Alright guys next chapter is done also congratulations to an Anonymous reviewer for suggesting the name Supremacy Pact. So you guys seem to want Garrus to be the same as canon if he comes into this fic, so he won't be a Cabal. I'm also surprised that people got the Hellsing Abridged reference in the last chapter, who knew it was that popular.
Time to answer some questions:
Guest: The reason I wrote those Turians like that was because the wiki said that Cabal's form very close tight knit groups, so I was trying to show that. The normal Turians should be more disciplined and hopefully that came through with this chapter, if not then shit...
"All warfare is based on deception."- Sun Tzu
Numlius cursed as he ducked under another blast of bright orange light and saw the trooper behind him collapsed to the ground, his kinetic shields useless against the laser weapon. Honestly the situation couldn't get any worse, after evacuating the base the survivors had immediately been ambushed by hostiles. Most of their forces had been taken out in the opening salvo and the rest were struggling to find cover as the synthetics continued to pour fire on them.
Spinning to face his attacker Numlius fired his rifle at the Turian sized bipedal robot until the gun overheated, unfortunately this had no effect as the rounds just pinged off its armoured body. The Turian could only stand in shock as the synthetic leveled its gun at him, the weapon beginning to glow a bright orange.
"Rookie get down!" screamed a familiar voice.
Hearing the order Numlius' training kicked in and he threw himself to the ground as a missile raced over his head and hit his attacker, engulfing the synthetic in the explosion. The armoured form of the robot was shattered and the force blew the synthetic apart, leaving a panting Numlius to struggle to his feet as his savior approached.
"Good to know explosives still work at least," commented Tiso Albucus, the team's demolitions expert as he helped Numlius up.
"Thanks for the save," said Numlius.
"Anytime Rookie," grinned Tiso. "Come on Kabalim Vakarian is trying to hold together what's left of our forces."
The two Turians ran across the makeshift frontlines that had been formed with wreckage from numerous destroyed vehicles and natural cover as the outnumbered Turian forces exchanged fire with their ambushers. Numlius felt a small bit of pride at seeing this, even after being ambushed and routed the Turians still maintained their discipline. It would seem the synthetics weren't expecting this fierce resistance after their ambush and had retreated for now, this made Numlius both glad and worried.
"Why is the Kabalim in charge? Where is the rest of the command staff?" asked the younger Turian.
"Dead," stated Tiso. "They were the first ones targeted in the ambush, the Kabalim was separated from them due to the Tsunami. Probably the only reason he's alive right now."
Numlius blinked but before he could respond they heard a familiar voice, "understood we'll hold them off as long as we can."
The two Cabal members rounded a piece of wreckage to see Kabalim Vakarian along with two high ranking officers from the 501st crowding around the Cabal leader's omni-tool. The Kabalim shut off his omni-tool and began issuing orders to the two troopers.
"Alright get this position fortified, we have to hold out until the evac shuttles arrive," he informed them.
"We're retreating!" cried an outraged trooper.
"No we're regrouping. General Victus wants to debrief us before launching the next attack and if I hear one more outburst from you officer then you will be court marshalled! Now you both have your orders and I expect you to follow them," snapped Vakarian.
"Yes Kabalim!" saluted the two officers and walked off to oversee the troops.
As they passed Numlius the Lieutenant gave the Cabal member a filthy look, "damn Cabal," he muttered under his breath and shoulder barged them as he passed by.
"Tiso, I see you found our missing member. Welcome back Rookie," said the Kabalim.
Numlius snapped a salute to his superior, "sir! Sorry for my delay, I was held up."
"Escaping a Tsunami and being ambushed tends to do that to someone," laughed Tiso.
Numlius lowered his hand, "what happened to the rest of the squad?"
Vakarian gave the younger Turian a relieved smile, "they all got out thankfully, I've sent them out to assist the 501st."
Tiso gave a relieved sigh beside him and smacked Numlius on the back, "looks like the gang's all here. These synthetics don't stand a chance," he laughed.
"Good to see you two getting along so well, especially since you'll be partnered with each other until this debacle is over," informed Vakarian.
The two Turians nodded in understanding, "where are we needed?" asked Tiso.
"The Western Front, it's been too quiet. We don't know what other tricks these synthetics have waiting for us so I'm taking no chances," ordered the Kabalim and they both nodded before heading out.
The makeshift encampment became a bustle of movement as the Turians began to dig in, making as much use of the time as they could until the synthetics returned for a round two. They weren't kept waiting long as the Turian's began to feel the ground shake beneath them, all the soldiers readied their weapons as memories of the destroyed base resurfaced. Numlius and Tiso took up position and the senior Cabal member took out his missile launcher while Numlius stared down the scope of his rifle.
The shaking grew more violent and everyone could hear a dull thump getting louder, causing a few fearful mutterings to be heard throughout the remaining ground forces. These murmurings stopped however and an awed silence descended on the Turians at the sight before them, a group of large four legged walkers had just emerged from the nearby mountains. Numlius watched as the long barreled gun on the walkers grew even larger and began glowing orange, as the walker pointed its gun high into the air the young Cabal's eyes widened.
"Artillery! Take cover!" he screamed, in time to see large blobs of orange being fired from the guns and heading straight for the encamped Turians.
Their makeshift fortifications just collapsed as the artillery walkers continued to rain down fire upon them, sending the ground forces to scramble for cover. Mercifully after what seemed like hours the artillery barrage finally ended and Numlius poked his head out only to wish he hadn't.
"Tiso how many heavy weapons survived the base destruction?" he asked.
"Not many, a couple of launchers and the required ammo, I think I saw a tank intact. Why?" responded Tiso.
"Because we're going to need every bit of it," answered the younger Turian.
Frowning at his expression Tiso turned to see what his teammate was looking at and gasped, "Spirits…"
Marching towards them in perfect synchronization was a sea of grey and orange as many different forms of synthetics and even sleek looking vehicles advanced on their position. 'The artillery barrage was there to cover their advance,' realized Numlius.
Along the defender's frontline numerous weapons were pointed at the incoming enemy before there was a brief pause and the mussel flashes of thousands of guns lite up the night sky. While most of the rounds weren't able to penetrate the robot's armour the sheer number and volume from the Turians was enough to breach vulnerable spots in the synthetic's armoured form.
The Turians had long since realized the overheating problem with Mass Effect weaponry and had been training their forces to overcome these limitations and it was showing. The defenders had formed three firing lines, one would fire until their weapons overheated and then the next line would take over and let the other's weapons cool down. This near constant spray of rounds pelted the horde of synthetics, slowing their advance to a crawl.
Realizing the problem the artillery walkers opened fire again, breaking the Turian's formation and sending them once again scrambling for cover. Numlius frowned as he took cover and watched as a few of the front rows of the synthetics were destroyed by friendly fire from the artillery, 'that is why no organic race would use artillery with friendlies this close.' Still despite the small casualties to their side, the synthetic's plan had worked and they reached the frontline before the Turian's could recover.
The two Cabal members quickly found themselves surrounded by numerous synthetics and once again Numlius found his rifle useless to all but a lucky shot to the eyes or joints. Tiso had more luck with his launcher but they were nearly out of missiles and there was still no shortage of enemies around them. Dropping his useless rifle Numlius was surround in a biotic blue haze as he sent a warp towards one of the humanoid bipedal robots and was surprised to see its armoured form crumple in on itself, the twisted metal piecing its power core and sending the robot crashing to the ground.
"Tiso use Biotics they're extremely effective!" he called as he sent another warp to his next target with similar results.
Instantly the two Turians found themselves being swarmed by synthetics as more and more poured into the breach. Numlius ducked under another orange blast only to see an extremely large bipedal robot ignore two 501st troopers firing at it and head straight for the Cabals. 'They prioritizing us as the biggest threats,' he realized and dived out of cover as it was destroyed from weapons fire. In a way it was almost something to be proud of, an entire synthetic horde considered them enough of a threat to put them on the 'must kill' list.
Seeing the approaching large robot Tiso fired his last missile into the monstrosity only to see it have no effect other than singeing its armour. They both backed up as the synthetic rose to its full height and levelled its glowing orange gun at them before disappearing in an explosion that blew them off their feet. Looking up they saw the welcoming sight of a squadron of Turian fighters bombing the synthetic horde.
"All forces fall back to the gunships, anyone who is late is being left behind," ordered the Kabalim's voice over the radio.
The two Cabals looked at the ring of enemies surrounding them before nodding to each other and threw up singularities on either side, as their enemies were suspended helplessly in the air the Turians sprinted towards the descending gunships. Reaching the evac craft Numlius sighed as he collapsed from exhaustion into the chair and the gunship lifted off the ground.
Tiso laughed, "welcome to team Soaring Rookie, I think you're going to do fine."
Numlius was about to respond when an alarm rang throughout the gunship, "what's going on?" demanded Tiso to the pilot.
"Enemy fighters, they're heading straight for us!" cried the pilot.
"Don't we have fighter support?!" raged the Cabal.
"They're still cleaning up the rest of the synthetics on the ground, it'll take a couple of minutes for them to reach us," replied the pilot as the gunship began evasive maneuvers.
Suddenly the gunship shuttered and began descending down to the ground, "damn it we're hit! Brace yourself!" The last thing Numlius felt was something slam into the back of his head before everything went dark.
+++82.7% of the predicted 100% of enemy forces that landed were eliminated. 17.3% escaped into orbit. The Biotics' escape was prevented, teams on route to wreckage, capture of the Biotics is priority. Underestimation of the tactics and discipline of the enemy forces is likely cause for the discrepancy, both have been logged for further analysis. Beginning cleanup operations. Result: resounding success despite underestimating enemy forces+++
General Victus and his surrounding officers were silent as they read the casualty list, of the ground forces rescued only a small amount were able to make it back to the fleet. They rest were shot down by the enemy fighters that had appeared out of nowhere before their own were able to chase them off. The doors to the tactical meeting suddenly opened and the general saw Kabalim Vakarian walk in, creating an imposing sight as he was still encased in his damaged and blood stained armour. The Cabal saluted his superiors before taking a seat as they all read his report and watched the numerous recordings of the landing debacle.
"Spirits, nearly half our ground forces wiped out in a single day. The amount of troops required for this would be enormous. How did they have that many troops garrisoned on a world as small as this?" whispered one of the tacticians.
"A better question is why did they have this many troops on this world," commented Vakarian.
"What do you mean Kabalim?" asked the general with a frown.
"Sir, there is no reason to station this number of troops on a world unless you're either planning an invasion or expecting one. Neither option bodes well for us," informed the senior Cabal.
"Impossible, if they were planning to invade the council they would have had a larger fleet present in the system," scoffed another officer.
"Then what about defending from an invasion," argued the Kabalim.
"The problem remains that there was too small a fleet here to repel an invasion, including the fact that they would need to mobilize their entire navy to deliver that many troops here in the short amount of time available," informed the general.
"With respect sir, these synthetics are able to create earthquakes on demand, invent infantry and ship energy weapons and are clearly no novices to combat. Can we really assume that they don't have the technology capable of doing this?" replied Vakarian.
Victus gave the Cabal an appraising look before an approving smile spread across his face, "no, no we cannot. As being the only person here who has fought against them what would you suggest we do Kabalim Vakarian?"
"Ever since we touched down our forces have been doing nothing but reacting to them, dancing to their tune so to speak. What we need to do is go on the offensive, make so the flow of battles are in our favour not theirs," answered Vakarian.
"Not possible, we don't have the number of troops available to capture all their cities," argued a tactician.
The Cabal smiled, "I know that, you know that, but do they?"
The general nodded, "force them to spread out their forces between the cities? That could work but only once."
"It would only need to work once, if we can take their capital then we'll have a good foot hold for reinforcements once they arrive," suggested the Kabalim.
"True, but even with their forces spread out it will be difficult to capture it. Especially since that damn Door Knocker stops us from making bases in preparation," pointed out the same tactician.
"That's why the capital needs to be captured, it's the most logical place for them to hide that weapon. We take the capital and we take out that weapon," agreed Victus.
"That still leaves the problem of the cities normal defenses, we might not have enough troops to take it let alone hold it until reinforcements arrive," commented another officer.
The Turian general looked at the scan of the city, "that won't be a problem, we have orbital superiority. It's time these synthetics learnt what that means."
Codex:
CNDR: The CNDR tactical robot was first made during the Supremacy Pact's war against Brasilia and was immediately mass produced due to their effectiveness. The robot themselves are a skeletal humanoid in shape and at their full height are approximately the size of a Krogan. They are armed with infantry grade laser weapon that, like all Pact energy weapons, is powered by a Firaxite core. These troops are usually only used in defence of friendly territory due to their ability to link with Markov Eclipse. While they can and are frequently used in attacking it is usually left to the other more adaptable forces.
CARVR: A large bipedal robot that could crush most Council mechs under its feet. They are vaguely humanoid shaped but have a powerful energy cannon in place of one arm and large, almost wing like structures on its back. They are usually used as heavy hitters and infantry support during combat, taking out powerful enemies while soaking up the fire from nearby enemy troops. Because of this their armour is incredibly thick and it has often been recorded that these robots can take multiple rockets before finally succumbing.
SABR: The Pact's most powerful artillery and indeed the most powerful artillery in the Affinity Alliance, these four legged walkers can do enormous damage over a large range but have very limited mobility. It is because of this that they are usually used defensively or deployed behind friendly lines, trusting the supporting infantry to keep them safe.
Seraph: The all-purpose aircraft of the Supremacy Pact, they are capable of attacking both ground and aerial targets with equal ease. However due to the lack of specialization in attacking either targets, pilots need to be extremely well trained to match their more specialized aerial opponents. This theme of versatility and training over specialization is carried on by all members of the Affinity Alliance and is one of the main reasons for their smaller number of pilots compared to Council races.
Redeemer: The main form of vehicle support for the Pact's ground forces, they fill the role of light armoured infantry support as well as scouting and reconnaissance vehicles. They are able to cross difficult terrain easily due to their light armour and hovering form of locomotion. When the enemy breaks ranks to retreat these vehicles are the ones responsible chasing them down as well as rounding up survivors in cleanup operations.
Well how'd you like it? I try my best to edit it but I don't have a beta and there are probably still errors so feel free to correct me if you see them. Constructive criticism is welcomed as well as any suggestions you might have.