The Cosmic Age

by Familiar47

Long after the days of the Courier and the Lone Wanderer, humanity uses the technology of alien visitors to build themselves back up. When they reach out into the cosmos however, they discover that the galaxy is not always receptive to the adventurous. Rated for violence and language. Bashing kept at a minimum.

8. Chapter 7: Fall of Shanxi Part 5

Cosmic Age

Long after the defeat of Caesar's Legion and the liberation of New Vegas, the Courier and Lone Wanderer make use of the Theta Technology to bring humanity back from the edge of extinction and take to the stars. When they reach too far they discover that the galaxy is not always receptive to the adventurous.

I do not own Fallout or Mass Effect

Also, for anybody who is sick to death of stories where the Council is incompetent/evil/out of character/childish/any sort of combination of those things...this is for you.

Also, I will be taking SOME liberties with material from both Mass Effect and Fallout.

Just one warning...this chapter will be a BIG one. I want to try and get through the Fall of Shanxi Arc in one or two more chapters tops. After that we have the hopefully shorter Shanxi Insurgency Arc.

For this chapter I'm going to try focusing solely on the Turian/Alliance front so I can wrap things up, so you can expect this chapter to be much longer than usual.

On the topic of taking liberties...there is a certain character who shall immediately appear in this chapter who I am making into a natural Biotic. There is a heavy debate as to whether or not he is a biotic by nature or if they were a result of cybernetic enhancement, and I have chosen to simply retcon his status. As for who this character is...you'll see shortly, just scroll down!

Xxx

Chapter Seven: Fall of Shanxi, Part Five, The Flames of War

Turian Staging Ground Alpha

General Desolas Arterius' quarters

Ten hours after Turian landing

Desolas may be the target of criticism by older officers for certain character traits, but one couldn't deny that he was an efficient and organized officer. A human term to apply to the man would be 'spartan' based on his quarters in one of the erected structures. It had the bare basic requirements to allow him to rest, exercise, eat and work in privacy and lacked any luxuries that other officers might procure for themselves out this far from home. A simple sleeping roll, a desk with a small computer on it, several square feet of empty space and a small circular table with a single chair were all that occupied the General's quarters as he worked away.

Currently he was looking over proposed strategies for storming the human city, each provided by favored officers of his who had been selected solely for the fact that they had enough competence not to warrant being immediately demoted and shipped off to run a graveyard shift along the Perseus Veil or Terminus borders. To their credit the ideas were sound, each designed with the fact in mind that there was next to no information on what to expect within the city walls and outlined with proper contingencies for regiments to follow in the event of an ambush, loss of command personnel or a half dozen other scenarios. These were the sort of people who Desolas would tolerate dragging around the galaxy for the benefit of actually listening to them talk, and that category was a narrow one.

"Am I interrupting, General?" A voice broke Desolas out of his thoughts, causing him to close his computer and spin his chair around to face this intruder.

Upon sighting this trespasser Desolas' frown melted away and his muscles relaxed. The Turian General rose to his feet and walked towards the door with a rare sincere smile. He threw his arms around the smaller Turian who had entered without announcing himself or asking for permission, which would have gotten anybody else reprimanded and scrubbing the latrines.

"Saren," Desolas said as he pulled away from the Turian, who looked like a younger version of the General with matching gray scales, similar fringe shape and matching blue eyes. "I hadn't been told that you had been part of the reinforcements."

Saren Arterius returned the smile. "I felt that it would be better to wait until I had actually arrived to announce myself, brother." He responded. "When I had heard that your fleet was being scrambled I managed to convince my commander to reroute my transfer."

Usually Desolas would disapprove, but right now he was just glad to have his younger sibling there with him. Saren was one of the few people who could get past Desolas' outer shell (the shell known as 'General Arterius'), and one of the rare people who Desolas could casually converse with.

"So you decided to follow me out here just so you wouldn't miss out on the fun?" Desolas joked, gesturing to the chair at his table with one hand. "Please, sit."

Saren accepted the offer and seated himself on the simple stool, partially leaning on the table. "Actually I wanted to see if the rumours were true regarding this new species." He responded. "And it seems they were not wrong."

"I don't blame you if you were apprehensive." Desolas pulled the chair away from his work desk to sit across from his younger brother. "I was too, but Captain Pridius provided ample physical evidence of this new civilization...and of the dangers it represented."

Saren cocked his head at that last part, his facial features subtly shifting enough to tell Desolas that the young soldier was deep in thought. A slight glance down towards the table, downwards shifting of the facial plates located on his brow, minor movement of lower mandibles. It was Saren's 'thinking' face, and Desolas had mastered the art of spotting it from a young age.

"I can't disagree," Saren admitted, "But do you really intend to invade the whole of their territory?"

"If necessary, yes." Desolas answered, lacing his fingers together and resting his hands on the table. "However if the conquest of this world proceeds as planned we may be able to explore other options...I won't hold my breath, but if somebody can get these humans to send their leaders to the negotiation table I wouldn't be entirely against negotiating from a strengthened position."

Saren relaxed at this news. "They kept whispering things about you, Desolas." He confessed. "They said you had become obsessed with pursuing this war...I am glad to know they are wrong."

Desolas chuckled. "Of course they would say that about me. I make the decisions others falter with, and that makes them view my actions as 'extreme' or 'radical'. They forget that I too am capable of rational thought, brother, and I don't intend to wipe out this collection of races unless they truly force my hand."

Seeking to change the topic to something less grim, Desolas stood up and gestured for Saren to follow. "Enough of this talk, let's see if they've finished setting up an officer's mess yet."

The two stepped out into the heavy rain, both wearing ponchos with hoods to cover their unshielded heads. They remained out of the way of other Turians who were marching in formation, vehicles rolling on by and the odd casual stroller on their way to the officer's mess building. It was basically some tarps erected on pole digging deep into the ground and several tables beneath it; the only difference between it and the basic mess area was that it had a large secure supply crate that had extra supplies for their personal enjoyment.

"Usually I can't stand crap weather like this," Desolas confessed, and sat down without once talking to the quartermaster watching over the supply crate. "But after months on a star ship I find it to be rather...endearing."

Saren pulled his own hood back and sat back down. "I can share that sentiment." He agreed. "I expect you'll be sick of it all over again by the time you're finished on this world."

Desolas chuckled. "I intend to be finished long before I reach the point of being sickened by this planet, Saren."

Saren knew better than to doubt his brother when he told him that something was going to happen or was already happening.

"After I'm finished with this world," Desolas continued while the cook assigned to the officer's mess brought over a couple trays stacked with Dextro-Amino based food for the brother, "I should have a little more pull back home in regards to that proposal you received from the Citadel."

He was referring of course to something that had quickly catapulted Saren out of his shadow and to his side at the top of the Arterius bloodline: Saren's offer of joining the Special Tactics & Recon division of the Citadel military otherwise known as the Spectres. Over a thousand others had received the same offer, but Saren stood out at the youngest of that number and among the top ten who were likely to actually receive the position. To become a Spectre, the right hand of the Council itself was seen as nothing short of an honour which redeemed any past failures, and despite his own accomplishments Desolas never came close to being offered such a role. In addition to the prestige, the status of Spectre granted one unlimited discretion without repercussion from any laws in any society aligned with the Council, however this only lasted as long as the Council itself decided a Spectre could be trusted with such power.

Saren perked at this reminder, mainly because it came from his brother. "I wouldn't ask you to do me any favours, brother." He responded with the Turian equivalent sheepish grin.

"Nonsense!" Desolas shook his head. "You're best qualified to join the Spectres Saren, but I'm not proposing I tip the odds in your favour with some bribe; rather to simply make sure many others know your capabilities when it comes time for the Council to choose." He picked up a glass containing a blue liquid. "Mother and father would be proud of you for this, and let no one dispute that fact."

Saren picked up his own glass and met Desolas in a toast before downing the contents...

And then the world around them exploded.

Both Turians were flung from their seats as their table was flipped over. Shrapnel flew overhead, Turians nearby were flung to the ground dead or dying, screams of agony could be heard near the source of the chaos barely fifty feet from where the two brothers had been sitting.

A line of transport ships had only just landed, bringing down more vehicles and supplies in preparation for the coming assault. While one had been in the middle of unloading a large hovering tank a sudden explosion had torn through the ship, detonating its fuel supply and the munitions stored aboard. The same thing had happened to several other transport ships lined up near it, triggering a chain reaction which soon left one of the Turian landing fields consumed in flames.

"Spirits," Saren coughed, pushing the table up and off of himself and Desolas before kneeling down to help his elder sibling. "Brother, are you alright?"

Desolas groaned and turned onto his side. "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is bruised and bleeding at the moment." He replied, and shrugged out of Saren's grasp when the younger Arterius attempted to help him up. "Don't waste time tending to me brother, check on the troops."

Saren nodded and rushed towards the site of the explosions where other Turians were attempting to carry away or extinguish survivors. He stopped to help lift a section of charred hull plating off of a partially crushed soldier and drag the man away, his legs no reduced to bloody tatters with bone poking through into the open. The sight would be enough to make most Turians fresh out of training feel sick, but Saren had more than a few years of service under his belt and was used to such grotesque displays. Luckily the medic appeared to share a similar amount of experience, as he was calmly working on stabilizing the poor foot soldier.

As Saren knelt and held the Turian down to allow a medic to sedate him, he took notice of something that was lost to most among the chaos...

The muddy ground was a mess of Turian boot prints a trails being dug by bodies being dragged away, but close by he noted some movement where there was no one to disturb the moist earth. Something was pressing an imprint into the surface, leaving a trail that led away from the wreckage. Saren glanced back down, pretending not to have notice this phenomenon and activated his Omni-Tool.

Luckily the medic had the injured Turian sedated by that point, excusing Saren who shot to his feet chased after the invisible entity fleeing the scene of the explosion, trying to catch up before the rain could wash the trail away. He also had to be careful not to tip them off too soon or they might realize their flaw and escape before he could get close enough. Saren pretended to stop to examine the corpse of a fallen technician, glancing up and keeping track of where the new indentations appeared in the mud before choosing to act.

The Turian's Omni-Tool lit up again as he shot forward and grasped an invisible shape standing at the height of his chest. The unseen shape began to struggle, but before it had any time to form a defence or try to escape Saren activated his Omni-Tool's Overload ability. The result was the manifestation of a bipedal figure clad in a dark suit covering it from head to toe, parts of it blinking in and out of sight thanks to Saren damaging what he assumed was a stealth suit. Based on the size and proportions, which were similar to an Asari, he assumed it to be a human.

The human twisted in his grasp and managed to land a kick to his abdomen that caused Saren to stumble back a step and allowed the saboteur the chance to bolt.

"Stop!" Saren growled, sprinting after them as the masked human took off through the Turian camp.

With the distraction caused by the explosion most Turians in the area had converged on the blast area or were rushing to their own stations. By the time the human reached a crowded area their stealth suit was working again, but Saren could now see a more obvious distortion in the space behind the human, making it easier for him to lock onto them even in the crowd. However for the other Turians rushing to their posts they were too distracted to spot the vaguely outlined figure weaving between them with the grace of an Asari Commando.

On foot this human was undeniably much faster than Saren, so the Turian needed to compensate for this by getting them into a wide open area so he could neutralize them regardless of the distance between them.

The chase took them straight towards the edge of the camp where the human detonated a series of explosives that had somehow been planted on several of the perimeter guns. This disorganized the guards there long enough for the human to slip past and begin sprinting for the cover of a nearby tree line.

Behind them, Saren leaned down to scoop up a rifle dropped by one of the injured sentries. The rifle unfolded in his grip as he dashed towards the trees where his quarry had vanished.

Xxx

"Eva, status?" The voice of the mercenary who had conversed with General Williams mere hours before was heard through a radio within the fleeing human's helmet.

"Objective achieved." The saboteur known as Eva gasped, darting through the underbrush and sliding down a slow. "I'm en route to rally point alpha!"

"Copy," Her colleague responded, "Proceeding with phase two. Are you being pursued?"

"Negati-" Eva yelped as splinters exploded out from a tree trunk on her right, causing her to stumble away. She glanced back over her shoulder and sighted a figure darting between the trees not far behind her. "Affirmative! Affirmative! Got at least one in pursuit!"

"Reroute to rally point bravo. Someone will meet you there."

"Wilco!" Eva responded, taking off again and using the trees to throw off the aim of her pursuer as he fired a second shot which flew under her right arm and scraped the side of her armour before striking a rock ahead of her. "Gotta be fast, his aim is getting better!"

Xxx

Barely fifty yards behind her, Saren had the rifle fold up and slapped it into place on his back so that he could move faster. The trees and terrain made it difficult to acquire a clear line of sight on a moving target, so he would focus just on keeping them in sight until he had an opportunity. The young Turian nimbly navigate the forest floor, beginning to gain ground on the human.

"Saren, do you have eyes on the hostile?" He heard Desolas' voice through his communicator.

"Affirmative!" Saren replied, "Proceeding north through the forest!"

"I'm airborne in two and rerouting local patrols to intercept." Desolas informed him, the sounds of a dropship's engines firing up filling the background. "Keep them in your sights, neutralize them if you get a chance but try to take them alive."

"No promises."

Saren vaulted over a fallen tree which the human had hastily rolled under moments before. The distance between them was closing now that the human had to carefully maneuver lest they trip whereas Saren could do the same thing without slowing down. Their chase took them to the banks of a river shallow enough for the human's knees to remain above the water where she crossed, but she was still slowed down enough for Saren to have a clear shot.

He slid to a stop on the bank of the river while smoothly falling into a crouched position and snatching the rifle off of his back. The weapon extended to is full length as he brought it to bear and a scope popped out as he lined up his shot and squeezed the trigger just as the human reached the far side of the river. A resounding explosion of air filled the forest as his shot struck home right in the human's back, a little above her left hip.

Xxx

"Fuck!" Eva gasped as she set a hand over the hole that had been blasted through her and limped away from the river bank. She turned and fired a pistol behind her, bullets striking the water, the sand, the trees...and only one struck her alien pursuer only to be deflected off of a blue barrier which appeared around him. "Oh come on!"

She managed to reach the tree line and began to stumble, using the trees on either side to steady herself as she continued on towards her destination. Her side was on fire and blood was pouring from the wound, but Eva's medical systems were already reacting to the damage. Soon the burning became a blinding pain which caused her to cry out and fall over as her suit injected a foam into the breach to stop the outgoing flow of blood, filling the breach until the skin surrounding both the entry and exit wound bulged and a white semi-solid rubber substance squirted through the holes in her armour only to solidify itself.

"Ffff..." Eva climbed back to her feet to keep moving only to come face to face with a pale grey armoured torso and the barrel of a familiar rifle. She looked up into the eyes of the alien who she had left behind at the lake. "What in the actual hell?!"

Xxx

Approximately one minute ago

Saren's shot had not been meant to kill, but to wound the human so that she would be that much easier to detain. He found it odd that her armour appeared to lack functioning kinetic barriers, but from what Desolas' men had seen of countless humans (both living and dead) they were a mixed bag. Some had armour with kinetic barriers almost on part with the average Turian trooper, others lacked barriers altogether. Given her actions it could be that her suit had been specialized towards infiltration and as a result of a lack of progress in the field of barrier technology they had either neglected or failed to install barrier emitters.

He could only shake his head as he watched the human limp away while firing several hasty shots over her shoulder. One struck his barriers but barely lowered them by ten percent.

Saren tapped his communicator. "Broth-General," He corrected himself quickly, "What is your ETA to my position?"

"Touching down in three minutes."

"Then I suppose I'd best bring this chase to an end." Saren sighed before crouching in the wet sand.

A blue aura flared around the young Turian as he dug his feet in and then launched himself forward, folding space around himself as he vanished from where he stood and reappeared on the far side of the river, saving himself the trouble of splashing across.

This display of power came from Saren's biotics, an ability to generate and manipulate mass effect fields caused by the formation of element zero nodules within his body as a result of him or a recent ancestor being exposed to a little too much eezo while in utero. Saren was one in several thousand Turians exposed at this stage who came out lucky enough to possess these powers...however the amount of luck was subjective. The Hierarchy had a mistrust of Biotics, and even Turians who merely had Biotic potential were shipped off to join units such as the one that Saren was part of: The Turian Cabals.

Many saw being a Cabal as a career end, as few ever moved up beyond being a field officer thanks to a slight prejudice against Biotics in the military. Saren however had embraced his role and had prospered thanks to Desolas convincing more than a few people to look past his abilities, hence why he'd had enough pull to have his unit rerouted to assist in this very campaign.

Straightening up, Saren followed the trail of crushed branches and trampled leaves until he caught sight of the human up ahead. She had collapsed to the ground and was tightly gripping the area where she had been shot. Saren saw something sprouting from the holes left in her stealth suit and realized the cause of the human's pain after using his Omni-Tool to run a quick diagnostic scan. It appeared that the human's armour came equipped with an onboard medical system which was sealing her wounds-an impressive design for sure.

As the human began to rise back up Saren took one step forward and vanished once again, reappearing in front of the human and turning to face her with his rifle aimed right between her eyes. She stared at him for a second before groaning something in her language.

Saren cracked a smirk and tapped into his communicator again. "General, I have her-"

Suddenly Saren's barriers lit up as the sound of rapid gunshots filled the air. Bullets fired from the foliage impact and quickly lowered the Turian's defences as Saren threw himself to the ground and rolled over, swapping to his pistol and returning fire at the unseen shooter. The human woman quickly dove into cover as bullets flew overhead and began to add her own shots to the barrage as Saren tried to spot the first shooter.

"Scratch that," Saren shouted into his communicator, "She has backup!"

"Copy, we're closing in. Stand by."

A figure suddenly crashed through the foliage close to Saren and slammed into him hard enough to knock the Turian over. He saw a pair of red glowing eyes and the glint of a blade descending towards him. Saren grasped his assailant's wrist, stopping the blade a mere inch from his right eye and raised one leg up before kicking the figure back. The figure rolled and came up standing on both feet as Saren did the same thing.

This newcomer wore a long dark coat over what looked like a modified version of the basic human armour model. Their head was covered by a helmet with two red eye shaped visors and a nozzle on the lower section similar to that of a Volus' mask. In one hand they grasped a knife, resting their thumb along the length of the hilt while their fingers wrapped around the section closer to the blade as they positioned their arms at chest level in a stance which Saren recognized as a knife fighter's pose.

Saren immediately prioritized this newcomer, not even caring that his original target was scrambling away through the trees. He reached down to his left thigh as a compartment slid open, presenting the hilt of a monomolecular twelve inch blade which he extracted while assuming a stance of his own. Adrenaline rushed through the Turian's veins as the roar of a pair of thrusters swept in and a search light began to illuminate the ground around them.

"Cabal Arterius, what is your position? Repeat, Cabal Arterius, what is your position?" Desolas demanded through the communicator, but Saren was too fixated on the blade wielding human before him. "Damn it Saren say something!"

Suddenly the human lunged forward with speed that caught Saren off guard. The weight of their coat and cumbersome looking armour had made him believe that the human would use a more grounded, defensive style instead of fast and aggressive. Despite this initial surprise Saren managed to easily lean back out of reach of a strike aimed at his throat while side stepping and rotating to keep his front to the human as they circled one another. The human appeared to be testing Saren's defences, jabbing at him while focusing mainly on his exposed throat and face.

After allowing this to go on for several moments Saren counter attacked, striking with a frontal kick to the human's torso strong enough to stagger the masked warrior and then followed up by launching himself forward and leaping past the human while twisting his body and jabbing his blade down towards the junction where their shoulder met their neck. The human reacted just as quickly as Saren had before, dropping to the left and rolling away fast enough that Saren's blade just barely pierced their suit and drew first blood by nicking the skin. If the human had been a half second slow they would have had the knife buried into their spine.

Saren gave chase, but the human's leg swung up and struck the knife from his grasp as the human flipped themselves back into a standing position just as the spotlight settled on his position. The red visors turned to the sky in time to spot a Turian gunner leaning out the side of a gunship before a hail of mass accelerator fire rained down on the human. Fortunately for the warrior his suit possessed barriers which deflected the odd stray round while he dove for cover.

Saren leapt back, propelling himself backwards while coated in a biotic aura right into a tree and reaching up to grasp a thick branch with one hand while he tapped his communicator with the other.

"Hold fire!" He shouted. "You have friendlies and hostiles in close proximity; check your damn targets next time!"

The fire ceased, and Saren could see his brother Desolas behind the gunner, scanning the ground with his eyes as the human knelt behind a tree to stay out of the illuminating glare of the search light. Desolas made a gesture, and two Turian soldiers leapt out of the side hatch and triggered their propulsion packs to slow their descent before they landed on the forest floor, rifles in hand. It was only at this point that the human made himself know, striking from behind at one of the soldiers by cutting into the unarmoured back of his right knee. The Turian gave a muffled yelp and toppled over while the other turned only for his weapon to be kicked away; he managed to grasp the human's knife hand and stop the weapon short, but Saren spotted the armoured warrior reaching for something else at his belt...

"Look out!" Saren shouted and launched himself from the tree as the human produced a handle almost eighteen inches in length which suddenly sprang a glowing blue blade. Before the young Cabal even hit the ground the human sliced up through the soldier's elbow with the short axe-like weapon, causing the Turian to howl in pain as he looked at the charred and bloody stump of his limb before the human followed up with a slice to their neck, easily severing it.

Saren's feet touched ground as the soldier's helmet covered head rolled away, and he quickly lashed out with a blast of pure force that sent the human flying back. They slammed into a tree and flopped to the ground like a boneless fish while two more Turian soldiers dropped from the hovering ship overhead.

"Tend to him," Saren ordered, pointing the two newcomers to the soldier with the injured leg, "I will deal with the human."

One of them scoffed. "The fringe on this one, tossing orders our way."

It occurred to Saren that he was about to deal with the hostility that existed between Cabal units and non-Biotic soldiers, but then the second of the pair slapped his partner on the back of the helmet.

"He outranks us, now follow orders and don't act like a child." The second soldier scolded his companion, already crouching down to tend to the wounded Turian as Saren stepped towards the fallen human.

Along the way Saren spotted the weapon that the human had unleashed laying among the twigs and leaves. He picked it up and examined the handle, but could find no way of activating it and igniting the blade of blue energy again. With a shrug the Turian kept the object in hand and walked towards the human as they began to get back up. Saren quickly rammed his foot into the side of the human's leg, dislocating it and causing a strangled groan of pain to escape from the human as they collapsed again.

"I think that is enough of that," Saren said with a satisfied smirk.

"Saren!" He could hear Desolas call out from behind, but didn't take his eyes off of his defeated adversary until the General was at his side. "You did it! Excellent work."

Saren shook his head and looked at Desolas. "No. There was another human who I pursued from the camp. This one came to their aid, so I would not treat this chase as over while there may be more hiding out in these woods."

Desolas opened his mouth to respond only to be cut off by an explosion from up above. He pulled Saren down as the gunship overhead began to spin, the left main thruster taken out and the gunner falling from his perch with a cry. As the ship crashed through the trees nearby and slammed into the ground the gunner struck a branch and then landed not far from the other Turians who were keeping low. Another larger explosion erupted as the gunship's fuel lines caught fire moments later, deafening both Arterius brothers.

When Saren regained his senses he found himself laying on his side and his vision heavily blurred. He blinked and shook his head as a shape stepped into view near the wounded human and knelt, picking the form up and carrying it away. Saren caught a view of another pair of glowing red eyes before the figure vanished into the curtain of rain and shadows beyond the Turian's vision. Moments later something began to nudge him, a pair of hands gripped his shoulders and turned him onto his side to reveal Desolas, who appeared to be bleeding a bit but was otherwise in good health. He was shouting something...

"...en...aren...Saren!" He bellowed, "Saren, are you alright?!"

Saren coughed and tried to sit up. "Yes," He wheezed, "I'm alright, but the human, they-"

"I'll have reinforcements pursue," Desolas insisted, helping his younger brother up. "We won't be able to catch them on foot, not with that ship of theirs on sight." He looked up and raised his Omni-Tool, sending off a beacon to an approaching trio of gunships.

"Ship?" Saren looked around, trying to spot the vessel that Desolas was referring to.

"I saw it, only briefly." The General explained. "It hit my transport, and I bet it's moving to pick up its soldiers. Let our pilots handle this now, Saren, this fight just left the ground."

Xxx

A few hundred meters away from the crash site, a Mark II Vertibird rotated its thrusters upwards by ninety degrees as it slowed down and descended into a clearing. Three shapes made their way into view: Eva-having now discarded her helmet to reveal a head of blonde hair, her saviour, and the human who was now supporting the wounded man. The latter two wore matching uniforms as part of their mercenary group, the only difference being that the man who had come to Eva's assistance had less armour on his.

The Vertibird set down, and a side hatch opened to reveal another man clad in a suit made from salvaged Elite Ranger equipment and modern armour. He beckoned them up a short flight of stairs and helped the wounded man inside.

"We're in," Eva said to the pilots, "Get us up!"

The main pilot gave her a thumbs up and began to raise the Vertibird back up while the side hatch was closed. The thrusters rotated to propel the ship forward, and it rocketed away from several alien ships that had likely come to avenge the one shot down by the Vertibird.

"Is Ben alright?" Eva asked as she joined the circle forming around the wounded man and helped to remove his helmet, revealing a basic human with fair skin and dark hair that had been cut short. His face was coated in a cold sweat and he was breathing heavily.

"Leg," The man, Ben Hislop gasped, grasping his injured appendage. "My leg!"

The other masked man knelt and pushed the others aside. "Out of the way." He ordered, and began to carefully remove Ben's boot and cut through the fabric of his suit's leg section while Eva removed armour plating. The process caused Ben some pain, but soon his leg was exposed up to the mid thigh so that the group could work on treating his injury.

"Stim-Gel and Med-X." The masked man held out one hand and gestured with his fingers for Eva to hurry. She tore a med kit built into the wall of the Vertibird from its place and scavenged through it for a Stim-Gel Injector. She pulled one out along with a hypodermic filled with a powerful pain killer known as Med-X. She handed both to the masked man and helped the other mercenary to hold Ben down.

The masked mercenary gripped Ben's head with one hand and carefully positioned the Med-X, injecting it into his neck. He waited until Ben began to relax before moving down to the injured leg and injecting the Stim-Gel. It would not mend the injury completely, but it would cut down the recovery time down from several weeks to a few short hours. Stim-Gel was the successor to Stim Paks, created as a universal medication to treat anything short of the most life threatening injuries requiring surgery.

"Set a splint for him until we get back home." The masked mercenary ordered and walked to the back of the Vertibird as it shuddered, muffled explosions erupting outside past the layer of protective armour. "And give me the aft gun."

The co-pilot flipped a switch, and a set of turret controls were revealed in the walls near the back of the passenger compartment. The mercenary grasped one of these and took control of the starboard turret that unfolded on the outside of the central fuselage. He turned it on the pursuing alien gunships and locked onto the closest. He squeezed the trigger and heard numerous 'thuds' as high explosive shells were ejected at high speeds, several striking the gunship only to detonate against the protective barriers.

"Eva, I need a second gunner." The mercenary called to the front where Eva had finished setting Ben's leg in a splint.

Eva glanced at the other man tending to Ben. He nodded and pointed to the back while saying, "I'll watch him. Go!"

She rushed to the back and grasped the other set of turret controls, and within a minute brought down the first gunship by tearing open the cockpit and reducing the pilot to a spray of blood and meat chunks. The other two moved off to the Vertibird's flanks to avoid being caught in the fire of both turrets and resumed their efforts to hit the air craft's thrusters.

"Ammo?" The masked mercenary asked.

"Down to just over half," Eva responded, "You?"

"Less than half." He grunted and looked towards the cockpit. "ETA to New Taiyuan air space?"

"On the route we're on it'll take about fifteen minutes!" The pilot responded before the Vertibird shuddered violently. "And our barriers are collapsing! We can't keep this up!"

"We need to change things up." The masked mercenary decided, and beckoned to the man tending to Ben. "Take over here Wilson, I have an idea."

"Hislop shouldn't be left alone in his state." The man, Wilson, protested.

"And we shouldn't be shot out of the air in his state," The masked mercenary responded, "Now take the damn controls and maybe we'll live long enough to get him some real help."

With a sigh the Wilson rushed to the back and took over at the starboard turret while the masked mercenary walked to the middle of the compartment and knelt, tearing a panel away to reveal an onboard arsenal. He reached down and unclipped one weapon that actually dated back to the days when mankind had still been confined to its birth world. It was large enough that it had to be set across his shoulder and had a modified guidance system attached to its side.

"Aft hatch, now!" He barked, and the co-pilot pulled a lever which lowered the aft door, allowing the masked mercenary to crouch by the opening and set the missile launcher on his shoulder, taking aim. "See what I told you, Annabelle? I do show you all the exciting places..." (1)

He locked onto one of the gunships, the one trailing them from the right, and squeezed the trigger. Smoke exploded from the aft section of the weapon designated 'Annabelle' and a projectile rocketed away, leaving behind a trail of smoke as it shot towards the gunship and exploded against its barriers, causing them to overload as several high explosive shells struck it in quick succession and overwhelmed them. The gunship's armour was torn away in several sections, causing smoke to billow from it as it veered off.

"Two down, one to go." The masked mercenary chuckled before spotting the third gunship moving off, its pilot clearly aware of the danger now. "Scratch that, we're clear."

Eva sighed in relief as the aft hatch closed, and moved back to where Ben lay. "Ben, can you hear me? We got away." She said, grasping one of his hands.

Ben cracked one eye open and smiled a bit. "Next time try not to end up in distress, Eva, it's not setting a good example for all those fine Alliance women."

Eva snorted and rubbed Ben's head while the masked mercenary knelt next to them and began to unclasp his own helmet. He lifted it away to reveal brown hair that was only beginning to gain streaks of grey and blue eyes combined with tanned skin that was rough from prolonged exposure to the elements. He hadn't shaven in almost a week, allowing a layer of facial hair to begin growing in.

"Well, on the bright side you got to play the big damn hero again," Ben joked dryly, "Should'a remembered only you get to save peoples' bacon around these parts, Jack."

Jack Harper, known throughout Alliance space as 'The Ranger', smirked and squeezed Ben's hand. "Damn straight, Ben. Now you just lay there and try not to break anything else and I'll see about getting a pretty 'Alliance type nurse' to look at your leg when we get back to New Taiyuan."

"Wait," Ben reached into his belt, "You got the other charges set, right?"

Jack nodded. "Eva's distraction paid off. I managed to plant all fifteen charges at key points and tuned them to your detonator's frequency."

Ben grinned despite the pain from his leg and whispered as he flipped open the top of the detonator with his thumb, "Good."

He pressed down on the red button.

Miles away from the Vertibird, the alien camp was engulfed by numerous explosions. Charges had been set among several landing fields and motor pools where air craft and armoured vehicles were gathered. At first only several gunships and tanks exploded into flames and shrapnel, but those closest to them soon suffered from ruptured fuel tanks and set off a chain reaction. The same scene of destruction witnessed earlier was repeated in as many as five other areas of the alien camp. Dozens of the avian beings were caught in the blasts and incinerated while others were torn apart or sent flying.

For the mercenary group known as the Frontier Rangers, this day had been a complete success.

For a Turian General, this was nothing short of humiliation.

Xxx

Turian Dreadnaught A'kalez

Cell Block

When Kravos received the news of what had happened down on the planet's surface he had been in the middle of speaking with one of the human prisoners, attempting to expand the Translation Index by way of displaying pictures and having the human state what it was in their language. So far he had only managed a few dozen individual words, and completing even a partial index would take upwards of a week. Other roadblocks were the condition of the prisoners, many of whom were exhausted and falling asleep in their cells by this point.

"Take her back to her cell," Kravos ordered the guards, who escorted the human from his new temporary office. Now that he had some privacy he opened his Omni-Tool to read the new alert that had popped up in his message box. As his eyes scrolled over the new information he blurted out loud, "Spirits!"

The humans had executed a covert sabotage operation right in the heart of the Turian encampment, destroying valuable hardware and killing a little under a hundred soldiers with planted explosives that had set off numerous chain reactions. Almost three times Turians as many had been injured to the point of requiring evacuation and another two hundred had received lighter injuries based on the reports.

Almost six hundred soldiers were out of the fight before it had even truly started, killed in a way that had deprived them of a dignified death, the chance to stand on their feet and fight for their lives.

Kravos slammed one fist down against his desk with a growl, cursing the humans responsible, the General who had led these brave soldiers to their deaths...himself for his own part in this travesty. The young Captain groaned and let his upper body collapse across the smooth metal top of the desk, hands gripping his head as Kravos took several deep breaths.

With every passing hour since entering this system all he had wanted to do was collapse onto his cot and pass out for a few hours. Everything that had happened since the incursion that had triggered this whole mess weighed heavily on Kravos, and each Turian life extinguished only served to amplify the guilt he felt. It was like a mountain was pressing down against him and only growing heavier with each passing second, penning him in and keeping him from any hope of escaping this nightmare. The only thing that kept him going at this point was the faint hope that Admiral Trisun might restore some measure of sanity to this mission.

A knock at his door snapped Kravos back to reality. He shot upright and straightened himself out before calling out. "Enter!"

The door opened, and the two guards stepped back inside with the last two prisoners who had yet to be questioned. One was a Ghoul with deep red tinted flesh (if that's what you could call it) and wore a dark coloured robe of some kind while the other was a human male who wore a similar attire that was colored black and red.

"I said I'm only interviewing one at a time." Kravos stated firmly, glancing down at his computer.

"Understood sir, we just thought we'd save some time by having the other one on hand for when you're finished with the first." One of the guards responded, forcing the younger human to sit down across from Kravos by placing a hand on his shoulder. "You've been at this all day, if we can spare you a few minutes of waiting it's a little more time you'll have to rest up."

Kravos appreciated the thought, and decided to overlook what was technically a violation of his orders. "Very well," He said, "Let's begin."

Xxx

Elder Thompson watched as the alien conjured his strange holographic tool and tap a command into it. After several moments the alien looked right at the young scribe sitting across from him and cleared his throat before speaking in barely passable English.

"You. Hear. Me?"

The scribe glanced at Thompson nervously only to cringe as the guard tightened his grasp on his shoulder. The young man nodded quickly and hastily responded, "Yes! I hear you."

"Good." The alien officer nodded before turning the holographic screen of his computer to face the scribe. "Name."

"Uh...Scribe Hector Palladino-" Hector cringed again and gasped as the guard dug his fingers into his shoulders. "What?! You wanted my name!" (1)

The alien officer said something and gestured to the guard, who eased his grip on the young man. The officer pointed to the screen. "Name. This."

On the screen was the image of several seemingly random objects. At first Hector and Thompson thought that they were weapons or pieces of technology that the aliens had captured during their siege of the Chairman, but instead they were...shapes, just random shapes.

"Uh...triangle?" Hector pointed to the shape that the alien had indicated.

Immediately the officer activated his tool again and spoke several words before repeating what Hector had said. This process was repeated several more times, soon moving on from shapes to objects such as a ball, a shirt, a pair of trousers, a medical kit and even a pair of glasses.

After recording almost thirty different words from Hector the alien officer appeared to be satisfied. He began to speak to the guards before the door flew open and another alien stormed in, barking something that neither Thompson nor Hector could comprehend.

Xxx

"That will be enough, Captain!" The newcomer growled.

Kravos shot to his feet. "What is the meaning of this?" He demanded, "Can't you see that I'm in the middle of a delicate procedure?"

"What you're in the middle of doing is wasting time that could be spent gaining valuable information on the enemy's ground assets." The Turian was a Lieutenant, but Kravos realized upon examining the markings of his uniform that he was from Desolas' staff, all of whom were supposed to be down on the surface. "I speak with the authority of General Arterius on this matter, Captain, and in his name I order you to transfer custody of your prisoners to me so that-"

Kravos stormed around the desk and gripped the Lieutenant's shoulders. He slammed the younger Turian against the wall and growled, "Don't you dare command me, Lieutenant. General Arterius is not here. This is Admiral Trisun's flag ship and I speak with her authority when I tell you to get the hell out of my office and allow me to continue my work!"

The Lieutenant shoved Kravos back and dusted his uniform off. "General Arterius has overall command of this expedition, Captain Pridius. His authority outstrips Admiral Trisun's, and he has commanded that any humans captured alive during the siege are to be transferred to a ship of his choice for interrogation."

"I will let that happen when the Shamed Spirits claw their way out of Arterius' ass and slap him for the sheer gall he's instilled in his subordinates." Kravos countered. "These are my prisoners, not his, and if you want to take them then you'd best have a whole company backing you up, boy."

"What I have is the authority-"

"To blazes with his authority!" Kravos thundered, "If he wants these prisoners then he'll have to come up here and take them himself, and he'll have to go through me and the Admiral to make it happen."

The Lieutenant growled, clearly losing any semblance of patience that he ever had to begin with. He pushed past Kravos and gripped the human, Palladino while replying. "It's your funeral then Captain. The moment Desolas hears of this insubordination he'll have your rank. In the meantime however, you will abide by his command and allow me to at least begin interrogation on this one now that you're finished with him."

The human cried out as the Lieutenant attempted to wrench him from his seat. He gripped the offending wrist and tried to pull free while the Ghoul growled and moved forward only to be pulled back by the guard positioned behind him. Kravos tried to get between Palladino and the Lieutenant, grasping the latter's arm and barking out an order that was lost among the raised voices as the office slowly became the sight of a chaotic struggle.

Xxx

Palladino could feel his arm being wrenched from its socket as the two aliens fought over him. He had no idea what had triggered this argument, all he knew was that he had been dragged right into the cross fire and this newcomer clearly was not as civilized as the officer who had questioned him.

Reacting on instinct, Palladino bit on his own glove and pulled until his hand was free. Thompson spotted this and managed to break free of his captor, lunging forward despite his wrists being cuffed behind his back.

"NO!" The Ghoul shouted, but was too late to stop Palladino from setting one hand on the exposed face of the alien gripping his arm. At the same time the alien officer shot one hand out and grabbed Palladino's...

And both aliens immediately began to howl in agony.

Xxx

One moment Kravos had been in the midst of dealing with the up-jumped helped sent by Desolas and trying to keep him from harming the human...what was his name again, Palladino? The next moment he found himself experiencing a pain that could not be equalled by a thousand days of continuous combat and a thousand nights of borderline fatal hangover induced headaches. He was plummeting through darkness with images flashing before his eyes.

He was running across a grass covered ground, down a slope towards where his mother was putting a leash on his pet Caessor (2), ready to return home.

Then he was standing in the wide open and walled off front yard of his family estate, ducking under the training stave held by his appointed instructor. Kravos parried an attempt to strike at his extended left leg and twisted around the handle of his weapon to try delivering a kick to the older Turian's midsection only to be grabbed in mid leap and throw several feet away. He quickly scrambled back into a fighting stance, knowing the consequence of being too slow...

And then Kravos was standing in line with hundreds of other young Turians. They had undergone training and were now being dispatched to serve their mandatory tours of duty. As crowds waved in farewell to the countless young soldiers marching aboard shuttles he caught sight of his parents in the crowd but couldn't bring himself to wave back.

The scene changed to a hazy and darker setting where the air was choked with dust and shrapnel fell all around as artillery mortars struck all around. Kravos was pressed in the crater left by one such detonation next to another Turian, to whom he served as spotter. The sniper cursed as his rifle overheated and held it out to Kravos, who was cradling the second sniper rifle and quickly swapped it for the overheated weapon. The sniper lined up his next target only for the crate to suddenly become consumed by an explosion of dust and rock fragments, deafening Kravos and leading him to be unaware for several moments of the fact that the sniper had just been reduced to past not three feet away from where he lay.

Hospital stays, redeployments, reassignment to a ship, promotions and finally receiving the Valor.

Kravos' entire life flashed by faster than he could comprehend it...

All he could do was scream as the darkness retreated and the light came flooding back in to burn at his exposed conscience.

Xxx

The experience had only lasted a split second before Thompson slammed into all three individuals, knocking them to the floor and causing Palladino to relinquish his grasp on the Turian officer. The guards jumped into action and pulled both humans up, slamming them face down against the floor close by and securing them while calling for backup.

Thompson turned and glared at Palladino, who was busy having his nose squished against the metal plating. The stupid boy had just given away an ability that most people in the Alliance remained unaware of and he'd probably fried the brains of two aliens in the process. The duo had been the victims of a telepathic assault on their minds, but damage caused by these mental attacks were short term as long as the span of the attack itself was brief...but nobody had ever tried such a thing against a non-human.

As Thompson was forced to his feet and dragged from the office he could only think of how it would be a stretch trying to explain the existence of tactile telepathy when he could barely even ask where the bathroom was to these aliens. (3)

Xxx

New Taiyuan

Southern Sector

It had been easy for Ghost Leader and his team to reach the top of the perimeter wall from within. There had been a guarded elevator, but the stairwells traversing the height of the structure were unguarded save by a few cameras and laser tripwires that were easily avoided. Four Turians stepped out onto the exposed top of the human city's perimeter wall and were given a clear view of the interior from their perch. The entire top of the wall consisted of structures containing what appeared to be defensive cannons, and were connected by a n open walkway located on the interior side of the wall.

The Ghosts had wasted no time in executing their objectives. Each gun emplacement was contained within a protective structure of metal and stone that could open up to give it a full view and the ability to rotate three-sixty degrees; these structures made it easy for them to take their time in neutralizing any humans they found within and hiding their charges before moving onto the next. The key objective to this operation was to blow a hole in this section of the human perimeter large enough for the Hierarchy to begin its assault at first light. This meant that the gun turrets had to go, along with the numerous barrier emitters that the Ghosts encountered as they quickly went through twenty gun houses, taking barely a minute between each and splitting up so that they could hit four at once.

The only humans up here were the odd sentry and a few operators left at the control of every turret, but they were either avoided or silently dispatched with a slice to the throat or a twist of their neck. Soon the Ghosts had rigged every structure that had been indicated as part of the 'breach area' and converged near the middle of the affected area.

Ghost Leader was well aware that at any moment a sentry could choose to break from their path and step inside one of the structures where they would be met with the sight of several dead allies and a Turian explosive charge fixed to the base of the laser turret. If even one of the charges were disarmed the Hierarchy's offensive could be turned into a massacre. To avoid that the charges had to be blown as quickly as possible, and before that could happen his team had to vacate the area without triggering any alarms.

And there was only one way to get off this wall quickly enough.

He signed a message to his team.

Check. Objective achieved?

A response was quickly received: Affirmative.

Ghost Leader nodded and signed a command, curling his free hand into a fist and pointing his arm up before lowering it and then directing the same hand towards the exterior edge of the wall. He followed up by tapping his own left shoulder. In order he had told his men to move quickly, directed them towards the exterior wall and informed them that they were to use their thruster packs for a descent. (4)

The quartet moved into one of the gun houses and reached the open edge facing out into the countryside, which was covered by the curtain of darkness and pounding rain created by the thick clouds overhead and only illuminated by the occasional flash of lightning.

As Ghost Leader climbed up onto a chest high concrete wall placed to prevent someone from toppling out by mistake his radio buzzed. While this in itself was not startling, what came next made his heart skip a beat.

Instead of any audio code taught to him or his men, he heard screams and gunfire which echoed up from the base of the wall below.

"We're under attack! Repeat, we're under attack!" Ghost 11, as indicated on Ghost Leader's visor shouted, "There's something out here! I can't-uck."

Suddenly the Turian's vital signs flat lined. A moment of silence followed before an explosion erupted far below, a roaring flame that signalled Ghost 11's departure and cremated his remains beyond recognition in the blink of an eye.

Ghost Leader turned to his team and quickly swiped two talons across his visor.

"All Ghosts, this is Ghost Leader, execute extraction contingency now!" He barked before throwing himself off the edge. "Ghost Three, we're inbound to your position! Signal Shadow-1!"

"Affirmative Ghost Lead," Ghost Three responded between bursts of gunfire, which Ghost Leader could briefly see as he plummeted towards the ground below. "Firing signal!"

As a red signal flare was launched upwards Ghost Leader and his team activated their thruster packs simultaneously, killing a good deal of their momentum as the ground rushed to meet them. All four of the Turians touched down, each of them crouching as they landed on the muddy ground. No sooner than their feet finished digging in did they leap to their feet and dash towards Ghost Three's position.

"Where is it? It's gone!" Ghost Ten exclaimed, trying to remain calm.

"I see Ghost 11," Ghost Twelve announced, "But I don't-wait! I see it! I-" His voice was cut off along with a burst from his rifle as his vitals flat lined just as quickly as Ghost 11's had. A second explosion roared as the Ghost's charge detonated, and if the attacker was quick or strong enough to survive the first explosion then there was little hope of it being caught by the second one now that it was aware of the danger.

"All teams converge!" Ghost Leader ordered, engaging his thruster pack again to reach a suitable perch atop a three story building where he knelt and swapped his assault rifle for his sniper rifle. "Where is the contact?"

"I see it! It's moving east along the wall!" Ghost Ten shouted.

"Then it's heading our way," Ghost Leader stated as he peered through the scope of his rifle, "We have no time for this, we need to reach Rally Point Menae."

"This thing is following us!" Ghost Three informed his superior, "If we don't deal with it now it'll probably take down half the squad by the time we evac!"

The logic in that statement could not be argued with. Whatever this thing was it had taken out two elite Infiltrators and was still mobile and moving much faster than any Turian could.

"Very well," Ghost Leader decided, "We will deal with this quickly, but at the two minute mark we make for the Rally Point."

Just as their operation had been on the edge of completion everything had fallen apart in no less than sixty seconds. Two Ghosts down, something was picking them off one by one while remaining out of sight and the rest of the squad was as helpless as Quarians with a punctured suit to stop it. In less than two minutes a specialized Turian stealth drop ship would be landing a quarter mile away, and with all of their years of honing their bodies into living weapons the Ghosts could easily make it there within three...unless this new threat stalled them long enough. No matter how many got on board Shadow-1 would be departing within two minutes of landing, giving the Ghosts four to work with.

And in that span of time the humans guarding the wall would be scrambling in reaction to the flare and the gunshots.

A flash of movement caught Ghost Leader's eye. Down amidst the sludge clogged roads he spotted something dash into view and vanish as quickly as it appeared.

"Optics, command: reverse three point five and hold." He quickly instructed, and activated his Omni-Tool, which displayed a recording captured by his helmet's on board camera. The figure appeared in the middle of the image, a blur of motion...but he saw a pair of large horns and a tail.

One word had been used to describe this specimen thanks to the captured humans: Death Claw.

"Verified target," Ghost Leader informed his squad, "Hostile is a Deathclaw. Extremely dangerous in close combat."

Despite the fact that this creature had never been witnessed in action by a Turian, the autopsy didn't lie. These things were as strong as a Krogan if not stronger and were believed to be capable of ripping through anything short of heavy armour reinforced with tech-armour. If everything else about them was to be believed they could soak up more bullets than an armoured Krogan could unless the ammunition was specifically tailored for burning through armour, could easily cross any rough terrain faster than most species could and were adept climbers, making an elevated position a minor inconvenience at best.

Everything about them was only theory and speculation, so the medical specialists had listed every possible advantage and weakness this walking murder machine could possess with the expectation that several would be proven wrong and several more would come to light when a live one was finally encountered in the field.

Now there would be some real information on just how deadly they were, supposing any of the Ghosts came out of this alive.

"Remain mobile and keep it in sight!" Ghost Leader added as he began to hop from roof to roof, "Ghost Two, box it in with your team and cover Ghost Three and Ten. I'll take my team across the roofs and cover its flanks to keep it from bolting."

Four shapes darted across the roof tops, their thruster packs briefly igniting to propel them across any gaps they could not pass on their own. As they closed in on the target they passed over a scorched circle where one of their comrades had met his demise. The top of the wall was alive with search lights being directed down towards them...save for the section where the Ghosts had massacred every gun crew. A pair of aircraft could be spotted appearing over the top of the structure, descending towards the area where the flare had been fired from.

Given a few minutes there could be humans swarming through the entire area and atop the wall where they would locate the charges, and the Turians would be too preoccupied fighting for their lives...

However this would have only been an issue if Ghost Leader had elected to set the charges on a remote detonation instead of a timed detonation chosen to coincide with their original extraction plan.

Suddenly the perimeter wall was lit up with twenty individual explosions which shattered the gun houses from the inside and rained down debris both inside and outside the wall. A roar could be heard for miles, drowning out even the sound of rain striking the ground and deafening many who were too close and not wearing ear protection. One of the air ships closest to these explosions was hit and began to spin away as its right thruster was smashed beyond use, crashing somewhere inside the city wall. Along with the turrets contained within the gun houses there had been many barrier emitters positioned on the wall which were also lost.

In Ghost Leader's mind that was just one problem taken care of and a brief distraction provided as a bonus, leaving just one other issue that was eight to ten feet tall and had more capacity for shredding its victims than a pack of Varren.

As he cleared the final roof top he saw Ghost Two's squad positioned down below, each of them uncloaked and sweeping a wide and empty street with their rifles. Approaching them were Ghosts Three and Ten, who were looking around urgently as Ghost Leader and his team landed.

"It's...gone?" Ghost Three stated aloud, a mixture of surprise and confusion evident in his voice.

"Don't be so sure," Ghost Leader responded, "I'm calling it though: we make for Rally Point Menae. If we encounter it again we react appropriately, but I'm not playing Find the Pyjack while we're on the clock. Understood?"

Before anyone could respond a shape shot out of one of the side passages and slammed into Ghost Seven, who was closest to the shape's hiding spot. A startled shout turned into an agonized shriek as he and his captor vanished into the shadows of another building faster than any of the Ghosts could respond, leaving only a bloody arm torn clean from its shoulder socket with Ghost Seven's assault rifle still gripped in its hand. The Turian continued to howl in pain as the Deathclaw's talons cleaved through his armour as easily as tissue paper, tearing open his chest cavity by the time Ghost Two had reached the mouth of the alley and illuminated the creature.

It had the features of a demon straight out of a nightmarish fable. Twin horns large enough to skewer someone clean through the chest, exposed rows of razor sharp teeth, large spines extending out of is back, milky white eyes that pierced right through the Turian as its large hands held the bloody remains of Ghost Seven while more pieces were scattered across the ground at its feet. It wore some kind of armour which included a harness that appeared to be good for carrying weapons and equipment...

But what drew Ghost Two's attention was how its lips appeared to be curling up into a smile as it licked some blood from its lower jaw.

"CONTACT!" Ghost Two shouted, and opened fire on the Deathclaw, which nimbly leapt up and dug its claws into the walls on either side of the alley. It proceeded to launch itself up further until it was able to pull itself over the edge of one roof top and disappear from view entirely. Ghost Two continued to fire up after it until his assault rifle overheated and he was left just gaping with barely concealed horror while his arms trembled visibly.

Ghost Leader pulled him away from the alley and shoved his subordinate over to the rest of the surviving Ghosts. "Move!" He barked. "Rally Point Menae, triple time!"

Each of the Ghosts were veterans of many pirate and slaver suppression campaigns. They had fought across dozens of worlds and faced down hundreds of enemies across the galaxy...

But this was no mercenary, not even a Krogan Warmaster...it was a monster. For all of their training they simply weren't ready to face a monster born from the darkest of myths and made real.

To their credit, even as they fled they retained some semblance of their training. They swept roof tops and alleys with their weapons and made sure not to stray too far from the rest of the squad for fear of being snatched up by the beast. They could hear some kind of deep laughter coming from the shadows, further urging them on as the creature taunted them.

Once the structures were left far behind them the Turians could see a red glow appear in the distance, acting as a marker for Rally Point Menae. The sight of this light at the end of the proverbial tunnel drove them to ignore any signs of pain or fatigue that they felt, some dropping their weapons in the rush...

But the Deathclaw was not done with them yet.

Barely fifty yards out from the red circle of light one of the Ghosts fell with a yelp, feeling a large hand wrap around his ankle. He snatched for his pistol and tried to turn to get a clear shot, his heart racing to the point of nearly bursting as he fired several wild shots.

Unfortunately none of them hit their mark.

Fortunately it got Ghost Leader's attention. He had remained near the back of the group to ensure his subordinates got out ahead of him. Ghost Five had strayed a little too far back moments ago and had been chosen as the next victim, a fact which probably saved Ghost Leader's life.

Turning, he spotted the Turian being pinned to the ground by one large hand while a massive shape looming over him was briefly illuminated by a flash of lightning, showing the hump backed figure of the Deathclaw raising its other arm to strike down on its captive.

"NO!" Ghost Leader roared as he gunned his propulsion pack and charged forward, firing his assault rifle at the Deathclaw. This proved to be distracting enough to make it stop in its execution and stumble back, raising its arms to protect its face while Ghost Leader hopped over the prone form of Ghost Five, who was winded and traumatized but thankfully unharmed. The younger Ghost had a front row seat to watch his boss charge straight for the Deathclaw, firing his assault rifle until it was overheated.

"Keep moving!" Ghost Leader shouted as he tossed the weapon aside and dropped into a roll which saved his life from a wild swing of the Deathclaw's long talons. "Get to the drop ship and don't you dare turn back!"

In the distance Ghost Five could see the lights of other human air craft closing in. They were perhaps a few minutes out at the most, but if the Turians were quick to board their drop ship they could still potentially escape...but it meant leaving Ghost Leader to stall this demon. In the end years of being conditioned to obey orders without question won out, and Ghost Five scrambled to his feet and rushed to catch up to the rest of the squad, leaving his commander to what would likely be his death.

Xxx

Shadow's Edge, known as Shadow to those who knew him, had been having fun for the first time since he had left Earth. The cradle world of humanity had its share of dangers which sated his bloodlust, but when his clan elected to move out into the stars he had been obligated to go with them even if it meant abandoning a life of excitement and daily adventure. For the sake of not embarrassing or compromising his clan he had made due with sparring and even the occasional encounter with Manifest thugs while working as a mercenary, but these aliens presented a whole new challenge to him.

His presence on the outskirts of New Taiyuan was a mistake, however fortunate it had turned out to be. When the alert had been sent out regarding the alien invasion, he had been out hunting in the hills and had only returned in time to spot alien ships landing in the hundreds where he had only just been minutes previously. After that Shadow had to navigate the terrain and try to find his way to one of the city's secondary entrances after finding the main ones sealed, and he knew no amount of pleading or bribing would open them with an alien army a few dozen miles away.

This had turned out to be a stroke of good fortune, as he now had three kills under his belt and was now facing an alien who appeared to have more balls than the rest of his kind. He had turned back to save a comrade in need, something which Shadow could respect, and was now taking Shadow on at close range-something that he would never find even back on Earth. Every creature instinctively knew to flee or fight from a distance, be they sapient or a mutated animal; the Deathclaw had established itself as an apex predator which even Super Mutants feared to combat after centuries of dominating regions of the American wasteland.

And for the first time in his life Shadow felt the thrill of fighting something with the courage to face him head on.

The alien nimbly rolled to its feet while grabbing another of its weapons, this time a shorter weapon comparable to a shotgun based on how it fired bursts of tiny projectiles which tore into Shadow's natural armour plating and even caused some measure of pain. Shadow snarled and struck out with his tail before the alien could get a second shot off, striking his foe and sending him flying several feet to the side. Shadow lunged forward and tried to bring all of his weight down on the alien only for his target to bring his legs up and roll back over one shoulder just in time to avoid being crushed between hundreds of pounds of pure muscle. Before Shadow could even recover he was met with an armoured boot to his snout, briefly disorienting him and giving the alien enough time to follow up by launching himself right at Shadow once again.

Only this time, the alien showed off one of its close range weapons. A flat black blade extended from its forearm and plunged into Shadow's neck, causing him to howl and grip the alien's arm to try and tear the weapon away, but he only grasped air. The alien had kicked off of him and landed on a few feet away, facing him with its bloodstained blade held at the ready.

Shadow set one hand over his injury and sucked in a breath...and then chuckled as he stood upright, towering over the alien by three whole feet.

"Yes," Shadow crooned, "Yes! A real right. A real warrior! Come on then, show me what you've got!"

The alien may or may not have understood what he said, but they seemed to comprehend his body language and tone. It adjusted its stance a bit as the red light behind it framed its armoured figure, only for the light source to slowly extinguish, plunging both combatants into darkness. Shadow's eyes were able to adjust easily, compliments of an optical implant he had received to compensate for his species' poor eyesight; because of this he spotted the heat signatures of the other aliens boarding what appeared to be a craft that blended in with the night.

When Shadow glanced back at his intended foe he realize that the alien had vanished, not even leaving a heat signature. (5) The Deathclaw sniffed the air and found faint traces of the alien's scent, but it was difficult to pinpoint his exact position or even hear him with the rain still falling hard enough to raise the nearby river a few inches overnight. While his optical implant did improve his vision it would be next to impossible to identify ripples in light distortion if the alien was using some of that fancy stealth gear that Shadow had spotted earlier while tearing through his three victims.

"Hiding, are we?" Shadow hissed, looking around. "And here I was ready for a real fight!"

Xxx

Not several feet away, Ghost Leader was concealed by his cloak, which was supplemented by his armour masking his heat signature. The Turian knelt and remained fixed in place as the Deathclaw began to turn about, scanning for any sign of him. As the beast turned away the soldier began to slowly inhale, his heart beating so fast that it practically provided a dramatic drum roll as he prepared to flex his wrist in just the right way to extend his concealed blade.

No!

The Ghost relaxed his hand as the Deathclaw turned towards him again, its pale eyes staring right through him...allowing him to see that they possessed an eerie glow which even his visor could not make the Turian mistake for a trick of the light.

The briefing flashed through his head, focusing on an area which listed numerous forms of implants spread almost randomly throughout these humans and Deathclaws...

And on another part of the briefing regarding these gargantuan reptilians and their piss poor eye sight.

Now Ghost Leader had a plan far more thought out than simply lunging and praying for a fatal strike.

Xxx

"Coward!" Shadow howled, his tail flicking up specks of mud as he spun around. "Shamed be your bloodline, he who flees!"

He grumbled and let his tail flop to the ground in disappointment, his shoulders slumping as he cursed the alien for his trickery. Finally the young Deathclaw had found an opponent who he could really test himself against only for the blasted coward to flee at the first opportunity!

"That cuts it," Shadow muttered, "If I survive the month I'm going the hell back to Earth."

And in that moment Shadow's Edge experienced a sudden crippling pain that tore through his head like he had been stabbed through the skull, followed quickly by the world turning completely dark save for a blinking green dot in the lower right corner of his vision along with three words...

Reboot in progress.

Xxx

The Overload had worked.

The Deathclaw reared back, clutching at its head as it howled and stumbled about blindly, flailing its arms and striking out with its claws. Ghost Leader waited until it was turning back towards him to make his move.

Coiling his entire body like a serpent ready to pounce, Ghost Leader lunged forward and aimed low, passing between the Deathclaw's legs and striking out at the exposed backside of its right leg with his blade. The beast toppled down to its knees, trying to regain its footing even as its foe shot back up and aimed a stab at the base of its skull. Unfortunately he had made a grave error in forgetting how its back was more heavily armoured, causing his blade to dig in and remain stuck several inches deep, but not deep enough to sever its spine or even penetrate its skull.

What it did succeed in was telling the Deathclaw where Ghost Leader was, and the creature spun and struck him away just as the Turian triggered a manual release which caused his blade to pop out of its slot. The blow sent him flying and shattered his visor, mainly because his helmet had made the brave sacrifice of being the Deathclaw's target and protected its owner's skull just enough that instead of killing him immediately all it did was leave him dazed and limp as a fish for several moments.

By the time Ghost Leader had begun to push himself back up the Deathclaw appeared to be recovering from the electronic attack against its eyes, which blinked repeatedly as it looked around, seeming to take in what little of the world could be seen in the ungodly weather that endured even in the midst of their battle. It turned its head and sighted Ghost Leader as the Turian managed to stand, half of his helmet's visor entirely gone and a huge dent in the side of the ceramic plating.

Gripping the helmet, Ghost Leader tore it from his head and tossed it aside, breathing heavily. He had to force his hand not to reach for any of his remaining guns, which would be about as useful as throwing rocks at this point. There was nothing standing between him and the reptilian mutant now, and said mutant looked to be excited in a way similar to how Ghost Leader had seen a Krogan grin like a child before a huge fire fight was sparked.

This fight was going to end in the next few seconds, it might even end before Ghost Leader realized he'd been mauled or dismembered. Part of him prayed for a quick end like that, to just be snuffed out too quickly to register what was happening and join with the spirits of his ancestors...but another part refused to allow this, refused to allow him to go quietly into the next world.

The Turian planted his feet and reached down to the section of armour covering his right thigh. With a single command from his Omni-Tool a compartment popped open, presenting the handle of a knife which he wrapped his fingers around, not unsheathing it yet. The Deathclaw tensed, its clawed feet digging into the ground as it lowered itself down into a half crouch.

A moment passed between the two, who kept their eyes locked on one another and waited for the slightest movement, the faintest sound besides the background noise of the rain, anything that would set them both off.

And it came in the form of a spotlight from an approaching Vertibird which illuminated both combatants, causing the Deathclaw to lunge forward with its jaws wide open.

The Turian screamed and threw himself right into the meat grinder.

Xxx

On the departing Turian drop ship, Ghost Two saw his commander's vital signs go offline and a signal confirmed that his charge had succeeded in detonating upon his death. The surviving members of the infiltration team remained still as statues even as the ship accelerated, heading back towards friendly air space. Four seats remained empty in the dimly lit compartment, four soldiers would never return home to their families...

Four friends had been claimed today.

Taking off his helmet, Ghost Two activated his Omni-Tool and accessed the drop ship's transmitter, using it to send a message back to the Turian base camp.

Operation successful. Human anti-air defences badly damaged in southern sector. Begin Phase Two.

Xxx

Standing under a tarp erected atop the command post, Desolas Arterius received this message and felt a sense of satisfaction as he stared out at the distant lights of the human city. In spite of their best efforts and even managing to sneak a saboteur into Desolas' camp they had only managed to reduce the total amount of forces Desolas would be dedicating to the siege. Already the remaining air assets were being gathered while one of Trisun's cruisers moved into low orbit to deploy its fighter squadron to fill in the gaps.

The Siege of New Taiyuan would resume on schedule, despite the humans' resistance.

"This is General Arterius to all forward companies," Desolas announced, "Prepare to move forward. Lauraeus, dispatch fighter support to the provided coordinates and have them begin their run." He turned and looked down at Saren, clapping a hand on his brother's shoulder as he added with an air of confidence, "We take the city tonight."

Xxx

CODEX OPENED

Accessing files...

File opened: PSYKERS

The phenomenon of psionic abilities has been traced back to the late 19th century, but physical evidence of its existence was only discovered in 2162 by the legendary Vault Dweller, who had discovered numerous test subjects who had been exposed to FEV by the Master, who possessed some measure of telepathic power enabling him to mentally assault minds from a distance. Since then there have been other examples of Psionic power achieved by means of mutation or other unique circumstances. Many Psykers are born as a result of FEV exposure while in utero, however the successful manifestation of psionic potential is incredibly rare (and even rarer if there are no unfortunate side effects). Most Psykers are limited to tactile or short range telepathy, but some have been shown to possess telekinetic potential among other abilities.

Statistically only 1 in approximately 15 million attempts to create a Psyker intentionally are successful, and the Alliance has been unwilling to push for further FEV based testing even with the promise shown by Psionic soldiers. The Prolat however are working to create safer methods of replicating or enhancing Psionic abilities, and have managed to identify no less than a hundred thousand humans and four thousand Deathclaws with psionic potential. A rare breed of Super Mutant Night-Kin has been discovered to possess the ability to turn invisible, mimicking the function of a StealthBoy on a biological level.

Most Psykers elect to join the military or law enforcement, being highly sought after for their abilities to gather information and detect danger within a close proximity. Outside of these however most Psykers are met with a social stigma, primarily because many people fear the idea that a person could read their mind at will, or even control it if powerful enough. As a result of this rampant paranoia many civilian Psykers wear Psionic inhibitors, but this does little to stem the tide of accusations against them.

File closed

Accessing Files...

File opened: The Ranger

The Ranger is a single mercenary operating throughout Alliance Space, primarily involved in anti-Manifest operations or hunting down fugitives for the Alliance. He leads a group of humans who wear apparel based heavily off of the Elite NCR Ranger armour, and go by the name of 'The Frontier Rangers'. The Ranger himself is primarily renown for his excellent marksmanship and leadership, and shows knowledge of both the Alliance military and government procedure alike. The Frontier Rangers are considered one of the most sought after Mercenary groups among private parties, but their existence remains mostly unknown to the majority of Alliance space.

Filse closed

Accessing Files...

File opened: Deathclaw Tribes

In the exodus from Earth, many tribes of Deathclaws have sought new grounds to hunt and build upon. Many have taken up work as mercenaries and are in high demand due to their natural physical capacity, and this has allowed many Deathclaw reserves to flourish as money is funneled back to them by members of their community. There are however still many incidents between Deathclaws and other species, including occasions where humans or Ghouls are harmed or even accidentally killed in the middle of what starts as a simple disagreement or where a Deathclaw and Super Mutant destroy an entire building before being neutralized.

The largest Deathclaw population centers are located on Earth and Terra Nova (with populations of approximately one million and three hundred thousand respectively).

(1)- Palladino, a reference to Eusapia Palladino, an Italian spiritualist who claimed to possess psychic powers.

(2) Caessor, a word derived from the latin words for 'dog' and 'superior'. I applied it to a canine-analogue species that would be a popular domestic pet for Turians.

(3)- Throughout every Fallout game there have been rare individuals with powers awakened either by exposure to FEV or other circumstances. The Master attempted to awaken psychic powers in humans through FEV exposure, and there have been other instances where humans have displayed psychic powers such as the Beast Lords who had telepathic control over Death Claws, the Forecaster who surprisingly did have genuine cognitive abilities and one Professor Calvert who was able to access minds within a limited radius.

(4)- I decided to try and describe some of the hand and arm signals that I describe the Ghosts using. While in my mind they are fluent enough to converse normally they also have basic tactical signals like the one described at this point. For example, when a Ghost taps their left shoulder it means to use their thruster packs for a long descent, and tapping their right shoulder means to use it to climb to a higher point.

Also...I almost forgot about this, but now for my responses to every review received since the previous chapter!

Timeraven117 – I've seen numerous instances where people try to compare modern ballistics to mass effect based weaponry, and in this case I think you're right. In hindsight I think I should have altered that little detail, maybe have the Turian equip some Tech Armour to fortify his defences.

HikariNiwa – You and me both, but I think that in every Fallout game your character has some expertise with computers, allowing them to type in those numerous lines of code that result in an override that allows you to pick a possible password. If you already knew the password to your office computer before but just forgot it then the program might allow you to refresh your memory while making it difficult for unauthorized personnel to gain access to your files.

RedRat8 – Ah yes, the Cloak is something I'm still debating internally on whether it was a good idea or not. However the Turians didn't just whip it up in a spur of the moment, I'd explained that they were basically just an altered version of the regular Disruptor Torpedo that was designed to have a wider dispersal, and as for why they used it: in my head a few Turian analysts would have theorized based on some analysis of captured plasma weapons that it would have an effect on ship to ship plasma weapons and decided 'hey, Desolas is going to make us go right at them either way, so we might as well give this a try and see if it'll work'. Of course they likely would have run some smaller tests and simulations, and maybe I should have added this in...I was a little lazy on that part admittedly.

And then the sane turians. Actually that did occur to me, but for now Desolas is simply securing a foothold into human territory and basically using a shock & awe tactic with the idea of showing the Alliance how outgunned it is and force them to accept the Council's terms and then sort out which humans had fired on Kravos' ships. His actions, while controversial, would be seen as at least somewhat understandable if not justified by anybody who reads the details on the events leading up to the battle second hand. Until Desolas does something more extreme Admiral Trisun and Captain Kravos, while morally outraged at this act, will have little justification in contacting the Council. Also, with Desolas being a bit of a star General he'd have a lot of pull back at the Hierarchy, enough to keep any officials off his back until he's finished at Shanxi.

And don't apologize for ranting, you were honest in your opinion and I value that. As for the main character...I shall not confirm nor deny anything.

Genesis – Craaaaaaap baskets. I really should have double checked that one.

reality deviant- Wish granted!

Finnish Paragade – Logic wins once again it would seem. And thank you, I'm glad that you are enjoying this story!

Guest – I'll try not to keep you waiting too long.

OMAC001 – You'll find out in the next chapter my friend, and oh just you wait and see what I-I mean the Alliance has up its collective sleeve.

Maersikai – Very well, I must admit that you are right. Most stories would have humanity on the way to contact the citadel by this point and here I am still in the middle of what is usually the opening curb stomp in most Mass Effect crossovers. I hope I can make this up to you in future chapters.

ThePsychoticPyro – Okay, you got me on that Mutata one, I definitely should have thought that one out. As for the population...the number of colonies doesn't affect the population of a species, it just shows that a lot of people were desperate to get off of Earth to live on a planet that wasn't mostly a ball of nuclear ash. There would be a population boom at some point in the future but for now the population remains reasonably low just so the Alliance has some struggling to do.

And as for the Deathclaws, with all the different circumstances in which Deathclaws have gained intelligence in the Fallout series I find it reasonable to assume that certain groups either survived or developed over time in other regions be it by mutation, FEV exposure, etc. Then we have the smart Deathclaws from Brotherhood of Steel Tactics, who if I recall survived to the end of that game and became a part of the Midwestern Brotherhood (who despite turning corrupt in this timeline wouldn't have wiped them out).

Zach – I aim to please and shoot to thrill!

Aaaaaand wow that was a long ass chapter.

Also, you may note that I'm experimenting in placing borders between perspectives/scenes in the middle of the screen instead of off to the left, just to see if that makes the transitions easier to spot and keep track of. Give me your opinions on that, if it's good/bad/bleh/etc.

On one final note for the next chapter I will try to include some time back at the Citadel with the Council, show another side to this whole conflict and how others react to it/find out about it.

And as always read, review and have a good time!