Chapter 6. Friendly Competition
17. September 2387 AD, Illium
His head rang like it had been hit with a sledgehammer and he almost didn't realise that he was being moved until he saw the doors of Room Five come closer to him. Holderman tried to shake the encroaching dizziness out of his head. As one of the operatives dragged him through the door, the pointman that had encountered the asari first rising to his feet up ahead, he heard the gunfire to his left until a deep thud followed by a high-pitched hiss echoed through the corridor, interrupting the fighting.
"The door is sealed, Sir," he heard while being moved to the elevator. "Bypassing it will take a few."
"Negative. Budapest. Blow the damn freighter out of the sky, package not secured," Holderman heard over his helmet intercom as the squad carried him through the corridors. It was a pragmatic call but with two out of eight operatives already incapacitated by the asari, it was the necessary one. There was a very real possibility that they would not be able to take her. "We're jumping ship, over and out."
"Copy that, Strike-Lead, disruptor torpedoes are on the way," a slightly distorted voice crackled through the radio in his helmet as he was dragged through the corridor, seeing a cable being attached to his armor when the group came to a halt in an adjacent room. Racing against time, one of the Cerberus operatives slapped a small, black canister onto the red wall of the room before ducking away. The magnetic charge detonated after a simple press of a detonator the squad of eight was sucked out into the vacuum of space by a sudden and violent atmospheric breach, Holderman feeling himself being coming to a stop as the operative he was attached to used the small air thrusters on his suits to counteract their momentum once they were far enough away from the freighter. While his face plate may crack at any given moment, his chances of surviving in space were far higher than his chances of surviving on the freighter. His eyes darted to the shrinking red shape just as a small vessel undid its docking clamps, avoiding the bluish streaks shooting towards the freighter by mere moments. There was a slight delay between the impact of the torpedoes and their effect but once that delay had passed, the freighter was quite literally torn into pieces. As it turned out, deploying weapons designed to destroy heavily armored warships against a civilian ship could be seen as overkill. The remains of the freighter quickly began to suffer from orbital decay as other craft responded to its automated distress beacon, powerless against the gravity of Illium pulling the debris into its atmosphere.
"Strike-Lead, I'm almost in range. Prepare to board. Over," the pilot of the modified Kodiak stated as Holderman saw another visible crack appear in front of him.
"Budapest this is Strike-Lead," the squad leader, Strike-Lead, began. "Requesting reinforcements to pursue the package onto the planet. Over."
"Strike-Lead, that's a negative. We can't risk landing human military forces on an asari world," the commander sighted. "Abort, over."
"Copy that Budapest. Boarding our ride," the squad leader replied as they started to slowly fly towards the Kodiak that had just arrived above them. As he was lifted into the Kodiak, the sound of its doors locking and breathable air filling the crew compartment, Holderman decided that he would not make a habit out of getting into fistfights with biotics.
2129 CE, Omega
Huntress T'Val fired her Novice, an assault rifle specifically designed to meet the needs of the dreaded asari commandos, and another member of the Blood Pack died after peaking out from the window she had been aiming at. Earlier this week she had received a call from Matriarch Tevos that she and the other commandos sworn into her service would carry out synchronized raids on the Eclipse and Blood Pack while planting false evidence that would suggest human involvement on the matter. Having already served the matriarch for centuries, she and her fellow commandos had set out at a moments notice. Her unit had made its way to Omega, locating the dozens of smuggling docks one of the criminal syndicates used to spread the poison, which financed its other operations, from Omega to the rest of the galaxy. Once on the planetoid they had split apart into smaller units to hit several key locations at the same time. Now they, her and three other asari, were fighting through hordes of vorcha, who failed to present something even remotely resembling a threat to the four commandos, their actual target coming closer and closer with every dead mercenary. She knew that the timing of their operation needed to be almost perfect and as such she wouldn't complain about their enemies being unable to put up a decent fight.
On her left another huntress casted a warp towards an unfortunate vorcha, his feral screams sounding through the small docking bay as the rapidly shifting mass effect fields ate away his chest, tearing apart his brown, scarred flesh. However being a vorcha, the creature didn't go quietly, his natural resilience buying him just enough time to open the large entry gate they had previously sealed to keep out reinforcements. A rather smart and selfless move, especially for a vorcha. The doors slowly slid open until a large pair of dark-red gauntlets forced them open just enough for its owner to squeeze through, several squads of vorcha pouring through before the impatient mercenary made his entrance.
"Battlemaster!" a huntress exclaimed as the bulking form of a krogan stepped on the arm of an injured vorcha trying to crawl to the safety of the area behind the gate, his weight crushing every bone in its path without even the slightest sign of remorse.
"Heh," the field commander grunted, unimpressed by the burst of assault rifle fire his barriers deflected before his face. He rolled his shoulders exactly once and time seemed to slow down in T'Val's mind as he began his charge. The battlemaster pulled the Graal Spike Thrower attached to his armor into his hands and started to fire at the commandos as his feet carried him closer to them with each step. His first shot was aimed at the huntress closest to him. She reacted just in time for a spike to embed itself in the wall were her head would've been if not for quick reflexes causing her to leap to the side. Having set his eyes on her, he blew past the first huntress as T'Val sent another burst of sand grain sized rounds flying towards him, the Novice once more trying and failing to penetrate his barriers. As another huntress was smacked aside by the battlemaster, her biotic assault causing a purple flicker to surround the krogan, T'Val locked her eyes onto a shuttle engine dangling from the ceiling, the chains used to hold it in place looking far from stable. She quickly simulated her attack in her mind, realising that it should work if she timed it just right.
She summoned a purple ball of energy into her hands and threw it into the direction of the engine, its force snapping one of the rusty-brown chains. As the laws of physics were set into motion, the turbine came swinging into the path of the krogan far too quickly for the large reptile to stop its advance. As their paths crossed, the heavy krogan was smashed aside as the heavier shuttle part collided with him. He stumbled to the side before falling to the ground as the huntress closest to him seized the opportunity, aiming her Disciple at his head and quickly causing it to overheat as she pulled the trigger again and again. Upon witnessing the sudden death of their battlemaster, the remaining vorcha made a run for it, their already lackluster discipline falling apart completely. Normally T'Val avoided killing an already defeated foe but on this situation her orders were clear. She and the rest of her team unleashed a deadly volley upon the fleeing vorcha, cutting them down as they tried and failed to escape the commando unit.
When the last vorcha dropped dead just a few steps shy of escaping, T'Val brought up her omni-tool and started to feed the local Blood Pack channels counterfeited radio chatter about HSA Black Ops teams attacking them all over Omega, taking care to specify that they were destroying their stockpiles of Red Sand. After finishing this, she received a message from Councilor Tevos ordering her to upload the attached file onto the Blood Pack network. Obeying her matriarch, she did as she was instructed while her team was planted incendiary charges on the shipment they had just captured, their timers set to one standard minute.
"We're done here," she informed her fellow huntresses as the upload finished.
The asari walked away from the docking bay and paid no attention to the fire destroying Red Sand worth millions of credits behind them. They rounded the corner just as a fireball shot through the corridor behind them, the Red Sand cooking off and its more volatile gaseous state violently expanding upon coming into contact with the flames. As a series of similar explosions rocked the station around them, T'Val knew that the other squadrons had been successful as well.
2129 CE, Omega, Afterlife
"They will pay," the krogan snarled at the leader of Eclipse from his couch, an unimpressed expression on her face even as he threw the glass tube he held in his hands into the wall next to her. The glass shattered upon impact and the krogan got up, grabbing the shotgun resting next to him before walking towards the asari. "Normally I'd rip your throat out just for coming here, Sederis, but this cannot stand!" Garm of clan Raik shouted through the club as the peope around him flinched, the eyes of a batarian enforcer darting into his direction before realising just who was causing the ruckus. "I'll drown them in their own blood, they'll regret the day they dared to mess with the Blood Pack."
"Calm down," Jona Sederis, founder of Eclipse, said after her guards trained their rifles on the furious krogan, a single wave of her hand causing them to take a step back. The krogan had a tendency to become angry when someone burned his Red Sand and she hadn't come here to pick a fight. "I came to you because, like you, I want revenge," she explained upon closing the recording of human forces attacking another smuggling freighter over Illium, "but to get our revenge, we need a plan."
"No, we need to crush them!" Garm stated. "Invade their home and kill them all!"
"The Blood Pack doesn't even possess a single dreadnought, how do you plan to take on a military that has thirteen? You krogan are good shock troopers but if you can't even reach the ground, how are you going to fight? You may have hundreds of thousands of kidnapped vorcha ready to take the fire of you but even you have to realise that their military still outnumbers you a hundred to one," Jona stated, having already prepared for this occasion. Garm wasn't exactly a master tactician, those usually didn't last very long in the Blood Pack. He simply held this position because he had killed his predecessor. "We need to hit them were it hurts but we also need to hit them someplace we can win."
The krogan growled angrily but seemed to listen. Maybe there was a brain behind that thick headplate after all.
"Go on."
"Ferris Fields."
"What?" the krogan grunted, not being able to connect anything of meaning to the name.
"It's a human colony only established about year ago. No big fortifications and only a small garrison. Its located in a system without a relay and the quickest response time would at least be 10 standard hours. We would be able to slaughter them and retreat before anyone can come to their aid," Sederis explained as the krogan stepped closer. "Then we move on to other colonies and repeat the process. We can hit multiple worlds while they move towards Ferris Fields."
"Not enough payback," Garm muttered as she flared her biotics to discourage him from getting any ideas. "I want them to bleed. All of them. A few, tiny colonies? Not enough."
"Eclipse is doing this, with or without you," she said as the krogan took a step back and walked through the room. "It doesn't matter to us if you're with us or not. This was simply an offer between people who's interest align," a smile crossed her face as she realised how to pull the krogan to her side. She reached for the gun on her hip and prepared herself. "You're free to become Garm the coward, the leader who refused the chance to attack those who crossed him. Won't that make for a nice headstone?"
Far quicker than a reptile of his size should've been able to, Garm spun on his heel and turned towards her, only for the heavy pistol appearing under his chin to stop him in his tracks.
"Fine," the krogan grunted as he smacked the gun aside. "You'll have the Blood Pack. Now get out of my sight."
Jona Sederis knew which buttons to push to get what she wanted.
19. November 2387 AD, Ferris Fields
Warrant Officer Trotsky strapped his helmet on and saw the first gunships of his unit rise from the airfield as transport vehicles and drop pods broke through the atmosphere, far too few of them exploding before making contact with the surface. The Army Colonial Watch on Ferris Fields was only recently given access to the A-83 Vulture, the newest aerial assault craft of the HSA's military industry complex and now they'd be put to use. He rushed towards his own gunship as his pilot fired up the engines, the sirens blaring across the airfield as his fellow soldiers did the same. His feet carried him towards the Vulture as a series of streaks shot into the air in the distance, vanishing beyond the clouds as they headed for their targets in orbit above Ferris Fields. As he climbed the ladder to the cockpit, he caught a glance of a fireball rapidly crashing to the surface over the colony's biggest, and only, city which until a few minutes ago had enjoyed a hot but peaceful summer day. That day had turned into a nightmare when dozens of unknown contacts had entered the system, only stopping to destroy the orbital stations around the colony before beginning the deployment of ground troops.
He had heard of slavers and pirate raids on worlds like Ferris Fields but neither of these groups should've known that the colony even existed. Detailed star charts including smaller, vulnerable worlds were something the HSA hadn't shared with anyone, instead only revealing the location of colonies far too big and far too well defended for either of the groups to even think about attacking. Yet here they were, countless of small, yellow dropships descending to the surface all the while drop pods of varying size shot past them. As he connected his helmet to the A-83, the nimble craft's cockpit closed and the airman outside removed the ladder used to enter it. When another airman gave them a thumbs up, his pilot began pressing a series of buttons that would allow them to ascend all the while he began preparing the weapon systems of the Vulture. Its light reflecting of the canopy, his attention was temporarily shifted to a large, red streak appearing in the sky above them. In the flames he could make out a brownish, rugged vessel and the smoke trail following it suggested that some of the surface-to-orbit weaponry of Ferris Fields' Colonial Watch had found its mark.
"All Onyx callsigns, follow my lead," the leader of Onyx Squadron ordered as the four gunships rose from the airfield, quickly forming up in the air before beginning their flight to their assigned combat zone.
"Who the fuck is attacking us?" callsign 'Matchbox', Onyx 2-1, questioned.
"No idea, Onyx 2-1," his pilot, Warrant Officer Santoz replied. "But they definitely underestimated the surface-to-orbit defenses," the man added as the burning craft collided with the surface of Ferris Fields, a bright explosion causing Trotsky to avert his eyes as the ships Eezo core detonated, reasing a cloud of blue dust into the air and covering the area in toxic Eezo dust. At least they wouldn't have to worry about survivors. The four gunships left the airfield behind them before flying above the forest between the garrisons' airfield and the capital of Ferris Fields. Above them more transports appeared, several of them exploding as an unseen anti-air battery tore into them, missiles exploding in between the shuttles, covering them with shrapnel and causing them to hurtle towards the ground far faster than they were designed to do. But even in face of the battery's best efforts, far too many of them got through.
"This is bad," Matchbox once more stated as a series of explosions swallowed a chunk of the forest to their left, causing the Vulture's to swing right and away from the incoming artillery barrage.
"Onyx 2-1, radio discipline," Onyx-Lead shut them up. "Onyx 3-1 and Onyx 4-1, break off and swing west. Enemy forces are making a push for the city, assist where you can. Onyx 2-1, follow my lead. We're ordered to harass an enemy landing zone. How copy? Over."
"Good copy, Onyx-Lead, Onyx 4-1 breaking off, over," Santoz replied as his own Vulture and Onyx 3-1 banked away from the other two craft, heading to the coordinates their squadron leader had sent them. As their gunship raced across the surface, he could make out the outer limits of the city, spotting a large crowd of people streaming into one of the colonial shelters as soldiers began to fortify positions around the bunker, ready to defend the shelter until they were either relieved or dead. Further up ahead, he could see Kodiaks touch down on the roofs of multiple tall buildings, soldiers in lighter armor jumping out of them, the rifles in their hands revealing them to be either designated marksmen, spotters or snipers.
Suddenly an alert within the cockpit informed them of an anti-air lock, stopping the gunner from observing his surroundings, instead turning his head to see two quickly approaching warheads shooting towards them from a clearing in the forest.
"Onyx 4-1, you got incoming," the gunner of the other Vulture spoke up. "Enemy manpads on your eight o'clock."
"Deploying flares," the pilot stated, the flick of a button causing bright, hot countermeasures to appear from the wings of the gunship, one of them attracting the missile that had been fired at them. While its explosion destroyed their other pursuer, it also caused the gunship's shields to flare up as they stopped small metal fragments from drilling into the Vulture's backside. "Trotsky?"
The Warrant Officer didn't need to hear more as he shifted the 30mm chaingun towards the source of the rockets and his HUD outlined the thermal images of the attackers as they ran for cover "Looks like salarians. Guns, Guns, Guns." he muttered before pressing down the button on the control stick between his legs. The rotary weapon spat death into the direction as his HUD showed bright white rounds tear into the AA-team, one of them cut down as one of the rounds exploded in his midsection and the other dying when the rounds finally caught up to him.
"Neutralized," he informed his pilot before he caught something else, between the trees a fireteam of army soldiers, several members of the unit apparently injured, tried to fall back towards the city limits, gunfire pinning them down and making them easy prey for their attackers. "Friendly forces engaging enemy infantry on our ten o'clock."
Realising the intend of his gunner, Santoz slowed down as the A-83 slowed down while Trotsky removed the safety of the air-to-surface missile. "Deploying ASM-13," he spoke into his radio before he hit the trigger. A single missile separated itself from one of the wings of the craft once its fuze ignited and Trotsky found himself rapidly flying towards the ground as his HUD was dominated by the perspective of the small camera in the front of the projectile. He steered it into the general direction the few uninjured soldiers were firing it and found the missile collide with a large, red lizard before the feed on his visor was replaced by static.
"Onyx-Lead, I just blew up what looked like a krogan. Sitrep? Over," Trotsky asked their squadron leader for clarification while seeing the injured infantry team withdraw below them.
"Ferris Fields Command confirms krogan, asari, salarians and vorcha on the surface," Onyx-Lead confirmed, " and our ground forces are instructed to conduct delay tactics to keep the from the shelters. Not everyone's made it into yet. Keep providing ground support and engage targets of opportunity, over."
As Onyx-Lead relayed the orders, his own A-83 once more started moving across the outskirts, gunfire from buildings, bridges and armored vehicles acting as roadblocks barely keeping the enemy forces at bay. He could see a squad of salarian figures, their tall and thin frames making them easy to identify, dash from the forest to a small general store, several of them dropping dead when the snipers zeroed in on them. While the squad tried to advance, he saw saw several of the attackers pull a tubes from their backs and when he realised that they were in fact not aiming at either the infantry or vehicles on the ground, his eyes widened.
"Bank left, bank left, manpads," he called through his radio as the two Vultures reacted almost immediately. One of the unguided missile blew past the gunship, missing the cockpit far too close for his liking only to impact the wall of a building Trotsky knew all to well.
"Motherfuckers just trashed my place. Now it's personal" he stated frustrated as the Vulture next to them opened fire, his own finger once more pushing down on top of the control stick as soon as the gun was in position. The rocketeers didn't stand a chance as the chainguns of two A-83 Vultures focused their fire on them. While there was no time for them to even attempt running away, there wouldn't have been a point in it either. The ones that didn't die at the hands of the gunships soon found their end at the hands of the snipers still lingering on the roofs off the city's outer districts. "Targets neutralized. We can move on."
"Negative, we got enemies coming down the road and Shelter Seven is taking a pounding," Warrant Officer Santoz explained as the Vulture moved deeper into the city, using one of the bigger buildings to avoid being targeted from all directions. "I need your eyes one o'clock, is that a bus?"
True to his pilot's assessment, a bus painted in the colours of the colony's police department was doing its best to avoid gunfire as it raced towards the shelter.
"Confirmed bus. Covering. Guns, Guns, Guns," the chaingun tore into the vorcha shooting at the police vehicle. In spite the two Onyx callsigns best efforts, the driver got hit nonetheless. The bus crashed into another vehicle which had been abandoned on the road and Trotsky could already make out the the red stains on the windshield only to spot a green shape dashing towards the now stopped vehicle. He registered the shape to be a soldier rushing to the vehicle in a suicidal charge for no apparent reason, dodging bullets and explosions before leaping towards the bus. He tore open the door as a dead woman fell into his arms. He let go of her the instant he realised that she was no longer alive and her corpse fell down before the soldier stepped inside the bus, moments passing as Trotssky wondered just why the man had taken this risk.
He understood when the grunt reappeared with a little kid in his arms, making a run for his shelter as the line of HSA infantry laid down suppressive fire for the two of them.
"ASM-13," Trotsky stated as another guided missile broke off the Vulture's wing. The missile left a trail of smoke and through the gunners guidance found its mark between two particularly big krogan, orange bits and pieces being scattered over the street and onto the walls. Then the alarm once more registered a lock-on but even before Santoz could deploy any form of flare an unguided missile exploded into the shields of the Vulture, destabilizing the craft. Someone had snuck up on them. Another explosion followed shortly afterwards and soon the message of their shields having collapsed flashed in front of Trotsky's eyes.
"Damn it," Santoz stated as he tried to dodge another missile only for mass accelerator fire to slowly crack the light armor of the vulture, smashing into the cockpit. Trotsky felt the round hit him just below his knee as Santoz kept trying to maintain control over the gunship, a stream of red flowing from his leg and collecting between his feet. He tried to reach for the medigel syringe to his left as another mass accelerator round tore through his forearm. He lost consciousness just in time to not feel the crash.
On the Ground
"Send it again!" Captain Gavin shouted between bursts of SR-7 fire.
"Sir, our communications array just got busted," a corporal replied as bullets impacted the wall behind them. "No getting through."
Further ahead the man he had sent to grab the child finally appeared from within the bus, making the run of his life with the sole survivor in his arms. Whatever the bus driver had thought when he had decided to drive through the frontline had gotten most of his passengers killed, leaving the unlucky but brave grunt currently charging through a bulletstorm to pick up his pieces.
"Cover him!" Gavin ordered as his remaining men rose from their positions to lay down suppressive fire on the alien hordes appearing behind the man, the swarm of vorcha missing him either through chance, their horrible aim or the workings of a higher power.
"Don't you bloody die," the officer said as he chambered the first round of a fresh magazine into his SR-7, hitting an alien square in the chest just as the soldier ran past him. "Take him to the shelter and then get back here!"
"Yes, Sir!"
"Someone take him!" the soldier shouted into the shelter as he practically threw the kid in right before the large blast door shut itself. The soldier tried to turn around and move back into cover but before he could make another step a sniper round connected with his helmet and the man collapsed right in front of the shelter, either dead or severely injured. There was no time to check.
"Damn it!" Gavin shouted as he grew more angry, the empty clicking of his gun causing him to slide back into cover.
"Sir, the eastside is collapsing. Asari and salarians are pushing back the IFV platoons."
"Tell them to withdraw to the city limits, don't let them get into the buildings!"
"Yes, Sir," the corporal lifted his hand towards his helmet but before he could do as he was told a purple light lifted him up and threw him into the blast door. Upon impact the body slumped to the ground and dropped next to the victim of the sniper, his spine twisted. Gavin spun his upper body to the left and recognized the shape of an asari. The figure was still glowing purple and he felt himself becoming heavier and heavier as an eerily feeling crept over him. It took every single drop of determination still inside him to lift his SR-7 just enough to fire of a burst into the leg of the attacker, a purple field shattering before purple blood started to stain the ground in front of her. The asari tripped as her leg gave up on her and Gavin took the opportunity to dispatch the her.
Then he heard the screams of a man to his right as an unfortunate soldier got mauled by a vorcha. Blood was dispersed with every slash as the claws of the creature tore through the softer fabric of the armor's neck, a viscious smile appearing on the alien's face as its sharp claws very nearly seperated the man's head from his body. Gavin aimed at the vorcha and began to fire but after two rounds his rifle clicked empty. Cursing under his breath, he was well aware that his SIS-8 was the only thing still loaded on his body and his left hand went for the pistol as the lightly injured vorcha advanced on him. Rounds left the barrel of the pistol while the vorcha shrugged of the hits to his upper body in a fit fueled by rage and adrenaline. The creature jumped him and Gavin hit the ground, firing until his gun was empty and the vorcha stopped moving, finding his throat unharmed. He lifted the dead vorcha off him, got up and tried to reload only to find a salarian aiming at him. As the mass accelerator rounds smashed into his armor he ignored the pain in his stomach and tackled the tall amphibian towards the ground. Salarians, while quicker, were more frail and not as strong as a trained human soldier so when Gavin forced began forcing his knife down into the eye of the alien, it couldn't resist nearly as long as a turian, batarian or human could've. The blade punctured the salarian's head and and upon pulling it back out, a stream of acid-green liquid shot from the wound. Gavin got up as one of his few remaining soldiers fired a burst out of her rifle to drop another salarian that had rounded the truck behind him. but her victory was short lived however as a krogan smashed the woman to the side, an unnatural cracking sound and the angle of her head betraying her fate.
The krogan looked at Gavin who only had his knife left and a smirk crossed his reptillian face. In spite of that, the human decided to charge him. Gavin didn't really know why it had sounded like a good idea to attack an over two meter tall, incredibly heavy lizard head on and he regretted it the moment the toad smashed his armored head into him. The captain went flying and blood started to obstruct his vision as his nose was broken. He tried to get back up but before he could reach for his knife, the krogan lifted him up to eye level and smirked even more. Behind him Gavin could see the dead remains of his unit and the luckily sealed door of the shelter.
They had done their duty.
"You got a quad human," he laughed, "but you shouldn't have pissed of the Blood Pack. Now you die," the krogan's grip started to tighten around Gavin's neck however his right hand found the single fragmentation grenade still attached to his combat rigging. He primed it and raised it so that the krogan could notice the lack of a safety pin. As the alien snarled in anger, Gavin laughed.
"See you in hell, toad."
The following blast killed both Captain Gavin and Garm, leader of the Blood Pack on Omega, who had insisted on joining the ground assault after Jona Sederis had challenged him.
Sixteen Hours Later, 21. November 2387 AD, Arcturus Station
The week had already been bad after Cerberus had failed to retrieve the Shadow Broker's data and had only gotten worse when a pushy journalist had tried to sneak into his office.
But all of these events paled in compression to the events of the last thirty hours.
"Ferris Fields, New Canton, Fehl Prime," Suhail Nadim,the minister of defense, explained to Chancellor Noé. "Three planets attacked by Eclipse, several Terminus warlords and the Blood Pack within the last days."
"Casualties?" he muttered.
"Colonial Watch on Ferris Fields lost fifty five percent of its forces but Fehl Prime beat most of the attackers back thanks to a patrol dropping in during the assault. They to blows with an Eclipse cruiser and the Trafalgar got hit during the engagement. The rest of their fleet bugged out as soon as they realised what was coming for them. We disabled and boarded several smaller vessels but the cruiser limped away.
"What about New Canton?"
The minister paused a moment. "New Canton got hit the worst. A large amount of krogan supported the ground assault, and there were hardly any survivors among the garrison. Over fifteen thousand civilians didn't reach the shelters in time due to living in the countryside, they got massacred. Another five thousand died when the Blood Pack managed to breach a shelter and slaughtered everyone inside."
"And across all three worlds?" he braced himself.
"Thirthy eight thousand, Sir." the general of the army said as the minister hesitated.
"Place all forces in the colonies bordering the Terminus on threat condition Shield One," the chancellor ordered. "I want the marines and the navy to start a full mobilization of both active duty personal and reserves. Prepare them for a large scale deployment within the next week," he paused for a moment as he recalled the last time a human world had been subjected to a massacre. "Tell HSAIS to active all of its undercover agents. This is the kind of event the IFS has been waiting for, I want the agents ready to start infiltrating bigger cells at a moment's notice. Garrisions in the Fringe should be prepared to deal with riots as well."
He had been briefed on the capabilities of the Blood Pack and Eclipse, the two forces were dominant crime syndicates within the Terminus Systems and held considerable reach with several other warlords in the region. Eclipse had a sizeable navy and the Blood Pack was known to field hundreds of thousands of expendable shock troops.
"Shield One. Yes, Sir," General Vasquez saluted him and walked out of the room as Admiral Jun and General Stelios left to prepare their branches as well.
"Get me live within the hour."
2129 CE, Citadel, Office of Councilor Tevos
"Thank you Agent Vasir," Tevos stated as she received the little blue package. "This will be all."
The Spectre was about to walk out when curiosity got the better of her. She'd really like to know why she had infiltrated an Eclipse freighter and so would the recording device she had hidden inside the office.
"This is it? This is how you want to make the turians hate the humans?" she sounded almost disappointed.
"Oh no, Agent Vasir, this is just beginning," the asari councilor replied. "I will approach you when I require your talents again. Until then, you are dismissed."
For now Tela did as she was told, expecting to find out Tevos' plan in the long run. Passing by the salarian councilor on her way out, she came to a halt in the corridor as she realised just where Vaelan was headed. The long run may already be coming to an end after all. Focusing her senses on a singular noise, she turned on her heels exactly when the second hissing marked the point at which the councilor stepped inside the asari's office. Taking a few steps back, her omni-tool once more connected with the bug she had placed inside Tevos' office.
"What is it that you wish to discuss, Tevos?" the salarian questioned, his voice filled with a mixture of weariness and interest.
"We are both aware that the Turian Hierarchy has taken a liking towards the HSA due to perceiving them as a strong, independent ally," Tevos explained as Tela remembered her own assumption on the councilor's motivations. "And since both of us seem to agree that we can't let that happen, I'd like to let you know that I've set in motion a plan that will destroy their misplaced trust."
"I take it this is linked to the attacks on human worlds?" the salarian spoke up again, a slight shift in his tone suggesting to Vasir that his weariness was shrinking and his interest growing.
"By provoking humanity to attack some of the most established factions in the Terminus system, we'll make them pick a fight that will show the Hierarchy that the humans are not nearly as strong as the turians think they are. Adding to that, we will take steps to destabilize them by giving their separatists something to rally behind."
"Destroying the turian believe of having found an ally that could stand up to the Union or Republics and displaying the already present division and weakness within the HSA. Would improve chances of trade with Salarian Union."
"I just need a little help from STG," Tevos chuckled as a turian C-SEC officer passed by Vasir with his eyes glued to his own omni-tool, paying no further mind to the Spectre's rather suspicious positioning before walking into the office of his superior.
"I will approach Dalatrasses."
"Wouldn't it make a much better impression on them if you were to seize an opportunity like this on your own?" Tevos asked her guest as Tela waited for the salarian to give an answer.
"I have a few contacts I could reach out to," he began, convinced. "This will go flawlessly?"
"Of course, Vaelan. Have a little faith."
That old fool.
Tela walked away, not intending to be spotted.
22. November 2387 AD, Cronos Station, 'Section 13'
"Are you thirsty Ms. Sedri?" the sandy haired man in black uniform questioned the blue asari. Her white facial marks were somewhat disrupted by the gash on her left jaw. A wound officially sustained before her capture as far as the report was concerned. Captured during the Eclipse attack on Fehl Prime, the asari had been one of the vessels disabled by an unscheduled patrol. As such he suspected the wound had been the result of an overeager marine looking for vengeance. It would certainly explain why the wound looked almost exactly like the butt of an SR-7. As the asari felt no need to answer Specialist Redford decided to try another approach.
"Do you even know what you got yourself into when you attacked Fehl Prime?" he said as he filled a glass of water. With a little slight of hand he added an odourless liquid that would help him later on, starting a timer on his watch. Now he just had to kill time. "The HSA does not take kindly to terrorists."
Silence.
"I see, you're not a chatty one," Redford shrugged. "Slowly I'm starting to believe women just don't want to talk to me," he chuckled as he set down the glass of water in front of the captured merc and took a sip from it to remove her believe that it might be poisoned. Maybe that was keeping her from quenching her thirst. "I'll ask you again Ms. Sedri, are you thirsty?" he gestured towards the glass on the table.
The Asari, like expected, grabbed the glass and jugged its content down as fast as possible once she was convinced that no harm would come to her.
"I'll be honest Ms. Sedri, you are not in a good spot right now," Redford explained as he sat down opposite to the asari, tipping his chair. "Thirty eight thousand counts of assisted murder? That's a lot. I mean if you're lucky you could actually survive the five centuries in prison that you're looking at, unless," he stressed the last word, "you are willing to cooperate with the HSAIS. I want you to tell me everything you know and maybe we can do something about the sentence."
The mercenary once more remained quiet, most likely a trait acquired while working for the notorious mercenary outfit. The specialist suspected that those who'd talk when captured would be taken care of early in their careers.
Redford got up, walked around the desk and placed one of his hands on the shoulder of the Eclipse merc.
"I'm a nice person Ms. Sedri, I'm not going to hurt you," he paused as he looked at the timer on his watch. Finally. A smile crossed his face. "However you did just drink a truth serum which I've been immunized against. Since I'm quite busy today, I'll just start asking away."
A shocked expression appeared on the asari's face as she turned around to look at him, probably realising that he was in fact not making this up.
"Why did you attack New Canton, Fehl Prime and Ferris Fields?" Redford began.
"Because you mangled with our smuggling business. Fuck with Eclipse, we'll make you pay," she replied after a short struggle with herself, slapping her hands over her mouth in surprise.
"How did we interfere with your smuggling business?"
"You blew up nine of our freighters around Illium!" Sedri explained, her attempts of fighting the serum growing weaker.
"We only blew up one freighter," the specialist corrected her. "We're not going to steal the credit for the other eight. That's not how we do things," the blonde man argued before returning to the matter at hand. "Anyway, why was the Blood Pack involved? Did you pay them to fight for you?"
"Pay the Blood Pack? Never. You torched their Red Sand depots on Omega, they had it out for you just as bad as we." the drugged mercenary answered truthfully.
"Did we now?" he said as he once more sat down on the chair opposite to the asari with white facial marks.
"Yes," the asari couldn't lie at the moment so he took her word at face value. Someone had gone through a lot of trouble to blame their anti-mercenary operations on them.
"Interesting," the specialist nodded as he looked at the asari, her expression growing more relaxed as the truth serum unfolded its full potential. "Alright Ms. Sedri, tell me how many ships does Eclipse posses. Specifically how many cruisers?"
"Thirty cruisers, well over two hundred smaller frigates."
"Where is your main base of operation?"
"There is no main base of Eclipse, only de-centralized outposts, bases and ships."
"Which outpost is the biggest one?" Redford pressed on noting the de-centralized nature of Eclipse mirroring salarian and asari doctrine.
"Illium," she confirmed his suspicion, since Illium was a major hub for corporate crime and Eclipse disguised itself as a security outfit. The mostly lawless nature of Illium enabled them to run their shady business from a world with fantastic connections towards Council Space. Of course they'd put their headquarters there.
"How big is the number of security personal your company employs?" Redford folded his hands.
"I only know how many cell members my cell has. As I said, Eclipse is de-centralized."
"How many, Ms. Sedri?"
"My cell numbered at nearly eight hundred members before deployment on Fehl Prime."
"And how many cells make up Eclipse?"
"Hundreds," Sedri replied swiftly.
"Now to the really interesting stuff." Redford stated dryly. "Who gave you the information on HSA patrol schedules, garrison strength and locations of new colonies?"
"Sederis didn't tell us. She just said that her sources could be trusted," the mercenary asari replied as she clutched her head. An unpleasant side effect of the drug causing her to be more honest than she had been in the last century combined.
"Jona Sederis is the leader of Eclipse, correct?"
"Yes."
"Where can we find her?"
"I don't know," the asari said as the headache accompanying the drug fully kicked in. "She travels a lot."
"I believe that will be all for now, Ms. Sedri," Redford got up, left the cell and stepped into the halls of Cronos Station, the headquarters of Section 13 and as of recently Cerberus. He sent his findings to his director and prepared to interrogate the next prisoner, a salarian.
Looking at his watch, he realised that it would be a long night.
27. November 2387 AD, Cronos Station
Jack Harper leaned back in his chair as he watched the dying star in front of him. Cronos Station had been build around Anadius due to the stars regular solar bursts hiding its, compared to Arcturus, small form from just about any piece of scanning technology in the known galaxy. The white light, mostly filtered by the large glass window in front of him, danced on the black floor around him as he read another report forwarded to him by Section 13's director. After the failure of the mission around Illium, mostly caused by one asari, he had already been expecting that someone would use this information against them. However he hadn't been expecting Eclipse and the Blood Pack to attack them out of the blue. Looking through some of the combat reports, he once more frowned upon seeing what had caused most of their casualties.
He was well aware of the advantage biotics gave to the Council races, an advantage they would be able to hold until the HSA would be ready to start BAaT, Biotic Acclimation and Temperance Training. The pieces were already in motion, and the thousands of children who had been exposed to Eezo in the last years were already being tracked. Of course there were adults who had suffered similar exposure before but, at least as far as their research was concerned, biotic potential in humans needed to be harnessed from a young age, otherwise the ability to control the powers associated with it would disappear more with each year. As the science team in charge of this study had concluded, the HSA had missed the last sizeable wave of potential human biotics by a few years already. Now they had to wait and observe the new group.
Reading through the rest of the reports he simultaneously inhaled a breath of smoke, a habit he had revived by spending too much time in close proximity to the chainsmoker that was Chancellor Noé. As he exhaled a small cloud of smoke danced in the light of the dying star. Normally he'd simply enjoy the view but since Chancellor Noé had already given the order for Cerberus to annihilate the smaller Terminus warlords involved in the attack, most likely simply hired guns, he was a rather busy man. Cerberus' strike teams were doing surprisingly well considering the vast majority of these warlords were exiled krogan battlemasters. Of course surprisingly well didn't mean that they were running flawless operation after flawless operation. Harper looked over the list of fallen field operatives and could do nothing but declare them KIA and leave their families wondering just how, when, where and why they met their demise. Fighting in the shadows had this particular disadvantage, no one would ever hear about the sacrifices their unsung guardians took upon themselves in the pursuit of protecting humanity.
One day the deeds of these people would add up to something bigger, something that would be worthy of the things they had done 'in service to mankind'.
He pressed the cigarette into the ash tray and took a drink from the glass, another habit he blamed on Noé.
10. December 2387 AD, Citadel, Chambers of the Citadel Council
Ambassador Goyle stood in front of the three councilors who had summoned her to talk about the ongoing military operations against hostile forces within the Terminus Systems and waited for their reply. The meeting had begun somewhat civil with formal greetings being exchanged but as soon as the salarian had began rambling on about the 'Council Law', as if she wasn't familiar with it by now, Goyle had known that this would be one of the more unpleasant moments she'd been part of in her career.
"Under the law of the Citadel Council an associate or member of the Council cannot engage in armed conflict before seeking the approval of the whole Council, Ambassador Goyle," Vaelan, or as her bodyguard tended to call him, 'lizardy scum bag', sighed while placing the palm of his hand in his face. A sign of frustration that translated through the body language of most humanoid species.
"The HSA is engaging in anti-terrorism operations against Eclipse Security, a self proclaimed security cooperation, and the Blood Pack, a known criminal syndicate. We are not engaged in an armed conflict with another galactic government. How is this different from anti-piracy or anti-slavery operations of the Council?" the ambassador countered. She did know the difference, after all the Blood Pack and Eclipse combined were a far bigger threat than some slaver gang or a pirate outfit.
"Council operations do not include prolonged offensive action in the Terminus Systems, Ms. Goyle. You cannot compare what is basically a full blown war across multiple star systems with military strikes against isolated outposts," Tevos explained with only the slightest hint of anger in her voice. The day Anita managed to break her image as mediator was the day she could die a happy woman.
"That just means that you are not attacking the problem at its core. The Hierarchy had the right idea century ago, only for the Salarian Union to shoot them down," Goyle countered, once more sticking to the 'pro-turian' doctrine she'd been instructed to pursue in her dealings with the Council. "Just because you're not willing to risk a valuable space port in the Terminus doesn't mean that the HSA can't fight its own battle."
"The proposed military intervention against the Terminus Systems was vetoed because the Salarian Union did not wish to engage in a war that could escalate to the scale of the Rachni Wars or the Krogan Rebellions. Just because your kind hasn't seen the devastation such a war can bring, doesn't give you the right to provoce one," the salarian folded his arms, oblivious or knowingly ignorant of the economical reasons that had motivated the veto.
"My 'kind' Councilor Vaelan", she repeated the rhetoric of the salarian, "is well aware of the devastation a war can cause but my kind is also aware that turning a blind eye towards evil and letting terrorist, or as you like to call them 'private security outfits', do what they want is simply too dangerous. Compare the Terminus Systems of today to the Terminus Systems of the time the Hierarchy first wanted to put an end to this. The longer you ignore the problem, the more dangerous it will get," Anita Goyle explained. "The HSA hasn't requested Council aid, therefor we don't feel the need to request your permission to avenge our people. This is our fight, Councilor Vaelan."
"What the HSA feels the need to do and what it has to do are two very different things, Ambassador Goyle," the salarian had now taken charge of talking for the council. "The moment you chose to become an associate member, you agreed to these terms."
"The HSA has an embassy on the Citadel, we are not yet an associate." she reasoned as she exploited the opening Vaelan had just given her. "We have not yet signed the Treaty of Farixen, a treaty every race wishing to join as an associate has to agree to. The final ruling on this subject is still on hold for three years."
As Goyle did her best not to smirk, the realization of the salarian's mistake also became evident on Tevos's face. Ioventus on the other hand remained stoic. Given the fact that human and turian diplomats had discussed this matter before the council had summoned the ambassador, she was certain that a part of him was nearly as happy about his colleague's mistake as she was.
"I believe this means that our anti-terrorism operations can continue?" Goyle stated, only sounding the slightest bit of smug.
"This meeting of the council is adjourned. Should we require you again, we will summon you," Tevos nodded, answering Goyle's question without having to admit that she was right. "Vaelan, a word please."
As Goyle left the chamber she felt somewhat sorry for the councilor. Already an old man by salarian standards he seemed to have lost his edge for just a few seconds, causing a mistake that could jeopardize the authority of the Citadel Council for years to come. Somehow she already knew that the next time she walked into the Council Chambers, another salarian would greet her.
18. December 2387 AD, Arcturus Station
"In other news, the salarian representative of the Citadel Council, Councilor Vaelan, has resigned from his position after eighteen years of serving as his race's member of the committee. In his valediction the salarian politican spoke about wanting to spent the eve of his life in a less stressful environment, dedicating time to his grandchildren and private study. However credible sources suggest that Vaelan had recently fallen into the disfavor of the dalatrasses after a private meeting on Sur'Kesh, leading to him being ordered to resign," the voice explained as the salarian was seen walking away from a crowd applauding his final speech. "This has been Christina Kingsley for Alliance News Network."
"Garbage," Alec pressed a button on the remote and the screen turned black. He didn't have to watch this. "He pissed of that bitch Tevos."
"Alec, language!" it sounded from the other room of the apartment he shared with his fiancee. "She can hear you, you know? Set an example."
"Sorry, Hannah," he called back.
Things were good for now.
He just knew that it wouldn't stay like that.
Codex: Human Systems Alliance Army Colonial Watches
Due to an article of the HSA's constitution not allowing armed militias on colonial worlds, the HSA Army began deploying its combat units in garrison duties early on.
During the early days of the first human-turian joint exercise, turian field commanders were impressed by the accuracy, discipline and tenacity displayed by these units, having expected humanity to follow the example of most other races which usually relied on volunteer militias or planetary defense forces with subpar training to defend their worlds. Given the responsibility to defend colonial shelters to the last bullet, the last man and the last breath, Colonial Watch assignments are seen as anything but a deadbeat assignment, having turned into one of the most dangerous duties within the army following the Fringe Wars. Dealing with anything ranging from uprisings and anti-terror operations to pirate raids and full-scale invasions, Colonial Watches are expected to stay true to their overarching order to 'hold until relieved', meaning that their commanders are expected not to surrender, even in face of certain death.
It should be pointed out that Colonial Watch forces are among the most heavily monitored units within the HSA military ever since the Fringe Wars saw entire battalionsor even regiments turn on their comrades as a result of unchecked IFS sympathies among their ranks.
A/N: So, next chapter. Bit more politics this time. I know I've spent a lot of time in 2387 compared to other years but I needed to set up a form of political intrigue. I hope I didn't fail miserable at it, I'm not exactly good at all of this political betrayal jazz. Hope you still enjoyed it.
Anyway, 134 follows, 98 favs... going strong guys although I'd really like even more reviews! Keep em coming people, let me know what you think! I love to read your opinions!
See you around next time.
Edit: As of 30.7.17 Chapter 6 has been remastered
I cut two smaller, basically unimportant scenes that disrupted the flow of the chapter and fixed some odd instances of phrasings that made it seem like Harper was in charge of both Cerberus and Section 13.
Also fixed the codex because god damn I shouldn't have written that one that late, loads of contradicting shit in it. How come none of you jokers ever pointed that out?
