Once Bitten, Twice Shy

by Varigos D. Vastitas

Unwittingly uplifted beyond expectation by their foes, humanity not only destroyed their aggressors, but surpassed them and made their way to the stars. As Humanity expands from the Earth will they find their place in the galaxy, or will ghosts from the past come back to haunt them? (Co-writer NathanHale2.)

5. Shanxi's Fall

The Alliance Counsel were not happy with the events underway in Shanxi's orbit. Counselors from multiple Colony worlds, and the Seed worlds of Mars and Shanxi were in session on Earth. Many of them were concerned over the hostile start to what appeared to be another inter-species war. The red tape loving politicians had plenty of questions and demands over the incident. Several smarter representatives were sitting back and watching their more vocal coworkers with disdain and annoyance. The problem with democratically elected politicians of all sorts remained the same for hundreds of years, the best candidate was never elected. Only the most popular.

Jack Harper eyed them all with boredom and mild amusement. While they panicked and bickered amongst themselves the commander was inputting commands into a tablet at an impressive pace for a human without cybernetic limbs. The machine in his hands was filled with incoming data from transmitters on the battlefield and on the planet of discussion. As politics wasted time Harper kept busy imputing commands to field operatives, directing forces to proper areas, and authorizing several prohibited tactics and stratifies. Only vaguely did he pay any attention he was waiting for one counselor in particular to lose his temper before intervening.

Leading the counselors calling for blood and wartime preparation was retired Brigadier General Frank Hummel, a native of Shanxi and their lead representative. "Why are we not sending the rest of the fleet to reinforce the defenders at Shanxi? My people are losing their homes because you want to be goddamned careful?" Commander Harper smiled, clocks could be set by the retired general's temper.

"General Hummel, " Harper said, standing in front of the Counsel, "you know as well as I that what is happening is what is best for Shanxi. The Turians have adapted quickly to our strategies, and while we are equipped to handle any and all ground forces they have the fact is that they have fleet superiority and that any forces will have similar disadvantages."

The retired general clenched his teeth, Harper and Hummel were in a cold war with each other at the best of times and now was not that time. "If that's the case, why isn't XCOM providing support to the fleet? Surely by now you have several of your minions doing your bidding planet side?"

Harper calmly lit a cigarette, the action alone appeared to be driving the already irritated counselor up the wall, "XCOM is currently focusing all efforts in protecting the evacuation effort and performing search and destroy runs on any Turian ground forces. In short: protecting 'your people.'" Harper exhaled a stream of smoke and activated a holographic display of the battle, "The Turian's have our fleet topped in several ways. Range. Penetrating Power. Rate of Fire. Finally, reaction time."

One of the younger leaders, a representative of a colony on one of the moon worlds, raised a hand nervously, "Just how are they topping our reaction times? Surely they can't out think our troops when they meld?"

"That's not the case. It's not our troops that they are out thinking, it's the MECs." Harper explained, "Our MEC drones are too simple minded, they make decisions based on commands and pre-programmed responses. Turian ships are crewed entirely by hundreds of organics. Simply put, they physically outnumber us."

Harper zoomed the display into a section of the battle where several Turian and Alliance craft were fighting. The Turian vessels shots were quicker, defensive side guns tore apart Alliance fighters and smaller vessels swftly. Disruptor shots tore past shields and pierced vessels, Alliance armor neglected most of the damage but repeating shots by multiple turrets allowed the large dents to quickly become a gaping wound. The laser weapons of the Alliance pierced the hulls of their Turian foe like a fiery spear into snow, but the holes were much smaller, the damage much less effective. Plasma fire scorched Turian hulls, melting the thick walls of the ships, but again the damage was too small the wounds spreading wide rather than deep. In the background an Alliance vessel exploded, diving into a Turian cruiser and using its Elerium drive core as a devastating explosive. All ships in the area took damage from the blast, debris ripped new holes in the fleet of both sides.

Harper tore his eyes from the display, staring directly at the counsel. "While our weapons ignore their shields entirely both plasma and lasers don't do enough damage. Fusion lances are devastating, but only our dreadnaughts are equipped with lances strong enough to do the kind of damage needed. Fighter sized fusion lances are too small to do more than distracting damage, and the losses we take make it a moot point. The VI controlled fighters can't keep up with the rapidly switching tactics the Turian fleet is employing. Currently it is only the suicidal tactics we are employing that is keeping them from properly countering."

Harper flicked his cigarette, "Currently we have a few dozen Turian captives held hostage aboard the AXV Malice under the care of XCOM's head of R&D Kevin Knives. We intend to use the hostages to buy time and allow the XCOM forces in the area to help with the fight."

Counselor Hummel glared, "Why would the invading force give a damn about a few hostages?"

"Because one of the hostages is the younger brother of the Turian who is leading the attack."

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War was quickly becoming tiring for Captain Anderson.

There was only so much you could do when the enemy squadrons outnumbered you three to one. Even with superior armor and weapons, fatigue would make you more and more likely to err. Several times the XCOM Captain had to use the Psi Inspiration technique, not to prevent or amplify psychic skills but to motivate his troops to keep fighting. Prolonged use of the Psi link was known to cause damage to a human mind unless suppressive pills were taken and his team had been using it for hours. Most of the team was sore from being flung about with explosives or knocked down by sniper fire. The medic, Melissa Lang, had reported low supplies nearly two hours before.

The Turian's tactics switched constantly, the moment the bird faced metal-heads confirmed that something wouldn't work they tried something else. Close combat was suicide, so they tried sniping. Sniping didn't work so they tried fires. Fires wouldn't burn their enemy so they switched to explosives. Explosives worked, so that's what they started spamming like a SC2-Korean VI program. Land mines, grenades, rockets, and dropping buildings on Alliance soldiers.

Anderson looked over the smoking city that was named Hope. The Capital city had been blasted by the landing Turian vessels and strafing runs from both sides. The steady use of explosives and pyrotechnics had lit the city on fire in several sectors and many buildings held significant scars from the combatants. Anderson had made a small nest to watch over his weary comrade. His rifle had cut down at least a hundred invaders, for every one there was a small mark on the barrel to remember the kill.

Anderson's combat display flashed with a notification, a set of sensors nearly three thousand meters away detected movement. Anderson took position, setting his rifle in a small stack of wood he had set up for just this occasion. The rifle hummed with a steady charge as his enhanced eyes gazed at his prey down the scope. Six Turians. Anderson's mind flowed into a special trance he used when he had to make a difficult shot.

"First, distract targets with wounded ally. Counter defensive rush with rapid shots in front of them, kill second with 'random' shot to the torso. Execute third with head shot. Fourth killed by shooting explosive pack, remaining team scattered by blast. Reload. Fire crippling shots survivors, draw out reinforcements. Strengthen position with suppressive sniper fire. No Reinforcements, kill injured survivors with head shots. Summary: Enemy team executed. Area demolished by Turian explosives. Team location remains uncompromised..."

A set of loud but soft thumps came from behind, "Has anyone ever told you that you mutter to yourself when you do that?" The team heavy approached, his Fusion Gatling gun resting over one shoulder. "Captain, John says that he spotted another set of landmines on West Tokyo Drive. The birds are getting smarter but their mines are still obvious even without thermals."

Anderson reloaded his plasma class sniper rifle, idly examining the scope on it, "Hows the rest of the team Jackson?" he asked with a weary tone of voice.

The heavy weapons specialist sighed, taking a seat on some rubble, "The constant strain of the meld is getting to them sir. Melissa says that shes run out of pills to suppress the headaches. We either need to return to a outpost for more or we're going to start suffering."

Anderson sighed, and strapped his rifle to his back, "Where is the nearest outpost?"

"Not for another thirty miles behind us." Jackson replied casually. "The Birds have been trying to cut our supply lines and bomb any location they think we're gathering."

"Lets go gather the team, we got a long walk ahead of us."

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Dr. Knives cursed up a storm as several more reports of Turian landing teams came in. The Turians were determined pests, but that was all they were. Pests. The elderly doctor darted gracefully around his lab, running multiple projects at once. The AXV Science Vessel Malice had been equipped with top of the line technology and was just as lethal as any dreadnaught, and its defensive armament was matched only by the amount of scientific gear it contained.

The firepower from the Turian dreadnaughts was being carefully monitored, several dozen streams of combat data were being recorded, reviewed and analyzed for the doctor's use. While Shanxi was fighting for its life and right to survive, Alliance forces on Earth and Mars were already working overtime to use any received data to create counter measures. Within hours of the first shots at the relay several Disperser proof shields were already at the design phase, the XCOM scientists focusing on how to utterly crush the threat. Against regulations several scientists were using mink link techniques to share theories and designs quicker. In their opinions the damage their brain cells took was worth the cost if it meant a breakthrough.

While his colleagues were safe solar systems away, Dr. Knives was working on the then and there. Turian weapons were devastating only due to the range, rate of fire, and penetrating power. Penetration had been taken care of until the metal-head birds had introduced the disruptor rounds. The sociopath Doctor kept an eye at all times on a display screen in his lab, this one monitoring the status of Shanxi's evacuation. While the Turians lacked the numbers needed to blockade the planet it was only a matter of time until their continuously reinforcing numbers got past, in several sections of Shanxi's orbit the Alliance numbers were dwindling too quickly for the Defenders to not be flanked and pinned.

A new tactic would have to be improvised before the metal-heads could think of reinforcing their expeditiously dying ground forces. Knives' eyes browsed multiple reports on Shanxi's defenses simultaneously, looking for a card to play. A report on the planetary defense cannons caught his eye. The Cannon's had been completed, but lacked software, calibration, and the VI-IFF Targeting system. The oncoming invasion had made civilian evacuation and battlefield preparation a priority, delaying the Cannon's activation. Thrice damned red tape. It would take hours for a proper installation, even remotely, but manual control was another matter entirely...

The Doctor opened a link to the planet's surface, A XCOM operative replied instantly, "Sergeant Major Parker, reporting Sir!"

"Major Parker, I am sending you several coordinates to Shanxi's main planetary defense cannon. I want you to gather two more teams to head there and set up an up-link to the primary computer and defend the area. I will be sending in an MEC Shock Troop squadron to secure the Cannon. This is a priority task to reinforce the fleet, it must be completed immediately!"

"Rodger command." The transmission cut.

The Doctor opened up several channels using mobile holo-screens instead of the display tablets, His fingers danced across the keys as he opened up his ship's communications to a more open set of frequencies and directed several receivers at the location of the Cannon. As soon as he got the signal he would be able to control the facilities remotely. The cannon would be able to decimate any Turian vessel in range.

Dr. Knives next transmission was both to the barracks and the launch bay, "Hammer Team-00 prepare for deployment! Zero-nine load out, defensive armors only!"

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The MEC Troopers had come a long way from the days of their ancestors. While loss of limbs had been and still were a requirement, the modern MEC Troopers were gene mod, psychic, and walking battle tanks. The use of an MEC was considered overkill on any front, and a entire squad was only ever sent at when the situation was either dire or you just wanted everything dead.

Hammer Team-00 was Dr. Knives personal team. The team received not only special privileges but special weapons due to such an honor. Their suits were easily several times larger than the average MEC, instead of claiming to be a walking tank, they easily were the size of a tank. Hammer 00's weapons were all test models: integrated Gatling lasers, MEC drone load-outs, and charged particle rifles. Their armor was designed to endure orbital deployment, allowing Hammer to fight in any and all environment. Finally, unlike other MEC's they had become more machine than man, entire organ systems replaced with Knives' designed synthetics.

The Hammers launched themselves at Shanxi literally minutes after being told the coordinates. The half ton war-machines literally leapt out to the void of space and used their boosters to fling themselves at the planet. The six man squad ripped into the atmosphere at speeds exceeding terminal velocity, the outer layers of their armor glowing a burning red. Twenty seconds from impact each member of the Hammer team activated a biotic field, the VI run landing system controlling the mass effect field and negating the inertia and reducing the weight.

With little more than a thud the team landed on the pavement outside the Cannon, and began firing upon any Turian signature the on-board VIs could locate. Any nearby Turians died within seconds of the landing, holes burned in their torso from the omni-piercing lance of Hammer team's particle rifles. The mental and cybernetic up-link of the team coordinated their efforts as they began laying a defensive minefield around the several story tall Cannon. Clusters of Turian troops were shredded by grenades, pierced by particle accelerators or incinerated with flamethrowers. Some very foolish Turians who believed close range would save them were turned into a dark blue smear by the fist or foot of a Hammer team member.

By the time the Major arrived with his three squads thirty minutes later, the Hammer Team had shot down several Turian vessels and slain dozens more of the invaders. If the Turians were infective against the Alliance infantry then fighting Hammer-00 was worthless suicide. Changing tactics only did so much against a moving metal monster with enough firepower to take on a frigate by itself and win. The Major's team quickly took up defensive positions in the war zone, adding supporting fire and cover for the superior killers. The MEC Troopers patrolled the area, in teams of two while the XCOM psi-ops covered the cannon and its power supply. Apart from the major and two techs hooking up the transmitters the non-mechanized teams mostly watched their robotic comrades work.

Watching your average MEC in combat is like observing a synchronized display of killing perfection, Hammer team took it a step further and made it an art form. The MEC reinforcements were engaging a landing frigate, another Turian attempt to establish a base camp. The foolish pilot had landed within a clear line of sight of the war machines, and they took that advantage for everything it was worth. Four of the six fired upon the engines using a combination of their rifles and shoulder mounted grenade launchers, the other two were terrorizing the disembarked Turians with their suit's wrist mounted 'plasma caster' flamethrower. To no one's surprise the flame broiled Turian smelt like chicken.

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General Desolas Arterius watched as his enemy began to burn. The fight they put up was a testament to their power, the fury of their attacks was unmatchable. The new race's ships were slow to fire, and easy to dodge. The constant movement and evasive techniques of the Turians allowed the to endure against the enemy ships' superior firepower. While on the exterior it appeared that the Turian vessels were not enduring the enemy attacks but shrugging them off, the truth was that the lasers and plasma was reeking havoc on the insides of the ships. A laser would pierce multiple decks and expose dozens of Turians to a lack of atmosphere meanwhile the plasma blasts were cooking Turians inside their ships and crippling entire systems at a time. The more unstable weapons like the nuclear rounds had to be guarded to prevent their volatile load from exploding spontaneously. Turian crews had to wear space suits constantly for fear of being spaced at a moments notice. In hundreds of ships the crew already had no atmosphere and were rushing to repair gaps before the air in their suits ran out.

The leader of the invading forces sat in his command seat, idly sipping a dextro-amino energy drink. The general had spent days awake, and the strain was beginning to wear him down. The medical teams aboard the dreadnaught Sanctuary had already injected him with boosters several times to keep his mind sharp and his body ready. However medicine could only do so much, Asari designed stimulants had a limitation on how long they could be used before they starting ruining the body rather than supporting it.

With the failure and demise of dozens of landing squads Arterius had recalled the landing missions, instead redirecting them to support any Turian vessel that reported infiltrators. Until a time where the Turians held total air domination there was no point in landing teams on the ground. The enemy ground forces were decimating anything that touched the soil of their home.

"General Arterius, our scouts have reported spotting an evacuation site, the enemy has it guarded with a large escort force. Sir, the scouts are reporting that the emissions they are detecting from the evacuation vessels match the energy outputs of a ship using a mass relay!"

The general rubbed a mandible, "That sounds very interesting... How many ships defending?"

"A few dozen cruisers, but only one dreadnaught! The scouts report it is heavily armed and a radically different design than the one's we've already engaged."

"Ensign, how many ships are not engaged in combat and would be able to safely move to the evacuation site?"

The Ensign checked his numbers quickly, "We have one dreadnaught, the Beu'phalas which is firing long range, and nearly forty ships not actively fighting."

"Give them the coordinates of the evac-zone, give them a priority order to destroy the dreadnaught."

A medical officer bringing yet another energy drink looked curious at general Arterius command, "Why focus on one dreadnaught? They still have at least two hundred others."

"I am willing to bet that the odd one is the command ship for the defenders, and if we cut off its head the body will die. At the very least they will split more forces from the main battle once the chain of command is shaken, and when that happens we will take advantage and blockade the planet."

Desolas watched his holomap with a sense of smug joy as he watched the battle unfold.

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"Doctor!" The lab intercom bellowed, "Turian forces are coming towards us! We believe that they have spotted our evacuation efforts are are preparing to blockade us!"

Dr. Knives rubbed his eyes, a habit that showed that he wanted to kill something in a very unappealing manner. "Tell the prison block I'm on my way and to activate the transmitter I set up, I want to be ready to broadcast the moment I enter Saren's cell."

The mad doctor rushed across the Malice, knowing time was of the essence. With a tap to an earpiece he called the Commander Harper, "Commander, the Turians are moving to attack the evacuating civilians, do you still want me to turn this into a hostage situation?"

"Do not allow a single civilian death Knives!" Harper's stern voice replied, "I don't care what methods we have to use!"

Knives could hear the tell tale click of the commander's silver lighter and could imagine him lighting up another one of his addictive sticks, "Make this work, Doctor. The counsel has agreed that the loss of Shanxi is a regrettable possibility but the loss of its people is not an option. Talk them into a ceasefire, scare tactics, bluff, whatever, but buy us time to finish the evacuations."

"Commander, we are almost seventy-seven percent complete. We just need a few more hours."

"Good, find a way to provide those hours. I will provide what support I can."

Knives hastily strolled into The Malice's cell block, walking straight into Saren's cell and flipping a switch on a large cylindrical machine. The machine shuddered and beeped as it started up. Several guards moved into a formation behind the doctor and pointed their rifles at Saren.

The broadcasting equipment completed its start-up sequence and projected a large screen with a very surprised Turian staring back at the scene in the cell. "Greetings," began Knives in perfect Turian, "My name is Kevin Sebastian Knives and I do believe that I have something of dear importance to your leader..."

The Turian Comm officer moved off camera, but could be plainly heard talking to another Turian in a barely audible panic. The Same Turian sat back down at it's station and began to type on something just out of site. The Comm officer looked shocked.

"You're not going to get rid of me that easily." Knives stated, and gestured to a guard. Another Turian prisoner was brought into view of the camera, "Now I don't have time to play games, redirect this transmission to the commander of the Turian forces or I will execute every last captured Turian I have in my possession before finishing with his brother!"

The Turian panicked and stared at a figure off-screen that was bellowing to do it. The transmission screen blurred and twitched. While the transmission was redirected the spare prisoner was escorted out, followed by the telling cough of a plasma burst just outside. The broadcasting machine hummed louder for a moment before a new scene was displayed, a rather impressive command deck loaded with a large number of very angry Turians.

"What have you done to my brother creature!" Hissed one Turian, its eyes were focused in a manner that one would guess is anger.

Knives was certain he had found the leader of the invaders. "As I said to your helpful comm officer: I am Kevin Sebastian Knives, Human Systems Alliance Civilian, Head of Interrogation, Research and Development for the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit. I have come to ask for a cease fire agreement while we evacuate our civilians."

The Turian stood from his command seat, "I am General Desolas Arterius of the Turian Hierarchy. Your people are charged with crimes against Citadel law and will be punished."

"What laws are those?" Knives asked with an innocent expression that made the guards who saw it feel it was the most unnatural thing to ever exist. The Turians, who did not know human facial expressions, just thought his eyes were wide.

"Your people have been caught attempting to activate Mass Relay three one four," began listing the Turian, "attacked a Turian patrol vessel, suspected use of biological weapons and torture of captives."

The XCOM Doctor smiled, and despite not knowing what it meant, the Turians felt unsettled by it. Knives extended his hand with the fingers outstretched and the back facing the head Turian, "We did not use the relay, our people have no need of them." His pinky curled, "Your people opened fire on us and we defended our selves." he curled his thumb inward, "We don't use biological weapons, we have much better ways of terrorizing our enemies." his ring finger was dropped, "As for torture? It's research." His index finger bent over, leaving his middle finger extended, "Finally, we aren't part of your Hierarchy and thus we didn't know your rules. So how the hell were we supposed to follow them?"

"Ignorance of the law doesn't mean you can skip them as you'd like!" Desolas growled, "We have video logs and casualty reports of your biological weapons! Your ships were shot down because they violated Citadel law! And spirits help me I will see your species pay for what you have done to my brother!"

"Actually he's one of the reasons for this transmission," Knives placed an hand under Saren's jaw and lifted the still drugged prisoner's head up, "You see, we want a ceasefire. Your going to stop your attacks and back away from Shanxi until we finish evacuating our civilians and then we can continue this fight."

"You think that I would miss a chance to see your species burn?" Desolas bluffed with skill, "Even if he is my brother you can't think he is worth the honor the hierarchy will give me for killing you?"

Knives smile widened, "Your brother has shared such stories with me, Desolas. About his dreams to become a 'Spectre.' How you made sure he was placed under your command to protect him and mold him to be your worthy successor. Such a caring relationship, I really doubt you could stand to be the cause if it ended. However if he really is that worthless..." The Doctor snapped his fingers with a flourish.

The tubes implanted into Saren carried a fluorescent yellowish orange fluid, and not even a second after it reached Saren did he start screaming. Desolas watched in helpless despair as his kin was flooded with pain. "Stop!" He cried out, "Stop hurting my brother!" Desolas turned to his crew and in direct disobedience to the orders of the hierarchy commanded, "All forces cease fire! Pull everything back! Now!"

"Not worth the honor huh?" Knives dryly remarked, replacing the drugs with a clear colored antidote, "I don't suppose you would be willing to negotiate a truce? Perhaps even surrender? Not that I would expect you to, your commanders will already want to dishonorably discharge you and possibly flay you for this ceasefire already."

"If you want your people to have any chance of survival you will send my brother and all other captured Turians in a shuttle now!" The general's physiology was similar enough that Knives could tell he was trembling in barely suppressed fury. "If you do not I swear I will glass this planet and send your species back to their moment of creation."

Knives grin lost its potency, he was acting unnerved but was delighted that the Turians had no idea of Earth. "Your bluffing, your commanders would never allow you to commit such a genocide."

"Your species has already proven to be a threat, you will submit to the Turian Hierarchy or be destroyed."

Knives stared back at his adversary, and was prepared to snap out several more biting retorts when someone else in the room decided to speak up. "Bro...ther..."Knives eyes widened in fear, this moment could make or break the stalemate. He turned to the still bound Saren Arterius.

"Kill them...all." Saren stuck out his tongue. In front of the Humans, The Turians and what ever deities were watching the conflict bit his tongue off. Dark blue blood poured out of Saren's mouth slipping between his unmistakable grin of triumph. The prisoner drew a wad of blood into his mouth and spat it out upon the XCOM Doctor.

Knives knew at that point, that Shanxi was doomed. He clearly heard the screams of Desolas' denial as his brother was dying before him. The General didn't need to speak his enemy's language to know what his brother had done. A medical team rushed in, but Saren violently resisted any and all efforts to be healed, thrashing with all his remaining strength and biting at everything that tried to heal his wounds. Minutes past in seconds as both sides watched Saren strain and bleed. Knives watched as the captured Turian expired, his last act to sacrifice himself to doom his foes.

Knives turned back to the screen and could see the infinite fury of the Turian commander reflected upon his now stony visage. "Inform the fleet that the rules of engagement are over." Desolas commanded, "Any ships available are to commence planet purge protocols, all ships are to make civilian vessels the priority. Kill them all."

The Transmission cut out, the screen full of shocked and furious Turians replaced by a sea of static. The Counsel would not be pleased by this. Dr. Knives idly wondered if it was events like this that led to the commander's chain smoking. Knives looked at Saren's corpse with spite in his eyes. "Take that trash to my lab." He told the medical team, "he's not getting out of this so easily."

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XCOM forces across Shanxi were surprised when they received the orders to retreat to the evacuation zones. Many were more surprised when they watched dozens of explosions either nearby or in the distance, they recognized the mushroom cloud of a nuclear blast. All of them knew what it meant, the invaders were winning and Shanxi would soon be lost.

Major Parker and his teams stood behind. They had their orders and they stuck to them. The defensive cannon up-link had been setup but no further orders had come in. With the new found aid of orbital bombardment the Turian efforts to set up a ground assault had increased several fold, focusing all their efforts on securing one position and spreading rather than dozens of lesser sabotage teams. Their chosen landing zone being chosen by the damned devil Murphy, was less than a kilometer from the Cannon and thus a constant stream of Turian attack came in.

Hammer Team was preoccupied keeping the Turian's heavy artillery and tanks from reaching the cannons, and while the Turian's infantry weapons were useless against Alliance armor they quickly learned and abused the knowledge that Alliance soldiers were not immune to ruined buildings falling on them or the blast wave of explosives. The XCOM squadrons quickly learned that the Turians kept a ridiculous number of grenades on hand and had no issues using them in an overzealous manner. Almost all the buildings nearby had fallen to Turian explosive prowess.

The combat HUD in Parker's helmet read that out of the twenty four soldiers he had brought with him only ten were left, not counting the six hammers. Constant use of psychic techniques were taking its toll on his comrades,forcing them to rely on the armored MEC troops to survive. Ammo count was swiftly dwindling, the recharging power packs used by Alliance forces would short out if reused to often to quickly, and unfortunately that was what was happening.

With every minute the Turian's artillery became more accurate as the ground spotters came closer and closer. Most of the orbital rounds devastated a city block upon impact and the force of the blast was more than adequate to shred any one even Dr. Knives' custom MEC designs.

The Major felt it before he heard the whistle of shearing air as the shell came towards them. A blue glowing spear pierced the sky and slammed into the ground scant yards behind him. The major felt his body become flung into the air, debris spraying around him like drops of rain in a storm, The defensive cannon was shredded by a mass accelerator round.

A ruined wall slowed the major's flight, knocking him aside and altered his course so he crashed into the remains of a street. Major Parker noted the emergency flashing in his HUD. His entire team had been caught in the blast all of their vitals were either in the red or cut out.. His Prothean-Titan armor had detected the presence of several fractures and at least one broken rib, and injected him with pain suppressing drugs.

His rifle was scrapped, the alloy warped until the gun was useless. Ignoring the now sore ribs he drew his sidearm, an alloy class 'shredder' pistol, and a combat knife. The readout from his HUD was distorted by a spiderweb of cracks along his visor but he could still tell that something without an Alliance IFF was moving to his position.

Sluggishly Parker stumbled over to a pile of debris and laid upon it, hiding his weapons under an overturned desk and his torso. Parker wasn't a Psi-Volunteer class but he could still dish out psi techniques with the best of them. He focused on releasing a mindfray, building the energy and letting it grow restless inside him. The sounds of multiple targets approaching reached his ears, the crunching of boots on glass and rock giving away their distance.

"Come on... Come on..." Parker thought to himself, if he was going to die, he damn well was going to do it fighting. "Fucking metal birds... get over here and die..."

Eventually one of the enemy spotted him and walked to his side. Parker lay completely still, holding his breath to give nothing away. The Turian turned the Major over and that was when he struck, driving his knife into the Turian's helmet with a reverse grip. The monomolecular edge of the knife cut the material like scissors cut cloth, biting into the now screaming Turian's face and slicing off a mandible. The major took an instant head count. Eight of the enemy.

The second closest had his mind shredded with Parker's mindfray, the Turian brain literally overloading from the strain and popping inside the skull. Parker grabbed the knife victim and held him close from behind keeping the knife over his hostage throat he fired upon the Turian squad wounding several with the pistol's alloy scatter-shot. The major stumbled and swayed as he backed away. His body still heavily damaged from the orbital blast he had been caught in.

The six of the Turian squad remaining took a semi-circular formation around him, further limiting the effectiveness of his pistol. They kept their aim steady but did not fire, knowing they would risk killing one of their own. The Turians barked commands at Parker in their native tongue. Parker sighed, he had a wife and three kids on Mars. With a prayer and a sigh he said a silent goodbye, and opened fire simultaneously slicing the throat of his hostage. The major rushed the closest Turian to his left, ducking and sliding to slice at his leg before finishing with a pistol shot directly to the face. The suicide by combat continued with another mindfray, far weaker than the over kill it was spread amongst the Turians to stun them.

Ignoring the re-emerging pain in his chest, Parker dove at the next in formation thrusting the knife into his foes, chest and jerking it brutally grabbing at the Turian's rifle and forcing it to fire upon it's teammates. The burst forced them to scatter and he took advantage of that enforcing his will upon his newest captive and taking control of his mind. The converted Turian provided Parker with cover fire as he swept up another of his victim's rifles and sprayed his foes with bullets. The constant moment had forced a crippling pain to blossom in the Major's chest but he ignored it.

The mind controlled Turian's head exploded with blue gore following the sound of a thunderous crack. The sound of a sniper with an exceptionally powerful rifle. "Of course there's a fucking sniper!" Parker swore, diving behind cover. The thunderclap rang out again, and this time Parker was stunned. There was sharp pain in his right forearm, a hollow sensation as if something had been taken from inside it.

Parker stared at the bloody hole in his arm in disbelief. In the spider-cracked corner of his HUD he could just barely make out the blurred icon informing him that his barrier emitter had been disabled. He checked his suit's detonator it too was useless, damaged by the blast. A third bark of gunfire, and his kneecap erupted from his leg, dropping the major to the ground. The XCOM operatives were trained to fight to the last, and Parker had no desire to meet a disappointed drill instructor in hell.

The man grabbed his pistol from the dirt and pointed it in the direction of the Turians, the gun had a maximum of twenty shots and he had eight shots left. If he had a spare hand he would reload, but that was a pipe dream at best. The major felt his life pouring out of his leg and arms, the blood loss making his good arm unsteady. The Turian squad peeked out cautiously, they learned the hard way that the Major played dead before.

The pistol got three shots out at the approaching metal-heads before a fourth gunshot took the pistol from his hand. Parker felt his consciousness draining from him. His breathing was rapid and shallow, signs of hypovolemic shock. The major smiled, " deprive the metal-heads of prisoner." The last thing the major's eyes noticed was a Turian staring at him down the barrel of a gun.

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One minute and thirty seven seconds. That's all it took. One minute and thirty-seven seconds for the Turians to dominate the skies of Shanxi with an underhanded tactic. Nuclear weapons.

Nuclear weapons were deadly enough on their own, but launched from a mass accelerator was nothing more than overkill. Desolas Arterius was furious and he let that anger be known. Shanxi was what the Citadel Counsel considered a garden world, and it was against multiple species laws to destroy them. Desolas didn't care at all. The Alliance forces recognized the bombardment that was being thrown at them, and rapidly started pouring from the planet in greater numbers. Nuclear weapons were carried by all Turian vessels ever since the war against the Rachni wars. There were still several standing orders that any planet with a confirmed Rachni presence was to be glassed before the species could spread. Desolas already had his cover story prepared.

The Alliance dreadnaughts pulled back from the primary battle to cover the civilian evacuations. The Frigates and smaller vessels raced to the planet, no doubt to save whom the could. The Carriers and interceptor holders made a massive effort to intercept or shoot down the ships bombing the planet. The Turians took advantage of the Alliance defensive tactics, focusing their attacks on the evacuating civilians to great effect. The large nuclear arsenal of the Turians allowed them to not only glass the planet with a combination of mass accelerator shots and nuclear fire but also to direct multiple nuclear weapons at the demoralized defenders.

The newly unleashed nuclear armaments were several times deadlier than the assortment of ammunition having been previously used by the invaders. The weapons would struck the Alliance vessels at outmatched speeds before detonating with devastating force. Ethereal armor was resistant to all forms of projectile impact, but against the vaporizing plasma blasts of the Turians banned weapons it made little difference. Desolas was sure his fleet would have to spend a month in decontamination to purge the fallout from their flesh but it would be worth it to annihilate these things before the galaxy would ever learn of them.

Back on Earth, Jack Harper looked at the Alliance Counsel and made a grace announcement he hoped would not happen. "Ladies and Gentlemen. We have lost Shanxi." A full retreat was order was sent out, and an announcement was sent to all Alliance worlds: Once more, humanity was at war.