patsies. Five different people were told five different things, and now it was up for the cannon fodder (i.e. them) to find out for the Hierarchy who was letting the enemy read their mail. All well and good if they caught the traitor or indoctrinated servant, but not so great for the cannon fodder.
Royce knew right then and there that they were a very expendable asset.
Their shuttle flew in the lead, with Captain Preitor Gavorn on the port-side chaingun, and Commander Garm Jor'radah on the starboard one. The Salarian researcher, Chorban of fifteen names, was working on both the shuttles' radar, as well as sitting in the co-pilots' seat, keeping in touch with the convoy. Royce had the three Biotics, Asha T'vara, Chief Petty Officer Stacy Valentino, and Eloa'Varis, sitting as far from one another on the shuttle, readying to throw a barrier on a portion of the shuttle as needed in case they were attacked by a Harvester… or something worse. Tech Specialist Elias Korvan and Vona Arterius were on stand-by for the chainguns; if the men manning them went down, or something was needed, they were to immediately assist. The Krogan merc merely sat in the middle of the shuttle, to provide any aid to someone who needed it. Royce himself had his eyes on everything, expecting to coordinate in case of an attack as they went to a fire base some forty kilometers west of the FOB. Normally, the Kodiak could have made it in less than ten minutes, but the Turian APC's, known as Uvaks, were more armor than speed, and had to fight through Menae's harsh terrain. A ten minute mission was now at least an hour.
The shuttle's pilot, Lieutenant Jeff Harbeck, flew low and erratically, the shuttle behind them taking the hint and doing the same. The Kodiak would fly at random altitudes, turning and banking without cause or reason. Anyone else would think the pilot drunk, but Harbeck had been doing air insertions and pick-ups for the Alliance for a few years, dropping off Marines into hotspots and then pulling their asses out. Royce didn't tell the pilot how to do his job; as long as they got there alive, the Marine could care less if Harbeck started doing barrel rolls and Crazy Ivans.
"Chorban, anything on the comms or the radar?" The N6 asked the Salarian through the commpiece that everyone shared a frequency with via their Omnitools. It had been his first order of business before they left for the mission, making sure they could talk to one another. Royce himself had comes with the shuttle leader for the shuttle behind him, as well as the truck commanders for each of the Uvaks as well. The Salarian was undoubtedly monitoring the other frequencies, and probably a few other things to. The Marine had the sense that Chorban was just a little bit on the sneaky side when it came to tech; didn't bother him none, as long as it bought them time. In truth, there was not much considered illegal in warfare.
"Nothing important so far." The researcher supplied, his fast voice making Royce wondering the Salarian had some ADHD; probably his entire race had it in one form or another. "No unusual patterns on the radar. No unusual signatures or signals on the radio." That had the Marine feeling a modicum amount better, until he tried calling for a status update and got nothing but static.
"Crikey." The Australian groused, shaking his head. The comms worked back on the FOB, but now they were shit, typical Murphy's Law; anything that can go wrong, will go wrong in the worst way possible. No comms with the other shuttle or the Uvaks wasn't the worst thing possible, but not being able to talk to the others if they were attacked wasn't a good thing. Coordination was needed in case one of them was taking more of the attack, or one of them needed to be taking more of the attack. The last thing they needed to do was zig instead of zag and run into one another (for the shuttles) or to get into the line of fire of one of the Uvaks. The firebase was a remote spit of defended land that was the last of its kind; all others to the front and the flanks had fallen or had been abandoned, now an island in enemy territory. Their particular lift wasn't carrying supplies, the firebase was decently supplied for the men who still held it. Yet it seemed the most likely to be supplied, as it was also the furthest away and the deepest in enemy territory. Oh, they had some supplies; a few crates of clips and rations, but nothing substantial. They weren't the suppliers, yet Royce had the funny feeling that they truly were the bait. The radios being out could have meant anything, but if General Jorval was worried about someone leaking information or being indoctrinated, then it could be the sign he needed.
"Team, this is Chaos 6." The Marine said in his communicator, alerting everyone in his squad. "Communications are down, and given our mission, it is most likely that we'll be attacked enroute to the firebase, or while there. Everyone prepare yourselves in the best way possible." Royce found his gaze settling on the Vanguard Asha T'vara, who was sitting at the rear of the shuttle. Their eyes met for a moment, and neither pulled away for that moment. Neither said a word, yet it as if, for that moment, they could read each others' thoughts. That they would be attacked was inevitable; at the very least, some Reaper forces would interested in them. The difference would be how many the enemy would be, and how severe the attack would be. Looking at Asha, Royce couldn't but feel the beginning feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach, different than what he felt every other time.
This was not the time for this, the Australian thought as Chorban began talking.
"Lieutenant, we've got multiple signatures displaying on our radar." The Salarian told him, though his words spoke to everyone on the shuttle's comm system. "Thermal signatures and size suggest multiple Harvesters are inbound, perhaps ten. Vector… at us."
"Bloody hell." Royce muttered. "Preitor, Garm, get ready to start blastin'. Biotics, listen to Chorban as to direction of the attacks. I don't want you wastin' all your energy makin' barriers if they're not immediately needed." The Turian and the Batarian nodded, readying their guns as the Asari, Human and Quarian Biotic readied themselves. The N6 went over to the Krogan merc and tapped him on the shoulder, getting the merc's attention. Royce pointed to one of two roof hatches, and the Krogan smiled, knowing what the Marine suggested. Both merc and Marine unlatched the hatches and stood out of them, standing air guard for the shuttle. The Krogan had his Revenant out, while Royce took out his Avenger.
"Ten seconds to contact, starboard side." Chorban told the shuttle's crew, and Royce looked to the right hand side, seeing not one, but three Harvesters baring down on them. The merc already had his Revenant aimed in that direction as Royce did the same with his Avenger. The starboard-side gun, manned by Captain Preitor Gavorn, already began to speak its long, loud roar as the Harvesters came into sight. The Human Marine and the Krogan mercenary added their own gunfire to the Turians', their shots hitting the lead Harvester. Rounds from the Minigun, the Revenant, and the Avenger began to impact against the large flying creature. The withering fire slowed the Harvester as it flew in closer, catching up to the Kodiak. The many rounds that perforated the Harvester caused it to roar in pain and frustration as it forced its way through the copious amount of gunfire, fighting against the tide of bullets. Several seconds of the onslaught brought the gigantic flying creature down, spiraling towards the moon's surface as Royce gave off a whoop of victory.
Then the Australian-born man saw the other two Harvester bearing in, and much closer to the shuttle than the first one.
"Preitor! Garm! Focus on the flyers!" The N6 called out over his comm, notifying the two door gunners as he reloaded his Avenger by ejecting a spent thermal clip and slapping in another. "Harbeck, fly zig-zag so we can bear down on both of them! Me and the big guy will annoy them!" The UT-47A began to swoop left and right as the Turian and the Batarian on the miniguns started to firing staccato at the two incoming Harvesters, Royce and the Krogan doing their best to make their own gunfire as effective as possible. The Marine was doing his best to hit the wings of one Harvester, the obvious weakness of a flying creature as he slapped in his fourth thermal clip into his Avenger, rocking the assault rifle at full auto, volume more effective than accuracy with such a foe. The Kodiak flew erratically, Lieutenant Harbeck making them as difficult as target as possible as the Harvester on the starboard side bore straight towards them, closing the gap quickly.
"Eloa! Asha! Barrier up, stern starboard side! We got incomin'!" Royce shouted into his communicator as he slapped another thermal clip into his assault rifle, letting loose a concussive shot that seemingly had no effect on the Reaper creature. "Two seconds to impact! All hands, brace!"
A blue nimbus surrounded a small portion of the shuttle's rear, covering the right end of the Kodiak a mere breath before the Harvester closed in with a screech, its head whipping about before impacting against the right side of the Alliance shuttle. The UT-47A was tossed to one side from the force of the impact, the sound of metal screeching and the wild yells of those inside being jostled about matching the loud crunch of the impact. The barrier that the two biotics had thrown up was shattered immediately, but it had done its job; it had buffered the impact, significantly reducing the damage done. A strike like that could have brought the shuttle down. The Harvester readied itself for another ramming run when Royce poured both bullets and a concussive shot right at its wing, the short distance making the shots almost guaranteed. A satisfying hole was blown right next to the wing joint of the Harvester as it let off a pained scream as it began to quickly lose altitude, its wing obviously injured. No one had time to celebrate as the third Harvester came up next, ready to strike when the Marine spoke on his comm again.
"Chief Valentino! Give it a taste 'o wrath straight up its' gizzard!"
The Marine Sentinel stuck herself outside of the port side bay door, aiming her Omnitool at the Harvester, and Royce saw her launch an Omnigel program from her Omnitool. The program, sheathed in Omnigel, streaked passed the shuttle and hit the Harvester right in its mouth, exploding into a wreath of flames. The Reaper creature flew erratically, its head whipping back and forth to extinguish the flames bursting from its mouth. The shuttle pulled away from the Harvester as Captain Preitor Gavorn and Commander Garm Jor'radah each began to fire their miniguns at the struggling Harvester, their withering fire chewing at the flying foe. Royce and the Krogan added their own gunfire as well, and within a matter of seconds, the mutated creature went down in a ball of blood and flames.
"Ho-rah!" Lieutenant Royce Mason shouted in glee, seeing the final Harvester attacking them plummeting to the moonscape of Menae. "Third one down!"
"Lieutenant Mason! The rest of the convoy is still under attack, and I have not resolved our comms issues!" Chorban reminded the N6, who looked over at the other shuttle, and immediately swore. Three Harvesters were attacking the beleaguered Kodiak on all sides, the door gunners unable to hit them with any effective fire as the Reaper forces smashed into the shuttle time and time again. The UT-47A was smoking heavily, and a few flames were licking out of its engine compartment. The shuttle, and its nine occupants, were doomed.
"Harbeck! Rammin' speed!" Mason called out on the comm, looking at the shuttle. "Ram the piss out of one of them, and prepare for evasive maneuvers."
"ARE YOU INSANE?" The Batarians' voice came over the comm, Garm's opinion loud and clear. "RAMMING!?"
"I like how insane he is." Asha interjected, her voice hard. "Chief Valentino, Eloa'Varis, get ready to Warp a Harvester coming around on our Starboard side, and we're aiming for the wings. We're hitting it before Lieutenant Harbeck crashes us."
"Boy, I love me being a human shield." Chief Stacy Valentino muttered, the Sentinel's Texan drawl thick and strong. "Ready to do some damage."
"Hit 'em!"
As soon as Asha's words hit the comm, the three biotic-capable personnel on the Kodiak hit the Harvester at the same time, three Warp fields struck the Reaper, shredding its wings. The Harvester screamed in pain, roaring fury as it immediately lost altitude. There was no time to celebrate as the UT-47A crashed into another Harvester, the nose of the Alliance shuttle taking the flying creature in its neck, knocking it off its course. The interrupted attack caused the Harvester to veer away, the minigun from the beleaguered shuttle opening up on the creature as Preitor Gavorn did the same as the Kodiak turned away, providing support for the smoking shuttle. The second Harvester went down under the withering fire, and the final one pulled away, unable to continue its attack against both shuttles.
"Can't believed that worked." Elias Korvan said over the comms, his tone pleased. "Wonder what the Hierarchy has in store for us next?"
"Can you not jinx us?" Eloa'Varis vas Thessia moaned, her synthesized voice indicating her displeasure. "We still have to reach this firebase, and you're trying to get us scuttled across the moon!"