Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect nor Honorverse. I am merely throwing the two worlds together. Any original characters, however, are mine.
Sorry for the delay again folks. I guess we'll just have to say that I'm a slow writer. That and I'm starting work on an original piece…and all my research was compromised! Setting me back several weeks and killing my desire to write. Furthermore, we're having net problems and I can't write this fic without online references.
Chapter 7: Counterstrike
"Holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit!"
"Mark you still with me buddy?" Steve Cortez asked as he swerved his aircar around, the nimble craft dodging the fire of three gunships on its tail.
"I'm not going to die so easy…holy shit holy shit. Get off my tail you bastards!"
Steve chuckled, and then growled as he saw two more gunships flying towards him. "I'm going to have to get creative guys!" he shouted to his gunners, who were stark white and trembling in the back seat as he made the car barrel roll.
"We're gonna die!" the heavy set San Martino woman in the back seat shouted as she clutched at her seatbelt desperately.
"I'm gonna throw up, and then we're gonna die!" the Torchese man beside her sobbed as Steve pushed the aircar to its limits in death defying feats of aerial prowess.
He went into a steep dive, pulling up at the last moment and flying under an overpass before shooting up and veering to the left. The car protested his maneuvers, but was remarkably still holding together. Of the seventeen aircars that they had had, only his and Mark's remained functioning. For how long was a matter of time because both vehicles would not be able to continuously dodged the increasing number of Turian gunships that were swarming their broken defense lines.
"Air car pilot this is Valkyrie 1. If you can get those bastards to Rodentia park, we'll take them out."
"Roger that Valkyrie 1. On my way," Steve said as he banked sharply to the right and started to floor it. He weaved and rolled around the enemy fire attempting to take out his nimble little craft, but he wasn't going to go down, not without getting the enemy to where he needed them to be.
His tough little aircar screamed into the far more open area of the park with six turian gunships trailing after him, only for them to meet the fire of the six sting ships laying in wait. The sting ships' heavy pulser cannons tearing through the barriers and armor of the turian gunships like a hot knife through butter.
"Thanks Valkyrie 1. You saved my ass," Steve said as he let his battered aircar hover for the moment. He was going to land soon, the damaged old girl wouldn't be able to survive another sortie.
"No problem….umm"
"Steve. Steve Cortez."
"Right, no problem Steve. Man you're one hell of a pilot. If we both survive this wanna get a drink?"
Steven couldn't help but laugh a little at the man's statement. "Sure. And who should I be waiting for?"
"Robert Doyle. Well…I'll be seeing ya Steve. Stay alive," and with that last message the six sting ships moved into the city to take out as many of the enemy gunships as they could. Steve himself couldn't help but feel a little smug as he landed his aircar. Robert sounded like a pretty good guy, and hey if he was lucky maybe they'd do more than just have a few drinks.
-TED-
"Damn they just keep shooting, do they even have to reload?" Valerie shouted from behind the barricade, standing up when there was a lull in the firing to pop off a few shots with her pulser. The Turians had long since started to fire in a stagger formation, ensuring that the defenders were kept pinned down. To what end, Arnold and his police force didn't know.
"No but they're going to duck soon," Arnold said staring at his communicator, he was keeping in touch with Niphol, whose team of Medusans were moving from cover to cover trying to keep a head of the gunships that were attempting to hunt them down.
"Boss, think we should fall back or something?" Terry asked as he clutched at his carbine, hunkered down behind a barricade.
"Sorry folks but that ship came and went," Arnold admitted. "They've overrun the east and west barricades, we'd be mincemeat if we tried to head to the center right," he paused as he received another update from Niphol and he couldn't help but grin a bit. "Niphol's war party is going to lay cover fire for us. If we make a run for it we could reach the subway," and then the world exploded in blue light.
Terry was sent flying, his back smashing against the side of a building with a sickening crack. He only had a moment to scream before the barricade he had been hiding behind crushed him completely. Valerie had been sent skidding across the pavement, finally stopping in a crumpled heap, unconscious but alive. Arnold himself had been thrown backwards, ears ringing as he tried to stand up again.
He managed to push himself up to his knees when he spotted a lone turian stalking towards Valerie. The turian was cloaked in a blue energy field and dressed in black armor. It was noticeably smaller than the other turians that Arnold had encountered and killed over the last few hours. It flipped the blond woman onto her back and studied her for a few moments. Then to Arnold's horror he watched as the turian pulled out a handgun and shot three rounds into Valerie's skull.
With a bestial roar Arnold charged the turian. The turian, shocked, threw a blew energy ball that struck Arnold's chest. It burned, oh god it burned, but his body relied on the augmentations hidden in his genetic code to ensure that he got what he wanted done. His pain receptors deactivated, leaving the blond juggernaut free to ignore the mortal wound as he charged the turian. He grabbed the turian's arms and with strength only a person of the Mfecane system could match he pulled.
Bone and sinew ripped and tore, blue blood sprayed as the blond ripped the turian's arm completely off. Screaming the turian countered with another blue bolt right into Arnold's ruined chest, sending him flying with concussive force several feet away. The enraged scrag picked up a discarded forceblade and charged again, this time nimbly dodging another blue bolt sent his way before swinging at the turian. Arnold's attempt at slicing the turian in half wasn't fast enough as the turian managed to fire another blue bolt into Arnold's chest, killing him instantly.
The turian staggered, wound bleeding profusely. "This is Saren Arterius. I need med evac, immediately," the young Blackwatch agent said before he collapsed.
-TED-
"Sir I've got movement!" Aegidius stated as he looked at his HUD. They were trekking through one of the abandoned parks on the west side of the city, trying to bypass the enemy's defenses and strike at the hospital directly.
"Where lieutenant?" the red painted sergeant ordered.
"Uh. Inconclusive. Thirty meters in front and behind."
"Turn on your infrared," the sergeant ordered as his squad of turians followed his instructions. The squad easily falling into their battle formation, watching each other's backs.
"There's nothing back here." A white marked turian acting as rear guard said.
"Nothing up here either. Maybe you need to get your motion tracker fixed," a snide female up front added.
"I know what I'm reading. There's something moving out there and it isn't us." Aegidius responded, frantic. What the hell was out there?
"I've got confirmation. They're on my tracker as well, and closing." Sergeant Honoratus said, backing up Aegidius' claims.
"Twenty meters," Aegidius said and the turian squad halted their advance.
"Fifteen meters," now the squad started to crouch around the trees, finding cover wherever they could and forming a circle.
"Ten meters," the squad tensed up waiting for the attack.
"I can't see shit!" the surly turian from before said.
"Maybe they don't show up on infrared at all," Concordia, their green marked medic stated as she panned her rifle around, trying to get a bead on the things moving in the forest. Her flashlight attachment shined momentarily on a large black object, and she paused to look over it again. It had an elongated head, six black limbs and a deadly looking tail that ended in a blade attachment. From how still it was, she could tell that it was just a piece of art hidden among the trees. Strange as it was, she knew the batarians were known to put up terrifying objects like these in order to frighten any slaves attempting to escape, but why put something like this up in the middle of the park? With her focus on the strange statue in front of her, she did not notice the bladed tail slowly making its way down behind her, taking careful aim at her back. She only had a moment to scream when the tail pierced her flesh before she was hoisted up and into the canopy.
More black objects dropped down and started to attack the frightened turians. The turians opened fire, but in the darkness it was hard to spot the black buzz saws of death. Honoratus was pushed down to the ground, his arm held up to try and keep the black head of the creature from mauling him, while his chest cavity was being sliced apart by the six deadly limbs.
"They're coming out of the Spirits damned trees!"
The turians took aim and began shooting up at the dark forms that were crawling along the tree trunks, only to watch as they vanished from sight.
"Fuck they have active camo!"
"Motion trackers!"
"Sarge is down!"
"Where's Honoratus!"
"Fuck let's get the hell out of here!"
"Marines we are leaving!"
The four surviving turians tried to escape the slaughter, covering each other with fire from their rifles as they continued to move farther and farther away from the carnage. Aegidius was the last of the group as they fled, the dark forms chasing them. His mind was broken, his squad had been one of the best in his colony, and they'd been annihilated in a single ambush. He stopped as he noticed the three other marines standing still, he caught up and his eyes widened as he saw a much bigger armored form that was humanoid. It held a rifle in their direction. His eyes widened. "Game over man," he said before he and the rest of the survivors were blown apart.
One of the sleek dark forms crawled up the metal man's arm to dock at its shoulder. An amused human voice spoke "Hey little man, did you and your friends have fun hunting?" he received a bleek of amusement from the frightening visage on his shoulder. "Alright, Shanxi 2nd Armored Iron Valley Ranger division press forward. We're still half a click from the hospital. Keep moving boys!" and with that said the armored person activated his camouflage and disappeared into the trees.
-TED-
"Amazon 3 get this bitch off me!" Sasha Ramirez yelled into her com as her agile stingship continued to dodge the turian gunship on her tail. The redhead was the current leader of Amazon flight, the best female pilots that the Torch navy had to offer. True many in the past had thought that the existence of the Amazon units were extremely sexist, but it was a tradition that had started from the beginning of Torch, and only an Amazon could induct another into their prestigious ranks.
"Copy that Amazon leader," a cool dispassionate voice said as a stingship came up from above, slicing through the turian with its pulser cannons before flying through the burning wreckage. The stingship agilely righted itself and was lost to the chaos of the massive dogfight over Faxian, the largest city that was currently the scene of one of the biggest aerial battles in the history of the Torch military.
"Valkyrie 1 to Amazon Leader."
"Roger that Valkyrie 1. What's your sitrep." Sasha said as Amazon 2 and 3 took position at her sides.
"Rescued the last two civ aircars. But they've got a lot of air support near the Hospital. It's a kill zone out there ma'am."
"Roger that I'll divert Amazon Squadrons 2 and 3 to reinforce you. Don't get my girls killed."
"Copy that ma'am."
"Captain. A squadron of turian gunships is approaching."
"2 Take left, 3 take right. I've got dibs on the leader." Sasha said with a growl as she punched forward, increasing her stingships speed. She didn't get a chance to hit her targets because several strange craft managed to take them out. The vessels were odd, with a ridiculously small cockpit, powerful engines and a pulser turret manned by a human. Were those what she thought they were.
"Amazon Leader this is Iron Valley flight. We're can we do some damage?" a male voice asked and she couldn't help but grin. They just got their hands on an entire flight of Treecat Clawships!
"Right boys, send three of your squadrons to beef up Valkyrie flight. Their providing cover for the Amazon 2nd Armored Division. The Shanxi sixth is holed up in the village square. Do you have anything that'll help get those lazy bastards moving again?"
"Aye ma'am. In fact we can do better. Can you have Valkyrie flight give our Pinance's cover?"
"Shit you've got Pinances!? Hell yeah. Send them straight to the clinic. The Queen needs all the help she can get."
"Copy that Amazon Leader."
"Did you hear that Valkyrie flight?"
"Yes Ma'am. We'll cover the Pinances. Those turian bastards won't know what hit them."
-TED-
"General Arterius we are losing the battle for the city," one of Desolas' commanders stated as he looked over the feeds.
Desolas scowled as he looked over the digital map of the city. They had almost completely taken the city when the opposition received heavy reinforcements. Already several of the alien's mechs were tearing through their lines. He was rather surprised at the sudden new offensive, but knew it had something to do with the heavy resistance his forces had found at one of the clinics.
"Can we get one of the frigates to fly down and provide covering fire?" he asked one of his commanders.
"No can do sir, the fleets are struggling just to stay a step ahead of these aliens. Admiral Scipio says he's successfully heavily damaged their command dreadnought, but the reinforcements for the fleet above the planet were torn to shreds. Apparently the enemy has several outer system missile pods that they kept in reserve."
"Damn," Desolas growled as he looked over the readouts. "Pull our forces back. There's no way we can keep this city now. Have them fall back, leave as many traps as you can," he said to the other.
"Sir are you saying to retreat?"
"No..a strategic withdrawal. Our forces are too scattered in the city to deal with the reinforcements. Have them consolidate our men in the industrial districts."
"Right away sir," he said as he turned away to begin giving orders into his headset.
"Sir," one of his other commanders spoke up. "Saren's been retrieved."
Desolas let out a breath at that. Good his baby brother was safe. "What's the damage?"
"The alien managed to completely tear off Saren's arm. The med team couldn't find it in time. One of the alien gunship squadrons was bearing down on their position. They were lucky to get Saren here."
"Luck had nothing to do with it. Alright so if we set barricades here and here," he said looking over the map again. "We should be able to hole ourselves up until reinforcements from the fleet can arrive." If only more of their dropships had made it through the enemy's defenses. He'd lost almost 70% of his forces in the mad dash to get onto the planet.
Still these aliens were quite tenacious. It was almost as bad as fighting the Krogan, but at least they'd manage to locate their homeworld. With it falling, the Hierarchy could hunt down and subjugate the colonies at their leisure, especially with the bulk of this race's military being destroyed over the planet.
-TED-
Lucianus snuck into the enemy's stronghold. His active camo was far more advanced than the rest of his unit, him being a blackwatch agent, and a Council Spectre. He'd been given this mission from Councilor Russus himself. The objective was to capture the leader of the alien society, and in failing that assassinate that person. He'd been able to sneak in during the battle of the courtyard, and had slipped unseen into the upper stories.
He kept his pistol out and crept along the passages. The defenders were trying their best to hold the building, but a lot of them were inexperienced. The only one that seemed to be really capable had been the man he had passed on his way in, that young man seemed to be the only military trained person here, the rest were civilians.
He stopped when he heard a snarling sound. What was that? Some sort of animal? He only had a moment to think on it when he was suddenly attacked by a cream furred creature. It struck at him, batting at his kinetic shields and attempting to attack his throat and eyes. He struggled with the surprisingly strong nine kilogram creature.
He managed to throw the creature down the hall, who surprisingly landed on its six feet before it started to make a beeline towards him again. He raised his gun to shoot the surprisingly fast creature when he hured a burping sound, his shields shattered completely as the kinetic strike knocked him off his feet. His active camo deactivated and he had only time to look at the barrel of a shotgun before it burped again and several disks ripped through his body tearing it apart.
The treecat stopped and stood up on hits hind legs glaring at the shotgun wielder. "Oh hush," Berry Zilwicki said as she looked over at Alexis. "He was going to shoot you. I wasn't just going to let him do that Alexis."
-TED-
Codex Entries:
Pinance: A surface to orbit drop ship. Pinances are responsible for rapid transit of large numbers of personal to and from human planets and spacecraft. Lightly armed, Pinances are also generally used as customs and security ships for space stations. Capable of housing up to 200 personnel, Pinances are also largely utilized by the human military to drop entire platoons of Alliance Marines on enemy planets as well as serving as highly formidable air support units.
Rangers: Originally started as a group of naturists and biologists, the Rangers were formed in order to protect the Treecats from poachers back when the Treecats weren't considered a sapient race. Over the years the Rangers evolved to become the premiere military units available to the People.
Treecat Clawship: Due to the Treecats highly developed sense of spatial awareness, a breed of aircraft was designed around treecats and their bonded personnel for use by the People. The highly versatile aircraft are piloted by the treecat, the person serving as their gunner and the vessel is capable of aerial feats unmatched by any other atmosphere restricted vehicle.
Treecat Horror Suit: Inspired by a 1st Century Diaspora film, Treecat Horror Suits are the Treecat equivalent of Humanity's Armor Suits. Due to the Treecat preference of melee combat, the Horror suits are equipped with forceblade claws on each of the six limbs, a highly dense but flexible armor coating, and a serated blade attached to the treecat's tail. Unfortunately, the small size of the suits requires the Horror suit to piggy back off of a human Armor Suit's energy supply in order to remain functional. There are reports of flying units being under development.