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.

Xxx

Chapter Twelve: The Shanxi Insurgency, Part 4, How the tables turn

Shanxi System, Shanxi

Turian Airbase Ieacalas, exterior of Turian Frigate Wraith's Wing

Approximately 1500 hours

"LET THEM HAVE IT!"

All twelve Crusaders let loose with a flurry of blue and red energy beams, incinerating numerous Raptor soldiers and structures in the opening salvo while the rest were forced to scramble for safer cover. Some attempted to fire back only for their shots to leave minor dents in the thick armour of the Brotherhood Paladins as they began to clean the area surrounding the frigate. It was a one sided slaughter in favour of the Crusaders, who managed to massacre almost a hundred enemy soldiers by the time the Raptors had finished withdrawing.

Many of the Crusaders' victims had holes burned clean through them. Others had been reduced to piles of ash or puddles of glowing green slime.

"Enemy armour, incoming!" Crusader-8, one of the team's Super Mutants in the bulkier power armour called out.

Crusader-Actual turned as the approaching vehicles were highlighted on his HUD. "Twelve, on that armour!"

Crusader 12 turned and aimed both of his arm mounted cannons at the pair of vehicles as they slid to a stop. "With pleasure sir," The Prolat inside chuckled insidiously as his guns charged up.

Suddenly the Crusaders picked up an incoming transmission which started out as static before the panicked voice of a man broke through. "Whoa whoa whoa hold your fire! Brotherhood of Steel, hold your fire!"

Crusader 12 frowned and lowered his cannons. "Who the hell?"

After a moment of silence a calmer female voice replaced the first as the hatch on one of the vehicles opened up. "This is Inquisitor Victoria Grey, hold your fire." Victoria stated as she climbed out of the vehicle and walked towards the armored Crusaders. "These vehicles are under our control, we just decided to bring them in when we saw your landing."

"You're with Captain Mason?" Crusader-Actual asked, keeping an eye out for any Raptors who might try using the arrival as a distraction for a counter attack.

"No shit, Sherlock." Parker growled from the gunner seat of her own APC.

"What she said," Victoria replied, no longer needing her communicator to speak to them clearly. "He had us hit the fuel depot to distract the enemy while he hit this frigate."

Crusader-Actual looked at the commandeered vehicles and waved one arm. "Alright, bring those in close and park them. Put those guns on top to use." He stepped aside as the two alien APCs were moved into position on either side of the frigate. "How the hell did you manage to drive those things anyways?"

"Oh it was a lot easier with the translation matrix," Nathan answered as he appeared from the top hatch of his APC and manned the turret, "That and a lot of their tech is very similar to ours, or at least their steering controls are...and they were unlocked...and they don't seem to comprehend the idea of a car alarm in these things."

Victoria ignored the marine-something that had formed into a habit ever since meeting him, and focused on Crusader-Actual. "You were sent from New Taiyuan?"

"Yes ma'am," Crusader-Actual nodded and lowered his Theta Caster, "Sent to pull your asses out of the fire when a few hundred Raptors surrounded this frigate."

"That might be difficult," Victoria said while looking at the now sealed cargo bay. "About fifty of them just locked themselves inside."

Crusader-Actual looked to the Death Claw in the team and whistled, drawing his attention. "Ten, kindly extract Mason and his men from the enemy frigate." He gestured to two more of his men. "Three and Four, cover him."

The Death Claw nodded and slung his rotary cannon onto his back before effortlessly climbing the side of the ship, digging his claws into the side while thrusters built into his armor further propelled him up. Two of the human members of the team flew straight up into the air and latched onto the hull. Several shots from hidden Raptor sharp shooters struck them, but they shrugged the projectiles off and returned fire, laying down cover as Crusader-10 flexed one claw and sprouted a Proton blade from his gauntlet before plunging it into the ablative armour, which began to boil and stream down the hull of the ship as the Death Claw surgically cut through it.

Victoria reached for her communicator. "Captain Mason, can you hear me?"

Xxx

"Kind of a bad time!" Owen replied as he watched the sparks emanating from the sealed doors at the back of the CIC.

"We have reinforcements, and one of them is cutting his way inside the ship on the starboard side." Victoria informed him. "Can you hold out for a few more minutes?"

"In the time that it takes for them to cut through the three sheets of outer hull armour this room will be overrun." Zero answered in Owen's place, still connected to the ship's sensors to provide her with eyes and ears on every level and in every room. "And the cockpit has been sealed off."

"Zero, after this I am going to personally reprogram you to have a sunnier outlook on life." Owen vowed.

"Well then," Another voice rumbled, "I guess I'd better swap my scalpel for something...stronger."

"...who was that?" Edward asked, sitting against the display.

"Stand by."

The next few moments were spent in silence, save for the noise generated by the Raptors cutting through the doors.

"Uh...any time now?" Owen nervously asked while settling in next to Edward, using the CIC's tactical display table for cover. "Grey? Anyone?"

Zero knelt in front of them. "Twenty seconds until doors are breached." She said, "Also...get down and cover your heads."

Owen and Edward exchanged a glanced before doing as the Synth commanded. She looked over her shoulder and activated what her human companions had dubbed her 'over shield'. One second later a deafening explosion rocked the entire ship as a section of the wall on the starboard side of the room was blown inwards. Debris struck Zero's shields, shattering the outer barrier and greatly weakening the secondary shield. By the end of it all three occupants of the CIC were unharmed and found themselves staring at a massive gaping hole blown through the ship's outer armour, inner hull and the scaffolding separating both layers.

Crusader-10 leaned into view, his helmet covered head tilting. "What are you sitting around for?" He demanded. "Get out here!"

That snapped all three of them back into action. Zero covered the doors while Edward and Owen rushed to the opening and leapt out, easily nailing the landing thanks to their armour while Zero then followed behind. Crusader-10 looked inside to see Raptors spilling into the CIC and greeted them with both a grin and a thermal charge which he tossed in before leaping down from the ship. As he landed the Death Claw revealed a detonator in his grasp and pressed down, causing fire and smoke to burst through the opening. If the frigate was not already locked down and immobile the detonation likely would have knocked it right out of the air.

"A pleasure to meet you Mason," Crusader-Actual greeted them. "Now please tell me you got something useful out of this."

Owen glanced at Zero and received a nod from her before answering. "Oh yeah, I think we hit the goldmine."

"Good, then our job here is done." Crusader-Actual said, "Command this is Crusader-Actual, we have Mason and his team and what I am told is a shit ton of intel. Planting Transit Relay and awaiting recall."

"Wilco, Actual. We can have you back here in the next two minutes." The voice of Sentinel Noland replied.

"Command with respect that is about a minute and a half too long," Crusader Actual insisted while sending a hand signal to his team.

As their leader conversed with Noland several of the Crusaders began to remove components from storage compartments in their armour. They began to attach these devices together while the rest of the team kept watch.

"Uh...what's a Transit Relay?" Campbell asked, glancing over his shoulder for a second only to spot several Raptor vehicles lumbering down the path towards them when he faced forward again. "Damn. Contact!"

"Less talking Campbell, more shooting!" Parker shouted.

Both of them began to open up with the mounted guns, unleashing a spray of projectiles while Crusader-12 charged his guns back up, now having a chance to put them to use. The armour clad Prolat fired from both cannons at once and watched as twin spheres of plasma slammed into the leading vehicle and detonated. Kinetic barriers flashed brightly, but the heat of the projectiles transferred right to the hull and began to melt through it. The Raptor driver was dead before the six wheeled vehicle veered off course and flipped over, crushing a prefab structure under its weight while the second and third screeched to a stop and began to fire their own turrets.

Crusader-12 stumbled back as a wave of projectiles slammed into his armour, having a significantly more visible effect than the Raptor small arms had and causing the armour's sensors to flash as components received damage.

He cursed and began to move behind Campbell's APC. "Boss! We might want to get out of here! Right now preferably!"

"Working on it Twelve." Crusader-Actual sighed, seemingly unaffected as more Raptor units began to roar into view and fire on the Crusaders still holding the perimeter. "Look, Command, we're kind of losing some breathing space over here and these Raptors stink like sin. Is there any way that we can speed this up?"

"If you don't find the possibility of having your atoms scattered across this hemisphere then yes," Noland replied, "Otherwise you just need to hang on while we lock onto your relay."

By now the Crusaders had finished constructing a device which was fixed to the ground and extending upwards. It looked like some kind of antennae with a blue blinking light near the base.

"Relay is up." Crusader-Actual announced and hefted his Theta Caster, bringing it to bear and firing on a Raptor gunship as it flew down for a strafing run. His shots tore away the chin gun and caused smoke to trail behind the craft as it peeled off. "Enemy now has air assets on site!"

"Got eyes on two enemy air!" Crusader-3 called from above and knelt as a weapon unfolded from the back of her armour and arranged itself over her shoulder, allowing her to take aim and fire off a rocket at two more approaching gunships, one of which shot the projectile out of the air with a single burst. "Damn, gotta give them credit for good shooting."

"They utilize computer assisted targeting and navigation," Zero said while locking onto the approaching gunships, "Allow me to remedy that."

The Synth closed her eyes and used her onboard transmitter along with the captured Raptor-no...captured Turian data to hack into one of the gunships with an override code taken from the frigate's archives. The pilot was treated to the experience of losing control of his craft and its guns followed by being forced to watch as his wingman was taken by surprise with a wave of heavy ammunition to the right flank before spiralling to the ground below. The hijacked gunship then began to wreak havoc on the Raptor vehicles and ground forces converging on the Crusaders.

"Ninety seconds Crusader-Actual!"

"You heard him Crusaders, hold the line!"

Owen and Edward had run out of ammo by this point and were simply sticking close to Zero and Victoria while the Crusaders continued to spray energy and plasma at the oncoming alien army.

In the meantime Campbell's turret ceased firing and began to expel heat through ports along the barrel. "Aw crap." He grunted before spotting a single Turian with a large weapon set on their shoulder taking aim. "Oh for god's sake!"

The Turian fired off a rocket, and Campbell just barely managed to climb out of the gunner's seat and leap from the top of the APC before it was blown open. Crusader-12 pushed against it and fired around the back of the ruined vehicle while Campbell joined the others by the Relay.

"Jane, get out of there!" Owen shouted, watching the Ghoul fire her own turret to keep the enemy at bay.

"Sixty seconds, Actual!"

"Janie!" Nathan called out but the Ghoul did not respond, too focused on laying down suppressing fire "Janie, come on!"

"We can't let this side of the perimeter fall yet!" Jane replied as she succeeded in taking down the barriers of one of the Turian APCs. "Gotta hold the line! Just a little longer!"

"Janie this is literally the worst time in history for you to start acting like a hero!" Nathan said as he rose to his feet to run over and drag her out of the APC only for Victoria to pull him back down. "Hey!"

"Stay down. I'll get her." Victoria said before triggering her armour's thrusters and shooting off of the ground. "Parker, if you don't get down off that gun I'm going to kick your ass and drag you back myself, kicking and screaming if I have to!"

"Oh will you smoothskins stop being so fucking dramatic?" Parker demanded as Victoria landed near her APC. "Seriously, I've survived a hell of a lot worse than a few glorified birds-"

Another rocket fired and hit side of the APC, lower than the one that had struck Campbell's. It caused the vehicle to flip over onto its side, sending Parker tumbling out of her seat as the APC then continued to roll over, threatening to crush the Inquisitor under its bulk.

"Oh shit, shit shit-" Parker scrambled to move out of the way only for Victoria to engage her thrusters again and slam into the APC, tilting it away from Parker.

Victoria looked down at Jane and held out one hand. "The next time I say to move your ass: move your fucking ass!" She pulled Jane to her feet.

"Uh...right, enough risks for the day." Jane decided and followed Victoria back towards the Relay.

"Fifteen second mark! Actual, you need everybody within ten meters of the Relay!"

Crusader-Actual turned and waved to his team. "You heard the man! Everybody, converge on the relay! NOW!"

The whole squad began to back up, giving ground to the Turians but keeping up a wave of fire to prevent them from rushing in all at once. Within moments they had all regrouped around the relay, forming a defensive circle around the six smaller fighters. Electricity crackled around the Relay as a blue light emanated from the very top.

"Relay transition in five, four, three, two, one!"

"Seriously, what the hell is this thing supposed to-" Nathan began before a blinding light enveloped the whole group, and in the blink of an eye they vanished from that spot entirely as a crack of thunder echoed across the plains.

Xxx

New Taiyuan, Brother of Steel Citadel

"-do?" Nathan finished his statement as the world became replaced by a grey and barren room that was now crowded by twelve immense Crusaders who were careful not to squish any of the smaller members of Owen's strike team.

"Question answered, Sergeant." Victoria chuckled. "That was a Molecular Relay, or as laymen call it: a teleporter."

"We just...got teleported?" Owen asked slowly, not noticing a door slid open in the wall behind him.

"Indeed you were, Captain." Sentinel Noland answered, stepping into the room alongside Colonel Williams, causing those of lesser rank in the room to salute out of habit. "A little gift from the Big MT Facility that the Brotherhood has put to fine use and our Prolat friends on Mars have spent decades refining. We haven't mastered teleporting between planets as of yet but with a strong enough signal it was a simple feat to bring you back here to safety."

Owen spun around. "Colonel Williams!"

"The one and only," Ashe Williams cracked a smile and extended a hand which Owen hesitantly accepted and shook. "A pleasure to finally meet you in person Mason, from the sound of things you've been doing your father quite proud ever since this whole mess began."

"I...thank you sir, uh...but..." Owen tried to find the proper words, a task that was difficult after being in the middle of what could only be described as a kill zone mere seconds ago and then being teleported for the first time in his life. "Wait, you left the relay back there. Isn't that classified tech?"

Sentinel Noland bared his teeth in a smirk. "Oh, we certainly did but worry not...they won't have anything from just a regular old signal relay." He chuckled, "The actual teleporter is safely within our control."

Williams stepped back out of the room. "I think that'll be enough for now Sentinel. Let's let Captain Mason and his team get some well deserved rest. They just got pull straight out of Hell itself and in the process retrieved a lot of valuable information for us." He paused, "Oh and before we forget I'd like to have that data transferred to a computer if you wouldn't mind."

"Of...course sir." Owen nodded, taking off his helmet and tucking it under one arm while pointing a thumb at Zero. "Zero here can handle that for you."

Williams and Noland were obviously shocked to see the face of Alicia Shepard when Zero removed her helmet, judging by their expressions.

"You can relax," Zero sighed, "I'm just a Synth, and my designer had a particularly nasty sense of humor. Now I believe you'd like to take a look at that data, Colonel? Just point me to a computer and I can handle the rest."

"Keep an eye on her," Parker advised, "She's Manifest made."

Williams' surprised was replaced by apprehension as he stared at Zero. "Is this true, Mason?" He asked calmly.

"Yes sir," Owen nodded, "I oversaw Zero's previous personality being erased though, and added some fail safes just in case I missed anything."

"I'd assume that one of these fail safes are a micro charge planted in her cranium." Williams stated, one hand instinctively resting on the pistol holstered at his side.

"And another two located along my spine." Zero added, "I won't debate their necessity however, I still know that it's better to go overboard when dealing with a potential threat." She looked at Owen, "And if you're wondering, my on board sensors detected them the moment you reactivated me."

"Sir," Victoria stepped forward to diffuse the situation. "I agree that Zero needs to remain under surveillance, but for now I can vouch for her being cooperative every step of the way with us. Between her assistance on our mission and the technology and information gained from her regarding Manifest I think she at least deserves a chance."

Williams frowned. "Inquisitor Grey, you're asking me to take the chance that a Manifest Synth won't one day be reprogrammed to her original personality and do irreparable damage before she's put down. Anybody who went through grade school knows that Synths are vulnerable to suddenly being reset by any particular stimuli. Who's to say that one day somebody says a particular phrase or she hears a certain sound that causes this?"

"There are ways of removing these triggers," Victoria insisted, "Colonel, you don't need to grant her exclusive access to your systems and base. We just need to get the data out of her and then we could have her shipped back to Earth to be deconditioned."

"That's assuming that the alien fleet doesn't just blockade us for the next few months or years." Williams pointed out, "This invasion won't end tomorrow Inquisitor, it might not even end this year. We could be stuck in the middle of a tug of war for Shanxi or end up being occupied by a few million of those damn Raptors-"

"Turians." Zero interrupted.

Victoria grimaced and tried to quiet the Android down. "Zero, let me handle this."

"And they won't be receiving reinforcements." Zero added. "Their last request was rejected."

This caused the room to fall silent for several moments.

"...Mason," Williams broke the silence, "I want you and Synth in Meeting Room One in an hour. Noland, grab a computer not connected to the network and have it brought there. I want to verify what she just said."

Zero smiled. "Believe me Colonel when I say that you'll love to hear everything that I've learned about them."

Xxx

Turian airbase Ieacalas

Two hours later (1700 hours)

"This is without a doubt a colossal failure, General Oraka." Desolas Arterius said, standing in the scorched ruins surrounding the frigate Wraith's Wing. "These humans pillaged a vast amount of data from the Battle Net, and spirits know if they've managed to slip anything into it."

Septimus Oraka stood with his head bowed and his hands folded in front of him. "I realized that," He bit back the next words that threatened to escape, "Sir."

And if you're wondering, he meant to say that he had already realized that without needing to hear it through the condescending voice of some arrogant soft scaled brat barely half his age. He also had the desire to point out to Desolas that if he had not been so insistent on having the air base placed so close to the city, thereby stretching the invasion force thin between two bases and the city itself Oraka could have had a larger defence force-one that could have shot down the craft that had dropped those twelve...monsters right on his men.

But decades of procedure remained deeply embedded in the older General. A few years ago he had outranked Desolas, but the rising star of the Hierarchy had enough pull and an impressive record that had propelled him past Oraka by just a single tier. Septimus knew that he would not be getting promoted again anytime soon with the sort of enemies he had in the Hierarchy, and Desolas was aware of this too...much to Oraka's chagrin.

"No, I don't believe that you truly comprehend the level of your blundering today." Desolas hissed, "Tactical information, dozens of contingencies that will have to be changed, code phrases that must be swapped out entirely and above all else they may even have-" He caught himself and glanced around before lowering his voice, "They may even have the record of my rejected request for additional ships and troops to fortify our position here. And with the latest updated translation software among the stolen data they might even be able to accurately read it."

Septimus was torn between dismay and satisfaction. As Desolas was the one to call for this half assed invasion he would be the one to suffer the most, but Oraka also saw a future where he and many others would either be a casualty of this war or would live long enough to be demoted, imprisoned or executed on Palaven. The only thing that would avert both of those fates would be a victory against the Alliance, and it did not take a tactician to see that the humans now might possess the means to cripple the invasion force.

"I am very much aware of how this bodes for us, General Arterius." Oraka calmly responded, "More importantly, how it bodes for you above all else. The best that we can do is cut our losses at this base and push into the human city with our remaining assets. With orbital and aerial superiority we can still take the city within the week, maybe a day or two if we act wisely."

Desolas shook his head, "Oh no, we aren't going to risk waiting that long." He picked up a bent and burnt assault rifle and tossed it at the husk of one of the stolen APCs. "I'm not going to let a bunch of mutated, backwards freaks be the end of me!"

As much as it amused to see the great Desolas Arterius in the midst of a tantrum Oraka could see that this was about to take a turn most to his disliking. "What do you intend to do, sir?"

"If we cannot conquer that city...then we shall simply destroy it." Desolas hissed, "Send a message to the rest of their Alliance that nothing they have will be able to hold back the Hierarchy, intimidate them into surrendering!"

Oraka shook his head. "We have nothing that can breach that shield and you know it."

"No conventional weapons," Desolas agreed, "However...even a barrier as large as that one cannot catch a sufficiently large projectile." He slowly tilted his head up. "And we have one resting right overhead."

Septimus' mandibles twitched and his eyes widened as he realized just what Desolas was referring to. "You...you mean to-" He shook his head. "No, General Arterius that would tantamount to dropping a meteor on that city, and on a garden world no less!"

"Yet if you read the Citadel Conventions carefully such tactics are permitted on hostile worlds." Desolas retorted, storming up to Septimus. "This is happening. A rabble of mutated abominations will not turn back the Turian Hierarchy."

"Even if you do destroy this one city it could only incite further resistance if we attempt to push into their territory." Septimus argued, keeping his voice low so that the troops nearby would not hear. "Desolas, listen to me! You will be committing a war crime against a new species! This attack could at least be explained as the result of a misunderstanding but going as far as to do irreparable damage to a Garden Class world and massacre tens of thousands of Alliance personnel would never be allowed to pass. Think about your future!"

"I'm thinking about the Galaxy's future!" Desolas bellowed, drawing the attention of many surrounding soldiers and causing Oraka to take a step back. "Fall in line General, or you can stand with these humans and their pet mutants while I level their city!"

Desolas turned and stormed away, leaving a shocked and horrified Septimus standing in the shadow of the crippled Wraith's Wing.

"Spirits," Septimus whispered, "What sort of madness has overtaken you, Desolas?"

Xxx

New Taiyuan, Brotherhood of Steel Citadel

Meeting Room One

"They are called the Turian Hierarchy."

Zero sat at the end of the conference table, cables running from the back of her head to a computer supplied by Sentinel Noland and the Brotherhood Scribes to download and examine the data she had taken from the Turians. Owen, Victoria and Williams sat along the length of the table. From the projector built in at the center of the metallic surface the image of a Turian male was constructed in three dimensions followed by that of a Turian female.

"Based on what I have retrieved they appear to be an extremely militant society placing emphasis on service to the state and the use of a Tier system with over twenty levels." Zero said, "They are also in possession of the largest military force in the known Galaxy, with thirty two individual fleets each made up of anywhere between four or five hundred vessels and at least one Dreadnaught...you've faced two of those so far by the way."

Colonel Williams cleared his throat. "As interesting as that is, especially the part about their fleets...I'd prefer to hear less about their society and more about what you said before."

"Ah yes," Zero rolled her eyes and replaced the image on the projector with that of a grey scaled Turian in a formal uniform. "This is General Desolas Arterius, the commanding officer of the fleet overhead and the one who authorized the invasion of Shanxi. He was able to gather numerous patrol fleets and troop garrisons together from areas close to the Tartarus System and absorbed them into his command. However he recently sent a request back to the Hierarchy asking for another Dreadnaught and the whole Turian 3rd Fleet to reinforce his position and prepare to further pushes into Alliance Space."

"And he was denied?" Owen asked.

"The response was automated, but it translates into 'you aren't getting anymore ships' along with a heavily implied 'you're in big trouble'."

Williams nodded, now in a considerably better mood with that last piece of information. "So he doesn't have any reinforcements coming at all."

"Yes, though I cannot say why they've denied him he basically received their answering machine." Zero answered, "Dreadnaughts are considered a precious military resource, and one of them just had to high tail it back home while being held together by duct tape and happy thoughts. Now imagine what would happen if the other were to suddenly meet a tragic fate."

Zero changed the image on the projector to show the Dreadnaught in question. It was a gargantuan bird of prey with more armour than any Paladin cruiser, enough fire power to tear apart a small fleet on its own and dwarfed even the Liberty class carriers. If everything about it was to be believed then this ship could take on at least two Paladins head to head, or turn the tide of a battle against a numerically superior force.

"These babies are meant to be the big guns in any conflict. Without them all these Turians have are cruisers with about half the firepower and frigates that are little good for more than anti-fighter cover."

The image expanded to include the Chairman Benny station, which the Dreadnaught appeared to be in close proximity to.

"The Turian Dreadnaught, the A'Kalez is always close to the Chairman and is being filled with any tech that isn't bolted down. The Turians were going to shuttle it all home, but the rejected call for help has put a hamper in that plan." Zero explained, "It always sticks close to the station and has almost half the Turian fleet surrounding it at all times. The rest are out patrolling the system or guarding the relay."

"So it's right overhead...and out of our reach." Owen sighed, massaging his brow.

"Not necessarily," Sentinel Noland replied and tapped a command into his computer, focusing on the image of the Chairman. "They may have the station, but I'm willing to bet that means they also have the Relay we had up there."

Owen slowly turned and looked at the Super Mutant. "...you've had one on board the whole time?"

"Of course! Safely concealed within a reinforced container set to open only when the Relay is used to transport someone in or out, although with a whole fleet surrounding it we saw no sense in sending a strike team up." Noland answered, "But if they have taken it aboard their Dreadnaught then that could provide us with a way right onto their flagship."

Victoria moved around the table towards the Sentinel . "Do you have a way of checking to see if the Relay is still operational?"

Noland nodded and connected his Pip-Boy to the computer. "One moment."

The image of the Chairman went from a sapphire blue tint to an emerald green one as Noland worked. Moments later the projector zoomed in on an area of the station where a golden sphere began to flash in and out of view.

Noland shook his head. "It is still aboard the station; however it has been moved to the Hangars."

"That could mean they'll be moving it on board soon." Victoria suggested. "And when they do..."

Colonel Williams couldn't fight back a grin at this sight. "...we'll have a way in."

"You may wish to know that there are several hundred prisoners aboard the Dreadnaught." Zero added, "Rescuing them and seizing or destroying the enemy Dreadnaught along with members of the Turian command staff wouldn't stop this invasion but it'd certainly slow them down and make it easier to retake the system."

"There may be an issue with storming the A'kalez." Noland warned the group, "The relay was designed to allow a small number of Brotherhood soldiers aboard and only a small number through a single transition. We did not wish to risk somebody being able to use it to teleport with the purpose of taking the station. The relay can only take a small team, six to eight people at the most. And it can only be used once."

"That's a suicide mission." Williams shook his head, "Even if we sent up half or most the Crusaders they'd only be able to do so much before being overrun."

Zero smiled knowingly. "That is why we cannot rely on them for such a delicate operation. We need a team that is more...discreet." She looked at Owen, who immediately stood up and shook his head.

"No. Hell no. Not again. Two suicide missions in a week is my quota!"

Victoria crossed her arms and leaned on the table. "Oh really, Captain? The sooner we get rid of that Dreadnaught the sooner you can punch your brother in the face."

Owen shoved his chair back and made for the door. "There is only so far that that will motivate me to risk my ass, Inquisitor. I belong in the Captain's chair on a warship, not leading strike teams in covert ops."

"And yet here you are, a couple hours fresh from the op that just scored us enough data to turn this invasion around." Victoria slid between Owen and the door, barring the way. "Mason-" She caught herself and lowered her voice to a whisper. "...Uncle," she then resumed at normal volume. "You might not be Logan or Alex but you've done the impossible already. I could lead that mission myself but I bet you'd be able to pull it off without any casualties."

Owen sighed warily and looked down at his niece. "Victoria..." He turned and looked between Williams, Noland and Zero only to see the same look that Victoria had.

"...oh fuck my life." He sighed. "Fine, but until that Relay is moved to the Achilles-"

"A'Kalez." Zero corrected him.

"Whatever. Until the Relay is moved to it I'm getting some damn sleep." Owen turned back to Victoria and gestured for her to move aside, which she did with a smile. "I'll be in the officers' barracks until then."

He began to move through the door before Victoria rested a hand on his arm. Owen turned to demand what in the seven levels of Hell she could want now only to be surprised when she kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you." She said, "I know we just had to pressure you but...thank you."

Owen awkwardly shrugged. "Eh...odds are I'd have changed my mind at the last second anyways." He replied and continued, stepping out of the room. "Lord knows I wouldn't trust it to anyone else. They'd probably screw the pooch on the whole thing and doom us all."

Victoria knew that was as close as she would get to receiving a 'you're welcome' from the aging Captain, so she just watched as he left before facing the group sitting around the table again.

"Well Colonel, it looks like Captain Mason just volunteered to lead a raid into the alien flagship." Victoria said, "Now to take a leaf out of his book I'm going to get some rest while I can. I'd appreciate it if you could have the techs here work on our Night Hawk Armour and scrounge up some Theta weapons for us."

Williams stood up, followed by Noland and nodded. "Of course Inquisitor. If we're going to be placing our hopes on this one mission we may as well make sure you're sufficiently armed. Can I assume that you'll be taking your previous team?"

"Oh...I'll check with them." Victoria said and departed.

Noland nodded his approval. "This is good." He turned to Zero. "But if I may, Zero...earlier you said these Turians possess the largest fleet 'in the known galaxy'. Would care to...clarify that?"

Zero smiled innocently. "I was about to get to that earlier before the Colonel cut me off anyways. Have a seat gentlemen and I will continued to blow your minds and get my jollies watching your reactions."

Xxx

Ten minutes later, barracks

"I'm in."

"Same."

"Fuck it, me too."

Victoria blinked and looked between Nathan, Edward and Jane as they sat around a table where the first two were playing Caravan. "Well...that was easier than I thought it would be."

"You had me at 'who wants to go on another suicide mission'." Nathan said as he raked in a handful of credits from Edward. "The way I see it: Mason is my good luck charm and where ever he goes big things happen. That being said there's a chance of dying but uh...it was sort of implied when I enlisted anyways."

"That's pretty much the same thing I was thinking. "Edward added as he stared longingly at the pile of credits being shoveled into a bag on Nathan's side of the table. "There are other potential bonuses. If Nathan here dies on the mission I get my credits back, if I die I don't have to lose anymore of my savings to him." He sighed and collected his cards. "Everybody wins."

Jane transferred herself to her bunk and laid back, hands folded over her stomach. "And I'm coming along because you Smoothskins wouldn't last ten minutes without me." The Ghoul rasped. "Not a few hours after we avoid death and you want to go right back into it? This is why heroes have such a short life expectancy."

"Oh I don't know about that Janie," Nathan shrugged while shuffling his cards. "Logan Mason lived a long time, didn't he? Arthur Maxson is still kicking too. Heck, Jason Maxson is in his prime and going strong. And on the topic of heroics, what were you doing in that APC back before we left the enemy camp?"

"Yeah! You were right in the middle of the enemy line of fire and started talking about how you had to hold the line there." Edward said with a grin. "And you're calling us insane?"

"Don't derail my point with your crappy Smoothskin logic, that was just a brief lapse in judgement from all that adrenaline I had going through me." Jane glared at the two. "Point being: you're all fucking bonkers and I may as well tag along so I can at least collect your valuables after some Turian guns you down."

"Seriously? Who does that?" Edward shook his head.

"From what I hear your 'heroes' did that a lot back when we were all still stuck on Earth. Of if you live through all their insane adventures you can share a drink with them but get gunned down by the odd bandit or ripped apart by a Deathclaw and all you're good for is the spare ammo in your pockets or that fancy gun they never had the courage to ask you for when you were still breathing."

Victoria couldn't help but smile as she watched the trio. She chose an empty bunk and watched Nathan continue to swindle Edward's credits game after game until the Knight saw a card slip from the Sergeant's sleeve. By the time the two were running around the barracks and threats of asses being kicked were flung around the Inquisitor found herself laughing out loud. Even Jane's twisted mouth was drawn back into a grin as she listened to Nathan meekly attempt to dissuade Edward from following up on the promised beating.

It occurred to Victoria in that moment that it was this sort of interaction that she missed the most. As a child she'd only had friends among Brotherhood Squires, and as they'd grown older most of them had become too devoted to their jobs for leisure time or just acting like teenagers. And now here were two grown men running around, diving over or crawling under beds in a relentless pursuit.

She missed this sort of thing, and while at first these people had annoyed her-and on one occasion she'd been tempted to outright kill Nathan...it was just nice to forget about the war going on a few miles away.

Most ironically of all: Victoria would be the only one to get to sleep for the next few hours.

Xxx

Turian Staging Ground Alpha

Midnight

With the destruction of at the airbase the Hierarchy had been forced to withdraw back to the original landing zone. Aircraft were now exclusively based in orbit when they were not running recon, supporting the attack or transporting troops; scanners and drones were posted all around the encampment to prevent another infiltration and every Turian Special Forces unit was being mobilized.

Saren oversaw the preparation of his Cabal unit as a drop ship descended towards the landing pads close by. "Make sure those charges are safely contained!" He barked at one of his subordinates. "We're set to move in on the western flank of the invasion force. Our colleagues have been running into a few too many Death Claws for their tastes in that area and we've been sent to clean up a path for them."

"Lieutenant Arterius!"

Saren turned away from his team as they loaded up and saw a courier approaching at a jogging pace. "Yes?"

"New orders from General Arterius sir," The courier saluted him. "He's retasking your entire team to oversee an operation on the human space station."

"What?" Saren's mandibles twitched, "But what about-"

"A Ghost team has been diverted to take over for you on the western flank sir." The courier said. "General Arterius is insistent that you meet him up there."

Saren wanted to object, having had next to no action ever since his arrival. This mission was to be his first time on the front lines against the humans rather than intercepting their patrols or swatting their drones out of the sky.

But...orders are orders.

"Team...on board, we're moving to orbit by order of General Arterius." Saren commanded, pointing his team to the dropship. "You're dismissed, soldier."

"Thank you, sir." The courier nodded and departed as Saren climbed aboard the drop ship with the rest of his team.

Once their equipment was secured and the side hatches were sealed they were on their way, returning to the fleet surrounding the captured station hovering over the city.

The whole time Saren did not say a word, but he was thinking on what he would say to Desolas when they arrived.

Xxx

Turian Dreadnaught A'Kalez

Command Deck

"General with respect this is completely preposterous!" Admiral Pridius protested as he watched Desolas and his men replace the original personnel around the CIC. "I am currently engaged in operations to root out the remnants of the Alliance Fleet in this system and you're just 'comandeering' the only Dreadnaught I have available?!"

"Then you can resume that from aboard your own vessel, Captain." Desolas said dismissively. "I require this one for something important."

"And Admiral Trisun appointed me to the A'Kalez, which is her ship." Pridius argued as he followed Desolas around the tactical display, "I've lost eight ships to them and only managed to take out two of their frigates. They're being more careful than ever and the next time their flagship appears I will need the firepower of the A'Kalez to neutralize it."

Desolas shrugged without looking at Kravos. "Well then I am sure you will find a suitable substitute. For the time being however this ship is now mine." He turned and looked Kravos in the eyes. "Am I understood, Captain?"

Pridius' mandibles began to flare as his eyes narrowed and his talons clenched, but in the end he nodded and replied as calmly as he could. "Perfectly. Sir."

Kravos stormed out without another word while Desolas seated himself in Trisun's chair.

"General, we're receiving a transmission from Admiral Trisun."

"Excellent!" Desolas reclined in his new seat. "Put her on."

The very irritated image of Admiral Trisun appeared before him. "Arterius, might I ask what the hell you think you're doing on my bridge? Where is Admiral Pridius?"

"He is being relocated back to his own vessel," Desolas answered. "I've commandeered your vessel for an operation of great importance, Admiral. I apologize for not taking it up with you first but with no reinforcements coming anytime soon speed is now imperative. If you wish you may join me up on the human station to discuss it."

"No need Arterius, I've already heard about your so called brilliant plan from General Oraka." Trisun growled. "Your strategy violates the Citadel Conventions! De-orbiting a space station with the intent of crashing it on a garden world is forbidden for a reason!"

"Ah but if you read the Conventions carefully they make exceptions for enemy garden worlds." Desolas countered. "And a station as large as this one will not cause long term harm to the biosphere. All I intend do is crash it down upon the humans' shield to put down what remains of their military and claim this system for the Turian Hierarchy."

Trisun shook her head. "You will not do this, Desolas." She growled. "We came here in response to a hostile attack against a patrol fleet, not to wipe out an entire city potentially filled with civilians!"

"Civilians and military personnel are not to be discriminated against in a war zone, Admiral!"

"We are NOT a war!" Trisun bellowed. "Not yet, not if you just stop this madness and think for a minute! You've been cold and ruthless before but this goes beyond what you did at Pheldi!"

"Ah yes, Pheldi." Desolas' grip tightened on the arm rests of his chair, "How kind of you to remind me of that, Admiral."

"The Hierarchy forgave you for what you did there because you put down a rebellion that threatened to spread to other worlds and managed to avoid broadcasting that blood bath to the whole galaxy." Trisun pointed at him. "But if you attempt to go through with this I will have no choice but to relieve you of command of this task force and place you under arrest!"

That last word was like a string being snapped inside of Desolas. The entire CIC was plunged into silence as the Turian personnel turned to stare at the argument between the two highest ranking members of the task force. Desolas' hands were practically crushing the arm rests of his chair as he glared at Trisun venomously, and much to his displeasure she did not seem at all phased by it and coolly stared him down.

Finally Desolas slowly inhaled and relaxed his grip on the arm rests. "...very well Admiral," He nodded, "I can see that there will be no persuading you and I cannot afford a conflict between us to split the entire fleet down the middle. I will...hold off on my plan."

"And I will be arriving to accept my ship back from you before we open up communications with the Alliance." Trisun responded. "You've forced my hand Desolas...I may not be arresting you now but I will not tolerate this war you pursue any longer. As soon as the translation matrix is finished development and our forces are pulled out of the city I will use it to contact the Alliance and attempt to broker a ceasefire. Too many have died already."

She turned and looked at the rest of the CIC crew. "As for the rest of you...get the hell out of my CIC. If my crew is not back at their stations by the time I've arrived you'll all be going out the nearest air lock." She threatened. "Admiral Trisun, out."

Trisun vanished. Desolas stared at the empty space previously occupied by her avatar with a blank expression.

"...sir?"

Desolas tilted his head and slowly rotated it to the side to face the crewman who had spoken.

"You know we're always with you General." The junior officer said, "Every step of the way."

The hard stare softened as Desolas looked around the room. Each Turian present were loyal to him and to him alone. It was their loyalty that had earned them a place in this CIC with him as he struck the final blow against the Alliance, and it was with loyal soldier like them that he would humble and tame the collective of abominations. For a moment he had believed that they would side with Trisun to avoid the risk of punishment...

Oh how little faith he'd had in his men.

"Have our teams continue making arrangements." Desolas said, "I want enough pieces blown off that station by the time it's ready to drop so that we only take out the city. Trisun can call me a murderer and a butcher all she wants...I am a precise butcher."

The General stood up out of the chair. "You all have my gratitude. More importantly you have my respect," He told them, "You are brave and loyal soldier of the Hierarchy and I will always remember this moment, as shall generations of Turians who celebrate our victory here."

Desolas saluted his men. "For the Hierarchy."

"For the Hierarchy." They responded in unison.

He still had control of the A'Kalez and his teams on the station would continue to act quietly, preparing charges to blow away entire sections of the structure so that when it was de-orbitted it would strike right at the heart of the city below with minimal damage beyond its intended target. If the VI simulations were accurate it would destroy the majority of the city and wipe out the remaining human military on the surface. The A'Kalez was needed to provide security for the operation in the event of the human fleet attempting a kamikaze run on the station the moment they realized what was happening and to bombard the countryside surrounding the city just to be sure that none of the Alliance forces managed to escape. Just to be safe it would all be perfectly timed with an evacuation of the Turian army still encamped on the planet in case anything went amiss.

But before any of that could happen...he had to take care of a few pests, chief among them being one Admiral Varis Trisun.

Xxx

CODEX OPENED

Accessing Files...

File Opened: Molecular Teleportation Relay

There are countless arguments regarding the exact source of the Teleportation technology utilized by the Brotherhood of Steel to this day. Some insist that it is based off of Prolat technology, others believe that the Institute, from which the Relay design was salvaged managed to master the secret of transporting matter on their own without the influence of aliens. The Brotherhood uses Molecular Teleportation sparingly due to the power consumption involved, usually for evacuating squads with high value information or evacuating VIPs to safety. So far they have not yet mastered teleportation between planets, with the furthest distance of teleportation achieved by 2353 being the successful transfer of one volunteer from New Washington to Armstrong City on the Earth's moon, Luna.

Surprisingly there have been very few incidents of injury and absolutely no records of death associated with the Molecular Relay by the Brotherhood, likely because it had already been refined and perfected by the Institute before the designs were salvaged.

File Closed

And here we are with yet another chapter fresh from the Word document.

Now, right off the bat let's respond to some reviews

5 Coloured Walker – And as always I look forward to providing more. As for the point about Stealth Omni-Blades...it could be possible, but Omni-Blades are basically very precisely shaped mass effect fields and element zero tends to emit a bit of a glow from what I've seen in the game. It could happen in this story though...I'll keep it in mind.

Bobebob – It would seem that everybody had great timing on that night.

Guest #1 – That's the plan!

OMAC001 – Thank you kindly as usual.

Butters101 – I understand your concern about this dragging out, but I wanted to avoid the mistake that most writers make by having the Invasion of Shanxi basically end within a day by way of curbstomping the Turians. I'll admit that I could have skipped the whole Manifest thing and taken it a different route but I promise that the Battle for Shanxi is nearing its end.

Eipok – In order: When Logan Mason became the new leader. This is obviously not consistent with Fallout 4 as it was written before the game was released and I did say that I would incorporate elements of Fallout 4 into this story.

Guest #2 – Hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the last!

Umbra. Venator – Hope this one doesn't disappoint.

Mel – Well sorry friend, but as I've said before planetary invasions like this are not ended overnight...not unless it involves Necromongers but that's a completely different crossover.

Ano – Alright sir, that is your choice and nobody is forcing you to read this. I apologize that it was not to your satisfaction.

Before we go I have an announcement to make.

Now these recent reviews have pointed out that the Shanxi arc is dragging out a little too long and...well...I agree. At the time it may have seemed like a good idea in my head but the readers have spoken and I've decided to make a few changes that I believe will allow me to end the events on Shanxi within the following two to three chapters. After that it'll focus on first contact with the Council and the fallout of this whole conflict-which will only last a couple chapters at the most before we move onto the next stage of the story.

The Shanxi Insurgency Arc and the First Contact War will end by the time of chapter fourteen (fifteen at the very latest if the chapters get too long, but if all goes well it won't come to that).

Also, if you're wondering about Desolas' sudden spiral into madness, I'm going to explain that in the next chapter. I just felt that I shouldn't try to shoe horn it into the end of this one.

And on one final note...how would you like for me to post a list of significant characters that have been introduced? Most of them won't be appearing much once we get into the time surrounding the actual games but if you'd like I can post a list at the end of the next chapter.