Year 2899 GS, THS Vanker, Relay 314 Alien's System

"Approaching the planet now. No signs of the other ships"

Despite the demise of the alien flagship, there were still four others that had escaped beforehand. No signs of them until now, but they couldn't be far. Probably biding their time until they jumped in again to do their close range attacks. Protanis wasn't happy with this. He wouldn't call them primitives anymore, not with the impressive technology they had at their disposal, even with the lack of eezo. The tech these new aliens had gave them an extremely unfair advantage. Turian ships weren't made for close range combat. Pretty much all races of the Citadel followed the same naval doctrine, even if with various modifications. All of their ships were made for long range confrontations, which was why dreadnoughts were so important. Bigger ships meant bigger guns and that meant longer ranges. That also meant that most of their armor was in the front - and a lot at the bottom, too, but that was mostly for orbital bombardments. These newcomers, however, apparently focused entirely on close combat. With the way they simply appeared from nowhere, they could force their opponents to fight on their terms, and these terms were stacked in their favour. They had practically free rein to attack the mostly unprotected Turian broadsides. Even when he had managed to destroy them, it had been one hundred per-cent a gamble. He'd never tell the men, at least not now, but he hadn't actually been sure that his improvised plan would work. He still didn't really know how the enemy's barriers - or whatever those blue fields were - actually worked. By chance, he had noticed that they had only raised them after their initial barrage. As he reviewed the footage, one moment the ships sides were just that pristine white and the next they were covered by a bright blue wall. He was working under the assumption that they couldn't do their "jumps" with them raised. It had paid off, but it still had been extremely risky. These new aliens defied and ignored orthodox military doctrines, so he had been forced to improvise as he went. And now, he had to proceed with his "routine patrol" and besiege the alien's "homeworld" in the system.

"Lieutenant, how are ground forces?"

"Ready to depart, sir. General Maurcolus says his men are itching for a fight."

"Good. And has that frigate reached the other relay?"

"They should've by now. If anything jumps in, they'll come back immediately."

And that was the main reason for his anxiousness. It was bad enough that they had been limited to reacting to the enemy's movements. It was even worse when they had to do it blind. When the Indomitable's hangar was hit, all of their spare comm buoys were either vented or damaged. Now, they had to rely solely on their ship's sensors, without the almost instant transmission of information between the ships and any listening probe they set up. He was used to fighting with instantaneous sensor readings on the entire system. Without that, he was essentially blind. And he hated it.

"Don't bother to set a perimeter around the planet. We can't actually stop or even predict their FTL jumps, so there's no point. Tell the ships to stay close together and to be ready to fire everything on any enemy ship appearing from nowhere. At least like that we increase our chances to fight them off. What do we know about this rock so far?"

"Well sir, it's certainly not their homeworld. This planet seems like little more than a small colony. There are only a few settlements, and only one, unfinished, medium-sized city. The rest is completely barren. No orbital defenses that we can see" One of the bridge's crew members answered. He didn't know his name, since this hadn't been his original ship.

Spirits, it only hit him now. He had almost lost a dreadnought. The Indomitable would've been the first Turian dreadnought to be destroyed after the Krogan Rebellions. Even in the Batarian Civil War, that hadn't happened. To lose one to some "primitives" would've been career ending.

"That changes things, then. We were expecting to find the newcomer's homeworld... Well, I guess this part really doesn't change all that much. Very well. We shall take this colony and wait for reinforcements and further orders. Tell the General he has permission to land."

June 2nd, 2399 CE, Yao Guai City, Shanxi System

Major Simms wasn't happy. Of all possible days to be fighting a first contact war, did it have to be today? The Galactic Series was in the elimination phase, and he was going to miss it. He was almost more pissed about missing the game than the unexplained attack. For the love of Atom, the Boston Diamonds and the Boneyard Bears were going to play today. Damn aliens. Now here he was, stuck in some dirtball with a commie name in the middle of nowhere. At least he would soon bash some alien skulls in - or whatever they had in place - to relieve his anger. He had been hastily dropped from the Bunker Hill and into this makeshift base. They didn't even have time to unload the FOTR. Instead, his Marines were being forced to use Yao Guai's unfinished Teleporter Network. At least the Teleporter itself was fully operational, thank Atom for that.

"Sir, Commander West is calling you. The aliens are approaching and he wants to go over the defense plans." One of his Lieutenants told him.

"Why on… It's always the same thing. Jump in, mow them down, jump out for the Synths to finish the job. What's so hard to understand about that? Argh, fine, tell him I'll be right over."

As Simms approached the "Command Center", he could see the frenetic movement all around him. Both AA officers and Marines were frantically going about their duties. A private instructed him to a separate room where the Commander was waiting for him. As he opened the door, all eyes turned towards him.

"Ah, Major Simms, finally. Please be seated, we don't have much time." West told him briefly.

As the Major found an unoccupied chair, the Commander began his briefing.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Let's make this quick. With the Gorgon destroyed, we no longer have any form of orbital support. Dukov is lurking around with Fromer in the system, but they are mostly going to harass the enemy fleet and give us intel. The Hill and the Mercy have left with the civilians, so with those ships gone, we will have to wait until Gunderson and his fleet arrives. Until then, we are on our own, with no chance of evac. Our stealth probes tell us that the aliens have already reached orbit. They should be landing any moment now. We can't be sure where, but our few anti-air guns should keep them from landing on the city itself. We have no idea what their policy on orbital bombardment is, but expect the worst. We should be fairly safe under the reinforced concrete of the Teleporter Terminal, but we can't risk them finding out about this place. With the colony's construction Gen 4s repurposed, we have more Synths than weapons to arm them with, so we should be able to keep the fight going for quite a while. We shall deploy most of our forces in the Yao Guai stadium. Make them think our headquarters is there. Because of this, we shall keep radio communications to a minimum. No calls to be made directly to HQ. Major Staley, you and the Automated Army will be responsible for maintaining the perimeter and keeping the enemy out of the city. Rear admiral Garvey has made some recovery and is semi conscious. She has greenlighted the use of the Bad Chameleon, so you'll have that to play around with. Simms, you know your job, but without the Marine's FOTR, we will have limited use of the Teleporter. Your men will have priority, of course, but bear in mind that the civilian version wasn't designed to link with your power armor's STC, so we don't know how effective you will be. Try to keep the use of the Teleporter to a minimum and use more of your stealth system. In regards to supplies, we are fairly well stocked. What we have should be more than enough to keep our 400 souls alive for at least four months. We are lacking in plasma cartridges, so you and your guys might want to carry some Mk VIs just in case, Simms."

The Major snorted at that. Power armored Marines carrying those puny Recharger Rifles? Perish the thought.

"Any questions?" The Commander continued. "No? Good. Link your Pip-Boys and get to your posts. We have a city to defend. Dismissed."

Year 2899 GS, Planet Codenamed "Valluvian Rest", Relay 314 Alien's System

Private Situs Doniscus had a very bad feeling about this. This was his first tour in his mandatory service, and they had promised him it would have been an easy thing. At first he had been told he was just going to be part of a patrol group. An easy assignment. Then they had been told that they were going to invade a primitive world for some reason or another. Worrying, but not that dangerous. Then their fleet had been torn apart by those same aliens and he had barely escaped alive when his ship was hit. Now they had been told that they were going to take a small colony from those "primitives". As he exited the alien city's narrow streets and reached some kind of park with his unit, his dread seemed to rise up with each step he took and he gripped his Phaeston rifle even harder. This place was abandoned. Whoever lived here, they seemed to have left in a hurry. There was absolutely no sound in this city. Well, "city" was a bit generous. This place seemed to have been halfway through construction. If it hadn't been for those blue lights that had torn their dropship formation apart and forced them to set up their base outside the city itself, he would've thought that all of the aliens had evacuated. Come to think of it, maybe that laser thing was an automated defense system, and the aliens had all left after the destruction of their fleet in space. There still were four unaccounted ships after all. Maybe they had all left on those... That thought didn't seem to help very much. It was just way too quiet. There weren't even any sounds from the local wildlife. In fact, he hadn't even seen any wildlife other than those strange birds above them. It was as though everything had jus-

"CONTACT! CONTACT! Open fire!"

His musings were interrupted as all hell broke loose. A barrage of green bolts assaulted their position and he saw an awful lot of his buddies being cut down.

"Get down Doniscus!" His sergeant, Dardanian, barked from cover. "Can you see where they are shooting from?"

"No, sarge. It's coming from everywhere!"

"Argh! Give me cover fire" While they started shooting blindly at the enemy, his sergeant popped his head above the concrete barrier to check it out. Then, the assault simply stopped.

"What happened? Did they leave?" One of the other privates asked.

"No way. They probably are just pausing to prepare another attack. They'll most likely keep up this guerrilla warfare until we wipe them out. We don't have much time. Doniscus, go check the captain." Sergeant Dardanian told him.

The private slowly got up and directed himself to the captain's location. He hadn't signed up for this. Not that he had much choice, anyways. Turians had to complete a mandatory service when they became adults, but this wasn't what they had promised him. As he approached the place where he had last seen him, he found nothing but a bunch of puddles of a strange green goo lying on the ground.

"Spirits, what is this..? I'm pretty sure he and the LT are goners! You're in charge, sarge." He yelled back.

"Damn it. Fine, come back private! Let's regroup and call for reinforcements. We are no longer combat effective. Alepanus, get me a comm line back to- ARGHH!"

Doniscus could only stare at his unit as a blue laser beam hit his sergeant in the back and the Turian turned to ash. The rest of the soldiers panicked as unstoppable mechanical aliens marched out of the buildings around them and overran their position. Doniscus did the only thing he could do, and hid. He had had enough of this Spirits-forsaken planet and this blasted mission. His cowardice would allow him to go home, but those bright yellow eyes would forever haunt him.

June 2nd, 2399 CE, Yao Guai City, Shanxi System

Corporal Holt had just finished another relay with his unit. The Synths were probably taking care of any stragglers right now. As he reloaded his plasma scattergun, he thought back on the invading aliens. They didn't seem all that tough, truth be said. The birds were organized at first, but that all went to shit as soon as they started their assaults. What few shots they managed to fire on him had just bounced straight off of his armor. He hadn't even had to disengage his Stealth Boy. They also all popped up in this targeting HUD and he could easily hit them with his VATS system, so he didn't have any problems in that department either. He felt like he was nuking fish in a barrel.

As he flexed his arms inside his TX-4 power armor, he got ready to make another teleport jump. His STC was glitching out, but it seemed like it was only a display problem so far. He was still making his relays alright. He was almost pitying the poor saps. He didn't know how long it would take them to realize what was happening, but until they did, Holt and his comrades would keep massacring them in the streets of Yao Guai City. Yikes. Some of them were still pretty pissed about missing the game. He didn't really care, since he was a Ghouls' fan. But still, he could understand their anger, and he could see why they were being so adamant about killing the xenos. Ad Victoriam, indeed.

Year 2899 GS, Planet Codenamed "Valluvian Rest", Relay 314 Alien's System

Maclianus thought of himself as lucky. While many of his friends thought his assignment was a "boring" one, the lieutenant was happy to stay in the background and handle the logistical side of engagements. Currently, he was organizing a supply convoy from the landed dropships to the outpost right outside the primitive city. It wasn't all that unpleasant, if he were to be asked... The path the engineers had cleared was mostly flat, so the ride was pretty smooth. Plus, this planet, while kinda barren, had some pretty nice views. The mesas and canyons were particularly impressive. While he relaxed on the passenger's seat, the vehicle's radio came to life.

"Uhhh… This is the lead vehicle, all units be advised. We spotted a rather large creature roaming the road ahead. So far the only wildlife other than those birds we've seen, but it seemed pretty dangerous. It should be scared away by the trucks, but you never know. Over."

Huh. Not so barren after all. Maybe he could get a picture of whatever it was? As he fumbled with his omnitool, the radio garbled again.

"Uhh… I think the creature is approaching our truck. It seems to be pretty fast. Keep your weapons ready. You never know with these things. Over" The voice spoke quickly. "Uh, actually forget that. We seem to have lost it. We'll keep you posted if- OH SPIRITS, IT'S COMING RIGHT FO-"

Static. That was a bad sign. A very bad sign. Maclianus picked up the radio and tried to contact the lead vehicle again.

"This is Lt. Maclianus, pick up, over… Lead vehicle, this is Maclianus. Are you there? Over."

As he felt the brakes engaging, he exchanged a look with the driver, who just pointed to their front. The vehicle ahead of them had stopped.

"What the… I'm getting out to check up the lead. Keep the engine on."

As Maclianus exited the truck, he started to walk up to the front of the convoy.

"What the hell happened?" He asked the crew of the second truck.

"No idea, sir. One moment everything was fine. Then we heard a loud noise to our left. When we looked back at the first truck it had already been turned over. We barely had time to brake. Whatever happened to those guys, happened on the other side."

"Spirits, fine. Keep your weapons ready and your eyes open. I'm going to check them over."

Maclianus walked up to the first truck. As he reached the other side of the turned over lead vehicle, he voided the contents of his breakfast over the alien soil back the way it had entered.

"... Gah… Spirits, what is this? What the hell happened here?"

This was a massacre. The vehicle was ripped open and the pair of Turians crewing it had been torn apart and spread all over the scene.

"Is this the work of whatever that creature was? Spirits, it's like the aftermath of a rabid thresher ma-"

"LIEUTENANT, LOOK OUT!" A private called from the second truck.

Maclianus never managed to look to his right before a pair of razor sharp claws bisected him through his midsection. The very last thing he ever saw was the inside of a mouth and the many long teeth in there.

Year 2899 GS, Turian Planetside HQ, Planet Codenamed "Valluvian Rest", Relay 314 Alien's System

General Maurcolus was annoyed. His troops were being massacred out there. He was getting conflicting reports of enemies blinking in and out of existence, his logistics were being disrupted by the local fauna, his air support was being shot to hell by the alien city and it's AA guns, his counterintelligence division had yet to find out how to tap into the enemy's communications and he had yet to make it a single step into the city itself. All scout teams sent there so far had been wiped out. Orbital intel told him that there were few life signs in the city proper, but that there was a lot of movement centralized around one specific structure. Some large amphitheater of sorts. What few scouts had managed to report back all talked about green bolts coming from nowhere, followed by blue lasers fired from mechanical platforms. These primitives apparently had not only practical handheld energy weapons, but, if his scouts were to be believed, they also had their own version of an Asari-lookalike Geth. His mission made all the more sense now. These newcomers didn't know the dangers they were in, and the destruction it would inevitably cause. They had to be put into place. The Turian Hierarchy would also certainly benefit once they cracked the secret to their laser guns as well. But first, he had to crack that city, and he had run out of patience.

"Adracus, get me a comm line to the Vanker."

"Yes sir. Patching you through. The captain is answering now. Forwarding the call to your omnitool."

His omnitool blinked at that. He pressed a holographic button and the captain's image appeared.

"General Maurcolus. Can I help you?"

"Yes captain. I need immediate orbital bombardment on the alien city. My men are getting slaughtered down here and I haven't been able to breach it. Not with their AAs keeping my air support out."

"General, you do know that the orbital bombardment of a Garden World goes against Citadel Conventions, yes?"

"Then we are lucky these aliens have not signed said Conventions. Besides, even if they had, they have already broken those rules. They are employing their own version of Geth platforms as infantry units. They need to be stopped immediately. I can't do that if I can't breach the city. Hence the orbital bombardment. We need to soften them up."

"Geth platforms? Are you absolutely sure, general?"

"Yes, captain. I am sure. I have confirmed reports." He lied.

"General, you should know there is still at least one other alien ship in the system. I'm not sure if I can spare the ships to bombard the planet. We have to stay close together in case the enemy does another one of their jumps."

"Captain, my soldiers are getting slaughtered. As long as those AA guns are online, I can't proceed with the invasion. Until you can spare those ships, good Turians are going to be dying for nothing down here."

"Sigh… Very well, general. You shall have your bombardment. I will, however, limit it to the edges of the city for now. Tell your men they have 30 minutes to clear out before I begin."

"Of course, captain." Maurcolus had hoped for more, but it would suffice for now. "Spirits guide you."

"And you, general. Protanis out."

CODEX - TX-4 Power Armor

The 5th generation TX-4 is the pinnacle of power armor design. Unlike the infantry of the Automated Army, the power armor is made with an absolute focus on quality over quantity. The TX-4 is issued only to the Commonwealth Marine Corps, and the branch's doctrine is built around the design. Using repeating teleport jumps, the marines are able to execute pin-point strikes behind the enemy's line with deadly efficiency, tearing apart the opponent's rear flank using otherwise unwieldy heavy weaponry and then teleporting out as soon as a proper defense is organized. Improving on previous designs, the TX-4 is less bulky, utilizing lighter materials to achieve the same level of protection with an increased focus on agility.

Unlike previous PA platforms, it lacks a helmet, with the torso extending up to cover the pilot's head. This allows for more protection on what would usually be a major weak point and, what it lacks in visibility, it makes up with an impressive array of sensors. It also allows for a larger oxygen supply, permitting the armor to be used for far longer in the vacuum of space. Furthermore, the TX-4 contains a built-in third generation "Stealth Boy'' system, allowing the armor to become temporarily invisible from sight, as well as masking it from conventional sensors. The teleporting abilities of the TX-4, however, are not part of the armor itself. The suit is merely outfitted with a so-called "Squad Teleporter Coordinator", or STC. A portable teleporter, the Forward Operations Teleporter Relay, or FOTR, must be set up in advance and linked with the armor's STC. Should it be destroyed, the teleporting abilities of the armor will be nullified until either a new one can be set up or an orbiting ship can get closer to use it's own relay to support the marines. The main weakness of the armor is the fact that it was built with the Commonwealth's laser weaponry in mind, meaning that although it excels at protecting the user from energy based attacks - and a few biotics attacks, as well - the armoring is particularly vulnerable to kinetic weaponry with larger calibers. While it is fairly impervious to the mass accelerated pellets of a standard issue assault rifle, heavier weapons like anti-materiel sniper rifles, heavy machine guns and even certain shotguns at closer ranges are able to pierce the power armor with minimal effort.

The rarer "B" configuration of the armor, designed for frontline support and to spearhead assaults, abandons the "Stealth Boy" and STC systems in exchange for reactive armor plates and a jetpack. The enormous jetpack allows for limited flight abilities, and can be used to massively increase the speed of the armor while the added reactive plates allows it to both take more punishment and survive the shots fired from heavier weapons, negating the "A" configuration's main weakness.

The concept of the power armor has permeated into the Citadel and it's citizen's consciousness. Already, many movies and other fictional media have already begun exploring the concept, invoking the spirit and romanticism of long past ancient armored soldiers from pre-spaceflight times. Rumors of power armor projects, especially by the Turian Hierarchy, have begun to spread. However, so far, no official confirmation has been given.

Author's Note

How you doing, barb? Hope y'all had a nice weekend. I was bored and decided to write another chapter. I have been reading the reviews, and I want to thank everyone for their opinions. I have tried to address all criticism by changing some things in this chapter, but if you have any more then please, don't hesitate to give it. The fact that anyone has actually bothered to read this brings me a lot of joy. One Umbrashade has asked me how often I will update. To be perfectly honest with you, I will write as I feel like it. That may mean 2 chapters in a row, or once every two months. I know, I know, kind of a shitty deal. But please, please keep in mind that I am doing this for myself, solely. This fic is for my own amusement. I have only uploaded it here because I felt that it would be pretty pointless otherwise. I make no commitments to ever finish this story, and if I ever get tired of it, I will stop writing. Don't worry, I'm not an asshole who will stop and not warn you and let y'all wait for six months for a chapter that is never coming. I will make it perfectly clear if I ever give this up. Until then, however, this is probably going to keep being written, at least until next year. I already kind of came up with a main storyline, and I vaguely know what I want to do and where I want to take this story. All still open to change if any of you make any valid points. Remember, this is my first fic and I'm open to all constructive criticism. Until next time.

RM.