Chapter 12. Mopping Up
1. June 2388 AD, Hourglass Nebula, Uncharted Planet
The dark grey boot connected with the asari's rip cage, causing her to twitch and cough right until the soldier fired another round into her head, purple blood now colouring his armored foot. They weren't here for prisoners anyway. The fire fight up to here had been easy, Eclipse didn't suspect they even knew this place existed. They had met no major resistance, instead taking the enemy completely by surprise.
Technically they didn't, it had been a turian tip off.
They had dropped in the middle of the night and infiltrated with ease. A couple of guards, not nearly enough to stop the well oiled killing machine a Cerberus strike team was, had been dispatched in swift motion right before they simply rolled over the base like a storm.
He continued his stride across the corpse filled room and kicked another asari, purple skin made slightly more purple by the blood flowing from her mouth. Unlike the last one, she wasn't playing possum.
"Room clear," he called as his squad leader walked in, green stains of blood running down his left arm. He'd hate to see the other guy.
"Budapest, this is Strike-Lead. Location is secured, the turian intel was solid, they were completely unprepared. Over."
"Copy that Strike-Lead, commence intel retrieval. Over."
"Acknowledged Budapest, Strike-Lead over and out."
"I take it the salarian's dead, Holderman?"
"Didn't know anything useful anyway," Thomas replied as he let go of his rifle, the SR-8x now held in place by his combat rigging.
"Stupid lizards."
"I think they are amphibian, actually."
"Couldn't care less, boss." the Cerberus soldier said as he finished hacking into a terminal. "Would you look at that."
"Jackpot?" the leader of the strike team questioned as he started to work on another terminal while other members of his unit repeated the process around the small hideout.
"Damn right. This cell had a direct connection to 'Eclipse 1', also known as one 'Jona Sederis'."
"Budapest, this is Strike-Lead. Jackpot. I say again, Jackpot. We got what we came for. Over," Holderman said, satisfied with the result of this operation.
"Copy that Strike Lead, bag everything. Terminals, data caches, omni-tools. Over and out."
"You heard the man," Holderman called, "Don't forget about the usual hiding spot as well," he added as he tore a data drive from underneath the table, weighting the black box in his hand before placing it in one of his pouches.
"We're coming for you, you bitch," he promised as he tore an omni-tool from the wrist of a dead salarian engineer, green blood drops staining his gloves. "Just you wait."
3. June 2388 AD, Arcturus Station, Central Command
"The intel collected in the raid checks out," an HSAIS agent said as the projector in the room zoomed in on a region in the Terminus Systems. "We got a positive on Jona Sederis."
The blue projector closed in on the Hourglass Nebula."Ploitari Secundus. Uncharted world, right in the middle of Eclipse's favorite smuggling route. Scouts have confirmed that Eclipse has a presence in the system. The intel suggests she'll visit the installation in five days to meet with the head of the operations in the area."
"How certain are we?"
"Ninety percent, Sir. The raid has turned up reliable data as far as our analysts can tell."
"Deployment time?"
"We can have forces in the system in three days."
"I want this forwarded to the Hierarchy, they've got a cabal unit on readiness near the Terminus for this very reason. We're gonna need them to take down Sederis." Noé ordered as an aid of the ministry for alien relations left the room."Admiral Jun, I want the N7 team of the HSASV London on this one. One Lieutenant Anderson is among the people we are considering for Spectre status, give him a trial by fire along side aliens. Makes for good PR."
The admiral began to type away on her tablet as the orders of the commander in chief were set into motion.
"Is there any indication of the strength Eclipse can muster in the system?" the Chancellor questioned.
"The installation appears to be rather big by Eclipse's standards," the agent said as the projector displayed an aerial view of the site. "Going by the number of buildings, our analyst estimate anywhere between 50 and 150 mercenaries, not accounting for whatever escort Sederis brings along. However no space assets."
"Numbers like that push the thought of simply firing a dreadnought cannon at the planet very tempting," the Chancellor said. "Can they handle this, Admiral?"
"Frontal assault, guns blazing? Could be tough. Infiltrating, going around their defenses and waiting for the right moment to strike? Definitely. It's what N7 does, Chancellor Noé." the admiral said. "If you're worried about Eclipse's navy, don't be. We'll let her jump into the system and once our forward scouts have confirmed that whatever escort she brought cleared the relay, we'll blockade it with a fleet. Carrier Battle Group Tesla is in the area anyway. They are itching for a fight and they got the jammers needed to keep the ground side blind."
"Add in the turian support and I assure you we'll see a successful mission," the minister for alien relations said.
"Good. Let's end this one on a high note," The chancellor got up and rested his hands on the table. "Anything else?" he asked into the room but no one spoke up. "Time to make good on our promise then. Dismissed."
4. June 2388 AD, HSASV London, Barracks
"Wake up, you lucky bastard," he heard as someone threw a pillow in his face. He grunted and forced himself to sit up, taking care not to hit his head on the upper bunk again.
"Lieutenant 'Lucky Bastard' for you, Master Chief Abrami."
"The Admiral of the Navy wants to speak to you," the other man replied as he stood in the door way, the light from the London's corridors standing in contrast to the quarters Anderson shared with another junior officer. "If I were you, I'd get up David." he chuckled as he flicked on the light switch, causing Anderson to growl as his eyes were flooded by the change of brightness.
"Thinks his commission gives him the right to be sleepy. Yeah right. Always a bigger fish out there buddy," the NCO muttered to himself as he walked out of the door.
Santino Abrami.
Anderson had taken every single selection step of N7 with him, crawling through ice cold mud at his side during Crucible and standing next to him when both were still Petty Officers during First Contact, providing security for the poor guy selected to talk to aliens in the first formal meeting between the HSA and the Citadel Council. Their paths had only split when Anderson applied for officer training after said meeting, something Santino had considered 'boring', instead making a career as an NCO. However the N7 hadn't hesitated a second when Anderson requested him for his unit after completing the officer training.
He could forgive a little insubordination from the guy. Santino had earned that after dragging him thirteen kilometers to the evacuation point after Anderson had been bitten by some exotic snake-like creature during a two man infiltration exercise in the jungle's of the Fringe. Damn that beast for being smart enough to bite the soft joints and damn nature for giving it such a paralyzing poison.
He pulled on his naval uniform and fixed the collar as he walked out the door, heading for the elevator to get to the briefing room. Anderson pressed the button calling it down and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes while waiting for the doors to open.
Once they did he stepped inside and smashed the button to the second deck immediately.
Admiral Jun was one of the people you really didn't want to keep waiting.
The elevator doors opened up and he marched out the of the door, taking a left turn and walked to the grey door of the briefing room, the light over the door indicating that a transmission was in progress. He pressed the button to open it.
"There he is," the captain of the London said. "I'll leave you to it, ma'am." he said as he saluted the blue projection of the asian woman and turned to greet Anderson who in turn saluted him.
"Admiral, Captain," he said.
"At ease, Lieutenant," the admiral replied as the door closed behind the commanding officer of the HSASV London.
"You asked for me, Admiral?" Anderson said as he crossed his arms behind his back.
"We got a positive on Sederis," she simply explained. "The London is already heading towards the system. You will lead a team, which will work with a cabal unit of the Hierarchy, on the ground. You'll infiltrate the compound, take care of Jona Sederis, designated High Value Target 1, and kill anyone standing in your way."
Anderson was used to an influx of information, so he was not as overwhelmed as a normal person would've been.
"The details are on your personal terminal," the Admiral said. "If any questions come up, don't hesitate to use the communication code embedded in the file designated 'Operation Judgment'."
"Yes, Admiral," he said.
"You're dismissed, Lieutenant," she said and Anderson saluted her just in time before the projection disassembled itself.
That was one of the shortest briefings he had ever experienced.
He left the room while ordering his squad leaders to rally his platoon. This would be an interesting few days.
6. June 2388 AD, Hourglass Nebular, Ploitari Secundus
His feet touched the ground and Anderson began to collapse his parachute as he saw the rest of his unit land on the ground, their slow glide from above coming to an end some twenty kilometers away from their target.
"Anyone injured in the drop?" he asked as his second in command came over to him.
"No," the man that had landed next to him replied. "Clean drop, no one missed the landing zone."
"Good. Our allies?" he questioned.
"Turians touched down in their drop area," Santino said. "Kabalim Zatio and the rest of her unit made it to the ground undiscovered."
"Damn risky for them to just take a shuttle."
"Not every species has fully embraced the concept of airborne infiltration, Lieutenant." the other N7 replied as his onyx armor was illuminated by the light of Ploitari Secundus's two moons. "They'll meet us at the rally point in five hours."
"Our hours or their hours?" Anderson asked half serious, half joking as he extended the stock of his SR-7.
"Our hours, sir."
"Alright. Let's get moving people," he said, this time over the radio in his helmet. "We'll move to the rally point, meet up with the turians, adapt our tactics should the need arise and establish a small camp for the night if it doesn't." he finished his orders and his unit began the long march.
The uncharted world held a certain beauty to it, no light pollution messing with the night sky, no cities occupying the horizon. Only hills and mountain ranges in the distance.
Ploitari Secundus's atmosphere was breathable, the only reason for it not being classified as a garden world being the lack of life. Only hills, rocks and mountains littering it's surface.
The lack of trees reminded Anderson of his desert warfare training, with the small exception that Ploitari Secundus was noticeably colder and deserts had dunes made of sand instead of rocks, mountains and hills. The HUD in his helmet informing him of the 15 degrees below zero and his eyes telling him that the grey ground was no sand.
He set his eyes into the direction of their rally point, a hill inside a valley as far as orbital recon could tell, and scanned his surroundings.
This would be a long walk.
Five Hours Later, Rally Point
Orbital reconnaissance had been right, their camp was inside a valley. If one would call a hill surrounded by noticeably higher one's a valley.
Damn them.
The turians had arrived shortly after Anderson's unit and he was currently face to face with Kabalim Zaito, the grey turian helmet with purple dots on its side staring back at his own onyx one.
"How much rest do your people need Lieutenant?" she asked, the flanging audible even through her helmet.
"We have to cover twenty more kilometers tomorrow but my men are still rather fresh. Six hours, tops," he said. "Are your biotics any more strained, Kabalim?" he asked.
"My cabals only need something between their teeth and a few hours of shut eye Lieutenant. We'll be ready for our mission after that," she replied. "I propose we go with your schedule and start marching during midday, that way we'll advance on our foe with the darkness," she explained.
"Sounds reasonable," Anderson said. "Sederis is scheduled to arrive the day after tomorrow, we'll have a whole day for scouting their installation on the ground although orbital scans have shown much already. Once we begin infiltrating the base, we'll split into three teams. Team 'Judge' will be the majority of my platoon, moving towards Sederis directly, engaging in close quarter combat within the main building. Team 'Jury', which will be the majority of your cabals, will move with you and be the first to infiltrate. You'll be responsible for our biotic support when things go hot, you'll have to fight the majority of mercs outside of the base's headquarters. Finally Team 'Executioner' is going to sweep the rest of the buildings and provide long range security at the same time, being made up of both cabals and N7, they'll kill any lone mercs they come across while securing the perimeter as effectively as possible from a distance. They are our mobile reserve as well."
"If I may suggest that we execute the reconnaissance with mixed units as well, Lieutenant?" the Kabalim said, strangely formal given that they were both the leaders of their representative units, technically equals. "I've studied the field exercises of our ground forces, it seems that turians and humans both excel at a different form of spotting."
Anderson considered it, he too had read the reports but on the other hand his N7 were a well oiled machine, working as one squad instead of five soldiers.
Then again there was always room for compromise.
"We'll split it up, mixed units and regular one's working on the same objective," he replied. "Neither of our units is used to working with the other but they are both professionals. I think keeping some teams together while creating a few mixed one's is the best course of action."
"Yes Lieutenant. I'll inform my cabals," the Kabalim said before offering a turian military salute which caused Anderson to return the human one.
Then she simply stood there until it clicked in his head.
"You're dismissed, Kabalim," he said, causing her to turn around and leave the tent.
Turians really were a strange breed.
He locked the terminal displaying the intelligence they had just discussed to the outside world before placing it in stand by and dropping the device back into his backpack.
Another soldier, Abrami, walked into the quickly set up command tent, his hand lifting the piece of fabric dividing the inside from the colder outside to allow him an easier entry.
"So, mixed teams?"
"What did I tell you on eavesdropping, Santino?"
"Just cutting off a little time from the briefing, LT," the soldier replied as he folded his arms in front of his chest. "The guys are resting now, guards are up."
"Good," Anderson replied. "The squad leaders still up?"
"Yes."
"Rally them, time for that briefing you are looking forward to Abrami."
"Aye aye, Sir."
2130 CE, Ploitari System, Eclipse Cruiser 'Cutter', Bridge
"No noticeable drift, system's clear, our escort made it through as well. Both vessels accounted for," the navigator said as Sederis drummed her fingers on the arm rest of her chair, her thoughts focused more on how she could turn this one around.
At first the humans had merely been annoying, hitting unimportant bases and focusing their effort on the Blood Pack, only bothering Eclipse slightly. Truthfully, she hadn't expected the level of redemption the upstarts had delivered up to now. After all, no one would dare to venture into the Terminus right?
She sighed, cursing her line of thought back then. No one messed with Eclipse, she had to make an example out of them. Massacre a few thousands colonists, show them who was the top-dog in the Terminus.
How wrong she had been. First, the humans were not responsible for the raids which had caused her to act, it had been the now disgraced Councilor Tevos of the Asari Republics making a political play. Secondly she had misjudged just how ruthlessly the HSA would commit to this fight, turning it into an all out war against the mercenary companies that had attacked them.
Scrolling through the latest casualty reports she dully noted the destruction of yet another three hideouts and one cruiser in the last week. Eclipse was slowly melting out of her hands, its navy shattered, its bases burned and its mercenaries dead or captured by the enemy.
Eclipse had prided itself on being the single largest private security company to ever exist in the galaxy, roughly 2.000.000 active combat personal and an equal number of supporting employees and even more black ops personal spread around the galaxy, their agents renown for ruthless efficiency and even the Hierarchy thought twice before provoking them. Disgraced huntresses, black listed STG agents, young, thrill seeking maidens, veterans of salarian ground defense forces, all of them flocked to Jona Sederis' calling, promising money and fame for any who dared to fight for Eclipse.
Now over half of these mercenaries had either routed, she'd have their heads for cowardice, killed or been captured. The supporting personal? Most of them had packed their bags after Eclipse cells started to disappear from the map once the Blood Pack had been reduced to a shadow of its former self.
Of course they too would pay in blood for betraying Jona Sederis, they, their families and everyone they ever held dear. She'd personally rip them apart with a joyful smile on her face.
"We'll soon be in orbit, Ma'am," the green salarian commander of the vessel informed her, now standing next to the chair and handing her a terminal."Ground control is reporting the activation of the relay a few days ago, apparently two quarian vessels traveled through here."
"Anything else?"
"No, Ma'am."
"Then why are you still wasting my time?" she questioned. "Go do something useful before I entertain myself with you. Come back when the shuttle is ready," a murderous grin appearing on her face.
The salarian didn't reply and simply withdrew from the bridge, trying to get as much distance between himself and her.
Ruling through fear was one of the many things she had become very good at running a mercenary outfit, criminals and veterans alike responded to it, her past as a huntress giving her a good foundation to induce said fear.
8. June, 2388 AD, Hourglass Nebular, Ploitari Secundus
"Jackpot," Santino said, the scope of his rifle hovering above the head of their target, of course the shot he currently had would go to waste, his target too well protected and too far away. "Call it in," he said to the turian accompanying him, "Sederis is on the surface."
The last major culprit of the attacks of last year strode away from the yellow marked gunship with her escort, four very menacing looking asari carrying shotguns, and made her way to the outpost's main building, a silver, asari-build colonial housing unit.
The two soldiers were lying under a heat-reflective blanket some 1.5 kilometers away from the edge of the base, last rays of sun light shining from the west and small pieces of rock and grey dirt glowing slightly orange as they were embraced by the dusk, the naturally grey armor of the turian looking not near as dirty as Abrami's onyx black armor, now dotted with lighter spots were the grey dirt had stuck.
"Copy that," the flanging voice replied, pressing a button on the side of his helmet. "Cabal Agitax calling Judge-Lead, over."
"Judge-Lead reading you, over."
"HVT-1 just touched down," the turian said. "We got a confirmed positive, over."
"Copy that Cabal Agitax, I'm relaying the orders to the navy. Operation Judgment is a go. All forces rally to your assigned posts, we'll move in 30 mikes, over," Anderson replied so everyone would hear.
"Time to get going then," Santino said as he slowly crawled backwards until the ridge they had placed themselves on fully covered their form. He got up and began to slide down, his turian companion closely behind him. When they arrived on the lower terrain again, Agitax folded the blanket back into it's tiny form and stached it in his belt.
"Those were Eclipse vanguards," he said. "Did you see the bony asari head on their shoulders? You only get that for over 100 years of service in Eclipse. These guys are the old guard."
"Trouble I take it?" Santino replied as they started to jog towards their position.
"Big time."
"Suggestions?"
"Anti-biotic warfare, wear them down or kill them from beyond their maximum range. They were carrying shotguns and pistols, they'll try to launch themselves at us, just engage from the hills and we're good."
"If we do that, the whole purpose behind our infiltration goes south and we'll have to fight an entrenched enemy."
"Turian cabal unit and human naval special forces platoon? I think we're good."
"I admire your confidence but I'd rather just creep in there and avoid a frontal assault."
"That is another option."
They reached their rally point and Santino spotted his lieutenant already lying prone on the hill, roughly 500 meters from the base. Eclipse had made a tactical error when they had chosen this position, their line of sight in one direction blocked by a large set of hills and rock dunes, perfect for closing the gap and ignoring the no-mans land in the west and north and the climb up the mountain range in the south of the series of prefabs.
"Navy dropped in two minutes ago," Anderson said as Santino dropped down next to him. "They have engaged the cruisers and the jamming gear is working like a charm. The base is still running normal, no alarms, no visible evacuation attempts."
"Nice. The lack of Kabalim Zaito's squad means they are already on their way to the base?"
"Yes, she just sent the word. Jury is now within 40 meters of the base's exposed side, just waiting for our go."
"Let's get crawling then?"
"Follow me, Master Chief Santino," Anderson said as he pushed himself into a sitting position and simply slid down the first hill, Abrami and his assigned unit following him swiftly. They reached the bottom and began to climb up the next hill, repeating the process until they too were well within the reach of the base.
Anderson led the way, his rifle pointing forward as Santino focused his scope on the bored looking asari guard up ahead, seemingly taking a break to smoke some sort of drug, her rifle not even within her reach, seemingly sure of the secure nature of the base.
He saw how Anderson slowly lowered the barrel of his SR-7 and his armored gloves reached for the asari's neck, swiftly dragging her down to the ground before a wet crushing sound followed by a last breath and the complete limbness of her body ensued. He set down the corpse as he brought up his rifle again, this time one hand pointing two fingers to his left, the entry to one of the prefabs. Santino and the man behind him followed the order and placed themselves on the wall next to it, a turian cabal unit creeping around the corner almost at the same moment, linking up with the two N7 operators.
Executioner was staring its work here.
One turian stepped up and brought up his, no her now that he took a closer look, omni-tool. The faint orange glow of the door changing to a green as it slowly opened. Santino stepped inside after the first turian and twisted left, finding only an empty storage area, open crates and dust littering the corner. Moving to his right now, his eyes ever focused on the door up ahead, he placed his hand on the shoulder of the other N7, who began to walk towards the door, Santino following each of his steps.
"All forces in the base be advised, Sederis is walking towards the main building, I'll lose sight of her shortly, Executioner-3 over," their lookout informed them over the encoded frequency, his whisper only audible due to the communication gear stored in the onyx N7 helmet covering the master chief's head.
"Cover the main entrance, once we begin to engage her let no one through, Judge-Lead over and out," Anderson replied, who should according to the plan almost be at the side entrance of said building, the lack of alarms informing Santino that up to now everything was going according to the plan.
Santino released the hand on the N7's shoulder and the man moved up through the door, his SR-7 twisting left and its suppressor pointing at a figure just out of Santino's sight while he crossed the gap towards the next prefab. Next through was a turian, walking past the Master Chief and repeating the N7's series of motion, ready to end whoever was standing there should the need arise. When it was Santino's turn, he finally saw just what they had been aiming at and recalled the conversation he had with the turian, the asari skull clearly visible on the yellow armor of the mercenary.
He kept walking, his sights aligned with the head of the enemy unaware of his presence right until he knelt down at the door of the prefab.
"It will make a sound when opened, prepare to engage," the turian informed him.
"All forces, this is Judge-Lead, we have entered the main building, making our way to Sederis," Anderson said. "They still have no idea we're here, over and out."
"Hold it," Santino said as he received that line. "We can't blow our cover now, cover me, I'll make this quick," he argued as he unsheathed his knife from the sheath on his belt, intending to silence the lone mercenary with its blade. He crept up behind her, his eyes focused on the softer parts covering her neck and forcefully grabbed her head, twisting it to expose the neck area even more. Lighting fast he jabbed down the blade, pushing it into the armor's soft spot, twisting it 180 degrees and ripping forward, resulting purple blood accompanied by a sickening gurgle sound spewing from the wound. He held onto the asari until he felt he get heavier and heavier, slowly walking backwards and leaving a trail of blood as he went to hide her from plain sight.
"I am sure they won't notice that," the other N7 said ironically.
"Better than letting a corpse lie in plain sight," Santino replied, pointing at the door. "Now you can open it."
The turian simply nodded, repeating the process already applied to the first door, once more turning the orange hologram green and entering the building.
Only to be faced with an equally surprised and angry looking salarian.
The bigger cabal began to glow purple just as the salarian went for his gun, a ball of biotic energy smashing the smaller, frailer alien into the wall of the prefab, bones cracking just after a single round had been fired.
But it was no use, the damage had been done.
"All forces, cover blown," Santino said just before several other salarians rushed into the room they had just entered.
N7 Operators, like any other personal considered important enough, had been equipped with the still rare hybrid barrier generator produced by joint turian-human research teams, therefore Santino escaped the deadly hail of bullets they unleashed instantly. His rifle barked as he threw himself sideways, a crate with asari writing his only cover from the sand grain sized rounds beating down on him, he heard the sound of the base alarms going off as gunfire began to dominate the air.
"Judge-Lead, this is Jury," Kabalim Zaito began, "Moving in to support," he faintly could hear the sound of biotic explosions in the background, the cabals already beginning their work.
"Copy that Jury," Anderson replied. "Executioner, get your ass towards the main building. We are fighting our way up, Sederis hunkered down on the top floor. Heavy resistance."
Santino reached for a grenade on his belt and looked at the other N7, the operator repeating the motion of his comrade.
"Give us barrier support," he called over the squad intercom, the cabal nodding and the strange feeling of mass effect fields engulfing him followed.
The duo rose in almost perfect unity, throwing the grenades, one flash bang, another a fragmentation explosive, at the salarian fire team. The mercenaries, seemingly too caught up in the fire and maneuver tactic they were currently using to advance on the mixed special operations team, didn't react to the flash bang until it exploded, causing them to be unable to react to the slightly later exploding fragmentation grenade, tearing them apart, one salarian's arm flying into Santino's direction, green blood splattering across the floor as it came to a halt next to the crate.
"Messy," the turian commented as he rose from behind his own cover. "But effective."
"Double time it to the main building," Santino simply said, his team following him through the door. He burst out in the open, grey dirt the only thing between him and the main building, parts of it already blackened by explosions. He peaked around the corner, ducking back just in time to not have a sniper round reduce his head to mush.
"Executioner-3, we got snipers, a little help?" he questioned, pressing himself back into the door way as another round tore past him, harmlessly digging into the grey dirt next to him.
"Copy that, Executioner-1," a neutral voice replied, then the sound of the HSA's anti-material rifle broke through the air, the gauss rifle PR-74 smashing straight through whatever defense their nemesis in the distance could've mustered. "Sniper's dead, switching position now."
"Alright. Deploy smoke, then dash for the building," Santino said, unhooking a smoke canister from his chest rig, throwing the grenade and waiting for the smoke to disperse itself into a cloud that would provide cover from regular and thermal vision.
He drew in a long breath and prepared himself.
"Follow me!" he called, throwing himself out of the door and charging across the open field now covered by a white, hot smoke cloud as sporadic mass accelerator rounds tore past him, the missed shots clearly audible to his ears as his breath became faster the closer he got to his target. He fixed his eyes on the door, opened by Anderson's infiltration team, and threw himself inside, his hard suit taking away the force of his jump.
He pushed himself up and raised his rifle just as the other N7 came stumbling in, red blood flowing from his left arm, the soldier already reaching for the Medigel syringe on his belt, slapping the medical agent on it to stop the bleeding. "They got lucky." he said as he rolled the shoulder of the injured limb as the turians threw themselves into the building.
"Everyone through?"
"I was the last one," the bigger turian tech who had previously opened the door on an angry salarian said. "Only he got hit, we got lucky." he added.
The gunfire above them began to grow more intense as the mixed unit of Executioner moved through the building, corpses of salarians and asari littering the silver ground, the sporadic onyx black body causing a twist in Santino's stomach as he walked past his dead comrades.
This was the nature of their work, people died in the line of duty.
That didn't make it easier though.
He started to walk up the steps, red blood flowing down and pointed his rifle at the first humanoid shape he saw until he registered the onyx armor, a lone N7 pointing his pistol at him.
"Friendlies!" he almost shouted as he lowered his rifle, noting the used Medigel containers next to the soldier.
"Next level," the soldier coughed, his voice weak, justified by the large puddle of blood surrounding him.
"Get him out of here, Rico," he ordered the already injured N7. "Make sure he doesn't die."
"I'll cover your back, Si-" the injured N7 protested as the man with a red trail of blood running down his arm began to pick him up.
"That's an order, Petty Officer," Santino reinforced his sentence with his rank, shutting down the complaint.
"Yes Master Chief. Give 'em hell."
"Aye aye."
The two humans began to walk down the stairs, leaving Santino the lone human among three turians now moving up the stairs, shell casings, blood and corpses, luckily most of them Eclipse, littering the ground.
He kept moving as the turians behind him followed, orange bursts of light visible from below. He rushed up the flight of stairs and immediately went towards the man identified as Lieutenant Anderson by his HUD.
"We're here, sir!" he shouted as he crouched down next to him, the cabals behind him starting their biotic work.
"Great," the N7 officer commented as he rose from his cover, dispatching an asari with a precise burst of fire. "Sederis withdrew to the roof, she's probably waiting for a shuttle to pick her up."
Santino looked at him, ready to question why they were waiting.
"Navy already has established orbital superiority, she can't get away," he added as he slid back down, replacing the magazine of his SR-7 with a fresh one.
That explained his patientce
Santino leaned around the corner of the wall they had taken cover behind and fired his own rifle at a salarian, the alien's barriers catching the rounds just long enough for the mercenary to dive into cover and send an electric current at a cabal, the turian jumping into cover as his biotic barriers and kinetic generator failed due to the overload.
"You still have any grenades?" Anderson asked.
"Only a flash bang."
"That'll do. Wait for my signal and throw that sucker right up there," Anderson said, pointing into the direction of three asari mercenaries firing their assault rifle's at their position.
Then the mad officer jumped out of his cover, sprinted towards another piece of cover and slid into the shielding grace of the wall just as his shields collapsed, meanwhile Santino removed the safety pin of the flash bang.
"Now!" the officer shouted over the intercom and the grenade left his hand, bouncing of the corner of the wall and falling perfectly between the enemy. The N7 turned away as a bright white, loud detonation echoed through the building, the N7s and turians rising from their position and throwing bullets, mass accelerator rounds and biotics at the entrenched mercenaries, shredding them in the process.
"Move up!" the Lieutenant ordered, his N7 falling in right behind him, soon followed by the turians, both groups setting their eyes on the door dividing them from their prize.
Anderson moved to the door, placing a breaching charge on it and pressing the detonator. Using the smoke as cover, the mixed unit rushed outside, taking cover behind storage containers. Up ahead, no more than 20 meters, Sederis and her personal guard were standing next to a yellow marked gunship, their attention immediately shifting towards the breached door and moving to attack the mixed unit.
One asari shot across the roof, colliding with an N7 operator, his black armored form flying away with the yellow, purple glowing mercenary. Another member of the skull marked asari mirrored the move, although smashing into a cabal, his barriers allowing him to stand up to the surprised mercenary and grasping her throat between his armored talons, trading biotic blows as Anderson and Santino began to fire at Sederis, the wanted criminal returning the favour with a biotic throw that sent Anderson of his feet, the N7 rolling upon impact and withdrawing back into cover.
Master Chief Santino Abrami however got close enough to do some damage, his SR-7 firing as his shields stopped the asari's bullets, her face growing angrier as he advanced on her, tackling the biotic.
He regretted the move when he felt himself thrown backwards as her glowing fist pushed him. Santino smashed into a container and shook his head just in time to be clear enough to dodge a kick that left a noticeable dent in the steel container. He went for his rifle but Anderson, having returned for seconds drew Sederis's attention, causing her to go for cover. In the background he heard the sounds of the turian cabals, his fellow N7s and the asari's personal guard fighting it out, biotic punches, gunfire and pain induced grunts and screams filling his ears as he and Anderson moved towards Jona Sederis's position, sporadic suppressive burst of his CO keeping her head down as they closed in.
He glimpsed at the yellow armored leg and began to fire as the asari rolled out of cover, a shotgun in her hand. Santino dove out of the line of fire, falling to the ground on his stomach. He made a move to turn around on his back while drawing his SIS-8, the old pistol ready to shoot at Sederis. Instead he saw how Anderson began to engage her in hand to hand combat, slapping the shotgun out of the asari's hands, drawing a knife and going up against biotic punches.
He got up as fast as he could, shooting at Sederis as he closed in, the electric sound of her kinetic barrier shattering as the purple glow of her biotic one started to catch the bullets.
Anderson caught one of the asari's hands, going in for the killing blow only to freeze as a biotic stasis caught him, the asari drawing a pistol and pointing it at N7's head.
Santino emptied his clip into the asari's back right before she pulled the trigger, causing the round to miss, his gun clipping empty just as the last bullet punched into her armor. The asari turned around and used the energy of said twist to throw a backhand at Santino, his visor cracking and his body dropping to the ground. He felt the foot on his chest, bones cracking as its mass increased, he had bled internally before, he knew the feeling that crept up his spine.
"How does it feel to die, human?" the asari mocked, blood running down her mouth. "Lonely? Scared? Sad?" she said, leveling the pistol at him as he coughed up blood, adding a red blur to his cracked vision.
He saw the black hand, glowing slightly purple as they fought the Stasis, carrying a pistol enter his ever darkening vision, a tone of defiance rising in him as he summoned every drop of fight still in him. He grabbed his knife and jabbed it into her leg.
"You tell me." he said as the asari increased the pressure in anger, focusing on him. His method of distraction successful at the cost of what felt like a part of his lung.
For some reason he couldn't describe, what followed was the loudest gunshot he had ever heard. The armored gauntlets of his CO turning purple as the round of the SIS-8 broke straight through the asari's helmet, liquefying her brain and ending her life. He felt himself drift away as the pressure on his chest disappeared, blood now flowing even faster from the internal injuries the mercenary leader had given him.
"Shit, stay with me Santino!" Anderson called. "Tesla come in!"
The blackness grew stronger.
"HVT-1 down. Tesla, we need medivac birds!" he heard his Lieutenant, although he sounded distant, more of a whisper than a scream.
His last thoughts brought him away from the bloody, silver roof of a prefab on Ploitari Secundus and to Earth, a small house on a hill somewhere in Italy, his nine year old brother mocking him for falling down a tree, calling him clumsy.
Him getting his teeth kicked out on the playground by some bully five years older than him for standing between him and his victim.
His graduation from school, going to the after-party and drunkenly chatting up a girl, not expecting anything from it.
Him signing a contract with a large eagle situated over a globe on top of it.
Him placing a ring on a woman's hand.
Him getting an N7 tab, muddy, dirty and in pain. So much pride though.
The faces of his comrades, family and loved one's flashing before his eyes one last time, it was through then.
A life well spent.
He drew his last breath and embraced the end, what else was there to do?
2130 CE, THS Umbra
"So we're going for a hunt," the experienced soldier said as he placed the chest piece of his armor on the table. Golden lines running along the black material, the suit itself was designed to meet the needs of the Blackwatch but didn't sacrifice design to do so. He activated his omni-tool and began to run the diagnostic programs, as expected everything was perfectly calibrated.
"Cabals didn't get Haliat on Tunae, now it's our hunt. We'll get him,"the other replied.
"If you ask me, that wasn't Haliat. The captain's gone, did you see the recordings?"
"Yes Galviat, I did," the soldier replied as his grey plated hands closed the omni-tool and lifted the chest piece of the desk and into his foot locker.
"Then you know what I'm talking about, Veltax," Galviat, a turian with uncommonly black plates said. His white facial marks creating a start contrast to the colouration of his plates.
"Are you defending a traitor?"
"I doubt he even knew what he was doing. By the time of the forth recording, he didn't even look like Elanos anymore," Galviat replied as he started to disassemble his sniper rifle, checking each part individually.
"Does it matter? We're going after him," Veltax said as he repeated the process on a gauntlet.
"The wise hunter picks his prey carefully," he recalled the old mantra drilled into them during training.
"Galviat, are you scared?"
"It was a word of caution, Haliat did not earn the title of 'Captain of the Blackwatch' by being a push over," the turian said as he lifted the heat sink to eye level, checking for any sort of scratch or damage in the important part of his weapon of choice.
"You said it yourself, that wasn't Haliat. He is long gone," Veltax countered, spotting a small imperfection in the gauntlet's calibration, causing his red marked face to draw a grimace as he dropped the gauntlet into the foot locker after quickly fixing it. "Besides, we didn't make personal guard by being push overs either."
"Never thought I'd see a Blackwatch officer go rogue," Galviat stated. "Hasn't happened since the Unification Wars."
"Times are changing," a third voice interjected as the final member of Desolas Arterius personal guard walked into the room. Nilia Callius. The sole biotic of the three turians. A former cabal, she had been forwarded to the Blackwatch after a particularly nasty operation had resulted in the death of her entire team, causing her to complete the mission alone. A deed the Hierarchy did not forget. "But if his assessment of the artifact having a drug-like impact on the pirates is correct, I doubt he willingly went rogue."
"You see him as the victim of a weapon, Ma'am?" Galviat questioned as he lifted the scope of his rifle to eye level.
"That I do, Sergeant. No matter what happens, don't get close to that artifact. We can only assume that the same would happen to you."
"Didn't plan on it," Veltax said as he closed the foot locker his armor was stored in and placed his military talon on the table. The talon had a special meaning for the Blackwatch, golden engravings decorating the blade, most soldiers left a mark for any enemy they had slain with the blade. He released the protective sheath made from one of the toughest materials known to the galaxy and the light reflected of the polished, black material. Sharpened to the limit of current technology, Blackwatch talons could punch through most modern armor with ease. Complete control over the weapon was one of the several aspects of Blackwatch training. The turian began to look at the curved talon, dozens of small marks engraved in it.
"Can't believe he cut himself with it," Veltax observed.
"Shows how far gone Haliat was after his betrayal," Galviat reasoned. "Do we know where we're going yet, Ma'am?"
"The pirates didn't have a lot of time to move the artifact, there are only a handful of planets they could've hidden it on."
"And since Patrol Fleet blocked the major relay in the area, the area they could've moved is limited?"
"Exactly."
"So we know the general direction?"
"Always so wise Galviat. Watch out, you might make Primarch one day."
This caused the turian to chuckle as he started to put his rifle back to gather. "The spirits would never do something as horrible as this to me. They are not this cruel."
"They did get me stuck with you two bickering all the time," Veltax said as he weighted the familiar talon in his hand and began to twist it idly.
"Spit it out Veltax," Galviat said as he pressed the button that would fold his weapon into a smaller rectangle. "I can tell something's bothering you."
"The bodies retrieved on Tunae," he said, recalling the pictures and briefing on the beyond weird state of the fallen pirates. "Never seen cybernetics like that."
"You don't know what they cook up in the Terminus," the other turian replied, the image of the blueish enhancements equally present in his mind. "If you shoot them, they die like anyone else. The blade with your name on it hasn't been forged yet, Tanilus Veltax."
Nilia began to go over her armor as well, running diagnostic programs on the barrier generator, life support systems, heating system and other systems specifically included into the suit on the request of Blackwatch. When one compared the amount of credits a single suit of Blackwatch armor was prized at to that of the regular sets of protective gear given to turian soldiers, one would realise that you could equip a turian platoon for the cost of a single Blackwatch member.
Now they just needed the word of their general.
Human Mercenary Intervention 2387/88 AD
The conflict dubbed as 'Human Mercenary Intervention' began after Eclipse, the Blood Pack and several smaller Terminus mercenary outfits carried out attacks against three human colonies. Fehl Prime, New Canton and Ferris Fields.
The colonies, established only shortly after the Fringe Wars (see Entry Series 'Fringe Wars') were kept secret from the greater galactic community as a means to protect them but later, due to the actions of former Councilor Belaria Tevos, their locations were revealed to the mercenary outfits.
After the attacks had claimed the lives of 38.000 humans, the HSA mobilized to a level not seen since the second year of the Fringe Wars and launched a series of offensives deep into the Terminus, using intelligence gathered by an unknown benefactor to systematically raid outposts, bases and slavery camps owned by the companies.
After several months, the Blood Pack had been reduced to a disorganized series of planet bound warbands and Eclipse was stuck in a guerilla war against the superior human military.
The conflict also divided the Council, the Turian Hierarchy openly supporting the human crusade against crime in the Terminus while both asari and salarian activist groups flat out called certain orders, especially the standing order not to take any krogan or vorcha prisoners, a warcrime. Furthermore the Asari Republics and Salarian Union, both having major colonies near and within the Terminus Systems called the intervention an 'unnecessary provocation of a dangerous galactic power' (Matriarch T'Shala 2130 CE).
The Human Mercenary Intervention ended in July 2388, one month after the death of Eclipse's leader Jona Sederis and left a power vacuum which would be filled by the rising star of the Terminus, a mostly human/turian mercenary outfit called the Blue Suns ( See Entry 'Blue Suns'), seen by the people of the galaxy as a rogue vigilante organization seeking to re-establish the 'order' in a lawless part of the galaxy in their own twisted crusade against crime.
Estimated casualties number anywhere from one million up to two point five million on mercenaries' side, most of which were vorcha, with HSA records numbering their own dead at 48,291 and their wounded at 51,012, including the casuatlies sustained in the three opening attacks.
The conflict served as a show of force in favour of the HSA but also reminding the Council that the Terminus, as big and threatening as it may appear, is still no match for any galactic power due to it's decentralized nature. Furthermore the concept of carrier ships became more prominent after human naval assets dominated the space battles of the conflict.
A/N: Soooo, confession. I've been playing a ton of Stellaris lately, hence the delayed update. Sorry folks. Also had a little writer's blockade but I think I'm back in shape, I've got a ton of stuff I wanna do. School also took off some of my time, it's the last weeks now. Soon I'll be done.
I do have a thing for writing the last thoughts people have before dying, don't I?
I hope you liked the chapter, this kind of concluded the whole mercenary arc and yes... the Blue Suns are a thing but they will be slightly different here, I've got a plan folks. Kind of. Next chapter will PROBABLY be the last set in 2388 and we'll soon have a time skip of some 5 years or so. Moving the story forward.
214 favorites and 268 follows, not bad guys. Not bad.
Tell me this chapter was worth the wait, again sorry again, Review though. I like reviews.
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See you around next time.
