AN: Greetings! And welcome to a new chapter of my story! I want to apologize for being this late with the update. I had in mind to get it out sooner, but my Internet account decided to screw me and barely now when I have wireless from my roommates I can post this. Not lots of proof reading, I'll admit. I also wrote most of it today (I lacked Internet to check certain things before putting them down on paper). I also tried to cut certain scenes shorter and narrated others. I hope you'll enjoy it! Please leave me feedback through PMs or reviews!
Chapter 8: Shanxi II: We are Terra's ruthless sons!
Shanxi brought the worst out of both sides in a very short amount of time. The Humans had stationed the now famous 501st Special Marine Regiment there, soldiers infamous for their cruelty and efficiency. The Council forces had two… let us say 'not in their mind' leaders – the now deceased General Desolas Arterius and Tela Vasir – who only made it worse by giving the Humans more reasons to give us their worst.
Out of the three days of fighting there, the crimes took place on the second day. Executing civilians, executing prisoners of war, bombing civilians with shipboard weapons, using controversial types of ammunition… The remaining controversy revolves around the Drescher Bombings after her fleet's arrival and of General Williams' tactics of cleaning the city of resistance pockets. I also believe that the cruelty manifested by the Humans was also to capitalize on psychological warfare objectives. And it worked… many Asari came to fear them when the few wounded mercenaries were returned to the Citadel and showed to everybody how mutilated they were, or how broken they were.
[…] Why hasn't the Hierarchy won on Shanxi? There are multiple reasons for that. First, Desolas' troops weren't equipped for prolonged combat with a disciplined and well organized military; they packed to fight Quarian Marines at best. Then there was Admiral Kaevus' refusal to dedicate his fleet to a siege, deterring to a blocade of Shanxi. There was also the lack of information on the Humans' capabilities. And, maybe the most important, the defenders' refusal to give up. […]
It was fortunate that this cruelty wasn't taken to the next level after the war moved from Shanxi into Council space. We can safely say that the Battle of Shanxi was the most brutal since the Krogan Rebellions. If we have to scale it in terms of statistics, percentages and relativity, it was surpassed by the Great Battle of Sol and the Battles for Trebia System during the Reaper War.
Let us hope that we learned our lessons, that the trust formed between our nations in the Reaper War will further promote cooperation and peaceful coexistence, free from the horrors of war. As one Human said, "It's good that war's so terrible, least we grow fond of it."
(Extract from Planus Photius' interview, historian and director of Palaven Military History Museum, The Shanxi Meat Grinder)
Shanxi, Turian FOB
SPECTRE Tela Vasir
Even before the emergency meeting under the Parliament Palace in Brussels, before the mobilization of the relief force to retake Shanxi, before Valern convened an emergency meeting with the Council, the second day was dawning upon the colony of Shanxi and her city when Tela Vasir, SPECTRE of the Citadel Council, was making ready to go into the fight with her Eclipse mercenaries. She had a conversation with Desolas beforehand, the Turian General had little sleep and was frustrated with how horrible the invasion began.
For Vasir it didn't matter. She knew here were Quarians and a race that seemingly helped them. In her book, this was enough for her to start killing them. Now more so that the damn suit rats have "settled down" on a planet against the Council ban on them on colonizing planets. She was forgetting that they were no longer in Citadel influenced space, but that didn't matter to her.
Today, an all out assault with the remaining hover tanks and heavy infantry support would take place, the frigate that was residing high in the atmosphere would give them some support.
Vasir entered the area dedicated to her Eclipse mercs. She originally came here with 300. Now, after yesterday's fighting, she was left with just over 200 combat capable Asari, with very few injured and most dead. The mood in the camp wasn't a great one, that was sure. The Turians were disciplined and didn't show much, but they knew they had a tough fight ahead of them as seen yesterday. These aliens, the Humans, were vicious warriors. They would make more than fine Turians in some officers' eyes.
The first thing she saw were the recovered dead bodies with two Asari tending to them, saying some prayers to Athame for their souls.
"How did she end up in this sorry state?" Vasir asked and pointed at a charred body. The corpse in clause was unrecognizable, the face was black and the flesh melted to the bone in some spots. The neck wasn't any kinder, a gaping hole was present with dried and burnt blood. Her upper chest and shoulders were in a similar state.
"She took an incendiary grenade to the face. We were clearing a building and she went in first. A… Human threw the damn thing and it went off in the air. Other sisters have bad burns too, but not critical," one of the two answered. The Asari in Eclipse referred to each other as sisters.
"It isn't mercenary work here. This is solely military… we weren't told we'd fight a battle with- with those monsters!" one Eclipse said with anger. She was a survivor from the first 100 mercs sent to battle.
"Monsters? Please, don't be ridiculous," Vasir laughed off.
"They are monsters, SPECTRE! They run us over with their tanks! They use weird grenades, incendiary, fragmentation and other chemicals against us! Our shields don't work! They don't have a bit of respect for our dead!" she ranted.
Vasir heard about some extremely unconventional and barbaric tactics on the Humans' behalf. It was more the work of the 501st Special Marine Regiment, the Devil's Specials. It involved booby traps, planting mines under the corpses of the fallen Turians and Eclipse so when somebody tries to recover their body the mine explodes; there was even a report of a wounded Asari that exploded as two Turians were trying to evacuate her. Most likely they had left something hidden in her armor or wound. In light of all this, it was ordered not to pick any dead soldier without making sure they aren't booby trapped with explosives beneath the body.
This upset Vasir big time. She was now out there for vengeance and to teach those barbarians a lesson or two. Besides the fact that they were helping the Quarians and, apparently, housing AIs.
"Look at her!" the same Asari said and pointed at a wounded one in her lap. "She tried to recover the body of her friend after we pushed the Humans back a block. But they hid a fucking grenade or something under the body! It just took her hands clean off and her jaw!"
True to her words, the one in her lap had her palms missing from wrists, bandages hiding the gory mess. Her jaw had to be bandaged, teeth were showing through the torn off flesh of the face. An eye was patched and a fairly sizeable wound was on her belly and legs. All this from a single grenade hidden under the corpse of her friend. Vasir saw the tears that were coming from her sole functioning eye. She was suffering in silence. She wasn't able to talk anymore with the wound she took, with a severed tongue and destroyed jaw.
This was not what Vasir was thinking and she kept lying to herself. She was a commando back in her days but she didn't go into combat and warzones this brutal. No, this was the ugly face of war. A war fought with conventional and very unconventional tactics by a smaller force against an invader. The battlefield carried no glory, no joy. Just death and brutality, the brutality and violence manifested by two intelligent beings against each other. A war fought against the Sons of War could only be brutal beyond expectation.
Just as she gathered her resolve to go do some damage, they all heard a whistle coming from the skies. It was faint at first but it got louder and louder by every half a second. Contrary to what people might believe, not all shells make a whistling sound when they are coming down. Unless it is specifically fitted with a device to make that loud whistling sound Hollywood was so fond of, the shells make a short lived hissing-whistling sound, so you have almost no warning that you have ordnance incoming. But these shells made that specific whistling; it strikes fear into the hearts of those who know it all too well.
And it grew in pitch until the 81mm mortar shell landed among the Eclipse sector of the FOB. It struck close to a Turian infantry transport vehicle. On detonation, dirt was sent into the air and white smoke following some burning chemical. A Turian who was helping unload wounded from the equivalent of an APC of theirs got some of it on his unprotected neck. The chemical started to burn his skin and flesh. The poor man was screaming in a second from the pain it caused him. And every effort he made to put it out was useless.
Then another shell fell in the FOB, this one causing only material damage as it destroyed a few crates of levo food. Then a shell exploded 15 meters before hitting the ground, throwing the same white substance onto everything beneath the detonation on a rather wide radius. Eclipse mercenaries who were caught beneath it and not in full armor, as almost nobody was in full armor at the time, were yelling in agony, smoke coming out of their exposed arms and heads. Those who were wearing only clothes noticed that it was burning through their clothing and then it reached their skin.
Vasir threw herself down. She immediately reached for a helmet to put on. The Asari with no palms was being dragged to cover by the one who was tending to her wounds. The whole FOB soon degenerated into a madness of people shouting orders or people who were crying in pain. Vasir knew it was unhealthy to stay in the open courtyard during an artillery strike and made her way to the cover of a 'building', hiding beneath the prefabricated Turian field posts.
Vasir watched with her eyes wide the carnage that was unfolding around her. What could be this substance they were putting in their shells? This white substance. The air was now full of it. Those without helmets or breathing masks inhaled it and it was now burning their lungs on the inside, their whole respiratory system was soon compromised and both Turian and Asari bodies started to litter the ground.
What Vasir and the others didn't know was that these shells were white phosphorus rounds. White phosphorus was very infamous in Human history when 'weaponized'. It burned as long as it had oxygen to feed off. The only way to put it out was to deprave it of air. Some Turian medics were now cutting the flesh with a combat knife off the ones who had white phosphorus on them to prevent it from reaching their arteries and bones and cause further critical damage.
Most of the wounded Asari and Turian were left in the open by their comrades who panicked and ran for cover. The few disciplined Turians who tried to reach their wounded were in turn wounded or killed by the explosions, shrapnel, or white phosphorus contained in the shells. The attack didn't last long, maybe five minutes. But it was enough to inflict damage on the base. Gear was damaged and people were killed or wounded beyond combat capable, with the Eclipse sector of the base taking the brunt of the shelling.
General Desolas was furious again. He was surprised again by the enemy and he was hit in his own base. Now he had to delay his offensive to get his base back up and running into top shape. The air was filled with white phosphorus and this further hindered visibility and was a health hazard. It would take a short while for the phosphorus to dissipate. In less than an hour, two dozen more Asari were dead with 60 others suffering disfiguring injuries from the burns. The Turians lost twice their numbers.
One kilometer and a half away from the FOB, a unit of Alliance Marines was making its way back to friendly lines and, while the Turians were trying to figure out from where they were hit, they would have a window of opportunity to escape. That was Lieutenant Kai Leng's platoon. Other platoons were attacking right now in the Turian occupied zone. It was part of Dietrich's plan to disrupt the enemy's operations as much as possible by hitting important targets, destroying ammo stashes or food. If nothing else, they'd just simply attack the Turians only to give the impression of an attack and have them chase after the Humans, thus dislodging troops from the offensive apparatus that was falling into place.
Shanxi, Turian controlled zone
Private Acinia Agolus
Acinia just woke up at the sound of loud thunder and artillery shells going off from a rather restless sleep. The previous day took a heavy toll on her and her comrades – from energy used by the body in combat, to the deaths of a good number of soldiers and friends. They were now having something to eat in the morning before supporting the push all across the city. Desolas brought 80% of the troops for the offensive, an offensive that got delayed. Meanwhile, the defenders had dug in and always stayed close to the Turian lines. Sporadic gunshots could be heard here and there when Turian and Alliance soldiers came face to face.
Acinia was sitting on a slab of concrete from the ruined wall. She was silently eating her ration. Her platoon's CO, a lieutenant, became the CO of the 4th company after their transport ship was riddled by 40mm rounds from a Human SPAAG that killed the original CO. The good Turian officer was tending to his troops.
"Hey boy, how are you doing?" he asked another private who seemed lost in thought before being brought to reality.
"Doing well, sir," he replied and grabbed his Phaeston assault rifle.
"Good, stay focused. We're leaving soon."
"Lieutenant, sir, they said we are fighting Quarians who are breaking the laws established by the Citadel Council, who are preparing an invasion of Council space. But so far we've fought these… Humans. What are we actually doing? We're not supposed to go attack people like this, sir. We're the Hierarchy, not the Batarian Hegemony," another young soldier asked.
The LT sat down with his troops and let out a small sigh.
"We are soldiers, we follow orders… the intelligence we had brought us here and we were sent in," he finally said.
"My father said that a soldier who obeys every order without thinking is no soldier. He is a fool. We're now fighting a people we know nothing about other than the fact that they are somewhat tied with the Quarians and they make good soldiers."
"We're soldiers of the Hierarchy. We follow orders. Even if we don't want to, we have to if we don't want to get court marshaled at best, or fail the Cause at worst."
Acinia had to agree with her comrade. Initially, she was eager to see action. But that eagerness was fading rapidly. And they didn't exactly know why they were dying right now in the thousands. They were just sent by their leaders to occupy a big city on a colony world, much different than what propaganda they were fed with.
After a short exchange with somebody on the comms, the lieutenant stood up and rallied his troops.
"Alright, we have been ordered to move out. The attack begins in 15 minutes. Let's get moving to our pre-designated position. Keep your eyes open for the enemy. They are sneaky bastards," the LT said.
Acinia took one more bite and drank some water before standing up. She grabbed two extra thermal clips and her assault rifle and went into the street with the rest of her unit. They were advancing along the walls with care.
A hover tank was moving forward to shield the company from incoming frontal fire as they were pushing forward with care. The desolate streets were giving them the feeling that they were watched. Occasionally there was a Human civilian here and there trying to hide from the conflict. They were the ones who didn't evacuate to the bunkers. Acinia saw hatred in their eyes. They were throwing insults and curses on the Turians only through their gazes.
Gunfire and explosions filled the morning as intense clashes between the two sides manifested in the city. On one hand were the Turians and the Eclipse mercs of Vasir, and on the other hand were the Alliance Marines, Army soldiers, militia and a token of Quarian Marines.
"Stay sharp!" the Lieutenant instructed. It wasn't long before a crack echoed, followed by the shattering of glass and a sick wet snapping sound. A soldier fell from the hover tank with blue blood pouring through a hole in his helmet's visor.
"SNIPER! Take cover!"
Another cracking sound and another one of her comrades fell down. He turned to lie flat on his back with his eyes at the sky and took his helmet off. A hand was trying to cover his neck while the poor man was choking in his own blood. He just got shot in the neck and the bullet didn't severe his spine to kill him, thus leaving him in agony to suffocate and drown in his own blood.
"Where did that come from!?"
"Somewhere from the left side of the intersection up ahead! Probably from that tall building!"
The tank traversed the gun and speculatively fired a few shots at the building suspected to house the enemy marksman. Then, they were met with assault rifle fire. 5.56mm and 7.62mm rounds fired from windows just above their heads were starting to take a toll. Some Turians were shot directly in the top of their heads.
"Get inside those buildings! Clear them!" the officer ordered to which his troops complied.
Acinia broke a window and jumped inside to take cover from the incoming fire. They had just walked into an ambush. 40mm grenades were going off in the street. Her platoon formed up and systematically went through the bottom floor. Then they made their way up to the first floor along the stairs, Phaestons at the ready. What they had forgotten was to carefully check for booby-traps as advised by the higher ups.
The leading soldier tripped on a wire and an explosives package went off inside the compact hallway. The force threw Acinia right through a shattered window and into a back alley with cars. She hit the ground hard and the pain she felt from the shrapnel that imbedded itself into her waist was the last thing she knew before being knocked out cold. The cold autumn rain that just started to come down from the sky kept her company on this Spirits forsaken rock. Raindrops were the dancers, thunder was the musician; both holding a beautiful natural concert amidst two clashing civilizations.
Shanxi? Yeah, goddamn right I remember that clusterfuck. Nasty business indeed. Most of the people who come to me ask me about my service during the Reaper War or the fight against the Collectors, not Shanxi. They want to hear about the Battle of Fehl Prime, or Ferris Fields, or Freedom's Progress. Or the Fall of Mindoir, or the burning of Elysium when the damn squids came for us. About the adventures of the Damned 3rd Battalion. Curious how nobody ever asked me about my time on Thessia… I'm still feeling sorry for that girl… Liara was her name, I think. But you're in time if you want to hear something from one of the few living people who were there at Shanxi. […]
I honestly didn't know if we'd hold it. Skullfaces and their blue babes were pushing hard. Heh… first I killed them, then I trained them. […] Where was I? Yeah, we were pressured very hard on the second day. The whole city was a mess. There wasn't a front line anymore. There were just resistance pockets here and there, be it a Human or Turian unit who got isolated and cut off.
Their frigate kept shelling us to no end. Whenever they found a strongpoint they'd call for that damn ship to dump some mass accelerators on us. More than a handful of civilians had been caught in the bombardments. If it wasn't for that admiral of theirs Shanxi would have been leveled from day one. In the end he only gave Desolas one frigate for heavy support and they didn't fire on targets too close to their Turian buddies on the ground. […]
The second day caught me defending an intersection with a tank and some undermanned platoons. It was that day I met Kai Leng and became famous together with that Vasir bitch. If Drescher and Williams hadn't arrived when they did… let us say that there are things only the Devil's Specials were meant to see.
(Extract from Sergeant Major Zaeed Massani's interview, The Shanxi Meat Grinder)
Shanxi, Front lines
Sergeant Major Zaeed Massani
Zaeed Massani was leading his men into the battle. After a day worth of fighting, he had now command of the survivors of several platoons. The Turians attacked along the whole line of the front. Zaeed and his brave Marines had orders to counterattack a rather energetic push of the Turians in their sector. He had the support of an Apocalypse tank – Armand Morun's tank, the same tank who lead the armored Alliance counterattack yesterday and ran over an Asari mercenary.
"Stay alert, boys," Zaeed advised on the radio. He held his M7 Lancer at the ready as they advanced behind the tank. Ahead on the street was a hastily established barricade with a few militiamen defending it. They were firing an older model of an assault rifle, the M5 Jackal at targets across the large intersection that opened at the barricade.
The rain wasn't helping them fire accurately. A fog was engulfing the upper levels of the buildings while heavy rain poured on the ground. Somewhere in the distance, a Turian frigate was shelling the far flank.
The tank came to a halt near the barricade, the turret aiming in the same direction the militia was shooting. Then, the coaxial 7.62mm machinegun opened up with more accuracy on a few silhouettes on the other side.
"Report!" Zaeed cried to a man on the barricade.
The middle aged man was shooting like a robot, his mind blocking external stimuli. Zaeed grabbed the rifle out of his hand and slapped him on the face.
"I said, REPORT! What's the situation here?"
He blinked a few times at Zaeed's eyes who were showing through his helmet's visor. Then he noticed the insignia of a Sergeant Major and the logo of the Marines. The Alliance combat gear didn't show the rank of a person like a formal dress would. One would need to get close to the soldier to make out his rank by the insignia and stripes. It was a tactic employed in order to avoid enemy combatants specifically target Alliance officers in the field and deprave the units of their COs.
"Sergeant, sir! Enemy forces are pushing hard in this sector. We are engaging hostiles. Another platoon of Marines ambushed this column of aliens in the street just over there," he said and indicated where he was shooting at. "The Marines are cut off over there and are encircled. We tried to relieve them but no luck…"
Zaeed glanced over the barricade. The bodies of a dozen or so militiamen with their characteristic gear littered the asphalt. The rain was washing away the pools of blood.
"…ieutenant K… cut off!" Zaeed's radio cracked to life inside his helmet. There was an Asian-American person on the other end if accent was something to go by, gunshots and explosions were going on in the background. "…wounded! We need desperate help here! W-… -uch longer! They'll ov-… us!"
The militia's helmet mounted radios caught that as well. "They're the ones, Sergeant! The Marines cut off over that block!" he said.
Turians were already traversing the intersection riding some of their vehicles. They weren't staying back to deal with the resistance pocket, so they left behind enough troops to clear it while the advance kept its momentum. A gunship cleared an office building and immediately spotted the men at the barricade.
"GUNSHIP! TAKE COVER!"
The Turian craft opened fire on the barricade with heavy guns. The Marines hid inside a shop or took cover behind the tank. Two militiamen who lacked personal shields were killed, the heavier guns mounted on a gunship having enough power to go through their body armor. Armand's tank opened fire with the 12,7mm machinegun mounted on top of the turret as its shields held at bay the onslaught of the fire; not that its armor couldn't deflect it. The heavy rounds fired by the M4 Browning tore through the pilot's cockpit and killed it, downing the craft. Then a 120mm shell hit the wreck, totally destroying the gunship.
"Get moving! Let's get our men out of that hell hole!" Zaeed encouraged his troops.
The Apocalypse tank rolled over the barricade into the open ground and advanced on the Turian vehicles and infantrymen who were already retaliating against the massive war machine. They were throwing everything they had at it, to no avail. Zaeed and his men opened fire on the enemy and forced them to take cover, a Minimi mounted on a bipod on the second floor of the store pinning them down.
The tank fired on the Turian light vehicles and destroyed them one by one. The Turian advance was faltering when faced with Alliance tanks. An airstrike was inbound to take care of Armand's tank, but his tank's radar was already tracking most aircrafts in Shanxi's airspace. The radar detected the intercept vector of two Turian bombers and alarms alerted the crew inside. They had acknowledged the threat, fired the gun to empty it of the loaded shell and loaded an ATA rocket in the barrel.
Much to the surprise of the Turian infantry who was fighting off the tank and Zaeed's men, the gunner elevated the gun as much as possible and traversed the turret towards the general direction of the bombers as indicated by the radar system and fired the rocket.
The rocket left the barrel at high speed and raced between the buildings towards the heavens. Its active target acquisition and tracking system locked on one bomber and homed in. The pilot of the bomber was alerted through alarms that he was targeted by an active tracking device and was locked on. But he had no chance against it. Since his bomber and the ATA rocket were flying towards each other, any countermeasures would have been wasted with so little time left. The missile slammed into the bomber and blew it up. The second one was still inbound.
Armand knew they had no time to fire a second ATA in time, so he ordered his driver to park near a building and perform some maneuvers. The weather meant that the bombers had no line of sight and their sensors wouldn't penetrate the rainstorm clouds. That only left one option: a Turian infantryman was painting him with a laser or some device similar in concept.
Their target painting system must be good if their alarms weren't going off at that. So they engaged the active protection system – a contemporary version of the Russian Shtora system – on more than just optical against ATGMs. The emitters mounted on the turret went live and filled the surroundings with electronic noise and electronic-optical jamming. Armand and his two crewmates didn't know if their gamble paid off until the bombs fell 4 meters from their position, inflicting four casualties on the Marines.
The Apocalypse tank now cleared from aerial threats according to their radar, assumed the attack on the Turian forces who were already retreating into alleyways and buildings to hide from the tank, Marines hot on their tails to kill them.
On the other streets that were leading into the adjacent boulevards of the intersection were Turian tanks pushing the sector. And in their way was only Armand's tank with half expended ammo count, 100 Marines who were already engaged in close quarters firefights, and an isolated platoon under the command of Kai Leng a few hundred meters from Zaeed. But for the men of the 501st there was help on the way in the form of one more tank supported by IFVs and APCs, infantry and Reegar's men.
Shanxi, SPECTRE Tela Vasir
Vasir was with her mercs, proudly parading through Shanxi's desolate streets after killing 9 Alliance Army soldiers who had infiltrated into the Turian occupied zone and had dug in inside a building. They were planting C4 explosives and Claymore anti-personnel mines when they were caught by the aliens who were moving to support the offensive. The brave men fought valiantly until Vasir and two more Asari used their powerful biotics to cause the first floor to come crumbling down on their heads. The two who had survived were executed by the mercenaries.
Now they were supporting as a second line for the Turians in the current sector, to help in the mopping up of resistance pockets. And just ahead was an intense firefight. Three Turians were shooting their rifles into the door of an apartment building. From the first floor a sniper pocked out and fired two times his DMR into the chest of a Turian, killing the Hierarchy trooper.
"MOVE!" Vasir ordered her subordinate who complied and moved forward while covering each other by firing bursts into the windows.
A grenade came out the window and exploded in the street, wounding another Turian. Then a 40mm grenade fired from a launcher somehow hit an Asari in the stomach and exploded. The outcome was gruesome. The armor took part of it, but it was too powerful for the simple low grade armor of a mercenary. It tore through the ceramic plates and blew her flesh off, intestines spilling on the pavement as her body fell dead, shrapnel embedded in her head through the helmet as the final blow.
Vasir threw a biotic attack powerful enough to destroy the balcony and the window through which the Human was firing from. The mercs burst inside and cleared the apartments suspected to house Humans, be them combatants or civilians.
In the end, Vasir was inspecting the row of rounded people. Two militia troopers in their distinct brown armor, three women civilians, a teenager boy, a girl not older than 10 by the looks of it, and a Quarian female engineer.
"What do we have here… Pyjaks and a suit rat," Vasir said.
"You bosh'tet, you will all pay for what you are doing here!" the Quarian said.
"And who will make us pay? Your derelict fleet and some primitives?" a mercenary asked.
"We should make an example of all of you," Vasir said with a smirk as she drew her pistol. "So, just to recap, the Citadel Council sent us here to stop the suit rats' evil plans of enacting revenge on civilized space."
The Quarian woman was fuming as she listened. The Humans were constantly asking her what they were saying. Vasir didn't pay them attention and kept talking.
"We are well within our sanctioned rights to intervene. But these primitive pyjaks sided with the suit rats and killed good Turians and Asari who were here to enforce the law. The way I see it, we are dealing with terrorists and outlaws who fired on us. According to the status of the SPECTREs it is up to me to get the mission done how I see fit. And you…" she said as she aimed the pistol directly at the face of a militiaman and fired, "are between me and my goal."
The civilians recoiled back in horror as the man fell flat on his back with a hole in his face. The other militiaman composed himself and threw a punch at Vasir in an attempt to throw her off and take her sidearm. One of Vasir's acolytes pulled the trigger on her gun. A few shots were stopped by the man's armor, but he eventually fell mortally wounded.
"For a bunch of backwater species, you have some fire in you," Vasir said as she finished the Human.
"AAAAAAA! Clark! NOO!" one of the Human females shrieked as she fell on her knees to the body of the man. "You monsters! You stupid bitch!" she said but the Asari did not understand.
"Papa? What did they do to papa?" the girl asked as the teen had grabbed her and put himself between his father's body and his sister.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" a Turian came to them angry.
Vasir didn't mind him too much, but the Turian wasn't about to give it up. "They surrendered! Why did you shoot them!? Do you even know what crime you committed!?"
"Back off, Turian! We are dealing with terrorists here," an Asari warned.
"YOU ARE SHOOTING PEOPLE WHO SURRENDERED!" he shouted.
With Vasir arguing with the Turian soldier, nobody kept a watchful eye on the Humans and the Quarian. So they didn't see it coming until one of the mercenaries' head yanked sideways and dragged her body to the ground. Then gunshots filled the air again, but the next bullets were fired randomly into the aliens without inflicting other casualties. The Turian soldiers and Asari mercs responded by reflex with their weapons and literally executed everybody that was brought outside.
On the cold, wet pavement lied the bloody bodies of a Quarian, a 10 year old girl, a teenager and three women, one of which had an M11 pistol in her right hand. She had fired blinded in rage by the cold blooded and senseless execution of her husband who was part of the Shanxi militia.
But this act wouldn't go unnoticed.
"Wha-" she wanted to say but felt her tongue unable to form words. Acinia wanted to get a bit up from lying flat on her back and one of the two fellow Turians helped her support her weight.
"Easy there. Don't get yourself worked up, they just brought you bandaged," he said.
"Barbarians bandaging us, hah! I wouldn't be surprised if they do it just to eat us later on," the other one said.
"Knock it off, Devus! They could have let her die and spare the trouble if it was so.'
"Haven't you seen what they did, Amter!? Their methods are nothing short of barbaric!"
"SHUT UP, BOSH'TETS!" their guard shouts and points his M7 at them threateningly.
Just then a whole bunch of Marines come in with three Asari. Two were helping the third walk who had her knees shot and was almost sleepy. Acinia analyzed them. Two were in Eclipse armor while the wounded one was in a different armor. She then saw the SPECTRE badge on her right shoulder guard.
"That's a SPECTRE," she almost whispered.
"Is that Vasir?"
Six Alliance Marines followed the Asaris into the large basement that served as a temporary prison. One had his helmet off and a rather long hair flowed, Asian characteristics visible on his face. He was immediately followed by someone who looked older, somewhere in his 40s, nearly 50s at oldest. The second one had a wound on his right side of the face, visible by the old scar and the silver eye color.
"Throw her there!" the Chinese man ordered. The two Eclipse let her down slowly and, to Acinia's shocked surprise, the man proceeded to punch the two Asaris hard in the face. "I said to THROW HER! Not gently put her down! Blue freaks!"
"Hey, Lieutenant Leng, how should we kill her?"
"Don't know, Massani. I'm undecided."
"I'm curious if they have a pussy like our women do. So far they're very similar," a Marine said.
"Yeah, let's see that," Zaeed agreed.
The three Turians watched the exchange of words between their captors and they didn't like it one bit how they were smirking and looking at the Asaris. Kai Leng walked to one of them. She was scared shitless by this point. She watched just 30 minutes earlier how a few Human vehicles supported by infantry and Quarian Marines absolutely butchered the Turians and mercenaries who didn't surrender from the very start.
Leng used the translator provided by a Quarian Marine earlier to order her. "Strap your armor down," he said. The Asari hesitated before feeling a fist in her jaw. "DO IT!"
She regained her composure and slowly took her armor off, all the while taking punches and being laughed at by the Marines. The poor maiden, in the Turian prisoners' eyes of course 'cause for the Alliance soldiers she was mere scum allowed to live a bit more, was crying as she was shedding the armor and undersuit to the point she was naked.
"Would you look at that… she's got a cunt!" Zaeed said with an evil grin.
"Anyone getting ideas?" somebody asked
"Nah, I'm cool! No xenophile. I like 'em dead," another one said.
"Necrophile then?"
"Fuck off! You know what I mean."
"Yeah, you like to fuck dead people…"
"On what did I just barge on...?" Kal'Reegar asked as he made his way into the basement on the stairs. He was baffled by what he was hearing. And then he noticed the naked Asari. "What's going on here? Why… is she naked?" he asked.
"We were curious to see if they have a cunt," Zaeed answered. "Do your women have 'em?"
Reegar was dumbfounded again. "What?"
'What were these Humans talking about here?' he asked himself.
"Nevermind," Reegar said as he pushed that kind of curiosities out of his mind. "Now, what was so important that two of my men literally sacrificed themselves covering our retreat?" he asked.
"Apparently these blue bitches are in love with the one here in that fancy ass armor," Zaeed answered.
"That's Tela Vasir. She's a SPECTRE," Reegar said after analyzing the KO-ed form of Vasir who was half conscious and very tired from all the biotic power she used not long ago fighting the Marines.
"Yeah… they are important it seems. Still, justice calls. Lieutenant?" Zaeed directed the topic onto what they were here for.
Kai Leng nodded. "The ad-hoc tribunal established here right now finds the three of you Asari responsible of war crimes against Humanity and the Quarian people," he said in a cold and detached voice. The Asari and Turians were with their mouths hanging open. "Punishment: death. The sentence will be carried right now," Leng said and raised his M11 pistol, aimed it at the head of the Eclipse mercenary still wearing armor and pulled the trigger.
The 10mm bullet pierced her skull and fragmented her brain into mush before going out the back side and smearing the wall of purple blood.
"YOU ANIMALS!" the Turian known as Devus said as he got up on his feet and charged Leng. A Marine put himself between Devua and Leng and threw the Turian down before proceeding to beat him with another Marine.
"Hey! Hey! HEY!" Reegar jumped in but Zaeed held him back by his shoulder.
"An eye for an eye, Reegar," the Sergeant said and pulled him back.
"An eye for an eye and the whole world goes blind!" Reegar retorted.
"Unless you're a Hanar," another Quarian Marine said, only to receive a death glare from Reegar's glowing eyes.
"There are more worlds, not just Shanxi," Kai Leng said. Reegar understood the message. They didn't care, they wanted revenge on the invaders for what they did.
Acinia watched the whole scene unfold before her eyes. The other Turian, Amter, jumped in to drag his comrade from the two Humans in gray armor. It was safe to say that Devus required hospitalization by this point from the savage beating he took. The young Turian female cowered in her place.
A Marine who had beaten Devus turned on the naked Asari and forced her down. Then they put the barrel of a shotgun inside her vaginal and pulled the trigger.
"I WILL HAVE YOU REPORTED FOR THIS!" Reegar shouted. "We are not the Council or mercenaries to do this! What the hell is wrong with you!?"
Leng shrugged. "I don't care, Reegar. Report me and my platoon. The way I see it, these fuckers butchered civilians for the whole day. And they aren't even actual combatants. They are mercs, terrorists. And the fact that they looted the bodies of two militiamen makes them pirates too. Laws are clear with pirates."
"You're twisting it just to suit your desire for revenge!"
Vasir had now gathered enough energy to speak and break their argument. "You pyjaks… suit rats… you have signed your deaths. You have no idea what is coming…"
Kai Leng pulled out a short sword he preferred to use in CQC when going in intimate and personal. With one quick and powerful strike, he sliced Vasir's head off her shoulders. Vasir didn't feel as much of a pain, just a cold wind traversing her neck's skin. Then her head fell on the basement's floor, her brain still functioning for a few seconds. Her head rolled on the ground, giving Tela Vasir, SPECTRE of the Citadel Council, the last image she'd see – her headless body limp on the ground, her blood pouring out of her neck.
Kal'Reegar just busted out of the basement at this. He was astonished at how cruel the Marines were. Only a Krogan in blood rage would do something like this. Or the feral Vorcha. On the other hand, Reegar's more cynical self was more than happy to have the Marines of the 501st as his allies.
"Take their omnitools and send them to the General. Maybe they'll dig some info out of them," Zaeed ordered. "And take these two skullfaces to a cell. If they even try to make a move… kill them."
Shanxi
The day wasn't going well for either side. Dietrich was losing ground and Desolas was making advances with losses, every corner being used to ambush the advancing Turians. A classic example of urban warfare, with buildings being cleared one by one by special assault teams, too often degenerating into close quarters fighting with knives and cracking each other's skull with the stock of the rifle.
But this wasn't the worst the day would bestow. No, worse would follow. Angry on Kaevus' refusal to use his dreadnought's cannon to destroy heavily defended enemy positions, Desolas gets into another heated argument with him. Eventually, Desolas pulls rank and threatens the Admiral with Court Marshal, the latter deferring from his post and his XO named acting captain of the dreadnought by Desolas who had seniority due to his groundside operations – the fleet supposed to support him.
When the Turians closed in on a bunker filled with civilians, they encountered stiff resistance and an assault is impossible without heavy losses. After multiple air strikes, the Turians push forward and uncover the entrance to what they presume to be a military installation and an assault of an underground bunker would be too costly. A sustained orbital strike from the dreadnought's gun eventually is ordered and destroys a good part of the bunker, trapping inside 5,000 civilians who took refuge there while a few died.
The whole day went on with bloody engagements, most of which were won by the attackers. That was until Drescher's Fast Reaction Fleet would arrive.
We caught the Turians totally unprepared for such a quick and energetic counterattack. They never stood a chance at Shanxi. I took my fleet in and evicted them. We took no prisoners in the space battle. No ship. Only life pods. Eudorian was lucky to be on an escape pod when his ship went down.
Not much to say on my behalf about Shanxi… I never liked wars, never liked what I had to do – to send good people to their deaths. I don't know if I even deserve the rank of Fleet Admiral for all my years of service. We killed roughly 90,000 Turians in orbit of Shanxi.
They fought hard… I respected them ever since that day. If there is a species that's a match for us, then that species is the Turians. For a moment, I started to think that we wouldn't actually pull it off, but then Averescu arrives and he pulled exactly the kind of shit he was known for in the Navy.
(Admiral Kastanie Drescher's interview, The Shanxi Meat Grinder)
War's cruel. War's ugly and deplorable. Shanxi brought the worst of me out. I gave clear orders to my Marines, and they were more than happy to oblige. After all it was the aliens who attacked Humanity. "If they don't surrender at the first warning, take no prisoners! I don't care if you shoot the damn bastard and he decides to surrender 'cause he can't fight due to a wound. You take the sucker out! But don't shoot those who were wounded before you arrived."
That order haunted me ever since. They were still soldiers who had families back home. And I gave them little to no chances to surrender… but I'm not a moment sad about that one Desolas Arterius. Actually I am… now that I know the truth… a shame, really.
May them all, both Turian, Human and Quarian, find peace in the eternal sleep we've sent them into. At least they didn't live to see the horrors of the years that followed…
(Extract from Major General Joachim Williams' memoirs, The Shanxi Meat Grinder)
SSV Thunder Child, CIC
Fast Reaction Fleet, hyperspace transit to Shanxi
Aboard the Spirit-Class battleship SSV Thunder Child was Admiral Kastanie Drescher. At her command was a force of 200 warships. The fleet had in its composition an Olympus-Class carrier, the SSV Albert Einstein, and three more battleships, the SSV Spirit of Malice, SSV Lionheart, and the SSV Kirishima. These heavy ships were supported by cruisers, destroyers and frigates.
Her fleet left as soon as possible after they received orders from Hackett. The Albert Einstein took a detour at Terra Nova to load ordnance for its strike craft to use against targets on Shanxi's surface. She was already receiving intelligence from the two stealth ships deployed there by the AIC at Harper's orders.
"Ma'am, Battlegroup Fretensis reports that Relay Shanxi-A is clear of hostiles and dormant. They haven't found it yet," a comms operator reported. Relay Shanxi-A was the name given to the Mass Relay that was 20LY from the colony of Shanxi, part of the local stellar cluster, and lead deeper into Alliance space.
"Good. Battlegroup Fretensis will stay there and defend it at all costs if the aliens discover it and make a push," she ordered.
"I highly doubt they had time. Sure, they sent scouts, but there is so much you can get done in two days," her XO commented as he looked over the tactical table with the map of Shanxi's stellar cluster projected.
"Any words from the Ergo System?" Drescher asked.
"Negative ma'am!"
Ergo System is a solar system without habitable planets, but the planetoids and rocky planets are rich in minerals and metals. The civilian mining ships and facilities there were still unaware of the hostilities that erupted 40LY away at Shanxi.
"Good. What is the situation at Shanxi?" she asked.
The tactical table focused the map on Shanxi's solar system. "According to the two stealth frigates we have there it is as follows. There's a big alien presence of 460 ships. Most of them are in orbit of the colony. There are also 20 ships at the Mass Relay, most likely guarding it. There are frigate packs scattered around the system. If the discrepancy between the numbers given to us by Admiral Hackett and the ones we see is any hint, then we can safely assume the missing 20 or so ships are on scouting missions," her ship's AI, Cowalt, reported.
"How powerful are the enemy's weapons and defenses?"
"They fire mass accelerators at us. The kinetic force is much below our battleship's MAC gun yield. The Quarians said that a dreadnought's main gun is considered a WMD by the Citadel if used against garden worlds. Well… if they consider an yield of 55 kilotons [1] a WMD… they are either stupid or have no clue what a WMD is," Cowalt said with amusement. "Their hulls are tough, but we can penetrate their armor. The kinetic barriers will be their main defense if they even react to the speed of a MAC round. The ion cannon should tear them apart if their capabilities are on par or less than what we employed during the Insurrection. There's also the stealth ships of the Salarians there. With the stealth frigates we have there, they can easily take them out with a MAC round or a missile."
"Let's not underestimate them," the XO said.
"Agreed," Drescher said. "We will proceed with care. Our main trump card will be the carrier, the Einstein. It looks like nobody in this galaxy even considered the concept of an aircraft carrier and their doctrines revolve around ships trading shots. They're in for a surprise."
"Ma'am, please don't forget that the Einstein's fighters and bombers must support Major General Williams' troops in retaking Shanxi. We must be careful not to waste the birds. Their GUARDIAN lasers are very good at point defense," the XO said.
"I know. That's why a squadron will always stay docked with the carrier, specifically dedicated to drop bombs and cluster munitions on the fuckers' heads."
"What's the battle plan, ma'am?" Cowalt asked.
Drescher thought it over once more. "Well, since we'll be dropping out of FTL near Shanxi's second moon, we'll go straight for the fleet in orbit. Cruiser and destroyer squadrons will take care of the ships that will be converging on our position from all around the solar system. It's vital that we hit them hard and fast, least we lose the advantage.
The 1st HRF under Averescu's command is on its way and they should reach Shanxi immediately after us. They'll bring in the Sun Tzu and we'll have enough strike craft to sweep the skies clean. We must also expect the aliens to hold reinforcements at Relay 314, all the more reason to quickly deal with the fleet over Shanxi.
The carrier will stay in the rear with her escort group. The rest of the fleet will deploy in a crescent formation and advance on the enemy, the inside of the crescent facing the Turian ships. The battleships Lionheart and Kirishima will be in the center of the formation. The Thunder Child and the Spirit of Malice will be on the flanks.
We advance and catch them inside our formation in a kill zone. Fire torpedoes on them when you get the chance. We will open the battle with a full salvo of Chimera missiles before we enter effective gun range. I can't see them holding off thousands of missiles at bay. Battleships, focus fire on their 800 meter long ships and their dreadnought if you set your sights on them. Aggressive and hard punching. Cowalt, relay my strategy to the rest of the fleet."
"Aye ma'am!"
"Dropping out of FTL in T -5 minutes."
'Godspeed, brave boys and girls of the Alliance,' Drescher thought to herself.
HWS Widow's Wrath, Bridge
In orbit of Shanxi
Acting Captain Capicius had just replaced Admiral Kaevus Eudorian from command of the dreadnought at Desolas' orders. Capicius was a rather eager officer who served under Eudorian's command for two years since the Widow's Wrath was drafted into the Citadel fleets.
While Kaevus spent his time in the brig, he had the command. And he was eager to prove himself. He spent the second half of the day targeting groundside targets at Desolas' commands with the dreadnought's main cannon.
But acting captain Capicius did not expect a Human fleet to fall on his head. It all began when LADAR alerts screamed on the bridge.
"Contacts! We have enemy ships inbound! IFF matches the ones of the original defenders of the planet!"
"How did they get here so quickly!?" Capicius asked. "It's been barely two local days! Give me a report on the enemy forces!"
The LADAR displays updated and showed the Human ships falling into a formation between one of the moons and the planet.
"Sir, most of the ships range from 200 meters to over 400. There are also ships of 800 meters in length. Detecting 4 dreadnoughts, 1.5km long..." a sensors operator said.
'One and a half..? Their mass accelerator must be very powerful. And they brought four, probably their whole dreadnought fleet,' Capicius thought.
"…and another ship of 2,500 meters long!"
"How is that possible!?"
"Confirmed. A two and a half kilometers long vessel! Scans detect nothing that would indicate it has a spinal cannon. It's hanging at the rear of the formation. Enemy fleet is rapidly closing in on us!"
More alarms went off.
"Enemy electronic warfare attacks detected! They're filling our sensors with noise and false targets. We have ghosts and echoes on LADAR."
"We're being targeted, sir! Detecting missile launches!"
"How many?"
"600+, 700+, 900+… it's still rising in numbers! Spirits, I'm picking up just over 3,500 missiles inbound!"
"Get the fleet in formation, ASAP! Send word for the second fleet stationed at Relay 314!"
"Sir, we just detected an incursion into our communications! We've lost contact with the other ships. Every passive and active transmitter and receiver went offline! Algorithms have been rewritten, controllers rendered useless… Our systems can't even recognize our communications systems!"
While the Turian fleet was scrambling to counter the Human fleet and Capicius' face was losing all its color, Kaevus was wondering what was going on from the brig. Then he heard a message on the intercom. It was like a tribal song, sung by males. And it was translated into the Turian language.
"Those who stand before us light the night sky in flames
Our vengeance burning brighter still
Every last traitorous soul shall kneel!
We are Terra's ruthless sons!
Our wrath fiery like a thousand Suns!"
Kaevus knew at this moment that the Humans were back.
SSV Thunder Child, CIC
FRF, engaging Turian fleet over Shanxi
"It looks like the Turians had all their communications open to the whole Universe. And it was our only way into their systems. Oh well," Cowalt laughed as he reported it to Drescher. "Enemy communications down. We spread from a few of their ships into their whole fleet."
"Alright, flank ahead! All ships, engage! Open fire with main guns immediately after the missiles hit!" Drescher ordered. "How's the colony looking?"
"Still standing… mostly. Intercepted communications indicate our forces are still fighting hard but the Turians are pressing them hard. It's chaos down there."
"Get me a line to our lads down there."
"You're live, ma'am."
"Attention all Alliance units groundside, this is Admiral Kastanie Drescher of the Fast Reaction Fleet. Relief forces are inbound! We're getting you out of this mess!"
Unknown to Drescher's ears, but not her intelligence, cheers erupted throughout the ranks of the defenders on the surface, the news giving them the renewed energy to fight harder.
After a minute or so, she received a transmission.
"Admiral Drescher, this is Brigadier General Karl Dietrich of the Shanxi garrison. You have no idea how thankful we are to know that the Alliance sent help. We could really use it, I'm losing control of the city and the bodies are piling up."
"General, the 5th Marine Shock Division is underway. As soon as we clear a path for them they'll be here."
Battle over Shanxi
Night was setting over the colony on Shanxi when the first shots were fired by Drescher's fleets. They would fight on the dark side of the planet. The huge salvo of missiles crossed the distance between the two fleets. GUARDIAN systems had been activate and ready. The Chimera rockets homed in on the targets designated to each of them at launch, with several missiles per Turian ship.
The Turian defenses tried to take the missiles down, but there were just too many of them. Entire warships of the Turian Hierarchy were struck and exploded, kinetic barriers failing or not activating. Entire decks were exposed to the void and some ships even exploded into a million pieces.
With no efficient communications, the Turians were unable to efficiently coordinate. Individual used light signals to communicate with each other, a very slow method and highly inefficient in the heat of a modern day battlefield. The entire battle network fell. For the Turian forces it all came down to every ship fighting its individual battle.
The STG ships tried to make a break for the Relay and retreat into Council space to report about the counterattack that was taking place. But they never reached the Relay. The comm buoy was destroyed with a missile by a stealth frigate and the STG ships were shot down with MAC guns.
The commanding officers of each ship had enough sense to reverse and try to stay out of the crescent's arms, but it was so much speed they could go at in reverse while the Alliance warships were bearing down on them like a tsunami.
The battleships followed with their ion cannons. The ion beams hit the kinetic barriers and depleted them very fast before hitting the hull, melting it and going through the length of the ship.
One of the pocket dreadnoughts got too close to the Thunder Child. Two destroyers broke off to screen the flagship, but, from the bridge of the Thunder Child, Admiral Drescher sends a fighting message: "Stand aside! I am coming through!" Heeding her words, the two destroyers cleared the path.[2]
In a massive clash of steel, Turian and Human vessels square off in a gruesome display of firepower. The battleship and the pocket dreadnought are effectively at knife fighting range. They fire off their main armaments before circling each other and blazing off at each other with their secondary armaments.
The Thunder Child's MAC turrets unload Alliance lead into the Turian warship while the ion turrets cut through multiple decks and shear off entire sections of the hull plating. The enemy vessel's GUARDIAN lasers melt the first layer of armor where they hit it, the secondary mass accelerators hit but don't pass through the armor. Disruptor torpedoes hit the battleship whose shields were depleting from sustained fire, but that's what the Spirit-Class was for – to take it on the chin and dish it back a hundredfold. Titanium-C hull plating was sheared off by the disruptor torps.
Drescher's ship launched a full broadside of torpedoes against the dying pocket dreadnought. With its hull riddled by holes and systems failures, the ship was taken out of action. The torps were unnecessary, but when they hit they caused a failure of the Eezo core and the warship blew up, taking every crewmember with it to the afterworld.
All the while the Typhoon fighter [C1] swept aside the Turian fighters and cleared the way for the Thunderbolt bombers [C2] to hit the already disorganized and damaged Turian ships. The bombers performed micro FTL jumps on the flanks and rear of the Turian ships to hit them, causing severe damage and forcing the ships to stay closer to each other for better AA cover. It only spilled further disaster to the Turians for when Averescu's fleet arrived at Shanxi, he would take full advantage of the clustering of the Turians.
The arrival of the 1st HRF was a welcome sight to Drescher who was taking losses, even if the enemy was largely disorganized. The Turians were still able to focus fire on certain ships and take them down. But the rate at which they were losing ships was alarming. Averescu joined the battle by immediately broadcasting in the clear a message, a message picked up even by the Turians who were fighting on the ground.
"Hail, alien scum, and take heed! I'm Rear Admiral Leonard Averescu, captain of the Spirit of Fire and CO of the First Heavy Recon Fleet. You have been found guilty of being stupid enough to attack Humanity and you shall be punished for it! Sentence: death. By nuclear fire! Have a nice day in hell, heathen scum xeno!"
What followed was a spectacle everybody in the city of Shanxi could see through the mostly clear night sky. The flashes of nuclear detonations filled Shanxi's night sky as short lived stars. Averescu fired Shiva nukes into the ranks of the Turian vessels, shocking them even further. Nobody used nukes for a very long time, only the Krogan used them on themselves or in war.
In the end more than 100,000 people died at Shanxi. The Turian forces were absolutely slaughtered in orbit, unable to coordinate against the Human forces with the comms down. When ships of the Third Fleet joined the battle, the fate of the Turians was sealed. No ship made it back through the Relay. It would be Atelas' fleet that will follow.
The Marines of General Williams were just as ruthless. Shock units took Turian positions by heavy force and took little to no prisoners. The Marine landings were preceded by heavy bombings of the Turian FOB and Turian positions in the city by the Thunderbolt bombers at Admiral Drescher's orders. The pilots didn't discriminate between field hospitals and actual active combatants. It was a most controversial stage of the battle.
90,000 Turians dead in orbit, 15,000 killed on ground in the fights against the garrison and after the arrival of the 5th Division and barely 5,000 survivors, most of whom were wounded. Out of the Eclipse mercenaries, less than 50 would survive wounded. The Alliance lost a number of ships just short of 60, with two battleships severely damaged. On ground, most of the tanks and vehicles were destroyed in battle, with only 800 survivors in the 501st Regiment, 300 militias, 600 soldiers of the Army and 21 Quarians including Kal'Reegar. More than 5,000 civilians lost their lives, the vast majority of them on the second day.
SSV Normandy, Starboard observation port
Preparing to leave for Shanxi
The Normandy was ready to make its way to Shanxi after picking up the whole crew whose leave was cut short by the war. They had restocked full of ammo and supplies. At Shanxi they'd wait for orders. Anderson told Shepard's team to rest well for they had long days ahead.
It was the night shift on the ship when Tali was preparing to head into her bunk and sleep. She was enjoying her time aboard the Normandy, even if she risked losing her life at any moment with the war going on. By now the battle should be over at Shanxi.
Tali noticed a dim light in the otherwise dark starboard observation port and went in to investigate. She noticed Alex was inside in her usual off duty clothing, talking with somebody on a laptop. It isn't nice to peek and eardrop, but Alex did that to her friends all the time only to have something to joke about or use to create awkward situations. She was one crazy girl. She noticed Alex talking to a man on a video conference.
"Hey Ed, it's me, Alex!" she said with glee.
"Alex! How's it going? I heard what's been happening at Shanxi. Hope everything's alright there?"
"It should be. I'm not supposed to tell you this, but, unofficially and unconfirmed, we routed the Turians in orbit and ground ops are underway. But I swear, none of this would have happened if those fuckwits didn't start it due to a stupid hate on the Quarians."
"Sounds rough, huh?"
"Yes. Yes, it is. How are the two?"
"They're great. And still up if you want to talk to them."
"I'd love to!"
The man, Ed, leaves the screen and out appear two teen girls.
"Big Sis! We missed you!"
"Yea! We do! When will you come back home?"
"Nikki! Faye! Oh, I missed you both. I won't be coming back home for a while. You heard the news on Shanxi. So Big Sis won't be coming back for a while, alright? And no, I won't tell you anything I know. I don't want you two getting ay bad dreams," Alex replied.
"We understand. But do come home," Nikki says.
"Yea, everyone misses you!" her twin adds.
"I know they do. And I miss them. So, what have you two got up to?" Alex asked them.
"I got in trouble at school for giving some kid a bloody nose," Nikki confessed.
" And why's that?"
"He called you a dick and a weirdo freak, and he even called that to me and Faye as well. So I gave one to him in the face."
"You should have gotten him in the groin for extra effect. But seriously, don't do that. I'm glad that you stood up for me and your little sister, but you should know that fighting doesn't always solve problems," Alex tells her.
" I know. Am I grounded?"
" No. But you will be if you do that again, got it?"
"Yes Big Sis."
"Good. Faye, what have you been up to?"
"I've been working on something while you were gone, and the pictures that you sent back were perfect for my project. I won't tell you want it is, because then that would be spoiling it," Faye tells her.
"Fair enough."
"Now it's our turn. So, Big Sis, have you found someone yet?"
"Oh! Is she one of those Quarian people? I heard that they are beautiful under their masks."
"How many times have I told you two not to ask me that? You know I'd never tell you. Ruins the surprise."
"Aww! Please tell us!? At least tell us if she's human or Quarian? Please!" the two nearly begged her.
"Alright, I'll tell you. She's a Quarian. That's all."
Tali just went surprised just then.
"That's sweet."
"She is. She's beautiful under that mask. Long black and dark purple coloured hair. Pale skin with a hint of purple. And those eyes... eyes that you could lose it."
"Wow, I've never hear you go into detail like that."
"I know. But the thing is, I don't know if she likes me back."
"You tell her how you fell, and see if she shares the same feelings. If not... well, you tried, that's what should count, right?" her sister Nikki advised her.
"Don't worry, I'm prepared for that. Well, I think it's time for you bed now."
"Alright. Goodnight, Big Sis."
"Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
"And Sis... please come home. We can't bare losing you."
"Come home safe. We love you Big Sis."
"I promise." The screen then turns off. "I... promise..."
Tali then hears her crying. Why was she crying?
"I promise," she sniffs "that I won't be able to keep..." *sniff*
Tali stands there for a bit. Not knowing what to do. She then decides that she should comfort her. She opens the door.
"Alex?"
This startled Alex.
"T-tali! H-h-hey! How's it g-going?"
"Alex, there's no need to hide it. I heard it all," the young Quarian engineer confessed.
"You... you heard all? Even me..."
"Even you crying."
"I bet you want to know why I'm crying then, don't you?"
"Yes, I do. As friends and crewmates, we must support one another."
"Then close the door and sit down on the couch."
Tali closes the door and sits next to Alex.
"So why did you cry, Alex?"
"Because... because I can't keep the promise I made to them."
"Your sisters?"
"Yes. You know, I mentioned once that they are just like me. I kinda botched that a bit. They aren't like me. They're better than me."
"Well, I don't agree with the latter, but what makes them different?"
"Faye, she's a great artist. And Nikki, she's a great athlete. More so on fighting."
"They don't sound any better than you."
"Really? I learnt to fight to protect them and myself. I learnt how to put two wires together just so I could support them. Fuck, most of the things I did I ain't proud of. And I'd like to forget them."
"I'm sorry, Alex. You had to endure all that."
"I know. I've done a lot of fucked up shit in my life. Up until I joined the Alliance. Put my skills to a better cause. And for once, I was actually happy."
"Then there you go. You aren't lesser than your sisters, you're just caught in a bad life moment. But if you never did any of that, would you still be here? Would your sisters not be anymore happy?"
"No..."
"Well there you go."
"Yea..."
"So, Alex, your sisters, you said you promised them to come home? Why be upset about it?"
Alex looked up at her. "Tali, in war, you never make a promise like that. Because at any time or die, you can break it. It pains me so much that... that I won't make it back home alive. And instead come home in a fucking box..." she sniffs again. "I don't want to die, Tali, I really don't. But so does EVERYONE. We all want to go home alive. To our families and friends, but not everyone goes home alive."
Tali then whelps in surprise when Alex hugs her tightly. Still crying, and on her neck.
"I just want to survive this and then go home to my little sisters. If I died it would pain them. I don't want that. I love them too much for that to happen... and it also shows the coward I can be at times…" Alex said between shaky breaths.
"I know you mean them well, Alex. You're a good sister. And as Shepard, promised, he'll get us through this alive."
"I know. That's why he's a good friend. Hey, Tali, If it's not too much to ask... could you stay with me tonight? Without my sisters around, it gets lonely in here. Please."
"... Alright, I'll stay here for the night."
"Thank you..."
CODEX UPDATE:
[C1] TYPHOON MK. IV SPACE & AIR SUPERIORITY FIGHTER
The Typhoon is the mainstay fighter of the Alliance Armed Forces. It's in use with the Alliance Navy and with the Alliance Army, more exactly the Air Force branch of the Army.
Manufactured by the Alliance State Arms (a task force formed by the leading companies of Earth's nations in military technology), it entered service in 2165 and has proven itself as a good ship. It's armed with 40mm auto-cannons that fire magnetically accelerated super high velocity 40mm rounds and has missile pods capable of launching interceptor rockets.
The Typhoon's specialty is that it incorporates a micro Eezo core which allows it micro FTL jumps in real space. It's proficient in space engagements as well as combat in atmosphere. It was designed to replace the older fighters, the Starfury who was used in space engagements, and the Falcon better suited for atmospheric fights.
The Typhoon has proven itself in multiple campaigns, including the Alliance – Council War (or Terran Blitz as named by Turian historians / Second Contact War known to Humanity and the Quarians), the famous March through Terminus, the Reaper War, and on a lesser known note, Operation PAYBACK.
CODEX UPDATE:
[C2] THUNDERBOLT BOMBER
Carrying the name of an iconic jet of the 20th and 21st centuries, as well as a World War 2 era plane, the Thunderbolt is the mainstay bomber of the Alliance. Manufactured by the Alliance State Arms, it entered service in 2170.
It is armed with two 40mm auto-cannons like the Typhoon. The Thunderbolt can be configured to carry a variety of munitions for a variety of missions. It can carry one Chimera missile or a Havoc nuke to use against enemy warships, as well as regular bombs for groundside bombardments.
It was developed in parallel with the Typhoon and it incorporates the same FTL features, as well as the possibility to operate both in space and in atmosphere. The bomber served with distinction alongside the Typhoon in the multiple campaigns undertaken by the Alliance before and after the formation of the Arcturus Federation.
[1] I took the numbers from a Bioware forum called The firepower of Mass Effect ships. The 55 kilotons yield is that of a kilometer long dreadnought. And, to be honest, you can't honestly expect a 20kg slug to do lots of damage unless accelerated at higher percentages of the speed of light.
[2] Reference to the American Rear Admiral Willis Augustus Lee in the Battle of Savo Island (Ironbottom Sound) when he was at the command of USS Washington and USS South Dakota and engaged in battle a Japanese division lead by the battleship IJN Kirishima under the command of Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondo in 1942 near Guadalcanal.
AN: I unwillingly made a Star Wars reference there with the 501st. Somebody pointed it out in the comments :D so i threw in one intentional Star Wars reference that will make an appearance again.
NOTE1: A reviewer said that I retarded Sparatus. I know this is how it may look and I kind of agree with you. But it isn't without reason. I just tried to imagine him (he never held back his distaste for certain people in the canon) indoctrinated. Ups! Did i spill that out?
A STORY BROUGHT TO YOU BY Apollonir
SPECIAL THANKS YET AGAIN TO VRGL1337