Chapter 1
The Guardian's blue hand fell lifelessly to the ground as the ring hovered in the air over him. The ring gave off a green aura, illuminating the Main Sanctum. As soon as Ganthet's voice had faded, indoctrinated forces broke through the barricaded doors, swarming through. Detecting overwhelming indoctrinated presences, the ring emitted a small green orb around itself for protection and streaked upward, shattering through the temple's ceiling.
The tiny jewel soared over the skyline of Oa, zigzagging through the gargantuan dreadnoughts as they configured in an attempt to catch the small ring. Free from interference, the ring began to spark green bolts as it accelerated faster and further away from Oa, before disappearing into the starless space above.
The ring reappeared on the other side of the massive black hole that hung over Oa. It easily fought against the tremendous gravitational forces and continued flying through the endless space. As it jetted along, it started to send out faster than light pulses in all directions, searching for willful life. The pulses eventually returned with no results, indicating all willful life had been eliminated by the Old Machines. This possible inevitability was not overlooked; the Primeval Ones had completed their purge of all intelligent and evolved life.
The tiny weapon halted and hovered in the emptiness of space making calculations. Finally, the ring began to descend on a nearby planet at a swift rate. As it fell through the haze filled atmosphere, it became enveloped in a thick emerald metal shell with the Corps beacon symbol etched into it. The metal clad ring continued to fall through the sky and collided with the rocky surface, burrowing deep within the primitive planet.
The clump of green metal still had a glow around it as it slowly started to fade and turn dark. To conserve power, it would only send out weak energy pulses every thousand years to be found by an intelligent race, when it would reactivate again.
It would lay dormant for 150,000 years…
2185
The Vallum Blast, a tragedy that resonated in the heart of ever turian. Carried out by separatists that sent a rigged starship at FTL speeds to collide into the capitol of the planet Taetrus, which created a five kilometer wide crater, killing thousands. The separatist group known as Facinus claimed responsibility for the horrendous attack and threatened more were imminent due to Taetrus' appeasement of humans and taxes hindering the Turian Empire.
The terrorist act was one of the worst attacks in turian history. Action was taken immediately to hunt down the perpetrators and bring them to justice. Civilians on Taetrus began to take sides as troops from the Turian Hierarchy mobilized to thwart the separatist movement. Most cities were caught in the crosshairs of the war, but the general in charge of stopping Facinus claimed "there is no such thing as a turian civilian."
Citizenship can only be earned after military service. Turians start military training at the age of 15 and most stay in for thirty years. Afterwards they take jobs to help the military or engineering corps. Most families carried small arms in their homes as a precaution and were trained in light explosives for light armor vehicles. On Taetrus, most of the people had already completed their military service and now just made an honest living supporting their families.
The previous Primarch of Taetrus was killed in the Vallum Blast and so Idus Valen was next in succession. Primarch Valen quickly declared war against the Facinus and all their allies. The Hierarchy supported Taetrus and deployed thousands of troops in orbit over the conflicted planet three weeks after the devastating blast had occurred. The Hierarchy soldiers would join Taetrain forces in an all-out assault on separatist controlled areas by air, land, and sea.
A few days later the aerial assault began on the Diluvian Wetlands, the main area the Facinus had control over. Squadrons of fighters swarmed the skies, dropping bombs to pierce the fortified bunkers and strongholds held by the separatists. The Facinus armaments were prepared for the raid and unleashed powerful anti-air guns that peppered the sky with blasts, shooting down fighters. The Hierarchy and officials of Taetrus realized that this war was going to be harder to win than they had previously thought.
"Where did they get all this firepower?!" It was a valid question on the mind of most of the pilots as they maneuvered through the sky. The first wave of fighters entered the airspace over the separatist controlled area and met more resistance than they had planned. Formations broke as the sleek Turian fighters avoided the anti-air blasts coming from the ground below.
"Stay in formation guys" called out the squadron leader as he tried to move his fighter closer to his team.
"Roger that" replied several of the team members as they followed behind the leader. The initial aerial occupation was to get a reconnaissance of the area and to start the first phase of bombing. One of the first teams to deploy from the Taetrus Air Battalion was a squadron known as 'Raynor's Restless'.
The squad was comprised of several experienced pilots all led by a brash, but talented leader. Colonel Kale Raynor had grew up on Taetrus and always wanted to join the Air Battalion to follow in his father's footsteps. Kale was smart, but covered his intelligence with foolhardiness. Although recognized as one of the most skilled pilots and engineers on the planet, many were annoyed by his personality.
As a part of the first air attacks on the separatist controlled areas, Raynor's squad was to initiate bombing patterns and also scout out the terrain. Engaging enemy forces was not part of their mission, but that changed quickly after being attacked by the overwhelming separatist resistance. Prepping combat systems, Raynor was losing fighters fast. Three squad members had already been shot down as Raynor dodged incoming missiles.
"Fehn, roll left, get behind me!" yelled Raynor through his comm looking at the fighter on his right being chased by a couple sidewinder missiles.
"I'm trying!" replied the pilot as he rolled his sleek fighter towards where Raynor was, only for a missile to strike the underbelly of his fighter. The craft burst to pieces in a fiery explosion as Raynor watched in horror. With only two other wingmen left in his squad, he ordered the retreat back to the air base.
Maneuvering in the air, the three fighters streaked back to the air base as fast as they could. Raynor backed the two fighters, making sure his squad was clear of any incoming projectiles. Thinking they were in the clear, Raynor sighed in relief as he could see reinforcements in the distance on the ground out of separatist controlled land.
Just then a missile impacted on the right wing of Raynor's fighter. Losing control, the fighter started to spin out of control. Kale attempted to regain control, but the damage was too severe as the fighter fell to the ground. He could hear his squadmates yelling at him through his comm, but he was unable to respond. Quickly reaching the ground, Kale did the only thing he could; he initiated the eject sequence and was launched from the cockpit.
Twirling through the air, still strapped into the seat, Kale braced himself as the seat deployed its chutes. Gliding down, the seat landed hard in a clearing inside a down trodden part of a city. He detached his straps and fell to the ground, breathing hard. He was amazed he had survived the attack and checked himself over for any wounds, finding only bruises and minor lacerations.
Regaining himself, Kale got to his feet and grabbed the sidearm on his ejected seat. He raised his arm and let his omni-tool light up. He brought up a map of the area and tried to get his bearings. Having a rough idea of where to go, Kale took off his helmet and breathed in the fresh air. He dropped his helmet and started heading towards the border, hoping to meet up with reinforcements. Having walked twenty feet, his omni-tool lit up again showing movement in the area. Kale realized he was being tracked and quickly crouched down, looking for his attackers. He slowly moved forward, scanning the alley ways and crevices in the battle scared city.
Weapon ready, Kale slowed his breathing and focused his hearing as he moved slowly along a wall. He then heard something launch in the opposite direction and was able to narrowly dodge an incoming electrified net that struck the wall behind him. Now in an all-out sprint, Kale could see shots flying over his head and people chasing behind him. Spotting an alley way, Kale turned the corner and began to unload his pistol at the pursers behind him.
Low on ammo, he decided to conserve ammunition and turn down the alley way. At the other side, two turians with black helmets turned the corner and had weapons drawn on Kale. With his remaining rounds, he lifted his firearm and fired at the incoming attackers, causing them to take cover. Looking behind him, he saw two more soldiers now trapping him in the alley way. He watched as one of the turians readied another electric net on his omni-tool.
Kale looked both ways, seeing no way out of the situation. One of the turians got close to where Kale was crouched and seizing the moment, Kale grabbed the soldier and threw him against the wall. Right when Kale was about to deliver a hard punch to the stunned soldier, he felt his left side tense up as the electrified net started to wrap around him.
Kale cursed to himself for forgetting about the incoming net and fell to the ground feeling the stunning effect all over his body. The last thing he saw before blacking out were the soldiers surrounding him and yelling to each other.
Kale snapped awake to an excruciating pain in his leg as he looked around. He was seated in a chair with his hands and legs bound by metal cuffs. Getting feeling back in his body, he could feel other wounds on his face, arms and chest. In front of him were three turians, all with black separatist markings on their faces. One of them took the small blade out of Kale's leg and stood with the others.
"What is the Hierarchy's plan of attack?" asked one of the turians. Kale managed a smile and looked up at the three turians.
"Sorry fellas, I'm just a mail room worker, they don't tell me anything" laughed Kale. The turian holding the small knife did not laugh as he brought his three fingered fist across Kale's face causing dark blue blood to spurt from his mouth.
"You are Colonel Kale Raynor of the Taetrus Air Battalion, yes?"
"Aw, you read my profile, find anything interesting in it?" joked Kale. The same turian brought his fist into Kale's gut, causing him to cough up more blood. Kale kept up the smart ass comments, because he knew what they wanted. The separatists wanted to know exactly what the Hierarchy and Taetrus command's plans of attack were. Kale had been briefed of the timeline before his team took flight of what was going to happen.
In approximately two days the Hierarchy was going to begin what they called the 'Constant Lightning Offensive' which would rain down pummeling mass cannon fire upon the enemy controlled land. Kale's team was to gather intel and layout of the area so the offensive would be more effective. Even though he did not make it, other members had completed the mission and the coordinated strike would still commence. Kale knew he just had to wait those two days before he may have an opportunity to escape, if he survived that long.
