I don't own the Mass Effect.
Operation: Legend's War
Automated Burst Transmission
Origin: Team Blue-Three
Location: Cala's Hostel, Reshu System, Dark Rim
Cause: All team heart monitors report no activity
Content: Final audio transcript
Massani, Zaeed: Well, that was a goddamned thing.
T'Auriel, Cessa: Quite... I suppose I owe Aria an apology. Are any of them still breathing?
Massani, Zaeed: This bitch is still twitching.
- sounds of movement, footfalls; analyzation indicates light armor upon stone flooring
Unknown Turian: She's not long for the galaxy my Queen. Should we preserve her for a mind-rip?
T'Auriel, Cessa: No. Nightwind agents have measures in place to prevent such things... and the bitch tried to kill someone I care for. Let her feel the pain.
Massani, Zaeed: You're a goddamned sweetheart love.
T'Auriel, Cessa: Sweet talker. You're only saying that because I'm covered in blood.
Massani, Zaeed: I've said it when you're wearin' a lot less.
Unknown Turian: - cough – My queen... what should we do with the assassins?
T'Auriel, Cessa: Strip the bodies, then take them into the wild. They do not deserve a pyre or even a grave. I will convene the Court to determine our best method of replying in kind. Dear Zaeed... I know it isn't your favorite place, but could you?
Massani, Zaeed: Ahhh shit. Yeah, I'll go talk with the bitch. Might have a few other contacts still breathin', will see what they know.
The Silver Blade
Date: 11-14-2187
Location: New Progress, Horizon, Iera System, Attican Traverse
This wasn't the kind of fight that I enjoyed... this wasn't the kind of fight that anyone enjoyed.
Considering that we were defending a fixed objective against known enemies, in territory we knew, this was unusual for me. Normally I would be all in on such an engagement, and be entirely content in devising ways to kill the idiots trying to assail us. The problem was that the position was just that bad even before you got into the increasingly clear technological advantage that the Collectors held over us.
Our engineers had designed the hallways with occasional firing positions to better defend the narrow corridors, but they had mostly been an afterthought this far into the base. As far as we'd been concerned when we'd built this stupid facility, if an enemy got this far in, whoever was still inside was pretty much fucked. Hence the escape stairwell that we'd installed, and which we'd confirmed remained sealed and locked.
What that meant practically was that we had no real ability to establish a cross-fire, or even a reasonable firing line. And we had to defend both fucking directions of the hallway. About the only thing we had in our favor was that Shepard's team was keeping the area behind us clear, so we weren't defending three directions at once.
The confined space did give us a few advantages however. Our attackers had just as little cover as we did, and the narrow hallways made the fragments from our mines and grenades ricochet around nicely.
Husks and pieces of husks struck the floor and walls as my grenade detonated, those few that were still partially upright dropping as I carefully put heavy rounds from my pistol into each one. Unfortunately, without their bodies in the way the Geth behind them had easy access to my person, and I flinched back as darts of energy smacked into my shields.
Voya quickly shifted past me, her tech launcher flinging out an overload, the blue disc detonating as she fired bursts from her submachine-gun. "Dropped one, still one in the alcove, three at the end of the hall."
"Shyeel?" I asked as I stepped back, letting her hug the corner, impatiently waiting for my barriers to recharge.
"Holding off three!" The Asari Reyja'krem shouted back from where she was sitting in a firing alcove about six meters in the other direction. As the only one of us who could flash-step her way out of trouble, she'd drawn that assignment while Voya and I held the other direction, our place closer to the relative security of the CIC.
The heavy cracks of her carbine, she'd sensibly left her Kishok in the command center, punctuated her follow-up commentary. "All conventional!"
I grimaced at that. This was the second 'push', the first having been a large group of husks with a few Geth in support, but so far it had all just been standard infantry models. Normally I'd be thankful that we hadn't seen any heavier types, or any Collectors, but without Illyan and her Spitfire to provide us with a heavy weapon I was getting edgy about when they would show.
Voya let out a snapping oath as a torrent of fire collapsed her own shields, and didn't resist when I yanked her back and stepped up to take her place. Exhaling sharply, I glanced around the corner, noted one Geth moving forwards in perfectly smooth motion, moving to join its companion at the forward alcove while the others tried to suppress us.
Grimacing, I let out a tight breath, flicked my thumb to prime a concussive round, then leaned farther out and accepted the shots that promptly focused entirely on my body even as I fired at the exposed Geth. The specialized round didn't knock the heavy machine back or anything to severe, but it did make it stagger slightly as its shields took the blow. I managed two more pulls of the trigger before I had to duck back, my shields entirely drained once more and my technical plates failing, the first of which finished off its barriers, the second struck it in the left shoulder and sheered the arm away.
The Geth let out a squall of electronic noise as I pulled my head back, "Another at the alcove, its arm and rifle are on the ground."
"Shift." Voya quickly moved to replace me, her omni-tool already lit up and ready. I had taken half a step when Shyeel let out a vicious oath.
"They're charging you!" The shout was immediately followed by a torrent of fire from her direction, the Geth likely keeping her in place while their fellows rushed in our direction.
Voya fired her overload blind, the blue disc snapping around the corner, the sound of its detonation entirely inaudible over the sound of gunfire, but the blue flash indicating that it must have struck something. That something evidently wasn't the one-armed Geth because it all but exploded around the corner, an omni-blade extended from its remaining limb as it smoothly drove it towards the lithe Quarian before it.
Rather than stand still and let herself be impaled, Voya twisted aside, firing her weapon one-handed as she did. Given the range, even the pull of the submachine gun didn't overly affect her aim, tracers ripping into the Geth's spindly torso. I had to take a pair of quick steps back as it stumbled and then fell towards me, my own omni-tool spinning up as I primed an overload.
The next Geth was already advancing around the corner, its rifle up and ready, slight scorch marks indicating that it had been the one to take Voya's technical mine. My own struck it before it could fire, the arcs ripping into its systems, a warbling noise escaping as its head-lamp flickered out. Not trusting that it wouldn't have some kind of reset capability, I moved the fingers of my left hand in another gesture and sent an incinerate after it.
Geth platforms three and four arrived as the explosion blew the downed machine into several parts, their rifles already locked onto our positions... yet another problem with fighting the fucking things, if one knew where you were, all of the keshin did, no matter how quickly you killed the first.
There wasn't any time to exchange words, but Voya and I hardly needed to vocalize our plans.
We both surged forwards, one of her daggers appearing in her free hand, while my war gauntlet flared to life around my own. She was closer to our attackers, took a heavy burst of fire to her coat, then she moved right even as I went left. Each Geth had been locked onto one of us, continued to try and track their respective targets, then froze, reset, and shifted back to the person now actually in front of them.
If we'd been at anything besides point-blank range the half-second shift wouldn't have mattered, but this close even a single heartbeat's worth of time was precious.
I had time to see Voya use her gun as a lever, pushing the Geth's rifle aside to let her close, and then I was entirely occupied with my own target. It managed an aborted burst of fire into my right side, the omni-panels shattering, leaving my armor to take the shots, and then my left fist lashed out to graze along its own right hand. The glancing blow detonated one of the three panels on my gauntlet, knocking the rifle away and twisting its arm aside even as an omni-blade flared into existence around its wrist.
Not about to let it use that effectively, I kept my legs moving, surging into the machine's guard, getting my right arm up and block its own attempt to bring the limb back around to swipe at me. That gave me the time to keep using my left, driving two harder blows into its chest to crack the armor plating, exposing its critical internal components enough for me to twist right and snap-fire a round into its power core as I ducked its now-freed blade.
It collapsed a second or so before Voya's did, her blade having cut apart the exposed myomer strands, letting her execute it once it had gone prone.
"Shyeel, stat-" Was as far as I managed to get into my question before the double-explosion of one of our heavy mines went off, the sound swiftly followed by more electronic shrieks and slow, precise gunfire. "...you had to use it?"
A blue flash heralded Shyeel staggering into view, her armor looking as battered as my own, "Yeah, fuckers tried to get a pair of Hunters on top of me while the others went for you."
I grimaced. That had been Illyan's mine, and our last one since Shyeel and Voya had planted theirs on Vakarian's side of the CIC. "Right, get back here, Voya? Help patch her up, I'll stand watch."
The two women fell back, the Asari sinking down to catch her breath while Voya started rummaging around in the three packs we'd left near the doorway. While they worked, I cautiously moved back into the main hall, pulling out technical mines from my launcher to create a few more make-shift traps. A pair of overloads went into the alcove nearer to the tunnel that had brought us down, with an identical setup about five meters past Shyeel's main position.
"Kean," Shepard's voice carried over our comms as I was finishing the second setup. "Update?"
"Put down two waves." I informed her, "Mixed husks and Geth. We're getting battered but no wounds yet. Your position?"
"We hit the group that redirected towards the power plant, Grunt took a few hits but nothing he's not shrugging off." She replied, "Lawson is holding, Garrus has yet to have anyone head in his direction."
My lips twisted a little. Bloody typical, of course that ass wasn't under siege along with the rest of us. "If he's not being bothered I could use a fourth."
There was a long pause, "If there isn't a push in his direction the next time you're attacked, tell him to send James or Ash to support you."
"Confirmed." I replied, falling back to our hall in time to see Shyeel with her helmet up just enough to expose her mouth, half a ration bar sticking out from her lips as she worked on the so-called food.
In either case my request for help turned out to not matter, as the probing attacks against our perimeter shifted towards Vakarian's side while we didn't have anything more severe than a couple of hover-drones. The little things continuously bobbed in an out of cover, firing off short bursts, clearly present merely to keep us honest and unable to go and reinforce the others. While Voya amused herself by sniping back at them, Shyeel got back into her alcove while I listened to the various reports coming in.
Much like our own attacks, Vakarian and the pair of marines were dealing with a mixed assortment of Husks and Geth, and handling them well enough. The same couldn't be said of Lawson at the power plant, as it was becoming increasingly clear that the Collectors considered that to be the more important location, and she was facing an almost continuous assault. That focus made sense when the lights flickered fifteen minutes later, EDI reporting that the base had been cut off from the city's main grid, meaning that the only GTS defenses still active and under our control were those within the perimeter.
Shepard had quickly moved to reinforce her, blocking off an effort to get into the core through a secondary entrance, but the pressure had only seemed to increase on the both of them as a result. Initial waves of husks gave way to Geth of several types, along with reports from EDI that Collectors were starting to move out from their positions at the various exits to the underground. None were heading in our direction, or Vakarian's... but that left Lawson and Shep in an even worse position.
"Kean." The Spectre's voice was taught after the AI's information. "I need Garrus here, can you hold?"
I exhaled sharply through my teeth, but couldn't exactly deny that she needed reinforcements. Losing the power plant would fuck over the entire plan just as losing the CIC would. "We'll find out. Voya, you're with me. Doctor Solus, I'm going to need you to backup Shyeel."
"Confirmed." The Salarian replied promptly, emerging from the CIC even as Voya and I got moving in that direction.
Inside found Illyan and Nikita still unconscious and/or drugged, though there was pair of hypo on a console nearby along with a small slip of paper, upon which neat handwriting read, 'Emergency Wake-Up'. I grimaced a little, determined not to use either one unless the situation was so bad that we needed the wounded women to defend the room. As much as I trusted Illyan's ability as a combatant, she'd be barely able to move with her leg like that, and Korolev would be entirely off balance thanks to the six or seven inch stub she had instead of a right arm.
Bypassing them, we exited on the other side of the room to find a straight-shot hallway, Vakarian secure behind a piece of wall plating that had been torn free to act as make-shift cover, while Williams and Vega were firing from doorways just ahead of him. Opposing them was a respectable number of dead husks, a pair of downed Hunters, and a few standard platforms that were still upright, mostly in cover within their own doorways, and retaliating as our 'allies' fired at them.
"Ash, Vega, fall back!" The Turian barked the moment he noticed our arrival, backing away as I shifted around him to take his place, falling to a knee and steadying my pistol on the torn plating as I opened fire.
Williams retreated first, sprinting with commendable alacrity past me while Vega and I provided covering fire. Once she was past, Voya darted forwards to take her place, her light weapon chattering once she got settled. The giant form that was Vega took that as his cue, but commendably assisted his own retreat by quickly throwing out a pair of fragmentation grenades, forcing the Geth to retreat deeper into the conference and storage rooms they were using as cover.
And then the pair of us were alone as the three of them departed, hauling their asses to reinforce the others.
"Time?" Voya called as she sent an overload out, the alert Geth managing to get its synthetic body into cover before the tiny grenade could strike it.
I glanced at the bottom corner of my HUD. "Seven minutes."
She made a mewling sound that carried across her mic, "Assuming they actually show."
"Assuming that." I muttered, grimacing as a plasma dart skipped off my helmet, and putting a solid slug through a flashlight head in retaliation before ducking entirely into cover.
The next five minutes proceeded with a kind of rhythm, Voya and I mixing technical mines and gunfire to keep the Geth back, the Geth keeping up a steady barrage to keep us in place while they tried to advance closer, and once attempting to cover for a Hunter. If the thing hadn't gotten hit by a few stray rounds from Voya's Tempest it would have probably gotten right up to her, but as it was we put it down with combination of grenades before it could do more than singe the armor on her right arm.
Still, while we put down a good six or seven Geth between us, the damage quickly accumulated in return. Our shields were perpetually low, our omni-plating reduced to just the priority sections over our chests and thighs as the power draw of reforming them became too much for our systems, we were both completely out of high-explosive grenades, and, just to top things off, we were running very low on technical mines.
Then we found out that our help had arrived a couple of minutes early.
"Attention." EDI's voice was irrationally calm despite the fighting she was undoubtedly involved in, "The system relay is cycling for incoming traffic. Energy shadows indicate a large number of vessels are incoming... first ship has arrived, IFF identifies it as a member of Ha'diq ul Ajin's force."
Something eased a little inside of my chest. I hadn't been entirely sure that the pirates would actually show up, and my paranoia eased slightly to know that reinforcements were actually en route and that our plans were going to complete shit for once.
"Warning. All perimeter guards are proceeding at speed into the facility. All squads should expect increased contact within the next one hundred and eighty seconds."
Ah, that was more typical. Good old Athame, making sure the galaxy continued to be dragged through the deeps.
My attention became entirely embroiled in the immediate as the Geth reacted to some unseen signal, their sporadic efforts to keep the two of us pinned in place suddenly sharpening into something concise utterly focused. They must have had a minimal number of programs actually operating the various platforms in front of us, not feeling the need to allocate many to achieve the simple goal, but now the circumstances had changed.
What had been a, though difficult, not overly dangerous situation abruptly became so as the five remaining Geth all shifted out of sight for a handful of breaths, then began firing in sequence.
Two each poured a torrent of fire at Voya and I, while the fifth used the covering fire to dart forwards to the doorway nearest to my companion before the fire abruptly slackened. I started to rise, fully intending to cut loose with as many tech mines as I could, then cursed and hauled my head back down as the Geth promptly resumed their barrage.
Fuckers had baited us, and a single risky glance confirmed that another two had used the fact that we'd both had to conceal ourselves to rush forwards as well.
"We have to pull back!" I snapped, "Cloak and retreat, get the Spitfire!"
Voya clicked her mic in reply, air rippling as she vanished and then tore off at a sprint the next moment that there was a lessening to the fire. I snapped my left arm around my cover and triggered an overload to cover her, the mine making two platforms flinch back, but the other three simply shifted to focus on me, and I saw heat-sinks fly free from their weapons as they rapidly replaced them before resuming the attack.
Keeping a firm count was a pain in the ass, but necessary to give Voya enough time to get inside, grab Illyan's gun, and then heave the massive thing onto a console or table to let her steady it. Popping up and down another pair of times let me fire a concussive round to short out a platform's shields, and to batter its armored chest, at the expense of my shields remaining critically low.
At one minute, I triggered two more overloads blind, sending them at the doorways I'd last seen the platforms at, grimaced as I realized that left me with a meager six, and the fired another anyway just to occupy them while I rose and threw myself for the CIC. My little barrage evidently disrupted them enough for me to survive, but only just. Warnings shrieked as my shields finished collapsing, the technical panels on my back shattering a heartbeat later, my emergency shields covering me for about two long steps, and then I was getting smacked in the spine repeatedly as my armor did its damnedest to stop the rounds from penetrating into me.
Scrambling inside, I threw myself around the doorway's edge, trying to ignore the rash of red now coloring my HUD. "Voya!?"
In response she simply held the trigger of the light-machine gun down, flicking her long thumb to occasionally add a technical mine to the deluge. She'd heaved the thing up and onto the main holographic table, ignoring the usual grips in favor of simply using her shoulder to nudge the large weapon back and forth as she sprayed fire.
"Three down, one damaged." She reported not long after, having evidently had little difficulty aiming despite the situation. "Got lucky, they tried to pursue you."
I grunted, breathing a little heavily. My armor might have held but only just; my back was going to be a mess of bruises. "The last?"
Another set of rounds thundered out in response, followed by a pair of orange flashes and the dual-cracks of the incinerates going off. "...also down."
"Good job." I managed in between breaths, "Shyeel, we had to pull back a bit, how's your end?"
"Still holding." She reported, "Few husks and a Hunter but nothing major yet. Those damned hover things are still around though, can't risk pulling back."
"Keep them busy." I agreed. Last thing we needed was the fast little things getting in here to attack our wounded, or for them to flit off to the plant and attack Shepard or Lawson from behind.
"Movement." Voya's warning stopped me before I could even try to contact the Spectre or Frankenstein and see what was going on at the other sight. "Just ducked back... think it's a bug."
"Athame's..." I exhaled between my teeth. "Pin it."
Cautious five and six round bursts was her reply to that, keeping the weapon's heat down even as she made them recognize that we'd seen them. Still, her position wasn't very good, the glowing table probably highlighting her nicely, and she wouldn't be able to stay there for long... but fuck, we couldn't exactly use any of our usual tactics in this situation.
Retreat was impossible, given Illyan and Korolev's wounds, and with the room's controls critical. Advancing to buy time and space was equally impossible, they'd kept us penned in too neatly, and we lacked the numbers or explosives to force the issue. Help was on the way from the Relay, but that was still going to take time, and I doubted that we'd get anything from the other teams.
That pretty much left sitting here and taking the punishment as our only real option.
"Swap with me." I made the snap decision a breath later. While Voya might have been as physically strong as I was, Quarians didn't have anywhere near the stamina. She was covering it with the ease of experience, but I knew her well enough to tell that she was more than slightly exhausted.
She nodded in agreement almost at once, letting go of the heavy weapon as I pushed off from the wall. While I quickly got settled, and adjusted what power my armor had left to focus my technical panels around my head and chest, my companion ghosted over to where I had been.
We had had barely gotten set up when the Collector made its appearance, golden darts shrieking down the hall in my direction. Thankfully the corrupted Prothean was still organic enough to miss, unlike the bloody Geth, and only a few of the rounds smacked into me as I replied in kind. The tracer rounds skipped off of its own shields even as my own collapsed, again, but it quickly ducked back all the same.
Growling a little, I slid the weapon to the right as much as I could, hoping the slight position shift would save my skull from a sniper round or particle lance. But rather than anything so final, the Collectors elected to act like traditional infantry.
Our first friend opened fire a few long breaths later, enough time for his shields to recharge, and I retaliated just as several more of the spindly aliens surged around him. I shifted my aim immediately and triggered an overload from the weapon's secondary barrel, the combination seeing the lead Collector stumble and then fall as I killed it. Any satisfaction that I might have felt vanished when my omni-panels collapsed and rounds drilled into my chest, cracking the armor and seeing me fall onto my ass as I coughed for air.
"Shyeel!" Voya snapped a heartbeat before her light weapon started chattering, "I need you both in here!"
I shook myself, tried to reach up to grab onto the Spitfire, then nearly lost my bloody hand when a particle lance struck the weapon directly. It didn't so much melt as explode, and only the facts that I was mostly prone, with the lip of the table between me and the gun saved me from serious problems.
As it was the blast still knocked the breath out of me once more, my helmet's systems helping to inform me that pretty much all of my armor was falling apart. I was only vaguely aware of what was happening elsewhere, hearing Voya triggering technical mines in a rapid sequence, hearing Shyeel indicate that she and Mordin were coming.
I returned to reality just in time for two Collectors to storm into the room, one wielding the particle lance, the other something that might have been a submachine gun. Both saw me half-sticking out from behind the wreckage that had been the CIC's main holotable, and instantly sighted in on me even as I hauled myself back behind it entirely. The steady beam of golden light tore into the flooring where I had just been, pursued me through the shredded table, and then cut off when Voya let out a snarling shout.
Taking that as my cue, I heaved myself onto a knee, drawing my pistol in the same motion, and saw her bobbing around the creature as her blades worked, cutting through its organic armor to try and find tendons and vitals. It let out a piercing cry, more rage than pain, and staggered back as it dropped its heavy weapon and tried to use its clawed hands to defend itself.
Ignoring that brawl, I sighted in on the other bug, one of its knees on the ground, its other leg stretched awkwardly to one side. She'd either hamstrung it or caved in its knee as she went past, either way it left me with an easy target. It reeled as my hand cannon blew pieces of its chest apart, then went down when I forced myself to steady my breathing and aim for its skull with round number three.
Voya managed to find a weak-point in her opponent around the same time, a cut near its lower back evidently breaching its unnatural armor and drawing a real sound of pain. She promptly deflected a clumsy punch and twisted her way under its reach to drive her dagger directly into that spot before savagely ripping the blade out at an angle. The Collector dropped, its spine evidently severed, letting her skip back and steady her own aim before she put a round through one of its eyes.
"Another!" The shout came from the back doorway, Shyeel's voice preceding a green flash and the arrival of a robed Collector biotic via flash-step.
The bow-shock slammed into Voya, my lover not all braced for such a blow, and flung her hard into a nearby console. She let out a wheezing sound as she flipped entirely over it, clutching at her chest and coughing violently as she landed on the far side. Shyeel and I reacted instantly, both going for nullifiers, only to see the bug flick its hands out, hurling both grenades out the door before they could detonate near itself.
Shyeel let out an oath and vanished in a haze of blue, exploding back into reality next to him and driving her carbine at its skull. It batted the weapon aside, bending to avoid the gunshot that would have clipped its broad skull, then snapped its attention to me as I rose, another nullifier primed and cycling in my hands.
That turned out not to help much, since instead of throwing the grenade, it simply threw my shield-less ass into the far wall and backed away rapidly, avoiding the worst of the effect even as I collided with the Butcher and his frozen Corsair friends. It didn't, however, avoid Shyeel activating her armor's one-shot system, its barrier flickering and dying as she dropped her gun, drew her blade, and then lunged back into close combat range.
I could admire her blade-work, and the Collector's ability to respond with a blade that had extended from its own wrist, from my place on the floor.
Though honestly, the most impressive part was the old Salarian doctor's arrival. I hadn't had any idea that he'd had a tactical cloak setup in his armor, but couldn't deny its usefulness when he simply appeared behind the engaged bug. I expected him to simply shoot it or perhaps try and drug it... but instead he grabbed a nearby chair, spun himself twice to build up some momentum, and then slammed the thing over the Collector's head.
"Thanks Doc." Shyeel gasped as she staggered forwards, bringing her sword up and igniting the eezo lattice. It was only then that I noticed that her armor was far more battered than I'd last seen it, as was Solus', clearly they'd had far more than a few platforms to worry about at their end. Her burning blue blade came down with a finality, her tired words accompanying it. "Seal the doors, would you?"
"Of course, of course." He moved with far more stiffness to his gait than I was used to, but managed to seal both exits in good time.
While he was thusly occupied, I managed to extricate myself from the rigid idiots, though I needed to grab a nearby chair of my own in order to lever myself up to my feet. "...fucking... ow. Voya?"
There was a ragged gasp in reply, "Hurts... you... idiot... male."
I wheezed out something that was supposed to be a laugh, but from the way Shyeel's helmet swung towards me, and then towards Voya, it didn't to much to advertise my own health. "Cie, you all right?"
"Hurts. Everything, will live. Check on Voya." Mordin bustled past me, clearly already on his way to do just that. Leaving him to it, I kept my attention on the Asari. "You?"
"No Collectors, just Geth on our side. Group of Hunters." She waved a hand at her battered armor. "Out of grenades, they trashed my pistol and Solus' gun, was going to pull back when she called us in."
I grunted. "Check Illyan and Nikita for technicals... mine-traps at the doors. Have to alert Shepard and-"
"You have to sit down." She interrupted, sheathing her sword and stepping around wreckage and bodies to get to me. I glared at her through my visor and tried to bat her hand away, only for her to easily ignore the blow and grab my shoulder. A moment later she'd pushed me into the chair that had been keeping me upright, graciously allowing it to continue to do so. "I'll see what I can do with the doors, stay put until he can check you."
That... sounded a lot better now that I was sitting down, so I nodded slightly, winced as something in my back spasmed a bit, then got my omni-tool going.
"Shepard, Kean."
"Sitrep." Her voice came through clearly, without any accompanying music of battle, but her tones were... off, flat, emotionless.
"Still hold the CIC, but all of us are wounded." I managed, "Had to seal ourselves in."
There was a quiet murmuring as she lowered the gain on her mic, speaking to someone else before returning, "Miranda indicates that there aren't any more in the building, the rest of pulling away from the complex entirely... grabbing as many people as they can in the process."
I opened my mouth to thank the goddess for small favors, registered the second part of her sentence, and bit my tongue before I could say anything. Not that I still didn't appreciate the fact that the Collectors and Geth were evidently clearing out of the city, but something in her voice told me that Mount Shepard would explode if I didn't act with a little tact for once.
She continued, evidently unaware of what I'd almost said in response. "Maintain your position and see to your people... I'm sending Liara and Ash to you to escort Mordin here as soon as he can be spared, we've got wounded as well."
"All right." I frowned a little, my battered brain putting pieces together before the wave hit the beach, "Who did we lose?"
"EDI's platform is gone... so is Jacob." Shepard sucked in a tight breath. "We might lose Kasumi and Garrus."
I winced. I didn't like Garrus much, but I couldn't deny his importance to Shepard... and I was becoming rather fond of Kasumi. "I'll send Mordin as soon as the escort gets here, our wounds aren't serious in comparison."
For a few long breaths there was nothing, then she made a quiet noise. "Thank you. Without EDI we don't have a link to the Normandy, or your people. See if you can get any of the communications working, otherwise we'll have to hold position until they land."
Clicking my mic in response, I disconnected from the channel and started looking around for the right console.
Combat Log; SBS Reliant
Engagement: New Canton; Collector Attack
Date: 11-14-2187
Naval engagement above New Canton proceeded according to the prearranged plan with Admiral ul Verein. The Xenthan Imperial battle-group approached in the lead, following a high-angle line that drew the Collector and Geth group away from the colony and ensured minimal ground-side damage.
Opposing forces were far lighter in numbers than those recorded at Horizon and threat estimate was minimal as a result. Geth screening vessels were destroyed in detail first, retaliatory fire caused light damage to several Imperial ships. Collector ships did not engage even as Geth warships reached knife-fighting distance.
Battle progressed as the Reliant and Headsman entered combat range, destroying two Geth cruiser analogs. The remainder of Geth forces were destroyed by the Imperial group at roughly the same time, leaving only three Collector vessels in orbit and two upon the ground.
Those ships in orbit fled to FTL after a few desultory shots from our combined fleet harassed their shields, they did not reply with any weapons systems.
Given the position of the Collector vessels near the colony's prime city, and the hope that they could disabled and boarded while still on the ground, the decision to forgo bombardment was made and troop landings began under Exec. Cmdr. Ul Massa's direction.
Next up is Legend's War V
And phase one of the battle for Horizon wraps up. With the commando action completed, we'll be moving into the full battle next, followed up by the oh-so delightful aftermath.
Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
Thanks, Kat
Review Responses:
rfpizzle → Miranda was the only canon character seriously considered as a viable romantic interest for Cie, back when the Blocked Writer and I were discussing how things were going to play out on that front several stories ago, to the point where the two of them hooking up was in the original chapter-by-chapter outline of this story. That's obviously out the window at this point, but their interaction is one that I enjoy writing.
On Ashley; I always thought that Ash was a viable Spectre replacement, especially when framed in the context of her replacing Shepard. Ash is known to be a highly skilled marine, but also someone whose loyalty to the Alliance is unshakable, and whose motivation to repair her family name is utterly transparent. She, unlike Shepard, is very unlikely to ever put Spectre or Council interests ahead of Alliance interests.
That would greatly appeal to Alliance leaders who, with an extra two years of having to deal with Shepard's harping on Saren, the Reapers, and her tendency to use her Spectre authority in ways that the SA disapproved of, would be entirely too happy to have someone more... reliable as their next Spectre.