"Uhm, sir?" one of the closest marines said. "No disrespect but we still have enemies in the colony." Cal couldn't help but groan, a rather undignified response honestly, given his rank. "I thought they all flew out on those ships," he growled, climbing back to his feet, helmet held in one hand while his Eagle pistol was magnetically secured to his hip. "The ones by the port did, yes," the marine said, and he saw their ID tag on his HUD; Noriega. "But we're getting reports still about elements in the market and financial district. Guess they didn't make it to their shuttles and are holed up." At that, Cal grinned, a stark and sudden contrast to his previous demeanor, but one that made sense—potential prisoners. The sensor data they had gathered on the ships was a start, but if they could capture and interrogate members of the raiders, then finding them would become so much easier. "Understood. Stay here with your Lieutenant, this station may as well be our forward operating base for the time being." Giving him a brief salute, Noriega left to rejoin the rest of his unit, while Cal hailed Miller. "Miller, rendezvous at my coordinates for a pickup and drop off. Kandum, Jordan, regroup in the central square for pick-up," Cal said, taking a breath before rattling off more orders while marching towards the newly minted landing zone, his boots thumbing over the rubble and debris. "Martinez, what's your situation?"
The squad leader he had sent out reported back quickly, his voice as gleeful as some of the marines had been when the Reaper retreated. "Still en route to your position Commander," he said. "Sounds like we can slow down though, given that the raiders retreated." Cal almost smiled, before donning his helmet again while Jordan jogged over, Kandum pacing over from one of the downed enemies, previously scanning them. "Not all of them Martinez; I've got a holdout at the market sector, and I'll be damned if I let this opportunity pass us by." There was a moment of silence, before Martinez replied, "Opportunity, sir?" Looking up, Cal caught sight of Miller and her shuttle as she descended and closed the distance. "Prisoners, Sergeant. We have a prime opportunity to capture members of this group, and I don't plan on passing it up."
He could almost see the trepidation on Martinez's face; killing a combatant was one thing—they were armed, armored, skilled enough with a weapon and determined to kill you back. Capturing a combatant though was essentially trying to use non-lethal methods on the just described person, and they would be under no obligation to show the same courtesy. "You sure about that, sir?" Martinez then asked. "We're not equipped for that sort of thing." Grinning under his helmet, Cal replied, "No, we're not. But the police station we've secured is. I'll coordinate with their officers to have equipment loaded onto the shuttle; I want you and your squad here to help defend the station and coordinate triage when a medical team arrives." Now under those circumstances, Martinez snorted out a laugh and said, "Yeah, understood sir. We'll be there." The line went out, just as Miller's shuttle landed, touching down on the pavement and her thrusters kicking up dust. "Commander, ready to hop aboard?" Miller said from the cockpit. "Not yet Miller; set her down and get the door open, we need to load up some gear."
"Uhm…yes sir, Commander," she said.
Fifteen minutes later, and the shuttle was dusting off, making its way over the rooftops of the colony for the market area. In addition to Cal and his squad, the four police officers also stood in the cargo bay, wearing full tactical and riot gear. From the station armory, non-lethals such as flashbang grenades and riot foam, the latter of which was stored in a device that looked much like a modified fire suppression extinguisher; a tank, nozzle, and grip with a trigger, the foam was designed to rapidly expand and harden several seconds after coming into contact with air. The plan would be, for the most part, simple yet dangerous; Cal and his squad would draw fire while the police would get in close to use the non-lethal gear to stun and subdue the pirates. There were of course, any number of things that could go wrong but at the moment, it was the best they could do.
The flight itself was little more than a brief hop from one zone, to the next and Cal had Miller touch down just outside the marketplace. In reality, the market/commerce section of the city was little more than an elaborate shopping mall, three large buildings clumped together and hollowed out inside, their interiors arranged with levels and shops. The pirates had taken residence in the north-most building, one that according to the city map was labeled as 'financial,' with outlets inside reserved for trading in resources and civilian goods….and a bank, for the colony. It was hard to consider an actual bank with physical currency, given that galactic standard credits were predominantly all electronic. But the war with the Reapers had caused a great deal of flux in the galactic market, with whole nations and inter-system communities pushed to the point of bankruptcy, if not fully into it. And even in victory, even with recovery efforts, stimulus deals, and all manner of clever financial and economic plans concocted by the best minds among the Citadel races—the Volus most especially—the galactic economy was still in a state of recovery.
In short, it translated to the electronic credits that had been the standard backbone of the galactic economy for generations, no longer being as valuable as hard currency, which had seen something of a return in the past few years. In the long run, it'd be a losing competition when compared to the flexibility of credits, but it was hard to argue with currency that could be physically held. "Why am I not surprised," said one of the officers, as they departed the shuttle and slowly made their way towards the financial building, "that even with a fucking Reaper attacking the colony…these assholes still try to pull a bank heist?" One of his buddies sarcastically replied, "Well you see, they're doing this just for you Clarke. They want to make sure you're not bored." Clarke gave a small snort of a laugh, but said nothing else. Over the comm, Szalenka chimed in, having hung back at the station to maintain the defenses. She had her tech officer patch into the security system for the colony, surveillance cameras that had been restored once the system got rebooted. "Okay Commander, I've got eyes on the front door to that place," she said, before panning the camera back and forth. "No hostiles visible, but I wouldn't be surprised if they had someone watching them from inside. Colonial records have the blueprints and layout of the place though, and I am seeing three different entrances, each at the other faces of the structure—emergency exits though, so you'll have to get creative on opening them."
Pausing around the corner, Cal brought up a small hologram of the building on his omni-tool, the schematics sent by the Lieutenant. "Understood…we'll probably have to breach from the side and make our way up. That said, if I were them…I'd hole up in the bank, honestly," Cal said, to which Kandum asked, "Why there? It's a dead end." Nodding, Cal replied, "True but it's also one of the more defensible locations, and if they were worried we'd try breaching a wall or something crazy, they can rely on the reinforced nature of the bank and its vault. Still…any cameras inside?" There was a pause, while Szalenka checked the feeds. "There were…looks like they wrecked the ones they could find inside the building except for…wait, yes….oh shit, Commander you need to see this." A video feed popped up onto Cal's omni-tools screen, showing the two-level interior of the building. Each level was lined like an old-style shopping mall, with either shops or business outlets dotting the sides of the walls, a hollow space running down the middle and separating the sides. A lone Batarian occupied the walkway that connected both sides, however on the ground floor, four Batarians stood watch over several cowering colonists; five Humans, three Volus, sitting on the ground and looking scared as their captors waved their weapons around, their unmasked faces showing how agitated they truly were. At the far side of the interior was the bank itself, but from the angle all he could see was shadows cast on the floor—Cal had to assume they were Batarians, attempting to open the vault.
"Shit," Cal said, echoing the sentiment of Szalenka. Turning towards the group, he explained the situation, to which one of the officers offered a solution. "We've got four smoke grenades in addition to the flashbangs," he said. "Usual tactics are to use the latter first to stun upon breach, with smoke being used to help cover someone as they reach the hostages. Problem is that the smoke tends to work better in tight spaces and that space will make the smoke spread out too thinly, so we can't really use them for this situation."
The thought that crossed Cal's mind suddenly was risky, but possible if they worked fast enough. It would take a huge amount of coordination but…well, they were out of time and they were still professionals. "I've got a plan, but we're going to need to work fast. Kandum, the north entrance is located next to one of the grid junctions for the building. I want you to get there and hack into it, shut the power off to the building. Take Clarke and Conan with you for support, while Jordan and I, along with Sa'id and Draper, take the east door. As soon as the power is off, we breach with the flashbangs. Kandum, I need you to take point through your door, and do what you can to sabotage their weapons. Jordan, you've got eyes on the one on the second level, right?" What Cal was getting at was tricky, but doable.
In this instance, Jordan had the Batarain up top tagged, mentally anyway—VI programs that could have coordinated the camera feed data with the building schematics to paint a target on his HUD in real time tended to be costly through requisitions, and it didn't help that VI's were in relatively short supply and high demand, the existing ones focused still on rebuilding. Jordan was relying on his own spatial awareness and imagination, which while not as perfect or precise as a VI rendering, had still seen him through his fair share of scrapes. He took a breath, eyes closed as he gave it some thought, picturing in his mind, before saying, "No guarantees boss, but I've got it..."
It wasn't the most reassuring thing to hear but, in this instance, it was the best Cal was gonna get, and they didn't have time to get fancy about this; the team split into its assigned groups, Kandum hailing Cal soon enough to inform him about the power, to which Cal simply said, "Cut, and breach."
Inside, the spacious room was plunged into total darkness, with the hostages screaming or whimpering while the Batarians and Vorcha growled at them to shut up, attempting to turn on the flashlights on their omni-tools or guns at about the same time both doors suddenly opened, outside light cutting a swath through the darkness—a brief reprieve though, as two objects were thrown inside as the doors quickly closed, and before the raiders could react, the flashbang charges detonated in a flash of blindingly bright light and thunderous sound. They screamed, blind and deafened, stumbling about as the doors burst open again as Cal and his team entered. Kandum sent out a string of tech attacks for the main group, the software attack targeting the computers in their guns and causing the thermal clips to overload. What had been dangerous weapons suddenly burst into smoke and sparks from the cooling chambers, and they dropped them to ground in their panic, easy targets for what came next—Cal walked in, his gun holstered and both hands aglow with biotic power; he took on a boxer's stance, fists punching outward and sending two indigo bolts flying out and striking two of the raiders, sending them flying into a wall with bone breaking force.
Meanwhile, Jordan advanced behind Cal, his Mattock raised and pointed to the second level, firing off a steady burst of rounds at what he assumed was the general location of the gunman upstairs. He was close, the first two rounds missing by six inches or so and making the Batarian flinch hard enough his return fire went wide, rounds tearing into the floor. But he ducked behind the railing, taking cover before Jordan could finish him off, and giving time for Sa'id and Draper, along with Clarke and Conan to move in and secure the stumbling and unarmed raiders closest to the hostages, executing take downs that subdued the Batarians and left them pinned while restraints were applied. At the same time, Kandum and Cal took up defensive positions, putting themselves between the group of huddled hostages and the two Batarians Cal had flung like ragdolls. One of them stirred, but beyond that, he didn't move. Cal almost relaxed when Jordan screamed, "Grenade!"
On instinct, Cal looked up and sure enough, the Batarian that had briefly been suppressed by Jordan's rifle, had risen up with a grenade in hand. There was a one-two crack of thunder and their head snapped back with a shower of gore erupting behind, as Jordan fired two rounds that killed him dead…but the grenade was primed, and dropped over the walkway towards the group. There was no time for finesse as the explosive plunged downward, and Cal flung out his arms, casting the biotic energy he had been holding—meant for any further attackers—into a mass effect field that caught the grenade and deflected it away. But he hadn't been thinking, hadn't considered where the grenade would go, or who would be there when it landed. It soared through the air, breaking through the glass of the bank window—its momentum aided by his biotics—and mere moments after, it detonated. The grenade it seemed had been modified with a high explosive, the interior of the bank instantly filled with shrapnel and thunderous concussive force.
"Oh god…" Cal whispered, his eyes wide behind his helmet as they stared at the small piece of devastation. Following on the heels of the thunder, he could hear screams from the hostages as several instinctively fled from the source of the noise, the sound of shouting as the police units in his team secured the Batarians, and boots growing louder until he felt a gloved hand clamp down on his shoulder, Jordan pulling him aside to look him in the faceplate. "Commander," he said, voice tense. "You good?" Cal stared at the man for a heartbeat, before responding, "I'll be fine. Status report." There was a moment where it felt like Jordan was going to argue with him, but instead he stated, "Hostiles are either dead or secured, hostages look to be fine—shaken up and maybe roughed up but it'll be better to let a medic make that call." Giving him a nod, Cal turned and walked away, making his way towards the blown-out bank. Glass shards littered the floor, mingled with debris from inside, though what the larger objects had been he had no idea. The grenade itself had been all shrapnel and concussive force, augmented by the high-explosive mod; it was basically an old Earth Claymore mine made into a hand grenade, and the results were nothing short of brutal…results that Cal saw first-hand, when as he walked deeper into the bank, he saw the bodies.
Three of them had been Batarians, both armed and armored yet their barriers and combat suits didn't stand up to the point-blank explosion of the grenade and flying shrapnel. But the other two were human; one male the other female, and he could only tell that because the dimensions were different—without shields or armor, both of them had been reduced to bleeding heaps of hamburger, their clothing torn and punctured by shrapnel, flesh and bone pulped and pulverized by concussive force. If he had to imagine the scene, he'd have pictured them as bank workers, one being forced to open the vault while the other was being held as leverage, a hostage to ensure the other did their job. And without meaning to, Cal had killed them both.
He heard a motion behind him, turning to find Kandum walking into the ruined bank, weapon holstered and omni-tool aglow as he looked at data pertaining to who knew what. The Salarians' face was unreadable, though that was more a failing of Cal as he was never good at picking out the subtle ticks and micro-expressions that such an alien face like a Salarian could make. "Commander…the officers are moving the Batarians outside to await pickup. And we are getting communications linked through the Raven, that the Alliance forces have entered the system and will be in orbit within the hour." The silence was the only answer Kandum got, though he didn't budge, and Cal finally faced him properly, nodding. "Sir," Kandum began, "what happened here, was tragic. But the result is not your fault." At that, Cal simply let out a bitter chuckle, the sound itself hollow of any humor. "Tell that to their families," he said, before turning for the main door. The Alliance shuttles would be landing soon, and they'd want to speak to the guy in charge. For better or worse, he was it.
A couple hours later, Cal and his team were back in the main police precinct of the colony; with the Alliance garrison destroyed, it had become the de facto base of operations for all relief and emergency response efforts, be they military or police. Triage for civilian and police casualties was established in one of the emergency shelters within the building, with medics from both sides helping. Thankfully, whether it was deemed unimportant a target or they had planned to raid it on foot, the hospital for the colony had been left untouched. Given the attempted robbery for mineral resources from the bank, Cal was inclined to think of the later, as medical supplies and equipment were always valuable before the Reaper war, and in the aftermath, more so. Doctors, nurses, even volunteers, were busy seeing to patients or distributing supplies, and part of him wished he was actually helping attend to the wounded.
Instead, he was in the conference room from earlier, discussing the events with the Rear Admiral in charge of the flotilla that had been sent to support him. Rear Admiral Salvatore was a man entering his late fifties though he looked more like a man in his mid-forties, unless you looked into his eyes—they showed an older, wearier soul behind the dark brown, which was befitting given his service during the war. "Alright," he said, "let's go through what we've learned so far. First and foremost, despite this being a Reaper ship—a destroyer class, to be specific—it was not in fact a living Reaper." To emphasize, a holographic model of the ship was brought into view, showing the modifications and improvised command bridge. "Ground reports from Commander Ashburn's team, as well as the survivors of the garrison and police, also confirmed contact with hostile ground teams comprised mainly of Batarians, with Vorcha and Krogan accompanying them. We've confirmed early assumptions that this was in fact a large scale raid, primarily for the space-port and mining complex, a smash and grab. After the defense grid was activated though and the ships fled, that's where things get a bit tricky." A new image took the place of the Reaper, showing a map of the local system. "Satellites in the system managed to track the group until they made the jump to FTL, though where they were headed is anyone's guess."
Adding to this, Cal stated, "It doesn't help that Reaper ships were always faster than ours, Admiral. Last I heard, they could cover what, 30 light years in a day?" There was an uncomfortable silence following that, to which Salvatore responded, "You are correct Commander. For now, my flotilla will remain in system to provide security and aid to the colony. However, I was asked to relay your new orders to you: you're to return to your ship at once, the Councilor, along with the brass, want a word with you." At that, Cal bristled, though he didn't take it out on the Rear Admiral, Specter or no. "They didn't happen to say why, did they? Nothing about being fired, anything like that?" His attempt at humor drew a wry laugh from the old admiral, and he shook his head. "Didn't sound like that was the intent Commander, but it did sound like whatever they had to say couldn't be done over an open channel." Nodding, Cal gave the Admiral a brief salute, before excusing himself from the meeting, making his way to the main square. Kandum and Jordan were waiting there, in a manner—Kandum was busy filing a report through his omni-tool, no doubt to relay back to Salarian Union and its military, while Jordan was busy checking his Mattock rifle, ensuring the power cell and Eezo core still functioned. "Pack it up," Cal said as he drew within earshot of them, "we're heading back to the Raven." If that surprised either of them, they didn't voice it, as they headed over to their shuttle; Miller had, on Cal's orders, parked the Kodiak a few blocks south of the precinct in an open, flat park, mostly to leave the main square open for the emergency crews and their own vehicles. She didn't mind in the least, the engines already warming up seconds after Cal called ahead. Once they were loaded up, the Kodiak took off, heading straight up into orbit for the Raven.
As the team sat in the cargo area, the relative silence was broken by Jordan, who looked to Cal and asked, "Sir, any idea what's happening with the prisoners?" He honestly had no idea and said as much. "Sorry Michaels, no idea," Cal replied, "They got loaded up and sent straight to the flotilla's main cruiser. Best bet, they're either going to be interrogated there, or sent back to Alliance command for the same treatment." As they exited the atmosphere of New Pannotia, Cal looked out the viewport of the shuttle, and stared at the fleet as it orbited overhead. The 81st Scout Flotilla of the Sixth Fleet, it was comprised of three cruisers, eight frigates…all escorting a dreadnaught. That in and of itself was out of the ordinary, as typically a scout flotilla was just a cruiser escorted by a wolf pack of frigates. Then again...there was a Reaper in play. With that kind of threat, no one was taking any chances.
Once back aboard the Raven, Cal had Pyrha maintain orbit with the colony, hanging with the flotilla while he entered the QEC room, getting in immediate contact with Councilor Hackett, along with the other three council members; Tevos, of the Asari, Sparatus, of the Turians, and the fairly recent Salarian Councilor, Charul. Valern had stepped down as the Salarian Council representative two years ago amid health issues due to his age, and his replacement had leapt into the role with gusto, and thankfully, a full willingness to cooperate with the other races. "Commander, glad to see you back in one piece," Hackett said. "Shepard and I were bringing everyone else up to speed, but we figured you deserved to be part of this conversation as well." Nodding, Cal gladly listened as the group went over the mission report, along with the findings. So far, it was much as the same as Salvatore's debrief, in that the Reaper and its escort ships had left the system. However, Charul was able to add to the debriefing with new findings from STG operatives, stationed within the Skyllian Verge, close to the former borders of Batarian space. According to the operatives, they had tracked the movements of known Batarian pirate and slaver groups, who as best they could tell from intercepted communications, were truly separate entities from the Batarians on Khar'Shan; by all accounts, the refugees there were focused solely on rebuilding, and in the absence of the Hegemony and its leaders, were still reorganizing much of their government with limited aid from other species. "However," Charul calmly explained, "our operatives have tracked the pirate groups moving in coordination with one another, away from the Kite's Nest cluster, and if they maintain their heading, it seems they would be on course for the Attican Traverse."
"Is it possible then that these groups are working together and amassing for a larger offensive?" Sparatus asked. Shaking his head, Charul replied, "I'm afraid such possibilities fall into the realm of speculation. However, it is a likely theory, given what we know thus far." Grunting his way into the conversation, Cal said, "We need more information if we're going to have any hope of actually anticipating where they're going to strike next. I can take the Raven ahead of them, and if we're lucky, maybe gather more intelligence." Tevos shook her head in the negative, answering, "That won't be necessary Commander; the STG teams are closer and can move ahead to scout the systems within their projected course. Given that they would still need to use Mass Relays, that would limit their routes." He frowned, but chose not to argue, arms folded behind his back as he stared at the assembly. "Respectfully then Councilors, what are my orders?"
"Well," Shepard said, "we recently got word from Rannoch; the Quarians, working with the Geth, have been making some significant progress in studying Reaper technology." Hackett cracked a rare smile, and said "Well, I can't say I'm surprised that a race of AI living with one of the most tech-savvy species in the galaxy is making progress. I'm still amazed that they've managed to go five years without killing each-other." Shepard, shaking his head, replied "Well there were some minor incidents towards the beginning, at least, according to Tali'Zorah, but so far they've managed to smooth things out. But we're burying the lead here; Ashburn, the report we've received states that a joint Quarian/Geth research group was studying several Reaper ships—with Council approval—within the Caleston Rift, mainly the Balor system."
"Balor?" Cal asked. "I wasn't aware we had heavy fighting there, at least enough to down a few Reapers." Answering for Shepard, Hackett replied, "Balor was one of the larger mining systems controlled by both the Alliance and the Vol Protectorate. Because the system itself housed a relay that connected to multiple long range systems, its value was what led to the Reapers launching an aggressive move to take it. Joint forces attempted to hold the system, but were forced to retreat; to their credit, they did so only after taking three Sovereign class ships out."
"The research team stated they managed to successfully reactivate some of the systems aboard the Reaper itself, though they were very adamant that thus far, the actual….AI, or awareness of the Reaper itself is truly dead," Shepard continued. "We're sending you in Ashburn, because that project is so far our best shot at understanding active, intact Reaper technology—without the risk of Indoctrination. Additionally, we're sending you because…well, to put it bluntly, you know the person in charge of the group."
Cal blinked as the mission briefing was sent his way, a name highlighted as mission lead. "Jin? Jinna'Farol vas Raya is the one in charge of the research team? Huh, never thought she'd work with a Geth…but, just to be transparent here, Jin and I haven't had much contact for almost three years. We mainly worked together in the N7 Spec-Ops deployments."
"Still," Sparatus said, "sending you works in favor of someone else because you have more history. Additionally, the Raven is still the fastest ship that can be spared, and since someone is reactivating Reapers to use as weapons, we need all available haste on acquiring a countermeasure." The meeting concluded shortly after, though Shepard remained on the QEC with Cal. Maybe he had a sixth sense, but he stared pensively at Ashburn, before asking, "Something else on your mind Commander?"
Shuffling awkwardly, Cal looked Shepard in the holographic eyes and said, "Just bothered by New Pannotia, sir. It's still fresh…" It didn't take any major wheedling to know what was bothering Cal, and the legendary Specter replied, "To save your team, and the hostages, you did what you had to do. I won't try to sugarcoat the experience with, 'you had no way of knowing,' because in the end, that's not going to be what eases things. The question you have to ask is, 'would I do it again?' Because believe me, throughout my whole…very drawn out career, I've made more judgement calls than anyone should make, and with far bigger consequences. The Bahak system, and over three hundred thousand Batarians, are gone because of a decision I made; in the end, the sacrifice proved worth it in order to buy us time before the Reapers invaded. And yes…I'd do it again, twice as hard. That's the purpose of Specters, Ashburn; we're given our authority to preserve galactic peace and sometimes, we have to take measures can…that will, be extreme."
"So then, how did you handle it all?" Cal asked, looking—like so many—to the legend for answers. "Well," Shepard replied, "it helped to have a good team, and a good crew, in my corner. My best advice is to try and do the same. If you try to shoulder everything, then you're going to crack and crumble at the moment you'll be needed most. Now with that, I need to cut this conversation Commander, good hunting." The QEC call ended, and Cal was left there, mulling over the insights, and the impending reunion.