February 15th, 2332 Dyson Sphere site 27 Deep Asari space
All was calm out here in the darkest areas of space, where no one, save for the owners of this gargantuan station dared to tread. Every day, a dozen of the massive twenty-kilometer long bulk energy transfer ships would enter and leave the star encapsulating station carrying the very lifeblood of an Empire. Energy was needed for everything imaginable when it came to the livelihood of sentient beings. From production, power, heating, cooling, vehicle travel and basic amenities, energy was the life source of an Empire that spanned almost two thousand five hundred planets.
Trillions of people, man or alien, depended on stations just like these all across the Empire for their planet's daily energy usage. The bulk containers ships, whose very size could eclipse continents, were a daily occurrence all across the travel lanes and supply routes which kept this massive machine running at peak efficiency. Gone were the days of fossil fuels, their choking emissions clogging the very air with which these people breathed, now replaced with battery banks refueled when needed by the power provided by this very station. Site two seven was responsible for twenty Asari worlds, twelve of those being of forge world-class, whose responsibility was the production of war materials that were then sent across the portal.
Countless regiments, legions, and entire fleets depended on the supplies and material constructed by the blue-skinned alien race who had once ruled this galaxy. Those days of supremacy from both the technological, governmental, and cultural levels, were now gone, replaced with the blood-red flag and superiority of the human race. The Empire now ruled these stars, with fleets, task forces, and armies stationed and garrisoned on these worlds for the sole purpose of making sure they met their quotas.
Now to an outside viewer this garrison duty would be viewed with contempt, a waste of good soldiers and ships who should have been on the frontline on the other side of the two galaxies. But if the Empire was anything, it was efficient, and it understood that troops needed R and R away from the battlefield, and what better place to make it then a dozen forge worlds.
The INV Galience of Devan had seen her fair share of void combat in the last four years, having been with the fifty-seventh fleet in the northern reaches, she had fought the T45s beside hundreds of other Imperial ships. The bravery of her crew had been shown as they earned three-ship kills in the myriad of small campaigns against the machines and thus earned themselves a peaceful posting for a two year time. Now she was a part of the three hundred and eighth security flotilla, the Victory-class star destroyer coupled with three others of the same make acting as the primary naval support for a Dyson sphere energy site.
Captain Michael Tuf was a seasoned void commander, having fought in no less than a dozen campaigns on this very ship, he had earned his command through courage and zealotry on the battlefield. At the ripe old age of forty-three, he had come up from a lowly ensign and earned his promotions as he scaled the ranks in a normal amount of time until he gained his first capital ship command. The Devan was a good ship, with her turbolaser batteries and concussion missiles, she was a mean bitch when it came to fighting the perfidious xenos of the void. So many times he had seen this ship's guns burn away the enemy in glowing displays of heat rocked metal, it was glorious, to say the least.
With the seasoned crew he wished, no he dared anyone to come for this station harboring ill will just so he could get another chance in showing the galaxy what happened when you fucked with the Imperial Navy. Of course, there were pirates here and there, small bands of idiots who would sometimes warrant the deployment of a star destroyer or two but in reality, this posting was boring. Circle the same station, patrol the same blackness of space, there were no planets or asteroids to speak of out here, only the small glimpses of light peeking out from the star encapsulating machinery which harbored the lifeblood of the Empire. Just space, empty, filled with nothing, space. His watch officer's voice broke him out of his bored reverie.
"Captain, we are receiving FTL signatures bearing three two zero."
AOFNV Matriarchs Deliverance
The fleet, a combined mass of over one hundred and four ships exited the blue corona of mass effect powered FTL In dazzling displays of light and power. Having jumped so close to the orbiting security detachment there was no need for orders, no need for the go-ahead, only the vengeance of a people who called for blood. In twenty seconds fifty-four ships had fired every weapon they had toward the four-star destroyers, frigates, cruisers, the almighty dreadnought, all threw every ounce of firepower they had toward their enemy before they gleamed with satisfaction. In less than thirty seconds, two-star destroyers had died, their reactors going critical in bombastic fireballs of red and blue light.
Meanwhile, the two survivors were doing everything they could to right back. Green bolts impacted everywhere, filling the void with their killing light as no less than a dozen AOF ships died in less than a minute, one-tenth of the fleet dead in the water.
"Converge, all ships converge and destroy these Imperials!"
The Admirals' voice echoed across the fleet-wide net, ordering the sharks to kill, and they followed. The two survivors, now taking refuge behind the still-smoldering wreckage of their compatriots, were quickly hassled by frigate wolf packs. In groups of three, the small ships conducted hit and run attacks time and time again, providing time for the dreadnoughts to both recharge their gun banks and get into a killing position. Cruisers interlocked themselves with the frigates as yet another four cruisers went up in flames, gutted from bow to stern by the energy weapons of the Imperial navy.
"This is the Matriarchs Deliverance, we have a shot, firing!"
The octopush shaped dreadnought, a sister to the once-mighty Destiny ascension had the shot and took it without a thought. Through the wreckage of once-mighty Imperial vessels of war, she fired off a killing blow toward one of the surviving star destroyers. Wreckage the size of cruisers was thrown aside as the glowing blue shot flew through the debris field,and impacted the bow of the Victory-class star destroyer. The bridge of the Asari dreadnought was quiet as they watched the impact sear a line of metal across the arrow-shaped vessel, a gash so large it was visible to the naked eye even from here.
"Goddess…"
The ship, the Imperial vessel had seen exactly where the shot had come from, had seen its would-be killer try to land its shot, and it was angry.
"All engines reverse, all engines reverse!'
The Asari captain was basically screaming as she threw her orders out to the bridge. Bridge crew frantically worked at their consoles as they commanded the ill-maintained ship to respond, but three years of no drydock, of no support, began to show at this exact moment, spelling doom for the once gallant ship. Throwing too much power to the engines the helm attempted to pull a full reverse thrust as engineering began calling to the bridge, their voices practically begging for them to stop. But it would be of no use, as the helm pushed the aging ship further and further toward the red line it finally gave out.
"Engine one is down, engine two is down, engine three is half responding! Engineering reports ruptures in fuel lines two five and seven!"
All chatter died on the bridge at the same moment as they heard these words, they were dead in the water. Seconds later that very bridge was vaporized as a dozen bolts of pure hate impacted along its front. They had gotten cocky, and they were now going to pay for it with their lives. The first round tore away the bridge in a spray of molten metal and burning atmosphere, the next impact hit the crew quarters, and the last impacted the engineering department. Thirty seconds was all it took for one of the most powerful ships in all of the third fleet to be rendered inert, destroyed amidst the debris of a star destroyer.
Shepard had seen all of this from the bridge of the SSV Everest and huffed in despair as he watched the Asari dreadnought turn into molten metal. How many had been on that ship, a thousand? Two thousand? Following the dreadnoughts demise, eight cruisers finally managed to lance the wounded Imperial vessel, too late to save their comrades in arms.
"Shepard."
The voice of the ground team commanders broke his attention away from the space battle and back to the holo table which denoted the landing zones for the coming invasion. Twenty thousand men and women of the Army of freedom would be landing at three select points across the station. These points were the weaknesses of the structure, the Achilles heel so to speak. Gravitational relays, these devices allowed the metal skin of the station the ability to not fall into the star, and they were its biggest weakness. Four of them held it all together, three were to be taken by the AOF, and the last was left up to the four-eyed bug-like alien currently pacing around the other commanding officers.
The collectors had been mute most of the journey, their rock covered craft flying through the void without a bother as they held up formation with the AOF fleet. It was so odd to watch their movements, to see the four eyes on their heads track everything and everyone. It made him a little uneasy just to look at the thing, but he didn't mind it after a while.
"The forty-fifth Turian marines are more than capable of taking point one."
"Alliance marines are ready and able of taking some piss ant gravity tether, just give us the target and we'll take it."
"The Asari commando brigade will be ready and able, we will not fail."
Shepard was going in with the alliance on this one, five thousand former marines from the old days ready and able to take the fight back to the Imperials. He knew this coming fight would be a tough one though as he scanned over the estimated enemy strength and grimaced. Legions, Clone Legions to be exact were situated at hardpoints all over the station. There had to be thousands of the genetically crafted monsters down there, and he was going to be dropping right on top of them.
"Then there it is, report to your units we have a war to win."
Not much of a briefing other than you take here and we win.
Landing at point three.
This was it, Operation god hammer would cripple an entire sector and pave the way for an AOF resurgence in the former Asari space. Goldhammer, kind of an edgy name but the command had deemed it ok due to the symbolism which would later be used in their fight against the Empire. As the hundreds of shuttles, landing craft, and frigates began their landing sequences toward the four designated points across the massive station, Shepard mulled over the plan once more.
Seventy thousand troops from both the AOF and the collector would be hitting four gravitational tractor beams located at different points in the station. These beams allowed the metal skin of the object the ability to counteract the gravitational force of the star and allow them to suck the energy away from it, storing it in massive battery banks which littered the surface. The energy was then transferred to waiting ships, massive bulk haulers that were now being shot out of the sky by the navy as the invasion force entered the last phase of deployment. Looking out the window he witnessed as a cruiser fired round after round into the civilian flagged freighter, igniting its onboard energy stores and sending the craft into a super nuclear explosion. How many had been aboard he thought? How many Imperials had he just witnessed explode as their ship destroyed itself around them? Not enough he thought, it would never be enough.
"Thirty seconds!"
The crew chief of the Kodiak screamed over the net as they finally crossed into landing zone three's anti-aircraft screen, and hell enveloped them.
"Incoming!"
Twenty thousand former alliance marines would be landing at point three, facing them would be the forward elements of the Imperial clone nine hundred and eighth coruscant legion. The bread and butter of the Imperial military, the clones would be the only thing standing between them and victory, and they would not be found wanting. Ten-second safer entering the anti-aircraft screen, the frantic cries of dozens of pilots and commanding officers filled the net as they died.
"This is Tusker three, we're going down!"
"Mayday, mayday, lima three going in!"
"This is SSV Carlston, all engines not responding was crash landing on the station!"
Shepard switched back to his team frequency as the crew chief announced ten seconds, this was it, all he had been waiting, time to take the fight back to the Empire. With a thump, the craft landed on the station, the metal on metal contact announcing they had landed. The doors on either side of the craft flew open as the crew chief pulled an LMG and began laying belts of fire toward the enemy.
"Get the fuck out!"
Shepard and his Ns bull rushed out of the craft as the incoming fire began to melt the metal skin of the craft. As Shepard took his first step onto the metal surface of a star covering station, the crew chief took a red laser round to the chest, hitting the deck with a thud as the craft began to take off without its former cargo. Shepard took in the situation before him as hundreds of red rounds impacted all around him.
It was like a vision of hell made manifest, a picture taken from the worst battlefields he had ever seen, it was, to sum it up, a vision of the future. Around him, hundreds of shuttles were offloading thousands of marines, with dozens of the craft being taken out by anti-aircraft fire. The marines, once landed then found themselves in the open everywhere they looked, no cover save for the burning remains of the fallen vehicles, men, and ships around them. To their front, some five meters away, was the gravity beam center where thousands of guns peppered anything that moved with extreme amounts of accuracy and fire.
Off to his left, he could see a frigate slowly but surely list toward the surface, its engines burning as it finally crashed to the surface of the station with a resounding explosion sounding off its death kneel. Every shot here was a kill in the void, thankfully the artificial gravity of the station kept them metal side as the invasion force began to advance toward the citadel of the station. Ten thousand clones occupied this place, ten thousand elite troopers of the Imperial military, and they were here to cut them out like the cancer they were. A Mako IFV thundered alongside his team, its main gun throwing all sorts of metal toward the defenders as it began its slow progress toward the grav center. This would be his team's ticket, walking up the armored vehicles he rapped on the door until the driver's compartment opened and the very angry crew found an N commander staring at them.
"We need a ride to that station! My team will be getting in, and you will take us there!"
"Yes sir!"
So it was like this he now found himself propelling toward the defenders and breakneck speed, weaving in and out of destroyed alliance equipment as the crew traversed a very dangerous path. Bombers followed them in overhead, dropping munitions on the mile tall structure as more and more marines followed them in.
"Alright Shepard, we've got clones at the base of the tower so we're going to need you and your team to get out and move ahead of us. I've got eyes on barricades to use as cover, so we'll provide cover for you as you advance!"
"Roger, alright Ns let show them how the alliance fights!"
Several hurrahs answered him, good, they were going to need the motivation. The armored vehicles lurched to a halt as the overhead gun opened up on their unseen enemy.
"Get out!"
Shepard obliged, throwing open the armored door and once more stepping foot on the metal skin of the station. Other Makos were stopping beside them as the got a look at the entrance to the tower and took cover. There were four rings of barricade protecting the center itself, and within these rings, were the white armor of clone defenders pouring every amount of fire they had into the defenders. He was about to give an order to his Ns when a body slammed into the barricade beside him and grabbed onto his shoulder, yanking him toward its user.
"Commander Shepard!"
By the bars on the officer's chest, Shepard denoted him as being Colonel, commanding officer of the entire alliance invasion force, and he was not happy.
"Shepard, the whole plan gone to shit, we've already lost forty percent of the landing force just fucking getting here! Collectors said they'd be sending reinforcements but they're going to take some time! So, I want you and your team to conduct a vertical assault as we hold their attention here, while we distract you rappel upward and get to that fucking command center, rog!"
"Yes sir!"
"Good, give em hell!"
Ten minutes later and half a mile up the spire.
Thank whatever higher power there was for mag boots and gloves he thought as he scaled another floor of this godforsaken tower. Taking a look below he could see the invasion force was following through with the colonels earlier orders as yet another Mako was suddenly destroyed by the outgoing clone fire. Most of the defenders, their white armor visible even from here, we're creating a wider cordon around the spire. Pushing the invasion force back from their earlier gains, and killing thousands. Two LAATs thundered past the spire almost illuminating the eight or so alliance operators currently crawling up the structure at a medium pace.
"Almost there guys, another hundred meters and we set charges on this fucking place."
To take out the grav tether they needed access to the command and control center, and doing that would need the team to blow open a hole to the room itself and breach. They had brought charges for this very reason, ten of them to be exact, which would be used to show these Imperial scum they were not untouchable. They were nearing an anti-aircraft battery as they climbed the last fifty meters, the box-shaped weapon throwing out blistering arrays of fire as its barrel broke up the rather smooth surface of the spire. It had to have been killing hundreds alone as its rounds impacted yet another alliance fighter, sending the pilot and its craft to the ground below in a fireball of dying metal. But he couldn't spare the time or the charges to deal with it, he was here for the command center, nothing else.
By the time he reached the designated area, his Ns had already set up the ring of explosives in a distinct O shape. This was it, the reason thousands below had died in the name of freedom, now was the time.
"Hit it."
With two snaps the charges detonated and sent the metal of the structure outward and into the void of space. It was all fire at first, as the oxygen of the station fed the flames before the first body was suddenly sucked into the void. It was a civilian in an orange jumpsuit, her eyes full of fright as she silently screamed a mute scream. Shepard could see the oxygen leave her body, as every blood vessel suddenly burst in her face before her body was thrown to the ground below. Another Imperial casualty in his book, good for the cause. As the fires died down he gave the order to go in.
"Weapons free on anything you see, no survivors."
They knew the deal, and they would follow his orders to the letter. So they went in and opened fire. Shepard was the last one in and already there was blood in the air from two dozen orange suited bodies who had all been in the middle of putting on their emergency respirators. Civilians, no, enemy combinations aiding and abetting an Empire. But they were in and surrounded by dozens of consoles flashing green on every board, he was here to change that. Through a radio on one of the bodies, a voice broke him out of his reveries as he moved to the master control station located in the center of the room.
"Control, what is going on up there?"
It was a clone's voice, no doubt some type of officer or something. Too late test tube, you already lost. On a dozen holographic screens in front of the MCS, he could see hundreds of clones moving about the spire as they set up defensive positions and waited for the attacking forces. On the screen on the ground level, he could see clones, both dead and alive, firing their weapons toward the unseen attackers as they dutifully defended the control station.
"This is Sierra six, rebel forces have been pushed back to the two hundred meter cordon, orders sir."
"Rog Sierra six, continue to assault the enemy in your sector, do not give them the room to breathe. MCS come in over, if you do not respond we will redirect a platoon toward your position over."
He had to move fast. Inserting the chip he had been given before the invasion, he began playing the keys in the order Miranda he brief him.
MASTER_SWITCH_ON
GRAVITATIONAL_BEAM_ON
REDIRECTT_POWER
_REDIRECITNG POWER
_POWER_REDIRECTED_GRAVITAITONAL_BEAM_50%
_REDIRECT_POWER
_REDIRECTING_POWER
_GRAVITATIONAL_BEAM_25%
_WARNING
_WARNING
_WARNING
_REDIRECT_POWER_OFF_MANUEL_OVERRIDE
_CONFIRM_WARNING
_MANUEL_OVERRIDE
_CONFIRM
_GRAVITAIONAL_BEAM_0%
_IMMINENT_STRCUTRAL_COLLAPSE
It was done, he could already feel the shudders of the station through the metal as the grav beam went offline.
"All teams report in, site three is down, say again site three is down!"
"Rog site three, sites two and four are already offline. Site one is still under fire but making progress, sites two, three, and four, begin evacuation procedures over."
"MCS what the fuck is going on up there!"
Shepard could not hold it in any longer, before this clone died he wanted him to know he had failed. Moving to the body holding the radio, he picked up the small cylindrical device and keyed the mic.
"This is Commander Shepard of the Alliance navy to the test tubes currently screaming into the mic. You and your so-called brothers, and every other motherfucker on this station are already dead. And I say good riddance, for Ilium, for The Citadel, and the Alliance!"
He smashed the radio into the terminals as he prepared to get the hell out of here, a Kodiak would be picking them up from the hole his team blew open. Another strike against the Empire, another nail in the already rotting coffin.
INV Galience of Devan
Captain Michael Tuf, commanding officer of the site twenty-seven defense fleet, was beyond sane right now. As his wounded star destroyer limped away from the destruction behind him, he knew the ramifications of today would be galaxy shattering. Resources would be diverted, fleets moved in, and worlds burned the name of this station and its hundreds of thousands of occupants. They would be martyrs, heroes of the Empire, every one of them, killed in the line of duty by nothing more than terrorists. His star destroyer was still trailing smoke as he saw the AOF fleet jump out of the system, now at half strength due to the efforts of his once-proud flotilla. They had done everything they could to rescue as many escape pods, LAATs, and starfighters as they could. The fighter bays and troop hold were filled to the brim with the survivors of this attack, and every single one of them had only one thought on their minds, blood.
Blood would be shed for this, the AOF would pay, the voice which had spoken over the radio would be singled out and destroyed. When he had heard the man speak, his face had taken on a look of pure hate, for only one man had that voice.
"Commander John Shepard, I will kill you, not today, not tomorrow, but I will see your corpse in the void."
"My lord? Command is on the line and requests your presence in the QEC room."
This would not be a good conversation he thought as he entered the QEC room and found the holographic representations of four Lord Admirals, eight fleet Admirals, and…
"My Emperor!"
He kneeled as quickly as he could, careful not to look into the eyes of the most powerful man in existence.
"Rise Captain, and tell us what has happened."
By the end of his tale the admiral's faces were full of nothing more than animals of fury, while in the Empire, he felt a rise of fear as he saw the once blue eyes of the Emperor turn blood red.
"There will be a reckoning for this transgression. Prepare my legion and the Vengeance, we are to depart for Asari space."