Okay this came out a bit later than intended I probably wanted to include more but that will come next chapter. Also this and the next chapter does contain scenes of both an actual reaper attack, and descriptions of those who have survived the Reapers so far. It's nothing gory but it can be disturbing to go read, because I'm trying to capture the complete horror of what surviving a Reaper invasion could be like.
Outskirts of New Korsh'ta, Halza, 2186
A Shuttle had abruptly landed on Halza in a clearing within a nearby forest and out stepped four figures carrying assault rifles and sidearms. Their Omni-tools flaring up to receive a message.
"Alright you two eyed bastards, keep advancing in our direction to the Northeast we'll try to get there as soon as we can. At least the trees are going to give you cover from the Khava'harsht's overhead." An irritated female sounding voice remarked.
"What are those?" Kai asked, ignoring the presumably batarian woman's comment, as his group began to move away from the shuttle.
"Right." The voice momentarily paused. "Think Harvesters except they have cannons in their mouths, and they drop off those horrors."
'Husks. Great so we're in one of those old zombie vids, if they rode in on flying monsters.' Kai thought dryly. "Understood, we hope to see you sooner rather than later." Kai waited for acknowledgement on the other end .
"Likewise. I never thought I would be saying that to a human." The voice on the other remarked slightly confused.
"I'm of the same mind, Out." Kai and the rest of the squad's omni-tools went silent.
The four made their way through a forest that would almost would not seem out of place on Earth, save the greenish-blue tint of the leaves, and slightly larger insects.
'Almost reminds me of Olekminsky. Father would love this place if he were here. Kai gave a small smile before he frowned. 'If he were here, we would probably scold him, just like ten years ago.' Before Kai could think any further screeching began to fill the air. [1]
Wingbeats soon followed as the silhouettes of flying beasts were seen through whatever sunlight pierced the canopy. With a screech and a crash through the treeline, a twisted mockery of a harvester arrived and disgorged abominations that almost made Kai want to puke.
They looked like they had the general appearance of a Batarian, but their eyes were a disturbing blue with no visible sclera. Their body was made of a mix of organic flesh and synthetic parts, but perhaps most horrible of all they had one arm replaced by an energy cannon that seemed held together by another body.
"Use the forest for cover, and take them down." Kai ordered as weapons fire could be heard throughout the forest.
"Shit, this makes Torfan look like a complete paradise. Don't lose your damn cool, Whatever they were before, they are not people now!" Ingrid shouted in cover.
"We're being given combat advice by a pilot? It truly is the end of the universe as we know it." Sophia simply shook her head, before moving out to take aim.
"I don't know what exactly you did as an 'ex-terrorist' but if it is not a few steps removed from working as a hired gun for corporate security, like your friend over there, then it's piss poor preparation for hell like this."
"Is this really the time to play misery poker!" Zhen shouted, before popping out of cover to fire.
"Stow the chatter, we can gamble something other than our lives later." Kai interjected as this makeshift squad had continued fighting through the forest, trying to advance.
'The only mention of husks with energy weapons came from the reports of conflicts with the Collectors. I wonder if the Batarians know more, but why would The Illusive Man want to control these things?' Kai thought as he brought up his omni-tool.
"We're taking fire, but you're at least halfway there. It would have been nice to know these things had energy weapons, the Eden Prime report showed they could only charge and dissipate electrical energy not use weapons." The human leader's voice came through with small arms fire in the background.
"We've developed something of a small guide. The ones made from you guys and us seem to be foot soldiers. The turians are field commanders, and Khar'sha preserve you if you have to face what they've done with an asari. I heard one took down two squads on it's own." The voice cautioned from the other end. [2]
The Batarian husks ceased shooting to begin eating their own dead. What skin that remained began to harden and they seemed to move with more purpose. Shots that would normally punch a hole through them, seemed to only just break the skin with minimal damage. They also started to attack less aggressively, and began to focus their attacks in unison.
"These fuckers eat their own dead and get stronger? They aren't monstrous enough?" Sophia shouted after managing to take down one of the few husks that remained, as the rest backed off.
More sounds had begun to fill the air, some that sounded like harvesters, but others like the distorted blare of an engine at full speed. Through the canopy fast moving shadows and the sounds of weapon fire could be seen and heard overhead. At least several Harvesters could be seen dropping from the sky.
"At least we have air support." Kai remarked as fewer and fewer trees were coming into view.
"And from Bav'ak's of all things." Ingrid chimed in as more Harvesters started to fall.
"Are the stories true about those things?" Sophia asked, having never taken part in the Blitz.
"Most of them." Ingrid remarked as they moved forward. "Not every pilot was a daredevil who could take down a transport after escaping from one, but they served well as air superiority and ground attack fighter for Batarian or Hegemony aligned pirates."
"That happened?" Zhen looked bewildered.
"Yes it was the campaign against the self styled pirate lord 'Bloody' Barbarossa, some lunatic who dressed in some modern approximation of the clothes of an old sea admiral by the same name." Ingrid replied, rolling her eyes. "Long story short, during a ground offensive of the Blitz a transport was supposed to be sent in to take Barbarossa captive. It was nearly taken out by one Bav'ak, but the Bav'ak was one its last legs and almost shot down, but the pilot tilted it down and jumped from their cockpit, and landed on top of the transport. The bastard threw two incendiary grenades in the troop compartment, and managed to force his way into the cockpit and killed the captain." Ingrid remarked as if it were the most simple thing in the world.
"Your shitting us?" Sophia exclaimed as Zhen merely whistled.
"Supposedly that little incident gave us the Kodiak." Kai remarked.
"Look sharp, we will be here in two minutes." Came the voice again over the omni-tool.
"Damn it that thing is about to land. What the hell is happening up there?" Ingrid shouted as the sound of panicked screeching was fast approaching.
The remains of a harvester crashed nearby, with several husks still alive who started to take aim and fire. Most notably a turian that seemed to be wearing some kind of tattered vest and something tied behind it's neck, and there was the remains of a scar under it's right eye. While the batarian husks seemed to lumber forward, the turian seemed to fight with more awareness that some of the batarians picked up on. Before the husks could attack heavy shots that could only come from a vehicle killed several of them while the turian seemed to direct a retreat.
Afterward the ground started to shake, as a loud mechanical roar could be heard off in the distance.
From the direction of the shots appeared an armored all wheel vehicle, sporting two gun emplacements and a main gun. Kai's squad quickly made their way into the rear, where they were greeted by three batarians and an asari. The humans took their seats as the rear door closed behind them.
"Hey." A batarian awkwardly waved, only to receive a nod and wave back.
"Alright, Harak and Sonto mount the guns, we might have trouble with more of those bastards. I'll let you lot meet the 'illustrious' commando captain here, and Ghorala, if she chooses to talk." The batarian female driving said with derision, while the other female merely gave a silent nod. "My name's Baran by the way. We can properly introduce ourselves when we get off this rock."
Kai looked at the familiar features of the asari in front of him. She looked less fierce than he could remember, but her blue eyes still seemed to have a hunger to them.
'Morinth?' Kai wanted to speak, but he hesitated. 'I take it I can't use my current name?' Kai did not need to answer.
"I am Captain Lamiris D'Sana, I've been coordinating efforts to help evacuate this world from the Reaper threat." Lamiris said with a small salute.
'So, I'm the only one going under an assumed name.' This silent revelation gave Kai the will to say the next five words.
"I am Gerasim Fyodorovich Botulu." Kai spoke words had not spoken for over fourteen years, and still could remember the last words his father spoke to him while he was in prison. [2]
Flashback
"Simochka did I fail you somehow?" The question came from a man behind the glass. He wore a scientist's lab coat and a pained expression on his face. His face was different from Kai's save the eye color, and his hair was short and black with some greys.
"I am Kai Leng, and no, I chose to be this father." Kai said, glaring at his father.
"Very well, Kai. Even if this is the man you want to be, you are still my son. I pray that you become a better man through this somehow." His father looked to be trying to fight back tears.
End Flashback
"So what brought you this team of yours here?" Lamiris's question brought Kai back to the present.
"We were a team of mercenaries, and the ship we were on was rammed by that Reaper."
"Mercenaries? On a large cruiser. You know I have no reason to go believe you right." Lamiris gave a suspicious look.
"I don't either." Baran interjected. "Yet as far as I'm concerned we're all in Kher'jal now, so unfortunately all we have is each other. As close to an SOP that we have is that we defend the transports and protect the civilians first. We will leave with whatever is left, so you better not run on us."
"We understand, we have no were else to go." Kai said with little, but was inwardly furious. 'How can she think we are cowards after surviving that hell?'
"Is there any way to really stop these things? Or is running all we can do?" Ingrid asked, her brown eyes slightly hopeful.
"What military forces we had that weren't indoctrinated, did what they could and failed. Reports from the rest of the galaxy aren't that good. Even the Harsht's are taking a beating." Baran said, giving a weary sigh.
"Hey one of those 'Harsht's' was a friend of mine!" The Batarian who waved earlier shouted.
"What's a har-" Zhen was going to ask before being cut off.
"It's a nasty word for a turian in our language. I would prefer you not use it."
"Harak this isn't some damn scouting expedition, where you're shepherding a bunch of brats, you joined us to actually fight! If you can't handle harsh language how can you handle those things." Baran shouted.
"Back off Baran." The voice sounded from the other turret. "Just because we were corsairs, doesn't mean everyone else who signed up to face these things is hardened, and even I still feel disturbed facing them. My grandson here came from Camala, and barely escaped what might as well have been Kher'Jal, a turian friend of his gave his life to go save a troop full of batarian and turian children on a trip when they attacked."
"Fine Sonto. I'm sorry Harak." Baran said with slight regret.
"Corsairs? You were pirates and slavers!" Kai said with anger, as he figured it was his old Alliance days talking.
"So? What do you want me to do, cry at what I was?" Sonto said in a mocking tone. "I enjoyed the life it gave me, I'm only out of retirement as it were because I am left with no other choice. Besides you humans made interesting pirates anyway, so I don't exactly hate your kind." Sonto's voice was nonchalant.
"Some of us fought in the Blitz and don't forgive that easily, we had friends whose lives were ruined by people like you." Ingrid shot back herself angry."
"If you really want to kill each other. Can you do it once we get aboard the ships, if we get aboard the ships." Lamiris had interjected.
"The humans have a reason to be angry." This time the silent batarian female had spoken up, much to the surprise of everyone present. "My people have lost their way, and become nothing more than criminals or bigots. Of the commandments of the Pillars of Strength, the first was that true strength comes from unity. We lost that when we isolated ourselves. I am Ghorala, priestess of the Prophetess Khar'sha." The batarian said those last words with a slight hint of embarrassment.
"How can you believe that nonsense Ghor, how can you even be a priestess of some stupid superstition? If the Prophetess Khar'sha or our Gods were real then what is this invasion, some punishment?" The priestess's features hardened in response.
"I do not know if this is a punishment, or if Khar'sha herself will come back. What I do know is we must have faith, if not in some higher power, then in each other to come together and face these horrors regardless of the past or we have no future. You said it yourself earlier." The priestess said gesturing to all present in the vehicle, only to hear a grunt from the front of the vehicle.
'Hmm never thought the Batarians were a spiritual people, or could be accepting of others.' Kai thought as he heard the conversation.
'At least Nyxanis isn't the only blind optimist here, they might even be fast friends. We all have our hopes to desperately cling to.' Morinth mused.
Aside from some attempts at small talk, the rest of the ride had continued in silence as the sounds of battle had started to rage outside. It was not long until they would reach the gates of New Korsh'ta.
New Korsh'ta was a mid sized city that would otherwise normally be bustling with people gradually saw it's inhabitants Batarian and otherwise began to leave in droves as a seemingly endless movement of shuttles and transport ships broke the atmosphere. With little to no traffic the Shav'ra sped through the streets to the Administration Center, that served as a commander center for evacuation efforts of the city and entered the motorpool.
The Shav'ra parked and out stepped it's nine occupants. They were greeted by five batarians, the leader of whom walked forward and outstretched a hand, which Kai stepped forward to shake with some reluctance.
"I am Corporal Ghorsev Andun. Leader of the Batarian Preservation Front's forces here. The Corporal's tone was cordial but tense.
"Gerasim Botulu, leader of what remains of the Hellhound Company." Kai said, gesturing to the three other humans.
"I'll keep this brief. Ghorsev said. "The Reaper that followed you here is advancing as we speak, and it's one of the smaller ones. Currently almost everyone is evacuated already, we're busy moving out the last of the people from poorer districts and slums."
"What must we do if most of the people have already left?" Kai wondered if they had to face anything even remotely close to what had happened in the forest.
"More than likely not more of these Reapers are on the way. We would need to leave soon, but we have to at least try and hold off their initial attack here." Ghorsev stated. "We've already begun to demolish some bridges, buildings, and set up barricades so we can funnel them into kill zones. Unfortunately we would only be stopping the converted, the actual Reapers are those ships, and only an exploding cruiser managed to destroy one of those bigger ships."
"So you were right about these being delaying actions." Kai remarked, hiding any worry.
"What happens when we leave?" This time Morinth spoke up.
"I'm not sure, Captain, the fleet will have to move to its next destination." Ghorsev darkly chuckled. "It's funny I never cared much for Quarians and thought of them as dirty suit rats without a home, now we're all Quarians."
The Corporal's omni-tool flared up as a new message was sent.
"It seems the various other cities are looking to co-ordinate one last defense if possible. "Commander Botulu was it?" It took a moment for Kai to react, still getting used to using his old name, giving a quick nod. "You are to help the Captain here, if you're looking to leave." Andun pointed to Captain Lamiris, who Kai knew must be Morinth.
"I understand." Kai said with a salute before his team started to move over towards the supposed captain.
"So what skills do you and your team have to bring aside, from extra guns." The captain asked of the humans.
"I have experience in recon, infiltration and leading strike teams." Kai replied.
"Me and him are both tech specialists, I'm not sure if we're going to be overloading that many shields but we brought some anti-personnel turrets and cryo grenades with us." Sophia said while gesturing at herself and Zhen.
"Unfortunately I'm just a pilot, and I became one not to get shot at anymore as an infantry woman. I still have combat training if it's any consolation."
"Any little bit helps, what Huntresses I have under my command are a mix of fresh faces, semi-experienced mercs, with some actual veterans, and one troubled matriarch. The 'joys' of all volunteer military." Morinth had given a deep sigh. "Heart means little without raw firepower, if your turrets are good and you can keep what other emplacements we have functioning we might be able to not only survive but give them some hurt."
"Will your soldiers have any issues fighting with us?" Kai asked.
"They shouldn't, even those that didn't come from Camala, are eager to go fight with whoever for a chance at payback."
"That's twice I've heard this name. What is it exactly?" Kai didn't exactly know what the Reapers would do to a planet, but it couldn't have been pretty.
"It was a batarian world rich in E-Zero that allowed the immigration of citizens that did not come from Council Worlds. So there were turians, asari, some humans, and a few salarians on the planet too. When the Reapers invaded, most of the population was captured." Morinth did not elaborate any further, but there was a look of fear and resignation in her eyes.
"To turn them into these things?" Morinth only nodded at Kai's response. "If there is nothing else, me and my squad can go meet up with yours." The asari seemed to ponder the statement longer than she should have.
"My squad is located in the second garage attached to this building, but could you stay and help me go over some small tactical details." Morinth said, pointing at Kai.
"I understand." Kai gave a quick nod as Ingrid, Harris and Zhen moved to the secondary motor pool, while he and the captain moved behind an old Shav'ra. 'I take it I will finally learn if it is her or not.'
The Asari looked at him up and down. "So Kai, I know what brings you here but what's with the gear, it seems fancy for simple mercs?"
'It is her.' "Well Morinth, my employer wanted me to go on an infiltration mission that has now been abruptly scrapped, along with the ship I came in on. I would ask the same thing of you, but I don't know why you are here." Morinth sighed in response.
"I'm an idiot who likes to convince myself I'm not entirely horrible from time to time, so taking up an old name, I'm leading a pack of huntresses to fight against these horrible things." Morinth shook her head. "Otherwise I was going to just hide from my mother. It's funny the sight of her with her eyes filled with determination and a gun pointed at me would be a Goddess sent blessing compared to what I'm facing right now."
"So is Lamiris D'Sana who you were?" Morinth shook her head.
"No, perhaps someone who I really wanted to be." Morinth said with regret, before her look changed into one of curiosity. "Who is Gerasim, I'm not sure if I can say the rest, you humans have too many diverse names." Morinth remarked with a playful smirk.
"It's Gerasim Botulu. And it's who I was, some well-off but reckless child who fell with criminals in, before deciding that a life in the military could give me a better challenge, before I threw that away too." Morinth gave a knowing nod. "Aside from seeing the ground of this world, and you, this mission has been complete hell."
"Normally I'd be flattered, but we are not clear of this yet. Truth be told, these things are horrifying, and that's if even a tenth of these stories are true, let's go, we have a defense to go assist with." Morinth said as she began to head towards the secondary motor pool
In the secondary motorpool seventeen figures were huddled around a small table. Three humans, in uniforms of black and gold, and fourteen asari, in a mix of brown and black uniforms.
"Alright we're gonna be heading into a thick of it." The deep voice belonged to an Asari with a scar across her bluish-purple face. "We are responsible for helping maintain defenses on the main street. That means all those Arda fuckers are going to be heading our way right into the main killzone. I know some of you want to rush out and kill as many of them as possible, but our only goal is to make sure the rest of the people leave here alive before we do."
"But Nesala, some of us and the batarians have seen how they attack, they can think or use brute force, I've seen some retreat." Another Asari spoke with brown markings on her pale blue face
"I saw them mutilate my husband Gran and combine him with my turian neighbor Vestia, into some hulking monstrosity, Treyla. It took a Hydra barrage to take them down. I don't know if we have that kind of fire power here." This time another asari spoke up with a look of horror in her eyes.
"We have to keep fighting Shi'ana, they can't take everything from us." The voice came from a younger Asari with bright blue skin.
"Your a stupid ignorant maiden Nyxanis!" An asari shouted at the younger one. Her face wore a look of anger underneath pale white face paint that covered a dark blue face in the form of a skull, but her eyes were tired. "I lost all my daughters on Camala, what else is there to fight for if we are just prolonging the inevitable? Why not end our lives right here right now, or go out in a blaze of glory?"
Before anyone else could speak up, the figures of Kai Leng and Morinth entered the room, and the fourteen other asari present in the room saluted.
"Commander D'sana." The asari present had said in unison.
"Matriarch Ilesara, please calm down. Most, if not all of us have lost something to these monsters. We're fighting to at least give others hope no matter how vain, and I know much about vain hopes and wanting to just die." Ilesara calmed down, and took some deep breaths, as Nyxanis but a hand on her shoulder.
'I know far too much' Morinth thought before she gave a sigh and stared back at all assembled with a steely gaze. "To give up now would be to consign those to fates our loved one's have suffered. What if these monsters are defeated, what will people say of the asari who could have saved people's lives but did not, and instead gave up. Most species think we're nothing but diplomats and the objects of their sexual desires, and to these Reapers we're another target, today we show them why others fear the Huntresses of the Winds!"
A few cheers had broken out, but the entire unit stood with a sense of pride. 'Hmm if Commander Telizia were here she would say I still watch too many Commando drama vids.' Morinth thought, giving a brief look at her squad.
"Nesala, if everyone is up to speed, what should be done with these four?" Morinth asked.
"Considering how our position is going to be set up these tech specialists should be with you in the center where the turrets are." Nesala turned towards Kai Fancy pants that came in with you Captain, can come with me, I'll need the extra help with the Matriarch and Nyxanis in my squad." Kai nearly snorted, but nodded instead. "As for the pilot you can back up Treyla's squad, she has a competent enough group with her, but an extra gun can't hurt"
Without warning a klaxon sounded out.
"Reaper forces are incoming with one headed our way. All controlled demolition crews are to demolish what buildings they can, and proceed to the spaceport. All defense forces prepare to drive these Harsht's back to whatever hell they come from."
All the figures in the second motor pool rushed out to take up positions, as the sound of gunfire and explosives grew louder.
[1] Olekminsky, or the Olyomka Nature Preserve, is a strict nature preserve in the Russian Federation, more specifically the Federal Republic of Sakha.
[2] The names of the Reaper enemies seem to work off a form of NATO classification ,at least in universe. But since those names have not circulated yet, they are just husks, or identified by local names, in this case Batarian ones.
[3] I was thinking of a decent Russian name if Kai Leng is supposed to be an alias, but really did not want something too typical be it, Ivan, Boris, Yuri, Sergei, Oleg and possibly Vasiliy, among others for an English reading audience at least. By the same token I did not want something too unlikely or obscure, like Radoslav, Sviatoslav. So I settled on Gerasim.
Gerasim is derived from the Greek Gerasimos or one who deserves honor, Fyodorovich comes from his father, while Botulu is a Sakha clan name turned surname. The Sakha being a people who live in various areas in the Far Eastern Parts of the Russian Republic. So Kai, or Gerasim, is of at least some Sakha heritage from his father's side, in addition to being Chinese.