Hello everybody I hope your ready for the next chapter because here it is! Also thanks to those who reminded me. Now on to the chapter.
LLLIIINNNEEE BBBRRREEEAAAKKK!
The fighting lasted another three hours before the last of the mercs either died or surrendered as they had no means of escape from the planet surface. Atlas relief forces were landing as combat teams searched the destroyed city for survivors and keep an eye out for merc bands hiding from them. The sky-scrapers and other taller buildings had been destroyed by crashing fighters or artillery barrages from the fierce battle. City streets had holes blown down into the sewers from rockets and shells. Bodies of fighters and civilians alike littered the rubble with blood pooling and running like macabre lakes and rivers running through the city.
Hazard Company Fire-team Jade marched through this scene of death and destruction as they patrolled the decimated and rotting city. Jace stopped at an intersection to consult the patrol map for this sector. As he did the rest of the team stopped to drink and rest for a moment, the teams two AGRs and their scarred CLAW "Merc Bane" sat idle scanning for threats. The team had been on Elysium for the entire fight as they held off merc from taking one of the city's civilian bunkers. They had used the Claw to great effect pushing back assault after assault of merc forces eventually calling the scarred and damaged thing the Merc Bane after it took down two gunships and still stand.
Jace looked around at the city in pity and sadness at all the innocent lives snuffed out because of greed and arrogance. He had seen many such places even before his work at Atlas. He had been approached in prison for murdering a merc leader who was extorting a small settlement on Galix to help the poor people there who had been forced to mine and work for the merc gang. He had jumped at the job offer and never looked back.
The team was about halfway to their next check point when a rag-tag group of mercs attacked them, numbering at about ten. The six man team dove for cover as the AGRs turned and fired their machine guns at the attackers while the Merc Bane slowly turned as it tried to join the fight as Jace unloaded his KF5 at a Turian who had rose to fire only to meet five rounds to his chest and neck, lack of maintenance cost his armor it's shields and cost him his life. The fight wasn't exactly even, the mercs were tired from running and hiding from the advancing Atlas forces and their gear was failing as they couldn't take the abuse anymore while Atlas had for the most part used fresh fire-teams to patrol and hunt down the stragglers with fresh gear.
The city for the most part was secured except for the last tiny pockets of resistance so Kevin turned his attention to other matters such as the fact the first game's events were going to happen soon. So he prepared for the events by sending Hazard Companies' Third Battalion to Edolus to preempt Cerberus' plan on luring Alliance marines into a thresher maw nest for tests. He sent a good will team to the L2 implanted Biotics to stop the kidnapping of the scientists. He also used the events to bring attention to the problems affecting those with L2 implants. Sending a destroyer pack to the Hydra system in the Argos Rho cluster was a hope to save the crew of the Sacred Angel medical ship. A combat team already arrested Dahlia Dantius.
Cruisers were prepared to deal with Geth incursions, although the teams onboard were told it was for possible slaver and merc raids. He had stepped up the level of gear team had access to in the armory to ensure they had the best to deal with Geth or any merc group trying to take advantage of the chaos. He had every piece of gear set up with self-detonation packs if they were messed with by anyone who didn't know how to work with them. Kevin knew he couldn't mess with the events too much or someone might notice how he was dealing with things before they happened.
Training of new troops and recruiting was stepped up as Kevin had the cybernetic warfare units start preparing for a full on cyber war against anyone even the Geth and Cerberus as a "precaution" training exercise. He walked into his office and turned on his security system. The office was surrounded by a more advanced form of the "Silencer" mute charge to keep sound from exiting his office plus there were no windows to bounce sound waves off of or to read lips. Kevin sighed as he took a sip of Dr. Pepper while reclining in his chair. He looked at the stack of paperwork and groaned, if he had known the level of paperwork he would have to do he would of gotten a figurehead to be CEO instead. Suddenly his personal comm came on, "Sir, you better be working on the forms for the new tank brigade not lazing about." Liza Rose was his secretary, or in his mind his slave driver, she had been working for him for three years but she knew his habits well even his attempts at relaxing in his office quietly.
"Liza, in a couple days I need to go to the Citadel, let our offices there know and prepare a security team and escort please." As she went to do that he grinned and up his feet up on his desk and reclined back and took another sip of his drink. "Don't think I won't check to make sure you filled the forms when I get back," Liza called as she exited her office outside his office. Sighing Kevin went back to work hoping to finish quickly.
LLLIIINNNEEE BBBRRREEEAAAKKK!
Kevin had been on the Citadel for three months dealing with a few problems number one of which was the Council trying to basically sue or steal his company's technology through third parties Elkoss Combine, Armax Arsenal, and even companies like Ariake Technologies. He had teams of lawyers to deal with law suits but they had to also deal with corporate espionage and even thefts, it was starting to piss Kevin off that people think he could be screwed over that easily but for every attempt he had the cyber warfare department to release another Cyber WMD on the offending party, there was even a time when AVINA would curse out every diplomat and politician who needed her or passed her terminals. Kevin had to put a stop to that one after children started to be exposed to the effects of that one.
Finally they stopped for the most part as they realized that Atlas was doing it but had to proof after Armax Arsenal's latest assault rifle design was realized over the Extra-net a month before it's release. Then came the event Kevin was waiting for happened, the attack on Eden Prime. The reveal was shocking as he watched the carnage with the rest of the Citadel as the small six man team of Atlas forces covered civilians from Geth and Husks. The fight was brutal as Geth plasma weapons and Atlas energy weapons and projectile weapons fire was traded. Then the signal was cut and Kevin stood in the main area of the Atlas Corporation building on the Citadel. "All Atlas forces not on leave or deployed else where are to immediately head to the Exodus Cluster. I want relief teams on the ground within twenty-four hours with combat teams clearing the planet of Geth forces. Cyber warfare is not at Def-con One. Suit up men, we are heading for a fight!" Dozens of Atlas troopers yelled their agreement as they rushed to the armories and ships as analysts and office workers relayed orders and coordinated the entire reshuffling of Atlas' deployed forces galaxy wide, both combat and relief and construction.
LLLIIINNNEEE BBBRRREEEAAAKKK!
Hey everybody I hope you enjoy the chapter, its a little short I know but I wanted to jump into Mass Effect one quickly so I could build up steam on this. Please read and review. Also thanks to Justiceseeker85 for helping keeping me focused. Thank you my friend. Now enjoy and the next should come soon.