McGarrett Avenue, Illyria, Elysium, Vetus System, Systems Alliance Space / Remembrance Day + 1, November 12th 2375, 09:56 Elysium Central Time
Alliance Navy Sub-Lieutenant Jane Shepard ducked to take cover behind the burned-out wreck of what once used to be a luxurious skycar as it was hit a dozens of small mass-accelerated metal pellets fired by Batarian and Turian-made small arms.
The assault on Elysium had started on the evening of Remembrance Day, the day when Humanity remembered all those who had died in any conflict, they had taken the Alliance forces on Elysium off-guard. Small teams had arrived in the days and weeks leading up to November 11th. And at 23:45 local Time, they had detonated dozens of explosives and had killed hundreds of high-ranking civilians and military officers, creating a mass panic among the local population and millions of tourists, thus disrupting much of the coordination for a quick, armed military response. The navy units and orbital defense stations in orbit had been taken out rather quickly since most of the fleets guarding Elysium had reacted to several of distress calls from colonies under attack in neighboring systems. Air Force fighters, gunships and troop transports had been taken out by hostile fighters and gunships. They had quickly established air-superiority which they then used to bomb military bases and planetary defenses across the planet.
Sub-Lieutenant Jane Shepard, recently graduated from Arcturus Military Academy, had been posted on Elysium to act as a military liaison between Alliance Military Command on Elysium and the civil government. Since nobody of a higher-rank or with more knowledge could be found in the immediate area, Jane had quickly taken the initiative e in the defense of the Elysian capital. Within an hour, she had thousands of military service members, local police and militia under her command. Having armed themselves with weapons found in the planetary defense force armories and police stations, she had placed units all across the city as they prepared to defend the city against tens of thousands of raiders, slavers, pirates, mercenaries coming out of the Terminus Systems. Among the thousands were, Batarian soldiers, Vorcha and Krogan representing the Blood Pack, the all-Asari Illium Branch of the Eclispe, and the most infamous of all, a group with as symbol a Krogan skull with a Turian bird-of-prey hovering above it, the symbol of Terminus Warlord Elanos Haliat.
Using everything she had been taught at AMA, she had established several defensive lines throughout the city. The lines were mostly made up off wrecked cars and other large objects. About 400 men and women of the Planetary Guard were escorting most civilians to the bunkers in the Hera Mountains by means of the underground high-speed rails. Four hours ago, the outer defensive line had fallen as an artillery barrage, followed by an en-mass infantry charge, supported by armor and gunships had overwhelmed the defenders. Most defenders had been able to pull back to the second defensive line in a rather organized fashion, while the ones who remained had put up a heroic last stand, holding the defenses for at least 25 more minutes. Yet now, for the third time in an hour, infantry supported by heavy armor crept closer to the barricade, while gunships flew above them, firing air-to-ground missiles and their guns at the barricades and its defenders. Jane could spot that Haliat's own troops would be the ones leading this assault, supported by a horde of Vorcha and Krogan of the Bloodpack and a unit if Asari Commandos from the Illium-branch of the Eclipse.
McGarrett Avenue, Illyria, Elysium, Vetus System, Systems Alliance Space / Remembrance Day + 1, November 12th 2375, 13:02 ECT
Sub-Lieutenant Jane Shepard could hear the high-pitched sound of artillery shells, fired by Batarian artillery. All along the third and last defensive line before the Illyrian city center, the shells caused casualties among the defenders.
She was mentally preparing herself to make her final stand together with the men and woman to her left and right.
In the distance she could see infantry, made up out of Blood Pack Krogan and Vorcha, Humans, Batarians and Turians from Elanos's Terminus dominion, Asari mercenaries and Batarian External Forces, preparing themselves to move up. Jane looked around her, dozens of soldiers, marines, sailors, planetary guards, police officers and civilians were all preparing themselves to give their lives for their city, colony and/or for the Systems Alliance and what it stood for. Two and a half hours ago, the second defensive line had fallen due to massive bombardment and again a rush of Vorcha and Krogan mercenaries, hundreds had died trying to hold them off, yet it was futile. Jane had been one of the last ones to make it to the third and last defensive line before the avenue reached the Illyrian city center. Now, these defenses were about to be attacked, yet this time, Jane was planning on standing her ground. She had done enough running, this time she planned on holding them off as long as she could, taking as many with her before she was taken down. She just hoped that they had bought the Army Corps of Engineers enough time to reinforce the RIU Elysian Planes resort enough to withstand the onslaught and that Alliance forces would arrive on time to relieve the besieged planet.
She checked the M-8 Avenger assault rifle she had picked up earlier from a death IPD SWAT officer, before briefly tapping into her biotic reserves, shrouding her body in a blue-purple glow for a brief second. A Turian-made Pilum-53G fighter-bomber flew over and released several bombs on building that only seconds before had been occupied by several dozen of defenders. Most service members didn't even look up as the building collapsed, yet most of the planetary guards, civilians and half of the police officers, not used to the violence of war, stared in horror as one man ran out of the burning building, his skin melting off, before dropping dead a couple meters further.
24 minutes later
Jane send a shockwave the moment a Batarian External Forces soldier climbed over the barricade, ripping his legs from under him and throwing him 30 meter back, right on top of a group of Vorcha. She took the few seconds of time to take a breath and look around her. All along the line, Alliance service members and civilians were being overwhelmed. Dozens of gaps had been created, through which hundreds of hostiles were pouring in, some going deeper into the city while others took care of the defenders, who were desperately trying to hold the line, but were failing. There were just to many attackers pouring in to stem the tide. Jane fired off a burst, hitting a Turian in the head. Getting up, she planned to rush to the help of a EPDF soldier who was getting mauled by a group of Vorcha. Yet before she could do anything, the woman was killed by a shot to the head, thus ending her suffering. Dozen of shot took out dozens of hostile, Shepard looked around, but couldn't find the place from where they were fired. Then her comm-piece sprung into action.
[God damn Mara, why couldn't you just be smart?] a heavily scrambled voice sounded in her ear. Despite the voice scrambler, Jane knew who was in the other side. There was only one person in the galaxy who used that nickname for her and he was supposed to be on the other side of the galaxy. 'How the hell is he here? He was supposed to be on Altaïr Prime'
[John? How did you…] before she could get out another word, her brother responded.
[Shut up and listen. 15 meters to you left is a grey terrestrial SUV. Our scout drone says it's still functional. Get in and get your ass to the ultimate fallback position.] John Shepard ordered, he was using the voice their mother used whenever she was angry, annoyed or both. Jane called it 'the commander-voice'. So Jane did as told and looked around, she saw the SUV, it appeared to be still functional, only having several bullet holes, despite all the carnage happening around.
[I can't just…] She tried to protest, not wanting to abandon the others.
[You can and you WILL! The whole defense of this city was your plan, and they need to ALIVE to carry it out. You took up the burden of commanding, so live up to it. Now get your ass out of there. We'll stay behind and cover you!] Knowing he was right, she did as told. Jane prepared herself, she got up,raised a barrier to protect herself from any gunfire and ran towards the SUV. Hostiles were dropping around her, their bodies filled with holes the size of golfballs. 'Holy fuck, he's using anti-material rifles.' Taking cover behind the SUV, she slowly opened the door, got in and started the ignition. The engine roared to life and in seconds, the SUV shot forward as she hit the gas. As she sped away towards the resort located she could only look in the rear v ew camera projected on the dashboard as the defenses had been completely overrun.
RIU Elysian Planes Resort aka 'Fortress RIU', Cliffs of Achillion, 5 km east of Illyria, Elysium, Vetus System, Systems Alliance Space / Remembrance Day + 2, November 13th 2375, 06:30 ECT
Sub-Lieutenant Jane Shepard looked up exhausted at the sky. Dozens of batarian ships were falling from orbit, breaking apart as they entered atmosphere to finally crash into the Seas of Salamis, while the sun rose over the sea. She wasn't the only one who watched the spectacle. Thousands of civilians and service members watched from the Cliffs of Achillion as other ships breached the clouds all around them. Small cylindrical objects were launched from the hulls of dozens of Planetary Assault Cruisers, Jane gave a tired smile as people around her started sheering at the fast moving objects, while the engines of Alliance fighter jets roared as they passed over the Resort in the direction of the city. Everybody knew what this meant. The Alliance had arrived and Orbital Drop Assault Marines were dropping in.
A vid suddenly filled every omni-tool and screen in the Resort and a voice came out of every loudspeaker.
[Attention citizens of the Systems Alliance, this is Admiral Badenov, commanding officer of the Alliance Eight Fleet. We are here to drive back this foul scum and make them pay. The 'Devil's Own' are dropping in to help. We have Fourth, Eleventh, and Twenty-Second fleets in system at the moment with 2 more fleets under way. To inhabitants if Elysium I say, stay strong. Help will arrive shortly. To you cowardly scum, fear our revenge. Badenov out.]
The moment Admiral Badenov finished speaking, hundreds of Orbital Insertion Assault Pods crashed into the ground in and around the resort. Out of the pods came men and woman displaying the emblem of the legendary 13th Marine Orbital Drop Assault Division, led by General Petrovsky. Minutes later, bigger capsules crashed in the grounds, revealing dozen of Titans. While Jane did't recognize their unit emblem, her IFF recognized them as being part of 2nd Titan Division of the infamously ruthless 13th Marine Expeditionary Force. The raiders, slavers,pirates and mercenaries who had tried to attack the resort were now fleeing towards the dropships, but they were gunned down as marines and Titan walkers opened fire. Alliance A-73 Mantis gunships and F-61 Trident multi-role combat aircraft reduced their vehicles and shuttles into burning wrecks, while F-59 Hornet Interceptors engaged fighters, gunships and fleeing dropships/shuttles.
Alliance News Network, BREAKING NEWS: VETUS SYSTEM UNDER ATTACK / November 13th, 2375
{A map of the Alliance it shown, with the image slowly zooming in to the Vetus System}
The last 2 days have been tragic for the Alliance worlds of Elysium and Reach in the Vetus System. On the evening of Remembrance Day, a fleet of several hundred ships out of the Terminus attacked the twin planets of Reach and Elysium.
{pictures of both planets are shown}
While most of the Alliance Fourth Fleet guarding the Vetus system was away, responding to dozens of distress calls of raiding parties in neighboring systems, a coalition of dozens of groups out of the Terminus system and the Batarian Hegemony attacked. At 23:45 ECT, hundreds of bombs went of across Elysium, killing thousands. Among the death were many high-ranking officers and civilian officials, thus creating utter chaos among the local population and leaving out a coordinated response.
{pictures of the chaos on Elysium}
The few remaining ships in orbit above Elysium were no match for the armada and were completely destroyed together with the Orbital Defense Stations. Troopships landed on the planet and quickly commenced their assault. About 80.000 attackers landed just west of the Elysian capital of Illyria.
{picture of Navy Sub-Lieutenant Jane Shepard}
Alliance forces and hundreds of civilians rallied to the banner of Alliance Navy Sub-Lieutenant Jane Shepard. Quickly creating multiple defensive lines, they managed to hold off the attackers, while millions of civilians and tourists were evacuated to the shelters in the Hera mountains. Despite being outnumbered 20:1, they held off for a day and a half. Slowly retreating to other defensive lines. They made their final stand at the RIU Elysian Planes Resort east of Illyria, which a unit of the Army Corps of Engineers managed to turn into a fortress.
{pictures of the Resort before the attack, during and after}
It was here, that Lieutenant Jane Shepard managed to hold a breach, despite overwhelming odds.
{pictures of SAN Sub-Lieutenant Shepard standing in the breached resort wall, with her left fist glowing with biotics and shooting with her trademark M-5 Phalanx handgun, her red hair waving in the wind and surrounded by death Batarians and Krogan.}
She managed to hold until reinforcements arrived. The first reinforcements were Planetary Assault Cruisers belonging to the Eleventh Fleet, from which the legendary 13th Marine Orbital Drop Assault Division, supported by the 2nd Titan Division of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Force, who dropped first onto Elysium, they were quickly followed by the remaining units of the 200.000 strong 13th Marine Expeditionary Force. The marines completely decimated the Terminus and Batarian forces on the ground, while the Fourth, Eight, Eleventh, Nineteenth, Twentieth and Twenty-second Fleets dealt with any hostile presence in the System.
On the planet of Reach, Alliance military forces were able to prevent a large-scale planetary invasion. A delay of 10 minutes between the attack on Elysium and attack on Reach allowed military forces around Reach to prepare. The planet was on DEFCON 2 since the message of the attack on Elysium was received. Alliance Navy engaged Terminus/Batarian ships, will Orbital Defense Stations and Planetary Cannons fired upon the hostile ships. Air Force fighters scrambled to engage hostile fighters, gunships while hostile transports tried to land. Despite enormous resistance from Alliance forces, which saw thousands of casualties on both sides, hostile forces managed to land about 250.000 ground troops, with the biggest concentration in the North Eastern Hemisphere. Alliance Army, Marine and Planetary Guard units moved from all across the planet to engage the Hegemony/Terminus Ground troops. Leading the counter charge was the 5th Marine Expeditionary Force under Lieutenant-General Richard Shepard, supported by the 17th Field Army and 4th Reach Planetary Guard Division as the engage 165.000 hostile in the North Eastern Hemisphere for the next 2 days. Tenacious close quarters battles happened in the large industrial zones of the mineral rich North-East. Both side saw heavy casualties while Air force and Planetary Guard air units engaged hostile fighters, gunships and shuttles. Neither side really gaining the advantage, until 13th Marine Orbital Drop Assault from the 13th MEF led by General Petrovsky, dropped right in the hostile defensive line. This turned the tide and the 5th MEF pushed through, inflicting a massive amount of casualties of Hegemony/Terminus ground forces. In the meantime, the Fourth fleet, had returned from the diversionary attacks on neighboring systems, and together with the Eight fleet engaged hostile forces around Reach. No quarter was given during the ground battle or the naval battle as surrendering Hegemony/Terminus troops were executed on the spot. When the fighting winded down, the 13th MEF quickly embarked and made their way to liberate Elysium.
While casualty reports are still coming in, an estimated 47.000 Alliance service members lost their lives and another 72.000 are wounded in various degrees. Civilian casualties are about 600.00 across both planets.
The Prime Minister of the Alliance, Francoise D' Anglar hasn't commented, but sources close to her state that she will be addressing the nation in the next hour.
