Mass Effect: Guerrillas
"Wow... You have really outdone yourself this time Mason." said Bobby as he looked at the bound and gagged alien female sitting in a chair in front of him who was glaring at both of them.
"You know me Bobby" said Jake as his ego began to swell. "I work to impress."
"That's great Mason but there's just one little problem..." Bobby then walks up to the alien and removes the gag from her mouth. Jake couldn't read her emotions that well but it looked like she was surprised.
"What are you doing?!" yelled Jake
"Mason." said Bobby giving Jake a disapproving look. "Alien or not this is still a women and we have to show her the proper respect."
"Proper Respect?! She is a prisoner of war, her people are bombing us for whatever fucking reason, AND" Jake then rolls up his sleeve showing a bandaged wound. "She bit me while I was carrying her back here."
"She bit you?" said Bobby as he fought back the urge to chuckle.
"Yes. She did. "said SIRI "Commander Redak and the rest of the team thought it was funny as hell. I also want to add that I didn't know you were a soprano Jake."
"One of these days SIRI" Jake said "One of these days..."
"You two argue like a married couple. Maybe you should really think about gettin hitched." said Bobby chuckling as they both yelled NO WAY. Bobby then turned to the alien who was watching them with some measure of understanding and amusement. Bobby raised an eyebrow at this. Could it be...
"So Bobby" interrupted Jake. "What do you think we can get out of her."
"Nothing." replied Bobby casually
"Come again?" said Jake confused at Bobby's response
"I said nothing. Mason we know absolutely nothing about their language so we can't effectively interrogate her. Sure she could show us how their technology works but the language barrier will make that very difficult. Let's also not forget the fact that she's only a frontline soldier. I may not be an expert on alien culture but I know that there is no species in the galaxy that gives their frontline soldiers knowledge of military secrets."
"Well..." said Jake "Maybe SIRI can create a translation program. AIs can do that right?"
"Why do you have throw this onto me? I've never translated an entire language before so I don't even know where to start! Maybe if I had some recordings of them speaking along with a copy of their alphabet then I could given some time."
"You have recordings of them speaking though." pointed out Jake
"Jake. Dying screams does not count as speaking..." deadpanned SIRI "I mean I need recordings of at least two of the aliens having an extended conversation."
"If we can't interrogate her then what use is she then?"
"Oh don't you worry about that Mason. It seems our friend here..." he said gesturing to the alien female "...already knows English."
"What. How do you know?"
"I've been watching her. She's been following our conversation the entire time." Bobby then walks over to the alien and leans towards her face looking her in right in her yellow eyes. "Haven't you?"
The alien looks right back at Bobby before nodding. "Good. Since you're going to be staying awhile can we get a name?" The alien then says something in her language.
"Well then Nyreen." says Bobby "I'm going to let you know that if you try to escape we won't hesitate to blow your head off. Behave and then you might just see the world you call home again. Understand?"
'Nyreen' nodded. Just then the door to the interrogation room opened and a trooper stepped in. He looked at the alien sitting in the chair with some suprise but then turned to Jake and Bobby.
"Commando Mason and Guerrilla Bass. Command has just sent us someone. You aren't going to believe this."
"Well Ms. Lawson. I hafta say this is a surprisin turn of events." said Bobby as he looked over the treasure trove of information presented to him. "You and your organization should pat yourselves on the back because you've just won us back Keplar."
"Cerberus looks after it's allies. The Illusive Man say you were in need of help and sent me. These datapads contain the most up to date codex on the Citadel Council along with some classified information."
"As soon as the fleet gets here we blow those bastards out of the sky!" yelled Mason.
"Mr... Mason is it? That is a Turian Suppression Fleet. I doubt any ships you have can make a dent in them. A Cerberus fleet will be by shortly."
"Ms. Lawson that will be unnecessary." said SIRI
"Wait. Is that an AI?!" asked Ms. Lawson with equal amounts of fear and interest.
"Yes Ms. Lawson. I am an AI and for future reference my name is SIRI. Now as I was saying based on the information you gave us outlined all Turian ship sizes and armament. Turian Frigates are 317 meters. Cruisers average between 482 to 535 meters. Dreadnoughts average between 892 to 1156 meters. The turians have begun construction of a carrier with help from the Systems Alliance. It's going to be 901 meters."
"And your point is." said Lawson as she narrowed her eyes. She already knew this. What was this AI getting at?
"Red Faction Frigates are 1000 meters since they're based on the old Hydra design. Cruisers are 1500 meters while Dreadnoughts are 2000 meters. We have no carriers but cruisers and dreadnoughts carry large amount of fighters so this is unnecessary."
"But that means... Your ships are the largest in the galaxy. Not even the Protheans could build a dreadnought at 2000 meters..." said Lawson visibly shocked. The looks on the faces of her guards on the other end of the room showed they were as well.
"This is due to the Faction not utilizing element zero. This 'Illusive Man' of yours has noted her in the data packet that EDF forces destroyed all prothean artifacts they couldn't take with them to keep them from falling in our hands."
"Clever Bastards." said Bobby. "Our ships are bigger & tougher than the Turians so we won't have any problems in space combat."
"The Turian fleet numbers in the thousands. We only have a few dozen at most." pointed out Jake.
"Yes but most of it is composed of frigates and the Turians are too busy patrolling Council Space to fight a large scale war. The Council's power relies on the threat of force not it's ability to project it. They lost that when they neutered the Krogan" said Lawson.
Just then the door open and a trooper entered handing Bobby an encrypted transmission.
"It's from General Patterson. He reports that Commander Davidson has routed the Turians in the tunnels and the relief fleet is only minutes away." said the trooper
"Do we know where they're gonna end up?" asked Bobby
"The Turian survivors are being funneled into the city center to keep their fleet from just blowing it to smithereens."
"Good. Get as many men as you can. We're gonna give them a proper welcome." Bobby then turned to Jake. "Sorry Mason. Duty calls. Entertain Ms. Lawson while I go take care of this."
Jake and Miranda looked at each other. Feeling like he should break the ice Jake decide to start the conversation with an elegant "Sooooo..."
"No." Miranda simply said knowing where this conversation was going to head.
"Are you sure?" he pressed
"Yes"
"Ok then. Can't believe I'm missing Bobby's big mouth already..."
"WHAT!?" yelled Admiral Gaeus. "How could 5 full Legions with armor support lose to a group of humans?!"
"After the destruction of the bridge the commander found a few tunnel entrances left unguarded by the humans and tried to use them to storm the city. Unfortunately..." The ensign didn't get to finish.
"That fool walked right into an obvious trap! Now the humans have the survivors keep prisoner within the city. If that barefaced idiot is among them I'll see to it that he is dishonorably discharged and his family line banned from military command!"
In the back of his head Admiral Gaeus knew he was overreacting and being unfair but this whole operation was a disaster right from the start! First half his fleet is wiped out by mines and ground to space weapons and now his entire ground force has been captured by this 'Red Faction'. He was not going to go down in infamy like Desolas Arterius for his botched First Contact with the Alliance.
Suddenly alarms started blaring.
"What's going on?!" demanded Gaeus
"Admiral! A fleet of ships has just entered the system!" replied a female turian "Spirits! The ships are huge.
Approaching the Turian fleet is a standard Red Faction attack fleet. 5 frigates and 3 cruisers spearheaded by the dreadnought Badlands commanded by Admiral Kyrik. The marauder silently observed the alien fleet his gas mask obscuring his features. The bridge crew awaited orders and after observing for a few seconds longer he gave the order to fire the plasma cannon as a warning shot past the fleet. They could easily crush these aliens but an honorable commander should always give his enemy a chance to surrender.
Back on the Turian Dreadnought there was an air of unease. The only thing from keeping it from descending into complete chaos was the famous Turian Discipline but even that was wearing thin. The huge dreadnought just fired a blast of energy as big as a frigate right past their fleet. Everyone knew it was a warning shot and that it was up to Gaeus to decide their course of action.
Despite them trying to be discreet Gaeus could see some of the bridge crew glance in his direction before returning to work. The Faction ships were bigger than any ship in Council space and from the glowing green blast they had energy weapons that could be used for more than point defense. It'd had been a couple of minutes since the humans fired their warning shot and they most likely wouldn't wait any longer. Weighing his options one last time Gaeus turned to his XO to give what may be his final order.
"Send a message to the fleet. Power down all engines and weapons. We can't win this fight."
Gaeus sat back in his command chair. He was most likely going to be stripped of his command for this but he wasn't going to throw his crew's lives away for nothing. If these Faction humans treated him and his crew civilly he might just see his family again.
"This is Admiral Kyrik of the RFS Badlands. The alien fleet has surrendered. Kepler is now back in UMS hands."
The soldiers of the Red Faction cheered as they heard the message being transmitted across the planet. Back at the main command bunker General Patterson assembled the survivng commanders.
"Good work everyone. Thanks to the translation software from Ms. Lawson we are making headway with the prisoners. A lot of them have questioned how we know their language but we're keeping them in the dark. The UMS Council has is sending a fleet to this Citadel of theirs to sue for peace or start the first battle of a long war. Mason and Bass you're going with the fleet when it arrives. Ms. Lawson can we count on the help of Cerberus if things go south?"
"Cerberus doesn't have many ships but we can assist in intelligence gathering and sabotage." Miranda replied curtly.
"Sir if you don't mind me askin what type of approach are we usin on the Council." asked Bobby
"The only type of Diplomacy to get the results we want."
"Gunboat Diplomacy?"
"The best kind."
AN: I have to warn you guys I'm back in school know so I won't have much time to write anymore.
Guerrilla Handbook
Marauders- Formerly the employees of the Ultor Corporation the Marauders fled to the Irradiated Zone to keep from being arrested by the EDF and to protect their most valuable creation the Nano Forge. The Marauders crafted a false front of them being uneducated savages to keep from arrousing supscicion from the EDF and colonists about their true identiy. Thanks to the efforts of Samanya and Alec Mason the marauders assisted the Red Faction in ousting the EDF from Mars and have remained productive members of the UMS ever since.
Marauders have adopted colonist style names and dress but many still wear the gas masks if only for sentimental value. The areas where Maruaders are the majority are the Badlands & Mariner Valley on Mars and Planet Vasha.