Cal, his squad, and a collection of personnel from the city police and Systems Alliance Militia, all stood around the central terminal in the briefing room of the precinct. On the way inside, Cal had noted that the place had been one of the most heavily hit for the colony, with the front doors blown inward and shattered glass covering the floor, bullet holes either peppered or gouged into the walls and ceilings, and that they had managed to hold off such an attack for so long, only bolstered the respect he had for the men and women presently gathered. A holographic display of the colony hovered in the air over the terminal, mapping out the streets and buildings, and over all that sections of the map were colored in hues of red, yellow and green. "Okay, we don't have too much time for a full conference here," Cal said. "An Alliance flotilla is on its way to the system but until they get here, it's just us against these raiders, and the Reaper. Now on our way to the station, we ran into some civilians that said the colony has GARDIAN defense batteries that never came online. Any idea what happened?" With a grimace, Szalenka nodded her reply crisp and laden with contained anger, "Unfortunately we do-sabotage. Someone fried the central targeting system the grid utilizes, and we haven't been able to get repairs made due to the raiders targeting our forces."
"Wait, it's not located at the garrison?" Cal asked her. For an answer, Szalenka looked over at one of her soldiers, a tech officer who said quickly, "The main system is yes, but for redundancy there's a backup system located here in the precinct." They paused to bring up their omni-tool, and continued, "Problem is that the interface terminal is brand new; we were actually scheduled to install it today, and I've been working on following through with that, but with the siege…" He trailed off, looking over at Szalenka, who took over and said, "I gave the order for him to stop and join the fight. Before you and your team arrived, our defense was ready to break and I needed every available gun in the fight." Cal wasn't going to begrudge her for the choice, if that was what Szalenka was expecting. He instead nodded and replied, "Understood. Hopefully, my team and I can provide the backup you need to finish repairs. Now…can someone tell me what the colors here mean?" To elaborate, he gestured at the map.
"Oh, right," one of the colony police officers said, a young kid who would have looked fresh out of the academy if not for the blood and dirt all over her uniform. "Well, based on short range communications from other officers and surviving militia, we've determined the green areas are, for the most part, still held by friendly forces. There is a group of armed civilians even, veterans who had personal firearms, that have been managing to secure shelter. Yellow is where the bulk of the skirmishes have been reported, both sides actively fighting each other for control. And red…well…" he trailed off, trying to find the appropriate word. Jordan beat him to it though, and said, "No man's land…"
"Yeah," the officer said. "Our market, small financial area…the raiders are probably using the attack to loot that section." Frowning, Cal gave it a look before adjusting the display, pulling the view back to show the mining station and spaceport, with the crab-like Reaper perched over it all, imposing as ever. Dotted around the perimeter he noticed, was a ring of twelve-gun emplacements; the GARDIAN battery. "Unfortunately, we can't worry about that sector; right now, our main priority needs to be the Reaper itself. Even if we get the guns up and running, I'm not even certain that they'd do more than piss it off…" At that, Kandum stepped over, the Salarian's omni-tool aglow with a display of data. "Not necessarily Commander…if the GARDIAN network was no threat, why would they bother with sabotage? If our suspicion holds true that this is not a living Reaper, just a vessel repaired and piloted, then perhaps it is more vulnerable than we thought." Joining the conversation, Szalenka chipped in, "If the kinetic barriers are not operational, the battery would do significant damage to any vessel…"
"'If,' is not a word I like to hear too much when discussing how to best attack a Reaper," Cal said with a small sigh. Looking over at the tech officer, he asked him, "How much time do you need to get the terminal up and running?" Frowning, he pulled up his omni-tool and read through the data displayed, mentally crunching the numbers. "If I start now, I can have it up in fifteen minutes. Add five more to properly calibrate the targeting system for the guns." Nodding, Cal looked to the rest of the room and said, "You heard him people; we have twenty minutes to hold this position and get those guns operational. Now I don't know if these raiders know just how valuable this position is, but I wouldn't put it past them to mount another attack soon. I have a second squad in the city that I'll have rally here for support, but until they get here it's just us." Channeling the display to his omni-tool, Cal brought up a map of the immediate area outside the precinct, briskly giving out orders while indicating zones as a series of concentric rings. "Officers, if it's all the same to you, you should take up defensive positions here on Ring One, closest to the door. If it ain't friendly and it tries to get through those doors, kill it. Szalenka, Rings Two and Three are going to be comprised of our respective teams; we're going to be the meat grinder these assholes charge into."
At that, she grinned and stepped forward, examining the display. "With your permission then sir, I'd like to place one of my people here on the second floor of this building," she said, indicating one of the structures on the east side of the plaza. "This whole plaza is a killbox just begging to be used." Cal returned her grin and looked over at Jordan. "Duly noted, and permission granted. Jordan, I want you doing the same thing but from here in the station—take an elevated position in the building and provide overwatch." Giving a small nod, Jordan took his rifle and headed out of the room, heading for the stairs while one of Szalenka's people darted out behind him, no doubt to take up position as well. With eyes on him and the lieutenant, the two of them then hashed out the finer details of the plan; Cal and his team, working with Szalenka and her Marines would hold the plaza, using it and the connecting streets to funnel any incoming hostiles into their killbox while the police defended the door and the technician getting the guns operational. As they fell into position, Cal got his secondary team on the comm channel, relaying the situation to the squad leader.
"Understood sir, we're on our way to your location," they said to Cal. "From what we could tell though, looks like the bad guys are coming to you; we were engaged with a group of them a few minutes ago but they broke off, so I wouldn't be surprised if they were coming your way." Perhaps they were listening in. Perhaps the universe just had a sense of perfect timing. Regardless of whichever it was, no sooner had the words left the soldiers mouth, than a sudden boom was heard from outside. Cal brought up his sidearm and bolted for the front doors, the sounds of gunfire and shouts heralding the fight he was charging into. As he burst out of the doors, a hail of bullets impacted his kinetic barriers, sending up a flare of blue-white sparks as the energy field flared to life and saved his own. "Commander!" Kandum shouted from close-by, the Salarian crouched behind a display and his own sidearm at the ready. "Hostiles coming from the North and West avenues," he said, his wide eyes relatively calm as if being under fire was normal. Jordan pitched in on the com-link, stating, "Group of Batarians are coming down South sir, looks like a group of heavy hitters. Count six of them, at least one with a Revenant machine gun…." From above in one of the windows, came several thunder cracks in quick succession from the Mattock, and Jordan amended, "Five of them now, downed the one with the machine gun."
Instead of answering, all Cal did was gather energy into his fist, hues of purple and blue energy coalescing and guided by his will. He rose up and released it, forming once again a flat, circular plane of biotic energy that flickered, rippled like the surface of a pool in rain as bullets pinged off the field. "Kandum, get behind me," he growled, marching forward into oncoming fire, focusing on keeping the barrier active while his Salarian compatriot took position behind him, taking pot shots around the edge of the barrier and firing off tech attacks from his omni-tool. In addition to the Batarians—who had taken defensive positions amid Jordan's sniper fire—there was a more diverse unit from the West, one of Vorcha, Batarians, and Krogan, numbering in eight four and three, respectively. The Krogans took the lead, charging with a mixture of challenging roars and eager laughter, their heavy shotguns ripping chunks of concrete from the cover the Marines were using. However, instead of panic, instead of shattering the defenses, the raiders were halted as they met the answering fire of Alliance Marines. The Alliance's greatest strength was their flexibility, coupled with using tactics from the Human races history of warfare, and the Krogan found themselves on the receiving end, of a firing line. A burst of disruptor rounds from one Marine tore apart the K-barriers of the lead Krogan followed by a volley of armor piercing and shredder rounds that ripped into armor and flesh alike, taking him down before his blood rage could take effect. His two compatriots only continued their charge, continuing to fire their weapons, bolstered by Vorcha shock troops that snarled at the human defenders, while the Batarians took up firing positions. Cal chose the East route to bolster, trusting Jordan and the other half of the Marines to defend the North. Heavier rounds from the Krogan shotguns hit his shield like hammer blows, the impact causing the barrier to flare in protest and the force of it barely negated yet still forcing him to stop.
"Dropping, be ready," he said through gritted teeth. Without checking to see if Kandum was ready, he collapsed the plane of energy, refocusing it into a single orb of light that he threw, fist striking the air and sending the biotic projectile out, striking one of the remaining Krogan. As large as the brute was, Cal's biotic attack lifted him off his feet and sent him flying backwards with a shout of surprise, flung back with enough force that he impacted on a skycar and crushed the chassis beneath his mass. He did not move, so either he was dead or stunned, Cal didn't know or very much care, as his personal barrier flared to stop an attack, shotgun rounds tearing into the field. In his helmet, his HUD showed the K-barrier as a blue bar that plummeted to dangerous levels, and he wouldn't reach cover in time.
Which was why he was very thankful when Kandum struck the last Krogan with an incineration attack, the incendiary charge igniting armor and flesh alike, making him scream in agony before another hail of bullets silenced him. But the fight was far from over, as the Vorcha advanced in fury, some firing regular small arms, and others carrying flamethrowers that spat out long gouts of flaming jelly, turning cover into hazards for the Marines as the jelly clung to their surfaces, the intense flames making the positions impossible to hold. "Dammit, we need to take out those flamers!" Szalenka shouted over the com, and Cal's HUD had her tagged as behind them. "I'm open to suggestions," he snarled, as bullets tore at the vehicle he was currently using as cover. "Don't worry sir, I've got you covered," said a voice he wasn't familiar with. From behind them, towards the general area of the marksman Szalenka had positioned, there was a buzz that was felt more than heard and he just barely saw a fiery tracer round impact of the flamer Vorcha's fuel tank, the incendiary round igniting the jelly inside as it passed through and causing the tank and Vorcha to explode in a wave of flames and concussive force that sent debris, broken glass, and bits of roasted aggressor flying everywhere. "That's what I'm talking about!" one of the marines declared…before he was gunned down. Or, more appropriately, skewered, a length of sharpened steel punching through his barrier and armor, the harpoon ripping through his helmet. The man was dead before he even hit the ground, and his comrades could only voice their anguish in wordless snarls and strobing gunfire. The fight went on, and Cal couldn't tell how much time had passed since it started, bullets chewing the dirt and tearing at his cover.
From his position on high, Jordan kept the Batarian squad pinned beneath his potshots, managing to take out another when they stuck their head out. Some tried to return fire, but his elevated position was perfect for this method of slaughter; blind fire rounds tore at the wall and edge of the rooftop while his return fire injured one and downed another Batarian. He peered down his scope, intending to take out another raider when, as he panned for another target, he realized he had been played. While he took potshots at the ones that let themselves be seen, another of their number had snuck back to retrieve the Revenant machine gun, something he saw too late as they brought it to bear on his general position. "Oh shit!" he snarled, ducking behind cover just as the weapon lit up, belching out a hail of heavy slugs that tore and chewed up the insta-concrete wall he hid behind. "Crap, Commander you've got a situation down there; heavy weapon in play and they've got me suppressed." Cal was only slightly aware of that development himself, as the sounds of the heavy machine gun firing soon joined the orchestra of violence. "Understood but I'm a little busy here," he growled, gathering up another biotic charge and firing off three arcing orbs, soaring up then down like guided missiles and their energy fields lifting up three of the Vorcha. They thrashed and screamed in a sudden panic, suspended high into the air before Alliance gunfire tore into them, and they went limp, lifeless.
"Commander?" the tech officer said over the line, and it was then that he saw on the ID that their name was McKay. "Everything's plugged in, I just need a minute for the system to fully interface with the Gardian network." Cal's response was cut off before he could even say a word, as one of the Batarians lobbed a grenade over the car. "Shit!" he yelled, reacting on instinct; his head throbbed with a sudden headache, intense as he gathered up and focused energy rapidly into a dense layer between himself and the grenade. The explosion blinded him, the concussive force and flying shrapnel hitting his barriers and pushing him backwards against the metal of the vehicle. Stars exploded behind his eyes as the strain of it—forming a barrier that quickly and making it so dense, using it to block a point blank grenade explosion—hit him in a wave, his head pounding with an intense headache. His world became nothing but exploding stars and a loud, single tone as he slumped against the vehicle, and he barely heard his name. "Commander Ashburn!" someone shouted. "Commander, get up!" another voice, Kandum maybe.
"Get up Cal, you bosh'tet!" said a voice from inside his mind, a voice he hadn't heard in ages.
Hers, more than the others, was what spurred him back into motion, his words coming out slurred, but still there. "Hold position!" he yelled, groaning as he got to his knees, keeping himself low. Bullets whizzed by over him, some at the enemy and others from them. Another harpoon was fired, the long spike punching through the glass hood and missing his shoulder by a few fingers, sticking up out of the pavement. Immediately, Cal reached for his biotics, gathering up the energy needed. It was a bad idea, given that his head was in no shape for anything precise or fancy. But then, what was about to happen required neither of those things. Giving a shout of effort, he released the gathering aura of energy, sending the mass effect field outward from him in an intense wave. It lifted the skycar off the ground and sent it spinning down the road, catching two Batarians completely off guard and crushing them beneath its mass like a rolling pin. Another was clipped and sent down with a roar of pain, and the remaining Vorcha in that fight got flattened when the car came to a stop. "Stay off the road folks," he said, breathing hard from the effort.
"Seriously?" one of the Marines said, somewhere between stunned and amused, even during the ongoing fight. "Oh I'm sorry, what the hell would you suggest?" Cal groaned out. "Traffic is murder today," said one of them. "Now that was some road rage," said another. Another pitched in with, "Guess who saved fifteen percen—GOD DAMMIT!" They got cut off by renewed gunfire, and everyone there was brought back to the reality that they were still in a firefight.
Kandum had turned around with gun raised, firing off a burst of rapid fire from his SMG to keep one of the raiders pinned while he took cover, and Szalenka's sniper continued to pump out rounds; their position gave them the angle needed to take on the machine gunner, firing another incendiary round only for it to ping off his barriers. Still, it got his attention and made him pull fire away from Jordan, who snapped up and fired off a burst from his Mattock, the steady burst of rounds hammering into the barrier and chipping it away. The other raiders though, took issue with that as they fired on him, forcing him to duck down; the heavy fire he had been under earlier had eaten away his cover, causing him to adjust his previous strategy. "You need to move in on the North street or they're going to be right on your ass!" he yelled on the comm, and Szalenka answered the call, leading her marines against the Batarians. They worked as any team would, one member using suppressing fire while his buddy would move up to cover, and unload from a closer position. Jordan kept up his own string of fire, working with the other sniper as the Batarians fell beneath the coordinated fire. "Cease fire!" Szalenka yelled, as the last Batarian fell to the ground, armor turned to Swiss cheese from all the bullets. "No contacts," Jordan said, checking from the elevated position. "Clear here too," Cal grunted, staying low while his suit administered medi-gel; the explosion had banged him up more than expected, the concussive force still cracking a rib and causing multiple contusions. "Just in time," the tech officer, McKay said over the line. "We are online and ready to fire."
"Don't wait on my account McKay; show these assholes what happens when you try to invade our colonies," Cal said.
For something so dramatic, it was almost anti-climactic for what triggered it all. A single button push, strings of code working together to acknowledge the command and target the ships registered as hostile. The ring of Gardian anti-ship turrets came alive, the barrels of the great guns rising from their stationary cradles and rotating on eezo assisted gyroscopes, lining up their sights with the Reaper destroyer at the port. Either they had taken it by surprise, or the salvaged ship couldn't fire fast enough to respond, as a volley of laser shots struck the Destroyer. The kinetic barriers were indeed on, and as before in the war, the Reaper designed shields managed to hold up against the first round of lasers. The second volley though was more successful, punching through the barriers and striking the hull of the Destroyer's forelimb, the insect like design managing to shield the bridge of the ship at the expense of the alloy becoming superheated beneath the barrage of laser fire. Evidently, the barrage was enough of a threat as the massive Destroyer rose upward from the ground, engines and powerful mass effect drive core at work to lift it up. Even from the ground amidst the smoke and buildings, Cal and the Marines soon caught sight of it as it climbed higher, the lasers still firing and chasing it up into the upper atmosphere. Those around him gave out cheers and let loose taunts, while Cal opened a line to Miller. "Miller talk to me, what are you seeing?"
Her voice was downright jubilant, as she relayed her observation to the Commander. "The Reaper's running sir, and good riddance," she said. "Smaller craft are also lifting off from the port, looks like they're letting the big feller' take the brunt of the attack so they can sneak out." Growling at the idea of more of the raiders escaping, Cal immediately said, "Get a lock on those ships but do not engage. Coordinate with the Raven, and use the sensors to record them; drive signatures, transponders, make and model, whatever you can get." She didn't bother to respond, simply following through on the orders while she connected to Nagato on the Raven.
The XO had kept the vessel loitering in orbit, engaging the stealth systems to keep them hidden while they surveyed the situation. With the new orders, they began pinging the smaller vessels, though Pyra was forced to maneuver them well out of the way as the Destroyer came upwards at them. It hadn't seen them, but no one ever wanted to play chicken with a Reaper ship; rule of thumb during the war was that if they started charging, you ran.
And then, it was over. The Reaper, and its small flotilla of smaller ships—converted freighters and transports, shuttles even—made the jump to FTL, leaving the Achilles system. The short little battle of New Pannotia, came to a close…though that same gut instinct Cal had during his briefing, told him that this would only be the first of many. "Nagato," he said into the comm, hailing the XO and his ship. "Bring the Raven down to the port and have a medical team on standby. And get a message out to Alliance command, let them know the situation and send a copy of the data we picked up—I need eyes on this now."
"Roger that Commander. Touch down in twenty," Nagato said.
Back on the surface, Cal trudged back up to the police station, slumping down against the wall as he let himself relax, finally. He removed his helmet and took a moment just to feel the air on his face, eyes closed as he thought back to the words he heard earlier. Bosh'tet….he hadn't heard from Jin in a year and change, at least not since the war ended. Still, Jinna'Farol vas Raya was not someone easily forgotten, at least by him.