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.

9. Chapter 8: Fall of Shanxi Part 6

The 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.

This chapter will focus primarily on the conflict between Owen Mason's team and Ian Mycroft's Manifest forces.

Xxx

Chapter Eight: Fall of Shanxi, Part Six, Manifest Destiny

Serpent Nebula

Citadel Station, Council Tower

Three days after Turian landing

The Citadel was considered to be the heart of galactic civilization, a bastion from which the Council ruled all of known space save for the lawless Terminus Systems and a symbol of progress, equality and unity among races. It was a vast construct that had been left afloat amidst the great Serpent Nebula, just waiting to be found and colonized three thousand years ago by the Asari Republics and then the Salarian Union and many other races that had flocked to the beacon of order. The station was like a flower, with the ring shaped Presidium as its ten kilometer wide core and the Wards as its forty some kilometer long petals that contained vast cities populated by millions. The sheer size of the station generated its own gravitational pull via rotation and an atmosphere was maintained up to seven meters off of the ground in the Wards while the sealed Presidium was fully pressurized to accommodate any species.

Outside the office of Councillor Zenthis there were dozens of diplomats and officials from every race in Council Space exchanging pleasantries and casual conversation, going about their lives with little to truly worry about. That was one common trait that the Salarian Councillor had always taken notice of, no matter where he went save for a few key places like Tuchanka: people lived in a bubble of civilization and peace. They might take notice of certain issues or even acknowledge certain problems, but in the end they always thought that when the galaxy continued to turn they would always be there when it happened.

Sometimes Zenthis envied them for their naivety.

Zenthis had not been elected the representative of his entire species for being sociable or warm, but for the fact that he kept both eyes open and was undeniably a true believer in keeping the peace within Council Space by any means necessary. Of course he had his share of blood on his hands and his almost obsessive compulsive behaviour to remain at work combined with a healthy amount of paranoia left most people thankful for the fact that he was always consumed by his work.

The Salarian was considered an elder by his race, nearing his fortieth birthday after only a few years of serving as Councillor. He was ex-STG, like a good number of the Salarian Councillors were throughout history, but unlike many of them he still acted like an agent of the Union at times. Right now he was seated in his dimly lit office looking at a report delivered to him by an STG stealth ship located in unclaimed territories near the Skyllian Verge, much in the same way he would have done the same thing over a decade ago while monitoring numerous units spread throughout the cosmos.

Blinking his large dark eyes once, Zenthis leaned back in his seat and processed the information before him.

A massive Turian fleet movement authorized by one General Desolas Arterius, the Butcher of Pheldi and a star General of the Hierarchy; countless troop garrisons and even several Ghost and Cabal units being rerouted; and finally two of the Hierarchy's precious Dreadnaughts (one of them belonging to the famous Admiral Trisun) were commandeered for a mission that did not exist on any computer database. There was record of the initial reconnaissance mission to be handled by a single patrol fleet, which had not left the cluster since being deployed. The question that plagued the Councillor was 'why'

"Military drill?" Zenthis whispered before shaking his head, muttering under his breath at a mile a minute to convey the thoughts racing through his head, "No, no. Dreadnaughts a precious resource. Too important to waste on training exercise. Pirate suppression? Fleet large enough to secure five systems easily."

The Councillor stood up and began to pace quickly.

"No. Presence of Ghosts indicate extrinsic circumstance." Zenthis concluded, thinking every thought aloud now. "Only called for high priority missions. Infiltration and sabotage. Too many military assets for small skirmish. Too much manpower for pirate or slaver suppression."

The hooded Salarian rubbed his chin for several moments.

"Full naval mobilization," He decided, "But why? Sector uninhabited according to records..." He shook his head and returned to his console. "No, according to public records. Forgot. First contact. Nothing else to justify presence of Hierarchy."

At this point Zenthis realized that he had been speaking his thoughts aloud...again. It was an unfortunate habit that he and many other Salarians developed when too engrossed in their work.

"Ugh..." The Councillor groaned, "I have got to stop doing that so much."

With that he left his office, ignoring any salutes or greetings from guards or diplomats as he made his way across the Council Chambers towards the offices of his colleagues, quickly going over what he knew of them both.

Councillor Tevos was young by her species' reckoning, but old enough to be considered an adult. She was good intentioned, but that covered a sense of pride and arrogance towards what she thought of as 'younger races'. She would never admit it aloud, she may not have even realized it; Tevos simply believed that the Asari, being so long lived and advanced as a society were more appropriate for leading the younger and 'unenlightened' races. Despite her flaws she knew how to be a mediator on all matters, the voice of reason who would try to bring raging tempers back down to ground level and was second to none in the area of managing a galactic economy. She was cocky but knew better than to ever show it except in the most subtle ways, which only the most well tutored or keen eyed would be able to pick up on in a conversation.

Councillor Sparatus on the other hand was...not as patient or diplomatic as his colleague. More than once Zenthis had found himself exchanging verbal blows with the Turian on numerous matters of military and economic importance. The young Councillor, who was only a few years younger than Zenthis was a military man like every Turian to ever born within the Hierarchy, and he was far too used to his authority getting him what he had wanted. In spite of this however he was efficient in his work, a very grounded individual who focused on the big picture, looking at the present rather than pondering the past or worrying for the future.

Sparatus always knew what the stakes were when they were presented to him and he wasted no time in responding, such as when the Batarian Hegemony had been accused of funding yet another organized mass pirate raid against an Asari colony; the Turian had, with information provided by Zenthis, quietly confronted the Batarian Ambassador and made it clear that if such an event occurred again it would not be a Council sanction that the Hegemony would answer to, and then had the official responsible for arranging the attack mutilated and left in the Batarian Chancellor's bedroom as proof of his resolve. The message had been received and correctly interpreted: it would not be an invasion that the Hegemony faced, as that implied an official declaration followed by a tedious war of attrition which would drain the Council Races for several years. Sparatus and Zenthis had quietly agreed that such a conflict was unacceptable and wouldn't entertain the idea of giving the Hegemony a fair fight if pushed far enough.

Zenthis stepped past a pair of Turian guards and quickly opened the door to Sparatus' office. He shut the door behind him and stood as still as a statue for several seconds before the Turian even realized that he had entered, glancing up from his own console with a surprised expression following a slight jump in his seat.

"Gah!" Sparatus released a breath. "Damn it, how many times have I told you to knock-"

"I need to speak with you, Sparatus." Zenthis interrupted as he sat across from his colleague. "What do you know about Relay 314?"

Sparatus blinked once and then opened his computer back up. "Let's see...ah, here. It was marked as being activated by an external source, and the Hierarchy had dispatched a patrol fleet to verify the validity of this claim and initiate first contact if deemed both appropriate and possible." He looked up from the screen. "A notable find, but we've had several of these in the past decade alone that turned out to just be smugglers or pirates seeking hiding places off of known star charts. What makes this one different?"

"The fact that the Hierarchy has begun transferring a sizable amount of its patrol fleets in the region to that particular relay's proximity." Zenthis replied as he opened his Omni-Tool and forwarded the data to Sparatus' computer. "See for yourself."

Sparatus looked over a map of the area showing fleet movements and a list of the battle groups reassigned to the relay. What caught his attention was the prioritization of not one but two of the Hierarchy's dreadnoughts, which were considered a priceless resource.

Zenthis deduced that the Turian did recall signing off on Captain Prinius' flotilla being tasked with the initial investigation/potential contact, but saw Sparatus' facial features shift in subtle ways to indicate barely concealed confusion and annoyance.

"This is..." Sparatus shook his head, "By the spirits, who would sign off on reassigning so many ships to a simple reconnaissance?"

"I took the liberty of looking into that myself," Zenthis stood up and strode around Sparatus' desk, reaching over to scroll down on the screen. "I believe you remember General Desolas Arterius, correct? He used his own authorization to gather these military assets together without having to seek the permission of the Hierarchy...or us."

He looked down at Sparatus as the Turian's eyes widened slightly, and at that moment Zenthis confirmed in his mind that his fellow council member was not in on these shady activities, and was possibly not even aware of them. This came as a relief to the Salarian, as such controversy was not needed on the Council.

Sparatus shot out of his seat. "I'm calling for a gathering of the Council," He declared, "And Primarch Fedorian will wish to be involved in this as well...along with the commanding officer any Council Fleet located close to Relay 314."

"I would recommend having General Arterius' authorization code locked out," Zenthis added, following his colleague to the door, "Until we are aware of what is going on behind that relay we do not need him calling for anymore ships."

Xxx

Shanxi System, Shanxi

Bunker Vault 9

Level 5

Three hours after Turian landing

"I found them!" Rice called out, focusing on several screens showing footage of a pursuit. "Mycroft is loose, and it looks like Campbell is in pursuit."

"Christ, the kid won't stand a chance." Parker picked up the plasma repeater and stormed towards the door. "Where are they going?"

"It looks like they're heading for an alternate exit...and I just hit the rewind and it looks like Mycroft's troops and Commander Mason and the others went through it." Rice reported, "You won't be able to reach it before they do."

Parker sighed, "Yeah...wait, what about that other person that Campbell mentioned?"

"Trying to find anything but-" Rice paused, "He's at the emergency exit too! I see him."

He pointed at the screen showing footage of the open security doors leading to the emergency exit. There was an armoured form standing in the middle of the passage, arms crossed and staring into the base.

"And Campbell's gonna run right into him while he's chasing Mycroft!" Parker realized and swore under her breath before running out of the office. "Keep track of them!"

Xxx

Flashes of red and green illuminated the blue tinted walls as General Ian Mycroft exchanged fire with Campbell, firing shots over his shoulder as he dashed down the corridor leading to the emergency exit through which Campbell's team had departed only a few minutes prior. The marine took cover around a corner before leaning out and firing off a few more bursts from his laser rifle, managing to strike Mycroft once in the shoulder and blast a metal pauldron away from the General as he ducked through a side passage.

"Fuck-come on already!" Campbell grunted as he replaced the energy cell in his rifle again.

He may not have been the best shot ever but Campbell swore that he was never this bad with a rifle. Then again the firing range didn't include targets that moved faster than what was humanly possible. Mycroft only remained in sight because he would stop to take cover from a shot or fire back at Nathan and sometimes mockingly wave or salute before vanishing again. It was almost like he wanted the marine to keep up with him...or like he was trying to bait him and didn't care if Nathan bit or not. The bastard was just toying with him, that much was obvious; but letting a leading member of Manifest escape was off the table from the start.

The corridor opened up into a wide room with two sets of open security doors, one marked as 'Containment Bay Omega' and the other as 'Emergency Exit'. Mycroft was standing in the open doorway of the latter, hands at his side and the same insufferable smirk visible on his face as he watched Campbell slow to a walk.

"Feeling winded, son?" Mycroft asked.

Campbell had the urge to give a biting response, but knew if he opened his mouth the first thing to escape would be an exhaled gasp as he regained his breath. The marine was nowhere close to being out of wind to keep up the chase, but Mycroft had made him sprint in full combat gear through several hundred meters of corridor while avoiding energy fire. This was comparable to a VR test back in training, only the rounds that hit him would actually hurt and even kill if they hit the right spot.

Mycroft shrugged as Campbell kept his rifle locked on him, "I get it, you're done talking." He nodded, "So I'll just-"

TSEW!

A laser struck the General in the chest and knocked him back a couple steps followed by three more bursts which finally knocked him on his back. Campbell lowered his rifle and let that light gasp of breath escape.

"Told you I'm sick of the fucking dialogue," Campbell spat on the floor by Mycroft's feet and moved in closer, keeping out of arm's reach in case the General was faking being vulnerable as he had before. "Looks like all that pontificating didn't save you in the end."

"I would beg to differ, son."

The voice of the man he had just shot a few moments ago caused Campbell to quickly spin and scan the corridor leading to the emergency exit, and then the room behind him.

"Don't worry yourself, I'm too far gone to cause you any harm." Mycroft continued, his voice coming from...his own mouth, only it sounded like it was being filtered through a speaker, "I took advantage of my associate's distraction to make good on my escape, and I must admit that I'm surprised you actually opened fire. It seems not every Alliance dog is incapable of disobeying an order after all."

As Mycroft spoke, his body slowly began to rise back up. Campbell took three quick steps away from it and tried to fire his rifle, but a screen on the side lit up to indicate that the energy cell was empty...and that the weapon itself had overheated at the same time despite only four shots being fired ever since he had last reloaded (it took twelve successive shots to overheat and twenty four to run dry). He dropped the weapon and went for his sidearm as the form of Mycroft began to morph, becoming smaller and more slender while it struck out with an arm and hit Campbell in the ribs with enough force to break the ones that had been fortunate enough only to sustain fractures from his earlier fight and knock him back.

Campbell rolled with the momentum as he landed and placed himself into a crouched position. He winced and placed one hand against the area that he'd been hit in, wondering if he was doomed just to be thrown around like a rag doll in every fight he was in today.

"I'll leave her to entertain you," Mycroft added, his voice still coming from the mouth of the figure that had reshaped itself into the silhouette of a woman covered from neck to toe in battle armour. "Make it quick, dear."

"Yes sir." The woman responded as dark hair formed on her scalp and a pair of red glowing eyes took shape. Her skin bore a metallic surface which shifted like it was made of water, leading Campbell to one conclusion: he was facing down an android.

Manifest may have been created with the goal of eradicating all non-human species, but it was willing to allow androids to have roles within its ranks and even a decent future compared to what awaited any Deathclaws, Ghouls or Super Mutants they got their hands on. This one must have been particularly high up to answer directly to Mycroft himself, and it looked like it had received quite the upgrade from its benefactors.

But what caught his attention when the metallic sheen faded to resemble regular skin was that this thing was built to resemble a face that every person in the Alliance knew.

"Shepard?" Campbell whispered, faltering in bringing up his sidearm for a moment as the face of Alice Shepard stare back at him.

The android smiled before a helmet closed in around her head. "Oh, if I had a cap for every time that one of you morons say that." She shook her head and pulled a gleaming rifle off her back, the weapon unfolding in her grasp as she aimed it Campbell's exposed face.

Xxx

Shangri-La Valley

Three hours after Turian landing

"All clear," Owen waved one hand, signalling for Sergeant Scott and Lieutenant Sutton to follow him to where the caverns had finally opened up to reveal the fading light of a late afternoon. He motioned to a set of tracks that formed where the hard rock floor met a softer dirt path where the ground was easier to deform. "It looks like we're on the right track."

"Holy mother of..." Sutton murmured as she raised one hand to protect her eyes from the sun, having grown sensitive after remaining underground for long enough. She was able to regain her clear vision after a moment and beheld the paradise before her.

Shangri-La was considered off limits to deforesting, settlement or hunting; it had taken some persuasion just to make it open to camping. Because of this the trio were now staring out at a fertile and green valley with tall trees, the roar of several nearby waterfalls and noise generated by an abundance of native species. The path leading through the trees had been made and maintained by the Brotherhood only to allow an easier evacuation, but several feet beyond the tree line it vanished and there was only dense foliage and a true wilderness. The air was warm enough to make a little sweat form at Owen's hairline and the grass was wet beneath their feet.

"Shangri-La," Scott said aloud, lowering his weapon to his side. "Well damn if it doesn't fit the name."

"No time for sightseeing," Owen motioned forward and broke into a jog, "Keep your eyes open and weapons up. If there are more of Mycroft's troops out here I don't think they'll be expecting us."

The trio crept through the vegetation, keeping their weapons up and keeping to cover when possible, which was easy as a good deal of the plants came up to waist or chest height. The heat was beginning to get to Owen a bit, as he lacked the heat regulating attire of his subordinates, but he simply shed his officer's jacket and continued on.

"Hold up," Scott whispered through the radio, raising one arm with his hand clenched into a fist to stop Owen and Sutton, who were several feet behind the more armoured marine. "I just spotted something up ahead. Wait here."

Scott crouched, set his rifle on his back so he could switch to his combat knife and vanished into the foliage. Owen settled down on the ground and wiped away some more sweat from his forehead.

"Here," He turned and saw Sutton holding out a small water canteen, which he accepted.

Owen popped the canteen open and took a mouthful of water before shutting it and handing it back. "Much obliged, Lieutenant." He whispered.

"Anytime, sir." Sutton nodded, "...so, think this might be your big adventure?"

"My what now?" Owen looked at her.

"Your big adventure," Sutton repeated, "You know...like your dad's."

So that's what she was going on about. Owen sighed and turned away from her, setting his commandeered rifle across his legs. He shook his head after several moments. "No, I think it's going to be one traumatic memory if I ever get out of here alive."

Sutton tilted her head, "If?" She reiterated, "You seem to be doing a great job so far."

"And you seem to be under the impression that the ability to cope with these sorts of events so easily is hereditary," Owen drawled as he gave her an annoyed glare out of the corner of his eye, "I was on a regular scouting mission, just looking for new planets and relays to map out and then I could go home, maybe get sent after Manifest or some pirate group again. The last thing I wanted or expected was to run into some super powerful alien empire and end up fighting a fucking war." He looked ahead, searching for Scott. "I'm an armchair commander, Lieutenant, my place is on a ship. The fact that I managed to keep my head this long is a miracle and the fact that nobody from that escape pod has kicked the bucket is just downright divine intervention."

"Wait, hold on." Sutton interjected, waving one hand which she set on his shoulder. "Commander, everybody knows Manifest is to blame for what happened, and you've done a hell of a job even after what you just described. Sure you're better on the bridge of a ship but you took the initiative, you brought us to that bunker even when you had every reason to flee for safety and we captured Ian Mycroft himself. Sir...Owen," She corrected herself, "You might not be your dad, might not be your big power armour wearing brother, but you still didn't hesitate once today and things might turn out better for that...with the whole war thing aside."

Owen shook his head, but inside his mind he was considering her words. Just a couple days ago the world had been peaceful to some extent and he had a nice quiet posting on a scout fleet, and even after it had all come crashing down on him in several ways he was still on the move and giving orders like it was normal. His brother Alex led Brotherhood warriors into combat on a regular basis and would have done everything he had with greater ease, and their father Logan would have probably done it all by himself...

But Owen had done it, not them. This little fight might only be the tip of the ice berg compared to what would be happening in New Taiyuan once the aliens got around to invading the city but he had made a judgement call and it had paid off.

"Well..." Owen sighed. "Maybe things aren't quiet as shitty as I'd thought," He turned and cracked a ghost of a smile, "Thanks Sutton."

"Deborah," Sutton responded, "The name's Deborah."

Owen nodded, "Right, Deborah." He said, waiting a few moments before adding, "This is the part where we have awkward romantic tension, right?"

That last sentence caused Sutton to snort, barely choking on her laughter as she covered her lower face. Owen couldn't help but grin a bit at this before he looked ahead again, focusing on spotting either Sergeant Scott or anything else coming their way.

Another minute passed, and then two before Owen got sick of waiting.

"He's taking way too long," Owen muttered, "Cover me, I'm going to check."

He moved ahead without waiting for a response, moving at a crouch through the plants and keeping his rifle levelled ahead of him.

"...thing he had on him, sir." A woman said, clearly wearing a helmet with speakers.

"Excellent work Sergeant, scour the woods for more of these mongrels." A voice with a southern drawl to it responded. "As for you, let's chat."

"Fuck...you." Owen heard Sergeant Scott gasp.

"Language," The other speaker said firmly before Scott gave a pained groan, "Now, how many more of you are out here?"

"A whole company," Scott replied, "You assholes attacked a Brotherhood base, do you think the Alliance wouldn't spare a couple hundred men to come and check?"

"With an alien fleet overhead? I think not," The other man responded as Owen peered through the bushes and spotted several figures milling about, cradling plasma rifles and trampling plants underfoot in their gleaming metal armour.

Owen was on the ground, one hand covering his stomach where blood was flowing between his fingers while his weapons lay in a pile close by. The form of a Manifest soldier lay a few feet away, throat cut and face up for all the world to see. Owen felt satisfied that the marine had at least taken one of the bastards down, but quickly devoted his mind to thinking of a way to get Scott out of this mess.

There were at least six Manifest soldiers now spreading out from where Scott lay, being interrogated by a man wearing a long white coat and two more armoured soldiers. Each of the soldiers had a rifle, and Owen knew it would take at least a few shots from his weapon to penetrate each set unless he got in close and cut through an unprotected section.

"So I will ask you again," The officer continued while pressing the tip of his side arm into the bleeding area, "How many others are with you?"

Tightening his grip on his rifle, Owen glanced off to the sides to mark the positions of the nearest soldiers while he slowly raised his weapon and lined up a shot with the officer's head. Peering through the sights, Owen exhaled softly as his finger slid into the trigger guard and began to apply just enough pressure to squeeze off a shot...

CRACK! A loud noise erupted close by, echoing through the woods before the officer's entire upper body exploded, splattering both Scott and the surrounding Manifest troops as they sputtered and called out in shock and horror.

"Contact! Contact-" TSEW!

The sudden gunshot had made Owen freeze up until the Manifest soldier standing closest to Scott began to speak. He quickly reoriented his rifle and squeezed off a single shot with some assistance from his VATS, striking the man's rifle from his hands. Scott seized this opportunity and snatched up the dead officer's sidearm, using it to fire at the second soldier still guarding him while Owen mowed down the first with several more quick shots.

Another cracking noise rang out as the Manifest soldiers attempted to react and was followed by a blossom of blood and bone fragments sprouting from the torso of one of the troopers as a single anti-vehicle grade round tore through his shielding and armour without slowing down. The same projectile went on to strike a man behind the trooper and knocked him clear off his feet-the man's life was only saved by his comrade's shielding, armour and body mass slowing the bullet enough for his own to barely absorb the damage. The rest of the soldiers began to shoot into the trees, setting branches and shrubs alight in their panicked fire while the mysterious sniper continued to fire away, picking off another of their number before one of them snatched the wounded Scott up.

The marine tried to bring his stolen pistol to bare on his captor only for a metallic gauntlet to close around his gun hand and squeeze hard enough to almost fracture bone, causing Scott to let out a pained scream while the power armour clad Manifest soldier rotated to bring the marine between himself and the general direction that the bullets were coming from. For a moment this strategy appeared to work, as the sniper ceased firing even when the other three surviving troopers regrouped behind their comrade and his human meat shield...

But then an invisible mass ploughed right into the middle of their squad.

One of the soldiers was slammed up against a thick trunk and gave a choked gasp as his body was crushed by the immense pressure being put on it, even his power armour failed to keep his organs from being crushed into paste by his attacker. Another of the quartet had been trampled by the attacker and was groaning as he lay in the grass, likely sporting several broken bones. The third had tried to fire on the invisible being, having managed to deduce its general location, only for Owen (joined by Sutton) to mow him down with a quick barrage of laser fire. This left the fourth and final trooper, the one holding Scott hostage.

"Stay-stay back!" The trooper held his own side arm to Scott's head as Owen and Sutton advanced into the clearing with their weapons levelled at him. "Drop your weapons or he's dead!"

An amused chuckle came from the space inhabited by the invisible being, who took this moment to appear before the trooper.

"That would be a very poor choice, little man." The being was a Super Mutant, only with skin of a pale blue shade instead of the usual orange, green or brown.

It...he was a Nightkin, a variation of Super Mutant that dated back to the days of the Master's Army and known for being extremely stealthy despite their bulk. This one appeared to lack the usual obsession with remaining invisible, as Owen hadn't met a single Nightkin who willfully revealed themselves when the situation did not require it. This particular Nightkin wore the uniform and armour of a Brotherhood Paladin and had a large buster sword hanging on his back, making it all the more amazing that he remained hidden for as long as he had.

"You back off, freak!" The Manifest soldier tried to put on a brave front, but not even his armour could hide how he was beginning to shake. "Take one step closer and I'll-"

CRACK!

The man's entire arm seemed to just explode, shattering into several pieces. The sniper had repositioned while the others had drawn the soldier's attention, and had lined up the perfect shot to place a bullet right through the man's bicep. As an added bonus, due to how the man was holding the gun to Scott's temple, the bullet exited his bicep and then passed through his forearm. The result was the limb being severed near the shoulder and just short of the wrist, causing it to fall to the ground in three pieces while the Manifest soldier howled in agony and dropped Sergeant Scott.

"I told you," The Nightkin smirked, and back handed the screaming man into a tree hard enough to make him crack his head against the trunk, silencing the man. "That was a very poor choice."

He then turned towards Owen and Sutton, the latter of whom tensed up instinctively but otherwise made no move to raise her weapon. After his eyes passed over Owen's face they seemed to relax, and the Nightkin lazily saluted with one hand.

"Paladin Grawk at your service Captain Mason," He introduced himself.

"You recognize me that easily?" Owen asked, not terribly surprised by this as it had happened many times before.

"It's hard not to when you're the spitting image of your old man." Grawk replied, "Hey Santos! Get your ass out here!"

"Alright! Alright! Give me a second, sheesh!" A man called out from the bushes, taking several moments to lumber into view carrying a large rifle across his shoulders. The man wore the armour of a Paladin like Grawk did, but was certainly human sized and had difficulty carrying both the rifle and a large case which he held by his side. "This stuff might be feather weight to me, but they're still awkward to carry man."

"Less griping, more saluting." Grawk replied dismissively as his companion dropped his burden.

"Yeah yeah," Santos waved one hand to the mutant before facing and saluting Owen. "Glad to see the Alliance sent us some help after all-wait, you're both navy and air force...shouldn't you be anywhere except on the ground?"

Sutton huffed and crossed her arms. "The other Manifest thugs we put down would beg to differ. And yeah, we're your backup."

"So one marine, a pilot and a starship Captain?" Santos demanded. "...we've been hosed, haven't we?"

"Uh, I hate to interrupt this touching moment of thanklessness," Scott said, sitting on the ground close by and cradling his broken hand to his still bleeding stomach. "But...for the love of God, would somebody give me some damn stim gel?!"

"Sit tight you big baby," Santos replied and knelt by the wounded marine, producing a medical kit from a compartment in his armour. "Seriously, you marines have zero pain tolerance. Oh no I'm bleeding my guts out! Oh no, all the bones in my hand have been crushed into splinters! Help me! Help me!" The Paladin shook his head. "Light weights."

Resisting the urge to crack a smile at Santos' unique brand of humour, Owen looked up at and addressed Grawk. "We heard about you two from a survivor we saved from an Enclave team back in the bunker. Is Inquisitor Grey with you?"

Grawk paused, narrowing his eyes as he looked down at Owen. "How do you know about her?"

Surprised, but not put off by the sudden aura of hostility radiating from the Nightking, Owen attempted to cool down the situation before any assumptions could fly. "She sent out a distress call that we picked up," He quickly explained, "I just assumed that you knew."

Grawk nodded, "I knew...but I didn't know she identified herself," He answered, "She's paranoid about keeping mention of her name off of anything except a private conversation." He craned his head, gesturing back the way that Owen and Sutton had come from. "She's still in the bunker."

"What? We didn't see her on our way out." Owen cursed his own foolishness.

"Probably because she's busy," Grawk shrugged, "She sent me and Santos ahead to try and scope out Manifest's camp in this valley after we got free. She stayed behind to stop one of their operatives from planting demolition charges throughout the lower levels. Set something strong enough off near the reactors and you can turn the whole place into a fire pit all the way up to the surface, and she wouldn't hear of that happening."

That meant that the rest of his team was stuck in a bunker that was at risk of going sky high! But also...

"Manifest won't set off those charges," Owen said, shaking his head, "Because we have their commanding officer held hostage and under guard in the command center."

"Wait, for real?" Santos asked, glancing up from where he was working on Scott's wounds. "You have Mycroft?"

Sutton nodded, "Dead to rights, and disarmed." She said, "As soon as we mop up these pigs and find a way to get him off world we can have him in Alliance hands by the end of the week."

Santos chuckled. "Oh man, there really is a karma god!"

"Focus," Scott said through clenched teeth. "Please."

"Yeah, yeah, want me to change your diaper while I'm at it?" Santos grumbled as he resumed treating the marine.

Grawk flashed a toothy smirk, "If you have Mycroft and the bunker is secure, then we can focus on Manifest's landing zone." He pointed off to the side. "We located it about two kliks that way. They have a frigate sized ship and about thirty troops in total...minus these chumps and not including the ones in the base." He lightly kicked one of the corpses. "We were just holding back to wait for word from Grey before we did anything. With Mycroft in custody that ship won't be taking off anytime soon, so now's as good a time as any to sieze it and keep them from making off with that fancy modern art piece they stole."

Owen had tempted fate many times today by leading a mix & matched team against fully armoured troopers, and then by coming out here with just a marine and a pilot as backup. But going up against an entire frigate's compliment with two paladins while one of his men was wounded?

...

Sometimes Owen couldn't help but feel that his father really had rubbed off on him too much.

Xxx

Bunker Vault 9

Emergency Exit Tunnel

In the half second that the rifle took to charge Campbell managed to force himself to move. He ducked down while batting the weapon off to the side, causing a blue energy beam to carve deep into the wall of the room and leaving a line of molten material in its wake. The android struck him with the back of its hand hard enough to knock him off balance, but Campbell moved with the blow while dropping a plasma grenade from his belt and turned his tumble into a dive just as the device went off.

When Campbell got back on his feet and looked back to see the effect of his tactic he saw the android step out of the fading cloud of plasma, which was parting for some kind of invisible bubble which most certainly was not any personal kinetic barrier he'd ever seen. Before he had time to even curse the android fired off another shot which scorched his side as he threw himself aside, easily burning through his barriers and heating up his armour to the point where he could feel the searing heat and had to trigger the manual release for the pieces that were now glowing bright red.

The android's rifle began to vent heat out the sides, causing its owner to glance down at it in annoyance before flipping the weapon around in her grip and swinging it around at Campbell's head. He ducked under the first strike, which was so fast that he had no doubt it could have easily killed him if he'd been a moment slower. When the second hit came around he brought both of his arms up and allowed his gauntlets to absorb the impact. The plating and the shock absorbant safeties kept his arms intact, but the force of the blow still knocked him off his feet.

At that moment the rifle finished venting heat and a green light on the side lit up to indicate that it could function again.

"Sorry kiddo," The android flipped the rifle around and aimed it down at Campbell as he whipped out his laser pistol and aimed at her. He tried to pull the trigger first only for the weapon to give the same answer as his rifle: overheated.

The android smiled coldly and began to charge her rifle for another shot while adding, "It just isn't your day."

But just as the rifle was about to unleash another beam the android was struck by something which bounced off of its shield, which flared bright blue as a live grenade clattered to the floor nearby and expelled a large cloud of smoke. While the grenade did not even hit the android it still distracted her and caused her to unintentionally alter her aim ever so slightly. This cause the area right next to Campbell to be reduced to a trail of melted concrete, and the marine had quickly rolled away from it as his saviour charged through the smoke.

Whatever the android's shield was, it didn't catch the fist which struck it in the jaw and actually succeeded in knocking it back. Its rifle clattered to the floor close by as it looked up at its attacker and saw a Ghoul dressed in the attire of a Brotherhood Inquisitor.

Parker flexed her prosthetic hand and looked at Campbell. "You smoothskins always did need someone to save the day." She cracked while Rice rushed into the room behind her, cradling his plasma repeater.

"Damn good timing," Campbell sighed and stood up. "But you couldn't have cut it any-" He saw the android flip back onto her feet. "Look out!"

Parker had kept the android in the corner of her vision even as she addressed the marine, and had already reacted even as he shouted. The android charged forward and leaned out of the way of Parker's next punch, grabbing the Ghoul's arm by the wrist and bicep. Parker was pulled off her feet as the android expertly threw the Ghoul over her shoulder and swung her down head first onto the floor. Rice immediately turned his repeater on the android's exposed back only to receive the same response that Campbell had gotten from both of his weapons.

"What?" Rice glanced at his weapon and tried to fire once more before letting it hang from its sling and rushing forward to help Parker as she tried to twist out of the android's grip.

"Wait!" Campbell tried to call out a warning only for Rice to be kicked in the stomach.

The inside of the Knight's visor was splattered by a half digested nutrition bar which he had consumed during the walk to the bunker, and he went down in an instant. Parker managed to turn over and grab the android by the throat, partially thanks to Rice's unintentional distraction and slammed the synthetic's head down into the floor hard enough to cause cracks to spread outwards from the point of impact. Such a blow would have possibly dazed or even killed a Super Mutant or a Death Claw, but the android contorted her body and rammed the heel of her boot into Parker's head before rolling back into a standing position without pause, a cocky smirk on her stolen face.

Campbell moved for the android's rifle as an irate Parker climbed back to her feet to confront the synthetic. He examined the weapon quickly before a side screen flashed red; he recognized it as a new but ridiculously expensive biometrics system that private security forces and Theta Energy weapons were given (given their limited numbers it made sense that they would put such a security measure to use). With shooting the android in the back no longer an option, he decided to improvise.

While the android was stepping out of reach of Parker's next attempt at knocking her head off Campbell flipped the rifle around so that he was holding it by the front and swung it like a baseball bat – God knows he had the muscle memory built up from way too many years of playing the actual sport. The blow landed and staggered the android a bit, and even as she turned and struck him with a back fisted hit across the face Parker took advantage of the distraction to strike the android in the right knee.

For any human it would have dislocated the joint, shattered bones, torn muscles and maybe even severed it from how much force had been behind the punch. For the android all it did was dislocate the joint and cause it to collapse forwards, but even as it planted both hands and caught itself Parker saw its lower leg right itself and then was swept off her feet before she could back out of reach.

With a growl the Inquisitor slammed her fist into the floor and glared at her opponent. "Oh come on!" She snapped, "Seriously?!"

Campbell, who was now nursing a swollen left cheek, saw that the rifle he had used as a club was slightly dented where it had struck the android. He looked it over before letting it drop to the ground.

The fight wasn't looking favourable now, and it was plain to see that the fist fight was becoming more one sided by the minute; the android delivered a powerful kick to Parker's midsection and easily leaned out of the way of several retaliatory strikes of the increasingly annoyed Inquisitor.

"Come on, is that all?" The android taunted while casually tilting her head enough to duck under a wild haymaker. She jabbed Parker in the ribs twice before the Ghoul was able to turn to confront her again, and each blow had enough strength behind them to break bones and would only be partially softened by the minimal protection that Parker's armour provided. "Seriously, I know greenhorns who have more coordination than-"

She was cut off by Parker suddenly swinging her leg up and delivering a roundhouse kick to the android's jaw. The blow had enough force behind it to stagger the synthetic, who looked surprised until she took a full scan of Parker and found that all of her limbs, save for one arm was prosthetic. The Ghoul had cybernetic implants running through most of her body and, with her torso being the only place that looked remotely normal.

"Bitch, you talk way too much." Parker growled before launching herself forward, the servos in her legs generating a whine as they propelled her with the force that one would usually get from a suit of power armour. She slammed right into the android, tackling the Shepard lookalike around the waist and rolling with her, and then as the android began to climb back to her feet Parker moved around behind her. The Inquisitor trapped her in a bear hug around the waist and then threw herself backwards, swinging her whole body off of the ground and bringing the android crashing down head first into the floor.

As this went on Campbell and Rice (who had removed his helmet) could only gape as they watched the old Ghoul go toe to toe with the android. They were snapped out of it after Parker looked over and shouted at them, "HEY! A little help here?! NOW!"

The two men quickly reacted and moved in to assist. They pinned one of the android's legs each as she struggled to rise back up to her feet. While she was stronger than both of them individually she wouldn't be able to wrestle out of their grip so easily without the proper leverage. Meanwhile Parker mounted the android's torso while pinning her arms with her own knees.

With the android successfully pinned down Parker cracked a grin which showed just how many teeth she was missing. "Oh this is going to be satisfying." The inquisitor said aloud before proceeding to rain down blow after blow against the android, the first managing to alter the shape of her skull before it bent itself back into shape just in time for the second blow to land and tear her jaw half off. Parker gripped the false Shepard's hair with her real hand while raining down punch after punch.

"Could you – could you hurry it up?!" Campbell grunted, trying to keep the android's left leg pinned as she kicked out and tried to buck any of the three off.

"Coming right up," Parker chuckled before positioning her prosthetic fist a foot from the android's face.

Mechanisms within the limb began to shift, and after a moment the fist itself extended outwards and buried itself into its target, crushing a fake nose and then repeating the procedure before it even finished reforming. Parker kept her arm perfectly still while her fist continued to shoot forward and retract, averaging one hit per second.

"C'mon, c'mon, show me that control unit." Parker whispered, "Gotta be in there somewhere!"

She was seeking the device which made up the heart and soul of every android, both modern and ancient. With the developments in computer technology derived from the Prothean ruins on Mars it became a simple matter of equipping androids with a chip the size of a finger tip and surrounding it in layers of protection instead of a full sized artificial brain. This allowed for the chip to be contained behind a reinforced skull, layers of kinetic absorbent gel and other protective measures. But given the proper amount of force and dedication, as Parker was displaying right now, it was very much possible to reach and destroy it.

After the seventh time the android's skull was further bent out of shape she managed to tear one of her legs free from Rice and swung it up, locking its lower leg around Parker's throat and forcing the Ghoul down onto her back. This allowed the android to free her arms and sit up. She released Parker only to kick Rice, causing blood to spurt from his nose as he was knocked away. A second kick followed and Campbell was knocked out cold.

As Parker tried to push herself up her prosthetic arm was caught in a steel grip as the android tackled her, rolling across the floor until they ended with Parker on her back and her metal arm stretched out straight to her side in a straight arm bar.

"Okay, the arm is cool," The android said while her skull expanded back into its original shape. "But it's seriously getting annoying!"

Gripping Parker's arm tightly, the android put more pressure on the elbow joint and bent it beyond what would be normal limits for a regular limb. Parker gave a groan of pain as she tried to roll her body toward the android, but was kept pinned on her back as her prosthetic arm was completely torn away at the elbow, leaving a mess of wiring.

The android released Parker and examined the severed limb in its hand before tossing it away and proclaiming, "Much better!" She looked between the three defeated soldiers and let out a breath. "Well, I'll give you all credit: you tried, but I think your Alliance's standards have really gone-"

She was interrupted by a blade sprouting from her chest. For a moment the android stared at it, more shocked than in pain before an electric current ran through the metal impaling her, causing her to howl while losing control of her limbs. The android collapsed to the floor in a mess, the sword remaining in its chest cavity while the owner stood over the fallen synthetic.

"You talk too much," The newcomer whispered, their face hidden by a helmet but their voice was obviously that of a woman.

She wore the combat armour of an Inquisitor, but several additional decorations indicated her to be of a higher rank than Parker. It was shaped differently in some areas and had several pieces that Parker was not familiar with such as a larger component on the upper back, and it lacked the red cloth which most Inquisitors favoured wearing with their armour. If the voice had not been enough proof of the warrior's gender then the shape of their body beneath the armour was more than enough.

Parker, who had managed to get up on her knees and was trying to ignore the pulsing pain coming from her arm's connection port looked up at the Inquisitor. "I'd say 'thanks and I totally agree'," The ghoul growled, pointing at the stump of her prosthetic arm. "But why the hell couldn't you have done that ten seconds earlier?!"

The Inquisitor turned her head and examined the trio. Rice was sitting up with one hand covering his broken nose while Campbell was slowly coming around, one hand on his head. It was not perhaps the most dignified sight, but if anybody had seen the fight they had just come out of they might understand...or be told a rather vulgar command involving an area where the sun does not shine.

"Couldn't while she was too close to you," The Inquisitor shook her head, "I had to wait until I had a clear shot, the shock that my blade just generated is enough to kill most people."

Whether Parker accepted this or not was hard to tell, as the Ghoul turned away and stormed over to where Rice was. "On your feet, you're not dying." She growled, using her one hand to help the Knight up. "Campbell! You holding up alright?"

"Ugh...feeling like I just tried to head butt a Death Claw, but otherwise..." Campbell trailed off in the middle of his sentence as he looked up and saw the Inquisitor standing over the now inactive android. The marine blinked once to make sure he wasn't seeing things before asking, "Okay, how long was I out?"

The Inquisitor stepped over the android's body and held down one hand, which Campbell accepted as she replied, "Barely one minute." She pulled him onto his feet. "Sorry that I took so long, I had to make sure that I'd disabled all of the charges that bitch placed around the base. Even one could have brought down a whole section across several floors."

"Don't worry about it. My CO would tell you that I am a huge proponent of the phrase 'better late than never'." Campbell replied, steadying himself. "And correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as we know there's only one Inquisitor who survived the attack here. Would you happen to be her?"

"I would." The Inquisitor nodded, "Would you happen to be part of the reinforcements I asked for?"

"We would," Campbell said before adding, "Unless six or seven disgruntled people with guns weren't what you were asking for."

The armoured woman shrugged, "I'm surprised that anybody answered at all, to be frank. I won't look a gift horse in the mouth, considering the fact that you apparently took out all of the Manifest opposition in the base. This glorified trash can was the last of them."

Campbell looked at the exit tunnel, "Yeah, but we let the big prize get away," He sighed, "A bunch of minnows are nothing; we had General fucking Mycroft and I let him give me the slip!"

"You had him?" The Inquisitor asked, surprised, "Damn...but you can't blame yourself. You likely only captured him at all because he wanted your attention, and I bet he only stayed your captive for as long as it took his men to relocate the real prize. If anything you're lucky to have survived at all, the guy was supposed to have some pretty advanced toys hidden on him, stuff even the Brotherhood would drool over."

"What did they take anyways?" Parker asked while injecting Stim-Gel into Rice's neck. "They didn't raid the whole base for some paper weight, and if it was big enough to go down this tunnel I'm betting it packed some fire power too."

"Maybe, but I don't know what to tell you about it. I was transferred here to just analyze it and see if it was safe to transport to Terra Nova." The Inquisitor answered, turning towards the Ghoul. "By the time I reached the system word of the Tartarus Skirmish had reached the planet. By the time I reached the base the invasion had started, and before I could even finish unpacking Manifest came and raided the base. They were in disguise as a security compliment deployed from New Taiyuan that we were supposed to receive in the event of this happening."

"So you're the one from Terra Nova who Mason was so focused on finding?" Parker asked, leaving Rice to keep pressure on his nose. "Grey, was it?"

"Yeah...but did you just say Mason? As in Captain Mason? What the hell would he be doing down here? Isn't he navy?" Grey asked.

"His ship was part of the skirmish," Rice explained, "And-and it was pretty much toast by the time he got it back here. Elder Thompson had him on the Chairman to oversee the battle," He paused, wincing in pain as he tried to keep more blood from flowing from his nose, but continued talking despite how most would have wanted to keep silent both from the pain and how his voice sounded with his nose plugged. "But he ordered him and us off the station when the fleet got wiped out."

"Our pod went down, we received your call, and we ran into pretty boy there on the river bank." Thompson pointed a thumb at Campbell. "He came down in another pod and beat us to you in time to keep a Manifest rear guard from ambushing us. After that we all came down into the base and managed to save one of your Knights from being executed upstairs."

"So they did leave some alive," Grey looked down, the speakers on her helmet unable to mask how saddened she was by this and what it implied, "Shit, we only made a break for it because we thought they'd already killed everyone else. If I knew..."

"You had every reason to think that," Campbell tried to comfort her, "They probably would've killed them even if you did everything they wanted. Heck, one of those guys upstairs had a murder-boner for you, kept talking about you like you'd pissed in his mom's ashes or something."

"Yeah...not a big surprise," Grey paused to reach up and hit the release for her helmet, which she pulled away and held under her helmet while the trio stared in absolute shock. "Considering that Manifest knows who I am." She added, her voice no longer obscured by her helmet speakers.

Rice dropped his hand away from his nose and whispered. "Holy...shit."

It might have been harder to realize this if they hadn't just finished being humiliated in combat by a similar face, but Inquisitor Grey looked like a younger version of the woman who the android had been mimicking. There were subtle differences such as her hair being darker, but the similarities stuck out all too clearly; they were looking at another lookalike of Alice Shepard herself.

"Yeah," Grey said while brushing some hair back from her face with one hand, "I get that a lot."

A moment of awkward silence passed between the quartet before Campbell broke it.

"Well," He cleared his throat, "In hindsight I suppose that all of that brewing hostility suddenly makes sense."

Xxx

Shangri-La Valley

Four hours after Turian landing

"Alright, one last comm. check. Is everybody ready?"

"Affirmative."

"In position."

"Ready."

"Feeling like shit, but ready."

"From this point on we go silent until things get loud." Owen whispered into his radio, pressed down flat into the earth with his rifle next to him. "Scott, are you sure you can handle that gun with how your shoulder is?"

"Don't worry, my armour will still take most of the kick, and Sutton has patched me up nice and good."

"Oh so it's crappy when I'm treating it," Santos chuckled softly, "Asshole."

Owen let them have their moment to exchange dialogue. It helped to lighten the mood and to slow his racing heartbeat. He relaxed against the cool earth and shut his eyes as he lay amidst a field of tall grass and shrubs, watching the lights coming from the Manifest encampment located across wide pond from his hiding spot.

This was by far the most suicidal thing he had done in the past two days. He had fought an alien fleet in a one sided battle, been on the Chairman when the invasion had come, had stormed a compromised bunker filled with Manifest troopers and was now about to raid a camp with even fewer allies and even more numerous and concentrated enemies. There wouldn't be a quick firefight spanning a few seconds following a sudden ambush; he counted as many as twenty men spread out around the frigate's landing zone with automated drones and sensor relays-which he lay just beyond the range of. This was going to be downright nightmarish to any decent military strategist.

"I've got eyes on the entry ramp," Grawk announced, keeping his voice as low as he could, "Two more guards up at the top, and I can see some activity in the cargo bay."

"Do you have a directional microphone on you?" Owen asked.

"Affirmative."

"Use it, and tell me everything you hear."

Several moments of silence passed before Grawk spoke again. "They have the relic aboard." He informed Owen, "They are simply waiting on Mycroft now, and I hear mention of a deadline in seven minutes."

Of course they would wait for their leader, but he must have prioritized retrieving this relic over his own life and had given them a set dead line to keep to if he failed to return to the ship or wound up as a casualty.

Owen reached over to his PIP-Boy and set it on a six minute timer. "That means they'll start packing up soon," He whispered and took up his rifle again, "We wait just another minute, see if they'll disassemble the sensors and drones before the deadline."

"The practical one would tell you that is what you should do if you don't wish to waste resources," Grawk responded, "The smart one would tell you that is what you should do if you really think you aren't likely to be shot in the back while you're packing up. And Manifest has not survived under the leadership of idiots."

"It's your call, Mason. Do we hit them now, or wait for them to lower their guard?" Santos inquired.

Owen weighed the benefits and risks to both paths.

On the one hand they could strike now, risk triggering a sensor early and take on the soldiers while they were still on guard. If they were fast enough they could take down a few of them in the first salvo, keep them disorganized and take down a few more by the time they reacted-but that was all assuming that nobody missed.

On the other hand they could wait. If the Manifest soldiers busied themselves with packing up their supplies then at least some portion of them would be vulnerable. It could mean a few extra hostiles down in the first minute of combat, or it could mean that the soldiers would have more time to get on board the ship and take off.

Mason came to a decision. "We strike now." He decided, "On my mark...mark!"

He got up into a crouched position and took aim with his rifle. A red beam of light lanced through the air and struck one of the sentries in the back. The man spun around, dropping his rifle in the process and giving Mason the chance to place two more successful hits in his torso before the man collapsed to the ground. At the same time He heard the crack of a sniper rifle and saw other flashes of red or green as the rest of his team engaged the enemy.

The Manifest troops were taken completely by surprise. In addition to Mason's first kill Scott managed to blast a hole through the chest plate of another sentry with the use of Santos' borrowed sniper rifle and Santos himself had taken down a third on the opposite end of the camp with two quick and clean shots. Grawk was moving under cover, waiting to get close to the ramp so he could move up and begin securing the interior of the ship while using the chaos from the battle as a distraction.

"Contact! Contact!"

"Taking fire!"

"Take them out!"

The defenders began to take cover, using crates and pre set metal panel covers for protection as they returned fire.

"Oh lookit that, they got themselves some cover," Santos chuckled, "Not!"

A shape rose up into the air from where Santos was positioned and began to pelt the defenders with laser bolts as it flew over their position. Mason managed to get his eyes on it for a moment and realized that it was a combat drone armed with a pair of lasers on its belly. The device was angular, maneuvering through the use of thrusters that allowed it to quickly change direction or reverse its course to avoid fire. He was curious to know how Santos was able to carry one on his person without it showing, but decided to find out later. The drone was forcing several of the Manifest troops from cover and allowed Scott to pick off another.

The advantage did not remain with Mason's team for long however. The shots from his laser rifle and Santos' plasma rifle were soon traced back to their source and concentrated fire was poured around their positions. Santos' drone helped to keep them distracted, but even its combat AI couldn't dodge enemy fire forever as it weaved around their positions. Scott's support fire helped to keep them pinned, but Santos' sniper rifle had a sluggish firing rate and small ammo capacity, and besides the fact that it had enough kick to shatter bones if not handled properly it was also a bitch for Scott to aim with his injuries and even with Sutton assisting him.

Xxx

Within the first minute seven out of twenty soldiers outside the ship had been picked off including the pair by the base of the ramp. The other pair at the top were savagely cut down by Grawk, who bisected them with one wide sweep of his buster sword and moved on, undetected by the soldiers busy defending the camp perimeter. The Nightkin found the Monolith taken from the bunker secured by an industrial grade grav plate with numerous cables as an additional insurance policy to keep it tethered in place.

Grawk tapped his call button. "This is Grawk, I've located the artifact. No signs of any other crew yet, but I'll sweep the ship just to be sure."

"We'll keep them occupied out here! Just hurry!" Mason responded, raising his voice to be heard over the noise of the battle raging outside.

"Roger, Grawk out." Grawk responded, but before he could make his way towards the front of the cargo hold he spotted some movement off to the side. "Okay, whoever is there, you have one chance to surrender before you end up like your-"

Grawk was cut off by a crate being lobbed at him. He managed to throw himself to the side and saw the culprit...all four of them step into view in bulky armour almost the same size as him with visors emitting an eerie orange glare.

"Uh..." Grawk tapped his radio again as one of the hulking armoured figures began to charge right at him. "Captain? I think we have a problem."

"What the hell now?!"

"They have mech armour." Grawk responded and then grabbed his buster sword in time to clash with the nearest Mech Trooper.

Xxx

"You have got to be shitting me." Owen hissed.

The shrubs surrounding him had been set ablaze by counter fire from the camp, and he was forced to crawl away from the embers to avoid either burning to death or being picked off once his cover was reduced to ash. Santos had fared better, now taking cover behind a supply crate and firing off controlled bursts from his plasma rifle while Scott and Sutton remained out of sight and picked off another soldier.

By now the Manifest troopers had realized that they were dropping like flies, and an NCO issued several hand signals to order the remaining soldiers to withdraw to the ship's ramp. The first man up the ramp spotted a shape hurtling out of the darkness of the cargo bay and called out a warning as he dove aside, pulling another man out of the way and giving the rest ample time to avoid the Mech Trooper that had been roughly tossed out into the open with a large buster sword stuck in the chest plate. Grawk followed after and knocked aside any obstacles while the other Mech Troopers poured out into the open.

"Scott!" Owen bellowed.

"I see them sir. Stand by!"

The sniper rifle let out another crack as a projectile slammed into the lead Mech Trooper hard enough to make him stumble a bit, but mostly because it had taken out one of the optical sensors located in the reinforce pad helmet.

"Shit. Armour's too thick sir!"

"Then just keep blinding them!" Owen raised his rifle as he found a new position closer to the camp-which had forced him to wade through the large pond and let loose with several more bursts. "They aren't invincible!"

The regular infantry remained out of the line of fire now, guarding the entrance to the frigate while the three Mech Troopers spread out and let loose with their arm mounted plasma cannons. The fourth got up and tugged on the buster the sword, which unfortunately hadn't gone deep enough to cause any harm to the pilot; with a single tug it tore the weapon out and tossed it away. A second shot from Scott's hidden perch hit the hulking armoured suit in the chest and left a sizeable dent, but by the time a third bullet sliced through the air under the guidance of a more carefully placed shot a shield of blue light expanded from the mech's right arm and sent the projectile rebounding into the trees.

"Arm mounted-oh that is just bull shit! How many new toys do these guys have?!" Scott shouted in frustration.

Suddenly the Mech Trooper's head turned scanning the general direction that Scott had fired from. It knelt down on one knee as its upper back began to open up, revealing a pair of what looked like-

"Rockets!" Owen gasped. "Scott, Sutton, get out of there!"

A pair of rockets exploded out of the Mech Trooper's launchers, leaving a trail of smoke behind them as they arched up into the air and began a sharp dive down to the cliff where the pair had chosen to set up. Less than five seconds after they fired the rockets came down hard and created a pair of explosions which lit up the increasingly dim forest and created a roar that would be heard throughout the entire valley.

"Sergeant, come in! Are you clear?! Scott, answer me!" Owen called out, pressing himself down flat again as plasma fire lanced through the air just a couple feet overhead. "Sutton! Anyone?!"

Instead of either of the two Owen heard Santos' voice. "No sign of them, Captain!" The Paladin was avoiding fire from two of the Mech Trooper's while his drone returned to his position and provided covering fire to distract the pair. "We don't have anything big enough to take these things on!"

"You have grenades, don't you?" Owen demanded.

"Affirmative!" Grawk growled as he found shelter behind a large rock.

Owen grabbed one grenade from his belt. "Well then that's the biggest thing we have!" He primed the plasma grenade and then lobbed it as hard as he could, watching it land by the feet of the Mech Trooper who had killed Scott and Sutton moments ago. He saw the glowing golden eyes glance downward before an explosion of green energy erupted right between its feet, sending it stumbling back with sections of armour now glowing bright red.

Seizing this chance, Owen tapped into his V.A.T.S and locked onto the Mech Trooper's right knee joint. He fired off three bursts and watched as more than half of his shots struck home, heating up the mechanisms and melting away the outer armour. Owen palmed another grenade and rushed in close, priming it as he came within several feet of his target. The Mech Trooper glanced back up and tried to clumsily swing one arm up to block him, but Owen slid under it and gave a light underhanded toss to roll the grenade right up to the leg he had targeted before.

This time when the grenade blew it took out something in that limb. The Mech Trooper fell off balance and had to brace both hands to the ground to keep from face planting. The right leg was sparking, and Owen could faintly hear alarms through the suit's speakers-the ones that weren't fried already.

Rising to his feet, Owen brought his rifle around again and fired right into the Mech Trooper's face. The golden eyes fluttered and died after the second shot, and the faceplate lost it is shape after the fourth. Just as the pilot tried to raise one arm in a desperate defence the sixth shot finally got through the thick helmet. The mechanized limb halted in mid air and the entire suit ceased its movements.

"Payback," Owen grunted, and made use of the immobile and deceased Mech Trooper's makeshift coffin as cover while he checked on how Grawk and Santos were doing.

Grawk had already taken down his pursuer and was moving to help Santos with the other two. Both Paladins working together managed to outmaneuver the cumbersome armoured suits and made use of several grenades and well placed plasma rounds. Grawk even managed to snatch up his somewhat dulled and bent buster sword and buried it deep through the chest plate of one Mech Trooper once the unyielding armour had been softened and melted enough. Moments later Santos heaved himself up onto the final Mech Trooper's shoulders and fired his plasma rifle right into the neck area until the pilot within finally took hot plasma right to the spinal cord and his suit toppled over.

Grawk pulled Santos to his feet and smirked. "Big, clumsy and expensive with an American flag plastered on it." The mutant quipped. "These punks really are the Enclave reborn."

"Preaching, mano." Santos nodded, taking notice of Owen on the far side of the camp. "Okay, the whales are down so let's hurry up and get on board before the minnows can-."

A green blast struck the Paladin between the shoulders. His armour protected him and gave Santos time to spin around before two more landed in rapid succession. Before he even hit the ground another struck Grawk in the side of his exposed head, causing the Night Kin to howl and clap both hands to his head as one of his eyes melted in its socket. Santos' drone turned to meet the shooter only to be struck right in the middle, resulting in it exploding like a live grenade.

The culprit darted into view, rushing right for the ramp.

"Mycroft!" Owen shouted upon recognizing the assailant and fired off another shot before being forced into cover by the remaining Manifest Troopers, who had left the safety of the cargo hold in order to see their General safely aboard. Once Mycroft had vanished up the ramp the remaining soldiers began to withdraw in an orderly fashion, always keeping at least three rifles firing short and controlled bursts at Owen's position. He managed to fire back a few times, but the frigate was already slowly rising into the air as the last armoured form climbed aboard.

"No! Shit. Shit. Shit!" Owen futilely fired his rifle at the retreating starship until the energy cell ran dry, and watched as it ascended and gathered speed until it was swallowed by the clouds. "SHIT! MYCROFT!" He shouted after the vessel as the roar of its engines faded away, leaving Owen standing in the middle of numerous dead or dying. "You son of a bitch!" He howled and threw his rifle down.

How had Mycroft gotten out here?! The last time they saw him he'd been cuffed and disarmed! They'd had the top dog in Manifest in their hands and Owen had just watched him gun down two good men and escape right in plain view!

The thought of his allies allowed Owen to tear his gaze away from the sky and turn to the downed Paladins as he rushed to check on them both.

"Santos! Grawk!" He looked over both of them and held up his Pip-Boy, scanning them both for vitals.

Grawk was still alive and hanging by a thread, but his human counterpart…

"Shit…" Owen forced himself to look away from Santos' motionless body and tend to Grawk, who at least stood half a chance of coming out of this alive.

He knelt and reached for one of his Stim-Gel packs as a weak groan escaped from Grawk's partially burnt mouth.

"Hang in there big guy, we'll get you back to the bunker." Owen whispered, not knowing how to keep that promise.

A sudden burst of static on his radio preceded Sutton's strained voice. "Captain?" She coughed a couple times. "We-we got hit bad…"

Just another wounded person in the field that he likely wouldn't be able to save. Owen pushed such thoughts to the back of his mind and tapped his radio. "I hear you Sutton. I'll be right there, I just need to stabilize Grawk and I'll be right over."

"Captain," Sutton wheezed, "Scott…he pushed me down the cliff just before they hit…I don't…I don't think he made it sir."

It didn't surprise Owen that the Sergeant would do that. He may have only known him for a few short hours but their mission had felt like an eternity for him to learn about the younger man. He seemed the sort to take the hit for somebody else, and he had just paid for that with his life. There was no way that he could have survived if he had been right where the missiles had struck.

Owen finished applying the Stim Gel. "Don't worry about him then," He replied, "Just hang in there until I get to you, alright? I've got plenty of medical supplies now," He glanced at an abandoned manifest crate with a Red Cross emblazoned on the side as he said this.

"No, not for this…the cliff collapsed sir…I…I'm under a rock." Sutton's voice began to crack. "I can't move…it's on my-my legs."

Owen shot to his feet and pounded towards the area beneath the cliff face. "Sutton, I'm coming! He shouted. "Keep talking, I'm almost there!"

"Can't…I…I just…" Sutton choked. "Wanna go back…back home." She gave a shuddering breath as Owen reached a collection of boulders. "Wake me when I'm home…"

Owen found her just a few seconds later, partially crushed under a slab of the cliff that had fallen away. He'd found some evidence of Sergeant Scott's charred remains on the way too.

As he knelt over Sutton's form and looked down into her sightless eyes Owen felt the previous few hours finally catch up to him. All of the adrenaline, the near deaths, the chase, the mission…all over. It was all over and here he was kneeling over the shattered body of a young woman who he'd dragged into this crazy suicide mission with him along with everyone else who he'd fought beside today. It took every bit of willpower not to just collapse right next to Sutton and die right there in the dirt and blood.

"Captain Mason? Captain Mason, this is Inquisitor Grey." A woman's voice spoke through his radio. "Captain, if you can hear me, I've re-established communications in this sector and a Vertibird is being sent to your general location. Captain, can you hear me?"

Owen plucked his radio from his ear and shut off his Pip-Boy with a weary sigh. He turned and sat back against the rock that had crushed Sutton, slumping as he closed his eyes. "It's…been a long day," He whispered. "A long day…"

Xxx

Manifest Stealth Frigate Endurance

On exit vector from Shanxi

CIC

Ian Mycroft stood before a semi circle of six silhouettes arranged around his chair. His usual smile had an air of malevolence to it, and his posture showed that his recent victory had been pleasing to say the least.

"General Mycroft," One of the silhouettes representing Manifest's Council addressed him, "It is good to see you in good health. And we received your message regarding the retrieval of the Ark."

A second council member spoke next. "The Houston facility will be fully ready by the time of your arrival, and all of the necessary resources have been placed at your disposal." He said, "We expect results within the previously established eighty month deadline, of course."

"And you'll have it within twenty," Mycroft casually promised, "Mark my words, councilmen-and ladies, Project Nietzsche is the first step to our goal. And all we need are a suitable amount of volunteers to get things off the ground."

"Availability of volunteers will be of no concern," A third council member, this one a woman, stated. "The first batch are already at Houston. We will leave you to your work now General, as you've shown to be quite…trustworthy in handling your own affairs. But we will have eyes on your work, and should there be any blowback that could damage our cause we will retain the right to purge Houston and your experiments."

The councilwoman was satisfied by the slight twitch to Mycroft's smile, which was the only indication that her words had even annoyed him a bit

"Of course, ma'am." Mycroft responded with a slow nod and a pleasant tone as if they were all seated for a civilized dinner party. "And I shall look forward to your reaction when you see just what my work will have to show in a few short months."

The Endurance moved away from Shanxi, avoiding any of the alien patrols as it made its way to the relay. Without anyone being the wiser the stealth frigate departed the system, the only indicator being the flash generated from the relay which one would have to be staring at directly to notice.

Xxx

AN: Please note that there are instances in this story where I shall have certain events play out based on the flip of a coin. For example, in the particular situation when Santos asks Owen for a decision on when they are to attack the camp Owen may either attack now or wait to see if the defenders will become distracted with preparing to take off. Both outcomes will have carrying consequences, and could result in the death or survival of certain characters. In the case of the aforementioned event...the coin came up as heads for 'attack now' and as a result Scott, Sutton and Santos are dead and Grawk is one eye down.

And on a secondary note, I'm planning to make the Salarian 'speech pattern' shown by Councillor Zenthis in this chapter and by Mordin Solus in the game series a running gag.

And also…I am VERY sorry for the long wait. Between school work and writer's block I just dragged my feet on this so much, and then I just started stuffing so much into these chapters that it felt overblown and rushed. So on that note I am announcing another change: I'm going to try to make the chapters shorter so that I can start producing them more frequently again, maybe with ten pages per chapter at the most if I can help it unless it's something big. This whole arc has been a bit of a mess from my perspective, and this new arc gives me a chance to stop repeating certain mistakes.

And finally….that's the end of the Fall of Shanxi Arc. Next up is the Shanxi Insurgency Arc!

Now for responses to recent reviews!

Commissar Critical – I don't recall any canon sources stating China's exact condition. The closest I got was the ambiguous canon status of Fallout Extreme describing that China had crowned a new emperor who was planning to launch an intercontinental missile at the Brotherhood of Steel's Lost Hills bunker, which I used in the timeline for this story.

Mf0012 – Okay if I recall I answered you via private message to explain my stance on it. This is just for the other readers to see my reasoning. Dreadnaughts can fire shots at a fraction of a speed of light, true, but I'm pretty sure cruisers can too, just at a much slower speed that makes them only one half to one third as destructive as a Dreadnaught.

DMD Hanafin – Sorry you feel that way my good chum, but in this timeline Super Mutants and Ghouls are considered parts of the community despite their mutant status, as are Death Claws. This happened over a long period of time and at the urging of individuals like Logan Mason and Alicia Shepard, and their word put together may as well have equated to Moses adding a new commandment stating 'Thou shall treat thine mutated brothers and sisters as equals'.

Tylermech66 – And once again hindsight bites me in the back. Ever since my last chapter post I've looked back on this story and noted a lot of mistakes I could have avoided, things that I felt so confident about when I started out. If I ever rewrite this I might try going back to change that particular name.

Guest – Uh…okay, love the tech talk, but not much in the way of contributing to the story.

Ngrey661 – I feel the best villains are often the ones who have at least a couple redeeming qualities and don't twirl their moustaches. That's what I was aiming for with Desolas and I'm glad you liked it. As for the whole psychic power thing…I really will need to explore that more openly, just one of many things I intend to add in the next arc.

Reality deviant – Wish granted my friend!