Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or the various X-COM games. They belong to their respective copyright owners. This story is not written for profit. I make no money from it. It is not for sale or rent.
AN: I need a beta for this story!
Chapter 1: Vacation, X-COM style
=SF=
Part 3. Welcome home, soldier; welcome to the war
23:08 PM 12 August 2176AD
Athena District Police Station
Olympus City
Elysium
Vetus System
"The Armory is this way, sergeant." A police officer led us down a long corridor leading to the depths of the building. A heavy armed and armored SWAT team jogged in the opposite direction barely giving us a glance.
"Any news on who are our uninvited guests?"
"Last we heard there was a ME based fleet incoming. We've been jammed ever since."
"So at least it's not Ethereals." I let out a sigh of relief.
"Don't joke like that, sir!" One of the marines quipped.
The cop shook his head at our antics. "Here it is." He waved at the end of the corridor, where a pair of officers armed with laser rifles stood guard over the opened doors of the Armory.
We wasted another couple of minutes while our identifications were checked again, just to make reasonably sure that we weren't infiltrators who would start shooting up the station from within, before the guards let us in to get armed.
"Johnson, who are your buddies? I haven't seen them around." The Armorer's gruff voice greeted us. He was a heavily augmented black man who was more metal than flesh. There was extensive scarring around his synthetic limbs showing that his "upgrades" weren't entirely voluntary.
"A bunch of marines and an X-COM celebrity." Our guide quipped.
"So you grunts came to poach my toys?" The Armorer, who had sergeant stripes visible on his uniform jacked shook his head in a mock disapproval. "Any idea who is invading us today?"
"So that's a frequent occurrence around here? I should have a word with my travel agent. He didn't mention such fun and games."
"Heh. We are on the fringe of human settled space. It was just a matter of time."
"Damn right. Probably Batarians. No one else is dumb enough to try." Johnson grunted.
"I'll take them any day instead of more Etherials."
"You'll know, sarge."
"What do you have for us?" I asked the Armorer who still hadn't offered his name.
"Laser rifles, some old carapace armor and rigs with kinetic barriers. A few spare flash-bangs..." The augmented man started pointing at different corners of the Armory.
"Couple of Alloy cannons too, if I'm not mistaken."
"Those two, yeah." He nodded at said weapons.
"Suit up. On the double people!" I snapped my best impression of a drill instructor and headed towards the racks of armor.
Johnson's omni-tool pinged and he fired it up. "We have drop-ships touching down in Troy and Sparta. Batarians all right. Vorcha too, damn critters."
"Any Krogan?" I asked while strapping on a breastplate that was a size too big. According to my training, the Vorcha were rarely seen without at least a few Krogan to keep the crazy bastards in check.
"Not so far. We just lost the grid in Sparta. Overloads." Johnson grumbled.
"So they are not complete imbeciles. A pity."
"Not too bright either. The Alliance won't let this stunt go unpunished." Shepard, who had already gotten into her borrowed armor, muttered.
"Damn straight. Now, it goes without saying, but those aren't the bad old days. So no heroics or any dumb stunts." I started reading the riot act on my makeshift squad. "Watch each others backs, keep low and into cover when possible. And try very hard not to get killed."
"That's an order we can get behind, boss!" One of the marines, Marines I think, cheered.
I placed the tactical rig containing the shield emitters and battery over the armor and went towards the weapon racks. Shepard had claimed one of the Alloy Cannons and was petting the damn thing. She had a disturbing smile on her face too, which started ringing alarm bells in the back of my head.
I went next to her and grabbed the other cannon, checked it up and strapped it on the tactical harness over my chest before I started loading myself with ammo.
"Private, you are obviously giddy with the prospect of blowing up Batarians to little chunks." I whispered to the red head.
My words took her out of her happy place and she looked sheepishly at me.
"If you pull some stunt and get one of us killed I'll shoot you myself. Just to be clear." I fixed her with a cold stare.
"Understood, sarge. I'll behave." She looked as if I just kicked her puppy.
"You'd better." I muttered. Why did I always end up serving with the crazy? Oh, yeah. I was X-bloody-COM. It came with the territory. We were a damn crazy magnet.
=SF=
23:19 PM 12 August 2176 AD
Athena District
Olympus City
Elysium
Vetus System
A few minutes later, we were in the back of a police van, which was keeping low to the ground while racing towards the mayor's office. Before the surveillance grid was fried in this district too, it noted that at least four shuttles with gunship escort to boot, were landing on the front lawn. About a third of the local SWAT units were already there, guarding the place. They were already engaging the hostiles and asking for help before contact was lost due to jamming.
Considering that most of the local law enforcement officers were busy assisting with the evacuation of the civies or trying to slow down the invaders, I decided that we were going to reinforce the Mayor's office.
Thanks to Johnson's crazy driving, it took us only couple of minutes to get from the precinct to the small plaza where the invader's had landed. And that's with him keeping to side streets so we didn't make too tempting a target for an enemy gunship. We spilled out of the van the moment Johnson hit the brakes and split out, dashing to get into cover.
Which proved to be unnecessary. We were at the back of the enemy force, who had all their attention concentrated on the five story building where the SWAT were hunkering down. The imbeciles had no rearguard posted, not even an odd drone or sensor left to warn them if some sneaky bastards were preparing to ream them from behind.
Obviously the bastards were anything but professional. Or they had a psionic keeping an eye on the area, however unlikely that was.
We could clearly see the four shuttles, each a different model, that were parked in the center of the plaza. There were at least five humanoid bodies in hardsuids laying around the ships. The pair of gunships we were warned about were buzzing overhead, strafing the Mayor's office. It was clear that those birds were the only reason why the SWAT folks hadn't slaughtered the invaders before they could actually disembark.
I glanced at the Armorer, who still refused to introduce himself, despite his decision to came with us after we took what little remained of his toys. He had a content smile on his face and a rocket launcher in his hands.
"Shepard, you and Martines will draw the fire of the second gunship after our mek-boy here blows the other to kingdom come. Then I'll deal with the bloody nuisance. The rest of you, give us some cover fire. Once the aerial treats are down, we'll hit the bastards from behind and pin them between us and the SWAT."
When the gunships prepared for another strafing run, conveniently placing their backsides in our direction I gave a hand-sign. The Armorer shouldered his weapon, took a moment to lock on his chosen target and left the missile fly. The insect like small craft banked left, its engines whining with strain as its pilot tried to evade. Countermeasures were shot from under the tail of the machines, leaving a rain of heat and light behind. However the advanced seeker of the missile paid no attention to the distraction, slamming in the right engine of the craft. An Elerium enhanced explosive detonated, shearing the gunship in two.
The other pest wasted no time and swung our way. Just as planned, Shepard and Martines dashed forward, sending the odd shot at the remaining gunship. The red haired woman blazed with purple light, accessing her gift. The air around the two marines distorted moments before the gunship opened fire with its cannon. The heavy bullets slammed all around the soldiers shredding the marble tile covering the plaza but otherwise causing little damage.
Score one for the distortion field.
While the enemy pilot was his attention otherwise occupied, I stood up. My gift flared up as I touched it, filling me up with warmth and sense of power. I directed the psionic energy in a well practiced path, a distorted sphere forming over my outstretched palm. It grew to the size of a football ball before I sent it at the gunship, guiding it with a purple tendril of energy. My attack struck true, hitting just above the cockpit. It warped, growing up to a meter in size, before twisting and shredding a chunk of the craft. The gunship spun out of control and slammed in the ground.
Straight at the fountain behind Martines had taken cover.
"Shit." I muttered.
The marine tried to sprint away, but he wasn't fast enough. The downed gunship blew up, engulfing the soldier in a wave of fire and shrapnel. I scanned the small sea of fire with my mind, hoping that he survived, but found nothing.
"God damn it!" I hissed. "Move in. We have invaders to kill."
I followed my order, sprinting forward. I caught a glimpse of Shepard. She was enveloped in a halo of psionic power as she charged forward. A pair of Batarians, who didn't have helmets on, had turned our way just in time to meet her. She used her power to propel herself at them, slamming in the closer one with enough strength to blow him off his feet. The other opened fire with his assault rifle, the grain sized bullets splashing on her shields. Shepard laughed and blew his head into chunks of flesh and bone with a well placed shot from her Cannon.
"Crazy woman." I muttered.
The only reason she wasn't blown away in turn were the SWAT folks who used the distraction to pour a torrent of fire in the caught off guard invaders. Then the rest of my makeshift squad got into position and spears of invisible light lanced at the enemy positions.
I let my soldiers to finish mopping up the surrounded invaders and fired off my omni-tool, calling up a map of the area, wondering what my next move should be, beyond linking up with the SWAT unit.
=SF=
Part 4: A bad day in the office
23:14 PM 12 August 2176 AD
Joint Force Base (JFB) "Achilles"
Elysium
Vetus System
Major Steven Chow sprinted towards the hangar where his XW 31-Spirit Interceptor was safely protected by heavy armor and kinetic barriers. Around him army grunts were running for the base's Armories while a few of the AA emplacements were shooting up under local control. He could clearly see the funnels of smoke sneaking in the air from where the base's barracks used to be. The motor pool as well as a the hangars containing the ready flight were hit too, with the poor bastards getting incinerated before they could fly away.
Which should have been impossible, with the damn Navy in space, not to mention the planetary defense grid in place. Instead the first warning anyone got was the ear-piercing wail of the sirens moments before the orbital strikes hit.
At that time, Chow had been off duty, playing cards with a few buddies near one of the gunship hangars. That's what saved him from being killed in bed like most of his wing when the barracks were blown asunder. Steven's mind drifted, the images of what happened dancing before his eyes while he tried to coax a bit more speed from his burning legs.
He was sitting on an empty provisions crate, like his three other buddies. They were using an empty mech container as a makeshift table, which was covered with cards, chips and a few half-empty bottles of beer. Chow glanced at his hand and smirked at his fellow pilot who was sitting on the other side of the "table".
"All in."
"Wanker." Theodore Koll, a mechanic chief who stood to his right grumbled and folded his hand.
"Getting a bit arrogant, are we, little brother?" The last of the quartet chortled.
She was the only female in the small group and Chow's sister. Samantha believed that she knew his tells too, something that Steven was about to prove wrong.
"Sam, you've always been too..." Steven's words were drowned by the screech of a siren.
For a moment, the four of them were stunned.
"This has to be a drill, right?" Ron Cellar, the second pilot in the small group muttered.
"Can't risk it anyway. Move it people!" Chow ordered, the light buzz from the couple of beers he had drunk suddenly disappearing. They split in two directions. Samantha went to join her marines, while the pilots and the mechanic headed towards the Interceptor hangars.
Their first clue that whatever was happening was for real was when a few of the AA emplacements ringing the base opened fire. The familiar crack of lasers and whirling sound of rocked engines sounded over the whine of the sirens.
"That's not right!" Ron shouted over the cacophony.
Steven gave a grim nod. The base's defenses should have been putting a much greater volume of fire. What was actually happening appeared to be from weapons on local control.
Which meant sabotage.
An icy ball formed in the pit of Chow's stomach. He glanced up and blanched. A spread of falling stars was heading straight at the base.
"DUCK!" he screamed and jumped on the ground. His buddies followed suit without asking questions, which was a good thing.
Couple of seconds later they were buffered by shock-waves, heat and deafening roar of explosions. The ground below them shook like thrown by an earthquake.
Chow shook his head and looked around, trying to fight the sudden spell of dizziness that was trying to overwhelm him. He glanced around to see black smoke raising from multiple places around the base.
"Fuck. Ron, Theo! Are you two all right?!" He shouted.
Steven got a thumbs up and a middle finger in response, which was good enough.
"Move!" He shouted and rose on unsteady legs, before heading for the hangars.
=CF=
When they reached the building housing Chow's and Cellar's birds, the trio was almost shot by wild eyed private who was obviously shaken by the surprise attack. Fortunately he recognized the Major before actually pressing the trigger of his AR and waved them in after glancing at Chow's ID.
Inside they found only one of the mechanics, Victor Fedorov, who was busy arming one of the Spirits with missiles. A bunch of Mechs were helping him, running checks on the birds. Victor glanced their way and a look of relief appeared on his face.
"Boss, I'm glad you made it. We lost the ready flight in the first strike. I was afraid you bought it when the fuckers hit the barracks." Victor took a deep breath before continuing. "The General wants all available birds in the air before they hit us again. The squids had their hand full up there, there is a whole god damned fleet bearing on our position."
"When it rains in pours..." Ron cursed. He headed towards a nearby rows of lockers which contained flight suits.
"Any idea if anyone else of the 21st made it?" Chow asked before following his friend.
"Sorry, sir. No news. All I know is that the barracks were hit bad."
=CF=
A few minutes later, Major Chow was strapped in the cockpit of his Spirit, his attention divided between a hasty check on the bird's systems and the sensor screen, which was plugged in the base's sensor grid. The picture it painted was ugly.
The fleet was squaring against a ten times their number of unknown ships, with some leakers already hitting the atmosphere, disgorging shuttles and gunships. The only saving grace was that they were in the wrong position to immediately start bombarding the base, something that would undoubtedly be corrected soon.
Chow had no intention to be caught on the ground when that inevitably happened.
His eyes ran over the readout showing his wing's status. Only five pilots, Ron and him included had reported to the hangars and were preparing to take off. As far as he knew those were the only survivors. It was confirmed that the whole ready squadron had died before they could launch. The initial strike had been concentrated on them, the barracks and the energy grid of the Capital which was nearby.
"Major, you are all green!" Theo's voice came over his helmet's speakers. Chow looked out and gave a thumb's up to his friend who was looking at his omni-tool.
Steven pressed a button and the canopy slid in place before polarizing. He flipped two switches and the kinetic barriers came to life, steadily raising in power while the anti-gravity drive hummed, drawing energy from the Elerium core.
"Razor-1, launching."
The Spirit Interceptor rose above the ground, its landing pads retracting in the hull. Chow carefully guided his craft out of the hangar's door and into the night. A ping on his sensor screen heralded that another fighter was exiting its hangar. Steven smiled when the IFF was processed. It was a Dragon Strike Craft.
However his joy was short lived. Warnings flashed on his display. An enemy frigate was getting into position high above the base. Chow let his training take over as he activated the afterburner and his sleek craft headed for the heavens. His sensors started searching the sky for the intruder daring to challenge him, while the slower Dragon started its own climb and prepared to join the hunt.
He tried to contact the other friendly craft but got no answer. For all Steven know, the bird might have launched with it's comms down. That would be inconvenient to say the least.
The sensor screen lit up with crimson icons, while the VI integrated in the Interceptor plotted their trajectories and point of origin. While the idiot savant that was supposed to help him fly was working, Chow tagged the incoming projectiles as targets and opened fire. First he sent two Dart missiles, before opening fire with his laser cannons. Whatever surviving his gun run would have to content with the Dragon and the base's AA defenses which hopefully would be soon fully operational.
One of the missiles merged with the icon of a torpedo, both vanishing from the screen. Steven nailed another of the incoming projectiles with his lasers, but then he had to go evasive when he was pinged by the targeting suite of the enemy frigate. He wasn't too keen to find out first hand how well the Spirit's armor would handle the enemy lasers.
That left the remaining torpedoes to slip by him only to run straight in the maw of the Dragon. The Strike Craft made a short work of them, blowing up six torpedoes and leaving a single projectile heading for the base. This time the AA emplacements got lucky, nailing it a kilometer above the ground.
Meanwhile Chow was in the zone, his attention concentrated on the frigate. He ripple fired four missiles at it, giving the GUARDIAN something else to shoot at, before he opened fire with his lasers. A glance at the sensors told him that the rest of the Interceptors were vectoring towards Olympus, ordered to strike at the enemy drop-ships heading at the city. That left him and the Dragon as the only friendly craft over the base until reinforcements from the other bases could arrive in force.
To make his life even more interesting, a second frigate breached the atmosphere and headed his way. The Dragon changed direction and headed straight at the new intruder. With that distraction taken away, Chow could concentrate his attention on his quarry.
A few seconds later he entered effective range and pressed the trigger. Invisible spars of coherent light started lancing between the two craft ignoring the kinetic barrier protecting them.
=CF=
23:27 PM 12 August 2176 AD
SSV "Berlin"
High Orbit over Elysium
Vetus System
"That was close." The XO muttered when the cruiser shook from an enemy hit.
"Starboard barriers down to twenty percent."
"Dump emergency power in their banks. Weapons, nail me that frigate!" Holy glared at the icon of the enemy ship that unloaded a quartet of torpedoes in her ship's side, nearly overwhelming the shields.
"On it, Ma'am."
The starboard's plasma guns spoke as one, bracketing the offending frigate with gobs of green death. Her barriers held for a moment, before the magnetic charge containing the plasma destabilized them, leaving the small ship vulnerable for the next barrage. The light armor of the frigate was no match for the strike that landed on it, vaporizing or shattering from the impact. The plasma dug deep into the enemy craft, turning decks into shrapnel filled furnaces. Berlin delivered a third strike before the frigate could get out of range, gutting the hapless ship.
"Tango down, Ma'am." The Weapon's officer reported while searching for another juicy target.
"Well done. Now nail me another one. XO, any word on reinforcements?"
"Our closest patrols should be coming back in the next five minutes. That's two frigates Agincourt and Bagrattion, as well as a cruiser, Madrid."
"They'll be useful. What's the status planet side?"
"Achilles was hit pretty bad. The barracks suffered at least two direct hit sin the opening strike."
"Damn it."
"Significant ground units won't reach Olympus for at least couple of hours and that's only if we can keep the skies relatively safe. Its at least six to twelve hours if we can't contest the orbital control."
"That's what? Local militia and police?"
"Yes. They won't hold for long. The enemy is dumping most of their ground forces at the Capital."
"What's the status on the ground based fighters?"
"The 21st Wing was all but wiped out. We have two ready squadrons in the air from other bases but it will be at least couple of hours before the rest of 17th and 19th Wings are ready to launch in strength."
"Keep those fighters as CAP over their bases. I want those Wings intact. We'll continue hit and run attacks until for the next two hours then we'll retake the orbitals and keep them clear long enough for airborne units to reach the capital. If we are lucky, we might get some reinforcements by that time."
"Let's hope Demeter will succeed."
"If there is no contact for three more hours, Fifth fleet will send a task force to check up on us."
"If those bastard aren't complete idiots, they will be pulling out by that time."
"Not if I have anything to say about that."