Ch.: 3 Storm over Shanxi
April 6th 10:18, Capitol City of Shanxi:
As the invasion sirens bleared to life Commander Maria Sanders took a deep breath mentally preparing herself for the battle to come. It had taken a lot of convincing on her end to have the General let her join the defense of the colony, she had not but a few days ago been the governor of. She had succeeded and was once more a soldier of the Federation.
She smiled to herself, finding it a bit funny that it was she who had taught her son how to properly hold a gun, and not her husband. Incidentally, him being human also resulted in her having to teach her child how to properly control his Kagune; a job made easier since he inherited her Ukaku. Nothing wrong with that though, her husband is a gentle spirit that couldn't hurt fly if given the chance, defiantly househusband material. Not to mention she did feel a swell of pride every time she heard that her boy bragged about having a "badass" like her as a mother, and how he would go on to join the military as she had.
Her smile faltered, she was of two minds at the thought. On one hand, she felt immensely proud that her only child wanted to follow in her footsteps, what parent wouldn't. But on the other hand, she's terrified at the thought. While she was still in the service, despite it being a time of peace, she still saw stuff that no one should see. The idea of him going through the same, or being seriously injured or worse honestly scared her more than anything else in the universe. That same part of her wanted to encourage him to go down the path of a safer career, perhaps become a bartender like her husband.
She took another breath trying to clear her thoughts, this was no time to worry about his future. While she hated to admit it the boy is thirteen now, (god where had the years gone by?) it was his future to decide on. She looks behind her at the squad assigned to her. Sixteen men and women in total, half of them ghouls or half-ghouls. To her amusement, some of them were still in awe of the fact that she was to be their commander. Not all that surprising, not but a few days ago most of them knew her as the Governor of Shanxi. Now they would have to start calling her commander, though one wise-cracking private had decided to call her the Commander Governor. In response, she pounded the poor boy into the ground, then said she liked it. The name had stuck since then. Her team was to be a mobile assault force that would provide support to wherever they were needed. While General Williams had told her they were some of the best in garrison, she knew just as well as he did that they were still wet behind the ears, having never seen any action. Let alone combat against the Dragon Orphans.
She would have preferred to have a few months to whip them into shape, instead of the few days she had. Even a few weeks would have been nice. Instead, they would have to be put to the test through real combat. If they survived this battle than she would get the time she wanted. Her comlink beeped. Answering it, she heard the voice of General Williams. "Attention all units. Dragon Orphan forces have been confirmed entering our space, they are moving to engage Grayson's fleet. Be pared to engage their ground forces when they land. Reinforcements are on their way, but it will be about sixteen hours before they get here. We are to hold out until then, using whatever means we can to prevent them from taking the colony over. In other words, give them hell. General Williams out."
She got up from her position, her pose projecting authority. "Alright people, you heard the General. Let's give those freaks hell to pay. Move out." She only hoped she would see her family again.
April 6th 10:18, Shanxi space, T.F.C. Victory:
"Battle stations!" Grayson shouted as the klaxons blared to life. He studied the holographic image of the Dragon Fleet, already he could tell it comprised of several thousands of ships. "Helen, what is the enemy number?"
"Approximately fifteen thousand, sir." The ship's Synth responded.
'Fifteen thousand?' He thought. The Quarians said they had encountered a force of twenty-five thousand. "Sounds like the Quarian heavy fleet dealt a number on them, all the better for us. Helen ordered the fleet to deploy their strike craft and fire a missile barrage at the Dragon fleet on my command. Followed a continues barrage of weapons fire until they close into knife-fighting range, after that hunker down and deal as much damage as possible." There was no way for the fleet to survive this battle, even with the high kill rate they had against the Dragon Orphan ships the numbers were too great to overcome.
But the goal wasn't to win this battle. It was to reduce their numbers as much as possible, both to make the coming reinforcement's job easier in clearing the skies over Shanxi, and to make the defense of the colony easier for the soldiers below. Even the smallest ship could carry hundreds of Dragon Orphans, and the few large vessels they used could have several thousands. The destruction of a single ship would deny them, hundreds if not thousands of "boots on the ground."
"Orders have been sent and acknowledged, sir."
Greyson didn't bother to acknowledge her, instead, he looks around the command center. Once more, just he had seen when the Quarians arrived, he did not see a bunch of scared human beings, but brave and determined men and women ready to give their lives for the Federation. He looks back at the holographic image, the swarm of monsters quickly closing in. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he opened his mouth and gave the order.
"All ships open fire."
Shanxi space:
In the silent abyss of space the swarm of Dragon ships, surged towards their prey the Federation fleet guarding the colony world of Shanxi. As the distance between the forces rapidly closed, the much smaller Federation fleet launched its strike craft, swarms of fighter drones flew out from the hatches of their mother ships, and manned craft launched from their hangers. Then the fleet fire off a massive barrage of missiles. Several thousands of missiles flew towards the Dragon fleet.
In response the Dragon ships fired their weapons, shards made of Rc cells flew to and clashed with the missiles. Thousands were destroyed but thousands yet remained continued to their target. Suddenly about 10 kilometers away from the Dragon fleet all of the missiles exploded all at once. From their remains, came tens of thousands of smaller missiles raced to the swarm.
At this point, there was no stopping them now. Several dozens of them would find their mark on a single and annihilate it. In an instant, over five thousand Dragon ships would be destroyed and many more suffering various amounts of damage. Not wanting to give them room to breathe the Federation fleet unleashed a barrage of weapons fire from their other armaments, destroying several hundred more Dragon ships.
Fully enraged now the Dragon orphans train and fire their weapons on the defending fleet. In seconds most of their corvettes are destroyed, and a few of their frigates go down as well. The rest of the fleet, however, withers the storm of Rc shards and continue to fire.
Just as the two were about to meet each other, the fighter drones and manned strike craft of the Federation propelled themselves towards the enemy lines. The two fleets clashed spectacularly. Swarms of the numerous wyverns swarmed around groups of ships firing at them all angles, while their fewer larger cousins the Drakes and Hydras would engage from a distance. In moments the remaining Federation corvettes are destroyed, though not before each took a Dragon ship or two out. Squadrons of strike craft would engage and destroy numerous Dragon ships before being destroyed themselves or running out of ammunition. The Victory itself would fire its main gun at the Drakes and Hydras often destroying the Drakes in a single shot, all the while using its other weapons to fight off swarms and swarms of Wyverns.
However, as the battle progressed the Dragon ships would slowly gain the upper hand as more and more Federation ships would be destroyed. Several Dragon ships had even broke through the defense line and headed directly for Shanxi, while the orbital defense platforms would be able to pick several of them off, they were quickly overwhelmed and destroyed. The remaining ships would then drop thousands of Dragon Orphans to the planet's surface, beginning the ground invasion.
April 6th 11:24, Capitol city of Shanxi:
"Get to your positions." Shouted a Sergeant. The soldiers under his command quickly obeying as they took up firing positions along the barricade and two turrets found themselves being manned. Dragon orphan ground forces were quickly being deployed in mass via their drop pods. Thankfully the defense barrier surrounding the city prevents them from directly dropping their forces into the city itself. Instead, they were forced to drop just outside of the city's outer perimeter, where they would have to break through the first defense line to enter. Numerous squads had been assigned to well-made chokepoints, with their job being to hold off the advancing hordes for as long as they could, retreating when it became clear that they could no longer hold the position.
At this particular chokepoint, almost a thousand Dragon Orphans were advancing fast. Their roars of anger and hunger sending chills down the spines of all present. For most this was their first time seeing the monsters that had plagued the Terran people for over four hundred years. The sight of the humanoid-shaped creatures with their featureless heads and large teeth that could tear into a person's body human and ghoul alike with easy bared to give them an eternally demented smile caused more than a few of the soldiers to shake in fear.
The Sergeant seemingly unaffected by the Dragon Orphans hoisted his rifle into a firing position. "Fire!" He shouted a storm of bullets raining from his rifle and into the ranks of the Dragon Orphans, cutting several of them down. Not even a second later he was joined by the rest of his squad.
Undaunted by the losses they were taking the D-Orphans continued to advance on the Terrans position. About halfway through, the Sergeant activated his com-link and gave the order. Suddenly from several floors up, the windows of the builds on both sides shatter in a flurry of Rc shards and bullets. Each side had five Ukaku Ghouls firing their Kagune and rifles, effectively creating a kill zone as the D-Orphans were being fired at from three angles. For every inch the D-Orphans managed to take, they lost more than a dozen of their number. But hundreds still advanced as more and more emerged from the drop pod raining from the skies.
"Keep firing, and be prepared to-" The Sergeant never got to finish his order, as his head was torn off by what appeared to be a Dragon Orphan with wings instead of arms. Its prize firmly in its hind talons it flew off into the sky.
As the Sergeant's cooling body fell to the ground his second in command, now being the one in command looks to the sky to see several more of the flying D-Orphans. "Fliers! Squad, divide your fire." He ordered as he kneeled next to the sergeant's body and removed a small cylindrical object. Following his the orders of the defenders started to shoot at the flying monsters, being careful with their aim.
This proved to be a mistake as now there was less fire being directed at the advancing mass of D-Orphans, allowing to gain more ground with fewer loses. However, the man would not have time contemplate on this as a new problem reared its head. "Brutes!" Shouted a member of the squad, grabbing the man's attention.
Quickly looking into the horde, he saw the hulking masses of five brutes advancing on their position. They were tall monsters at just a little over three meters and had three times the muscle mass of an average Dragon Orphans. Realizing they are priority targets he orders the turrets to concentrate their fire on the brutes. Two of them go down an instant from the heavy caliber shells being directed at them, two more take longer to put down each taking several seconds. They never got the chance to finish the last one as in single leap it landed right on defenders' position squishing a single unfortunate soul under its massive frame. Before anyone could react it swung its arm and smashed into one of the turrets, killing its gunner and two others near it.
The remaining turret turned to the brute before it could fire its occupant was torn out by a flyer. It flew back over the horde and dropped the man, his dying screams echoing through the streets as he was torn to pieces and eaten. The brute turned its attention to the remaining defenders. An instant later its head was blown off by two tentacle-like appendages coming from a ghoul in their ranks. Looking to the woman, the new commanding officer of the squad gave her an approving nod. He turned his attention back to the horde of D-Orphans, and quickly realize they could no longer hold their position here.
"Squad, retreat to the second defensive line." Just as quickly the remaining members of the defense stopped firing on the horde and began their retreat. As he turned he saw the Ukaku ghouls withdraw from the windows. Taking whatever equipment they could, the defenders ran like hell. Several buildings down they are joined by the Ukakus. The commanding officer turned his attention back to where they were posted, already seeing several of the Dragon orphans climbing over the barricade and make their way to retreating squad. He pulled out the cylinder and pressed the button on it.
Hidden detonators within the surrounding buildings, exploded into a massive ball of fire, destroying the barricade and annihilating D-Orphans that had made it through. The buildings crumbled in on themselves crushing many more of the attacking monsters and blocking the street with debris several feet high.
'There, that'll slow them down for a few minutes.' He thought. He turned back and continued to run with what remained of his squad. Little did he know this same scene was being repeated all across the city.
April 6th 11:42, Unground bunker in the capital city
General Williams resisted the urge to curse. The First defense line had fallen faster than he would have liked, and in some areas, the second had been breached. It didn't help that more and more D-Orphans were landing by the minute. Looking over the holo-projection of the city, he knew that the second line wouldn't last long. The projection changed. Correction did not last long.
A low growl emanated from his throat, as he saw his forces withdraw to the third line. In total there are twelve lines of defense before the Dragon Orphans would reach the center of the city where his command center is and where the entrances to the underground bunkers are located. Bunkers full of scared civilians. Each defense line had numerous traps and points of attack, meant to slow them down and spread their ranks as thin as possible the deeper into the city they got. Anything and everything was being used to slow the enemy advance long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Extensive collateral damage was even being encouraged if it bought his forces time.
'Perhaps it is a good thing that the 2nd Dragon instilled a Spartan mentality in the Terran people when it came to home accommodations.' He thought to himself. A mentality that had been reinforced during the 3rd Dragon war, resulting in a people that dislike overt displays of luxury and power. He continued to look over the projection to get a better grasp of the situation. Looking for anything he could exploit. He saw a few and was already coming up with plans.
"What is the status of Greyson's fleet?" He finally said.
"Not good, sir." Responded one of his aids. "His fleet is already down to half strength and losing more by the second. To make matters worse more and more D-Orphan ships are breaking off from the battle and making for the planet to drop their forces." She finished.
Not unexpected but still bad them. Once the last of the Shanxi fleet was destroyed the bastards would have orbital supremacy. A prospect that he nor any other commanding officer would like. He noticed that one of the positions along the 3rd defense line required help. He tapped a few buttons to find out which of the mobile support squads was nearest to it. He hesitated for a second when he saw who it was.
The squad led by the former governor, now Commander Maria Sanders. He had not been surprised in the least when the woman had volunteered to defend the colony. He had after all studied her public records when he first learned that the ghoul woman was elected to be the first governor of Shanxi. Imagine his surprise when he learned that Sanders had once served in the Army corp. and was will on her way to the top ranks. If hadn't been for her sudden pregnancy she might have been a general by now or close to it. Hell, she could have rejoined when her maternity leave ended, but she choose to join the reserves so she could spend more time raising him. However the woman was not the one to stay still for long, and before she had the chance to go stir crazy she tried her hand politics. As it turns out she had quite the talent for it, and in the six years that followed her son's birth, she quickly became a well-known and liked individual in the political sphere.
It culminated in her being elected as the first governor of Shanxi, seven years ago. She served her first four-year term and was quickly elected for the second. With how well she is liked by the inhabitants of Shanxi; himself included, she could, in theory, be indefinitely elected as there are no term limits on the position of planetary governor. But she had no intention to, as he learned from one of the many talks he had with her that she decided now that her son was at an age where he didn't need her as much, she would rejoin the army corp. once her second term as governor ended. A fact that would be made easy as she was highly active in the reserves, going to every training exercise she could, and training daily in her home. More than once Williams himself would join her for a spare and helped keep her up to date on the latest happenings in the armed forces.
However, he still had his misgivings about her joining the defense, sighting that the people of Shanxi would need a leader to guide them through the long road to rebuilding the colony. To which she responded that the vice-governor would take over for her last year in office and do just that. Williams couldn't argue with that as he knew that vice-governor was just as popular as she was, and about as talented too. In the end, he relented and gave her command of a mobile squad.
His hesitancy and it just as quickly as it came. He activated Sanders comm frequency, not a moment later he heard her speak. "Yes, general. What are your orders?" Her voice calm and professional.
"A defensive position near your location is in trouble. I want you to reinforce them. Sending coordinates now." He said while typing in a set of numbers.
"Roger that."
Williams returns to study the holographic city.
April 6th 12:15, Cronos system, Capital city of the planet Cronos:
Walking around in one of the local parks Rael was in deep thought over the events of the last few days. When he first saw the city he was struck with awe. Both in its beauty and simplicity, he had seen cities from numerous planets and of all species. From the masterpieces of architecture that are Asari with their wide-sweeping designs that embodied grace and beauty, to the simple and functional structures that the Turians used. None in his opinion could compare to what he was seeing. The Terrans like the Turians appeared too opted for simple designs that emphasize function than anything else. At the same time, they had an ethereal beauty unlike anything else he had seen before, the buildings glowing with different colors and seemed to pulse with life. When he had asked the Terrans about why the buildings were like this. They had told him it was a result of using what they called ARC metal.
What followed was an explanation of the type of materials they used in all of their technologies. As it turns out they had found a way to artificial produce a cell type unique to both of their races. With it, they could infuse it into normal metals both strengthening and giving them the properties of Rc cells. In the years they had the technology they found a way to change the color of the structures produced from the natural red to anything they desired. Once Xen learned of the strange new technology she was salivating at the mouth, and he swore by the ancestors saw her skipping back to the shuttles. Muttering something about wanting to conduct experiments. It would not do well for his sanity to think about that.
He was also in awe of the generosity they showed his people. Here were a people, complete strangers really, that treated his kind like actual people. Not as beggars and thieves to be treated as an annoyance at best and a public menace at worst. It was jarring to walk down the streets to be great with friendly smiles and not whispers and shouts of suit-rat. Yes, some acted cautiously around him and his people, but that was understandable they were for the first time in their lives, in their species history dealing with an alien race. Even still it was far better than being treated with contempt.
The planet's governor even went as far as to offer the systems dry-docks for their ships most in need of repair. That alone shocked the Admiralty board to silence, a perpetual state at this point. They accepted of course and for the first time in centuries their ships flew into dry docks for repairs. Truly the Terrans are a kind people, he hoped his people would be able to continue pursuing friendly relations with them. More than anything else in the galaxy aside from finding a new home, the Quarian people needed a friend they could depend on.
"Penny for your thoughts." Rael is torn out of his thoughts as he stops and looks to the source of the voice. He sees a Terran male, human by the looks. He appeared to be around admiral Greyson's age and has dark brown fu- hair that went his neck in the back, and to his ears on the side. His light brown eyes looked at him with kindness and curiosity. His frame is smaller then most of the Terrans Rael had seen but he is a bit taller. If he had to venture a guess, the man would probably be considered attractive by his people.
"Penny? Thoughts?" Rael question, he figured it was some kind of Terran expression.
The man chuckled. "It means, I'm asking what you're thinking about." He said.
"Oh," Rael muttered, making a mental note to remember that phrase. "To answer your question I was just thinking about everything that has happened in the few days. It's all a bit overwhelming."
"On that, I can agree. It seems everyone's been thinking about that as else. I can't walk anywhere without hearing someone's opinion on the matter."
Rael looks at the man curiously. "Might I ask what the general consensus is regarding my people's arrival into your space?" He asked interested to hear what the average Terran thought of his people. "Also, who are you?" He threw in.
The man smiled in what Rael guessed was embarrassment. "How, rude of me not to introduce myself. I am Joseph Sanders," He extended his hand out to Rael. "and you are?"
Rael took his hand, remembering it was the Terrans way of greeting others and shook it. "I am Rael'Zorah vas Rayya. But you can just call me Rael for now." He introduced himself.
The man gasped in surprise. "Your one of those admirals I was told about. You're the leaders of your people if remember correctly."
"Yes, I am," Rael answered, he then caught on to the last part of the man's name. Sanders? Could he be? "Did you say, Sanders?" The man nodded in response. "Are you perhaps related to a Governor Maria Sanders of Shanxi?"
The man smiled at him, apparently not surprised by the question. "Considering, she's my wife. Yes, I am related to her." He said simply.
If weren't for his mask the man would have seen Rael's eye widen. "You're, her husband? How does that work?" He sputtered out.
Joseph laughed, amused by Rael's outburst. "Yes, I am. Going on Fifteen years in fact. We even have a thirteen-year-old son, though by the way my wife dolts on him, you'd think he was still five." Before Rael could ask, the man held his hand up to his face stopping him. "Before, you ask how a human and a ghoul can have a child." He began, lowering his arm. "It's quite simple really, all a female human as to do is consume synthetic meat. In the case of a ghoul woman like my wife though, they have to take special medical injections. As for how we can love each, well there's an old saying. Love finds a way. Even before peace was made between humans and ghouls, there were individuals from both species that were recorded falling in love with each other." He finished.
Now having calmed down, Rael mentally kicked himself for being so surprised at hearing about human/marriages. Cross-species marriages are a common thing back in citadel space, even members of his people on rare occasions had married individuals from other races. Interestingly enough Turians were the most common, followed by Asari. Of course, the Terrans would be opened to the idea, once one factored in that the struggle between humans and ghouls ended over four hundred years ago. "Sorry, I was just surprised. She must be some woman if you fell in love with her." Not for the first time, Rael wondered if he himself would find love one day.
"It's alright, you've only known about our people for about three days. And yes she truly is a wonderful woman."
Rael let out a sigh of relief, glad he didn't offend the man. He then remembered his other question. "Joseph, you never answered my question regarding your people's opinion on the Migrant Fleet's arrival into Federation space."
Once more the man looked embarrassed. "I almost forgot about that. Come about we take a walk and find somewhere comfortable to sit, and I'll tell you." The man started to walk down one of the park trails, and Rael quickly followed.
Now walking side by side with each other the Terran began to talk. "From what I've heard most people are excited that we finally manage to find another space-faring race, or in this case one finding us. Even if it wasn't under ideal circumstances."
"Your people are excited about this?"
"Yes, we are." They came to a table with a seat on each side. The two each took one. "You see for the longest time, the Terran people have asked themselves one question. Are we alone? Is there somebody out there, somewhere? Before the finding of the Prothean ruins on Mars, my people were in a way obsessed with the question. Numerous scientists, philosophers, religious figures, and others have attempted to come up with their own answer, but nothing seemed to fully satisfy us."
Rael nodded in understanding, all of the current spacefaring races, Quarians included, had grabbed with that very same question. It appeared that the Terrans had more so than the others. "Than your people found the Prothean ruins on the fourth planet of your solar system, Mars was it?" He said, already getting an idea of what occurred after.
"Yes, we did. It was considered to be one of the greatest moments in the history of the Terran people. For the first time in our history, we had an answer to the age-old question. For a time we were not alone in the vast emptiness of space. There was someone out there." The cheerfulness in his voice could not be any more apparent to the Quarian admiral, for a moment he wonders if this what his ancient ancestors felt when they themselves first discover the ruins of the Prothean Empire. Then just as though it never had existed the cheerful expression on the man's face disappeared, to be replaced by a much more somber expression. It was jarring just to see how quickly these Terrans could go through different expressions. "But then as we explored our local cluster, and later the relay network that jubilance slowly turned to despair. As we found more and more ruins, we came to the inescapable conclusion that the Protheans were gone. Having met some unknown terrible fate, and once more we were alone in the universe. While we knew there was once other intelligent life in the galaxy, we had to ask ourselves, were there still yet others."
"Than my people arrived in your space." Rael said, finally grasping as to why the Terrans had been so kind and sincere to the Quarians. For the longest time, they had sought others to fill the empty void that their loneliness had created. Perhaps that was why they made peace with their A.I. creations and not immediately destroy them, for they feared the solitary nature of their universe more than the prospect of being destroyed. In the same vein, this might be the reason why the Terrans A.I.s hadn't turned on their creators. For they had at some level inherited the same fear of being alone in a cold uncaring universe. For a moment Rael remembered a saying that his mother told him. "A child becomes the parent."
A thought stroked him, with all the force of a rampaging Krogan. What if the Geth felt the same? What if they were not building up their forces to attack the galaxy, to wipe out organic life? What if they waiting for their creators to return? Bring not war, but open arms. Like a parent would with their child. This thought alone had stroked him to the very core of his being. Yes, with the events of the last few days Rael had been considering the possibility of finding a way to make peace with the Geth. But now he was starting to wonder if that was the only way, to get the Quarian home-world without his people forever being stained with guilty.
"Did you hear me?" The voice tore him out of his thoughts, and Rael became aware that he was still sitting at the table. The Terran repeated himself. "I said did you hear?"
"I'm sorry. A thought had struck me and it got me thinking." Rael responded feeling more than guilty for getting distracted. He would have to meditate on this later. Then talk to Han. "Could say that again?"
Joseph eyed the Quarian, for a moment he was afraid that he offended the human somehow. "Alright." He finally said understanding that Rael didn't want to elaborate on his thoughts. "As I was saying. Yes, with the arrival of your people, a new wave of excitement has washed over my people. Finally, we found another intelligent space-faring race and not the ruins of one. Even better they bring news of a whole galactic community that is right at our doorstep. You best believe we're excited at the prospect." The manned showed a smile that seemed to outshine the light of the local star. Just as quickly as came, it disappeared. "At the same time, we're also feeling despair." Rael notices the man was looking at something, and turn to what it is. A small group of children, young ones a mix of humans and ghouls were playing together. Laughing with delight unaware of the troubles the plagued the galaxy.
"We may have escaped the cycle of hate." He heard him say. "But we did not escape the consequences of that hate, and now the rest of the galaxy is paying for our sin." The guilt in his eyes could not be any clearer.
Truly they are a good people.' Rael thought to himself. "Do not blame yourselves, those mistakes were made by your ancestors. You do not have to be burden by them so as long as you do not repeat them. Even now your people are doing everything they can to rectify their mistakes, that's more than enough. One day your people will escape the consequences of your past." As he said this Rael hoped, that his people too would escape the consequences of their past.
Joseph was taken aback by the Quarian's words. After a moment he smiled. "I believe your right. One day we will." He looks to the children again. "So as long we can learn from our mistakes, there is hope."
They continued to talk.
April 6th 13:47, Shanxi Space, TFV. Victory:
The command center was in chaos, as the Victory shook. Over three hours of intense fighting had reduced Grayson's fleet to his ship and few cruisers and battlecruisers. The rest had been destroyed or left adrift to be picked off later. But the D-Orphans had paid dearly for it, of the fifteen thousand that had originally entered the system, a little less than five thousand remained.
"Admiral, our the last of our fighter drones have been destroyed. Our remaining manned strike craft reports that they have expended the last of their heavy ordinance." Came the shout of a crewman.
"Order them to retreat to the planet." The Admiral ordered.
"Aye, sir. Relaying the order now." Came the dutiful reply.
"Admiral, multiple drakes are moving on our position," The voice of Helen rings throughout the CC. "some of them have spinal cannons." As soon she said that the Victory shook violently. Grayson doesn't need a report to know that one's with spinal cannons fired on them.
"Re-orientate the victory so we can fire the main cannon at the Drakes with spinal cannons." On the holographic display, he saw the Victory change it's direct to face the attacking ships. "Fire." No sooner than he said that he felt the old dreadnought shuddered as a twenty-kilogram slug was accelerated to one point five percent the speed of light. An instant later he saw one of the Drakes blink out of existence as it was hit with a force equivalent to over forty-eight kilotons of TNT. 'Ah, Sir Isaac Newton you are the deadliest son-of-a-bitch in space,' He thought has more and more of the Drakes disappear from the display. Then the CC explodes into a flurry of sparks and shrapnel.
Grayson felt a sharp pain tear through his left shoulder, followed the sound of bodies hitting the floor with a sickening thud. His ears ringing he grabbed his shoulder trying to stem the flow of blood. Quickly regaining his sense he saw that the command center was a mess. Dead mangled bodies littered the floor, pieces of half-destroyed equipment cluttered everywhere. He looked around seeing more of his crewmen lying dead at their stations. Of the seventeen crewmen that worked the CC only six remained alive, himself included. "What the hell just happened?" He managed through course breaths.
"A Hydra came into range and fired its main gun." He heard Helen say. "The impact destroyed our main gun, most of our other weapons have been knocked out as well, reading additional heavy damage throughout the Victory." Grayson cursed under his breath, effectively their ship had been rendered useless. "Admiral, I've just received sensor telemetry, our remaining cruisers have been destroyed. Only the Battle Cruisers Crazy Horse and Broken Bow remain. I am reading extensive damage on both of them." She finished the report.
Grayson cursed again. The battle was all but lost now. Not that they ever had a chance to win anyway. But they had done their job of reducing the enemy numbers as much as they could. In that, he could reassure himself. "Order the both of them to retreat if they can."
"Roger."
He took a deep breath, preparing himself for the words he thought he would never say. "All hands, abandon ship. Helen overload the core and have the Victory fly right into the thick of the swarm. I want as many those bastard dead as possible." Once he gave the order, he heard the evacuation alarms sound to life. Followed by Helen's reply of overloading the core. He stepped off his command platform almost falling face-first into the deck plating. Being stopped by the arms of a nearby crewman. He noted it was the same ensign that asked him about the relay before the Quarians arrived. His left eye is bleeding mess now, due to a piece of shrapnel lodged in it. Grayson muttered out a quick thank you. He continued to walk to the lift being half-carried by the ensign. Before they stepped onto the lift Grayson took one last look at the command center of the ship he had commanded for the last fifteen years, eight as a captain, seven as an admiral. "She was a good ship." He said before the lift doors shut.
April 6th 13:49, Shanxi space:
As they were ordered both the Crazy Horse and the Broken Bow immediately began their retreat. At first, having trouble, as the swarms of D-Orphan ships refused to let their prey escape. Only by using what remained of their missiles did they blow a hole that they could fly through.
At the same numerous escape-pods exploded out from the Victory and made their way to Shanxi's surface. Some would be destroyed by the D-Orphans, but most would make it. Shuttles flew out from the dying dreadnoughts hangers as it accelerated towards the D-Orphan swarm. The swarm concentrates its fire on the incoming dreadnought. Taking advantage of the distracted swarm the shuttles quickly made their way to the escaping battle cruisers.
Several seconds later the Victory smashed right into the Hydra that had previously crippled it. The two are carried into the thick of the swarm, and precisely one second before the Victory exploded, the AI Helen transferred herself to the battlecruiser Broken Bow. Once it was confirmed she was fully uploaded the Battle Cruisers performed an FTL jump that took them out of the system. An instant later the Victory disappeared a flash of light that would briefly outshined the local star. Taking with it over two hundred D-Orphan ships, and damaging several others.
Now having orbital supremacy the Dragon Orphans flew over the colony world and began to drop the rest of their forces. At the same time, they began an orbital bombardment on the capital city. They were ready to feast.
The battle for Shanxi begans, and the Federation as already lost their fleet. But not before giving the Dragon Orphans one hell of a bloody nose. Stay tune for the second part.
