2-28-2157 1222 hours (Alliance standard time)
London
Earth, Alliance Headquarters
Naval Base
The marine and naval personnel present in the hallway instinctively made way for the column of the Alliance best soldiers, and a few even saluted them as they walked past. Commander Hower returned their salutes respectfully, though he was still unaccustomed in leading a battalion size marine force. After spending a quarter century leading small strike teams, many would believe it high time a man of Hower's talents be promoted to a higher position. But deep down, he knew where his specialties lay.
All eight hundred marines were present, though the Cabals and Spectres were missing. He'd been told they were currently arranging their own equipment for transportation, which brought a suppressed frown to his face. It was a natural reaction, understanding exactly how little he actually understood the two alien forces; they were still strangers to him. None of the N7 marines were able to get to know them in the short time they've been introduced, though Hower had obtained a general sense of what to expect after reading their personal files, though they only told him the generalities, it was certainly better than nothing. In order to understand who, they were and how they operated he realized he would have to talk to each of them. Or perhaps representatives – as many as he could.
Hower rubbed the back of his neck as he and the other marines were ushered into a massive repurposed hangar. Even within the massive space, he was still shocked to see such an area accommodating all the present marines.
Immediately, the marines took in the contents of the massive room. The first thing they all noticed were the rows of a new battle-suit armor to their left. They were obviously new, completely unscratched and free of battle damage. They appeared to be incredibly thick and bulkier than a regular combat hard-suit, and already Hower could see Stenzke salivating at the prospect of operating one. The second thing making itself noticed were the personnel present: Fleet Admiral Spencer and General Volodin, along with a few engineers that looked eager to be anywhere but in the spotlight.
"I hope you all had a good night rest yesterday, because we have a lot to go over today," Spencer began. "Yesterday you were briefed on the operation on Torfan, today you will be briefed on the equipment you will be using."
Nodding to one of the engineers, Spencer withdrew smartly, clearly granting them the field. The oldest of the engineers took a single step forwards, cautiously approaching the podium as if it were a live snake. After the device failed to snap at his vitals, he took a more active stance, flipping open a sheaf of hard-copy data sheets. Obscure information seemed to give him courage, and the man addressed the gathered soldiers as if hesitance had never existed.
"This is the newly designed T5-V battle-suit. It gives soldiers far greater protection then even the Defender class of armor. It's driven by eezo-assisted mass drivers to prevent velocity loss," a data sheet rippled in his hands. "This allows troopers to both carry heavy weapons onto the battlefield, and assist with the weight to a degree to where it almost unnoticeable. Each of you present will be equipped with these during your mission, but be aware that each set is suited for a particular specialization, whether assault, sentinel, vanguard, infiltrator, engineer, or adept. Feel free to experiment, but make sure to select one that suits your combat preference."
Within seconds, Stenzke lunged at the nearest set of armor carrying an assault loadout and with almost inhuman speed began to don on the armor. The rest soon followed, equipping their armors without haste.
"I'm sure you will all want to know what improvements we've made outside of the obvious," General Volodin gestured to an empty armor piece, poised on the stage. "The engineers will all brief you on the T5-V technical capabilities."
With that, Volodin stepped back and handed the floor to the engineers once more. The same grim-faced elder stepped forwards; not bothering to check his notes.
"The T5-V battle-suit has thousands of minor improvements and the full list will be sent to your omni-tools, but today we will be covering the major ones. The first is a He-3 fusion micro-reactor that gives the suit a threefold power increase over other armors, improving shields and life-support systems. With the increased power generation, we've managed to add in an auto-firing shoulder cannon. The concept is very similar to the shoulder rockets found on the armor of the NCRA's Serpents. The second is the suit's built in emergency shielding harmonics, which are optimized to produce a strong reliable kinetic barrier that can be active for hours. Should the primary shield collapse for whatever reason, and if you timed it perfectly, this short-term barrier can be made that it seamlessly retracts when the primary barrier regenerates. The primary shields use nanocrystals to emit the barrier, and equip an ablative VI to improve its efficiency. Lastly, the battle-suit features a prototype field generator which increases the chance of the shields fully restoring when depleted."
At the elder engineer's nod, one of the engineers walked over the empty armor, pressing a few commands. Upon doing so, a translucent shield covered the armor. "Part of the T5-V's internal systems is the ability to temporarily boost life-support systems and shields should you ever get in a tight situation. This brings us to our third major improvement. The T5-V incorporates a micro scanner to dispense medi-gel to severe wounds, and incorporates a trauma module using a VI entirely dedicated to medical needs. However, you will realize each of the armor variants supports your class or combat preference."
The engineer pressed another set of commands, causing the air to crack with small electric arcs as an orange translucent distortion covered the entirety of the armor's forearm and parts of the upper and lower body. The N7 marines instantly recognized the shape the shield took, that of medieval shields, and made the same conclusion. "For those of you that are Sentinels, a special feature the armor grants is the ability to generate a medium-sized omni-shield to cover yourself and any teammates behind you. To oversimplify, this is what we call an assault shield. I have no doubt this will be of assistance to you all in the close quarter confines on Torfan."
Hower quickly grasped the benefits of the ability. While its origins are found in an age where armies clashed with iron swords and shields, a light-weight, highly-resistant omni-shield would be a great aid in the CQB firefights. The shield would give them an edge when stealth was no longer a concern. Useless in firefights in wide open areas, but battles such as these would be rare in the underground bunkers of Torfan.
"And for Infiltrators, we also came up with something special," the engineer continued, placing some strange looking blanket over the battle-suit. After pressing another set of commands, the armor continued becoming translucent until it disappeared entirely from sight. Instinctively, the marines activated their thermographic sights, the normal counter for stealth fields. What they got, however, was the thermal outline of the engineers, the admiral, and the general. The armor itself was completely missing. Momentarily surprised, Hower quickly returned to normal vision and waited for the engineers to continue.
"Thanks to our allies in the UNAS, we've managed to acquire some advanced stealth cloaks to assist in infiltration. As you just witnessed, we've managed to hide the thermal emissions given off by the stealth system. However, a good solid punch or the impact of a mass accelerator round will cause the field to collapse so don't think you'll remain invisible in firefights. Though be warned, given the sensitive nature of these cloaks, the UNAS will want them back after the mission is completed. Think of this as a temporary loan."
"Moving on to the Engineer class of armor, you will notice how a portable turret is installed to the backplate. All of you here are familiar how one works so we'll skip that portion for now. Of particular note is a pylon-based mini-facturing furnace that can supply ammo and grenades, should the need arise. It also has a built-in shield generator that boosts the maximum shields of nearby allies. Hydra modules installed in the pylon with a multicore amplifier and custom heuristics will increase tech power duration and damage. Finally, this class of armor is capable of launching a homing grenade. Finally, this class of armor is capable of launching a homing grenade." A vicious grin covered the wrinkled face for a moment. "Big boom, and no hiding. Just like mom said."
"As for the biotically gifted marines among you, we come to the Adept and Vanguard class of armor systems which feature biotic amps that boost most currently used implant models already installed as well as allow the use of experimental biotic techniques, such as phase disruptor, biotic charge, dark channel, and annihilation field. It comes equipped with a smart amplifier to boost biotic cooldowns, a hyper-amp to improve the damage, and a neural mask to increase the biotic duration."
"Now there is one last armor variant that is within our possession. The T5-V command and control variant. It features a powerful electronic warfare suits that rivals any of its larger companions in the entire Systems Alliance. There is a crystalline weave layer underneath that can house a starship grade AI. Due to constraints on the availability of AIs and the number pertained for the operation, these class of armor will only be restricted to commissioned officers."
It made perfect sense to Hower. Instead of having to protect a team of hackers or computer engineers, they now had multiple AIs being carried literally within their armor. With the electronic warfare suit, the potential liability becomes a potential asset. They could completely compromise the enemy's communications while securing and streamlining their own. It was genius, although they'd first needed to locate a batarian console to download the communication frequencies.
"Tch. So long as I can ride this baby into battle, I don't give a damn about what the officers have." Stenzke commented. Hower was mildly amused at how quickly the sergeant became infatuated with an inanimate object. He figured many others thought the same, but similarly refrain from pointing it out for personal health reasons.
Admiral Spencer stepped in once more. "In all serious marines, take a few minutes to familiarize yourselves with the new armor settings and control. Afterwards, we have some brand-new weapons to demonstrate." The engineers collectively gave him a dirty look, betraying their reluctance, but stood back.
Almost immediately, the marines began experimenting with the settings of their armor and setting their own preferences. Hower himself noticed how his movements within the suite seemed lighter and faster. He played with other settings before deciding which ones he wanted and settled for that. Even with the AI pack, the eezo assisted hydraulics prevented him from feeling the additional weight.
Seeing his marines finally settled, Spencer directed them to the firing range. It was a rather standard affair, with targets propped up at the far end, but what caught the marine's attention were the nigh endless racks of weaponry. Some were familiar, though with advanced instrumentation.
"And now we get to the fun part," Volodin began. "The weapons before you are the newest generation of SA small arms. We plan on having them replace our current armories within the next few years and you marines will have the privilege of using them first."
The general walked over to the weapon stand and picked up a rifle from the racks. It resembled the trusted M-96 Mattock somewhat, but there were noticeable differences. The carry handle had been entirely replaced by a default marksmen scope. There was a forward ejection heat sink port instead of side ejection and from the increased size of the receiver, it seemed the weapon was using extended heat sinks. Hower also noted how there was a forward grip attached underneath the barrel.
"This here is my own personal design: the M-96A2 Mattock, an improved variant. It fires an increased 780 rpm with each heat sink allowing 30 shots to be fired before exhausting. It also includes a stability damper for improved accuracy, a kinetic coil to increase projectile acceleration, and a hyper rail in the barrel for better performance against armored targets."
Volodin moved to the shooting alley and raised a target at 300 meters. He aimed the rifle, bringing the stock to his shoulder, and fired. To the marines' surprise, the general laid down a sustained burst and burned through the entire heat sink in fifteen seconds. Professional soldiers all, they also noticed the majority of rounds struck the target.
That was definitely impressive. The M-96 Mattock was a powerful rifle, even decades after its introduction, but it could kick like an aggravated mule. Most civilians couldn't handle it effectively at mid-range, being neither properly trained nor physically fit enough to control the recoil. Even trained marines, who had minor augmentations, still had trouble holding the rifle steady. The N7 marines could make full use of the Mattock at mid-range for a brief moment, but even they had to limit themselves to ten burst shots.
"As you can see the weapon has been improved all around and I have no doubt that marine marksmen will make effective use of this weapon, even in the tight confines you will be fighting on Torfan."
The general then picked up what looked like two under barrel attachments. "The weapon is also compatible with various attachments which include, but not limited to an external shotgun barrel or a 50mm Valkyrie grenade launcher."
The general placed the rifle and the attachments back on the racks and picked up two recognizable submachine guns, the M-12 Locust and the N7 Hurricane.
"I am sure all of you are familiar with both of these weapons," The general began. "The upgrades to these two submachine guns differ with some similarities. For example, the M-12 and N7 are both made from superior lightweight alloys to make the weapons less obtrusive and easier to handle while having increased magazine capacity. However, the difference between these two is the N7 Hurricane has a superior recoil system by having an VI installed to reduce weapon kick while also having a high-velocity barrel for better penetration. The Locust on the other hand focuses on accuracy by having a 2x optical scope and a high caliber barrel."
Volodin racked the two submachine guns and picked up a large weapon with a face shield. "For those of you to enjoy packing a little more firepower, the N7 Typhoon Mk. 2 aims to solve the notorious recoil by having a Khuklev stability damper to distribute recoil and reduce kickback. We have a magazine upgrade, and a piercing modification, so not only does it have better accuracy for suppressive fire, but it also has capacitors to make sure each round delivers incredible pain."
"Next, we go to our sniper rifles," Volodin picked up a Black Widow variant. "This gorgeous beauty packs a combat scanner and scram pulsar while having its ammo block consist of tungsten sabot jacket rounds for better performance against armor. The same goes for the N7 Valiant sniper rifle." Placing the Black Widow back, the general picked up a M-97 Viper. "This rifle features the same upgrades as the previous ones with the added modification of being integrally suppressed, allowing for silent kills."
"Moving on we go to the weapons I feel will be used quite extensively, combat shotguns. Time is running short so I shall give you a brief rundown. The Striker assault shotgun, M-22 Eviscerator, N7 Piranha, and M-23 Katana all shave off serrated metal edges for better armor-piercing capabilities and range. They also feature a micro-phasic pulse for better damage against shields and biotic barriers, a thermal sink that doubles the rounds from the stock model, and a synchronized pulsar for sixty percent increased damage."
The general then moved everyone's attention to the heavy pistols, smirking as he did so. "As you can see the M-3 Predator, M-5 Phalanx, and N7 Eagle all feature a piercing mod, a magazine upgrade, high caliber heavy barrel, sabot jacketing rounds, smart rounds, and titan pulsar. Good stuff. Bag me some squints with those."
"Finally moving on to our assault rifles we have our newest addition to the Systems Alliance small arms arsenal, the M-8 Avenger." The general picked up an assault rifle that looked much like the M-7 Lancer, but with a default scope. "This baby is much more reliable than the Lancer, has tighter spread, and better penetration with the VI software upgrade, a much more expensive ammo block that uses tungsten jackets, a kinetic pulsar, and a high-velocity hyper-kinetic coil. Of course, with all the add-ons, it's much heavier than the Lancer, but has better performance results. I won't quibble; you can pack the Lancer on this mission or you can instead decide to take this improved rifle. Be warned, that these upgrades were created for the sole-purpose in keeping you alive. You decide at your own risk which equipment to take; what you know, or what you think you can learn between now and the mission."
"Before you all leave, I believe now is the time to demonstrate our ace for this mission," Spencer began, opening up his omni-tool. "Bring him out." At the admiral's command, a batarian, chained and under heavy guard, awkwardly walked into the room.
Hower immediately noticed how everyone went rigid. In his corner of his eye, he could see Stenzke struggling to hold her ire, her hand moving to her heavy pistol before a hand from Frost calmed her down. He was relieved for that, momentarily anxious that the staff sergeant would harm the operation.
"This is General Turik' Han, commanding officer of what was once the 23rd Infantry, 5th Order on Shanxi. He was captured by JSF operatives and has agreed to assist us in this operation. His role is critical so I want all of you to restrain yourselves. I can understand your reluctance to work with and trust a batarian of all people, but he will pilot the dropship and allow the initial strike team to land on Torfan undetected." Spencer stated with cold resolve, looking into each marine before turning to Han.
"Do you have anything to say?"
Han grunted. "I assure you all that while I dislike your kind immensely, I truly hate the slavers that are responsible for my capture. As of now our interest is aligned, so I have no reason to sabotage your raid so long as you kill the refuse responsible for the deaths of my men."
Hower felt shocked, a reaction he suspected most – if not all – the other marines had. Being forced to work with a batarian, one partly responsible for the raid on Shanxi no less, left him a bit angered. But as a professional, Hower calmed down; the mission came first above any personal grudges.
'This just keeps getting better and better.' He cynically thought.
London
Earth, Alliance Headquarters
Naval Base
The hangar bay was filled with busy mechanics and technicians maintaining the ship's compliment of Falcons, Spirits, Stingers, and a flight of Razorbacks. Hower and Frost had to pause their stride several times to let the trolleys and moving cargo pass by. One of the massive deck elevators lifted a quartet of GZ 550s fitted with a 12.7mm machine guns and 30mm grenade launchers. Hower wondered what use the light vehicles would be in the underground bunkers on Torfan. After considering the problem for a moment, he left the vehicles aside, returning to his mission to meet with the Spectres.
"What do you think about the operation?" Hower asked his companion as they walked through the buzz of activity.
"It's going to be tough, possibly the hardest one we've had yet, but the new upgrades will certainly give us a fighting chance." Frost said, giving his assessment.
"And what do you think about the batarian coming with us?"
Frost gave an audible sigh before replying, choosing his words carefully. "He is a … liability. We have no real leverage over him, and he can easily give us away, dooming the entire operation before it even begins. I honestly don't like it, but at the same time I don't see any other way we can land undetected. The batarians won't be expecting one of their own to betray them so we got that going for us at least."
"Unfortunately, I believe you are right. What about Stenzke? Do you think she will cooperate?"
"I think she is more likely to kill the batarian with her own bare hands. Out of everyone here, she is poses the greatest risk." Frost stated bluntly.
"You have your gear already prepped?"
"Do you even need to ask?"
"Good to see you are ahead of things. So what do you think about the Spectres? What is your assessment?"
"Sir?" Frost responded. "I thought the brass already forwarded their dossiers to your omni-tool."
"They did, but they only give me the general details. I want to know their skills, talents, motivations, etc. For that I need to dig deep and the best way to do that is to go straight to the source."
"Well good luck with that." Frost muttered.
Hower needed only a split-second to realize where the other man's thoughts were occupied. "Well do me a favor and make sure Stenzke stays under control."
"I will try my best, but I can't make any promises."
With that both men separated, each going their own separate way. Hower continued on his own way, passing several maintenance crew loading the Hahne-Kedar manufactured bipedal humanoid LOKI security mechs, numbering at over nine thousand in number, onto transport freighters accompanying them on the mission.
Confidence on the mission's success appeared to be swelling, considering the additional soldiers, even if synthetic. His own composure increased further when he saw thousands more of YMIR battle mechs. Unlike a LOKI mech, which could be considered expendable, the YMIR mech was a massive killing machine designed for anti-infantry purposes, and sometimes light anti-vehicle roles with the proper loadout. Heavily armored and shielded, these mechs would certainly contribute heavily to the kill count. While slow in movement, it more than compensated by both soaking up, and dealing out massive quantities of damage.
It was mid-day by the time Hower reached the Spectre's temporary quarters. He knocked on the door, waiting a few seconds before an asari, the team's sharpshooter, opened the door, donned in combat under-suit. Unlike the garment beneath his own armor, it clung to her impressive figure, which the commander silently admired. The asari's alleged reputation for beauty and elegance appeared well earned, though Hower put the thought aside for professional reasons. Of more interest to Hower, was the unidentified sniper rifle cradled in her arms.
"Ah, Commander. What can I do for you?" She questioned.
Hower squinted slightly, refocusing in the dimmer lighting. "Ma'am. I was hoping to talk with you and your teammates, to get to know you all a little better. I thought it would be wise for us to be able to trust each other." He rethought his statement, and summarized it. "I'm trying to get to know the members of the Spectre team."
"Well what would you like to know?" Vasri asked, stepping inside the quarters, inviting Hower in with a gesture.
Once inside, Hower noticed how the room was rather empty, likely due to prep work by the other team members.
'The other members are probably still readying their own equipment.' He thought.
"So, I've been told that you're the sniper of the team?"
"I wouldn't classify myself as a sniper, at least not a traditional one. A sniper's role as you know is to serve as the eyes and ears of the squad conducting reconnaissance and gathering intelligence while rarely firing a shot. I am more in line with an expert marksman." Vasir responded. "Have you ever heard of the Serrice Guard being trapped along Blood Pack mercenaries on a colony?"
"Yes, I recall." Hower replied. "That engagement was pretty well publicized. It was a serious of engagements over a period of days where asari commandos used traps and other guerilla tactics to defeat a superior foe."
"And I was one of those Serrice Guards trapped alongside my sisters for those nine days. On the third day, I became separated from the rest of my team after a pair of commandoes were wounded by a Krogan battle-master. In an effort to buy time for my team to conduct a retreat, I moved towards a large forest with the perfect cover and set up proximity around me. The mercenaries found themselves funneled into a narrow passable corridor that made them easy targets. Each time they came, I feel back, picking them off as I went. As you can imagine they were incredibly furious with me. Once our wounded were secured, the rest of my team regrouped with me and held out for the remaining five days."
"Ah and I presume that sniper rifle in your hands assisted you with that?"
Vasir looked at her cradled rifle and gave a nod. "Correct. Despite its power and appearance, it's actually a semi-automatic rifle unlike most weapons of its class."
The sharp smell of something unfamiliar caught the Commander's attention. He sniffed the air, trying to find its source. "Do you smell something?"
The scent was musky, yet pleasant, carrying a hint of woodlands cooling off from the hot day under moonlight. Turning his head, he found the source: a crate his omni-tool marked as being something called 'Serrice Brandy'. The crate seemed filled with bottles, many seemingly empty.
Noticing the Commander's gaze, Vasir offered a glass of the drink. "Would you care to have some? We have more than enough to spare."
"No thank you, it's alright." Hower took a half-step away, emphasizing the denial. Alien alcohol on a human body, just before a fight, could be dangerous for everyone involved.
Grabbing a filled bottle from the crate, Vasir poured herself a shot. She gulped it down surprisingly fast. "This stuff really calms the nerves. So, what else would you like to talk about?'
Hower spent the next hour conversing with the biotic Spectre about her past missions, biotic abilities, and thoughts on the mission, gently querying her for the location of her teammates at the same time. Dozz, the salarian Spectre and team's demolition expert, was apparently in the armory readying his gear while Maerun and Saren were at the shooting gallery checking their weapons before the mission.
Seeing as the armory was located closer, Hower decided to find the salarian first. The moment he walked in, he soon began to regret it.
"Oy, watch your step!" an alien, fast-speaking voice warned.
Hower took a moment to take in the warning, wondering why he would need to … before soon realizing why. Looking around the room, he counted a total of at least two hundred kilos worth of explosives, each neatly arranged and almost no two alike. Cain trip mines, proximity mines, armor-piercing arrows, flashbangs, grenades in the cluster/frag/inferno/sticky families He had to shake his head, but the action caught sight of tear gas, white phosphorous, ammonium nitrate, breaching charge, 120mm mortar shells, M-100 Grenade launchers, M-490 Blackstorm Projectors; the list went on.
While the organization did much to prevent any catastrophic accidents, he still found it hard to believe so much ordnance could fit into one room. Vasir had apparently not been jesting when she said Dozz was an explosive enthusiast. In fact, it appeared the salarian had everything and anything that could explode in a conventional manner. In his opinion, there was enough explosives here to take out an entire battalion. Hell, with the ordnance amassed in the armory, it would be enough to cripple a heavy cruiser, provided they were detonated in the right location.
"Sorry, I didn't expect anyone to stop by here for another few hours," Dozz half-apologized. "But now that you are here what can I do for you?"
"You're Dozz, right?" Hower carefully eased himself around a neatly stacked pyramid of what appeared to be Bouncing Betties, highly illegal but potent in the extreme. "You think explosives will help on Torfan? It's caves, you know."
Dozz nodded enthusiastically. "Of course. In the close confines on Torfan, artillery support cannot be called upon; unless you want a bloody infantry battle, we will have to bring our own."
The commander took a few more moments surveying the shop, impressed by the arsenal amassed.
"Are you actually planning on bringing all this onto the battlefield?" Hower asked disbelief evident in his voice. Without waiting for an explanation, he took another few steps into the room. Noticing an unusual grenade that he had never seen before, he gave it a closer examination. "What is this?"
Dozz grinned a wide, inhuman smile. "Ah that! That's a specialty I personally came up with. It's a oneirogenic general anesthetic that will non-lethally incapacitate individuals standing in the release zone. I plan on setting hundreds on the bases ventilation systems to minimize the number of batarians able to respond when things get loud. Keeps things cleaner that way."
Hower had to praise the Spectre. Releasing these types of grenades into the ventilation systems will certainly effect the enemy's ability to respond to a general alarm, making things far easier for them in the long run. Yet, Hower could see a certain type of madness in the dark green pupils. The predatory smile didn't help either, something he didn't think possible for a salarian considering their main strength was intellect not physical prowess. Taking that into consideration Hower increased his estimate of the alien's danger upwards a few notches.
"I must admit I am certainly impressed with this. How much do you have?" He reluctantly set down the grenade.
Dozz's smile soon turned to a frown, almost faster than the eye could see. "Enough to debilitate entire companies, but not enough to incapacitate the entire defense force located on Torfan, which is why I am stocking up on other explosives to ensure success. Be aware this gas will only affect enemies not equipped with helmets or other types of breathing filters. Now if you truly want to be impressed, take a look at this!" He enthusiastically pulled out a strange cylindrical object, almost pushing it into Hower's face.
"What is this?" Hower eased backward; not doing anything so insane as draw his knife, but felt it's comforting weight nonetheless.
"This is what I call a sticky shocker, a launcher-compatible high-voltage discharge device coated in an adhesive resin to incapacitate targets. So, once it sticks to you, there is no hope of escaping the ensuring shock." Dozz began to laugh like a maniac. "Ah but perhaps someone of your more refined tastes might be better impressed with this!" The salarian's arm twisted, picking up a contraption from a nearby table and handing it to Hower too fast to be denied. It was a tubular device with a 150mm mortar shell at the front. Looking at the back, he noticed the tube was packed with a propellant, along with a sight and electrical trigger.
"What exactly is this?"
"A homemade 150mm recoilless launcher with a 30-kilogram payload and half a kilometer range."
Before Hower could protest at how suicidal something like this was, Dozz picked up another explosive device, a stick grenade of some sort. It appeared to weigh a good five kilos, though while the top charge seemed to weigh as much as one would expect, the handle threw him off for a moment. It was made of ferric tungsten, something considered unnecessary with lighter alternatives readily available. Opening the bottom of the stick, he found out why.
It wasn't just a handle.
"Is the handle a pipe bomb?"
"Of course not." Dozz huffed in indignation. "Your pipe bombs are at best heavy firecrackers, but this …. this has more than 10 times the explosive force!" Dozz answered. He had to pause, emitting another diabolical chuckle. "It's a bomb, attached to another bomb! Oh, but that is not the last of my inventions, I have many more to show you. Please grab a seat!"
'Fuck my life,' Hower thought as he became an unwilling audience to the salarian maniac.
He soon lost track of the number of devices the Spectre had shown him and the time that had long since passed. When he stepped out, he felt the effects of a migraine headache. 'Five hours. Five fucking hours!' He exclaimed mentally; the salarian had given him a detailed overview of all of his devices as well as inspiration, history, abilities, tactical purpose, and improvements over other conventional explosives.
He made his way to the firing range, only to find Maerun and Saren leaving it. Hower was thankful he managed to get them in the nick of time.
"Commander, what can we do for you?" Saren asked.
"I just wanted to discuss some finer points of the operation."
"Ah, I already developed a plan that I was interested in bringing up with you."
"And what would that be?" Hower asked, genuinely curious. Already he could feel the salarian-induced migraine dissipating.
"I was planning on bringing my team along with you on the drop shuttle and while you sneak into the bunker and find the location of the prisoners, our best course of action would be to quickly disable their alarm system, insert gas grenades into their ventilation system, and finally hack into their anti-ship cannons. Done right, they'll target their own ships, if they have any in orbit. Then your flotilla can arrive, dispatch any remaining forces on the surface and begin landing the rest of the troops undisturbed."
Hower blinked his eyes in astonishment. While incredibly brief, and lacking detail, the goals certainly held merit. "That is certainly a good idea, though I would like to insert my own thoughts. We'll need timing and communication to pull it off well."
"Such as?"
Soon Hower and Saren, like two battle-born brothers began to discuss some adjustments to the plan Passersby could hear them ranging from the best way of locating the cannon hubs, to optimal patterns for isolating alarm subroutines.
Hower also brought up the subject of any potential vehicles that might be on the surface and what would be the best way to counter them. The Commander spent his last remaining hours discussing the strategies of Saren's Before time forced him to leave for his quarters, to load his gear aboard the Walsh. Hower felt, for the first time, that the mission had a chance of successfully being completed.
London
Earth, Alliance Headquarters
Naval Spaceport
"Status report," Captain Murray ordered.
Commander Otomo spoke first. "Communication systems are green, sir. Monitoring FLEETCOM Earth traffic. No new orders are present."
"Reactor power outage eighty percent complete," Lieutenant Partridge reported. "Oxygen, power, and pressure all green lights, sir." She smiled, but it wasn't like before – an automatic gesture. She seemed genuinely happy.
Lieutenant Aku took her seat and strapped in. She gathered her black hair and tied it into a knot. "Weapon panels are green, sir. Mass Accelerator capacitors at zero charge, secondary weapons are loaded and ready."
"Navigation and sensor systems online, captain," Ensign Palmiera reported, professional calm evident in every feature. "Ready for further orders."
A small hologram of Athena, the ship's AI, flickered on the AI pedestal near navigation. "Engine shakedown running smoothly, captain." She said. "All personnel onboard. You have half-power now. Mass Effect drive cores on-line … we are prepared for departure at your command."
"Very good," Captain Murray said. He surveyed his crew, pleased at how they had sharpened up in preparation for this operation. 'Good,' he thought. 'We're going to need everyone at the top of their game now.'
The crew had been briefed on their mission. Captain Murray had insisted on it. They all knew the stakes and consequences for failure.
"Approaching Earth's system's edge," Palmiera reported. "Charon Relay locked."
This was it, the point of no return. Murray took a few silent moments to listen to the ship's whispers once more. She was ready to take the fight to the batarian. Murray finally gave the order.
Murray took a few silent moments to listen to the ship's whispers once more, the hungry rumble as they approached the point of no return. He nodded, satisfied. She was ready to take the fight to the batarians. Murray finally gave the order.
"Very well, ensign. Take us in."
Gravity amassed before the ship's bow, electric archs attaching to the ship until finally engulfing it entirely. With the roar of her powerful engines, the Clarence E. Walsh charged forward into the void, the hope of many humans resting with her.
A/N: I just want to give you guys a heads up since classes have started, I will not have the usual time I had during the summer to write this arch so be aware updates will be coming much less frequently due to university classes, however I will try to finish this arch and once that is done I will be taking another haitus for the above-mentioned reason. I will try to write during my free time, however the next arch will probably be published once it is done much like the other archs.
A/N 2.0: V-rcingetorix here, my scholastics are kicking into high gear as well, which regretfully has pulled the project later than either of us wanted. Thank you for reading, and see you at the next chapter!
Also I like to take this time to address a rather interesting review left by a guest: 'sharing command is stupid one army one leader and seriously don't be a protagonist power author please if a reg is made of cadet butchery or heavy loss unexperienced soldier cannnot win battle on their own that impossible why do you think professional army exist? with professional and experienced soldier giving the formation of how to be a soldier don't make you one we all know how to shoot a gun but we are not sharpshooter'
I would like to insert my points.
1. Who is sharing command? General Williams, as is stated in the story, is the Supreme Commander of all human forces on Shanxi. Technically the Alliance is, but Williams is their representative so I am not sure what you are referring to. If it is even directed to the ground forces, as it could be directed to Commander Hackett and Commander Dain, however they aren't sharing command at all merely deciding what the next course of action should be, which resolves itself quite nicely since one of them decides to flee aboard a corvette with the other remaining within Shanxi's systems. If it is directed to the ground forces, it is made explicitly clear that humanity is divided into multiple armies: The Alliance marines, The European Federation Enforcers, United North American States JSF, The Russian Spetsnaz, and New Chinese Republic Army. The design of the Systems Alliance in this fic can be best interpreted as NATO on a galactic scale as it is compiled of multiple armies that don't have one unilateral leader, but at best a Council. So, this argument is pretty much invalidated.
2. I am not sure what protagonist power author means so I can't really address it. If it implies humanity being the victor, I would like to provide the context that their first operation to seize control of an enemy corvette failed badly and the JSF objective to hold the bridge was the result of a slaver pretty much sabotaging Han's efforts and even then, they succeed by mere seconds after the arrival of reinforcements and after taking immense losses. Not sure how this is being a protagonist power author, especially since much later we see batarians continuing to beat human forces will really only the SGB achieving total victory and even then, that's because they are Russian Spetsnaz.
3. While fielding untrained soldiers is definitely ill-advised that didn't stop the Soviet Union from deploying conscripts against the better trained and armed German army so there is precedent for that for trading bodies in exchange for mission success. If the professional army suffers heavy losses they will conduct a draft of civilians like the U.S did in World War 2, Korea, and Vietnam wars. Also, the JSF didn't win on their own, but as the result of gathering additional soldiers on the way to their objective, with many being killed, and a last-minute save by artillery and gunships.
4. There are many people who have never seen a gun in real life before let alone fire one. So, it is true that not many of us are sharpshooters since many have never held a gun before. The last part is also really hard to understand.
The reason why I chose to address this review is because of its nature that assumes to bring apparent issues within the fic that are brought upon within the circumstances of the story and the immense obstacles the protagonists must face. Also because of the fact that it was left by a guest review, which leaves me with no way of responding. I do apologize for any of my readers that are forced to read this after completing the chapter and want to see the trivia. I just felt the need to address this hard to comprehend review that didn't really help me improve the fic in anyway unlike Trife's, which while rather a simple sentence, had me respond to him and led to a much more in-depth discussion of the operation being underway and lead to me revising the story a bit to accommodate the changes and lead to a much more rewarding story. So, congratulate him people.
I did not do this to single out or attack the reviewer, but rather give me the opportunity to respond kindly and point out some errors. I enjoy having dialogue with my reviewers and encourage them to ask me any questions they may have, though all I ask is if the reviews can be better grammatically stated so that I can understand what their issues with the story. If the reviewer in question sees the review and English is not their first language, then I deeply apologize for binging up the grammatical errors into question.
Trivia:
1. Here we see the debut of the T5-V battlesuit from Mass Effect 3 multiplayer.
2. We also get to see cameos of characters from Splinter Cell Chaos Theory: Captain Arthur Partridge, Ensign Anthony Palmiera, and Admiral Toshiro Otomo with different ranks obviously.
3. For those of you that are long time readers we once get to see the AI armor module make a reintroduction from Yao's chapter.
4. The stealth blanket is a reference to Ghost Recon Future Soldier Overlord trailer where it was used by 30K to infiltrate and destroy a drone control room or was probably command and control.
5. We get to see the debut of the M8-Avenger.
6. For those particularly well versed in Mass Effect lore, you will know that Vasir's backstory of being with a Serrice Guard that was trapped along with Blood Pack mercenaries is taken from canon.
7. The Serrice Ice Brandy is a reference to Vasir's old team and Chakwas side-mission in Mass Effect 2.
8. If you squint you can see a reference to Dragon Ball, particularly a famous quote from the series.
9. Dozz's nonlethal grenades were taken straight off of Splinter Cell Blacklist. Another reference to one of my favorite series.
10. The title is yet another reference to Halo.