A Matter of Race and Character
SIEGE: Part One
Engineer D'Ceni's Quarters, Entarus Station, Gellix – 09:50 UTC – 26th February 2183 CE
The day started with a call.
Erata hovered by her console, warily eying the bleeping red light indicating that someone was on the link ready to talk to her. Erata was letting them wait.
She turned away from the computer, trying to delay taking the call for as long as possible and gazed out through her quarters' observation window.
The storm had finally blown itself out. The blazing sunlight glistened off the fresh covering of glacial snow and ice Entarus Station was built upon. The sky was a rich azure-cyan; the firmament uninterrupted by clouds and the air so crisp and clear that Erata could see all the way to the Atrullian Mountains on the far horizon, the high peaks glowing orange in the dawn light. It was a perfect day, and never had Erata been so unhappy to see such a stunning vista.
In its own way Gellix was a staggeringly beautiful world.
Will this be the last planet I ever visit? she wondered.
The soft beep from her console sounded again, a constant reminder of the inevitable reality she had to face.
Erata closed her eyes, letting the view settle into her mind's eye, then straightened her back and finally turned to her monitor.
She activated the call waiting button.
The familiar (but unwelcome) face of the Government appointed D'Ceni family doctor appeared on the screen, the Matron's pale mottled face creased with frown lines.
"Doctor." Erata inclined her head as she slipped into her seat, worried her legs might not support her if the news was bad.
"Ms. D'Ceni…" The doctor replied officiously.
'Ms.' D'Ceni, Erata silently noted. Is that a bad sign?
The doctor paused. "I am calling to inform you that we have made a ruling in your case."
Erata gave a mute nod.
"Before we start, let me apologise for the delay. The Unit and the Matriarchs demand irrefutable evidence before any judgement can be made – our decisions impact the lives of thousands of citizens, after all – and your case has been complicated by your circumstances."
Erata licked her lips, trying to stir some moisture around her dry mouth. "I am prepared to accept whatever verdict the Unit has reached."
Erata made a silent prayer to Athame, Oh Goddess, help me!
"On behalf of the Unit, please allow me to express our appreciation for your patience and cooperation in this matter. These assessments are difficult for everyone concerned; not least the individual under investigation."
The doctor, ever the sadist, paused for a long moment as she made a deliberate show of picking up her computer tablet before studiously examining its contents.
"I have your results here." She paused again.
Erata was gripping her chair's armrests so hard her knuckles had gone white.
The doctor cleared her throat. "In the investigation of Republic citizen, Order of Serrice Engineer Erata D'Ceni, on suspicion of suffering from active Ardat-Yakshi genomes, the City of Usaru AY Recognition Unit has determin…"
The screen clicked to black.
The link had gone.
Momentarily stunned, Erata stared unblinking at the monitor.
A small block of typescript appeared. It read, Disconnected from Gellix comm-buoy.
Erata leaned forward and hurriedly tapped away at the interface, becoming more and more frantic when she couldn't re-establish the link.
"NOO!"
Erata surged to her feet and practically screamed at her console.
"No, not now! Don't crash on me now, you piece of cüɵmt!"
Then she heard the explosion.
Her head snapped towards the sound.
She glanced out of the window and saw a ball of orange flame where the communications array had been.
Then something long and bright flashed past her window. She recognised it as a missile!
Another explosion resonated through the base. Erata barely had time to throw herself flat before the shockwave blew out the windows.
Erata shielded her head against the spray of glass and the sudden gust of freezing air blowing into her room.
She was still lying on the floor when the GQ alarm sounded and Lieutenant Aelius' voice boomed over the intercom.
"Man your stations! Man your stations! This is not a drill!"
Erata rose and bolted for the door. She rushed into the corridor, the hallway already bustling with turian staff running towards the main hanger. Erata could hear the clipped sound of bullets ricocheting off the base's armoured exterior.
"Arm yourselves! Prepare for battle! We are under attack!" Aelius' voice advised.
Erata frowned at the Lieutenant's gift for understatement.
No kidding!
Tyrus Rear Cabin, 7 Kilometres South-West of Entarus Station – 09:51 UTC
As far as Gabby could tell, the only benefit of going out on patrol was to break the monotony of working on the base. It was a well-known fact that Gellix was so sparsely populated you could drive from Entarus Station in any direction and rarely encounter another soul for hundreds of kilometres.
Gabby sat in the lead vehicle's cabin, somewhat removed from the four soldiers, officially there as her protectors – although 'wardens' might have been a better description – the human's attention focused on the engineer sat on the bench opposite. Gabby couldn't help but smile in amusement as she watched Pella gently massaging her bruised forehead.
"Jerash again?" Gabby asked, indicating Pella's fringe.
"Yeah," Pella replied, letting her hand drop. "She cornered me just outside the Mess to say hello. But I don't mind so much really."
"Oh? The other day you were complaining that she wanted to give you a back rub."
"That was before…" Pella stopped herself.
"Before what?"
Pella looked slightly guilty. She leaned in close and lowered her voice so the guards wouldn't overhear. "Well… I thought there was something wrong with her behaviour, so the other day I… I snuck a peek at her personnel file…"
"And?"
"… She has Folgar syndrome."
Gabby frowned. "What's that?"
"A neurodevelopmental disorder. It affects a person's ability to interact with the world around them, especially in social situations. I did some checking on the extranet and the human equivalent is a condition you call Asperger's."
"Oh!" Gabby's eyes widened. "Well, I'm surprised the Hierarchy would send her out to a planet like Gellix."
"That's the thing. She volunteered."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. The barren environment, the daily routine on the base – she actually prefers it. According to her file she has a genius level IQ and her knowledge of alien species is encyclopaedic. That's why she was selected to be Liaison Officer."
"Wow!" Gabby smiled in admiration. "Well, she's serving the Hierarchy and making a difference doing what she loves. Good for her."
Their conversation was interrupted by the driver turning in his seat and calling out to the group leader.
"Sir, we just lost contact with Entarus Station!"
"Are we in a signal black-zone?" the leader asked.
"No, sir. I'm not getting the tone from the Entarus navigation beacon. It's like the station just dropped off the map."
"Contact Anapondus and see if they can get through to Entarus. It might be a technical issue at the base." He turned to his fellow guards. "Weapons check," he ordered. The guards obediently gave their rifles the once over. "Better to be prepared than be caught napping."
The driver turned his head again. "Sir, I can't raise Anapondus either."
The leader frowned. He rose to his feet and approached the driver.
"Contact the other vehicles, inform them we have an issue…"
"Sir!" the driver shouted, pointing out the window.
Gabby craned her head to see where he was pointing.
An armoured vehicle had risen over the crest of a hill to their left, followed quickly by three more vehicles. They were heavily armed, although Gabby couldn't identify the make.
The group leader, however, could identify the make. He leaned forward and punched the comm button.
"Enemy tanks, ten O'clock! Ready cannons!" he ordered. "Delta formation. Don't show them your flank!"
The convoy of three Tyrus' turned to face the new vehicles and formed into a line, the two trailing vehicles forming up either side of the lead Tyrus to meet the newcomers head-on.
One of the guards shoved Pella aside to access the cannon controls behind her seat. The rail gun's operator station unfolded and the guard settled into the chair. A holographic HUD appeared around his head.
Pella glanced at the six-wheeled vehicles on the hill, immediately recognizing the hard, slightly asymmetric lines unique to Batarian State Arms manufacturing.
"Those are batarian APC's," she exclaimed. "They're a merc gang!"
"Are you sure?" Gabby asked. "Maybe they're simply mapping the area?"
Flashes erupted from the APCs. They'd opened fire. The Tyrus was rocked back-and-forth as hundreds of heavy-calibre rounds exploded against its shields.
"They're not here for a survey!" The group leader said. He barked into the comm. "Return fire. Wipe those bastards out!"
The three Tyrus' accelerated towards the enemy and launched their offensive.
All hell broke loose.
Gabby covered her ears as the deafening roar of cannon-fire echoed around the cabin.
The C77 Tyrus was a formidable presence on any battlefield, and despite being outnumbered the turian vehicles were more than a match for the enemy. The Armax Arsenal rails guns fired round after round at the underpowered batarian tanks, making short work of their kinetic barriers.
In just a few seconds, the APC on the far right had exploded in a spectacular fireball.
The group leader cast an admiring glance at the cannon operator. "Nice shooting!"
But the crew had little time to celebrate.
Two A-61 Mantis Gunships, identical to the gunships back at Anapondus, suddenly emerged from behind the ridge. The two gunships separated, flying left and right to flank the row of Tyrus'.
They opened fire. A volley of missiles exploded against the row of turian vehicles.
Gabby and Pella hit the deck.
The vehicles were thrown back and forth. A blast close to their left almost tipped them over.
"Barriers down to 30 percent!" the driver yelled.
The group leader regained his balance. "Break formation!" he ordered over the comm. "We're sitting ducks here. Target those gunships. We'll concentrate on the APCs." He turned to the driver. "Head straight through those bastards! Try to scatter them."
"Aye, aye, sir," the driver agreed.
The Tyrus accelerated away from the other two turian vehicles which had now engaged the gunships.
"Covering fire!" the leader bellowed at the cannon operator.
As the Tyrus sped towards the batarian vehicles, the cannon operator let rip, firing the rail cannon and machine guns simultaneously.
The barrage was too much for the enemy tanks and a second APC was quickly blasted to pieces. The two remaining APCs were barely holding together; black smoke was pouring from one of the surviving vehicles. The enemy forces suddenly veered away, splitting either side of the Tyrus to flank them, desperately firing everything they had at the Tyrus.
Caught in the crossfire, the effect on the Tyrus was devastating.
A missile exploded under its rear wheels, lifting it from the ground. The driver yelled out a warning, but his voice was drowned out by the sound of explosions and tearing metal.
The world spun. Gabby felt the floor of the Tyrus lurch beneath her.
The vehicle rolled, throwing the crew painfully around the cabin. Gabby had the odd sensation of falling upwards as she was hurled against the bulkhead. They had finally succumbed to the onslaught.
Momentum drove the Tyrus forward, and after tumbling several times the vehicle finally landed belly-up in the ice.
There was silence.
Gabby's eyes shot open. She gasped, realising she must have blacked-out. She looked around. Her turian crewmates were strewn about the cabin in the chaotic tangle.
Instinctively, Gabby checked for injuries. Her legs and arms were sore but unbroken and her armour seemed to have protected her torso from harm. Only her head was stinging. She probed the skin above the left eye and winced; her fingers came away wet. She was bleeding. Probably only a minor cut but she was likely going to have a serious headache later.
Something gripped her shoulder.
Gabby jumped and looked up. Pella was stooped over her.
"Can you stand?" the turian asked.
Gabby nodded. "I think so."
"The batarians are still out there. We need to get out of the Tyrus. Now!"
Gabby suddenly noticed she couldn't hear the sound of gunfire coming from outside.
Pella looked up at the cannon operator, still fastened to his seat and hanging limp and unmoving upside down. She checked for a pulse.
"He's dead. His neck's broken," she said.
The group leader emerged from the cockpit; the injured driver slumped over his shoulders. "Grab your gear and evacuate before they decide to finish us off," he ordered.
Gabby got to her feet and moved to the exit. But before she'd even touched the door it was wrenched open.
Another turian, armed and in Gellix colours, stood in the doorway. He looked past Gabby towards the group leader.
"Sir!" he yelled with relief. "We were afraid you'd been killed. The enemy's been destroyed. But we're picking up more gunships on the scanners."
The group leader pointed at the dead cannon operator. "Cut him down. We're not leaving him here."
The soldier stepped aside to allow Gabby to exit the wrecked Tyrus and then darted inside the cabin.
Gabby looked at the battlefield, the sunlight glaring off the snow making her squint. The remains of four batarian APCs and two gunships were strewn across the landscape. The two surviving Tyrus' were parked up close, their black armour plating dented and battle-scarred.
Pella emerged from the upturned vehicle, quickly followed by the group leader and the surviving crew of the Tyrus. Within seconds, everyone, including the dead operator, had been evacuated.
"Regroup!" The group leader hustled his team towards the remaining Tyrus'. "We lost contact with Entarus Station. They may be under attack. We're heading back."
The team separated and squeezed themselves into the vehicles. Gabby noticed that the Tyrus' cabin suddenly felt markedly cramped.
The remnants of the convoy set off through the snow. Despite the battle damage, the drivers didn't spare the vehicles and both tanks bounded across the tundra, the Tyrus' reaching well over 140 KPH on the flat.
The journey back to Entarus took barely more than five minutes.
The scanners alerted them to the battle before they saw it.
Gabby craned her head over the driver's shoulder and glanced at the holographic map. A massive cluster of red enemy markers were swarming around the diagram of the base.
"Looks like the mercs have ground and air support. They're trying to find a soft spot," the leader observed.
"What do you want to do, sir?" the driver asked.
"We're gonna give them something else to shoot at!" He turned to his crew. "Weapons hot! Use the cannons to punch a hole through their defences! We're going all the way to the hanger."
"Aye, sir!"
The crew armed themselves. The rail-guns were brought to bear, and the two vehicles accelerated.
Gabby checked the assault rifle she'd been given, a Haliat Armoury model. She was familiar with it, and was surprised to find her hands weren't shaking as she flicked the safety off. The attack had been too sudden for her to feel scared, and the adrenaline flowing through her veins kept her focused. Her mind was strangely calm, and she found she was actually relishing the prospect of taking the fight to the batarians, rather than passively observing the fight from inside a Tyrus.
"In visual range of Entarus," the driver announced.
Gabby looked through the front view screen.
A great plume of smoke was rising into the atmosphere directly above Entarus Station. Gabby could make out at least eight enemy APCs crawling around the base, firing at it from all sides, the tanks supported by a further six Mantis Gunships.
Despite the pounding Entarus Station was taking, the turians were making a spirited defence. The base's automated cannons had taken out at least three enemy tanks and two of the APCs were belching black smoke.
"Delta formation," the leader ordered over the comm. The rear Tyrus accelerated until the two vehicles were driving side-by-side.
The group leader waited until they were within two-hundred metres of the enemy before he gave the order to attack.
"Light 'em up!"
Erata was mad as hell!
She was in the hanger, standing ready behind a concrete barricade with a rifle grasped between her fingers as she listened to the explosions pounding the outer doors. A troop of turian soldiers were spread out around the hanger, ready and waiting in case the enemy breached the base. And at this point, Erata sincerely hoped they did break through into the hanger, because she was ready to kill someone!
Those assholes disrupted my call! I was so close to finding out the truth.
Never in her life had she felt such an overwhelming desire to tear an enemy apart with her biotics. It was a powerful impulse, made all the stronger by the knowledge that both Gabby and Pella were still out there on patrol, most likely being fired upon by these scum-sucking mercenary bastards, their convoy overwhelmed by enemy forces and the survivors probably being taken captive to be sold as slaves… or worse.
If those cüɵmts have hurt Gabby or Pella…
Her whole body flared blue at the thought.
"We've got more vehicles incoming!" a voice suddenly yelled.
Erata looked up. Lieutenant Aelius was at the monitoring station by the main doors. He was watching the battle play out on the bases' active topographic VDU – the enemy highlighted as red dots while friendlies registered as blue thanks to the signal from the Tyrus' IFF (Identify Friend/Foe) device.
Two blue specks were approaching the base at considerable speed.
"It's our patrol!" he announced. With communications down, Aelius quickly scanned the convoy, the scanners registering only turian and human life-signs on-board.
"I'll open the hanger doors when they're outside," Aelius called out. "We've got enemy forces on foot. Be ready to repel them."
Oh, I'm ready, Erata silently agreed.
The army of turian sappers brought their weapons up, forming a defiant thin blue line.
Aelius waited, scrutinising his monitor as he watched the two blue dots attack the enemy. Several red dots disappeared, destroyed under the Tyrus' onslaught. Then the blue dots broke through the enemy line. They came to a halt just outside the hanger doors. Aelius could hear the tell-tale boom of the Tyrus' rail cannons firing.
Aelius hit the switch.
The hanger doors rolled open ponderously slowly.
Two Tyrus' appeared, accompanied by a hail of gunfire.
Erata and the sappers ducked behind the barricades to avoid the bullets. The two vehicles careered into the hanger and drew to a halt. The cabin doors burst open, releasing a squad of adrenaline pumped turian soldiers.
Gabby and Pella followed them out.
Erata turned, watching her friends emerge from the vehicles, the asari thanking Athame that they appeared to be unharmed.
But then her attention snapped back to the hanger doors.
The batarians were invading.
The sappers lay down a barrage of suppressive fire as a swarm of mercs flooded through the slowly – too slowly – closing hanger doors.
Gabby saw the approaching batarians, and, as if in a dream, brought her rifle up to her shoulder and fired.
She remembered only fragments from the battle.
She remembered the voice of the batarian commander as he barked at his troops: "Take the women alive, if you can!"
She recalled the look on Erata's face when the asari projected that singularity into the midst of the enemy forces. The batarians were sucked into the air and flew helplessly around the hanger, becoming easy targets for the turians as they picked them off. Erata was glowing blue and yelling at the top of her lungs. It was the angriest Gabby had ever seen her.
The memory of Khoris getting stabbed was strong. A batarian had got close enough to pull him over the barricade and tackle him to the ground, the merc driving his combat knife into Khoris' neck.
Pella shouted as she jumped into the fray, firing her gun repeatedly at the merc's helmet and reducing his head to pulp.
The engineer then dragged her lover to safety, Khoris clutching his neck to stem the blood gushing between his fingers.
But, most of all, Gabby remembered the moment Jerash was shot.
A merc had somehow managed to vault the barricade on the far side of the hanger and gunned down the Liaison Officer. Jerash was hit in the leg. She cried out and dropped her rifle, blood streaming from the bullet wound in her thigh.
Gabby saw Jerash fall and started running towards her without any conscious thought.
The batarian merc loomed over Jerash. He brought his rifle to bear, aiming the barrel directly at the young woman's head.
The man stared at Jerash and leered …
It was the last time he ever smiled.
A salvo of high-powered rounds hit him square in the chest, destroying his kinetic barrier and turning his armour to Swiss cheese.
Gabby was running and screaming as she fired. She thought it curious how loud her voice was.
"Get away from her, you bastard!"
The man went down under the volley.
Gabby ran to the injured woman and slid her arm underneath Jerash's shoulder. She hauled the turian to her feet, her assault rifle still trained of the dead batarian.
Only then did Gabby register the silence in the room…
Breathing heavily, she gazed around the hanger. A score of bodies lay strewn haphazardly across the floor, the vast majority wearing the black armour of the mercs.
The invaders were dead.
Entarus Station CIC, Gellix – 15:30 UTC
The attackers had withdrawn as quickly as they'd arrived.
Gabby, Erata and Pella stood by holo-display in the crowded CIC – the Command Centre teeming with senior staff – waiting in respectful silence while Lieutenant Aelius scrutinised the damage report he'd been given. Entarus Station had taken a real pounding in the assault, but the base was still standing, which the Lieutenant considered a victory in itself.
Attempts to re-establish the link with Anapondus were still on-going. It had taken four hours to get the long-range scanners back online, and the visiting engineers estimated it would be several days before the comm-link was operational. Entarus Station was cut off from Anapondus, with no way of requesting reinforcements.
Not that Aelius was prepared to wait for reinforcements. Staying bunkered down and licking his wounds was not his style. His strategy in any battle was simple: Take the fight to the enemy! The batarians had caught him off-guard, true, but Aelius wasn't prepared to let that happen again. As soon as his team regrouped he was going on the offensive.
A subordinate approached him and handed him another computer pad.
"Revised casualty report, sir," the man said as he saluted. "Thranfir didn't make it. She passed away a few minutes ago. The doctor couldn't save her."
"Damn! I thought she'd pull through." Aelius scrutinised the pad. Thranfir's gunshot wounds had appeared to be superficial and she was in good spirits when they wheeled her into Medical. There must have been a complication.
"Any word on Officer Abrudas?" Pella asked, real anxiety creeping into her voice.
"Khoris is doing fine, Artificer," Aelius replied, softening his tone. "You saved his life pulling him out of the crossfire. The knife missed the carotid artery. He should make a full recovery."
"Yes, sir. Thank you," Pella said gratefully.
"Just don't expect him to be giving any speeches in the next few days."
"What's the total number of casualties, sir?" Gabby enquired.
"Five KIA. We lost five…" Aelius scowled as he looked at the pad. "That's five too many. But the batarians fared much worse. We've counted forty-eight dead out there. Twenty in the hanger alone." His expression darkened. "We paid them back tenfold."
"Any idea why they attacked us?" Gabby asked.
"No clear motive yet. But it's evident this was a well-coordinated raid. "
"I did hear one of them order the others to 'Take the women alive'," Gabby piped up.
"That's not unusual," Aelius confirmed. "Women of most species tend to command a high price in the slaver markets. The batarian 'caste system' is deeply ingrained in their culture and slavery is an integral part of that." Aelius grunted in disgust. "Misogynistic four-eyed dag-of-dicks! Callous little shits must have been observing the base for a while, planning to hit us when they thought we were most vulnerable. Guess they didn't expect such heavy resistance."
"Could that be why they retreated?" Erata asked.
"I don't believe so." Aelius tapped at the holo-display interface. A topographic graphical overview of Anapondus appeared in mid-air. The capital of Gellix, a compact, densely populated series of modular buildings and low-lying structures housing nearly 8,000 turians had evidently been attacked. Several buildings were in ruins and smoke was pouring from the command centre.
"This is a live relay from our scanners," Aelius explained. "Anapondus was almost certainly hit at the same time as us. They've taken heavy damage." He flicked a switch and the image changed, flowing across the landscape to rest on a throng of about forty armoured tanks and gunships congregating on a hillside not far from the Capital. "I believe the bulk of the forces attacked the Capital. Judging by the feed from the scanners some of the damage to Anapondus may have been caused by orbital bombardment. This was a major offensive. It must have taken a long time to organise so many vehicles."
"Do you think Anapondus have been able to call for help?"
Aelius shook his head. "It looks like their comm-relay has been destroyed, too."
"Our comms were the first to be hit, too," Erata confirmed.
"The batarians have assembled a strong army, but they've suffered heavy losses. By splitting their forces to attack us on all fronts I think they've stretched themselves too thin. Their APCs withdrew from Entarus, but it wasn't because we offered such heavy resistance… It was because Commander Joric was decimating them." Aelius permitted himself a smile. He turned to address his crew.
"Now we keep up the pressure. Now we bring the fight to them. We hit them before they can repair and regroup. We are going to fortify Commander Joric's forces. No more playing the defensive. It's time we met the enemy head-on and fight them on our terms. We're done hiding. There will be no retreat today. They will not see our backs. They will not see us yield one centimetre of ground. The only thing those batarian slâctrüs will see is the flare of muzzle-fire as we send them to meet their ancestors."
There were more than a few bellows of approval from the turians.
"Assemble any able bodies that can hold a rifle in the hanger. We move with every Tyrus and every gunship we can spare and march on Anapondus."
The turian soldiers started to file out of the room, the crew now focused on carrying out the Lieutenant's orders.
Gabby, Erata and Pella started to follow the team but Aelius stopped them and called the three engineers over.
"I have an assignment for you," he announced. "You won't be travelling to Anapondus."
"Sir, we may not be soldiers but we can still fight for the Hierarchy…" Pella started to protest. Aelius waved her to silence.
""We need to get a message to the Hierarchy immediately. We certainly can't wait for the comms to be repaired. That's where you three come in. I'm giving you a Mantis Gunship and three guards, that's all I can spare. Your task is to find a working communication-array and link with the comm-buoy; inform the Hierarchy what's happened here and bring reinforcements."
"If we're using one of the gunships, couldn't we simply fly to the edge of space and try to connect with the comm-buoy using the link on the craft?"
"In theory, a sound strategy," Aelius agreed, "but the scans indicate there are four mercenary frigates in low orbit. The Mantis is fine against ground forces but it's no match for a fully-armed merc ship. You'd be destroyed before you could link with the comm-buoy. It'd be suicide."
Aelius flicked a switch on the interface and the perspective changed again. The map scrolled across the landscape, coming to rest on a diagram of the Atrullian Mountains to the north of Entarus Station.
"There's a prison complex built high in the mountains fifty kilometres to the north, not far from the Prothean dig site. The Dytane Penal Colony. It's been abandoned for the last four years. Its walls are lined with the same metal in the planet's crust so our scans haven't been able to penetrate it, but if our luck holds it should still have a working comm-array."
"Our luck hasn't been that great so far, sir," Gabby pointed out.
"Then it's about time we damn well changed it!" Aelius snapped. "Your job is to get to that facility and get the communication array operational. Reconnect with the Gellix comm-buoy and send out a general distress signal. We can have reinforcements from the Hierarchy here within twenty-four hours."
"When do we leave?" Gabby asked.
"Immediately!"