Chapter 12: Savior
A/N:
Thanks to all those who keep following my story and reviewing. Thank you to the newcomers too. Hope you enjoy this chapter and as usual, answers to reviews are below.
Tevos found herself more and more in the Council offices instead of their public podium and she did not like it. For the hundredth time that day she wondered why this had to happen while she was in the Council. Why couldn't these vengeful aliens have struck when the wrongdoers still held power? She had done nothing to deserve this pressure.
She rubbed her brow gently and looked at the two other councillors. Their presence was becoming increasingly abrasive over time.
"We have heard nothing from the scout crew and now we learn that they are hitting systems across the galaxy," She said.
Sparatus nodded once and stood up, walking towards the display screen. "We know what they're after. Resources at critical points with relatively light garrisons. They've got to be spreading their forces thin to strike so many places."
"What are we doing to stop them?" asked Valern.
"The turian fifth fleet is heading in and might have already arrived to the critical world of Morag. We've split it up to strike at five other worlds and are pulling reinforcements from other systems. They wouldn't be dumb enough to hit even more planets at once," the turian clicked his talons together and growled. "They have focused their might on Morag, a critical mining world. We plan on taking it back and staging a counter-attack from there."
Tevos stared at the galaxy map with empty eyes. This war had been unlike any other they knew. The Rachni had been visible. They had known where they were and how to defend themselves. The Krogan rebellions had been brutal but straightforward. Now they faced an enemy that hid in the shadows, struck fast and hard then fled into the unending depths of space.
"What are our casualties, Sparatus?"
"We estimate that the turian armed forces have lost four-hundred thousand soldiers since the very first raids. Civilian losses are currently nearly one million. The WMDs and radioactive weapons account for most of the losses. Police forces have lost two-hundred thousand," he replied, looking down at the ground for a brief moment, as if in grief.
Tevos knew better, Sparatus was a hard man, losses rarely affected him. She gritted her teeth and tried to smother the pang in her heart. They most certainly hurt her.
"One million, six-hundred thousand casualties. Doubt enemy losses are so high," said Valern. He stood up and walked towards the door.
"Valern, what are you doing?" asked Tevos.
"Talk to STG, want another scout-ship with live-feed video send to Sol System. Want conclusive evidence of human presence. If there, advise full-scale invasion."
Tevos leaned back in her chair and looked at the high ceiling, muttering a prayer to the goddess. If only things could be that simple.
"Stay," she instructed and the door hissed closed as Valern turned around.
Tevos felt her turian counterpart's sharp eyes on her. "You are losing your will to fight," he said.
"This killing is pointless, Sparatus," she smacked her palm onto the table. "Can't you see it? They fight to avenge some wrong doing inflicted upon them by others and we just sit here and wait, blind to their next attack. We can't go on like this! We need to find a way to stop it."
"Then send a fleet to the Sol System! The scouts didn't report back from their mission," snarled Sparatus, his claw grinding against the metal table.
Valern nodded. "Would be best option to end conflict."
Tevos rubbed a finger against her brow and shook her head. "Did you not see the casualty count for the first attack? In those days they had primitive weaponry and were as stubborn as turians!"
"Don't!" yelled Sparatus. He took a deep breath and his mandibles slowly stopped twitching. "Don't compare them to my species, Tevos."
She nodded once and held up a hand placatingly. She'd compare them to anything she wanted when he wasn't there. Maybe even to him. A small smirk flirted with her lips but she pushed it back. Wrong time and wrong place. "What I mean to say is that attacking their home system would be unbelievably costly. We need to seek peace with them."
"You want peace? They will kill millions while you negotiate!" shouted Sparatus, his mandibles flaring with fury.
"And we have killed billions of theirs!" She leapt up, her body flaring blue for a brief moment. She couldn't handle his stupid turian pride anymore. "We are going to find them and speak to them. I don't give a damn about your turian pride. I care about the lives of those dying right now!"
General Hydril slammed open the command center doors and ran up to his second in command, gasping for breath. He was an aging Turian and sprinting across the whole camp had done nothing good for his battered body. It was a testament to the severity of the situation that nearly none of the personal around him turned to salute.
"Status report!" he snapped, grabbing the offered datapad and making his way towards the holomap briskly. His second, Commander Akra, ran after him.
"The relief fleet arrived unannounced. As expected, we summoned you as soon as we detected them." Akra took a steadying breath and pointed Hydril towards a small screen to the side of the room. Hydril frowned, nobody was attending to it, it was as if every turian in the room tried to avoid it.
He walked up to it and tapped in a few commands. "What is this, second?"
"A recording from our satellite. First contact between both fleets."
Hydril played it through. His mandibles spread open in a grin when the fleet appeared. Finally, they would wipe these barbarians from their planet. The fleet broke into three parts before him. Suddenly, a flash illuminated the screen and Hydril pulled back, wincing. "What happened?"
"Keep watching, sir."
Hydril cursed under his breath when the screen cleared. The first group had been wiped out, nothing left but burning husks and a few glinting scraps of metal. His claws dug furrows into an unoccupied seat when the human fleet appeared around the second group and opened fire. A few seconds later the video disappeared into a sea of static, then cut off.
"They hit the satellites around the planet then. Or at least the remaining ones."
"What is happening now?" snapped Hydril.
"The human fleet is outnumbered but they are extremely agile and fight with unconventional methods. We have never encountered such warfare before. They are most similar to salarians," replied Akra.
"Spineless cowards," Hydril slammed his fist into the table and stood up, walking back towards the holomap. He took a deep breath and cleared his thoughts. He couldn't do anything about the space battle. "Give me an update on the ground."
Akra nodded and brought up his omni-tool. "Humans began an offensive about the same time that the fleet appeared in the system." A few dots appeared on the map. "In these locations."
Hydril leaned forward. "They're pushing across the city in a hurry. Obviously it isn't their prime target. I wonder why they aren't bombing it?" He shook his head. "They've done it before." And he wouldn't let them do it again.
"Well sir...They've also stayed much longer than they usually do," Akra trailed off.
Something exploded high above them and made the whole bunker shake. The screen flickered for a second and a few soldiers ducked. Akra straightened himself and passed a hand over his mandibles thoughtfully. "I think they're here to stay."
Hydril nodded. A troop of soldiers dashed past him and he dodged to the side, giving them a half salute. Those men were going out into the shredder. Hydril envied them their simple position in this fight. The days when orders were orders and all he did was follow them were beginning to regain their lustrous sheen. "Jerol!"
The battle-scarred general got up from his chair and snapped his fingers at an officer. He jogged over to take his place. Jerol saluted sharply. "Yes, General Hydril?"
"Take a team and get to the reinforcement's landing zone. You will take over there."
Jerol dashed off and Hydril turned back to his screen. He had thought to punish Colonel Drik with a useless assignment in the back lines. Punishment. But the front lines had been swept away by the sudden attack. Humans had overrun their defenses in the most unexpected of hours, as if they knew when his men had the smallest garrison. All flyovers had shown no signs of prisoners. Now his best pilot was gone too, apparently crash landing into an enemy convoy. Hydril rubbed his eyes and turned back to the holomap. He would make this right.
"We have to switch positions, Roach," Kelly Chambers tapped the other RIG member on the shoulder. He looked up from his rifle for a brief moment and pointed towards the street running parallel to their house. Through a small crack in the wall, Chambers could see about a dozen turians marching in close formation.
"I'm gunning for them," he said. He didn't have any face paint, obviously a newbie to the teams.
She mouthed an oath. Blood rushed to her cheeks like a wave of unbridled fury. Damn rookies and their overzealous stupidity. Chambers crouched next to him and grabbed her submachine gun. "We've got no time for this. Gotta move, we're already surrounded," she said as loud as she dared.
"I'm taking the shot."
Chambers lunged forward and smashed into him, sliding an arm around his neck and jerking him to the side. Three things happened simultaneously. His sniper rifle popped a shot with a reverberating crack. The turians in the street ducked for cover as the shot went wide, and a flash of light a few hundred meters away escorted the bang of a turian sniper rifle.
Roach jerked once and fell to the ground, a hole right in the middle of his visor. The round spun out of the back of his head and slammed into her chest plate, smashing through it. She gasped in pain and her vision swam for a second. Blood started leaking out of her chestplate.
"Damn!" she gasped. Why did she have to get the shit detail while the rest of the team got to stick together? Her position was compromised and turians were coming to get her. She had seen their faces in her scope many a time, enough to know that they would have no mercy with her.
Blood pumped through her body, sending shots of excitement and fear into her brain like one of the lower bunker drugs. She slung the rifle over her shoulder, grabbed her submachine gun and ran for the stairs. Chambers popped open her visor at the top of the stairs and wiped away the river of sweat pouring down her face.
That second saved her life. The door below her exploded inwards, spraying deadly shrapnel every which way. It was quickly followed by a horde of turians in heavy armor. Chambers unclipped a grenade from her belt and tossed it down into the hall before scrambling back to the upper level.
The room was bare, except for her blanket and the massive waste of flesh called Roach. She kicked him in the head and took cover behind a small outcrop of piping. Her last moments spent in a gray box, just like home. A sick laugh escaped her lips as she brought her SMG up to bare.
Clouds of dust and a few agonized screams made their way up from the lower levels, accompanied by a few frantic shouts and the rattle of turian weapons fire.
Chambers glanced through the hole in the wall and looked up at the sky. It had almost cleared and she could see a small sliver of the sun, along with an impossibly blue sky. She sighed softly and unclasped her helmet, tossing it to the side. How she regretted not getting a nice planet in her assignment. It was like an ache in her heart, a dagger point of pain, burrowing deep into her flesh. She'd make do.
By now, the turians were making their way up the stairs. Chambers lifted a hand and unclipped her goggles. They fell to the floor and she shut her eyes against the blinding light. Even with her eyes closed, it burrowed deep, dug through her brain like acid rain in Mexico.
Slowly, she forced her eyes open. Everything was blurry, confused. It stung and made her eyes water but she smiled. She'd promised John that those goggles would go off at one point. Hopefully he'd survive this.
A shape charged through the doorway and Chambers opened fire, spraying it with a rain of lead. With a cry the turian fell to the ground, twitching. Another came in after, then another and another. Two more fell before she was out of ammo. The third rushed her. Chambers rose.
"Come and get me then, freaks!" she screamed, lunging at him. She didn't even see his arm arcing around and smashing into the side of her face. She landed with a thud, stunned. Before she had time to react, the turians piled on her and had her cuffed and secured. Her suicide button was out of reach and everything was a confused blur. Why hadn't they killed her?
"Who are you?" A turian stepped in front of her. She squinted and bared her teeth. He had a gun in his hand, a black blob against his pale armor.
"I do not answer your questions, freak," she jerked forward. Something heavy hit her in the back of her head and everything went dark for a second. She slumped backwards when they grabbed her by the hair. She bit back a cry. They wouldn't get that satisfaction.
"You are a sharpshooter," said that same damned turian.
"Captain, shouldn't we bring her back to base?" asked something from behind her. Chambers lowered her gaze and strained her fingers forward. The suicide button was just there, an inch away from her prying fingers. Her heart beat in an unsteady rhythm and a small tear popped into her eye. She didn't want to go like this, she had too much left to do.
"No, no time. We don't know what could hit us between there and here. The asari creeps aren't even in this sector."
Chambers stiffened and looked up at him. A ferocious smile crossed her face. "They will die, just like you will."
The big blur crouched down in front of her. She glared at him, straining silently against her bonds. The turian slapped her across the face. Red-hot lines of pain flashed across her cheek and sent two vicious darts into her brain. She cringed but said nothing, staring back at him.
"Only your kind will die. You will be wiped out for your crimes."
"Our crimes are nothing compared to your own, turian," she spat, lunging forward. Something grabbed her and held her back. A few turians in the crowd murmured with each other and she saw them shifting, getting closer.
"What do you mean, alien," snarled their leader. She could hear the anger in his voice. Chambers relaxed and settled down, crossing her legs. Hot blood trickled down her neck, she resisted the urge to scratch it. It was like a line of red ants crawling over her.
"Your kind e-" a wall exploded inwards in a hail of gunfire. The turians spun around, scrambling madly for weapons. Chambers grinned like a kid on her birthday. A Project smashed a turian aside, its electric blades thrumming with energy. With an ear-rending screech it blew another across the room, most of the freak's midsection missing.
"Concentrate fire!" yelled the leader.
Chambers rolled backwards and curled up in a ball. Her hands slipped to the front and she leapt up. She nearly fell as her left leg lost any strength. With a grunt, she leapt forward and circled her arms over the leader's neck. Thank god for augmentations. She slammed him against her and pulled with all her might. Her cuffs metal links pressed against his throat and he gurgled, kicking and writhing under her grasp.
"Less fun now, isn't it, freak?" she hissed into his ear, her teeth bared into a furious rictus. The cuffs tore against her gloves and burrowed into her wrists, biting into her flesh like cold, undead insects. "Enjoy your last moment, looks like you were wrong." With a twist, she jerked his head around, shattering his neck. He went slack and Chambers released him.
The Project slit a turian from crotch to neck, spilling its organs to the floor in a bloody mess. The alien shrieked in pain and crumpled to the floor. None remained. Blood bathed everything and dead turians littered the floor like a grotesque carpet.
"Kelly?" shouted someone from outside.
Chambers wiped a hand over her eyes and the bloody haze lifted. She blinked a few times and felt her legs give away. Her heart thumped in her throat and fire coursed through her wrists. "Damnit..."
Someone crouched before her and she felt a surprisingly gentle touch on her cheek. "Kelly!"
"John?" she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Scared me for a moment," he said. She felt a prick against her neck and suddenly, energy flowed through her limbs. Her muscles spasmed and her back arched. She cried out and slumped to the floor again. "Come on, we need to get moving."
"Alre-" she bit her tongue. "Yes sir."
John ran a finger against her cheek and stood up, offering her a hand. Chambers looked away, was she actually blushing? Hopefully all the gore would hide it. It was the first time she was thankful for alien blood covering her. She grabbed her goggles and slipped them on. The light receded and everything cleared up.
Kelly moaned, it felt like a cool river washing over her eyes, soothing them with its blessed balm. Her wrists twinged. She glanced down and bit her lip. The skin was torn and she could see the red flesh below, pulsing blood out onto the floor.
John grabbed them and looked at her. She couldn't see his face but he sounded concerned. "Christ, Kelly. What happened?"
"They just cuffed me. Had to get out of them somehow."
He shook his head and knelt down, picking up her gun and mask. She took them and smiled at him before clasping the mask to her face. With a hiss, the suit pressurized and the familiar taste of recycled air touched her like a long forgotten friend.
"We've got new directives. You up for it Kelly?"
"What the hell do you think? Give me a moment to seal the wounds."
"I'll give you ten."
First things first, I think a lot of people took my 'maybe' in last chapers answers as a yes. When I say maybe I really mean it. It is quite possible that there will be no pro-alien group among humans. But then again, there might be one. You'll find out as the story progresses. *wink*
Darkfinder (ch5): Unfortunately, humans in this story are not as all knowing as we are!
ShepardisaBOSS: How rude! (I jest, I'm sure you aren't the only one. ^^)
Until next time. Think we can make it to three-hundred reviews before chapter thirteen? That would be pretty amazing!