"Exile"
Nevos, Koranis System, June 6, 2193
"We're here, ma'am." One of the Turian smugglers told Rana over the cargo freighter's intercomm system.
Perhaps for the first time in her life, Rana felt thankful to a Turian.
After what felt like an eternity travelling, Rana and her child had finally arrived to their destination. Nevos, the Asari enclave within Turian territory. This was the land of deserters and traitors... it was hard to believe she would be joining their ranks soon.
Rana may have been young for her an Asari, with little experience in politics and intrigue, but she can put together the pieces when they're right in front of her. Kangl said he wasn't sure who was a threat and who wasn't whilst in the Citadel, he believed that the Asari enclave within Turian territory which has largely been isolated from the rest of the Galaxy was the safest place for her and her child. Something must have happened within the intelligence community to warrant her bondmate turning against his own people. That must be it. She refused to believe anything else could be possible. Her bondmate was a man of integrity and honor, there was no other reasonable justification for him to defect.
Rana nodded and turned to her child. After rousing little Meela from her sleep, she started packing in all their things into the bugout back she had brought with her.
She felt the cargo freighter's weight shift and shudder -a sign that they had made atmospheric entry.
It took another half an hour for the freighter to land. The ship landed heavily, with a loud thud, as the aging cargo freighter touched down on the surface of the Asari enclave. Rana took her daughter and stuff and went down to the cargo bay where she would disembark. When the two Asari runaways finally reached the cargo bay, instead of seeing the Turian crew members bustling and offloading cargo, she saw them huddled around a terminal. Curious, she approached them to see what had enraptured the crew members. She spoke to ask, but was quickly silenced by the crew to listen. The terminal seemed to be listening in on some broadcast... judging by the voice being broadcasted, it was Turian. The voice was slightly garbled and occasionally broken by static, as whatever program was tapping into the Turian broadcast must be struggling to listen through the encryption.
"...Fleets 3 through 7 are on the move... Ninth army deployment slated for... Alliance Case Blue is live... Council reported moving through Relay 184.. Heavy friendly losses expected..."
"Oh Spirits..." One of the deck hands gasped out.
"What's going on?" Rana asked. "What's happening?"
"The Council just moved their forces through Relay 184," Another one of the deck hands told Rana. "They're invading Human space!"
Rana's shocked expression was all she could muster as a reply.
-000-
"First Strike"
In orbit over New Cyrene, High Seas System, June 6, 2193, A few hours earlier...
"Admiral, gravitic sensors by the Relay are picking up dozens of blips... energy readings are a match for warships of Council design."
Kahoku looked up from his datapad to the Son of Man's captain. The Council invasion force had finally arrived.
"You have control over the ship, Captain. Give the Council a run for their money." He ordered.
"At once." The Captain acknowledged.
Kahoku's fleet was already divided into smaller battlegroups spread out in orbit over New Cyrene. Unlike the Batarian attack on Eden Prime, where victory on the ground was more or less assured and reinforcements were already on the way, The fighting here will be tooth and nail in service for a galactic scale warplan.
As soon as the report was received by them, the Turians would launch a new counteroffensive to apply pressure on several critical fronts. This should deprive the invading Council fleet of reinforcements to call on if things goes as planned.
Alliance artillery cruisers along with their assigned contingent of frigates and light carriers were stationed above strategically important zones on the planet. These groups were called 'anvil formations' and the zones they held included territories which would make excellent beachheads for an planetary invasion. Their counterparts, 'hammer formations' were nimble frigate packs usually accompanied by missile cruisers. These hammers were nimble and fast. As such, they were tasked as a response force for anvils that were under concentrated assault. The final formation was the 'spear'. They were made out of several Alliance cruisers, frigates, as well as light carriers. Only two spears were present, and each of the two spears had with it an Alliance Dreadnought as their focal point. Spears would move and challenge larger groups of Council warships if a few hammer formations were unable to deal with the threat.
"Prepare Hammers four through nine for response duty and hold Hammers one, two, and three on the far side of orbit." Kahoku ordered.
Affirmatives and acknowledgements sounded out throughout the CIC as officers complied and relayed orders to formation commanders. The Admiral watched as the holographic blips signifying the various warships in orbit over New Cyrene moved around to their missions.
"Send word to the ninth fleet that we have made contact with the enemy." Kahoku continued. "Drescher needs to be ready to move her fleet into position."
The CIC crew acknowledged and carried out their orders.
"Ladies, gentlemen, let's show these Aliens why they shouldn't have messed with Humanity." The Admiral declared.
"Hooyah!" They all replied in unison.
-000-
In the Krogan Dreadnought FSV Maw Hammer, June 11, 2193
Siege of New Cyrene, Day 5...
"Fleetmaster present!" an officer announced as the overall commander of the Council's invasion force arrived in the CIC after a 4 hour rest. The bridge crew stood to attention as soon as his presence was made known.
"At ease." He quickly said. "Give me a status update."
The bridge crew returned to their duties as quickly as they stood to attention.
"The two Human Dreadnoughts are still holding on the far side of the planet." The same officer said. "Small engagements between smaller battlegroups have happened, but we've had little results to speak of."
"Any casualties?"
"A couple of corvettes were lost in the fighting and several frigates suffered varying amounts of damage. They're already undergoing repairs with the Support Fleet."
"Rrrh, tell the battlegroup commanders to focus on a specific point. Also tell our Salarian comrades to reserve their strike craft to support the ground invasion." The Krogan Fleetmaster ordered. "Split up the fighter screen to secure the air corridor for our transports. The troops on the ground will need every bit of help we can give them."
"At once, Fleetmaster." An officer replied.
Fleetmaster Gatatog Karath had been assigned the chore, yes... chore, of cleaning up the mess the politicians had made. Karath made no secret that he had nothing but disdain for politicians. In his mind, it is only force and force alone that can uphold order in the galaxy. Had he been in charge, he'd have had this planet glassed by nuclear fire and be done with it, but apparently that wasn't an option anymore.
Karath snarled. Clan Gatatog, no, the Krogan people, had gotten soft since Yorgal became Councilor. So many clans had sacrificed so much of their identity in order to gain better connections within galactic politics. So many have almost entirely disarmed their nuclear arsenal, and Karath hated that. Much as he loathed to admit, the Urdnots were the only major clan with the quads and the brains left. In the name of civility and progress they have abandoned what had made the Krogan people strong and feared.
"Fleetmaster, we have a report from the ground forces." One of Karath's adjutant's reported. "Salarian combat engineers have successfully deployed a Forward Operating Base in Mountain 082, on the eastern section of LZ Aurek. Tomkah formations are being shuttled down as we speak and are awaiting the infantry's breakthrough out of the mountain range."
"What of the other two LZs?" Karath now asked.
"The Humans are fighting tooth and nail in the swamps of LZ Barakh. Our heavy equipment keeps getting bogged down on the mud, though the Asari commando teams have had greater success in surveying the area." The adjutant continued. "We've had the most progress on LZ Cabal. The karst landscape provided ample positions for the Humans to mount AA batteries, but thanks to the work of our own Heavy Shocktroopers we've managed to punch a hole in their AA grid and can land a substantial armored force."
"That's good. I want priority reinforcements to be diverted to LZ Cabal." Karath nodded. "We need to keep the momentum going to draw attention from the other two LZs. Tell the Shocktroops that they can have a whole crate of Ryncol all for themselves."
"At once, Fleetmaster." The adjutant acknowledged again. "Is there any other order you want relayed?"
"No, none yet." Karath answered.
The adjutant gave a respectful bow before leaving to attend his duties.
-000-
Meanwhile in "LZ Aurek", the Calibani Mountains...
"Big fuckers on the left side!"
"Oh shit!" A power armored Marine replied with his filtered voice.
The tank-man turned and let loose a storm of fire from his Revenant GPMG at a group of Krogans attempting to breach the left flank. The fusillade of Mass Effect propelled lead slammed onto the Krogan Shocktrooper's shields, sending them scurrying back into cover.
"Eat Martian lead you lizard sons of bitches!" He shouted out as he fired away.
The 501st Marine Division had been quickly shuttled to New Cyrene upon word that an alien invasion was imminent. The 501st were one of the first divisions to be equipped with the latest gear, making them the prime unit to deploy in the front lines.
Rifle fire from the tank-man's left and right opened up in unison as held back the unending tides of aliens which had come to invade Human space. The massive power armored Marines drew the fire of the aliens away from their lesser armored comrades. The kinetic barriers mounted on their armor helped facilitate this.
Baker Company had been given the important task of holding off the alien spearhead whilst reinforcements and more concrete defensive positions could be erected. A perfect job for the Armored Infantry units of the 501st.
A flurry of Mass Effect propelled rounds crashed into the tank-man's shields. The relatively primitive kinetic barriers were insufficient to totally deflect projectiles like their Council counterparts, but they were good enough to slow down the projectiles to the point that the suit's armor plating could take the brunt of the attack.
The tank-man that was hit turned to the offending alien and returned fire.
"Lieutenant Maxson, I want a status report!" A voice barked out through the power armor helmet's built in radio.
"Captain Samson, sir! Xenos are pushing in hard." Maxson summed up the report before going into detail. "We're taking inaccurate and sporadic light artillery fire, likely from enemy mortar teams. Hostile heavy infantry are probing our lines for faults. The enemy has us outnumbered three-to-one, overall situation excellent!"
"Excellent work." Captain Samson, head of Baker Company, replied."Dagger and Easy Company aren't entirely set up yet. How much longer can you and your men hold on?"
"As long as is necessary, sir!" Maxson answered.
A sniper shot ricocheted off of his helmet, though fortunately his shield and armor took the worst of it. Maxson opened fire on the general direction of the sniper before continuing his reply.
"A little fire support would be appreciated though!"
"Understood, lieutenant." Samson confirmed. "I'll try to allocate priority fire support to your position. In the meanwhile, do not let the enemy through!"
"Affirmative sir, we won't give them an inch of ground without spilling blood!" Maxson confirmed.
After tuning out of the radio, Maxson rallied his troops.
"Sons of Mars!" He called out to them. "It seems like our brother companies can't get their shit together, so we've got the honor of holding off these alien freaks for a while. Not one alien gets past us!"
"Hoorah!" The marines replied.
-000-
Galactic News Update:
Colonial News Center: Breaking news! It has been confirmed by the Department of Defense that the Citadel Aliens have indeed opened up hostilities against the Systems Alliance. The announcement indicates that since the communication blackout from the High Seas System last week, an Alien invasion of Alliance territory has begun. The announcement states that the Alliance Navy has been able to contain the fighting in the High Seas System, but are warning citizens in neighboring systems to prepare for hostilities to spill over. The Department of Defense has promised to provide weekly updates of the new war we are now involved in. Whether or not this will be remains to be seen...
Citadel Broadcasting Center: The preemptive strike by the JCF after details about Turian/Human collusion was intercepted by the STG is now well under way, the JCF spokesperson announced. The transmission intercept detailed that the Humans would soon initiate a plan called "Warplan Jawbreaker", which would be the starting point of a massive offensive by both powers. The details of this plan is still not known to either the public, nor the JCF, but STG analysts are working overtime to try and decipher their plans...
-000-
A/N:
Thinking of shifting my upload schedule from the end of each month to the first of each month. Not sure though.
Classes have started for a while now, and I fucking hate online classes. There seems to be thing with my brain where if I have to deal with online classes I can't switch to "study mode" like I usually do when I have to walk from my apartment to my campus.
Anyways, I don't have much to say right here right now.
Thanks for reading, write down a review or PM them to me if you feel like it.
Good luck, and God Speed to you all.