Salarian Space, outside of a solar system which remained untouched by Reapers so far. And as far as the eye could see the glinting of starlight off the hulls of thousands nay tens of thousands of ships. It was the 4th of October in the year 2187.
They were on the shuttle heading for the Ascension, where the council would take place. For the first time in his life he would be on an Asari Dreadnought. Not just any great ship, but the greatest ship in the United Species fleet. He was with Tali, and she was holding on to his arm and leaning on him as they came up to the ship. With him as well was Liara and Garrus, both representing their respective races on Team Normandy. Behind them was Samantha Traynor who would be recording the entire meeting. Tali, for once, was being quiet and contemplative, simply leaning on John. Samantha on the other hand, was making up for it. She was in a constant state of fidgets.
"I can't believe I'm going to be part of this," she whispered.
The shuttle docked, and they approached a sky car which would take them to a council room near where the Council was busy staying. So big was the Ascension that an entire road network had been built into it in order to facilitate travel from one point to another. As they reached the sky car however, numerous ordinary Asari came up and began to gather around Liara asking her all sorts of questions and sometimes, just reaching out and touching her. Like Tali on the Migrant Fleet, Liara was The Heroine of the Asari common folk.
"Enjoy the glory while it lasts," suggested John to Liara after they were hovering away towards the chambers. "They'll turn on you in a second if things don't work out the way they want."
Tali nodded and sighed.
"I feel so horribly inadequate," was Liara's response.
"So did I," replied Tali.
"Oh? When were you the celebrity?" asked Liara. She, having known Tali since the very beginning of their adventures together, was having a hard time wrapping Tali the Celebrity around her head. In theory of course, she had been informed of all the stuff which was happening to Tali. Being the Shadow Broker did that. But even so, remembering Tali, just as psychologically young as she had been, once upon a time, made it a little hard to grasp.
"On the Migrant Fleet," replied Tali. "And right after we landed on Rannoch. I suspect I still am there. But I've not been back for a year. Things changh pretty quickly in the fame game."
The Councilor Chambers were vast and large. Large enough for all the secondary operatives to be there for full recording, and likewise all the major players were there as well. John and his team found their seats and then things went dim, and then Admiral Nelson of the Geth came forward.
"Organics of all types, Creators, and Friends of Legion our Enlightener," he began.
Tali and John looked at each other. They noted the order of priority Nelson had put them in.
"We are now here to discuss the proposed strategy for the attack upon Earth. Admiral Gerrel and I both will be open to your impute and data."
John looked at Tali and silently mouthed "Gerrel?" and Tali shrugged.
A three dimensional holographic display of the Solar System leapt into view as the lights dimmed.
"Natural presumptions would be that once the Crucible is prepared for docking with the Citadel, the fleet will take the Mass Relays through to Earth and then begin our advance against the Reapers outside the orbit of Neptune," said Nelson.
Everyone who was busy looking at the holographic display of the Solar System nodded their heads in agreement.
"However," continued Admiral Gerrel, who now took center stage. "Admiral Nelson's analysis of the numbers involved has revealed a very crucial flaw in this tactic." He turned to Admiral Nelson who continued.
The viewers saw the allied fleet start to fly in from the Mass Relay and then saw the Reaper forces move from the Citadel towards the deploying fleet. In a matter of a few moments, it became obvious that long before the entire allied fleet would be able to enter and deploy, the Reapers would be among them ripping them up.
"Our entire success hinges on the full fleet being deployed," observed Admiral Nelson, his mechanical voice conveying no emotion. "Our total fleet strength is bottlenecked by the Mass Relay."
"Thermopylae," explained John leaning over to Tali. Tali nodded her head in spite of the fact that she had no idea what John was talking about.
"In order to be able to effectively use our fleet to it's full advantagh," continued Admiral Gerrel as the holographic display fell back into a thirty light year radius around Earth. "It is best that we muster at the Tau Ceti Relay, and then proceed through dark space to below the orbital plane of Earth and approach the citadel from that angle."
The new display showed a massive deployed fleet rising up from beneath the Earth.
"Our analysis of the approach has several advantages to it," continued Nelson. "First, the fleet is able to deploy in formation in dark space and thus proceed in full battle formation before the Reapers are aware of our approach. This forces the Reapers to react to our approach giving us initiative."
"Second," added Gerrel. "By approaching below the earth, the Citadel, in orbit over the English territories puts the earth between us and the Reaper force. It blocks the Reapers from knowing for certain what we are doing at the Citadel which will make the deployment of the Crucible more certain."
"Finally" finished Nelson. "For the last four days of our approach, we will effectively be in stealth. There is no means of detecting our approach from dark space until we get within the solar radius. By which time it will be to late."
"Does anyone have any questions about the strategy about the initial stage of the battle plans?" queried Gerrel.
An Asari commander promptly asked, "Will not the Earth effectively block our approach to the Citadel? Will not the Reapers be able to use the Earth as a shield during our initial approach thus taking away our ranged attack power?"
"Analysis of Reaper tactics over the past year renders that scenario highly unlikely," answered Nelson. His face plates flipped in such a fashion as to suggest he found the idea funny. "Reaper tactics have persistently, with a rate of 98.63%, consisted of charging to meet the enemy, grappling their designated target ship, and tearing it apart with their power beam, counting on their superior armaments and speed to protect them until they have destroyed their enemy."
"So," the Asari commander continued. "You fully expect the Reapers to charge around the Earth to get to us?"
"We firmly expect them to do so," answered Gerrel. "Of course in war, nothing is for certain, but the Reapers have been very predicable in their behavior."
There was a brief period of silence. Many of those present had yet to fight a single battle with the Reapers, while numerous Human and Turian commanders nodded their heads with Gerrel's and Nelson's analysis.
Nelson continued. "Upon the engagement of the two fleets, the Crucible unit will make a distant flanking maneuver around earth to connect the Crucible with the Citadel. While the landing force will make an equal distant flanking maneuver on the other side, to land in the Midlands of England where they will rendezvous with alliance resistance for the attack on London."
Gerrel spoke, "Based on our intel, the Citadel is closed and in orbit over London and the Reapers are moving both troops and prisoners through a teleport beam. In order to get the Citadel open, someone will have to get to the main command console in the Presidium and open the Citadel so that the Crucible can be put into dock."
"Wait a moment!" interjected General Petrovsky. John started and looked up. There he was, in alliance uniform, with several military decorations newly won upon his lapel. "Are you suggesting we're going to have to do something that so far has not been done? Namely take back a city on Earth?"
"You are correct in your analysis," answered Nelson. "Based on the details of that phase of the operation, we estimate that there is a better than 50% chance of success for complete take over of London."
"But we don't need to hold London," continued Gerrel. "The plan consists in getting yust one person up into the Citadel to open it up."
"How will we deal with enemy forces stationed on the Citadel?" continued Oleg.
"There will be no forces stationed there," answered Nelson. "Statistical analysis suggests that all forces in the citadel will deploy into London the moment our strike teams are in operation within the city."
"Are you saying they won't protect their flanks?" continued Oleg, clearly perturbed by this concept.
"Reapers have no flanks," snorted Gerrel. "When they are being shot at from behind, they count on their superior armor and speed to protect them until they can turn around and deal with the attack from that direction. Like in space, Reaper forces will simply move forward counting on overwhelming force to destroy anything in their way."
"How in the hell has no one defeated them yet?" shouted Petrovsky.
"The Old Machines do not fear their flank being turned. They have an almost limitless supply of forces, and their primary force, the Great Reaper Ships themselves, are superior to anything that has been brought against them," explained Nelson.
"The Reapers simply overwhelm their opposition and beat it down," continued Gerrel. "We can take London for a brief period of time, but we have no illusions about holding it for more than a few hours at best."
Petrovsky noticed John and nodded to him. "I've wondered since Omega," he continued to the assembly, "How it was that I and my troops could kill them by the thousands and yet there always seemed to be more attacking. I guess that explains it."
The conference continued for another hour as each race was given their specific assignments in the overall battle. It was clear that there would be numerous tactical finesses which would be employed which were based upon the year's experiences fighting the Reapers, both on Human, Turian, and now Asari planets. As John reviewed his part in the operation he found himself pleased with the overall plan. Tali likewise found it very clever.
"We're pretty much planned it out based on what we know the Reapers will do and how they will respond." she mused.
"Know your enemy first," replied John. "Then know yourself . . ."
"And in a thousand battles," finished Tali. "You will never be in peril."
"Commander Shepherd," began Oleg, who was walking up to them.
John turned while Tali nodded.
"General Petrovsky," replied John.
"I see that you and I will be adjacent to each other in the final deployment during the assault on London," continued Oleg.
"But you get the first strike you lucky dog you," joked John. Both of them had no illusions about the 'fun' of leading the first charge.
"Yes, I'm so . . . thrilled," sighed Oleg with a wry grin. "But what I came over to say was this. One of the nice things about fighting alongside a former opponent is you have a good estimation of his abilities. I am glad you're going to be on my six."
"And I fully expect you will conduct the initial assault skillfully," answered John. "Because I too will be fighting alongside a former opponent. In fact, one of the most resourceful I ever faced."
"Yes," grinning Oleg. "How many times did we fail to blunt the other one?"
"I don't think once," chuckled John. "If Tim hadn't send you husks disguised as Cerberus forces, I think we'd still be fighting over Omega."
"If we hadn't killed ourselves in frustration," Oleg finished.
The two soldiers began to walk away from the other milling generals and dignitaries.
"Ever fought alongside Krogan before?" asked John.
"I've never fought alongside any alien," admitted Oleg. "I don't know what to expect. This is going to be a unique experience for me."
"Well, let me tell you about the Krogan," began John.
Tali watched the two of them wander off. She looked about for Liara and Garrus, and finding them, joined them.
"So, I take it the commander is off swapping lies with our former opponent," suggested Garrus.
"Nelson and Gerrel, Yahn and Petrovsky, what is it about yenerals who turn into best of friends after they spent years trying to kill each other?" she asked.
Liara shrugged.
"It's a male thing," explained Garrus.
"Human male thing," corrected Liara.
"No, male, because we Turians experience it to," retorted Garrus.
"Never mind," sighed Tali.
"Somehow," continued Garrus quietly. "I don't feel particularly jocular right about now."
"We're only sailing into certain death," suggested Liara. "I can't imagine why that would put a damper on anything."
Tali's mind seemed to drift for a moment. The entire atmosphere suggested a certain dream sequence state to it. On the surface, they were surrounded by light and order and harmony, people were seated at tables, going over briefs and conversing among themselves, formulating plans, and yet, the plans were for a massive attack on London, of which many, if not most of them would not be coming back alive from. For 48 to 96 hours, the combined fleets and forces would have to keep the Reapers responding to threats in order to have any hope of getting into the Citadel and linking it with the Crucible. And throughout that entire time, the Reapers would be relentlessly slaughtering them. Oh the Reapers would suffer casualties, but the psychology of the Reapers seemed to suggest a 'they were too stupid to live but I'm smarter than that' mentality which seemed to render them immune to fear or panic. So far the battle experience simply had no moment in which the Reapers were not attacking, or dead. Retreat seemed an alien thing to them.
Beside her, Garrus and Liara talked quietly to themselves. At some point Garrus got up and got her a tube of tea which she sipped gratefully, but she just sat in her chair, leaned on her arms and felt . . . depressed. It was the first time she could recall feeling so down in . . . Well not since John had come back. Her head slowly shifted from this view to the next as she continued to sit. Over by the holographic display, Gerrel and Nelson were busy explaining some detail of the attack plan to a group of Salarian Special Opts. They were quite animated on some issue. She noted that Gerrel was completely at ease with Nelson. And at one point, actually put his hand on Nelson's shoulder. Was that the bloodthirsty Admiral who had done everything in his power to bring about the extinction of the Geth last year? Was he already that close to the Geth Admiral Platform that he felt at ease enough to convey trust through touch? On some level, she had to admit to herself that she still resented Gerrel's endangering of both the fleet and her Yahn during the struggle over Rannoch. And yet, Nelson was leaning in and speaking in low terms to Gerrel and Gerrel was nodding his head and bringing up new images on the holo-display. It was something she knew in theory was supposed to happen to all beings, but it was so strange to see it play out over time. She turned back to Liara and Garrus. She noted Liara simply looked back at her. Garrus would make a comment or two, Liara would respond, but as time passed, they got more silent and simply looked at each other. The final battle, the one they hoped to win, but if they lost, hoped to die in, was rapidly coming upon them.
Tali remained sad and melancholy. And then, an old folk song which Kaiden had sung just a few nights prior at a small get together in the lounge began to run through her head. Kaiden's voice had gotten deeper and richer as life had continued to refine him. The song had conveyed perfectly her mood.
Have you seen Amanda Blaine in the hills of Shiloh,
Wandering through the morning rain through the hills of Shiloh,
Have you seen her at her door, listening for the cannon's roar,
And a man who went to war from the hills of Shiloh?
Have you heard her mournful cries in the hills of Shiloh,
Have you seen her haunted eyes in the hills of Shiloh,
Have you seen her running down searching through the sleeping town,
In her yellowed wedding gown in the hills of Shiloh?
Have you seen her standing there in the hills of Shiloh,
Wind a blowing through her hair in the hills of Shiloh,
Listening for the sound of guns listening for the rolling drums,
And a man who never comes to the hills of Shiloh?
Have you heard Amanda sing in the hills of Shiloh,
Whispering to her wedding ring in the hills of Shiloh?
Hear her humming soft and low, poor Amanda doesn't know,
'Twas ended forty years ago in the hills of Shiloh.
"Tali?" it was John's voice.
She turned her head as she felt his hands rest upon her shoulders.
"Tali? We're going now," he said.
She checked her Omnitool. She had been seated a full hour and a half with Liara and Garrus. Her tea was half drunk and cold. She unclipped the tube, put it on the table, quietly walked back to the sky-car that would take them to the dock and to the shuttle. All the while she held on to her Yahn's arm.
"You okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine," she said in that universal tone that women use when they are not.
"Don't forget I love you," he whispered back. It was his usual response to that tone of 'I'm fine'.
She cried quietly to herself all the way back to the Normandy.
October 12th, 1200 hours, outside the windows of the Normandy, over 125,000 ships flew in perfect formation, two hours from the edge of the Solar System. Gerrel's and Nelson's analysis of the Mass Relay bottleneck had proven more than a little prescient. It had taken a full seventeen hours for all the ships to get through the Tau Ceti Relay and deploy. There had been three Reapers in the system, they had, true to nature, attacked. And true to nature, when confronted with a rapidly increasing level of enemy ships they had persisted in attacking. Seven ships had been lost before the Reapers were destroyed, and the Allied Species knew they had been lucky, over three hundred ships were already in system when the first Reaper had come to grapple. It had been six days since, traveling through dark space slowly closing in on Earth.
Tali was seated at the dining table in the galley, looking at a single cupcake with a frosted two upon it's icing.
"Happy Anniversary, Tali Duck," said John.
"You made this for me?" she asked.
"Well I had help with EDI and Gabby," explained John. "I taste tested it, it's horribly rich and sweet so I think you'll find it palatable."
"But Yahn? How am I going to eat it?"
"We're going to put it into a tube here in a second, but I thought you would like to see what it looked like baked."
"It's . . . It's so sweet of you," she said. Once again, there was a soft meeping noise and a whifting of her visor cleaning system. Tali had been crying on and off over the past few days. Not that anyone blamed her. Folks were connecting one last time with what was left of their families. All Tali had was Aunti Raan and Aunti Raan was leading a wing of the Quarian Fleet. She was here with Tali, somewhere in the vast formation which approached Earth.
"An eighth of a million ships, a quarter of a million soldiers," mused Joker who was seated nearby. "Hey commander? Do you remember us going to Eden Prime with Nilhus? Didn't I say there was more to the mission than they were letting on?"
"I think we can put that down as an accurate prediction by Joker," replied John smiling and shaking his head. "So what do you think about the up coming mission? Is it going to be bigger than it looks?"
"Nah," replied Joker. "I think, well I hope anyway, it's just a drop off run."
"So what's it like being married for two years?" asked Gabby.
"Yust like being married yesterday," answered Tali with a moment's reflection. "And so's the anniversary. We're going to be shot at this evening, yust like last time."
"Yeah looks like Loco remembered to call in the explosions for this one," observed James. "How many Reapers are supposed to be in orbit around Earth?"
"Estimates are 5,371," replied EDI. "This gives us a 23.337925 to one ship ratio in strength. However, as has been observed by organics, numbers alone confer no advantage."
"Especially with Reapers," sighed Kaiden. He looked at James who looked back at him. Over the past few days, Kaiden had received news that his high school potential sweetheart had been killed. The one he had 'kept things formal' with. James likewise had no clue what had happened to Myra. John could not help but feel horribly guilty. He still had Tali seated there next to him.
The cup cake was taken away and put into 'Tali's' tube. Tali took a moment and then clipped in on and started to eat it. It wasn't as sweet as John had said. In fact, it tasted a little bland, but He had worked hard to make it and that made it special to her. For a moment, memories of their brief time in the Apartment last year flashed through her. For a second, all she could do, while nibbling on the cupcake, was look at him. He was looking at her expectantly.
"It's good Yahn," she said. That seemed to put him at ease.
Joker looked over to EDI, as he put his finger over his ear com. "Admiral Hackett is closing and requests permission to board Commander!" he said.
"Well, inform him I'll be ready to pipe him on," answered John. He gave Tali a quick little hug and left to greet the Admiral. Tali reached out with her arm and gently ran her fingers down his arm as he departed. John left feeling just a little depressed. Tali had been prone to sudden crying jags all week. He had experienced some of this just before the suicide mission, but nothing this intense. It seemed as if the closer they got, the harder it was for her to deal with the threat of losing him. On one level, his ego suggested he was one really cool dude to have a woman that deeply in love with him, but the part of him that loved her was sad that she was suffering bouts of grief over the threat of loss.
He watched as the dreadnought approached the Normandy, and then extended it's docking tube, linking up to the Normandy's front airlock. Then the docking was done, and the Admiral and his entourage entered the Normandy.
"Commander?" began Hackett.
"Admiral?" answered Shepherd.
"Are you ready to bring the might of the galaxy to bear upon the Reapers?" asked Hackett. It was overly dramatic given the situation, but John did not begrudge Hackett's desire to say something which might be historical enough to be recorded for posterity.
"Yes sir!" he answered.
"Then let us begin to confirm the readiness of the fleets . . ." Hackett finished.
A signal was sent out and all the ships linked up into a single com network.
"All fleets are reporting in, Sir," affirmed Traynor.
Hackett, stood at the Command Terminal of the Normandy, and gave the rally speech.
"Never before," he began. "Have so many come together, from all quarters of the galaxy. But never before have we faced an enemy such as this. The Reapers will show us no mercy. Accordingly we must give them no quarter. They will terrorize our populations. We must stand fast in the face of that terror. They will advance until our last city falls. But we will not fall. We will prevail. Each of us will be defined by our coming actions in the battle. Stand fast! Stand strong! Stand together! Hackett out."
He stepped off the platform and turned to face John.
"Commander Shepherd?" he said. "You are ready to lead the forces to retake London?"
John nodded. "Any last details?" He asked.
"Anderson will brief you," replied Hackett as they headed for the Comm Room.
Anderson's image was already up.
"Commander," he said. "Are you ready with Hammer?"
John nodded. "The plan remains unchanged?"
"Hammer will break into London to secure the beam leading up to the Citadel. From there you will open the arms of the Citadel. At that point, unless Hackett says otherwise, Shield will move the Crucible into place and dock it. Then Hammer will, if necessary, activate the Crucible. Sword Fleet's job will be to keep the Reapers tied down above Earth so that Hammer only has to engage Reaper ground forces."
John nodded. "Looks like we're a go then. If everything works, Shield will have it easy."
"Unless they screw up the docking procedures," observed Hackett. "And render the Crucible in-operational. All the while hopefully not being shot at by Reapers. No pressure on Shield at all."
"Right," admitted John. "Since you have already had to smack me silly once, I'll try again. If the Reapers simply form a wall around the Citadel, it won't matter if we get it open."
"They won't," replied Hackett. "Our fleet strength makes it entirely necessary for them to close with us. If they simply form a defensive perimeter, our numbers will whittle them down. Once they see our battle formation they'll immediately realize we are planning on our standard tactic with them, namely bringing sufficient concentrated fire on them. They have to close and inflict casualties. If they don't, we destroy them one by one, slowly of course, but persistently. Of course we have a few tricks up our sleeve which hopefully will put a little panic into Harbinger. Though I doubt it."
"The lack of fear by the Reapers has always been an advantage to us," answered John. "It's enabled us to kill a few of them."
"At the cost of several hundred ships per kill," replied Hackett.
"But only before we realized we simply had to let them have what they wanted," said John.
"Like Earth, Palavan, and Thessia," replied Hackett. "It's been a horrible sacrifice we have had to make."
"But we have the entirety of the fleets here," said John. "And our best bet to win this."
"But if we lose, Shepherd," continued Hackett. "We won't have anything to stop the Reaper advance."
"If we lose, Hackett," answered Shepherd. "We're just the fourth harvest by the Reapers."
"It's down to this battle, all or nothing. I hate making these sorts of decisions," sighed Hackett.
"Gambles take as much courage as facing an enemy," sighed John.
Hackett nodded. He then returned to his ship.
John went up to the bridge. He got a little message from Tali in Engineering. It was simple and to the point. It said, "I love you, John."
"Approaching visual with the Solar system," announced Joker. "We're going to be spotted by the Reapers in 3o seconds. Alliance fleet reporting," He continued. "Turian Fleet reporting, Asari Fleets reporting . . ."
"Quarian Fleets accounted for and ready," reported Admiral Koris over the public Com.
"Geth fleet reporting," continued Joker. "All fleets reporting Commander. Ready to engage on your command."
It had been the decision of the United Species that Commander Shepherd, for his unstinting work over the past few years, be given the privilege of ordering . . . The Charge.
"This is it everyone, be ready on my signal!" he said.
And then, from around the planet, the Reapers began to show themselves, by the tens, then hundreds, and then thousands . . .
"Commander!" began EDI's voice over the comm. "Total Reaper strength now appears to be 7,539 adjusting our ship ratio down . . ."
"Don't quote me the odds EDI!" snapped Shepherd. "We have to do this regardless!"
"All fleets!" he commanded over the public Comm. "Engage!"
Down in Engineering, Ken, Gabby, Adams, and Tali all saw and heard the Tantalus Core drive engage and begin the acceleration. They looked at each other and nodded. They would only know the fate of their ship when the battle was over, or they heard the klaxon warning them to abandon ship, or they found themselves dead. Such was the life of a ship's engineer in the middle of a battle.
Space combat, like air combat, is in three dimensions. But likewise there is no air which governs the maneuvers which spaceships engage in. Likewise, gravity has far less impact, but inertia, far more. Even so, terms such as flank, front, rear, high, and low still have meaning, once one recognizes which perspective one is referring to.
The Reapers swiftly moved around the planet Earth and proceeded forward in a pointed conical formation, quickly adjusting as only synthetic life can. They saw the entire allied fleet spread out across the sky and charged as they always had.
And then 500 Geth ships suddenly leapt out of the formation of the Allied fleets and shot forward. The Reapers responded by speeding up as well, 500 Reapers starting to extend their arms to grapple the approaching Geth.
The 500 ships were armed with pretty unexceptional weapons, but they used them well, firing specifically at the lead Reaper who was destroyed by the concentrated fire, but as the Reapers closed in, the entire 500 continued to adjust their speed and keep firing. What the Reapers may have thought of this maneuver was never known, but everyone on the Allied Fleet was not surprised that the Reapers continued to close since the Geth alliance with the organics was a very vocal proclamation that the ideology that organics and synthetics were doomed to fight each other for eternity was one big fat lie. The Reapers hated the Geth on a very deep and profound level. The Reapers closed swiftly and all 500 of the designated Reapers seemed to grapple onto the Geth ships at the exact same instant. Such was the acceleration of the Geth ships, coupled with their formation, that it seemed a curious coincidence.
Or was it?
Harbinger, quickly analyzing the situation, in a matter of milliseconds, noted the following. First, the Geth ships had seemed to adjust their speeds so that all 500 Reapers would latch on at the same time. Second, all this had happened outside of fire support from the Allied Fleet. Third, at the latching, the Geth abandoned their ships, for each Geth apparently had a single node which enabled him to almost instantaneously upload himself back to the fleet. Fourth, there was, exactly 2 microseconds later, a small controlled explosion in each of the Geth ships. And one microsecond later, that small controlled explosion had apparently slammed one small piece of refined plutonium into another piece producing a chain reaction fission which was the opening salvo of an exploding nuclear bomb.
It had been a trap, specifically designed to take advantage of the Reaper willingness to charge and tear apart and it worked because it had been undertaken by the Geth who alone had the means to pull such a precise maneuver off. Any other way to deliver an atomic bomb was easy to counter. And that was why they had ended up obsolete with the advance of weapons technology. They were simply too slow, clumsy, and sloppy to be employed in modern warfare. The Reapers, having guided technology to this point, had attacked the galaxy with that knowledge. The idea that a nuclear attack, of the magnitude that they had just received, simply was so unlikely they had not bothered to account for it. Likewise that a race would deliberately destroy their own weapons of war was equally inconceivable to the Reapers. Sacrifice was an alien thing to them, totally out of their comprehension let alone their calculations. The Reapers might boast that their enlightened thoughts were above the comprehension of John Michael Shepherd and his pathetic fluke humans, but the truth was? It was the other way around.
In that next instant, all 500 Reapers who had latched on to those 500 Geth ships were within a 5,000 celsius degree heat bath. And there is no matter in the universe, however well built, which is able to withstand the heat generated by the surface of an ordinary sun. All 500 Reapers who had latched on were instantly vaporized. But that wasn't the end of it, for nuclear bombs have a radius of effect. Another 841 Reapers were so badly damaged (or killed) that they were of no further use for the present battle. An additional 975 Reapers were seriously damaged sufficiently that they would be far less effective and far more vulnerable to Allied fleet fire. And 1,482 Reapers suffered minor damage which likewise impacted their combat capabilities.
In a single precise instant, the Reapers had experienced the most catastrophic battle loss in their entire history. Their entire combat capability had been effectively reduced by nearly one third.
"Who would have thought such a primitive weapon would have produced such a decisive result?" asked Javik.
But no one heard him because everyone on the Normandy was screaming in triumph at what they had just witnessed. In fact, the millions of crew members and soldiers on the entire United Species fleets were screaming in jubilation. For none of them, but especially the Humans, Asari, Turians, and Batarians, had not on some level experienced the horrific slaughter that the Reapers had unleashed upon the galaxy in the prior year.
Payback was sweet.
"Joker?" queried EDI the moment Joker quit screaming and waving his arms (albeit gently) "I feel that there is a certain level of humor in the surprise that the Geth have just played upon the Reapers. Am I correct in my analysis?"
"Yeah EDI," cried Joker. "That is what we call a practical joke!"
"I don't think the Reapers find it funny though," reflected EDI.
"It doesn't matter what they think EDI, what matters is that we just DUSTED THE SONS OF BITCHES!"
"Pity we won't be able to pull that trick on them again," commented EDI. "As they are synthetics, they won't make that mistake a second time."
Whether or not that would have proven true remained to be seen, for Reapers where not just synthetic, but synthetic with an overwhelmingly arrogant personality which lent itself to doing the same sorts of stupids repeatedly. But EDI did have a point, the trick could only work with Geth handling the coordination. While humans had similar attack tactics in their own history, some of them being actual suicide attacks, such as the Kamikaze and Suicide Bomber, there had never been sufficient volunteers to make that type of an attack with such a decisive result.
It took a few moments for the Reapers to reconstitute themselves, so much damage had been inflicted upon them, but as was so often the case, once they reconstituted, they resumed their advance. And the battle began in earnest.
Thanks to the Geth, working in tandem with the Allied VI's, each ship knew what their best designated target was, and once again, fire was concentrated upon Reapers so that there would be casualties. But the fleets began to notice something as the fight proceeded. Namely, Harbinger was simply bringing in more reinforcements through the Mass Relay. It didn't matter that the Allies at present had the advantage, if Harbinger could make good his losses, the allies would once again be on the losing side of the exchange. And this was one of the horrific advantages that the Reapers had. Because they had spent the last 50,o00 years in deep space, no one knew just how many of them there were. Nor did the humans have the means to ascertain their full deployment. Space was simply too big for that.
In Engineering, Tali, Ken, Adams, and Gabby heard the shouting through the vents. Tali smiled to herself for she knew of the first attack tactic. She looked around at Ken and Gabby, and then swiveled to look at Adams who grinning back. She was feeling just a little proud. This was a proud moment not just for the Geth, but for their creators, her own people.
As it was however, the United Fleets, closing in with the Reapers, their weapons firing as they advanced, now provided the necessary cover for Shield to break off and start it's long right flank swing while the transports of Hammer shot out and performed their long left flank swing. Harbinger responded by simply ignoring both groups as the chief threat was located in front of him in the main allied battle fleet. Either that, or he knew something about the situation in London and on the Citadel which the allies did not.
War is kind of sucky that way.
Once the two fleets were engaged, Joker made note, and announced that the Normandy would now break off and began the descent towards Earth. Thanks to the stealth capabilities of the ship, they would not need to follow Hammer's wide flank maneuver before they got to Earth. Team Normandy was first and foremost a ground operation team. There was no point in them staying on the Normandy for the space battle. From Engineering, Tali looked up and began her preparations. She would be with the ground team as usual. Adams, Ken, and Gabby began their silent goodbye and good luck you are so going to need it glances. Tali returned the gestures, though it wasn't so much a glance as it was body language. Garrus began wrapping up his final examinations of the cannons, making sure each of the Normandy's guns was finely calibrated to maximum capacity. Liara notified Feron and her drone, Glyph, and they began to pick up the slack of information analysis while she got ready. EDI began to chatter with Joker over the comm system which was EDI's way of saying goodbye, while Kaiden and James in the docking bay began to examine their weapons and armor. Cortez likewise got into his armor and prepared a pistol. He would be with the shuttle the whole time, but they were flying into a horror battlefield and it paid to be as protected as you could be.
John turned to head down to the docking bay.
"Commander?" queried Joker.
John turned around to see Joker getting out of his chair and take a few cautious steps forward up to John. Joker then, in complete contrast to his usual jocular style, gave John a formal military salute.
"Be careful down there," he said.
"We'll be fine," replied John returning the salute. "Stay focused."
"Aye Aye," answered Joker. He returned to his seat and spent a second being sad.
Over the next hour, Hammer launched the invasion shuttles which proceeded towards the English midlands. For the first few hours of flight, there was nothing but stars out the windows, and then, the sky began to get a little blue, the stars faded, and the reflection from the sun suggested they were in the atmosphere descending. And then they descended into clouds, and then it got dark. John looking out the windows realized it wasn't moisture clouds, but smoke from the great fires which were burning on the surface of the planet. And the farther down they got, the darker it got.
"Mordor's fumes over Gondor," he mused.
"The Siege of Minas Tirith," added EDI. "One of the great dramatic moments in the book."
"Approaching the entry to the LZ," announced Cortez.
"How does it look?" asked John.
"Like a sweet spot in the middle of hell," he answered.
They were flying over the midlands. Beneath them were small copses of woods, fields, and pastures, barns and houses, small villages, hardly looking damaged at all. But they saw no people. All around them on the horizon, great grey clouds seemed to rise and red reflections seemed to ring the horizon.
"Doesn't look like home any more," sighed James.
"Here we go," said Cortez, "Get ready."
And the shuttle Team Normandy was in began to descend into what looked to be a wheat field, left fallow with a damaged tractor in the center of it. The shuttles behind them formed a straight line and went Nap of the Earth to avoid and Reaper long range detection.
"So much green," exclaimed Tali. "This would have looked so pretty."
And then, the shuttles seemed to fly right through the surface of the field.
For the field was nothing more than a very detailed holographic image hiding the entrance to a well built Rachni tunnel, wide and opened mouthed at first, but quickly narrowing to just wide enough to accommodate a very long line of shuttles.
"Welcome to the latest extension of the London Underground," suggested Steve. "Express service to the center of the city, and the war. We'll be driving down this very boring tunnel for the next five hours. Might as well take naps, once you're in London, all the beds are infested with husks and cockroaches."
"Damn maids, can't get any decent one's on London anymore can they?" half grumbled Kaiden. His expression however conveyed the irony of the situation.
"I seem doomed to fight in dirty environments this year," sighed Tali.
"Hey Sparks, look at the bright side," suggested James with a smile. "We're cleaning up this town. Removing all those dirty Reapers."
"Gonna take a big dustpan," suggested Garrus.
The Rachni had done their job well. Once they had reached the end of the tunnel, they found that it opened up into dozens of passageways with low docks for the fitting of the shuttles. Hammer disembarked over a twenty mile radius, underneath the city of London through dozens of tunnels. Every single race was present for the attack. Humans were rubbing shoulders with Elcor, Volus, Krogan, Turians, Asari, and Quarians. There was even a Vorcha raiding pack. The Rachni were present as well, primarily as Combat Engineers. They would remain below London providing for the hospitals and refugee centers since part of the attack was to strike at the camps inside of London and free the prisoners. It took an additional hour to confirm all the separate elements of the attack and during that time, John was able to once again meet up with Admiral Anderson and his Aid de Camp, Major Coats. Major Coats was already something of a legend, he had spent a full three days at the top of Big Ben sniping at anything that had moved on the streets of London. And during that time, not one single Reaper solider had found him. He was in his mid thirties, a good solid built of a man, the sort that possessed that curious celtic toughness which didn't look too scottish, but remained just a bit intimidating when you looked into his deep set eyes.
"Damn you're a sight for sore eyes," said Anderson embracing Commander Shepherd.
"How are we looking?" asked John.
"Thanks to the Rachni Engineering, Hammer has deployed," said Anderson.
"And not a moment too soon," added Major Coats.
"What's left of the resistance has spread out to all the entry points and will be acting as guides to get the troops initially deployed in the city proper itself," continued Anderson. "But the Reapers know something is up, forward scouts are reporting movements into the city itself, pulling back from the outward perimeters. Once the attack commences, the Resistance will regroup, but the bulk of the work is going to have to be done by Hammer."
"It must have been brutal here," observed Shepherd. "Cut off from the rest of the Alliance."
"It's been touch and go from day one," said Anderson. "But once we realized that the Reapers focused on major centers it became easier to avoid direct contact."
"Until London," commented Major Coats.
"Yeah," replied Anderson. "We held back as long as we could. Sending in Recon teams. We lost a lot of good men planning this attack. But with soldiers like Major Coats, and knowing you were bringing help? We held on."
"Without you and your resistance, we'd be dead in the water," suggested Shepherd.
"Yeah, the Admiral's being modest," suggested Major Coats with a grin. "He's the reason any of us are still alive."
"Let's not just start handing out any medals yet," suggested Anderson. "This fight is just getting started. And Hammer had better be ready for it."
"They didn't start out together," said John as Tali came up to him. He put his hand on her shoulder for emphasis, and she responded by placing her hand upon his. "But they are ready to fight side by side and win this war."
"Good," said Anderson. "That's what it's going to take."
"We'll get it done Anderson," said John.
Anderson seemed to think for a moment. John recognized that posture. It was the stance of a man who was briefly overwhelmed by the circumstances, but in a good way.
"The entire galaxy standing united," Anderson said, almost in awe, almost to himself. "To bad it took the Reapers to unite us."
"Shepherd united them," suggested Coats.
"That's exactly what I meant," replied Anderson. "I know you didn't like leading this Shepherd, but nobody could have accomplished what you've done."
"Thank you," replied John. "But I didn't do it alone." He looked at Tali's visor, and she looked back at him. Then his eyes scanned his team, James, Kaiden, Garrus, Liara, Javik, and EDI.
Major Coats paused and put his fingers to his right ear, and then nodded.
"They are signaling full preparation," he said. "All elements reporting in as fully deployed."
"Then go!" snapped Anderson.
"All units, rise up!" commanded Major Coats.
In a matter of seconds, London trembled with the roar of controlled engineering explosions. Basement walls blew out and Krogan poured through. Subway tunnels blew open and Humans came out. Sewer floors erupted and out came the Turians. Within a matter of three minutes, over 250 separate entry points had been blown open from under London and Hammer came pouring out.
The Reapers had problems with underground tactics, and the net result was that every single Reaper soldier simply turned towards the nearest enemy and attacked. Thus the one thing absolutely necessary for Reaper success on the ground was taken from them, namely overwhelming force. All the perimeter defenses which would have rendered a frontal assault a bloody deadly mess were utterly useless. For the most part, Reapers forces were chewed apart by coordinated team tactics individually and allied forces were shortly moving at will through the majority of the streets of London. But it was still a big city and Reaper troops knew how to stage ambushes. In addition, Destroyer Reapers were about and those took some serious firepower to bring down. But Destroyers were not the Great Capital Reapers, they were vulnerable to hard armor piercing missile attacks and Thanix Missiles were swiftly deployed and used against the giant beasts. Block by block, the allies combed the ruins. Within an hour, the first camp was liberated and allied species troops poured in and saw for themselves the horror of a Reaper processing camp. It was a gruesome sight. The Reapers had seen no need for serious nourishment or medical attention since the fate of all those in the camps was processing into components for a Reaper or transformation into a Reaper soldier. Any food and medicine had to be provided by the humans in the camps themselves. In addition, indoctrination was a constant and many of the prisoners actually were angry at the allies thinking they were to blame for their present misery.
And it was in that Camp that James found Myra. She was emaciated, practically in a coma, and laying beside a processing pod. He gently carried her down to one of the Rachni hospital units, and leaving a small note in her hand, he left her there. When she woke, the nurse showed her the note, and she read it and wept. For she knew her life had been just saved by a man whom she had tried to kill just one year prior.
Team Normandy spent the next three hours fighting, moving from block to block, slowly inching towards the great beam which rose on the horizon through the great cloud cover which hid the day and night sky from London. It was a horror story come to life. Overhead, clouds boiled and reflected the flashes from the explosions and great flickering maelstrom fires which raged over parts of London.
"Did Rannoch look like this when the Geth drove us out?" queried Tali.
"Negative," replied a Geth platform nearby. "Geth strategy was self-preservation with the hopes that at some point the Creators would no longer pose a threat and could return. Reaper strategy is complete and total annihilation."
"So Earth is suffering more," she mused.
"Affirmative," replied the Geth.
By the end of three hours, over 75% of London was in Allied hands but the beam was not. Reaper reinforcements were constantly landing around the beam and spreading out. It was rapidly looking as if the next push would be towards the beam itself, narrowing the perimeter where the Reapers would be able to safely land without having to employ one of the great capital ships.
Anderson had set up a temporary quarters just over a mile from the beam, nearly on the front line. Barricades were up and waves of Reaper troops kept up the pressure. But there, just over a mile away, the means to ending the war glowed in the dark murky air. A beacon of hope, but likewise a mockery. Behind Team Normandy, thousands of troops were deploying. And across the way, Reaper transports were disgorging yet more troops.
"So close," Tali thought. "And yet it might as well be a million miles away."
It reminded her of the Normandy adrift in the Collector system. But they had gotten through that crises. They would get through this one too. If only she could know how now.