Chapter 38: "Priority: Auraelm P.1"

-World building fact-

Did you know that the Earth and Mars are orbiting the Sun at the speed of 107 000 km/h (67 000 mph) and 86 668 km/h (53 853 mph)? With that in mind, space battles in Hollywood movies often take place directly in orbit of a planet which is unrealistic. As soon as a fleet drops out of FTL travel on top of, let's say Earth, the planet would be zooming away from them 30 kilometers per second pass by. Therefore, while ships could move faster than that, keeping a synchronized orbit with a planet would put you at a tactical disadvantage of being predictable while your enemy could freely move to any position to snipe your fleet from afar.

In this universe, space combat for system superiority isn't just 2 fleets facing off each other at visual range like 18th-century naval line battle. Instead, the battle would take place all over the system with fleets and battlegroups using moons, planets, asteroids, electronic warfare and any space anomalies to their advantage as ship weapons capable of accurately striking targets at thousands of kilometers away or lightyears away in case of UNE and Reaper. A fleet doesn't have to be on top of a planet to prevent a planetary landing or evacuation because they could shoot, anywhere in the system, any ships that try to land or leave the planet. Fleets and ships would rarely see the enemy within visual range, if at all.

The bigger the ship, the easier it is to be hit. UNE and Reaper technology is so advanced that they could build smaller capital ships than other factions but still have stronger armor, shielding, power output, more agile and more powerful weaponry. Another unique trait about human ships is, while they have aesthetically pleasing designs, the interior space is not wasted on grand ceremonial halls or rooms that serve no purpose in improving ship and crew performance. Therefore, UNE ships will always be smaller than vessels of the same class from any other faction but they also always pack much more punch and provide a lot more tactical advantage.

The situation of the ally forces against the reaper is becoming direr every passing day. With the consent of the Citadel Council, the UNE has been using highly advanced weapons of mass destruction, that only the UNE technology level could create, in citadel space to slow down the reaper's advance. Gravity manipulation technology was used to create a massive gravitational force, stronger than the outward pressure, at the center of the stars to collapse them and create supernova. A weapon that creates large black holes, mounted on every battleship and larger ship types, was used in conjunction with generating massive space storms to make a large area of space almost impossible to travel and completely uninhabitable. However, all that would hammer any nation in the Milky Way to capitulation serve nothing more than a speed bump and a nuisance to the reaper. They could remove black holes and space storms like the UNE could but with great efficiency and faster.

System after system keeps falling into the reaper's endless waves of machines, and the current Citadel Council's political credibility took a hit. For months, survivors and refugees have been telling the tales of how they were rescued and survived the reapers. The majority of them are about how the Citadel Council's forces failed to hold the line and run away, while UNE fleets and soldiers held their ground valiantly, sometimes even beating back the reaper temporarily. Only the turian and krogan are brave enough to hold the line along with the UNE forces, and for that, they gained much respect from the human soldiers. Stories of isolated UNE human units sacrificing themselves to save hundreds, sometimes millions, of citizens of species that not long ago hated humanity as a whole. Such news and stories spread like wildfire as the Citadel's species viewed UNE as a beacon of hope while the Council struggles to hold onto its political power.

Things are not going any better on the Federation's side either, despite the lower presence of reaper forces. Being supplied by the UNE, the members of the Federations are able to hold the reaper at bay but it has begun to take a toll on them. The 2 hivemind species are the main source of manpower for the federation, however, the constant loss in addition to the reapers trying to disrupt the telepathic link of the queens to its drones are hurting them. A team of scientists and doctors were dispatched to help keep these queens in the fight but despite their best effort, the effectiveness of the hives is reduced significantly. Therefore, the frontline is at risk of failing.

The construction of the Excalibur provides more good news, however. With the help of other nations, it is going on track. Keeping a project on this scale is hard but that doesn't stop the UNE to try its best. Cargo fleets are directed to drop materials and equipment at a random location before being transported through multiple gates to finally arrive at the Uros system.

With significant military defeats one after another, the alliance desperately need a victory to help with the morale. However, the nature of the reaper makes it impossible to have a reliable strategic goal to plan for as they do not hold and control planets or systems. An offensive on their fleet might achieve a temporary pushback but would cost greatly in terms of lives and assets, eventually, the sheer number and technological advantage of the reaper will put them back on the defensive foot in the long run.

-Auraelm planet, Asari's administrative world, Citadel Space-

4 months after the Valley of The Gods events

It's almost sunset in this world, the orange sky is filled with smoke from the burning city below as intense battles are raging on. The 5th SIF is following one of the SAT8s through a narrow alley as dust and, sometimes, small rubbles are falling down on them, with them, is a serval VIPs that they're bringing back to the rendezvous to be extracted off-world. One of them is a high-ranking Asari matriarch who is highly respected by the people and it is here that keeps the nation going the others are top scientists in their fields. Ava doesn't like this alley because it's too narrow and has no cover, but it's the only viable way to get back to the rendezvous point. Explosions and gunfire could be heard all around them indicating the intense fighting against reaper forces is still going on.

Reaching the end of the valley that leads to a boulevard, Ava signals the unit to halt as she hears heavy fighting down the way they're supposed to go. This area is deep behind the enemy line, ally forces were supposed to retreat from this position long ago. She pokes her head over the corner to obverse the situation. Each reaper has a stealth device built into them that prevents TACNet to pick them up through walls, which is why Ava could only guess their number from visual alone. There is a company size of reaper unit that is attacking a small force of ally soldiers who are holding up in a building.

TACNet could pick these allies, it is a small unit of 20 of mixed species. There are 2 UNE soldiers a few other aliens with UNE equipment and the rest are using their own national gears. From that intel, Ava could guess that they were part of a rear guard unit and is now stranded behind the enemy line. The rear guard is crucial in covering the retreat of the main force, during the reaper war, the rear guard units consist of mostly volunteers, and the casualty rate is usually as high as 80%.

Taking advantage of the reaper engaging the other and likely not paying attention to them, Ava leaves 2 SIFs and 1 SAT8 behind to secure the VIPs while moving the rest of the unit into a position so they could attack the reaper from the flank. The boulevard is filled with abandoned vehicles of both military and civilians, rubbles from the damaged or destroyed buildings, dead bodies of both reaper and ally soldiers. Thank to the TAC suit's stealth capability, the reapers also could not detect UNE soldiers behind cover.

Once everyone is in position, Ava gives the order to begin the assault. The SIFs that carry heavy weaponry launch anti-armor missiles that take out a few reaper hulks while the mortars from the SAT8s take out a dozen of reaper husks. Despite being taken by surprise, the reapers quickly get reorganized and begin to fight back on 2 fronts. Their weapon is so powerful that they could disable TAC suit's shield in seconds and easily destroy the covers. Without a reliable cover, the SIFs have to use their speed and agility to cover each other.

The presence of a SIF unit provides a massive morale boost to the stranded soldiers. Because of how effective and seeming invincible they are in combat, the SIFs are seen as super soldiers among the UNE military and all ally forces. They are the master of their craft, extremely effective in both covert op and direct combat, the SIFs presence on the battlefield would mean that the chance of winning or safely retreating is greatly increased. Therefore, morale usually increases significantly even in the most desperate situation when the SIFs show up, especially the 5th SIF platoon.

Despite superior technology, the initial shock of the SIFs attack proved effective as the reapers are now surrounded and lacked the number to maintain an effective defensive line. It doesn't take long for them to take out all the reapers and clear the area. Ava signals for the SIFs to bring the VIP into the building where the stranded soldiers are.

As soon as she is sure that everyone has gotten into the building, Ava enters it and is greeted by one of the UNE soldiers "Captain Liu Bing, 7th FL company, 3rd FL Brigade" he salutes her "Are you our rescue, ma'am?".

The rank of captain in the army is O-3 which is lower ranking than navy's commander which is O-5.

"We're not, captain, our mission is to bring these VIP pass Oscar line so they could be extracted off world" Ava replies "I'm sorry".

"We're push back to Oscar line already?" After a short pause, captain Liu speaks again "We've been here for weeks, let me know your plan, maybe I could point you to the right direction".

Ava pulls up a holographic map and highlight the route "We're going down this boulevard to Lima 8 checkpoint then head Southwest through Mike line then from there straight West to Mike 24 checkpoint and then just head straight for November line".

"Lima 8 and Lima 10 are no go, commander, when we first get our retreat order 8 days ago, our brigade was already half strength. The reaper cut us off from Lima 8 and only over a hundred survived. A few days ago, we tried to sneak back to Mike line through Lima 10 but reaper presence was also high there. We're all that left" Liu replies.

"How about Lima 9?" Ava asks.

"I sent scout to that skyscraper over there yesterday, this is what they got" Liu display images capture by the scout showing that the reaper has already fortified the sector and there's no way to get through.

"A harvest hub" Ava comments. Harvest hub is where the reaper brings dead or alive organic beings to be processed and turn into whatever they need, be it soldiers, machines or simply spare parts. She thinks for a moment then continues "We can go through there".

"Commander?" Liu is confused because the harvest hub is usually very secure, it would be almost impossible to sneak through or fight through even for the SIFs.

"The reapers are part organic part machine but their strategy process is more artificial. That means in their algorithm, the chance of enemy stranded units retreating through there is low. They would not be expecting us" Ava explains.

"Even so, commander, to sneak through such a high concentration of enemy troops" Liu says with a pause "Is it even possible?".

"No" Ava replies then continues "We need a diversion".

Ava calls Ashley to her and proceeds to explain her plan to both Ashley and Liu then ask them to execute it.

The first step is to acquire what they need to create a diversion big enough that the reapers have to respond to. For this, they need more explosives and manpower. According to Liu, his brigade's SAT8s storage and explosive stocks are still mostly intact because the reapers had been busy dealing with pockets of stranded units so they had no time to clear the area. They were left behind when the brigade had to retreat in haste as reaper forces were about to overwhelm their position, now the 5th SIF could take advantage of that.

Because Ava doesn't want the reaper to catch wind of her plan, she makes the mission to obtain the explosives a covert op. As the SIFs are more experience in such ops, squads 1 and 2 will split up and go to 2 different explosive stocks and gather as much as they can. The reaper is very intelligent, if they detect them going for the explosives, there's a high chance their algorithm will anticipate the SIFs' plan. As for the acquisition of SAT8 bots, the storage is closer and located in an area with low reaper activity, it is up to captain Liu's unit to complete. Ava wants a temporary callsign for Liu's unit as they are just a group of surviving soldiers that joined forces, he picks Betty because it is his girlfriend's name. All of this will happen at night because Ava knows that the reaper will expect low activity from them, the organic, during the night. Under no circumstance that they are allowed to use the radio, unless it is an absolute emergency, to avoid their signal being intercepted by the reapers.

The SIF managed to obtain a decent amount of explosives without detection, Betty was unable to avoid a small reaper patrol and got into a small fight, however, they still managed to secure 13 SAT8s without any casualties or serious injuries. In total, they have 17 SAT8s and a dozen sentries at their disposal. It is almost dawn when they are all back at the building and it is time to put Ava's plan into action. Betty is to be split into 2 squads, Betty 1-1 and Betty 1-2, each has 10 soldiers carrying an equal amount of explosives and 7 SAT8s. They will move to the nearest concentration camps to the hub, assault it then plan explosives and double back to the Mike line leaving the SAT8s behind to cause as much noise as possible, creating an illusion of a larger attacking army.

Escorting the VIPs, the SIFs are to make straight for the hub and wait until the reapers send their reaction forces to the concentration camps. Once they arrive at the camp, the explosives are set off to weaken them and help the SAT8s tight them down. The majority of the SIFs begin their assault on the hub while a few of them escort the VIPs to rush through to Mike line.

"Commander!" the asari scientist calls Ava before she could leave.

"What?" she replies.

The scientist gives Ava a piece of hard drive "This is the prototype code I've developed for the Asari Military. In theory, it should paralyze the reapers but it is untested and you need to plug this in a reaper mainframe for the code to work".

"In theory?" Ava is a little annoyed that she didn't tell Ava about this before but there's no time to debate.

"It's untested, commander, I don't know how long it would paralyze the reapers or will it even works at all. I'm giving it to you as an option for you to use" the scientist says.

"Thank you, now go, we don't have time to waste" Ava tells her to move with the other VIPs to safety then orders the platoon to begin the assault.

The 3 SAT8s that remain with the SIFs charge in first, directly into the energy shield. Made of nanotech, one of them uses its body to disrupt the shield, by turning into a solid ring, creating a large enough hole for another SAT8 to pass through. However, the shield cut through it quickly and close up splitting the passing SAT8 in half. In spite of that, the front part of the SAT8 inside the shield raise it 20mm and destroy a shield generator while crawling, using its front legs, to another shield generator and self-detonate before the reapers could destroy it.

As soon as the section of the shield is down, the remaining SAT8s charge in, firing all its weapons and killing everything in sight, the SIFs are not far behind. Once through the breach point, the SIFs quickly spread out and find cover. Dashing and shifting cover to cover, each shot is as deadly and precise as the last, like a programmed well oiled machine, they're taking out reapers at great efficiency. Firing just enough shots to take one down then shift their aim to the next, throwing grenades behind covers and providing covering fire for their advancing squad mates.

When they get closer to the main complex of the hub, the engagement range becomes closers as there are more obstacles and buildings. At the close quarter, the SIFs are as lethal as when they're at range. The perfect reflex and hardened bones, muscles that are made possible by genetic manipulation enhanced by the TAC suit make them agile and capable of powerful attacks.

Their objective is to get to the center of the main building, it used to be a trading center, where the power core powers all the processing operations of the hub. Setting off an explosive at the core will cause a change reaction that will result in significant damage to the hub, most importantly taking out their ability to coordinate and allow the SIFs to escape.

-Somewhere near a concentration camp-

After detonating the explosive and taking out the reapers' transports, Liu is now leading his squad down a small street to Mike line according to the plan. They could hear heavy fighting as the SAT8s and sentries are trying to pin the reapers down behind them and the SIFs assaulting the hub ahead of them.

After a while of running, a turian soldier catches up with Liu "Captain, stop" he says as the squad holds their position, he continues "do you hear it?".

Liu tries to listen to whatever the turian was talking about "No fighting at the camp, did they take out the SAT8s that fast?".

"Your bots are formidable but I doubt even they could fight against such a large reaper force" a krogan adds in.

"We were hoping that they'll last longer" Liu replies then contacts the other Betty squad "Betty 1-2, this is 1-1, sitrep".

"This is Betty 1-2, the diversion is ineffective, reaper forces overwhelmed the SAT8s swiftly. We're making our way back to Mike line as planned. Over" the other squad leader replies.

"Copy that, hold your position for now and wait for further instruction. Over" Liu orders then contacts Ava "Sierra 5, Sierra 5, this is Betty 1-1, both diversion points are ineffective, I repeat, both diversion points are ineffective. Reaper forces movement unknown, most likely heading back to your AO. Over"

"We're nowhere near the core yet, captain, can you hold them off for a few more minutes? I'm not ordering but asking for volunteers. Over" Ava replies.

After a quick consult with his men, Liu gets back to Ava "Commander, we'll buy you time no matter what, but we all would like to know if our sacrifice is worth it".

"These people we're bringing back are crucial for the Excalibur project, that's all I can tell you. Over" Ava replies, her voice a bit down as she knows what she's asking them to do.

"Then I hope what we do here, today will help you kick their asses, commander" Liu replies then gives the order to his unit "Betty 1-2, this is 1-1, cut through the block and try to intercept the returning reapers. We're gonna give Sierra 5 a few more minutes. Let's kill some reapers. Over".