Warning, when I said M rating for this story, I didn't mean lemon. (While yes there will be lemon later) No in this chapter, you will see why the compound used in Artillery shells, known as Willie Pete is so bad. Vivid descriptions of death below.
Oooh, how interesting
BTW, serious business, I need advise, do I ask the girl I like out? I mean she asked about my crush, and I deflected mostly, then when I asked about hers, she used the same adjectives to describe them that she used to describe me a few weeks earlier. She is waaaaay out of my league, and she repeatedly jokingly says she loves me, but I don't want to risk ruining our friendship. Can you plz leave your suggestions in the reviews. That might be why this chapter feels rushed, I've been distracted with this and with college (british college not American college. It's the stage before university/American college)
Arcturus Station
"Arcturus Station this is the ASW Broadsword, I have a bogey, penetrating Arcturus space".
Radar operator Sliney looked down at his display, surely enough, an un-named craft had entered the space around Arcturus station. Nothing unusual with ships passing the station, however in order for a ship to approach Arcturus, it needed to contact the ATC ahead of time with a set of codes. Civilian ships where often not allowed near the station. Arcturus was a military stronghold, designed to hold the leaders of the federation and to construct massive capital class ships, very few civilian ships not cleared ahead of time where allowed within their airspace.
"Solid copy Broadsword, confirmed hit on target. Classification looks like an old Morrigan class Patrol Destroyer". The contact continued to make headway for the station. Now it was looking less like a forgotten contact and more like a terrorist. "Alert, contact is still heading straight for the station, Broadsword prepare to fire".
"Solid copy. Torpedo lock confirmed". The screen lit up as the Broadsword locked it's torpedoes onto the torpedo ship.
"Hold on Broadsword, this is the ASW Miami, getting a weak signal from the ship. Patching it to Arcturus now".
He pressed several buttons and put the signal through to the speakers. "-is the ASW Arboghast. Freezing-to-Death has fallen to an unknown enemy. We have managed to sneak past the enemy fleet. Requesting immediate docking at Arcturus station". The words where chilling. An outer colony had fallen?
"Get me Hackett, now".
Admiral Steven Hackett, ASW Everest
"WHAT?!". The fleet admiral of the entire Federation navy was outraged when he heard the news. "Get me Director Grimborn and Admiral Avescerala now". The ensign nodded, before rushing off. Obviously more concerned with getting away from the rather angry naval leader. He turned to his PDA.
"Let's see what kind of fleet we're up against".
WARSHIPS
4 CAPITAL SHIPS (1 LARGE CLASSIFICATION: ALPHA, 3 MEDIUM CLASSIFICATION: BRAVO)
38 HEAVY CRUISERS (1 MEDIUM CLASSIFICATION: CHARLIE)
121 CRUISERS (1 SMALL CLASSIFICATION: DELTA)
NA FRIGATES/DESTROYERS
289 CORVETTES (1 LARGE CLASSIFICATION: ECHO)
UTILITY SHIP
12 HEAVY TRANSPORTS (CLASSIFICATION: FOXTROT)
64 MEDIUM TRANSPORTS (CLASSIFICATION: GOLF)
"Sir the Turian admiral has sent over classifications", he heard over the PA.
"Go ahead ensign".
"The ships include 1 Ascension class Superdreadnought, 3 Armali class Heavy Battleships, 38 Nebula class Battlecruisers, 12 Quasar-Fire class Heavy Freighters, 121 Galaxy class Cruisers and 289 Proton class Heavy Frigates".
"Wait I thought they didn't detect any frigates" he said, raising a valid point.
"Difference in ship size. The Turians kept calling our battlecruisers dreadnoughts".
Let's see, ships appear to all be designed for medium range engagements. That puts them right within range of our Torpedoes, but a bit too close for comfort. So either we jump a fleet of missile ships in and hit them from afar, or send heavy warships and pummel them at close range. But they have FTL, so any ships engaging in bombardment are still vulnerable. Which means the best option is a mixture, send both fleets in and overwhelm them.
"Officer Avescerala has arrived". No sooner had his VI assistant said this than the doors burst open with a very angry looking Chrisjen Avescerala. She was foreign, from Pakistani descent, almost as old as Hackett but aging much more gracefully. She was dressed in her usual admirals apparel and wore the same black ponytail and unimpressed scowl on her face as when he had first rescued her from a pirate vessel. "Hackett I don't have time for pleasantries, get to the fucking point".
"Freezing-to-Death under siege. Need a fleet to take it back, how's that?". Her eyes widened, "Oh for fuck's sake, I knew taking in those Turians would be a bad call". He shook his head, "Nothing to do with the turians aside from they where hunting them and found us instead".
"I presume you have a plan aside from just throwing the seventh fleet at them?".
He nodded, "I'm dispatching the third recon fleet and the twelfth pirate suppression fleet to your own. Hopefully their torpedo and fighter tubes will give you a decisive advantage". The woman crossed her arms, "What about the birds, can I have their fleet. Some long-range artillery support wouldn't go amiss".
"I'll speak to Arterius, he will likely be willing to donate his fleet. well flotilla". She turned to leave, "I'll be aboard the Death Bringer if you want me.
Other than that what ground forces do we have available".
"Ryker's sending the 102nd infantry brigade, the 501st marine corps and a squad of Fury Troopers". She stopped dead, "Aside from the obvious overcompensation for what is clearly a tiny enemy force, what else did Ryker deem fit to send".
"An Angel assault platform and a battalion of Shieldmaidens".
"Odin have mercy on the Asari, he's actually using an Angel for once?".
"Yes, one is being docked to the Death Bringer as we speak, and two more are being attached to the Thomas Prince, ready for it's attack on the Asari center of ship-building Eillime". Avescerala smiled, "We're actually declaring war on something?".
He nodded, "the Director was furious, and called for an emergency meeting. I assume you'll be preparing the Death Bringer for combat?".
She nodded and continued leaving the room, "Let me know when you have my ships at the ready".
The Freezing-to-Death Meatgrinder
The colony of FTD was oddly silent, containing little activity from a simple outside perspective. Almost soulless. A lone street moved slightly, as 12 soldiers dressed in stark white armour, escorting a pair of armoured vehicles. At the head of this formation was Staff Sergeant Moakius Dalinis. She was 236 years old. Serving the empire military, and while she didn't agree with the war, she couldn't argue that the asari people hadn't come out of it better. As they manoeuvred through the rubble, se was comforted by the weight of the heavy shotgun at her hip, a gift from her mother who had served in the army before her. Military service was a long tradition for the Dalinis family, with both her grandmothers serving in the Sanghelli rebellions.
She lifted her omnitool to her lips as they passed another intersection. "This is Patrol 4, nothing to report in the ruins".
"Copy that 4, continue patrol and then head for the main colony".
The outer villages had become a death-trap for the armour divisions. With their superior ground weaponry, the M35 Bulwark APC and PL09 Hovertanks hadn't stood a chance. The 3rd artillery unit had been headed up the main road of the colony, when without warning the road exploded beneath them. The woods had come alive with gunfire, and rocket propelled grenades. Within minutes, the convoy had been reduced to scrap metal, especially the hovertanks. The Kinetic barriers had been completely unfazed by the plasma fire, but the rocket propelled grenades had been travelling so slowly, literally running pace, that they had carried on through. The PL09 almost entirely relied on shields, so when an armour piercing weapon found a vehicle with very little, it had completely struck the tank, going inside before detonating.
The PL09s where like glass cannons once their shields where down. The M35s had stood a much greater chance. They had much thicker armour than their counterpart, and could shrug off RPGs for a while, however whenever that happened, the humans happened to have one of those spiky dragons with very hot fire, which would melt through the armour as though it didn't exists. Or one of their super-tanks. Which where very, very tough vehicles which could outperform their own tanks easily. Command had decided to send out recon squads accompanied by M35s to clear the outer villages while fighters dropped hastily thrown together explosives on the woods. It had worked so far, and they had cleared route A which was now being used by infrantry and armour alike to approach the colony, from the plateau 4 kilometres away where the majority of the asari force had landed. At least the ones which hadn't been shredded by primitively thrown together conventional miniguns hosting 40 millimetre wide bullets.
"Understood command, continuing patrol". As they rounded another corner, she looked down the street. Like the last five it was still and empty. She kept her weapon up though, just in case. Up ahead in the road, she saw a slight hump. "Stop!". The humans had proven very proficient at rigging up traps. Explosives which where designed to maim, by firing out metal shards. Then when medics arrived to treat the wounded, a second load of explosives would vaporise them. Pits concealed on uneven roads, a thin tarpaulin covered in dust, blended into the road until someone stepped on it, sending them down towards long spikes, or even disabling armoured vehicles by getting them stuck. Then there was napalm.
Oh god she never wanted to think about that stuff. Some of the humans dragons where huge, literally larger than anything she had seen. They had flown overhead, firing streams of fire which rotated like a vortex. The fire alone was hot enough to cause second-degree burns across entire bodies, even with armour, but the real horror came with a human incendiary substance. It stuck to everything. Flesh, vehicles, armour. They would cover entire streets in the stuff, then send a vortex dragon in and set it alight. The smell of it was horrifying, the faintly sweet smell with a mixture of chemicals and then the scent of burning flesh, as it ignited, coating soldiers, killing them. Sometimes they just dropped it from faster creatures, like the small ones which where little terrors. Those buggers where quite common, and many asari had made the mistake of underestimating them, before they pounced, too quick to shoot, and ripped off armour, often finishing the target with a blast of fire to the head.
A faint whistling caught the air. It was almost undetectable. As though something was falling quickly. Not like those creatures, but something small, like... an artillery. "ARTILLERY! TAKE COVER". She threw herself under the body of a Bulwark. It was the only cover around and waited. A loud array of booms shook the earth, and she could here a secondary explosion as one scored a lucky hit on the front Bulwark, destroying it in an instant. After a few seconds it was over, but an ear-screeching whistle erupted through the air. Armali help us, she thought, searching for where a human calling in the strike could be, surely they had to be nearby right?
Zaeed Massini, FTD Meat Grinder, 17 minutes earlier
He took out the beacon, carefully placing it on the floor. The tiny red pulsating light on top unnoticeable compared to the daytime light. The battery life would be good for 3 days, or so the engineers had said. "Charge planted, Jesse you're up". The turian nodded and brought out several odd instruments. "We place the motion detector here", he said, putting a small metal cylinder inside of an opaque bottle, and throwing it onto a pile of rubble, from where a convenience store had exploded. "And then the detector will send a signal to the beacon, activating it". He attached a small antennae to it. "And boom. No more beacon, and no more convoy". Zaeed, who was still cradling his new rifle, stolen from the body of an asari commando, smiled with only what could be described as glee, "You're a genius Jesse, let's hope this trap works".
"Their convoy just left, it should be here in 15 minutes, we need to get going". Zaeed nodded, giving a mock salute. "With luck, we can prevent another patrol from surviving". He vented the remaining heat from the Avenger assault rifle, "Yeah well, their time on this colony is numbered anyway, and when we get it back, there's no way the council will let us just sit back". Now all there was to do was to find a comfortable spot and watch as 4 artillery guns crewed by just over 16 individuals laid waste to an entire patrol, starting with a barrage of conventional shells. Then came the WP Whistler rounds.
15 minutes later, vantage point half a click north
Unlike what Hollywood movies may have said, artillery shells made little sound. They did cause a slight whistling, but it was for a second or so before they hit, and often was not noticed in the sound of battle, so he commended the asari squad for noticing this and taking cover. Not that it helped them when the second barrage came in. These ones where fitted with howlers. Sirens which used the air to create a very high-pitched whistling sound, spreading a sense of dread. White Phosphorus.
Phosphorus rounds where basically explosive cannisters attached to a very nasty element called Phosphorus. White Phosphorus, or as it was called, Willie Peat was made of four Phosphorus atoms attached to each other. When exploded, it created an opaque cloud of white vapour impossible to see through, which spread into the cracks between armour, where it's second property took over. Unlike conventional shells, or even napalm, which exploded or caught fire for a short time, white phosphorus burned as long as there was oxygen. Death by it came in three equally gruesome ways. Either it struck the skin directly, causing second degree burns across the body, causing organ failure or blood loss, it could cause so much pain and shock, that the body of the victim just gave up, causing heart attacks or failure. Or worse, it could be inhaled, in which case it would burn the victims lungs, suffocating them while they struggled to resist the horrifying burning sensations. It was a nasty compound.
But it worked, as was proven when well over 1200 asari soldiers lost their lives to it and 800 more where traumatised and injured by the compound, suffering from chemical and thermal burns. The asari of Patrol number 4 would add 24 more individuals and 2 armoured vehicles to the list.
Codex Entry: Non-Extinct Species
Asari - A blue skinned humanoid species found through Citadel space. Similar in size, appearance and layout to humans, but mono-gendered (only females). Capable of reproducing with any species and live for up to 1000 years. They go through three stages. Maiden (Where they spend time learning and exploring), Matron (A calmer, longer stage where they will often have children and care for them, while also working or researching) and Matriarchs (Where they are at their wisest, and spend their time guiding younger asari. Matriarchs can have thousands of followers and are revered)
Turian - Avian species from the planet Palevan. They are tough and resilient, having evolved on a planet with a tiny magnetic field. Their society is built around strict ideals, where they follow the orders of a heirarchy of superiors. Individual thought and creativity is often only used by the generals and leaders themselves, and a good turian is expected to 'Die for the Cause' and never question their superiors. Turians are dextro-amino meaning their proteins are mirrored to humans and asari.
Salarian - A species similar in build to salamanders, Salarians are 5.5 foot tall lizards from Sur'Kesh. They are remarkably intelligent and hardworking, meaning the best way to gain a friend in a salarian is to tell them they've done a good job. The Levo-chirality lizards do face a disadvantage though, with 40 years being considered old for a salarian.
Hanar - An incredibly polite species, which have a similar lifespan to humans, and revere the Protheans as gods. They are often described as 2 meter tall 'jellyfish' with short bodies similar in shape to smooth clouds, very soft pink skin, and long tentacle like appendages used as legs. They glow when speaking, and will often use the phrase 'This One' instead of 'I'. This is because all other organisms are simple amoeba compared to the 'Enkindlers' and do not deserve individualisation. Hanar who deal with other races, take anger-management lessons, to prevent them getting angry at impoliteness, or improper grammar.
Elcor - Slow witted mammalian organisms from Dekunna, a high gravity world. They resemble massive gorillas and are extraordinarily humble. Despite this, they are strong, tough and powerful in a fight, using back-mounted weapon systems controlled by VI. They are often referred to as living tanks. Unlike other species, they lack complex voice-boxes, and thus must preceed everything they say with the tones or feelings in the sentence, for example: "How are you Vorlack?". "With sarcasm, I am just fine thank you".
Klingon - Despotic slavers from Q'ono'S, Klingon are a humanoid specis somewhat similar to humans but tougher with a greater affinity to radiation. Unfortunately, they are violent and easily predicablt, often hiring mercenaries to enslave underdefended colonies, or sometimes taking the colonies themselves, if they believe it is safe to do so. For years they have been protected from action by the Terminus, a lawless collection of systems which acts as a buffer zone between them and asari or turian space.
Sanghelli - An extremely violent Sauron species from Tuchanka. Until the discovery of gunpowder, the biggest cause of death on Tuchanka was 'Killed by Predator'. After this, it was 'Death by gunshot', then they split the atom, and plunged themselves into a self-inflicted nuclear war. They are violent, but suffer from a birth rate so low, that they may become extinct in a few centuries, though they live longer than asari.
Quarians - Not much is known about the quarians, except that they dress in skin-tight environmental suits designed to prevent them from becoming ill. Even before the collapse of the citadel council and the asari wars, the quarians invented the geth, then where forced to attempt extermination on them due to the Council's ban on AI. They are now seen as beggars, pariahs, vagrants and thieves, with many suffering from extreme prejudice. They are described as three fingered and dual-toed humanoids with featureless opaque masks, only letting through the two spots of light from their bio-luminescent eyes. They are incredible engineers, but many find themselves in 'Indentured Servitude' (Read: Slavery)
Geth - A robotic species created by the quarians. Being exclusively a hivemind (meaning the more geth there are, the smarter they are) the geth have not been spotted outside the Perseus veil in 300 years. They are apparently similar in size and build to the quarians, but with a purple-black metallic alloy on their skin, and a single insect like hood as a head, holding a single optical sensor.
"It is well that war is so terrible, or we would grow far too fond of it" - Robert E Lee