Chapter 17
Edited by a person of many names Blood Raven AKA TimedRaven117. Go check out his story Mass Effect: X-Com Theory! (Blood and his self promotion :P)
Northern Petolemaic Hegemony, Lockhet, 2658 GS/ March/10/2330 AD
General Septimus Oraka held onto the railing as his main battery decimated the Skinnie ships that were still in the space dock above the planet. What ships that had managed to get out of port were being smashed up by his supporting frigates and cruisers with the support of the Terran ships. It had not been hard to convince the Petolemaic leadership on the other worlds they had taken to give them a map of the Hegemony.
Though the maps were relatively crude, each one not having all the data points needed or marking places that just didn't exist anymore and one or two space monsters such as giant Cephalopods thrown in, they had collected enough to find the home world of the enemy commander who had struck both Terran and Turian lives down at Shanxi.
Having informed Terran high command they had dedicated more forces to support his fleet, to ensure the battle went in their favor with a minimum of losses. More than likely they just wanted a piece of Grand Admiral Tel'Rock, but he didn't mind. The Skinnies were not the great foe he had expected them to be. They were much too divided and disorganized to be a true strategic threat in open battle and it almost made him think this war was unfair, but they had struck first, and the reprisal must be swift, vicious, and one never to be forgotten. They must, forever, fear another attack by the Turians and Terrans.
The most unfortunate fact was that they had yet failed to find any of the people's taken from Tesla'Vir. Some Skinnies said they were scattered, others said they were on the other side of the Hegemony, and another said they been left on some rock when they caused too much trouble. The Terran liaison had simply shook his head sadly and muttered under his breath. He had claimed that they had already been processed and broken.
Perhaps they would find some trace of the prisoners here. He hoped, as he watched his fleet begin the bombardment of military installations from orbit. "Sir the Terrans are asking if they can help in the bombardment." One of his staff reported.
"Tell them, 'Thank you, but no we can handle this, prepare for ground assault.' Besides we don't need them nuking the planet. Every time they do something against the citadel conventions and we witness it, it makes integrating them that much harder." He said looking down at the brown planet. "Of course, nuking this shit hole may actually improve it. Wouldn't want that now eh Commander?"
His XO chuckled, "Of course not sir."
~[==|==]~
Grand Admiral Tel'Rock looked out from his palace as the great city burned. He didn't know if the aliens or Terrans in orbit had done it on purpose or if it had been some fool knocking a candle over. But now the great city that had stood in this spot for two hundred and fifty years burned. He would have been sad if he was not so full of rage.
He was going to make the invaders pay for every inch of the city when they came. He mobilized everything from soldiers and Venerables to his raiders and milita. He knew it was a fruitless gesture, he had no reserves, no reinforcements, and no allies to come save him, and so he was left with only a honorable last stand.
"Father, the last of the fleet has been defeated." Rel'Rock said as he came out onto the balcony. He was already wearing his vulnerable power suit, no doubt planning to lead the defence of the palace.
"Thank you Rel'Rock, I have a mission for you," Tel'Rock paused, to look upon his son, he swelled with pride, his boy resplendent in golden armor, much like the great heroes of old, "I need you to take your men and secure the palace airfield, we cannot let these alien establish a beachhead there." What he said was the truth, if the airfield was lost the Terrans would have an open landing field to deploy tens of thousands of soldiers and tens of marauders behind his defensive perimeter. But the airfield was also the most secure part of the palace, if….. When the Turians and Terrans pierced his line and reached the palace, and killed or captured himself, at least his son would be able to escape.
His son nodded and did not complain, he knew what a precarious situation they were in, hell Tel'Rock doubted there was a person on the planet who believed final victory would be with them. But yet they stood, as the Prince of the land, Rel'Rock could never feel more proud than he was currently.
As his son saluted and left, Tel'Rock looked to the sky as the first of the tens of thousands of Terran drop capsules began to be discernable alongside hundreds of Skyhook drop ships and alien unfamiliar Turian drop corvettes. He yelled defiantly into the air, and as if it was a signal the whole city needed, dozens of anti air batteries fired straight into the air, stitching across the burning night sky.
~[==|==]~
El'Dey held onto his constrictor rifle with fear, he stayed low as another wave of gunfire raked his position. They had come from their ships by the hundreds, lightly armored soldiers charged forward by the platoon, laying down continuous waves of gunfire as they came forward.
The Terran called them light infantry. But he didn't understand why they called them light. He and the other Militia were doing their best at a holding action, but the there was not much they could do against the numberless hordes of Terran. It reminded him of the many stories his father told him of fighting the ancient bug foe. But if the rumors were true, the Terran had been fighting the bugs for nearly twenty years now.
The Terran had landed forces just inside the city, they had flattened the weapons factory where he used to work and where he got his rifle from. Quite literally it had been blown flat by a powerful weapon before the first of the Terran ships landed. From there they had been pushing out in waves like an ocean, attacking any resistance they found and butchering the militiamen that didn't surrender.
And that wasn't the worst enemy even, Terrans in power suits and armor wearing jet packs were freely falling from the skies like daemonic rain, landing and flitting around the battlefield like monstrous dancers, turning any militiamen they found into chopped meat with their weapons. Even the Venerables, great as they were, were having trouble, as they were ambushed at every corner and point. Even now El'Dey just knew that the Powersuits were waiting behind the junction in the street to their rear.
"Here they come!" The officer, really their work foreman, in charge of his unit yelled drawing a ceremonial blade, preparing for hand to hand combat within the building they were cowering in. A rocket propelled grenade flew in the building hitting him square in the chest sending parts of his body all over the room.
At the moment that he could hear again he saw outside the Terran in their light armor form two firing lines, a grey clad Human to the right had an upraised hand, and then cut it down. Immediately the platoon strong firing line opened fire with their morita rifles. He ducked his head just in time, but most of his co workers weren't so lucky as even through the thick concrete walls, hundreds of small projectiles pierced the barrier and exited with more than deadly force. Many of the rounds were explosive in nature and either exploded right after breaking through the walls or within them sending a shower of millimeter to centimeter long shrapnel into their bodies.
El'Dey was on his belly his hands covering his auditory receptors, he wanted to scream for it to stop. He clamped his eyes shut as he felt rock dust, blood, unmentionables, and rubble fall upon him. In seconds the combined firepower had quite literally nearly collapsed the wall he took cover behind.
Deafened, covered in his co workers, crying for his mother that had passed decades ago, and scared beyond all consolation, El'Dey locked up with terror as he heard a resounding deep gutteral warcry, "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!" That horrid cry was emitted from the Terran throats as they charged over into the building, their rifles sporting wicked bayonets or sometime axes as large as the user's head.
Two Terran tripped over his body, both falling to the ground they looked back upon the object responsible and saw the cowering El'Dey. Pulling out long grey rods they flicked them, sparking. The last thing El'Dey remembered before unconsciousness overtook him was the green warpaint upon their faces.
~[==|==]~
Sergeant Tereus Ursition, of the 43rd Turian Army Division held onto the side of his squads M-080 APC, his platoon's mechanized column pushed into the city, the Terran attack was coming from the south while he was coming from north. And it was proving to be an interesting experience, from what he had heard the Skinnies were fighting with everything they had in the south trying to stop the Terrans, fat chance of that since he had seen them in action before and he pitied the fools who fought the Terrans. But here in the north side of the city they seemed confused, yes there were some groups fighting them, but there were other groups surrendering the moment they came in range of their guns. He doubted it was just the fear of the unknown or just the fear of their armor, really it seemed they would rather surrender to them over the Terrans. The bad blood between the Hegemony and the Federation was working in their favor even as they stalled the Terrans. Then again the Terrans were much more aggressive in their doctrine. He had seen them unload dozens of heavy artillery canons, which had made him double take since the last cannon of that caliber he had seen was in a museum. He also knew they were in the process of deploying nearly an entire overstrength division right into the city compared to his own divisional force, most of which was securing the outlying suburbs and towns.
So really it was more like the Skinnie's were focusing on the much more pressing threat now that he analyzed it.
Looking ahead past the smoke, he saw they were nearing the palace. The building was a massive spire that seemed to have been carved from a mountain, he wondered how they could construct a building made of stone that high. "Holy shit! So that's Petolemaic steel!" The driver of his APC shouted out. Tereus nearly jumped as he started to fish around for that info book he was given by the Terrans. From what he knew, the Skinnies had come up with an alloy of steel colloquially known by the Terrans as Skinnie Steel, that could be made to look like stone from a distance, most of their weapons were made of it to. He didn't know more than that but it would explain the buildings. Some were made of plain concrete but others were beautifully decorated with the steel, giving an ancient feel to them.
"Alright platoon dismount, we're going into enemy territory now! We've been fighting militia and armed citizenry! We'll face the real soldiers soon." The platoon leader announced and all the Turians immediately dismounted and began to spread out into the surrounding buildings and the streets. Their tanks, while immune to small arms, were not immune to AT weapons, and the only way for the Turians to detect an ambush before it occurred was by screening forward.
Everyone's senses were on high alert as they crept forward, as soon as the first vehicle had turned a corner it was immediately hit by a rocket propelled weapon, the shields deflected the round, but not before it exploded and a jet stream of plasma struck the vehicle and caused a gouge in the thin armor the size of his fist. This was most certainly not going to be an easy fight like this.
~[==|==]~
Major Ivan Ivanovic watched the simulated holographic table from the planet below, a group of Turians were pinned down just before the palace by Skinnie Venerables and light infantry with AT weapons. He didn't know much about the alien unit, but he guessed they were some kind of special forces or a vanguard company by the fact they had been deployed much closer than any other Turian unit. "Have they requested help?" He asked looking over to his old friend General Shiroyama.
"The skirmish has barely lasted 30 seconds." Shiroyama said with snark, then smiled, "Not yet but they don't know what they're dealing with yet, they probably think them meer soldiers, from what I can see they're about to be encircled by professional light infantry laying low in the surrounding homes, and then the Venerables will advance on them once their armored vehicles have been eliminated. The Skinnie commander is good I'll give him that." Shiroyama explained as he highlighted the buildings the infantry were hiding in and pointed out how the Turians had fell into a trap despite their carefulness.
"And do they have any support on the way?" Ivan asked as he looked at the Turian's line.
"None from us, but a bit from their own forces. Most of our troopers are bogged down in the fighting at the landing zones and on the approach to the city, if the Sky Marshal had given us another division or a few more brigades for this attack I would have a more appropriate reserve to send in, but as it is I have only one asset left. The Turian's have more reserves in orbit, and have penetrated deeper into the city, but the Skinnies are about to blunt their forward thrust. If this column is destroyed like we predict, it could extend the fighting for days, possibly allow our quarry to escape, and substantially increase casualties."
"So you want to send me in I assume?" Ivan asked, sighing as he looked at the map.
"I know this is your last tour of duty before retirement, and it was not supposed to be anything more than a moral booster, but you're the only man I can send in there who has a chance of saving their asses."
Ivan nodded, "You really don't have to ask, they are fellow soldiers trapped under fire down there, that is all the reason I need to drop." He got up from his seat and sighed heavily, "I'll kill some Skinnies for you General."
He walked quickly from the command center to the forward section of the ship contacting his support staff as he made sure everything would be ready. Stepping into the armor he saw his chief engineer Jensen Boroyevich attaching something to his power armor. "What are you doing?"
"Oh hey boss!" He said, finishing his work, "Funny story, you're going to laugh, but you know those card games I've been holding? Well a Turian showed up to one of our meets, let's just say you're now the proud owner of a military grade kinetic barrier made for an infantryman!"
"Nice? How does it work?"
"Hell if I know, but I figure if you're going to take the old girl for one last drop I thought you would like something more than armor on your back!" Whooping in russian to the team, Ivanovych did the same.
"Yes, it will be good to do one final run with the old girl." He replied demurely, picking up the old Marauder 10 power armor helmet from the table. It was scarred from years of use, but still functional. Turning over he saw his call sign emblazoned, Spooky, "One last test run they say…."
~[==|==]~
[Soundtrack: Gods of War, by Manowar]
Lieutenant Augusna Regiril dodged another rocket going over his head, "SPIRITS DAMN IT!" He yelled, the Skinnie weren't exposed to be a problem, in fact they hadn't been until they red fuckers showed up, they had almost reached the star port, pushing through the heavy incoming fire with their armored vehicles taking hit after hit, but then these monster had rushed their position from the flanks.
He didn't know what the hell they were but they seemed to have hyper awareness of the battlefield, and every single bastard had an assault rifle that fired rockets, a pistol that seemed to just render the impactee into unrecognizable meat with a shot, and the fucking gloves they had would literally disintegrate a person alive with the barest touch. He knew all this because there had been 30 men in his squad, and now there was only 10.
So much for being a member of Blackwatch. They had joined the forward thrust quietly, but being the best of the best in the Turian military doesn't mean anything when the other guy has tech that can rip you apart at every level. "Sir I'm receiving a message from a Terran ship in orbit, 'the cavalry is on the way'."
"Well that's grand, but unless they have something that can get here in a minute, that's not going do us any good!"
At that moment a streak like a falling star appeared above them. Augusna recognized it as a "Cap", a capsule used by the Terrans for orbital insertion, crazy bastards. However it dropped far lower than usual, and it only detonated a few meter above the rooftops behind the anti tank cannons. Suddenly the sound of war cries and screaming started, and the guns stopped firing, culminating in a huge blast as the anti tank shells were detonated.
Regiril kept his head down, the sound of combat continued but now that the main obstacle to their vehicles was destroyed, they may have a chance. Looking to the wrecked facade of the building, he saw swirling smoke then something dark moving toward his position. He was about to pull the trigger when the smoked cleared and showed what he hoped to the spirits was a Terran.
The head was the right shape but it's face was covered up behind a bronze vizor. The rest of the armor was thick, and he had two ammo bandoliers with a selection of guns hanging from them, it looked like a man sized tank. It would have been completely terrifying except for the codpiece, the Federation eagle emblazoned there was so ridiculous it put him at some ease.
The Terran was quietly walking up, in the sound of battle he didn't make a sound. Looking closely, Augusna could see that his entire body was repelling the smoke around him. Dropping the clip in his carbine, he slapped another one in, pulling the action back. The fighting in his area stopped, as everyone looked at the new comer.
"Down from the sky… into the fight… Like the Vikings of old, a Marauder is here." He announced. "Now, who's first?" A Skinnie rushed him thoughtlessly, with it's atomising glove outstretched, the Terran moved with incredible speed, getting around the outstretched arm, grabbing it and twisting it to an unnatural angle, crying out in equal measures surprise and pain, the Terran ripped off the arm like it was leg on a poultry dish. Looking at the glove still sparking, the Terran proceeded to stab the hand into the Skinnie's back, killing it.
Turning, the Terran surveyed the battlefield, "Well now… I thought the pride of the Petolemaic Honor Guard would be tougher. I've fought tougher warrior bugs." Drawing the attention of all the nearby Skinnies as they redirected their fire at the Terran.
Augusna took the chance, "Counter attack!" Rising from his cover, Augusna drew in his biotic power, and pulled a Skinnie sniper from its perch, exposed for his team's marksmen. As soon as the call went out, the remaining biotics and soldiers in his squad proceeded to push out, the Skinnies had been incensed towards the Terran and did not realize their mistake and the lack of dueling honor the Turians had until it was too late. Quickly the numbers lost rivaled that of the Blackwatch.
However the majority of the kills came from the lone Terran, pulling off his carbine the rippling waves of devastating fire went out, as he proceed to scale a wall and into a building, losing sight of the Blackwatch members.
The building the Terran disappeared into soon had flashes of gunfire erupting from it, explosions rocked the structure and flames licked at the windows. Augusna couldn't focus on that however, as he and his men fought with all they were worth, as they even went so far as to engage in melee with the Skinnies, pulling out their talon knives and pistols in some cases as rifles overheated.
The Terran emerged having not even suffered a scratch as he tossed away the spent carbine and pulled up his Tactical Shotgun. Another Honor Guard tried to charge him, before being blown in half by the powerful weapon.
And just as soon as the ambush began, they were gone, at some unknown signal they retreated reluctantly. Leaving the few remaining blackwatch and Turian platoons behind them at a loss for targets and words. Immediately calls for medics and wounded reports were coming in.
Augusna looked to the Terran, who stood upright and proud, looking to the building he had just essentially destroyed. As if deep in contemplation.
Regiril looked at the figure for a few moments before looking to his most senior survivor as he gave a casualty report. When Augusna turned back the Terran was gone without a trace
"Down from the Sky, into the fight, hearts full of rage, full of thunder and glory, swords in the wind, crossing the sky, lords of doom, bring an end to their story upon winged chariots." Whispered in the dark, as if a final parting gift.
~[==|==]~
That was not the last fight of the Honor Guard Augusna realized, his armored column finally made its way to the palace gates, using their own tanks as battering rams, his forces had been picked at by Skinnie snipers and ambushes of small teams. But he also saw more than a fair few red armored corpses. That Terran soldier was clearing the way he realized.
Only a true veteran could see the majesty of how that Terran soldier had fought, how each shot was calculated to cause the least amount of suffering but maximum carnage, as if he was a spirit of war, a Terran Ghost. 'Ghost? Ha!' He thought, no he was very much real, the Terrans had even sent him down to them. But every soldier was superstitious, and in a way, it made him comfortable to know that, spirit or flesh, he was on their side. But as they fought, he could tell the Honor Guard were nothing if not good themselves, if not at least on par with his own men, they had full control of the terrain, every meter forward had been a bloody one.
It was as if the Honor Guard would just literally appeared out of nowhere behind their lines or in the middle of them. He would have sent scouts to find their hiding holes, but he knew they would be slaughtered without numbers and power on their side, so he kept his flanks tight, just as if he were fighting Asari.
Finally as the tank let loose a final hyper velocity projectile, the golden gates crashed to the ground with an almighty clang. "You hear that Tel'Rock?! WE'RE COMING FOR YOU!" Augusna screamed with the rest of his men and women as they charged forward behind their tanks as machine gun fire came from the fortified bunkers in the palace grounds. "Secure the docks! Don't let him escape! For Palavan! For the Hierarchy! For the Citadel Council! For Tes'la Vir!" Augusna roared one final inspiration to the surrounding soldiers who repeated the last call.
"FOR TES'LA VIR!"
Those words from before came to mind again, actually, it, that was his radio. Someone was singing in another language…
~[==|==]~
Grand Admiral Tel'Rock spat on the ground, clearing the black tar that had been smoke from his mouth, the planet, the palace itself was burning, all his forces were dying or surrendering. His son… was lost to him, he hoped he would be brave and leave him to embark and escape.
He would never see his son again. Perhaps that thought was what struck his heart the most.
He had decided it would be HIS dynasty that would be the one to end the time of the headless tribe… and now perhaps that chance was lost forever. So fuck it, sitting upon his favorite sun chair, a bottle of the finest brandy he had saved for such a victory in his hand, he drank, he drank and watched his city burned, by the time the Turian had pierced the few lines of defense that remained he was so drunk he didn't even notice the fighting outside his study door.
The door didn't blast open or break, or look even damaged in the slightest, as a single figure walked into the room, dressed in grey, his visor bronze as if the most glorious sun, reflecting the flickering burning lights outside. He stepped to the left of Tel'Rock, looking out over the burning city.
The Terran spoke, "Your son is a great tactician. He used the sewers and secret tunnels that run through this area like ratways. He ambushed me and the Turians at every turn, every step was a fight for your life. I've not experienced such a fight for years."
Tel'Rock was so drunk, he could barely move, but he was cognizant, and aware of how important this moment was, "Did he escape?"
"... Yes. I almost caught him when the last of his guard pulled him into one of the blockade runners. The fleet won't be able to stop it. I had an open shot. One squeeze of the trigger. But I couldn't, not to such a worthy opponent." The Terran Marauder explained.
Tel'Rock visibly relaxed at that information, falling right into the comfortable straps of his chair, "Please, Terran, take a seat, and drink with me, for my final moments. Humor an old Tawn with your most honorable presence. Tales of your kind's exploits are famous, even out here." Tel'Rock said, motioning clumsily to a nearby chair.
"If but I could, I have many questions MilInt would love answered. But that will have to wait for later. But one, tell me of General Projak."
Tel'Rock, his tongue loosed by drink and and the knowledge that soon he was to die anyways, spoke at length of the man, how he found him, his payment, his fiefs, and preferred tactics.
He was just going into how much of a dark mood he had wherever he went. Nothing seemed wrong until a Turian gun was next to his head. Looking up at the Turian he saw the aliens that had ruined him. He just looked at them, took a swig straight from his third bottle and said, "What happened to the nice Terran Ghost? Please relax yourselves friends, have a drink while I tell the tale of meeting a Marauder… Oh what was that poem he just said a moment ago..."
"Down from the Sky, into the fight, hearts full of rage, full of thunder and glory, swords in the wind, crossing the sky, lords of doom, bring an end to their story upon winged chariots." One of them said, and Tel'Rock sighed.
"Yeeeeessssss… That one." Tel'Rock had the happiest smile in the world, "That one…"
~[==|==]~
Northern Petolemaic Hegemony, Lockhet, 2658 GS March/13/2330 AD
Vice Admiral Kalio Gainus looked down at the planet displeased, his ships had just recently arrived in system to deliver troops to help with the clean up operation. He had expected this operation to be hard when he gave General Septimus Oraka the green light, but this was almost disappointing, for three days the battle had raged on the planet, three days of hard combat all because Tel'Rock wanted to fight to the end.
He didn't know what had broken the man, he really didn't care. Even when they captured the Petolemaic, drunk, his forces wouldn't just surrender. Nothing worked, the Terrans were grinding through defense line after defense line, stronghold after stronghold. The Skinnie military forces just would not surrender, and a lot civilians hadn't the first few days either.
But that was changing, the Terrans had exhausted their operational resources and their men and woman were in dire need of refit and reorganization. When they stopped fighting the Skinnies also stopped fighting. After a bit of talking on all three sides the Terrans had realized their presence on the planet was causing the Skinnies to be unreasonable so they were pulling out of the city and established the rear echelon in the outer suburbs, and now the population was starting to surrender formally and willingly move to the safe camps. Hopefully the military would follow suit once the rest of the Terrans were off and replaced by Turians.
Sighing, Kalio considered heading back to his quarters to work on the stack of paperwork that never seemed to shrink no matter how much work he put into it, when sirens started going off, "Report!" He ordered, turning to his staff.
"Three ships of Petolemaic make have jumped into the system." His sensors officer called.
"Three?" Kalio asked, it wasn't exactly what he would expect as a counter attack.
"Yes sir, wait… I'm receiving a message from the unknown ships. Translating now… strange." His communications officer mumbled. "It says they would like to discuss peace terms."
"Another small planet wanting to spare itself the ravages of war?" Gainus asked.
"No sir the messages says they represent the entire Petolemaic Hegemonic Council."
"Well now… today just got interesting."
~[==|==]~
Kalio Gainus sat at a table as the Skinnie representative took the seat across from him. "I am Vice Admiral Kalio Gainus, I will represent the allied forces during this talk but I can only hear what you have to say, I'm not invested with any definitive political power right now."
The Skinnie nodded, "I understand, I am Lew'Gen'Tak representative of the Gen'Tak tribe to the Hegemony council and elected speaker for them during these peace talks."
Kalio assumed a tough stance, he was no barefaced Citadel Politician, but he was a senior flag officer, and that didn't come with just brutish seabirdship alone, "So you wish to discuss terms? I hope you they're some damn good terms. From what your forces have put the Citadel people and our Terran allies through."
"You doubt the Hegemony's political power?" The gray skinned alien retorted, looking regal in the green and red roman style tunic he wore.
"Well you could say that everything I've heard about your people since we've met has most certainly not been positive, there is no centralized government, and what governments that we have encountered have not exactly been paragons of economic or military strength. So forgive me if I assume that you don't exactly have a lot to offer me or my allies." Kalio explained, watching the Skinnie closely
The Skinnie nodded, "You are right and wrong at the same time, on the outskirts of our territory we have no control, but toward the core planets, a place you now border, we can affect some things, and at least end open military conflict. And delay a fleet of thousands from testing their strength against your own fleet." A not so subtle threat, Gainus liked that.
"So what terms are you prepared to give me to take to the Terrans and the Council?" Kalio decided to cut the shit as he had heard his Terran advisor say from time to time.
"The terms are simple, we will give you all the planets you have taken and any planets that you missed on the way to the current border, you can do whatever you please with them. We will also forbid any military buildup on the border in this region for the next twenty years. We will also declare any ships currently in your space who don't retreat or surrender as pirates, In exchange we want promises of a mutually shared DMZ between our peoples to keep the Terran from causing trouble. You're a calm and collected third party, a buffer between us two will allow us to make proper diplomatic overtures to one another."
Kalio sat there in thought for a moment, hiding his emotions as best he could, his stoic Turian steel, "I was expecting a lot more political side stepping, dancing, and evasion. This is a huge amount of territory you're just giving up." Kalio couldn't help but know that was also a ton of territory to police and garrison, a huge drain on the treasury on the already strained finances of the Hierarchy, the Volus were going to have a fit.
The Skinnie seemed to smile, "Within the Hegemony Council there are many factions, until this war the most powerful was a pro Petolemaic-Terran War group, their power base was centered along the border with the Terrans, they wanted this war thinking it could make themselves even more powerful than they were as war heroes. Instead you alongside the Terrans have destroyed them almost in totality, creating a power vacuum, a vacuum my party has filled. We do not war with the Terrans and your people, we have more lofty and peaceful goals in mind, so giving you the land of the troubles makers seems a fair way to keep ourselves in power in the short term. In the long term, I'll be honest, neither you nor the Terran will be able to actually control the planets with any degree of success. One day, maybe tomorrow, maybe in a thousand years, they will find there way back to the Hegemony peacefully. Or violently if you prefer."
What the Skinnie said confirmed some fears and relieved others, but also brought something else up, "Alright, but what is your party's goal?"
The Skinnie continued to smile, "Well to restore the Hegemony to the time before the Headless Tribes. It is the goal of all survivors of the Gen'Tak, the emperor's tribe, and the true rulers of the Hegemony, and to do that we must fight the bugs, retake our home world of Gehenna, something we could not do with the arachnids as strong as they were, but even the fools in the Councils can see that in order for the Terran to bring their armies here, they must have struck a grievous blow to the Arachnid half of the Empire. Which is a golden opportunity to take back lands from them while they're still reeling. What is their saying? An enemy of my enemy is my friend?"
He would definitely send this up the chain of command to let them deal with it, but Gainus still had one problem, "Alright but what about the soldiers of Lockhet?"
"What about them? From what I understand Tel'Rock is your prisoner so he should tell them to surrender." Lew'Gen'Tak explained patiently.
"They're refusing to listen to him, they seem to believe the Terrans are mind controlling him or some superstitious nonsense like that." Gainus returned.
"Oh… well I guess you just have to kill them all then. It's not our problem now." Ruthless and pragmatic. Kalio really liked this Petolemaic.
"We'd rather not mark our first days as governors of the planet by bombarding half of it to dust. You have some sway I imagine, the news of this will most certainly at least bring them to the table." Kalio asked politely.
The Skinnie considered it, "I will send someone, but I make no guarantees of them yielding while in the throes of battle."
"Anything is better than more bodies, than another battle. We Turians fight for honor and peace, not for the sake of fighting." Then something the Skinnie said before struck him odd, "Why did you say the Arachnid HALF of the Empire? I thought the Terrans called it the Arachnid Empire."
The Skinnie looked considerate, then said to himself, "I should have guessed the Terran hadn't found the truth yet, still a golden opportunity for my people though." Then turning his back to Kalio, "When my people fought the bug, as the Terran call them, the bug went by another name. The Pseudo-Arachnid Empire, that is all I shall reveal on that matter."
To Be Continued
~[==|==]~
Terran Gunsmith's Extraordinaire Codex edition, Volume 1:
The TW-105E Tactical Shotgun: The weapon was a move from the Morita weapons available to the mobile infantry; it contains a large and powerful explosive shell which would almost wipe out an Arachnid warrior bug in one shot. Dubbed the Puncher for its ability to literally punch holes in test subjects, the TW-105E is a powerful weapon indeed.
Units produced: ~10,000,000,000 (10 Billion)
Warning Accessing Classified materials… Identity confirmed
M10 Marauder Power Armor: The most experimental of all Pathfinder armors, even in its prototype phase it increased the combat capabilities of soldiers by 200%. What would take a squad of Grunts hours to clear, a Marauder can do in minutes by himself. With regenerative armor, and an overlaid and highly experimental Harmonic Shield unit, Marauder troops have been known to come out of engagements essentially missing all their limbs and with half their armor reduced to metal and still survive. They're so skilled that a single one is a strategic resource on par with entire regiments of Marauder Walkers. When more than one is sent to a war zone it's the mark of an escalation in war for the entire sector. The deployment of one is so serious that entire strategic campaigns have been rewritten to include the sheer power of one.
The induction of new recruits per year is in the single digits, and so far only a handful have been lost to direct combat. The pilots of these power armors are interplanetary celebrities, used as icons of power in even alien and rebel circles, with respect reserved only for true foes worthy to admire.
wiki/File:Marauder_
Units produced: 117 (One hundred and Seventeen)
Author note: so thought everyone would like to know i have now beaten ME2+DLC and started ME3+DLC woo… i also watched the paragon lost movie...Wooohatever so i am no longer ill informed about mass effect.