Chapter Thirty-Six: Fragile Alliances
"Where would I be if the Revival never happened? Well, I was training to be a gondolier all those years ago. It's a high position in my hometown. I still remember as a boy, riding the boats down the lagoons and the city canals. I know, right? A grizzled vet like me, rowing two love birds through the Queen of the Adriatic? Statistically, it's harder to be a guild-member Gondolier than it is to be a Blue Beret.
But honestly, if I had to go do it all over again, I would have fought all the same. I'm better at firing an old KC-10 or M8 Avenger than steering with an oar. I don't look good in a red stripe shirt and neckerchief anyway…
My pay would have been a lot better though. You'd think the military, or your own company would pay well?"
Excerpt from an interview with COO of the Blue Suns Private Security Group and Retired Sergeant Zaeed Massani, used for the History Channel's The Forrest Accord: Nation, Scourge, and Sacrifice. Interview taken in 2170, two years before his reported death.
Part 1:
Shanxi Resistance – City of Pingyao
September 4, 2168 – 18:00:00 UTC
"Hey," Fingers snapped at Jack's face, "Anyone home?"
Jack took a deep, forceful, breath in through the nasals, and an exhale out as he opened his eyes. He laid on top of a table that was slowly dipping as the weight of his armor weaken the table legs. Above him, his eyes only registered a distorted grey blob standing above him. His mind quickly registered his situation. He's on his back, he was just coming through from a firefight, and he was disarmed of his weapons.
But when he turned his eyes, seeing a pistol materialize in front of him. With not a moment to hesitate or fully think it through, he sprang into action. His left hand reached out to grab the gun off his watcher as he pulled in their arm in pull their body in close. Snagging it off, he pivoted on his hip and slid off the table, pushing them away. Jack locked his right arm with their left as he stood up, then pressed the pistol against the blur that likely was their forehead. But the next immediate sight to regain focus was the man's right arm, going over Jack's own left arm and ending with the tip of a combat knife pressed against Jack's chin. As his eyes looked around, ten more soldiers were in the same room, rifles all aimed at him.
"Colonel, may I suggest you withdraw my pistol from my head?" Zaeed said, with a grizzled voice.
Jack felt the cold steel tip gracing his five o'clock shadow as he swallowed. He tensely grinned, "Fair enough."
Both quickly withdrew their weapons, Zaeed gesturing the rest to lower their arms. From the next room in the abandon apartment building they were all hiding in, Eva and Ben rushed out.
"Harper, are you all right?" asked Eva.
"I'll be fine," He looked around and handed Zaeed pistol back to him, "I need a sit rep here."
Accardo stepped forward and saluted, "Colonel, Captain Jessica Accardo, Marine 2nd Company. I and Army Sergeant Massani here are leaders of the remnants of the deployed forces in the city."
Zaeed holstered his pistol, "We're fifteen strong: Army, Marine, and militia-resistance. We were about to slip out the city before we found your lot. Trying to get back in?"
"That we are," He dusted himself off and fluffed his blue beret, "I'm Colonel Harper, Special Force. These are my colleagues, Core and Hislop."
"Special Force? Explains the Turian disguise," Satorius commented, "STG level tech right there."
Harper nodded, "From a Turian, thanks," He turned to Zaeed, "Massani? Zaeed Massani?"
He raised an eye brow and chuckled, "Ah, you heard of me? I wouldn't think any old B7 besides Paris would know me."
"We would know of the Rangers. You lead the Rangers with than Major Paris during the defense of Berlin back in '48. Heroes of the 'Watch of the Elbe', when I saw the news myself all those years ago."
"Christ, I wish you didn't mention that," He clenched his forehead, "Though I rather be back there than here. Since we saved use a Fallen Angel this time around, an explanation of why you were trying to sneak into the city would be nice."
"I'll be brief. We are on a special mission. We must get off this planet."
"Leave Shanxi?" asked Accardo.
"Leave?" Zaeed was quick to show his distain, "The fight is right here! Out that window!"
"I am well aware of that, sergeant. My mission comes directly from Williams. You are aware of who exactly is attacking us, correct?"
Zaeed relented, "The 'Nationalist' Turians."
"And from the situation we are in, I don't have to be Navy to know they won up there. And if they can do that with ease, the rest of the Federation is not faring better."
"I… yes sir, I can see what you mean now."
"We're all taken away by this sudden attack," Harper walked over to the window. From their location, they had a vantage point of the city park below. The turians were turning it into a fortress as shuttles brought in fortification gear from orbit. Jack glanced one shuttle land on the far end of the park. There, there was a set of landing pads were the shuttles were offloading gear and personnel, including a shuttle that seemed to have been parked on a pad, "All of us here will take the fight to them. What's your current mission?"
"Mission?" asked Accardo, "Both of our platoons are KIA for all we know. We're just trying to get out of the city."
"You wouldn't happen to know where one of the retreat points are, would you?" asked Zaeed, chuckling, "We don't have a single army officer with us, so we're stuck here."
"Unfortunately, not… Wait, Eva, hand me some binoculars."
Eva brought Jack his gear, "Our hologear was damaged form the fight. I can't fix them, not here anyway."
Jack peered through the window, "There's the shuttle. We could fix it once we're out of here-" He turned down towards them, "What do we have here…"
He gestured Zaeed and Accardo over to the windows. Taking point at a different window, hiding most of their silhouette from view, they turned to the entrance of the park close to them. Down below, an APC has just recently stopped in front. Coming out of the APC were a few regular soldiers. But the person of interest than appeared. Hands on his head, Commodore Huang was being walked out and into the park.
"A naval commodore?"
"That's Huang, Captain Accardo. He's the head naval officer for Shanxi. He was on Starbase 127 when we were attacked," said Zaeed.
"They're bringing him right into the park," Jack turned to them, "Both our tickets out of here are in that park."
They both turned to the colonel with skepticism. The park was a fortress, and they all knew it. But Jack Harper wasn't going to be held back by that fact. He took another look at the surrounding area around them and the park, them hurried away from the window. They all gathered with him around a dining table where unfinished breakfasts were left to go cold from the attack. Some of the militia were eating the meals as Jack cleared the table and gathered the utensils on them. He slapped his watch to no avail. Unable to activate his watch's map display, he arranged a diagram of the battlefield in front of them to explain his plan. A cut dining table cloth for the park, several spoons and forks littered about for turian troop concentrations, with a glass of milk near the center for Commodore Huang. The salt and pepper shakers were next to him for his team and them. Lastly, a plate at the far end was the shuttle Jack was set on going to.
"A classic dinner table battle plan," Corporal Holst nodded in approval.
"Oh, this is going to be just great…" Zaeed rolled his eyes and turned to see.
Jack began to explain, "There's not many of us, so we need to strike in full force at one point. A quick insertion to rescue the commodore, then you all flee through the subway system. My team will draw them away."
Accardo turned to him, "Three people against maybe three platoons?"
"I'm B7. She's FIA..."
Zaeed scoffed at the idea, "And Captain Hislop is a Navy poster boy alongside Hackett and the Hero of Elysium. Doesn't mean I don't know a bad plan when I see it. Unlike Berlin, a tank column won't just show up with Colonel Lin riding on it."
"We can't hope for a better on-"
An explosion rang out, immediately followed by a dozen more in short succession for outside. They all rushed for cover and turned to the windows. From all around the park, several firefights have suddenly begun, all accumulate into a battle across the perimeter of the park. A stream of energized plasma filled the skyline; Lancer marble-sized rounds streamed from the buildings surrounding the park, providing heavy support fire as the distant view of Terran troops rushed out to break through the different entrances of the park. Accardo and Zaeed rushed over to see who the Turians were suddenly fighting.
"I see Army and Marines elements." Zaeed handed his binoculars to her, "They all look like those assigned to the city. I thought they were gone."
"How the hell are they… ah hell, that fucking lieutenant!"
She patched on to her radio, seeing that an emergency comm frequency was in heavy use as the fighting increased.
"Ajax-2 has broken through the south-eastern entrance, beginning sweep-"
"Helix-1, moving along the road back to the north-west to support army Dog squad-"
"Belay that!" a sharp and aggressive, all too familiar voice to both the captain and sergeant rang out across the comms, dictating orders to the group, "Secure your entrance and secure the Commodore. His recovery, alive, is top priority!"
"This is Ajax, we have large concentrations of civilians here at the amphitheater and subway entrance-"
"Recover the Commodore, now! Let nothing stand in your way!"
"God damn Leng is going to get my entire platoon killed!"
"That idiot of your is going to get those civvies killed!"
"Your annoying friend is going to get your only ticket out of the city killed," Jack Harper placed his helmet back on, hooked his beret on it, and rushed to the emergence stairwell down, "New plan! My team will distract them heading to the shuttles, evac the commodore and civilians! Good enough for you?"
Ben and Eva rushed out with him, prompting the others to hurry and follow behind. Accardo rallied her men to move out and take part in the attack. She needed to regain control of her subordinate Leng before he gets his survivors killed in the attack. Zaeed turned to Satorius as he took another look of the surrounding from the window.
"Shit, this is going to be messy. Sat, ideas. We can't evac civilians above ground."
The turian thought for a moment, "The subway goes straight through downtown and out to the northern meadows, near the spaceport."
"And the Turians are likely to abandon the underground stations in-between to come back here at the surface. Have your team provide support. We'll signal when we have a safe hold of the park subway stop." Zaeed rushed to the stairway, "Easy squad, move out!"
From across the street of the southern entrance, the remains of the defense force rushed out in full force across the avenue towards the park. A mix of organized militia and resistance members stayed within the high levels of the buildings overlooking the park to provide support fire and prevent Turian reinforcements from moving in on the city. Zaeed stopped to look down at the sinkhole he had just fell in earlier that day, then continued. Approaching the gate, Jack Harper lead the charge mix of Special Force, Army, and Marines across to join in the attack.
Approaching the first guard post, a fix machine gun post and a closed off gate blocked the way, with some of the guards having already left to defend the other parts of the park. They took cover behind the abandon cars and military vehicles and laid down suppressing fire on the machine gunner. Eva quickly got close to the gate, tossing an explosive charge that blew away the few defenders and blasted the gates open.
"This is Captain Accardo, to all units in the vicinity of the park! Repeat, this is Captain Accardo, to all units," she yelled away on the radio, "We are coming in from the south and are nearing Commodore Huang's position. All units shift to the southern end. Do not engage shuttle landing zone. Special Forces coming from our end will engage!"
A moment of silence on the radio, one eclipsed by the gunfire all around, went alive with the man she was waiting for to respond.
"Accardo? This is Lieutenant Leng. We have intel on a high ranking Turian in the northern area of the park, requesting permission to eng-"
"Negative! Regroup on the southern end immediately. Accardo out."
The group arrived near the entrance of the subway stop for the park, joining with a marine squad to their right. Taking cover at an abandon turian barrier, Zaeed took in the current tactical position. A squad of turians have bunkered at the entrance with erected concrete barriers, two escalators leading down to the subway with a roof above the opening. Entrenched, they needed to be flushed out, but a single stray grenade could destroy the main stairway or kill any of the civilians hiding below.
He singled to Jack a dozen meters away at another barrier close to the marines. Realizing his radio wasn't working, he tried to signal him. He grabbed an auxiliary grenade to signal its use, then brought his hand in and expanded them away to signal the smoke dispersal mode. Finally, he pointed to the buttstock of his Lancer. They were going to pop smoke, then all rush their position to engage in hand-to-hand combat. Jack nodded back and redid the same message for the others.
From three different points, they lobbed a few smoke grenades that quickly envelope the Turian's position. Before they could react and switch to infrared sensors, the Terrans crossed the smoke and attacked. A few approached the barrier and fired point blank into them as others jumped over and beat the turians down, taking the entrance before the smoke cleared up.
"Find the Commodore down there. We'll draw their forces from the north."
"Whatever the hell you got to do, don't get yourself killed!"
Jack chuckled, "No intention of dying today, Sergeant," Before leaving, he took out the flags he was carrying with him, "Use these to rally your position."
"The flag? What next? Get a drummer boy and get the troops into columns of two?"
From behind, two APCs arrived. As more turians rushed out, they militia further back opened fire. But many got through to charge at them from behind, cutting them off from the street.
"Hell, if it works!" Harper took off.
"Shit, defensive positions! We need a corridor to get the civilians from the amphitheater over here."
He turned back, seeing the colonel and his team already going on ahead to the park ranger station. Grumbling all the while, he picked up a broken flag pole that once decorated the subway entrance and swapped the tattered flag for the new national and state flag.
"It's like Berlin all over again…" He jabbed the pole into the concrete barrier and reequipped his rifle, "Hold the line! And don't accidently shoot our damn birds!"
Part 2:
The Agent and the Spectre
Thirty Minutes Later
Jack, Eva, and Ben took cover as the rear guard formed up a haste barricade around the ranger station, the main HQ for the turians in the city. The shuttle landing pads were just ahead, but they needed to clear that building to delay the turians from shooting them down and catching up to the others sneaking out of Pingyao through the subway system. They advanced towards the barricade, staying behind scattered trees for cover and taking their shots with overlapping positions to mask their advance as a larger force.
As they approached the entrance, Jack noticed a group moving across from the park lake. A squad of marines were advancing back down to join up with the rest. The turians there were trying to hold their ground, but where quickly overrun by the marines and their leader who lead from the front. A man with what appeared to be a katana charge in, gunning down strangling turians with a pistol in hand and slicing through the rest as they hurried forward. It was an odd sight to see, but he turned back to his main task at hand.
"One of the officers here should have access to the shuttles. We find the highest ranked one and hack their omnitool. Then we'll be free for takeoff. Ben, toss one in."
"Got it, Jack."
A grenade went in, the windows along the first floor burst. They entered the building, a room on each side and a staircase leading to some offices upstairs. They split up to take all three areas, Ben going left, Eva going right, and Jack running up the stairs.
As Jack got up the stairs, Ben and Eva cleared their rooms, before following Jack up the stairs to cover him. They stayed on the staircase, with Ben watching the front door below as Eva covered the door Jack was about to enter. As he approached it, the door burst open. A Turian officer charged out at him with a turian combat knife, a far more curved and decorated piece of metal than the Terran straight edge design.
Jack dodged the first thrust, grabbing his arms to keep the knife away from him, dropping his rifle on the ground. But the turian overpowered him, swinging his knife at Jack, coming close to slashing his throat. Jack countered and grabbed the turian's arm, forcing into the same motion he was in to attack, resulting in him stabbing the wall and getting it stuck in the drywall.
This gave Jack time to pull his pistol, but the turian pulled his knife out and slashed Jack's hand. He dropped his pistol to clench his bleeding hand. Eva opened fire on the turian, but he quickly dodged her shots. He threw his knife at her, lodging into her shoulder.
Jack saw as she stumbled back and quickly charge at him in rage. He overwhelmed the turian and shoved him back down in the hallway. Stunned, Jack kick in his lower reverse knee. The turian fell, turning away from him. He took the opening and took out his own combat knife, a standard issue straight edge, and thrust it into the back of the turian's neck, killing him instantly.
As the dead turian dropped to the ground, Jack picked up his rifle and looked to Eva, who proceeds to simply, if forcefully, remove the turian knife out her shoulder, before applying a medigel pack to seal the wound. She nodded to Jack as she and Ben head up to clear the rooms with him.
Finally, they entered the main office overlooking the park. As Harper wrapped his hand, they saw one last Turian, standing by the window. He looked distracted as he calmly stares out the window, his talons behind his back as he assumed an eased position, viewing the battle below. He looked back, seeing the Terrans.
"Ah, you finally arrived. I must admit, I expected you to be here early. But maybe you're different from the other humans, always rushing into things…" An explosion rang out from outside, a bright flash coming through the large window, "Perhaps I should rephrase that?"
"You were expecting us?" Jack kept his rifle aimed at him.
"Just you, actually. The illustrious…" Saren smiled just a bit as he raised his hands up, "Colonel Jack Harper of Section 14, of course," He gestured to them, "Accompanied by the accomplished Captain Ben Hislop, and the FIA's finest, Agent Eva Core."
"Jesus…" Eva's face turned sour, "Of all the turians we could meet."
"I feared as much," Jack took another look of the him, "Spectre Saren Arterius."
He nodded in mild approval, "Ah, how good to know human intelligence can do at least basic field research. A bit of a critique, though. The Spectres have a very detailed file on you, Ms. Core. Hislop's profile is on the main page of the Navy's recruitment site. Your, uh, friend Harper, though? An enigma to the highest ranked agents. A shadow, a ghost to the rest. Honored really, to come face to face with the illusive man himself."
"What do you want with us?" Harper kept his rifle aimed at him.
"I do not want anything. I, unfortunately, need... I need your help."
"Help?"
Saren chuckled, then clench his forehead as he frowned and sighed, "You think I'm with my brother. Maybe it's not hard to believe. My first interaction with your kind was not-" He adjusted his robotic arm, "Pleasant. But if you want to get off this planet and stop him and his insane vendetta, you will need me!"
"We do," said Harper. He checked his watch and saw the lit light on the screen. The shuttle launch key had been successfully downloaded, "And now we don't. Now place your hands behind you back. Ben, cable ties his hands."
"Spirits, you humans make this hard…"
He placed his hands behind him as Ben approached, rifle in hand. When he got close, Saren side stepped him and kicked his leg in before taking his rifle. Jack charged at him and swung, but Saren blocked with Ben's rifle. He shoved Jack off and kicked him square in the chest, sending him across the room. Free of either two, Eva took aim and fired, but Saren quickly rose a kinetic barrier shield at her direction. Saren than raised his arm to fire an incinerate shot of silicon; Eva quickly draw her watch and fired an electric bolt at him in turn. The two projectiles met half way and exploded on contact.
The windows blew out, clearing the smoke inside. As Saren looked around, Ben reached from behind to armlock him as Jack rushed forward, knife drawn. Bending back, Saren pulled himself back up straight, pulling Ben with him up into the air. He then grabbed Ben's arm and swung his body at Jack, throwing both of them against the office table and wall.
Through the clearing smoke, Eva charged through, swinging at Saren. He ducked and swung an uppercut into her stomach, lobbing her back and on her feet. She got back in and shoved him towards the window. He regained his balance, quickly dodging a high kick form her, but taking an armor-empowered punch to the face. Eva followed it up with several more jabs. The she jumped up to grab a ceiling beam and swung back to give him a double kick, throwing Saren back.
She pulled out a knife and rushed forward. But then Saren grabbed her arm mid-swing with his robotic arm. He stared at her, smiling as blue blood dripped form his cuts. He raised his other arm between them, prompting Eva to look down. He then fired an incinerator round point black into her, throwing her across the room and embedded her into the wall.
The smoke cleared. Saren turned to see Jack standing back up.
"Must you waste what little time we have?" he then heard a noise from out the door. Saren turned to the door, now hearing the clear sound of a squad of turian troops moving in to investigate the building. Immediately, they rushed towards the room upstairs, "You want proof I'm on your side?"
Jack spitted out a pool of blood, "I'd like to see that."
He shook his head, "Spirits…"
Four turians hurried down the hallway to the room, a fifth following behind up the stairs. The squad leader saw Saren and waved him down. Saren sighed and rolled his eyes at Jack. He took out his pistol and immediately fired, gunning down the first two down without looking. The third paused in shock and quickly suffered a similar fate. The fourth raised his rifle and shouted friendly fire, but Saren took him out, followed by the fifth as he got to the top to fire. He fell just as well, four shots through his barrier, and his body tumbled back down the stairs.
Saren holstered his weapon, turning to the three as they got up.
"Well, Harper?"
Jack looked over to the hallway, "Five of your kind dead to gain out trust?"
"I don't want your trust. I need…" He groaned with impatients, "And want your help. And so do you. Where do you think you would go after you get a shuttle? Try to get on board my brother's ship and shoot your way to him? If you even kill him, then what? Nearly every officer trained to fight the Terrans joined his side. He dies, and they'll carry on, an even bigger martyr than those who died at Illium."
Ben turned and whispered to him, "The Spectre bird has a point."
Jack grumbled, "Shut up, Ben."
"I do," Saren walked forward, hands raised up to calm the beaten-up humans, "You want to stop this war? I know where to go to do it. And I can get you there. I will help you, if you help me."
Jack stared at him, distressful of what he was saying. but as the battle outside drew of a close, and more Turian forces rushed to the park, he had have much of a choice. He turned to the hallway.
"I guess I have little choice."
"You don't. Go with me, get taken by the Primarch's forces, or if you wish, I'll just kill you now and take what info you have off you three."
Jack slammed the table with his fist, "Fine! Lead the way, Spectre."
"Spirits, you humans are always for the melodramatic. Explains your Shakespeare…"
"And the dead turians in the hallway?" asked Eva, pointing over.
Saren slowly walked out into the hallway, "Them? They're traitors." He stepped over one and took her rifle, "Their death in inconsequential. Now, let's go."
Part 3:
Flashback: Northern Italy
Day 334 of the Great Revival
March 20, 2148
"We're beginning our final approach to Firebase Virgil."
"Roger," he almost hurled, before swallowing it back down, "Uh… Keep me inform of anything else."
"Yes, general."
Traveling at hypersonic speeds, General William's shuttle blistered away through the valleys of the Italian Peninsula. Green hills flanked them on either side as they flew over an old forest below. From the outside, anyone seeing the shuttle would see a blue blur traveling past them, followed immediately by the energized air the shuttle was leaving behind, before being knocked back by the sonic blast that was slowly following behind. For a single shuttle flying that fast that low in the atmosphere, it was quite reckless. Better that than being shot down though.
"Pilot. Are we at risk from any ASBs?" asked Williams. Design to repel ships from Earth's low orbit, ground based anti-ship batteries scattered across the planet were part of the main defenses placed on Earth as part of the militarization act. The start of the war saw many being taken by the different rebel groups, effectively locking down the skylines and low orbit of Earth from the main bulk of the military's might. It severely hampered operations at the start of the revolt on Earth.
The pilot radioed in from the cockpit to the shuttle's bay, "No, sir. Field Marshall Weatherman's army group reported having control of the Florence auxiliary ASB and anti-air systems. And we got low enough to be out of range of the Vienna Main ASB when we got to the Adriatic Sea."
"Well, okay than…" Williams laid back in his seat, clenching his eyes shut as he tried to keep his mind straight. His breath stayed slow and steady, but the effort to not hyperventilate was straining. Looking out the viewport wasn't a good idea, and most slight bumps at hypersonic speeds only worsen his motion sickness, "So why are we traveling so fast?"
"Damn, are the inertia dampeners leaking Gs again?" He began toggling the shuttle's settings, strengthen the static warp field use by the Terrans to cancel out inertia. The slight discomfort by Williams, being gently push back and forth that would have crushed him without the dampeners, disappeared as the Gs canceled out and Williams felt like he was at still motion. Knowing he was traveling as hypersonic speeds canceled that relief out as well, "Sir, is that better?"
"Very," He still felt a bit queasy, "Thanks you."
"Of course-" Numerous alerts popped up on their screens, followed by an emergency protocol alarm, "Oh crap, crap! Mendez, are you seeing this?"
"Oh hell, nuclear detonation? Baring south by southwest. Shit, air blast in five seconds!"
"Shut main engine core, switch to harden relay circuit!"
"Done!"
Williams slammed on the comm system, "What's going-"
"General, buckle down and hold on-"
The airwave from an atomic blast hit the shuttle. Traveling at great speeds, the shuttle bulleted straight through the initial concussion blast as the pilot and his navigator kept the shuttle level. Any pitch upward or downward would present a flat surface for the blast to blown them away and immediately shredded the shuttle or smash it into the hills. Williams held on the strap of his seat, trying to hold still as the shuttle rocked about.
"… ru… diag… there. General, are… -ou alright?" The circuits were still purging the electro-magnetic overload from the EMP of the blast.
Williams waited until he felt the artificial stillness of the dampeners stabilize his body. He took another second to hold onto the strap before he relaxed his body in his seat.
He teeth clenched, and his hands were sweaty as he gripped onto the seat strap tightly, "Jesus Christ… yah, I'm fine. What the hell was that?"
"We just flew through a nuclear detonation, sir. Readings indicate a small tactical atomic weapon went off, about eighty clicks south-west of Weatherman's position."
"What the hell? The rebels have ground nukes?"
"Hold on, naval command is relaying us an examination of the signature… its… ours? Signature says it's a 'North Atlantic' tactical warhead?"
The navigator checked for himself, "What the hell is a 'NATO'?"
The pilot laughed, "Shit, you need to read up on more history Mendez. Weatherman must be fighting the Russians now as well."
"Holy crap!" Field Marshall Weatherman lowered down his binoculars and turned to Colonel Joseph Fitzgerald. He blanked expression was broken with a grin and a chuckle, "This you see that, Joe?"
"Very much sir!" The colonel seemed horrified as he slowly lowered, "You just nuked Grosseto!"
"And glassed those god damn fundie bastards, haha!" Weatherman turned around in the forward dugout command post he was in. Behind him on the hill side were three ancient mid-21st century magnetic artillery pieces, each with a worn-out writing saying Artillerie Atomique: Union Européenne, aimed towards the west. The even older label under that still read US Army: NATO Detachment. His forces had salvaged them from an old EU army base. Over the hills, a small mushroom cloud was rising from behind, "But damn, I didn't think these old things still worked!"
"Jesus, how many were vaporized by that blast…"
"Stop your wining, Joe. We warned the town we would retaliate. They probably expected a Flagship swooping in and launching a volley of antimatter torpedoes," He rolled his eyes, "Lazy navy bastards kept complain how the captured Vienna ASB locked down the entire European continent. But if I must give it to the Euros, they had a nice arsenal."
Fitzgerald grew weaken at the thought, "But… sir..."
"Well, yes. We did give them these things," He gave another glance of the nuclear artillery sets, letting out an admiring long whistle, "Roosevelt Nuclear Kits. Abandon to the Euros after the fall of NATO. Three 'Big Stick' second generation mag-guns and a truck load of 'Speak Softly' One-Kiloton shells. Pale in comparison to our current mag artillery, but God…" He began chuckling, "I bet this was how General Bogza felt stopping the Russians at the gates of Vienna a century ago. Haha, Kaboom!"
Fitzgerald than turned mad, "Christ, sir! A bit morbid much?"
"Well, there are some scholars debating of what the Polish 1st Armed Division did to surrendering Russians after they relived Vienna. Crazy ass Hussars…"
"I mean you! Nuking fellow Terrans!"
"Terrans?" Weatherman laughed, "They're traitors! They are fortunate Giménez ordered a warning and a small tactical deployment," He turned back to view the valley between him and Grosseto from their position at the Prato hills. "Otherwise, I'd nuke my way to Rome."
The colonel shook his head and did the sign of the cross, "Christ all mighty…"
From the entrance of their command post, General Williams rushed in. He was still a bit disoriented from riding the atomic blast, but he rushed anyway to the command post to report in.
"Sir!" Williams saluted to Weatherman, "Brigadier General Edward Williams, Terran Military Intelligence, reporting for duty!"
"Yah, yes," Weatherman snarked as he saluted back, "You're Bletchley's lackey. Fine, its not like I have to worry of the KGB shooting me in the back."
"Uh, I'm here to relay high level intelligence, not as political officer."
"Oh, of course," He chuckled, "That's what the FIA or CBI for, uh?" He walked over to the command table, "You saw that blast?"
"The nuclear bomb? Yes sir, it nearly vaporized my shuttle!"
"A single kilotons won't do shit to a modern shuttle," Weatherman paused, "Though it is Navy, so what can you expect..."
"So we did fire that nuke? Good lord…" Williams did the sign of the cross and sighed.
"What? Oh, I see. The Navy blows up one of Ackerman's ships with megaton strength antimatter torpedoes and no one bats an eye, but when the Army fires a small tactical atom bomb, it's 'morally wrong'. Quit your Canadian whining and look here."
He pointed to the table, pointing at the holographic map of Italy. At the moment, the Terran 9th army group was heading down the 'boot' of Italy. The group consisted of regular armed forces, a mix of different army divisions from across the colonies. On their flank were fascist held Austrian-Danubia and a commune rebellion in France. There, the Terran-European Militias covered their flanks as they marched south.
"With Grosseto gone, we have an open route to the Western Mediterranean. During the fall of Italy to these 'Crusaders', Pope Brogan stayed in Rome to buy time for the evacuation of civilians. President Vetrol calls it a selfless sacrifice," He sighed at the president's remarks, "But so much for the one hundred and eighty-nine. The man is now a prisoner to the fund-nuts! Guess who's now in the service of Heaven, uh?" He pointed to Rome, "General Giménez wants us to march to Rome and save the Pope. I don't have to remind you how bad it looks when Christian fundamentalist can claim legitimacy with the Pope in possession! Just as well, if we take Italy soon, we can restart sailing cargo ships from Spain to relieve General Milton's army in Egypt. The Navy failed to take out the Suez ASBs, so she been tightening their belt for a while without a naval resupply."
Fitzgerald spoke, "Naturally, a conventional assault on Rome will be long and messy. We want the Pope and the cardinals alive. As well as most of the city intact."
"Oh yes," Williams finally added on with his own knowledge, "Bletchley will have B7 support available to you. The famed 9th Battalion is all yours."
"Good. I been meaning to meet the famed Jade Lin herself," said Weatherman.
Williams hesitated for a moment, before answering, "Jade Bishop, sir. But she retired two years ago. General Sato will be leading them when they arrive from Russia."
"Figures. I never liked rich fucker Bishop… Sato's a good lad though anyway." He pointed at the heart of Rome, the Vatican, "We will use them to launch an extraction. That would be a great way to start an offensive on the city," Weatherman gestured to the map, "Now, Williams. Show me how we should proceed from here."
"Huh," Williams looked at the map. Different chest like pieces were being holographically displayed across northern Italy. He first looked at the western coast of Italy, "We have E-80 open, and several veteran armored divisions ready in Genoa to charge to Rome."
"Yes, that's obvious enough, isn't it?" said Weatherman, staring at Williams.
"And we also have, huh," He dragged his finger across the map, before stopping just south of their position, "E-35. E-35 is also free to move through to allow an eastern approach of the city."
Weatherman nodded his head minimal approval, "Good."
"But it seems Florence is still in enemy hands."
"The city is full of stragglers. I was about to dispatch a company to clean up the city…" Weatherman paused, looking at the map. Then he opened his eyes in realization with a grin and a subtle, disturb chuckle, "Since you are commissioned as an officer, I want you to clean the city."
Fitzgerald and Williams both turned to him, "What?"
"This is an easy enough task. Take Florence. Fitzgerald will take point moving our forces down E-35 for the attack on Rome afterwards."
"Uh, I…" He froze up at the thought, "General, I haven't lead soldiers before."
Weatherman stared at him, breaking down the once civilian intelligence officer. Then he laughed, with an ever-serious face on him, "Nonsense. I heard of your 'brave' assault in Beijing. You'll do fine."
"Uh, yes, sir."
Weatherman continued, with a mad stare, but a grin on his face, "And if you fuck it up, I'll personally drag you back to London, and shove you up Bletchley's ass! Understood?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Good. Fitzgerald, head down the hill and prepare the 7th armored to move when Florence is free. Williams, I'll assign you a staff for the assault."
"My own staff?"
"It's not like a thousand-officer corps for a fleet admiral, come on now."
Weatherman and Williams walked out and through a connecting trench to an auxiliary post, where some soldiers were prepping for battle, but also were chatting in the down time before the next battle. As they entered, the others cleared out except for three that lined up and turned to salute them. The first one was a fully armored B7, the oldest of the group but a young man of similar age. His arm patch indicated a rank of Major, and his B7 status clear by both the first-generation power armor, and his distinctive blue beret.
The second one was a young enlisted man, a private first class. His uniform was a mix of Terran regular, with a mix match of older surplus 21st century European armor that Williams deduce was swapped in as the initial gear degraded or was shot up in the first months of the war. The last one was clearly a Naval officer, the cleanest looking of the three, with an unusually clean formal uniform and a perfect posture.
"Here is your 'staff', General Williams," Weatherman even finger quote the word staff before he pointed them out, "Major Paris, B7. He is awaiting the rest of the 9th battalion Bletchley promised me. He will be your special force adviser."
"Sir! It's an honor to work with you! Though wise men at their end know dark is right. Because their words forked no… no... no, wait, uh…"
"No lighting, they do not go gentle into that good night," Williams rolled his eyes at the Section agent assigned to him, "A fan of Dylan Thomas, I see?"
"What? Oh yes. I am, I am…"
Weatherman grunted, "I like his early work more, actually. A nice contrast to the then current social works like those of TS Eliot," Both seemed surprise by his comment. He rolled his eyes and turned to the next man, "Next is Private First Class Massani. He was part of an Italian militia group from Venice that joined us. He will be you senior NCO."
Williams turned to Weatherman, "NCO? A Private?"
"To put it frankly, everyone else from his group is dead. The amounts of hours of active combat and leadership makes him more skilled than most of my officers; Fitzgerald naturally excluded, you very much included. Be honored, I'm giving you an Italian that can fight… and doesn't randomly switch sides. Just as well, I rather keep my sergeants for myself."
"Of course, sir," He turned to Massani, "A promotion to a more reflective rank would be appropriate?"
Weatherman shrugged his shoulders as a mortar barrage commenced a short way from them, "As you say, general. Private!"
"Sir!" Massani saluted him.
"Congrats on your promotion to Corporal. You can get your new rank insignia at the supply officer… as well as a new uniform. You look like fucking Rambo."
"Uh, sir, permission to speak freely?" His Terran English had a heavy Italian accent.
"Yes?"
"Lieutenant Zimmer was killed yesterday, and I was assigned to his position. To be frank, we barley have any ammunition or rations, let alone proper replacement uniform."
Weatherman turned around to look at his nuclear artillery, placing his hands behind his head, sighing in frustration, "I figured as much. Nukes, but no food. The damn Navy can't resupply for shit. The last drop landed in the fucking ocean… Oh right, Williams, this here is you Naval Liaison officer, an AI."
The AI saluted them, less emotive than the others, "Sir, Ensign Peter Stapleton. 3rd Logistic Flotilla, Sol Fleet."
"He's one of the new Mark III AIs from California. Currently being QEC streamed from a server in Geneva. Unfortunately, being Navy, he's as useless as my son-in-law."
Williams raised an eye brown, "Really now?"
Peter responded with a strict formal tone, "My official role is to assist you in the coordination of Army and Naval assets in the goal of defeating our enemy, both tactical and strategic in form."
Williams chuckled, "Meaning?"
Peter smiled, "Well, sir. You ask me what you need from the Navy, and I will give you a hundred, detailed reason why the Navy can't do it. I am also authorized to make empty promises on behalf of Fleet Admiral Donnelly."
Weatherman chuckled, "Oh, more direct these versions are. The old ones just lie."
Peter tiled his head, "Oh, do you wish to turn that up, sir? My default is only 10%."
"They must be 20% more insincere than the old ones as well," Weatherman sighed, "We also have a bunch of European combat bots that came with the nukes, Great Liberation era, when I was a kid. Peter can take control of them for the assault, but they'll just be good for taking bullets."
"We'll make use of them."
Weatherman nodded, "Well, good. Now, Florence is awaiting liberation. And I have a reservation for dinner in Rome. Get going!" He then left, leaving Williams with his make-shift staff. They heard him yelling at another officer back at the forward post, "Get me a reservation in Rome, Joe. And those fundies are also using our KC-10s, so tell the troops to scavenge ammo…" Weatherman stopped, "And tell them to use a damn Geiger meter before taking rounds off those radioactive bastards! I don't half my army walking into Rome with cancer!"
Williams turned to his men. Paris was the only one of them all, both properly skilled, trained, and experience as a B7 elite solider. Clearly, he was new to the ranks of Bletchley's small Section 14, but Williams needed the support. Massani would be his eyes on the ground, short of Paris. Standing there in full standard gear of the last Terran century, he was battle harden, but his still young face underneath showed he was pushed into battle, likely never fully trained, with the scars of seeing almost everyone else in his position dying around him. He grew up too fast. And of course, there was his naval liaison, Peter, who was moving his head rapidly, eye locked in place as he kept target lock on a moth flying near him. That was the most predicable problem he was facing. Given the more pressing troubles the Navy was really in across the Sol system; a newly minted, half-minded AI was rather doable.
"Well, gentleman. Let's begin…"
Part 4:
Shanxi Resistance – Shanxi Grasslands
September 4, 2168 – 21:00:00 UTC
In an instant, she raised her rifle and pulled out her side arm. Jessica Accardo's arms were crossed, with her Lancer aimed at Zaeed and her pistol at Leng. The officer stood in-between them, lock in place, but it didn't deter the two of them and their group. They all stood off from each other, everyone standing in the middle of the empty country road, the sky darkening as night neared. Random anti-ship batteries still fired in the distance; they were the only reason why the turians haven't outright dropped a tungsten slug on their heads yet.
On her left, Leng was facing down Sargent Massani and the bulk of the surviving Army units, backed up with militia and resistance members. The soldiers of William's Army were spread out across their side of the empty farm road they were on. The militia and resistance stood beside Zaeed, backing him up with modified AR-25s and stolen Turian Phaeston rifles.
"Damn it, Decmius. Stand back."
"No. I… I… I won't run, Uncle Sat," the young turian boy said, standing behind him.
Corporal Holst kept his breath steady, and his aim as well, "This is some heavy shit, right here."
On her right, Zaeed was facing off against Lieutenant Leng and platoon of Marines he led. Caught in the fervor of the moment, they disobeyed orders form their senior commanding officer and stood by the lieutenant, Lancers and Mattock rifles brought to bear on Jessica and the Army. Leng had his personal katana unsheathe as he stood in a ready stance to lash out.
"I didn't join the Marines to save these fucking aliens!"
"None of us did," replied Leng.
Another marine grunted, "Fuck, this is some Revival crap. Human vs Human again?"
Finally, the survivors of the Navy, including Commodore Heungand those from the orbital starbase and Second Fleet, were also facing off against the Army and Marines in support of the Marine Captain. Though everyone on that empty road were battle worn from the invasion, they appeared the most battered. Their uniforms were dirtied and tattered and, unlike the army and Marines, were equipped with basic self-defense pistols and rifles. Behind them were two Turian Nation marine POWs that they have apprehended when hey escaped through the highway.
"This is why I fly. So I don't deal with this shit," remarked the pilot that goes by the callsign Warsaw-One.
Captain Jessica Accardo knew, one wrong move and she and the only officer they had that knew were the evacuation shelter was, would be shredded to bits before the Army and Marines tried to do the same to each other.
"Both of you, lower your weapons, now!" ordered Jessica.
"I can't do that, Captain. This deranged grunt should lower his!"
"I'd be happy to comply," said Zaeed, "If put your pussy toy ninja sword away!"
"That ain't going to happen. I won't let you take those damn aliens behind you go with us to the evac site. They'll lead the Hierarchy straight to us!"
Commodore Heung intervene, "These turians are not even Hierarchy. They are a rogue force. At any minute, Federal or Hierarchy force would arrive to stop them."
"Are you insane? We are that force! They shot Admiral Roland and Paris out of the sky! This is it! The endgame! And my troops and I stand by Humanity, not these aliens with worthless citizenship to call themselves Terrans!"
Zaeed shouted back across to them, "These 'aliens' saved my life. I have more faith in them as Terrans than you, you stupid jockey jarhead ape!"
"Fool, your faith is weak and misplaced. Just try and attack us, you enlisted xeno-loving grunt."
"God damn it, put your weapons down, now!" ordered Jessica.
"Of all the times for this stupid rivalry…" sighed Heung.
From the distance, they all then heard the faint sound of an ethanol combustion engine at the horizon of the road. Most of them faltered for a second in confusion, before scrambling into place to take defensive stance against what was coming at them. But as the vehicle approached, the captain yelled out.
"Hold your fire!"
The humvee rushed towards them, before screeching to a halt. Stopping right in front of the officers, Williams rushed out.
"What the hell are you all morons doing here?"
"Sir!" she saluted him, Williams giving a quick salute back to hurry the conversation up, "We were on route with Commodore Heung to the fallback point."
"Then why were you all standing in the middle of the damn road? In the God damn wide-open? With over fifty civilians?"
Paris walked over, "Jesus, the fact you're all here and not a crater makes me wonder whether it's because you all are lucky, or the birds are that incompetent."
Leng spoke out, "Sir, We-"
"Lieutenant. Shut it! Captain, summary, quick. Its could be raining slugs any moment now."
"Sir, we managed to evac out of the city through the subway system, with a group of civilians we save from a Hastatim camp."
Williams turned to her, "That's quite a feat."
"A Special Force squad aided in the attack. Lead by a Colonel Harper."
"Ah," Williams appeared relieved, "That's good to know. And his status?
"He and his team of three was last spotted to be taking a shuttle to get off planet."
"Three?" Williams wonder who that third one was, "Anyway, Sergeant Massani, now explain why you were ready to gun down Paris' marines."
"Sir, the Lieutenant here was threatening us to leave behind the non-human civilians we rescued. He disobeyed the captain's order and took aim at my soldiers!"
Leng argued back, "You did the same thing to me and my men! You should have followed our Captain's orders!"
Zaeed took a step towards him, before Williams held him back, "Shut it, you pint sized weeb!"
"Sergeant!" Williams draw him back in, "Pay attention. You know every well not to disobey a superior officer… that's not in your chain of command, anyway."
Massani reluctantly nodded to Williams, "Yes, sir."
"And Lieutenant Leng."
"Sir?"
Williams took out his revolver and aimed his way. He fired, shooting Leng's scabbard that held his katana, and scattered the cheap titanium-steel in two. The marines all backed off as the metal splintered about. Leng flinched all the while.
"Aim a weapon at my NCO again, and you'll meet the same fate as Colonel Fitzgerald. Is that understood?"
Leng's face clenched in anger, but he acknowledged the order, "Yes… sir."
"Good," Williams turned to Jessica and pointed up. The marines were slowly walking over to her side, distancing themselves from Leng, "Any other problem? I didn't survive the Fallen Angels to get head shot by a turian cruiser."
"Sir, we also have to two prisoners of war. We captured them while crossing through the subway system to get out the city."
"POWs? Well, I'll be frank, we can't take them with us." Williams looked around, before finding Satorius, "You. Militia?"
"Yes, general."
"Good. I don't need to ask if your turian as well," Williams turned to his watch and disabled his universal translator, "Speak English?"
"Of course. Terran Standard."
Williams chuckled. He then swapped tongue, "Still got Rometin in you?"
"You speak Hierarchy Standard?" He replied in the main turian language.
Williams gestured him to follow as he walked to the prisoners, "I wouldn't consider myself a good intelligence officer if I can't speak and read foreign intel natively. Don't get me started with the lack of a unified Asari language. Now, these two over here."
"An old man, a staff sergeant. Likely some desk jokey near the border when they rebelled. And an army lieutenant, likely got carried up in patriotic fever. I can tell that kind of officer; how you say, greener than Sur'kesh."
"Ha, that planet is green."
The two prisoners had their hands tied behind them as they lay on their knees on the side of the road, facing the field. They listen in as Williams talked.
"Well, I prefer to be upfront. We can't them with us," He readied his revolver, spinning the cylinder, "And well, we can't let them go."
The older one slowly turned his head to the young one and whispered to him, "Shit, Shit. That fucking pyjak is going to execute us!"
"What?" the young man began nervously sweating, slowly trembling, "That man with him. He's one of us. Maybe he could stop him."
"He's a fucking traitor! He'll probably goad the pyjak to spill his own kinds blood," He struggled his restraints, "I got mines loose. Yours?"
"Almost, I think."
"Follow my lead…"
"But that would be a war crime," said Satorius.
"War isn't a simple construct of rules and protocol. Killing is an awfully dirty business, one that-"
On cue, the older prisoner broken his restraints and tackled the guard close to him. Williams shoved Satorius out of the way as the old soldier grabbed the guard's rifle and opened fire. His first and only burst were aimed at the marines, who's personal shields deflected the rounds. But a stray round found its target in the shoulder of Paris, knocking him back into the Humvee. Williams reacted quickly afterward and fired his revolver, gunning the old man down and straight into the ditch between the road and the field.
The young officer though had completely frozen up, still kneeling there in utter fear.
"Well crap!" said Williams in his native language.
"No shit, Williams. The bastard shot me!" yelled Paris as he ordered a marine medic to patch him up.
He turned to Satorius, "The other one is still there. I was hoping for a good reason to shoot him as well." He turned to the naval personnel that watching him, "And good job tying those rope. I honestly expected him to do that way earlier!"
"You were goading him? Jesus!" Paris would have cursed at him more, but he couldn't do so public about it, even if he got shot.
Williams walked over to the young prisoner and squatted next to him. He asked in Turian Rometin, "Name and rank, young man."
He replied, still shivering in fear, "Lieutenant Invectus, Silius Invectus. Serial Number HRTY-KDFES-4672."
"You understand I'm speaking to you directly in your tongue, right?"
"What? Oh, you are? Hierarchy Standard?"
"Yes," Williams than changed to another language. This one caught Zaeed's ear, though it was unintended for him, "You speak Carthina?"
"What?" He replied in the language, "Yes… how do you know that. It's an ancient language!"
"Son, if anything else. Its something my race and yours have in common. Coincidental, but I feel I made my point speaking it to you."
"I don't know what… yes, sure. I hope I do."
"Good," Williams unholstered his revolver, but than he reached for his hand ties and pulled them off. He picked the prisoner officer up by his neck armor plate, "Keep that fact in mind. And tell Admiral Toma, General Edward Williams says Hello."
Williams then kicked him into the ditch. He rolled over his dead comrade and into the field itself. He yelled out, "Run!" and fired a round into the air.
Invectus did just that. They saw as the wheat fields got trampled as he ran into through it.
Williams walked back to the jeep, "Audite, I mean, listen. If you have wounded, load them onto the jeep. Everyone else, make for the damn evac point, and double time! I give it a minute or two before the Turians notice this heat blob in the middle of no where and bomb it for good measure."
He took the wheel as Paris climbed in. The wounded and children were loaded on in the back. Zaeed walked over to him as he started the engine.
"Sir."
"Yes, Massani."
"You spoke Latin?"
"Yes," he grunted, "And no. They say we and the birds have a lot in common. If only by chance, we have a language as well. Symbolic, uh sergeant?"
"I see. See you at the evac point, sir."
"Get them all there, Massani."
Williams drove off as the group got into formation and hurried through the corn field for a more covered and straight approach to the evacuation point. Paris turned to him as he grasped his shoulder.
"I hate you, Williams."
He chuckled, "After all we been through?"
BBC: Reegargrad: Editorial - Date: June 2, 2168
The Tale of One City and Many, Many Names
BBC Funfacts are brought to you by
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With little fanfare yesterday, eclipse by the celebration of Unity Day, the famous historic city along the Volga river in Russia was renamed back to the City of Volgograd. A fact now forgotten in an era where humanity is focused on what's going on in the stars, this marks the fourth time the city has been known under this name. In a history spanning from the old Russian Empire, through the Soviet Union and Russo-American Star Alliance, and the modern UTF, this city has been part of the changing politics of the modern era.
Founded in 1555, the city was once the old fortress and trading post of Tsaritsyn. It started off as a southern border town on the edge of the old Tsardom of Russia. Seeing many battles between the inhabitants south of the town, it slowly grew into a major economic hub of the region in the height of the Russian Industrial Revolution.
In its most famous name, the city was renamed into Stalingrad in 1925 by and after Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. In this stage, the city expanded into a massive industrial hub in communist Russia, baring the name of its infamous leader (a fact repeated many times afterwards). In its most know role in Pre-Unity history, the city became the battle grounds for the single deadliest battle in the twentieth century, where the Battle of Stalingrad seeing the loss of hundreds of thousands of Nazi and Communist forces for control of the city named after Stalin and deciding the fate of the German's campaign in Russia.
In 1961, the city was renamed to Volgograd for the first time by Soviet Premier Khrushchev. This was part of the "De-Stalinization" of the Soviet Union. This name persisted for a while after the collapse of the union, but remain an important historic location for Russian history, with monuments to the old Soviet Union scattered about. Funfact 1: After the Great Revival, many of the famous statues were "Political Corrected", including the former The Motherland Calls into The Homeworld Calls to represent the call of "Mother Terra" to colonist to come home and retake Earth.
In 2039, the city was renamed to Putingrad in honor of late Russian President Vladimir Putin. The naming was believed to correspond to the ten-year anniversary of the collapse of NATO. However, following Russia's defeat in the British-European War, the city was renamed to Merkelgrad, in honor of late EU Chancellor Angela Merkel. Funfact 2: The name of this war stems from a historic joke that Russia loss so badly, the British Commonwealth of Nations got named instead, in spite doing nothing for nearly the entire war. it is still known as the Russo-European War in Russia, and as the European Unification War in Greater Europe.
In 2067, the city was named back to Volgograd. This was thanks in part to Russia joining the United States of North America to form the Russo-American Star Alliance, who renegotiated with the EU for the name change to build faith with the Russians. In return, the Americans returned the Pattonburgh Region, also formerly the Kaliningrad or Königsberg Region, which they stole from both the EU and Russia during the British-European War. However, in 2069 during a bad economic recession, the city went bankrupt and was bailed out by Former US President Jeremiah Bishop. As part of the bailout terms, the city was named Bishopgrad for the first time as a direct joke on the names the city has been under. Funfact 3: It is considered a notable feat for the Americans to take the region while the Russians and EU were distracted, considering the Pacific-Canadian loyalist faction was losing the civil war at the time.
This was changed back to Volgograd a third time in 2098 by his son, Bishop Enterprises CEO George Bishop, who thought the joke by his father was petty. In 2100, it was than named to Glukhovskygrad, after the first chairman of the RASA, Artyom Glukhovsky. However, protest emerged in 2110 over his historic role in bringing Russia into the Alliance, and his agreement back in 2075 to restore the Russian monarchy with a German prince. In that tense atmosphere, Bishop Enterprises CEO and future Founder Althea Bishop, George's daughter-in-law, lobbied and bought the rights to rename the city back to Bishopgrad in 2117 as a seven-year-old birthday gift for her son, Jeremy Bishop. Funfact 4: The current 13-year-old Tsar Ivan IX is first-cousin-once-removed from German Kaiserin, Exiled French Empress, and Terran Senator Victoria III.
The city would remain with this name for much of the 22nd century and become the site of the earliest battle of the Great Revival in a four-way clash between the Terran-Russian Militia, Russian Ultra-Nationalist, the Euro-Fascist League, and the New Soviet Army forces. This ended with a Militia victory and the twentieth deadliest battle of the war at four million killed in just six months of fighting. From there, the city was home to the 483rd Militia Bishopgrad Hyper-Artillery Division, who played crucial roles in providing heavy artillery support across Europe, Africa and Asia from the city, including Operation Holy See in Greater Italy, Operation Three Gorges Bust in China, Operation Pack Rat in northern African Union and Operation The Watch on the Elbe in the Franco-German Empire. For this, the city received the Terran Military honor of "Hero City: Bishopgrad". Funfact 5: Most combatants on all sides died from a late winter frost, followed by an earlier summer heatwave. Fighting did claim over a million lives though.
In 2159, Jeremy Bishop asked for the city to be renamed, having apparently forgotten he had a city named after him. However, this name change was stalled as many different parties got involved to have the city named after their choosing. This includes a proposed Andersongrad after late Terran President Thomas Anderson, to farfetched names like Hitlerberg and Neo-Stalingrad. Finally, there was Grady McCityface, a name that was introduced on the national ballot as Proposition 227 by a group of high schoolers as part of a social science project. It was only narrowly defeated in the 2164 election by five thousand votes, out of 23.5 billion casted votes. Funfact 6: The project got a grade of an A and was ranked as the sixth most embarrassing national proposition in terran history. Funfact 7: It is likely Bishop had also forgotten about the city of Bishopore, formerly Singapore before Jeremiah Bishop bought the city from the British Commonwealth after their failed invasion of Japan during the 2070s. Remember, the obsolete Terran Autonomous Armored Knight stands no chance fighting anyone with the power of Tupari's new Giga Energy Accelerated Super Sports or G.E.A.S.S Drink! (Not available in Japan. May be found in your local supermarket's soup section.)
In May of this year, congress voted to change the name following public embarrassment after an Asari colonial newspaper released a scolding column about the city's name. The bill passed on May 22 at 19-1, with most of congress not bothering to come to work to even vote on it, viewing the issue as beneath their time and Unity Day holiday vacation. Russo-American officials in the FIA have denied any involvement to the Republics in the disappearance of the asari who wrote the article. Funfact 8: Tupari denies any involvement in her disappearance.
While the city saw little change from the name, the crew of the battlecruiser FSS Volgograd was reported to be in celebration as it was docked for refit over Mars. A Saint Teslaburg class battlecruiser, this class also contain the FSS Tsaritsyn, FSS Stalingrad, FSS Putingrad, FSS Merkelgrad, FSS Glukhovskygrad, and the FSS Bishopgrad. Altogether, there are seven battlecruisers in service, all named after the same city. No word on how the crew of the Bishopgrad are taking the news. Funfact 9: Saint Teslaburg is another Russian City once known as Saint Petersburg. It was renamed by accident during the "Political Correcting" Phase of the Post-Revival Reconstruction in the 2150s in honor of Serbian Engineer Nikola Tesla. Both Yugoslavia and Russia are not happy about this, but there was only enough political pressure to change the name of one city.
Reports from city officials indicate they will be spending the rest of the year updating official forms to the new name. Funfact 10: The recently renamed City of Volgograd is brought to you by Tupari! Don't get shot taking one step back, Drink Tupari!
Terran Wikipedia
B7 Special Forces (United Terran Army)
Active: June 19, 2125 – Present
Country: United Terran Federation
Branch: United Terran Army
Type: Special Operations Forces
Role:
Primary tasks:
Unconventional warfare
Foreign/internal defense
Special reconnaissance
Direct action
Counter-terrorism
Counter-insurgency
Other roles:
Counter-Separatists
Hostage rescue
Humanitarian missions
Frontline Shock Force
Size: ~100,000 Active Duty
Part of: United Terran Special Operations Command; UTF Army Special Operations Command
Garrison/HQ: Fort Anderson, Eden Prime, Exodus
Nickname(s): Blue Berets, Guardian Angels (Pre-Revival), Fallen Angels (Post-Revival), Oppressors' Nightmares, God's Bullseye, The One Percent
Motto: Freedom's Light, Terra's Shadow
The Terran Army B7 are the special forces for the Terran Army. They are commonly referred to as the Blue Berets for their distinctive service headgear. Conceived in 2125 with the formation of the Federation, it differed from other parts of the military in that it was formed as its own division, not merged in like the other parts of the military. Consisting of chosen leaders from the defunct special forces of the old nations, the B7s began recruitment for its new force from scratch. By 2135, only an approximation of 31% of the B7 consisted of former special force operatives from before unification. It earned the name "The One Percent" thanks to having a 0.9 percent acceptance rate before 2135. Being under the Army command, a vast majority of B7s were drawn from the main Army and the National Guard, with some members of the marines before the creation of the N7s. Leading them was Terran General and former Commonwealth SAS operative Iain Bletchley before 2154, then General Edward Williams from 2154 onward after Bletchley's assassination.
Following the Militarization act of '35, the B7 group was expanded to meet the demand for a large encompassing special force. In spite strict qualification standards and maintaining the famed acceptance rate of one percent, the B7s expanded to nearly a hundred thousand by the start of the Great Revival. They were used in both high and low-profile operations in capturing or neutralizing rebellious individuals during the Anderson and Lin administration. At one point, they were utilized as orbital insertion squads, but was phased out during the early 50s.
Though trained for small team operations, they were reformed into traditional military formation of five divisions during the scramble to bring home forces to Earth. During the war on Earth, they were assign by battalion to numerous army and militia forces to act as the elite vanguard as terran forces scrabbled to secure and stop the rebellion. Though records show their invaluable role in reestablishing beachheads in the reclaiming of Earth, they also suffered heavy casualties from being used as frontline infantry.
One of the most famous known group was the 9th Battalion of the First Division that served during the Great Revival. Lead first by General Whitney Sato, next Lt. Colonel Hector Paris, then later by Colonel Jade Bishop, the daughter of former President Lin, their first major operation was the rescue of Pope Brogan III, opening the way for the liberation of Rome. They would see actions across Earth, proving instrumental in many operations. Their most famous role was in preventing the failure of Operation The Watch of the Elbe, holding their ground in the heart of Berlin until relieved. This allowed the linking of the Weatherman's Army Group Nine with Gustaf's Army Group Twelve and the liberation of much of Europe.
Their most infamous role was when they were part of an evacuation force to cover the retreat of the Terran 2nd Militia Army and the Arab-Israeli Defense Force from Jerusalem as they escorted civilians to Terran-held Tel Aviv. After being cut off on all sides, they slowly drew in KCC, IOA, and GIS forces into the heart of the city. This was part of a suicidal mission for Operation Lionheart to lure the three fundamentalist armies for the first Fallen Angel kinetic strikes. They perished with the first strike, believed to have taken final refuge in the Dome of the Rock minutes beforehand.
After the war, many were left many disenfranchised by the B7s. B7 command and Army military command were heavily criticized for using their own soldiers as bait for this, resulting in numerous officer sackings after the war by congress. This included a rather damning and public condemnation by former President Lin, who also loss his eldest and youngest sons during the war. Though their performance was unrivaled versus any other force in human history, their lackluster leadership sparked demand for diversity in special force roles within the military. General Bletchley was set to answer to a senate committee over his leadership before he was assassination in 2154. General Edward "Desert Rat" Williams was than given command to reform the force. In 2152, the marine counterpart, the N7s, were conceived to diversify the training and specialization of the Terran military, with a Naval counterpart in the works. In spite this, the B7s are still considered the elite of the Terran special forces and sets the standard used across the military. The only true comparison for the capabilities of the B7s are the elite members of the Marine N7s, many former B7s themselves, and the Turian Hierarchy Ghost Operative Program.
Last Edited 30 June 2168 18:00 UTC
NBC: New Rayya City - Date: May 2, 2168
Eight-year-old Quarian saves city;
Shames Hero of Elysium, entire engineering staff of FSS Tokyo
Education is the most important thing we can give to our children. There's a reason why it has nearly a quarter of the budget as the military! With nearly haft a billion new children entering the Federation education system since Contact, the challenge of teaching students of many different races has been the focus of the education world. In spite this, many bright minds have quickly emerged, new alien children only upping the ante for the young humans.
This was shown with great show during the New Rayya High School Worker's Day Science Fair on New Haestrom, open to all students in the New Rayya Unified School District. Consisting of the projects of the smartest human, quarian, and turian students, the fair had projects from homemade warp coils, homemade hyperspace amateur radios, to the classic Volcano project, where student show how to terraform a world by creating a volcano through precision kinetic bombing from orbit.
Held on Worker's Day, the fair highlights the scientific ingenuity of the People's Youth and the progress of the Terran Worker's Revolution. Its corporate sponsor is QCI's Reegar Fleet Arms LTD at a value of $25,000. The fair was visited by guest judge, the fame 'Hero of Elysium', Lieutenant Perseus Roosa, who was attending as a special guest judge. He is one of the engineers of the FSS Tokyo, which was in orbit at the time.
During the fair, an incident occurred involving several Salarian STG agents. Disguise as visiting civilians, they attempted to steal a warp coil project. The coil itself was nothing particular special, but the fact it was a working dimensional manipulating coil propelling a toy space ship to FTL speeds was enough for the STG to steal it in order to reverse engineer. Unfortunately, it was powered by a home emergency fusion reactor. When agents tried to steal it, they set off a chain reaction of events that, in a one in a quadrillion chance, managed to bypass every single safety system on the reactor.
In the struggle, Roosa manage to disable the agents, but not before they succeeded in setting off the core to meltdown and locking everyone in the school's gym. Accompanied by the engineer crew of the Tokyo, they all worked to fix the reactor, to no avail.
In the panic across the gym, a young eight-year-old quarian girl by the name of Tali Zorah managed to successfully disable the fusion reactor. Using her own homemade advance Dumb Artificial Intelligence (or Virtual Intelligence by Council terms) program science project, made from modifying a prototype Synthetic Insight Emily DAI, she used her program to hack into the reactor computer and reengage the safety perimeters. Saving everyone in the entire city with seconds to spare, she was hailed as a hero, while successfully disgracing the entire professional engineering team of one of the finest light cruisers in the navy.
For her heroic act, she won first place in the science fair and a lunch meet and greet with Council Terran-Quarian Ambassador Miri Ghirn, who she says is her hero. The entire sixth fleet is now being recalled to have their crews retrained in safety protocol by order of the OSHA, to which the Department of the Navy recently been placed under. Terran-Salarian relations have drop somewhat as negotiations begin to deal with the captured agents. In an interview with Head Synthetic Insight Engineer and father Rael Zorah, he expressed his pride in his daughter's quick thinking, but said he will be considering grounding her for stealing a fifty-billion-dollar Dumb AI and overwriting most of its programming.
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Hello everyone!
Sorry again for that long delay, and breaking my New Year Deadline.
The rough draft was ready in late November,
But after heavy editing, it took two more months and I had to split it into three chapters.
On the bright side, those two extra chapters are nearly ready so they'll be out in the coming week or two.
and soon, we'll be off Shanxi and into the next part of the story
The Terran Second Midterm Election of 2168!
Or Black Tuesday, as a hint.
Also, I am planning on some early chapter rewrites in the future,
including Chapter 5 and 6, as it really stretch the Willing Suspension of Disbelief.
I'll let you all know when they get updated.
Anyway, and as always, thanks for reading and please feel free to review and comment.
I welcome all constructive comments, for I always aim to improve my writing!
If you got any questions or opinions to voice, always feel free to add it to a review, or PM me.
Always glad for feedback and responses!
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Posted on February 1, 2019