I own nothing, Disney, EA, and Bioware own everything important to this story.

Just wanted to start off by thanking everyone reading this fic for getting it up to over 500 favorites and over 600 follows, y'all rock!

Reviews(boy these have piled up):

Dancing of Doom: Maybe, maybe not, time will tell, or will it?(laughs in ever evolving eldritch schemes)

piotres223: it certainly does.

frankieu: Going on the offensive is what Sith are best at.

Coment9: I'll have to check it out eventually, though right now this is my number one priority for my fan works.

Travis btmb: The ion cannons are on me because i never brought them up, though there is not reason to believe, at least according to my research, that the Sith Empire had access to disruptor rifles or verpine shatter guns, or at least to a degree that they would have saved schematics for them for the Alliance to inherit.

Nonyaarb: Me to, it is really fun to write.

rollynolly: It would be kind of cool to see that but i chose the Sith partially because their culture clashes so well with the Citadel philosphy.

haseosamaa: Thank you, I'm flattered.

Bluesnowman: Thank you.

kite15663: it will be very difficult for the STG to do much of anything against the Sith without losing most of their agents. WOn't stop them from trying though.

EricFreak: Not sure what they would really gain hacking the relays they would control, they wouldn't learn much they didn't already know. The quarians are a little ways away so you'll find out what the two races think of one another soon enough.

123coldsunishere: Here's the next part for you.

SirMaou: Disrespect is what Sith do.

FerunaLutelou: The powercell is not unique to the lightsaber and it only lasts potentially forever on virtue of being a lightsaber, in any other configuration, it's just a above average powercell. Star Wars blaster weapons still have issues with overheating, even thousands of years after the Sith Empire, so I don't think the heat containment can work in projectile weapons based upon that fact. ME has energy weapons, the GUARDIAN lasers, but the problem with them is that they have a pitifully short range realistically it would be cheaper to copy a turbolaser, better range and power.

Jctherebel: It begins a The Force intended.

Asharzal: There will be bits of that throughout the next few chapters.

heartfanglives: in short, they won't.

Kagega: They learn some things, but not enough.

guest#1 of 1/4: for now they are regrouping, next chapter they will try something.

M1stymix: As i understand it, the sith existed in the times of the Rakata empire, the jedi schism banished dark jedi to uncharted space where they found the sith species and intermingled with them to become the first Sith Empire. They kicked off the Great Hyperspace War because one Dark Lord wanted to use it a rallying cry behind him as the new leader for the Sith, though the Alliance believes that the Republic and Jedi started it. The parallels were addressed in the speech when Tempestus talks about the genocide attempt by the Republic.

Amon34: Thank you.

xScorpius: Thank you.

Nexus Gundam: the turians have a very kneejerk reaction to it all.

shypunk: Thank you.

guest#2 of 1/4: Septemus is to strightforward to think that far ahead, if Victus were in charge, it would be different.

ShadowCub: The asari are not going to get along with the Sith like they think they will.

guest#3 of 1/4: The Sith will not stop until one side achieves victory, they don't believe in ceasefires, or at least they don't believe in honoring them.

leebrough98us:I'm having a pretty good time writing this, here's the next part for you.

Revan fan: So, the Dark Council acts as the majority of the executive branch of the Alliance, they have five votes while the ministry and parliament have one each. No single Sith rule the Alliance, though Darth Tempestus likes to consider himself otherwise.

Zoltan-Atreyu: Thank you.

EvilHound: Thank you.

KingOfSummer 245: As the Alliance exists at this point, there are many laws that prohibit the less than desirable behavior of the Sith Lords from the Empire. Essentially this is the type of Sith civilization Darth Marr fought for, unified for the good of their race and the conquest of the galaxy. Asai and Sith would be able to have daughters in the normal way that they do in cannon, but Sith traits will have interesting effects on the offspring. Yes, there are factions looking into the Light Side, though most have no idea what it is.

OscuroSignore-51: So the consuls are essentially a cross between the US Speaker of the House and President rolled into one office. They sigh/veto laws made by parliament as well as serve as the civilian interests on High Command. At this point, they have not dabbled too far into creating monstrosities and they won't get far enough in time for the Reaper war. Funnily enough, i was planning on possibly making an anthology work detailing interesting/important events that just don't fit into the timeline of the episodes. Doing a retelling of the First Contact War from the turian civilian POV would make a pretty good one for that. FOr the most par, mandalorians will use mostly the same ships as the other races, though mostly modified to suit their needs. As for the ship classes, i'm mostly focusing on presenting the types we have concrete information on, ie Harrowers, Terminus, and Gage classes, thought he lack of Fury interceptors shall be rectified soon.

Amaraldane: There's a lot more stability in the Alliance than in the Old Empire, they have actually learned a thing or two from how their ancestors fell.

Avora111: Thank you.

lord malum: not abandoned, here's the next chapter.

Perseus: When at his apex of rage, it may be close to that level.

drucifer000: Thank you.

michalrd: Sorry about that, I wanted to try and convey all the events as they happen so it gets pretty jumpy when doing large scale battles. I'll do better to make certain the POV changes are more digestible. And thank you.

MoonBurner: I have no plans for that, though the Light Side still exists in this univers and will not be absent.

In such close proximity fighting, the turian cruisers fall to the Harrowers' broadside barrages within minutes. The Star Destroyers orbiting above the colony also conclude their orbital bombardment in a timely manner as the major military outposts and facilities are reduced to rubble and cinders while ground defenses around the colony are smashed. The Star Destroyers move to the higher atmosphere and position themselves around the planet. Drescher takes to the communications terminal.

"Open communication lines across their public channels," she orders.

"Yes ma'am," he works the console for a moment, "The line is yours Admiral."

She nods to him, "This is Admiral Kastanie Drescher, commanding officer the Sith Alliance 1st Assault Fleet. We have eliminated all naval forces above your planet and have achieved total air and space superiority. I am backed by the full might of the Alliance Army and The Order of the Sith Lords, you cannot win, resistance will only be met with destruction and death. Make no mistake, one way or another, this world will belong to the Alliance and there is nothing your people can do to stop us. Should you wish to surrender the planet to us, your leaders have until the end of the hour to make contact with us. Drescher out."

She turns to Hackett standing nearby, "Order Captain Richards to capture the local comm buoy, Intelligence wants a sample of their communications technology, and we need a more permanent solution to cut their communication to the wider galaxy."

"Right away, ma'am," Hackett salutes and walks away.

The comm rings and Drescher brings up a hologram. The light takes the form of a turian in lavish clothing with, as Drescher assumes, an irate expression on their face.

"This is Admiral Drescher, to whom am I speaking?"

The turian's hologram grimaces at her, "I am Governor Veneerent Polnt, and you have made a grave error in making this unprovoked attack on our world!"

"Unprovoked, you say?" Drescher hisses, "You creatures are the ones who fired first upon my people and invaded our colony, we are simply returning the favor."

"Liar!"

Drescher snarls at him, "I'm getting awfully sick of you spikeheads telling me what I do and do not know. I have innumerable reports informing me of what your kind did to mine at Shanxi. You bark an awful for a race that is supposedly the mightiest military in this galaxy. I'm offering you the choice we were never given; surrender and we can make this occupation as painless as possible."

"The Hierarchy never surrenders!"

Drescher smirks, "Good, I can't think of a single Sith aboard this fleet that doesn't want to paint this planet blue with the blood of your soldiers. We gave you a chance, what happens next to your people is on, your, head."

She cuts the communication line and turns to Williams, "General, you're all clear to begin your invasion."

The general nods and taps his comm device in his ear, "Begin landing the droids."

He doesn't wait for a reply before he cuts the comm and holds onto his side, Drescher notices, "Injuries flaring up?"

"No," he responds, "Still adjusting to some of the cybernetics. I'm a little too old to be having new parts put in at this point."

"Don't give out on me now, Williams, you're still the most experienced general we have in the military at the moment."

"By virtue of being the only one around when the spikeheads attacked Shanxi," he brushes off her praise.

"Your original strategy for the defense of Shanxi was sound," Drescher says, "Had the turians not destroyed the transport, you most likely would have held out until I arrived as intended. Plus, your field command of our forces was impressive, not many generals in history could lead from the front against such overwhelming numbers."

"Thank you, Admiral, but you need not attempt to lift my spirits," Williams replies, "Conquering this planet will do just fine in that regard."

The shuttles soar through the atmosphere and touchdown upon the only inhabited continent outside the largest city. Out of the bays march out legions of battle droids, from the humanoid infantry class to the quadruped heavy assault droids. A sea of metal men surges against the edges of the colony the colony defenders hold against the tide. Blaster bolts fly like a swarm of locusts at the turian soldiers, who return fire in almost equal measure. Protected by their fortifications, the turians withstand the assault, the droids less so. Broken droid parts pile up beyond the hastily constructed barricades around the city as the clankers fall. Though the turians take some losses it is nothing compared to the hundreds and then lower thousands that the droids lose as they fail to break through.

Then the next wave comes marching in, more heavy assault droids and specialist droids along with vehicles and a command crew to set up a forward base. The defenders' losses grow and grow as more Sith forces make landfall. The droids continue to march over the scraps of their fallen as their line moves closer and closer, their aim becoming deadlier and deadlier.

As the last hold outs along the outer walls of the city stand their ground. They fight with zeal and precision, managing the onslaught of synthetic foes. The reports reach the Judgment of Marr and Williams looks over the data with a grin.

"Admiral, here are the locations of every point where the turians are holding out against our ground forces. A light barrage from the fleet should be more than enough to wipe them out."

"Agreed," Drescher says as she opens a communication line and relays the information to her forces, "Battlegroup 10, fire upon these targets, single light barrage."

The Star Destroyers directly above the colony prepare firing solutions for their turbolasers, the batteries swiveling and angling into place.

The already panic stricken turian citizens of Torix collect in the center of the colony where the defenses are at their strongest. In the rush for relative safety, many are trampled and a some are killed. The chaos that claims the people, however, stills the moment they hear the familiar sound of plasma tearing through the atmosphere. The tubolaser bolts this time strike through the buildings and fortifications set us by the Hierarchy forces on planet, much closer than the outposts and defenses were, and even upon the Sith's own front lines.

To the civilians trapped on the world, a realization hits; the Sith hold not issues bombarding front lines from orbit, hitting their own soldiers in the process. Though they remain unaware of the fact that the only forces lost are droids, the thought that comes next terrifies them more: what happens when the front lines reach the civilians? A race that does not spare its own men doesn't seem like the type to care if enemy civilians are caught in the crossfire. Thus, more panic ensues.

As the barrage ceases, the turian front lines are decimated, with a minuscule number of men pulling themselves out of the rubble. The droids, however, move in and secure the line. As they continue further into the city and encounter regrouped turian forces, more shuttles land just behind the advancing line.

The shuttles land and release the occupants onto the ground. Lord Shepard and David lead their troops from their own shuttle with their light sabers ignited. They charge forward towards the front line of battle droids engaged with turian military forces. Shepard and David leap above the falling droid line and lay into the defenders.

David carves through the truians with rapid strikes, his new lightsaber held tight in his offhand. He kills each target and moves to the next one he sees before their bodies hit the ground. Shepard takes his opponents slow at first, observing positioning and proximity to one another. Then like a switch, he leaps, pulls, strikes and electrocutes his enemies in the blink of an eye, reducing their number to zero as David finishes up the last of his group. The troopers pick off the stragglers distracted by the lord and his apprentice and the defensive line is soon broken.

The troopers hold the position as Lord Shepard makes a holo call, "This is Lord Shepard leading the 22nd Battalion, we've broken the enemy line in sector fifteen. Battle droids at 70% unit capacity, casualties minimum."

"Roger Milord, no enemy reinforcements en route to your location, you are clear to advance on the next district."

"Understood," Shepard says as he cut the line, "Advance behind the droids, keep an eye out for turian defenders but don't be too quick to fire, it's likely that there are still civilian stragglers in the districts ahead."

A trooper groans at that, "Why should we care if their civies get caught in the crossfire? They clearly didn't seem to care about ours."

"Orders come all the way from High Command," Shepard says, "If you want to challenge the Dark Council, be my guest. You'd be more ambitious than most Sith."

The Sith move out, encountering minimal resistance as thousands more do the same across the colony. With hundreds of Sith Lords on the field, enemy forces fall in droves. The power of the Dark Side overwhelms the defenders as they advance into the central districts.

Many turian civilians left behind in the middle districts of the city hear their first blaster shot and see their first Sith as the advance continues. The sight of their dark helmets and armor sends shivers down the spines of the lesser constituted turians. Some do their best to avoid being seen, others take up their arms and attack. Their training tells them to take out their officers and send their squads into disarray.

Their targets, however, are more often than not Sith Lords, who sense their attacks coming and deal with them as they see fit. Some subdue them, most however, see them as active combatants, and kill them for their attempts. From a second story window, one would be gunman takes aim at Lord Shepard's skull with their service pistol. The Sith Lord avoids the shot as the troopers turn to its origin. The resident assault trooper takes it a step further and uses his cannon to blast the window, and some of the wall, into the apartment. The turian flies across the room and slams into the opposite wall, debris littering the floor.

Shepard leaps into the hole in the building and corners the man, lightsaber in hand, "You know, I want you to understand that you had a choice not to get involved. You could have chosen to stay out of the fighting and you'd have most likely been left alone."

The turian man lifts the pistol up but Shepard yanks it into his hand with The Force, "Now help me to understand why it is you chose to throw your life away."

"Piss off!" is all the answer the turian gives.

Shepard ignites his saber and bisects him without another word. David leaps up to his master.

"Aren't you the one always telling me not to fool around with my opponents?"

Shepard smirks at his student as he tosses the pistol away, "While I'm glad that lesson has finally sunk in, depending on his answer, I may have considered letting him live."

"You'd offer him mercy?" David asks.

"I've gained nothing killing him, I'd at the very least sate my curiosity if he gave me a real answer," Shepard answers, "However, it was nothing but impulse and uncontrolled rage. This is precisely why I've taught you how to properly harness your rage, your emotions. If your emotions wrest control from you, you will end up like this pathetic thing; dying for nothing."

David's eyebrow rises, "He's a civilian, we are Sith Lords."

"All these civilians were once soldiers," Shepard reminds him, "They're taught not to think, not to feel, and when their emotions overcome them, all that ingrained discipline evaporates."

"That is why we must learn to use our emotions to our benefit, to fuel our power," David says, "And like all fuel sources, if mishandled…"

Shepard smirks, "It seems your humiliation on Shanxi has done more for your teaching than I could have. I should hand you your ass more often if that's all it takes."

"In your dreams old man," David huffs, "Come on, we have more turians to kill."

They both leap out and rejoin their troopers. Fighting dies down for a time and they come across several other Sith battalions all closing in on the center of the colony. Resistance ramps up after as they engage the turian's second line of defense. These forces are bolstered with volunteers wearing civilian clothes or the most basic combat armor.

Shepard and his fellow lords offer these turians no mercy as they cut them down and their men shoot them from cover. Dozens are sliced into pieces as they attempt to understand the powers before them. Trained for combat at range, their barebones melee combat experience proves their downfall as they cannot so much as scratch the Sith Lords. At first, the civilians stand with their enlisted comrades, as the militiamen fall, however, they abandon the fight. The troopers use them as target practice as Shepard ignores them. Nearby, he hears screaming and the buzz of a lightsaber. He and David turn and see a lone turian woman in cobbled together armor on the ground. Before her stands a snarling Sith Lord with a double-bladed lightsaber.

"Please, mercy!" the turian woman cries

The lord snarls, "What about my aunt, my uncle, and my cousins? Did your kind offer them mercy when you destroyed their transport over Shanxi?!"

The soldier claws at the ground as she's dragged towards the lord before he slices her down the middle. He turns to see Shepard and David observing his display.

"If they weren't ready for the horrors of war, they shouldn't have attacked us," he says before moving on towards the retreating turian lines followed by the master apprentice duo.

A pressing feeling draws Shepard's attention as they continue. He reaches out his senses and The Force pulls him towards a building that a squad of troopers enters, "There's a large concentration of lifeforms in there, turians."

He leads his battalion into the building at a quickened pace. They enter to see a long hall with doors popping up at uniform intervals. The Sith troops break down one of the nearest doors and rush in. Screaming erupts from the room as Shepard forces his way through the troops. Backed against the far end of the room are at least sixty turians, almost half of them crying children. The walls are decorated with soft arts, there are numerous chairs and tables arranged, and the children all wear the same uniform clothes. Shepard reaches out his senses again and finds a similar number of beings in almost every room around them.

"This is a school for children," David says.

"These must be their parents. They've come to protect their kids," Shepard comments as his mind drifts off, "John…"

"Troopers, purge the aliens!" a voice commands.

The troops outside Shepard's command raise their blasters. The turians panic as parents throw themselves over their kids. The crying ramps up and Shepard steps forward between the two sides.

"Hold! These are civilians, our orders are to leave them be unless they strike first."

The troopers' leader, a lord of oriental descent, likely an apprentice due to his young age, scoffs at his words, "We've been attacked by these so called civilians all throughout the city. How long until take up arms and join the others in the fight? You're a fool to try and stop us."

David gets into his face, "Look you bastard, I don't agree with High command's decision either, but they are still our orders. And don't you dare insult my master you nerf herding son of a bitch."

The lord ignites his blade, the civilians cower, "You think I'm afraid of you or your spineless master?"

"How about Darth Ferrus?" Shepard asks as his eyes harden, "By the look of your armor and stance, you come from the Pyramid of Warriors, the same as my apprentice and myself. I can imagine what the Dark Lord of Warriors would do when he learns one of his own instigated defying express orders, orders he supported. When he discovers this, he will hunt you down, bring you back to Korriban, and crush every bone in your body into dust one by one and then leave you dying on the floor for every warrior aspirant to see what fate awaits them when they cross a Dark Lord of the Sith. With that in mind, think, very, carefully about this next question. Is that what you want, boy?"

An aura of darkness enshrouds Shepard as he speaks, the troops around them back off as the young lord takes a step back. He deactivates his saber and stomps off towards the exit, his troops remaining with Shepard. David smirks at the display and Shepard calms himself. He taps his ear comm and gets command on the line.

"This is Lord Shepard of 22nd battalion, we've got likely a few thousand civilians taking shelter in what I assume is an education facility in sector S-5, requesting backup at my location."

As Shepard makes his call, the other lord stomps out of the school and back into the streets, "You know, there are a great many who are against this merciful treatment of the turians after what they had shown they were willing to do to us. Some of us think that the Dark Council are turning their backs on the ideals of the Old Empire."

The young man turns his head back to see… nothing. There's no body to put to the voice. However, he holds his blade up ready to ignite it.

"Put your saber away, I mean you no harm," the voice says again as Lord Harper emerges from his Force Cloak, "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Lord Jack Harper, and you are?"

He holds his unignited saber between himself and Harper for a moment longer before lowering it, "Leng, Kai Leng."

At the center of known space, many relay jumps and hours of assorted travel time away from the chaos of Torix, lays The Citadel. The massive station, home to millions of different individuals from just under a dozen races, stands with it's five arms stretched out and defended by thousands of ships including the massive asari dreadnaught, The Destiny Ascension. In the middle districts, rife with common class peoples and discount markets, stalks a turian in very plain clothes.

As the day/night cycle begins to turn dark for the day, he slips into an average looking turian bar and confronts the bartender, ordering a Primarch Special. The turian at the bar then nods and slides him a drink and a key. He downs the drink and swipes the key before heading across the establishment to another door. He unlocks it and steps inside. The room is sparse with no windows but does include a holographic projector at the far end. He closes the door, and it seems to seal shut.

The turian man turns on the hologram projector and the image of the Primarch appears before him, scowling, "You're late Sparatus."

"Apologies, Sir," Sparatus replies, "Councilor Belis held me up about some troop movements that hadn't been reported to the council."

The hologram clicks his mandibles, "Damn it, we have less time than I thought."

"I'm assuming that whatever we are diverting troops to is the reason you've called this meeting away from any possible ears of the rest of the council," Sparatus says.

"You're correct, Councilor," the Primarch answers, "We've run into a bit of trouble with a policing incident that has since escalated into a devastating conflict. We ended up making first contact with a new sentient race, and they are incredibly hostile. They call themselves, the sith, and they have some very advanced technology as well as abilities we've never seen in a sentient race before."

The primarch goes on to elaborate upon the incident at Relay 314, the failed invasion of Shanxi, and the counter invasion of Torix. Over the secure link, Sparatus receives all the compiled reports of Sith technology, tactics, and biology. As well as reports on the interrogation of the scant prisoners retained from the battle of Shanxi. The entire ordeal shocks the turian councilor.

"You cannot possibly expect me to believe this!" Sparatus shouts at the hologram.

"I assure you, Sparatus, this is very real and very much a threat. We made some tactical errors and underestimated their technology, but we've reconfigured our forces and sent two fully manned rescue fleets to reclaim our lost world and drive them back beyond relay 314. However, I require you to keep the council unaware of our pacification of them."

"And just how do you expect me to hide the disappearance of hundreds of our ships and the sudden loss of a planet?"

"We created a cover story for our losses and have most of the relays linked to the Gaulium system locked down, save for the one's outside of Citadel space… Just assure the other councilors that they needn't get involved. And keep the STG off our backs for as long as possible, damn toads will be in our business before we could blink."

Sparatus nods, "We can't keep this from them forever, sooner or later something will get out and draw their attention."

"Hopefully we will be able to mount a counterattack and be in the concluding stages of subjugating them by then. Our limited intel on them suggests that while their ships are more advanced than ours, they are severely limited and their war machine cannot survive a prolonged conflict. Once we have their technology, we will finally have a permanent edge in the council."

"And if our forces cannot subjugate them?" Sparatus asks.

"Then we call upon the council to broker a ceasefire or join our forces if it looks like it will turn into total war. Despite technological advantages, they appear to still be a young spacefaring race. Aggressive but inexperienced. We have centuries of expertise in space warfare, they have no major conflicts to draw upon for guidance. They are not prepared for a true war amongst the stars."

The laughter of the Dark Side echoes just beyond the turian's perception at his presumptuous words.

The fighting on Torix reaches the last bastion of the city, the planetary government district. The district border streets are fortified with permanent defensive structures, gun emplacements and armed to the brim with soldiers. The trudge against the barricades and walls takes its toll on the Sith as their droid vanguard is exhausted and their troopers begin taking notable casualties. Even some of the more impatient Sith Lords are gunned down by the sheer concentration of fire from the turians.

Above the fortifications, however, Zaeed and other mandalorians soar into action. They rain down missiles, explosives, and blaster fire across the battlefield. The aerial assault draws their attention and allows the ground forces to advance and overcome the turian fortifications. The occasional shot against them pings off their armor and they rush passed.

Zaeed and his men regroup on top of a building, "Any damages?"

"None sir," Hamada responds, "Getting a little light on missiles though."

"Maybe if you weren't so liberal with your ordinance, you'd still have some," Nilsson jabs.

"You're going to lecture me on ammo conservation? How many shots do you have left in your pistols?"

"Can it lovebirds," Zaeed says.

His comm goes off in his helmet, "Sniper nest on the fifteenth floor of a twenty story building, in southwest corner of battle sector W-12."

Hamada perks up, "Don't suppose they mean that one across the street do they?"

Zaeed checks down the scope of his rifle and spots the open window. After a few seconds another window pops open and he zeroes in his crosshairs on him.

"No way Zaeed makes the shot," Nilsson says, "Only Je…"

"Shhh," Hamada silences her.

Zaeed growls at the chatter as he lines up a shot, "Come on Jessie, just realigned your sights."

He pulls the trigger, and the bolt takes out the turian as he unfolds his rifle. Zaeed smirks as his squad hoots and hollers. Nilsson taps her helmet comm.

"Command this is Blue Sun squad, we have the snipers in battle sector W-12 under fire. Permission to go in weapons hot?"

"Granted Blue Sun squad."

"No rest eh," Zaeed says, "Move out and clear that building."

The group jets off and storms the building.

Walkers are deployed on the field to break the turian fortifications and let the troops in. The turians return with stiff resistance in the form of demolition teams and anti-vehicle grade weapons. The alliance orders limited attack runs from their fighters and interceptors to wipe out the resistance. Eventually a new force of droids land to replace the diminishing number on the front lines and it becomes a war of attrition. The battle of the government district goes on well into the night and onto the next morning, the resupplied battle droids baring most of the brunt through the night. Fatigued, surrounded, and weapons malfunctioning from continued overheating, the turian defense falls as the morning breaks upon Torix. Power and water distribution, communication, and rail transportation facilities fall into Sith hands, ending the turian struggle.

The capture of the government district begins the end stages of the invasion. Most militia soldiers surrender with their officers and are taken as prisoners of war. Those that don't surrender, flee into the deeper recesses of the cities and some make their way out to the hills and farmland of the planet to hide out. Troopers storm the central government building and capture all officials that had not joined the defense. Sith assassins discover a hidden bunker beneath the building and drag everyone, including Governor Polnt, out into the open.

From the Judgement of Marr, a shuttle flies down to the forward base where turians are brought in with collars clamped down on their necks. From the shuttle, General Williams emerges to greet the world, with a deep scowl upon his face. With a new chest plate adorning his body, he strides forward with his retinue to greet the commander of the base.

"General," she salutes.

"Major," he replies, "At ease."

She relaxes and follows him as he marches towards the vehicles, "We're currently hunting down the last of the militia groups, coordinating efforts with Alliance Intelligence and the Pyramid of Assassins to route them but their familiarity with the city and its alien infrastructure is hindering us."

"Cut off power to the varying sections of the city and make certain all communications are monitored, if they have frequencies we don't have on record that will become a problem."

"What of the soldiers that have fled into the rural areas?"

"Leave them be for now and recall any forces sent to pursue them immediately, the Admiral and I have plans in the works."

"Yes sir, and what shall we do with the prisoners?"

"Put anyone with rank on a transport to Arcturus, let Sith Intelligence and the Pyramid of Assassins fight over them, and everyone else gets put to work on this world or Shanxi," Williams says, "Get them started cleaning up the droid scrap to send back to the foundries. They spent all yesterday breaking them, it's only natural that they clean up the mess."

"Yes sir," the Major replies.

Another officer approaches, "General, your walker is ready."

"Good," Williams nods and follows the man into the vehicle.

The walker makes its way through the city and into the central government plaza, cracking the road with every heavy step. The turian people make way for the metal beast as it strides along its path and they arrive without issue. The General wastes no time making his way into the building, reveling in the terror inflicted upon the bystanders. Sith troopers hold positions at the front of the building and all throughout within. Williams makes his way up the building until coming to the office for one Governor V. Polnt. He steps inside and find the turian man at his desk with two Sith assassins flanking his desk. His right arm is in a sling and his face looks like it met a brick wall, recently.

The turian man scowls at the sight of Williams and his retinue as they enter. Williams gives him a glare of his own, "I am General Andreus Williams of the Sith Alliance Army."

The governor says nothing to him, so Williams looks around the office, noting the pictures of turians achieving military successes and books lining the walls in a language Williams cares not to have translated. Behind the governor is a wide window overlooking both the colony and far out to the agricultural lands beyond. The general steps forward and gestures the assassins at the turian's sides to move. They comply and step behind Williams.

"Let me spell out the position you are in," Williams begins, "Your world is being orbited by hundreds of Star Destroyers. Thousands of our troops are deployed here upon the battlefield with legions more ready to fight if needs be. Your communications are cut off from the rest of the galaxy, no frequency is making out past this system that isn't a hyperspace transmission, and you aren't advanced enough to have invented that yet. We control the majority of facilities within the colony and most of the troops on this world are now POWs."

The governor cracks, "Do you want me to be impressed?! You've captured the least developed colony in the Hierarchy. You've accomplished nothing."

"We've accomplished what your Admiral Septemus failed to do on our colony world," Williams replies as he steps towards the governor, "And we've only just begun to advance into turian space."

"You will never defeat the Turian Hierarchy," Polnt hisses.

Williams scoffs, "Based upon our most current casualty reports, I believe that we can."

"Whatever it is you think you can get out of me, you can forget it!" the turian growls, "Each and every one of my people is prepared to fight and die to defeat you."

"While I very much doubt that considering that you individual officers are surrendering in droves. Also, where were you when the fighting broke out again? Oh right, in a bunker as far away from the fighting as you could get. Some soldier you turned out to be."

"Why you…" Polnt seethes.

"We are well aware if the fact that each of your citizens have been trained as soldiers and have done military service in their early adulthood. Which is why my superiors require that you surrender and comply with our occupation."

"Never!" stands from his chair and the troopers level their blasters at him.

Williams narrows his eyes at him as he gestures for his men to stand down, "The planet is ours, Governor, you cannot argue that, but we foresee your people residing on it to becoming an issue, one we wish to curtail early on. Your holdout soldiers are going to become more of a thorn in the Alliance army's side the longer they persist. If their local leadership were to endorse the occupation, it will make everything smoother for us and we can allocate resources to other endeavors. You and this world are far from the Alliance's top priorities at this time and complying will make the occupation much more comfortable for your people."

Polnt huffs, "You want me to bow down so you can move on to other turian worlds? I'd rather we bleed you dry before the Hierarchy returns to kick you back to whatever desolate world you crawled off of."

"This is war, Governor, as a former soldier I assume that you would at least understand how these things work. You are very much at the disadvantage and your people will be the ones to suffer."

Governor Polnt slams his good fist on the desk, "I told you that you can forget it! You can torture and kill me if you wish, but I will never comply with this and never will the people of Torix!"

"You know, some might be disappointed to hear you say that," Williams says as he paces the office back and forth, "It would make things so much easier while we are here for you to cooperate. High Command would most definitely appreciate it but I, however, hold no such desires for an easy occupation. While I would never dream of crossing my superiors, your obstinance gives me an opportunity I will not let pass me by. Your kind has yet to pay back its blood debt. 16,000 civilians were ruthlessly murdered by your people in your military's desperate attempt to subjugate us. 16,000 people who never signed up to fight, whose only goal was to flee. 16,000… that I had failed to save," he shakes his head, "The death of a soldier is a necessary sacrifice of war, the death of an innocent, is a tragedy, and I intend to collect on those 16,000 tragedies before this war is over."

Williams pulls out his portable holo-comm and Drescher appears, "General."

"Admiral, the governor is refusing to surrender," Williams says forcing down a cruel smirk, "Before he dies, I believe it would be prudent to show him and everyone else on this rock what happens when you defy the Sith. Raze everything on the continent outside of the immediate colonized areas, I want nothing living outside."

"Gladly," Drescher replies as the Governor blanks.

"What, you can't do this, large scale bombardment of a garden world is against Citadel Law!"

"But it is not against Sith Laws," General Williams hisses back, "Be grateful that Alliance High command has deigned to show your kind mercy, had any military officer had their way, we would not be having this conversation and population on this world would have been reduced to zero."

The Star Destroyers, sitting in position in anticipation of the order, angle their guns at the planet. Firing solutions are punched in to avoid any settlement but agricultural sites are left on the targeting map. A final word from Drescher, and thousands of turbolaser bolts rain down upon the continent per second. For several minutes, the barrage bores into the crust of the world and melts the surface into glass and slag. Every living thing outside civilization, be they wildlife, plants, or escaped turian militia are annihilated in the fiery rain.

From the safety of the colony and minor settlements, the turian people look out to their world and watch the fire come down. Familiar with the Sith's methods of bombardment, they hide away until they realize that the barrage isn't coming down near them. Though their relief is short lived as they realize that it is coming down everywhere else and that their world is breaking apart before them. Groundquakes shake through the settlement as the weakened crust of the planet buckles across the continent. The barrage even destroys a good portion of their agricultural land, razing their primary food source.

Governor Polnt looks out from his office at the crumbling ground outside the colony in horror. Williams stoic face contends with a small grin as he sees the horror sink into his enemy's face.

"Stop this! This is barbaric!" the turian says as he rakes his talons across the window.

"Perhaps," Williams says as he deftly draws his blaster pistol and aims at the back of the turian's head, "But you could have prevented it."

The general pulls the trigger and kills the governor as the barrage goes on for many more minutes. He watches the crimson rain with a stoic expression etched on his face. Once the continent is razed of all its native life, he turns his attention to the troopers and assassins at his back.

"Find me the next turian in command of this rock."

"Yes sir."

So, the reason this took so long to get out is that I had this drafted out a week ago, but it was both too long and was not detailed enough, so I split it and added to both parts. Originally the final bombardment was the halfway point but it lacked any real character interaction. Next chapter should be out much quicker since it is already almost done. Also, a personal opinion, writing large scale action is a bit boring, unless you are invested in all characters involved, hence why I tend to break it up with dialog. Not much else here, Sith just doing what the turians couldn't. They had the element of surprise, uncontested dominance in space, and weapons and tactics that the turians had no real counter to. It was a pretty one-sided fight. I hope Shepard Sr doesn't come off as too compassionate just yet, I'm trying for more a pragmatic type of character that really isn't interested in rocking the boat just because he can. Like Darth Oculus. If you liked or hated this, leave a comment and help me improve the story, we're about halfway through my planned chapters of episode one, though this is subject to change if necessary.

See y'all next time.