Mass Effect is the property of Bioware. 20th Century Fox owns the Alien/Predator franchise.

Hi everyone. I'm sorry it took so long, but real life was very busy. I was traveling for most of the past month. On top of that, I'm changing jobs, which this time involves changing countries, so I have a lot going on right now. I'll try to update again as soon as possible, but it may take a while before I'm back on schedule. Please bear with me. I'm not abandoning this story.

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Geneva, Earth

Hundreds of boots crashed into the pavement with metronomic regularity; for long seconds it was the only sound one could hear; then the rolling of the drums, then the pipes.
General Spears watched his viewscreens with considerable satisfaction. His gamble was paying off. Earth hadn't seen this kind of spectacle for nearly two centuries, not on this scale. With the fading of national governments and the rise of the corporations the concept of a military parade had almost disappeared. The ultimate demise of the corporate authority and the subsequent creation of the Alliance of United Systems had not done much to change it. Still, some people had remembered. They had preserved the old traditions, even though no-one seemed to care. Now they were coming out of obscurity. Never mind what highlanders were doing on the streets of Geneva. That question could be asked later, and talk-show hosts could joke about the Scottish invasion of Switzerland. Today, none of that mattered. The only thing that counted was that they were there. They could be seen, they could be heard, and they provided a focus for people who were, as yet, more confused than anything else.

"General, it's working!" one of his aids was waving a datapad. "The riots are diminishing."

"Good! Keep those bands playing until they drop and then find me more."

"More? General, I think we have every military marching-band on earth out on the streets. And where there is no military band, we have the police and the fire-departments taking up the slack."

Spears sighed. People could be so slow. "I - DON'T - CARE!. Get me more! Get me every re-enactment group and renaissance fair your can find. Drag extras away from movie sets if you have to. As long as they can wear a uniform and march in step, I want them out there. The more colorful the better. People are scared. They need to see something they can look up to, something they can recognize, even if it's only from the history books, something to inspire them. I want Winged Hussars on the streets of Warshaw. I want the Foreign Legion at the Eiffel Tower. Put some wheels underneath the Terracotta army and put them on guard in front of the Forbidden City! Hell, I don't care if you have to hold a seance for the ghost of Ramses the second, just tell him to get his mummified ass moving, because I need his chariots to parade around the Great Pyramid!"

He turned back to the screen.

"Humanity is going to war, on very short notice, after a very long time of being at peace. At least that's how the general public saw things. That's a big problem for a lot of people and they may start to panic unless we can get them to focus. We need people to think military, to feel military, and for that we need anything and everything that can inspire some martial pride. Meanwhile ..." he paused. "Meanwhile we might as well put the present situation to some good use. Send a message to First Fleet command. Tell them that I'm afraid of what will happen when the news hits the colonies. Therefore I'm extending the state of emergency to include all USM forces. Tell those lazy bastards to get moving. I want First Fleet to be at full war strength within two weeks."

One of the aides tried to interrupt, but Spears waved him off.

"I know, strictly speaking I cannot do that, but I can declare local states of emergency when required. So, seeing as how I believe that local unrest might erupt anywhere, at any time, I'll just declare a 'local' state of emergency everywhere. Right now, no-one is in a position to stop us."

There was a knock on the door and another aide entered.

"General Spears, sir, I have a message from the Assembly. They want to send a delegation to speak with you."

Spears smiled. "Really? Well then, I guess I'd better find out what they want to talk about."

Central command bunker, Shanxi

It was the first time that the entire command staff had gathered since the start of the invasion and the faces around the table were uniformly grim. There were also some empty spots; most notably, colonel MacGruder, the senior battalion commander, was missing. He was presumed dead, along with two-thirds of his troops, in the destruction of the space port.

"Ladies and gentlemen," general WIlliams began. "We're all pressed for time, so I want to keep this meeting as short as possible. Right now, we're holding our own, but only barely. That has to change, and in order to turn things around, we need as much information as we can get our hands on. First of all, we've been able to gather some technical data on our new enemies. I suggest that we start with a brief overview of our latest analysis. Lieutenant Sosa?"

All eyes turned to lieutenant Velina Sosa. With the withdrawal of the naval force from Shanxi her position as liaison had become largely irrelevant. However, as the only remaining naval officer she had rather more technical training than either the marines, or the militia, and she had jumped at the opportunity to coordinate the research efforts that had started as soon as the first examples of alien infantry weapons had been brought in. It helped that she had gained at least a little experience in R&D on a previous posting and the alien equipment posed a marvelous challenge.

"General, sir, the analysis is still preliminary, but I think that we can draw some conclusions from it. So far, the picture we're building from the turian equipment is somewhat mixed. Technologically, it is very advanced. However, that is mainly in the design concept. The end result is actually not nearly as impressive as one might expect."

Velina picked up a turian rifle that one of the marines had picked up from an alien corps. While recognisable as a weapon it seemed to have been designed by a surrealist on drugs.

"This seems to be the standard personal weapon of the turian infantry. It qualifies, more or less, as an assault rifle. However, its internal workings are actually more like the main armament of a warship. It's a mass accelerator, powered by a tiny eezo core."

There were some raised eye-brows around the table.

"Is that even possible?" One of the marines asked. "The smallest mass accelerator I've ever seen needed an APC to carry it around. Hell, even the ones on our fighter-craft are an order of magnitude bigger than that thing!"

Velina nodded.

"That's correct, sir. However, it seems that the aliens have miniaturized mass-effect technology far beyond anything we've ever attempted. At least, anything we've ever attempted outside a laboratory." She hesitated. "However, I would like to add that this seems to be a cultural choice, as much as actual technological advancement. It may actually be possible to build something like this with our current level of technology, or at least we may be able to do so in the near future, but there is no particular need for it. Our own weapons work quite well, so why make something as expensive and complicated as this? That's what our technicians are wondering about right now. They're practically drooling over the tech inside these weapons, but they cannot see a practical reason to build them. No matter how advanced their industrial basis is, a weapon like this is going to be far more expensive than a chemically powered rifle, plus it contains a lot of technology that might fail. Production quality control and maintenance for these things has to be a nightmare."

"It has to have some advantage," General Williams commented. "I cannot believe that these aliens are just insane, or so in love with high-tech that they waste a fortune on a hand-gun, just because they like gadgets. A private individual might do that if he has the money to spare. Not a military organisation."

"Well," Velina answered. "It does have some advantages. The high velocity of these rounds allows them to penetrate armor more effectively than our own weapons and without the added hassle of creating specialized armor-piercing rounds. From what the biologists tell us about their physiology that would be a big advantage for them. They basically have armor plates for skin. I suspect it also explains why they walk around in those plate-armor suits. Soft body-armor is not going to be much use against this kind of weapon. Basically, they seem to have focused on weaponry that will harm them most effectively, then built armor to protect against such weapons. Also, the ammunition is basically just a block of metal, so it's much cheaper than chemically powered rounds. Still, without knowing more it's impossible to say how many rounds one would have to fire to break even. If that's the big advantage it's more likely to be in the logistics and supply, which gets a lot simpler. Soldiers no longer have to carry spare ammo around either. A single ammunition block is enough for thousands of rounds."

"Wait, what?! Are you saying that this gives a soldier infinite ammunition? And you and your techs cannot see the advantage of that?"

Sosa flinched. She should have seen this coming. "Actually sir, that is not the case. The soldiers don't need to carry spare ammunition. However, their ability to fire is still limited, due to heat build-up."

General Williams, who had been on the verge of continuing his tirade stopped.

"Explain."

"Sir, all mass effect weapons have a problem with heat-dissipation. The friction generated by accelerating a piece of metal, even a small piece, to low-relativistic velocities creates a lot of heat. So, does the generator that has to generate the required power. That heat has to go somewhere. Aboard starships, that's not a big problem, because all mass accelerators have active cooling mechanisms that help dissipate the heat; but a weapon this small cannot have its own active cooling. There just isn't enough room, plus the weight would be prohibitive. Passive cooling through radiative surfaces can only do so much. So, if you keep firing for too long, the weapon overheats and has to shut down. We did some tests. A soldier can fire a handful of bursts, then the weapon stops working and he has to wait several seconds, at least, before it can be used again. One of our techs is a qualified marksman. He did a speed comparison. According to him a trained marine with a Lacrima assault rifle can replace an empty magazine within less than a third of the time it takes this weapon to cool down. They may have solved the problem of limited ammunition, but they've created a whole new one."

"That would explain a lot, general," one of the marines commented. "We've been getting reports of how these aliens fight, and they all say the same thing: no sustained fire. They fire a couple of bursts, then duck for cover. We've also seen nothing like our smartguns. Nothing that you can pull the trigger on and keep firing. It may not be a big deal on offence, but if they ever have to defend-"

"They'd get overrun." Williams agreed. "Very well, make sure that this is made common knowledge. If an alien is not shooting, there is a real chance that he actually cannot shoot at all."

He looked at Velina. "Continue."

"Actually, sir, basically everything about the alien technology can be explained by these miniaturised mass effect generators. Their shields, for example: They are nothing more than a small copy of the shields we have on starships. Again, this is something we cannot currently produce, but the concept is straightforward enough. These personal shields are not particularly strong, but they can take several rounds of incoming fire before they collapse. From what the marines have been reporting, the shields are most effective against a single, powerful round, but a burst of automatic fire will wear them down quickly and they take a while to recharge."

"But we've just learned that their weapons are not suitable for sustained fire," Major Orlov, the most senior survivor of MacGruder's battalion, said thoughtfully. "That would make those shields more effective against their weapons, than against ours. I think I begin to see a pattern here. They may not be stupid, but they're definitely overspecialized. What about this stealth gear we keep hearing about? Is their some actual truth in that?"

Velina hesitated.

"To be honest, sir, we don't know for sure. We've had multiple reports of aliens appearing out of thin air, but so far no-one has been able to provide us with a working example; or, if they have, we haven't recognized it for what it is. Still... I think the rumors may have a lot of truth in them."

"And why is that, lieutenant?"

"Because it would be more of the same, sir. In theory, a mass effect field can bend light around itself, making the object effectively invisible. I know for a fact that the navy has been experimenting with this concept as a way of creating stealth ships."

"I see." General Williams seemed to be getting ready for another outburst. "And how is it, that you know this, whereas the marines have been kept in the dark, lieutenant?"

"General, sir, I was briefly involved in one of these projects during my time in R&D. Not as a technician, of course, but as assistant to one of the project leaders. The reason you have never been informed is most likely that the project was a complete failure. We never even got a proof of concept working. From what I understood the mass effect generator required to power such a stealth field would always be bigger than the field it generated, making it completely useless. However, that was for something the size of at least a shuttlecraft. Perhaps it works better on a smaller scale, and since these aliens can build mass effect technology much smaller than ours, it may just be possible that they've made it work. There have been no reports of stealth ships, so on a larger scale they may have run into the same problems we have."

Still," she continued. "It's application would be rather limited. Power requirements are huge and heat build-up inside the field would quickly become prohibitive. I don't think they can keep such a field up for long. A few minutes at most, unless they're far more advanced than they seem. On top of that, it may not work at all wavelengths. The marines have been ordered to activate infrared vision whenever there is a chance that these stealth troops are about. If that makes them visible, we've basically solved the whole problem. But, to be honest, I doubt it. If it was that easy to get around these stealth cloaks, they would be pretty much useless. Motion trackers should still work because they're using ultrasound rather than the electromagnetic waves, but-"

"But they only work against a moving target, and they were never all that precise to begin with." major Orlov said. "We know, lieutenant. Trust me, we know."

"Still, I suppose it's better than nothing," General Williams said. "Anything else to report, lieutenant."

"No, sir. That is all we have on their technology."

"Very well. Thank you. Now, the strategic situation: I suggest that we start with the periphery. First of all, the Exogeni complex. What is the current situation there?"

Exogeni research and production facility, Shanxi

The assault was failing and Lieutenant Saren Arterius was fuming as he looked on. Over two hundred turian soldiers had launched a frontal attack on the main entrance of the human industrial complex in an attempt to establish a position inside the buildings. The intent was to use this as an advance base from which they could launch the next attack. That had been more than an hour ago and ever since the sound of automatic weapons had filled the air. Now the results were becoming clear as the remnants of the assault force came streaming out of the building, rather fewer in number than they had been an hour earlier, firing their weapons to hold whatever was pursuing them at bay while they retreated toward cover. Saren's attention was drawn to two soldiers who were dragging the body of one of their comrades, either dead or wounded, with them. They almost made it, then, suddenly, a burst of fire from one of the windows tore through them. Killing one and leaving the other twitching on the ground next to the body they had been carrying. As Saren looked on in disgust the other soldiers continued their retreat, leaving the wounded to crawl to safety under their own power.

-o-o-o-

Zaeed Masani smiled as he slapped another magazine into his M41A/2 pulse rifle. That was one of the advantages of working in the private sector, you got to choose your own weapons. Not that there was something intrinsically wrong with the USM's M99 Lacrima, it was a great weapon. However, it had never felt quite right to him. It looked too much as though it had been designed by a guy in a lab-coat, rather than a soldier. No, the old M41-series had been good enough for his father and his grandfather and it was good enough for Zaeed; good enough, at least, to deal with bird-faced aliens. Whatever else they had done, these turians had thoroughly messed up the career-plans of one Zaeed Massani and nobody got away with that kind of shit.
It had seemed such a good idea: one tour with the marines to learn the trade, then move on to private security to make the big bucks: more pay for fewer risks and no-one gets you killed trying to be a hero. Unfortunately, things hadn't worked out that way. Less than a year with Solaris-Security, and what do you know? A bunch of half-assed dinosaurs shows up. Then Sol-Sec just had to pick up a contract with Exogeni, and Mrs Massani's little boy Zaeed found himself right in the path of an alien invasion. To make matters worse, it now turned out that the private sector had its own code of conduct. They might be less prone to heroics than the marines, but the end result was the same: as long as the client paid, Sol-Sec would fight; and, as their commander had assured them just before everything went to hell, Exogeni's account was paid in full, all the way to the end of the year. So, now they were stuck fighting their very own re-enactment of the Alamo. Twice the aliens had forced their way into the Exogeni compound and twice the mercenaries, backed up by Exogeni's own guards, had driven them off, dragging the corpses of their fellow soldiers behind them. Speaking of which...
Zaeed looked outside where one of aliens he had just shot was crawling away from the Exogeni building and considered putting another round into him, then decided against it. Either way, the alien was out of the fight and maybe, just maybe, some other bird-face would be dumb enough to come out of cover to help him, providing Zaeed with yet another target.

So far the battle had been going well for them. Outnumbered and outgunned, they had not even considered contesting the ground around the facilities. Instead, they had taken cover inside the buildings, waiting for the aliens to try and force their way in. As a strategy, it wasn't without risk. If the aliens decided to simply bombard the buildings from orbit, anyone inside would be buried underneath the rubble. Fortunately, the turians seemed determined to seize the facility intact and they weren't particularly clever about it either. So far they had launched three major assaults. The first two had not even made it to the front door. The third might have ended the same way, but Sol-Sec's commander preferred not to repeat the same tactic too often. So, rather than shooting the aliens as they approached, he and his men had stayed in hiding, allowing the aliens to gain access to the buildings. The end result was devastating as the turians walked straight into predetermined firing zones and then, after taking heavy losses, had to retreat across open ground.

-o-o-o-

"Lieutenant, I believe we've found it!"

Saren turned away from his grim contemplation of the battlefield before him to where his team had been looking at possible routes for infiltration.

"Yes?"

"Over here." One of the Ghosts on his team pointed at the holographic map. "There is a small building, wedged between two larger ones. It doesn't look to be anything important, except..." He adjusted the controls on the map and a series of lines appeared. This is an observation with ground-penetrating radar. There is a whole network of tunnels connecting this building to the ones nearby. In fact..." another adjustment. "The whole complex seems to be interconnected. So, if we can make our way in, we can go everywhere."

"But can we get in?" Saren asked. "We've just seen what these humans do to people who try to fight their way inside."

The Ghost's mandible twitched in a turian smile. "We can, sir. We've taken measurements. From the edge of the compound to the wall of the bigger buildings is short enough that we can keep our cloaks up until we're in the shadow of the walls. Once we're there, the humans will be unable to spot us from the taller buildings, because we'll be underneath the windows on one building, the smaller building blocks the view from the other side, and that small building itself has no windows at all. Once we're there, we can take out any sentries and open up the way for the rest of the team."

"Just the team, then?" Saren, asked hopefully. "Not a larger unit?"

"No, sir. There is no way we could gather a large unit nearby without drawing attention. It has to be just our team."

"Good! make it happen. I'll talk to the local commander and inform him that we're going in."

-o-o-o-

The stealth cloaks used by infiltrator type soldiers were good, but they were never perfect. The closer you came, the more likely you were to see the faint distortion that outlined the silhouette of anybody hiding. On top of that, even the most skilled infiltrator could keep his cloak active for a limited amount of time. It was good for getting from one place to another while remaining unseen, but you couldn't spy on people just by standing around cloaked while they talked nearby without a serious risk of detection. So, despite the existence of stealth cloaks, few people worried about that kind of security breach. In fact, the turian Ghost infiltrators themselves would have been the first to laugh at such a suggestion.

Someone else was laughing too, but then his cloak was of rather better quality. Standing only a few steps away one of the members of the hunting party looked on with considerable interest as the turian special forces team started to work out the details of their assault plan. His companions, already scouting out the grounds around the human complex had already informed him of the weak spot in the human defences. Interestingly, it was also right on top of the facility they were actually looking for. Now it seemed as though the turians would be kind enough to open the door for them. Of course, it would make things more complicated. For one thing, they would have to make sure that the turians didn't trample all over the research lab before they had a chance to obtain what they had come for. On top of that, it seemed quite likely that the turian infiltration would alert the human security forces who seemed to have developed an unfortunate habit of just filling a corridor with bullets if they thought they saw anything alien. Once it got hit, not even a Yautja cloak would remain up forever and their armour had its limitations as well. Still, an easy hunt was a boring hunt. This particular hunt promised to be very interesting.

As he watched the turians seemed to have reached a decision and started to gather their weapons and gear. The predator sent a quick message to his companions, alerting them to the new developments. Then he left, moving ahead of the turian special forces team. On his tactical screen, he could see the others moving as well. All converging on the small building.

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Spears' messiah-complex, which was very strong in the book, is showing a little. I don't intend for him to go off the deep end completely, though, because in 'Nightmare Asylum' that was at least partially due to telepathic influence from the Alien queen.

Note that Velina's analysis of the motive to field mass effect based weapons is not entirely correct. Species without natural body armor, like salarians and asari also developed such weapons. I just tried to come up with the sort of explanation that someone with limited time and information might think up.

The amount of time a cloak can stay up is a bit difficult to estimate. As a player it is very short, but in cut-scenes Kazumi seems to walk around cloaked permanently.

The M41A/2 is a later version of the iconic pulse rifle from Aliens. It is used in the Alien vs. Predator games.

David: Regarding turians units, actually they use both. Most of the time they talk about legions, but in ME3 you have a mission to retrieve the 'banner of the first regiment'. It makes sense that they would have more than one type of unit. Historically, typical roman legions were about 6000 men strong. That puts them somewhere in between a brigade and a division by modern standards. They should have some form of subdivision. I considered using cohorts or manipels to stick with the roman theme, but since there is a canon reference to a regiment, I went with that instead. Keep in mind that all names would be translations anyway. Those were probably assigned by people in a hurry during, or immediately after, the war. If one translator was a history buff, but another wasn't, the mismatch in names is not that strange.