Done, and ready to be read, hope you all enjoy this and I am sorry that I did not respond to any reviews but with how hectic life is becoming it is impossible for me to do everything at once now. I use to bust out chapters one a week, now I am lucky to get half of one done in that time. But still I am hoping to get back into the groove and actually start writing a lot more.

I apologise if the chapter is not up to certain expectations but I did my best here, and we are officially into the Mass Effect 1 storyline, Eden Prime I expect will be a three part storyline, so enjoy.

Are We Alone

Chapter 06: Declaration of War

SSV Achilles

"How are things going?" Hackett inquired, his holographic image flickering slightly, the already distorted form of the man making the only thing recognizable was his voice.

"We are doing well, it was a good thing that we could slip in like this," Captain Anderson replied, he stood near the bridge of the ship, looking out into the void of space as he spoke with his collegue. "Do you suspect the Council will catch wind of what were up to?"

"Even if they do they can't do squat, the convoy your with is resupplying our forces out in the Petra Nebula, the only way there is through the Utopia System, right where we need to be," Hackett replied. "The Council can shout and holler, but we are technically still aiding in a foreign invasion of our territory. So they cannot do anything to us."

Anderson smirked a little despite the risk they were taking, what they did now was paramount to treason – against Council Law that was. They were part of a resupply group being sent to reinforce the borders of the Batarian Borders near the Petra Nebula which had come under heavy raids as of the last few months. They were part of the escort meant to protect the supply ships, but that was not the truth.

"As soon as they hit the refuelling station in System break off, head for Eden Prime, extract the Beacon and get back to the Convey, if everything goes well we can pull this off without anyone being the wiser," Hackett replied.

Word had reached them nearly two months ago of the Beacon on Eden Prime, yet it had been discovered a month prior to them being informed. It had been a hard game for Hackett and everyone else to keep this information secret, there was no damn way they were going to let the Council get wind of anything.

The methods they had to use in order to get word to the right people was staggering, they had actually been given the message by a family member of a marine on the planet. Apparently when they were younger the family had a code system they used to write letters to one another to send secret messages.

After nearly a month of correspondence between the two they were able to plan out who they should bring the information to and the channels to use. It was simply remarkable that they had caught a break like this, and that only so few knew about this as well. The plan was simple, and if they pulled it off they would have in their possession a working piece of Prothean technology.

But this plan had many other gears in motion than just acquiring it, because it was not only a game changer in the current technologies employed in the galaxy, it was their ticket to freedom. The beacon may hold knowledge that could shoot forward their current technology by centuries, or hold ground breaking new discoveries, it could hold anything.

And that is what was so valuable.

The technology within could shoot forward an entire race, power shifts and changes hands quickly, and with this the Alliance could get itself out of the gutter. With it they can go in many directions, and all of them revolve around the Alliance finally pushing the Council from their space and forcing them to comply.

The Beacon was something all the races of the Citadel craved, it was their holy grail, and if the Alliance had it, they had near unlimited sway over them. With the Beacon they could force the Council to depart their space and as an act of good faith share information regarding the Beacon.

This was a mutual benefit that would not let the Council get one up on them.

The second is that if the Council attempts to take it, all stops come out and the treaty is dissolved, the System Alliance will rescind its membership to the Council and become an independent party. With that they have no obligations with the Beacon and can use it to their hearts content, and if the Council tries anything it will be a declaration of war. That is something the Council will not risk, not now when public opinion over their current tyranny over the human race is starting to fall back on them.

This was a win-win for them, their space and privileges would be returned to them and they would be the ones holding something over the Council for once. That appealed to everyone, especially those involved in this little revolution, and this time they had as many people as they could that they knew were trustworthy with this information.

The Military, Government and Science Divisions within the System Alliance were all ready for this, and were not going to let the Council get in the way with their policies anymore.

"We'll get it done Admiral, don't worry about that, Anderson out."

The image flickered and disappeared, leaving Anderson to stand by the pilot's seat and look out into the void of space. As he looked he found a single metallic object a few hundred thousand kilometres from their position, the pulsing energies easily distinguishing it from the many stars on the black canvas.

"Getting word from the Sagittarius, jump data and approach vectors," The Helmsman said, and two fellow crewmen went to work on processing the data and preparing for their own jump vector within the fleet cluster.

Hackett observed them as they went through the motions, setting up the calculations and setting their jump coordinates and comparing them to the data being distributed through the other ships. It took a great deal of effort to jump multiple ships through the Relay, often taking half an hour to get all the coordinates and ensuring that no conflicts came up when the jumping began.

The worst thing that can happen is that they collide during the jump, or decelerate within a certain vicinity of each other. Both cases resulted in the disintegration of a ship at worst, and the best they can hope for is that the ships survived that survivors can be rescued. It was a meticulous and often painstaking task of making sure every single ship came out on the other side in one piece.

"All ships ready and prepared to jump," Helmsman Jairo Crooks, a good pilot and among those on a short list that would have potentially piloted the SSV Normandy had it not been taken by the Council.

Although he had lost his chance to pilot the most advanced Frigate in the System Alliance he still was given a chance to pilot this mission. Having been stuck on Arcturus Station for seven months had not done the man any good, but now that he was behind the controls of a ship he was back in his elements and loving it. Something Anderson could share, he had been grounded for just as many months as well, life had been hard for everyone and he hoped with this mission's success that they can finally return to normal.

"Entering Relay in three… two… one…"

Anderson lurched slightly as the ship took off faster than the speed of light, it was near instantaneous between their departure and arrival but even so the sudden shift into real space to a mass free space was not without its bumps. Especially since he had not been given a chance to stretch his sailor legs, he even felt a little nausea work its way up his throat as well.

'Been on the ground too long,' Anderson grouched to himself privately.

"On route to the refuelling station," Crooks said. "ETA: Twenty two minutes."

"Good, connect with a comm buoy and get in contact with Eden Prime, once you do, begin coordinating with the excavation team, we have only forty minutes when we leave the station to get the package and get back," Anderon replied, he turned and moved back towards his seat.

The bridge was a simple rectangular room, over a dozen crewman worked at panels and screens that lined the walls. Taking his seat he looked around at the blue lit room and waited, this was all he could do at the moment and prepare for the right moment when they could break away undetected and move to Eden Prime.

Leaning back into his seat he looked out into the void, seeing the edges of a transport ship and the frigate that was just a kilometre ahead of them. As he remained motionless his mind worked quickly, thinking over so many variables and things that have occurred. This situation was something he and many others believed they could escape, but there was something that they could not account for or prepare against. And that was the cause of these said events.

'The Anomalies,' Anderson thought.

They had caused all their problems, while also being something of an inspiration despite it, but more than that they were the one thing no one could explain. So much has been done to try and understand them and they had failed to do that, nothing has come of the countless years spent researching them or the even understanding their motives.

Through everything they are the one thing that has eluded every single person in this galaxy's watch, nothing of them has been seen in the last six months. The last report was of a silver haired young man, carrying a large nodachi, apart from that not another sighting has been seen of any of the others.

It was strange that they appeared like they did, always somewhere that was in the midst of conflict, their motives were unknown but they were always drawn to death and battle. So what was it that made them so attracted to the conflicts of humanity? It also made him wonder how long they may have been watching them for. Decades? Centuries? Millennia?

He had no doubt that those things were not human, they took human form and spoke as such, for there was no possible way they could be anything human or part of this existence. They were something else, and what scared him most, is what drew them here and warranted them interfering when they obviously do not wish to.

"Sir!"

Anderson jerked slightly, turning to the comms officer, the fresh out of the Academy Junior Officer frantically tapped at the panels. Her motions were slow and a little sloppy, but she was diligent in her work and didn't stop as she fought to find a rhythm.

"What is it Ensign?"

"We are getting a distress call from Eden Prime, they are under attack!" She replied, her expression conveyed the shock she felt.

But her shock did not convey the gut wrenching dread that appeared in the pit of Anderson's stomach at that very moment.

Shepard leaned back against her seat; despite her attempts to relax she couldn't help but feel excited, she had been up for fifteen hours already and would be in the Petra system in another five. After that it was combat, this trip would be the only chance she would get for a good rest before the hard slog.

But still that rational thinking did not help her get any rest, after all it was impossible to forget as soon as you get off this ship you would be in a highly volatile fighting location. Shepard knew that she could handle herself, but this mission was important, so when it was over she would gain what she wanted.

N7, the highest level of proficiency within the Special Forces, and the Interplanetary Combatives Training.

Finally she would be where she wanted to be, at the highest levels and somewhere that can make a difference. Even if the Alliance was being shackled she knew that the time will come for her to be there when they need to fight to defend their race from aggression.

"Hey Jess, get up, the Major wants to see us, something's up,"

Shepard turned to Rinat Averyanov, the red haired N6 gestured to the front of the passenger section, before she looked through the doorway to see said grizzly man was already speaking with the other recruits. Leaping out of her seat she rushed over with Rinat right behind her, just catching the end of a transmission.

"…Requesting reinforcements, I repeat we are in need of reinforcement!"

The message cut out just as she stepped into the room and finding Major Mikkai looking at the rest of the N6 soldiers. His expression was grim as usual, but it held a certain intensity that one would think to call murderous rage, but that was his usual angry expression.

"As you heard Eden Prime is currently under attack, and for those that didn't, well you know now," Mikkai said, but none seemed to react to the words, no shouts or murmurs broke out and no one fidgeted.

Everyone here was a trained soldier, the best of the best in all of the Alliance, they can feel shock and anger but they knew how to control it. They were not some fresh out of boot camp privates who thirsted for combat or were scared shitless about going into their first engagement. No, they would see combat and had trained to face down anything and come out on top.

"All of us will be dropping planet side to assist, we will be arriving in ten minutes, so get your gear together and get ready for a firefight," Mikkai ordered. "This is your first ground op, stick to your training and if you survive this, let's show those bastards what happens when they fuck with humanity."

Shepard turned and was through the door just as he made his proclamation, moving for her container and getting her armor. Mark III Mercenary Armor, excellent protection from the generic stuff they give to the everyday Alliance Marine, it cost her a pretty penny. But it was damn well worth it, this baby had great shield due to high grade emitters placed throughout the suit, there was little to nothing going to be getting through her.

Within those ten minutes given to them she was suited up and ready to drop, grabbing her rifle and pistol she fastened them to the magnetic locks and turned. Mikkai was standing near the doorway, and the rest of her fellow N6 comrades were strolling towards him, they were all ready to drop into the fight.

Eden Prime

Ashley slid into cover, blind firing her rifle over the stone block and hoping to hit something, but even with so little in the open her shields flickered as she took grazing hits from the enemy. She looked to her right to see three others were with her, what was left of her squad, it used to be ten.

They had retreated through a series of narrow passes in the hills outside the colony, hoping to escape from their pursuers and regroup. That had not worked out well for them, in the last two hours of fighting they had retreated across just as many kilometres of valleys and passes, they had dwindled down from an entire squad to this. They were forced to leave behind their fallen comrades lest they join them from the continually advancing machines.

Ashley had reasoned that they had no choice but to retreat, but the thought of leaving them behind to have their corpses defiled. It haunted her, leaving her comrades and friends behind, but what choice did she have? She still had three others with her that needed to be taken care of.

"We're getting slaughtered!" Bhatia cried out, trying to rise and fire, but was forced back down when her shields flickered from several direct hits.

"I know!" Ashley replied, leaning to the side and firing at the machines, bipedal and synthetic, the main feature was their flash-light heads. "Dammit."

Ashley fired off a few shots, able to take down one of the synthetics shields but was forced back when fire shifted to her position; these guys were too well organized. If they were synthetics they must work in some sort of hive mind, or whatever technical term it was, and could likely think a mile a minute.

"We need to fall back!" Jenkin's cried out, pressed hard against his cover and his terror bleeding through his visor.

Ashley knew that they had to do it, but the problem was that these Synthetics had them by the balls right now. There were at least three times as many of the synthetics as there were them and they had them completely suppressed.

'Got to think of something,' Ashley growled, they had to escape otherwise they were all dead.

As if fate was mocking her she heard a sudden whistle and then thump, turning to the right she found the source, laying in the dirt about ten feet from her was a capsule of some sort. Immediately she knew what the hell that thing was, it may have no markings and appeared as alien as hell but she knew what she was looking at.

"Grenade!"

Ashley leaped aside and prayed that when she was flat against the ground she would survive, sadly she did not hit the earth before it exploded. She was propelled back, the shockwave throwing her across the ground and right into a nearby rock wall. The sudden hit had been oddly painless, but that was likely due to the concussion and the fact she had been knocked out.

A groan escaped her lips as she looked up, her vision was blurry and dark, she struggled to even lift her head to see what was going on. Jenkins tried to stand, staggering to a knee, his weapon was gone and he appeared to be disorientated. He did not stay upright, a shot rang out and he was blown off his feet, a grunt escaped his mouth as he shields blew apart and he hit the ground.

"Argh… Chief…" Jenkin's called, his words were pained.

The horror would not be comprehended to Ashley until later, when the cloud over her mind and chaos of this battle came to an end, at the man's final words. A synthetic walked forward, took aim quickly and fired a controlled burst into the Private's chest, he jerked from the hits before going completely still. Another machine appeared from behind the other, blood red armor compared to the black and carrying a compact shotgun, it took aim at Donkey next, the blonde man tried to raise his rifle but was mercilessly shot before he could retaliate.

'No…' Ashley thought, watching with blurry eyes as they grabbed her comrade's bodies and dragged them away.

She looked up, finding one of the machines hovering over her, the lightbulb head of the synthetic looked down at her for a moment. It raised its rifle and aimed right for her chest, guess it didn't want to ruin her beautiful face, at least she would die still pretty. But even the funny side of this couldn't help her, right now she was going to die on this planet away from her family.

'Please god, please don't let me die like this,'

She felt the world almost go slow, seeing the slowly tightening digit of the synthetic around the trigger, it was agonizing to feel her life being prolonged. She just wanted to survive, to see her family again, her sister's faces, her mother, she wanted to live.

Then it happened.

Ashley did not know what to call it, an hallucination came to mind, but the synthetic that once stood over her was gone. The pale red skies above, blotted with smoke and ash, now could be seen without any obstructions.

New sounds began to form over the ringing in her ears, the deafness dissipating and giving way to the sounds of gunfire and metal being torn apart. Ashley couldn't see anything; she could only remain laying on the ground and try to listen to the sound of something fighting those machines. With what strength she had, and tolerance to the pains and agony assaulting her, she hauled herself forward.

Dragging herself along the dirt and into sight of the battle, her vision was poor but still she saw, and when her eyes caught sight of the mysterious attacker they widened as all disorientation disappeared. The synthetics, numbered maybe two dozen were all down for the count, they had been utterly decimated and in a very brutal manner.

Smashed apart, sliced, and even ripped to pieces it would seem. Yet among the scrap metal stood a single individual, clad in black and carrying two swords, it did not take but a glance from the Gunnery Chief to realize who it was.

'Ichigo…'

The orange haired young man that had been instrumental behind the breaking of the Blitz, the Guardian of Elysium, and so called god that went out and saved hundreds of thousands of people. And that man was no more than twenty feet from where she was laying.

Then he turned towards her, the signature scowl and piercing brown eyes found her, she instantly went still as his gaze fell onto her. She felt nervous, not because she was afraid of attack, no it was something a little more childish; to be in this man's presence was an experience she never would have expected.

It would be comparable to meeting Jesus, if Jesus was an orange haired Asian man that could take down armies with a sword and didn't look half bad in black.

So right now she felt nervous at the fact she was in the presence of someone that was a hero and symbol of godhood and she could do nothing but stare at him. No words could form in her mouth as she returned his gaze, and maybe met his scowl with a meek expression. God, this was embarrassing, and another moment she would look back on as a massive humiliation on her part for acting like that in front of him.

Then he stepped forward, strolling towards her and before she could speak or even move he placed a hand on her shoulder. It was thought provoking moment for Ashley Williams, to have him touch her on the shoulder, no matter the reason or circumstance, was almost like she was touched by god. For all she knew this kid may be god.

Then she felt a strange sensation, it was completely alien to her what she experienced, but in one moment all her pain and dreariness dispersed and she felt completely fine. Her eyes focused and she through her helmet display her suit was showing no signs of trauma, no concussion or muscle damage, not even those cracked ribs.

"What the…" Ashley didn't know what happened, but somehow she was healed.

"Get your friend out of here,"

Ashley looked to the left and found Ichigo standing there, his hand lying atop Bhatia's chest, and soon she noticed a green luminescent glow surround her. Then as quickly as it appeared it was gone, the punctures in her suit remained as did the blood but Ashley could pick up on her HUD that Bhatia was in perfect health.

Previous scans had shown her to be on the verge of cardiac arrest, a result of her going into shock, but now her life signs had stabilized and she seemed to be only unconscious. Had he actually healed them with his touch? Just like that?

"Get to the settlement to the north east, there are soldiers there," Ichigo finished, before he vanished from sight.

Ashley was awestruck, this moment had to be something out of a fairy tale, she had met a man that had almost singlehandedly confirmed the existence of gods. His very existence made many in humanity believe once more in higher powers, and now he was here. This was one of those moments that all but reinforced her belief that god did exist, and he was most certainly looking out for her.

"Thank you god, seriously, thank you," Ashley murmured under her breath.

Pishon, Eden Prime Colony

"Move!" Mikkai ordered, leaping out of the transport and sprinting through the colonies main square and to the nearest cover.

Behind him followed a squad of eleven, all of them elite N6 soldiers, and with expert precision and calm they got to cover in a dispersed formation. Three-man teams, all moving to him but taking covering positions to their flanks and rear of their main force. He loved it when he didn't need to shout at them what to do.

"Rules of engagement sir?" Barbara Meszaros called over the comms, the woman was covering their right flank with her squad.

"Our job is securing this site, we take out anything in the vicinity and give the boys in orbit a good spot to drop the rest of our boys off," Mikkai replied. "Beta squad will be in the north-east doing the same, we take as much of this colony back and give ourselves a lot of room to deploy."

The plan was to take most of this colony back and use it as a staging ground to expand outwards and fight off any invaders. It was also to bring back any survivors so that they could be evacuated to the nearest settlements that were not under attack. But for now they needed to secure Pishon, the colony that was specifically under attack.

"Contact left flank!" Shepard called, raising her rifle and firing off a quick burst before ducking into cover.

Her squad mates Rinat and Joshua both reacted alongside her, ducking down after a quick burst before waiting for a lull in fire to retaliate. Shepard poked her weapon up and firing, her mass accelerated rounds flickering against the shields of some synthetic entity, its appearance bizarre and unique at the same time.

"I count ten, three on the left, five on the right and two in the center," Rinat said, rising to fire another burst.

"They may flank from the right then, likely try and get to Mikkai's side and take them," Shepard replied, rising up and firing, her aim true as she punched through a machine's shields and tore through its armor. "Don't let that happen."

It was then that contacts started appearing everywhere; she could hear the other squads sprouting off about their own engagements now. It seems they kicked up a hornets nest when they landed, drawing all these guys towards them. Their landing zone was surrounded and they were under heavy fire, it wouldn't be long before they were overrun by sheer numbers.

"Clear the flanks and push forward!" Mikkai ordered.

Shepard understood immediately what he meant, remaining in their current situation would only get them killed, their only option was to advance into the colony and find a better position to defend. Shepard reached for her grenades, finding the adhering disks and quickly activating three of them, standing up she threw them towards the oncoming force.

"Grenades five seconds out!" Shepard called, just as she ducked down back into cover.

Another cry went out, similar to Shepard's but to the right flank, they were only seconds away from pulling off their plan. Then the explosions occurred, three successive explosions went off within the Synthetics ranks, the sound of metal and stone being torn apart overshadowed the gunfire. Shepard quickly got to her feet and starting picking off anything within her line of sight, catching where here explosives had gone off.

Two had gone off along the street where the synthetics were funnelling in, causing a partial collapse of the buildings and blocking half the street, and another had destroyed most of the cover near that entrance.

"Teams two and three, back up four in the retreat, team one move up!" Mikkai ordered, rising from cover and firing a barrage down the street ahead of him.

Shepard turned and started provided assistance to Roshan's team, leaving Rinat to cover the flank and call out targets as they appear. Shepard retreating backwards with the two other teams slowly, responding to calls from flanking actions and keeping the enemy at bay with their own brand of suppressing fire.

"Tyrone's down!"

Shepard did not respond or react to the call, someone was dead more than likely, she had to remain focused otherwise other would join him. She had made it to the street's entrance when something whizzed past her and slammed into the walls nearby. Shepard was thrown into the wall, her shoulder taking the painful hit before she collapsed to the ground. Shaking off the wave of nausea and ringing in her ears she looked up to see a larger machine with an even bigger gun moving towards them.

"Big mothers on its way!" Rinat called out, opening fire on the large red armored synthetic along with three others.

"Fall back! We are exposed!" Roshan ordered. "Grenades out!"

Shepard pushed herself to her feet before turning and running after her squad, the resounding explosions behind her was the only comfort she had that they wouldn't be shot in the back immediately. But luckily they were on a role, the Synthetics had not been able to keep up with their bull rush through the colony, allowing them to escape being boxed in or flanked without warning.

But that could only last for so long; they were running through the streets blind at the moment, if they didn't move to take out the opposition they would never get this place ready for their main force to land. Eventually they had to stop and reorientate themselves, the plan to clear a landing zone and retake most of the colony was not going to work as well as they hoped.

"In the house, now!" Mikkai called over the comms, motioning to a house near the corner of a street, two stories and with one visible entrance.

The N6 squad sprinted up the stairs and into the open doorway, finding a large open living area devoid of most necessities. Already two squads had taking up defensive positions near the long bay window, while two others searched the house for survivors or hostiles.

"Damn, lost three people already," Mikkai growled out.

Shepard looked around and noticed that two more had indeed gone missing, Hadith and Monica were not among them, both of them must have been killed when they tried to escape the landing zone. That left only nine people left, including her, within only fifteen minutes they were already down three people, that did not leave hopes high for their chances of success.

"What the hell do we do now?" Rinat mumbled.

Truthfully no one knew, this op was as simple as it came, they had been ordered to clear out the enemy and had limited to absolutely nothing in terms of logistics on the enemy. Right now they were being beaten back by an enemy they had little information on, both in numbers and capabilities.

"Beta Squad, do you read me?" Mikkai barked, for a few moments he remained motionless and quiet.

Shepard knew for certain he wasn't getting a reply, short transmissions were always used and often over coded channels to prevent the enemy from picking them up, and the man had been silent for about a minute now. The other team was either being jammed or they had been taken out, the fact that her squads current position was secured could be the reason. Beta squad may have taken the brunt of the attack, leaving their squad free from the majority of the enemy's forces.

"Shit," Mikkai growled. "Alright, enemy numbers are oddly focused on the northern section of the colony, we are gonna find out why, we move for Beta squad and regroup before pushing ahead."

"I have eyes on something sir,"

"What is it?" Mikkai replied, strolling over too Ericson.

"North-east, there's some sort of tower, guessing by the dark metal and the shape, it's either some sort of abstract art or something those synthetics are using," Ericson replied.

Shepard glanced out the window and did see a long object poking just over the rooftops, it looked strange and oddly smooth compared to the rough edges of the many buildings that made up the colony. It did have some resemblance to those machines, in terms of the smooth bulbous edges and unique shape, as well as the colour, gun metal grey. No brainer there.

"We are getting some interference from the comms, from what I can guess that tower is a buoy of some sort," Ericson put forward. "We take it out we can get communications back up and may even disrupt the machines own communication network."

"Explain?" Mikkai requested.

"If these guys are running on a network that means they likely are using that buoy to control their runtime, if we take it out we can disrupt the communication between the individual machines and disrupt their response times," Ericson replied. "Do that, we can start taking out their forces without meeting such heavy resistance, they likely would be forced to rely on a limited range transmitter that would make them unable to fight on mass."

"English lieutenant," Mikkia barked.

"If we take out their transmitter they will be unable to direct their entire force, they would be scattered and blind," Ericson responded, going a little too slow for the grizzly man's liking.

"That's the best plan we got so far," Mikkai replied, before he turned to the rest of the squad. "Alright, get on your feet, we got a target, we disrupt that and we link up with Beta Squad."

"Sir," The N6 squad replied as one, moving for the door.

They quickly moved across the street, using any houses and alleyways, avoiding the open streets of the colony in concern of ambushes and being found in general. Patrols move through the streets, small groups of three, not a major threat to the nine manned squad, but any action by them would alert the rest to their presence.

They moved slowly, painfully slow, they could not risk being attacked by the synthetics, they had the numbers and they knew the area. But there was another concern for them, Beta squad, there had not been a single gunshot in the last half an hour since they began their trek towards the tower. It was possible that Beta Squad was hiding and evading the enemy like they were, but in truth the worst thing that can happen is likely what has happened.

Sadly they would only confirm that worst case scenario as soon as they take down that tower, which was only a hundred feet from their position. Just beyond a wide open streets and a unit of houses, which were dug in and guarded, with snipers and entrenched synthetics.

"They got that place protected nice and tight, just perfect," Mikkai growled, lowering his rifle and leaning back around the edge. "As soon as we attack we are gonna be getting swarmed, we need to get in and take this place apart quickly. I need eyes on the sky and also what we are dealing with."

Immediately three people spoke up, a few choice words later and the three of them were off, all of them going in different directions. Their jobs were simple, scout out the surrounding area and determine exactly what they would be getting into. For the next forty minutes they sat there and waited for the three to come back, it was not a pleasant wait for them.

Rochelle was the first to return, having scouted out the western part of the entrenchment, and soon after Morris was right after having scouted the east. The synthetics had each entryway blocked by barricades, with seven viable entryways, all of which were guarded by two eleven feet tall heavy infantry and five man squad of the standard bots they had been fighting against.

Heavy defences considering, getting past all of that is not going to be easy. Especially if they pulled back the other guards from the entrances and converged on them.

"Where is Joshua?" Rinat grumbled, having waited another ten minutes for the man to arrive.

"Over there," Shepard replied, jerking her head just to the red heads left side, seeing their fellow squadmate rush across the street and into the café they were bunkering in.

"What do you have?" Mikkai whispered.

"Enemy movements, and numbers, this area is mostly cleared by up north we got a large number of these buggers, around where Beta Company last was, likely they may still be fighting up there, or searching for them." Joshua replied. "I expect heavy pressure from the northern part of the block."

That was his job, getting to high ground and mapping out the enemies locations and movements, picking out patrols and exactly where they had the numbers. While Rochelle and Morris scouted out the outer perimeter of the block, finding entrances and defences, Joshua had found the enemies strength outside and what would happen when they attacked.

"Recommendations?"

"Two man sniper team," Joshua instantly replied. "I got two vantage points where we can take out their snipers and provide cover fire from on high, and also while long range comms are down, short range can still work."

"Rochelle, Morris," Mikkai said, glancing at the two of them.

"Western side, only one entrance there and furthest from the others, we hit there we can get inside quick and set up a defendable position, after the synthetics are down we shore up our northern defences as quickly as possible," Rochelle replied, something Morris nodded his head to.

"Alright people, let's get to work," Mikkai replied.

Shepard quickly checked her grenade pouch, finding she had six left, not much but it would do her some good. She also unslung her shotgun, unfolding it and cocking it, she was going to be getting up close and personal with these things, and she was going to be ready for that.

"Good hunting Josh," Shepard said, giving a curt nod to her squadmate as he moved off with another man to find their perches.

Five Geth troopers stood vigilantly behind the two destroyers, their optical photoreceptor scanning the entirety of what was within their field of vision and processing all variables accordingly. Air pressure, humidity and the weather patterns were all monitored and processed quickly and thoroughly within the network to ensure optimal performance.

Current data determines that organics would be moving for this position, analysis based upon this being the only location visible from entirety of the colony that is not architecturally human. With the enemy squadron located zero point six kilometres from this position and under attack they would be no threat.

However, data determines another squad had landed and was able to escape initial attempts at termination, location currently unknown. Although sighs of their presence have been tracked through the colony, current path dictates enemy will be moving for this tower. Strategic importance likely noted, extra runtime being given to all defenders in order to optimize performance and prevent enemy from breaching outer defences.

Warning: Trooper Beza-845-02, unresponsive, last cache packet determined extensive damage to main processor, threat imminent.

Within one-one hundredth of a second it was determined that they were under attack.

"Light them up!" Mikkai called out, firing his rifle down the alleyway and into the frontline destroyer.

With him three others followed suit, littering the large red Geth with dozens of rounds a second, their shields flickered under the barrage. They advanced slowly forward, raising their large calibre shotguns, but they did not make three steps before two cracks shattered the air and the shields of the Geth broke apart.

The red armoured behemoths staggered on their feet before a barrage of gunfire tore through their outer plating and synthetic muscles. With their destruction Mikkai and his team quickly rushed inside, gunning down the troopers and moving for any available cover and waiting for the enemy to come to them.

Within seconds of finding something to hide behind were they attack, sniper fire and dozens of guns roaring as they peppered their position. But the crack of counter sniper fire was heard, the distinct sound of the M-53 Harpoon Sniper Rifle overhead was a reassurance that they had fire support from on high.

Fighting back was a slow affair, with limited chances to retaliate other than short bursts over their cover they were force to take pot shots when they could. Mikkai blind fired his gun over the top of the metal dividing wall and hoped he hit something.

"Shepard, where the hell are you?" Mikkai barked into the comms, he got some static but he could make out someone saying something.

A series of explosions overshadowed the geths assault, glancing around his cover he saw the Geth's left flank had been blown apart, and a series of gunfire soon followed. Soon Shepard and two others bound into the plaza and opened fire onto the Geth's unprotected rear and flank. Mikkai took his chance and opened fire, the enemy was busy trying to counter on both fronts and were caught completely off guard.

"Advance! Cut them off! Do not let them bunker down!" Mikkai ordered, tossing his own grenade and taking a Destroyer out with it.

Soon the Geth were on the defensive, pushed back and forced into a corner where they were being struck on all sides, dwindled down to three destroyers and about half a dozen standard troopers. Every few seconds one more bit the dust, and with every one that fell the rest were going down quicker.

"… … …"

Mikkai kept firing as he got the message, a short burst of three clicks over the comm, it was his only warning that the enemy was on their way. He quickly fired off another burst before he broke cover and rushed over to Ericson, grabbing the man's shoulder.

"Get to the tower and disable it, don't care if it is through some tech savvy shit or blowing it up, take it out now!" Mikkai ordered, before he returned to shooting the get trapped in one corner of the plaza. "Finish them off! We got more on the way!"

Within twenty three seconds his order had been fulfilled, and with that he was already on the move to setting up on hitting the next enemy.

"Get your asses in gear, cover the north entrances, move some of these barricades and scavenge whatever you can from these things," Mikkai ordered, reaching down and examining a rifle from a down trooper.

"… … …"

Another call over his comms, the machines were close, he quickly called for everyone to get to cover and wait for the first thing to come along. It took less than thirty seconds before something came trailing in, heavy red armour being the first thing in sight, and the first thing to get shot.

A loud crack through the air was heard from overhead and the thing's shield flickered and died, and then it was torn apart by the concentrated fire of half a dozen N6 marines. What followed afterwards was the wave, filing in two by two and dispersing quickly as they entered. The synthetics move quickly to any cover as they continued to swarm in, their guns blazed as they retaliated and did not care for any casualties they suffered.

"Ericson! What is taking so long?" Mikkai barked, keeping low and he hobbled towards the next line of cover.

In less than a minute the Geth had already taken the majority of the northern plaza, everything in it was now theirs and almost every inch of it was filled to the brim with bullet spewing synthetics. It was scary seeing how many of them there were, his men were forced to pull back lest the larger ones get too close to actually do some damage with those guns of theirs.

"Ericson!" Mikkai bellowed.

"Sorry sir, need some time with this!" Ericson called back, ducking to the side as a few stray bullets pings off the edge of his shields. "I need a minute!"

Mikkai swore under his breath before he continued to fire, depositing his shotgun on the ground alongside his pistol. If he was going to need to switch up he was going to do it quickly, and with that he continued to fire until his rifle overheated, swinging his pistol up and continued to pop shots.

Twenty seconds in and two of their boys were down, wounded or dead they had no idea but they were down and not getting back up. Shepard had pulled Rinat around cover and kept him there, firing around the barricade and unwilling to move while her teammate was down. She unslung her shotgun and let it unfold in her hand, and while still blind-firing around the edge of her cover, she levelled it on top of her rifle and fired.

Pumping the mechanism on top of the rifle she fired again, using both shotgun blasts and short bursts together. She had no idea if it was working but that was far from the point, at this moment she couldn't not miss right now.

"I think I got something!" Ericson called out; flinching when his shields flickered and a hail of bullets hit his position. "I'm getting flanked here!"

True to his word the Geth had started to actually flank around the edge of the plaza and were going to surround them. They had only a few seconds at best before they were caught in a crossfire with nowhere else to go.

"Then do something!" Mikkai barked, looking across to see a Geth lining up a shot.

He fired and with both pistol and rifle in hand blew through the thing's shields and its body, leaving a shredded torso and head. He turned again and delivered a similar fate upon two more, but he could see that they were still coming in hard and fast.

"Hurry up Ericson!" Mikkai barked, seeing three more coming around the back of another Geth he had just dispatched, he was taking fire.

"Got it!" Ericson said, and when he did the effects were heard.

Instantly Shepard dropped her shotgun and rifle, her hands going right for her helmet as the internal comms blared with white noise. She ripped her helmet off and discarded it, feeling her ears continually ring, and looking around she could see the others were doing the same. Looking down she could see Rinat, groaning painfully and trying pointlessly to reach for his helmet.

"Shit!" Shepard said, reaching down and tearing his own helmet off, and finding his ears were bleeding. "Sorry buddy, didn't realize."

"The fuck Ericson!" Mikkai barked, a hand over his ear and pistol still in hand.

"It did the trick sir!" Ericson called back, lifting his rifle and firing at the Geth.

Then Mikkai noticed it, there was no gunfire aside from the burst fire from Ericson's rifle, it was almost quiet. He looked around and too his surprise found the synthetics completely frozen, all of them were standing around and appeared to slowly be moving and reacting.

"Open fire!" Mikkai barked, he would question the stroke of luck later, now he wanted these things dead.

Within a few minutes they completed just that, the Geth were completely immobile for a good long while and that gave them all the time they needed to push them out. While some were able to regain some movement and control they were so far and few that the N6 squad had little trouble taking them down.

Soon the entire plaza was littered with parts, and already the teams were moving out to clear out the rest of the bastards around. Mikkai looked at the work, and he could not help but wonder how the hell Ericson had done that.

"Ericson, the hell did you do?" Mikkai demanded.

"These guys are advanced sir, really advanced, these computers used FTL communication frequencies, transmitting information to every single trooper and drone they got here and transmitting it back. From what I could see they can actually improve their runtime by having more soldiers in an area, likely whatever VI system these individual machines use actually helps with processing the information they accumulate." Ericson replied, smiling as he described what could be considered the greatest communication hub in the galaxy.

"English god dammit," Mikkai ordered.

"They quite literally are a hive mind, sharing information between each other so fast that they act instantaneously to one another. Sir, these guys are all Virtual Intelligence programs all connected to a main hub, that is why they all acted so differently, each one is a small supercomputer connected to a bigger one." Ericson said. "With that they can formulate strategies and plans of attack within milliseconds, based off every single one of their current positions and what each and every single one of them is seeing."

"Alright, now tell me this Sherlock, what did you do to slow them down? Because right now I do not give two shits why these things think faster than a hummingbird on Red Sand." Mikkai replied.

"I flooded the network, that ringing was the communication hub transmitting it into the synthetics," Ericson replied. "Pretty simple sir, all I had to do was flood the damn thing with useless information, a few archived information caches and restricting access to the network and making the information flow in one direction and voilà, they get lag."

Mikkai was impressed, the damn computer whiz actually pulled through and saved their collective asses, he may not be as smart or tech savvy as the rest but he knew how to understand enough. Now that the enemy had been deprived of this network of theirs and likely couldn't think straight it was their time to go on the offensive.

"Good work, how long do you think we got this for?" Mikkai replied.

"Maybe a few minutes, once they disconnect from the network and purge the data they will be back on their feet, but at least not as organized as before," Ericson replied, without the tower they would need to rely on short range communication and that would slow them down a bit.

"Alright, but I am guessing while that tower is still buzzing we got no comms either," Mikkai asked.

"Correct, the thing is broadcasting on all frequencies, scrambling anything nearby, sorry sir, had no choice, couldn't risk them just switching to another channel," Ericson replied.

"Doesn't matter, for now let's tear the last of these things apart and then we can see about calling down those reinforcements," Mikkai replied, pumping his shotgun and moving for the streets, there were still a lot of synthetics out there.

But before he went to join his men in killing these bastards he needed to know something first.

"By the way, we got any idea who these guys are?" Mikkai asked.

"Yeah, hard to believe really, these things are Geth, sir," Ericson replied.

Shepard blew apart another one of the Geth, its torso nearly sawn in half from the carnage shot she delivered, and smirked as it gave a dull buzz before it died. Turning she fired again, two shots and another Geth was on the ground, and she followed this up with a few more to the rest.

A grenade flew from her hands into a cluster and she watched as the explosive tore them apart at close range. Right now they were cleaning up these bastards in droves, she had lost count at fifty two, and right now she had just cleared another street.

'Alright, that should be the last of them,' Shepard thought, inwardly she wished she had her helmet so she could get some idea what was going on overhead, Joshua could tell them what was going on. But for now it was clearing the immediate vicinity and then moving on to getting reinforcements, which would be nice after surviving this place for the last hour and a half.

But from the sound of gunfire in the distance Beta Squad was likely nearby, that was good, with their help they could destroy most of these bastards before they recovered from whatever Ericson did to them.

As she turned back around to return to the plaza she immediately tensed, something was in front of her and something else was swinging right for her head. She ducked down and brought up her shotgun as a shield, both proved futile attempts to defend herself as she was catapulted off the ground.

Shepard hit the ground and eventually rolled to a stop, her arm ached and she wasn't sure if it was sprained or broken. She had little time to worry about it as she heard heavy footsteps coming towards her, glancing up she found the monolithic red synthetic was right on top of her. Rolling onto her side she avoided having her back crushed by the damn things massive foot, rolling even further away she avoided its second and third attempt.

And then when she got her shotgun up she fired, staggering it for a second before it made another attempt. Five more shot, each sending it staggering, and eventually its shields died with a crack and with a smirk she tightened her finger around the trigger for the killing shot.

But she glance down at her weapon, finding it unresponsive, the screen showing some kind of error with the weapon: Cooling Systems inoperable.

'Fuck me…' Shepard thought, this couldn't possibly be the worst moment in her life.

Seeing the Destroyer take a single step forward and raise its leg again Shepard bolted upright, saving her head from becoming nothing but mush. As she scrambled to her feet she slapped a grenade onto the side of his leg and bolted, but as she snaked under its arm she was struck in the back and catapulted forward.

With a groaned she glanced over her shoulder at the Geth, who was now strolling casually towards her. Shepard had made a choice, and reached for the remote detonator, it was a descent distance away and she was lying prone on the ground, she should be alright. With that sort of reassuring thought she pressed the detonator and less than a millisecond later the grenade detonated.

As shrapnel and dust blew over her she did not remove her arm from over her head, only when the air began to settle did she even risk a glance. But when she took a peek she was roughly pulled backward, she twisted onto her back and right there above her was the Geth. Or the upper torso of the Geth more precisely, its entire left leg was gone and most of its right along with it.

"Don't remember you guys being this hard to kill!" Shepard hissed, drawing her pistol and started firing.

A fist came down towards her head and she leaned away from it, the sickening crack of the ground reinforcing her desire not to take a single hit from these guys. She kept firing into its torso, hoping to god that she hits something that stops it, all the while this thing kept trying to pulverise her head.

"Get the fuck off of me!"

She had no way of beating this guy with a pistol right now, she needed a bigger weapon. Then it sort of came to her like that, would be risky but at the moment she had no choice. She reached over her shoulder and grabbed her sniper rifle, pulling the compacted weapon around and unfolding it right under the Geth.

Wedging the butt of the weapon to the ground and barrel against its chest she pushed the monster up, and as it dangled there for a moment she fired. A nice hole blowing right through its chest, sparks flew out of the wound, and she fired again, blowing another hole out its back. As the thing sparked and died she tilted her rifle to the side and deposited the body on the ground.

'That was hard…' Shepard thought, taking a few deep calming breaths, before she choked out her last when she heard something. 'Please not another one.'

Luckily for her it wasn't another red armoured behemoth, but it wasn't nothing either, it was a squad of three troopers, all lining up as they rushed out of the alley down the street.

With a groan of annoyance she rolled onto her stomach and then threw herself over the Geth corpse as cover, already hearing the pinging of bullets hitting against her shields as she hit the dirt. Right now she had her rifle, and sad part was that was all she had, Shotgun is damaged, pistol discarded and sniper rifle embedded in the chest of the Geth she is using as a meat shield.

"When did this become mess with Shepard week?" Shepard growled, leaning up and firing at her attackers, who were now slowly advancing towards her.

With another growl she ducked back into cover and opted to fire blinding at them, they were within ten meters of her and not a single one of them was down yet. She reached for her grenades, hoping she had one to spare, but to her greater misfortune she had nothing left. A loud exclamation escaped her throat as she lifted her weapon to fire at the incoming Geth.

'This is not where I am going to die,' Shepard promised herself, she had fought too hard to get where she is to die so easily.

But when she was forced back down into cover, just barely taking out two of the Geth's shields before she dropped she knew she was in deep shit.

Then as if the heavens above had decided to take mercy on her she heard gunfire, not the typical stuff from the Geth though, this was Alliance Marine gunfire. The cavalry had arrived, and with that she bolted upright and started firing right into the flanked machined, tearing down the two remaining synthetics before leaping to her feet.

"Friendlies, left side!"

Shepard turned, but kept her weapon trained to the ground, and found to her surprised two Alliance marines just near a side street. One wore a pink and white bodysuit and the other a standard military grey, the latter of the two being supported by the former.

"Thanks for the assist," Shepard said, holstering her weapon and rushing over to the two.

They woman in white and pink slowly put her friend down, her long brown hair tied into a bun on the back of her head and her face marred with dirt and dried blood. But her friend seemed no better off, she looked find none the less but right now Shepard could tell she was in a coma.

"She needs medical attention," Shepard said, grabbing one arm and pulling her up. "Come on, we can take her to the Plaza, we got people there, and we will be getting reinforcements soon, we can help where when they land."

"Thank god, I thought we would be stuck fighting these bastards off until they left or we died," She replied. "Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, Unit 212, Dog Squad."

"Staff Lieutenant Jessica Shepard, N6," She replied back, both of them dragging the unconscious woman with them towards the Plaza.