"A god... a real God, is a verb. Not some old man in the skies with magical powers. It's a force. It warps reality just by being there. It doesn't have to want to, or even think about it. It just does."

When you are faced with certain death, when all seems to fall to pieces around you. When logic-defying events occur and comrades fall... what does one do?


Rage of a God

"Cry Havoc, and let slip the dogs of War!"

Julius Caesar, Shakespeare

November 24th

Valhalla, outskirts of the colony

Fireteam Delta

09:26

Firing an M56A2 minigun in an almost constant spray would normally be reserved for large amounts of hostiles or simply suppression of a target. If the ammunition was fitted with Devastator- or Hammerhead rounds, the 10mm slugs could also be used to mow down light armor and force heavier armor to change target, thereby freeing up its original opponent that might then get a free shot in.

"How the fuck is that thing still alive!?" Fixer screamed, throwing the Mako through another curve to evade the barrage of red-glowing projectiles being fired at the vehicle.

Of course, the M56A2 minigun could also be used to spray down gigantic laser- and plasma-shooting creatures in the skies. At the moment, Private first Class Nicolai Tengberg was busy pressing down the triggers for his automated mounted machinegun, the oversized weapon spraying supposed death at his nemesis. Each time the car turned sharply, his aim was thrown off, making the pellets tear the ground into dust where he shot.

"Because you fucking can't drive straight!" The private shouted back, keeping his eyes fixed on the monster in the skies. If he had to compare it to anything, it would be a dragon from the fairytales. It flew, it had wings that flapped, and it shot fire at them. What annoyed and scared him most of all though, was that it had a barrier around it. Animals weren't supposed to carry around biotic barriers, and if the thing was biotic in nature, he would really like to know how that could be. From what he knew, the only natural biotics came from Thessia or maybe Tuchanka. Of course, that last part was only if a big ship had crashed and the Eezo had leaked out. On further thought, that meant the creature could be from anywhere in the galaxy where a ship had crashed.

"The thing has some sort of field surrounding it, my shots are just absorbed. Tali'Zorah, you are native to this galaxy. What are we shooting at?" Boss asked. His voice, despite the insane pumping of adrenaline undoubtedly going through him, was calm and collected. Behind Scorch, currently in the process of fitting in a new clip for his rifle, Tali fidgeted with her fingers, not knowing just how to respond to the question.

The creature had biotic barriers, she could see that when even a single pellet hit it. What she didn't know was how, or why it had them. Also, it looked like nothing she had ever seen before. Of course, there was some resemblance to the Harvesters of Tuchanka, but they had four legs, not six, and she was definitely sure they couldn't shoot plasma.

"It's a biotic barrier of some sort! But I have no idea what this creature is, it looks-"

"Can we destroy it by shooting it?" Boss said, cutting her off with his commanding voice. For a moment, Tali hesitated. For a moment, the heat sinks in Tengberg's minigun became overheated and Tequila and Scorch took over. For a moment, a large red orb of plasma came soaring towards them. For a moment, Boss's eyes were on the Quarian girl instead of on the sky. For a moment, only the warning shouts of the gunners in the rear could be heard over the noise of machinery working at full capacity to keep distance to the creature.

"Ye-" Tali started. That was when the moment ended. Tengberg could shoot again, Boss could look to the skies and the projectile made from superheated plasma impacted on the Mako.

To call the tremors and the damage severe would be an understatement. The plasma burned right through the hull of the Mako, the ionized gas melting away at the steel, titanium and platinum. Armor was eradicated before the sensors could even register that the shot had made impact. The plasma was fired in a diagonal angle, swatting across the gunnery-position in the middle of the vehicle. The only reason Boss wasn't wiped from existence was him having watched the skies in the fateful moment. With the reflexes of an experienced commando, he jumped from his seat, crashing against the back of Tengberg as he landed.

With not even a moment to spare.

As the plasma cut through the hull of the Mako with a speed rivaling a white-hot knife through soft butter, Fixer was still at the wheel. The clone, either dutiful or unaware of the impact until he could see the red lights, never had the chance to duck out of the way. He never had the chance to leave the wheel and jump for safety. From the moment the plasma impacted, it took only one-point-three seconds for the Mako to be cut in half at a speed of 120kph.

The drivers section, being where Fixer had currently been seated, was cut free of the rest of the vehicle. Fixer, still being strapped in his seat could only scream as his small section was hurled along the ground, crashing and tumbling before coming to standstill more than a hundred meters from where it had been removed from the Mako. What could once have been identified as the front of a Mako was now a crumbled heap of steel and titanium.

Meanwhile, the remaining section of the Mako suddenly found itself with no front tires, as well as the middle tires having been cut through by the shot. The interior of the vehicle was being thrown around like pebbles, human beings and aliens crashing against their harnesses or the walls.

Private Tengberg, still holding on to his weapon, was flung from his seating on the floor. His armored body was crashed against the ceiling of the vehicle as it spun on the ground in a mechanical death-waltz. As the G-forces then reversed, his form was thrown from the tank with all the grace the nearly unconscious soldier could muster. As his body, battered from the injuries, sailed through the air, he could only think of one sentence. It wasn't panicked or desperate. It wasn't angered or grieving either. It was just a calm voice that came from his cracked helmet;

"Oh crap... this is going to hurt..." Time seemed to stand still as he neared the ground. He could see the flying creature in the sky, following the Mako as it crashed along the ground. He could also see one of the clones being thrown from the tank as well.

Then, he impacted, and all was darkness.

"Don't let go!" Scorch, having not been strapped in like Tequila had managed to, found himself clinging to both Tequila and Tali as he was crashed against the sides of the tank. He was starting to lose consciousness, the repeated hits and impacts causing his armor to dent and his visor to crack in more than one place. It seemed like a nightmare repeated, just like when they had crashed on Feros in the gunship. Only this time he could attempt to save himself by clinging to his comrades. And they were clinging to him. It was just an impossible battle to win, with each crashing impact jarring the people trying to save him. Finally, the Mako seemed to tire of its journey, and took one final spin through the air. As it landed, nose down, the impact sent him careening through the opening where the hatch had long-since been broken off. As he sailed though the air, he felt his blood freeze in his veins as he saw the flying creature circle around the tank. If the fall and his already sustained injuries weren't going to kill him, that thing surely would.

When he hit the ground, it was with his hands trying to dampen the impact. As a result, he didn't lose consciousness from the impact, but rather from the excruciating agony and pain that followed every single bone from his fingertips and up to his shoulders break, snapping like dry twigs.

The interior of the Mako faired only better in the sense that they didn't feel the pain that came with a concussion and unconsciousness, nor the pain as the seats were jerked loose in such a way that Tali's right leg was bent to an angle similar to that of a human being. All the Quarian felt was searing light protruding on her numb sleep as the bones snapped.

As the Mako finally came to a still, the belly impacting on the ground with only two of the original six wheels somewhat intact, the creature halted in the air, then turned and flew away.

...

Valhalla, Midgard system

Valhalla facility

Fireteam Baker

12:42

Now, I am not the superstitious sort, to believe in ghosts and monsters and all that crap. Sure, I know divine beings exist because I am dragging one around. And I have seen and fought what I can only call monsters in the shape of a Harvester having been turned into a husk. But that is beside the point. Those things can be somehow explained with science, in one way or another.

What I do not believe in however, are conspiracies and coincidences, like finding two Shepard's or maybe discover that a person from my own world ended up here as well. Again, those examples are more of an exception than a rule.

"So... I guess that's why they came here..." Jane mutters.

Now, when I said I wasn't superstitious, I meant that I didn't believe in magic and such. For example, I never actually saw John being hoisted up by the beacon on Eden Prime. I only heard of it or saw it in a game. So of course, that still remains to be proven true.

"Anyone else get those chills down your back? No? just me?" I ask, eyes fixated on the green-glowing beacon in front of us. While I expected a lot of shit to be here, for these things to be here to get them, I never expected a Prothean Beacon to be standing here like some sort of monument. Hell, I didn't even know there were ruins on this planet.

I have somehow lost count of the amount of husks we have taken out, seeing as they at one point just came at us in a steady stream, never letting up. Or, at least that was how it seemed. At least they were just the regular ones, not that huge creature or the ones with guns. My shotgun has been in use so many times today, that I begin to suspect the supposedly 'infinite' ammo to be close to run out. Aside from Wrex and that guy named Shepard though, we haven't taken any more casualties or injuries. Jane had a brawl with a husk which she then beat to death with the handle of her pistol though, but other than a few scrapes, we have come through no worse for wear.

Another thing I would have lost count of, is time. If my Omni-watch, or 'Crono' as we're supposed to call it, hadn't worked, I wouldn't be aware that we have been at this shit for more than four hours so far. That, and of course that my arm is aching from overuse. The left one is fine though, which I guess is one of the advantages of a bionic arm. As much as I hate shooting with the left hand, my right is just beat at the moment, hardly able to lift a small stone.

Currently, we're standing in front of the beacon. Gentle green pulses are floating from it in a way I didn't expect. Of course, I didn't expect the beacon either, so that is a little beside the point. It's at least three or four meters tall and made from some sort of stone or metal, hell if I know. And I am not going near it.

My mind is just fine with one fuck-up of dimensional proportions residing there, thank you very much.

And of course, Jane has to step closer to it.

"Shepard... maybe you shouldn't go near that thing. Remember Eden Prime?" I say, trying to make my voice as calm as possible. While that question would sound odd to anyone unfamiliar with the captain's past... or is it 'commander'? Seriously, I'm fucking confused as to who has what rank. For a Quarian, the ranks are Captain of a ship, from what I remember, and Jane used to be Commander Shepard. So who is what?

"John'Shepard is the Lieutenant-Commander of the Normandy, and Jane Shepard is the Captain of the ship, making her the unofficial captain of the Normandy. However, John'Shepard is the official commander of the ship, meaning that since the public has no knowledge of Jane's existence, he is the one leading the mission. When John'Shepard is ashore, as they say, Jane is in command of the Normandy. In theory... In reality though, I suspect they have something of a partnership going on."

"That was... a bit much. How did you... right, when not 'entertaining at birthday parties or helping me, you're searching the extra-net'... freaky..."

"Well I need something to do other than empower your sorry ass."

Instead of answering him, I just watch as Jane walks toward the beacon, or whatever the hell it is. I find it hard to care actually, with every tendon and muscle in my body aching and my skin and clothes soaked with sweat. Still, I am not exactly pleased with the prospect of Jane having her brain fried.

"Jane?" I repeat, noting how she doesn't stop or even look at me. Next to me, Ash is having her rifle at the ready, scouring the corners and the sides of the room for anyone with a bull's-eye named 'Team Baker'. Note to self, get a better squad name next time.

"Captain, I think-" Ash says. Or, she starts out with those words, but when the green light suddenly grabs a hold of Jane, Ash shuts up. Neither of us dare approach her, simply watching as the red-head is suspended in the air by some sort of force-field.

And then, before we can even regret not having pulled her away, Jane is released from the grip of the beacon, dropped unceremoniously on the floor. At least this time she appears to be conscious. Doesn't mean she hasn't been reduced to a vegetable though.

"Ehm... Jane... you alright?" I ask, watching Ash help the captain to her feet. Aside from the brief green glow behind her visor, Jane seems fine when she looks at us.

"Yeah... yeah I'm fine... hell of a headache though." She says, rubbing her helmeted head. Ash steps away from her again, looking at the beacon. That's when a private connection opens up in my helmet, labeled 'Ashley Williams, GC.' I accept it, instantly receiving the transmission of Ashley's eyes in my HUD. Flicking over to private radio as Jane stands in front of the beacon. I keep an eye on her, wanting to make sure she doesn't suddenly collapse. Hell if I know what the beacon did to her. And frankly, I really don't want to know.

"What's up Ash?"

"You mentioned Jane and Eden Prime... what happened when she was there instead of the commander?" She says, sounding a little worried. Her eyes too, flicker from mine to the side, probably looking at Jane too.

"Well, I don't remember exactly what you said happened with John, but with Jane, I think she stepped up to the beacon and... no wait, it was Kaidan who stepped up to it, and Jane then threw him out of the way. For some reason, she was grabbed instead, kinda sparking the whole 'Shepard knows' thing Hudson centered the game on. Why?"

"Just... as much as I don't like her at times, she is too valuable to die on us. Plus, she kinda is a former N7 and a Spectre, if what you said is true." She says, not looking at me, but rather focusing on Jane.

"Yeah, she was kinda the 'immortal avenger' that all the baddies ran away from... unless they were already dead." I reply with a small chuckle. Before Ash can reply though, Jane's voice cuts in.

"Alright, we need to get to the last sector still not secured. Same formation as before, Fisher and me at front, Williams, you watch our six. Let's go." She says, her rifle at her shoulder. Giving Ash one last look through the private transmission, I terminate it, walking after Jane with my shotgun readied but lowered. With my trigger-finger being kinda itchy after all this fighting, as well as my adrenaline pumping, I probably shouldn't have my guns pointed anywhere near an ally.

...

Midgard System Relay

Tenth fleet, Admiral Anna Fisher

12:39 - seven hours past 12:27 (Arcturus time)

As the first ship of the tenth fleet exited the relay, it could be seen as but a small blur of blue that suddenly became an Alliance Cruiser. Then another blur, and another and another. Before long, more than two-hundred Alliance vessels exited the relay's transit system.

Right next to the first cruiser, the Dreadnought SSV Hong Kong came into view, being almost double the length of the relative small eight-hundred meter cruiser. At the bridge of the Hong Kong, Admiral Anna Fisher of the Systems Alliance stood from her command-chair, observing how her crew sprang into action without her even needing to give them orders.

Pings, LADAR and active scans were carried out and returned, massive walls of data appearing before her on a holographic screen. With a small growl, she scrolled through the, to her, useless data and text, ending up with a scan and image of the system. Valhalla was only the third of five planets in the Midgard system, but it was the only one within the 'Goldilocks zone' of the system, meaning it was the only one capable of supporting human life.

In orbit around the planet of Valhalla, the active scans had painted two targets. Just two, and one of them wasn't even that big. She estimated it to be around the one hundred and fifty meters in length that the scans indicated. That one she wrote off as a major threat, in her mind already dividing up her forces to deal with the smaller target first. The rest of her forces, including the 'Spirit of Fire' Carrier, would deal with the bigger threat. And no shit it was bigger. The other vessel easily measured at the four kilometers at least, resembling a giant... cuttlefish? That couldn't be right, but nevertheless, it really did look like a big-ass squid.

Wait a moment... what had the brass said? That these 'Reapers' that the Council had told them about looked like giant squids? Anna could feel a dreading chill run down her spine as she watched the image of the biggest spaceship she had ever seen. Fuck, it was even bigger than the Hammer of Vengeance would be when finished. This wasn't good... actually this could potentially be a royal fuck-soup. Still, she had more than two hundred ships, and even if the small vessel was a threat too, she felt confident she had more than enough to kick their balls. If they had balls that was. Now she just needed to check if these really were these 'Reapers', and if they were, she would claim fucking FIRST BLOOD by towing back the battered hull of the big one.

Unless of course it managed to escape her wrath.

"Techs, open a transmission to the ships in orbit around Valhalla. I wanna know who we are dealing with here." She didn't get a verbal reply, instead she just watched as the people scattered at the consoles went to work. The large map of the galaxy in the middle of the room changed, becoming a projection of one of the ships: The big one.

"This is Systems Alliance Admiral Fisher. You are in Alliance space and your crafts are not displaying IFF's. Identify yourselves." She said, standing to her full height in front of the projection. That was odd, usually the projection would be green or just in regular colors. Now though, it was pure red. It was a little creepy actually.

"Organics. You tread where you are not needed. Your demands for the action of your orders are pathetic, irrelevant in the grander scheme of things. We are not bound by what you view as the rules of law in this galaxy. We are unbound by time and age. We are Supreme . You touch my mind, fumbling in the darkness that will soon envelop your worlds in ascending shadow and fire." that thing... it sounded as ominous as something or someone possibly could. That was also what helped Anna decide that whatever these ships were, they were hostile, or at least being very rude while not being allowed in Alliance Space.

"I take it you are not friendlies then?" She asked, gesturing for the bridge to power up the weapons and shields. they were still outside of effective range of weapons, but she knew they would have to pummel the enemy ships into submission, then maybe board and capture the commander.

"Friend... a term invented to give name to those you seek to exploit for aid, or risk non-functionality by aiding. We are neither. You come before us, seeking your own destruction yet claiming to seek ours. We are eternal, you are mere bacteria. We will ascend you to a higher level of existence." At this, Anna hovered her finger above the 'terminate' option.

"And I'm going to jam my foot up your snatch! Get ready to suck my ass!" She shouted, ending the call. when she did, she could see the worried and wondering faces of the crew nearby. With a grim smile, she smashed her fist into the consoles near the map, causing the artificial wooden construction to creak.

"Well? That Sea prawn just badmouthed us. What the fuck are we going to do about that, huh!" She called out, feeling a different, far more enjoyable tingling go down her spine as she shouted out. Anna had always been known for having a, at times, very bass voice. It was one of the effects of the surgery she had received as a ten-year old. Taking a kick to the throat had wrecked havoc on her voice-box, making it necessary to implant a small module that would compensate for the lifted voices. Now? now she felt like ripping someone's spine out and using it as a necklace.

A resounding Hooraa! sounded from the entirety of the bridge, as well as from the intercoms. The entire crew had listened in on the conversation with the unidentified vessels, and had listened to her responses as well. It pleased her to no end to see Jefferson stand at his position, fist raised as he shouted with the others. Anna, standing at the podium with the galaxy-map, held her hands up to instill silence. The entire ship instantly complied, only the cockpit continuing their vector. Anna switched the intercom on again, linking her up to the entire tenth fleet.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, girl- and boy scouts. I suspect that despite it being a supposed secret, some of you might have hear rumors about some new threat entering our galaxy. Well, I am here today, as are you, to witness that thát is sadly true. Valhalla is under attack by unknown entities with a ship spanning more than four kilometers in length. But hey, we are Humanity, fuck it all! We have never been the first or even the last to lie down and whimper. We have NEVER laid down to whimper. and you know why? Because we are the baddest motherfuckers in this entire galaxy! Now, this guy who thinks he and his friends can just attack our colonies and get away with it, just called us bacteria. US! I don't know about you people, but I say we take our collective firepower and shove it up their asses! This is the time where we show the galaxy that if this is indeed the new threat, Humanity will be the ones to draw first blood! We will be the ones to send these bitches screaming back to their momma, and we will dog them until we have towed their ships past the Citadel with the other races looking in awe. Because we are Humanity, and this... this is our land!" She almost screamed the last part, punching the air as she did. Did she ever love to give those speeches. Especially since they certified her to kick ass.

"Fuck yeah!" A collective cry came out from the intercom. It paid well to get up close and personal with your fleet, or at least make yourself a name in it. There wasn't a man or woman in the tenth fleet who didn't know that when Fisher gave a speech like that, they were going to get some scratches in their paint.

"Alright! Shanghai, I want you and battle group Zeta to engage the smaller of the two crafts. when you are done, rejoin efforts to scuttle the big one. All aside from the Shanghai and Zeta are to follow my lead. Let's do this!" She ordered, and the ships shot forward through space, the engines having been boosted by the down powering of all non-essential equipment.

As they neared the planet of Valhalla, Anna saw how the two vessels started breaking away from the planet, heading straight for her group instead. Despite what she had yelled and proclaimed in the speech, Anna was cautious to a certain degree. She didn't know just what these ships were capable off, especially since she remembered a defense fleet of at least twenty cruisers being stationed around the planet.

"Full power to forward shields. Ready torpedoes and spin up the main gun. I want every single weapon, every gun, cannon, fighter and pistol pointed at that thing. When we get in range I want the engines powered down and thrusters readied." She bellowed, watching the bridge explode into activity. She then brought up the data for maximum weapons range. Just ten seconds at this speed...

She wanted to slow down as soon as her own ships could fire, and then keep maximum distance for as long as possible. Still, this should be easy.

The seconds went by until the counter reached zero and flashed green.

"Gunnery, confirm target lock." She demanded.

"Lock confirmed"

"Send that little diaper-stain back to its momma. FIRE!"

And fire away they did.

The first volley to streak towards their still visually invisible targets was the plasma torpedoes. the Mark-IV torpedoes had proven their worth above Elysium from what the reports said, and now it was her turn to field-test them. The blue spheres of plasma contained within a magnetosphere soared through space, creating pretty tails of lost mass as they went. The mass and thereby kinetic energy lost was minimal at best though, and wasn't really of any concern to her.

As the torpedoes, hundreds in total, raced each other towards the targets, the ships soon followed it up with a barrage of heavy slugs from spinal mounted MAC's, and each and every turret capable of dishing out ship-grade damage towards the approaching vessels. Each of the hundreds of cruisers fired a fourteen kilo slug each seventh second from their main weapons. The slug, if impacting the armor of an unshielded ship, would cause the same destruction as if someone had planted two times the bombs that fell on Hiroshima. The frigates were more of a screening force, meant to decimate any fighter-crafts launched by the enemy. They were also effective at fast strikes that would let them hunt in wolf packs and surround the enemy. Still, when more than seventy frigates fired off a payload of ten kiloton bombs towards their enemy, it amounted to something bigger.

And then there was the Dreadnoughts. While Anna had the only Dreadnought in the fleet, it packed enough of a punch to catch up with the rest. Each fifth second, the main gun of the Hong Kong fired a twenty-five kilos slug that would create the same amount of destruction as eight times the Hiroshima bomb. Anna had no actual idea of how much that was, but it always seemed to be the pride of the drill sergeants that only the Destiny Ascension had more firepower than an Alliance Dreadnought. The days of the Turians as second best were past. Now humanity held that position.

"Let's see that over-sized squid take this." She muttered, keeping her eyes on the screens for the three seconds it took the first projectiles to impact on the surface of the hostile vessel, currently a quarter of the system away from them.

As the slugs and torpedoes impacted, Anna watched with glee as the vessel was bathed in fire and discharged plasma. Each of the torpedoes fired could break the hull of a cruiser in one go, capable of ignoring the shields while inflicting nuclear-like havoc on the ship.

"Yeah! Take that you... you... what the fuck?" Anna's smile dissipated as she watched the ship emerge from the radiated clouds of gas and debris, the apocalyptic destruction seemingly had had no effect at all. To make matters worse, it was traveling at speeds her own dreadnought couldn't rival. It was almost the same speed as a projectile fired from a frigate's main gun. Instead of turning to shoot from where she had suspected the weapons to be, the squid-like creature sailed through the barrages of fire and tungsten, seemingly oblivious to the amount of destruction being poured at it from two-hundred ships.

"Keep shooting! I want that fucker down in flames!"

As the ship closed what she suspected to be the maximum range, it spread out its tentacle-like appendixes, each the size of a frigate. Dark and blue lights could be seen decorating the hull on both sides, the underside looking like skeletal parts on some freaky creature. Then a sharp red light started shining in the underbelly of the ship, pointing straight at the ship next to Anna's.

"Full power to bow shields!" She yelled. Instantly her orders were followed, the kinetic barriers rising to 140%, making them actually visible despite the lack of incoming fire. The signatures of the other ships told her they did the same thing. And then the vessel fired.

A crimson beam. It was a crimson red beam and not a projectile as Anna had expected. It shot out from the underbelly of the ship, spearing the hull of the closest ship. It was the Cruiser SSV Copenhagen. Instead of the barriers and shields managing to take the blow, the kinetic barriers briefly flickered to life before dying in a glint of azure light. The Copenhagen had not been among the ships to be outfitted with the Mithril-shielding. There simply hadn't been enough time after the test above Elysium. And now the six-hundred men and women aboard the cruiser would pay for it.

She could only watch in dread as the ship was simply carved in two before exploding. That was no weapon she knew of. Not even the Cutter-beams could cause that kind of destruction, and definitely not at that range. The dread she felt when the cruiser was destroyed slowly changed into rage. Rage, for the lives lost to the commander of the enemy ship. Rage that this shit-stain had attacked humanity and had the impunity and audacity to kill her men.

"Keep shooting! Focus on any weak spots you can find, then relay the info to the rest of the fleet!"

Despite their best efforts, Anna could only watch with mounting dread and agony as her ships were removed from the SITREP, sometimes with only seconds between each destruction. She could follow perfectly well what happened through the screens connected to the exterior sensors and cameras.

A cruiser, the SSV Deutschland moved closer to the enemy vessel, pouring everything from the main gun to the GARDIAN-lasers at it. The lasers carved across the hull of the gigantic squid-like ship. As they did, the blue barrier that had stopped all other attacks ignored the lasers, instead letting them pass straight through. At first, Anna thought the golden lights she could see on the hull where the laser touched was where the infra-red laser carved through the hull. Instead, as she zoomed in with the camera, she felt her stomach revolt.

A bright gold barrier was layered beneath the kinetic barrier. It stopped the lasers from carving up the hull of the ship, instead simply absorbing the shots. What on Earth was this thing? Anna could only watch in horror as the enemy didn't think it sufficient to just shoot the cruiser. It landed on the hull of the Deutschland, shrugging off the pounding turret as they spewed enough fire at it each moment to deface most of Europe. Due to the size of the turrets, they were inefficient if equipped with mass accelerators. Instead, they were operating on the most simple and efficient form of gun: Gunpowder. Each projectile was an anti-hull shell packed with depleted uranium or explosive powder meant to penetrate or overload the barriers of hostile ships in knife-fights.

As the turrets, as well as the rest of the fleet kept up the fire, the squid dug its appendixes into the hull of the Deutschland, producing a screeching sound over the intercom as the ship was torn apart with simple brute force. It didn't even acknowledge the swarms of fighters, gunships and drones as they performed strafing run after strafing run, peppering the thing with shells, slugs, grains and plasma from the LA/AT 'Wasps'. It was pure luck that the vessel didn't seem interested in the gunships, as they would have been too slow to out-maneuver its fire. And with that one instant, the Deutschland, the first and biggest cruiser to ever be built at the Berlin Space Port, was reduced to floating debris as the core exploded from the damage sustained, spreading outwards in a ring of radioactive energy and radiation.

Not content with the deaths of the hundreds of servicemen and women aboard the cruiser, the gigantic ship lifted an 'arm', and simply pointed at one of the screening frigates. At first, it almost seemed like it was gesturing 'I'm coming for you next', but at that moment, a thinner beam shot from its tentacle. Anna's eyes widened in horror, realizing that the ship had only fired one of its weapons until that point.

The frigate, being meant for screening and raids, fighting light-weight pirates and the like, had no real chance against the destructive power of its enemy. As the frigate gunned the propulsion to escape the fiery death, the beam impacted on its shields, being deterred for only a few moments. As the shields were being burned away, the smaller ship turned to face the giant who willed its death.

The SSV Cataluña, having only moments left before destruction, took a course that the remainder of the fleet would remember always. With the laser-like weapon burning away the hull, only prevented from cutting the ship in two by the swerving of the pilot. It did not prevent the dismemberment of the right front of the ship though, hundreds of tons of metal being cut clean off by the beam.

"This is captain Josef Amado. It has been an honor serving with you all. Dios bendiga España!" And with that the line died to the frigate, and from the screens, Anna watched in unusual silence as the frigate diverted all power to engines and shields. It was painfully obvious what they were going to attempt.

With the speed of a bullet, the frigate used itself as a projectile as it powered into the underbelly of the gigantic vessel. The enormous ship shot at it, clipping off the front of the frigate, the mouth of the gun as well as the CIC being effectively evaporated and sucked into a vacuum. Anna, as well as most people on the bridge averted their eyes from the organic components traced to slip out from the openings in the hull. Then the frigate impacted, the hull crushing itself against the superior armor of the gigantic squid-like ship. At first, only the sight of the debris floating away was visible over the constant fireballs dotting the enemy's hull as the remaining hundred and eighty ships kept up the fire.

Then, a flicker of light, like a small spark that slowly grew in intensity as the drive core of the Cataluña was improvised and suffered a meltdown, effectively turning it into a nuclear bomb upon the hull of the enemy ship. A kamikaze attack, just like the Quarians had done it over Elysium. Had Valhalla belonged to the Quarians, it would have been poetic justice. Safe for just one thing.

It didn't work.

To the dread of every single person in the Tenth fleet, the super-ship kept up its slaughter, seemingly undeterred by the sacrifice of the frigate. As it landed upon the hull of another cruiser, Anna felt like screaming. Instead she just grit her teeth, her fist clenched. this wasn't a battle. It never had been it seemed. It was just slow slaughter, many before the invulnerable killer, the 'reaper' in their midst.

"Ma'am! The Zeta group just took down the smaller ship. They report fifty percent casualties, but the remaining vessels are on their way to help us out." Jefferson called out. Anna, to her credit, swallowed the rising lump in her throat and turned to face her second in command.

"Alright... have... have all remaining vessels focus fire on the enemy main weapon. If we can diminish its capacity to kill us, we can whittle it down." She said, feeling her voice strained from the stress. This was harrowing, watching her entire force lose more than fifty ships in less than as many minutes. The enemy ship just didn't fit logic. No ship, not even the armor and shields of the Arcturus station would have been able to withstand the punishment they had poured at it.

"Roger that. All vessels, transmitting new firing coordinates. Fire when locked on to new target area!" For not the first time, Anna was glad Jefferson was on her ship, directly under her command. He was invaluable, proving his worth when things got hairy.

The chimes of acknowledgements came in swiftly, marking the rest of the fleet ready to fire again. The moment the Hong Kong was locked on as well, Anna nodded at her second in command. The officer turned to face the gunnery stations, located along the walls of the CIC.

"All weapons, fire on my command." He said, waiting as the main gun took the final second to reload. Noting that the weapons were green across all boards, he gave the order.

"Fire!"

Once more, the entire fleet fired in unison, this time the target being the small ocular point from where the most destructive of the ship's weapons was fired from. Hundreds of massive streaks of blue soared through the void, followed by missiles and regular shells fired by the turrets, in appearance similar to long snakes of yellow glints waving as they followed their counterparts towards the enemy ships. All the while the squid-like enemy just kept its killing-spree up, carving through the hulls of cruisers no matter the strength of their shields.

When the projectiles impacted, the lightshow was awesome in all senses of the words. The first volleys of projectiles only impacted on the barriers, putting strain on what had simply shrugged off the murderous assaults of hundreds of ships. Still, the united fire seemed to be more than the kinetic barriers could handle, and with a wave of blue light swimming across the hull, the first line of barriers died, leaving the golden barrier beneath to absorb the remainder of the shots while the ship itself seemed more focused on spitting red death through the hull of a heavy cruiser.

As the projectiles began hitting the golden barrier, the commander of the squid-like vessel seemed to realize that his enemies had started thinking out a different strategy for bringing him down. As the destroyed hull of the cruiser started floating apart, the enemy vessel began a course that would take it to the relay of the system.

And straight through the ranks of the fleet.

"Keep shooting! The asshole is trying to flee!" Anna bellowed, making a few of the nearby techs wince at the anger and rage in her voice. What they also saw was that the enemy ship seemed adamant that his course had to go through Anna's ship, the Hong Kong being right between it and the relay.

Anna saw it as the enemy commander playing 'chicken' with her. Unfortunately, the bastard wouldn't need to back out, his ship being big enough to simply destroy hers upon impact.

"Evasive maneuvers! Keep us clear of that thing! But DON'T. STOP. SHOOTING!" On her orders, the Hong Kong took a relative nosedive, making it beneath the hulking monster as it sped towards them. It ended up being uncomfortably close, the monster's arms being close to scraping the hull of her ship. Even if 'close' was measured in the tens of kilometers, it was still close enough that a visual from the exterior screens showed her the sparkling red light emitted from the assumed firing chamber beneath the arms. It crackled and glinted with the dreaded red energy, but no fiery death came for them. The weapon apparently had stopped working. As well as the rest of the fleet, not wanting to risk hitting the admiral.

"I never said to stop shooting! Just kill the critter before it runs away!" She shouted into the fleet-com, getting only a few affirmatives in return. It wasn't really all that necessary either, as the rest of the fleet simply reopened their guns, letting continued fire pour down over the enemy ship, now starting to show cracks in the armor, the golden barrier sparkling angrily with each impact. As she brought up the feeds from the other ships, Anna smirked as each hit caused the strained barrier to strain even further. Soon, it would have to give up. Her smirk was diminished though, as the enemy crashed through first one frigate not having gotten out of the way, then a cruiser unloading a full barrage directly into the waiting maw of the approaching ship. The barrage was effective in the sense that it caused the final barriers to sparkle and die in a burst of gold and crimson fire, a sparkling light briefly bathing the vessel before it sailed through the cruiser, crushing the smaller ship underfoot with sheer size, the armor not suffering under the same strain that brought the cruiser to its destruction.

But that was what sealed the fight, the banishment of the shields and barriers that had so far protected the vessel from incoming fire. Now that it was wiped out, each slug and missile impacted directly against the hull of the giant amongst ships. The slugs from cruisers and frigates making the armored hull crack and dent with each megaton impact of raw kinetic energy. As the Hong Kong was finally pointed at the enemy vessel, the dreadnought unleashed every single weapon in its arsenal, crimson and ultraviolet GARDIAN-lasers cutting at the hull while slugs from both main and secondary guns impacted on the belly of the ship, closely followed by the remaining torpedoes, as well as the few rockets still in their pods. Everything was launched at once, aiming to utterly disembowel the ship that singlehandedly had cost Anna more men than any fleet ever before.

As the first torpedo hit, the already cracked and dented plating of the ship was punched through, the plasma melting through the now unprotected armor and hull of the enemy ship. With each Mk-IV torpedo hitting its mark, a blob of the hull was simply melted away, the super-heated gas having eaten and burned away at the super-dense metal. Even so, it took the combined force of everything the Tenth Fleet could throw at the monstrous giant ship to cause it to finally buckle under the whittling fire. With what would have been a thunderous crack of grinding noise and explosions if the vacuum hadn't chocked out sound, an arm was shot clean off the super dreadnought, sent tumbling through space as the ship attempted to smash its way through the fleet to the safety of the relay.

The Hong Kong had a clear shot at the now ripped open insides of the ship. With what could have been taken for the very ship growling in grim satisfaction and bloodlust, the main gun was fired, two shots flying out at the interval of dangerous three seconds between each. As they impacted, the first shot exploded inside the ship, causing plumes of fire to pour from every opening that had been made so far in its hull. The second slug dealt the final blow, ripping through the entire ship before exiting on the opposite side of the now burning hull, continuing its course into deep space.

It was over.

Anna turned to look at her XO before talking. It wasn't the cheery victory-speech she had imagined when she had thrown her fleet at only two ships. Instead, it was a more somber question:

"What are our casualties Commander?" She asked. She could see the vast fields of debris floating around in the void, the occasional flame still burning the remainder of what air was in the wrecks.

"Ninety-six ships... ma'am... we... We lost almost half the fleet against that thing."


Do you people remember that someone once told me that humanity was a little OP in this Fic? Well, originally, the Reapers weren't four kilometers long in the first game, and there was only one. Also, there are more to our hated squids than meets the eye, as some of you have already figured out.

This chapter starts wrapping up the end of Valhalla, but we still need to get our guys back out of the shit-storm they are currently in, so... stay tuned, and prepare for more "Epicness" as some has labelled it. To that, I will say I agree, but that I don't know. Being the author means I don't get the same first-time experiences as you guys. My only guesses are based off on how well I hit what I was going for.

And in this chapter... I dare say I did.