This is a revised version of the chapter I posted up and hope you all will like this one.
June 23, 2685/2185
Sangheili Space
Undisclosed Location
UNION Intelligence Space Station
On Board the UNION's own space station, they were conducting research into project Crusader. After trial and error the first groups were finished. Director of UNION a Sangheili was in a room with a Human from the UNSC with a clipboard in hand. "What are the results of Crusader?" asked the director.
The Human looked at the director. "There were some setbacks in project Crusader. As you know augmenting any species has risks."
The director nodded his head. "What happened?"
The Human sighed; interesting as this project was, it was very tiresome the number of problems encountered. "Where do I begin? I guess about eighty percent of the volunteers for this project did not do so well; the Kig-Yar had the most problems, but there were a few who made it through and with the information we have we can perfect the next batch of volunteers."
The director was at least pleased by this. "Good! I will head down there now and meet them."
UNION Space Station
Infirmary
In the infirmary were the test subjects to Project Crusader. Many could no longer perform the feats they could before and some were taking it a lot harder than others, especially the Sangheili volunteers. The director walked into the area where the ones who survived the augmentation were waiting. The director was impressed with the final outcome of the procedure and gave them designated names.
He walked up to the Kig-yar group. "You are the Jek-Burs." He walked up to the Jiralhanes. "You will be called the Kalpacs." Finally he walked up to the Sangheili. "The Fanoon."
The director then brought in the weapons they were going to use on their top secret missions around the Relay network. He then directed them to a ship where they would be traveling on to their destination.
Undisclosed Location
Section Zero Space Station
A man wearing an expansive suit was sitting in the office of one Margaret Parangosky. He was looking at his pocket watch waiting on the good Admiral for her arrival, but she was late for the meeting she set up. After a while, Parangosky walked in her office a little upset over something. "My apologies for keeping you waiting."
The man stood up from his seat and looked at Margaret with a calm expression. "Mussolini once killed a conductor for not keeping a train on schedule. Fortunately, I'm infinitely more patient than Il Cuce."
She knew that bit of history and its comparison, but Margaret still had determination in her eyes. "Mussolini went down in defeat Doctor. I won't accept that in what we're undertaking."
The man smiled. "Well, hiring me is certainly a winning strategy. Legions of your own scientists said that applying cybernetic implants on the 1.1 Spartans was impossible as their own gifted abilities would be too much for them. And when you didn't listen Nassir Abdifitah died on the table from the implants."
Margate ignored that last part and continued. "That's why I hired you doctor. You're the best at what you do and I won't accept any failures. But I have some concerns about your practices on my test subjects."
The doctor chuckled. "Mankind's greatest advances would never have seen the light of day had the genius minds behind them been scrutinized under a microscope. Don't worry about what I do, just as long as I keep my end of the deal and give you your army of soldiers."
The man closed his pocket watch and placed it back in his pocket and walked out of Margaret's office to make preparations.
Asgard Station
VIP Room
Onboard Asgard station in the VIP room was Urdnot Wreav who was representing the Krogan under the orders of Urdnot Wrex. Wreav in reality wanted the position as he believed he was the only Krogan capable to actually getting his people what they needed. After some time, a group of OPF's walked in the room and escorted Wreav to a meeting area.
Asgard Station
Conference Room
In the Conference room was Admiral Hackett along with the Jiralhanae ambassador Scipio preparing for Wreav's arrival. Wreav walked into the conference room agitated by the waiting he had to endure before actually coming here, he walked to the conference table where Hackett and Scipio were waiting. "Where is the cure for the genophage?"
Hackett didn't like Wreav's attitude at all and didn't understand the importance of having the Krogan annexed into the OSA; he personally thought they were nothing but trouble for them. "First off this is not Tuchanka, so I suggest you be careful what you say in front of me Krogan."
Wreav growled at Hackett for what he said. "And you better understand that we didn't hand over that Salarian for nothing and gave up the only chance finding a cure for ourselves."
Scipio stepped in trying to prevent the two from saying anything they might regret later on. "Urdnot Wreav, Admiral Hackett! Can we please get back on subject of this meeting?"
Hackett and Wreav looked at Scipio and both conceded and continued back to negotiating. "Thank you!" said Scipio, "Now, Wreav we have created a cure for your people, but instead of actually curing the genophage, we modified it to give your kind a much higher birth rate than previously before."
Wreav did not like the sound of that. "SO! Instead of curing us you want to control our own birth rates, what gives you the right to play god?"
Hackett stepped in to reply. "Don't think we ignored your past history with the Council about the Krogan rebellions. The OSA Senate does not want that to happen again."
Wreav simply growled; furious at what they were trying to do. "The Krogan clans of Tuchanka will not agree to this at all and if you do not cure the genophage, we will declare war on you."
Hackett leaned on the table looking at Wreav in the eyes. "Go ahead! Go to war with the only ally you have made in the last thousand years since the Krogan Rebellions. You think Tuchanka is a pile of rubble now? We'll wait until we're finished with it; it'll be nothing but glass by the time we're done with it!"
Wreav then walked out in anger and heads to his ship to leave Asgard station.
Scipio looks at Hackett concerned about what he has done. "What were you thinking, threatening to glass the Krogan home world?"
Hackett looks at Scipio. "I am not going to stand there and brown nose the Krogan to accept our offer of joining the OSA. No! We don't need them and if they do attack us, I will lead a fleet too Tuchanka and attack it myself." Hackett then walks out of the conference room.
Scipio on the other hand was thinking of how much brown nosing he'd need to perform to the Krogan in order to fix this fragile alliance.
Serpent Nebula
Widow System
Citadel Tower
The Council gathered today with smiles on their faces. The prototype dreadnought they were creating together has paid off. Valern began reading the success of the shake down it had. "All tests are performing wonderful for Project United! We now have a dreadnought powerful enough to protect Citadel space from any threat including the OSA, TC, and these Collectors."
Tevos was proud of their accomplishment. "Indeed! It has been a complete success for all of us. And I look forward to creating more of these dreadnoughts."
Sparatus was actually happy for once. "Yes this has all been a success, but there is still one problem." He looks at his fellow Councilors. "Which race will take command of it?"
Tevos and Valern completely forgot about that problem and thought about it deeply. In sense, it should go to the peace keeping force of the Citadel, but something this powerful cannot be in the hands of one race as each of them put advance technologies into it from their own respected research.
Tevos then came to a conclusion. "I recommend that we select the best of our people and place them in control of the ship."
Valern and Sparatus were hesitant about it, but gave in as they see it would take a while for their own people to train in this new technology and should work on the stations most suitable for each species.
Sparatus then asked one thing. "Who will take command of this vessel?"
Tevos had someone in mind. "An Asari Matriarch will take command of the ship."
Sparatus didn't like it. "I will agree to it under the condition that the second in command of the vessel should be a Turian."
Tevos understood where Sparatus was coming from and agreed to it. Valern on the other hand just wanted his people to be in command of the research section of the ship. They then adjourned there meeting to make preparations.
Kite's Nest
Harasa System
Khar'shan
Khar'shan, the Batarian home world, is wrapped less in mystery than in outright lies. Batarian propaganda claims the world has 15 billion inhabitants and an economy that rivals the Asari. Although the legal slave trade does boost the Batarian's profits somewhat, Citadel sanctions have left a paper tiger of an empire, one that fights rivals through deniable terrorist actions rather than the wars of its heyday centuries ago.
Since the rise of the OSA and UNSC the Batarian economy had fallen quite drastically. The OSA had stepped up its campaign against the slave trade by protecting all independent colonies in the Attican Traverse, but thankfully under the leadership of Balak the Batarian Hegemony joined the Terminus Coalition, They were able to claim the Nemean Abyss with Aria's blessing and started to colonize planets.
In the government building, Balak was signing papers. As leader of the Hegemony he was responsible for much. As time went by another Batarian walked in with information. "Balak, We just received a message from the Shadow Broker. It will begin in a couple of hours."
Balak had an evil grin on his face. "Excellent! We will finally be able to see our comrades again soon and this will get many in the TC on my side instead of Aria's. And when that happens I will attack the OSA with everything I have at them."
Balak and the Batarian shared a drink in toast of their soon to be victory.
OSA Colony Ferris Fields
Ferris Fields is a Civilian OSA colony on the borders of the Terminus Systems and OSA space. Because of that the OSA had placed a large contingent of Frigates and ODP's around the planet, but on this day half of the Frigates that protect the planet had been reassigned to join the patrol fleet on the borders to cite any Collector ships. Also most of the ODP's were shutdown to begin installing the new P-Mac on the ODP's. Only one ODP is operational for protection.
UNSC Frigate Gettysburg
Bridge
On board the bridge of the Gettysburg, Captain Emily Diamond sat in her chair looking over daily operations on her frigate. All was well until the sensors officer reported of a Slipspace tracking device active in the next system.
Captain Diamond ordered the UNSC Frigate "The Light before Dawn" to check it out and report back. The Light before Dawn traveled in Slipspace to where the signal was.
OSA Colony Ferris Fields
Orbit
UNSC Frigate Gettysburg
Bridge
It had been two hours since "The Light before Dawn" left to check on the Slipspace signal emitting in the next system. She was planning on sending another ship to check on them, but all of a sudden the Light before Dawn came out of Slipspace, Emily Diamond made a connection to see what took them so long. "Light Before Dawn this is Captain Diamond of the Gettysburg respond?"
After a few seconds the Captain of the Dawn opened a link to the Gettysburg. "Captain Hudson reporting as ordered."
Captain Diamond was a little concerned of how Hudson was acting. "Captain what was the source of the Slipspace signal?"
Hudson just stared at her blankly before responding. "It was nothing ma'am. May I be allowed to dock the Dawn on the ODP?"
Diamond should have been suspicious, but allowed it.
Ferris Fields Orbit
ODP
"The Light before Dawn" docked on the ODP, but began to overload their reactor core. After a few seconds, the core exploded causing the ODP to be destroyed. The shockwave of the explosion destroyed communications on the colony and caused major damage to the rest of the UNSC frigate fleet.
UNSC Gettysburg
Captain Diamond was about to contact Asgard Station, but couldn't because of the shockwave caused the comms on her ship to malfunction. Captain Diamond was then about to order pelicans down to the planet to calm the inhabitants, but stopped when the sensors officer detected fifteen Collector cruisers jumping into the system and was on approach to the colony.
Captain Diamond began shouting out orders, trying to get the fleet to combat status, but the Collectors were already prepared and began firing their particle accelerators at the fleet destroying or crippling all of them.
OSA Colony Ferris Fields
Orbit
The Collector cruiser then made orbit, but one landed on the planet while the others released Oculus to attack any military installations on the planet. Ferris Fields was now under Collector occupation.
Exodus Cluster
Asgard System
Asgard station
Hackett's Office
In Hackett's office, Scipio was telling Hackett about his success of getting Urdnot Wrex to convinced the Krogan clans to comply with their plan, but on one condition. Hackett looked at Scipio and asked. "What Condition is that?"
Scipio sighed. "We restore Tuchanka to its former glory."
Hackett was surprised by that. "They want us to terraform Tuchanka! And they expect us to do that, Why?"
Scipio looked away from Hackett and stared out the window. "Tuchanka is their home world and they want it restored."
Hackett shook his head. "Can we even do that for the planet?"
Scipio walked up to Hackett's desk. "There is a place on Tuchanka that has begun returning life there. With our help we can restore Tuchanka."
Hackett thinks it over and nodded his head. "Alright, I'll agree to it. Have they picked a Krogan to take the new genophage."
Scipio nodded his head. "Yes, a female Shaman by the name of Bakara."
"I thought Krogan Shamans gave up their names when they reach that position." asked Hackett
Scipio nodded his head. "Yes that is true, so we secretly learned her identity for security reasons."
Hackett was happy that this whole fiasco with the Krogan was over and now he could get back to real work! Before that could happen, He got a transmission in his office from the station's AI to come immediately in the command center.
Asgard Station
Command Center
Hackett and Scipio walked into the command center and headed over to a holotable. The Stations AI Odin appeared. "Admiral the colony of Ferris Fields went dark, communications from the colony have ceased."
Admiral Hackett didn't like the sound of that. Every OSA or UNSC colony has at least some military contingent on the planet that gives regular updates on what is going on, even the civilian sector gives updates. "Have you sent a spy probe?"
Odin nodded his head. "Of course! Standard protocol states that we send a spy probe first before sending anyone, it should be there in a couple of minutes."
Hackett and Scipio stand side by side in front of the holo screen for an image to appear. After a couple minutes an image appeared from the probe. To Hackett and Scipio's surprise as with the rest of the crew, They saw the ODP's destroyed along with the defense fleet. The only ships they saw above the planet were fourteen Collector cruisers in a defensive position along with Oculus fighters surrounding them.
Hackett immediately took charged of the situation. "Odin what is the status of the colonists? Are there any signals coming from the planet?"
Odin was checking, but shook his head. "I'm sorry Admiral I am not even getting old radio signals. The Collectors must have subdued the colony."
Hackett was upset. "Move the spy probe let's at least get a bird's eye view at what is happening down there."
Odin nodded his head and moved the probe in orbit of the planet. The probe then took images of what was happening down there. When the images appeared on the screen many were shocked by what they saw. The colonists were frozen along with most of the military contingent on the planet and the colonial militia. The only ones still fighting against the Collectors were the Jiralhanae soldiers. Images then changed to a Collector ship that landed on the planet, but something else that was disturbing to Hackett was coming out of the cruiser. The images then appeared and what Hackett saw he immediately headed for the defense committee.
Asgard Station
Defense Committee Chamber
In the Chamber the Committee were discussing on how the collectors were able to bypass there defenses at Ferris Fields and what they should do next. Hackett Walked in the chamber and took the podium in the center of the room. "Ladies and Gentlemen we have a serious problem."
A Sangheili ship master took the obvious and made a statement. "It is a lot more then that Admiral. The Collectors attacked an OSA colony, a colony! This has not happened since the Slaver incident at Mindoir."
Hackett nodded his head. "I understand, but it's a lot more serious then we think." Hackett then brought up an image on the holo screen in the chamber and showed an image of a Husk on the colony being used by the collectors. "As you can see we have confirmed the Collectors are working for the Reapers as the only ones who used Husks were the Geth, but according to our intelligence the Geth got that technology from Sovereign."
A Jiralhanae war chieftain asked a question. "If the Collectors are working for the Reapers, Why haven't the Geth attacked as well?"
Hackett was able to answer that one. "After the battle at the Citadel the UNSCDF Council with permission from the President of the UEG sent a Prowler in a joint mission with the Quarians into the Perseus Veil. For some time now, they have been monitoring the Geth in secret and have gathered much information. The Geth are divided into two factions. The ones that reside in the Perseus Veil have no connection with Sovereign or anything to do with Organics. While the ones that followed Sovereign are called Heretics by the Geth in the Perseus Veil."
The Committee members looked to one another, concerned by this new intelligence. One member questioned about the Husks the Collectors were using. "Are these the same Husks the Geth were using?"
Hackett shakes his head. "We won't know for sure until we study one of them. But in the meantime, we need to act now and send a fleet along with a contingent of military personal."
A Human male shakes his head. "The Collectors were able to take down the entire military contingent along with the colonial Militia. What are the chances that whatever we send will end up the same way as the others?"
Hackett nodded his head. "The Collectors use technological devices called Seeker Swarms." Hackett brought up an image of one. "They have the appearance of large light-brown insects, deployed in swarms from Collector ships. Once released, the swarms seek organic targets and sting them, leaving their prey in a paralytic stasis-like state. This allows the Collectors to disable the populace of entire colonies, whereupon they move in and gather the bodies for transportation. This is how they were able to disable our people at our outposts and captured them."
A Kig-yar member asked a questioned about the seeker swarms. "Do we have any kind of defense against these things?"
Hackett shakes his head. "No we don't, Cerberus encountered these things on a mission in attacking one of the Collector bases outside of the Omega Four Relay. Since then, they have attempted to create a counter measure against them. But from what we have seen Jiralhanae are immune to the Swarms sting. We believe the Seeker Swarms can't penetrate their thick hide that Jiralhanes are born with."
The Committee began to think of their options and what to do. Then after a few seconds a Human female Admiral came up with a solution. "We need to do everything and anything we can to stop the Collectors. We need to send a fleet in and stop them."
Hackett completely agreed. "I agree with you Admiral. Which is why I believe we need to send in a Titan class ship to stop them along with a fleet. And I have already picked the ones that will go. If you will allow it, I'd like to get underway."
The committee gave permission, and now it was a race against time to save the colony and the colonists from the Collectors. Hackett walked out of the room to make some calls.
Asgard Station
War Room
In the War Room, Hackett brought the ones he called for to gather around the holo table. The group gathered around and each one was a famous person in the OSA fleet. On the left side of the holo table was a Jiralhanae Chieftain Gargantum who commanded a frigate Twilight Compunction to his right was a Jiralhanae War Chieftain Parabum commanding the "Valorous Salvation". On the other side of the holo table was the Kig-yar ship mistress Chur'R-Mut commanding "A Psalm Every Day". And across from Hackett was the late son of the great Admiral Jacob Keyes, Marcus Keyes commanding the Titan-Class ship the "Kratos".
Hackett was impressed with the group he was able to acquire in a short time. "Okay people we don't have much time, so let's get to it." He brought up an image on the holo table of the colony Ferris Fields. "The Collectors have done it this time. It's bad enough that they constantly attack our outposts and ships, but to attack a civilian colony is going too far."
The two Jiralhanae growled in anger, while Chur'R-Mut and Marcus remained calm, they both were building a rage inside of them wanting to start the attack as soon as possible.
Admiral Hackett continued. "As you can see, there are fourteen Collector cruisers in orbit of the planet, while one cruiser has landed capturing civilians. All defenses have been taken out by seeker swarms and the only ones still fighting are the Jiralhanae contingent."
Captain Keyes then stepped in to ask a question. "Sir! With all due respect, how are we going to stop the Collectors if we can't even use our full forces and rely on Jiralhanaes to do all the fighting?"
Hackett nodded his head in understanding. "I know, and that's why I have something that might help." Hackett brings up an image of new armor. "When Cerberus attacked the Collectors secret base, They learned that Mjolnir armor is resistant to Collector stings, We created new heavy armor for all species in the OSA military that has this kind of protection, but the armor isn't foolproof and will only provide protection for only a short time. It's still in development, and so this will help us iron out the problems in the long-run."
Captain Keyes didn't like the sound of that, he had over seventy-five thousand OSA soldiers on his ship and didn't like the idea of sending them to their deaths, but knew what was at stake. "When do we leave?"
Hackett looked at everyone in the eye with determination. "Right now."
Exodus Cluster
Asgard System
Space
The "Kratos" along with the "Twilight Compunction", "Valorous Salvation", and "A Psalm Every Day" with a number of fifteen other ships went into Slipspace to save the colony of Ferris Fields.
OSA Titan-Class Ship Kratos
Slipspace
En-route to Ferris Fields
War Room
Titan-class ships war rooms were different from those on other ships. It was equipped with best tactical information and it was big enough to house a lot of military personal. In the war room Captain Keyes announced to the OSA soldiers about what will be happening during the attack on the Collectors. Keyes stepped on a podium looking at the impressive soldiers he was commanding, especially when legendary Specops agents were here like Demon squad led by Sierra-117, known most famously as the Master Chief.
Keyes brought up an image of Ferris fields and began. "Okay people listen up, We have fourteen Collector cruisers in orbit around Ferris Fields in a defensive position. Our mission is to liberate the colony from Collector control." Keyes brings up an image of the fleet he was in command of. "I will be taking the fleet and engaging the Collectors over Ferris fields, while we're dealing with their cruisers. On the ground Lieutenant Colonel Jillian Johnson along with Colonel Toni will lead the ground assault and I expect everyone to follow orders."
Keyes then directed everyone to the holo screen. "When we drop out of Slipspace we will immediately engage the Collectors too try and draw them away from the planet, I will then take the 'Kratos' and place it in orbit before we launch everything we have to the planet."
Keyes turned off the holo screen. "Now I will let Colonel Toni to debrief you on what to expect on Ferris fields." Keyes left the podium allowing Colonel Toni to walk up to it.
Toni brought up multiple images from the spy probe. "These are the images the probe took when it did a flyby over the planet. We have designated all of what you see here." Toni enlarged one of the images for the soldiers to see. "This is your regular type of Collector drone, their equipped with Collector assault rifles, they are the standard troop type." He brought up the next image. "We call this one a Collector assassin, they are Equipped with Collector particle beam rifles and biotic barriers." Toni brought up the next image. "This is a Collector guardian, their equipped with Collector assault rifles and biotic barriers. They are able to deploy personal anti-ballistic shields and warp ammunition. The next and final Collector is one of the more dangerous ones." an image of a glowing Collector appeared on the image. "This one is a lot stronger and harder to kill, if you are ever engaged with one do not do it alone, but fortunately for us this Collector can only appear from other Collectors and there is only one at a time."
The next images were Husks and the new type of Husks the Collectors created. "This is your typical Husk that was encountered during the attack on Eden Prime." Toni then switched the image to the one on Ferris Fields. "This is the Husk that is on Ferris Fields, some of you may think they're the same, but there are differences between these Husks then the ones fought on Eden Prime." Toni switched to a red looking Husk. "We call these Husks Abominations, They are variants of the standard Husk. They glow red rather than blue, and act as suicide troops, exploding when in range of targets. Recommendation: stay out of range and shoot on sight." He pulled up an image that became a little disturbing to some people in the room. "These lovely creatures are called Scions. The Scion is a type of Husk which is made from three Human Husks fused together and grafted around a single mass effect/biotic weapon on the left arm. The blue 'sacks' on their backs contain redundant organs and element zero sources to provide power for their weapons and shockwaves. Scions operate alone or in pairs, hanging back as Husks and Abominations rush ahead. Less mobile than other Husk variants, Scions provide ranged fire support, lumbering behind the wave of attackers while firing weapons and discharging biotic attacks."
Toni then brought up the last type of Husk seen on Ferris Fields. "We call this a Praetorian. The Praetorians are slow-moving flying Collector construction. It consists of thirty deformed Husks fused together, and has a strong barrier and powerful armor, giving it high durability. Recommendation: have tank with you when dealing with this creature."
Toni then brought up the last thing seen on the planet. "Last but not least the Collector Seeker Swarms, They are considered very dangerous. According to Cerberus, they are capable of causing paralysis and of carrying victims away if numbers are large enough and ripping them to shreds, but our good friends at Cerberus provided us with some Intel on how to protect ourselves. The Seeker Swarms cannot pass through biotic fields generated by biotics or our bubble shields, so you will all be equipped with bubble shields and those who are biotics will be split into groups who are to generate this field to protect your comrades."
Toni closed the holo screen and looked at everyone he was in command of. "I'm not going to lie to you, some of us might not be coming out of this alive, but I will be damned if I let the Collectors do what they want and I say we show them what happens when you mess with the OSA Military."
The soldiers all cheered at Colonel Toni's speech and were ready to fight the Collectors.
Ferris Fields
Space
Slipspace portals opened up around Ferris Fields and out came OSA ships. The ships began powering up their weapons and fired at the Collector Cruisers. The Collectors immediately targeted the OSA ships with their particle accelerators and sending out Oculi to attack as well. The battle of Ferris Fields had begun!
Ferris Fields
Orbit
The Kratos dropped out of Slipspace in orbit of Ferris Fields and began launching everything down to the planet. Lieutenant Colonel Jillian Johnson and her platoon of marines along with Specops agents were sent to liberate and help the Jiralhanes at the military installation on the planet, while Colonel Toni and his soldiers were sent to the capital to rescue the frozen civilians from the Collectors. After that was done, Captain Keyes took the Kratos and joined the other OSA ships in the battle.
Ferris Fields
Ground Side
In the skies of Ferris Fields, Pelicans, Phantoms and troop transports rained down on the colony all over their designated areas. The Collectors however were prepared and sent Oculi to intercept them. But unfortunately for the Collectors, the OSA has created a new type of Sentinel designed to destroy Oculi. The Sentinels were released from the Kratos just before Keyes started sending down his people. The Oculi and Sentinels began fighting each other in the skies of Ferris Fields. Both Collectors and OSA soldiers could see red and blue beams in the skies as if they were light shows.
Military Installation
Lieutenant Colonel Jillian Johnson along with her marines began sneaking up to the OSA military building on Ferris Fields. At the military installation were a dozen Collectors installing organic looking cables on the door controls and connecting it to an organic computer. One of the Marines asked what the Collectors were doing, Jillian was wondering that herself, but realized according to protocols any military installation would go on lockdown if the entire colony was under occupation. Jillian then signaled her platoon too prepare to attack.
Jillian and her marines got into position around the Collectors, they all took aim and opened fired on them. The Collectors were shooting back, but thanks to the cover the Marines were in they were safe from the Collector weapons fire. Jillian and her marines walked over the dead Collectors and straight to the doors. Jillian then pressed a few buttons on the console and the doors opened to reveal a pack of Jiralhanae holding spike weapons and vibro-axes.
When the Jiralhanae saw who it was on the other side they lowered their weapons. The one in charge walked up to Jillian. "LC Johnson, I am Marius Greco, commander of the Jiralhanae forces."
Jillian walked up to the commander. "What happened here? How did the Collectors make it passed our defenses?"
The Commander turned his head back at the door. "I believe she can tell you."
Jillian looked where the Commander turned to and after a few seconds a Human woman wearing UNSC navy uniform walked into the day light. "LC Johnson, I'm Captain Diamond of the Gettysburg."
Jillian now knew who she was. "You were in command of defending this colony from outside threats."
Diamond just felt sad and upset at her failure. "Yeah I was, and I failed to stop it. I can tell you what happened later after we retake Ferris Fields."
Jillian nodded her head in agreement. "Can you get the colony's defenses online, we're going to need them if we're going to kick that Collector ship off the planet?"
Diamond nodded her head. "You're damn right we can! Just make sure the Collectors don't take out the defenses or breach this installation."
Jillian got on her radio and connected to her marines. She asked for a defensive position around the installation and around the mass drivers and plasma cannons.
Ferris Fields
Capital City
At the Capital was a war zone between the Collectors and the OSA military. On the streets were OSA soldiers fighting Collectors, Husks and their Seeker Swarms. A lot of bubble shields and biotic fields were up to protect themselves from the Seeker Swarms, allowing OSA soldiers to fight back against the Collectors albeit at in closed spaces huddled together in the bubble shield and biotic field. Colonel Toni was in a bubble shield shooting down as many Collectors as he possibly could. The Collector's attempts at bringing the bubble shield down were futile as the shield was designed to take multiple hits from enemies.
As Colonel Toni was fighting the Collectors, a pack of Jiralhanae from the "Valorous Salvation" were immune to the Seeker Swarms' stings and just shrugged them off and charged at a group of Collectors wielding vibro-axes and slashing them at the Collectors. As the pack of Jiralhanae were pushing back the Collectors, Abominations appeared and were cleaved in half from the vibro-axes causing the weapons to be damaged and some Jiralhanes hurt in the process.
In the skies of the Capital were Collectors and Yanme'e fighting using their wings to get an upper hand in the battle, but both sides were numbered equally and fighting in groups. They were flying around the buildings and over the buildings and sometimes through the buildings, but many Collectors and Yanme'e were falling like rocks in water when shot down by each other.
The Unggoy were taking part in the battle as their jobs were to take all the civilians who have become paralyzed from the swarms and take them to one of the underground bunkers on the colony, they were using their biotics to lift the frozen civilians and takign them to the bunkers. On the rooftops were Kig-yar snipers covering their comrades and taking out any enemies in their way.
As the Collectors were being pushed back, Colonel Toni was about to tell the others to move forward, but then he looked up in the sky when he saw a shadowy figure and to his surprise was three Praetorians coming into the battle. Colonel Toni shouted out to everyone about the Praetorians and all took cover. The Praetorians shot out a blue particle beam at Colonel Toni and his men. The bubble shields couldn't hold from the extreme force from the Praetorians and collapsed from them.
Colonel Toni ordered all his troops to fall back into cover and out of sight from them, Colonel Toni got in between two buildings and took cover in an alley and got on the radio. "Lieutenant Vega where are my tanks?"
Guns firing in the back round of the radio could be heard along with explosions. "Sorry sir! Your tanks are either destroyed or busy helping out other commanders in the field."
Colonel Toni was pissed about the tanks and was planning on doing something stupid until Jillian Johnson came on the radio. "Colonel Toni this Johnson, I've got something here that will put those Praetorians out of their misery."
Colonel Toni looked around to see where Jillian was. "Where are you Johnson?"
Jillian just chuckled on the radio. "You don't need to know where I am for this." Jillian pulled out a M99 Stanchion Gauss Rifle and aimed it at one of the Praetorians and fired a 5.4mm/.21 caliber round. The round went flying at high speeds so fast and with incredible force it ripped right through the Praetorian even ripping through its barrier and armor. The Praetorian disintegrated after it was shot down.
Toni saw what happen and couldn't believed it. "What was that?" asked Toni
Jillian grinned on the other side of the radio. "A gift from my father before he passed away. Heads up I'm sending you some help."
Colonel Toni looked up and saw a pelican carrying a scorpion tank. "Thanks for the tank."
Jillian responded back. "I know what men like, now don't waste it." She disconnected her radio and went to where her marines were.
Colonel Toni along with other soldiers got in the tank and started blowing up the rest of the Praetorians and Collectors.
Ferris Fields
Collector ship
The Collectors were taking only Sangheili's, Human's and Jirlanane's out of all the OSA races who frozen from their Seeker Swarms and putting them in containers and transporting them to their ship. So far they have collected thousands from the capital, but with the OSA forces pushing the Collectors out of the capital, They were wrapping things up before they reached their ship.
A glowing Collector walked out into the streets of the Capital and saw two Collectors carrying their dead. The glowing Collector walked over to them. "Leave the dead where they fall. The dead are useless." The two Collectors dropped the body and prepared to leave, but the glowing Collector called out an army of different Husks and lead them to where most of the fighting was. "I will direct this personally."
Ferris Fields
Capital
Down Town
A husk's head was smashed in with what appeared to be a gravity hammer before it retracted back to the handle of its owner as a pack of Jiralhanae carrying the new Type-3 Energy Weapon/Flail, were riding on the new Sleipnir Scout/Assault Vehicle carefully down the streets. When they passed by a Jiralhanae restaurant, they could smell Thorn beast meat cooking on the grill. As the pack drove down the street, they found that a swarm of Husks was waiting further away with a group of Abominations forming a wall in front of them.
The leader of the pack was not worried; he gave a hand signal to his pack-mates, and they all started revving up the engines of their motorcycles and snapping open the retractable blades on the back wheel. Their second riders had their weapons ready, and the triple-barreled plasma cannons whined. Once he dropped his hand and signaled for the charge to begin, the Jiralhanae pack gunned their engines and charged in letting loose a hail of plasma fire that mowed down the first line of Abominations, before the bikes charged in.
Left and right, Husks were shredded to pieces by the front wheel of the attack bikes—and if they were not run over and minced by the plasma saws mounted on the front wheels or shot up, they were bisected by the blades at the rear wheels. What was left of the Husk swarm was what would pass for the mechanical equivalent of hamburger meat.
Capital
Toni was leading a horde of OSA forces in a tank to the Collector ship too try and stall for time so the colonies defense can get back online, but stopped when he saw one of those glowing Collectors appeared on top of a boulder. Toni thought to himself this was going to be an easy kill, he aims the tank at the Collector and prepares to fire, but out of nowhere a Praetorian shoots and destroys the Tank killing Colonel Toni and leaving a Sangheili Field Master in charge of the entire force. But before the field master could give out orders, Seeker Swarms appeared making the entire Military force that gathered in the city to activate their bubble shields and put up a biotic fields to protect themselves.
The Glowing Collector then shouted out. "Attack." All the Husks the Collector brought with it from the ship began charging at the OSA forces. All OSA forces opened fire on the Husks with everything they had. The glowing Collector then brought in other Collectors equipped with particle accelerators. "Continue the Attack." The Husks were too much for the OSA forces and were being pushed back. In that moment orbital insertion pods fell from the sky and right in the middle of the fight. The pod doors opened and revealed Sangheili super soldiers the Fanoon.
The Fanoon squad then attacked the Collectors and Husks with energy swords and plasma weapons. One Fanoon, the leader walked up to the Field master. "Are you in charge?" asked the Fanoon leader.
The Field Master was a little taken back before he responded to the Sangheili super soldier, to him the Sangheili was more intimidating because of the augmentations. "yes, I am."
"I am Cadan Kloram. Leader of the Fanoon, we have come to assist in the defense of Ferris Fields."
The Field master was happy about this. "Thank you for the assistance, but are you the only ones?"
Cadan shook his head. "No, more are on their way." And with those last words more orbital insertion pods fell from the skies too different areas of the battle. With the reinforcements from project Crusader the battle turned in favor to the OSA military and began pushing back the Collectors too their ship.
Military Installation
Control Room
Captain Diamond was working hard to getting the colonies defenses online, especially now that reinforcements have arrived. She began rerouting all none critical power to the main weapons, but it was quite difficult as the Collectors so happily destroy the power grid around the colony to cause panic and chaos for the colonists. As Diamond was working on that, LC Johnson walked in the control room. "How's it going in there?"
Diamond looked at Johnson, she had some minor injuries from the look on her face. "slowly, but I almost got it, I just need a few more seconds."
Johnson shook her head. "We don't have a few more seconds; that ship will leave when we get too close to it."
Diamond turned her head back to the screen. "Then give me more time."
Johnson then left to try and stall for time..
Space
200,000 thousand miles from Ferris Fields
The Kratos along with Valorous Salvation with a few other ships from the fleet was still engaging the Collectors, a Sangheili super carrier joined them when it dropped out of Slipspace and unloaded the super soldiers into the fight. The battle in space was not as pretty as on the ground, A pSalm Every Day along with Twilight Compunction were crippled and venting atmosphere which forced the crews of both ships to abandon them. The Collectors however didn't come out of this fight without losses of their own as they lost nine ships already and were down to five. The Kratos was tearing them apart with its double P-Macs and was not letting up. The Collectors new they were not going to win so decided to take the Kratos with them, The Five Collector cruisers went on a collision course against the Kratos and collided with it. But unfortunately for the Collectors, their attempts were in vein as the Kratos was one of the newer Titan-class ships and survived the kamikaze attack, but was left crippled in space and venting atmosphere.
Capital
In the damaged building of the former Capital of Ferris Fields, John 117 was separated from Demon squad and was trying to get back, but just as he was about to make another turn he ran into the Glowing Collector and was knocked back from a devastating attack. The legendary Spartan brushed it off and got back on his feet and aimed his rifle at the monster. "Not looking good for your people down there is it?" He asked the Collector.
The Collector looked at the slaughter that was taking place and just responded. "Kill one and one-hundred will replace it." The Collector then opened fired with its assault rifle, pushing the Master Chief into cover. John began thinking and took one of his grenades and threw it over to where the Collector was. The Collector didn't bother to go into cover and was hit by shrapnel from the explosion.
The Master Chief then left cover and opened fired on the Collector, bringing it down. John then walked up to it. "Not so tough now are you?"
The Collector spoke in a menacing tone. This form is irrelevant." The MC then took out his pistol and put a bullet in the Collectors head.
As he was walking away another Glowing Collector showed up. "We are not finished." John was surprised for a second before he opened fired on the thing, but the Collector was ready this time and put up a kinetic barrier to protect it. "These attacks are pointless, surrender now or be killed."
The one thing the MC didn't knew was the meaning of surrender and kept firing at the Collector. The Collector sent his own attacks at the Spartan, which caused his weapons to jam up on him. the MC then pulled out his combat knife and charged at the Collector, throwing punches and stabs at it. The Collector tried to block the Spartans attacks, but was not fast enough and just bled to death.
The MC walked away from the corpse only to find another one right behind him. "You only damaged the vessel, you cannot hurt me. This is what you face. This is true power." The Collector then lunged at the MC taking himself and the chief out of the building and falling from a great height that would kill a normal man.
The MC however was able to turn the Collectors body facing the ground, so when they fell on the street. The Collector was squished like a bug from a thousand pound Spartan. As he got up the rest of Demon Squad arrived. Fredric was the first to speak. "Chief are you alright?"
The MC looked at his squad. "I'll live." But before they could do anything else. The Glowing Collector appeared on a building looking at Demon squad, MC along with Demon Squad pointed their weapons at the Collector, but didn't shoot as their position was already compromised by a lot of Husks and Collectors.
The Glowing Collector shouted to the Spartan Squad as if it already won. "Nothing stands against us. Face your annihilation." The MC looked at his squad and nodded to them and they nodded back and opened fired at the enemy forces around them. The glowing Collector was not happy and yelled out. "Swarm their position, overwhelm them. Fight as one." The Glowing Collector then left leaving Demon squad to fight the horde.
Collector Cruiser
Bridge
The Glowing Collector walked on the bridge and looked at the success they acquired, but just as it was gloating of how victorious it was. The cruiser began to shake from bombardment from the colonies defenses. The Collector looked at one of its drones and shouted. "Take what is useful, destroy the rest. We are leaving this planet." The cruiser then lifted off from Ferris Fields and went into FTL.
Ferris Fields
Two Hours Later
After the fighting died down, the OSA Military was able to restore the colonists from their paralytic state. They were then counting their casualties and how many civilians were taken from the colony. About ten-thousand civilians were taken and about a hundred-thousand more were killed in the cross fire. The OSA causalities were not good either. Over two-hundred and fifty thousand soldiers were killed defending the colony.
The MC and Demon Squad were acting as security for Admiral Hackett as he walked the streets of the Capital saddened at the destruction at the hands of the Collectors. Captain Diamond joined Admiral Hackett in this sad moment. "Admiral Hackett, I'm sorry sir. I failed not only you, but this colony and am willing to accept any punishment the Defense Committee gives me."
Hackett walked over to her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Right now that doesn't matter, what matters now is that we need to know how the Collectors were able to do this much damage."
Captain Diamond nodded her head and handed Hackett a black box from her ship containing the information he asked for.
Exodus Cluster
Asgard System
Asgard Station
Defense Committee Chambers
Hackett brought the information in the black box to the Defense Committee and presented as best as possible. "As you can see the Light before Dawn was lured into a trap from a Slipspace signal and was captured by the Collectors. From the video logs between Captain Diamond and Captain Hudson, he was obviously indoctrinated and was forced to over load the reactor core destroying the only working ODP and damaging the fleet protecting the colony."
The Defense Committee was very upset about this. This indoctrination was by far the worst kind of technology ever encountered, able to take control of a person's mind and forcing them to commit atrocities against their will was unacceptable to the Committee. A Committee member voiced his anger. "How could the Collectors have the ability to use a Slipspace signal to lure a trap for us?"
Hackett didn't have an answer to that. "We don't know, but now we need to be careful of what to trust when using it."
The Committee agreed, but just as they were about to adjourned a message came in for all of them on a channel of extreme importance. The message said Tartarus prison has fallen, all prisoners freed from unidentified ships along with a Collector cruiser.
35.1 light years away
Lazarus Cell Space Station
A brunette woman walked down the halls of a space station. She came into a room and sat down in front of her computer. "Log update: It has been almost two years since we recovered Commander Shepard's body and in that time the Lazarus Project has been well under way in bringing back Commander Shepard from the dead. According to Wilson and Alia Raam. The Sangheili female scientist assigned to this project has assured me that Commander Shepard will be ready in the next six months, thanks to the research from the Forerunner outpost Cerberus acquired from the Shadow broker agents. End of log."
So there you have it, the Collectors first attack on a colony and a surprise attack on Tartarus. The OSA's prison space station and if you're wondering who was responsible obviously Balak, but the OSA does not know about it yet. Also I don't want anyone to assume that Marcus Keyes is the son of both Jacob Keyes and Halsey, that's wrong Jacob Keyes remarried to a different woman and conceived a child with her, so that would make him the half sibling of Miranda Keyes. Okay So I hope you all enjoyed this Chapter and I hoped you like this little detour from the actual story and in the next chapter will be the return of Commander Shepard and the start of the ME2 plot line.
Codex: Project United
Project United- Project United was co-developed and funded by the Council after the Geth attacked the Citadel. The best engineers from all three Council races were to construct a new dreadnought capable of protecting not only the Citadel, but Citadel space from any threats. The dreadnought was incorporated with the most advanced technologies and equipment from all three races and the research into the Geth dreadnought known as Sovereign.
Armaments- The dreadnought has incorporated many different weapons from all three races. It has an Asari-designed mass accelerator, Geth pulse weapons from studying their destroyed ships, an unidentified number of Turian Thanix cannons, disruptor torpedoes, and the Collector Particle accelerator, secretly captured and studied from a destroyed Collector cruiser in the Terminus Systems.
Defenses- The dreadnought possess the new Asari-made Silaris armor. It can resist even the tremendous heat and kinetic energy of starship weapons. The armor is nearly unsurpassed in strength because its central material: carbon nanotube sheets woven with diamond Chemical Vapor Deposition, are crushed by mass effect fields into super-dense layers able to withstand extreme temperatures. That process also compensates for diamond's brittleness. After studying Geth technology, the engineers were able to combine the expensive and energy-demanding ultraviolet anti-ship lasers the Geth use on their ships, with Salarian near-ultraviolet frequency lasers with six times the range capable of shooting down missiles and fighters. The dreadnought is also protected by three advanced VI's and Synthetic Insights new computer systems to prevent hack attempts from OSA AI's.
Engine- After studying Sovereign for two years, the Citadel dreadnought was equipped with a reversed engineered version of Sovereign's powerful Mass Effect core allowing the dreadnought to be the same length as Sovereign at two kilometers long; this also allows the dreadnought to land on any planet, not done before by any regualr dreadnought used by Council races because of weak Mass Effect cores. Their FTL drives has also been upgraded allowing the dreadnought to travel at 30 light-years within a 24-hour period. That is roughly twice more than normal Citadel starships are capable of traveling, but research is being made to match the speed and flexibility of the OSA's Slipspace technology.
Codex: Sleipnir Scout/Assault Vehicle
Sleipnir Scout/Assault Vehicle- After the first encounter with husks, human and Jiralhanae engineers and vehicle designers had the idea of a fast scout vehicle capable of harassing large numbers of enemy infantry. The result is the Sleipnir Assault Bike...a sleek and agile monstrosity capable of destroying even small vehicles that succeeded and combined elements of the Brute Chopper and the Mongoose ATV. Its main armaments are plasma saws mounted in the front wheel that tear through the ground unimpeded at high speeds with triple-barreled plasma cannons mounted on both sides of the wheel, and retractable blades mounted behind the rider. It can reach speeds that exceed the top speed of a Covenant Ghost thanks to a highly efficient Plasma-Eezo fusion core. This vehicle is a nightmare to all who see it, especially with the addition of a second rider to serve as a secondary gunner.
Codex: Type 3 Energy Weapon/Flail
Type 3 Energy Weapon/Flail- This melee weapon is categorized as a Gravity Weapon. The title of 'flail' is fitting because it is a miniaturized gravity hammer head attached to a long, flexible, and extremely durable cable. When not in use, the cable is retracted inside a special handle that also houses a safety trigger that switches the gravity hammer on and off with the flick of the thumb. This is a versatile weapon as this can be used for such actions as disarming an enemy, striking or disabling an enemy from close to medium range, being used as a grappling hook, or even to act as a sort of oversized knuckle duster when retracted and the hammer is turned on.