Author's Note: I'M BACK! Yes, I've finally managed to get chapter 11 posted. Hope it meets everybody's expectations. If not, go ahead and complain, that's what the review button is for. Also, for those of you who still don't know, I went back to chapter 10 and expanded upon the space battle to make it seem less rushed. The chapter is now updated and much longer, so those of you who haven't seen it may want to go back and read my "extended cut." Go ahead, I'll wait.
You're back? Good, let's get on with it.
Chapter 11
Tarquin Victus carefully advanced along one side of a narrow gorge, his squad mates not far behind him. It was eerily quiet as the squad of eight turians walked through the canyon. Victus continuously turned his head back and forth, keeping an eye out for any sign of hostiles. As he slowly crept forward, the rock wall to his left, he once again checked to make sure his helmet was sealed; turians couldn't breathe in Irune's atmosphere, so he and his squad had to wear sealed suits for their mission.
The turians' fleet above Irune had been all but annihilated by the invading forces, and now there was nothing keeping them from putting forces on the ground. Soon enough, they were doing just that; a number of transports were spotted touching down not far from the capital of Lenos, and command needed intel on what they were dropping off. Lieutenant Victus volunteered to lead a squad from the Ninth Platoon on a scouting mission to find out what kind of troops the enemy was sending their way. The scouting party had been navigating through a series of rocky outcroppings for the past hour, careful to hide their presence. So far they had yet to encounter any hostiles.
"How much farther do you think we have to go?" asked one of the squad mates following Victus.
"Shouldn't be too much longer," the lieutenant responded, activating his omni-tool as he did so. "According to our intel, the enemy landing zone is about one-point-five klicks southwest of our position. We should get a decent view from that spot up ahead."
"I still can't believe we're being attacked," remarked another one of the squad members. "Just where the hell did these guys come from anyway?"
"You're asking the wrong person, private. I'm just as much in the dark as you are."
"My money's on the Alliance," said another turian. "Reports from three weeks back said that the ones who attacked the patrol were humans. Who else would have access to military-grade tech?"
"Don't jump to conclusions like that," the private replied. "There's no way in hell the Alliance would attack another Council race. They'd have too much to lose and too little to gain. It could be Cerberus, or even someone else entirely."
"Did you see the size of those dreadnoughts in orbit? Cerberus doesn't have nearly enough resources to build something like that, let alone a whole fleet."
"And the Alliance does? Face it, you're just being prejudiced. Shanxi was thirty years ago, let the attitude die."
"No, I'm not just going to 'let it die!' Humanity's been too ambitious from the start; they've always been out to put themselves in charge of everybody else. First the embassy, then the Council seat, this is just another step up for them!"
"Knock it off you two, that's an order!" barked Victus. "We don't know who these people are yet, and right now it doesn't matter. What does matter is getting the intel we need for our forces to put up a defense. Is that clear?"
"Yes sir," the two soldiers responded in unison.
"Good. Now come on, we're almost there."
The squad continued to walk down the gorge until they came to the edge of a cliff. Victus signaled for the rest of the squad to halt before turning to the private, motioning for him to follow. As they neared the edge, the two soldiers lowered into prone positions, then proceeded to crawl over to the edge, peeking their heads out to get a good view of the area. Out in the distance were at least two dozen large dropships, several of which could be seen unloading troops. Victus' eyes widened at the sight of what looked like a large mech slowly walking out of one of the transports. He used his helmet to zoom in and get a better look. The mech consisted of a large grey body held high above the ground by four legs. A large head was attached to the main body of the mech, on which were what looked like large cannons that contributed to the overall menacing look. The mech towered above the white-armored troopers on the ground, as well as several smaller, two-legged mechs that walked past it. Looking around the landing area, Victus could see several more of the larger mechs, either unloading from the dropships or already deployed.
"By the spirits," exclaimed the private. "How the hell are we supposed to defend against that?"
"Let's hope command can figure something out," replied the lieutenant, who then raised his hand to his helmet as he radioed his superiors. "Come in command, this is Lieutenant Tarquin Victus. We have eyes on the enemy landing area. Do you read?"
"We copy, lieutenant," a voice on the comms responded. "What are you seeing?"
"Around two dozen transports worth of hostile troops. They're deploying mechs. Big ones."
"Specify."
"I'm looking at maybe a dozen four-legged walkers, around twenty meters in height carrying heavy weapons. They look like assault vehicles, or maybe troop transports."
"Copy that. What else do you see, lieutenant?"
"I see a bunch of smaller, two-legged walkers surrounding the larger ones. There's also a large amount of what appear to be hover tanks, and plenty of ground troops. Looks like they're gearing up for a major offensive."
"Give us a visual feed, let us see what's going on ourselves."
"Acknowledged." Victus activated his omni-tool and punched in a few commands, setting his helmet to transmit live video back to his superiors. "Transmitting visual now."
"Received. Damn. Looks like you were right, the enemy is definitely preparing for an attack on the capital."
"What are your orders?"
"We have teams working to get the planetary defense cannons online. Once they're operational, we should be able to prevent the enemy from landing any more troops. We'll also gather any air assets we have left to hit this strike force while they're still far from the city. As for your squad, go on and make your way back to the extraction zone for evac. You'll receive new orders once a dropship has picked you up."
"Understood, command. Victus out." Victus then cut the link with command and turned to face the turian next to him. "Come on, let's head back to the LZ."
"Yes, sir," the soldier responded. With that, the two of them stood back up and turned to face the rest of the squad. Victus looked back again, getting one last look at the enemy force assembled in the valley before him. The sheer scale of what they were dealing with dawned on him. He wasn't sure how command was prepared to face this formidable foe. Shaking the thoughts from his head for the moment, he turned back to his squad and proceeded to follow them back through the narrow gorge.
I have a bad feeling about this, he thought.
Muril let out a long sigh as his fighter entered the planet's atmosphere. This day just keeps getting better, doesn't it?, he thought to himself sarcastically. The fleet is in shambles, the admiral's dead, long range comms are out, and now we've got hostile ground units near Lenos. Next command will be telling me the enemy's got a gun that can blow up the whole damn planet, then we'll all be hammered… or whatever that human expression is.
After the Kwunu's destruction, Muril and the remainder of his fighter squadron retreated to the far side of the planet with what was left of the fleet. They had taken heavy casualties from the swarms of enemy craft; about a wing's worth of fighters were destroyed before the squadron was ordered to fall back. Shortly after that, Muril had gotten word that the enemy had landed troops west of Lenos, and that his squadron was being ordered to partake in an airstrike against the hostile ground army, which had already landed before allied forces managed to get the defense cannons operational. Having had time to catch his breath, he gathered up the remaining ships under his command and was now heading to the coordinates where the army was located on the surface.
"All remaining fighters accounted for, Gold Leader," called out one of the pilots over the comms.
"Roger that, pilot," Muril replied. "All ships stay in formation, prepare to commence airstrike at predetermined coordinates."
"Understood, Gold Leader. Staying in formation."
The fighter squadron descended into the planet's atmosphere and was soon zooming high above the surface. As the craft accelerated towards their target, Muril could make out large shapes in the distance that vaguely resembled four-legged animals. His targeting computer zoomed in on these shapes, which were seen to be large grey walkers that were raised high above the ground, slowly lumbering along with the rest of the army. Muril had been briefed beforehand about the large mechs that the enemy had deployed, but he was still slightly caught off guard by the sheer size of the mechanical behemoths. Still, he kept his focus and re-centered his mind on the task at hand.
"Target in sight," he announced. "Commencing airstrike, all craft engage!"
Muril held down the trigger on his fighter controls, firing his cannons at one of the large mechs. The fighters following him did the same, their weapons impacting on several of the larger mechs, as well as some of the smaller two-legged mechs and a few hover tanks. The tanks and small walkers were destroyed by the heavy fire, but the large mechs seemed to suffer little damage. In response to this assault, the walkers turned their heads toward the incoming fighter squadron and opened fire with cannons that seemed to be attached to their chins. Muril barely dodged an incoming energy blast, followed by another. His radar indicated a few of his fellow pilots being blasted away by the walkers' cannons.
"Gold Leader, it doesn't look like that barrage did anything to those walkers!" exclaimed one of the pilots as the squadron passed over the enemy forces. "Against that armor, it's like we were firing spitballs!"
"Calm down pilot," Muril replied. "Everyone regroup and circle back around for another run, approach from behind where they can't fire at us!"
"Roger that," another pilot acknowledged.
Muril swerved his fighter around to face the enemy army once more, his fellow pilots doing the same. This time, the squadron was approaching from behind the large walkers; from there, the walkers' heads couldn't turn around to fire at them.
Kind of an obvious design flaw, Muril mused. You'd think they'd have designed a walker like that with guns that pointed in a direction other than "straight forward." Pushing away his thoughts for the moment, Muril resumed fire on one of the walkers, striking multiple points along the gray metal body to seemingly no effect. As he continued to fire at the mech, one of the shots from his cannon struck it in the neck connecting the head to the body. A chuck of metal was blown from the point of impact, catching Muril by surprise. Quickly refocusing, he fired two more shots at the neck area, causing an explosion to emanate from it. The head was completely severed from the body and fell to the ground with a loud thud. Seconds afterward, the massive walker tilted to one side and toppled over, impacting against the ground and crushing a hover tank caught underneath its colossal weight.
"It's the neck!" he yelled into the comms as the squadron passed over the army once again. "The neck is the walker's weak point! All craft circle around and reengage, aim just behind the head; that should take it down!"
"Copy Gold Leader," a pilot responded. Once more, the squadron circled around to face their target, firing their weapons at the enemy.
"Make sure that those suits of yours are sealed, men," Cody barked to his subordinates. "Remember, we can't breathe in this atmosphere."
Commander Cody stood in the troop bay of an Imperial Dropship Transport with a dozen other stormtroopers. The IDT was speeding towards Irune's surface, ready to deploy the squad in enemy territory for their high-risk assignment. The troopers all had oxygen tanks attached to their backs and were loading energy packs into their blasters. Some of them were double-checking their helmets to ensure that there were no ruptures in the air-tight seal, which would be fatal in Irune's high-pressure environment. Cody stood to the side, his expression unreadable underneath his helmet, giving off an air of authority to his underlings. Suddenly his comlink beeped, prompting him to take it out and activate it. The small blue hologram of a man in an officer's uniform materialized in the commander's hand.
"General Finn," Cody said. "We're almost at the planet's surface. My squad is ready for a full debrief."
"Of course, commander," Finn replied. As he spoke the other troopers turned their heads towards the blue projection of the general, paying close attention. "We wouldn't want you and your men sent on this crucial assignment without full knowledge of the situation. As you are probably aware, the ground force we sent to attack the capital of Lenos has come under heavy fire from the turians' fighter squadrons. We tried sending TIEs to clear the air, but they are currently being intercepted by what's left of the defense fleet. They're picking our fighters out of the skies."
"We've got Star Destroyers out in orbit. Can't we just send them in to deal with those ships?"
"Unfortunately, shortly after the ground army touched down, the turians activated a pair of large mass accelerator cannons. All the vessels we sent didn't have the chance to get within range before the cannons fired at them. One of our Star Destroyers has already suffered heavy damage."
"I'm surprised the turians didn't get those cannons online before we landed the army," one of the troopers stated. "Would've made things a hell of a lot simpler for them."
"They obviously didn't anticipate that anything would make it past the defense fleet, and didn't have time to activate the defense cannons before our troops landed," replied Finn. "That's beside the point, though. What matters is that as long as those cannons are operational, our ships can't move in and our troops cannot receive any air support."
"So we take out those guns and the ships are free to move in," Cody said, already realizing what the plan was.
"Precisely, commander. The dropship should already be en route to one of the defense cannons, and we're deploying a second team to deal with the other one. Your objective is simple: neutralize that cannon by any means necessary."
"Understood, general. Consider that gun a heap of scrap metal."
"Excellent. The LZ is about a klick south of the gun's position. The way there shouldn't be too difficult, but expect heavy resistance at the gun position."
"Acknowledged, general. Cody out." Cody then deactivated the comlink and put it back in a pouch on his belt.
"This'll be just like Ryloth, huh commander?" remarked Boil, a stormtrooper standing to Cody's left.
"Yeah Boil, just like old times," Cody replied. Boil was one of the few remaining Fett clones in the Imperial military, much like Cody himself, and the two had served together on multiple occasions since the Clone Wars. In fact, during said war the two had partaken in an operation on Ryloth under Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi to take out a set of Separatist AA guns that were preventing Republic forces from landing on the planet, a situation reminiscent of the one they were facing now. Boil had proven himself to be a very capable soldier over all the years he served under Cody's command, and as a clone, the commander respected him a lot more than the rest of the troopers in his current squad. He had always found those that had been recruited into the stormtrooper ranks to be far less effective than the Fett clones, so much so that he sometimes felt the urge to strangle one of them for their incompetence.
"We're about thirty seconds out from the LZ, commander," radioed the pilot from the cockpit.
"Roger that, pilot," Cody responded. "Men, ready your weapons and prepare to unload!"
The IDT continued to accelerate towards the landing zone, where a group of turians on the ground were readying defensive positions, one of them manning a stationary turret. The turret swiveled towards the incoming dropship and opened fire with a hail of high-velocity rounds. The dropship swerved to evade the incoming fire, launching a pair of missiles as it did so. One of the missiles hit the turret directly, obliterating it and killing the soldier manning it. The other missile exploded in the midst of the turians, sending several of them flying and causing the rest to scatter. As the dropship arrived at the LZ, it turned to its side and opened its side door, revealing Cody and several stormtroopers standing by with blasters at the ready.
"Open fire!" Cody ordered. At that order, the troopers standing by the edge of the dropship all fired their weapons at the remaining hostiles. The turians attempted to regroup and return fire, but the stormtroopers cut them down with their blasters before they got the chance. As the last enemy fell, the dropship lowered until it was hovering just a couple of feet above the ground.
"Everybody out!" the commander yelled. "Go, go, go!" Almost immediately, the squad piled out of the dropship and spread out across the LZ, quickly setting up a perimeter around the immediate area. Cody put his hand to the side of his helmet as he put the dropship pilot on the comm. "Fall back, pilot. We'll radio for evac after we've dealt with that defense cannon."
"Roger that, commander," the pilot responded. Shortly after, the IDT slowly rose higher above the ground, then turned and flew off with Cody passively observing. Out in the distance, he could make out the familiar shapes of Imperial AT-ATs, with a multitude of small dots – representing the turian fighters – flying around them, explosions visible in the sky surrounding the battle. Cody turned away from the view to face his men once more.
"Alright people, we have no time to waste," the commander proclaimed. "Everybody form up. Boil, keep an eye on our six."
"Understood, commander," Boil replied.
"Okay then, everybody move up!" Cody then readied his blaster rifle and moved forward past the squad. The troopers all proceeded to follow Cody, with Boil taking up the rear. The stormtroopers marched north in the direction of the cannon, while the battle going on in the distance continued to intensify.
Author's Note: I have a feeling I'm going to be kind of slow to update with this story, partly because I take my time with this stuff, but mostly because I get distracted with other things. Considering how long I plan on making this story, this is going to take a long time to finish. Oh well, I settled in for the long haul when I posted this, so I may as well not rush it.
In other news, BioWare released the Extended Cut for Mass Effect 3 a while back, which has expanded upon the original crappy ending(s). As I don't have Xbox Live, I watched all the endings on YouTube. What do I think? Personally, while the Extended Cut doesn't make the endings perfect (that'd be asking the impossible from BioWare), it does explain the choices and expands upon post-game events in such a way that I feel satisfied with it. I'm glad that they changed the whole "destruction of the relays" bit so that you don't end up destroying all galactic civilization, and it's clear that the relays can (and presumably do) get repaired. It's also great that the Normandy isn't stranded, and it's clear that the crew, as well as the galaxy, actually has a future after the whole thing is over.
But that's just my opinion; I'm curious what my readers think. There's a new poll on my profile asking people if they were satisfied with the Extended Cut. If you haven't seen the Extended Cut, were satisfied with the original endings (very few of you should be), or don't play Mass Effect, please refrain from voting on it. Just answer "yes" or "no" to this, I kept it simple. If you want to talk more in-depth about it, you can send me a PM with your thoughts.
Let's see, what else? Oh yeah, please review.