Note: Hello all, and welcome to Part Four: Skyfall! This chapter is brought to you by a very persistent common cold which gave me the downtime to finish it. I enjoyed writing this chapter and going a new way with the start of Mass Effect 3. Lots of soundtrack in store for this part to name a few
Skyfall - Adele
Reignite - Malukah (best Mass Effect song ever)
Dream On - Aerosmith
I'm Only Human - Rag 'n' Bone Man
White Flag - Bishop Briggs
This chapter specifically was written to Battlestar Galactica season 2 soundtrack Prelude to War and Martial Law.
Thank you all for your support, favorites, follows, and feedback. It is all appreciated and you are all the best. :)
Please enjoy Part Four Chapter One: Vakarian-1
Mass Effect
"Foreign Relations"
Part Four: Skyfall
Chapter One: Vakarian-1
Orbit
Rylo was guarded by a division of the Imperium's 8th Fleet and maintained a permanent presence with the colony. Rylo was in the worst place for being a 'bread-basket' colony so they made sure the military presence was strong. A dozen ships in conjunction with the Orbital Station, defense platform, and Mass Relay Outpost protected the important little colony.
The 8th Fleet's 3rd Division consisted of twelve ships that served two years before rotating out. The Canrum was the current flagship, a heavy cruiser named for the victory that defeated Warlord Shiagur. This was the third iteration of the Canrum as the first one was decommissioned and then rechristened almost twenty years ago then was destroyed at the Citadel. This Canrum was brand new, two years old and top of the line. Her current Captain was the commander of the 3rd Division, Captain Lorn Kavaius of the Imperial Navy. This also made him the commander of the Orbital Garrison; Carric Base and the Relay Outpost all reported to him. The commanding officer of the colonies defenses was General Jacen Veliraka, a veteran of the Relay 314 Incident.
Among the rest of the Division was the cruisers the Pontius and the Digeris, three destroyers Shinjar, Volstol, and the Artimus,three heavy frigates the Vaes, Reliant, and the Zeralla, and then three more light frigates Havincaw, Estallus, and Currazza. The only ship that wasn't under his command was the Defiant. She was there with her Captain Dureena Sevescus and a Spectre who was visiting home.
Kavaius was tall with grey skin and yellow Digeris paint on his mandibles, his claim to fame was his even temperament. Nothing riled him…not even combat. His mentor was the legendary Fleet Admiral Irix Coronati and it showed, he conducted himself very much like Coronati and that earned him his post. Kavaius was young, barely 35, but he commanded the defense of a very important little colony.
"Captain," his sensor officer began. "getting some strange readings in the sector."
His manner was calm and unhurried, it was said that if Kavaius yelled it meant someone was getting court-martialed. "What is it, Lieutenant?"
"I don't know. There's a strange power spike…never seen anything like it." Kavaius didn't do well with vague explanations but he spent a lot of time training his crew, if they didn't understand something there was usually a reason.
"Let's see it." The Lieutenant complied and tapped a few keys. There was a power signature, a massive one. He cocked his head to the huge reading indicated on the screen. "Identify."
"Working." The Canrum's VI was already checking and it came up with a flagged entry. The red label underscored the threat level, but it was the name attached to the file and to all the files related to it. Invasion. For a moment Kavaius' finely honed military mind blanked, the sort of thing that happens when the unthinkable comes to fruition. "Battle stations." He ordered and turned away quickly to address the comm station. "Emergency alert to the fleet and Carric Base: Threat Level Red. Spin up all weapons and prepare to launch fighters."
"Threat level red? Sir, what is it?" his second in command, Commander Gaius Ackin asked.
"Reapers." He answered. "Garrus was right. Get me Veliraka."
Ackin had worked with Kavaius for a long time and saw something he couldn't remember ever seeing. Worry.
His comm officer swiveled in her seat. "Sir, incoming from the Pontius." The cruiser Pontius was posted at the relay along with the frigate Reliant. "Canrum, relay activation. Unknown vessels."
Kavaius simply bounced from station to station. "Caelius, Canrum actual, how many?"
Caelius Oraka commanded the Pontius, he was Kavaius' least favorite under his command but as obnoxious as he was the son of the legendary Septimus Oraka knew his trade. He was a very good commander. "Five and counting…they look like Reapers…you know from the briefing."
"I know." He replied. "Hold that relay."
The CIC was a flurry of action and right now the communication station was the busiest. "Veliraka for you, Sir."
Kavaius scanned displays as he still hadn't stopped since he put the Division on alert. "Jacen, Threat Level Red…enemy incursion."
"Say again?" the response was quick and clearly full of alarm.
"Threat Level Red…this is it." He repeated. Threat Level Red was an invasion code. The last time it was on everyone's mind was Relay 314, this time it was a little-known report from a former C-Sec Officer named Garrus Vakarian. This report detailed plans for tactical response and evacuation incase the sinister race known as Reapers weren't just rumors or myths. "Now six enemy contacts and counting. Reaper contacts. Vakarian –1 authorized." Kavaius paused before continuing almost like he couldn't believe what he was saying. "We are preparing to engage…we'll keep you updated."
The General understood this, they'd drilled it, reviewed it. Vakarian-1 was the code for the Reaper Invasion. "Good hunting, Canrum. Veliraka, out."
It took less than two minutes for Rylo's orbital defense to muster for the emergency alert. All ships reported in, inundating the Canrum's comm officer with status', the base on Carric was powered up with its defenses and with that the defense platform for the planet's orbit. Even the Reliant and the Pontius managed to report but it wasn't promising. They had been hit first but so far no one was destroyed. Eleven ships in Rylo's orbit assumed defensive positions and Kavaius was indeed proud of them all.
The reason Kavaius bypassed a skirmish altogether and went straight for the evacuation was because of the report filed by Vakarian. Most brushed it off as the lunacy of a disgraced Spectre's groupie but Kavaius did not. He knew Garrus, not well but enough to get a sense of him, this story was too far-fetched to be made up. He read the report, over and over, studied the ship known as Sovereign and the fire power it took to knock it out.
He wasn't at the Citadel when it was attacked but the Turian fleet was the most formidable in the galaxy, add to that the Asari and the Alliance and they should have been fucking unbreakable but that unknown 'Geth' ship walked right through them. "Tactical."
The word wasn't a question per say, it was an order and shorthand at that. The Tactical station was already buzzing. All the displays had something on them, scans of the ships, a scan that the VI was clearly combing through to find weaknesses and there was also the entry about Sovereign up. "Scanning. Seven confirmed vessels, five on approach, two still at the relay. The Pontius and Reliant have engaged. Sir, I've never seen anything like this."
Kavaius began as a Tactical officer on the Undaunted which was commanded, then, by Darius Acadas. "Every ship has a weakness, Rey, find it." He said in an even but firm tone. "Comms, can you get a line out to Palaven?"
There was a pause before the communication station answered him. "Too much interference, the buoys are clogged. I can't get anything out."
"Keep working on it. We have to get a message to Palaven or at least the Citadel."
"Yes, Sir."
The Reapers met the 3rd Division and promptly opened fire. Barriers held against the volley and the Zeralla returned fire first. The Thanix Cannon didn't do much damage and that was troublesome. The benefit to fire being exchanged was that tactical was getting all that they needed to find the weak spot.
"Rey," Kavaius warned again. "find me a target that's worth something." Wasting firepower was against his training. Coronati taught him to only shoot if they intended to damage or destroy. Right now, his entire division was letting them have a volley and nothing was happening. Thanix Cannons were stellar weapons, reverse engineered from Sovereign's gun and they weren't doing enough damage.
The Canrum rocked as it's barriers held against a blast from the Reapers but the impact was felt. "Direct hit. Minimal damage…barriers are holding but their weapons are powerful. I don't think we can take many more hits like that." Ackin reported and Kavaius turned his attention to the tactical station.
His aggravation reared its head. His orders weren't being carried out fast enough. "Lieutenant Rey," he snapped firmly.
"Got it." She replied. "Firing chamber. Excessive power build-up; wait until it charges, hit it, and that's your kill shot."
"Every ship has a weak point." The words from his mentor rang in his mind. "Weaps?"
His weapons officer was already on it. He had the computer targeting before the word left Kavaius' mouth. "Got the solution."
"Full power to the Thanix and fire." Being brand new this was the Canrum's first battle. She was top of the line with a robust core which translated to tougher barriers, her skin was tougher as well augmented with Reaper tech, the Thanix Cannon equipped on the Canrum was the strongest in the current serving fleet, but the better upgrade was her GARDIAN laser. The GARDIAN was more effective at shorter range it was like a ship to ship knife fight and was too far away to use effectively. The Thanix fired and hit right where it was aimed. The reaper exploded and the CIC cheered.
"Direct hit! You got him, Sir!" someone yelled proudly.
It was a good feeling. To destroy something so big and powerful would thrill anyone and that included Kavaius. He let it sink in a moment before returning to his game face. "Focus. That may not work twice."
"Incoming from the Pontius." His comm officer said and didn't wait for the instruction to play it.
The Pontius transmission was distorted, there was a lot of interference between them and the Canrum. "Three more just came through the relay. Canrum, we cannot, repeat, cannot hold the relay. We are taking heavy damage."
If they lost the relay, they lost the system. Plain and simple. "Pontius, you hold that relay as long as possible." Kavaius ordered. The Pontius wasn't a heavy cruiser and it was the oldest in 3rd Division but the Turians built them to last. In the right hands they could do just about anything. Kavaius knew that Caelius was grumbling on the other end but after a pause he got a response.
"We'll give it our all. Pontius, out." He replied with the tone that Kavaius was used to and ignored.
Groundside
Nov had been returned to Rylo as a quick detour after closing out a mission for the Council, they were still sending him to far flung areas but this time he was requested by the Batarians. He was the only Turian welcomed in the Batarian system…that was until they figured out who he was married to. He kept that part a generous secret because once they found out his worm welcome would turn to ice. The ship that took him there was the frigate Defiant, smaller and more heavily armed then the Lante but the best part was a long lost friend was there. Now Captain Deliah Kryik.
"So how's married life?" She asked as they walked through Kiptivo Base from the landing pad.
Nov missed Sidda. He remembered the last time he woke up next to her, Earth almost two weeks ago. He didn't like living on Earth as he would rather be right here on Rylo but his home was wherever she was. "I love it. Love her." He replied and Deliah chuckled softly to his tone. She remembered that sentiment. "Can't wait to start a family. If she was Turian she'd be pregnant by now."
"You really want kids that bad?"
"I want kids with her that bad."
"Turian/Human baby…never been one of them."
"Well, if anyone can figure it out it's Mordin." He said and she chuckled.
Veliraka had asked Nov to come back and speak to a few of the newer recruits before they returned to the Defiant and then were most of the way to the designated location when the alarm sounded. "What the hell?" Nov asked. The alarm was something any Turian was used to, the base alert.
"All hands to stations. This is not a drill. I repeat, enemy contact in orbit. All hands report to stations. This is not a drill."
They looked at each other with the same expression. Confusion. "Enemy contact?" Deliah commented. "What the fuck?" Rylo's location meant that an enemy contact in orbit wasn't uncommon but this didn't sound normal. It was the sound in the voice of the man on the intercom. Panic.
"Probably more raiders." Nov commented. "It happens here. Once in a while some dumbass pirate crew thinks they can take on the 3rd Division."
"Spectre," the base second in command called. Something wasn't right with this alert, it felt different. "The General wants to see you immediately." At that point the soldiers around them began to run to their stations.
"What's going on?" Nov asked as both he and Deliah noticed the sense of panic in the air.
"The 3rd has engaged an enemy fleet in orbit." He answered as they rushed quickly through the base to Veliraka's location. "Spectre Nov for you, Sir."
"What the hell is going on?" he asked and Veliraka tapped the screen.
"Where's your wife, Nov?" Veliraka asked and Nov cocked his head to the question then turned his attention to the screen. "She just got her vindication."
Nov felt like he'd been kick in the stomach. "Is that now?"
"Live feed directly from the Canrum. Seven confirmed hostiles engaged with the 3rd." Veliraka replied. "Kavaius ordered planetary evac. The governor is issuing a planet wide alert. I want you two and the Defiant's shuttle to help with the evac of the civilians."
Seven Reaper ships…that explained the extreme sense of panic in the air. Turians didn't panic, they kept their cool and remained disciplined no matter what was thrown at them. He could see the panic now. That also explained the evacuation order. "Yes, Sir." Deliah responded instead of Nov and it made him blink out of his own mind.
"We've drilled it and the civilians know the evacuation sites." Veliraka continued.
The shock of it fell back and his training took over. His homeworld was under attack by the very thing his wife had been warning the galaxy about. "Rural areas will be harder. We'll start with Panop and its outpost." It was a thinly veiled plan; he wanted to go and make sure his family was safe. No one argued with him.
Orbit
The orbital defenses did a good job of stopping the Reapers from going further. A stalemate, as it were but it didn't last forever. The Reapers were outnumbered but they were far superior to the Turians. The defense platform was doing its damage but that made just made it the biggest target.
An explosion lit up the CICs view screen. "Sir," Ackin began and then hesitated. "Carric."
The 3rd Divisions headquarters was in pieces. The Reapers concentrated fire on the base to knock out the troublesome defense grid. A few sustained blasts from their awesome weaponry blew the base to kingdom come. There were people everyone on board knew on that base and it had been in commission for over 75 years. Kavaius felt the loss but bottled it up, he had a fight to participate in…and most likely lose. "Alright, everyone, stay focused. Weaps, emergency override: transfer defense platform control to your station."
"Already on it, Captain, Weaps is double hot." The weapons officer reported.
"Incoming fighters." Rey announced.
"Target the GARDIAN and fire." He ordered. Now, Kavaius had to quickly assess the rapidly deteriorating situation. They were going to lose this fight and he knew it; the evacuation order was given and he could see transports moving just as it had been practiced. Reapers were going to land on the planet and he needed to give them a bigger threat. He needed to get their attention and draw them away from the planet so the civilian ships could engage their cores and escape.
"Helm," he called cutting through any chatter that may have been going on as he through of the next move for a moment. "Activate the Mass Effect core." He ordered.
"Sir?" the pilot questioned and Kavaius growled.
He didn't have time to explain but he realized the fact that some may not have been the strategist he was. His mind was his own and they couldn't read it. "Now! Put us behind them." He repeated and leaned on the CIC console. "Jump us in close. We need them to turn and focus on us. Feed the FTL telemetry to the Vaes and the Havincaw." He continued and keyed the comm button at his station. "Challa, Yannik, Canrum actual, feeding you FTL coordinates you need to follow us in. We need to be the biggest target; they have to turn and fight us."
The two captains of the frigates replied in their own way. Challa in her clear and even tone and Yannik in his signature 'understood'.
Kavaius needed at least some of them to turn and fight an enemy at their back so he pulled a page from Coronati's strategic arsenal. If he got some of them to turn it would divide the Reapers leaving some of them for a frigate, a heavy frigate, and a heavy cruiser and the rest of the Reapers for the rest of the 3rd to take care of. The Vaes, Havincaw, and Canrum completed their jump and landed directly behind the Reapers and immediately began their turn.
"Four of them took the bait, Sir." Rey reported as Weapons began to immediately search for a firing solution. "They're turning. We'll be in position before they are." The Reapers were huge, bigger than the Canrum by a long shot so the Turian's could turn faster.
The distance was close and that was by design. The GARDIAN was best at close range so they needed to turn this fight into a brawl. "Pick a target and fire the GARDIAN."
Sevescus had the Defiant doing swift hit and runs on the Reapers and saw the three ship make the jump. She knew Kavaius, she knew him well and knew that was a play that Coronati taught him. He was dividing the enemy. "Keep the pressure up." She ordered her crew then keyed the comm system in the CIC. "Canrum, this is the Defiant."
He was focused and kept himself cool in the face of it all. "Dureena, don't worry about us. Make sure they don't reach the planet." Kavaius ordered. His voice was professional and firm. This wasn't Lorn this was Captain Kavaius. "And protect the civilian transports."
She wanted to respond with something other than 'yes, sir'. She'd known Kavaius for a long time and been in a relationship with him for a long time too, but he was the boss right now so she did as instructed. "Yes, Sir."
Making sure the Reapers didn't reach the planet wasn't something that was in the cards. One of them screamed past the 3rd Division and landed at Rosha, Rylo's capital just as Kavaius had order her to make sure it didn't happen. The Defiant could function in the atmosphere so she followed them in. If she could draw them off the planet it would help protect the civilians below.
"Helm, pursuit course. Take us in." she ordered.
"Copy that, Captain."
"Signal from the Currazza. They're flanking and following us." Her first officer said and Sevescus nodded. Help from another Lycan cruiser would be fine, they were light frigates, but they could do some damage since they were designed for something just like this.
Groundside
The base was organized but Nov saw only one thing, his home in chaos and the overwhelming feeling of dread. Fighters were in the air, alarms were sounding, and he could see that there were civilians beginning the evacuation already. Nov barely registered anything as the Defiant's shuttle sped to the Panop military post. The evacuation site for this area.
It was underway when the shuttle landed. Military and civilian transports were landing and beginning the evacuation plan. Nov and Deliah were in full battle gear and there to help with the evacuation. At the station were a few people that he recognized. Darius and the outpost commander, Lieutenant Verrity.
"Cal!" Darius called
"Darius!" Nov called back. "Where's my mom?"
"On the way. Pollux has her." He answered. "What's going on?"
"Reaper invasion."
"What?"
"We're under attack!" he shouted back sounding annoyed. "Where's Fav and Nisia?"
"Inside."
"Cal," Verrity called as he approached. The Turian was a big guy anyway but now the soldier was in full heavy armor carrying a Krysae. He looked like a nightmare. He went to school with Verrity…didn't always get along with him. He was a bully and he was mean, but boot camp smoothed him out a little bit. He was still an asshole though. "Vakarian-1 that's that so-called Reaper invasion?"
"Not so-called anymore. Full-fledged battle in orbit with the 3rd." Nov replied. It was hard to grasp he gave them that but he was having trouble staying focused when he was worried about his mother and worried about Sid…wherever she was right now.
A fireball landed hard near the landing pad and Nov cocked his head. Darius, Deliah, Verrity, and Nov took a step closer to see what it was or rather what came out of the lava bombs. "What the fuck?" Darius asked as creatures rose from the fire.
They weren't husks but they bore a resemblance and they looked a little like a Batarian. "Reapers." Nov answered. "They're not Husks but they're definitely Reapers." He added and opened fire on them. The others followed suit, but they weren't easy to put down. They just kept coming.
More bombs rained down and Nov was starting to put their invasion together. Attack from orbit and put troops on the ground. They didn't have troop transports…just molten bombs they crawled out of.
A sonic boom nearly knocked Nov off his feet. Something huge had to have entered the atmosphere to cause that and just as the though crossed his mind two Lycan class frigates screamed overhead at an altitude so close he could read the names off the side. The Defiant and the Currazza, crewed by 40 souls each and designed for fast attack/recon and atmospheric operations. If they were in the atmosphere that meant an enemy ship must have touched down somewhere.
"Defiant and the Currazza." He commented and then looked at Deliah.
"If they're down here…" Darius began but left the sentence hang.
"Yeah, yeah, we're fucked." Nov finished and then keyed his mic. "Pol, where the hell are you?"
"On the way." His cousin answered quietly.
"More coming." Deliah shouted.
Fighters were added to the aerial battle as the sky above them got loud and crowded. The frigates made passes a few times and each time they headed back toward Rosha. It was the capital and made sense that the Reapers would land there. Panop may have been a two-hour trip by skycar but the frigates made it in minutes. Weapons fire in the atmosphere was also heard, not the ground cannons but Thanix cannons and mass accelerators from the frigates caused a sound like it was end of the world each time they were fired. The distinctive sound delay of the Thanix cannon as it displaced everything in its path could be heard from nearly anywhere on the planet. One such discharge of the Thanix happened right over them and the crack that reported after it was fired was almost enough to pop their ear drums. What they were firing at curbed any bad blood between those on the ground and those in the air. The Currazza fired the Thanix and vaporized a dozen incoming Oculus', Reaper orb fighters.
"I owe that gunner a beer." Nov commented as his ears rang at a piercing pitch.
Darius' left ear was bleeding, and his head hurt immediately. "He owes me an eardrum." He grimaced.
Verrity slapped his helmet and cackled. "Plan ahead, Cal." He said and Nov told him to fuck off under his breath. In all honesty, Verrity and Deliah were the smart ones…the only two wearing helmets.
Orbit
The three Turian ships were successful in causing all kinds of trouble with for the Reapers. The Canrum's GARDIAN alone was devastating but it wasn't going to last forever. Repeated use would burn it out and they were very close to doing just that. "We keep this up we're gonna burn up the GARDIAN, Sir." Ackin advised.
He nodded and directed his attention to weapons. "Disengage the GARDIAN. Full power to the Thanix Cannon."
A brilliant explosion was seen through the view screen as the two right 'fingers' of the Havincaw's target were blown away. "The Havincaw scored a direct hit."
"Target the weak point with the Thanix and fire."
All three ship Kavaius had selected to come along were equipped with a GARDIAN and an upgraded Thanix though the Canrum's was newer and more sophisticated. That being said, it was something to see with all three ships firing at once. The concentrated fire was doing it's damage but they wouldn't last forever. The Canrum ceased using theirs to save it but the Vaes and the Havincaw were shredding their targets.
The moment was short lived, as all good moments in combat were, as the Canrum rocked violently tossing anyone not secured into walls or stations. "Report!" Kavaius shouted over the alarm indicating there was a structural compromise.
"We lost the Vaes." The heavy frigate exploded right under them and managed to cause significant damage. "Major damage to the ventral and we're venting atmosphere." Ackin reported. "Engineering is reporting a breach and power loss…the core is offline."
The robust barriers were the only thing keeping them in the fight next to the GARDIAN. If the lighting in the CIC was better, they could have seen the color drain from his face. With the core down, they were dead. "Engineering, get me the barriers back, now." His tone was even but his entire crew knew him. One step off from a shout and they knew that was on the way.
The Canrum's armor did what it could without barriers against the laser from the Reapers but the blasts cut through like a knife through paper. Huge swaths of the heavy cruiser were being destroyed but the battleship held together. Turian battle ships were built to last in combat.
The seconds that ticked by felt like an eternity but power grid flickered, and the barrier came back online. "Core is back online. Barriers back to full but engineering is reporting substantial damage, no idea how long it's going to last. We have to fall back."
They weren't going to make it out of this, Kavaius figured that out at the beginning of the fight. His goal was to give the planet below as much time as he could to evacuate as many as they could. He knew that not everyone was going to get out and that the Veliraka and his troops would probably not evacuate with the civilians. "Nothing to fall back to." He muttered as the ship shook again. "We're not making it out of this. Full power to barriers and weapons, pull from life support if you need to. Target the damaged one with the GARDIAN and finish it off."
Groundside
The entire population of Panop could fit into two transports. Rylo was sparsely populated, only a handful of major cities and the rest were farmsteads. Nov worried about the people but cared more of his mother right now. His mother who still wasn't at the evacuation site.
"Pollux!" He barked into the comm and heard his cousin on the other end.
"As fast as I can, Cal, stay off the comm." Pollux snapped back. The downside to living so far from town was it took too long to get anywhere.
"Hey, don't get snappy. Get here safe, sky's getting kinda full though." Between the Reapers, frigates, and fighters the skies above them were busy.
It didn't take long to realize that the 'drop pods' were going for the civilians. Whatever the bigger ones were the Husks Nov recognized. The soldiers of the outpost led by Verrity set up a perimeter to contain the incoming foot soldiers. The military was active and soon the outpost was fortified with more troop carriers and gunships.
One of the transports lifted off and made things even more impossible to hear. Nov briefly through of Sidda again, thinking about where she was and how she felt knowing that she was right when everyone else wouldn't listen. He did put it out of his mind as the head of a Husk about six feet away exploded. Distinctive wound and sound told him that it was a hit from the Krysae. The Turian Sniper rifle was new and so far, was second to none. Nov took cover and tuned into the communication feed, total chaos on the line but that was to be expected.
"It's not sounding good out there." He commented as Deliah took cover next to him.
"What did you expect for an invasion?" she asked and snorted. "You know I read all the stuff Sidda talked about…watched her Tribunal, thought she was insane and you were just and young fool in love."
"And now?" he asked as she reloaded his Mattock.
"Well, you're still a fool…but she's not insane." She replied and he chuckled. Disruptor rounds were useless, so he swapped to cryo.
"Missed you too, D." he smiled, and she smiled back under her helmet.
Orbit
They had destroyed three Reapers all together since the fight started. The Canrum took out two, the Vaes downed one before being destroyed along with it, and it was reported that the Digeris destroyed another. Kavaius wasn't sure of the rest of the 3rd Divisions status aside from the two that he had with him. Losing the Vaes and his long time friend Challa Veng was something he would deal with later…if he was lucky enough to survive this. That was doubtful. He hadn't had a report on the Relay either, ordering the Pontius and the Reliant to hold the relay at all costs was a tall order and he was pretty sure it would be their final act. He wasn't even sure how the Defiant was. He loved Dureena but couldn't think about that now, if she was dead or if they both died here he would see her on the other side.
He could hear everything going on around him as he focused on the tactics. Ackin's voice cut through like a laser beam. "The Havincaw's taken major damage, their barriers are barely holding."
He opened a comm channel as the Canrum shook. "Yannick, get out of here, save your ship."
Yannick Litanas never backed down from a fight. "Negative. We're in this fight."
"That's an order, Commander. Retreat, now." He ordered and then the response that he barely heard. There was a lot of commotion going on in his CIC. The room had the stench of smoke and fear, but his crew was performing admirably. The alarm was still going off indicating heavy structural damage and hull breaches. He tuned it out as he watched the next Reaper hold up against his beautiful ship's laser. "Status of the evacuation?"
Ackin was already doing a million things at once and glanced at the monitor. "53% but that's only an estimate."
They still had two Reapers that they were entertaining. The rest were either on the planet or engaged with the Digeris and the rest of the 3rd Division. "Status report on the rest of the fleet?"
There was a pause from Ackin before he answered. "Seven ships in orbit remaining including us. Havincaw has taken severe damage and has fallen back. The Reliant looks be disable but the beacon is still functioning. The Digeris, Zeralla, and Artimus still holding their own but are under heavy attack. Pontius is in route from the relay. They couldn't hold it. Defiant and Currazza went planetside…no word."
The Reapers had more coming, the relay was lost, and the Turian's were dwindling. Their toughest ship was taking the beating of a lifetime but she wouldn't hold forever. "Status of fighters."
"40%. Most went to the surface or are covering the civilian escape." Rey reported. Kavaius' mind raced, the fighters were worthless against the big ships but effective against the smaller Reaper fighters.
"Core's losing power, barriers are fluctuating. We can't take much more of this, Lorn." Ackin said and Kaviaus could see the end.
"It doesn't matter." He muttered looking as monitors reflecting all the damage to his ship. "More incoming from the relay." He added quietly and accepted the Canrum's fate.
"That's it for the GARDIAN. Laser's all used up." His weapons officer reported.
Once the laser burned out that was it. "All power to the core. Target the mass accelerator and Thanix and get that Reaper out of my sky." He was going to blow that Reaper up if it was the last thing he did. "Comms, broadband. Planet and fleet." He ordered. "This is Kavaius, terminate evacuation and retreat to rally point. We cannot hold the system. I repeat, we cannot hold the system."
Minutes ticked by but it felt like an eternity. The Canrum shouldered more damage than any other ship should have and Kaviaus was immensely proud of that. "Sir, we can't retreat. What about all those people." He heard Ackin say.
"Giaus, in about two minutes it's not going to matter. It's part of the protocol." He replied. More Reapers were landing on the planet but that wasn't his problem, Veliraka would just need to handle it because the 3rd Division was going to be destroyed. "All hands: abandon ship. Repeat: All hands, abandon ship. CIC, evac to escape pods."
Not only had Kaviaus accepted his fate but his crew had as well. The Canrum was serving it's purpose and had taken down several Reapers as did the rest of the 3rd Division. "No, Sir." The CIC crew responded in near unison. He didn't question it and they focused on their job.
The remaining ships followed Kavaius' unpopular order, they lost the relay and Carric which meant they lost the system. Now, no matter how much of a fight they put up it wouldn't matter. The whole point of the evacuation was to save as many as possible. Not all.
"Two more Reaper's closing on us." Rey informed.
"Draw them in close." He ordered. "We go, they go." His crew didn't question him and he wished he could give each one a personal commendation but they would need to do that in the afterlife. "Begin self-destruct sequence."
Groundside
The time that passed felt like forever, they could see transports taking off to evacuate the planet. It was a battle they couldn't win. He didn't know what was going on in orbit besides the chaos he could hear on the comms when he opened it. There was too much noise, so he turned it off and stuck the local channel.
"Skycar, incoming!" Verrity shouted. He saw the vehicle through his scope and Nov sprang to action.
"Pol, watch the fighters!" Nov shouted into the comm as one of the Oculas' banked and went after the craft. "Pol, evasive! Verrity!" Verrity fired a shot at the Oculus but the little Reaper ship was barely bothered. "Kel!"
Verrity fired again but it still didn't make a difference. The Oculus fired and the skycar exploded. Nov let out a pained cry. "Noooo!" he just watched the death of his mother and a someone he looked at as a brother. Everything disappeared, the chaos around him, the fighting in the air, and on the land. He didn't hear anything not his uncle and Deliah, not Verrity shouting for him to take cover. His anguish turned to pure and total hate. Before he even knew it he was wading into Reaper foot soldiers.
"Nov, get back!" he heard Deliah shout but he ignored it.
His focus was absolute, every shot he fired went exactly where it needed, one shot, one kill. All his grenades landed where it did the most damage. Knives and omni-blades too…he was a one person army. All he could think of was the car exploding in a ball of flame.
"Get him back." Verrity ordered from his perch on the upper level.
Deliah moved up to attempt to do just that. "Cal, get back." She yelled but he didn't hear her. She knew he heard her but it didn't sink in. "Cal, they're gone let's go!"
The next thing they heard was the last thing they had expected. "This is Kavaius, terminate evacuation and retreat to rally point. We cannot hold the system. I repeat, we cannot hold the system." Turians didn't retreat. 'The only time you saw a Turian's back was if they were dead.' Today was full of surprises and disproved the rule.
"That's it," Verrity said on a link that everyone could hear. "Kavaius is calling it. Get the transports in the air. Nov, get your ass back here right now or I'll shoot you myself. You're compromising my line."
"Cal, we have to go." Deliah barked again and yanked the back of his armor for him to follow. "Let's go, NOW!"
Something was enough to shake him from his fog and he turned to comply but when he did he heard something like a cannon being fired and Deliah's armor was shredded. The Batarian looking creature fired a burst and it ripped through Deliah like she had no armor on at all. He put half a Mattock clip into it but the damage was done. He rolled her over and the movement told him that she was still alive, thousands of things rammed through his mind as he scooped her up and jogged for the Defiant's shuttle. He saw Favia and Nisia step on safely as Verrity and the rest of the military ushered people on. They were not coming; they would stay and fight it out.
"Medkit!" he roared as he laid Deliah down on the shuttle floor. "Medkit, now!" The shuttle launched and he took her helmet off. Blood was everywhere and when he finally got to see her face all he could see was fear in her eyes. "Hang on, Deliah, hang on." Darius applied the medigel but it was no use. The wounds were too great. The brief shake of the head from Darius was something they all saw. Deliah locked eyes with Nov. There was a time when he thought he loved her then they met the people they really did love. He fell head over heels for Sidda and she found Nihlus. She was never the same after Nihlus died and now here Nov was…the cause of her death. He should have fallen back. This was his fault.
It took an extraordinarily strong person to face their death calmly. Deliah was that person. She was afraid but she was calm. "It's alright, Deliah, look at me. Just look at me. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." The medial node Darius applied screamed a cardiac arrest for a second and then flatlined. He knew she was going to die but hearing her life end with a screaming monitor shattered him. Nov cried out. In less than a half an hour nearly everything he cared about was dead.
Darius let his nephew grieve and stood carefully as the shuttle rocked leaving the atmosphere. The view from the side window told the story. It was a tragedy, but it was still the story. "Cal." He didn't expect Nov to appear next to him but a few moments after saying his name he was there.
"Spirits." The view was hard to look at. Debris from ships littered the sky, burning chunks of what used to be Turian warship and a cloud of flame were Carric had been destroyed. Ships were on fire but some still looked functional. The Canrum the newest ship in the Turian fleet was swarmed but at least three capital ships and she was still in the fight. They could see the Thanix cannon doing as much damage as possible and then a brilliant explosion that engulfed two of the Reapers and destroyed them. The Canrum fell but made sure she took a few with her. Mass effect cores of the ships around them engaged and suddenly the shuttle's did as well.
Orbit
The Defiant and the Currazza screamed out of the atmosphere shooting down anything they could in their path to make sure the civilian and military transports had a safe line to engage the cores and escape. "All ships: abandon the sector. Do not use the relay. Repeat, relay under enemy control. Engage mass effect cores, that is an order." She heard Kavaius say clearly over the emergency band.
"Canrum's status?" Sevescus asked her tactical officer.
"Swarmed. Power grid is failing, and their core is about to explode." He answered then hesitated before telling her the rest. "They're preparing a self-destruct."
Her heart skipped a beat but she kept herself together. "Comm." She gestured, and the channel opened. "Lorn,"
There was a pause before she got an answer, but she didn't get a sappy 'I love you'. "Go." He said simply. "There's more coming through the relay." His voice was calm, even keeled like it always was but she could hear alarms going off in the background.
"I love you." She said as she couldn't help it. At least she told him that before he died…a happy memory for him of a sort. A moment later the brilliant explosion could be seen from the ground and the Canrum's last act of defiance was the take two Reapers with it. Sevescus let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Get us out of here." She said and they Defiant jumped away.
The remainder of the 3rd Division gathered at the rally point, there weren't many and most were on fire or had gaping holes in their hulls. Nov and Darius stepped on to the CIC and Sevescus looked Nov up and down. His armor was black but she could smell the blood, it was on his face too.
"Where's Kryik? They'll need her in Medical?" Sevescus asked and Nov's teeth clinched.
"She's dead." He said and left it at that.
Sevescus paused a moment then nodded. The look on her face said it all, they were all losing people today. Friends, comrades, loved ones…grieving would have to be later. "Admiral Acadas." She greeted and Darius didn't bother to correct her.
"Captain, what's our status?"
"Six ships made it…including the Reliant and the Havincaw. They sustained to most damage." She answered. "Currazza, Pontius, and the Artimus report heavy damage but functional."
"Civilians?"
"Sixteen ships. A few took damage but no casualties."
"Captain, incoming from the Pontius." The comm officer said.
"Put it on." She nodded. "Captain." She greeted.
"Where too now, Captain?" Oraka asked, his ship took plenty damage but they were still functional.
"Palaven."
"Reliant's comm officer managed to get a message out and one returned. Palaven and Earth are under attack."
Nov snapped to attention. "Wait, Earth?" he commented then stopped himself. They had bigger issues and his mental state couldn't take much more of this. "Sorry."
Darius eyed him as he fell silent again. "Vakarian-1 protocol. I'm not familiar with it."
"After your time, Sir." Oraka commented.
It took a minute but Nov's training finally kicked in. "Vakarian-1 is invasion evacuation protocol for the Reapers." He said. "If Palaven and Earth are no go's we go to the Citadel."
Sevescus took the word of the Spectre and didn't question. "Citadel it is. Can all the ships make it?"
"Maybe not the Reliant and Havincaw." Oraka replied.
Nov needed to work and keep his mind occupied. "I'm an engineer. Send me to the worst one."
"The Reliant."
Nov turned and left the CIC for the hanger bay. The Reliant was a different class frigate but they were all basically the same. He needed to do something…Earth was under attack and he didn't know where Sidda was. His mother and cousin died pretty much before his eyes and someone he cared for died in his arms less than a half an hour ago. He needed to be busy.