A.N. Enjoy the new chapter everyone!

Chapter 6

Shanxi

Hackett knew that they were out of time, that the final ships that were evacuating the outer system had taken up the last bit of time that they had. But in truth he could not blame those people for taking so long. They were under orders to take or destroy all materials that the enemy might find useful, either as war materials or as intelligence gathering items. But Hackett couldn't help but grit his teeth as these ships had taken up the time, he needed to evacuate his own ships back to the defense line around Shanxi. For now, it had finally started.

It started with the flashing energy pulses of ships exiting the Mass Relay, avian style ships appeared into the Shanxi system in quick succession. What started as a few dozen ships multiplied over and over till there were over a hundred such ships moving into formation for their voyage into the inner system. Hackett watched as the number of ships increased on his screen, as the number increased so did the tension in the room. The ships under Hackett's command had been preparing for this the last two day but to now truly stand on the precipice of battle was a different feeling altogether.

To make things worse the imperial formation was not ready for this action, the in-system Defense Monitors had already turned and were making for the inner system and Shanxi itself. Meanwhile the Galactica and her escorts were preparing to follow. So, their formation was not fully optimized for fighting an enemy. Clenching his fists Hackett quickly ran through the situation in his mind. His trained mind hyper focused on the positions of his ships and those of the enemy, as well as the limited information they had managed to glean in the last two days.

'They use a heavy amount of Element Zero in their ship design and weapons,' Hackett's thoughts raced. 'Meaning that their speed and agility will likely be better than ours. If we turn and run, they will overtake us, or we have to sacrifice the monitors to allow the rest of us to make it to the planet.'

That last thought Hackett quickly squashed, while the monitors were slow, they made up for this in the heavy firepower they had. With no ability to warp to other systems the in-system defense ships were outfitted with powerful shields and weapon compliments. Sacrificing them would be a horrible waste of resources. Clenching his fists Hackett came to the one conclusion he could in the short time he had, "We have to bloody their noses."

"All ships will come about and target the enemy!" Hackett called out over the blaring alarms that called the crew to their battle stations. "We will bloody the enemy and buy ourselves time to retreat to Shanxi!"

The Imperial ships then broke their formation and spread out enough to allow themselves to line up their shots. The Galactica sent out targeting information. The Imperial ships, despite being caught by surprise, quickly formed their impromptu firing lines, their training showing itself in the coolness of their crews. The alien ships formations began to accelerate making room for more ships that started to appear from the relay. Hackett waited in barely contained nervous silence while his ships reported their readiness. When the final ship report came in Hackett nodded to himself, "All ships, commence firing."

The Terran ships let loose with everything they had; kinetic rounds mixed with pulses of red energy as FLOAT powered missiles streaked through the void. The lead alien ships vanished within the miniature hailstorm of fire. Their shields glowed as the Terran fire struck home, within seconds the shields of the lead ships flickered out of existence or were punctured by large openings in the gravity field. Explosions were muffled by the vacuum of space and the fire of igniting atmosphere were snuffed out.

Malformed constellations formed in the perpetual night sky as alien ships exploded or were torn apart by the fire from the human ships. But even as the lead ships of the invaders were destroyed, they through back their own fury. Kinetic rounds from the ships main guns crossed through the void to strike back at their attackers. The shields of the defending fleet flashed as the kinetic rounds of the aliens found their marks. But the energy fields of the Terrans withstood the fire while their alien counterparts struggled to hold back the storm.

Shanxi Command and Control Bunker

Williams watched as the ships of the Shanxi squadron exchanged fire with the advanced elements of the alien invaders. He felt a slight gratified smile rise as Terran weapons tore apart the alien ships with ease. But that feeling was squashed as the thought of the encroaching mass of aliens outnumbered them to such a degree that the fire power, he had at his command now was not enough to hold the aliens at the system's edge.

Not looking away from his data feeds Williams called out, "bring all squadrons to stand by. Defense Grid will come to standby, orbital weapons platforms will begin calculations for deep space firing but will hold till I give the order, targeting data is to be continually updated until the order to fire is given."

The planetary defense grid was like the modern equivalent of the battlements on ancient castles. While the void of space was the moat of the castle that slowed the approach of the enemy, the battlements were armed with long range weapons. Bows, arrows, catapults and ballistae were the weapons of ancient castles, the modern versions were far more destructive. High yield missiles were stationed in unmanned orbiting platforms and in ground silos. Said platforms also boasted VARIS and Radiant Hadron weapons and in close point defense turrets. The platforms were not small by any means but were armed to the teeth, likewise, were the large defense towers on the surface of the planet. These were likewise armed with large ship killing weapons that could reach up past the atmosphere and supplement the fire of the orbiting platforms.

Ignoring the affirmative replies Williams continued, "message to all cities across the planet, a state of siege is now in effect."

Opening a direct line to the governor, Williams said, "sir the aliens have arrived, Hackett is conducting a holding action at the moment, I would suggest that you prepare a message for the public within the next few hours. I have already declared a state of siege across the planet, all military assets will take charge of every city's' functions from here on."

"Thank you, Marshall," the governor replied. "I shall prepare a statement for the public; I expect reports as they become available as well."

"Of course, sir," Williams nodded. "You and I command this world; we both shall read the same reports and share the command."

The last bit was more for show than anything else, it was spoken loud enough for any who might overhear. Both men knew that while the governor had no real military experience, having him in some form of command was essential to keeping the populaces' morale up as well as necessary oversight.

Looking back to the data Williams watched as more alien ships were destroyed, their icons changing color to show the state of their being. Quickly flicking his eyes to a separate screen more icons, these depicting the status of different squadrons of fighter craft, they changed color showing that the squadrons moved their status to standby, ready to scramble at the order. Likewise, another screen showed that the orbital defense platforms began to orient themselves to aim at the outer edges of the system. The unmanned satellites' weapons charged while targeting systems calculated targeting vectors for the approach of the alien fleet.

Williams' attention was then drawn as an arm developed from the alien fleet, a flight of ships led by two cruisers pulled away from the main alien fleet. Along with adjoining frigates and destroyers these ships formed an arm that began to stretch out and around the side of the human fleet.

The Callix

Acanius could see it, victory was hers, vengeance was hers, she would lead the crushing blow that would send the ships that had beaten her into the Pit. She watched as her flanking ships began to turn into the flank of the alien squadron. Such was a simple tactic, but it was effective, spinal weapons were by far the most powerful pieces of a void ship's arsenal. Taking that advantage away by flanking the ship and hammering the broadside would hand victory to the side that gained the flank of their enemy. Acanius growled a predator's growl, with her numbers, she could outflank the enemy at her will, and smash them in a hammer and anvil strike. Behind her ships the rest of the Turian attack force was coming, she would hand them void superiority.

"All ships, full forward firepower," Acanius ordered. "Helm, take us in!"

The Galactica

The aliens' tactics were simple, but very effective, especially with their numbers, Hackett realized this very early and knew that if he did not extricate himself back to Shanxi, his ships would be destroyed. Already he had lost a number of frigates and destroyers, while his larger ships were reporting weakening shields and some damage. Without the heavy Monitors backing up his ships, their time was limited and was almost up.

The deck beneath his feet vibrated as feedback from the shield generators pulsed through compensators, the kinetic rounds of the enemy were taking their toll. Even a battleship's shields can take only so much damage, and the sheer amount of fire coming from the aliens was beginning to wear on the Galactica's shields. Hackett ignored this and scanned the tactical map, the Monitors had reached a safe distance in Hackett's opinion, now it was time to find an escape route for his ships.

Hackett grinned as he found one, the enemy's tactics were simple and straightforward, meaning that they would not react well to a sudden shift. They likely suspected Hackett to sit and try and fight it out at the system edge or turn on his position and try and flee back to the inner system. Hackett wouldn't give them the satisfaction of either option. He tapped out orders and quickly set them to be dispersed amongst the fleet, "all ships prepare to execute orders on my mark."

Time seemed to slow until Hackett called out, "mark!"

Seemingly as one the entire Terran formation began to move, engines flared into fiery life as each ship began to move onto a new course. The formation began to turn in an arc as though they were ships sailing upon an ocean. Confusion began to course through the alien fleet as they watched their Terran appointments seemingly present their broadsides to them through an agonizingly slow maneuver. However, this confusion turned to dread as the bow of the Terran ships began to align with the formation of ships that had been attempting to gain the flank of the Terrans.

With a cold calculating gaze Hackett measured the angle of his formation to the position of the alien flanking arm. Timing it in the same cold fashion Hackett ordered, "all ships, fire as you bear."

Lights rippled along the breadth of the Terran formation as the guns of the defending ships opened up in a cascade of death. The spinal weapons of the Terran ships loosed their payloads, Super VARIS rounds mixed with powerful Super Radiant Hadron Cannons, then the Galactica's weapons came to bear. As her bow reached its firing angle, the ship's two Apollyon-Class Radiant Hadron cannons fired.

The twin beams joined those of the rest of the Terran ships', the beams swept along the length of the alien formation. As it did, flashes marked the deaths of alien ships, some vanished in reactor meltdowns, others glowed as they melted into lumps of metal alloy while their crews were turned to atoms. The alien cruisers fared better, they did not blow apart in reactor death, but they slowed, and began to tumble as their engines died and went dark as their power vanished.

The Terran ships kept up their fire as the alien formation broke apart, damaged and dead ships floated helplessly while their comrades broke away to dodge the incoming fire and the charging Terran ships. The defenders rocketed through the disheveled and dead alien formation continuing to turn till they were aligned with one of Shanxi's smaller planets. The Terran ships then ceased their turn and ran towards the planetary body.

However, not all the Terran ships that had made up the defending formation stayed with the Galactica as she made up escape. As the defending formation made for the inner system, they left behind the wreckage of a number of their comrades. Shattered and lifeless hulls remained behind them, any crews that had survived had been evacuated from the dead ships, save one. The majority of the debris left behind by the defenders were the remains of frigates and destroyers, and one semi functioning cruiser: the Thunderchild.

Tokyo Opera House, Terra

The stage was dark, and only barely could the audience see the movement of stagehands as they guided different stage pieces on near silent gravity fields. All the while dark strains leapt from the orchestra, each beat sending a hammer blow into the souls of those watching. The music signifying the approach of something otherworldly. Quickly the lights came on and a mist covered the stage, three figures appeared on the stage. One lay upon the ground in abject fright while the other stood in what could only be shocked astonishment at the appearance the third figure clad in a dingy weathered grey. The grey figures every movement was stiff as stiff as stone, for that was what the figure was supposed to be made of the two figures before the third watched as a statue moved towards them.

Then as the music sounded again over stage the living statue spoke, out of its mouth the powerful notes soared, "Don Giovani! A cenar teco m'invitasti e son venuto!"

The standing figure responds, "Non l'arcrei giammai creduto; M Farn quel che potrn. Leporello, un altra cena Fa che subito si porti!"

The lying figure shivers and responds to his master in fear of the statue before them, "Ah padron! Ah padron! siam tutti morti."

The opera continued and Lelouch felt goosebumps run up his skin as the Commendatore's deep booming voice rang out. Lelouch slightly inclined his head to gaze at his guests, both Legion and Plato sat enraptured by the spectacle. Of a dead commander returned from the grave to see the very man who had murdered him, at the dinner table no less. The eyes of the two androids were wide as their emotions ran wild as the sight before them continued. For days the pair had immersed themselves in the different aspects of human culture, in particular they had shown a great interest in visual landscape artwork and music. In response to this Lelouch had decided to take the pair on a trip to the Tokyo Opera, which this month was putting on performances of Mozart's "Don Giovani."

Suffice it to say Lelouch found it amusing how the two androids had become enraptured by the opera just during the opening when the orchestra had started playing. Euphie sat next to Legion and she looked back at her father and grinned knowing what her sire was thinking. She nodded slightly to confirm Lelouch's thoughts. In return Lelouch smiled at her and his thoughts jumped to watching from a distance as Legion and Euphie walked the palace grounds talking, the female AI teaching Legion the different aspects of Terran culture and society. In a deep part of Lelouch's mind he couldn't help but wonder at the relationship between the two, especially with some of the gestures he had seen the two share.

Turning back to the stage Lelouch watched as a horde of demons appeared upon the darkening stage and the titular character, Don Giovani, was dragged to hell for his misdeeds and unwillingness to repent of said actions. The music then continued as the lights went down and the curtain dropped. Before the final note was played the rows of the audience were on their feet applauding the performance. Legion and Plato were up and clapping before Lelouch had the chance to start his own movement. As the group stood Ceceniah leaned into Lelouch's side and whispered in his ear, "I think they enjoyed it, don't you?"

Lelouch nodded, "I agree, I think there is going to be a thriving entertainment industry in the near future."

The monarchs giggled to themselves at the amusing thought of the number of cultural items, mainly music and other forms of art, that would likely traverse the void to the Geth homeworld.

Later, as the group traveled back to the palace in Lelouch's personal shuttle (the traffic was something Lelouch did not wish to endure this time of night, nor did his guards want it either) Plato went on and on about how he had previously sampled bits of other species art and music. He continued saying that none of the other galaxy's species held a "candle" to the expressionism that he felt when experiencing humanity's arts. Meanwhile Euphie and Legion sat next to each other watching the scene and whispering comments between themselves.

Lelouch internally smirked while externally he smiled wide in true pleasure he felt at Plato's compliment. The emperor felt that another piece in the relationship between the Geth and humanity had been inserted quite well. He felt the lasting peace he so wished for come closer.

Ceceniah leaned forward to respond to Plato, "you really must send me some of those samples my dear Plato, I would love to see what the galaxy has in the way of art."

"Most certainly Empress," Plato responded happily, his voice having a slight chirp to it. "But truly I believe that they will hardly be a match for what you humans have succeeded in creating."

Lelouch laughed, "it is a possibility Plato, though I'm sure the artistic expressions of the other inhabitants of the galaxy will find a place amongst humanity's tastes."

Plato shrugged his mechanical shoulders, a small nonverbal quirk he had picked up very rapidly after his trip to Kanime Island, "humans are truly one of the most adaptable species the Geth have ever seen. So, I have no doubt about your words, Emperor Zero."

While the monarchs had insisted upon the Geth ambassadors to use their first names, the Geth had made it very clear that while they appreciated the gesture, it was only fair that they respond with the utmost respect to the monarchs who had given them so much.

"In any case, I do appreciate what information on the other races you have given," said the emperor. "It should be very useful when we make contact."

"You still intend a peaceful contact with the Council Races," Legion said flatly, no sign of question or insult could be heard in his voice.

Lelouch nodded, "while I do not agree with this Citadel Council, I do have an interest in fighting a war with them."

"That seems counterproductive as you have seen fit to ally with us," Legion continued. "The Council does not have a favorable stance on the Geth nor any form of artificial intelligence that doesn't meet their harsh standards of VI."

"We realize that" Ceceniah responded. "But at the very least attempting peaceful contact and talks with them is better than outright war."

She then raised her hand to stop any reply and added, "that does not mean we intend to back down or compromise on our beliefs and promises. The Imperium will not abandon our alliance with the Geth nor shall we alter our rules on AIs. Again, AIs are our people as much as baseline humans are."

Legion nodded and a smile spread across his artificial lips, "that is acceptable, and most reassuring empress."

"As well," added Lelouch. "We will not disarm our fleet, with a galaxy that will likely despise us, we will not submit to being disarmed, we have a technological advantage, and we will not waste it."

"Indeed," Plato nodded in turn. "Your weapons technology can easily level the playing field against the Council."

"Precisely," smirked Lelouch. "Any negotiations that are made will be done from a position of strength."

As a pause in the conversation filled the compartment a beeping noise sounded, Lelouch reached and picked up a phone embedded into the wall. Putting the receiver to his ear he asked, "what is it?"

The rest of the occupants of the shuttle waited as the muffled speaker on the other side delivered his message. Lelouch's face hardened and he responded, "I want a full report when I reach the palace, assemble my council and call an emergency senate sitting."

Lelouch then switched communications channels, "pilot, increase speed, get us back to the palace immediately, code red."

The emperor then hung up the receiver as the engines of the shuttle hummed louder and the aircraft picked up speed. Looking back at the occupants of the shuttle Lelouch sardonically said, "it seems fate has a sense of humor. A report has just come in, that our eastern border is being attacked by aliens."

The atmosphere of the compartment changed as the weight of the galaxy seemed to descend upon those seated about the emperor.

The Thunderchild, Shanxi System Edge

Captain Wells sat in his chair and stared at the viewscreen through which he saw the approaching alien fleet. On a separate screen he saw the blips of his comrades making for Shanxi Tertias from which they would use the planet's gravity to "slingshot" themselves back to Shanxi itself. But not Well's and his ship, no, they had taken too much damage in the barrage of the enemy. Well's had little doubt in his mind that his ship was being targeted in particular by the enemy, for in the opening stages of the engagement scans had shown that some of the alien ships matched those that were in the scouting party from before. In fact one of the alien Warlord class cruisers from the scouting party was acting as the flagship for the first wave of the alien fleet.

Wells smiled at this, it meant that these aliens had emotions, anger, vengeance, pride, these aliens felt those emotions. Even when the Galactica was a greater target, his ship had suffered a similar amount of fire as the larger battleship. In short, these aliens had similar weaknesses that the human psyche had, he had brought this to Hackett's attention during the battle and the other man had agreed with Wells' assessment. This theory had born fruit as the battle had continued, the Thunderchild had taken fire until holes had appeared in her shields. Several shots pierced her decks to hit her engines and power plant, while the reactor was still functioning the engine output was severely reduced, to the point that the ship had no chance of surviving a retreat. The Thunderchild either had to be scuttled or fight to the end, for Wells scuttling his beloved ship was out of the question, in any case Wells was determined if nothing else he would by his comrades, and Shanxi, more time by staying on board his ship and fighting her till she could fight no more.

Wells looked around the bridge, consoles flickered and sparked where they had burst from power surges that had pulsed through the ship following the lucky shot that hit the reactor compartment. The captain clenched the arm rests of his chair hard as he remembered the screams of his crew when a fraction of the bridge exploded in sparks and shattered console screens. At the moment, only two other people occupied the bridge with their captain, the rest, along with the rest of his crew were evacuated to other ships before Hackett's maneuver. One was a female tactical officer who manned the remaining ships' weapons from her remote station. The other was the helmsman who carefully checked his instruments over again to ensure that what control he still had was enough for what his captain had for his plan.

"Captain," the intercom rang, the sound was filled with static and whining.

"Yes engineering," replied Wells to the only other remaining crew member on his ship. A lone engineer who had survived the initial strike on the power plant. Wells admired the man's bravery but also realized why he had decided to stay. When the reactor compartment was hit, radiation had begun to leak out in the neighboring compartments. He had been one of the few who had survived initially but had been exposed to lethal amounts of radiation. The lone engineer volunteered to stay and man the reactor, as a final blow he could strike at those who had turned him into a walking corpse.

"Safeties are disengaged," replied the engineer. "Power levels are rising; repair drones have redistributed the power couplings to the remaining engines. They should give us about Sixty-five percent engine efficiency for a short period."

"Thank you engineering," Wells nodded solemnly. "Give me everything she has left."

"With pleasure sir, she may not have much left to give, but she'll go out fighting hard."

Wells gave a grin as did the two other officers on the bridge, he then responded, "indeed she will."

Cutting off the communication link Wells ordered, "helm, set our course for the center of the enemy line."

"Aye sir."

"Tactical," ordered Wells, "you may fire when you have your solutions, try and keep as much of the incoming heat off us as you can. We want to get as far into the enemy formation as we can."

"Aye captain."

Looking back out to the alien formation Wells felt the deck plates vibrate as his damaged ship began to give her last effort in her life. The engines flared to life and the Thunderchild began to slowly move towards her enemies. With agonizing slowness, the ship began to gain speed and the distance between her and the alien fleet diminished in a staggeringly short amount of time.

Seemingly staggered by the approach and speed of the damaged cruiser, the aliens did not open fire on the ship immediately. It was only after the weapons of the Thunderchild opened up did the aliens begin to orient their ships and weapons to engage the charging Terran ship. However, before a true firing solution could be acquired on her, the Thunderchild unleashed her spinal mounted Radiant Hadron Cannon. The massive particle beam plunged into the alien formation, it scoured the armor and shields away from a pair of cruisers, while it tore apart five frigates. When the red beam died away the two cruisers were left blackened and glowing from radiation heat. One went dark as its power system gave out under the damage that had been inflicted, the other lost her ability to properly control her engines and she began to careen out of formation forcing her comrades to take evasive action while the stricken cruiser barreled away from the fight.

The Terran cruiser continued to push forward, as she did, she jerked her course dodging incoming fire from confused alien ships. It became obvious that these aliens had not expected one lone Terran ship to charge their numbers. But even as the Thunderchild dodged and weaved as it approached the alien formation kinetic rounds found their mark. The ship's shields lit up as the mass driver rounds smashed against the energy barrier. Every few shots one would get lucky and find a weak spot and slip through the barrier, however, not unscathed. Those shots pierced the protective barrier, lost much of their power and buried themselves in Terran armor plates or punched into empty decks that bleed empty air.

When fires broke out inside the Terran ship automatic systems vented the atmosphere while emergency drones tried to mend power conduits as best, they could. In her death ride the Thunderchild shouldered the storm of fire and bore more damage than she had ever had in her career. Yet even as her skin became pockmarked and burned by enemy fire the cruiser pushed forward her engines glowing with a fire. Combined with the flickering of her shields the charging ship appeared as an angry charging meteor, hell bent on destruction.

Wells felt a grim sense of joy in his heart, and a great smile spread across his face, he felt as though he were an old cavalry man riding his steed in one last defiant charge at the enemy. His sword raised high ready to strike one last blow at his foe before death took him into the afterlife. This was just as much his death ride as it was the Thunderchild's.

The Terran cruiser practically jumped the last distance between it and the alien formation. The alien ships tried to maneuver themselves to keep fire on the Terran Cruiser, but their movements were slow and ponderous as though they were stunned at the speed and audacity the single cruiser displayed, it was in this moment that their spinal mounted main guns became their weakness. Once Thunderchild passed a certain point she found herself "under the enemy's guns," it was here that her own armament came to the fore. Her turreted guns raked back and forth from ship to ship, kinetic rounds and particle blasts punched through shield and armor alike.

Smaller ships died under the wrath of the cruiser while the larger ships found themselves severely wounded. Bulkheads buckled on many ships as green bolts of metal punched through armor. Other areas vaporized when red particle beams superheated, atmosphere and turned metal, flesh, and more into atoms.

The ships behind the first ranks of the alien formation held back from using their main armaments for fear of hitting their comrades in the back. However, the aliens did not hold back with their secondary weapons, point defense weapons let loose from the alien ships. Small mass drivers and lasers jumped from their hardpoints attempting to inflict some form of damage onto the Terran cruiser.

The alien formation fell in on itself as ships tried to reorient to give their main guns a firing solution on the enemy in their midst. The forward ships moved to clear themselves from the firing lines of those behind them. However, the Thunderchild would then jerk and change course to run alongside a different set of ships. While the smaller alien ships displayed incredible agility, they could not chase the Terran cruiser effectively in the formation of their heavier brethren. The Thunderchild dove in and around the alien formation, darting between alien cruisers and raking their sides with her weapons. When the small alien frigates attempted to give chase or align their guns the Terran cruiser would turn again to move behind another alien ship.

It was here that Wells unleashed his ship's most powerful weapon, the front of the Thunderchild erupted in a powerful flash of disturbing red. The massive spinal mounted Radiant Hadron Cannon unleashed its power on the condensed alien formation. The result was truly devastating as the beam scored a direct hit on an alien cruiser directly amid ships. The alien's shielding glowed as the Terran particle beam overpowered the gravity field in seconds. The particle beam moved as the Thunderchild did, and as it moved it tore the alien cruiser apart. Flames erupted from its hull as the interior atmosphere was ignited in an instant only to be snuffed out by the vacuum of the void. The particle beam then jumped from the dead cruiser to ravage a series of frigates and destroyers. Flashes marked the deaths of several more ships before the beam dissipated and the Terran weapon went into recharge. As it did the Terran cruiser continued its rampage with its main armament.

Then, whether by luck or divine intervention, Wells saw a familiar ship within the alien formation. His grim joy turned predatory as he spied the same ship that had led the first alien incursion into the Shanxi system. Wells clutched the grips of his chair, "engineering! Report!"

A rasping voice came back in reply, "core destabilizing, interior shielding is failing. We don't have much time left."

"Very well, thank you engineering."

Wells turned to the helm, "helm, steer us a new course, aim us at the following coordinates. We're going after the enemy flagship."

The captain typed a few commands and sent them to the helm, the reply came, "aye captain."

"Tactical," Wells called. "Keep the enemy occupied long enough to get us to our target. Focus some of our firepower on the target, weaken it, then when we're in knife fighting range let her have the full power from our spinal cannon."

"Aye sir," came the tactical reply not questioning the orders.

Wells went on to explain out loud in any case, he even opened the ship wide comm, "we're going after the flagship, we're gonna get in close so that when we fire the spinal cannon, we won't have a chance of missing and the enemy will have no hope of dodging. And if by some chance we do miss, or the cannon fails…. well, we'll take the enemy down with us."

Wells then typed in a few commands on his control panel and said aloud, "all power safety restrictions are hereby removed under captain's authority. For the log I hereby state that the Thunderchild is increasing her reactor output past all regulations. Engineering, raise power levels to max and divert power to Tactical Control. Tactical, divert power to weapons and engines. Helm, max speed to the target. Preparing to jettison log, will delete all computer files following, it has been an honor."

Following this a small object disconnected from the Terran ship and silently drifted away from the fight, unnoticed by the aliens. Meanwhile, the power core within the Thunderchild began to glow as it increased its power output far in excess of what safety allowed. The engineer pushed every control to its max setting even as he stumbled and fell blacking out on the floor as radiation destroyed his cells. Before blackness took him, he whispered words that none on this side of life would hear, "die you bastards, die."

The Callix

"Launch the fighters!" Acanius called. Her voice carried all the annoyance and fury her soul could muster. She fumed as she watched the alien cruiser charge into her formation and then wreak havoc with her chain of command. This only added to her anger, first the alien formation had smashed aside her tactic to outflank and destroy them, then this lone ship was destroying her chance at pursuit of the enemy.

She had done everything by the book and now one ship was destroying everything. There was no doubt in her mind that the alien ship she faced was doing what it did out of a sense of honor and comradeship. But such things were Turian characteristics, if that ship had been a Turian vessel and been fighting some other force in such a manner she would have felt a sense of pride. But not now, now she felt as though this one ship was stealing Turian values and turning them against them. This set white hot knives of fury coursing through Acanius's spirit. She could not let this stand, she could not let this one ship tear apart her world one second more, she could not let these aliens make light of her training and Turian tactics anymore. This ship had to die!

"Order to all ships!" Acanius called pointing at the alien cruiser. "Priority target is that alien cruiser! It must be destroyed! We have the strength of numbers and we have it surrounded, concentrate all fire upon it!"

Acanius then typed furiously on her console, "all forward ships will increase speed and clear a space for the squadrons to the rear of our formation to open fire on the alien ship. All ships are weapons free!"

The deck shuddered beneath her as her ship was impacted by incoming fire. A voice called out, "the enemy has begun targeting us and the surrounding ships. Its course has shifted, and it is heading straight for us!"

Acanius turned quickly, "time since it fired its main weapon?"

"Five minutes commander!"

"Very well, open fire on the ship, maximum firepower!" before a reply could be made, she immediately sent her orders out to the rest of her ships. With expert Turian efficiency her formation began to alter the ships that had been in disarray previously began to establish itself, forming a ring around the alien cruiser. A large space began to stretch around the rampaging ship and the main guns of the Turian ships began to fire. Some shots missed, others vaporized on the shield, while others managed to partially pierce the aegis only to wreak damage upon empty decks, none of which stopped the alien ship's advance.

Acanius watched as the shots from her own ship bounced off and or vaporized on the glowing shield of the alien ship. Her mandibles clenched as the deck continued to vibrate beneath her feet. With a coldness she continued to watch as her ships attempted to destroy the single alien ship that had dogged her thoughts the last several days. Then a single round broke her thoughts, a shot from another cruiser passed behind the alien ship, fired too late to impact upon the ship's shields, the kinetic slug passed silently through the void and uncaring slammed into the weakened barrier of another frigate. The full powered slug turned the frigate into a bright flash and then a glowing debris field.

Acanius's eyes widened as a ship of her fleet disappeared in a blast of friendly fire, and it was then that she saw the increasing fusillade of her ships begin to fill the empty space around the alien ship. With a sinking feeling she realized her orders had made it an assurance that friendly fire was going to begin taking its grim toll.

But even as this realization dawned upon her, she also knew that this was the only way to ensure the destruction of the stain upon her and her people's honor. That ship was close to death and her damnable captain along with it! Her fleet would have to endure for just a while longer, then their enemy would be dead.

The alien cruiser's engine then flared, the ship jumped and increased speed, the shields began to flicker in places as more power was sent to the engines. The distance between the Callix and the alien ship closed faster and faster. Acanius clenched her talons as her enemy closed, she felt her ship begin to move as her crew attempted to keep the alien in their sights. Secondary weapons began to fire adding the firestorm happening in the void. Even as the shields of the alien began to fall, the hull of the ship filled a large portion of the view screen on the Turian bridge.

Acanius could no longer stop herself from taking a single step back as she realized that the alien was aiming directly at her.

A voice called out, it may have been Acanius it may have been another officer, none could tell as the shadow of the enemy filled the minds of the crew, "helm! Emergency turn!"

The deck of the Callix heaved as her bulk was hurled to the side in an attempt to evade oncoming enemy. Acanius grabbed hold of her console and roared her defiance at the alien that could not hear her. This was then followed by a deep crashing and the sound of grinding and tear metal. Acanius found herself thrown to the floor, looking up she no longer saw the entirety of the alien ship just the persistent glow of its engines filling the viewscreen. Once more she roared her fury at those who could not hear her anger nor cared.

Thunderchild

Wells slumped in his chair, blood poured from a number of cuts, the flesh torn by shards of metal that had been thrown into the air. He breathed heavily of the smoke-filled air, a dull red filled the bridge, a combination of emergency lighting, console lights, and emergency lumens. When the aliens had seemingly abandoned fire discipline when their formation changed a lucky shot had destroyed the spinal cannon emitter. With their weapons being whittled away, Wells gave the order, "Ramming speed!"

Power was transferred to their engines pushing them far past their design limits, the ship itself seemingly seeking revenge leapt at the alien flagship. They had closed the distance and while the flagship cast its own fury upon the Thunderchild it did not move out of the way of the charging cruiser. Only in the final moments before impact did the alien ship attempt to dodge, its own engines flared to life, attempting to push itself out of danger. The Thunderchild's prow tore into the side of the alien flagship rending decks apart, the two ships' engines pushed both hulls together forcing the ships into an embrace of death.

Wells looked around and saw the unconscious bodies of his two officers, whether they were dead or not did not matter anymore. Alarms broke through his ringing ears and he rasped out a laugh. He then typed a few commands into his personal console, slamming his fist on it several times when sections of it went dark. Finally, a satisfying ding went off and Wells' mouth spread in a crimson predator's smile before turning into one of content.

Making sure his hand rested on the right button Wells turned to face the viewscreen that flickered with the image of his ship and the enemy entangled with each other. Summoning his strength, he quoted to no one save the divine, "to the last I grapple with thee. From hell's heart, I stab at thee."

With the last syllable Wells depressed the button, the power core, which had been straining at the last of its restraints, was let loose. The two embracing ships vanished in an expanding sphere of light and energy. Nearby ships found themselves engulfed in the sphere, their shields vanishing in less than an instant and matter making up their mass rendered to atoms. The sphere persisted for a horrifying few seconds that froze the rest of the alien fleet before vanishing. In place of the sphere was nothing but void, only at the outermost edges of where the sphere had been, were signs that ships had been there.

Hulks were cut in half or were missing sections, it seemed as though someone had come in and cut the metal of their hulls with a blow torch. Or the very sections that were missing had been lifted into the after, leaving perfect cuts behind. Some ships that had been inside the sphere for only an instant or two did not survive, however they left remains behind, the energy field of the sphere fusing the atoms of the ships together to form horrifying clumps of metal in the mocking shapes of the ships they had once been.

The alien fleet stopped its movement, even as more alien ships arrived in the system, including larger battleship class ships, the defending Terran ships made it to the orbit of Shanxi. There they formed up with the system monitors and planetary defense platforms, all their weapons facing out to the enemy.

The Palace, Tokyo-Terra

Within the large palace a large series of rooms were dedicated to the running of the Imperial War Machine. The rooms were staffed with Black Knight officers, all trained in mind and body to conduct their jobs to the greatest possible degree. Lelouch sat at the head of a large briefing room, there were small tables by each chair for files data slates. While in the middle of the room a large holoprojector attached to the ceiling projects holo-maps and screens for the occupants.

At the present a large number of high-ranking officers as well as Knights of the Round, specifically Jeremiah, Akito, and Anya whose holographic image was being broadcasted from across the Imperium where she sat in her flagship. Tamaki likewise was a holographic image as he sat in his command center.

Lelouch looked across the room and double checked a glowing light on his control panel. Its color signified that the room and all communication links coming in and going out were secured. He then spoke tersely and with purpose, "Report."

An intelligence officer stood and began the briefing, "to put it bluntly, we are under attack. Exact details are sketchy as we have not fully sifted through all the data that the courier ships brought out of the Shanxi sector. The com buoys connecting to the sector have been rendered inoperative. This information is coming to us from courier ships that were dispatched after the initial alien encounter."

The officer paused as he flipped through several pages in his omnitool, "what we have learned about this first encounter is that the aliens attack explorator ships that had sailed from Shanxi. We are currently not aware of who gave permission for such an exploration mission to be sent out or why. But from what information we have is that the sector viceroy pushed this exploration mission through a mass relay at Shanxi itself. These exploration ships, after sending an information packet, were then attacked by aliens matching the Geth description of the race called the Turians."

A holographic image appeared in the center of the room showing what appeared to be a male alien. It was tall and somewhat lanky looking with a strange avian-reptile appearance; however, it was still obvious that the alien had great strength. The image rotated to allow each officer, present, a look at it, as well several images and composite models of the Turian ships appeared next to it and appeared on smaller screens in front of each officer.

The intelligence officer then continued, "according to the information brought to us, the aliens followed survivors of this exploration fleet back to Shanxi. Local fleet units were able to fight off this first incursion, however with the information brought back by the surviving exploritors indicates to Marsal Williams that they will be back in much stronger numbers."

The image once more shifted to camera stills of the Turian fleet that had begun to appear before the decimated exploration ships before the survivors had escaped. "Intelligence provided by the Geth supports this prediction, Marshall Williams intends to hold out in the Shanxi system as long as possible. He has positioned his sector fleet in the surrounding systems in order to keep the Turian incursion localized. Williams's message states that he will use what ships and resources he has in-system to hold the Turian attack and await reinforcements, details of his reasoning and plan are available to all persons present within attached files."

Lelouch nodded, "What information do we have on the Turian fleet that is preparing to attack Shanxi?"

"Currently not much sire," came the reply. "What images and information we have has been analyzed by us and we have determined that, number wise, there is at least a small fleet taking part in the attack so far. We are still getting information from the Geth but we have yet to fully analyze it all, we will however deliver all details as soon as they become available. For the current situation though it is possible and likely that the Turians will deploy more assets the longer this conflict endures. "

Lelouch nodded again, "I concur. I must also point out to all officers who are unaware that this information has been given to the Geth ambassadors. I have asked them for their opinions on the situation and all other analyses they may have. They have complied and we can expect results within the next few hours."

Looking back to the intelligence officer Lelouch nodded, "continue."

"Yes sire," the officer bowed his head before continuing, "our information about the Turians has been given to us by the Geth. The Turians as a species make up the majority of the military and policing force of the galactic power, the Citadel Council. This council, in theory, acts as a type of federation between galactic nations, each nation having a great amount of autonomy and freedom of culture and governance. However, this council at the same time wields large amounts of executive power over its member nations, as well the council itself is dominated by only three major races, the Turians being one of them. The council takes great interest in the running of its members, making wide spanning rules and laws for each member nation to follow."

"However," continued the officer. "From the information we have received from the Geth, the council has structured itself in a way that allows it to remain neutral or ignore its members when said members run into a situation that could compromise the council. Examples are that of the Geth uprising and the Quarian exile and what has been termed the Krogan Rebellions, information on these events can be found in your attached files. As well as turning a blind eye away from pirate raids and warlord incursions from what is termed the Terminus Systems. The makeup of these systems is that of an ever-shifting amalgamation of minor nations, empires and such. It is safe to say that the Council does not wish to engage in a prolonged war with the Terminus systems and therefore restrict themselves to raids and police actions when necessary. The Turians act as the weapon of the council, enforcing their laws yet being beholden to the Council and the Turian high command."

The officer then switched the holoprojector to cycle through different images of Turians and Turian culture, provided by the Geth. "The Turian culture and government is based on a meritocracy model. According to our analysis their culture revolves around public service and personal honor. Each person in power rises to that rank through merit and promotion by superiors, corruption in this system has been documented but this has not changed the system much. These traits and the Turian role within the council has led to a heavy cultural shift towards individual military service or service within law enforcement."

Anya leaned forwards, "in short we are looking at a nation of rule followers and soldiers."

"In a sense lady Alstreim," the officer replied. "The Turians will likely fight hard as they are conditioned to follow orders from their superiors as such there will likely be very little questioning of orders from the lower ranks. Inquiries can only be expected from the top or from specialized services with the Turian system and the Council."

"What are their weapon capabilities?" Akito asked.

"Their weapons, ships, and general technology are based around heavy use of Element Zero. Their ships feature a large hull length kinetic mass driver weapon, with small weapons and lasers as secondary weapons. Likewise, their small arms are based around EZ kinetic weapons, and their individual battle armor and vehicles all feature a gravity field generator based on Element Zero. This field can distort and block kinetic attacks."

Several images of Turian ships appeared, these images coming from the first skirmish in the Shanxi system, "it has been shown that these gravity shields cannot stand up well against our Radiant Hadron weapons, and our energy shields can take more hits than their gravity shields can. It stands to reason that their ground vehicle and personal shields will likewise not stand up against similar weapons. Their ground vehicles are limited to APCs and a few tank models. By Council law and mandate, the enemy has no AI to speak of and instead rely on VIs. By our estimates these factors give us the technological advantage."

Tamaki then piped up, "by the numbers, how long do you estimate that Williams can hold without reinforcements? In light of the technical information, you have just provided."

The officer's face twisted in concentration, "by our estimates the Marshal can successfully resist the Turians anywhere between a week to five months in our projections. This ultimately depends on attrition rates on both sides, when the Turians will deploy reinforcements, and any number of other factors. But the safest estimate is that the Marshall should be able to hold for one to two months, after that our estimates lose their ability to predict any outcomes behind blind guessing. What I must point out however is that these figures relate to resistance on the planet itself."

The officer then sighed, "the casualty rates for the in system-void defenses, in nearly all our projections, will likely be near one hundred percent. This includes, defense platforms, ships, monitors, etc. The Marshal does not have enough void assets in-system to hold the alien fleet from gaining space superiority for more than at least forty-eight hours at most. After that any ships that may survive the onslaught will be pushed to land on the planet or be destroyed. Again, that is by the numbers, we cannot predict everything, but our best projections put the void war over Shanxi being no more than a few days long."

Lelouch then stood, "thank you lieutenant."

He then turned to the assembled officers, "ladies and gentlemen, we now stand in a moment of history that I had hoped we would not be a part of. We are now at war with an alien race, I have little doubt that the causes of this conflict are complex and that there is guilt a plenty to share. However, the images and videos that we have seen show that the Turians attacked our ships with no provocation."

There were nods around the room, "but in our history, we know that in situations like this we cannot charge in with no plan. Doing so will lead to a disaster, a drawn-out campaign of attrition. Such a campaign is one that the Imperium is not ready for, we have not had a prolonged conflict like what we now face in centuries. Our people are not emotionally prepared to fight such a war. They are strong to be sure, but to blunt them with such a campaign to start this conflict would dull them, and we need our people sharp and strong."

Lelouch looked around the room, "so for this, we shall prepare a great blow against our new enemy, we shall strike him fast and hard. We shall deliver this blow with such strength that it shall devastate the Turian culture itself. And when we strike, we shall do so in a way that readies the Imperium for a conflict that has the potential to span the galaxy. We shall deliver our people into the arms of victory; the Imperium shall not fall!"

There was applause in the room, Lelouch let them applaud for a time, he then held up his hand. "While we can make as many pretty speeches as we like, we must still have a plan. For now, while we make this plan and gather our strength, we must ensure that the Turians are truly isolated."

Tapping a few buttons on his omni tool a holo-map of the Shanxi sector appeared, Lelouch then highlighted sections of it. "First Fleet will take up holding positions in these systems. They will bolster the sector fleet and keep the Turians pinned down, this is because, as the lieutenant, so rightly put it, the Turians will likely deploy more assets to their campaign. This is the reason we must prepare our counterattack; we do not want our fleet caught in the open when Turian reinforcements arrive."

There were nods of agreement and grunts of approval, "we will gather intelligence through the Geth and position the rest of our fleets accordingly."

The map zoomed out to show a large map of the Imperium, "the Geth have already told us the the Council has colonies out here in the Atican Traverse. This includes a number or Turian colonies."

The map then zoomed into another section of the galaxy, "as well the Turians have colonies here in the outer sections of Council space."

The map zoomed out with the Turian areas highlighted, "The Geth have kindly provided us with a map of Council held territory and those systems occupied and controlled by the Turians. We will use this information to our advantage."

The map then changed back to show the Shanxi sector, "first however we will deal with Shanxi. First and Second Fleets will relieve Shanxi, Second fleet will provide reserves for the First fleet, while the First will attack into Shanxi itself, it will push the enemy out of the system. In so doing they will bloody them to the extreme, we will show them what it means to fight the Imperium in Void Warfare."

"Once this is done, we will attempt negotiations with the Turians," the emperor stated, this got a few murmurs from the assembled. Raising his hand Lelouch continued, "this is to say that we will negotiate from a position of strength. While we will have pushed the Turians from our soil I expect that the amount of bloodshed on the part of the enemy will be so great that any negotiations will be a moot point."

Lelouch grinned here, "in fact we will be truly conducting such negotiations as a formality and a strategy to buy us more time. I am fully confident that the Turians will stumble over themselves, so filled with anger will they be over their first defeat in so long. As well I fully anticipate that the nature of our nation will be so antithetical to them and the rest of the Council that the Council will turn its blind eye to the Turians to conduct a "Pacification Campaign '' against us. For in truth, they will still not be aware of our full power."

The map then zoomed back out to show the galaxy and highlighted Turian territory, "at which point, when negotiations fail, we will truly strike. First and Second Fleets will strike into the Turian home territory as much as possible. Meanwhile Third Fleet will attack the colonies in the Outer Council space with the Fourth in reserve. The Fifth Fleet will attack the Attican Traverse colonies. Sixth fleet will act as a reserve and be deployed to the different theatres as needed."

An officer raised their hand, "my lord. That is a rather large area for the Third and Fourth Fleets to cover, and surely by that point the rest of the Council will be ready to intervene."

Lelouch nodded in affirmation, "very true indeed. While the Third will strike at the more well defended colonies in the Outer Council space, the Fifth will strike at the Turian Colonies in the Attican Traverse. While this area is large and filled with mixed colonies of the different Council races, we will attempt to keep our sights on the Turian colonies only. However, this will be difficult, and the Council will likely not see it this way, this is where our allies in the Geth come in."

Lelouch turned to look around the room, "the Geth have promised us aid, as you all well know, and the ambassadors have assured me that the Geth are willing to enter into war on our side."

This got a fervor of happy murmurs, "to this end, they will deploy their ships into the Attican Traverse, where they will blockade the Council colonies and reinforce Fifth fleet. Together they will "occupy" and hold the Attican Traverse until we formalize a piece with the Turians and the Council."

Lelouch clasped his hands behind his back, "while the Council often turns a blind eye to the suffering of these colonies, namely in the form of raids from the Terminus systems, the colonies are in fact a piece of the Council's economy. By blockading these colonies, we will strike a blow at the economy of the Council, even if we do not take these worlds for ourselves, holding them for even a short time will damage the economies of the Council Race. This is something they will be unable to ignore. When we strike our blow, and show the galaxy our power, the rest of the Council will seek a negotiated peace rather than take up arms against us when we occupy the Traverse."

The room was filled with applause, Lelouch held up his hand, "with this we have an overall strategic plan, you, ladies and gentlemen, must now work on the strategic aspects of the plan, I have the utmost faith in your abilities. Send the fleets their marching orders, they will make for the fleet staging grounds in the sectors adjacent to their strategic targets."

The emperor then raised his wrist and checked the time, "in a few hours I will be addressing the Senate and the Imperium at large. Two hours following this I expect plan drafts to be ready for me to inspect."

Turian Dreadnought Maxicolus

Admiral Maulus fumed; a small headache twitched just behind his eyes as he carefully watched his ships reorient themselves. Acanius had thoroughly loused his vanguard formation, it had been mauled by the defenders and the losses that they had endured were horrible. Worse, with the position that they were in, no new scouting information was being gained.

Acanius had concentrated all her forces on destroying the few enemy ships that had been present on the other side of the Relay. When this had ended with her death, it had left behind a disorganized and confused mess. While the Turian officers present had managed to start reorganizing the vanguard, they had only recently been able to send out scouting parties, their focus having been on rescuing the survivors of stricken ships and assessing the damage to other ships.

Maulus could not blame the Turian officers for this, after seeing the state of the vanguard he found their conduct to be in line within protocol limits and the Turian way of life. But in short, the situation meant that Maulus was having to delay his advance on the aliens, and this was thoroughly annoying him, greatly.

Saren stood near the admiral pointing at the map of the system, "from what the scouts have reported, it appears the aliens have abandoned the outer edges of the system."

"They're consolidating," the admiral grunted.

Saren nodded, "yes sir. Their ships have taken station around the habitable world in this system. Our scans have also detected satellites in the orbit of this world, and we have deduced that these are defense platforms."

Maulus grunted again in displeasure, the situation meant that he was going to have to assault the alien fleet in conjunction with planetary defenses. This meant that there was certainly going to be a high price to pay to gain void supremacy in this system.

"What can you tell me about the planet?"

"Our scans show, admiral," Saren continued, bringing up a large image of the inhabited planet. "That this world has a large amount of pollution in its atmosphere."

"What kind of pollution?" the admiral asked.

"Long range scans indicate that the pollution is likely a mix of particulate matter, and radiation. Meaning that this world has likely suffered nuclear bombardment and likely a series of other such sentient made disasters. It would not surprise me if these things are still using fossil fuels in some fashion."

Maulus clenched his talons, "nuclear contamination. Nuclear bombardment. A rather extreme guess isn't it lieutenant? I'm sure you are correct in your assumptions but still, your report seems to have made a rather large jump in logic."

"Possibly admiral," Saren replied. "But it is the best educated guess at this point. If this species has gone through a nuclear war or some similar type of conflict, it would explain their lack of numbers in this world. This species may also explain why there are so few defending ships in this system."

He paused, "as well admiral, the analysis of this data has led us to theorize that this colony may be one of the oldest this species may have. Meaning that if we take this system, we may strike the only blow necessary to curtail this upstart species and end this conflict."

"This is a lot of guesswork for you and your teams Saren," Maulus once again voiced his doubts. "I do agree with you that much of what you said may be true, but it is still a lot of theorizing based on very little data."

"Indeed admiral," Saren nodded. "I agree with you completely, there is very little data and everything I have reported is heavily theorized. However, the size of this colony and the lack of defending ships leans to indicate that this species does not have the numbers to defend all of their borders. The size of the colony and amount of atmospheric pollution also indicates that this colony had been here for some time."

Maulus hummed, "this is also true lieutenant. A colony of this size should in theory be defended by far more ships, even if they are as powerful as these, there should be more than what we see. We could very well be on the edge of this species territory and is of a small size, or this species has stretched itself to its breaking point."

"Equal possibilities admiral," Saren commented.

Maulus nodded in return, "in any case I am in agreement that if we take this system, we could very well bring this new race to heal. At most we may have to take a few other worlds. But we will start here."

Maulus did not give Saren a chance to speak, instead he pointed to the inhabited world, "in any case these defenses and ships have powerful weapons. We would be foolish to attempt to push into other systems with these at our backs."

'So instead, we will gather our fleet and smash these ships and defenses,' thought Maulus before continuing. "I believe that these aliens will wipe any computers they have aboard their ships so we will have no chance of gaining any information by capturing their ships intact. So, we will attack the population centers and capture them, there, we will find all the information we need on this species. From there we can decide on a course of action."

"And the 2nd and 5th Fleets sir?"

"We will use them as back up and extra muscle."

"A wise decision admiral."

Maulus then turned to Saren and drilling into the young Turian with his stare, Saren was so taken aback that he took a step backward. Maulus held up a talon to Saren's face, "make no mistake Saren, just because you have shown aptitude in this crisis, and in your conduct as a member of the intelligence forces does not mean that I am blind to what you have been doing. I know you have been trying to manipulate me."

Before Saren's mandibles could articulate a syllable Maulus cut him off, "do not speak boy! Listen! I did not get to where I am by being blind to the manipulations of others. The only reason that it appears like your manipulations have worked is because I am in agreement with what you have thus far advised me to do. The ONLY reason that I have told you my plans is because you have shown yourself to be of worth to me and the Turian people."

Malus then stepped in close so that Saren could feel the admiral's breath on his face, "do not let your newfound station go to your head boy. And make NO mistake! If you try and manipulate me again, I will have no problem standing you up against a firing squad. Then we'll see how your bravado stands up. You're a good soldier Sren, I suggest you keep being a good soldier. Understood?"

Saren nodded, "understood."

Maulus stepped back and turned to leave the room, Saren brought his emotions back under control. The admiral had seen through his tricks, the admiral was apparently no fool, Saren had been. To think that a high-ranking Turian admiral, and one with Maulus's reputation, would be so easily manipulated. While the admiral had a deep sense of honor like all Turians, he did not let it blind him so much as to fall victim to the machinations of a patriotic Turian lieutenant in intelligence.

Saren sighed, this was a turn that he had not seen coming, Saren cured his own inexperience. He was still young, one of the youngest officers in the Turian military to reach the rank he was. This episode had shown him that he still had some learning to do, and maybe Maulus was the one to teach him, though, his own brother Desolas, had become a grand teacher. Saren then thought, 'maybe I should pay a visit to my brother. He should be here soon with the Fifth fleet.'

Shanxi Broadcast

Screens across the planet shifted to show Governor Orson standing behind a podium with the Imperial symbol behind him. Looking into the camera lens Orson began, "ladies and gentlemen, citizens of the Imperium and Shanxi. We are currently under attack by a species we have never seen before. The Imperium is being invaded by a hostile force that seeks to gain purchase upon this world. It is in no doubt that these aliens will surely seek to invade the rest of the Imperium."

"They have attacked us with no attempt at communication, they have ignored all our attempts to speak with them," Orson hung his head for a moment before raising it, "but, with these attempts at peace refuted, we are left with but one recourse. TO FIGHT!"

"We will fight this new enemy!" He then spread his arms out, "we have become the gateway to the Imperium, and the enemy is at the gates!"

"I call upon the soldiers of the Imperium, and the people of the Imperium, to defend it, defend Shanxi! For while we are the Gateway to the Imperium, this is our home, it is our world, and these aliens seek to take it away from us!"

"So now, I call upon the sons and daughters of Shanxi to rise up and defend their home from those who would take it from them, from those who would take the freedom we have from us."

"The Imperium at large has heard our cries for help, relief is coming, we must merely hold out until it arrives. We are not forsaken by our brothers and sisters in the Imperium. Nor in this moment shall we forsake them, we shall fight to defend them and ourselves against this threat! We shall resist and bite back against his enemy until our brothers and sisters in arms come to our rescue!"

"People of Shanxi, this world, our home, has become our fortress, our Verdun! And they," Orson thrust his finger to the sky, "THEY SHALL NOT PASS!"

A.N. A few quick things to explain-

The opera being performed was Don Giovani, its one of my favorites, especially the scene with the haunted statues. I like to add music I enjoy into my writing when I can.

The final part of the speech of Governor Orson I based on the battle of Verdun during the First World War. Verdun become famous for its length and sheer horror and brutality. As Verdun was a key point in the front lines and if it was broken through the Germans would have been able to break the trench warfare in their favor. The commanding French General spoke to his troops, saying of the Germans, "They shall not pass!" This is a very short explanation of the battle at Verdun and I highly suggest that you read up on it if you are interested.

Until next time everyone.