Welcome to the next Chapter of Radioactive Dawn. Hope you enjoy and if you do follow or favorite, I appreciate it. Also leave a review or drop me a PM if you have anything thoughts, ideas or criticisms.
Enjoy!
With a flash the Dawn jumped into existence amid the ferocious battle between the battlecruiser Beam and the lone dreadnought. Without any real shields, the heavy armor on the dreadnought was checkered in plasma and laser marks. However, the large size of the ship proved to be what gave the VS Beam trouble even though it scored hit after hit. It would take some time for the Beam to whittle the much larger ship down where it was out of the fight, time they did not have under the fore-coming circumstances.
"Aria," said John. "Coordinate with the Beam and take that ship down before the other fleet arrives."
Without the delay the AI did so and within a second the Dawn began unloading its powerful guns into the dreadnought. John watched as the combined strength of the Dawn and the Beam began to lower the status of the enemy ship. The dreadnought's engines were the primary focus and both ships fired mercilessly into their target. The Dawn under the hand of its well regarded pilot, Alfred Cooper, along with the help of Aria, danced around the flurry of enemy fire attempting to prevent any drainage on its shields. It would need all the energy in the battle to come.
After nearly a minute the batarian dreadnought shuddered and John watched as an explosion buckled the ship causing all lights and engines seen on the ship to flicker and die.
"Enemy engines are down," reported Ryan Bishop, the Dawn's navigation officer. "Some of its weapons are still powered, though. It could prove to be a problem."
"We can't afford for it to be," said John. "Finish the job."
The kill order was met without rejection. John and the rest of the Dawn's crew knew that there were thousands of sailors on the dreadnought, thousands of enemy sailors. It would take too long to simply further disable the ship where most of the crew would survive. They simply did not have the time. The Dawn's and Beam's guns fired in unison and laser sped along with plasma. Without the dreadnought able to change course as it merely drifted though space, it was an easy target. Twenty-three seconds was all it took and then with a flash an explosion ripped from within the middle-bow of the ship. The ship was torn into two large pieces and many smaller ones as each spiraled through space. To those on board that were not dead yet, they would be so soon.
John looked to the countdown clock marking when the fleet would arrive. They only had seconds. At least one ship was out of the way. However, the Beam had not fared well in the fight and she was hurting. He hoped they could make it.
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John Kernell roared as he rammed his his powered armored fist through the chest of a salarian. The salarian that had been firing at him slumped on his arm. Kernell pulled out his fist and his enemy fell to the ground, as dead as dead could be. Before he could move on, he felt himself get yanked into the air as if picked up by an invisible hand. He hung for a moment and only to be thrown swiftly into a wall. He fell to the floor and landed on his armored feet and knees, scanning the room for his new target. His HUD outlined a new figure. He pulled out his knife from its sheath on his leg. It was the only weapon he had left.
He had lost his rifle and sidearm when an asari had collapsed the floor both above him and beneath him after he and his men had entered the one of the upper floors of the Colonial Administration Building. The collapse had sent him crashing down with the weight of his armor and the falling floors sending him deeper and deeper into the building. He had told his men to keep pushing and not come back for him. He would catch up and the sooner they took the control room, the better. It was the final goal for the Coalition to secure not only Red Valley, but all of Mars.
It had been a tough fight so far, but they were winning with only a few losses. It was said that the building had been designed by House himself when Red Valley, the first colony on Mars, was initially established by Vegas. It was designed to stand hard against anything that was thrown at it and the Citadel forces had used it to the best of their ability in their defense. However, with the city in disarray as their forces tried to battle the human uprising, those that were left were few in number and outgunned by the unit of power armored soldiers that had come to give a not-to-friendly visit.
Kernell eyed his foe who was behind a wall, most likely hoping it would stay hidden as it waited for an opportunity to attack. While his armor registered other life-forms, a variety of humans but mostly citadel races that hid away in various rooms as the building came under assault, the one that he set his sights on was the only one the armor assessed as a threat. It registered as an asari and based on before, a biotic as well. Not the best combination to fight. Still, he would.
He rushed towards the wall that hid the foe. His heavy footsteps shook the loose pieces of rubble around him and no doubt alerted the asari to his coming. He raised his arms in front of him and crashed through the wall. The asari jumped back and raised her hands and large pieces of rubble with her biotic powers. She threw them at Kernell. He dodged them as well as he could, not wanting to be staggered even for a moment.
The asari did not relent and continued to use everything she could grab hold of. Still, Kernell kept moving closer and closer, the speed of the armor allowing him to dodge most of the asari's attacks.
With a roar he leapt towards the asari as she threw a large piece of rubble at him head on. With a fist he smashed through it and with his other hand he brought up his knife and aimed right for the asari. But she was not yet ready to be defeated.
She brought her hands in front of him and a shield appeared between them. Kernell slammed into it and while it broke under his weight it still stalled his attack and knocked him back. He quickly looked at her and she at him. She was alive, but her method of salvation had winded her. She was breathing heavily. She did not have much longer.
Kernell wasted no time. Again he rushed at her. She moved to raise her hands to prevent him from making a blow. He would not have it this time. With a strong kick he sent a piece of rubble on the floor steaming towards her. It slammed into her legs, the sound of her legs snapping echoed in the room and she fell face down to he floor, failing to catcher herself with her hands. Kernell jumped into the air. He twisted and came down above her, one foot on each side of her as he landed. Without a delay he drove his knife into her back right where her vital organs would be. He heard her gasp her dying breath and the fight was over.
He stood up and stepped away from her as he observed his surroundings. Various other life signs were detected, but they merely cowered too afraid to defend against the assault. There were no other foes left to deter him from rejoining his men. Those that had tried laid dead around him.
He moved to where he had fallen through and climbed the pile of rubble to the hole and his exit from the floor. Without much effort he jumped up into the air to the above floor, landing as gently as he could on the edge so he would not cause it to break away and fall. He did so again and again until he reached the point where he had initially fallen.
His hud displayed where his men were fighting. It appeared that they were stuck just outside of the control room, an area that was designed to be a chokepoint. He let them know he was on his way to join them and broke into a run. He passed by many fallen bodies along the way. Thankfully none of them were those of his men.
He quickly came up to the others. "Nice for you to join us, Lieutenant," said Corporal Jessica Torres as she fired her plasma rifle into defending forces.
"Well I heard there was a party up her so I though I would come and crash it," responded Kernell as he slid into cover beside her. "I need your sidearm, corporal." She stopped firing and handed it to him without complaint. As he grabbed it he was glad to have a weapon in his hand again.
He surveyed the scene. The control room was located in the center of the top of the building. It only had two entryways, one right next to the other. The room sported reinforced walls that power armor would have trouble breaking though in any decent amount of time. The entryways were sealed shut behind doors that would be just as tough. Automated defenses were built into the walls and it was them that was giving the team trouble.
They were not standard defenses the Citadel sported. Rather they were the remains of when humanity had controlled the building and therefore of the plasma and laser variety. They were easily strong enough to penetrate the power armor Kernell and his men were wearing.
The men themselves had taken cover behind barricades that extended from the floor. Initially meant for the defenders of the building to hide behind in the event of an attack, the soldiers had quickly overwhelmed a few of them and used them for cover after they had disabled them from retracting. There was not much other cover afforded to them except where a few had knocked holes in other parts of the corridor where the walls were not as strong.
"How do you think we should handle this, sir," said the grizzled veteran Sergeant Morris over the comms.
"I think we may have to go nuclear," said Kernell.
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. We have used that one yet. So then, that's what we're doing?"
"We are," said Kernell. Corporal Torres and a some of the others gave a few exited hoots. "Let's do it then," ordered Kernell.
Across from him he watched as one of his men unstrapped a Fat Man from his back and loaded a mini nuke into it. It was ready to fire and all it needed was for Kernell to give the order. The weapon was easily strong enough to knock out the doors, but it would also cause extensive damage as well, though most likely not to the systems inside the control room. There was no other real choice if he wanted to wrap this up before he lost any more men.
But before Kernell could give the order, the defenses ceased firing and powered down. The doors unlocked and opened revealing a lone salarian holding up his hands. Kernell ordered his own men to cease fire.
"We surrender," said the salarian. "Please, no more. There is no more reason for more people to die."
"Well it's about time we found an alien that had some sense in its head," said Corporal Torres. "What do you think we should do, Lieutenant?"
"Hope that he's being honest," he said to Torres. "Who are you?" asked Kernell to the Salarian.
"I am Ish Talon," answered the salarian. "The colonial administrator for Mars as well as the Sol system."
"Well, Mr Talon," said Kernell, "We accept your surrender. Have your people come out unarmed and so long as y'all don't do anything foolish, you have nothing to worry about from us. The same applies to anyone else that surrenders willingly."
Ish Talon accepted. He and his people came out of the control room leaving their weapons behind. Kernell's men swept the inside looking for anything malicious set up for them. They found nothing and Kernell was thankful that those that surrendered had not attempted to set up a nasty trap. There had been enough bloodshed on this day. Hopefully there would little, if any, more.
Soon the control center was fully under Coalition control. They accessed every system in the city and around Mars and the Sol system that they could. The information was streaming in and it looked like there was no real Citadel resistance left that was known. Kernell and his men gave a quick congratulations to one another as humanity's victory became apparent.
Though the final victory still remained on one variable; the Mass Gate. Coalition Command had said it had the ability to secure the gate. How they could do so, most did not know. But as Kernell watched the displays that showcased everything detectable that happened within the Sol System, he saw that the Dawn was currently at the gate and most assuredly responsible for whatever plans the Coalition had to firmly secure the system future Citadel threat.
"Sir," said Private Ward, one of Kernell's men, with urgency. "We are detecting the gate activating. Something is coming through."
All in the room held their breath. Finally, alerts flashed as the systems detected a new Citadel fleet in the Sol System.
"We are counting twenty-three ships in total," reported Ward. "One dreadnought, two battleships and four battlecruisers among them. They appear to be Batarian. Hold on, they are activating their FTL drives. It seems as though they are moving to assist the dreadnought above Mars."
Kernell watched as the screen showed the new fleet jumping. A blue line with moving arrows appeared that pointed towards the engagement between the Beam and the dreadnought. Above it was a small countdown timer that served to show when the new ships were estimated to arrive. Barely minutes.
"Sir," said Corporal Torres. "We have just detected another ships alongside the Beam. It is engaging the dreadnought."
"What other ship?" asked Kernell. They only had two. Where had the other come from.
"It's registering as the Dawn, sir," she reported.
"How is that possible?" Kernell looked at the screen. Seconds ago the Dawn had been at the Mass Gate. Now it was with the Beam.
"I don't know, sir," said Torres. "But it's there."
They all watched as the displays outlined the battle between the three ships. The countdown timer hung overhead like a grisly onlooker.
Finally the dreadnought registered as destroyed. The Beam and the Dawn only had seconds left before the rest arrived. Even though they had superior weapons, the chances of them coming out on top were slim.
And then the Bavarian Fleet came out of FTL. It engaged the only two ships humanity had to defend the few precious minutes of freedom that had been secured.
"Sir," said Torres, "I am detecting plasma and laser weapon discharges."
"That's to be expected," said Kernell as his eyes stayed glued to the screen.
"No, sir." They're coming from the fleet's dreadnought."
"What?!"
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"What do you mean they have shields too?" asked John Walker as the Dawn dodged the plethora of plasma and laser fire that rained down on them.
"You heard me right," said George Allimer. "The dreadnought has active shields and are successfully negating our attacks."
John clenched his jaw. It was a surprise that the batarians had plasma and laser weapons. But it was something else for them to also have adequate shields. It was only on the dreadnought, both the weapons and the shields, but it was enough to reduce whatever chances the Beam and Dawn held of defeating the fleet to nothing at best.
"Aria, coordinate with the Beam against that dreadnought," ordered John. They had to try. Even if they managed to take out every other ship, the power of the dreadnought was more than enough.
He felt the Dawn gaining speed as its engines pushed hard. On the screens before him the whole battle played out. The Dawn and the Beam fired and attempted to dodge the overwhelming fire that was returned. The Dawn was able to avoid most hits. The Beam was not so lucky and had to rely fully on its ever diminishing shields.
"I thought that the Citadel had outlawed our technology," said John.
"Apparently this is an exception," replied George as he too watched the situation unfold. "I think we may have to retreat." The Dawn shuddered as though in agreement.
"I think you may be right," said John as the ship shuddered again as plasma licked the Dawn's shields.
An alert flashed on John's display. "Captain," said Bishop. "The Beam is registering reactor problems. Sub-light engines are down and shields are nearing critical."
"Damn," cursed John. "Order the Beam to retreat with FTL."
"She will not last long enough to make it with her shields as weak as they are," informed Bishop.
John knew they could not lose that ship. "Move us into position to cover the Beam until she has retreated.
"Aye, Captain," said Cooper as he maneuvered the Dawn towards the Beam.
"Captain," said George. "Our shields may not be able to last, especially when we will just be sitting still."
"George Allimer is correct," chimed Aria. "We may not be able to hold."
"We will hold as long as we can," ordered John. "Spool up the jump drive. If our shields fail, use it to bug out. Hopefully we will be able to hold until the Beam has jumped. Put everything we can into our shields."
And so the Dawn took position between the Beam and the Citadel fleet. As the Beam prepared to exit the battle via FTL, the Dawn let the damage soak into her shields. Wave after waver of plasma rained down with laser beams striking in between. Every ounce of energy they could afford was being pumped into the Dawn's shields and for a time they held, though growing weaker by the second.
"Captain, we don't have much longer," warned George.
"How long until the Beam can jump?" asked John.
"Seventeen seconds."
John prayed that they could hold. The seconds counted down as slow as a human mind's knowledge of time would allow.
"As soon as the Beam is away I want us gone!" said John.
"Shields critical!" warned George. "They're failing!"
"The Beam is away!" announced Bishop.
Then the ship shook violently. Sparks flew up from around the bridge as displays flickered.
"Get us out of here!" shouted John. The Dawn obeyed.
John started out of the main bridge window and saw the Citadel fleet disappear as the Dawn retreated to safety. Only instead of seeing the Outpost, where they were suppose to have retreated to, he only saw grey. The ships shook and felt to John as though it was picking up speed.
"Where the hell are we?" asked John.
"We are in Earth's atmosphere," reported Aria. "Ten kilometers above the eastern coast of North America."
"Don't worry, Captain," said Cooper. "I got her under control. We should land without a problem."
"Aria, why aren't we at the outpost?" asked George.
"The shields were taxed to much," responded the AI. "I had to divert energy away from the jump drive in order to prevent the shields from collapsing. There was not enough energy left to jump to the outpost so I decided to take us to Earth. The atmosphere should give us some time before we are detected."
"It would have been nice if you told us," said John.
"If there had been time I would have, Courier."
"Fair enough," said John.
After a few seconds they passed through cloud cover as they descended. Grey clouds gave way to a grey landscape barely lit by the rays of the sun that managed to pass through the polluted atmosphere.
"Where are you landing us Cooper?" asked John.
"There's a good spot right outside of New Orlando," responded the pilot.
Florida? thought John. He had always wanted to visit the East Coast. If only it were on better circumstances.
Soon the Dawn came to a soft landing. As it did so it had passed over the ruins of New Orlando. Just one of the many cities that that had fallen when the Citadel began bombarding Earth twenty years ago as the war came to an end. He hoped the same fate would not fall upon Mars. He hoped his hope was not in vain.
John viewed the damage reports as George and Aria coordinated the technicians and engineers in their quest to get the ship up and running as soon as possible.
"What's the status of the enemy fleet?" asked John. While the Dawn would be difficult to detect from above Earth, they luckily were still in communication with the rest of the system. The Coalition was nervous and Baker had reported that the Beam was undergoing emergency repairs at the outpost. He did not know what they could do, but whatever it was he knew they did not have much time to get ready for it.
"They have entered Martian orbit," reported Bishop. "They have remained quiet so far."
"Then let us be at least thankful for that," said John. It could be a lot worse. "Tell me if they so much as move."
"Courier, I need to speak to you," came a voice from behind John that was new to the bridge. He recognized it as belonged to Jason Brandy.
"Oh my God," said George as John was turning around. The former Brotherhood general stood up from his chair. "High Elder Brandy? What the hell is going on here?" He was on edge, as though he did not believe what his eyes saw.
John saw why Jason had garnered such as reaction. He had abandoned the wild look he held before by shaving off his beard and cutting his hair. The man before them looked like the man that John had seen in the High Elder's file. Everyone on the bridge looked at the man in bewilderment as though they saw a ghost. In a way they did.
"Don't you remember our prisoner, George," asked John.
However, there was no smile in the old general's eyes as he turned and gave John a cold look. "You knew?" he asked.
"Don't be cross with the Courier, General," said Jason. "It was by my request that he kept this information from you."
"Ah, I see," said George. Is it really you, sir?"
"It is, General. It has been to long." Jason closed the distance with and outstretched hand. George took it and the took men shook.
"I, I don't even know what to say," said George. "This is some surprise. But, sir. I'm afraid I am not a general any longer."
"What nonsense is that?" asked Jason. "I don't recall ever accepting any resignation from you." George just looked at the man, uncertain of what to say. "But that conversation is for another time, General." He turned back to John. "As I have said Courier, I need to speak with you."
"I'm listening," said John.
"I need to use one of your shuttles."
"For?" asked John.
"If I may?" asked Jason indicating a bridge terminal. John gave him a nod and Jason stepped to the station and accessed it.
A new alert pinged to life on the bridge's main display. "What is that?" asked John as the alert switched to a map of Earth with a highlighted point near the center of the Atlantic ocean.
"That is the last known location of the U.S Pride as reported twenty years ago."
"The Pride?" asked John. It sounded familiar. Then it clicked. "You mean one of those Fourth Fleet ships? I thought they were all destroyed in orbit."
"That is what was reported but ultimately incorrect," said Jason. "The Pride was severely damaged and crashed into the Atlantic ocean after falling from orbit, but it was not destroyed. As your AI no doubt informed you, I inquired on a ship repair technology that Vegas and the Brotherhood was working on and if such a technology could work under certain circumstances." John remembered Aria informing him of such a thing. "That technology was incorporated into the Fourth Fleet and hopefully has done what it was designed to do."
"Hopefully?" asked John. "You mean repair the ship so that it's operational?"
"Yes," said Jason. "I do not know if the technology has worked. It is impossible to access the ship remotely so the only way to know for sure is to inspect it in person."
"If that ship is where you say it is, sir," started George, "then there is no way you are going to get down there with a shuttle unless its in shallow water, which I doubt. The shuttle won't be able to handle the pressure."
"The Pride is not very deep, but you are right George in that the shuttle won't be able to handle the depth at the level it is resting at. It was designed for space, not underneath pressures of the ocean. While larger ships are built to withstand such pressures in the event of an emergency, the shuttles aboard the Dawn are not."
"Then what do you propose?" asked John.
"I just need the shuttle to get me to the location. I can dive down deep enough so that I will be able to access the Pride. And before you call me crazy for suggesting it, remember that my body is capable of such things. I will be fine."
John remembered the man's feats back on the Enclave space station. Surely a little deep diving paled in comparison with the vacuum of space. "Very well then," he said. "We can't afford to let you use a pilot but Aria should be able to get you there without a problem."
"Thank you, Courier," said Jason. "Then I will get to it. I do not have a good feeling about what the Citadel intends to do. We will need every chance we can get."
John gave him a nod in agreement and the High Elder left to collect his shuttle. John turned back around to face the bridge. Everyone had gone still and watched the High Elder they all thought dead carry out a conversation with their captain. He told them to get back to work. They had enough to do without more distractions or delays. Thankfully, soon Aria informed him that the shuttle had departed. He hoped the High Elder found success. They would need it.
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Nearly two hours passed and the emergency repairs on the Dawn were coming along. Yet there was still no word from the Citadel fleet stationed in orbit above Mars. The silence was unnerving to John, but at least so far it had allowed the Dawn to be nearly ready fight once again. Unfortunately, the enemy fleet's silence broke.
"Sir, reported Bishop, "we have picked up a message broadcasting from the Citadel fleet to the entire Sol System."
"Put it on the main display," ordered Walker. What appeared looked like standby screen with alien letter scattered around a strange symbol in the center. Soon the screen faded out and a uniformed batarian took its place.
"To the native inhabitants of the Sol System," began the batarian with a coarse tone. "I am Admiral Korak Torless, Commander of the Batarian Third Fleet that is currently stationed in orbit of Sol 4, or what humanity commonly refers to as Mars. Understand here and now your rebellion is marked as a failure. However, the punishment is yet to have begun. By order of the Hegemony, in response to the attempted rebellion of humanity, I have been ordered to begin orbital bombardment against Sol 4 until the planet is rendered uninhabitable and every human currently residing on the planet eliminated. Furthermore, it has been decreed that any human left alive outside of the system throughout the galaxy is hereby regarded as property of the Hegemony and required to turn themselves in for sterilization and enslavement or face execution. Though not all will be sterilized. Those that are of sufficient breeding stock will be used to create a docile her fit to meet the demands demanded of them.
"Furthermore, It is known that there are many members of the Citadel races currently trapped on Sol 4, however, due to the unlikely chance that all of them may be rescued without great cost, they are seen as a necessary sacrifice needed to permanently end the human infection that has plagued this system and the galaxy. To humanity, this is the price you pay for thinking you are better than your station. We have you an opportunity after your pathetic race lost your foolish war yet it seemed you failed to learn. Your obliteration will be shown throughout the galaxy and soon your entire race will be extent. This is what happens when the will of Hegemony is defied. You're destruction will serve to be an example of all of what happens when a lesser species steps out of place. Orbital bombardment will begin soon. I suggest you take what time you have left and pray to whatever gods you bow to so that your destructive actions can be forgiven before you are removed from the galaxy." With that the admiral cut his transmission and the screen went blank.
The bridge crew of the Dawn sat in silence. John was in disbelief. The entire elimination of their species except for a few slaves? It was almost too impossible to comprehend, not when they had been so close. But what could they do? They had little to offer in resistance. John curled his fingers into a fist as anger and desperation began to bite at him. They could not do much, but he would not stand idly by while his people were wiped out, no matter the cost.
"Get me Baker," he ordered. A second later Captain Baker appeared on the display in front of him. She looked disheveled and nervous. "I take it you saw their transmission as well?"
"I did," she responded.
"Then you know we do not have much time," said John. "I need the Beam ready for battle. We have to act fast if we hope to make a difference." Baker stayed silent and did not answer. "Well, Captain? I told you to get ready for battle."
"No," responded Baker defiantly as she stared at John.
"Why do you mean, 'no'?" asked John, anger managing to seeth through his voice.
"I mean that there is no possible way for us to win," said Baker. "Our deaths will not save even one person on Mars. We can't stop that fleet so I am evacuating the outpost and exiting the system while we still have control of the gate." She paused and John met it with silence. A cool anger had settled over him. "Think about it Walker, this is the right thing to do and you know it. We have to save as many people as we can. That is our responsibility. Now I have to ready the ship. You can disable the Beam if you want, I know I can't stop you. But you won't, because you know that what I said is right and if you have any sense you will join us." She sighed. "Baker out." The transmission was cut and the screen faded to black.
"You going to let her go?" asked George.
"She's right," said John. "But only to an extent. "She has a duty to do, to defend her people, even if it cost her her life or is completely hopeless, but it's her duty still. As of this moment, she is stripped of her rank. She may go wherever she may like, but there's no way in hell she is taking a Vegas ship with her. Aria, shut down that ship and remove the Captain from command. If humanity is to die this day, then the men and women that swore to defend will not run with their tails behind their legs."
"It is done, Courier," responded Aria.
"So what will we do with them?" asked George.
"We don't have enough time to do anything with them," said John. "Let them watch. If we make it through this then we will worry about them. If we don't, then they won't be our problem anymore."
John keyed the comms to the ship's engineer. "Watson, I trust you heard the transmission. We need to go and we need to go now!"
"Roger, captain," responded Watson. "We've done as much as we can. Give us two minutes and my boys will have her ready to go."
"Make it so," said John. He keyed the ships comms to speak with the crew. "I know everyone heard that transmission. We will not just sit here while what's left of humanity is killed by those bastards. We are leaving in as soon as we can so get ready. We will do everything in our power to protect our people, no matter the costs."
"Not much of a speech," said Liara as she entered the bridge covered in dirt from the time she had spent outside assisting the crew with repairs. Her biotic abilities had come in handy.
"No much time for one," said John turning to her. "Liara, you are the only one here that does not have to feel guilty about getting off if you want to. You don't have to come."
"If I didn't want to come then I wouldn't be here," said Liara. She gave John a smile. He returned it. "Besides, I don't think I would fare very well if I was left stranded on Earth."
"Then strap in," he said. "This is going to be a bumpy ride." She move to take a seat that overlooked the bridge. "Aria, what's the status on Brandy?" John asked the AI.
"We have received no word from his since he departed the shuttle to begin his dive," said the AI. "Do you want me to recall the shuttle?"
"No we don't have time. Leave it there. If we can then we will collect it later." There was a small part of John that was hoping that the High Elder would have been successful on his task. It may just be that he would, just not yet. But they simply did not have the time to wait and see. "Aria, leave him a message explaining the situation. If he is successful then we will need any help he can. If not, then at least he will know what happened."
"Watson has just given the all clear," said George. "We are ready to launch, but we will have to exit the atmosphere before we can use the jump drive. It would be too risky otherwise."
"Well then, let's get to it," said John calmly. He could feel the engines coming to life. The ship shook as it lifted off the ground and it hovered for a second. Then the engines roared and the ship began to rocket through the atmosphere. John watched over the displays and the crew. It seemed the end was nigh. What else was there to do but go out with a bang. As the Dawn exited Earth's dead atmosphere, she jumped all the willing to face what was to come next.
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Mars was in chaos. Kernell gave orders to his men as quickly as he could as they tried to retain some measure of control following the broadcast. It had been seen to all the world only minutes ago, yet chaos was already out in full swing. Reports came in from all around Mars as mass panic began to set it. Riots began to break out all over, though these were not the ones delicately controlled by the Coalition as before. No, these were one that were the result of a people facing the end, trying to grab on to anything or move anywhere that would help them.
Shelters were filling up, but Kernell doubted anyone other than blind fools thought that it would protect them from what would come from above. Worse yet, Coalition Command had broken down. The higher ups had evacuated to the shelters of their own, deep within the ground of Mars. Seeing their leaders flee had demoralized the men and women who served under the Coalition banner causing them to rush for safety or try to find their families. There were a few that stood behind, that attempted to coordinate whatever could be done, but they were not enough. Even the only ships that humanity held for its defense had abandoned them.
Kernell and his men that manned the control room were included in the group that chose to stay behind, doomed to watch over humanity in its final hour trying to muster something, anything. Fortunately they had access to the control room of the Colonial Administration Building, its automated systems devoid of the panic that filled the populous. As Kernell went about, station to station giving his orders, he gave solid thanks that not one of his men were among those lost to the panic. They had all had stayed. They knew their duty.
"Any luck?" asked Kernell the salarian Ish Talon who had served as colonial administrator for the Citadel on Mars until his recent surrender.
"No, lieutenant," said Talon. "The batarians are not responding to my hails so that I can dissuade them from this foolish idea."
"Just keep trying," said Kernell.
"I will Lieutenant, but it seems as though it will be our fate to share this together, friend and foe alike. What a way for it to end."
"It's not over yet," said Kernell. Ish Talon just gave him a slow nod and went back to trying to hail the batarian fleet. The salarian had lost faith, but at least he still did everything he could.
Of course, Ish Talon was not the only alien in the control room. In fact most of who had surrendered now sat at various stations in the room, side by side with Kernell's men as they tended to the planetary and city systems that provided them with all the information it could. His men lacked the experience and numbers to do it right so he had somewhat grudgingly asked for those that were their prisoners to help. After seeing the broadcast, the captives were more than eager to help. After all their lives were on the line as well. Kernell knew that he and his men could be betrayed in some fashion, but it matter little now. The objective was to keep everyone alive as long as possible.
Still it was a sight to see, his men working alongside the various aliens. He wondered what things could have been like if the past had worked out differently twenty years ago.
"Sir," said Torres calling him over distracting him from his thoughts. "We have just detected the Dawn. She is began engaging the fleet."
"And the Beam?" asked Kernell.
"It hasn't been detected. The Dawn is alone."
"They can't do it by themselves."
"I don't think they have much of a choice, sir," said Torres.
The corporal was right. Just like he and his men trying to control the chaos while everyone else fled. It was not really a choice. It was duty.
-)(-
With a flash the Dawn jumped behind the batarian fleet in orbit above Mars. With everything it could spare it unloaded its weapons onto the enemy ships. The plan was clear. They could not take out the dreadnought, but the other ships were not so tough. Since the dreadnought was all that was needed to bombard the planet fully, it would not ultimately stop them, but it would slow them down as destroyed the smaller ships would draw the attention of their large protector.
"That's another ship down," said George as the Dawn registered its second kill this time upon a cruiser, a tougher target than the small destroyer they killed before. "We are targeting one of the battleships now."
John watched as plasma and laser fire tore into the armor of the battleship, its armor bubbling with each impact. It was tough, too tough to knock out in one past, so the Dawn buzzed by and set it sites on another target as it kept moving as fast as possible. The other ships, while lacking the energy weapons like those of the dreadnought, still posed a threat especially when in number.
"Have we attracted the attention of the dreadnought?" asked John.
"Not yet," said George. "It's only a matter of time though. They won't sit idly by if their ships keep getting sunk."
"Let's hope its sooner rather than later."
"Sir!" said Bishop. "I have just detected an energy spike from the batarian dreadnought."
"Well it's about time they took some interest in us," said John.
"No, sir," said Bishop. "They aren't targeting us. They're- Shit! The dreadnought has just launched an orbital strike agains the planet!"
"Bring it up on the display!" ordered John. It was done and either by human hand or by an artificial one John did not know. Regardless, a display of Mars was shown with a red and radiating dot illuminated on its surface.
"That's Archar City," said George hollowly. "It was a Brotherhood city. There are over eleven million people living there, the fourth largest city on Mars. Those bastards on that ship don't even care about what ships they lose. They know we can't do anything to them. Damn them!"
"They want to show us that all of our actions are unimportant to them," said John. "To know that as hard as we try we can't so much as slow them down." He felt anger and frustration rising up within him. "Well fuck that! Aria, there has to be something we can do. Anything."
"There is one thing we can do, Courier," said the AI. It is possible to override the Dawn's safety protocols for the jump drive so that it can jump anywhere. If the ship's self destruct program was tied to the jump drive, then it would allow for the Dawn to jump into the enemy dreadnought and self destruct. However, the lack of structural analysis for the dreadnought is making it difficult to predict where the ship's critical systems are located. While we may severely damage the ship, we may not destroy it. However, if the Beam was to engage the fleet after we did this, then there is a small chance for victory, provided the Beam can hold agains the other ships."
"Can we evacuate the crew?" asked John.
"Yes, Courier," answered the AI. "While the two assault shuttle were left behind on the Enclave station, and of the two transport shuttles one was critically damaged during our engagement with the Enclave and the other is currently on Earth, the crew can simply exit the ship if they are wearing appropriate EVA suits, which they all have."
"Very well. Relay to the Beam what has to be done and reinstall Baker, at least until this is over. Also, you said you placed a copy of yourself on the Key in the gate, correct? Can you choose who can go through it?"
"I can, Courier."
"Good, then tell Baker this and tell her under no circumstance will the Beam be allowed through until I give the say so."
"Affirmative, Courier. But there is one more thing."
"And it is?"
"As an AI, I do not have the necessary permission to initiate this action for the Dawn. Because the safety systems are being overdid, it requires a manual activation of both the jump drive and the self destruct."
"Can a timer be set?" asked John.
"I am afraid not, Courier," said the AI. "When the safety systems are overrid, it requires direct manual control. This is in effect in part to prevent any nefarious actions from taking place with the ship."
John paused, but only for a moment. It was such an easy decision. Yet at the same time it was hard for him. Of course, what sane person would so easily make a decision. "Then I guess one of us will have to stay behind and carry it out," said John grimly and with a sigh he said "So be it." He keyed the ship-wide comms. "Attention all personnel. Prepare to abandon ship. I repeat. Prepare to abandon ship. We have plan to knock these bastards out, unfortunately none of can be on the Dawn when we enact it. Hurry up and get into your EVA suits and get ready to jump ship. More information will follow shortly." He keyed off the comms. "Cooper, get us out of the engagement range of those ships." The pilot did as he was told and the Dawn accelerated and moved way from the ships.
"George, you're in charge," said John. "Make sure everyone gets off safely to wait for rescue."
"So you're going to be the one to stay?" asked George. He did not sound to thrilled with the prospect.
"It's my ship," said John. "My right."
The former general stood up as did John. "It was been an honor, Captain," said the big man as he stretched out his hand.
"To bad it couldn't have lasted a little longer, eh?" asked John as he shook the man's hand. "Keep them safe. After all, you are the executive officer on this ship. I don't expect anything less."
"Yes, sir." said George. Then he got to it. He began barking orders to the crew, those present on the bridge and those throughout the ship through the comms.
Those on the bridge moved sluggishly at first, but soon they picked up speed. Each one gave John a kind word or a nod. He felt regret that he could not have gotten to known them better. But now was not a time to dwell on that. Finally the only ones in the bridge were Liara and John.
"You need to go, Liara," said John with a small smile. "It only takes one to do what must be done."
"I know," said Liara. She moved close to him. He could feel warmth radiate off her skin. "I just wanted to say thank you."
"For nothing," said John. "You've done as much for me and more. Beside, you suffered much more than I for it. I am the one that should be thanking you."
She put her finger to his lips. "Shhh," she said. "Let's make this goodbye better one than that." She removed her fingers and replace them with her lips, kissing him. He kissed back. It was not a romantic kiss, not one that two lovers would give to one-another. Rather, it was a token, a sign of mutual gratitude given in one of the simplest and most powerful ways possible. She was right. It was a good way to say goodbye.
Finally it ended and Liara stepped back. "Good luck, John," she said.
"You as well. Take care of yourself." She moved to leave. "Oh, and Liara." She paused and turned to look back at him. "I hope you make that bastard pay."
"I will," said Liara with all seriousness. "For the three of us." Then she was gone.
John Walker sat back into his chair, the Captain's chair. "Alright Aria, what do I have to do?"
"Everything is set," said the AI. "As soon as the crew is off must do is press the button on the display in front of you marked 'GO.'"
"And what happens to you, Aria?"
"I have embedded myself into as many systems off the ship as I could have. I will go on. Do you have any request?"
"Just stay with George and Liara. Help them how you can."
"I will Courier."
The seconds passed by and turned into minutes. The dreadnought had not fired again. John would not have been surprised if the alien bastards just wanted to torment humanity as long as possible. He had similar things before.
Finally, Aria informed him the crew was off and a safe distance away. The Dawn was clear to jump and the Beam had responded saying they would do as instructed. Everything was set.
John eyed the button that would give the command when pressed. He stretched out his hand, his finger hovering just above it. All he had to do was press it. "May as well get along with it then." His finger moved closer and there was a flash.
And so ends another chapter. I hope you enjoyed it and if you did feel free to follow or favorite the story. Tune in next time for the next exciting chapter! Till then!