Bioware owns Mass Effect. The OC's are mine.
Chapter 25 - Hope Survives, Day 4 Night
Lieutenant Jeff Harbeck gritted his teeth as he flew the UT-47A, his fingers flying over the holographic console, the Alliance shuttle doing a barrel roll to avoid a snap from a passing Harvester, the roar of the miniguns from the port and starboard side of the shuttle as Tech Specialist, Second Class Vona Arterius and Captain Preitor Gavorn shot at either the incoming flyers, or the ground forces that occupied below them. They were currently flying over the firebase in which they had come from that morning, doing their best to stem the tide of forces that were doing their best to overrun the beleaguered outpost in the middle of nowhere. After the eight members of the Chaos Legion had safely made it into the Command and Control Center, Jeff had flown the shuttle back to the firebase, intent to save as many as possible. The Uvaks and the other shuttle had been a wonderful addition to the forces in the firebase, and Jeff knew that their own shuttle, along with the two Turians manning the miniguns, would be appreciated. Vona and Preitor had been a credit to their species, shooting at the Reapers with extreme prejudice, keeping as much heat off the firebase as they could. Both shuttles did their best to keep the Harvesters busy, keeping them from picking off the defenders on the wall, or from dropping forces on the inside of the defenses. The Uvaks drove around on the outside, blasting with their cannons and the co-axial guns, running over the smaller Reapers at every opportunity.
There was no denying that there were far too many Reapers for them to handle.
The Alliance pilot launched yet another rocket at a group of Reapers that were trying their best to breech the walls of the firebase, using the remaining rockets conservatively, keeping the Husks, Cannibals, and Marauders from breeching the wall. Brutes still tanked through the enormous crowd of Reaper forces, often drawing the wrath of the tower guns, usually falling quickly as soon as they came within decent effective range. Yet for every one that they killed, it seemed that two more would appear. The towers guns were thankfully fully operational, even if any gunner were taken down; there was always a replacement to take over.
"First Sergeant Actus, we've got more Reaper ground reinforcements coming in from the northeast, half-a-klick." Jeff told over his comm unit, relaying his intel to First Sergeant Karn Actus, the Turian in charge of the firebase. "Numbers are up in the three hundreds. Moving over to gun them down."
"Acknowledged, Chaos Air." The Turians' flanged reply came to his ear. "Break station for half a minute, and mow as many as possible in that time before returning."
"Roger, Top." Jeff replied, using the informal title of First Sergeant. "Gooping with pleasure." The pilot said with a smile as the shuttle banked hard to the left, the Harvester that had been trying to bring the shuttle down roaring in displeasure as the banking maneuver pulled them away from the flying Reaper. Captain Preitor Gavorn put about thirty rounds into the Harvester, stitching its wings and back, sending it crashing into the throng of Reapers, undoubtedly crushing a few as the Turian moved his aim to the Human, Batarian, and Turian variants on the ground. Within a few seconds, Vona and Preitor were blasting the fresh group of Reapers that Jeff identified as the shuttles' cannons went to work as well, taking large chunks of the throng. Within ten seconds, the three hundred had been chopped into pieces, now numbering closer to thirty as the Human pilot banked once more, blasting the Reapers indiscriminately as he flew back towards the firebase, the shuttle doing its best to ease the pressure.
And then something strange started to happen.
"Lieutenant? Do you see what I'm seeing?" Vona Arterius asked over the comm unit, the starboard gun going quiet for a moment, a lull in firing that hadn't happened with the exception of when the female Turian needed to quickly disperse the heat in her minigun. Preitor's gun, too, went silent for a moment as Jeff quit firing the shuttles' cannons, his eyes now looking at the Reaper forces that were littering the ground underneath them.
It didn't seem that they were trying to get into the base so much as they were each other.
It started small, and grew bigger, like a wave. It started in the south, and spread northward, rippling over the mass of Reaper ground forces. It was hard to tell at first, as the Husks, Marauders, and Cannibals stood still for a moment, before they began to attack anything and everything in sight. The mob of Reapers began to go into a blood frenzy, without direction or command, and turned its murderous energy towards its nearest neighbor. Brutes seemed affect as well, though it was hard to tell as dozens of smaller Reapers began mobbing the larger Krogan Reapers, the large arms of the Brutes knocking several back with each swipe, only to be replaced with even more. Harvesters, too, were effective as the flyers began to attack towards the ground, landing into a group of Reapers, their wings, tails, claws, and mouths going into a frenzy, striking anything within range as they too began to be mobbed by the smaller land Reaper forces. Jeff had seen such before, back in that gully when Chorban first tested the Enigma signal.
They had done it.
"FUCK YEAH!" The Lieutenant pilot shouted into his comm, whooping in joy as he did a slow flyby of the firebase, seeing the Turians and the few Humans quickly taking out their aggressors as Reaper attacked Reaper, the few interested in breeching the walls quickly taken out. The top of the walls became crowded as Turian and Human soldier climbed up quickly to see a sight they had never thought they'd ever see; the Reapers turning on one another. Talons and fists went into the air as a cheer of victory was risen from the firebase, a miracle on display. "THEY DID IT, TOP! THE SIGNAL IS ON!"
"I can see, Lieutenant!" There was no mistaking the sound of relief in First Sergeant Karn Actus' flanged voice, the firebase rescued once more. "Cease fire, cease fire, cease fire! All units, repair breeches, perform aid, and trade damaged equipment while we have a chance. Lieutenant? If you could please pick me up? We have a trip to make… and some good friends to pick up."
"With their shields, or on them, Top."
The flight took approximately twelve minutes with both shuttles flying side-by-side, a small squad of Turians in each of the cargo bays split between the shuttles. Master Sergeant Gronnal Skarvus was in the other shuttle, while First Sergeant Karn Actus sat in the co-pilot's chair of Harbeck's shuttle, where Vona Arterius and Preitor Garvon still manned the miniguns. The Command and Control Center came into view, and Jeff whistled at the sight; a mass of dead Reapers surrounding the Tower; all apparently having killed themselves off trying to destroy one another. The amount of them was staggering; there were approximately as many around the Tower as there were at the firebase. Radio chatter from the firebase had informed those on the shuttle that the Reaper forces that had once threatened them all were now almost completely eradicated, teams doing sweeps of the few stragglers that had survived the anarchy caused by the Enigma Signal. The firebase wasn't the only one coming back with such news; other firebases, FOB's, holdouts, and defensive positions were coming back with the same intel. It almost seemed that the wave was going to sweep over the entirety of Menae, and while the signal didn't seem to affect the Oculus or the Reaper ships, it did scramble the hybrid Reaper forces. Another interesting bit of news was coming out as well; some Turians were reporting with going down with headaches, passing out for no apparent reason. Jeff looked over to First Sergeant Actus and mouthed one word, 'Indoctrinated', and the Turian nodded solemnly. No one knew who was Indoctrinated, or what effect it would have on them, but now that they were identified, any future damage they could have done would be completely mitigated as they would undoubtedly be apprehended and sequestered into cells and lockable rooms.
But at the moment, their eyes were on the Tower.
Lieutenant Jeff Harbeck landed the shuttle by the breech in the wall that surrounded the Tower, seeing six figures walking out through the breech, carrying two on what appeared to be make-shift stretchers. The way they walked, the lack of haste, Jeff knew that whoever was being carried was dead. Yet who he saw first had the pilot grinning from ear-to-ear.
"That is one tough Aussie son-of-a-bitch." The pilot told the Turian First Sergeant, Actus's eyes going to what the Canadian saw. "He probably went Crocodile Dundee on them."
"Do I even want to know what a 'Crocodile Dundee' is?" The Turian asked, amused. "Master Sergeant Skarvus? Set up a light perimeter while we collect our Chaos Legion." Ten Turians jumped out of the two shuttles, stepping out several meters with their rifles at the low-ready, their eyes scanning for any threats on the ground or in the air as Karn Actus stepped out, seeing Captain Preitor Gavorn and Tech Specialist, Second Class Vona Arterius, and Lieutenant Jeff Harbeck getting out as well. The four of them moved towards the six members of the Chaos Legion still on their feet, Preitor, Vona, and Jeff moving over to the stretchers to give relief. Together, they carried the two bodies to the shuttles, the Turian First Sergeant seeing the bodies of the Salarian researcher and the Batarian SIU Agent. A look on the surviving members' faces showed the same look upon all their faces; stress, grief, and a bone-weariness that spoke volumes. Yet they were still alive, and they wouldn't stop until they accomplished their last mission; to bring their fallen friends home. Without words or signals, the two stretchers were slid into Harbeck's shuttle with reverence, each member taking a step back from the cargo bay door, each of them giving a moment of silence for the fallen members.
Without another word, Lieutenant Royce Mason tapped each member on the shoulder, indicating for each to get onto the shuttles, pointing to which one for the member to take. Within a minute, the remaining eight members of the Chaos Legion loaded onto the shuttles. The retrieval complete, Actus told Master Sergeant Gronnal Skarvus to collapse the perimeter and have his men load back up into the shuttles so that they could return. Within a few moments, both shuttles were up and in the air, returning to the firebase. First Sergeant turned back from the co-pilot's chair to speak to Lieutenant Royce Mason, to debrief him on all that was going on, and stopped when he saw how the Australian-born man was. With a Turian smile, he tapped Jeff, and pointed to the pilot what he had seen. The Canadian looked back, and snorted at first, and his face broke into a smile as well.
"That's the second best thing I've seen in this war." The pilot announced, looking over to the Turian who occupied the cockpit with him. "They've earned it in my book."
"I agree." Actus said, turning back to the front, looking out to the display that showed them the moonscape of Menae as they flew. "Because of them, today we won back Menae. Tomorrow is a new day, Lieutenant, but today we have a victory we should be proud of. Because of ten people of different origins and species, we Turians have our largest moon back. I dare say they've more than earned it in everyone's book." Though his words were done, Karn Actus' thoughts were nowhere close to being done. That the Enigma Singal worked was only a part of it; what they could do with it would be interesting as well. Yet he thought back at what he had seen, a touch of the very future they were fighting for just right behind him. If such a think can happen in the middle of a war, the Turian First Sergeant thought to himself ruefully, then perhaps there is hope for us all. The sight came back to him quickly; the sight of Human and Asari sitting next to one another, both passed out on the shuttle from exhaustion, one blue hand and one pink one held together, fingers intertwined, the Asari's head on the Human's shoulder, while the Human's rested on hers.
Hope survives, and fights on. Actus thought with a smile of his mandibles. And it rides with the name 'Chaos Legion'.
-FINE-