10/5 2185.
His body was trying to tell him something. Probably something along the lines of: 'Stop sleeping in the fucking chair you idiot'. His back was stiff as he woke up, and he groaned loudly as he tried to undo the damage from the night before. As he looked at his watch, he saw that the time only read 2:48 am. Which meant that most of the crew was asleep, probably only a skeleton crew operating the Normandy right now.
So, with nothing better to do, Mads decided he would check the extranet for anything new. Unfortunately, the connection on the Normandy was less than stellar, since all it had to go through comm buoys. But, there was one surprising story that had creeped up on him.
A galactic magazine, mostly targeted to females, had chosen him as one of the hottest and most dashing of men for that year. Which only meant that his fan mail would probably increase ten folds now. Though, it was nice to hear at someone out there found him attractive. The front cover was him in a ceremonial Alliance uniform.
He laughed a bit at the absurdity of it all. But he realized that he couldn't stop things like that, so he would let bygones be bygones. Though, that wasn't the only story circulating on the extranet. One story in particular caught his attention. It seemed like some everyday news. An Asari Church, who wasn't really recognized all around, was being investigated for Tax Fraud. The name of the Church… Or cult for that matter…. Was "The light of the Goddess." A name which rang a bell somewhere in the back of Mads' brain.
That was the cult Saren had been investigated just before he got kicked out of the Spectres. Mads was intrigued as to why the council found this cult particularly threatening in nature. The article didn't mention much more than the fact that the Asari Republics' Tax Service was looking into them because of suspicious end of the year reports.
He closed the terminal again and fished his pack of cigarettes from the pocket in his jacket. That damn magazine still haunted his thoughts. But it did make him ponder a bit on what his future might be. Anderson and Harold had both encouraged him to try and find someone to settle down with when this was all over. Maybe raise some kids. But Mads wasn't so sure. That train of thought seemed so alien to a battle hardened soldier like himself.
So, to stop himself from going down the rabbit hole that was pondering if he should start dating again soon, he decided he would go and take a stroll on the CIC and see how the crew was doing. Pressly was CO while Mads was asleep. That meant that the Normandy always had a captain at the helm. It was so quiet during the night shift, which brought back what Tali had said about the Normandy. Mads still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that she couldn't sleep due to lack of noise.
"Hello, Pressly. Everything going well up here?" Mads asked as he approached Pressly from behind. He could see Pressly do a little jump in surprise. He surely hadn't expected anyone to interrupt him while he was writing something on his data pad.
"Hello, Commander… I thought you were asleep?" Pressly asked confused as he put the data pad down.
"My back is loudly protesting my choice to sleep in my chair, so I thought I would come up and see how things are going. I'll head down in just a second. So, how is everything going?" Mads asked again.
"Quite well sir. The Normandy is in excellent condition and performing as it should." Pressly reassured Mads.
"That's good. So… How did you end up in the Alliance?" Mads asked with a curious tone. It came out of the blue, but he realized that he didn't actually know all that much about Pressly.
"Well... my grandfather served in the first contact war, so I guess I wanted to follow in his footsteps. I enlisted in the Alliance right after school. Served on a few vessels, including the SSV Agincourt, which you might remember." Pressly replied.
"Ah yes, one of the vessels to bring reinforcements to Elysium. I do remember. A sight for sore eyes that was." Mads remembered. It felt like ages ago, and sometimes he forgot. That whole ordeal on Elysium felt like nothing compared to what he did in Syria.
"Indeed. But, all of that would have been for nothing if you hadn't kept the enemies at bay. I must ask… How did you do it?" Pressly asked.
"With a lot of shooting. I didn't do it alone, Pressly. I had a platoon of Marines with me. Though, a lot of them died in the battle. They were the real brave men. I just made sure those Batarian bastards didn't cross the line those marines had died defending." Mads answered, and it was the truth. His actions at Elysium didn't make him a hero in his book, but dying for the cause? That's what heroes do.
"There is no need for humility here, Commander. But I understand. Also, I wanted to say that… I couldn't think of a better replacement for Captain Anderson than you, Commander. You have done us proud so far. I'm glad I get to be here and witness it all unfold." Pressly confessed.
"Well, I'm glad to have you along for the ride, Pressly." Mads replied with a smile. "Anyhow, I think I'll head back down and see if I can catch some more shut eye before morning shift starts." Mads said.
"Understood Commander. I'll keep the Normandy safe until then." Pressly promised.
"Thanks, Pressly. Have a good shift." Mads bid farewell and he went back down the stairs and into his quarters. He spent the next 30 or so minutes just cleaning his weapons, just to kill some time. When he finished up with the last one, he decided to hit the hay and call it a night.
Warm and dry air, a blinding sun and dust where the trademarks of Syria. Mads could feel the heat as he looked over a map of the nearby stronghold. They had been ordered to take it, mostly because they could do it efficiently in the dead of night. That's mostly what they did nowadays. The entire unit had been offered up to the Syrian government as a volunteer package, though very few soldiers within the unit had volunteered for this.
That wasn't the point though. They were soldiers to the bone. They were told to be here, so they were here. They were told to take a stronghold, so they did. No much room for disagreement in the Russian army, which was why Mads was so unpopular with senior command. Too likely to form his own strategy and opinion on combat matters. Yet he served as best he could, but it still made him wonder why he was chosen for this position.
"You alright?" Victor pulled him from his thoughts. Mads quickly looked over at him.
"Yeah, just going over this one more time." Mads replied.
"When do we move out?" Victor then asked.
"0100 sharp." Mads answered as he fished out a cigarette from his pack. He gave fire to it. Before Victor could continue, Mads' radio came to life, buzzing with life.
"Eagle scout, come in. Over" Mads quickly went to pick up the radio and see what the fuss was about.
"This is Eagle Scout. What's the situation, over?" Mads asked as he eagerly awaited a response. Victor was waiting just as patiently.
"Intel suggests movements from the several strongholds in the north. Looks to be a sign of an offensive. Not sure on which direction or target they are going after. We'll keep you posted. Mama Bear over and out." Command signed out.
"Affirmative. Eagle scout over and out." Mads also signed off.
"Hold the fucking phone… Did they just say.. 'Offensive'?" Victor asked concerned.
"That's the word they used alright." Mads replied as he put his radio back down.
"What does that mean?" Victor asked further as he followed Mads around the room.
"Means they are planning to attack something. We don't know what yet." Mads answered as he picked his cigarette back up from the ashtray and took a drag of it.
"Yeah, I know the goddamn definition of 'Offensive'. But what does it mean for us?" Victor asked again.
"We need to stand by for further orders. If they go this way, then we'll hold this position. If they head North or further west, we'll try and re-link with Syrian forces." Mads explained.
"Okay… Let's just hope we won't be sitting ducks then." Victor remarked. Mads agreed with him, but for now they would stay put and see what would happen. As the hours passed by, they waited patiently. The temperature went from boiling to almost freezing in the night. The night's sky was clear, and the moon illuminated the vast desert that laid before the city.
They eagerly awaited the call that would either confirm or deny the militants' direction, but waiting was proving more and more difficult. Soldiers were growing restless, but they kept their cool. They were highly trained, and they had to show it. They were better, and they had to show it.
But no call ever came, instead a flare did. Everyone looked at it like it was a sign from God himself, showing that certain doom would soon come. In the distance, they could hear trucks coming, a lot of them. Mads had ordered each and every soldier to take up positions in the ruined building. They would ambush these fuckers, and show them just who they were messing with.
Mads wasn't sure what their game plan was. Did they assume they were nothing but poorly trained garrison troops? Did they think they could just roll up and take it? Whatever it might have been, soon they would be presented with a change of plans, and this would show just how good ISIS was at improvising under pressure.
"Hold your fire." Mads ordered over the short wave radio. He had ordered two of his soldiers to take out the front and back truck. The trick was to trap the entire convoy in the city, just like Michael Wittmann did with his Tiger tank in WW2. The others were to unleash hell upon them, but Mads wanted to make sure it was truly militants, and not refugees seeking safety in this small village.
But ISIS seemed to believe in showing just who they were in the Syrian conflict. They drove their white pickup trucks, and had their black flags masted high. They were trying to show that they were not afraid, but it was time to put that to the test.
"FIRE!" Mads ordered, and within seconds both the front and back truck were destroyed by rocket launchers. They were effectively trapped within this small village.
"Weapons free!" Mads then ordered, and all of them opened fire upon the convoy. And so, the entire small settlement lit up like the fourth of July. Blinding lights and deafening noises drowned out the blood and screams of the militants.
The entire convoy was filled with bullets when all of them stopped to reload their rifles. But they had not gotten everyone, so Mads ordered his squad to thin out and locate the remaining militants, and either kill them or capture them. These were the scenarios that stayed in Syria, the types he never spoke about whenever he was with his girlfriend or family. Those memories that would be locked up in his mind forever, and kept there like a well guarded secret.
They slowly began searching the small village for the trace of the survivors, but they cut and run like rats. Mads requested several updates from his position to try and coordinate them in the best way to go about it. He was so focused about it, that he almost failed to notice the small steps behind him. Just before they got right up to him, he swung around with his rifle to take out whoever was foolish enough to approach him.
But this militant was skilled, he almost knocked the rifle right out of his hands and began fighting him in true hand-to-hand combat. Mads had never really had the chance to properly use his knowledge of Systema, this man seemed to have great training within Jiu Jitsu, he fought bloody well. Mads countered as best he could, but it was hard to land anything on him. They struggled for dominance.
Mads was too focused on fighting the man that he never stopped to think to call his squad up to help him. They fought like hell, but it was a silent fight. Only very occasionally there would be a grunt or something of the sort. It wasn't until the militant commander tried to go for Mads' AK on the ground that Mads scrambled for his knife that was concealed on the back of his belt now that he wasn't engaged in hand-to-hand combat, and he swung the blade hard with all the force he could muster. Right up under the man's chin.
Mads had killed a lot of people in Syria, almost more than he could count. But he had never actually been this close before. To actually see the life fade away in their eyes as warm blood poured out of the hole in his chin. It was surreal, as if it was just a dream. The man stood upright for a few seconds, before falling over. He was dead, no question about it. The knife had gone straight from the chin to the brain. Lights out.
But it made Mads think, about all the wrong things they were doing here. Killing left, right and center. But never stopping to think about just who they killed. That there was an actual person behind the face mask, and not just a demon.
Mads sprung up in bed, covered in sweat. He instinctively went for his gun, and wildly swung it around as he tried to see if anyone was in here with him. Luckily, there wasn't. As soon as Mads had confirmed that fact, he could settle down and breathe a little. He put the safety back on and slowly put the gun back down on the table. As soon as he had done that, he went for his pack of cigarette. He needed something to take his mind off that dream. He hated thinking about that time.
Sand, blood and oil seemed to be the only thing that was in Syria back then… No good or bad side. Just everyone wanted to do things their way. Maybe it was the same now. Everyone wanted to rule their way. Playing nice was not something most beings could ever do willingly.
Mads quickly had a shower, and shaved the 5 o'clock shadow he had developed. After all that was said and done, he headed straight for the coffee machine. He eagerly awaited it to finish brewing his steaming hot coffee so he could finally start the day, but he was also vigilant to make sure it wasn't Turian coffee again. There had been no pranks since last, and Mads hoped they could continue this truce for now.
With the coffee sorted, he went up to the CIC to see if there was anything new he had to do. The Normandy was still quiet, even though it was commanded by a full crew now. Perhaps Tali was right about the whole noiseless thing, it was indeed surreal. Every other warship he had served had been noisy to a degree, at least to point that you could always hear the hum of the engine everywhere you went on the ship.
He took another sip of his coffee as he read the daily status report submitted by all the senior officers on the ship. Everything looked good and up to date, which was excellent. Suddenly, Joker interrupted his reading with an announcement that Hackett was trying to contact them. Mads quickly ordered him to put Hackett through.
"Commander. Sorry to call you so early in the morning, but we can potential situation brewing in the Armstrong cluster. We have received intel that the Geth are building camps and outposts there." Hackett informed him.
"Camps and outposts? Forward operation bases?" Mads asked, he was worried this could be the start of something bigger.
"Maybe, we can't say for sure. All we know is that there is small amount of Geth troops setting up installations in four different planets. It needs to be stopped, right away. The Normandy can best perform this task in a reasonable time frame." Hackett all but ordered.
"I understand Admiral. I'll look into it right away." Mads promised.
"Good. Hackett out." The call closed, and Mads waited no time in setting the course for the planets that Hackett sent him in the e-mail. This could be the start of something very serious, and that was reason enough for them to check it out as soon as possible. If they let this go on for too long, then there was no telling what the Geth might do. Joker informed him that ETA was 4 hours to the first planet, which meant he had time to kill.
He decided to catch up on breakfast first. It was bland and boring, which was nothing new. Seriously, investing in some better food would do the crew's morale wonders. But alas, it was one of the overlooked things in the budget.
After that was done and settled, he went around to speak with the different crew members. He talked to all senior officers to hear what the status was, and they were all responding with good reports. He spoke to Wrex, Garrus, Kaiden and Ashley to see how they were going. All of which he had lengthy conversations with. Finally, he headed for Engineering.
He spoke briefly with Adams, who said that was running well. He even reported that the trick him and Tali had cooked up was working wonderfully. Which was good news. Mads thanked him and quickly made a note to pay Adams and Tali another bonus. They'd earned it. Once he was done talking with Adams, he turned his attention to Tali. She was busy working on something when he came over.
"What's up?" Mads asked as he stood beside her and observed her work.
"Just some routine checkup. Nothing major." She answered as he double checked the data pad she was holding.
"Doesn't all that get boring in the long run?" Mads asked curiously. He figured normal maintenance would become dull in due time.
"Oh please, Commander. You are speaking to a Quarian." She reminded him with a smile. He chuckled.
"Too true. I sometimes forget." Mads replied. He didn't know, but she read into that answer more than he could ever imagine. She saw that as confirmation that he saw her as an equal. That he saw her as the same value as a human crew member. It was rare for most Quarian to be treated like that outside of the Fleet. "Anyhow, there a new mission coming up in a few hours. Wanna come along? If you're not doing anything important that is." Mads asked.
"Of course! What is the mission?" She asked back as she put the data pad down and turned her full attention to Mads.
"Alliance HQ has gotten Intel that seems to suggest the Geth might be building forward operating bases on several planets in the Armstrong cluster. Hackett wants us to go in and check it out. There should be more Geth killing involved." Mads explained.
"I'm always down for more Geth killing." She laughed.
"Great! Be ready in two hours. We'll all meet up at the Mako and I'll brief everyone then." Mads ordered.
"Of course. I'll see you there!" Tali replied.
2 hours later.
SSV NORMANDY, Cargo bay.
They were all gathered around the MAKO as Mads came down. He had suited up in his N7 armor, complete with his jackboots. He had also taken to wear a combat vest over his suit, simply to better house the ammunition for his newly found and beloved ballistic weapons. Not to mention the leather belt he wore over the armor, which housed the holster that held his magnum.
"Well fellers. We got quite the mission ahead of us. The brass says that Geth are building outposts and camps along the Armstrong cluster. We must get in and take them out as fast as possible. Hopefully we can destroy the Geth presence in this cluster and be on with it. Any questions?" Mads asked.
"How many hostiles can we expect?" Kaiden asked.
"No fucking clue." Mads replied. "Any other questions?", No one else had any questions, so he ordered his team to take their respective seat in the MAKO. He crawled into the driver's seat. Garrus was ready on the turret, and Tali sat loyally beside him. Ready to handle any engineering hassle that might arise.
Mads gave the 'all clear' signal to joker, who began to prepare for their launch. Even with all the times they had done this sort of thing, the crew still didn't seem to be used to it yet. Sooner or later they would. But for now Mads had to deal with the sounds of Kaiden almost throwing up his lunch on the back seat.
Tali quickly found a signal that was worth looking into, and Mads quickly drove the MAKO there. There wasn't much on this planet, in fact, all the planets were still in the very early stages of being scouted. No one knew much about them, which was probably why the Geth sought to make outposts here.
It didn't take long before they found the camp they were looking for. It was mostly makeshift. Not much bone to it. Which was good, they could just ram straight through the wall and into the base. Where Garrus started shooting everything that moved. The rest of the team got out and began firing as well.
Between the MAKO and the ground team, they did well in mopping up all the Geth stationed there. The Geth hadn't been ready by a long shot, so while they desperately tried to organize any form of meaningful resistance, they were getting mowed down.
Just as they were finishing up, Mads went out the check if everything was indeed under control. As soon as his feet touched the stone ground, the loud roar of a Geth dropship was heard. "Hostiles in the sky! Weapons free!" Mads ordered. Garrus turned the gun around and began unleashing hell upon the Geth ship.
Under combined pressure, even the Geth Dropship held no real chance. Soon enough, it blew up. Scrap metal littered the grounds as the team prepared explosives. They had to make sure no Geth would ever step foot on this planet again. But this was only one of four planets they had to hit. One of these planets had to contain some sort of headquarters for the Geth in this cluster. It made the most sense at least.
12/5 2185.
They took out the next three planets on the list within two days. Pretty good spot record considering they were only one ship and one team. So, they could pat themselves on the back in that regard. But it had still provided them with an annoying issue. They were sure that the underground bunker was the command center for the cluster, but no. They were discussing the issue as the dust of the battle settled.
"I would have thought this was it." Riesman remarked, the others agreed.
"Well it isn't. Look around the place. Maybe there are clues to where the command center is." Mads ordered. They quickly began doing as asked. Mads also looked around while he smoked a cigarette. There had to be something here that could pinpoint where the command center was. Lucky for him, the crew weren't long about discovering that clue.
"We found a signal!" Tali proclaimed as she came up to Mads. Mads quickly put the cigarette out under his boot.
"Signal? To where?" Mads asked confused.
"Solcrum. It's faint, but it mirrors Geth signals." Tali answered. Solcrum was the moon of the planet they were on. Interesting choice by the Geth, they were certainly smarter than Mads gave them credit for.
"Then we got our target. Good job everyone." Mads said as he gestured for them to leave. If they were quick, they could get there and be done with it before the day was over. A three day campaign to root out the Geth presence in the Armstrong Cluster sounded like some good news that the Alliance could use.
They once again rigged this bunker to blow sky fucking high after gathering everything useful. They called in the Normandy for extraction. It was time for the final push. One more fight, and the Geth would be gone from this cluster. There was no telling how well guarded the final compound was, so caution was advised.
It didn't take long before the Normandy reached the moon. They were once again deployed in the Mako to fight yet another battle. This wasn't a bunker, but a command center. A main building with fortifications all around it. They were ready to defend this base, tooth and nail.
And true enough, this was the hardest base to take so far. It took nigh on 20 minutes for them to even get inside of the base. They had been bogged down with fighting all the defenses that the Geth had cared to put up. There had to be something valuable inside. They finally breached the door and rushed inside, but the struggle wasn't over. The Geth didn't give up easily, Mads had to grant them that much. Several times his shields went down under oppressive Geth firepower. He would lunge for cover before his shields gave way, the Geth immediately directed shots his way to try deliver the fatal blow. But flesh ingenuity and cunning overcame the Geth.
The team once again fought well in these close quarters. As they took down all the Geth troopers, they moved further and further into the building. He shot down every Geth he saw, and even threw a couple of grenades here and there. As the fighting died down, and Mads reloaded. He heard something. It sounded like music, with a woman singing. He was confused as he looked around.
His translator couldn't pick up the language. Eventually, he found the source. A video feed was playing on a big screen. Showing a woman in some sort of dress. Mads could only assume this might very well be a Quarian.
"Who is that?" Mads asked as he holstered his AK over his shoulder.
"I don't know." Tali replied as she studied the video feed.
"Is that Khelish? My translator can't pick it up." Mads asked as he quickly went to see if his omni-tool was glitching out or something.
"Well yes… But it's an old dialect… Before we lost our homeworld" Tali answered. Mads looked over at her, and he was worried he might have offended her in some way.
"I'm sorry." He placed his hand on her shoulder. She placed her hand upon his, and there was a moment of sincerity, almost emotional.
"Thank you." She replied as she took her hand off his. Mads nodded to show his understanding. They were interrupted by Kaminski yelling for them to come. They quickly rushed with him upstairs, where they saw Riesman in the process of downloading something.
"What's going on?" Mads asked as he went over to the terminal where Riesman was working.
"This terminal was deleting data. I managed to capture most of it before it did so." Riesman replied as he handed Mads a data disk.
"What's on it?" Mads asked curiously.
"As far as I can tell, it's all data on the Geth. How they have evolved since they kicked out the Quarians. Technology and all that. Might be useful." Riesman explained. Behind, Tali was having a moment of realization. That data would be vital to the Quarians. They needed to get this! It might even serve as her pilgrimage. But she wasn't sure if the Commander might approve of her request… She didn't have the guts to ask him right here, but she would soon enough.
After they cleaned everything up, they hailed the Normandy to come back and pick them up. No matter how you looked at it, they had achieved their goal. The Geth offensive had been stopped dead in its track, which was a victory. Now, it was onto a more important part of their mission… Noveria.