Soooo... that took longer than I had hoped and I didn't quite get everything I wanted out with this chapter, but I'm figuring that you guys are hungry for more, so here it is, the latest chapter. See you on the bottom.


Beyond Horizon: First Contact

Chapter Three

Glory

.xIx.


"I'm sorry, but the person you are trying to reach is unavailable. Please try again later," an automated voice of indeterminate gender said before disconnecting.

Mina was left staring down at her monitor, confused and more than a little upset. This was her fourth time trying to reach her husband and still nothing. She understood well enough that her husband was in high demand due to his position, but it was time for their daily call to each other, he always made time for that.

That Alec wasn't answering at all made her uncomfortable. Before her thoughts could turn darker, she heard crying coming from the next room. She sighed as she got up; it seemed her work was far from done. A few strides and she soon stepped into the room, light blue and pink holograms decorating the walls. There were two cradles next to each other; the one to her right had small cries coming out of it.

"Shhh… Scotty, I'm here, don't cry, mommy's here," she said gently as she reached down and soothed the crying boy. The cries lessened but didn't stop, so she instead picked him and cradled him in her arms. His whimpers soon ceased as he slowly fell back asleep, Mina content to cradle him just a bit more. After all, the last day that she'd ever get to hold him in her arms like this would come all too soon.

Thinking that made her look over to her daughter's crib, who unlike her brother was sound asleep not making a peep. Unable to help herself, Mina reaches down and stroked the sleeping girl's hair. This elicited a small coo from her as she kicked her legs a little. She laid Scott next to his sister, already seeming calmer than he had before.

"Those two really don't like being apart, I've noticed," a synthetic female voice said behind her.

"You have the rest of the day off, you don't have to stay, Janine," Mina said as she turned to look at her nanny.

"X-J91, ma'am, please. We've discussed this," the omnic nanny deadpanned.

Mina shrugged, knowing full well that they've had this minor disagreement dozens of times now and would have it dozens of times more.

"I am here because Mr. Ryder asked me to. With your work at the point it's at, he felt it best that I be around. Aside from that, you have a call in your office from Doctor Gallagher."

Mina shook her head with a grin. "Oh, I bet I know what he wants. Thank you, Janine. I'll take it in my office."

"Whatever you say, ma'am. I'll be here with the children."

Mina didn't waste time, knowing that Janine had things well in hand, she headed to her office down the hall.

Entering through the door, she was careful to avoid the piles of parts and papers that littered every workspace save one. Her desk was mostly tidy, namely around the front and directly behind her. She sat in the chair, noticing that Janine had already prepared a cup of tea for her, and booted up her system. No more than a few seconds later, her screen erupted with various alerts, the latest one asking for a call from her boss. With an annoyed sigh, she opened it, automatically connecting with the other line.

Another few seconds passed before the line picked up and her boss's face appeared.

"Liao! Where the hell have you been!" was the immediate question.

"Home, Gallagher, where else would I be?" she said respectfully, a coy glint in her eye.

Gallagher huffed; the fifty-something-year-old man ran his hand through his hair as he cooled down. "Right, of course, my apologies. It's just… this breakthrough of yours has everyone over here in a fit. It could mean so much for organic/synthetic relations if these predictions can be replicated. You do realize that you're going to have to have all kinds of authorities give your proposal a very thorough look before we can get trials for it going."

Mina took a sip of her tea to hide her grin. She had thought as much when Janine told her about the call.

"I expected that to be the case, it's not like scientific achievements can be made through perseverance alone. What are your thoughts on it?"

Gallagher shifted in his seat as he put on some reading glasses and then glanced at something to his right, her project if she had to guess. "Well, everything about it looks on the up and up, all but this one thing here…"

"Ah, you caught that. I was wondering if you would." She took another sip of her tea.

"Yeah, me and at least a few others, it's a pretty major obstacle. If this does get to trials, we're going to need new subjects and very specific ones at that. Not just anyone is going to be able to utilize this new tech."

"Yeah, that is one of the major downsides, but it'll be worth it. I just know it will."

"I'm sure it will and everyone here is excited at the prospects. Though I suspect we may have to put all this on hold for the time being." He gestured and a file popped up, which she opened. "There's something big going on with the other colonies, we're not sure what just yet. Communications are still having issues connecting with the rest, so our info is still pretty limited. FR-4N says he should be able to get things up and running properly by tonight, but until then we're out of the loop."

"Well, if that's what Frank says. Hasn't anyone else been able to get through?"

He gave her a look, one that said that FR-4N was going to be annoying her later. "Anyway, until then, we can't do much about moving forward with this. Whatever's going on over there, it's taking up a lot of bandwidth and our communications department isn't able to keep up. Not until the software and hardware updates are up and running."

"Well, a little downtime will be worth it considering how bad our connection was before. You'd think that Vishkar would want a colony they're sponsoring to have things up to date. Better late than never. I suppose that's why I haven't been able to reach my husband; he usually makes time to call."

"Possibly, calls have been sporadic on our side all day. I hope you're able to reach him, I know Debra's been trying to reach her girlfriend over at the Olympia colony and it's driving her nuts. Don't know why, it's not like anything is interesting going on today."


.xIIx.

Metal hitting metal, the roar of engines, war cries splitting the air, the sounds of battle rang out for all to hear. Thankfully, it was the sound of a mock battle, being held in preparation for the real battle to come. Crusaders of all ranks were combatting against each other, honing their skills and sharpening their reflexes. Their war hammers arced through the air, most being dodged or blocked, only a few finding their targets and sending them flying from the impact.

One warrior, in particular, seemed to be enjoying the battle a little too much.

"AH-HA! Who's next! Who dares to face the mighty Reinhardt!" said a man clad in ornate silver armor adorned with avian-looking decorations on its broad shoulders. A small group of other armored figures groaned at his question, having already answered it moments ago

"Ah, cut it out Wilhelm, no one's in the mood for your bravado today. We need to be preparing for the aliens."

"Bah! Let them come. I'll show them what it means to go up against a Crusader!" Reinhardt yelled jovially. "Now, who's next?"

A round of murmurs from most of the crusaders showed no takers, all who had already taken the challenge lying on the ground in defeat. The remaining crusaders didn't appear all that eager to step up to the challenge.

"Lieutenant!" bellowed a commanding voice. "What have I told you about wearing your damn helmet when you're in combat!"

"What can I say? I love the wind in my hair!" Reinhardt said as he ran a heavily armored hand through his golden locks. "About time you came down to join us in training, Commander. I was beginning to think that I wouldn't get in a decent workout before the real battle."

Balderich cast a mildly annoyed look at his subordinate as he walked onto the training grounds. A glance around told him everything he needed to know, Reinhardt had gone too far again.

"Don't you think it would've been better to leave them at least in fighting condition? We can't have our people nursing wounds in the hours before the battle, Reinhardt."

"Ha, wounds he says; love taps, nothing more."

The groaning of the armor bodies on the ground said otherwise. One armored form came up though, "Sir, normally we wouldn't, but the men wanted to be as prepared as possible. We figured that we'd go over to the Valkyrie Center to heal up if things got too out of hand."

A sound plan, though Balderich thought it would be best if they didn't strain the resources on hand just yet. Though based on how his people were picking themselves up, it seemed that trip wouldn't be necessary. He looked back over at Reinhardt, that cocksure grin on his face still present.

"So… are you going to fight, old man?"

Their eyes locked and a familiar feeling settled into his old bones. The other crusaders went still, none making any noise as they held their breaths awaiting the response. "Well, perhaps a quick spar, to raise morale."

Alec looked around the training field curiously, having never actually been here despite seeing it from afar on many occasions. His years as special forces gave him access to some of the mercenary group's greatest accomplishments, even those that were kept from the public. To say that he looking forward to seeing two of their greatest warriors spar was an understatement.

What was currently bothering him though, beyond his familial concerns, was being left alone with these mountainous men and women. As near as he could tell, he was the shortest person here. He couldn't even blame their armor as some had already stepped out of the bulky suits and they towered over him. If that wasn't enough, he couldn't but feel a little inadequate against their physiques.

He took pride in his body, his position, and the training it required had him in peak physical condition. He earned his pride and yet… these men and women around him made all his training look like a weekday yoga class held at the community center run by a woman named Chrissy. It was no contest he thought as a couple of crusaders walked by, their biceps larger than Alec's head.

He supposed wearing those heavily armored suits required more than a few hours in the gym. Without really thinking, he reached down and pinched his bicep, as if to reassure himself that it wasn't soft and squishy.

"I'm not squishy…" he muttered to no one.

Before he could dwell more on it, he overheard some of the other crusaders talking.

"Think Wilhelm stands a chance this time?"

"No way, the commander can read him like a book; he's going down like every other time."

"You sound pretty confident that Wilhelm hasn't improved, care to make it wager."

"Nah, I don't take money from the mentally disabled."

"Hey!"

Ryder stopped paying attention once the bickering started and looked around again. Wilhelm, the man who started all this, had returned from his break or whatever it was that he wandered off for, and was now standing against the far wall, looking impatient. Not just him, but the crusaders in the courtyard were all looking a bit antsy as well, clearly they wanted this fight to happen as much as Wilhelm did.

They didn't have that much longer to wait as the door Balderich had vanished into opened up and a large mountain of metal walked out. Balderich's armor was more ornate than any of the others, barring Wilhelm's silver covering, having a brass base and gold accents. The neck guard was lined in white fur, of what animal Ryder didn't know, perhaps it was fake. In his armored hand was a dangerous-looking hammer cover in spike. In the other was his helmet.

As he walked into the yard, Ryder saw as he placed a device near the base, a blue glow encasing the head of it, a safety measure? Looking around, he noticed the same device on all the hammers in the yard, that blue glow present on all of them.

"HA! Took you long enough, old man. Getting slow in your old age?"

Balderich didn't reply, only moving to the center ring, Reinhardt taking the hint and meeting him there.

"What? No words of wisdom?" Wilhelm asked mockingly as he neared the ring. "Nothing left to teach me? You finally ready to retire, perhaps?"

That cocky grin that he arrived with never left his lips as he took a few warm-up swings with his hammer.

Balderich merely gave out an exasperated sigh, giving a tiny grin as he put his helmet on, the eyes glowing blue as it connected to the suit's power.

"You still have much to learn, Reinhardt," Balderich's voice came out of his suit, a metallic tang reverberating with each word.

"Oh, I have. You won't be winning the same way you did last time. I've trained hard to overcome that little weakness you got me with."

"Yes, I expected as much, just as you did the time before, and the time before that, and-"

He was cut off as Wilhelm slammed his pommel to the ground. "Enough talk! We finish this now, old man." He looked to the sky, his expression somber before looking back at his commander, a fire in his eyes. "We may not have another chance."

Balderich said nothing as he moved into a combat stance, his hammer loosely held to his side, held with both hands.

Wilhelm did the same, only his stance more aggressive, his hammer higher, prepped for a downward stroke.

They remained still for several seconds, each man sizing up the other. Alec watched with bated breath, waiting to see who would move first, though he had a pretty good idea on who that would be.

A second later, he was proven right as Wilhelm's armor roared to life, the jet turbine on its back launching the man forward. The burst didn't last long, only enough to speed him towards the center of the ring. Balderich in the same instant raced forward to meet his younger opponent.

Wilhelm opened with a savage swing of his hammer, arching it downward to deliver a powerful overhand blow. Balderich nimbly sidestepped it, the hammer plowing into the ground. This did little slow down the young crusader, as he launched himself forward once again, sailing past Balderich and using the momentum to pull his hammer free.

What confused Ryder was that Balderich didn't capitalize on this, at first anyway. He soon realized that for all the power and defense the armor offered, speed was somewhat limited. Not that one would think that on first impressions, the armored crusaders were swift in their actions. But physics was still a thing and the larger something was, the longer it took to slow down. While most wouldn't have noticed it, Alec could see the reaction time of the armor was limited.

Balderich didn't react to Wilhelm's strike because he was already preparing for the next attack, needing all the time he had to get ready. The next assault came a moment later as Wilhelm used the momentum to swing his hammer around in a sideswipe, which Balderich deflected by igniting the rockets in his own. The sped-up war hammer hit the other forcefully, jerking it momentarily in Wilhelm's hand.

This was the beginning of the end as in the same motion the elder crusader angled his still moving hammer so that the pommel went straight to the younger's exposed chin. There was a shimmer of blue as two barriers collided, but the force was still enough to rock Wilhelm off his feet and to the ground. Before he could move to even stand, Wilhelm found a massive hammer in his face and looked up to see the indifferent faceplate of Balderich's helmet. This image was soon countered by Balderich's enthusiastic voice emanating from the armor.

"So! You have learned! Glorious!" he pretty much shouted as he offered Wilhelm a hand. Though the younger man looked somewhat annoyed, he still took it and he was standing in no time.

"Next time, old man," Wilhelm muttered before he let out an exasperated sigh.

"Next time," Balderich affirmed with a slight nod.

Alec was floored at what he had just seen. The battle… no, that was far from a battle. He was hesitant to even call it a fight. Wilhelm fought, but Balderich… the elder crusader had been in complete control the entire spar. No wasted movements, completely calm, as to be expected from the leader of the renowned mercenary group.

More than that though was just how fast the match had gone. Despite their size, those armors could move and it all wasn't just the jet turbines.

Alec got the attention of one of the crusaders next to him. "You guys using mass dampeners in your suits?"

That got him a look of derision. "Bah, would only slip us up. No, only good old-fashioned servos, elbow grease, and fusion power cells," the crusader told him before walking off.

That news sent a shiver shown his spine. That meant that these guys treated their armor as a weapon, they would have to to move them the way they do. The sheer amount of skill displayed was nothing short of remarkable… and terrifying, if he was being honest. To think that there were those among his former squad who considered these guys less than them.

Balderich soon walked up, now towering over him even more than before.

"What did you think of the show? I apologize if seemed a bit long, but Reinhardt is getting better."

"That was long? It was over like that!"

"Yes, well, he still has much to learn."

These people were insane and he was glad that they were here.

Looking to the sky though, he couldn't help but wonder; would it be enough?


.xIIIx.

"Alright, the relay is just about done with its startup procedures..." The relay's rings began to slowly spin and soon reached maximum rotation. "Alright, it's running. We're ready to go through on your word, Captain," one of the navigators told him.

Kof'boroh suppressed a grin, preferring to maintain an air-controlled command. While he thought that it wouldn't hurt to show confidence, he'd rather show his crew complete and utter composure.

The time had come, after only a few hours' worths of preparation, he was confident that his fleet was more than prepared to make its mark in history. He recalled his recon ships back to the main fleet and called in as many markers as he could from those who owed him that was close enough. For this raid was going to change everything, of that he had no doubt. All that was left to do was get things started.

"Proceed," he commanded.

As soon as the words fell, the entirety of his fleet proceeded to approach the relay. The first few ships quickly vanished as the energy sparked from the colossal machine, launching them to its partner in the next system. His ship neared the relay and the familiar spark of element zero flared from it, encasing the entirety of the ship in a mass effect field. He felt as the field-oriented the ship into the proper alignment before being launched light-years to the next relay.

The trip felt instant, arriving at the sister relay in no time.

"Monitors up! I want a full scan of the system and our targets identified within the hour!" he ordered.

His men scrambled to carry out their duties with even more gusto than usual. To be expected, this was going to be a payday the likes they had never seen. A new untouched world was theirs for the taking; all they had to do now was find it. While their minds raced with thoughts of what spoils the world held, Crelo himself had only one thing on his mind, whatever tech they had that allowed them to control a relay.

It mattered little if they came back from this world with no new merchandise, just so long as they had that tech. Of course, looking at his men and knowing the strength of his fleet, there was little chance they would be leaving empty-handed. A backwater planet, barely making their way to the stars, against the strongest pirate fleet in the Terminus, it was no contest. He almost felt sorry for them.

Almost.

It was time to show them who ran things in this galaxy and with the tech that was now rightfully his, he would show the rest of the galaxy as well.

Aria T'Loak was many things; a criminal, a matron, a commando, a leader, a boss, an interloper, a pirate. But more than anything, she was a survivor, first and foremost. One didn't live for over a thousand years by being reckless. To avoid being reckless, one had to be several steps ahead of their enemies and be vigilant that it stayed that way.

This led to where she was now, receiving information that she needed to know to stay ahead.

"The guy's got quad, I'll tell you that. First contact situation and the first thought in his mind is to invade."

"I know Crelo too well; this doesn't even begin to near the lowest he'll go for something. But something about this reeks. He is rushing through things, he's usually more collected than this."

"Look, I don't know why he's pushing as hard as he is for this job. I'm just reporting what I know."

Aria rubbed her brows in annoyance. While she had a professional relationship with Crelo, she had known of him since his days in the Batarian Military. His change of profession to pirate wasn't shocking, it's what batarians did. What was shocking was how fast he managed to build up his fleet. Then again, most things the other races did seemed fast to the Asari. This, whatever this was, had red flags all over it. There was going to be fallout when this ended. It was just a matter of being on the profitable side regardless of how that end came about.

"I take it you're going to be unreachable after this?"

"Probably, you know that I'm here for only two reasons, money and the chance for a good fight. The money is a given, time will tell if this new race can provide a challenge. If they do give me the fight I'm looking for, you're not going to hear from me, be having too much fun."

"Sounding awfully optimistic there, are your hopes that high?"

"You're hearing things, first thing I heard these newcomers did was run away. Whatever they are, I don't have high hopes, but I've already been paid, so here I am."

"Yes, well, you're information has been enlightening. It gives me some sense of how to proceed."

The voice on the other end huffed out a quick laugh, "If I were you, I'd be preparing to distance myself."

"Says the one who's actively participating."

"I've got my own plans should this whole thing go tails up. Spare your false pity for someone else."

Aria didn't smile at that, not outwardly at least. Nice to know some things never changed. With those final words, the transmission ended, leaving Aria to listen to the low thrum of the sound of her club.

"Guess I have some planning to do."

"How do they even expect me to… No. Just file it away for later, that is not an immediate issue. … Yes, I'll see what can be done about it as soon as I can."

The call ended and Jidon Cilbon put his hands to his face, his day just that much of a hassle to deal with.

"Tevos and Galrian don't have to deal with this, why do I?" he muttered to himself through his fingers. He thought back on his life and what led to his current position. Councilor for the Union, one of the highest offices that could be held off-world, and usually only their dalatrasses were voted into the position. Through his achievements and hard work, he had earned this, and yet… for some reason he couldn't feel all that much pride in it.

He had only been here for a few years, his term not even half over, and yet the desire to step down was overwhelming. Why he couldn't say, he thought that this was what he wanted; to leave his mark in galactic history.

Instead, he spent most of his time seeing to the arduous task of dealing with his race's gathering of information that quite frankly was boring and of little consequence most of the time. By the time he ever got his hands on something interesting, it had already been taken care of and filed away.

How was he to leave his mark when everything was already handled? More than that, none of it was new, just the same old galactic issues that have always plagued society. The Batarians were still a major thorn in their side, the Krogan always had to have an eye kept on them, the Quarians had to be handled; absolutely nothing has changed.

Judging by the files he read on his predecessors, this seemed to have been the case for a long time, though they seemed to take some solace in that. The galaxy was stagnating and no one wanted to change that. Maintain the status quo at all costs seemed to be the unspoken motto of the Council.

And Jidon hated it.

Life is meant to move forward, not stagnate in mediocrity.

His terminal blinked as a message arrived. With a sigh, Jidon opened it and to his not surprise, it was just another report on some batarian pirate movements. Unusual movements he noted, he expected that the extranet news would be reporting on some raid in a few hours but that was nothing new.

Nothing ever was.

Another heavy sigh as he marked the file as read and closed it.

Activity detected by mass relay.

Estimated time of arrival: thirty minutes.

Estimated time to completion of Tyrant: one and one-half hours.

Calculating…


.xIVx.

"This is not a drill people! Get those legs moving! We got incoming!" General Williams ordered as every soldier and mercenary within earshot rushed to be where they needed to be. "Where are they most likely to go to first?"

"Sir! We estimate that given the size of their fleet, it would be more practical for them to spread out and hit multiple settlements. The majority of their forces will most likely head for here, the largest settlement; defenses are going up as we speak."

"See that they are, we're going to need everything we got."

"Well, you heard the general. We're going to have to continue this conversation later, Sam."

Sam laughed, an embarrassed smile on his lips as Ana got up. "I would like that. To be honest I wasn't expecting to get the first conversation."

"Perhaps, but we did. Now, let's hope that we survive this so that we can speak more. Say hi to your friend for me," Ana said as she left, leaving a slack-jawed Sam behind.

"Let's move, people! They're playing our song!" Balderich ordered as alarm klaxons sounded all around.

Several Crusaders were now pouring out of their armory, now wielding large rocket-propelled mauls and axes and all armored head to toe in heavy crusader suits. Compared to most military units, they weren't great in number, but what they lacked in quantity they more than made up for in quality.

Crusaders trained for hours and they trained hard. Sure, they had limited options when it came to ranged combat, but there wasn't a group around that could match them in close quarters. Not that anyone wanted to meet the walking mountains of metal on the battlefield.

"Remember, we're to protect those still evacuating at all costs. Don't a let a single one through our defensive line."

"Sir!" a roar of crusader voices cried in unison.

"Live with Honor!" Balderich shouted.

"Die with Glory!" his men yelled back.

"Sir, we've arrived."

If Kof'boroh was less disciplined, he would have tittered in excitement at those words. Everything was going better than planned. The world they arrived at appeared to lack any sort of defensive measures, no fleets protecting it, no guard satellites, nothing, despite the world bustling with signatures of civilization. But, he kept himself in order; it wouldn't do to have his men see him as anything less than their glorious captain.

"Excellent. Get me targets people, large settlements, towns, cities, anything where a large number of people are. We want a major haul before this is over."

A low thrum of agreements and silent cheers rounded the bridge, everyone in total agreement. This world was beyond the reach of the Citadel and besides, this pitiful planet was discovered by him therefore they were his to do with as he pleased. Sure, the council will raise a fuss, but by the time that happened, he will be off enjoying the spoils. Even if he didn't find the tech these people used to shut down a relay, this was still a new race and would fetch a fine price on the market back at Khar'shan. Even just a handful would set him for life, but he had grander ambitions. By the time this raid was done, a new order would be on the rise in the galaxy and there wasn't a damned thing that the Council could do to stop it.

He gestured to his communications officer and soon was connected to every other ship in his fleet.

"Men, today, we are on the cusp of greatness unseen by any other race in the galaxy! Before us lies a world of untapped resources that is ours for the taking! Nothing is standing between us and the largest payout that any of us have ever gotten! All we need to do is go in there and do what we do best! Let nothing stop you and we'll be living like kings by tomorrow! Pick your targets, relay them to the coordinator, and have at it! If all goes well, I may even waive your ship's customary fifty percent of your take! What say you, my brothers? Are you ready!"

While he couldn't hear the cheers from the other ships, his bridge erupted and he could even hear some echoing from the other parts of the ship.

"To the mercenaries who have graciously joined us for this, you've been paid but feel free to anything you can get your hands on, you know the drill! Move out!"

With that, his fleet started to descend on the planet and its inhabitants.


.xVx.

"Where are they going people? Details!" Williams ordered.

"They're descending on the Busan, Aldersbrunn, New Ilios, Daytower, and Brightmarket settlements. All appear to be small but sizable forces compared to the main fleet. That remains in the air."

Ryder couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief on hearing most of those names. Nearly all of those had been evacuated hours ago, all except that last one, but then that one was mostly empty until the next round of supplies came in. It didn't have market in its name for nothing. All that was there right now were a few supervisors for the automated functions. Unfortunately, there were bound to be a ton of supplies and other items of value.

But what calmed him most was the name not mentioned; the locations of the omnic settlement and his family's home.

At least he could breathe easily for now, his biggest concern a non-issue for the time being.

"Any ideas on where the primary fleet is most likely to go?"

"Considering that we have the largest population out of all the settlements, here would be the logical guess. Our civilians are safely in the cauldron facility, so it's just essential personnel and our forces out there. Unfortunately, not every settlement has evacuated."

"And why not? Orders went out hours ago."

"Not every settlement received the order, communications are still touchy planet-wide. A couple, mostly those with heavy Vishkar influence, outright refused to issue the order at all. Something to do with faulty logic and are waiting to see how things play out."

Williams groaned in frustration at that.

"Fuckin' corporate date-pushers, they're going to be the death of me. Do people have to be dying in the streets before they act?"

"Strohm was saying that we were overreacting when Balderich and I spoke with him. Said he needed more proof before he would consider anything," Ryder mentioned.

"We have aliens coming out of the damn sky, how much more proof does he need?"

"Probably doesn't want to piss off a potential client or use resources he doesn't have to," Ryder grumbled.

"Sir, The main fleet is moving."

"Where?"

"Where else."

Balak felt conflicted.

On the one hand, he was not a front-line fighter, being given a rifle and sidearm and then told to join the main force irked him to no end. On the other, it gave him an excellent chance to get his hands on some intel and tech for the Broker. They were pirates, raiders, no one was going to question why he was ransacking rooms or digging through things. At the very least, he would be seen as inexperienced and undisciplined, grabbing whatever wasn't nailed down.

At most wasn't all that different from the least, just in a more positive light. It depended on what he was seen grabbing. Seeing as he was out to grab whatever he could regardless of its actual value, he didn't think all that many people would look too closely at what it was he was taking. Unless it was something that somebody else wanted, he didn't see too much issue. It wasn't like he couldn't just dump whatever, he may not have known exactly what he was after, but he did know that he would find something.

A new race, a new world, a whole new field of information out there for the taking. It mattered little what he got his hands on, so long as it was found beneficial to the Broker. Seeing as this race was new, anything and everything was on the table; it didn't matter if it was state secrets or a receipt for skin cream.

"Alright, you grunts! Many of you are on your first run here so I'll make this quick! Under normal circumstances, you wouldn't be here! But these aren't normal circumstances, now are they! We have ourselves the chance of a lifetime here! It's doubtful that these primitives have the tech necessary to repel us! Scans show very little presence of eezo tech here, so these people are only just getting their feet wet! Therefore, it has been deemed that to get the absolute most out of this, it's all hands on deck! The threat these nobodies pose is minimal, so get out there, and take what's yours!"

This little speech got a roar of cheers and applause from the troops, Balak gave the bare minimum in what could be called celebratory action. This wouldn't stand out all that much, Balak had a reputation as stiff; his actions would merely reflect that.

"Entering atmo now, eta to the ground: three minutes! Get your game faces on boys! We're going in hot!" their pilot roared over the coms. This garnered another wave of delighted cheers. Everyone was eager for what was perceived to be an easy job.

While Balak wasn't as excitable, his guard wasn't especially up. What could this backwater planet do?


.xVIx.

There was a degree of negligence when it came to ship upkeep that pirates always seemed to have, regardless of where they were from. He'd seen it over and over again. They put in the bare minimum to keep their ships running and that was it. Keeping the spoils for themselves was far more important most of the time. Occasionally there was a captain that demanded better respect for their ship, but those were far and in between.

As it was, Ryder didn't feel all that impressed as he watched their ships come down. They had that same run-down look that most pirate ships had. It was hard to tell if they were any more advanced than their own, but there was a chance, slim as it appeared. Whatever doubt he had that these were pirates though quickly evaporated. Aside from the lack of upkeep, there was also the hodgepodge nature of the fleet itself. Too many different ship types to be from a uniform fleet.

Not that he had time to think about what that meant, as the ships landed not too far from the city limits. The positioning was familiar, the backs pointed towards the city, meaning that the doors would open and pirates would stream out guns blazing.

Normally there'd be a lot more people to defend against such an onslaught, but given the planet's position, that wasn't going to happen. Normally, the ships wouldn't have been able to land this close, given their defenses, that wasn't going to happen.

What was going to happen was already happening, an invasion right at their front door and not nearly the manpower to stop them outright.

Of course, he would be a lot more worried if it wasn't for what was right in front of him.

The doors opened up and Balak prepared himself for what was to come. His grip on his rifle was loose and tight at the same time; he figured it was the adrenaline. He was mostly just glad that he wasn't in the front of the front line; he wasn't particularly interested in meeting this new species just yet.

He'd leave that to the idiots who were out to prove something. The only thing he had to prove was how useful he could be to the Broker and he couldn't do that if he was dead.

So when they ran out with their guns roaring, he wasn't at all surprised when he saw their shields light up as enemy bullets met them. But as was predicted, the shields held and the idiots didn't even slow down.

Balak did notice something, an odd glow, and smell but merely filed it away for later.

His feet hit the ground and almost immediately he had to start running. He wasn't a tactical genius by any means, but even he knew that standing still in a field was just asking to be shot.

So he did what everyone else was doing and ran for whatever cover he could find. While he would still call this species primitive for their architecture, their use of stone and wood was almost laughable, he didn't want to find out just how much damage his shields could take.

Once he was behind cover, Balak took a look at the opposition. They had the usual body type, batarian standard that was shared by most of the galaxy; the main body with two arms and two legs, head on top. From the few who were not covered, he saw that they were fleshy in a myriad of colors with strange fur atop their heads, also in many different colors. What a strange race.

But then there were the ones clad in metal armor, those were much larger than the rest. He didn't rule out the possibility that they were mechs, but it was a hard image to erase.

Before he could pick out a bit more, someone plopped next to him in his cover. He had no idea who he was, but that didn't stop him from talking to him like they were friends.

"HA! Look at these fools! Not even a proper firing line! Just standing there in the plain view! This is going to be easy!"

Balak didn't know what it was, but something about what this guy just said felt loaded.

Looking back over cover, sure enough, loaded felt like an understatement.

Those large metal men lined up ahead of the rest and put their left arms forward. To Balak's surprise, and most likely everyone else, a wall of blue light formed from some item on their wrist on all of the armored ones. Whatever rounds they had been throwing at them, he wasn't sure if they had hit anyone yet, was stopped by the blue wall of light.

But that wasn't the end of the surprises. Balak figured that they would have to do some kind of maneuvering to shoot around the shields but was shocked to see them shoot right through it as though it wasn't there.

It didn't take Balak much to realize that this was a brilliant maneuver. With those shields, they could put up defenses that they didn't have to work around or ever leave cover, a near-perfect defense. Looking at the generator on their arms, Balak put one thing at the top of his list of things to get his hands on if at all possible. Preferably without anyone realizing it because he for sure could see that spark of greed pop up in nearly everyone else's eyes.

Now if they could only find a way to take one of the metal monstrosities down. Whatever those blue shields were, they could take a beating from their kinetic accelerators. To Balak, it seemed that the defenses on both sides were slowing everything down; their weapons weren't getting through their shields, not as fast as their own would tear down kinetic barriers anyway, and theirs weren't enough to break down those blue barriers. Well, that last part wasn't entirely true, he did see one lower their barrier, only for the ones on its side cover while they switched out with a replacement.

So those blue barriers did need to go down at some point, he suspected that they could go on for longer than what he saw and they only swapped out to keep from hitting that limit.

Before he could even begin to formulate a plan to get around them, his cover partner took the opportunity to peek out and fire a few rounds of his own, to no avail.

But now that the attacking force was at a bit of a standstill, Balak was able to get a better look around at the settlement they were assaulting. Aside from the ancient architecture that he had already taken note of, the next thing he noticed was the lack of people aside from the ones they were fighting. So, it appeared that they had been able to coordinate an evacuation before their forces arrived.

Surely the officers had noticed this by now as well if the orders that just went out were anything to go by. Words like capture and prisoners started to get tossed around more than they already were. Made sense, they now needed to know where to find the rest of their kind.

Again, Balak didn't particularly care if anyone was captured; it did little to further his own goals. He was a lowly grunt, after all, one whose loyalty wasn't directly to the fleet. Intel on the location of the others wasn't high on his priority list, not yet anyway. He needed to see where things headed first before a decision was made.

As it was, the ones in front of him were far more interesting. Even from his spot behind cover, he was gathering a plethora of information. Fighting tactics, what technology was being used, what was and wasn't working; all of it would be appreciated in his report to the Broker later.

"So, this your first battle?" his cover partner suddenly asked.

Technically… Balak nodded, he figured his usual muttering wouldn't be heard at the moment.

"I figured; you haven't fired once yet. Don't worry, we've all been there! Just stick with me and we'll be celebrating back on Omega in no time."

Honestly, that sounded awful to Balak. Not just the celebration, but also having to spend any more time with this idiot.

The pirate did little to change Balak's mind about him as he again broke cover to take some potshots that he guessed were just as useless as the other times. He leaned out to get a peek at how things were going and was thankful he did.

The primitives had gotten tired of being shot at and were doing… something.

He watched as two of the metal warriors made room for a third, its primitive weapon arched back in what looked to soon be an underhand swing. Much to his surprise, flames erupted from the back of the weapon, thrusting it into a powerful strike.

Before he could even think as to how useless that was, no one was even near them, he was again surprised to see a blade of fiery energy rocket forward. It wasn't a second later when it collided with an unfortunate pirate, destroying his shield and burning his armor as it sent him flying back.

Balak could only stare at the mangled corpse. He had never seen a weapon do anything like that before. Not that he had time to think more about it as more shots like it were fired, tearing into their front line and destroying cover.

His instincts flared, causing him to leap from his cover just as one of those energy blades roared past. Balak hazarded a glance back and saw that his partner wasn't so lucky. Nothing he could do, not that he would've anyway. Still, not the way he would have wanted to go.

But now he was left in a precarious position. Those metal monsters seemed to now be targeting anywhere they could take cover. Once that cover was gone, the soldiers would mow down whoever they could with their rifles. He had avoided that fate by remaining on the ground and slowly crawling his way to safety. It helped that he had some partial cover in the form of downed pirates.

While he figured that he could waste time being frightened by what was happening to his compatriots, another one was taken by one of those blades of fire not too far from him, he wasn't all that emotional over them. His loyalty as of this moment was to the Broker, all that mattered was getting information off-world.

All he had to do now was to survive long enough for the next phase of the invasion to happen. Seeing the now descending ships, it wouldn't be long now.


.xVIIx.

Reinhardt was having the time of his life. As far back as he could remember since joining the Crusaders, he had not been able to go all out like this.

He slammed into another one of the aliens, smashing it into a wall before turning to another and swinging his hammer at it. The hit was only a graze but that was all he needed to send it flying end over end.

He smiled as he added another two tallies to his mental count. He was pretty sure that he was up to around fifteen kills now. Did they go into extreme lockdown for this? These pitiful creatures who attacked without provocation weren't worthy to face him in combat, not that he would let that stop himself from enjoying the chance to cut loose.

He grinned as he sighted a group of aliens rounded the corner and immediately aim their weapons at him.

He learned early on that their weapons didn't have the penetrating power needed to get through his armor. He raised his arm to defend his face as he charged into the group, mowing down most of them and grabbing one with his free hand. A quick lift followed with a slam into the ground all but finished off the alien off, but Reinhardt held on as he dragged it along, only letting go as his charge died down. His armor registered minor impacts from behind him, a few aliens having survived his attack.

A wicked grin formed on his lips as he turned to face them.

It was to his utter disappointment though, someone had gotten to them first.

"Reinhardt! Where is your team!" an angry Balderich shouted.

"Bah, they're just slowing me down," he said as he spotted another alien take aim and start firing at them. With a leap, he lifted his hammer overhead and brought it down upon the unlucky alien. "Besides, they're fine."

He doubted they needed his help anyway, these so-called pirates weren't anywhere near the challenge he had been hoping for, but at least they were providing him with an outlet for his pent-up energy. He had more difficult fights with the standard brigands from Earth, these aliens were only a warm-up.

Before he could voice this, dull roars could be heard above them. He and Balderich looked up to see several smaller ships coming in, shuttles with more troops if he had to guess, though these were different from the ones he had seen earlier, their colors black and dark red.

One flew over their position and a door opened on the side and a figure leaped out of it, dropping to the ground a few meters away from them.

Reinhardt took in as much as he could about this new being, it certainly looked bulkier than the rest of the aliens he had been fighting today. It stood much taller than the others, standing over two meters tall. It had a large hump on its back, directly behind where its neck should be. He couldn't determine anything else about the creature though, its red and black armor was fully encompassing and hid its features beyond body shape.

Still, it looked like it could provide him with a greater challenge if the larger weapon it was carrying was anything to go by.

With a bellow, he charged ahead, his armor's thruster launching him into battle.

"Reinhardt!" Balderich shouted, but it was already too late.

Reinhardt impacted the creature and drove it back a few meters before, much to his surprise, the thing planted its feet into the ground and halted his forward momentum. His thruster died down, its charge spent, leaving him to stare for a second at this thing that had managed to stop a charging crusader.

This second was all it needed to flick out its arm, a purplish glow shrouding its hand that was then thrust into his chest. Reinhardt felt as he was launched backward and an odd sense of weightlessness. Even more so as he crashed into a wall and didn't break through as he thought he might. What was even stranger was that rather than immediately crashing to the ground, he instead floated in the air for a second more before finally landing hard.

As he stood, he couldn't help but notice that he was now covered in the same purple glow. Before he could being to wonder what it could be, he saw the creature launch a ball of the same energy that had pushed him away. His instincts roared at him to get out of the way, so he did, only to see the ball of energy curve in the air and come right at him.

The impact felt like a grenade going off in his face as the energies exploded, sending him flying back with more force than the first push. He lay on the ground for a moment as he took stock of what just happened. He couldn't see out of his left eye and what he could see out of his right was his armor now covered in odd-looking pockmarks, almost as if he has sprinkled acid over it.

Not that he had time to worry about that as the creature strode up to him, now brandishing its weapon and trained its sights on him.

Before it could fire, Balderich leapt in front of him, his barrier flaring to life just as the creature fired.

The barrier sparked as the shot met it, the pattern suggesting something like a shotgun. More shots rang out as the creature rapidly delivered more rounds, testing the barrier.

In either a moment of inspiration for the creature or pure misfortune for the crusaders, a series of shots met the main weakness of their barriers, the emitter in the center. The griffin-shaped crest fell apart to the powerful shotgun blasts and Balderich's barrier fell.

Once again not wasting its moment, the creature pushed its assault, firing off a couple more shots before its gun seemed to stall. Rather than attempt to see what was wrong, it tossed the weapon aside and went right for Balderich. An orange glow appeared around its right wrist and a blade the same color shot out. With a sharp thrust, it impaled the blade into a weak spot in the side of his armor.

Balderich winced as he felt the blade enter his side. Lifting his arm, he brought it back down to capture the creature's arm and kept it from pulling back. With a tug, he ripped the arm from the alien's shoulder, orange fluid spilling to the ground as he did. This stunned it long enough to allow Balderich to raise his hammer and bring it down on the creature.

What was left could barely be called a pulpy mess as more of that orange fluid pooled out of the now crushed armor.

Balderich held his side, trying to stem the flow of blood until his armor's medical systems kicked in. He wasn't sure how long the medigel would hold but it should last until he could reach a medical station.

The two crusaders didn't get much chance to recover as more of those shuttles flew above and even more of the bulky aliens dropped to the ground.

Balderich winced as he took a breath, "They're cutting us off, let's move."

Reinhardt grimaced as he picked himself up off the ground, more for his injured pride than anything else.

"I had this," he griped.

Balderich looked at the wound over his subordinate's left eye as he pulled his hand from his own injury, "Obviously."

Neither said anything more as aliens overtook the streets.


.xVIIIx.

Ana overlooked the battle going on before her. Her perch kept her mostly out of harm's way, but that did little to comfort her as she watched several soldiers gunned down by alien combatants. She lined her sights at one who looked to be giving out orders and pulled the trigger. Whatever shields these aliens had fared well enough against their assault rifles and small arms, but didn't hold up well to their more powerful weaponry. The Crusaders' hammers for one, either in melee or the firestrikes, and her sniper rifle seemed to handle the shields well enough, though she had to go for headshots to ensure a kill.

Not that it was particularly challenging to her. These aliens relied far too heavily on their shields, especially getting cocky after being able to mostly walk through the frontline fire.

The aliens scattered after their leader fell, rushing for cover and several pointing their weapons n random directions, trying in vain to find where she fired from.

She grinned, knowing full well that they wouldn't be able to, her distance well outside of their range of influence.

She scanned around for her next target and happened to see Balderich and his protégé finish up their fight in the distance and wondered just how bad his injury was. She frowned at the implication, knowing that he was mostly unmodified, his injuries would slow him down.

She lost track of where they went, but couldn't waste time looking for them. There were other things to take care of.

Like right now, her motion sensors began going off, alerting her to something large approaching. Turning she saw an alien shuttle flying straight towards her perch.

While it was too much to hope that they would overlook her, it wasn't meant to be as the shuttle opened fire. Bullets ripped through the stone and metal of the building, thankfully missing her, but was more than enough of a sign that it was time to get out.

Grabbing the rope she had prepared just for this, she tossed it over the edge and soon followed after it. It had been a while since she last repelled down a building, but honestly, it was a lot like riding a hoverbike. If said hoverbike was underfire and then the road exploded she thought as a rocket of some kind impacted and caused the top of the building to erupt into flame and debris.

She felt the rope loosen as its anchor was destroyed and she began to fall. Thankfully, she had foreseen this and was already grabbing onto a ledge. Looking down, she found that she wasn't too far from the ground for a controlled drop and let go, landing roughly but remaining uninjured.

Raising her rifle, she quickly scanned the area and found no one or anything nearby.

Well, time to find her next objective, whatever that was.

"What are we looking at here?" Williams asked as he looked over the battle on several monitors and holoscreens.

"The enemy appears to be using some form of mass accelerators as their primary weapon. They're using mass effect technology on a scale we haven't seen," one analyst pointed out.

"Each alien is using a personal shield emitter that appears to hold up pretty well to our pulse rifles, though we have had more luck with higher caliber armaments. The Crusaders seem to be having the most success so far," another chimed in.

"They were, but then the aliens starting dropping in some larger reinforcements. A couple of different kinds of aliens from what we've been able to gather."

A few monitors pulled up images of the different types of aliens that have been identified so far. The first was the most numerous, a humanoid with brown skin and four eyes. They were all male so far from what reports were saying and made up the majority of the invading force.

Next were large aliens, so far only seen in their armor as anything they had that could get through their defenses left them unidentifiable afterward.

The last one to be seen hardly wore armor and this had a very negative impact on the troops as these things could easily be classified as nightmare incarnate. They had tight pale skin, long skinny limbs, and a face that would surely haunt many for some time to come. Large sharp teeth and blood-red eyes.

"What have we figured out?"

"The four-eyed ones aren't all that different from us, once their defenses are bypassed. Nothing too unique about them other than their eyes. The larger brutes are tough, some of them seem to have a secondary layer of defense over their shields, some kind of purple barrier we have trouble getting through. More than that, even after their shields are taken out they remain hard to take down. Nearly all of them have gotten back up after taking several shots that would kill just about anything. Same with the scary skinny ones, they appear to have an extremely high recovery rate. The only real way to take them down is with fatal blows, aim for the head or other vulnerable spots."

Useful information to have, but Williams wasn't convinced that it would be enough to help them, not in the long run anyway. Communications were down planetwide, the aliens having done something that made their already spotty means of contact nigh unusable now. The only thing they had going for them right now was basic radio and landlines. If only they had the QEC up and running, but that didn't seem likely at the moment.

As it was, things were looking grim. So far the only plus that Williams could see was that most civilians were safely hidden away. But if the soldiers fell, nothing would stop the aliens from doing whatever they wanted, including hunting down and dragging out the civilians.

All anyone could hope for was that they could hold out long enough for reinforcements to arrive.


.xIXx.

Reinhardt and Balderich rushed through the streets until they came to a large wooden door set in the town's most unique building, a recreation of a castle from Earth. With shots ringing behind them, they rushed through the door and quickly shut it, sliding a large wooden beam into place to keep it from being opened immediately giving them a chance to catch their breath.

Things weren't looking good for the two, cut off from the rest of their squad, a group of aliens on their tail, and Balderich's wound was beginning to cause him problems. He was already starting to feel light-headed and sluggish. The bleeding had halted, but he already lost enough to hamper him with all the continued activity.

Still, he had enough strength in him to do what had to be done.

"That door won't hold," he groaned in pain as they walked further into the castle. "Get back to the unit, I will hold them off."

"HA! And let you have all the glory?" Reinhardt laughed at the idea of retreating from battle. "We will fight our way back together!"

Balder sighed as he put his hammer down, realizing that the young man still didn't understand. "No, I'm staying here."

Reinhardt gave his mentor a confused look as he noticed the wound in his side for the first time. A slight frown of worry passed over his features for a second, thinking about what more of those aliens could do against a single crusader. They stood a better chance together, so why would he…

"But, I…" he stammered out, "… without you?"

"Lieutenant! You took an oath to be a Crusader. Now, keep it!"

"I…"

The door banged against its frame as the aliens sought to break through.

"I won't leave you!"

Balderich gave Reinhardt a gentle smile as he offered his hand to Reinhardt, "The team needs you. Be their shield."

Reinhardt still looked against the idea, he struggled for a moment with conflicting emotions. It's not like he could just up and leave his commanding officer, the man who trained him, his friend. But, with a glance at Balderich, he saw the resolve in his eyes. That's all he needed to push down any doubts he had, even if he was still against the idea.

Steeling his features, he grasped Balderich's hand with his own. A single shake and the parted.

"Reinhardt, live with honor."

The younger crusader breathed in heavily at those words and their tone. There was a finality to them that he knew usually spoke of last goodbyes. If this is what his mentor wanted, then who was he to argue? He grasped his hammer one last time before he held it out to Balderich to take, an action that raised the older crusader's brows.

With a slight grin, he took the hammer as Reinhardt turned away.

"Die with glory… old friend…"

With that, Reinhardt began walking out of the room as the banging on the outer doors picked up in severity.

Balderich, wielding both hammers, turned to face whatever came through.

Ana leaped behind cover as a hail of bullets impacted around her. Just her luck that she would run into a squad while scouting out her next perch. Using her sidearm, she took potshots at her attackers whenever she could, but it wasn't enough. Their shields were more than enough to handle to light pulse rounds of her pistol, what she would give for something with a little more kick.

She looked down at her rifle and grimace at the damage it took earlier. The barrel was slightly bent and there was noticeable damage to the breech and receiver. While she was sure that it would be good for a few shots, they wouldn't be accurate at all.

She ducked more into her cover as more shots once again started tearing up the area around her.

"Quite the pickle I'm isn't it," she spoke to no one. She fired some more shots over cover if only to let the aliens know that they haven't killed her just yet.

"Never thought this would be how I went out," she lamented. And just when she met someone nice.

If this is how she was meant to die, then she was going to make them work for it.

Just as he thought they would, Balak watched as even more shuttles began to descend through the sky. While he felt that he should probably be bitter about being part of the test line, the simple fact remained that he survived. No thanks to the ones leading the charge, but survived all the same.

Send in the expendable foot soldiers to soften and test the opposition's defenses and then send in the big guns. The big guns in this case being the Blood Pack mercenaries. Krogan and vorcha adding to the batarian assault all but guaranteed victory, at the very least increasing their odds of success.

Sure enough, as soon as they landed the primitives lines broke and scattered as the mercs dropped around them. Normally, they most likely wouldn't even be a part of a raid like this, but he figured that Kof'borough felt that it would be worth it to invite them.

Given how effective they were with just their opener, it certainly felt that way.

At least it gave Balak the time he needed to catch his breath and perhaps even enough time to have a look around and see if there was any interesting intel laying around. Unfortunately, he didn't see any of those large metal soldiers around, living or dead, so having a look at those shields was out. What he did find though was a rifle from a downed soldier.

It wasn't anything too impressive, though he did notice that it still used a magazine feed for the ammo instead of an ammo block. So even more primitive than he thought, it bore the question if these people were just backward in terms of technology. To have displays of unimaginable tech countered by instances of blatant inferiority stir all kinds of theories and questions in his mind.

Not that he would dwell too much on it, his job wasn't to find answers, it was to gather information. He stuck the weapon on the magplate on his back next to his unused rifle. No one would question him about a trophy, it's not like there weren't plenty all over the ground for the taking. Speaking of, he also grabbed a sidearm, nothing wrong with more info on their weapons.

Looking up, he saw more shuttles coming down, this time bearing the colors of the pirate fleet. The second wave was about to hit and he did not envy the aliens for what was about to happen.

Thus was the misfortune of species that caught the batarians' attention.


.xXx.

Derangement Protocol set to execute.

Combat class models fabrication complete. Issuing combat parameters. Target designation: extraterrestrial life-forms.

Accessing local security surveillance systems, marking targets.

Marking…

Targets marked.

Executing…

The Blood Pack was known throughout both the Terminus and Citadel space as vicious mercenaries and not to be crossed lightly. That they were hired to be a part of bringing a new species to their knees was a plus to being paid their usual fee along with looting rights.

Breyak Krod grinned as his shuttle made its way down through the atmosphere of this pathetic backwater planet. He sneered as he looked down on the verdant fields, majestic forests, and abundant water sources. A world so giving only produced weak species, this new race was no different. They had to be shown who the strong were in this galaxy and who better to deliver that news than him and his company of ruthless mercs?

So were his thoughts that he didn't notice when his view of the world below was obscured as thick clouds began to form below the ship.

"Sir, we seem to be having some strange weather forming around us," the shuttle pilot told him.

Breyak frowned in annoyance, was this pyjak really going to complain about a little rain while piloting a spaceship?

"It's of no concern, maintain our heading."

"Sir, it's not just the weather, I'm getting strange readings on the sensors. There's something out there. Something big."

Before Breyak could further berate the pilot for pointless concerns, the shuttle rocked violently to the side. The krogan had been flying around long to know the difference between turbulence and impact, this was neither. It felt more like they got caught in the wake of something bigger than their shuttle.

The ship lurched again, this time sending Breyak into the wall.

"What's going on out there!" he shouted but the only answer he received was a loud screeching noise, one that sounded like several ships crashing into one another.

That was the last thing he heard before arcs of electricity began to spark around the inside of the shuttle. The ship suddenly broke in half, sending Breyak and the other mercenaries plummeting to the ground below.

Looking up to try and catch a glimpse of what doomed him and his men. What he saw were other ships that had met the same fate as his. The only other thing he saw were shadows in the clouds, things with wings, glowing blue eyes, and wrapped in lightning. He heard their screeching continue as he fell and saw even more ships explode in bursts of electricity.

All he could think about as he fell was the lost payday he would be missing, all because some batarian bastard didn't properly tell him what they were up against.

The best he could hope for was that these new guys shoved their tech where the stars don't shine to that void-touched captain.

Reinhardt moved as fast as he could making his way to where the fighting sounded the loudest. He had been around enough to recognize the weapon profiles of their soldiers and could also hear that the enemies severely outnumbered them. He had passed by several of his fallen comrades, felled by what he could only guess was those brutish monstrosities.

The sheer number who had been taken out did not give him hope that many remained standing. Not without help anyway. He paused as he tried to get his bearings and listen to where the sounds of battle were now coming from.

Listening carefully, he heard the burst of rifles and explosions from the other side of the buildings in front of him. Unfortunately, it would take him too long to go around. Well, the crusader way was clear on matters such as these; if you can't go around, go through.

Igniting his thruster, he launched himself directly at the wall in front of him. Like so many things before, the stone and mortar easily crumbled in his wake.

He emerged from the wall to see several soldiers trying to retreat from an onslaught from the shorter aliens and some of the scary-looking ones with teeth. He skids to a stop while bringing his barrier up, catching shots that would've torn into some unfortunate soldiers who were unlucky enough to be caught out of cover.

The shots bounced off his barrier, but the sheer amount of fire that he was taking the brunt of told him that his shield wasn't going to last long. He risked a look behind him and saw that the soldiers were retreating to the buildings behind them, at least increasing their chances now that they were out of the line of fire.

It was to their misfortune though that his barrier began to break before everyone could get to proper cover. A couple of soldiers had gotten tripped up on their way just as his barrier broke. Reinhardt quickly placed himself in between the soldiers and the bullets, using his body and armor to keep them from getting hit.

While he would normally worry about his armor's integrity, the projectiles from the aliens' weapons did little to actually damage the hardened metal of his armor. The self-repair function worked as fast as the armor was damaged, so he was hoping that he had enough juice left in the power cells to survive their small arms fire. He already knew that their larger caliber weapons would more than likely get through, so he was thankful that there didn't appear to be any here right now, but it was only a matter of time before one of those things showed up.

But first, he had to figure out some way to get these men out of here safely, not something he could do without breaking their cover.

He didn't get much more time to think about it as he heard screaming coming from the enemy lines and the focused fire on him let up completely.

Risking a peek, he saw that the aliens were now shooting towards something he couldn't see around the corner. Several red beams shot from behind the building striking down several aliens. He heard mechanical whirring and chirping that sounded familiar but he couldn't place where he had heard the noise from.

But rather than try to figure out that little mystery, he instead turned back to the unit and urged them to keep moving.

He took one last look over at the aliens and saw that most had run off or been struck down and for a brief moment saw a glint of red and the swish of a robotic tail. Did the omnics send over a squad? Concerns for another time, he had to see these soldiers to safety.

First wave complete.

Initiating follow-up strikes.

Notice: fabrication of Tyrant model complete.

Initiating release from available cauldrons.


And Scene!

So I can't blame my issues from last year for the delay of this chapter. As many of you know, Mass Effect: Legendary Edition came out not too long ago, and well... yeeeeah...

My excuse is that I totally needed to brush up on my ME knowledge, all for the sake of the story of course. Repeated playthroughs and all that.

-You didn't even read the codex, you just played on easy mode and biotic charged everything to death!-

Quiet you, I will not have my subconscious mutiny.

Anyway, I'm not 100 percent happy with this chapter, can't for sure say why. But, it does have most of the things I wanted here, and a few things that just kind of materialized on their own, but hey, whatever, it works... maybe. I'll let you guys decide.

But, on to reviews!

First off, all of you who took the time to let me know how much you enjoy the story so far, so except for the guy who was upset that this is a tri-crossover, so pretty much all the rest of you.

Special thanks to Venomous dragons bite and Eu sou um fa for their declaration of love for the story, I'm honestly really touched by these reviews and think of them often.

Aside from them, I believe I spoke with most of you directly about your reviews and any questions you may have had, trust me, I love getting to speak with my readers about the story.

So this chapter marks the middle of the Shanxi arc, it will be wrapped up in the next chapter, at which point we will move onto humanity's introduction to the galaxy at large. Hopefully it won't take another year to get out, here's to hoping we will all be surprised together!

Uh, I think that's it, so, Lostbasin out! Please review!

Next Chapter: Zero Hour