Castle of Salvation
8 Years Earlier
Blacksite Conference Room, Minas-Kito System.
"And how do you intend on creating this... Gene Plague, Saleon?" A distorted voice asked.
"The Humans, they are the key to ending this war." The Salarian researcher explained.
Saleon stood there in the conference room alone. Nobody else was there but him... not even the Dalatrass that had brought him into the fold.
She rarely visited anyways.
Being projected before him was the holographic avatars being used by some of the most powerful people in the galaxy. Normally they'd be on each others throats, but these are drastic times... drastic enough to set aside their differences and focus on the one thing that will benefit them all:
Ending the war.
"Elaborate." Another distorted voice demanded.
"The Turians... their biology makes them extremely hardy against illnesses." Saleon began. "Their immune system is the envy of the galaxy, able to conquer any sickness which dares plague them, be it alien or domestic. Many of our own biological attacks have seen negligible long term effects, many of which are potent enough to debilitate fully grown Krogans. The planet they evolved is host to very hostile microbial creatures, not too indifferent to Tuchanka's hostile fauna, though it is hostile in a different sense. Ironic that the only other Dextro race in this galaxy would die from the extreme sicknesses which the Turians have otherwise learned to live with."
"Saleon, the point." A third voice cut him off.
"I'm getting there." Saleon defended himself. "The Turian immune system is almost akin to a supercharged natural firewall. It is able to filter out and eradicate dangerous viruses, bacteria, and other sorts of infections with frightening efficiency and accuracy. This seems to happen because their immune systems have already been trained to spot these dangers on a genetic level. The Turian's reproductive process plays a large role in this matter. The mother passes on some form of genetic memories to each and every one of her offspring. One of the key things being passed on are the genetic memories stored in her DNA."
The holographic figures... his sponsors, for a lack of better terms, were clearly becoming agitated at all this science talk. The Salarian xenobiologist decided to try and make his explanations as succinct as possible as he continued.
"This is why Turians have rarely ever bothered with vaccinations. Instead of having to engineer and prod their immune systems into targeting the sicknesses the hard way like we do ourselves, theirs are trained to do so even before birth. Whatever sicknesses the Turian parents have been subjected to, it is almost always guaranteed that the offspring won't ever have to suffer it in their lifetime, and their offspring in theirs, and so on."
"What are you suggesting?" The last voice spoke.
"To cripple them in the long run, we must attack them at a genetic level." Saleon continued. "We must be able to interfere with their reproductive cycle and corrupt the information which is passed down from parent to offspring."
"You believe that the Humans are somehow key to this." The first voice concluded.
"That is correct." Saleon replied. "Using our stealth probes, we've been monitoring one of their colonies for the past year. What have we discovered about them?"
When none of his sponsors answered, he answered the question by himself.
"These Humans are diverse. They come in different sizes, colors, phenotypes... their genetic variety is unprecedented. Their biological capacity for difference and diversity differentiates them from the rest of the galaxy's denizens. I can only begin to speculate as to how their biology functions. With proper re-engineering, I can use the Human's undoubtedly complex genetic material as a platform for a self-mutating virus, capable of outsmarting and overpowering even the hardiest of Turian immune systems."
A moment of silence fell on the conference room. Saleon didn't doubt that his sponsors had muted him and were discussing between themselves. The Salarian researcher quietly waited in his place. He was certain that he could make it work... it was convincing his superiors that was the problem.
After a while, the three voices returned.
"Your plan sounds feasible." The first voice replied.
"We will allow you to proceed and prepare for your project." The third voice added.
"How will I get the Human genetic material I need for my work?"
"Leave that to us, doctor." The second voice answered. "You will have your genetic material, and you will have it soon."
"Make this worth it." The third voice finalized, concluding the conference.
-000-
Present Day
Blacksite Outer Sentry Tower, Minas-Kito System, April 1, 2193
Saren peeked out from the cover he was in. He pulled out a monocular and looked down from the fortress and down the mountain.
"Lots of movement." He said into his communicator. "They're mobilizing."
Saren flipped a switch on the monocular and synced it to the scope on his squadmate's rifle.
"Sighting systems synced." The other Blackwatch operator reported. "Let's pick off the important ones."
Saren scanned the foot of the mountain, where the mercenaries were rallying.
"I see one... a Krogan, 781 meters bearing three-three-two, wearing bright red, he's shouting and pointing around." Saren told the sniper.
"I see him." The sniper replied. He traced the bright purple line leading from Saren's monocular to the big red Krogan that was mentioned. The line was visible only in their HUD, allowing them to coordinate without prying eyes.
"You may fire when ready." Saren told his sniper.
The Blackwatch sniper adjusted his sights and calibrated it to match the distance to his target as well as the wind speed between them. He loaded in an anti-armor shot into the gun and placed his finger on the trigger. The sniper fired the weapon, and the bullet launched itself at hypersonic speeds. Travelling the distance, the bullet arced its way towards the large Krogan with frighteningly quickly. The EMP field generated by the small magnetic emitter inside the projectile allowed the bullet to slip through the Krogan's personal shields. Following that, the armor piercing tip punched right through the merc's hardened composite helmet, running straight to his head. A satisfying red mist jetted out of the entry hole even as the bullet punched all the way into the Krogan's cranium and messing up his brain matter. The large mercenary fell and died as blood continued to ooze out of his wound.
"One down." The sniper reported.
"Confirmed." Saren replied. "Searching again."
Now Saren spotted another merc, this one caused the Force Commander's mandibles to visibly twitch in disgust.
"Spotted... a deserter." Saren spat out. "Distance is 642 meters, bearing oh-four-four. He's wearing dark green, with yellow stripes."
The Turian being targeted was in the middle of a group, a typical Turian squad formation.
"Got the bastard." The sniper replied.
A crack rang through the air as the Blackwatch sniper fired once more. Saren watched the deserter get hit dead center in the chest. The armor he wore dispersed some of the kinetic force being driven through him, but it wasn't enough. The bullet tore through the deserter's torso and punched out in the back. A jet of deep blue blood sprayed onto the other deserters behind him, covering them with their former leader's innards.
"Scratch one." The Blackwatch sniper said disgustedly.
"Relocating." Saren announced.
Both he and the sniper picked up their equipment and changed their position. This was to avoid having their positions pinpointed and receiving returning fire.
As Saren and the other operator ran between positions, down on the entrance Nihlus was doing his best to organize the defenders. It was hard enough as it was with someone of a different species, but it was doubly so with these people. They were only recently released from their captivity. A lot of them were barely fit to stand on guard, fewer still actually had the training to fight. Not a lot of the Human soldiers that were brought here made it out alive seeing as most of them were the first to be the test subject. Out of the two hundred or so Humans they freed, a little over thirty was in any shape or form to fight. Arming them using weapons they were not at all familiar with is just another issue they have to contend with.
"Remember, stay in cover and fire on targets of opportunity!" Nihlus reminded them.
A grunting noise, one Nihlus assumed to be one of approval, came from one of the Human defenders. The Turian Force Commander couldn't help but shake his head. He had gotten himself into something far more sinister than he had expected. He looked at the defenders standing on the makeshift trench they had dug out earlier. It wasn't the best position in the Galaxy, but it was better than nothing.
The group waited a little while longer as Saren and the sniper took potshots at the enemy. It wasn't that much longer until Saren called them bearing terrible news.
"Kryik, looks like they're finally making a big push... ETA 7 minutes." He reported.
"Copy that." Nihlus confirmed. "Take cover and get to your second phase position, Arterius. Cover us when we pull back."
"I remember the plan." Saren jabbed.
The sound of shouting and heavy footsteps came from the path leading up to the mountain. The defenders, both Turian and Human alike, tightened their grips on their weapons. When the first of their attackers crested the incline, the battle had officially began.
"Remember Shanxi!" One of the Humans shouted out her war cry.
"For Shanxi!" The others echoed.
The Humans opened fire, firing at their enemy's general direction. The attackers dived onto the ground as they tried to reduce their profile. The sheer volume of admittedly inaccurate shots was enough to give even the hardiest Krogan mercenaries pause. Lead projectiles flying at hypersonic speeds would graze or wound a mercenary or two, but for the most part the Human defenders were ineffective.
This was fine though, Nihlus and his soldiers had expected this.
As the Humans continued their stream of lead and fire, the Blackwatch operators took the time to aim their shots. Accurate bursts of projectiles rained on the encroaching mercenaries. Suppressed and slowed by the Humans, many of them ended up being vulnerable to the better prepared Turians. The defenders fell into a rhythmic pattern, where a barrage of lead would be followed by bursts of fire. This repeated for some time before the mercenaries started getting too close.
"Alright, fall back to the second line!" Nihlus ordered.
The Humans were first to leave the forward trench. Most of them got out unscathed, but one unfortunate soul tripped on an ill placed stone. As he scrambled to get up, he was shot in the back by one of the mercenaries. He died quickly, as the bullet had severed his spine and shot through his heart. Nihlus cursed as his operators retreated behind the gates and into the second trench. He and the other Turians scrambled into position as the mercenaries fell on the first trap.
In their rush to cross the trench, the mercenaries failed to notice the well placed explosives spread throughout the 9 meter long defensive line. With the push of a button, the first line was obliterated and scattered the mercenary spearhead. It would take them some time to regroup for another assault, which meant that the defenders could catch their breath.
"How are we doing?" One of the Humans shouted out.
"We're about to die and get dog piled by a horde of Xeno motherfuckers... I think we're doing fan-fucking-tastic!" Another one replied.
A few 'hoo-rah's and grim laughter was shared among the other Humans. Nihlus wasn't sure how good easing up tension could be in a situation like this, but he supposed that it was just a common Human coping mechanism to use humor at their bleakest situations.
"These Humans are crazy," Haliat whispered over the radio. "we should have just kept them inside and out of our way. The experiments on them must have made them unhinged."
"No, Haliat. That's just how these Humans are." Saren replied.
Nihlus shook his head.
"Give me a report." Nihlus ordered over the comms. "How are we doing?"
"Not good." Haliat answered. "No reply from the Human fleet yet."
"By my count, we still have enough ammo to last a few more hours." Saren answered. "That is, if we don't get overrun first."
The sounds of footsteps from outside the walls started getting louder. Shouting and hollering also increased in it's volume as another attack is surely on its way.
"Second assault, everyone get ready!" Nihlus called out.
It was an unnecessary order, as all the defenders were already in their positions, but something Nihlus did anyway.
The first mercenaries to show up through the gates were greeted by a semi-circular defense pattern, with the gate on the inner side of the curve. The defenders were on a more comfortable and advantageous position as they opened fire on the attacking mercenaries. Saren and the sniper opened fire against the targets which were being funneled through the gates, with the Force Commander having picked up a Salarian built LMG.
"Haliat, if those Humans don't answer soon, we're going to be out of options, fast." Saren told him over the radio. The constant staccato of the acquired LMG heard both through the radio and normally.
"Still transmitting, no response."
Nihlus clenched his mandibles, but said nothing. He focused on firing another burst of accurate shots as the mercenaries had finally pushed through and taken hold of some defensive positions inside the courtyard.
A loud cry of pain to Nihlus' right caught his attention. Turning to see what caused it, he was disheartened to see another one of the Human defenders dead on the ground. Their numbers are starting to dwindle, and things were starting to become bleak...
Well, bleak-er.
"Everyone fall back into the main lobby, get to the third position!" Nihlus ordered.
The defenders began a fighting retreat deep into the facility, where they had their last line of defense.
'Damned Humans can't come fast enough.' Nihlus thought to himself.
The positions the defenders have taken will be where they make their last stand on this cursed mountain.
Nihlus was last into the building. He took one last look at the sky and thought he saw several blue flashes and delta shaped silhouettes appear in the far and faded distance. As he entered the building, Haliat radioed in. This time, he finally had some good news.
"Sir, I think you're going to want to hear this..."
Haliat relayed the message he had receive to his Force Commander.
"This is Rear Admiral Steven Hackett, commander of the Alliance 6th Expeditionary Fleet. We've heard your call for reinforcements. Help is on the way."
-000-
Meanwhile, In orbit...
"Come on you lousy fucks, get a move on!" Zaeed barked out. "We've got places to be!"
A plan of attack had been quickly assembled based on orbital scanning of the mountain complex. First on the ground will be Zaeed and the 404th Airborne Attack Company, followed closely by forces from the 1st Marine Division. It only took them a few minutes to be brought up to speed. The information that the Turians on the ground provided was essential in allowing them to move as fast as they could. The plan was relatively simple: the 404th will deploy and secure landing zones for the 1st Marine Division to deploy. Once they were ready, the combined force will begin their assault and take on the mercenary combatants from the rear. It was expected that the mercs would try to contest their landing and try to reinforce their flanks, so everyone involved should be prepared for a hard fight.
At least, that was the plan on paper.
Zaeed knew that Vido and a sizable chunk of the 404th was planning to desert. He had brought this up to Harper's attention quietly, and it would seem that the spook was already hatching plans to deal with this.
'We need to handle this delicately.' Zaeed recalled what Harper told him earlier.'Find out who's joining in on the mutiny. Seperate them from those who's loyalty is to the Alliance, but do so discretely. We can't tip off the mutineers before the time comes.'
'What about the Admiral? What are you going to tell him?'
'I will inform him once things are under wraps. We need to make sure this problem is solved before it reaches his ears.'
Before boarding his own transport, Zaeed shortly locked eyes with Vido, the head of the mutineers, who was boarding a separate transport. Looking at those around the head mutineer, he couldn't help but notice those who were entering the transports were only those he flagged as 'treacherous'. Already, Harper's machinations were beginning show itself to him.
Boarding the Goliath transport, Zaeed saw that the contents of his transports were the inverse, that being only loyal soldiers joined him. Something felt off, but Zaeed put it aside as the 404th's Goliath transports took off from the Black Typhoon's hangar bay and descended towards the planet.
One of the soldiers close to, Hakim, Zaeed tried to talk to him over the ruckus that was atmospheric entry.
"Hey chief, you heard? Micks and Kono called in sick." Hakim shouted out, his voice barely audible over the sounds of the engine and the rattling of components.
"Is that so? Ain't they the lads piloting Santiago's transports?" Zaeed asked back
"Yeah, they were."
"Who the hell's flying 'em now?"
"I don't know, a couple of new guys I never heard of." Hakim answered. "A pair of guys going by Pierro and Walter."
Zaeed was starting to see the pieces on the board, but the big picture still eluded him. Looking out of one of the transport's windows, Zaeed looked at Santiago's transport and furrowed his brows as he struggled to put things together.
Zaeed heard a crack, and then a sound like some kind of engine burning closer and closer. Before he could process this, he thought he saw a thing or two suddenly fall out of the transport's cockpit. Then Santiago's transport exploded.
A fighter plane zoomed past between the falling wreck of a plane and Zaeed's transport. It moved far too quickly for anyone to recognize, and just like that it disappeared in the distance.
"Ah shit! Command, Santiago's plane just got shot down! Requesting permission to look for survivors." Zaeed shouted into his radio.
"Denied." Hackett buzzed through the comms. "We need you to continue with the operation. We'll send another team to secure the crash site."
Zaeed cursed and slammed the wall behind him.
"Understood." Zaeed bitterly answered. "Proceeding with operations."
-000-
You have your orders.
The words echoed in his ears.
Lieutenant Kai Leng and Dagger team were already prepped and briefed for their mission well before the transport was shot down.
The team boarded one of the new Kodiak transports. It was smaller, more cramped than the older Mammoths, but they were faster, more agile, and quieter than the Mammoths. Perfect for the kind of missions that Leng and his team usually went on.
Leng and his team were under no illusions that what they were doing was highly illegal. Cleaning up and sweeping through the burning mess that crashed into the surface was a delicate matter. So many different things could go sideways, could go catastrophic. Only the best could be called to do this mission, and N7 were the best there was.
Anderson would never have agreed to this, which is why he and his squad was assigned to General Williams for the main operation. Leng and his team were no strangers to doing wetwork for the ACI.
This mission was no different.
They descended into the planet. It seemed to be late at night where they were. This was great cover for their movements. They landed on a clearing close to the crash site. In the darkness, all they had to was follow the orange glow of the fires to find their way.
Fire and wreckage cut a swath through the forest, a trail of destruction carved out by the crashing transport. Leng and his team fanned out to cover as much ground as possible.
As he scoured the wreckage, Leng saw a man pinned to the ground by some wreckage. The man called out to Leng for help.
"Man... You gotta help me... please..." The pinned man begged.
Leng scanned his face with his helmet. He was confirmed to be a mutineer. No words were spoken by the operator to the pinned man. His only answer was a three round burst through the mutineer's face. The suppressor mounted on his rifle helped dampen the noise, ensuring that anyone who can fight back would not be immediately alerted.
"One down." he quietly said to his radio.
A few pops of suppressed shots came from Leng's left side. A quick look to that direction revealed that one of his operators was also executing a mutineer. The two N7 operators nodded at each other before continuing with the mission.
Leng executed another mutineer, and then another, before he was interrupted by the sounds of groaning and bending metal. A loud crash came from a few dozen meters away as the whole N7 team's attention was drawn to it. Leng and his team gathered into formation before making their way towards the source of the disturbance. The noises made it sound as though the shattered debris and pieces of the Goliath transport was being pushed or even shoved aside by something.
This had to be investigated.
Cresting a small hill, the N7 operators finally realized what was making the noise.
A large number of the mutineers had survived. They had just cleared the debris which buried an AFV, and it would seem that the armored vehicle was fully operational.
Those damned colonials from Belka built their vehicles too damn well.
One of the mutineers spotted Leng and his team. There was no hesitation from their part. The mutineers raised their weapons, scrambled into cover, and the AFV swung its autocannon barrel towards the N7 operators.
"Get the fuck down!" Leng shouted to his team.
As the operators hit the deck, a barrage of autocannon shots whizzed right where they were mere few seconds ago.
"Everyone scatter, take out the vehicle!" Leng ordered.
One on one, a mutineer from the 404th couldn't possibly hope to fight off an N7 operator. As it stood now, the mutineers had the numbers and the firepower advantage. This would be a bloody uphill battle for Leng and his team.
As fast as his training allowed him, the operator with the rocket launcher had deployed the anti-tank weapon and targeted the AFV. The rocket was launched successfully, but it suddenly exploded before making contact.
Damn, the new APS systems were about as effective as the tests had indicated.
"For fuck's sake!" The rocketeer cussed out.
The mutineer infantry forced the N7 operators into cover.
"God dammit, nobody told me they had armored support with them!" Another operator yelled out.
"Cut the chatter." Leng barked out. "Dagger 4, suppress the ones on the left side. 2 and 3, you're supporting my advance. Dagger 5, stay in cover but get ready to blow that damned AFV sky high!"
His team acknowledged and they sprang into action. Dagger 4 deployed his Revenant GPMG and began raining lead onto the left flank's general direction. A few of the mutineers were caught of guard by this, but they quickly adapted and acted appropriately.
With the enemy distracted, Leng and his little posse of operators managed to cover the 12 meter distance between their old position and the new one quickly. They slid into cover behind a sizable piece of Goliath debris. Mutineer fire pelted their position, but was responded in kind by Dagger 2 and 3, who began covering fire for their commander. Leng moved forward, to a position close enough to sabotage the armored vehicle's APS system easily. He pulled out an incendiary grenade as he clung on to the AFV's side and slid the grenade right beside the APS turret. The grenade detonated, causing the APS laser system to burn and fail as the intense heat not only melted the lenses off the emitter, but also damaged the internal RADAR system beyond repair. Leng jumped off and scurried into cover as a hail of lead swept through his previous position.
Dagger 5 didn't need to be ordered to know his turn was on. He sighted the launcher and fired an anti-tank rocket at the AFV. It was hit dead center on the driver's cabin as the explosion punched and melted through the front plate. Against an actual tank, the rocket may have only dealt minor damage, but against the lesser armored AFV, it was overkill. The fire inside spread through the vehicle and eventually consumed the munitions under the turret. A jet of flame blasted the turret hatch clean off as if it was cork on a champagne bottle.
"Fuck yeah!" The rocketeer cheered.
His celebration was premature as a second AFV arrived to reinforce the mutineers. A barrage of fire forced the N7 operators to keep hunkering down as lead continued to be shot their way.
Listening closely, Leng noticed that the cannon fire against them had intensified, but the small arms fire began to wither. Peeking out, the N7 operator's fears were confirmed. Two more AFVs had arrived, as well as armored transports.
The mutineers were evacuating.
"The bastards are evacuating, take them out!"
The rocketeer launched another anti-tank shot, but it never reached anywhere close to the APCs. It was intercepted by one of the AFVs and their APS turrets.
The mutineers all loaded into the APCs and they backed away from the fight. The AFVs stuck around longer to cover the unarmed APC's retreat before withdrawing themselves. When Leng was reasonably sure it was clear he peaked out.
The fuckers were gone.
"Dammit." He cursed.
"Command isn't going to like this." The 2nd operator mused.
"Fuck no, they aren't." Leng replied, gritting his teeth.
He and his team were outmatched, by a large margin.
"Call Harper," Leng sighed out as he turned to his men. "Tell him the fucking mess is still on the loose."
-000-
General Williams and forward elements of the 1st Marine Division had landed safely on a ridge not too far from the mountain complex. They had met lighter resistance than expected when landing. Whether this was by their enemy's design or actual good fortune for a once, the General really didn't know. What he did know, was that time is crucial. Time wasted here was more time for the aliens to overrun the complex, and time that the defenders had to pay with their blood.
"All forces are accounted for, ready for your orders, sir!" An officer reported.
"Good." Williams confirmed before turning to his radio and giving out orders. "All forces, form up and advance with haste."
The tanks and APCs -numbering in battalion strength- advanced upwards as the first wave. A second and third wave of transports will arrive shortly, mostly carrying mechanized infantry. These will follow the armored spearhead provided by the armored battalion, as well as provide reinforcements when the first strike looses momentum. The General himself was in his personal command APC, a modified version of the M105 Grizzly. Williams had his vehicle's troop compartment converted into a combat network nexus for his troops.
"Strider Team, report." Williams spoke to his radio.
Far ahead of the armored battalion, Anderson and his team of newly minted N7 operators were acting as forward scouts. Strider Team was ordered to scope out the route ahead and eliminate any 'minor' stumbling blocks that could slow down the first wave from engaging the main enemy group.
"This is Strider 1, only small groups of hostiles so far." Anderson answered. "Moving forward as planned."
Anderson turned to his team and nodded to them. The group emerged from the trees they used as cover and disabled their cloak system before opening fire. The new M7 rifles were proved to be effective in medium range firefights. The N7 operators fired in short and controlled bursts, compensating for the back heavy nature of the weapon. Strider Team advanced out into the open as they neutralized all the mercs in their way.
"And here I was thinking that they'd put up a bigger fight." Strider 4 -Morris- answered.
"We caught these ones off guard." Anderson rebuked. "The four-eyes were the weakest of all the aliens and they still took us five years to fight off."
The team nodded and regrouped.
"Strider to Command, they've got a bare minimum rear guard." Anderson radioed back to the spearhead. "At this rate, we'll make it there ahead of schedule."
"Acknowledged." Williams replied. "Continue your advance."
Strider team pushed onwards, neutralizing and dispatching what little resistance they had faced. Three, four, then five checkpoints fell to them quickly. It wasn't until the sixth checkpoint that things started to get serious.
Anderson and his team remained cloaked. Hiding in the foliage, they were practically invisible to the enemy.
"Command, this is Strider 1... Big group over here, looks like two dozen." Anderson reported. "Better armed, better equipped, looks like better trained too."
The N7 leader wasn't kidding. These aliens he was looking at looked serious. Half of them he recognized as Krogan, the big reptilian aliens. The other half he believed were Asari, a race of blue skinned women, all of which had biotic powers just like his old buddy Saren. These aliens were dug in and prepared for a fight, unlike their previous compatriots who were taking their job at an almost leisurely pace.
"Whoa chief, these pendejos look serious." Strider 2 -Velasquez-, Anderson's second in command, commented.
"Think they're here responding to us?" Strider 3 -Micks- asked.
"That's not out of the question." Anderson answered.
He observed the aliens a little bit more and noticed that two of them had similar insignias on their shoulder plates. Some sort of avian like symbol, with its wings made out of six bars. Anderson didn't know what it meant, but he reckoned it didn't mean good news.
"Alright, same plan as always." The N7 leader told his team.
They nodded and proceeded to their positions. Spreading out, the N7 team picked up positions favorable to their specializations. The gunner took a place with a wide angle view of the enemy. The sniper mounted a tree for a height advantage. The remaining two joined Anderson as they would be the ones engaging the enemy up close.
Giving the signal to the two operators with him, Anderson opened up the attack by decloaking and opening fire on the closest Krogan soldier. Anderson's fears were proven right when a blue energy field flared around the Krogan as his shots ricocheted and sparked all over the place.
"Damn those shields... these guys are tougher than the last one!" Strider 5 -Davis- called out.
"Switch to the high impact configuration!" Anderson reminded them as he flicked a switch on his rifle.
His rate of fire was reduced, and the kickback from each shot was increased, but the amount of kinetic energy each shot now carried was increased by several orders of magnitude. The already powerful Lancer rifle was enhanced even further, at the cost of a bruised shoulder.
The rapid cracks and pops of gunfire quickly turned into a staccato of loud thuds and booms. The 10mm lead balls usually shot my the rifle was increased by an extra 6mm. Though the projectile moved slower, it carried more weight and momentum -perfect to wear down shields faster.
The initial surprise of the attack was enough to put the aliens on the backfoot, but nowhere near enough to take them down.
"These sons of bitches are tougher than they looked!" Velasquez yelled out. He ducked down to avoid a bolt of biotic energy being hurled at him. The biotic strike hit a tree behind him, shattering its trunk and causing it to topple.
"Morris, pick off the blue ones." Anderson ordered the sniper. "Davis, I want suppressive on the fucking lizards. Don't let them regroup!"
Yells of acknowledgement was heard as the operators quickly executed their new orders.
A hail of lead swept through the Krogan positions, pushing them into cover. Despite their superior shielding, not even they will last long in the face of such overwhelming fire.
Anderson took cover before shouting into his radio.
"Command, we've got a force of two dozen... well armed, well trained." He reported.
"We read you, Strider." Williams answered. "Hold for reinforcements, we're a few minutes out."
Anderson peeked out of cover to find a target, but ducked back into cover when a hail of bullets ran into the rock he was hiding behind.
"Velasquez, drop some smoke! Everyone, fall back to the tree line!" Anderson ordered.
His second in command complied and threw a smoke grenade between them and the enemy. The three attacking operators quickly sprinted towards the trees as the got covering fire from the team's machine gun and sniper.
"Hold here!" Anderson yelled out as he unslung his signature grenade launcher.
Racking the slide to load a shot into the chamber, Anderson then flicked the safety switch to fire as he shouldered the weapon. He adjusted the sights and calculated the distance to his target and then waited for a target. Anderson squinted and watched for movement in the smokescreen. When he saw the silhouette of a Krogan, he quickly pulled the trigger thrice. The semi-automatic grenade launcher quickly launched three 20mm grenades down range. The signature thunk, thunk, thunk noise of the grenade launcher firing made itself known to the field as Anderson fired in a low arc. The impact triggered grenades exploded as they touched the ground, kicking up dirt and debris into the air. A bright yellow flare flashed from inside the smoke, and a blast of concussive force dispersed the impeding screen, revealing that one of the Krogans holding up a purple-blue barrier around them.
"Those God damn fucking wizards and their God damned magic." Davis cussed out.
The N7 operators all opened fire on the barrier, but found little results if any. Lead rounds pelted and pulverized themselves as they crashed upon the biotic barrier. The Krogan had to halt his advance as it would seem that even he could not hold against the combined firepower of a whole N7 team. Anderson was starting to feel a slight relief as he believed they were burning down the alien biotic. However this was quickly turned to dread when he saw two of the Asari commandos line up beside the Krogan biotic and bolstered his barrier with their own.
"Aw hell, what else can they pull out of their asses?" Morris yelled out.
The aliens started slowly advancing, returning their fire and suppressing the N7 operators. It was only then that Anderson received a message from the first wave
"Anderson, this call-sign Backstroke, leading Able Company." A tank commander spoke in the radio. "We're moving in from your south east. Draw the aliens to a clearing 26 meters in that direction so our tanks can engage them."
"Copy that Backstroke, N7 team is moving to your location!" Anderson answered.
He turned to his opetators then called them out.
"You heard the man, everyone bug out!" The N7 leader ordered.
The N7 operators uprooted themselves and pulled back. As they made a fighting retreat, the alien force slowly made chase, cautiously moving forward and sweeping for traps. Anderson and his team made sure to allow the aliens to keep up, standing their ground as to feign a fight every once in a while to maintain the enemy's engagement.
A bolt of biotic energy was launched from one of the Asari commandos, it flew in a straight line, right at one of the N7 operators. The bolt exploded, releasing its energy and launching the operator into the air. His trajectory caused his lower back to clip a tree, throwing him into a spin and falling face first into the ground.
"Velasquez is hit!" Morris called out.
"Fucking xeno wizards!" Davis cussed out.
"Cover me while I grab him!" Anderson ordered.
The team provided covering fire as Anderson sprinted towards his downed second in command. Upon reaching him, the N7 leader found that he had landed on a bad position... his legs looked limp and his hips were turned in an uncomfortable angle.
"Agh... dios mio." Velasquez grit out. "Captain, is that you?"
"I'm here, Vee." Anderson tried to reassure him. "Can you walk?"
"I can... I can't feel my fucking legs." Velasquez said, still gritting his teeth.
"Dammit." Anderson cursed. "I'm going to have to pick up and carry you."
Anderson slung his rifle and bent down to pick up his second-in-command. He turned Velasquez over so that his back was on the ground, then pulled him up and carried him around his shoulders.
"Strider team, fall back now!" Anderson called out.
The N7 team continued their retreat with the aliens on their tail. Small arms fire continued whizzing in their direction, occasionally making a glancing strike against the hardened N7 composite armor pieces. The group ran as fast as they possibly could towards the location provided by Backstroke. Another biotic strike was thrown towards the team, but missed Anderson by an inch. The ball of energy struck a large rock ahead of the N7 leader, causing it to shatter. Fragments of the shattered rock flew in every conceivable direction. Anderson reflexively raised his arm to shield his armored face-plate as he ran through the raining debris.
"Sonuva bitch!" Davis cried out, barely avoiding a large chunk of rock flying through the air.
In the chaos, the operators briefly shook off the tailing aliens. They ran the last stretch of the distance to the clearing the armored battalion were supposed to be at, widening the gap between them. The N7 team was were greeted by a large open path with a column of armored vehicles moving towards them to their right. The leading tank had its commander sitting with his torso out of the hatch. He waved at the N7 team, acknowledging them. Davis pointed back towards the tree line, shouting at the tankers.
"That direction, two dozen strong!" The N7 machine-gunner yelled. "Light them the fuck up!"
The leading tank commander, who Anderson assumed was Backstroke, gave a thumbs up and sunk into his tank. The commander's hatch was closed right before the turret swung around towards the tree line. Tanks and armored vehicles further down the line followed suit and rotated their guns towards where the enemy was. When one of the gunners saw movement in the woods, he opened fire and his fellow gunners followed suit. Overwhelming fire from main cannons and coaxial machine-guns raked the forest and sent whatever was standing there into oblivion.
Amidst all this, Anderson and his team made their way to an armored vehicle, one designated as the company's mobile medical facility. The armored column halted its advance, but did not stop firing their weapons. The armored ambulance lowered its rear hatch and two medics exited the vehicle.
"He took a nasty hit on his back, says he can't feel his legs." Anderson told the medics.
The medics nodded, then took Velasquez from Anderson. The N7 leader gave his second in command's a reassuring pat on the shoulder before letting the medics do their put him on the ambulance's medical bed and closed the rear hatch.
"Strider, this is Command." Williams spoke to the N7 leader via comms. "Have you linked up with Able Company yet?"
"Command, this is Strider, we just got to them." Anderson replied. "One casualty, no deaths."
"That is unfortunate, but the war isn't over yet." The General offered his condolences. "You're going to be assigned to Able Company and joining them on the first attack wave on the mountain facility."
Anderson sighed out, but gathered his wits and straightened himself.
He looked at his team, who were already keyed in on the conversation. They looked tired, but they were willing to push on. The other operators gave him a nod of confirmation, reinforcing this.
Anderson nodded in return, then spoke to the general.
"Affirmative," He answered. "We'll mount up ASAP."
-000-
Tela winced and grit her teeth as Wrex half-carried her to their transport shuttle.
When they chased down the group of Human soldiers, she had expected to at least capture one to interrogate. With twenty four operators against the Human's five, the odds should have been all in their side. What they did not expect was to suddenly face an organized armored force which was willing to liberally use their armaments.
A lucky shot had penetrated her shield and her biotic barrier, striking through her abdomen and exiting her back. A spray of Kolto Gel managed to seal the wound, but it still hurt like the abyss. Wrex had quickly called for an evac transport from the Guiding Light. The Krogan himself was also hit on his right shoulder, but was able to shrug it off by virtue of being an aged Krogan warrior.
The two SPECTREs and the surviving troops under their command reached the shuttle, all of them in pretty rough condition. Wrex gingerly set her down on a seat before taking a seat beside her. Tela touched the sealed wound, but winced as she did. She balled up her fists and nearly slammed it on something, but refrained from doing so as any sudden movements would agitate her injuries.
What a disaster.
As the shuttle took off and made its way towards the Guiding Light, Tela shook her head back, exasperated. Turning to her SPECTRE partner, she asked bluntly.
"How many did we loose?" The Asari SPECTRE Agent asked.
"Too many." Wrex answered wryly.
Tela hit her seat's headrest with her head in frustration.
"I should have known they were drawing us into a trap." She chided herself.
"We could have been a bit more cautious," Wrex said. "but we couldn't have known that they could have deployed an armored unit so quickly."
"That's not a fucking excuse, Wrex." Tela cursed. "We're supposed to be the best of the best. We fell for the most basic trick in the book. The most basic fucking one!"
Her cursing and aggressive posture caused some agitation on her wounds. Tela nearly cried out as she reflexively covered it with her hand.
"Save your damn strength, Vasir." Wrex scolded. "We know more about how the Humans operate now than we did yesterday."
"And that's supposed to be a win?" She hissed out.
"It's not nothing." Wrex returned.
Tela sank into her seat, exasperated and exhausted. Her shoulder sagged and her head leaned backwards on the head rest. She closed her eyes to get some rest, but the faces of the commandos that died under her command flashed before her. Tela knew all her commandos by name. She cared for them... they were her family.
"We can't keep loosing more people." She said quietly. "Enough people are dead as it is."
Wrex could only stay quiet as his friend said this. He was worried for her, as any soldier would worry for their comrade-at-arms. Tela already had enough friction with her sister, as it were. The added pressure and guilt from her failures here would not at all be conducive to her condition.
The ride back was mostly quiet from that point on. Upon arrival in the cruiser, the survivors would quickly disembark and the wounded rushed to the medical bay.
Wrex sat on a medical bed quietly as the medical professionals tended to his wounds. He watched Tela as she received medical care of her own. She was quiet and stiff, a posture that she had adopted with increasing frequency over the past few months. She had a blank expression on her face, her gaze held nobody in its sights. It was as if she was looking past the metallic confines of the ships and beyond.
The elder Krogan feared that Vasir was under too much pressure. He had seen people snap under lesser circumstances before.
It never ends well.
-000-
Shepard limped his way through the mass of humans still waiting in the lower levels.
The marines had arrived and relieved the siege, at long last. It took them longer than he was comfortable with, but what mattered was they made it. Now came the long and arduous task of evacuating the facility and getting them back to Alliance territory. He was fairly certain that the Navy and the Marines are perfectly capable of performing that task. This left him to deal with the one issue that got him in this mess in the first place.
"Pastor Shepard!" A voice called out from behind him.
Shepard turned around and saw it was Hank Whyte, a close acquaintance of his.
Hank walked towards the limping man, and the two shared a hug for a moment.
"Christ Almighty, Whyte." Shepard exclaimed. "I thought you were dead."
"Here I was thinking the same thing of you." Hank replied. "Do you need any help, Pastor? You seem to be looking for something."
"Not something," Shepard answered. "Someone.
Hank furrowed his brows, a clear sign that he wanted Shepard to continue explaining.
"I was looking for Carrie when... when I..."
"When you got caught." Hank finished for him.
"Yeah."
Hank's head seemed to have slooped.
"Do you know where she is?" Shepard asked.
Hank seemed hesitant to speak at first, but then answered.
"Yeah... follow me." He answered grimly.
The two men carefully made their way outside the large safe room and went down the hall. Alliance technicians were already present, tearing down any piece of technology deemed necessary to be taken. In addition to the medical personnel moving back and forth, picking up the liberated humans for evacuation, caused the whole complex to be bustling with activity.
Hank lead the Pastor further down the hall and to the left, to a darker and colder section of the level. Shepard could already feel something wrong was going on.
The two stopped by the door, and only now did Shepard realize where they were.
"Isn't this the..."
"Yeah... it is." Hank cut him off, somberly.
The door opened, revealing rows upon rows of bodies covered in black cloth. Far too many bodies to be counted by hand.
Just how many died from these horrific experiments?
Hank went into the room and Shepard followed suit. They walked a few meters in, then they kept going and going for what the Pastor thought were several minutes before his friend stopped on one particular body. A female, body.
"Oh... Oh God, no." Shepard realized.
"I'll... I'll give you a moment." Hank said, stepping back and giving the Pastor some space.
Shepard felt his legs grow week and fell to his knees. He slowly moved his hands forward, reaching for the cloth which covered the body in front of him. His hands trembled as he finally gripped the black cloth and slowly pulled it back. He prayed inwardly, wishing that Hank was mistaken... but alas, it he was not. Before his eyes was one person he personally swore to protect. Someone he had married.
Carrie.
Shepard closed his eyes and balled up his fists. He wanted to pound the ground beside him, but could not gather the strength to do so. Instead, he stayed there with tears threatening to burst out. He didn't know how long he stayed there, motionless, but he was eventually interrupted when he heard loud footsteps approaching behind him. He turned around and saw the last person he wanted to see right now.
"Thomas." The man quietly greeted.
"Hackett." Shepard croaked out, his throat dry.
"I'm sorry, Steven." Shepard apologized. "I couldn't... I..."
"You... did what you could, son." Hackett placed a hand on his son-in-law's shoulder. "This was out of your control."
"If... If I didn't ask her to come with me when I left Earth... maybe she'd still be..."
"You know damn well she'd have followed you, regardless if you asked her to or not." Hackett scolded him, his voice cracking slightly. "She always was too stubborn for her own good."
An uncomfortable silence fell between the two, neither men able to express their feelings properly.
"She..." Hackett sniffled. "She was the best daughter a father could have asked for... and you... still have family back on Earth."
"How can I face my family back home?" Shepard asked him, his voice shattered. "My wife is gone, my flock... slaughtered like animals. I have been nothing but a failure in life... going back to Kansas now, I'd just be a burden."
"Robert doesn't think so." Hackett told him. "He wants you back home."
Thomas looked at the admiral at the mention of his brother's name.
"He still cares about you, despite your differences." The admiral reassured.
The two were quiet again for some time. The sound of footsteps and chatter from the outside hallway echoed inside the dimly lit room. After a few minutes, Hackett checked his watch, before sighing out.
"I... have duties to attend to." The Admiral told Shepard. "Go home while you still have families waiting for you, Thomas."
Hackett took a deep breath, turned around, then began to walk away. He stopped for a moment when he heard pained grunting from behind him. He looked back, and saw Shepard had pushed himself up on his feet, and was limping towards the Admiral.
"I'm going to arrange a funeral as soon..." Thomas choked. "As soon as I can."
A single tear fell, causing Thomas to wipe his eyes.
"I expect you to be there, Steve."
"I'll be there." Hackett somberly answered. "My duties separated me from her in life. I can't let it keep me from her in death."
Shepard nodded, then limped his way outside
Hackett took one last look at his daughter. He saw that Thomas had covered her body again in the black cloth, though an arm... cold and pale as it was, stuck out. He walked back over to her and covered up the hand properly.
"I'm sorry, Carrie." He whispered. "They will pay for what they did to you.
-000-
Archive Update:
The State of Belka: The industrial mining colony of Belka was founded early during the first colonization waves sent out from Earth. The first Belkan colonists, sponsored by the restored German monarchs, landed on the planet expecting a tough planet, with mountainous terrain and harsh weather to make things difficult. These difficulties were weighed against the vast mineral deposits detected on the planet via survey probes. Belka, along with Elysium and Mindoir became the fastest growing colonies in the Sol Union's increasing list of territorial holdings, with the three colonies combined rivaling Earth's total agricultural, economic, and industrial output by the end of a decade.
When Elysium first openly revolted against the Union, the Belkans were hesitant to join. Belkan soil was not suited for food production and a blockade by the Union's navy could easily strangle them into submission. It wouldn't be until Mindoir, the breadbasket colony of the frontier, joined Elysium and the other colonies that the Belkans followed suit. Cutting off their ties with the father country and Earth, Belka became the industrial capital of the Colonial Commonwealth, providing up to 40% of all material for war. German and Belkan relations would finally be restored following the Treaty of Warsaw in 2179, when the Commonwealth reunified all Human territories as the new Systems Alliance.
Belka today remains a highly controversial colony, being the most authoritarian member of the Alliance. The colony was long considered the Mars of the frontier, with its high industrial output and highly martial cultures easily making them rivals within the Alliance. Mars and Belka are the only members of the Alliance to have a mandatory service program, be it military or public service. Belka is also the only state in the Alliance to field nuclear shells for ships of their design. The Dreadnought which fired upon Lowell City, the CSV Thunderchild, was built in the Belkan Shipyards and is capable of firing nuclear shells of up to 55 megatons in strength.
Belkan industrial output today is third highest in the Alliance, just barely being beaten by Mars at second place and Earth in first place.
-000-
A/N:
Blew past my deadline by a few days, unfortunately.
Finally finished the Blacksite story arc. It took me a while to get there, but I got there. Several overarching plotlines were concluded, and a few new ones are brought up. They'll tie more into the greater narrative as a whole and will have an impact on how our characters affect the galaxy.
Hopefully I did a better job fleshing out the characters. I had to redo some parts because it didn't come out the way I wanted it to be. For example, I always thought that Hackett's expressions and dialogue indicated that this was the kind of man who had seen things. I wanted to bring that here in the story, so hopefully I could get that through.
Also, hopefully I got the science on the first part right. I did some research and talked to my brother who studied Biotech in uni, so hopefully it's not just utter nonsense.
Anyways, it feels good to finally release this chapter. Write down your thoughts on a review or PM them to me, feedback is always taken into consideration, even if I didn't reply to it directly.
Thanks as always for reading. Good luck and Godspeed to you, my friends.