Chapter 7. Opportunism
3. February 2388 AD, Mindoir, Killigan's Point
The light of Mindoir's yellow summer sun was starting to dim as the planet slowly turned away from its star. As with most worlds in the Fringe, the region of space called 'Attican Traverse' by the rest of the galaxy, the streets were deserted. The world had been subjected to a curfew following its participation in the Fringe Wars. The street lights started to turn as they illuminated the paths between a blend of typical colonial prefab buildings and more sophisticated, traditional homes, a mixture typical for worlds that had been settled for a few decades already. The only figures still moving around were either rushing to get home or part of Mindoir's Colonial Watch, who in spite of the status of martial law having been lifted a year ago were still expected to show presence in the colony, at least until the curfew would be ended later this year. The small patrol of five soldiers walked through the narrow street connecting a community center still under construction with a living unit that was soon going to be replaced by a bigger, permanent home and chatted idly. Nothing ever happened on this smaller world of the Fringe besides an angry threat letter or someone throwing a rock into the general direction of a patrol before booking it. Compared to worlds like Shanxi or Elysium, on which riots and firefights were still common place when the yearly Unification Day rolled around, Mindoir was a relaxed assignment. No signs of IFS activity, no violent attacks on HSA soldiers or property and no general resentment in the majority of the population for losing the war. The last serious incident that had occurred on Mindoir happened a year ago when a group of masked criminals had thrown an improvised incendiary device on an armored personal carrier of the Colonial Watch, causing mostly superficial damage to it before fleeing from a very angry crewman.
Ever since then, things had been quiet. For that reason Corporal Ivanov didn't expect to ever see the message which had just appeared in his field of vision. 'Troops in Contact' it flashed on his HUD and once he realised that his squad was looking to him for guidance, he was certain that his gear wasn't malfunctioning. This was actually happening, the moment they had trained for was here. Somewhere in their vicinity armed separatists were going up against an HSA patrol.
"All forces in the area, be advised, insurgents are attacking the local administration complex, reinforce the area immediately. Mindoir Command out," a voice from HQ ordered, causing the corporal to start moving his feet, slow at first but increasingly faster as the faintest echoes of gunfire echoed through the streets of the rural town.
"You heard the man, move it people. Double time," he shouted behind him as he realised that his squad hadn't reacted yet. Shortly after he gave the order, an explosion rocked his part of town and multiple detonations became audible in the distance, smoke rising to cloud the orange evening sky above the forests surrounding the town.
"All patrols be advised, multiple attacks occurring around Killigan's Point. Prepare to be diverted," HQ informed him as he took a turn around a corner, very nearly running into a confused looking drunkard.
"What are you waiting for, get inside," the corporal snarled as he tossed the man towards the closets door he could see, the short break allowing his squad to catch up to him.
His platoon had been split up to patrol a silent part of the town, to reassure the people that the HSA was still there and to place doubt in anyone that questioned their strength. As his Lieutenant gave the order to rally back to his position and wait for further orders as a unit, he used his left arm to signal the squad to come to a halt until he had figured out just where that position was. After a quick look at the map inside his HUD, the team started to jog towards the designated area, the sirens of first responders came to live in the distance, which was ironically a good sign considering that first responders would only supposed to move into an area once hostiles had been removed from it. The five soldiers were starting to close in on the position as they moved through a narrow alley way until gun fire erupted further ahead, causing them to come to a halt. Corporal Ivanov slowly crept alongside the wall of one of the two buildings the alleyway divided until he could peak around its corner to assess the situation. On the one side people were creating a noise very familiar to Ivanov, the sound of several SR-7s being fired tearing through the air from inside the several story building which was supposed to bring the people Killigan's Point together, red muzzle flashes appearing in the windows when a rifle began to fire and tracers jumping towards the enemy position across the street.
The other side however wasn't firing with older models or stolen SR-7. Their weapons sounded and looked different. There was no sound of combustion, no red muzzle flashes from their rifles. Instead small blue dots lit up as the corporal slid into cover behind a parked vehicle, waving his squad towards him as the fight for the community center, their rally point, raged on around him. His four comrades took positions around him and he peaked around the front of the colonial vehicle again, finding the situation nearly identical to before. From within the center his HUD pinged friendlies and the sight of several light machine guns firing from the windows confirmed that. The tracers of the group were jumping off the edge of a living unit across the plaza and Ivanov took aim as a figure rose on its roof, blue flashes appearing from something in its hand. His round smashed into the target but for some reason the figure didn't immediately drop dead as the rounds connected with its chest. Instead it dropped back down to cover as Ivanov himself mirrored the move. Instantly regretting to go for a precise shot instead of a precise burst he stared at the woman next to him with a confused expression below his visor.
"What the hell was that?" he questioned as the designated marksman of his unit shrugged after her DMR-7 had failed to kill its target on the roof of yet another living prefab, small pieces of metal shaved off of the vehicle's roof flying over their heads as their foes decided to retaliate.
"They got kinetic barriers," she offered, "at least I think so," she added quickly.
"Now that's just great," he stated as he shuffled along the car to switch his position in an attempt to avoid being hit. Now sitting at the back of the vehicle he once more trained his rifle on the roof, his designated marksman on her shoulder while nodding into the general direction they had previously been shot at from. She understood his intention as she too turned her attention towards the edge, waiting for their foe o appear. When a figure once more rose up to fire at the community center, both of them began shooting, first his SR-7 overwhelmed the barriers and then a DMR-7 bullet dropped the target, a spray of blood shooting out of the insurgent as he tumbled over the edge he had used as cover and fell off the roof, landing on the street below with a presumably nasty but inaudible crunch.
Another appeared from within the building and started to drag his comrade into cover when a burst of orange light penetrated the shadowy corner. Below a rather advanced set of armor, the figure was dressed like a normal civilian and while strange already, another detail caught Ivanov's attention, a detail he didn't believe to ever see on Mindoir again. On his left arm he wore a red band with a white heptagon stitched onto it. He was about to shoot the insurgent when he turned his head towards him, his hand reaching for something on his hip as he grabbed dragging his fallen comrade to safety. Before Ivanov could perfectly steady his aim, pistol fire began to pour down on his position, originating from the man that had caught his attention.
"Fucking Iffys," he cursed as he returned fire, the barriers of the figure flaring up as his rounds hit them. "Those are fucking Iffys!" he shouted at his team as one of its member dropped to the ground when a round graced his helmet. As the man didn't get up, a glance at his HUD informed the corporal that his vitals were still present. If they survived this, the guy would wake up with the worst headache of his life. The gunfire from the community building started to build up as more fire teams arrived from positions more favourable than theirs and in turn the fire of the insurgents started to die down once they began to withdrew in orderly fashion, something Ivanov halfway expected them to do, Iffys were a lot of things, sadly experienced was one of them. He distinctively heard the sound of cars driving off as the group they had engaged most likely took a page out the IFS strategy on Elysium, blending into the civilian populace after hiding their gear or vanishing in the unclaimed wild of the colony to hide from the eyes of the HSA.
4. February 2388 AD, Arcturus Station
The projection of the white heptagon on a red flag illuminated the room as no one dared to speak up while Noé stared at it. He pressed a button and the next image displayed the combat helmet of the HSA Army with a human skull on it. A small text below it reinforced the idea.
"'Humanity's future under the HSA'," he read,"where the hell do they get the resources to put these up all across our colonies? Do they own a printing company or what?" Noé stated aggravated. "And someone care to tell me how hundreds of mass accelerators were smuggled on our worlds?" he questioned. "Eclipse or Blood Pack?"
"Most likely," the HSAIS representative said. "Current evidence suggests that smaller drop pods were disguised among meteor impacts common in the wildlands of these colony worlds."
The projection shifted to display the theory, small metal boxes, their insides shielded by kinetic barriers and mass effect technology, hidden within meteor-like constructs impacting on the surface of Mindoir, Elysium, Shanxi and other worlds with known to still harbour sympathies for the separatist movement.
"This was a message, not an actual military operation," the HSAIS director stated. "They had the moment of surprise and the resources yet they didn't even kill a hundred people. They just blew up empty buildings and engaged in small fire fights with local forces." he explained.
"They want to let the people know that they are still around and that their message is all the more relevant now," Noé completed with a sigh before running a hand through his dark hair. "They are going to use the Eclipse and Blood Pack attacks to go back to how things were before the Fringe Wars. Reclaim their image as the righteous defenders of the common Fringe colonist."
"And if the riots on Shanxi are anything to go by, they are doing one hell of a job," the director added as a projection displayed a large crowd facing HSA soldiers in riot gear. Red flags with heptagons danced in the wind as chants to topple the 'Oppressive HSA Regime' echoed through the streets of Elysium's capital New Illyria. When a protestors threw a brick into the military formation, an Hammerhead APC modified for crowd control started to spray water into their ranks to break up the violent protestors. Soon after both the crowd and the formation clashed and a brawl ensued which ended with mass arrests and injuries on both sides.
"They want us to fight among ourselves to take away pressure from their Terminus operations," Admiral Jun guessed. It made sense considering that HSA forces had been destroying smaller outposts and hunting down Eclipse cells and Blood Pack gangs ever since their attacks on three human colonies in late 2387. The mercenary outfits had been forced to fight an asymmetrical war with the HSA as its naval supremacy and the effectiveness of carrier tactics proofed to much too handle for the naval forces of the organizations.
"I had one war among humans in my time as chancellor. I won't allow another," Noé said as he got up from his chair, the blue light of the projector in the middle of the room engulfing him as he walked towards it. "I want Eclipse out of the picture as fast as possible. When they are done for, I want the Blood Pack wiped out to the last vorcha crook in the slums of Omega. I will not allow another civil war and I will not allow it to be caused by two glorified crime syndicates."
The room stayed silent as Noé's word intimidated everyone in it until a set of blue, artificial eyes looked at him from the dark corner of the room.
"Neither will I."
2130 CE, Citadel, Office of Councilor Tevos
"That will be all Agent Vuzak," the new salarian councilor said as he closed the line, dismissing the other salarian that had previously worked for Vaelan.
"It would seem that the plan I and your predecessor designed worked, Councilor Idril." Tevos said to the salarian as his red hand pulled down his hood.
"That it did. STG reports that humanity seems to blame the recent support of insurgent cells on Eclipse," Councilor Idril, who had been appointed to succeed the disgraced Vaelan, agreed. "It would seem that there was a use for the ancient weapons and barriers my predecessor originally intended to sell these upstarts after all," the salarian reasoned.
"Now that the HSA is fighting a war with the Terminus and stand on the verge of civil war, the Turian Hierarchy should reconsider its image of humanity." Tevos agreed, satisfied to finally be working with a competent salarian.
"If you don't mind me asking, besides getting the turians back into line, what's in it for the Asari Republics?" the red coloured salarian questioned his new colleague. "I believe I've earned some insight for going along with this."
"Indeed and you will have it in due time, Idril. But until then, I'd rather ask you to have a little faith in the asari. Everything will be revealed in due time, my friend," Tevos said with her famous mediator tone, hoping to sway the new councilor further into her direction.
The salarian seemed to consider the situation for a moment but chose not to push the purple figure across of him for an answer she wasn't ready to give just yet.
"You shall have it," Idril answered before he simply walked out of the door, leaving Tevos alone in her office. She suspected however that the moment he was out of sight he'd order STG to trail Tevos's every move until he was let in on the whole picture. Politics on the Council had always been a two sided sword, peace and unity on the one side and deception and mistrust on the other. She had played this game far longer than either of her colleagues and if her future plans would be as successful as this one, she'd be playing it for even longer.
The matriarch sat down in her chair, throwing a glimpse at the work still waiting for her on her terminal and decided to dive into it. After all, her next visitor wasn't due for another hour.
14. March 2388 AD, Tarith, Blood Pack Mining Base
The 40mm cannon of his Paladin ripped apart another vorcha and he shifted his attention towards a krogan that had just charged into a fire team of marines. With a precise shot a single armor piercing slug decapitated the creature and Outlaw 1-4, or as people usually called him Warrant Officer Takahashi, twisted the upper body of his Paladin to face the main entrance to the prefabricated mining building. The two story processing unit normally would've helped the Blood Pack generate credits for their drug trade,but now it only served them as shelter as the Paladins of the 91st Mechanized Support Company laid waste to it. The whole company, five platoons of four Paladins each, had been attached to the 3rd HSAMC Expeditionary Force as they crusaded through the Terminus Systems, attacking and destroying enemy strongholds as they encountered them. Tarith was one of the major Blood Pack mining hubs, supplying rare earths and chemicals for the crime syndicate, in spite of the chlorine that covered the world and as such had been named a priority target for the formation. After a rather short lived space engagement, His platoon, Outlaw, had made Planetfall from the HSASV Hannibal Barca with some 400 marines two hours ago and ever since had closed in on the main processing unit of the mining base, located west of the actual mining shaft.
Fighting the Blood Pack was a task that usually required Paladin support due to the average krogan member of the Blood Pack not only being tougher than most other foes but also wearing armor able to shrug of a full magazine of SR-7 rounds. This meant that the heavier, more impactful weapons of the Paladins had been a blessing for the smaller marines as they dealt with the much more agile and numerous but not nearly as armored vorcha. The battalion sized human force had suffered twelve KIAs and 22 wounded since the attack, most of which happened when a biotic krogan charged into a platoon and smashed a hammer into the ground. The weapon had generated a mass effect field and in one blast wiped out the majority of people standing around it, making the ones not as close to it easy prey for the battlemaster. The krogan had only been stopped when he had tried to lift the very Paladin he was currently sitting in with his biotics only for it to stomp him into the ground and reduce him to an orange stain on the rock. Takahashi didn't look forward to cleaning that mess up as soon as they were done here but it had been the better alternative.
Further ahead four vorcha rose from their cover as instructed by their krogan superior and opened fire on Takahashi with their rocket launchers and mass accelerators. The rounds impacted on his shield but Takahashi simply fired a fragmentation round from the mortar attached to the back of his mechanized assault platform and the group was torn apart before they could do any real damage, much of which was owned to the horrible accuracy of their custom weapons but also to the superior protection the Paladin enjoyed. Spotting more vorcha moving through the fog and realising that there were no more krogan in the area, he decided to exchange the armor-piercing ammunition currently loaded into his cannon in favour of high-explosive-incendiary rounds, a type of projectile that was far more effective against swarms of vorcha. The 40mm rounds began to impact near the group he was targeting and unleashed their destructive potential upon impact, either burning or simply erasing the unfortunate mercenaries they hit.
"All Outlaw call signs, divert towards the mining shaft. Hostile elements are coming out of the tunnels," the ground commander ordered and four Paladins started to leave the fight in front of the processing unit to commit their weaponry to the attack, providing support as long as they could before leaving the rest of the fight to the infantry.
Takahashi moved his Paladin through the forest street situated between the processing unit and the mining shaft and his HUD was started to outline allied infantry further ahead, making them visible in the otherwise thick green chlorine fog that covered Tarith's surface. They were already engaging the enemies streaming out of the building leading to the circular hole in the ground. The mercenaries had most likely decided to forgo their duty of guarding the poor souls condemned to working for the Blood Pack's profit in order to join the fight on the surface which was quickly tipping into human favour as more forces were deployed from the Hannibal Barca. His Paladin finally caught sight of a worthy target, a krogan currently firing a heavy machine gun into the position of a fire team, and lifted his 40mm rifle, its cross hairs coming to a stop on the reptile's head. The projectile left the weapon and even before the ejected shell touched the ground the upper body of the mercenary exploded as the force of the round connected with his head, burning pieces of armor, bone and flesh flying into all directions upon its detonation. As he witnessed the mess, the pilot realised that he had in fact forgotten to once more load his weapon with the less violent armor-piercing rounds and did so after a moment of admiring the result of his mistake. Takahashi moved his Paladin closer to the entrance and fired another round at a krogan who had just shot a marine with his oversized shotgun. The weapon not only had sent the human flying backwards but if the bloody trail leading from his former position to his now unmoving body was any indication had also killed him. His murdered was faced with quick justice as the 40mm round tore him into two pieces, his upper body flying upwards as the remainder of his lower half fell over, an orange pool forming around it.
"Outlaw-Lead, why don't we just collapse the shaft and burry them alive?" Takahashi suggested as he exchanged the ammo drum of his weapon with one once more loaded with explosive ammunition, attaching the mostly filled cannister to the left side of his Paladin for now. He trained the 40mm gun on the entrance as he waited for a reply, the mechanical finger of his Paladin already brushing against his trigger.
"Outlaw 1-4, civilians could still in the mining shaft," the other Paladin pilot replied, "don't compromise its structural integrity, our forces are moving inside."
Takahashi sighted and shifted his aim towards a group of mercenaries instead, tearing them apart with two shots, fire and shrapnel doing exactly what they were designed to do, kill. As he took care of another group of vorcha, his HUD informed him that marines were now entering the tunnel network to clear out any remaining enemies within them. After a moment of feeling sorry for any grunt that would have to engage a vorcha or krogan at that range, he returned to his assignment, spotting a small truck most certainly filled with Blood Pack forces heading his way.
"No you don't," he chuckled before the recoil of his mortar shook through the Paladin.
In the Mining base
Sergeant Lewis dropped his rifle as they entered the empty room within the tunnel network. The rest of his squad shuffled into the small area behind him and he immediately noticed the locked door in the left corner of the room. The room itself looked like it had served as an improvised barrack for krogan troops, at least the size of the beds and the abandoned armor in the corner suggested as much but whoever was supposed to live here had either fled the scene or died outside.
"Martinez, get the door," he ordered as the engineer slung his SR-7 to his back and walked towards the control panel next to the door. He removed the protective case over its curcuits and began to work, sparks flying through the air as he hotwired the locking mechanism.
Fighting in the mining building had been rather tough on the marines since the close quarters favoured the krogan and vorchas' preference for submachine guns and shotguns. They had already taken some casualties but at least the chlorine fog wasn't present on the inside, which meant that any suit breach a marine suffered in the tunnels wouldn't be made worse by the toxic gas. Looking towards the engineer, he noticed his progress and gave a single hand sign to the rest of his men. Theunit placed themselves to breach into the next room as gun shots once more came to life deeper in the tunnel, the rest of their platoon moving on to kill any remaining vorcha or krogan. Unlike salarians or asari, it wasn't deemed necessary to offer them a chance of surrender anymore since both races always fought to the last and the Blood Pack itself had indoctrinated them to die before surrendering themselves to a foe. A trait common in krogan and vorcha society. In addition to that, past attempts of accepting Blood Pack surrenders had lead to unnecessary casualties as neither society had problems with fightign dirty.
"Got it," the engineer stated as he hotwired the lock of the door, the red hologram in front of its white metal turning green as the mechanism holding it closed was overwritten. The engineer pressed another button on the control panel and the door started to move to the side at a slower than usual speed. His unit entered the room fast yet still precise and any officer would've been proud of the execution. Every corner was covered, the point man immediately cleared the fatal funnel and the remaining marines followed him instantly, ready to fight. However no resistance was encountered. Instead the team leader now stood on a platform overlooking a much bigger room filled with various kinds of aliens locked into grossly overcrowded cells. The inhabitants of the cell next to the door all flinched away from the people who had just appeared above, probably fearing what they'd do now.
"Tell me this isn't what I think it is," the marine next to him said as he lowered his rifle and stared at a cell filled with asari.
Just now the real scale of the hall, or rather modified cave, became evident. Dozens, if not hundreds of people were being held in the makeshift prison, the dead and the sleeping side by side in some cases.
"I get the feeling that this isn't just a mining base," CorporalMartinez stated as he too lowered his rifle in an attempt to seem non threatening.
"Lieutenant Decker. We found some sort of prison," he swallowed before continuing to inform his platoon leader. "We're gonna need a lot of corpsmen down here. Over."
"I'm on my way to your position," the man on the other line stated. "I'll be there in two mikes. Over."
"Hurry up, Sir," the sergeant replied. "You gotta see this."
"Lieutenant Decker," another squad leader radioed in over the platoon intercom just as the officer arrived at Lewis' find. "We've found another prison," a pause, Lewis could guess why. "God there's hundreds of them down here."
Then his HUD lit up with similar reports from the processing building and the main barracks located a couple of kilometers away from the mining base.
"We're gonna need a whole lot more than just corpsmen, Sergeant Lewism" Martinez said as he removed his helmet and leaned on the railing of the platform. "Holy shit."
Three hours later, Orbit around Tarith, HSASV Hannibal Barca
"The support vessels are reporting that they'll arrive in twenty minutes, they just need one more relay jump. They are coming straight from CBG Benjamin Davis," the communications officer informed Captain Patil.
The Hannibal Barca and her escorts had been sent to Tarith to disrupt the Blood Pack mining operation on its surface, which had been a success. They had destroyed several frigates and a dozen corvettes without sustaining as much as a hull breach, the debris of that battle still floating around in front of their fleet, before launching a very effective ground assault against a sizeable force of mercenaries. In spite of the hostile terrain and the number of enemies facing them, they had suffered little casualties and made swift progress. All signs had pointed towards a textbook operation.
Then they had to deal with a humanitarian crisis, something the warfleet wasn't equipped for. As findings across the installation on Tarith had confirmed, the mining base was just a cover up for a much larger trafficking operation of the Blood Pack. Intelligence gathered by experts on the surface had confirmed that the mining operation was just a front for the Blood Pack to sell captured colonists from independent colonies within the Terminus Systems to buyers all across the galaxy. While it wasn't a secret that the group took part in the slave trade, the ingenuity with which they did so had surprised the captain. She hadn't expected the Blood Pack to be smart enough to utilize Tarith's naturally occurring toxic fog to its advantage.
"So just how many prisoners did we liberate?" the indian captain of the Hannibal Barca asked.
"We've counted 2161 individual captives up to now, however scans suggest that there are more holding areas across the surface," the officer in charge of this particular aspect informed her.
"Have the scans indicated activity anywhere else on Tarith?" Captain Patil questioned her staff.
"Negative, the Blood Pack files confirm it as well. Nothing down there besides chlorine fog and the mining base."
From a pragmatic point of view it made sense to keep their prisoners on Tarith. Without hazmat gear any prisoner would succumb to the chlorine produced by the plants of the swamp world should they decide to make a run for it. The Blood Pack however could safely travel across the planets surface due to either being resistant to the toxic fog like the krogan or, in the vorcha's case, having adapted to it.
"Any remaining resistance on the ground?" Captain Patil asked as she walked across the bridge of the assault carrier.
"Negative, the last pocket around the barracks was annihilated by the 91st MSC a couple of minutes ago."
"Alright. Once the support vessels make it here I want provisional landing zones established around the mining base, processing unit and main barracks. Transporting them off Tarith is going to be a pain in the ass but we're still going to do it." Captain Palit looked out of the window of the bridge as Kodiaks flew past it on their way towards the surface, their green hulls growing smaller until they vanished in the distance.
This was going to be a long day.
2. April 2388 AD, Illium, Nos Astra
The hot, humid air of Illium's spring morning was a nice change to the dry, climatically controlled living quarters of Cronos Station he had spent the last few months in. He took another sip of the hot asari beverage which was a bit too sweet for his own taste and sat down the weird looking tube used for drinks all over Council space before looking at his wrist watch. The digital numbers informed him that the person he was supposed to meet here was, as he had expected, taking his time, most likely in an attempt to make him nervous. Playing the role of a Hahne-Kedar representative secretly aligned with the IFS meant he actually had to seem somewhat nervous so he wouldn't cause any suspicion so the man put up his best jumpy businessman impression. Specialist Redford's orders were simple, meet up with the salarian Eclipse captain responsible for the attack on Ferris Fields under the guise of being interested in hiring Eclipse to smuggle mass accelerator weapons to a human colony. Not only would this serve as a way to confirm Eclipse's involvement with the recent uprisings in the Fringe but it would also give him the opportunity to cross off the name 'Naemon Mahe' of the HSA's most wanted list. A nice package deal really.
He already heard the steps of four armored figures walking up behind him before the salarian even announced their presence, however playing his role meant he couldn't actually turn around just yet. After all a normal businessman wouldn't have the honed senses and instincts Redford possessed after a decade of working for Section 13.
"Mr. Bradford?" the high pitched voice of the salarian questioned.
Faking surprise he turned around and got up. "Yes that's me," he said placing the right amount of anxiety in his voice. "You are Captain Mahe?"
"Indeed I am. There is no need to be alarmed, given the current situation Eclipse is in, I am certain you understand why I brought guards." the salarian said as the three other figures, if their horned helmets were any indication also salarians, started to spread out around the offside platform. "Now we'll have to search you for our own safety. I'm sure you understand?"
"Of course I understand, please go ahead," the specialist agreed and soon after one of the guards ran a metal detection scan on him just like he had expected it would happen. However the scan failed to detect what weaponry Redford was actually carrying due to its non-metallic nature. Classic mistake.
"He's clear, Sir," the salarian 'confirmed' what he wanted them to think.
"Alright, then straight to business. I've been informed you're interested in hiring Eclipse for an assignment, yes?"
"Yes, I'd like to buy the service of your company," Redford said as he began to work on his strategy. The first merc was carrying a salarian made pistol, easily accessible for Redford. He'd stab the small ceramic blade he had hidden in his sleve into the neck of the amphibian, grab the pistol and shoot merc number two. This salarian looked somewhat bigger than the others but had his back turned towards the group since he was watching the entrance to the platform which meant that he'd be the slowest to react due to having to turn around. The third merc was easy prey for Redford as well. He was standing close to the edge of the platform, looking at the skycars flying by. A simple push would take care of him due to the fact that salarians, at least as far as Redford was aware, were unable to fly. He didn't blame them for only keeping two pairs of eyes on him, after all he was rather confident in the fact that he was playing his role perfectly but it would still cost them. Finally he got to his main target,Captain Mahe. Redford would spill the beverage in front of him into the big eyes of the salarian and blind him before executing the rest of his plan. Once he was done with his escort, he'd throw him off the ridge. The fall would leave little to no evidence and have the advantage of removing the disgusting person in front of him for good.
But for now Redford had to play along.
"Are you aware that certain groups within the HSA are not content with living under their rules?" he questioned.
"So I've heard Mr. Bradford," the captain replied.
"And as you've mentioned, Eclipse is having quite the problem with the HSA at the moment."
"That is true as well," the salarian confirmed. "I suspect you are part of such a group?"
"Yes," he confirmed. "Which is why I'd like for your company to smuggle weapons on a human colony world and enable a large scale attack against the government there," Redford went. "You may have heard of similar attacks that have happened in the last few weeks and I'd like to keep the spark going. It's time for change, change as far as I've heard Eclipse has already enabled on a few worlds by themselves."
"Then you've heard wrong, Mr. Bradford." the salarian sighed. "I'm sorry to inform you but Eclipse won't take your contract. We can't risk our space assets like that," he explained as he brought up his omni-tool. "Get into contact with our administration and we'll grant you a refund. It's corporate policy," the captain explained.
This caught Redford offguard. Eclipse had been confirmed to be involved in the uprisings as a supplier. Everything matched up. There were even recordings of salarian Eclipse mercs showing Iffys how to handle their new toys.
Unless...
The gears started to turn in Redford's head and he stopped them immediately. For now he had taken care of his actual assignment, not speculate on a galactic conspiracy.
As Mahe was about to get up Redford smashed the bottle into his face and the hot liquid burned his large eyes, pieces of glass getting stuck in them as well. The specialist didn't waste any time as the other mercs began to turn around after hearing the sound of glass breaking. He got up and twisted his upper body, jamming the hidden ceramic blade into the neck of the pistol carrying salarian behind him in a fluid motion. With a nearly superhuman speed he ripped it out in a spray of green blood, his one hand reaching around the dying salarian's neck and his other grabbing his pistol before he fired several rounds into the merc further to his left who had previously guarded the door. The alien dropped to the ground as rounds tore through his face all the while the specialist used his deceased ally as a shield against the fire of the salarian leaning on the railing. He fired off the last rounds in the pistol before the gun overheated and threw it into the face of the last uninjured salarian. Stunned by the simple move, Redford managed to close the gap between and with a single push the merc went on his way to the kilometer long drop to the surface of Nos Astra.
He walked back to the now green stained table Captain Mahe was still lying on and grabbed a hold of the salarian who grunted in response. Redford dragged the injured criminal to the railing and lifted him over it just far enough so he'd be able feel the drop ahead of him.
"If it wasn't Eclipse, who armed the Iffys?" he said as he shook the salarian and jammed the blade into his shoulder, an act that further stained the suit he was wearing with acid-green blood.
"Even if I'd know, I wouldn't tell you," Redford twisted the blade in an attempt to gain another answer but only received a painful snarl. "Go to whatever hell you believe in, human."
"See you there, until then, have a nice flight, buddy," Redford withdrew the blade and let go of the salarian causing another green stain on Nos Astra's surface to go into the making.
He disappeared from the scene of the massacre without ever being questioned about the green blood stains on his suit. Apparently it was true that no one on Illium cared about things like that as long as they weren't harmed by it directly. When the first sirens finally echoed through the plaza, he was long gone.
2130 CE, Palaven, Base Camp of the 22nd Palavani Legion
"Cabal Arterius!" the flanging voice of Kabalim Vitallion shouted. "You've been practicing without my permission? First the physical test and now this. Did you desert from Blackwatch just to join our little group here?"
"No, Kabalim Vitallion!" Saren replied in a sharp tone as both looked at the perfect accuracy test that had just taken place on the firing range of the camp. As it was common practice, every turian soldier had to proof that they were accurate with their Phaeston rifle every 10 standard months. Now it was the turn for Saren's cabal squad to display their accuracy. Usually soldiers scored around 60 percent of the points on the test with cabals being expected to score over 75.
"That was impressive shooting. Looks like those exercises really paid off for you," the Kabalim stated as Saren kept staring at the perfect 100 percent and new record time for said score being displayed next to the target he had just fired at. "Get back to the group, cabal," his NCO finally ordered.
"Next!" his commander shouted as Saren flicked on the safety of his Phaeston and went back to the rest of his unit, once more sitting down next to Kandros.
"By the spirits Saren," the older turian chuckled. "Stop making me look so bad."
"It's not my fault that you're an old man Bassilo," Saren replied as he rested his Phaeston between his legs.
"I don't think I've ever seen anyone go through these tests without looking a bit winded. You're not even a little bit exhausted?"
"No, in fact I feel like I could run the physical all over again and do even better than before," Saren replied, in his mind equally confused at not feeling the strain of the physical test which had included a forced march notorious for taking out a lot of energy from even the best soldiers. Saren had completed it in record time, effectively beating the record of the 22nd Palavani Legion by over ten standard minutes. Said record had been set by a soldier over forty years ago, a soldier who had later been accepted into the Blackwatch. While the humorous arrogance he had just displayed towards his comrades would probably hide his own surprise, he was more than curious just what sat him apart from the others.
"The Kabalim is right, you know?" Bassilo said. "You could easily make selection, why not try out? Blackwatch doesn't care if you're biotic."
"I'm happy with what I have here. The squad is great, Kabalim Vitallion is tough but he's dedicated leader and for the first time I feel like I belong somewhere," Saren shrugged. "In my family I was the youngest, in boot camp I was the bareface," he went on as he took in the sight of the noon sun of Palaven dancing across the surface of their trucks. "Here I'm just Cabal Arterius."
Bassilo chose not to push the younger turian any further. He could probably relate after all. Cabals tended to be outcasts in the turian society.
"How is it that you're being embarrassed by a 17 year old kid, Cabal Hepsus?" the voice of Kabalim Vitallion echoed across the firing range as the soldier who had just taken the test had 'only' scored a 82. "Do I need to call Cabal Arterius over here so he can show you how to hold your Phaeston? Next!"
Saren smirked as the cabal walked towards him silently mimicking their superior's speech.
"I think you did great Hepsus. Those bushes had it coming," Saren said as he made room for the other older turian.
"There could've been a batarian behind them so I made sure, but Kabalim Vitallion is still going to make me run until I puke my lunch out after this," Hepsus chuckled as his mandibles. "Unless I'll impress him on the technical test."
"Hepsus you have a hard time rebooting your omni-tool," Bassilo laughed. "Don't get your hopes up."
This comment caused the turian leaning against the tree behind Saren and the two turians next to him to laugh as another candidate finished his test and was screamed at by Vitallion due to not living up to Saren's result.
"Spirits be damned. How did you do it Arterius? How did you actually please Vitallion?" the next cabal questioned as he walked up to the shadow in which the group was sitting to escape the heat of Palaven's sun. The turians might have evolved on this world but that didn't mean that they had to expose themselves to its heat if there was shade available.
"I didn't just please him, I impressed him," Saren said in a jokingly smug tone causing the arriving turian to smirk as well.
"Sent us a message when you're Primarch," he joked. "Maybe a letter for Hepsus so he can actually read it without selling his house while trying to open the message."
Once more laughter sounded across the range and even Hepsus joined in as the good mood infected him. When the last member of the unit had finished the accuracy test they mounted up on their trucks and began the drive back to the base where they'd take the technical competence test with their omni-tools and afterwards complete a biotic power test. Saren wasn't worried about either of these tests and as it turned out he had no reason to be either. The technical test turned out to be a walk in the park for him as he scored another 100 percent without actually trying all too hard to answer the questions or solve the problems presented to him. He had always had an affinity for omni-tools after all.
The biotic test however turned out to be surprising, even more so than the accuracy test. After completing the regular exercises, every cabal was tested for their raw biotic potential and compared to the average score of turian biotics and the power of other species. Turian's usually scored rather low with krogan and asari biotics overshadowing them in comparison and either way, the main purpose of the test was to figure out if they could still endure the strain biotic activity put on their bodies. It wasn't as much of a competition as it was an inspection.
As such when Saren clocked in at almost the same power of an asari maiden in military training, while not impressive by asari standards, his mandibles simply dropped in surprise, a quick shake of his head confirming that he was in fact not dreaming.
"Run it again." the medical officer in charge of the examination said. "This can't be right."
He agreed with that assessment and as such Saren's biotics once more flared to life and pushing himself to his absolute limit. The purple light engulfed him as the Element Zero in his system started to manifest itself and he felt his breath grow faster with each passing second.
"Same readings, Sir," the assistant helping with the test stated as she looked at the screens equally confused.
"By the spirits, are you sure you're turian, Cabal Arterius?"
Saren could offer nothing but a slightly confused 'yes' to the question. He was beyond speechless.
"Glad you're on our side," the assistant said as she removed the device used to collect the readings. "Don't forget to pick up the extra ration on the way out. Don't want you to collapse after that display," she smiled at him.
"I wouldn't mind falling for you though," Saren replied innocently as he got up from the table, remembering a talk he had had with Hepsus some days ago.
The assistant obviously caught the hint and while the medical officer was still distracted with completing the report she decided to take the bait.
"If you're feeling a bit light headed, maybe we should schedule a more in depth, private examination in my quarters."
"Now that you mention it I've been experiencing a certain stiffness in my body recently," Saren smirked before rolling his shoulders. "I'm a bit tensed up from the physical test as things are."
"Oh, we'll have to take care of that, can't have you get injured now, can we?" his omni-tool lit up as it received a new contact.
When he entered the barracks as the last member of his cabal unit, he delivered a report, confirming that Hepsus's idea actually worked in the process. The soldiers, for the most part simply accepting the results of his tests, turned out to be far more interested in the later and the turian who had previously only barely passed his technical competence test simply shrugged from his bed.
"I told you it would work," he said as one of his fingers pointed at the ceiling.
"Yes, but I didn't think it would actually work," the younger turian admitted.
"Spirits, I'd say he read that up on the extranet but we all know how his last venture there turned out," Bassilo threw in. "Speaking of, do you still have those five lawn mowers you bought by accident? I could use one, my old one broke."
"Very funny," the other turian began. "Well, now you know better, Arterius. Sometimes I do know what I'm talking about."
"No, you don't. Like during your technical competence test, you just happend to guess the right answer for once," a third cabal offered, causing Saren to chuckle as he lay down in his own bunk.
Codex: Fringe Wars 2376-2377
The 'Fringe Wars', a series of armed rebellions beginning on several estranged HSA colonies, started when militias trained by the IFS managed to seize several HSA warships, among them four cruisers, awaiting retrofits in the space ports of seven planets within the Fringe. After boarding the space ports with stolen freighters and killing the armed personal onboard, the separatists took control of the vessels and through their own knowledge, VI assistance and captured maintenance personal on site managed to finish the rearmament of the vessels before moving the ships into orbit.
Having secured a naval force for themselves, the separatists began a combined ground and orbital assault against the Colonial Watches of the seven planets, annihilating them with the support of the stolen vessels. Their defeat caused the planets to swear their allegiance to the IFS as the group demonstrated its status as a rival capable of not only inflicting damage to the HSA but also being willing to representjust the Fringe Worlds. The stolen ship vanished into uncharted territory shortly after and the IFS began to fortify their seven worlds, the 'Separatist Seven' included Shanxi, Camelot, Port Bigby, Horizon, Mindoir, Ulysses and Amaterasu.
The revelation that the HSA could be beaten led to massive riots on Elysium, a world unsatisfied with HSA rule for nearly a century. Shortly after the violent disbandment of one such riot, a bloody civil war between the IFS supporters and the HSA Colonial Watch which held orbital supremacy began. The Elysium War, which would wage on until the very end of the Fringe Wars in 2381, turned into one of the bloodiest sites of the conflict as local insurgents withdrew into the civilian population between their raids on HSA assets. The unrivaled brutality of the separatist cells on this world would eventually lead to the IFS declaring them rogue agents, an occurrence unique to Elysium.
In 2377 riots all across the Fringe Worlds were inspired by the tales of the Separatist Seven. Motivated by feeling underrepresented and unprotected by the HSA when compared to the core worlds, thirteen new colonies rebelled within six months after the seeing that even the developed worlds of the Fringe could stand up to their Colonial watches. Due to most of these worlds being recently colonized and mostly uncharted, the separatists were able to hide in the jungles and forests of the planets, forcing the HSA into a bloody guerilla war through the support of the IFS seven central systems.
Unwilling to fully mobilize against its own population, the parliament refused the military's proposal to immediately assault the Separatist Seven, instead ordering to simply contain the threat for now to limit civilian casualties. A decision they'd come to regret as the IFS now had access to the vast industrial complex of the Fringe Worlds, some of which belonged to the company Hahne-Kedar, the single biggest armaments company within human space and, more importantly, sole supplier of the Paladin Mechanized Support Combat Suit. With its to weapons of high qualities secured, the IFS began to create its own military-industrial complex to arm its militias with the very weapons they'd face in combat with the HSA, even beginning the training of its own Paladin units. Furthermore several thousand of engineers were tasked with returning the previously captured space ports to working condition.
The year 2377 ended with 3.3 million deaths as a result of the Fringe Wars, the first election of the IFS senate, the formation of the IFSDF and the continued absence of 27 HSA warships.
A/N: So the first peek at something I've mentioned a lot. The Fringe Wars will be a central theme of this story, in fact they'll be so big I'll have to dedicate several codex entries just for them.
Anyway I'd like to apologize for taking this long to update, I've been finishing up some stuff for school so not much time there now I'm free though but with Christmas coming up I may or may not find time to write.
Let me know what you think of the chapter, which is mostly action I know but I'm more of a action and less of a politics guy anyway and I hope that I succeeded in portraying a younger, more optimistic Saren. Be assured there's a reason for all of this.
See you around next time.
Edit: As of 25.7.17 Chapter 7 has been remastered.
