Chapter Four: Dying Embers
Taiyuan, Shanxi surface, April 20th, 2525 (UEG Standard Calendar)
POV: Captain Evelyn Sykes, 13th Shock Troops Battallion
The woman climbs out of the alien tank, her walking into the plaza, only to be disappointed in the fact that the battle was already over...and that they had taken a severe beating. The only people present were a marine corporal, along with a few militiamen and another ODST. The Helljumper officer lets out a brief sigh as she surveys the destruction, seeing dozens of bodies, alien and human alike, and the wreck of one of the alien tanks. It looked like things had gone fairly badly, though since the place hadn't fallen, she decides to call it a win regardless. She heads over to the ODST and the marine, studying the two, before speaking up. "Well, Corporals...are the civilians safe?"
"Yes ma'am. We didn't let any of them get into the tunnels. The bad news...we're the only forces left in the city. And the aliens still have at least a company of soldiers left, along with a few tanks." The other helljumper replies, though the marine stays silent.
"Well...not quite. Boys!" She calls out, the two militiamen crawling out of the tank. "I have these two as well. And..." She pauses as she hears the sound of two Pelicans approaching, both craft carrying M808 "Scorpion" Main Battle Tanks on the rear of the crafts. "And it seems like we got a couple more tanks of our own. A couple more marines too. Is everyone here fit to fight?"
"We have a few wounded...it would-"
"Send them down with the civvies." She turns and walks over to the two allied aircraft, watching the Scorpions deploy, before seeing a dozen marines come out of each Pelican. "What took you?"
The lead marine walks up to her, sighing. "Funny, Ma'am. But you know unlike you crazy people, we aren't keen on burning up in atmo."
She grins a bit under her visor, gently hitting him on the shoulder. Though her amusement quickly fades. "I know, Sergeant. Now...I saw a big flash...was that our ride off of this planet?"
He nods. "Afraid so. but the pilot tracked a few lifepods."
"Alright then. Sergeant, you're in command here. I'm taking one of those Pelicans and going hunting for those pods. Better we find them before the enemy do."
"Alright, ma'am. Be careful out there. We tracked a few more groups of enemies out there."
"I'll need one of your men too. Preferably a medic, just in case."
He nods, calling a marine over, motioning for them to follow the woman as she steps aboard the ramp of one of the dropships. They do, and the vehicle soon lifts off the ground, Evelyn and the medic both sitting down.
"Pilot, Take me to the location of the first pod. We have a bit of work to do."
"Can do, ma'am. Just relax, and we'll get there soon. ETA eight minutes."
The ODST nods, before doing as suggested and relaxing, giving her body a few minutes to rest and listening to the sound of the medic's music player that they were listening to. The song kind of reminded her of her family, the memories briefly distracting her as they land, the pilot's voice bringing her back to the present.
"Alright, we're here. How much are you paying me for being your personal taxi?" The pilot, a man with somewhat of a scottish accent asks jokingly.
"Absolutely nothing. Sorry to disappoint." Evelyn stands up, and her, along with the medic step off the ramp and immediately notice a long furrow carved into the field, that led up to where the pod was. Keeping herself alert, she slowly walks over, rifle in hand, to the crashed pod. That being said, something felt off to her as she approaches, though she couldn't figure out what. She glances back at the medic. "Be careful. We have no idea what happened since they landed."
The woman then takes a deep breath, before she tries to open the Bumblebee's rear hatch. It doesn't budge. "Fuck. Let's try the emergency release..."
That time, it works, the explosive bolts throwing the hatch off its hinges, barely missing Evelyn, who ducks a moment before. She activates her VISR systems, it highlighting the interior. No bodies, or even weapons were present. "Hey, medic..." She starts to turn, before being pinned against the hull of the craft, right next to the doorframe, one of the aliens grabbing her by the throat. She notices the medic had had their throat slit, and three more of the alien commandos flanked her.
"Well played." She mutters, before she notices that the pelican's hatch had thankfully closed in time, and that the craft had its guns aimed at the group. Though all the one holding the Helljumper does is point a gun at her head. Clearly the message was 'you kill us, we kill her.' Though at present, the alien holding her was looking back at his allies, and at the dropship. A mistake. She reaches around the doorway, feeling blindly for a control panel, before finding one and activating a certain button, clinging to the pod.
It's maneuvering thrusters fire, her managing to slip inside the doorway a moment before the vehicle 'leaps' to the side about fifteen meters, clearing her from the line of fire. And with that, the Pelican opens fire with it's chin mounted gun, mowing down the Turians within a few seconds.
Evelyn steps out from the pod, wondering what the hell had happened to the people inside, before she gets a comm message that consists of clicking noises, at various intervals. After listening for a few moments, she rushes over to the aircraft, which had landed again, and gets inside. "Did you get the message too?"
"I did...I haven't studied up on my Morse code in a while, though."
"I have. The message tells us that they have the Commander with them, and that they're holed up in a nearby village. Apparently all the lifepods have been trying to rendezvous there."
"Doesn't that make our job simple. Alright, strap in. We'll be there in two minutes."
The ODST nods and sits down, doing up the safety harness, before she feels the Pelican accelerate. "In a bit of a hurry now?"
"Well, there's a reason for that. Now that I know the Commander is there, I might get a medal or two for helping evac her."
Evelyn groans a bit, rolling her eyes. "Please tell me you're joking..."
"Um...kind of?"
"You know how much of a dick that makes you look like, right?"
They pause for a few seconds, before somewhat sheepishly replying. "...Right. Forget I said anything. Anyways, we're almost there."
As the Pelican slows down, she undoes the restraints and stands up. "Alright. Is this place under attack?"
The pilot checks the comm channels for a couple of moments, before speaking up. "It seems like you arrived at the tail end of one. They weren't expected this much resistance, I'd guess, since our boys seem to be kicking a fair amount of alien ass down there."
"Force strength?"
"From what I can see, about a dozen aliens still standing. Maybe twice that many of our guys, if not more." The craft lowers altitude until they're only a couple meters off the ground. "I'll slow down for you to drop onto the roof. Then I'll do an attack pass. Ready?"
"Yeah. Just tell me when to jump." Evelyn holds onto a safety handle near the door, waiting patiently.
"Alright. Five...Four...Three...Two...One...go."
She steps off the ramp, stumbling a bit as she lands on the roof, before a pair of marine marksman glance back at her. "What's happening?" The ODST asks, her taking a few steps forward and kneeling next to the two, who were taking cover behind a short wall, occasionally rising to fire.
"We're just trying to pick off the survivors of the attack. Only problem is a marksman they have. They're good...they've already killed two of our guys, and injured about five by this point."
"Do you have a location on them?" She asks immediately, her inching towards the edge.
"Not really. But if you're looking to have a sniper duel, I wouldn't recommend it. Last guy that tried got his brains splattered all over the inside of his helmet."
"Believe me, I'm not. And do you have a rough estimate, at least?"
"Try looking around the grain silos at the eastern side of town. And be careful." The other marksman answers after a moment's hesitation.
Evelyn nods, before she swings herself over the lip and lands on the ground, before sprinting towards a ruined building as a blue tinged sniper round just misses her. Making sure to alter her path, diving and rolling to either side as she moves, she manages to make it there. It was almost a kilometer to the silos they had mentioned, though that didn't bother her too much as she stuck to the interior of buildings and in alleys. Twice, she ran into a hiding alien soldier, though both times she caught them off guard and managed to deal with them quickly and efficiently.
After about a half hour, she gets a message from one of the marines. "Ma'am, we've taken out the rest of them. Is that sniper dead yet?"
She sighs, responding in a quiet, slightly irritated voice. "No. Just tell the others to stay in cover, I will deal with them." With that, she kills the connection, her resuming her hunt. After she reaches the edge of the town, she finds a half collapsed building, her crawling into the ruins and discretely checking through a small hole in the debris. She then tests the wreckage above her, finding it fairly easily movable, before she sighs, briefly glancing through the hole and noticing no more cover in the fifty meters between her and the silos.
Softly cursing under her breath, she decides to offer a bit of bait, quickly forming a plan. She positions her battle rifle to where it looked like someone was aiming, her readying her pistol and a grenade. And then she waits, occasionally shifting the BR around. Soon enough, a sniper round rings out, a shot shattering the scope of her weapon. not waiting a moment, she bursts from the wreckage, noticing a glint among the silos and throwing her grenade, before sprinting.
The explosive detonates as another round intercepts it, though the Helljumper manages to get around one of the silos, and start climbing a ladder, her hearing noises as the alien runs accross the rooftops of the silos, her waiting at the top of the ladder, not climbing into view and pressing herself against the gray metal. A moment later, they peek over the edge, her just reaching up and grabbing onto the rifle with one hand, roughly tugging them. Due to the angle of the silo's top, the already precariously balanced alien is unbalanced and falls past Evelyn, slamming into the ground twenty feet below.
She slides down the ladder, her turning and aiming her weapon at the fallen alien, who lies there, groaning in pain. Though rather than kill them, the ODST just walks over and kicks the rifle from it's grasp, her then kicking it in the face as it starts to rise. "Stay down." She says threateningly, despite the fact that she was sure they wouldn't understand. When they try again to get up, this time grabbing their pistol, her armored boot strikes their jaw with a loud crack, and the alien goes limp.
Turian Command Facility, Palaven, April 24th, 2525 (UEG Standard Calendar)
"You have to be kidding me, Arterius. There is no way a species so primitive that they don't even use eezo wiped out an entire task force with a single cruiser. That is seven frigates and a cruiser. do you honestly expect me to believe an unshielded ship wiped them all out? Its ridiculous."
One of the other three Turians in the room gives the older male a glare, wiping some spittle off of their face before activating the holotable and bringing up a view of the battle over the alien world. "To be fair, one of the frigates was killed by a pair of enemy frigates. And the enemy ship possessed a cannon capable of destroying our ships in a single hit. Along with missiles capable of doing the same with only a few hits. And that's not even counting their nuclear weapons. And ridiculously thick armor. Face it, they have, as Desolas pointed out, far more advantages over our ships, even if they are slower and unshielded."
The Turian, one Desolas Arterius, nods in agreement. "Listen to the Admiral, General. Unlike you, he's smart enough to believe whats clearly in front of him. I saw this all happen. Besides, we crippled their ship as well. It fell into the gravity well of the planet and was destroyed."
The first turian to speak simply growls and retorts "And how would you know this, Desolas? Oh wait, your frigate was hiding at the edge of the system, watching them destroy our task force."
"And what would you have me do? Get myself killed in a fight we couldn't win? Just be glad we have this intelligence on them, thanks to me."
"You insolent piece of-"
"Enough!" The three males all turn to face one who was in slightly different armor, and looked at least a few years older than all of them.
"Primarch, I am sorry I started this argument." The first general begins, before he's cut off.
"I would hope so. Not even our children squabble this much. Now, can we agree on a plan, and stop bickering?"
"Yes, Primarch." All three of the others respond simultaneously.
"Good. Now, Admiral, you first. What would you propose we do?"
The Turian stretches his mandibles a bit as he thinks, before crossing his arms. "Either attempt to make peace with these aliens, or get help from the other Council races. We can't take the risk that they might have fleets of craft like this, and if they do, I think they can beat the Hierarchy's military if we stand alone."
"Noted. Desolas, now."
"I would launch a strike with the Second or Third Fleets, attempt to attack quickly and overwhelm any defenses, then use the relays to speed our invasion across their territory before they can respond. Either that, or launch infiltration forces and attempt to take their worlds or cause chaos in other ways."
"You overestimate them, Arterius. We could just as easily send the eighth, or even ninth fleets to accomplish the same task. Its clear that they don't mass produce these ships, we-"
"Be quiet, idiot. Actually, guards, please take him away and throw him in the brig until he learns to curb his tongue."
A pair of turian Cabals cast a stasis on the mentioned General, before dragging him away, leaving the Desolas, the admiral, and the primarch alone.
"General Arterius, what are their ground forces like?" The primarch asks quietly, sounding a bit tired.
"Surprisingly tough. While of soldiers seem to be better disciplined and equipped, their weapons fire large slugs that do quite a bit of damage to our barriers. and they were dug in, and sneaky and fierce combatants. There were three types I saw. One that seemed more like...maybe a militia than anything else. Soldier to soldier, on open ground, our forces would have little problem with them." An image appears of one of the human militiamen. "The next seem to be career soldiers. Fairly well trained, well equipped, and they were leading the others around when we saw them. I would say that a fight between us and them could go either way, depending on how the soldier was equipped."
"I see. And the last type you saw?"
"Definitely commandos. They came from orbit in some sort of drop pod, and were clad head to foot in black armor. They were seen to have the skills and equipment to fight even our Cabals and commanding officers. Here is a bit of footage." The holo shifts to show a single black armored soldier leap from their pod and battle a squad of Turians, surviving with mild injuries. "Still, they seem to prefer surprises and ambushes, like the rest of this species. In an open battlefield, they could beat our standard infantry, but likely not Cabals. The biotics would kill them, assuming our firepower did not."
"Interesting. Well, I've decided that I will muster the Third Fleet for our next engagement, with the Eighth and Ninth posed to jump minutes later, and immediately head for the Relay. Meanwhile, I will talk to our Councilor, maybe he can get some help from the Asari or Salarians. Meeting adjourned." The primarch walks out, the others soon doing the same, each heading their separate ways.
Author's Note: So, voting's over, I know it probably is over a bit too soon, but well...I wanted to get a new story underway. While both A Song of Ice and Fire and Metal Gear were tied, I decided to go with MGS because I feel like I have more to go with, (and the fact that...well, I wrote first chapters for both, and I liked the MGS one better.) so that'll be released soon. Like...today or tomorrow soon. Anyways, thanks to all those who voted, whether in the comments, or in a PM. Now...I should probably respond to you all, shouldn't I?
So Lmao, I must confess, part of me is sure you're a troll, but I'll reply regardless. Simply put, unless you're meaning Thanix projectiles, which aren't invented yet, no. No they don't. Disruptor torpedoes are launched by fighter craft, and are actually slow and unwieldy, not to mention that they aren't even too powerful. And the Turians don't use fighters, at least, not at this point. And the projectiles from the guns of lets say a cruiser, are low grade compared to a MAC, at least, considering individual shots. And besides, the cruiser in this story sheared through quite a bit of armor in less than a minute, so I'd say I actually was accurate, or even giving the ME universe a buff.
Anyways, if you find me proof of your claims, I'll change my answer. You can expect another chapter for this in two-to-four weeks. And it may have some innies, and our favorite armored soldiers in it. Well...my favorite, anyways. Bye.