It's now the moment you've all been waiting for: the forces of the Covenant finally join the battle between the mercenaries.
I hope everyone enjoys this chapter.
D'ranna swore in frustration. She had underestimated these humans, believing that they would be easy targets for the superior asari commandos. They had instead disabused her of that notion, putting up a valiant fight against the Athame Sisters.
To make matters worse, CAT6 reinforcements had arrived and were attacking the Sisters' cruiser in the upper atmosphere. The superior construction of the asari had enabled it to withstand the punishment, but that wouldn't last forever.
The ex-Spectre was seething, but she put on a mask of self-control, just like Vasir had taught her. Even now, she was rallying the Athame Sisters, using guerilla strikes that would have made the Serrice guard proud.
And yet, the battle was stalemated, with each side barely able to gain an advantage over the other. Mass Accelerator rounds split the air, and biotic attacks were absorbed by omni-shields, succeeding only in creating a disjointed light show.
As the conflict raged on, several combatants noticed that six blue comets had just randomly appeared from the wrecked vehicles closer to the carrier. Before anyone could shout a warning, the projectiles impacted the human and asari formations, destroying several vehicles and vaporizing dozens of soldiers, leaving only craters of brittle glass.
Seconds later, a stream of purple light emerged from the dust storm and struck the human cruiser, knifing past the kinetic barrier and shutting down its engines. The pulse laser turrets weren't finished and started targeting the asari and human salvage ships, bringing them down.
D'ranna gaped in horror. The Carrier was clearly active, and had drawn them in. And it only got worse from there, as hundreds of lights emerged from the fog as the scattered Covenant technology reactivated.
Dozens of Brutes, Elites, Hunters, Grunts, and Jackals emerged from their hiding places, some having hidden with the use of active camo, while the rest emerged from behind their vehicles or from underneath the sand itself.
The 'crashed' Phantoms rose up from their wreckage sites. Wraiths, Ghosts, Choppers and Prowlers had their engines spring to life, having been disguised as debris from the ship. A towering Scarab awoke from the desert, sand sliding off it as the Lekgolo drivers rose from their prone form.
Banshee fighters strafed the ground forces and engaged in ariel dogfights with the gunships. The nimble aircraft avoided the mass accelerator fire with ease, and retaliated with plasma fire and fuel rod blasts.
All over the desert, weapons fire lit up the asari and human forces, as the Covenant soldiers emerged from concealment. Jackals took overwatch positions on cliffsides and Deployable lookout towers, unleashing sniper fire throughout the area. Hunters unleashed plasma streams at any vehicle that came too close.
Their armor and equipment was pockmarked and scarred, no doubt due to constant exposure to the elements. Yet it was working perfectly well as the energy shields flared, providing their wearers with protection against hostile fire.
For a moment, D'ranna froze as the Sisters and CAT6 around her started panicking. She really couldn't blame them. She had desperately hoped that this crash had killed everyone on board, but even if it hadn't, the ex-Spectre had anticipated only a few scattered survivors, not an entire Covenant army!
The flare of a plasma mortar impacting nearby snapped her out of her stupor, and began rallying her forces against the Covenant. It was a valiant effort by the asari, but they could only do so much against aliens that were three times their size and equipped with more advanced weaponry.
"Take cover!"
Sato quickly followed her own advice, leaping down into a nearby crater just as a Brute Chopper roared overhead. Several mercs were too slow, and as a result were reduced to mincemeat by the Chopper's roaring autocannons and lethal blades.
She couldn't believe the situation had gone FUBAR so quickly. An entire Covenant army had just appeared out of nowhere, apparently hiding among the scattered technology. It was clear that these Covenant had drawn them in, and done it rather well.
Eventually, she noticed that it was relatively quiet in her immediate location, and rose from her cover to see that the Chopper had moved on. Several of her soldiers also emerged from their hiding spots, feeling relieved.
"All clear!" One specialist called. But he spoke too soon.
A lance of energy passed right through his skull, leaving a cleanly cauterized hole in his head.
"Sniper!" One soldier yelled, and was immediately rewarded with a follow-up shot.
The mercs dived for cover again, while Sato ordered one of her own snipers to take out the Jackal.
In response, one of her own snipers zeroed in on the Jackal's glowing red eye scope and fired her Incisor. They were rewarded with the sound of the alien drowning in its own blood.
This small victory was overshadowed when Sato heard a loud screeching noise behind her. Spinning around, she saw dozens of ships falling several miles away, including her pride and joy, the Deliverance. The once proud cruiser was now a pile of scrap metal, its hull charred by plasma fire.
As Sato stared at the wreckage of her ship, shrill wailing and howling noises emerged from behind her in the sky. Seconds later, several flights of Banshees roared overhead, escorting at least four Phantom dropships.
She clenched her fist, enraged at the filthy alien claws all over her ship. That disgust increased when she saw a swarm of Drones emerge from one of the Phantoms, their claws immediately tearing components from the Deliverance.
"Contact!"
The shout was followed by dozens of plasma bolts, spiker rounds, needler projectiles and more began bracketing the CAT6 defensive positions. Commander Sato ducked just in time to avoid a spiker round that would've taken her head off.
In her haste, she got a good look at a squad taking cover in a nearby crater. One Specialist stood up to fire and came back down missing most of his face. A Heavy attempted to take his position using an omni-shield to provide cover, but a plasma grenade soared through the air and landed on his helmet.
Screaming, the man tried to remove the hissing grenade in vain before he vanished in a flash of blue light that temporarily blinded Sato. When her vision returned, there was no trace of any of the soldiers within the crater.
"I want our men boarding that Carrier right now!" She ordered over the radio, cursing as a plasma mortar took out another formation of troopers, leaving only cracking glass. "We're taking that ship and killing all these Covenant pricks!"
She pointed to her two bodyguards, the Bladski twins and gestured to the Carrier. "I want you two to lead the attack. Get to the bridge and take control of that ship."
"As you command." The older of the two replied as he and his brother made for the ship.
Commander Sato smirked in spite of herself. The Bladski's were her most loyal soldiers, and both of them had undergone extensive cybernetic enhancements after the Reaper war, putting them on par with Cerberus Phantoms.
Covenant or no, Lela Sato was confident in their ability to take the ship, no matter the cost.
"Chieftain!" One of the bridge officers shouted. "Asari and human forces are converging on the starboard side. They'll be able to enter through the breaches in the hull."
"Divert six lances to starboard." Makterbus ordered. "And get a Mgalekgolo pair to the largest breach, then lock down the surrounding hallways to the remaining breaches."
"Belay that." Laccabeus countermanded, rising from his throne. "Get my personal guard and bring me my hammer! I'll deal with the intruders myself. Makterbus, you have the bridge."
Laccabeus left the bridge, meeting up with his guards on the way to the opening. It wasn't that he doubted his crew's capabilities, but rather the Chieftain hoped to spill some blood himself. It had been too long since he had felt blood run through his hands, since he had to clean his weapon of an opponent's flesh.
Today, that would change.
The Shipmaster headed to the breach that the asari forces were predicted to enter, and sure enough, a squad of the biotic commandos rounded a corner, with trails of violet energy around them. One asari stepped forward, the leader most likely, considering her posture.
"You have two choices, you primitive ape:" The commando stated. "You either give this ship to us, or I'll reduce you to a smear on the wall."
Laccabeus barked out a laugh. It was clear that this woman was either deluded, overconfident or just plain stupid. Asari or not, no one with any sense would directly threaten a being three times their size.
"Are you actually supposed to be the one who's in charge?" The Shipmaster said, elicting amusement from his cadre of Jiralhanae. "Or are you the resident whore of the humans?"
Enraged, the asari charged the Brute Chieftan in a burst of biotic energy, only for him to stand firm and barely move a step back. With a sneer, the Jiralhanae retaliated with a hammer blow, sending the commando flying into the wall, where a large splatter of blood formed on the wall. A second blow ensured that the asari would never get back up.
Now leaderless, the remaining asari boarders attacked in a disorganized manner, but were swiftly dispatched by the Shipmaster and his bodyguards. Laccabeus smirked as he wiped the blood from his armor. This was the most fun he had had in years.
"Shipmaster!" One Brute Captain yelled. "Humans have are coming down the starboard hallway!"
"Then prepare yourselves! We'll let them come to us."
No sooner had he said that when a large group of CAT6 Specialists and Heavies rounded the corner and quickly took up firing positions. "Take them down!" One filtered voice shouted.
Several Captains let loose a salvo from their Brute shots, horribly maiming several Specialists. In response, the Heavies set themselves up in a Phalanx formation, omni-shields arranged to absorb some of the incoming fire while they retaliated with massed Revenant fire.
One Brute fell from the onslaught, his power armor destroyed and his body riddled with holes, while the senior guards took aim with Carbines and fired, with one getting a lucky shot and hitting a heavy's throat. The mercenary was left with the unenviable task of drowning in his own blood while being cooked to death by the projectile's residual radiation.
Another Brute's power armor was destroyed by the suicidal charge of a Disruption drone, which caused the rest of the mercenaries to zero in on him. In response, a barrage of pink needles embedded themselves in an exposed heavy, which liquified him a second later.
In response to the hole in their formation, one CAT6 mercenary pulled out a rocket launcher, firing the projectile at the Chieftain. Acting quickly, Laccabeus set off his gravity hammer, sending the rocket flying harmlessly towards the ceiling, leaving a minor scorch mark in the hall.
"Prepare grenades!" Laccabeus roared.
In response, the remaining Brutes and the Cheiftain himself let loose a volley of spike grenades into the merc formation, some of which took body parts off from the sheer force of the throw alone.
One heavy fell back, blood pouring from his shattered helmet, while another screamed in agony from the grenade that had impacted his crotch. While this was happening, a pair of Brute Ultras pulled out deployable shield covers and threw them in front of their formation.
Then the grenades detonated.
The result was catastrophic, as the enclosed space caused the shrapnel to ricochet into the mercenary position multiple times. Kinetic barriers collapsed, leaving the mercs exposed to the spikes that embedded themselves into flesh.
When the screaming finally stopped, all that remained of the CAT6 mercenaries was a massive mess that the Unggoy were going to have to clean up later. Looking over their work, the Covenant were easily satisfied with the fight today.
"Bring our dead to their resting places." Laccabeus ordered. "Leave the humans where they are."
"What of the asari?" A Jiralhanae minor asked.
"Well, since you volunteered, half will go to the Kig-Yar while the rest goes into our food supply."
The Jiralhanae pack laughed at that, leaving to set about their tasks. Meanwhile, Laccabeus gave the order for his forces to seal off the hull breaches, to deny any more boarders access to his vessel. He had enjoyed the slaughter, but it would be foolish to risk more coming aboard.
The Bladski brothers made their way through the purple halls of the Covenant ship. The two of them were cloaked from prying eyes and armed with monomolecular swords infused with trace amounts of dark energy.
All in all, the two of them were the CAT6 equivalent of Cerberus Phantoms, and carried out their tasks with obsessive zeal. Abram was the oldest, and willingly served Commander Sato after she recruited the twins from the slums of Earth. Meanwhile, Anton just loved a good fight, and would follow his brother anywhere.
Now though, the two of them wondered if they had bitten off more than they could chew. They had entered the Carrier following a large force of their fellow mercenaries, and had heard them being slaughtered over the radio.
As they came to a three way intersection, Abram was the first to spot their comrades. Or rather what was left of them. Though the Bladski's were no stranger to blood, the sheer carnage that had been unleashed was enough to make even the blood hungry Anton nauseous. From around the corner, they could hear Brute voices, with one issuing orders to the others.
Sneaking a peek, Abram saw a pack of Brutes departing into the depths of the ship, leaving one large and heavily armored Chieftain overlooking the bloody remains of the CAT6 boarders, who he had no doubt lead the slaughter of.
Pulling back, Abram met his brother's eye and held up one finger. Anton nodded and vanished into thin air, immediately followed by his brother. The two of them moved across the floor, carefully moving on the blood-free sections of the floor while the Chieftain was walking away from them, seemingly oblivious to their presence.
As soon as the Bladski's cleared the blood, they sped up, intent on putting their swords through the beast's head. But when they were no more than five meters from their target, the Chieftain, moving faster than they had thought, pulled the hammer from his back, spun around and swung horizontally down the hallway.
Though the hammer itself struck empty air, the gravity distortion spread outward, sending the two brothers flying, before landing hard in the remains of their comrades. The blood coated them, rendering their tactical cloaks useless. Meanwhile, the Chieftain had started laughing.
"Did you really think that you could board my ship without my knowledge?" The Brute roared.
In response, Anton pulled out his sidearm and fired a burst, which only caused the Chieftain's energy shields to spark. However, this provided Abram with the oppurtunity to flank the Brute, managing to blindside him with a swipe from his sword.
Angered, the Brute swung his hammer at the older brother, who deftly dodged to the side, avoiding what would have been a crushing blow. Meanwhile, Anton rushed the Chieftain from behind, but this time, the Jiralhanae noticed and ducked, causing Anton to lunge over the beast's head.
The fight went on like that for a few moments, with the brothers using hit and run tactics in the hopes of enraging the Chieftain so that he would go beserk and thus be more likely to make a mistake. Surprisingly, the Chieftain remained relatively calm, enabling him to fight intelligently.
The brothers became desperate as they realized that this prolonged conflict would only draw more Covenant to their location and attempted to finish the battle quickly. This became their fatal mistake.
When dodging another hammer blow, Abram was too slow to avoid the gravity wave, which sent him flying back into the pile of his comrades. Meanwhile, Anton rushed the Chieftain, only to be backhanded against the wall by the Chieftain's left gauntlet. A swift blow from the bladed end of the gravity hammer was all that was needed to bisect him.
Abram saw the death of his little brother and felt his blood boil at the sight. Shock and rage swept through him like a fire, and he rose to his feet grabbing a rocket launcher that the mercenaries had dropped earlier.
"For my brother." He murmered as he took aim at the Chieftain.
Just before he could pull the trigger, he heard a distinct hiss behind him, before feeling a horrible pain in his chest. Abram found himself rising of the ground, impaled on the prongs of a blood red energy sword. In spite of that, Abram felt relief: he would see his brother again.
'Hang on Anton.' He thought. 'I'm coming.'
Then everything went dark.
"Halmat." Laccabeus laughed. "And here I thought you'd be out on the frontlines."
"I was." Halmat responded, tossing the body of the dead human aside. "But when the fighting outside died down, I returned to ensure your safety." He gestured to the rocket launcher with the tip of his sword before shutting the blade down. "It appears I arrived just in time."
"My thanks, old friend. You say the fighting outside is finishing?" When Halmat nodded, Laccabeus frowned. "A shame. I was hoping the crew would see more conflict."
"Then let us hope that the ships have what we need." Halmat replied grimly.
...
The bridge was busy with activity when they returned, the command team hard at work when Laccabeus and Halmat walked in. Several crewmembers and guards gave their acknowledgements as their Shipmaster walked past. Then Makterbus turned and saw the High-Chieftain's approach, immediately saluting.
"Status report." Laccabeus instructed. "How's the battle going?"
"The human and asari forces have been dwindled down to platoon strength each." Makterbus replied. "We've taken the survivors prisoner, and by the looks of it, their leaders are among them."
"Keep them locked up. I'll deal with them later." Laccabeus said. "What about the salvage teams? Did they find what they were looking for?"
Makterbus briefly turned his head towards the operator manning the Engineering console. After getting a brief nod from the young Jiralhanae, the Chieftain turned back to the Shipmaster.
"The Huragok have finished their work now. The interdimensional drive is online. We're ready to leave at your command, Shipmaster." Laccabeus smirked. At long last, they would be free from this desolate planet.
"Recall our troops. Tell them to get everything packed up." The High-Chieftain sat back down in his command throne. "Once that's done, we're leaving this place for good."
Makterbus smiled. "By your command."
Several hours later, all Covenant technology and most of the functioning mass effect small arms had been gathered up onto the Assault Carrier. As soon as everyone was onboard, the massive ship roared to life, lifting it up from the ground.
With debris emerging from it, like an animal shaking off dust, the carrier flew rose up into the atmosphere, quickly reaching orbit within moments. A bluish-white rift emerged at the ship's bow, and the ship entered the portal.
Seconds later, the slipspace rupture closed with a wink of light as the Covenant forces disappeared. They left behind a planet strewn with the wreckage of geth structures, asari and human ships, and hundreds of decomposing corpses.
I know the fight between the Covenant and the mercs seemed one sided and quick, but CAT6 and the Athame Sisters had a combined number of several hundred, while the Covenant army numbered slightly under a hundred thousand. The Covenant would win via numbers alone here.
Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and reviews are always welcome.