Chapter 4
= place: capital of Shanxi, the second day of the siege =
"The birds are rushing." - the SDF(Self Defence Forces) soldier shouted to his comrades.
The first day of the attack on Shanxi was when the turians took their position and cleared the roads to the city. Now the real fight was starting. With the first sunrise, the turians launched an armored attack against the human forward positions. And here we see the actions of one of the units fighting with turians.
"Where's that goddamn rocket launcher!?" - the officer shouted.
"Here." - said the soldier.
"Finally. See that tank, soldier?"
"Yes sir!"
"I don't want to."
"I understood!" - then took aim and hit the tank directly. The barrier was broken immediately, and the tank itself was blown up, blocking the road.
"Okay, now come with me." - the officer said.
"Can I ask where?" said the soldier.
"You will see and now, move." - and they set off. On the way, they passed the station of soldiers who shot at turians, or as the soldiers called them, "birds". A bit further they entered the building on the 5th floor.
After entering one house, they saw the whole situation and how hard the turians were attacking. Their tanks were already at the very barricades.
"Soldier, there are a few more things I don't want to see." - He showed the turian tanks. - "Now use that rocket launcher and shoot me some birds. Then we retreat to a different position."
"A few shot birds are getting ready." - and the rocket flew straight into the center of the armored column. The rocket smashed the tank and stopped the turians. The next one smashed the in the tank on front.
"Inside!" - the officer yelled as he pulled the soldier in. Soldier released the launcher in shock. The explosion hit a moment later, making a hole and scattering everything in the room.
"Are you alive young?" - the officer asked.
"Yes. The shields have absorbed the entire blast, but it will take a while to regenerate again." - said the soldier. Then he sadly added - "But I dropped the launcher."
"Cool young. It is important that you are safe. Weapons can always be replaced, humans not." - he said, looking around the room, then it dawned on him. - "Young, do you have any more rockets?"
"Yes."
"Then give it to me! I have an idea." - he said and went to get something. Meanwhile, the soldier took the remaining four rockets. When he turned around, he saw an officer with duct tape and a grenade.
"You want-" - began the soldier.
"Yes, now give me those rockets and see what the situation is down there." - the officer said. When he began to stick the rockets and one grenade together with duct tape, the soldier will look down. The larger tank pushed through the previously destroyed smaller models and moved towards the defense line. The defenders had time to get backing from mako and a few more soldiers, but they were still at a disadvantage.
"And what young?" - the officer asked.
"A heavy tank is attacking our positions. Mako tries to stop him but is unlikely to succeed."
"But our gift can succeed." - the officer said proudly holding the makeshift grenade.
"And it surely will work?" - the soldier asked. At that, the officer just smiled.
"Watch and learn." - the officer said and activated the grenade, then threw it straight at the large turian tank. The explosion engulfed the vehicle. After the dust cloud descended, the officer and the soldier saw a turian tank on fire.
Taking advantage of the moment of confusion in the attackers units, the defenders began to counterattack. The turians finally broke down, and they retreated.
"Good job, soldier. You've got a promotion right in the hand. As soon as the 2nd Fleet has smashed these idiots in space and bring reinforcmens, I will personally recommend you to General Williams." - the officer said.
"Thank you, s-"
* BUUUUUUUUUUUM ! *
And the building they were in collapsed on their heads, killing them on the spot. Such things were not only with them but throughout the city. Unable to break through the defenders of Shanxi, the Turians launched orbital bombardment on the first line of defense.
By the end of the day, Shanxi forces had to withdraw from it to 2 lines of defense in the city.
=place: Palaven=
"Decius Verilus on order, sir!" - The captain said, standing to attention. Primarch Fedorian himself stood before him.
"General Desolas Arterius and Specter Saren Arterius said you have a very important cargo to hand over." - said the Primarch.
"I wouldn't call it 'payload'. But yes. What we transport will change the face of the Hierarchy, but only ghosts know if it's for the better." - Decius said.
"You disagree with the order?" - Fedorian asked.
"I am a soldier of the Hierarchy, I have a duty to obey my superior's orders, even if I personally disagree with them." - Verilus said.
"Lead me to this 'payload'." said the Primarch. His guards followed him. All ships of the Hierarchy were of similar construction, hence the Primarch knew that he was going not to the cargo bay, but to the crew quarters. A little further away, they found quarter under guard.
"Where's Nihlus?" - Decius asked.
"He's talking to Kodai." - the guard said.
"Kodai?" - Fedorian asked.
"General Arterius referred to him and his crew as a 'payload'" - said Decius. At this, the Primarch began to have a more inquiring gaze. - "If you come in and see him, it will explain itself immediately."
"Then open the door." - Fedorian said.
"Yes, sir." - the guard said and opened the door, and inside, a male asari with pale skin was talking to a turian soldier.
"By the spirits! Is it- "
"Yes, dear Primarch, this is a first concact." - Decius said.
"Primarch Fedorian!" - Nihlus said, immediately standing to attention and saluting the Primarch.
"I assume it's someone important." - the male asaria said. - "Let me introduce myself. I am Mamoru Kodai captain of the Isokaze-Class Destroyer of the Systems Alliance." - Kodai said.
"Captain Verilus, you have one minute to explain why the captain, the first contact race, is held as a prisoner." - Fedorian said with fury in his eyes.
= One explanation later =
"And he sent a fleet?" - Fedorian said.
"Yes, primarch." - Decius said.
"Who made such an idiot to be in command of the entire fleet!?" - he shouted, hitting the wall with his fist. They all stepped back with a scared expression on their faces.
"What do we know about these people?" - asked the Primarch.
"Not many, but their markings say that our frigates are their cruiser and they have 35 ships. We recovered so much information from Captain Kodai's destroyed ship." - Desolas said.
"Human, is what he said true?" - asked the Primarch.
"Yes and no." - Kodai said.
"What are you saying, that makes no sense?" - Nihlus asked.
"I think sending a fleet of over 100 ships and God only knows how many more soldiers are declaration of war. I will not provide any information until it is ended." - Kodai said.
"Honorable behavior. But we do not want war, and the behavior of General Desolas Arterius will be severely punished. " said the Primarch.
"Then I would like some information on the deployment of your forces, and a written consent that I and my crew will not be hurt." - Kodai said.
"Heard, bring something to write." - the Primarch said to the guards. After a while, all of Kodai's demands were granted, except one.
"Our closest fleet is a day's journey from the base of the attacking fleet, the next one is 1.5 days. Both have over 100 ships, including 2 dreadnought. Now it's your turn." said the Primarch.
"While it is true that your frigate is larger than a cruiser, this only works for Category 1 ships, plus 35 ships are not a combat fleet, but the Shanxi Self Defense Force." - Kodai said.
"What are the Self-Defense Forces?" - Nihlus asked.
"They are the armed forces of the region, but they are not for a full battle. They are mainly anti-pirate, rescue, or repel small raids of enemy forces. As I mentioned it, it is closer to the police than to the actual armed forces. Although they are joining with the real forces of the Alliance to increase our numbers during the war." - Kodai said.
"So, for now, we've been fighting a gang of SPACE POLICIES!" - Decius shouted.
"If you put it like that, then yes." - Kodai said.
"Who ordered this invasion without informing me!?" the Primarch shouted.
"General Desolas Arterius and Specter Saren Arterius." - said Decius.
"If I get them, I will shoot them myself. He always wanted more power and was a potential prymarche candidate, but that's an exaggeration. It is under treason" - said Fedorian.
"If you accuse him of treason and bring him to justice, the Systems Alliance will rather forgive you this invasion after some time. But I advise you to refrain from going into our territory until most people calm down." - Kodai said.
"And what species is humanity?" - Fedorian asked.
"Contradictory." Kodai said.
"How is this contradictory?" - Decius asked.
"Everyone talks and prefers peace, but when you have to go to wars, we do it in the most destructive way imaginable. Before reunification, at the height of the Cold War, we were able to destroy our planet 50 times. Fortunately, we came to our senses in time. This mentality has been preserved in our philosophy. 'You want peace, get ready for war'." - Kodai said.
"I am ordering the nearest 2 fleets to Macedyn base, to be mobilized. Get my ship ready too. I will explain to the commander in person how we will meet at the assembly point." - said the Primarch.
"Yes, sir." - one of his guards said and left.
"Captain Verilus. Whatever General Arterius has ordered you to do I stop and given new orders. You are to treat Captain Kodai and his crew as honorary guests on board, but not let them go. As he mentioned, until we resolve this situation, we cannot disclose any more information." - Fedorian said.
"Yes, sir." - Verilus saluted.
"Now I will go. I have war to stop." - Fedorian said, then left the ship.
= place: relay 314, Salarian frigate =
Onboard its frigate, the STG investigated the strange turian activity in the region.
"Captain Kirrahe. Relay 314 is active." - the officer said.
"WHAT?!" - Kirrahe shouted.
"It's not everything. The scanner detects a large number of space debris." - the officer continued.
"Maybe the turians found the pirates and attacked them." - Commander Rentola suggested.
"The pirates didn't have time to activate the relay before being annihilated at the hands of the turians. Nor would it explain the disappearance of the entire fleet. Something else happened here. Check with the scanner if there are any energy sources, take pictures of the remains, bio-scans, literally anything." - Kirrahe said.
"We have an energy source, but it's very small, it would literally fit in your hand." - the officer said.
"We take it." - Kirrahe said.
"We have photos. Ship designs do not match any known ship. The markings are also different than anything we've had." - Rentola said.
"What are the markings?" - Kirrahe asked.
"'Shanxi SSV Yukikaze'" - said Rentola.
"Unprecedented species detected on site." - another officer said.
"We have this source of energy. It seems to belong to some communication device. Something is recorded on it." - another officer said.
"Display." - Kirrahe ordered.
Someone appeared on the screen that looked like a male asari with a cream skin and something growing out of his head. He communicated in an unknown language, probably something like a diary. Suddenly, the screen flashed. After a while, the device recorded this ship with a hole on its side. Continuing to spin, the device's webcam caught turian ships firing at the unknown ships. Then there was an explosion nearby that interrupted the recording.
"The most likely scenario is that an unknown race tries to activate the relay, and the turian patrol noticed this. Judging by the reaction, they attacked without warning." - Rentola said.
"Something like that could be considered an act of war. I just hope they haven't released the fellow Raknia." - Kirrahe said.
"Fire exchange by troops at the border does not mean war. Such things can be locked up in an incident." - the officer said.
"Where do you think this fleet disappeared?" - Kirrahe asked.
"Fleet must have gone somewhere unknown ... systems ... Gosh." - the officer said.
"Exactly. But we still have to make sure. Helmsman, take us to the relay." - Kirrahe said.
"Aye, sir." - said the steersman.
After a while, they went through the relay to another system.
"Activate the masking system and scanners." - Kirrahe said.
"We detect quite a few debris, but nothing else." - Rentola said.
"Let's hide in the asteroid belt and watch the situation from there. If the turians did invade, they must be sending supplies to the front lines here." - Kirrahe said.
The salarian ship moved towards the asteroid belt, passing the wreckage of turian ships along the way, where they noticed burn marks through their armor.
"Whoever the turians attacked must have energetic anti-ship weapons." - Kirrahe said.
"With us, it is still being refined, the best is GUARDIAN lasers against fighters, rockets, or at a short distance with poor effectiveness." - Rentola said.
"And yet, the traces of the battle speak for themselves. I don't see any debris of this new race here. It must have been a very one-sided battle." - Kirrahe said.
"We're in the asteroid belt." - the steersman said a moment later.
"Something shows up on the radar?" - Rentola asked.
"Exactly, the radar is not working." - said the salarian operating the radar.
Moments later, the crew heard an explosion and the whole frigate shook.
"Report!" - Kirrahe ordered quickly.
"Engines out of order! Something is sticking to the wading board of the ship! We have penetration into the bulkhead!" - Rentola said.
At this point, they began to hear shots, but they were so strange.
"They are attacking us!" - another salarian shouted.
"Everyone to arms! Set up a barricade! Delete all data on the computer and send a message for help!" - He quickly began giving Kirrahe orders.
The boarding team was very good. In a few minutes, Captain Kirrahe lost contact with all parts of the ship except the bridge on which he was on. When they showed up, they tossed some flash grenade which blinded and stunned the rest of the crew for a brief moment. And this moment was enough for the attackers to climb the bridge and overpower each salarian, stunning them.
= place:?, time:? =
"Ow ..." - Kirrahe began.
"Hello, mister sleepyhead. I hope it's not too tight in this cell." - said a voice. - "We were not prepared to take prisoners from outside the Turian Hierarchy, so I don't know what you can eat."
"What?" - Kirrahe said, still half-conscious.
"You are a prisoner of war. And don't worry about your crew. We took all 45 salarians prisoners, there weren't any dead on either side, but there were a few wounded. We let your doctor take care of them." - the unfamiliar voice continued calmly.
Then Kirrahe finally came to his senses. The person speaking to him appeared to be the same race that was attacked by the turain.
"What can you eat? I don't want to have problems with prisoners who die of food poisoning after that. Turians eat Dextro-based food, we Levo-based food, and you?" - the male asari said. He was wearing what looked like a uniform. Judging by his speech, he must have been an officer.
"Also based on Levo."
"Well. I'll tell that to the rest of the base. When the rest of the prisoners wake up they won't accidentally be poisoned, you want some information, nothing secret of course."
"Where am I, what are the turians doing here, and why are you keeping me a prisoner of war?"
"Answer to the first question: You are at the secret base of the Systems Alliance, the official government of humanity. Answer to the second question: The Turians have dispatched a fleet of over a hundred warships and a hundred transport ships to attack our colony - Shanxi and then occupy our home planet, Earth. Our Shanxi Defense Fleet was destroyed by the turians in orbit and they are currently besieging the planet's capital. This base was established on an old pirate base, after skirmishes at the border 5 days ago. The turians here are captives taken from these skirmishes. Answer to the third question: You arrived in the war zone via a relay, so we considered you another turian ship. Your masking system is impressive, but the wreck scanners have detected you. After that, we calculated the probable place of arrival and sent the ship and a squad of marines to take over the ship. Until diplomatic relations are established with your government, it will be ours. Something else?"
"When are you going to establish diplomatic ties with our government?"
"As soon as we retake Shanxi and take over the virtually undefended base in Macedyna now. Then we'll publicly tell the galaxy what's going on, and our diplomats will be sent to the Citadel. Before that, we will risk intercepting these ships by the turians. Which is about 3 days. Oh, I forgot, your message was not sent. This field disturbs all waves comunication."
nach77/art/Turian-APC-Tank-Concept-692686683 – Turian APC Tank Kroax
nach77/art/Turian-Tank-Concept-692686640 – Turian heavy tank Vantrox
euderion/art/Salarian-Frigate-Concept-564581879– Salarian frigate
