Chapter Six: Greater Good
"I assume you came up with a plan?" Miranda asked the Commander, sitting next to one another in a poorly lit Thunderhawk gunship, which was docked in the loading bay of the Battle Barge Immortal Valor. The hazardous but necessary flight through the immaterial warp shook the ship lightly but constantly, straining the outer hull making the bulkheads creak and moan like wandering spirits. Miranda tightly grasped the two gifts given to her by the Master of the Forge just days earlier, payment for fixing his Omni-tool and some other devices. One was a modified submachine gun with a long silencer on the barrel and the other was once an Exitus pistol now transformed by the hard work of a master Techmarine.
"Most of this was their idea, given the fact they have a think tank for nearly every threat in the known galaxy. The Fate Breakers have gotten word of Tau activity to the southeast of this sector. If we on the off chance find any asari among them, I proposed to the Master that we capture a high ranking one, preferably a field commander, and interrogate her. We need to find out why they turned away from the Council, and perhaps the whereabouts of the Citadel races themselves." Shepard replied as he checked his Revenant machine gun before putting it on his back and sealing the atmosphere inside his armor by sealing his helmet.
"But why, aren't we supposed to be focusing on finding Commissar Grissom and his main device?"
"If the Citadel is still around they probably know more than we do. They could tell us where he is, or maybe the exact details of this whole situation. There are a lot of unanswered questions all over, and getting a 41st millennium asari to answer some of them will certainly be a step in the right direction."
"Quiet Commander, there is talk over the vox network." Veteran Sergeant Reamus grabbed a pole just above the seats opposite Shepard and Miranda and put two fingers to the right side of his helmet. Everyone else followed suit, including the six other Sternguard veteran marines in the gunship. The creaking and moaning stopped as the ship jolted forward, signaling the exit from the warp.
"Come in, Adeptus Astartes, this is Staff Captain Claudius of the Providence III Planetary Defense Force, 16th Orbital Drop regiment, we have engaged the Tau on fronts all along the Elanus valley. Exact coordinates 16.01705 mark (interference and static). God dammit! Just get some men down here! We need help! They have Battlesuits that I've never seen before and lots of damn Infantry!"
"They're flanking us! Help! Were being overrun! Damn Vespid! Damn them all!"
"Watch the skies! Hammerheads and Sky Rays on your left, platoon!"
"We won't make it, all hell's breaking loose down here!"
"7th Armored Division, come in. I repeat, 7th Armored please respond. Lieutenant Bryce report!"
"Come on you maggots! Give em' a belly full o' lead, and a pool of blood to drown in!"
"Pull back! Pull back!"
Shepard and Miranda listened to the channel filled with sobbing cries and desperate shrieks for aid, laser fire and bellowing explosions, followed by the various signals cutting out completely. A sense of fear and dread washed over their minds. Shepard couldn't bear to listen to much more but he couldn't escape the reality of it either. Miranda wondered how can the same galaxy she lived in just weeks earlier turn into such a paranoid, treacherous, and violent place.
"Defense Command, this is Second Master Ventralis of the Fate Breakers. We've got Space Marines on the ground… We're not going anywhere."
--
The divine Tau Ethereal stepped from the Orca Gunship with a heavenly gusto, greeted by dozens of saluting Fire Warriors and Crisis Battlesuits standing at the ready. With a wave of his arm the squads of infantry marched into the depths of the Imperial Temple built into the mountains high above the hive city that surrounded it. Soon the Ethereal was left alone with only his guards whom he considered insubstantial until he felt they were needed and his trusted field commander piloting a glimmering white Battlesuit. Its arms, torso, and head were covered in curved and slender armor plates, which in vital areas were then layered with immediately recognizable Iridium Armor. Both arms bore a Plasma Rifle on each, but the left had a Missile Pod attached below the rifle.
The Battlesuit lowered itself and gave a bow, "Aun' Tekvosa." The unmistakable tone of a woman's voice stated through the speakers on the battlesuit. The Ethereal turned to face the Battlesuit and gestured for it to rise, and for it to follow him into the depths of the temple.
"Shas'O Shovah Kais Asari Kelanya, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." The Ethereal tapped the granite floor with his walking stick as he traveled alongside the towering battlesuit, which floated just inches above the ground.
"The fortress has been purged of its inhabitants and our troops are spreading out into the city below as planned. The humans on this world are no challenge to us." The commander replied, only for their conversation to be interrupted by the faint whine of thrusters. Both the commander and the Ethereal turned to see a small cluster of black dots getting larger and larger in the cloudy sky. Commander Kelanya magnified the image with the battlesuit's onboard computers, revealing a small squadron of crimson Thunderhawk gunships. "Get inside, sir. The humans have brought reinforcements." The Ethereal walked further into the temple and disappeared, the commander however returned to the open door, calling for squads to bunker down at her position. Soon brightly colored battlesuits emerged from the dim interior, their polished armor and bright lenses shined in the sun for the few moments it broke free of the veil of clouds.
--
Shepard and Miranda gripped whatever they could to keep themselves in their seats, but the accelerating Thunderhawk wasn't making it any easier. Miranda folded her new pistol away onto her hip and held her submachine gun in between her legs, allowing both hands free to work her Omni-tool. She put the Omni-tool to Shepard's earpiece, the tool made a few beeps and other mechanical noises, and a hologram visor appeared in front of Shepard's right eye. "What's this for?" He asked.
"Real-time thermal scanner, modified to detect asari and only asari. Since you've seen enough Tau to tell who's a valuable target and who's not, you'll have to let us know." Miranda replied.
"Thirty seconds to contact!" A voice from the cockpit above echoed in their ears from speakers throughout the hold.
"This is your last chance, do you wish to stay back or fight with us?" Veteran Sergeant Reamus asked while readying his chainsword and combi-plasma. The six other Sternguard veterans checked their own weapons and stood ready to load out.
"I, well I mean we," Shepard gave Miranda a quick glance before looking back at the Veteran Sergeant. "We didn't come all this way because you needed a diplomat. Like hell I'm taking a back seat while you guys get things done. Same goes for her."
"Shepard's right, we fight!" Miranda raised the submachine gun and enthusiastically proclaimed her choice. Though the squad of Space Marines were happy to see such zeal, Shepard was on the other hand silent and surprised. He had never seen her show excitement for anything, and yet here she was inciting a squad of super soldiers with a pledge to fight and perhaps die at their side.
"Fifteen seconds!" The pilot yelled. Some of the Space Marines towards the back of the gunship took a moment for battle prayers; Shepard stood up and squeezed the railing with both hands as hard as he could.
The Thunderhawk jolted to the left violently as it turned and suddenly decelerated. The heavy bolter sponson on the right side of the Thunderhawk came to life and greeted the Tau with a stream of gunfire. The front hatch separating the front of the Gunship from the rest of the world flew open, revealing the corner of a large landing pad built into the mountain. The Sternguard wasted no time and sprinted down the ramp and into the fray. Shepard grabbed the grip on his Revenant machine rifle and pulled it from his back, letting out a noble war cry and charged behind them. Miranda was at his side the whole time, bringing the long barreled Vanquisher submachine gun to bear. One of two gifts from the Master of the Forge, he had tinkered and experimented with it for decades in his spare time, the end result was wholly unlike what it originally was. Miranda wondered if she would have trouble with a weapon filled with real bullets and no mass effect fields, but her kill count would later give her the answer.
As the Thunderhawk pulled away from the landing pad, so did the crimson Orca on the opposite side of the drop site. Suddenly as its doors pulled into the gunship and closed to the outside world, a single earthshaking blast from another Thunderhawk's main cannon punched clean through the Tau transport and sent the flaming wreckage into the valleys below. Chunks from the wreckage landed on the path before Shepard and the Sternguard, conveniently providing cover for the Commander. Dust filled the air and veiled the area around him for but a moment, but it did not hide the two successive bangs. Shepard cleared the dust by waving his hand, revealing the gunship had dropped two Rhino tanks that immediately dropped their own payload.
Shepard ran for a small chest-high chunk of blood red metal just a few feet away. He ran forward firing the Revenant rifle on full auto, Miranda at his side firing controlled bursts into the Fire Warriors at the other end of the landing pad. The Space Marines emerged from the dust cloud moments later, caring not for the enemy's numbers or firepower. Shepard huddled behind the boiling hot twisted chunk of the Orca gunship, yet the Space Marines never went to ground or hid behind cover. The endless hail of pale blue laser fire flattened on their mighty armor, while golden flashes from their mighty boltguns ripped into their lines and took down almost a dozen in a few seconds. Radio chatter filled his ears as deep voices conversed back and forth with constantly changing battle tactics, soon there were more voices as two Tactical Squads loaded out from the Rhino tanks. Shepard picked his head up to join the fight, but he seemed insubstantial to them. He could understand why, decades of fighting and a grocery list of genetic enhancements made each and every Space Marine a hero without compare.
"We could use your help Shepard!" Miranda yelled while reloading her SMG, making Shepard break from his trance. He scanned the battlefield for possible targets, and then he put a hand to his earpiece.
"I have a confirmed scan on the battlesuit in the rear, looks like the field commander!" Shepard smirked after yelling over the radio.
"You heard Shepard, battle brothers! Apprehend the commander, but kill all xeno who stand between you and your mission!" A Squad Sergeant addressed his squad over the channel.
"Thank you, Commander. Now please get off your ass and help us fight!" Reamus added. Shepard lifted himself up and joined the fray. He was never used to leaving himself out in the open in such hostile situations, but he was also underestimating his own armor. For a reason he had no time to ponder, his shields were bearing the overwhelming amount of laser fire. The Fire Warriors could not hide behind the upturned dust due to their bright blue armor and bright red visors, but Shepard was more concerned with the multicolored battlesuits. Discharging a thermal clip, he resighted the rifle and aimed at the hovering constructs. "Is it just me or do they have… color-coded weapons?"
"That'll make them easier to shot off!" Miranda activated her Omni-tool and shot a single electric bolt at one of the battlesuit's bright green shoulder mounted missile pod, overloading vital systems which caused the weapon to freeze and spark violently. Miranda drew her Carnifex hand cannon and with two well placed shots caused the entire weapon to explode. The resulting explosion damaged the battlesuit's 'head', making it wobble and lose its balance. It finally came crashing down when two neon plasma bolts from one of the Tactical squads pierced the cockpit and killed the pilot. Miranda smirked and lost focus for less than a moment, allowing a long bolt of pulse rifle fire to break through her shields and hit her in the chest. After Miranda fell to the ground, Shepard screamed and ran ahead to see to her. But as soon as he was close enough, he could clearly see the wound was superficial at best.
Miranda clenched her fist and created a biotic barrier in place of her shields, floating to her feet with her biotics; she muttered some very vulgar things and charged for the heart of their ranks. Shepard followed, giving her cover with suppressive fire but Miranda seemed ignorant of it all. Charging biotic energy into her fists she lifted the remnants of one Fire Warrior squad into the air with the wave in her left arm and crushed them against the rock face behind them seconds later.
Rain poured down on the heated battle without warning, bringing up steam from the hot granite tarmac and the burnt but undamaged power armor of the Space Marines. Shepard noticed in between the rain drops the outline of bulky figures appeared around Miranda. "They have cloaks!"
"We see them too!" Reamus exclaimed, signaling his subordinates to target the shrouded soldiers flanking Miranda. Miranda could obviously seem them too, since threw her robotic fist supercharged with a warp attack into the torso of one of the Tau stealth soldiers, disabling the cloak and killing the wearer. Blood, oil, and wires flew from the wound as she continued on in her biotic frenzy.
"All squads get some suppressive fire on Lawson's position! Sergeant Verrazano set up the teleport homer!" Reamus bellowed brilliant tactics onto the radio channel the entire fight, and every man followed them to the letter. One of the Tactical squad sergeants retreated to the rear hatch of the Rhino tank he was dropped in and pulled a small beacon no larger than a hockey puck, tapping a button on it the beacon began flashing bright yellow. While Shepard lead the slow moving charge of Space Marines the space to his right seemed to warp and glow, and just then that glow seamlessly turned into the forms of five titanic Terminators who greeted the Tau with a flurry of storm bolter and assault cannon fire. If Shepard had not actually been fighting he would have fainted from all of the awe-inspiring sights he had taken in during the few minutes since he removed himself from the Thunderhawk.
"Hold this position you whelps! I am going to bolster the interior, protect the Ethereals!" The asari commander yelled in Tau language, which Shepard's translator easily picked up.
"She's getting away!" Shepard yelled.
"Not if I have anything to say about it." One of the Sternguard veterans, whose name escaped Shepard's memory, aimed his ornamented missile launcher at the archway's peak and shot. The missile brought enough rock down not to block passage into the temple, but enough to pin the battlesuit.
"Keep them spread out! Do not let them regroup or retreat!" Reamus once again yelled orders to the Space Marines.
"Give Lawson some help! She's doing more work than you are now!" The second squad sergeant bellowed to his group. Miranda continued onward, soaking what little fire that was focused on her with her shields and her biotic barrier. She lifted the rock chunks into the air with a biotic pull and dispersed them, meaning she threw most of the rocks into the remaining Tau squads. She then pried open the canopy of the mobile suit and found a barely conscious asari inside. The asari freed herself from the mess of wires and cables and used a single biotic push to throw Miranda a good twenty feet and right on her ass. Now locked in a biotic duel, the Tau and their piling losses meant nothing to either of them.
The asari floated out of the battlesuit and lifted Miranda into the air with her biotics, but Miranda countered pushing her back with a throw. As they fought, heavy weapons fire caused the last of the battlesuits to explode, causing panic among the Fire Warriors. The few survivors fled into the depths of the temple, avoiding the fierce duel of biotic powers.
"Do not retreat you spineless bastards!" Commander Kelanya waved an arm and churned the granite floor just beyond her, forcing jagged rocks to spout from the ground. Caught in a tight space devoid of cover and in crossfire between boltgun fire and Kelanya's wrath, only a half dozen made it over the rocks and into the temple.
"Say good night, bitch!" Miranda gained her composure in the few seconds Kelanya took her focus away from her, allowing a perfectly timed biotic push to slam her skull against a chunk of rock, knocking her unconscious. Shepard caught up with her still spraying gunfire into the darkness of the inner temple, but when the coast was clear he ripped his helmet off and saw to Miranda.
"You okay?" Shepard looked to the unconscious asari commander, making sure she stayed there.
"You come running over in such a rush because of a scratch?" Miranda put her left hand to Shepard's cheek, "You worry too much."
"Then what was the cause of that frenzied rampage? It would have been nice to know you were a psyker before hand, Ms. Lawson." Sergeant Reamus switched out the drum magazine on his boltgun after coming to stand beside them both.
"I'm not a 'psychic' or whatever you called it. I'm a biotic." She replied.
"He said you were a psyker. They are beings who can call upon the powers of the immaterial warp to fight." Shepard added.
"Would the fact that my powers use dark energy make any difference?"
"Dark energy? How…"
"How what?" Shepard got worried for a moment.
"How obsolete!" Reamus laughed at the thought of how strange the two humans before him really were, "Any competent techseer could make a shield generator or void shield impervious to your attacks. Why, I haven't heard of the use of dark energy for anything but starship thrusters since the old tales of the Horus Heresy."
"And it is that laxity in knowledge that will give her the upper hand in battle." Shepard once again added to the conversation.
"Indeed. Well, we should get her back to the battle fleet, I'm sure when she wakes up you will be able to pry any sort of information from her." Shepard picked up the limp commander and threw her over his shoulder. Reamus called for a Thunderhawk gunship, but when it landed it only picked up Shepard and Miranda. The temple still needed to be cleansed of Tau, but the more pressing matter would have to be on their hands.