Chapter Thirteen: Eclipsed by darkness, the Butcher stood. On top of dust and blood.
Part 1:
General Williams - FSS Harpers Ferry
June 8, 2167 14:00:00 UTC
"Do we have the ships?"
An accompanying commodore on the bridge of the Ferry turned to Williams.
"Almost, General. Fighters are close to disabling their engines."
Outside the Ferry, a few stealth frigates continued to zoom around the larger cruisers of the Terran squadron. One of them continued their attack run on the large top hull of the Terran battlecruiser, flying within twenty-five meters of the hull to confuse their point defense systems. The bridge crew looked out as the small frigate, more in line with a Salarian design with clear Batarian changes, fired its guns. The ship had retracted its shielding along the hull though, making the already weak weapons ineffective.
As the ship pulled away, an officer singled to Williams. They got a tight beam signal on one of the ships. Williams gave the order to disable the ship, using the one they had to bounce off of and take out the other ships. The first one began to slow, its perusing fighters passing by as the hack signal was routed to the next Batarian ship. As the fighters moved away to take perimeter, a few escort corvettes began to move in to begin boarding. Each of the ships began to drift in the middle of the squadron as the corvettes approached their hull.
As the first corvette began latching to the ship, a sudden signal feedback occurred. On the Ferry, the ship's computers began to malfunction, the AIs and ITs trying to get the computer online again. Williams looked down on his console as his holo screens flickered.
The Commodore turned to the bridge engineer officer as it continued, looking for answers. Williams opened his watch, examining it with his own special software.
"This… this is not Batarian…"
At the end of the command table, a holo avatar of one of the ship's command AIs appeared. Standing prompt, he turned his head to Williams. "Sir, we have devised a counterprogram."
"Well? Counter surge these bastards!"
"Roger, commencing signal feedback."
The Terrans regained control of the ship, blocking out the alien cyberwarfare suite. Williams got hold of his screens and interfaced to do a quick analysis of it. The coding, the algorithms, the structure. It was far different from anything the Batarians, the Council, or the Terrans had. As the counter feed finished, he downloaded the information into his watch and deleted the data on the computer.
"How were they able to implement this…"
A bright flash came through the main viewport of the ship. They all looked out as the stealth frigates adrift beyond the bow of the ship began to explode. They all glowed a burning red along the hull, the heat syncs of the ship collapsing and imploding onto itself. The ships then outright exploded as its static syncs let loose, static electricity unleashing and chaining out through the pieces of debris until it was absorbed by the lightning rods at the bow of the Ferry.
"General, the feedback has done more damage than expected. They lost containment of their heat syncs," reported the Commodore.
Williams stared at his watch for a moment, more focused on the data than the ships. He then turned to him.
"The loss of those ships is an unfortunate loss of opportunity… Damage report?"
"Nothing significant. Escort corvettes have minor damage, returning to Gatling."
Willaims shook his head to refocus himself. He thought to himself, he got a whiff of what he was looking for.
"All stations back to original mission… Taking Torfan is the real goal."
Lieutenant Mitchell - Torfan Bunker Upper Level
"As I speak, our forces are rallying to drive the enemy from our worlds. The People's Navy is preparing to lead a full counteroffensive to drive these savage aliens out of our space. Our Grand Army on the home world is driving the invaders back into their ships. Our enemy, these 'Terrans', have overstretched themselves and are weakened from trying to invade our impenetrable nation.
I even bring better news. The Council has agreed to bring us, albeit unnecessary, aid in the form of supply and ships. Realizing the need of us, they have finally come to their senses in aiding us…"
"Can someone shut that idiot up?" asked Julia as they advanced through the bunker.
"I got you," Matheson activated his watch and took aim at a speaker near the corner of the ceiling. He activated its electric overload and fired an electric bolt at it. The speaker overloaded and exploded as the current pulsed through the network and disabled the rest.
"Oh this is exciting," said one of the Marines, "Like when the Russians found Hitler's bunker."
"That ass at least had the decency to off himself beforehand. Now we have to do it ourselves," said Mitchell. He took cover around a corner and checked his corner, then he signaled for them to advance.
They scurried down a hallway, going door to door. At the first one on each side, they kicked it open and charged in. The Batarians inside were taken by surprise and quickly dispatched with little effort. As they cleared the first rooms, the next team took position at the next door as the first team entered through the connecting rooms. They advanced through the rooms on either side, making their way down the hall. Afterwards, they regrouped at the end and made their way to the main tunnel, a small roadway within the bunker.
"You, uh, Terrans sure can fight," said the Salarian with a bit of nervousness in his voice.
"Thanks. The Marines are the best the Federation has to offer." As they passed through an intercepting hallway, a Batarian charged at him and pinned him against the wall. Before the others could raise their weapons, Mitchell broke free and knocked him to the ground. He then activated his omniblade and stabbed him, impaling him to the ground. "This is a damn good knife!" he said, trying to yank it out before he simply disengaged the blade, the molten silicon falling through the Batarian and into the cut in the concrete.
"An omniblade? We rarely use those in modern combat," said Julia, puzzled at the human using one of the most obscured feature of the tool, "You're more liable to cutting yourself than an opponent."
"I got this off a dead Batarian officer who was more than able to find some use for it. It is a bit cumbersome than a straight edge, but it's a hell of a lot more fun."
She continued analyzing the Terran, trying to figure him and his race out. She thought of a question as they continued through the upper level hallway of the bunker. "So you said you're a Marine? Any proof to your claim as the best your race has to offer?"
Mitchell turned to her, realizing he was being called out. He wasn't going to get outdone by a rival Marine, let alone an alien.
"Look, Corporal, unlike our Navy or Army, the Marines only recruit the finest Humanity has to offer. We train across the Terran galaxy, from the coldest blizzards on Noveria to the blazing deserts of Intai'sei."
"Well," replied Julia, seeing what Mitchell was doing, "The Turians, by our own right, are the elite soldiers of the galaxy. Our race has spent centuries defending the galaxy. Our Navy reigns supreme in the stars, our Army have can hold worlds to the last man, and where ever the Turian Marines goes, so does the control of the Hierarchy and the Citadel Council."
Mitchell gave her a simple nodded, thinking of another comeback that would add up the anti. Jenkins responded first.
"Your race may been across the galaxy. And for a longer time. But have you yourself ever fought in extended tours on inhospitable worlds, fighting deadly wildlife or nature itself."
"Me? If I was a Havoc Marine, maybe." Julia though for a moment, "I once was part of a battalion sent to take out a Thresher Maw on a colony in the Terminus."
Mitchell looked back, "Thresher Maw?"
Matheson responded, "I checked the Batarain Codex. It's what they called those giant sand worms in the frontier region."
"I hate those things," said Jenkins, "The moment we find one, we just get the hell out and tell the Navy to bomb the planet. It's one thing they're good for."
"Have you ever spent time on a training course in Australia? A worm is the last thing on my mind. Came that close to qualifying for N7 training," replied Mitchell.
"What's this Australia though?"
"Based on the codex, the closest thing is this planet you call Tuchanka."
The male Turian looked at them, "You have a planet that's a nuclear hellhole?"
"We have a continent on our otherwise garden home world that's even deadlier!" said Mitchell, "Everything in that place is trying to kill you. How it's home to half a billion Australians is beyond me."
The Turian scoffed at them, "You don't know Tuchanka. It's the home world to the Thresher Maw and to the hardiest race in the galaxy, the Krogan. We had to neuter them with the most advanced genetically engineered weapon in galactic history to stop them from conquering the galaxy! And they can barely survive on their own world."
"Please. You don't fuck with an Aussie. When we want to colonize a world that's more than dead, we dump them on it and they build a civilization. We even tried introducing those 'maws' onto the continent. The local wildlife killed them."
"You don't believe them, do you Corporal?" asked the Turian.
She replied as she checked each approaching side corridors, "The fact they exist is unbelievable. They could be lying or telling the whole truth."
He murmured to himself, "The fact we're helping them is unbelievable…"
They continued on and reached a small road tunnel that led to the surface. Jenkins and his squad broke off to take the service tunnel parallel to them as they advanced straight down deeper into the bunker. It didn't take long to meet the next line of Batarian defenses, who were setting up several machine gun posts and reading an APC into action. The Terrans and Council troops took cover behind discarded crates and vehicles, and began to maneuver ahead, but they were quickly pinned down. The APC began to move its turret and took aim at the main force bearing on it.
The turret fired, a quick half-kilo round burning through the air at a quarter percent the speed of light. Before they could hear the sound of the round, it smashed through a supply crate, killing two Marines instantly as the concussive burst through them and threw them back. Mitchell quickly got on the radio and yelled out for Jenkins to hurry with their flanking. Meanwhile, the Terrans' Kinetics raised a kinetic barrier up as the Asari joined the help, Julia falling back to take shots from her rifle at distance as the other Turian and Salarain took cover with the rest of them.
As the others scrambled behind sturdier cover or into the adjacent tunnels, Jenkins and his squad quickly ran down the tunnel, gunning down the Batarians coming in from other parts of the tunnel. After they passed the APC, they reentered the main tunnel and got behind the APC. His demo man quickly threw him a charge and he placed it at what he could deduce was an exhaust port. They moved across the road tunnel and began flanking the Batarians from behind, taking out one of the machine gun posts.
The main group opened fire on the APC, trying to keep it distracted as Jenkins came up from its rear. But they surrounded Batarians quickly alerted the APC to the Terran Marines right next to it. As it moved its turret, Jenkins ordered them back into the other parallel service tunnel. The APC took aim, but the explosives then went off and destroyed the APC. The main group then advanced forward and took out the last of the Batarian defenders.
Mitchell looked around the ruins, noticing a dead end at the far end of the road tunnel, descending deeper into the moon. He turned to Matheson for a situation report. He handed him two more dog tags and after a quick moment to give it look, he put them away and continued on deeper into the bunker. After reaching the end of the roadway, they continued down the service tunnels.
"Do we have radio contact?" asked Mitchell.
"Too deep. They were trying to bombard the bunker earlier. We must be deep since taking the elevator down," said Matheson as he activated his watch.
"Find a console. We'll spend the entire operation just wandering around if we don't get a map of this place."
They slowed down and began a room-to-room search of the lower bunker, looking for an access point. Unlike the utility service area above, they were now deeper into the more well decorated and spaced area, where high-level officials were housed. They began to search through a series of rooms and quarters, the others taking point down the corridor. As the Terran Marines searched, the other three Council troops approached Julia, who took point at the end of the tunnel.
"What are we doing here?" asked the male Turian, "It took us hours to get the hell out of here."
"We agreed to help them. After what the Batarians did, I'm sure the Council would understand if we aided them."
"We are only aiding them because they threatened to shoot us if we didn't," said the Salarian, "We're being forced to fight their war!"
"The hell you are!"
They all turned around to Mitchell, his arms crossed as he looked at them. Julia tried to answer, but he held his hand up to stop her.
"When I was fighting through the Hegemony, I got plenty of information as to who you Council folks really are. It only made sense that most of the information I got was most likely wrong. We didn't even know you existed a week ago. But seeing you cowards… well, the slaves and the Quarians were right."
"Who the hell are you calling cowards?" yelled the Turian, pushing his way through to get to Mitchell and confront him.
"You, that's who!" he said as he stared down the young Turian, who nonetheless was a good foot taller than him. "I was told you four are the symbol of galactic dominance. And yet look at all this shit! Your own people enslaved by this third rate power? You force a race to wander the stars for crimes centuries ago? You didn't bother to properly uplift a race or even think through the consequences of doing so to fight your wars? Hell, you can't even take out a bunch of pirates. You're not a galactic power."
The Turian fired back, pointing his talon at Mitchell's chest, as though he was firing from the hip, "Yes we are, you stupid pyjack! It was we, the Council that crushed the Rachni! It was the Council that put down the Krogan. We are the law and order of the galaxy, not you!"
Mitchell laughed at his response, then gave his own as he slapped his talon from his chest, "You? Don't waste your breath chirping, bird! We humans are no bringer of order. Hell, we may not even have our own affairs in order. But when we see wrong, when we are wronged, we do what we must to rectify the problem. If you want to run away to your special place and pretend everything is fine, go ahead." He pointed back over to where they came from, leading into the tunnel and to the elevator to the bunker entrance. "Go and run away. We don't need your help and you sure as hell are no threat to us. We will find the Chairman and bring this war to an end. Better to die fixing someone else's problem than wait for it to become your own. And hell, if we feel justified, we'll show the Council just how a real galactic power deals with a problem…"
The Turian quickly charged and socked him across the face, though Mitchell took only a few steps back to give a bit of space, almost expecting the retaliation. The other Marines quickly fell back from the rooms as the Turian tried to continue attacking him, but he then found himself held back with both arms by the others Council troops. As Mitchell checked his jaw, the Turian looked back, seeing Julia holding him back as she slowly shoved him to the ground in a lock. Matheson and Jenkins quickly got in front of Mitchell and took aim at them, but he quickly moved them aside.
"You don't like feeling weak, huh?" he said, chuckling afterwards as he pointed at him, "Well then. Your corporal here said the Hierarchy has the finest military in the galaxy. Prove it!"
He shook them off and stood back up, staring eye locked at Mitchell, who smiled and waited for him to respond in any form. The Turian looked back to Julia, unable to respond in any meaningful way that would get to him.
"We cannot let this man insult the Empire! It is your duty as the ranking member to deal with arrogant people like him."
She looked at him. She was angered by the young Turian Marine's insubordination in provoking Mitchell to insult them. She was more so angered over Mitchell's reaction. She looked to the other two, both waiting for her to respond. She then looked back at the Turian.
"Stand down, Private Fedorian…" She looked around, accounting for the group of Terran Marines in front of her and flanking behind her from the other rooms, "I don't intend to let him do so."
Julia pushed him aside and walked up to Mitchell, rifle in hand. She stared down the human. She then spoke, clear and with the authority of a Turian soldier.
"The mission of my squad is clear. And it was clear long before your arrival. The Hegemony's act against us is an act of war. We are here to deal with those responsible. If my mission aligns with yours, then we will aid your force. But we do so on our own accord, not for some ideas you preach. For the Hierarchy, for the Council, and for our cause. Are we understood, Lieutenant?"
Mitchell stood there, eyes locked with the Turian. He responded, impressed by her calm, calculated answer. He was almost more scared by her clear statement than by the young man's shouting. "Perfectly." He turned to Matheson. "So do we have the bunker layout?"
"Yes, sir. I believe he is in a central control room, deep straight ahead. But there is a large heat signature near a section of private quarters. I advise we hit that first." He opened up his watch and displayed a map. "They set up main defenses near a control room overlooking the main passage to the Chairman. But we got him cornered. The Chairman has nowhere to run now."
Mitchell waved off his men to continue ahead and take point. "We have a fight ahead of us. Corporal Themius, does this attack layout sound agreeable?"
"We will proceed with your plan." She turned to her men and nodded to them to do as told. "Private, take point with their forward."
Though it was followed with quick hesitation, they acknowledge the order and followed the Marines.
Mitchell and Julia followed up behind them all. She turned to the human, "That was… interesting."
Mitchell chuckled, "Was it? I must say, your people really are soldiers. Nothing but a little motivational speech to get them back in line."
She smiled, "A motivational speech? You belittled him, his ideals, and called us all cowards."
Mitchell chuckled as he popped a new battery into his shotgun, "I've heard of harsher ways to motivate a soldier. I thought I was being kind. Like a mother bird throwing her nestling off a cliff."
"I guess…" she stopped and Mitchell followed suit. He then noticed his armor pressing up against his body and he looked down. There, the barrel of her sniper rifle was jabbed right on his stomach, in between two chest plates. He looked up, Julia pretending not to be paying attention.
"Don't call us birds though."
"Whatever a pyjack is, don't call us that either, and I think we will be at an understanding."
Part 2:
Torfan Bunker Lower Level
June 8, 2167 15:00:00 UTC
"Wha-What's going on?"
The Batarians continued moving furniture into the small open space of the bunker's VIP quarters section, all positioned to take cover from the one corridor leading into the bunker's subterranean entrance. The intruders were getting deeper into the bunker, but they were going to face far more than recruits and raiders.
There were a dozen of them, the elite Hegemony Special Intervention Unit. The finest soldiers the Batarians had to offer, it was the SIU that opened the war's beginning and forced the Turians back through their own territory. It was only due to the true elites of the Turians, the Ghost Infiltrator to sabotage them and the Havoc Marine to drive out their invading armies, along with the painfully small numbers of the Unit due to unnecessarily hazardous training that made them ineffective in assuring Hegemony victory. Even then, the remaining few were the best the Batarians had and could match most enemies. But even they had never faced an enemy like an overzealous Terran before.
As the soldiers moved more furniture from the Chairman's quarters to the blockade, their commanding officer turned around. In a corner were three female Quarians, huddling close to one another.
They were Kavos's prized pets; Quarians were relatively easy to enslave, though to have them as long term slaves normally took for a master with high resources, and the want to keep them. Two of them were young, in their mid thirties, with tattered scarfs and worn out suits. In spite of their youth inside their suits, they were just one of his many servants. The third one in the middle, holding the other two close to her was far older. She was well dressed, in a surprisingly fancy enviro-suit. She had diamonds encrusted along the edge her hood scarf, with fine Asari silk that formed the pattern of the Kavos coat of arms on it. She was the object of his sick desire that no Asari could ever fill.
She looked to the officer as the other two huddled in her arms. Taking quick notice, he spoke.
"Shut the fuck up, you damn rat!"
The room shook as the Terrans began the bombardment of the surface once more. The officer stumbled a bit as some rocks fell from the concrete ceiling. As he got a grip of himself, he heard gunfire from the open space. He looked over to see through the door as the Unit troops fired from the barricade. He then looked back to the Quarians. He had the job of safe guarding Chairman Kavos' prized pets.
He walked over and grabbed the older Quarian. She got up and brought the two younger ones with her. He dragged them to a closet and threw them in.
"Now stay in here! The Chairman will have my head if you try to escape."
The two Quarians huddled back with the elder in fear. She however snarled at him. She was a slave, but to a very powerful man.
"I saw Kavos fry larger fishes than you. He'll kill you anyway just for letting the Council troops get away, then letting them counterattack and getting this far."
He walked in and grabbed the elder Quarian by the hood. He then slammed her against the wall and snarled at her, his face in her mask as he grumbled, gunshots just outside.
"The Chairman always likes his sex toys to be feisty." He dropped her on the ground, but reached for the other two instead with each hand. He gripped his hands around each of their necks and pinned them to the wall. They were slowly strangled, kicking their feet near her head as he looked back down on her. "But I don't. Now… are you going to behave?"
"Yes, yes! Please don't hurt them!" she quickly replied.
"I thought so. Fucking rats."
He dropped them back onto the ground. She quickly put her arms around them, comforting them as they quietly cried, as she taught them to do whenever they were abused. He grunted and shut the closet door. As they huddled in the dark room, the officer rushed back into the fighting.
"For the Empire and the Cause!"
The Turian Marine charged ahead, the Asari running quickly behind him as she projected a biotic barrier to cover the Council troops' charge. Ahead of them, the Batarian Unit held the line and fired into the tunnel.
Mitchell pointed forward towards them, with no intention of being outdone by the Turian.
"Marines, charge! For Terra and the Federation!"
He erected his own kinetic barrier and charged forward at regular running speed, one hand raised for the barrier as he fired his shotgun. Quickly behind was the often under credited, but well fought Terran Marines, charging with him as they fired.
The Council troops reached the blockade first, the Asari lashing out a blast to knock their makeshift barricade. Julia and the others took cover as they entered the breach and fired on the Batarians. One Unit soldier vaulted over and engaged Julia in hand to hand combat as she locked her sniper rifle with his rifle. She managed to utilize her training first and twirled her rifle, forcing the Batarian's rifle out of his hand. She then quickly took out her ceramic blade, a family heirloom, and stabbed him in the unprotected neck. Meanwhile, the young male continued the offensive and charged over, an omniblade bayonet on the business end of his Phaeston. Three Units turned to face him, but Julia and the Salarian turned to take two of them out, allowing the brash Turian to handle the center and stab him with his rifle. The Marine fired, pushing the Unit soldier off his blade as he fought off the rest.
On the Terran's side, Mitchell dropped his barrier and kinetically charged at them. He rephrased in time and smashed through the barrier while taking out a few of them. He got up and leveled his shotgun, firing away. Matheson and Jenkins covered their lieutenant's side. They both quickly got into close combat with Unit soldiers, but the two veteran sergeants utilized their martial arts and more advanced power armor to break their opponents' arms and kick them back, where Mitchell then gunned them down. As his squad poured in and took cover, he got his shotgun knocked out of his hand by one of the elite Unit officers, but he quickly reacted by deploying his omniblade on his left and his titanium straight edge combat knife on his right from his chest. He charged through their disorganized line, stabbing away in a butchering frenzy, his long omniblade carving through swarms of Unit and elite regular soldiers as he got close and pierced through power armor and Batarian skin.
In short order, the double head on attack worked, crushing their first taste of the Batarian's best. Mitchell looked around, glad of the successful engagement. As he directed his Marines to check the rooms, Julia looked over to see a bleeding, but very much alive officer crawl into a room.
She pursued, taking the other Turian with her as the others checked the rooms on their side. Mitchell looked over and took notice as well. He looked for his shotgun before walking over.
Julia and the Marines walked in as the officer managed to get back up, all the while grabbing on to a rifle wound in his abdomen. He turned and saw then, before bolting towards the next room. They gave chase into a bedroom, seeing him open a closet door. As they raised their weapons, he came out, choke holding one off the younger slave Quarians in his arm as he raised his sidearm at them.
"Stay the fuck back!"
They held position as the Unit officer positioned the Quarian as a shield. The male Turian turned to Julia and whispered.
"Corporal, I'll distract him. Get a shot from your rifle."
She turned to him as she zeroed in her scope, "I could easily hit the Quarian!"
He rolled his eyes, "Spirits, it's a suit rat. Why does it matter?"
They continued staring down one another when Mitchell walked in. He raised his shotgun when he saw the Batarian, but lowered it when he noticed the hostage. He held his hand out to try and calm him.
"Ok, ok... Everyone just calm down."
"I said get the fuck back!"
Mitchell took a single step back, "We will. Now look… soldier. You're still surrounded. Just surrender now and you'll be treated fairly."
"I will not surrender. You're trying to wipe my race out!"
"We are here as liberators. No one else needs to die," said Mitchell, a bit more annoyed.
"Just surrender now!" yelled the Turian Marine, "Hiding behind a rat is no different than not hiding at all! No one here cares."
Mitchell quickly turned to him, "I do, damnit!" He then slowly took a step forward, "Let her go and I promise no harm on you."
The Unit officer fired a shot, hitting the ground in front of Mitchell. "How the hell can you promise that?"
"He can't!"
The elder Quarian attacked from behind, a hand chop to his exposed neck. He momentarily collapsed, letting go of the younger one. But the Batarian turned around as he stumbled and fired, wounding the elder Quarian and puncturing her suit. She quickly fell, the younger one screaming out as the others rushed to react.
Mitchell was the first and quickly pulled out his combat knife. As the Batarian officer regained his posture, Mitchell threw it, lodging his knife a few centimeters deep into his head, straight between the eyes. He fell to the ground as Mitchell ran up, making a slap in the knee in celebration of his bull's eye aim. The others rushed over to the wounded Quarian, followed by Mitchell once he was done.
On the ground, the young Quarian slave tried to tend to the elder's wounds, the second one leaving the closet to help, but neither knew what to do. As she coughed up blood in her mask, Mitchell ran over as the rest of the Terran and Council troops arrived.
"She's bleeding out!"
Jenkins ran over and kneed down as he took out his med kit. He quickly wiped the blood away and disinfected the wound, before wrapping bandages over. But as he instinctively reached for a hypospray shot, Matheson stopped him.
"Wait, Jenkins. That's levo! We need a dextrose shot."
He stopped and looked around for a moment. He then looked up at the Turian marine. "Hey you, give me an antibiotic shot."
They all turned to the Turian Marine. "W-what? Me?"
"Yes, you dumbass. Hand me your med kit. You're bound to have one."
He took a step back, "I am not giving her one of my medications."
Mitchell yelled at him, "What the hell do you mean?"
"Because of these damn suit rats, my father is a laughing stock! One of the highest ranking officials in the Hierarchy, and they call him a 'suit rat sympathizer' behind his back. One less damn rat, the better!"
"Unbelievable!" Mitchell quickly took aim, sticking his shotgun under the Turian's chin. "Either you give the Quarian your med kit, or I'll pry it of your dead bird body. You won't be needing it then!"
As the Turian looked down, suddenly horrified of an immediate death, Julia and the others backed away from the Terrans and took battle positions. The rest of the Terrans did the same, but the Terrans surrounded them, rifles raised behind their back. Mitchell and the Turian Marine in the middle. The Turian tried to stare back at the Terran holding his shotgun under his head, but Mitchell stared back, locking eyes as he readied to pull the trigger.
One of the younger Quarians cried out to them as they stood off.
"Please don't let Mommy die!"
The Turian, tense and ready to attack, relented and nodded in agreement. Mitchell lowered his shotgun. He grabbed his own med kit from his armor and tossed it to Jenkins. He quickly took out the dextro shot and injected it as he reapplied the bandages with one with a special gel adhesive. He then positioned her back against the wall. She regained consciousness and turned to her two daughters.
As she hugged them, Mitchell began walking away, pointing his squad over to the exit.
"Bravo Squad, move out!"
Jenkins joined back as they began to leave and took point to head deeper in. Mitchell turned to Julia, a plain expression on his face as he gestured to her. She stared for a moment, then complied and ordered the rest of them to follow. As they moved out, he called out to the Turian Marine as he was the last one out.
"This isn't over, bird!"
The Turian snarled and continued on. Mitchell grabbed a rifle laying nearby and dropped it in front of the Quarians. As the elder one looked up, Mitchell walked away.
"Congratulations… you're free."
Part 3:
Torfan Bunker Control Room
June 8, 2167 16:00:00 UTC
"We take this room, and it'll be a straight shot to the Chairman."
They took position at the two main entrances into the center control room. Mitchell looked to Jenkins at the other door and took out an insertion charge, prompting him to do the same. Across the door was the other Turian, rifle ready as he waited. Mitchell slapped the charge on the door and counted down from four as he signaled with his hand. When he clenched his fist, the charge went off, blowing the door into the room, followed quickly by the other door.
On each door, they rushed in guns blazing. But the Batarians were waiting, their guns aimed at the door as they took cover down below at the first few rows of consoles, near the main center screen. From two rooms behind the main screen, Army soldiers and Unit shock troopers rushed in and took position as they fired up at them with greater intensity. They bunkered down, for they were the last line of defense to the Chairman.
At the back of the room, the group took cover as they maneuvered closer, laying down enough suppressing fire to take the next row of consoles. Mitchell's group had their Kinetic raise a barrier, giving them the breathing room to stand up from cover and return fire. Jenkin's group did the same, the Asari raising her own biotic barrier. The Batarians lacked their own biotic and took cover at the front, fighting upward. But they began lobbing grenades across the room, forcing them back as each explosion weakened their barriers.
The Unit shock troopers quickly assessed the situation and began to focus their fire on the Terran kinetic to their left. They all took aim at a single point of the Marine's barrier and laid down plenty of fire. From that, his barrier broke as he fell back from the kinetic backlash. Now having Mitchell's team exposed, the Batarians opened fire, and quickly killed four from Matheson's squad and two from Echo, including the Kinetic before he could resurrect a barrier. Mitchell then tried to raise his own barrier as he pulled the Kinetic behind cover.
He signaled the other group to move towards them. The Asari continued to provide cover as they shifted towards the center. Jenkins, Julia, and a few staying back to provide cover fire. But as they shifted, the rocket troopers were brought out and prepared to blow out the stronger barrier of the Asari.
Mitchell's group attempted to add on to the fire to keep them pinned, but they only returned it plus more, giving the rocket trooper the space to load a power cell as Unit troopers laid down fire and shredded the computer consoles. Mitchell tried to yell at them to stop, but they couldn't hear as they continued to slowly advance across the middle, the barrier wide open to everyone. He tried again to create an opening to return fire, firing blindly at the Batarian shock troops, but was forced back down as the console screens around him were shattered by gunfire.
He turned to Matheson, yelling through the chaos around, "We need a frag down hill!"
"We're out! But still I got a flash bang."
"Tom, blind them! I'll charge and bury them!"
"Gotcha!"
Matheson grabbed a flashbang and peered around a console, looking down at the staircase to the bottom of the control room. He looked over to see where the shock troopers were. He then tossed it, the grenade bouncing down the stairway. He ducked when the flashbang went off, blinding the Batarians for a short moment. With a quick energize, Mitchell jumped out and charged at the stunned rocket trooper, phasing through rows of computer consoles and air full of sand grain round.
He slammed into the rocket trooper, who misfired his launcher as he fell and blew out several of the lighting fixtures hanging low from the ceiling. Mitchell wrestled him to the ground, but the far more experienced trooper fought back, holding back Mitchell's omniblade wielding arm. He still yelled out for his comrades to help him, but they were quickly pinned by the Marine's counter attack. But as they struggled, they rolled away from them, leaving the launcher on the ground.
One of the shock troopers reached over and grabbed the launcher. Mitchell saw him, but the trooper he was fighting got the advantage and pinned him down as the other one prepared to launch. He continued to struggle, before seeing an opening near the bottom. Mitchell energized his kinetics and kinetically kneed him in the groin, bashing through his armor. He then pushed him off and reached for the combat knife on his chest before plunging it into the trooper's neck.
Mitchell quickly rose and pulled his pistol out, but the shock trooper fired the rocket launcher. In a moment, the rocket flew through the room and exploded, blowing the Asari's barrier clean through, throwing her against the wall while the remaining Batarians opened fired at the exposed Marines. They bunkered back down behind the remains of the bullet shredded console. Both sides quickly traded fire, quickly trading losses as well. Mitchell ducked back down, dodging his own sides' fire as he crawled back to the Batarians' front. He then leaped up into the air and back down behind the Batarians, charging his kinetics as he unleashed a nova blast.
From there, the rest moved up and shot down the rest of the Unit shock troopers as they stumbled about from the nova blast. They moved up to the front as Mitchell picked off the remaining stragglers.
"Enemy down," Mitchell turned to Matheson, "Head count."
Matheson looked around, "Jordan, Greer, Nithya are KIA. Watman and Lucial are wounded."
Julia walked up to him, the other Turian and Jenkin's remaining squad in tow.
"I loss Ioanna and Fargon. Half my force gone."
"We can't go further!" objected the Turian, "We barley had the force to assault this bunker. Now what? About seven of us left that are able to fight?"
Matheson turned back, "He has a point."
Mitchell leaned back against the raised platform in front of the command screen. He rubbed his eyes as he thought of what to do.
"Damn it… Jenkins, get on the line to command. We need relief. Take point at the exits."
As they regrouped, he looked back at the main screen overlooking the room, still intact. He used his watch to hack into the command computers. Different files and images began to appear as he coursed through the computer's databanks.
"I doubt there's anything important in those computers, Mitchell," said Matheson as he looked through the bodies on the ground, taking account of both sides' casualties, "Our intel say this was just a raider base, not their EURAD."
"This bunker is too well fitted to be for slavers. Something useful here… wait."
The screen stopped and they all looked up, unsure to make of what they saw. It showed the schematic of a large ship, more than two kilometers long. It had weird extruding structures in the front that form a haft circle. Its main body was large and curved, like a sack. Where the structures and body met where two large spherical objects.
"Is that a ship?" asked Julia.
"It looks like those squids the Hanar like to eat," said the Turian.
Mitchell kept skimming through, "But what the hell is it doing on a Batarian computer full of top secret information?"
Matheson continued to look the bodies and knelt down to examine one dead Unit officer. As they continued to discuss what the large object was, he moved the body. Unaware, it opened its eyes, a dark, flashing blue tint lighting out. It looked over to them. Then it saw what was being displayed on the board.
With a deep, scratchy roar, it shoved Matheson away and quickly stood up to charge at Mitchell at the console. Omniblade ready, the possessed Batarian ran at an impossible speed at them. They all turned to see, but all moved slower than the Batarian. Mitchell raised his arms to create a barrier, but the other Turian saw as the tip of the blade already entered past it. With a jolt, he moved and tackled Mitchell out of the way. The blade then pierced him and in only a single second it all happened, the Batarian impaled him into the console, electrocuting them both as the computer began to short circuit.
Mitchell quickly got back up and grabbed the Batarian off of the Turian. He shoved him to the ground and with a kinetic charge up, punched his head in, smashing it whole along the tile ground.
He stared for a moment, his fist glowing a dark blue that amplified the red blood that coated it as it rested several inches into the ground. He slowly pulled it out and thought for a moment about what he did. He then turned back and rushed to the Turian. He laid on the ground, resting under the console board as he coughed up blood, the blue liquid complimenting his teal colored armor and the white tattoo marks on his face.
Julia attempted to bandage his wound, ignoring the clearly large, deep and fatal wound he had. But he knew better and gave a short, painful chuckle as he weakly pushed her away.
"I… I guess I won't be needing… that shot after all…"
He then turned to Mitchell, kneeing next to him as he stared at him in disbelief. The man he chastised as a coward an hour ago, who he nearly shot just minutes ago, just saved him, at the cost of himself.
"Lieu… Lieutenant."
"Yes?"
"We are… different people. But similar in a way, I think. Duty, honor… service. That's what we fight for… To achieve order, peace… To do what is right. But they can't be achieved without sacrifice." He tilted his head a bit back and forth until he was able to look at Mitchell. "If you want to do what is right, what you think is right, I hope you Terrans are prepared… for that. My life has been… Nothing but."
"I… I…"
As he continued to cough up blood, Mitchell stood up straight. He looked down on the dying Turian and saluted him. The two Turians looked at him, startled by the near identical military salute. The Turian struggled, rising his talon to his own head. With his own response, he saluted back and then collapsed onto the ground.
Julia sat back up, speechless as she stared at him, then turned to Mitchell. He did the same and asked a question about the son of the leading Turian admiral.
"What… what was his name?"
She looked back to the dead Turian for a moment, then turned to Mitchell to respond. "Private Drusus Fedorian… This was his first tour of duty out of training. Serving under his father's fleet."
"Well." He sighed reached over and grabbed his rifle. "A flawed man, like most. But braver than most too. He deserves more than this."
Part 4:
Tofran Bunker Control Backroom
June 8, 2167 16:30:00 UTC
As they began to leave, they heard a gunshot behind them. They turned to the front of the room and looked over to the two side doors leading into the control room. They advanced towards one of the doorways. Suddenly, from out of the door, an Asari stumbled out, clenching her chest. She then fell on the ground.
They quickly ran up to her, flipping her onto her back. But she had already succumbed to her wounds.
"Spirits! That's the Asari ambassador!"
"Whoever shot her is still in there. Matheson, take the other door. Jenkins, hold ground. Themius, you're with me."
They split up and headed through the door. The small corridor was dark, but there was a decent amount of light the other end. They quickly reached the other end, emerging into a small room. Their first impression was that of a storage room full of covered crates. But when they fully entered, they raised their weapons at the one Batarian in the room, holding a female Turian in a headlock. He noticed them and quickly raised his gun at them, then turned the barrel and jabbed it at the Turian's head.
"Get the hell away from me!"
They stopped and took aim, keeping an eye on the Batarian.
"Who's the Turian?" asked Mitchell.
"That's the Turian ambassador for the Hegemony," replied Julia.
The Batarian continued to panic, breathing hysterically as he kept the gun to her head. "Get back or I'll blow her brains out!"
Mitchell lowered his rifle and held his hand up, gesturing him to calm down. Julia kept her weapon raised, zeroing in her scope at one of the Batarian's eyes.
"Calm down now. We can talk this out."
He looked over, seeing Matheson coming in from the other door. Mitchell pointed at the Batarian with his lips and he took the signal. Unnoticed by the Batarian, he began to make his way around to him.
"Calm down? You pyjacks are crazy! You're… impossible! We should be the one's conquering you!"
Julia spoke, dialing in on the scope. "And you say that, why?"
"A week ago, we sent a thousand ships in to attack their colony closest to us. We should have succeeded. It took weeks for you to retake the first colony we captured."
"Well, it didn't happen. The Sol Fleet quickly arrived and repelled them in hours," said Mitchell. He slowly began to walk in a circle to his right, getting Julia to follow in turn. The Batarian slowly shifted to face them, presenting his back to Matheson.
"That bastard Kavos! When you appeared on the Citadel, he was dead set on finding where you came from and attack immediately. If the Council knew we did that, we could face another war with them as well."
The Turian ambassador looked up and spoke, clam and annoyed, "You are facing a war right now! You there… Terran, right? How many ships did you send against these idiots?"
Mitchell rose an eyebrow in confusion. "We sent the entire Second fleet. Around ten thousand ships…"
"Ha! Ten thousand ships. You four eyed idiots pissed off the wrong race. I almost envy you, Terran. The Hierarchy should have done this years ago. If only Junius was still alive."
He tightened his grip on her neck, "Shut up you! These Terrans are a danger to the whole galaxy! They nuked their way to get to us. They are on a path of vengeance. You saw what they did to the largest Council ship in the galaxy? They can't be stopped."
"We want peace. We want order. We fight for what is right. The only danger we pose are to people like you, who threaten our way of life."
"You threaten our way of life!"
Mitchell chuckled, "'Way of life'? You're just a bunch of slavers who need to be put down."
The Batarian yelled out in frustration. "Damn hypocrite!"
The ambassador looked over to Julia, annoyed all the while as she slowly choked, "Hey you, Corporal. This is an order. Shoot the idiot."
"Shut up before I shoot you! I have no intention of dying here."
Mitchell looked over, Matheson still trying to sneak around crates and junk on the ground to get the jump on him.
"Look… whoever you are…"
"I am the Batarian ambassador for the Citadel Council!"
"Former!" said the Turian, laughing at the man who still had a gun against her head. "The Hegemony captured unsecured messages from your fleet. The pyjacks here and the Council think you died when they bombarded your home colony to prove a point to you."
He aimed his gun in the air and fired. "They killed everyone I knew! My friends, my family. And they weren't first."
"Look… ambassador. We can be diplomatic. Release the Turian ambassador and we'll let you live. You'll get a fair trial and the works. Like any democracy in the galaxy."
"Fair? 'Like any democracy in the galaxy'? You don't know how the galaxy works. And if I release her, you shoot me! You Terran pyjacks are no different than anyone else in the galaxy. Hell, you're even worse than we are. Your grand illusion that you are great and mighty, that you are morally superior to us. You're more conceded than the most pompous Asari. You claim to fight evil like us. But you're only the thing you fight."
Mitchell bit down on his teeth, "Please… don't call me a damn pyjack!"
He fired again into the air. "Or what? You'll kill me?"
"Not him. Me!"
Matheson jumped him and locked him in his arms, slowly strangling him. The ambassador released the Turian ambassador and attempted to undo the choke hold on him. She jumped out of the way and ordered them to shoot, but the ambassador lifted Matheson up with his own arms and moved him around, blocking their shot.
"Get off me!"
"Make me, you ugly four eyed bastard."
"Fine!"
As the ambassador walked about and struggled to get him off, he took his pistol and took aim at one of Matheson's hands. He then fired, the round going straight through the Terran's hand and into his upper chest. He lost his grip and the ambassador shrugged him off, spinning to undo his grip as Matheson fell back. He then took aim and fired repeatedly at him point blank into his chest.
The others quickly responded. Julia took her shot at him a few meters away, cutting off the Batarian's hand. Mitchell then charged at him, bashing him straight into the wall. He grabbed his head and started beating it relentlessly, breaking his face in as he bashed his head deeper into the hole in the wall. As more blood drenched onto his hand and armor, he grabbed the Batarian and stood him back up before deploying his omnitool.
He yelled out, "Sic semper Tyrannis!"
Then with one clean, full slash, he cut down the Batarian across the waist. Mitchell stood there in his fighting stance, his breathing heavy and quick as he watched the Batarian slit in half and fall to the ground. He continued his line of thought as it faded out.
"Ad mortem… ad mortem."
He looked down as blood polled around his armor boots. He took a moment to breathe, looking at his work. He then took a step, seeing more blood coming in from another direction. He looked and ran over the short distance before falling to his knees to cradle his dying friend.
"Tom!"
Mitchell removed his helmet, the young man, who had been an older brother to him, smiling as his suit auto injected morphine, numbing his wounds.
"I… like what you did there. Like that time you made us watch Julius Caesar."
Mitchell smiled at the comment and chuckled, though he slowly began to tear up. "You know, he never said that in real life or in the play."
"Oh, well then…" He couched up more blood as he tried to speak, shaking his as he smiled. "Then I didn't learn anything then." Matheson reached for his side compartment and pulled out several more tags. He then reached over to grab his own. "You're going to want this."
"It's a disaster, isn't it Tom? I-I… I got everyone killed…"
"But we haven't been beaten yet…" He tossed the dog tags to him and slowly reached over to slap his watch. A holo screen opened, a red blip at the bottom. He coughed some more and spoke. "There's the prize. Make it worth our while…"
Mitchell looked at the tags for a moment, most of his platoon in the form of several titanium pressed, laser inscribes dog tags. He turned to Matheson, his hand open and left hanging. Mitchell grabbed hold and shook.
"You got it, Tom."
"Good, good. Huh… If you ever see Finch again. Shoot him for me, would you?"
He wiped the tears from his eyes. "Hell, that was my plan for shore leave."
He stared at him as he let out his last, blood soaked breath, "You're a good friend Reggie… Reggie…"
Mitchell let go of his hand and moved to close his eyes. A moment passed as Mitchell stayed there, looking at the corpse of his best friend and alternating with the dog tags of everyone under his command. Julia walked up to him, but he stood up as she approached.
He reached back down to picked up Matheson's shotgun. He got back up and began to walk back down the hallway he came through, passing by Julia and the ambassador. His face was now emotionless, plain and straight with his eyes open and focused on one thing. Julia looked over and tried to follow, but the ambassador stopped her.
She shook her head in disapproval. "Don't follow him. You know every well where he's going."
"He needs help! Uh, ma'am," said Julia, quick to defend him.
"The words he spoke. So much like those of the ancients' tongue."
"What? What did he say?"
"He called himself a bringer of death." She then frowned, "To a tyrant, maybe. But clearly to anyone near him."
Part 5:
Torfan Bunker Command Room
June 8, 2167 17:30:00 UTC
He charged down the hallway tunnel, hypersonic sand grains flying past him as his remaining men tried to stay up. He re-synced back into space and collided into one Batarian at the end of the hall, knocking him in the wall. Two more attempted to attack him from two ends, but Mitchell quickly leveled his shotgun to his hip and fired, before deploying his omnitool and cutting down the second one.
Down the next stretch of tunnel, the Batarians last remaining SIUs, now supported by inexperienced conscripts and raiders, set up another line of defense. Jenkins and the last two Marines took cover and returned fire across the wide tunnel leading to the Chairman. But while they bunkered down to the overwhelming number they still had, Mitchell refused to be phased. He got to the front of their line and ordered them to lob flashbangs.
As soon as they exploded, Mitchell charged again. This time he aimed just above the main concentration and phased back in, his arm retracted. He then dropped and unleashed a nova blast in the middle of several men as they flew back, more Unit shock troopers charged at him. They swarmed at him at once, but Mitchell slashed them down in droves. He then continued walking down the tunnel, gunning down the shock troopers as they came at him with an auto shotgun in one hand and Fedorian's rifle in the other.
Jenkins ran up to him, keeping low as the Batarians fired upon them and as Mitchell returned in kind.
"Sir! This is insane. There are only four of us left. The Chairman's cornered. Why do we not wait for reinforcements? Angel Company is already deploying!"
"Because we can push through and end the war, now!" One Batarian charged at them, but Mitchell quickly mowed him down, filling him with bullets the size of BBs and sand grain.
Behind a crate, one of Jenkin's soldiers yelled over to him. "Sergeant! Miller's been shot!"
"Fall back, Jenkins."
"There are over thirty more ahead!"
"Fall back! That's an order!"
They threw grenades at them, but Mitchell formed a kinetic barrier and lashed out to bounce them back at the Batarians. Jenkins cursed out, and reluctantly fell back as Mitchell continued on. The remaining shock troopers began to fall back to the Chairman's control room, but Mitchell followed close behind.
Mitchell continued his advance, ready for a slaughter. The Batarians, recruit and Unit alike, grew desperate to get away from the crazed Terran. As the rest of them, mostly untrained recruits, tried to stop Mitchell, the officers tried to force their way into the panic room. Its door was shut tight. Mitchell watched with disgust as they desperately tried to get in.
He took the initiative and took out a sack charge he had grabbed off Jenkins. Holding up a kinetic barrier to block their fire, he lifted up the charge with his other hand and thrusted it across the tunnel and on the door. Upon impact, it exploded and let out a powerful wave. A large blast hole opened the way in as the remaining Batarians outside lay on the ground, moaning in pain. Mitchell quickly dispatched then and proceeded to enter the room.
Quickly, the last shock troopers guarding Kavos tried to ambush him, one coming at him from behind and locked his head in with a rifle as another charged at him with an omniblade. Mitchell quickly did the same as the ambassador and lifted his choker up, swinging him round and at the blade. The trooper stopped charging, but Mitchell faced him again and kicked him in the chest. He then jumped back and slammed the other one into the wall. Mitchell quickly shot him and the other, and proceeded to enter the room proper.
He walked over and saw the room was another control room. He walked to a railing looking down into the rest of the room. Two more guards were left, young and scared as they stared Mitchell down. They dropped their weapons, but Mitchell only raised his in return.
"No quarter!"
He quickly blasted them away and approached the railing. A few rows of consoles, a central command table, and a large panoramic view of glass that overlooked a large cavern. He saw the remaining generals and admirals around the table, Chairman Ut'lok Kavos at the end closest to the view of the cavern.
Mitchell dropped his weapons and pulled out his pistol and fired at the table, destroying its mass effect holo-emitter. They were immediately startled and looked over as Mitchell jumped off and onto the table. Two admirals quickly pulled out their side arms, but Mitchell lifted them up with his kinetics and slammed them against the glass view, cracking the window and their skulls. He turned to the others and gestured to them with his pistol to head to the viewport and line up with the pistol.
They lined up along the window and looked at him as he walked to the end. He looked down at the Chairman.
Mitchell looked down and chuckled before speaking. "An audience with the Chairman. Aren't I…"
A general spoke out in objection, but Mitchell quickly shot him in the head. He kept staring down at the frightened Kavos all the while.
"Aren't I lucky… I shall be the one speaking. So… Kavos. I read your 'codex'. A war hero." He looked down at the Batarian, a skinny man that seems to be slowly deteriorating right in front of him, "That's… hard to believe."
"It's true!" yelled another officer.
Mitchell fired, killing another admiral. Three remained, including Kavos. Kavos looked up at him.
"We surrender! Stop shooting them!"
"Tell me, Kavos." He jumped down and sat on the table, pointing his gun at him. "Your ambassador wasn't happy you wanted to attack us. Tell me, why?"
"What? You don't know?"
Mitchell stared at him. Then he shot another general, still eye locked with Kavos.
"No! Now answer me. You're running out of officers for me to shoot." He turned to the last admiral on Kavos's left and smiled. "Your boss is going to get you killed."
The computers across the room began to fluctuate, screens flashing as the power across the room fluctuated and the lights flickered. As they looked to see what was happening, the last admiral acted on it and charged Mitchell. But Mitchell quickly saw him and stabbed him with his omniblade.
"Correction; you got yourself killed." He dropped the body on the ground and turned to his watch. The power fluctuation then ended and his watch lit up with a comm link coming through. He kept his gun aimed at Kavos as he answered. "This is Mitchell. Come in."
A moment of static before he spoke through with clarity, "This is the Harpers Ferry. Are you reading us? We hacked their comm system."
"Control. I'm reading you. I have Chairman Kavos in custody."
"Roger. Connecting you to General Williams."
A moment of static came through as the signal routed through the Batarian computers, "Good job, Lieutenant. We landed Angel Company and they're making their way to the bunker unimpeded."
"Yes, sir. Actually, I was about to make him tell me why the Hegemony tried to invade us. Do you wish to hear?"
On board the Ferry, Williams stood up off the table, surprised. "Well… ok then. Make him squeal. I want to know." He switched his line to his private ear piece and left the bridge.
"Get ready to record, General." Mitchell raised his gun at his face, prompting him to speak.
"How do you not know?" said Kavos, confused by the entire act. "Over thirty years ago, you attacked us! Destroyed one of our colonies!"
"Impossible!" said Williams, immediately worrying over what he was saying as he kicked out several officers, including two admirals, out of an elevator for him to ride by himself. He continued when the doors sealed. "We never made First Contact! We have no evidence this happened."
Kavos growled, his mind wandering a bit before he could focus, "Neither did we, at first. We thought the Turians did it and launched a disastrous war against them."
Mitchell laughed at him. "It was stated that 'war' was a complete success."
"Don't be condescending. That war nearly wiped us out. The Turians only grew stronger. We grew weaker! After I became Chairman, I learned they didn't cause it. We recovered evidence from the planet you burned to a crisp that some hair ridden pyjack race were the ones who did that."
"So that's why you wanted to attack the moment that we found the Citadel."
"You proved you were real! I could wage the right war and conquer you!"
Williams spoke, watching them on his watch through a security cam in the room, "But we were ready. When Bowman found the planet, we were helpless. But now we are capable of conquering the galaxy…"
Kavos yelled, "You knew!"
Mitchell turned to his watch. "General, what do you mean?"
"Are they dead? Everyone else, are they dead?"
"Uh, well…" He looked to his left and right, several dead bodies resting against the glass, blood all over the floor, table, and viewport. "They were killed in the firefight against us."
"You lie, you hair ridden pyjack. Like my thieving pet rats! You executed them all!"
"They resisted… Resistance is futile!"
As they argued, Williams arrived in his private quarters. He opened his console and began downloading data from the bunker's computers. All the while, he turned back to the holoscreen over his watch, noticing the odd condition of the Chairman. From the bunker's systems, he began his search of the Leviathan they both had sought after. A quick glance confirmed what he was looking at and what was happening to Kavos. Switching cameras in the bunker, he saw that the next wave of troops was all heading down the bunker.
"Lieutenant Mitchell."
"Sir."
"The man's deranged. But we still need Kavos. Secure him."
"Yes, sir."
Mitchell took aim and pointed at Kavos to get on his knees. He resisted, prompting Mitchell to force him down.
"You've lost, Kavos."
He spoke as Mitchell shoved him to his knees.
"I. Will not. Surrender!"
Kavos suddenly lashed out as he stood up and knocked back Mitchell. He stumbled back and landed at the table, but quickly regained his footing and took aim with his side arm. He froze for a moment. The scrawny old man was far different than before. His skin had become more grey and pale, his skin contracting and tightening around his bones in front of his very eyes. Finally, his eyes started to give out a glow as a blue light came out around the corers of his pupils.
"What the hell?"
Williams yelled out, seeing it all happen right on his screen.
"Fire! Kill him now!"
Mitchell regained his posture and fired at the slowly transforming Kavos. Kavos shifted his posture, two rounds lodging into his shoulder, but he shrugged it off as he looked down Mitchell. He then ran at him and clawed at him for a moment before grabbing on to his armor. He shook Mitchell around and used his husk strength to toss him across the table.
Mitchell got back up and took on a fighting position as Kavos leaped over the long table and at him. He got ahold once more, but Mitchell grabbed his arms and tried to pry him off. Locked close to each other, Mitchell continued watching as Kavos changed, the ridges of his face retracting and growing smooth as cavities formed on his face and neck, a bright blue glow coming out of it. He gave up trying to understand what was happening and got his hand free to punch him and get him off.
Kavos continued to attack him, trying to claw at him as he gave out a screech in front of his face, debilitating Mitchell. Williams watched all the while, seeing the security cam on one screen, and the recording of the huskified Batarians they found only a week ago. Kavos' transformation differed, but it was clear it was being caused by the same source. He looked on, realizing just how dangerous the enemy he was fighting really was.
Mitchell finally overpowered him and got his arm free. He managed to disable the husk Kavos and throw him across the table and onto the ground. Mitchell quickly charged, phasing through the table and slammed the disoriented husk.
Kavos was slammed straight into the glass viewport, his mind gone as the husk was dazed by the charged. Mitchell continued the attack and ran at him, deploying his omniblade. He got up close and thrusted, piecing the husk Kavos and the glass viewport behind him. As Kavos squirmed, Mitchell pulled his arm out, before realizing his blade was stuck. Behind the impaled Kavos, the glass began to crack. Mitchell started to panic. As he reached over to disengage his blade, the glass broke.
Mitchell quickly mag locked his boots instead as the glass gave way. Outside, the low pressure in the cavern began to suck air out from the control room. As he tried to resist the current, grabbing on to the frame on each side, Kavos continued to hold on to the frame of his armor. Mitchell looked forward, trying to get him off.
He let go of one frame and began punching the husk. But Kavos kept hold of him. All the while, an advance squad from Angel platoon entered the room and quickly rushed to a console to find an emergency containment field control. Slowly sliding on the floor into the cavern, Mitchell reached for his chest compartment and grabbed hold of the dog tags of his platoon. He quickly wrapped it around his hand and held tight as he pulled it out and kept punching Kavos, the fist sharpened with the titanium tags.
The husk yelled in a high pitched voice.
"You will die!"
Mitchell kept punching, "Stupid alien monster. Why won't you die!?"
Finally, after drenching his hand and platoon in the synthetic looking blood of Kavos, he gave out another loud screech, still locking on tight to him. At the control room entrance, Julia charged in and stopped to resist the current of air being blown out.
"Lieutenant Mitchell!"
As the others turned to her, she raised her rifle and quickly aimed for a small opening between her, Mitchell and the huskified Kavos. She fired, the lighting fast sand gran round scorching through the low pressure air. It flew past Mitchell, only centimeters to spare as he felt the concussion wave around the bullet, before it found its target, dead center between his four hollow eyes.
Kavos let go and was sucked out into the cavern below. As Mitchell came close to doing the same, an emergency kinetic barrier activated and closed the opening off as the pressure rebalanced.
As the squad above secured Julia and rushed around the side to get to Mitchell, he slid to the floor, his back resting on the barrier. He held his hand up and stared at the still gleaming tags of everyone he lost to end the war.
Williams sat back in his seat, his mouth a bit open as he stared at the screen in amazement.
"That was not according to plan…"
He switched off the camera feed and continued going through the data he gathered. Staring down the schematics of Leviathan, he rubbed his eyes and leaned forward.
He shook his head and chuckled, "This… this will still do, though."
Terran Wikipedia
Martian Utopia Naval Fleet yard
The Martian Utopia Naval Fleet yard is the main Naval construction yard for the Terran Navy. It is the largest fleet yard in the United Terran Federation, consisting of over two thousand construction shipyards, a thousand maintenance dry docks, and a hundred orbital logistic stations. Official ownership places it under the domain of the federal government, but as the core region of starship construction, it leases its management rights to numerous private contractors, who may use it for private construction. The main contractor running the military facilities is Ares Shipyard and Construction Co., a subsidiary of Quantum Core Industry. Over a million people are directly employed by the fleet yard, living either in the dome cities on Mars or on the nearby starbase. Much of the Martian economy is based around the shipyards.
Built from an expanded design of the shipyards around Earth, construction began in 2134 in preparation for the passing of the 2135 Militarization Act. Though the first shipyards came online months later, official end to construction of the entire fleet yard was in 2146. It was placed in areosynchronous orbit over the Utopia Planitia on Mars. Though official records placed the location as randomly selected, it is believed by many both inside and outside the Navy that this was in reference to the fictional Utopia Planitia Shipyard from Star Trek. Under its civilian use, the fleet yard is the main construction point of nearly all extra-solar insulation, including most major helium-3 collector stations, cargo ships, and civilian travel ships. The Martian Utopia Fleet yard had become the symbol of Terran industry.
Its status as the logistical foundation of the growing Terran Navy has also made it out as the heart of the Terran military industrial complex. In early 2148, a major terrorist attack by rebel forces on Earth succeeded in striking the yard and destroying several shipyards, dry docks, and the hull of the original twenty seventh flagship, the FSS Prime of Terra. The attack became the opening start of the Great Revival on Earth and led to the massive physical and communications black out of the Sol system during the war. During the war, it served as the main resupply port of the military deployed on Earth. Though damages in the long run were small and quickly repaired, the loss of two hundred-personnel, a hundred and twenty of which were civilians, has placed internal and external security at a high priority. In 2150 Resiliency Day, the name was officially changed from 'Martian Naval Fleet yard' to 'Martian Utopia Fleet yard' in honor of those who died in the attack with the dedication of looking forward to a brighter future.
As the largest fleet yard in the Federation, it is the site of construction of nearly half of the current Terran Navy. At its construction peak, nearly two thousand ships were built and left its ports a month. Most docks are currently used for maintenance. The Sol Fleet and the First, Fourth, and Fifth Fleet rely on Utopia for regular maintenance. Its location is also the main defense line between Earth and the outer solar system, and serves as a launch point between Earth and the rest of the galaxy for the military. Two starbases flank the main are on either end of the Utopia Planitia to guard the fleet yard. Two thousand ships from the Sol Fleet are actively guarding the yards at all times…
Last Edited 31 May 2167 15:19 UTC
Section 14 Communications: From: UNKNOWN – To: Martian Terraform Relay. Date: June 14, 2167 00:00 UTC; Subject: UNKNOWN;
This… this is unacceptable. We served for decades to protect the Federation. We were the shadow, the shadow of Humanity! We protected Humanity, the Terran race! But just hours ago, the government of man, by the Terrans, for the Terrans, made a fatal mistake. The government has lost its way. It is filled with traitors that would allow a disease to destroy us. They diluted the Founders' vision, and forgotten why they truly founded the Federation.
We have always known we are not alone. It is why we made Humanity, Terra strong! Without Section 14, without our will to survive, we would still be a pitiful race on a dying world. But thanks to all of you, our brave men and women of the Terran race, we are masters of our dominion, short only to the Protheans. We have laid down the works to a great empire. Many have already laid down their lives for the future they believed in. Mother Terra… is our Rome. Charon and the mass relays are our trails to the stars. We are Earth's finest legion, ready to bring a great 'Pax Terra' to the galaxy. Ready… to save the galaxy!
Will we allow savages into our ranks? Will we so willingly give up what makes us Terran? The Federation is dying. No group that stands claim to the great nation or the firm earth can save us. We are what is left to ensure the survival and prosperity of Humanity. We are the best she has to offer. We are her Prime.
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ A/N \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Hi everyone.
As of this update,
it is the Three Month anniversary
since I began telling the story about
The Terran Gambit.
Thank you to all of my readers,
I sincerely hope you all have been enjoying.
I aim to give you a great story
of man's first great gambit to fight the Reapers.
A special thanks to my beta reader,
who's great help has ensured me to provide
the highest possible quality
of writing for you all to read.
There's a long tale ahead,
so stay tuned and enjoy!
And always feel free to review.
If you have any questions that the story didn't answer,
Go ahead and PM me.
I'd be glad to answer them.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\