Chapter Fifteen: Battle for the Citadel Pt. 1
Yet deep within her
Darkness called, the same Hunger
She tried to escape
"We're clear," announced Fred
After thoroughly scanning the Great Hall the two Spartans lowered their weapons, shortly followed by the rest of the room.
There was silence for a few seconds as everyone tried to comprehend the gravity of what had just happened. Fearing that the room could degenerate into panic hysterics, Major Kirrahe moved to take charge of the situation.
"Commander Bailey, get a headcount of the remaining delegates and C-Sec officers. Check for wounded, and move them to one place so medical staff don't have to look. Valern, is Sparatus…?"
"Yes. He's dead," answered the Salarian Councilor.
Kirrahe simply nodded. "So is the Volus delegation."
"All of them?"
"All of them."
"My comms are still out," said Primarch Victus, "We couldn't even call for reinforcements if we wanted too."
Bailey sighed wearily. "That means I have no direct link to any of my fast response teams. If comms are down and the Citadel is under attack then C-SEC's ability to respond has been crippled."
The Delegates were looking increasingly worried at that grim statement. Their nerves were frazzled by the recent attack and Lasky new that even the mere threat of renewed violence might be enough to make them crack.
"We've got a quick reaction force coming to secure this location and extract us all to the Infinity as we speak," Lasky said.
"To the Infinity?" asked Udina.
Lasky nodded, saying, "It's the safest vessel in-system, and I'm getting reports that the Citadel Defense Fleet is still recovering from the EMP."
"Cortana, can you get a message out to my crew?" started Shepard, "I need them to get back to the Normandy and arm up ASAP."
"I'll try Commander," replied Cortana.
"Hmmm. We don't know how long Cerberus will take to attack again, and this time we won't be able to repel them. How long until your reaction force gets here Admiral Lasky?" asked Kirrahe.
A deafening cacophony of shattering glass, shearing metal, and the loud thuds of dozens of impacts filled the room, followed by a shockwave that caused Lasky's teeth to shake.
"Now," said Lasky.
"This is Alpha. We're on the ground and 1st Platoon is moving to your position."
"Copy Alpha," said Fred, turning on his external speakers and announcing, "Friendlies coming in!"
The thundering sound of rapid bootsteps foretold the arrival of the Spartan platoon, and they burst into the room with weapons raised, a white-and-crimson armored Commander Palmer leading the way.
"Friendlies coming in!" shouted Palmer as well, quickly lowering her rifle as she saw that there were no threats.
Palmer swiveled her head, taking in the physical status of the room, the delegates and C-Sec officers looking back at her, and the dead bodies of the armored Cerberus Commandos. "Ivy, Silver, secure those two holes in the wall. Faraday, post at the doors. Envy, spread out through the room, check for anything out of the ordinary. Titan, get those bodies out of the way."
She stepped over said bodies and quickly jogged over to Lasky and the Spartan-II's. "Lieutenant, Chief, can you set up the defense outside? I'm going to stay here and secure the delegates for transportation."
"We're on it Commander," Fred responded.
As Fred and Chief started making their way out of the hall, Palmer asked, "Admiral, are you alright?"
"I'm fine Commander, but we've got wounded over there," said Lasky, pointing to where Bailey and the other C-Sec officers had gathered their wounded comrades.
"Parker, Julian, you're up. See what you can do for them," ordered Palmer.
"Palmer, I need a radio. Do you have an extra?" said Lasky, desperate to get reconnected to the fleet.
"Yeah," she answered, reaching into an armored compartment and pulling out a collapsible headset.
As she handed Lasky the radio one of the Spartans sent to care for the wounded said, "Uh, Commander Palmer? Two of these guys are aliens, I don't know how to treat them."
"Well it's fortunate that I do," came the voice of Cortana through Palmer's helmet speakers. "I'm patching into your HUD's, I'll give you guidance from there."
"Cortana, can you connect me to Captain Skyheit?"
"Yes, Admiral," she said, and Lasky's radio quickly popped into his channel.
"Skyheit, this is Lasky, can you read me? What's the situation out there?"
"I read you Admiral. The Fleet's on-station and were engaging the ten unknown ships and their fighter compliments. We're reduced to using deck-guns, mini-MACs, missile salvos, and bombing runs against the enemy frigates however, they're too close to the station to use MAC rounds else we risk ricochets ramming into the station."
"Keep the MAC rounds withheld Captain, we want to keep damage to the Citadel at a minum. Hell, get in close between the enemy ships and the station if you can, but be careful. And keep the Infinity at range, we're going to be taking the rest of the delegation there until this situation has been dealt with. Cortana, can you mark the ships nearest to the Presidium for Skyheit?"
"Done," replied the AI.
"Captain, those two ships are priority targets. They're the only things standing between us and extraction to the Infinity, and Cortana says that they are pouring troops to our location."
As Fred and Chief left the Hall and crossed into the Atrium, they saw dozens of drop pods and their Spartan-IV cargos quickly moving about among the trees and hills of the large room, and four Mantises crouched low to the ground. Kelly and Linda were standing separate from the action, and upon seeing the Chief and Fred waved them over.
As the four gathered, Cortana filled their HUDs with a tactical map of the atrium. Chief spent several long seconds analyzing the map, their current assets, their objectives, and their unknown variables.
"The next wave of Cerberus forces will be here in just over a minute, so we don't have much time," the Master Chief started. "I want to set us up in a lined formation near the entrance of the Atrium. Second and Third Platoon will make up the main line while Fourth is split up along the two far flanks."
"Fourth platoon are all outfitted with stealth gear," Linda said, "We should keep them hidden until we want to play that card."
"Good suggestion," Chief said. "Everyone remember Arcadia? The operation the second day?"
They all nodded. Fred said, "A feigned retreat? Second and Third platoons can fall back in phases, drawing Ceberus further into our formation. We can use the Mantises to draw attention."
"Then, we drop the hammer with Fourth and move in to pincer and eliminate," finished Kelly.
"Got the plan Cortana?" Chief said.
"Got it. Relaying the plan to Alpha Company as we speak."
"Let's post on the left flank," Chief decided.
Without another word Blue Team set off at a run, passing Spartan-IV squads finding cover amongst the hills, trees, and decorative metal architecture, fortifying firing positions with deployable hard-light barriers, and setting up heavy weapons emplacements.
They arrived at the left flank, the only indications of any Spartan-IV presence being the ID tags displayed in the II's visors, as they were all hidden under active camouflage. Blue team followed suit, disappearing into the air as their armor's active camouflage fields fully encompassed them.
Fred, Kelly, and the Chief took positions near the top of a hill behind some metal benches, giving them a clear view of the landing pads where they had come from, and where the Cerberus forces would likely be landing.
Linda took a quick look around and quickly scampered up a nearby tree, not the tallest tree around, but one that gave her clear fields of fire and whose thick leaves offered her the most visual concealment, on top of her active camouflage.
"Cerberus dropships are almost here, stay alert," alerted Cortana.
"Alpha platoons, check in," Chief ordered.
"Second platoon, green."
"Third platoon, green."
"Fourth platoon, green."
"Kiger platoon, green." The Mantis assault walkers.
They waited for a few seconds when suddenly, the walls to either side of the large doors leading out to the landing pad disappeared in a loud blast of dust and shrapnel.
"Hold fire," said Chief quickly over the Company's channel.
Before the dust from the wall-clearing explosion could clear another set of bursts occurred all along the new opening, spilling several large, obscuring clouds of bright white smoke.
Chief quickly switched to thermal vision only to find that the smoke created a hot barrier that his thermals could not penetrate. He went to infrared vision, only to find that the smoke was still impenetrable.
"Thermals and infrared don't penetrate this smoke," said Fred.
"They must know we have alternate visual settings," said Linda. Chief had an idea.
He switched his visor mode to Promethean Vision and watching as the deep scan radiated outwards. The Promethean Vision, operating on an entirely different set of principals than thermals or infrared vision cut right through Cerberus' obscuring smoke and gave him a clear sense as to what they were up against.
Cortana quickly calculated the numbers before relaying to the company, "I count three-hundred and twenty, two-hundred and sixty of those seemingly split into fifty-two squads of five. I'm real-time marking individual squads and designating their Centurion Squad leaders as priority targets. I'm also counting ten Engineers, thirty of heavy-shield Guardians, and twenty Nemesis snipers. I'm marking those as high priority targets as well. They're moving forwards in a layered formation, Guardians in front, standard assault squads in the middle with Engineers dispersed throughout and the snipers bringing up the rear."
"Centurions? Guardians? Nemesis? Where are you getting these names from?" asked Kelly.
"They're just what C-Sec officers throughout the Citadel have started labelling the different Cerberus troops that they've seen."
Just then, six meteors impacted behind the Cerberus advance, sending shockwaves rippling through the Atrium and creating some large clouds of smoke and dust. From these clouds emerged six large, hulking mechs with prominent transparent cockpits with what looked look a heavy cannon on one arm and a two-pronged claw on the other.
"Mech support," said Fred. "Cortana, what do we know about them?"
"Based on what I've seen from their deployments on other parts of the station they're very dangerous. That cannon can either fire high-powered explosive rounds or tracking missiles, and the claw arm opposite is certainly strong enough to crush a Spartan. Heavily shielded, and heavily armored as well."
"Mark those as highest priority," said Chief. "Proceed with phase one. Second and Third Platoons, break cover and engage."
The Spartan-IVs broke cover from their hiding places and began firing at the Cerberus force. However, the initial volley wasn't one of extreme accuracy and lethality that would have felled a large portion of the Cerberus formation, as what would have been normally expected of Spartans. Their shots were slow and inaccurate, heavy weaponry or explosives were being used only sporadically, and overall only a few of the Cerberus troops fell with most of them getting back to their feet.
Cerberus reacted quickly and efficiently to their foe's reveal, the main formation of assault squads laying in heavy amounts of fire towards Second and Third Platoon's positions while moving to the most advantageous cover available. The shield-toting Guardians remained in the center, giving cover to those squads which couldn't find adequate protection amongst the first hills, trees, and decorative structures of the Atrium. The Cerberus snipers stayed to the rear of the group scanning for targets in front of the main advance, and the six Atlas mechs were slowly lumbering forwards, sending the occasional heavy cannon round downrange.
The Spartans were being very careful about presenting themselves however, ducking out of cover for just the couple of seconds required to send off a few hastily aimed shots, or sometimes even just pointing their rifle over their cover and firing blindly. Facing no firm resistance, the Cerberus troops advanced quickly under their own suppressive fire, the main line just now breaking even with the camouflaged Fourth Platoon on the far flanks.
Chief realized this, and aiming to draw the Cerberus forces deeper into the trap ordered, "Fall back to phase two."
Second and Third Platoons left their phase one cover, falling back in what looked like a hasty and disorganized manner, but what was actually very coordinated and precise series of pre-thought crisscrossed paths to the next defensive line. The Spartans increased the amount of fire they were sending towards the advancing Cerberus troops to give some further protection as they retreated, and they reached their established phase two cover mostly unhindered.
Hoping to press their advantage Cerberus began to advance more quickly, wanting to aggressively close in on and destroy what they though was this meager, ineffective defense force and get their hands on the real prize, the remaining delegates.
Having mistaken the defending Spartan's earlier, almost timid response to their presence, the Cerberus forces assumed they were facing a small C-SEC force on its last legs. The Cerberus forces had now pushed past the Spartan flanks, playing into the UNSC's trap hook, line, and sinker.
"They're taking the bait," said Chief. "Fall back to phase line three. Cortana, what's the ETA on those enemy frigates coming down?"
"Yorktown and Dresden are enroute right now."
"Acknowledged. Spartans, hold them at the third phase line. Full firepower to be authorized on my mark. Flanking teams, prepare to engage."
A flash of blue-white light drew the Master Chief's attention upwards, and he saw through the Atrium's shattered glass roof that far above in Citadel space two slipspace portals had just opened up in close proximity to the two Cerberus cruisers.
Not a second later the Valiant-class Super-Heavy Cruiser Yorktown and the Marathon-class Cruiser Dresden shot out of the portals parallel to the Cerberus ships, broadside deck guns and mini-MAC's firing upon the ships before the UNSC vessels had even fully emerged from their portals.
As the heavy rounds battered at the two Cerberus ship's kinetic barriers, they turned to face their fronts towards the UNSC cruisers and fired their main mass accelerators. The enemy rounds were on target, but quick flashes of hexagonal-yellow near the impact sites signified that they were deflected by the UNSC ship's shields. Another full broadside from the guns of the Yorktown and Dresden finished off the Cerberus ship's barriers, the few rounds that got through shearing into their hulls or creating large craters on their armor.
Wounded, the two Cerberus ships let loose a torrent of disruptor torpedoes along accompanied by another salvo of mass accelerator fire. The slow moving missiles were no match for the UNSC ship's AI controlled point-defense cannons and lasers however, and the Cerberus mass accelerator rounds were once again blocked by the cruisers' strong shields. The Yorktown and Dresden responded by launching a missile salvo of their own, followed shortly by a final broadside. Now left without kinetic barriers, the two Cerberus ships were left to the mercy of the UNSC ordnance. The broadside Mini-MACs lanced huge tears clean through the ships and heavy deck gun rounds blew apart armor and hull. A couple of seconds later the missiles finished what was left of the Cerberus ships, reducing the already dying hulks to small pieces of space debris.
"Chief, the fleet has taken care of those two Cerberus ships, air support and reinforcements are inbound," notified Cortana.
"Copy," acknowledged Chief. "Alright Spartans, that's our signal! Fourth Platoon, close the pincer! Second, Third, Kiger drop the hammer! Let's show 'em what we're really capable of!"
Linda was the first Spartan on the flanks to fire, the lighting-like crack of her Heavy ACS following only a split-second after the electric blue hardlight round took the head off of a Cerberus sniper. The other Spartans on the flanks followed her example, sending a rain of lead and hardlight projectiles knifing into the Cerberus formations exposed sides.
The effect was immediate, the Cerberus advance stopped dead in its tracks as troopers started to realize that their comrades were falling all around them. The Centurion squad leaders that didn't fall during the initial barrage noticed that their flanks had been compromised and tried to muster their troops to face the new threat, but it would be to no avail. Second and Third Platoons opened up with the totality of their arsenal, sending decimating and extremely accurate volleys of small arms fire, rockets, sniper rounds, railgun shots, and grenades into the Cerberus formation.
Kiger Platoon joined the attack in earnest, focusing their 20mm heavy machine guns and surface-to-surface missiles on the Cerberus Atlases. Though outnumbered four-to-six Kiger Platoon was able to get off the first salvo due to superior targeting algorithms, and had infantry support in the form of several well-placed rockets and Spartan Lasers. In one case, after a flurry of missiles took down one Atlas' shielding the mech was suddenly rendered harmless by an electric blue hardlight round that penetrated the cockpit and blew the head off of the Cerberus pilot.
Lacking coordination and extremely outclassed the Cerberus force withered under the Spartan's counterattack. Unshielded Assault Troopers fell like flies as rifle rounds shattered their armor, even the shielded and more heavily armored Centurions were no match for combined fire or heavy weapons. The enormous polycrystalline-composite shields carried by the Cerberus Guardians might as well have been tissue paper, as precisely aimed shots entered into their helmet visors through their shield's vision slots or armor-piercing sniper rounds passed right through them into their insufficient and unshielded armor.
Cerberus Engineers attempted to lay down turrets to provide some sort of suppressive fire, but with how exposed they were they were quickly marked as priority targets by Cortana and subsequently picked off. Amidst the critically-damaged whines and rippling detonations that signaled the deaths of some of first Atlas mechs, Cerberus snipers tried to get a bead to counter-snipe who was sniping them but they might as well have been trying to breathe in space. Linda and other deadly accurate Spartan marksmen made quick work of them.
The last remnants of the Cerberus force tried to clump together against the UNSC onslaught, but that quickly proved to be their downfall as a wave of high-explosive heavy cannon rounds crashed through the Atrium's glass ceiling and enveloped the remaining troopers.
As the smoke cloud cleared Chief lowered his ACS as he saw that there were no survivors and looked skyward, seeing several Pelican gunships hovering over the battlefield. He looked towards the landing pads through the blown out walls and doors and saw regular troop-carrier Pelicans landing and depositing squads of Marines which fanned out and secured the landing zones.
"Commander Palmer, bring out the delegates. Quickly," said Chief. "Second and Third Platoons, form a corridor for the delegates. Fourth Platoon, check for any Cerberus survivors and intact tech."
"Delegates coming out," notified Palmer.
First Platoon quickly jogged out of the Delegation Hall, two or three Spartans staying close to each delegate. Lasky could be seen near the middle of the group, surrounded on all sides by an entire squad of Spartans and Palmer herself. The UNSC Admiral had a hand to his ear, no doubt communicating with the fleet through the headset that he was given.
As First Platoon safely reached the landing pads Lasky motioned towards a Marine Captain.
"Captain, there are wounded back in the delegation hall. Have some of you men go get them and evac them to the closest ship," ordered Lasky.
"Right away Admiral," replied the Captain, motioning for some Marines to follow him.
Councilor Valern stopped besides Lasky, peering through their respective Spartan bodyguard/shields to meet his eyes.
"Your troops certainly did a number on Cerberus," said Valern, having walked through the carnage the Atrium was just witness to a couple of minutes prior. "What now?"
"First, we get everyone evacuated to the Infinity. Right now it's the safest place in Citadel space. Second, now that their ships are destroyed and thus, their escape routes, we're going to clear the station of these Cerberus bastards.
"'We' Admiral?" asked Palmer, "The UNSC?"
Lasky looked at Valern, saying, "You all said yourself that C-SEC was in shambles, and the Citadel Defense Fleet still hasn't recovered from the Cerberus EMP blast. We have the vessels on station, we have the coordination, we have the manpower. The UNSC can lock the Citadel down and take care of what's left of Cerberus. Councilor, lives are being lost as we speak. Let us secure the station."
Valern nodded his head. "Do whatever you have to do Admiral. The citizens of the Citadel will be in your debt."
Lasky nodded as well, saying, "I'll see you on the Infinity shortly."
"Councilor, your transport is here," said one of Valern's Spartan guards, and they ushered him towards the landing pads where other delegates were beginning to board the Pelicans that would usher them to the Infinity.
"Palmer, get Blue Team over here. Cortana, Roland, Venus, are you listening?" asked Lasky to the fleet's three smart-AI's.
When they all responded in the positive, Lasky continued with, "Alright. Citadel forces are currently unable to protect their civilians and eliminate the Cerberus presence on the station, so it falls to us to get rid of them. I'm authorizing a full-force deployment: Spartans, ODSTs, Marines, air and orbital support, vehicle drops, the whole nine yards. This is going to be one of the largest ops we've ever done so I'm going to assign you each to different aspects of the op."
"Roland, I want you in charge of troop and vehicle deployments, as well as fleet coordination. Once the Citadel fleet is up and running begin coordinating with them as well. I want firm control of every ship, shuttle and fighter from here to the Mass Relay. Get our men and women were they need to be, when they need to be there and make sure our ships are available to provide fire support if necessary. Venus, take control of our air assets. I want absolute air superiority. Direct our fighter squadrons to take out the remaining Cerberus aircraft, have our gunship wings giving close air-support to our ground elements, and arrange transport for Roland's troops onto and around the Citadel."
"Cortana, since you've embedded yourself into the Citadel's primary systems you're the keystone of this op. You know where the Cerberus troops are, and that's what's most important. I want you to get station communications back online and try to regroup C-SEC. I want Spartan teams serving as hunter-killer units searching for the Cerberus remnants, ODST's dropping into hot areas to rescue endangered civilians and Citadel Security or military personnel, and the Marines to establish evacuation centers. I want those centers air-tight too, drop some whole firebases if you have too. See about organizing evacuations for citizens outside the edges of combat zones as well, just in case, and try to keep those in unaffected areas from panicking."
"This op's going to have a lot of moving parts, and I'm trusting all of you to run it smoothly. We can't have any mistakes, there needs to be total cooperation and coordination. Understand?"
"Yes Admiral."
"Yes sir."
"We'll get it done," said Cortana. "Roland, Venus, I'm sending combat, retrieval, and evacuation assignments to you now.
"Roger Cortana, deploying troops," replied Roland.
"Tasking squadrons."
"Lasky, let's get you back to the Infinity," urged Palmer, to which Lasky nodded. As his surrounding Spartans guided him to a waiting Pelican, Lasky saw as Commander Shepard and his Krogan companion waved off their own Spartan escorts as they motioned towards a Pelican.
"Commander Shepard, are you not coming to the Infinity?" asked Lasky.
"No," Shepard said, shaking his head. "I've got my crew on the way right now, we're going to see if we can't boot Cerberus out of C-Sec headquarters and restore some semblance of working communication and coordination systems."
"Good idea Commander, I'll see what my people can do to help you out," said Lasky.
Out of the corner of his eye Lasky saw the armored figures of the Spartan-II's of Blue Team, notably taller than the other Spartan-IV's around.
"Admiral, you wanted us?" said the Master Chief.
"Yes. Spartans, I have a special mission for you," started Lasky. "We managed to disable one of Cerberus ships, took out its engines but left the rest of the ship intact. Force Recon Marines are already on the way to force a breach and establish a beachhead for you."
"What's our objective sir?" asked Fred.
"Once you're aboard the ship get Cortana into their systems so she can go hunting for intelligence. Then fight or infiltrate your way to the bridge and see if you can't capture the Captain, the Second-in-Command, whoever might be important and bring them in for interrogation. Venus, do you have transport for Blue Team?"
"Pelican is coming in now sir," replied the AI, and Lasky looked towards the sky to see one Pelican approaching the landing pads amidst the wave of Pelicans leaving the pads, either taking delegates back to the Infinity or ferrying Spartan-IV teams to their new search-and-destroy assignments across the Citadel.
Lasky took a quick look back towards the Atrium, looking at the bloody, charred, and dismembered bodies of the Cerberus assault force whose goal it was to probably kill him. "Lets go."
"… ila? Meila? Can you hear me? Meila, wake up."
She awoke with a start, the first thing her eyes saw being the still, bloody face of a bearded human a couple of feet away from hers. Meila jumped in fear, scrambling away from the dead man from her face-down position until she felt her back press up against something hard.
Her mind was racing, but she immediately thought of one thing. My daughter, where's my daughter?
"Ari! Ariela!" she called, eyes darting across the scene of carnage laid out in front of her. The bodies of Humans, Salarians, Turians, and other Asari littered the floor of the restaurant along with the shattered remains of chairs, tables and dining-ware.
They had been out to eat in a restaurant when the soldiers attacked, shooting without reason or mercy into the crowd of patrons. The last thing she remembered was trying to tackle her daughter out of her chair onto the ground, then feeling a sharp pain in both her lower chest and upper leg.
"Your daughter is okay Meila," a voice, and not one that she recognized.
"I'm over here Mommy," came the quite, shaking voice of a small girl.
Meila's head darted towards the sound of her daughter, who she saw was huddled behind a table-cloth covered overturned table, legs clutched tightly to her chest.
"It's alright, the soldiers are gone. You're safe for now," said the voice that seemed to be coming from... the ceiling? It was feminine and reassuring, but Meila still didn't know who it was. Was she hallucinating?
"Come here Ariela," said Meila, and her daughter quickly came to her side. "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay Mommy, but you're not. You're hurt," she said, pointing to the dark purple-blue splotches of blood on her dress.
"You were shot Meila, by the soldiers who attacked the restaurant. Once in the chest and again in the leg. Luckily, not fatal," said the voice from the ceiling.
"Is this Avina?" asked Meila, confused.
"No, I'm not Avina. My name is Cortana, and I'm here to help you," responded the voice.
"Cortana? How can you see me then? How do you know my name?"
"I'm plugged into the camera system of the restaurant, and I know your from your biometric scans."
"Plugged in? Are you a VI then?" asked Meila.
"Well, I'm a little more advanced than the average VI you're used to, but that just means I'll be able help you all the better," Cortana reassured. "Meila, you're still bleeding. You and Ari are going to have to move, but we have to treat your wounds first. I need you to check something for me, can you reach behind you and feel for an exit wound?"
"Sure," said Meila, her lips tightening as she felt a bit of pain reaching behind her back. She winced in suppressed horror as her fingers touched the edges of a small hole, and she told Cortana, "Yeah, there's an exit wound." She fought to keep her panic down.
"What about your leg?" asked Cortana.
Meila quickly checked, her fingered coming away with blood once again. "There too."
"Unfortunately all the medi-gel medpacks in and around the restaurant were taken in the attack. But we do have other options," Cortana said. "Ariela, could you help your mother? Could you try and find four cloth napkins?"
"Okay, I'll look," said the Asari girl hesitatingly.
"Meila, you're going to need something to fasten those napkins around your leg and chest. A belt would do it."'
"But I don't have a belt," said Meila.
"I know, but those two Human men a couple of meters to your left do."
"But they're…"
"Yes, they are. But you need those belts," said Cortana.
"Are they all?..."
"Yes. You and your daughter are the only survivors."
Meila gulped because she knew Cortana was right, and then frowned as she shuffled over to the two dead Humans.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly as she removed both of their belts.
"Ariela, bring those napkins over to your mother," said Cortana, which she did.
"Thank you Ari," said Meila, taking one of the napkins and folding it, then pressing it to one of her leg wounds. She did the same with her other leg wound as well, and then using one of the belts fastened both napkins, already showing the smallest hints of bleeding through, in place.
"I need you to help me on this one Ari, could you fold one of your napkins and put it on my back?"
"Okay Mommy," she said, doing what her mother asked of her. Meila put a napkin on her front chest wound then with the help of Ari fastened the other belt into place.
"Can you stand?" asked Cortana.
Meila slowly and shakily got to her feet, leaning on her daughter to keep weight off of her injured leg.
Ariela, looking at all the bodies in the room, asked "Why did this happen?"
Meila just shook her head, still in some kind of shock from the senseless murders. "I don't know sweetheart." Looking towards the ceiling, she asked, "Do you know Cortana? Who did this?"
"Yes. A terrorist group called Cerberus. They're attacking the entire station."
"The whole Citadel? By the Goddess…" gasped Miela. "Where is C-Sec? Are they doing anything to stop this?"
"The situation is being handled, I promise. But right now, we've got to get you and your daughter to an evacuation center. It won't be safe here for long," Cortana warned.
"Okay, well how do we get to this 'evacuation center'?"
"I'll guide you. Near the back of the restaurant there's a maintenance hallway. I'm flashing the ceiling lightd above it."
"I see it," said Meila, guiding her and Ariela at her side over to the wall. Cortana opened up the shaft, an entryway sliding open from the seams in the wall.
"Go straight all the way down the corridor until you reach the other side. You'll emerge in an apartment complex hallway, make a left right when you do."
The two Asari did as Cortana instructed, stepping out of the maintenance shaft into the apartment block hallway. It was deathly quiet, and the doors to rooms had been left open. A few articles of clothing and other random items like a briefcase or a drinking thermos could be seen strewn on the floor.
"It's so quiet…" said Meila, "Where is everyone?"
"They were evacuated. They had to be very quickly too, as Cerberus was only a couple of minutes away from attacking the complex."
"Well what happened to Cerberus? Shouldn't they still be here?"
"No. They were eliminated following the evacuation of this complex," answered Cortana. "Now make a right into this clinic…"
Meila and Ariela followed Cortana's directions for another few minutes unit they reached a toy store which was miraculously untouched.
"Now where?" asked Meila.
"Okay, now you're going to… wait… Meila! Janitor closet in the corner, 9 o' clock! Get inside now!"
A pang of fear shot throughout Meila's body. Cortana had been very calm the entire time she had been guiding them and her sudden raised voice and urgent tone made Meila very scared. A surge of adrenaline negated the pain she was feeling from her leg wound and Meila picked up Ariela, sprinting towards the closet Cortana had specified. She palmed the small door's release hologram and backed her and Ariela into the closet amidst the brooms, mops, and cleaning robots inside the closet, the door closing quickly behind them.
A couple of seconds later Meila could hear another door open, and the sounds of heavy boots on the metal floor of the store.
"Where's Third Squad? This is the rendezvous point, they should be here," said a very deep, raspy, nearly mechanical male voice. It sent shivers down Meila's spine.
"They'll be here, just give them a minute." Another male voice, a slightly higher tone than the first, yet with similar inflections.
"I'll radio them," said yet another voice, a broken female one this time. Bravo-3, this is Bravo-2, come in…. Bravo-3, this is Bravo-2, come in…. nothing."
"I say we just forget about them and radio Bravo-1 to move up and meet with us as we're clearing the first apartment - wait, hold on…. do you see that?"
"See what?"
"That door over there, the activation hologram is blinking."
"What do you think, is someone in there?"
"Let's find out."
Meila heard the sounds of rifles being ready and had to suppress a cry of terror, instead just clamping her hand hard down on Ariela's mouth. She heard heavy bootsteps approaching closer and closer, it was only a matter of time before they would meet their end. Meila closed her eyes…
…A door slid open followed by an immediate explosion and a subsequent hail of gunfire. Meila gasped, but a split-second later when she found out that she was still alive and it hadn't been their door that had opened she opened her eyes in surprise.
Another voice spoke out, right outside of the door to the closet. It was also male, but much more human sounding. "Miss T'aela? You can come out now, it's safe."
Meila was unsure, but then she heard Cortana say, "It's okay Meila, they're with me."
That convinced the Asari, and she palmed the door release. As it opened she saw five humanoid figures in bulky blue armor standing around the dead bodies of two Cerberus Assault Troopers and a Sniper.
"That was the last of Cerberus in the area, good work Majestic," said Cortana. "Take a rest, drink some water, I'll have a new assignment for you soon."
"Roger Cortana," said one of the soldiers, "Alright Majestic, let's air out for a bit. Thorne, see what you can do for Miss T'aela.
At that the five soldiers took off their varying helmets, revealing the faces of four human males, three white, one black, and one orange-haired female. One of the men with buzzed black approached Meila with a friendly smile.
"Miss T'aela, I'm Spartan Thorne. Cortana told me about your injuries, I'm a medic and I can help."
"Please, call me Meila," she said.
"Okay, Meila. Can I get you to sit down?" said Thorne, and Meila nodded, making her way to the ground with the help of Thorne and her daughter.
As Thorne withdrew some medical supplies from compartments in his armor, he looked towards Meila's daughter. "And what's your name?" he asked.
"Ariela, but most people just call me Ari," she replied.
"Ariela, that's a pretty name," said Thorne, causing the Asari girl to smile. "How old are you?"
"I'm eight, thank you," said Ariela, putting her hands on her hips and puffing out her chest in a sense of pride.
"Now I'll admit I'm not exactly an expert, but isn't that pretty young for an Asari?" said Thorne, a corner of his mouth upturned in a smirk.
"With youth comes vitality!" said Ari, "At least that's what my Mommy tells me to say whenever someone says I'm young."
Thorne chuckled at the Asari girl, undoing the belts holding the now blood-soaked napkins to Meila thigh. He lifted up a small metal cylinder with a blue-tipped nozzle and said, "This is called Biofoam. It's a foam that is going to seal the wounds in your legs and stop the bleeding. You're going to feel a bit of uncomfortableness, but mostly it's just going to be pretty cold. Ready?"
Meila nodded, and Thorne injected the biofoam into the first wound. The Asari bit her lip as she felt the numbingly-cold sensation spread throughout her thigh, but otherwise the biofoam application wasn't a problem. After filling the wound on the opposite side of her thigh, Thorne withdrew some bandages from his armor and wrapped her leg.
"Okay, now time for your chest," said Thorne. As he went to work, Meila saw as the other soldiers snacked on a small bar of some sort or sipped water from a small tube coming up from their suit's neck.
"Who exactly are you?" asked Meila, curious to know more about her saviors.
"We're Spartans, part of the UNSC," answered Thorne as he injected Biofoam into the first of Meila's chest wounds.
"UNSC. I've heard about you from some Systems Alliance friends of mine… So is it true? Are you going to help fight the Reapers?" asked Meila.
Thorne shrugged, saying "I'm just an infantryman miss, I go where they need me. There we go, all done. You'll be okay, but we're going to get you to one of our doctors once we get you back to an evac center just to make sure." He had just finished wrapping a bandage around Meila's chest, and asked "Have you had any trouble walking because of your leg?"
"Yes, I can't put a lot of pressure on it," said Meila.
"Well don't worry, I can help with that," said Thorne. He helped Meila stand before pulling another device from his armor. Thorne unfolded it, revealing its shape to be similar to a very thin, skeletal leg. "An exo-skeletal leg, it'll take the weight off of your actual leg and help you walk easier."
He attached it to Meila's wounded leg and at the press of a button on the 'joint' it activated with a small whir. "Try it now."
Meila took a tentative step and was surprised when she felt no pain in her leg. "Wow. Devices like this are extremely expensive in our medical market."
"Majestic, I have new orders for you," said Cortana over the store's intercom system. "A squad of ODST's just dropped in a short distance away, they'll make sure Meila and her daughter get to an evac zone as well as a few other stragglers I managed to lead out of harms way. There's a Pelican on the way to take you to rendezvous with Fireteams Jade, Castle, and Opal. You're going to help break the back of a Cerberus Assault on the Zakera Ward evacuation center."
"Copy Cortana. Suit up everyone," ordered squad leader Demarco, sliding his helmet over his head.
As Thorne was putting on his helmet he noticed Ariela gazing at a Volus plushie doll on a high shelf. The Spartan reached up and grabbed the plushie, handing it to Ariela.
"Here ya go Ari," he said, "Courtesy of the UNSC."
"Thank you Spartan Thorne," said Meila with heartfelt gratitude, "My daughter and I owe you our lives."
Thorne patted the top of his helmet to make sure it was secure, then nodded at Meila in acknowledgement. "Just doing our job ma'am."
"Let's move out Majestic," said Demarco. "Come on Thorne."
As Fireteam Majestic left and the squad of ODST's arrived shortly after to get Meila and her daughter to safety, Cortana let out what accounted to a digital sigh of relief from her relative 'position' in the heart of the Citadel's systems.
Meila and Ariela's story was only one of thousands occurring all across the Citadel. She was giving calm and individually detailed instructions on how to get to safety to stranded, endangered, or just plain scared Turians, Salarians, Humans, Asari, everyone. When fires raged out of control on Zakara ward Cortana rebooted the fire suppression system and then summoned EMS. When EMS personnel responded and found themselves taking fire from Cerberus forces, Cortana rounded up, organized and sent in a C-SEC platoon to clear them out. Whether it was telling panicking civilians to lock their doors and stay in their homes or having them zig-zag around searching Cerberus kill-squads until UNSC forces could get to them.
Cortana was everywhere, she could see through every security camera, hear and see through every speaker system, and take detailed measurements through every sensor. In sections that had power she knew exactly where Cerberus was, what they were doing, and where they were going. As such, she knew exactly which civilians to evacuate and to where, and if more direct intervention was needed, where to direct Spartan hunter-killer teams, ODST search-and-rescue squads, close air support, and even small-scale orbital strikes from the fleet above.
With three smart AI's strategizing, coordinating, and executing their plans with seamless cooperation and nearly instant speed, Cerberus really didn't stand a chance, they just didn't know it yet. Most of the smaller pockets of Cerberus troops had already been eliminated by roving Spartan Fireteams, it was really only the large groupings of more coordinated and capable Cerberus forces that would take the UNSC more time to eliminate.
Nevertheless Cortana knew that it was only a matter of time until the Citadel had some new owners: The United Nations Space Command.
Special thanks to my beta JonHarper