Chapter Nineteen: Planning
An intriguing sight
Ruins of a life long past
What fate befell them?
Zakera Ward, Citadel, Widow System
"And you're sure that no other news network is transmitting?"
"For the fifth time Emily yes! I've been checking all of the networks constantly and every single one is still transmitting that emergency message telling citizens to lock their doors and stay where they are."
Emily Wong, new anchor, reporter, and founder of Citadel Independent News, just nodded at her Salarian technician Killik and looked back to her handheld mirror, putting the last touches on her hastily applied makeup. It wouldn't do to show the obvious worry she felt. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly to calm the butterflies in her stomach, less she throw up. It wasn't that she was used to pressure when seeking a story, she most definitely was. It's just that she had never expected to become the voice of the Citadel in such a crucial moment. People would be relying on her, on her reports if it was safe or not, on her word that this madness had ended and that life could resume. She was already a fairly well known and well-respected journalist but this would be the event that propelled her name among the greats…should she succeed.
As a reporter she had a duty to get the truth out. Not a version of the truth like Khalisah Bint Sinan Al-Jilani or any of her kind of reporters would do, all in the name of pushing an angenda. No. She had to get the whole truth out, but at the same time she had to do it in a way that didn't cause a mass panic and harm more lives.
She quickly weaved her way around the cameras, sound capture tech, and control desks to the news table where her co-anchor Veyla was clearing off the errant papers and coffee mugs that had accumulated during their furious data gathering and research that had taken place in the last four hours.
"Come on Emily, get over here!" called the young Asari as she gestured Wong to take her seat at the casting table, "This could be the biggest break we ever get!"
Indeed, the ongoing attack on the Citadel by Cerberus represented one of the most monumental pieces of news since other gigantic stories like the Geth Invasion years ago, the death and subsequent rebirth of galactic hero Commander Shepard, and now the return of the Reapers. The fact that none of the other news agencies on the Citadel seemed to be operational meant that it was a prime time for Emily Wong's small news company to gain some much-desired recognition.
Emily took her seat next to Veyla and quickly pressed some keys inserted into the desk that turned on the two large datascreens on either side of the main camera that Killik was about to finish turning on and getting set up. One of the datascreens would display basic broadcast information like how many people were watching, real-time ratings, relevant social media snippets, viewer questions and comments, amongst other things. The other datascreen was usually used as a teleprompter, but because they hadn't had enough time to write a proper script for today's emergency broadcast it was just filled with the information and research they had been hard at work to accumulate.
Emily and Veyla would have to wing it, which made Wong smirk inwardly despite her nerves. This was her favorite kind of news casting.
From behind the control desk Killik held up his hand and started lowering fingers, signaling the countdown until they would be on the air. Once he ran out of fingers the red light on the front of the main camera lit up, signaling that they were now broadcasting.
One small step…
"Good afternoon. I'm Emily Wong."
"I'm Veyla D'Mari."
"And you're watching Citadel Independent News."
The pair of anchors gave a couple of seconds for their theme tune to play, and then Emily started off with their broadcast.
"Today's breaking story," Wong said, "A Human terrorist organization and splinter group by the name of Cerberus has attacked the Citadel."
"Four hours ago what was believed to be a large-scale Electromagnetic Pulse bomb went off and knocked out power to a vast majority of the Citadel," said Veyla.
"This blast also coincided with the beginning of the Cerberus attack which began with the assassinations of Councilor Sparatus, the Volus Prime Minister, Chief Banking Minister, and Citadel Ambassador during an emergency council session convened to discuss the recent appearance of the Reapers, according to one of our sources," continued Wong. Her 'source' was one of the members of the C-SEC security officers who had survived the attack on the Delegation Hall, and whose first-hand account had cost her a substantial amount of money.
"This same source gives further details that the Turian Councilor was shot by Cerberus sleeper agents that had infiltrated the security detail for the delegation session, while the Volus members were killed when a heavily armed Cerberus Assault force breached the Great Hall doors shortly afterwards," said Veyla.
"Ten Cerberus warships jumped in-system and took advantage of the Citadel Defense Fleet being disabled to start to pour troops all over the Wards and the Presidium," said Wong. "They struck quickly at the Citadel Security Headquarters on the Presidium, which combined with the power outage caused C-SEC to become disorganized and uncoordinated."
"It soon became apparent that the Cerberus forces only had one goal in mind," said Veyla, "To inflict the maximum amount of chaos and death as was possible."
"Everywhere they went Cerberus fired indiscriminately into crowds of civilians, breaking into homes, apartment buildings, restaurants, office buildings, businesses, shops, and other establishments and shooting everyone they came across," said Emily, a hint of anger evident in her voice.
"Reports are still coming in," said Veyla, "But the death toll is estimated to be upwards of four thousand people, with almost three times that injured."
"But in the midst of the disarray, there was one force who came to our rescue, the United Nations Space Command. Now unfortunately we do not know much about the UNSC other than that they entered into an alliance with the Systems Alliance at the start of the Reaper War and comprised one of the delegations included in the emergency council session. A short period after the electromagnetic pulse went off a large number of their ships appeared in inner Citadel space and engaged the Cerberus warships that were landing troops."
Emily wished that she had gotten footage of that particular space battle, but alas none of their handheld cameras or drones had gotten powered back on before it was over. She took a quick look at the broadcasting information and her heart nearly leapt out of her chest. This was the largest amount of viewers they had ever had at one time, almost twenty times more than average. This single broadcast could have the potential to propel her tiny news organization to the level of such beasts like the Alliance News Network and Council Space News.
Veyla picked up where Wong had left off, saying, "UNSC transports soon began deploying soldiers of their own to combat Cerberus, and most of the Citadel became a combat zone as the two factions vied for control."
"Reports from various sources also claim that an Artificial Intelligence named 'Cortana' was giving personalized instructions to many people, directing them to waiting UNSC forces that would take them to safety, guiding them around the Citadel to avoid searching Cerberus patrols, or just telling people to stay inside and not to panic," said Wong.
"An Artificial Intelligence Emily?" asked Veyla, asking the question not for her own sake but rather for the viewers watching.
"I am just as surprised as you are Veyla. The fact that this 'Cortana' was able to communicate with so many people at the same time suggests that she was heavily plugged in to a large majority of the Citadel's core systems. Considering the Council ban on AIs as well as the recent attack by the Geth, let's see if we can't find out what the audience thinks about this. Contact us through out extranet address or call our line at this number, and what you have to say might make it on the air," said Emily.
Due to their monumental amount of viewers the lines were flooded with calls and communications nearly instantly. They aired as many as they could, and to the surprise of both women the overwhelming majority of the public opinion towards Cortana was positive. Stories from people who said that Cortana had saved their lives, or the lives of their children, parents, spouses, or friends were a dime a dozen. After fifteen minutes they moved on, having determined that the UNSC AI was certainly a blessing.
"Now while most agree that the UNSC AI Cortana has certainly helped, there still remains a multitude of questions about the United Nations Space Command. Who exactly are they? Where did they come from? Why did they decide to commit their forces against Cerberus? Now that Cerberus has been eliminated what do they plan to do with the thousands of troops they have all over the Citadel along with the dozens of prefab bases that they have erected to serve as 'safe zones'?" asked Emily. "Here to hopefully get some of those answers is our Turian field reporter Tahn Quentus. Tahn, take it away."
The feed cut to a young Turian male who was quickly walking down a street bordered by multi-story buildings towards the direction of a UNSC outpost. Suddenly a squad of ten UNSC Marines on patrol rounded a corner and headed towards the Turian when one of them pointed him out.
"Tahn Quentus here," said the Turian, turning his head towards the camera drone that was hovering a bit behind him and smiling, "I'm just outside one of these self-established UNSC 'safe zones' in the lower sections of Zakera Ward. Like Emily said I'm hoping that I could get some answers, perhaps from these soldiers coming towards me right now."
As the squad of UNSC Marines got closer two Marines who Quentus assumed were in charge approached him directly. Through the clear visor of his helmet Than could see that one of the soldiers looked like an older black male, while the other one was a pale female. The female also had red crosses on both of her shoulder paldrons. The male Marines had just started to open his mouth to say something before Quentus cut him off.
"I'm Tahn Quentus with Citadel Independent News. You're with the UNSC right? Can I ask you some questions?"
Both of the Marines glanced at each other with tight-lipped frowns, as if the thought of dealing with a reporter was definitely something they didn't want to do right now.
"I'm sorry sir but those questions are going to have to wait," said the male Marine. "This sector hasn't been fully secured yet."
"Not fully secured?" parroted Quentus, "But I thought that Cerberus had been cleared off the Citadel by now?
"The vast majority of Cerberus is long gone but we've been getting reports in this sector of roaming bands of armed civilians or Cerberus stragglers that have gone plainclothes ambushing some of our patrols," the female Marine said.
"This sector is one of the only ones that still hasn't had power restored, so we're having to send teams to manually search and clear every building that's around here. As you can probably guess it's taking a long time," the male Marine continued.
"Armed civilians ambushing patrols?" said Quentus incredulously. He took a quick look around and saw that the other eight Marines had formed a perimeter around the three and were somewhat anxiously looking at the windows and doors of the buildings around them. "What kind of people would want to continue fighting after seeing what Cerberus has done?"
"I don't know sir," said the male Marine. "Criminals, disgruntled humans who agree with Cerberus, remaining Cerberus moles. Hell, there will always be people who try and take advantage of chaos like this in some way or another. Regardless, this sector isn't safe for civilians. I've got orders to escort you back to your news agency if that's where you came from or back to our firebase where you'll be safe."
"Yeah, alright," said Quentus nodding, noticing how relieved the two Marines became once they figured out that he would be cooperative. "Could I ask you some questions on the – "
Quentus heard a loud crack from somewhere behind him and felt a sharp, biting pain in his chest before he was knocked to the ground by the male Marine.
"AMBUSH!" bellowed the female Marine as she fell to a crouch and let loose a burst from her rifle in the direction of one of the buildings near them. The relative quietness of the street had now been shattered with the reports of dozens of small arms from both sides.
"Out of the street!" yelled the male Marine who dragged Quentus through the open doorway of a nearby restaurant. Out of the corner of his eye Tahn saw as the rest of the UNSC squad barreled into the restaurant through the doors or through the glass windows. The Turian thought it was peculiar how he could see an electric-blue hexagonal field come to life a few inches away from the bodies of several Marines as they sought some solid cover, then realized that they must have been some personal shields of some kind.
Meanwhile, the camera drone that had been following him ascended into an out of the way corner of the room, capturing everything occurring within the restaurant in crystal-clear high-definition.
"Emily, get over here!" shouted the male Marine and within seconds the pale face of 'Emily' filled Quentus' vision.
"Hey, Tahn right?" she asked, unslinging a large pack from her back and rifling through its contents, withdrawing what Quentus assumed were medical supplies. "I'm a corpsman. You got hit, but I'm going to patch you up okay?"
Quentus just nodded, not really acknowledging Emily's words in his state of shock. Funny how her name is Emily too, he thought in passing. As the female corpsman looked him over the voices of the UNSC Marines in combat floated in and out of his ears.
"Latis! Find the back door and provide rear security! Hans, Green, get to the second floor and set up the SAW!"
"Aye Sarge!"
"Charlie Six Charlie Six - this is Charlie 5-2! We've been ambushed! Heavy enemy fire on our position, estimate at least two squads worth of hostiles in occupied building across from us. Transmitting grid coordinates. Requesting immediate support! We have one wounded civilian as well, Turian!"
"Sarge, it looks like they're setting up a crew-served!"
"Grenadiers get on it!"
Amidst the long bursts of staccato cracks from rifles and automatic weapons Quentus could hear a couple of light thumps followed by a pair of explosions a second later.
"Sarge, our Turian needs a medevac!" said Emily as she placed the nozzle to a metal tube against Tahn's chest. He took a sharp, painful intake of breath as his chest suddenly felt like it had been stabbed with an ice pick, but the sensation was followed soon after by an intense numbing effect that seemed to penetrate his entire body.
"How bad is it?"
"I think he got hit in the spine. I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"He's a fucking alien Sarge, I don't know!"
"Shit. Can he last another thirty seconds?"
Emily gave him a quick lookover, and in some part of Quentus' mind he found it disturbing that they were talking about whether or not he was going to die. "Probably."
"Latis! Is there enough space out back for a medivac bird to land?"
"Yeah Sarge!"
"Pop smoke, let them know where to touch down!"
One of the Marines on the far side of the room suddenly yelled out a three-letter acronym that struck fear into infantry troops everywhere. "RPG!"
They all threw themselves to the deck and Emily hunched herself over Quentus in an attempt to protect him from the rocket and its aftereffects.
Quentus could have sworn he saw the rocket crash through a window in slow motion and impact the ground a couple of feet away from a Marine taking cover behind the end of a bar. The explosion all but vaporized the Marine closest to the impact zone and turned most of the bar and several nearby tables into thousands of pieces of flying shrapnel. Quentus gasped as the overpressure washed over him and shattered his eardrums, rendering him all but deaf.
Emily collapsed off of him to the side, her face contorted in a cry of pain. Quentus wasn't able to see why as he promptly passed out, but the camera drone clearly showed the foot-long piece of wood that was sticking out of the corpsman's side. The drone also saw the bodies of two dismembered Marines, and another one that was rolling around on the floor wounded and screaming.
The drone switched views to an outfacing window as two Pelican gunships came screaming downwards, rotating around the building where the enemy troopers were and raking the three floors with cannonfire from their chinguns and side-mounted machine guns. Another Pelican came rushing in and stopped just above the roof for the split second needed to allow a fireteam of black-armored Spartan to hop off before taking off again. The team of heavily armored Spartans affixed a breaching charge to the ceiling, dropping through the roof and out of sight after the charge detonated.
The drone swiveled back to the insides of the restaurant as another squad of UNSC Marines barged in, wasting no times in gathering their wounded and dead comrades and ushering them out of the back door. Two corpsmen and another Marine made their way over to Quentus and gently maneuvered him onto a stretcher before carrying him out of the back doorway as well.
Back in the newsroom Wong, Veyla, and Killik sat staring at the gruesome video feed in shock. When Quentus was finally carried out of view of the drone Emily came to her senses and said, "Cut it off."
Killik killed the feed and switched back to the two female anchors and Emily cleared her throat as she tried to regain her composure. She hoped that it wasn't too obvious to the viewers how pale her face had become.
"Um, as you can see there are still some areas of the Citadel that aren't safe, so if you are watching this please take what steps you can to stay where you are until a definitive all-clear signal is given," she said. A new piece of information suddenly flashed across one of their datascreens, and Emily's eyes widened in surprise. She nudged Veyla under the table with her foot to give her the que that she needed to read this.
Veyla took a second to gather herself and read what was on the screen before saying, "Breaking news: Councilor Valern and Councilor Udina have just sent all major news networks a press release that states that the Turian Hierarchy, the Salarian Union, The Systems Alliance, the Vol Protectorate, the Illuminated Primacy, and the United Nations Space Command have entered into a formal political and military alliance as part of the first step towards combating the Reaper invasion…"
UNSC Infinity, Citadel Space, Widow System
"It's about goddam time," muttered Captain Skyheit just loud enough so that it carried through the conference room he was just entering.
The Captain's remark was enough to illicit a few smiles and chuckles from the major military leadership of the Turians, Salarians, Systems Alliance, and UNSC that was following the Captain into the large planning room. Lasky would have said something to Skyheit about his opinion, but to tell the truth he was just voicing what they all felt. Instead he just shared a knowing look with Primarch Victus, the only other military figurehead who had been forced to undergo the wonders of the 'political process'.
They had just spent three and a half hours hammering out the political treaty that now officially binded the Turian Hierarchy, Salarian Union, Systems Alliance, Vol Protectorate, Illuminated Primacy, and the United Nations Space Command. By the end of the negotiations Lasky was debating whether or not to fake a bridge emergency to get out at least for a moment of some piece and quiet.
He couldn't summon the will to do it however, knowing that his position as Admiral meant that he needed to be present for the entire proceedings. In the end he had gratefully signed the treaty drawn up at the end, which had finally signaled the end of the political process. Now the politicians were gone and were being replaced by their military counterparts, and they were ready to discuss subjects that Lasky had great familiarity with - military strategy and tactics.
Lasky went through the names of each being as they entered the room, recalling their information from dossiers courtesy of Cortana he had gone over dozens of times over by now.
Leading the charge into the room was Captain Skyheit of Battlegroup Yorktown, followed by Leiutenant Colonel Dare of ONI, General Mason of the UNSC Marines, and Commander Palmer of the Spartan Program. After them came the Salarian Fleet Admiral Manis, General Viran of the Salarian Army, and Colonel Puzal, head of the Salarian Special Tasks Group.
Following them were the military heads of the Systems Alliance, Admiral Hackett and Admiral Lindholm. Since all of the major Alliance Generals had died either on Earth or at Arcturus when the Reapers attacked, Hackett was also the commander of all Alliance ground forces, effectively putting him in charge of the entire Alliance military. Bringing up the rear were High Admiral Tibrinus and General Corinthus of the Turian Hierarchy. Last but certainly not least were the avatars of Roland and Venus, Battlegroup Yorktown's AI, who stood in the center of the large table comparing holographic files with one another. Cortana wasn't present, having isolated herself on the Normandy with the Master Chief in preparation for their departure to Sur'Kesh.
Lasky had a fleeting thought about whether or not his AI's were more advanced than the Reapers. From what Cortana told him the Reapers themselves were more or less hyper-advanced super-AI's that have had tens of thousands of years to perfect themselves, but that standard was compared to this galaxy's relatively primitive AI's, not their own. He wondered if they could exploit any kind of cyberwarfare when it came to fighting the Reapers, at the same time hoping that they wouldn't be able to do the same thing to the UNSC.
The UNSC Admiral waited for everyone to fill the seats that had been filled with politicians not minutes prior before speaking, "All right, lets get down to business. I want to start by talking about the future of Cerberus."
Most of those present nodded in appreciation for Lasky's straightforwardness, and Primarch Victus asked, "What about Cerberus Admiral Lasky?"
"How do we destroy them?" he said.
Cortana had given him the final casualty count at the end of the political soirée earlier. Seventy-three UNSC personnel dead, one-hundred and ninety-five wounded. Nine-hundred and twenty-three Citadel Security dead, one-thousand six-hundred and twelve wounded. Four-thousand eight-hundred and four civilians dead, sixteen-thousand five-hundred and thirty-five wounded.
The UNSC men and women were not only the first deaths that had occurred since their arrival in this new galaxy, but also the first deaths of what Lasky feared would be many to come as a result of their campaign against the Reapers.
These soldiers and pilots hadn't died fighting the Reapers though, they died fighting fellow Humans. Lasky suddenly became very angry. Who the hell did Cerberus think it was, attacking the Citadel with what seemed to be a sole goal of perpetuating nothing but chaos and death? He knew what they were of course, Cortana and Roland had informed him that they were some sort of human supremacist splinter group that heavily dabbled in terrorism, but why attack the Citadel? Why try and kill those influential members gathered in the Delegation Hall trying to figure out a way to stop the Reapers?
It was almost like Cerberus wanted to cripple the efforts of the galaxy to try and combat the Reapers. Lasky couldn't for the life of him figure out why though. Were they trying to gain power? Move up in the galactic food chain so to speak? Perhaps they thought they could do better against the Reapers, and as per their xenophobic agenda try and take out the leadership of the non-human races as they attempted their coup? But if the combined forces of nearly the entire galaxy wouldn't prove to be enough to defeat the Reapers, what chance did Cerberus have?
The whole situation just reminded Lasky of the Insurrection during the Covenant War. Even though the Covenant were slaughtering millions, burning dozens of world to glass during their genocidal campaign to exterminate the human race, the Insurrection had continued to be a thorn in the UNSC's side. Nay, they had actually gotten bolder while the UNSC was focused elsewhere. Major terrorist attacks, attempted revolutions against UEG governments on individual planets, even the flat-out skirmishes with UNSC space patrols and peacekeeping forces.
At least they had finally scoured every inch of Cerberus' presence off of the Citadel. Just before the start of the honor ceremony Cortana had told him that bomb disposal teams were working to disarm the last of the myriad explosive traps they had left behind. It had only taken the lives of twenty-three UNSC personnel to do so, along with hundreds of unfortunate CSEC and civilian casualties.
Colonel Puzal of the STG spoke first, saying, "Cerberus? This meeting was called together to discuss the Reapers. I think its clear to everyone that they are the most pressing threat by far."
Lasky frowned, recalling what he knew of the Colonel. Cortana's dossier had said that Puzal had risen through the ranks of the Salarian Special Tasks Group due to his shrewd political maneuvering more than by his own actions and merits.
Other than installing a galaxy-wide network of stealth spy satellites he hadn't done much to prepare for the Reapers, unlike others under his command. Yet, his political maneuverings often meant that he took much of the credit for the work and achievements of his subordinates.
Lasky was about to retort but Dare beat him to the punch.
"No one here doubts the severity of our situation with regards to the Reapers Colonel," she said, "But it would be foolish to ignore the threat that Cerberus poses as well. The attack on the Citadel may not have been close to the same scale of the attacks at Earth and Palaven, but its certainly still significant. Only a fool would solely focus the gun pointed at their front while disregarding the knife at their back."
"I don't believe that diverting resources towards fighting Cerberus would be wise. Surely we dealt them enough of a blow with their failed takeover attempt to ensure that they won't be a problem in the future," said Puzel.
"You truly believe that Cerberus expended the majority of their military power with this attack?" said Hackett, "I'm likely more familiar with Cerberus and The Illusive Man than anyone else here, and I can say with certainty that ten ships and a few thousand men didn't make up the majority of Cerberus' capital."
"Hackett is right," continued Victus. "Cerberus definitely isn't up to the same level as the Reapers are, but we can't afford to ignore them. Look at the damage they caused today. Thousands dead, including Councilor Sparatus. A major infiltration of Citadel Security along with the death of Executor Pallin. Were it not for the UNSC's timely response many of us wouldn't be here right now. What else could they be planning? They have clearly made themselves the enemies of most of the galaxy, we need to be ready for whatever they could throw at us in the future."
"We need to be ready?" said Puzel a bit incredulously. "The Salarians and Turians shouldn't have to be ready for anything regarding Cerberus. This is a Human problem that they need to solve, not us."
"A Human problem?" repeated Hackett, voice raised a bit at the Colonel's remarks.
"Cerberus was an Alliance Black Ops, was it not? If it wasn't clear before it's clear now – They've obviously gone off the rails. The Humans are responsible for this attack, and they should be the ones who have to deal with it," said Puzel.
"We're Humans too, but we didn't have anything to do with Cerberus' creation or recent actions," started Lasky. "Yet they still killed seventy-three of my men and women and put nearly two hundred in the medical bays. Not to mention assassinating Councilor Sparatus, wounding your Dalatrass, and killing almost seven-hundred of your own people Colonel."
"Even more reason why the Humans should have to atone for the killings of innocent Salarians and Turians by a Human organization," reasoned Puzel.
Lasky, along with many others in the room, were astounded. Here they all were, the military heads of an officially united galactic organization not even an hour old, meeting to discuss how their cooperation would help to combat the greatest threat their civilizations had ever known. Yet Puzel was trying to blame the attack on the Citadel, an event that had harmed the races of all that were present, on the Humans alone? Even worse that he believed it was a problem that not only wasn't worth their time, but also a problem that should be shouldered sorely by the Systems Alliance and the UNSC.
Evidently more than a few military heads were thinking the same thing and all at once they opened up to give Puzel a piece of their mind.
"Enough!" shouted Salarian Fleet Admiral Manis, bringing an immediate end to the arguing. "Every second we waste bickering the Reapers get closer to another planet, killiing another being, and making another soldier out of their corpse. Puzal, it's obvious you lack the will to cooperate. I am hereby stripping you of you position as head of the STG and suspending you from military duty indefinitely."
"I - what?" stammered Puzel. "You've overstepped your boundaries Manis, you can't possibly think you can do that."
Lasky sucked in a breath and winced internally. Bad call Puzel. Challenging a superior officer like that.
"No Puzel, I haven't. I'm not surprised you've forgotten but the Special Tasks Group is a subsection of the Salarian Navy, of which I am in command," said Manis coldly. "I have full authority to strip you of you position. Your incompetence was evident from the start and has only worsened over time, and now you want to completely forgoe any sense of cooperation or unity between our races."
Manis leaned in towards Puzel and pointed a finger in his direction. "I've been wanting to do this for a long time Puzel. You and I both know that your family ties with the Dalatrass are the only things that have kept you as the head of STG. In fact, it's something you've held over my head for years with your infuriating sense of arrogant superiority. But now that the Reapers have returned the Dalatrass won't dare to question my decisions."
"Are you forgetting everything I've done to empower the Salarians? All the work I've accomplished? The largest stealth observation satellite network the galaxy has ever seen! An entire stealth fleet, fortification on every planet!" argued Puzel.
"Everything you've done? You had absolutely nothing to do with the commission of the Zero Fleet, our fortifications, or anything regarding preparation for the Reapers. And saying that your vaunted stealth observation system was an effort to prepare for the Reapers is 'bullshit', to borrow a Human term. We both know you just wanted to use the information you would gain from the other Citadel races to further your political blackmailing schemes." Manis leaned back in his chair and folded his arms over his chest. "Now get out."
Puzel looked like he wanted to say something based on the way he was opening and closing his mouth, but he eventually got up out of his chair and made quickly for the door. He stopped just before exiting and looked back to Manis, glaring at the Admiral. "You'll pay for this."
"Idiot," muttered Manis after Puzel had left and the door slid shut. The Salarian Admiral gave a heavy sigh and looked towards the two AI in the center of the table. "Do any of you know if Major Kirrahe has left with Shepard on the Normandy yet?"
"Not yet Admiral," responded Roland. "The Normandy has just finished taking on its last bit of fuel and supplies. They are scheduled to leave dock in ten minutes."
"Thank you," Manis said, withdrawing a personal communicator. He pressed a few keys and placed the device on the table, obviously having set it to speaker mode. The device ringed once before Kirrahe's voice came through.
"Admiral Manis, I wasn't expecting your call. Is there something you need?"
"Yes. I need you to get to the UNSC Infinity as soon as possible and join us here at the War Council," said Manis.
"The War Council?" said Kirrahe, confused. "But sir, I'm supposed to escort Urdnot Wrex and Commander Shepard to Sur'Kesh to insure that the handover of the Krogan female goes smoothly."
"Someone else can handle that Kirrahe, Puzel's been dismissed from his position. As of right now you are the acting head of the Salarian Special Tasks Groups, and as such I need you here at the War Council. Congratulations Colonel."
Kirrahe was silent for only a couple of seconds before responding with, "I see… I'll alert the Commander of my departure then."
"I'll arrange for transport to meet you at the Normandy's dock Colonel," said Roland.
"Very well, I will join you shortly. Kirrahe out."
"Well then, where were we?" asked Manis, his tone of voice suggesting that he didn't think anything significant had just taken place. "Discussing ways to deal with Cerberus?"
Lasky couldn't help but be immensely impressed. He might have been an Admiral by trade, but he knew enough about politics to recognize the stellar political move that Admiral Manis had just pulled. Not only did he get rid of an incompetent officer that he had been meaning to for a long time, but he also did it in a way that proclaimed that he and the Navy weren't beholden to the STG, the Dalatrass, or the threat of political backlash. Manis just cemented to everyone in the room that they had the absolute support of the Salarian Navy for the upcoming trials.
Out of the corner of his eye Lasky saw as Dare glanced at him before looking down towards the datapad she had brought. Manis had just proved that the Salarian Navy had solid control over the STG. He couldn't help but draw some sort of parallels to the United Nations Space Command and the Office of Navel Intelligence. Except ONI's and the UNSC's relationship was a lot more… complicated. Lasky remembered back to Requiem and how Admiral Osman had ordered him to carry out the manhunt and execution of Doctor Halsey. He was an Admiral now, but he doubted he had the power necessary to deal with anything ONI related in the way that Manis just did with his STG. If he tried he'd probably find himself 'detained indefinitely for consultations' or something equally ONI-like.
"I believe we can assist with that," said Dare. "During the Citadel attack we disabled a Cerberus frigate and had a Special Forces team infiltrate the bridge. We managed to capture some relevant data before the ship self-destructed, mainly the location of several Cerberus military bases, research facilities, and even a small shipyard."
"It's a start," said Hackett. "If you wouldn't mind forwarding that information to me Lieutenant-Colonel, I could begin organizing strike teams to deal with these targets."
"The Turians would be happy to assist you in seeking out and destroying these Cerberus targets," said Victus. "Admiral Tibrinus, General Corinthus, I'm sure that we could spare some small ship groups or Armiger platoons, right?"
"I appreciate your generosity Primarch, but you and I both know that you are going to need every Turian asset that's available in the upcoming weeks. Almost all of these targets are in Alliance space or close to it, let us handle it," reasoned Hackett.
"Do not place the burden of dealing with Cerberus solely on your shoulders Hackett," said Manis, "Lest we forget what our intrepid Colonel Puzel said earlier. While it is true that the Turians should focus all of their efforts on their own front for now, given that it is currently the only one besieged by the Reapers, the Salarians would gladly spare some strike teams to work alongside you in ridding the galaxy of Cerberus' disease."
"Excellent. I vote that we solidify these plans at the conclusion of this meeting," suggested Hackett. "While it's certain that Cerberus has no idea the kind of wrath that's going to come down on them after this stunt they've pulled, we have bigger fish than them to fry."
"Indeed," agreed Primarch Victus. "So lets get to it. I suggest that we get started by having a brief 'know-your-enemy' type discussion. In what areas do the Reapers outclass us, and how can we combat those? In what areas do we outclass the Reapers, and how can we press those to our advantage? That sort of thing."
"Well if there's one thing we can take solace in it's that we can hold our own against Reaper troops on the ground," said Corinthus. "In fact, I would say that we could do more than just hold our own."
"You believe that we stand a chance against Reaper soldiers?" asked Salarian General Viran.
"I know that we can. We've only encountered four types of Reaper soldiers so far," said Corinthus. As he spoke the datascreens around the room sprang to life with images and statistics about the various Reapers soldiers.
Corinthus pointed to the datascreens and said, "From left to right the troops are referring to these enemies as Husks, Cannibals, Mauraders, and Brutes. Husks are melee-only, slower than the average runner, and easy to kill, but in large numbers can be hard to control and overrun a position if you're not careful. Next you have Cannibals, which appear to be the Reaper's mainline troops. They're typically seen in together in 'squads' of six to twelve but by themselves are heavily outclassed by our own troopers. Unless they have the leadership of a Maurader Cannibals don't seem to know any sort of squad level-tactics like fire-and maneuver, suppressing fire, flushing out with grenades, ect."
"But they do learn how to do those things in the presence of a Maurader?" asked Commander Palmer.
"Yes. We believe that Marauders serve as command figures, giving levels of coordination and ability to Cannibals and even Husks that aren't seen when they're not present," said Corinthus.
"That should make them high-priority targets then," said Palmer.
"Indeed. Take out the Marauders and the troops they're with become disorganized easier to kill," said Corinthus. "Typically we've seen one or two Marauders per Cannibal 'squad', but we've also had reports of troops encountering squads solely made up of Marauders."
Like many other things regarding the Reapers, Lasky drew an immediate parallel to the Covenant. In the previous war, Elites replaced the Marauders while Jackels and Grunts replaced the Cannibals and Husks.
"And what about this last creature? A Brute? It's easily the size of an armored personnel carrier," asked General Viran.
"Yes, the Brutes. We only encountered a small number of these on Palaven and Menae, but when we did the results weren't pretty. These things shrug off small-arms fire like it isn't even there, and even anti-material level sniper rounds did little more than piss it off. It's large claw there seems to be its only method of attack, but the force it can put behind blows from that thing is staggering," said Corinthus.
"So, anti-tank weaponry then?" asked Palmer.
"Heavy vehicle fire or air support is effective as well," said Corinthus.
"Speaking of heavy vehicles and air support," started General Viran, "Do we know if the Reapers posses any such things?"
"Air support, yes," said Corinthus. "Their drone fighters are capable of going atmospheric and the Reapers have some sort of heavy gunship/troop carrier hybrid that we saw on Palaven and Menae. But as far as vehicles go, we saw no evidence of any. Those Brutes were are the closest things they've got to vehicles I'd say."
"What about artillery? Heavy guns or mortars?" asked Palmer.
"No, we've haven't encountered anything like that," said Corinthus. "Strikes from Reapers ships down on the ground could be classified as heavy artillery I suppose though."
"Any signs of anti-tank weaponry? Snipers? Crew-served machine guns? Grenade launchers or squad automatic weapons?"
"None," said Corinthus, shaking his head. "They do utilize thrown grenades however."
"If that's all the Reapers have to offer on the ground we have an excellent chance if we can only gain orbital superiority. Without it any ground offensive would just be a stalling measure really," said Lasky, thinking back to the Covenant War once again.
"We need to discuss space combat," said Admiral Tibrinus, the Turian's first words of the meeting. "Whether we like it or not space is where this war is really going to be won or lost."
On all four sides of the room large datascreens came to life, showing the profiles and statistics of the various types of Reaper ships they've encountered so far.
Tibrinus sighed, looking down at the table before saying grimly, "The problem is the Reapers have us hopelessly outclassed, at least as far as the Turian Navy is concerned. That much was made clear above Palaven."
"It wasn't much different above Earth for Alliance warships either," said Admiral Lindholm, stony-faced.
"We need specifics Admirals," said Manis. "Attention to detail is what is going to find us the advantages we need."
"You're right. Well, let's start with the capabilities of the Reaper's weapons systems," said Tibrinus. "They're leagues above what we have. One shot from one of those smaller Destroyers can destroy frigates and will nine-times-out-of-ten destroy a Cruiser. The main weapons on the larger Reaper Capital Ships will easily destroy Frigates, Destroyers, Cruisers, and heavily damage if not destroy Carriers and even our largest Dreadnoughts. The only reason I'm here right now is because my flagship took a 'glancing blow' that still burned through dozens of decks and killed hundreds of my crew."
Tibrinus was silent for a few seconds, tapping his fingers against the oaken wood while he thought. "We didn't see any evidence of missile technology from the Reapers, but they each have extensive pulse laser networks that are remarkable effective against our own missiles and torpedoes, and are even powerful enough the heavily damage our smaller ships at close range. Admiral Hackett, does this ring true in your experience as well?"
"Nearly to the letter," responded Hackett. "You know the fleet classifications and combat tactics between the Alliance and Turian Navy's are very similar."
"Okay, well how do our own weapons against them?" asked Manis.
"Not well unfortunately," responded Tibrinus. "When it came to our main mass accelerator systems massed fire was the only way we saw any kind of progress against the Reapers. It took the combined efforts of ten, fifteen ships at a time to even bring their kinetic barriers down, let alone destroy one."
"What about disruptor torpedoes, or GARDIAN lasers even?"
"The Reaper's laser defense network are much more advanced than ours, they had no problems destroying the literal swarms of torpedoes that we tried and send at them. There were some instanced where a few did get through and managed to cause some noteworthy damage however, but it is such a low ratio of effectiveness. And getting close enough to engage with GARDIAN lasers would be tantamount to suicide," said Tibrinus.
"Hmm. Fighter craft?" asked Manis.
"We have them beat in that area at least," responded Tibrinus. "The Reapers use some sort of unmanned, unshielded drones as fighter craft. They're more maneuverable and more numerous, but that's not enough to give them the advantage. Our birds are faster, have better weapons, longer staying power, and our pilots are better trained and more coordinated when it comes to squadron and wing tactics."
"I mean no offense to the skills of Turian or Alliance pilots," started Manis, "But how are we more coordinated? The Reapers are AI's, wouldn't they be able to coordinate their own fighters much more effectively than we would be able to?"
"No offense taken Admiral, and that's what everyone else was confused about too. Above Palaven Reaper fighters acted extremely individualistic. Only in a few instances did we see examples of Reaper craft pairing up with wingmen, and we never saw organized formations at the squadron or wing level. It seems that they relied on the swarm of their raw numbers to overwhelm our own pilots, but it didn't work."
"It's interesting that you would mention their fighters seeming individualism," said Lasky, "That is something I've noticed when it comes to the Reapers mainline ships as well. Roland, could you pull up vid file thirty-one from the battle above Earth?"
"Of course Admiral," replied the AI and the datascreens around the room changed their images to be the one that Lasky requested.
"Let it play Roland," said Lasky, and as the video started Lasky narrated. "This is about the time when the Reapers figured out how much of a threat the Infinity really way and started to focus their attention on us. You can see how they completely bypass most Alliance warships and even our smaller Frigate screen in an attempt to close to their main weapons range with the Infinity."
"Now," he continued, "There is no doubt that the Reapers had the numerical advantage in this battle. If they had wanted to have their best chance at destroying us they should have massed their considerable numbers, concentrated and supported their efforts, and overwhelmed our shields and hull under a withering amount of consolidated fire. Instead they came at us one, two, three ships at a time, which gave our weapons ample opportunity to pick most of them off before they got a chance to focus their efforts."
"From what I've read each Reaper is created independently from the collective consciousness of billions or organic minds confined to one mechanical 'body. Each Reaper is it's own 'being' so to speak, it has its own thoughts, even it's own name. Shepard's reports on the Reapers 'Sovereign' and 'Harbinger' are what I draw this information from. It would make sense that they conduct themselves in very individualistic manners during combat if they are individuals themselves."
"If what you say is true Admiral Lasky than the Reaper's arrogance and individualism will be their downfall," said Primarch Victus. "But I think you know that it will be your ships and crew who make the real difference in this war. Your vessels are the only ones capable of going toe-to-toe with the Reapers and actually winning, something the rest of us can only dream of."
"Yes, I am aware," confirmed Lasky. "The question is, how exactly are my ships going to be used to make that difference?"
Lasky's question sent everyone around the table into deep thought. After a moment of silence Admiral Tibrinus spoke up and said, "If there is something that we can hold over the Reapers, it's that our smaller ships are faster than theirs at sublight speeds, and we have a range advantage when it comes to our mass accelerators. I was thinking that we could use that and the fact that the MAC's aboard your smaller UNSC Frigates and Destroyers ships can disable or severely damage a Reaper's kinetic barriers in a single shot to our advantage."
"Possibly make fast-moving strike groups centered around single UNSC ships?" asked Hackett, picking up on what Tibrinus was going for, "Six to eight of our ships to every UNSC vessel."
"Shoot and scoot tactics. Have them target one Reaper at a time." said Captain Skyheit, "Open up with a MAC round that would overwhelm a Reaper's kinetic barriers, leaving it vulnerable to attack from mass accelerators of the accompanying Turian, Alliance, or Salarian ships."
"Then haul ass outa there, rinse and repeat," finished Hackett.
"That very well might be a viable option for our Frigates, Destroyers, and even Cruisers, but what about our heavier ships?" asked Lasky. "The Infinity and our Heavy Cruisers, as well as everyone else's Dreadnoughts and Carriers are either too large or too slow for such maneuvers."
"But that's just it Admiral Lasky. Your larger ships have staying power, something that the rest of our Navy's sorely lack. Combined with our Dreadnoughts, Carriers, and Cruisers we could form the backbone of a defensive line around the Infinity and your other heavy ships while these hunter-killer packs go out, engage a single Reaper, then bolt back to our line before the Reapers have a chance to respond," said Tibrinus.
"This could very well be a viable strategy given some further refinement of course, but where would we employ it? What we just discussed is a defensive tactic, yet any move against the Reapers on planets they've already besieged would be an offensive one. Did you have a place in mind where we could attempt this?" asked Admiral Manis.
"I do," said Tibrinus, nodding. "Admiral Lasky, could one of your AI's bring up the map of the Turian Front?"
The Turian Admiral's request was immediately granted as the datascreens changed their image to one of the galactic sector of Turian space. Everyone stared at the map for a moment, noting the large number of systems that had been colored red, Reaper besieged.
"As you can all see, after hitting Palaven the Reapers have started to branch out and advance deeper into Turian space. We've been retreating from world to world ever since, trying to save as many civilians as we can and consolidate our remaining military power for an eventual defensive stand," said Admiral Tibrinus.
"We believe that the best place to enact this defensive stand would be here in the Julta System above the planet of Despara. It's a medium-sized world in terms of population but represents one of our most significant ship-building operations. The shipyards and raw resources of Despara and her surrounding asteroid belt would be vital in the repair and rearmament of our remaining fleets," said Tibrinus. "However, the real strategic value of Despara lies in the location of its Mass Relay. It serves as a natural choke-point in Turian space. They Reapers would need to pass through Despara if they wanted to continue their advance towards the systems that lay beyond it. If we can hold them there we could effectively box in the Reapers and confine them to the systems they're already in."
"Once we do that, we can push out from Despara and take the fight to the Reapers," said Hackett.
"And eventually, retake our home. Take back Palaven," said Victus, his voice full of determination.
"And Earth," Hackett added quietly.
Victus placed a hand on Hackett's shoulders in support. "And Earth."
It was at that moment when the door whooshed open and the now Colonel Kirrahe stepped through, dressed in the black armor of the STG. He stood just inside the doorway for a few seconds, looking over everyone present to get a sense of whom he would be working alongside.
"Colonel Kirrahe," greeted Admiral Manis, "Please take a seat."
"Yes sir," replied the Salarian, making his way towards the seat besides Manis that Puzel had left empty. Evidently his trained eye had taken notice of the planet on the datascreens and as he sat down he asked, "Despara? In the Julta system correct? Major Turian shipyard and natural Mass Relay chokepoint?"
"Correct. We have been discussing making a defensive stand to head off the Reaper's advance into the rest of Turian space," said Victus.
"Interesting. Break their momentum while gaining our own. Do you plan to take the offensive to the Reapers if we are successful here?" asked Kirrahe.
"Yes, that is the plan," replied Admiral Tibrinus.
Manis was well aware of the look Kirrahe possessed, it was the look of a man coming up with an idea. "I've known you long enough to know that you're thinking of something Colonel, what is it?"
Kirrahe paused, still getting used to his new rank but nonetheless asked, "Are we planning to use the Salarian Stealth Fleet during this defensive engagement Admiral Manis?"
"Of course. We were hoping that Zero Fleet could be one of our 'aces in the hole', to borrow a human expression. Why?"
"I just had an idea for how the STG could help during the push towards Palaven, which I am assuming is the overall goal." He saw head nods around the room which meant he was correct, then continued with, "I would like to use some of the smaller, faster stealth ships, mainly Frigates, to insert teams of STG operatives onto Reaper controlled planets on the Turian front. We could conduct reconnaissance or sabotage operations and coordinate local resistance until major fleet actions chase the Reaper ships away and the real ground work can begin."
Manis smiled at Kirrahe's initiative. "He's already come up with better idea in less than a minute than Puzel came up with in his entire career. That's an excellent proposal Colonel. I knew I made the right choice."
"Thank you Admiral," said Kirrahe humbly.
"Do the Reapers know of the significance of Despara and how it relates to their goal of conquering Turian space?" asked Dare, ever vigilant when it came to details like this.
"Unfortunately yes," responded Tibrinus. "We've determined that there's a pattern to the Reaper's advance through out space, they're definitely making their ways towards Despara, only taking time and diverting forces to deal with the planets and Turian military groups that are in there way."
"Well then, there isn't any time to lose," said Lasky. "We make for the Julta system. We'll hold the Reapers at Despara, and then we take the fight to them."
Special thanks to my beta JonHarper