This is the secret project I was talking about. Well, not so secret now. This is just a very tiny piece of what is to come after I finish "A Golden Heart." The universe is different, just so you know. You will notice some things that will give away of what I am talking about. Hope y'all enjoy and I would really like for you guys to review to give your opinion. Enjoy!
Battle for Ludilmis. June 9, 1910. Fort of Segesta, Rannoch.
He watched the glow of the sun as it began rising in the horizon. 'Another day' he thought. It had been fifteen years since the Geth Uprising began. Hundreds of thousands had already died, and more would in the near future. This shook the man to the core. There was no way he could know what the future had for his people, but one thing was for sure, he and everyone else will fight to their last breath. He then heard footsteps getting louder and louder. He didn't bother to turn to greet the individual though.
"General Sergius sir…. the geth have started their counterattack" The man said, with some fear in his voice.
The General, who had been standing, hands behind his back, turned to see the new guest face to face. The guest saw that the General had a scar running through his right eye, from his eyebrow to the middle of his cheek. His eyes were deep green and his stance was that of a disciplined, tough, war seasoned veteran. Years of fighting did all of that. He had a great admiration for the man that was standing a few feet away from him.
"Lieutenant, bring me Centurion Nax" Sergius simply replied while looking at the quarian officer with a small smile.
"Right away sir" The quarian military officer replied with a salute and went on his way out of the office.
Sergius then sat on his chair and looked around his office. It was big. His desk was at least six feet long and three feet high. Countless papers, pens, data pads and cables flooded the desk. Then to his right was a pile of boxes, all supplies that had come all the way from places like Dwemeris and Terra. To his right was a door leading to his private quarters. 'Well, at least I can live decently in this shithole'
Sergius then looked through his window, right in front of him. He was smoking a cigarette and drinking some Dwemer Whiskey. He was marveled by the huge number of soldiers, gunships and tanks moving around the place. His command headquarters was just a few miles away from the frontlines, just the way he liked it. He had told his officers that being close to the battlefield would remind them of what's at stake and why they should fight harder.
He then heard the door open and heard very heavy footsteps. He smiled as he slowly turned to meet his new guest. He saw in front of him a huge krogan, armed to the teeth and wearing a red helmet. Scars and bullet holes could be seen all over his gray/red heavy armor.
"Krogan Centurion Nax reporting sir" Nax said calmly as he stopped dead just a few feet away from Sergius' desk.
"Nax, I wanted to give you an update of our plans to destroy the geth resistance in Ludilmis once and for all." Sergius said very calmly. He then sighed and took a deep breath.
"The Cataphract tank divisions are ready, just as our Plumbatarii gunships. The Legions are already on their way, and reinforcements are inbound as we speak."
"That is… good to hear sir" The krogan replied.
"Indeed, though I am worried about the civilians of the town of Ori'Daris, you think we can get them out in time?"
"We are doing that as we speak sir, there are less than a hundred left to be evacuated"
"Good. I want a clean and fast withdrawal of civilians before our attack begins." Sergius said as he drank more whiskey. Nax began to get impatient.
"So…what's the plan sir?" He asked calmly.
Sergius smiled at the krogan's impatience. 'No wonder, these guys are some of the best fighters we have'
"Take a look at this map" Sergius said as he gestured with his hand at the map in his desk. He then got a pen and started pointing at various dots.
"The geth know for sure that we have something planned, but they will tremble if they see this" Sergius said as he pointed at various dots in the map. "Well, only if they could fear" he chuckled.
Sergius then pointed at various dots that were of a big size in comparison to the others. They had a red color. "These are our Cataphracts; they will serve their purpose like they did all those centuries ago…" Sergius smiled as prepared to give the full explanation. "They will make the punch through the geth lines, destroying the geth primes or any heavy positions they find, while the legions will be close for support against small arms fire or rocket troopers" Sergius then pointed at the town in question.
"Ori'Daris is an important point Nax, and we need it to completely secure our entire line against any counter attack, and it is currently serving as our flexible point" Sergius took a puff of his cigarette before speaking again. "We need Ludilmis Nax; it would be a huge morale boost for the quarian population. They've been through a lot. It's time we give them hope."
"I understand sir, but what do you mean by saying a flexible point?" Nax asked.
Sergius looked at the map, and then pointed at the small town with his finger. "Yes, the geth will try to attack the town, probably the bulk of the attack will be there" Sergius explained.
"And we flank them then?"
"Yes and no"
"What do you mean?"
"It is basic Nax, we let them attack us with everything they have at the town, then we flank them, so then we create a pocket"
"What the bloody hell is a pocket?"
"We surround them, we do not let them any space and then simply crush them" Sergius finished his explanation on pockets, chuckling lightly.
Nax looked at Sergius intensely in the eyes. "Why do you say we? You plan all of this, you should get the credit." The krogan said out loud.
Sergius glared at him. "I am nothing without my fellow soldiers and advisors."
"Yes I know, but my point is that when you say 'I think we planned' or 'we think this is' is just bullshit, you plan everything"
"Oh, I see your point. Well, I just try my best"
"A true Roman you are… General" The krogan complimented.
"And a true warrior you are Centurion, now go and make us proud" The General finished with a smirk.
The big krogan chuckled. "Oh hell yes sir"
Outside of the bunker, things were messy as thousands of soldiers, quarians, humans and dwemer were preparing for the big upcoming offensive. Hundreds of tanks and gunships were being repaired and checked before being sent to the frontlines. Centurions were yelling at their soldiers, while engineers moved artillery pieces and movable bridges to transport vehicles all over the place. Nax watched the whole scene. 'I knew this was going to be big, Sergius is leading after all'
Nax continued to make his way to his platoon of soldiers. He smiled as he saw his fellow soldiers prepare for battle, moving all around the place, checking their weapons, fixing their scopes, running for ammunition clips and joking to get the mood up.
The soldiers then saw their big krogan centurion approaching. They immediately straightened up and stood in line, waiting for his inspection. Nax smiled, or what you could call a krogan smile, but they were used to it, Nax had trained them all the way from the Imperial Academy in Edus Primus.
The tribune of the squad, the second in command of the platoon, gave a loud greeting.
"Thirteen Platoon! Our centurion is here!" The tribune said as the other twenty soldiers gave a strong salute to the krogan.
"Armed and ready sir!" The whole platoon said in unison.
Nax smiled and began his inspection. Most of the soldiers were dwemer and humans, but there were also some quarians and drell. His drell soldiers served as snipers, while the quarians as engineers or radio specialists. A squad of different species, a squad of a galactic union, which served as an example of what was at stake and why keep fighting was the only hope to win.
"Listen ladies, we are going be part of the most important operation in our history as a squad" Nax said as he walked slowly through the ranks, checking for any irregularities. "Our objective is loud and clear. To kick some geth ass into junk!" He exclaimed with his hands in the air as the soldiers responded with a loud cheer.
Nax then saw a soldier without his helmet. A drell, one of the four snipers in the squad. "Lowulf! Where in Tuchanka's name is your helmet?" Nax exclaimed angrily.
"Sir, I was making a field repair on it. It took a heavy blast from geth fire a couple of days ago" Replied the drell with their usual gurgling voices.
"Well shit, isn't that a tragedy." Nax answered with heavy sarcasm in his deep voice. "You want me to get you a new one?" Nax asked calmly. The drell just looked at him and when he was about to respond, Nax said out loud "Well I can't faggot! Use the one you already have and quit your whining!"
"Yes sir!" The drell responded.
"Good. Now go you maggot and get your helmet!" Nax exclaimed. The drell broke ranks and hurried to get his helmet, right inside the soldier's camp.
"Alright you vermin, it's time for us to become part of this big battle, get your gear and start getting into the Helios drop ships! Nax finished as his squad began to part to their respective Helios vehicles rapidly.
Helios ships were a force to be reckoned with. While they served as gunships for the Imperial Alliance, they would often provide support with their powerful machine guns or missiles, which decimated anything in their path. Only flaw of the vehicle, though, was its thick hull, which made it slow and, sometimes, a perfect target, as it could carry more than fifty soldiers.
Nax made his way to his gunship along with his second in command, roman tribune Marcus Flaminius. Nax was marveled by the Plumbatarii gunships. Light, armed to the teeth and incredibly fast, those were the common traits of Plumbararii gunships. They could rain fire and death upon their enemies with heat seeker missiles or powerful machine guns. And, if that wasn't enough, some carried Greek fire in their missiles, to put enemies on fire and let them die a slow, painful death. Just the way a krogan like Nax liked it. 'Wish we had some of these in Tuchanka'
Nax and Marcus proceeded to enter the gunship, which had quarian pilots, seasoned veterans by what Nax could see.
"We have received the package, Bird 3 is getting out of its nest" The quarian pilot said in the radio as the gunship began making its way into the sky, along with dozens of others. There was a lot of noise from the gunship, so Nax had to speak loudly.
"Hey! Where are we exactly being deployed?" Nax asked the quarian pilots loudly, there was a lot of noise.
"We received orders to get you in the line of fire, along the Kir'sel River, where the geth are making their move!" One of the quarian pilots answered.
"Sir, shouldn't we be deployed in the town, to finish the evacuations?" Marcus said, joining the conversation,
"High Tribune Julius Mundinius is taking care of that! Now we ensure that that evacuation goes smoothly!" Nax answered.
"Whatever gets us into battle sir, I am happy!" Marcus exclaimed in a gun ho attitude.
"Good, just the way it's supposed to be!" Nax replied in an equal manner.
Nax then got to see the great sight of not dozens, but hundreds of gunships and drop ships, making their way to the battle lines. Looking to the ground, which was several hundred feet below them, he saw dozens of tanks and artillery pieces moving to the frontlines. Nax smiled at the sight.
He then heard in the radio the units reporting themselves to High Command and anyone to hear.
"This is Hog One, we are full strength!" 'Hmm, Tanks'
"This is Hawk Three; we are full strength, taking the skies!" 'Fast movers'
"This is Deer One, we are full strength!" 'Heavy Scouts'
"This is Pontus Group, ready for action!" 'Ahhh, the Legions'
"This is Cretan Group One, ready to bomb them to oblivion!" 'Artillery I guess'
"This is Plumbatarii Air Group One; we are armed, ready and inbound!" The pilots in Nax's gunship smiled at that.
"These are Achiles' Grenadiers! We are ready and anxious for some action!" Now it was Nax's turn to smile at that. 'Our group, the Grenadiers' He felt proud.
"This is Black Panther, we are full strength!" 'Hmmm I think those are light tanks'
"In conclusion, this is Army Group South; we are full strength, armed, ready and craving for some action!" Came a humanoid voice, full of enthusiasm. Army Group South was the whole group of legions, gunships, fast movers, artillery and tanks.
The radio went silent after that. When the pilots were ready to turn off their loudspeakers, a voice came into the scene.
"All units, this is General Flavius Sergius. Our objective here is to completely decimate the enemy and take back what is rightfully Quarian no matter the cost." Sergius sighed, but then continued, much to Nax and Marcus' delight. "For more than fifteen years, all of us have been fighting for our very survival against this hell bound machine monsters. I say we put an end to that! I say we bring back what all of our peoples have been striving for since 1895!" Sergius took a couple of seconds before finally adding "Hope!" In the radio cheers could be heard from multiple species. Gurgling voices of drell, deep of krogan, humanoid of humans and dwemer, and heavy accented ones of quarians. "Go make me proud gentlemen. Sergius out"
'This is it' Nax thought.
"This is Hog One! We are engaging the enemy by the river! Requesting assistance against Rocket Infantry!" Came the voice of a Tank Commander, somewhat distressed.
"This is Pontus Group, help is on the way" Replied the Legion's commander with a calm voice.
The gunship where Nax had been traveling in suddenly stopped and began descending. The pilot then turned to Nax and Marcus. "This is it gentlemen, we are standing by the river. Stay safe out there. Keelah'Selai"
Both Nax and Marcus nodded and quickly jumped out of the gunship, getting their laser rifles at the ready. Nax scanned the area and saw that they were standing in a small hill, which overlooked the battle underneath, by the river. Nax saw the tank division engaging Geth Primes and drop ships. He then smiled as he saw legionaries shooting at the rocket troopers by the river, who were trying to destroy some of the tanks before they could cross the body of water.
As both Nax and Marcus examined the battle, they heard footsteps behind them.
"Legionaries ready for action sir!" Exclaimed a human soldier as he and another twenty of his comrades made their way to Nax.
"Alright boys, our objective is to destroy the geth resistance by the river to cross and take control of the other side, then to proceed along with the rest of Army Group South towards Ludilmis" Nax explained as he examined his legionaries.
"Aye aye sir, just say the word" One of the legionaries replied.
"Let's go give em hell boys" Said Marcus as he joined into the ranks.
Nax radioed command. "Command, this is Red Fury One, proceeding to battle"
Immediately came a reply from the radio. "Red Fury One, we have hostiles by your position, engaging a group of quarian marines, proceed to help them"
"Wilco control, Red Fury out" Nax said as he led the way, down the hill, towards a fallen tree, which was giving cover to some quarian marines.
Nax and his platoon took cover behind the massive tree along five quarian marines. Bullets razed on as the battle began to escalate. One of the marines then spoke to Marcus.
"Sergeant Lirius'Kalel Vas Rannoch, Quarian Army Marines! We are glad to have you guys here!" Spoke the quarian sergeant with enthusiasm in his voice.
Julius then replied. "Tribune Marcus Flaminius! Second in command of Red Fury One, Grenadier Infantry! You should speak to my superior right there!" He pointed with his finger at Nax, who was shooting his assault rifle at some geth a couple of yards away. "And we are glad to be of assistance!" He finished as he launched a powerful blast of his shotgun to a Geth Trooper which was trying to flank them.
Nax then roared. "Give me some suppressive fire maggots! Snipers, take out the Geth Hunters and snipers! Riflemen, provide cover to the snipers and destroy any of those robotic bastards that get close! Engineers, destroy their shields! Now now now!"
The platoon began to engage the geth amazingly. The quarian marines were stunned at the death rate of the geth, which were being destroyed by the dozens. Some geth hunters lost their 'heads' or flashlights, geth troopers were being chopped off by shotgun and rifle blasts while the geth snipers were already dead. Lirius smiled as the geth began to retreat towards the river.
"Good job boys! Keep at them, keep hit them!" Nax roared as he joined in the fight.
Nax then looked towards the quarian sergeant, Lirius.
"Centurion Nax, good to be here helping, now take that shit face out and help us dumbass!"
Lirius smiled as he reloaded his assault rifle. "Yes sir!" With that, he and his other four marines began to fire at the geth. Less than a minute later, the whole geth platoon had been decimated. The whole group proceeded to get up and walk towards the river.
'That river better be worth it' Lirius thought.
Then the radio roared. "This is Hawk Three, proceeding with the destruction of enemy artillery" A calm voice said.
The whole party then watched as dozens of fighters launched their missiles at geth artillery positions, which were blown sky high. It was amazing. Pieces could be seen kilometers away. Steel and metal in the air as the missiles struck with ruthless efficiency.
"This is Plumbatarii Group Air Group One, engaging hostiles"
Plumbatariis engaged enemy positions by the river bank, providing cover for the tanks and the legion infantry to cross and take a foothold at the other side.
"With the river in our hands, now we are less than ten miles from Ludilmis, with this, now we are set to take that blasted city after months of planning" Nax said out loud. The soldiers cheered.
"Damn straight sir, it's time for payback" Lirius said.
Nax smiled as he saw the sun beginning to set. However, light was strong enough to let them see the huge invasion force.
Thousands of Zeus fighters and Plumbatariis, along with Helios drop ships in the sky. On the ground, thousands of soldiers flooded through, crossing the river with portable bridges. Hundreds of tanks crossed the river, making their way into the savannah that surrounded Ludilmis.
'Tomorrow a day of hard work, just the way I like it' Nax thought as he smiled while leading his platoon into the river bridges.
Sergius smiled as he read the reports. Minimal casualties and the assault was on its way to Ludilmis. His planning had bore fruits. Ori'Daris was completely evacuated and his pincer attack through the river had help start the pocket against the geth. The town was being reinforced for the expected geth attack.
Sergius then saw the sun setting in the horizon. He smiled warmly and began to make his way to his private quarters. 'Tomorrow will be another hard working day'
Love it? Hate it? What do you think? Oh and here is a glossary for the guys who were confused with some of the names there.
Plumbatarii – Late Roman soldiers who were often legionaries and carried deadly darts to throw at the enemy before the battle. Not skirmishers, but heavy infantry with darts.
Helios – Greek god of the sun who drove a flaming chariot and changed the day by turning the sky from night to day or vice versa.
Cataphracts – Extremely heavy armored horsemen coming from the Asian peoples in Roman times that served as a punch/brute power through enemy infantry lines, whether heavy or light. The Romans copied it immediately. They were the 'tanks' of their time.
Legion – The 'hammer and anvil' of ancient Rome. They were some of the best soldiers and probably the most powerful army in the ancient world.
Dwemer – Another race, which closely resembles humans but the difference is their lifespan which is close to 500 years, plus their technology is really advanced. They hail from the world of Dwemeris.
Zeus – King of the gods in Greek mythology.
Like I said, this is just to get your opinion. It's a one shot because I can't focus on the story, as I am currently busy with 'A Golden Heart' but later, after the said story is completed, I will start with this story. R&R! Cheers!