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.
Also...a bit of an author's note: Now that I've gotten back to work on this story I've looked back and thought 'Oh sweet mother of Deathclaw Christ what the hell was I thinking?' in response to numerous mistakes I made. I intend to avoid repeating them once this arc is over so that they don't drag out like this one has. I kept on going back on this one and erasing whole pages-once I even erased half the chapter because some parts would be rushed, others would be too long...I really beat myself up over a lot of choices. But now after months of forcing you all to wait (and you are all saints for being patient, by the way) here is the final version of this chapter.
There were numerous factors that kept me from finishing this, key among them being schoolwork and an overall sense of 'I hate this/that/etc'. Another has been an original story that I've been working on and finished just under a hundred pages for so far. However I've hit a bit of writer's block on it and decided to come back to this for a bit. I still found myself struggling to get this story back into gear with the corner I wrote myself into, so I've decided that in the interest of getting you all something new just to let you know that this story isn't dead I'm posting this chapter as it is at about 24 pages and finishing the Shanxi Insurgency Arc in the next chapter.
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Chapter Fifteen: The Shanxi Insurgency, Part 7, The Step Before The Fall
Shanxi System
Turian Dreadnaught A'Kalez
Command Deck
0531 hours
"Captain, the remaining Turians onboard have surrendered themselves to our custody." Zero informed Owen from where she was seated at the ship's helm, interfacing directly with the systems. "Also, I have full control over secondary manoeuvring capabilities and defensive armaments. The main accelerator and primary navigation controls appear to be reinforced with redundant firewalls to prevent unauthorized access."
"How long will it take to get control?" Owen asked, gazing at the tactical display as he watched the images of the Turian fleet depart from the Chairman Benny's proximity.
"Several minutes. Until then I've diverted power to the barriers...although if the Turian communications are accurate then we may not need the main gun or the engines."
Owen tore his eyes away from the display. "What?"
"An Alliance Fleet has just arrived, sir."
Every Alliance and Brotherhood member on the bridge began to let out cheers at this news, perhaps the first bit of fortune that they'd had in days. Owen on the other hand remained cool headed and raised one hand to signal for silence before replying, "How many ships?"
"Unknown as of this moment sir, the sensor data is several minutes old. I can't even read the IFFs on this thing so I don't know which fleet or what types of ships, all I can say is that they're registering as hostile contacts on this screen and are originating from the Shanxi-Theta Relay. That leaves room for only one likely explanation, Captain."
The Alliance had finally come to Shanxi's aid. Owen should have been relieved to hear this, but he would not allow himself to relax until the Chairman Benny was no longer poised to crash down on New Taiyuan.
"We still have a job to do here, people." Owen instinctively made a move towards the commanding officer's chair only to pause and cringe as he remembered that it as still occupied by the corpse of Admiral Trisun. He stared at the gruesome sight for only half a second before resuming, "We need to be ready to assist Inquisitor Grey if or when she needs it. Either we find a way onto that station or we blow it out of orbit."
Zero turned in her seat. "A sound move sir, but I do not know if it will make a great amount of difference. If the station comes down in a million pieces it may still cause significant damage and loss of life within New Taiyuan...but not as much as having it crash down almost completely intact. Before we can do that however Inquisitor Grey's team will need an escape route, and with all of the station's shuttles and escape pods jettisoned there is only one way off for them."
"What is it?"
"Your ship, the Fawkes."
At that instant Owen made a promise that he would kiss the Fawkes the next time he saw it, regardless of how dented and burnt it was. That the frigate was still somehow in mostly one piece after all of this was nothing short of miraculous.
"The Fawkes can practically fly herself; a two man crew will be enough to get her in the air as long as they aren't looking to do anything too complex with her." He stated, confident in the abilities of Victoria, Nathan and Jane. "They shouldn't have any problems."
"Except for the life signs of eight Turians currently aboard the station," Zero added, turning back towards the helm's display. "Six of whom are already on board the Fawkes.
Owen cursed and turned to the display again. "Is there anything we can do from here?"
Elder Thompson sighed and shook his head. "'Fraid not, Mason. Unless you feel like risking an EVA walk we can't get over there."
"Captain, the Alliance ships are closing on the Turian fleet!"
Xxx
Alliance Carrier ASV Einstein
Command Deck
0532 Hours
"Commander Shepard, sensors are now fully back online and drone pickets are being recalled."
Hannah Shepard, the second child of Alicia and Benny, nodded and stepped towards the front of the bridge, her hands folded behind her as she watched squadrons of fighters form up around the Einstein in escort formation. The Carrier was in a formation with one of its sister ships and behind a pair of cruisers and a quartet of frigates flying as escort. Further ahead of the battle group were dozens of warships now making the push at sublight speeds towards Shanxi. The invasion fleet that had besieged the planet could not yet be seen with the naked eye, and Shanxi itself was still little more than a blue dot at the present distance.
"Very good, maintain formation and tell the deck crews to prepare to have plenty of incoming damaged birds." Hannah said as she turned and walked back to her chair.
"Commander, new orders from the Olympian. We're to expect a group of ships led by the cruiser Sharon of Rose, she'll have the surviving ships from the Shanxi Defence Fleet with her."
Hannah frowned at the mention of the Olympian, which was actually still in view. It was a beast of a ship, larger than even the Einstein and any of her sister ships-which until today she had thought were humanity's largest warships. All she could see right now was the back, mainly the blue flare of its engines as it propelled itself forward at the head of the fleet. It had come along with a dozen other ships, just flying right up to the blockade at the relay linking the Shanxi system to the rest of Alliance space.
Eight frigates, four cruisers and the Olympian itself.
They bore resemblances to the standard Alliance designs, but were less blocky than the standard models. They were smoother, more angular, less clumsy in their design, the product of years of testing and improvements over the current models. Prior to crossing the Shanxi Theta Relay she'd had no idea what they were fully capable of save that they were supposedly a 'special task force' that Admirals Davis and Drescher had been forced to wait on before making any moves. It had arrived just in time to satisfy Drescher (who had been on the verge of charging through the relay with the whole fleet) and had used some new communications system which transmitted through the mass relay itself, greatly shortening the time before it was picked up by Captain Deathstalker.
The Deathclaw had shared a wealth of information that had been transmitted to him from Shanxi. He had given them a name for their enemy: the Turians. In addition he had provided them with an adequate mode of translation for their language and the fact that they were not being reinforced.
The best part of it all had been when Drescher and Davis were informed that the Turians appeared to be firing on one another. They decided to wait until Deathstalker had confirmed the destruction of enough of the alien fleet to significantly weaken the Turian naval presence before finally charging through in full force.
The moment that the Alliance fleet had entered Shanxi they were confronted by fifteen Turian ships, a rear guard for the relay. Based on the previous engagements the strategists had expected to at least take two or three casualties, but the Olympian and her escorts had charged ahead of the rest at speeds previously unheard of by anything except for Zeta Class Motherships-one of which actually was accompanying the fleet.
The Turians had opened fire quickly, reacting faster than most Alliance crews would have in a pinch like that. Their first salvo had struck home, but their targets held strong and retaliated with devastating effect.
Blue energy beams had lanced out from the cruisers, instantly cutting through the armour of three of the enemy frigates and moderately damaging one of their own cruisers, boiling away layers of ablative armour that still managed to hold up to several direct hits before the inner hull was exposed and left as easy pickings. Hannah had thought that the new ships were equipped with Theta energy weapons, but the Einstein's scanners insisted that it was instead some refined form of laser weaponry, stronger than average but just enough that even point defence lasers could contribute to systematically carving the Turian ships open. Missiles had also been fired, travelling at speeds that made fighter pilots envious or nervous and left the enemy point defence systems scrambling to shoot down every single projectile. Almost a third of the first wave made it through and took out another four Turian ships, detonating in blossoming explosions of plasma right against the enemy hull and making it easy to cut through the weakened areas with laser barrages.
The frigates finally moved in close and strafed the Turian ships with broadside weapons, targeting AIs focusing on weakened points where armour had been partially burnt away from the inner hull and causing eruptions as oxygen escaped, dragging crewmen with it. Afterwards the cruisers made a similar pass, their own broadside cannons possessing a greater punch that tore through the Turian ships at this range, shattering frigates and badly damaging the cruisers. When the Olympian followed them there wouldn't be a single Turian ship remaining.
It was over in less than two minutes after the fleet had cleared the relay. All fifteen Turian ships were destroyed and the Olympian battle group had only suffered minor to moderate damage on its cruisers while two of the frigates were now out of the fight completely but could be salvaged after some time in dry dock. In spite of the Turians' ability to quickly react to the threat and even bloodying the nose of their attackers they were outgunned and taken completely by surprise. This stunning victory allowed the Alliance to push on through with soaring morale as the rest of the Turian fleet scrambled to regroup.
Hannah couldn't deny that these new ships were effective, but she still didn't like the fact that they apparently weren't officially Alliance or BoS in origin. They were unknowns, but she had orders to let them call the shots and she wasn't in the habit of arguing.
"Fine, we'll keep an eye out for them." Hannah replied and sat down. "But until they show up we keep focused on the big picture and worry about the enemy fleet."
Several moments passed before the sensor officer spoke. "Ma'am, the enemy fleet has entered sensor range. Numbers stand at approximately sixty functional ships with others either dead in the water or limping away."
The Turians had practically done the Alliance's job for them...which was why Hannah felt that something was terribly wrong with this whole mess. There was a practically unscathed enemy flagship right next to the Chairman Benny, and the fact that it was briefly readjusting its position with manoeuvring thrusters to keep close to the structure showed that it was still functioning fine.
So then why would the Turians withhold something that valuable? One shot from it was twice as strong as anything the Turian cruisers could fire; it could probably turn the battle in their favour with a few well placed shots and even damage the Olympian if it got a few good hits in, and it would even have the advantage of having the planet to its back so that the Alliance Fleet's gunners would be forced to take careful aim to avoid damage to the surface.
Why did everything about this situation scream FUBAR no matter how she looked at it?
"ETA to Alliance Fleet entering effective firing range: three minutes. ETA to Alliance fleet entering projected hostile effective firing range: five minutes."
The battle wasn't expected to take too long, but it would still be an eternity for Hannah. Each second was another that Owen, her oldest childhood friend, was on a planet with an invading army pounding at the gates. He could already be dead for all she knew, but Hannah tried not to cling to such thoughts.
"What do you think made them fire on one another?" One officer whispered to a Ghoul seated next to him.
"Don't know and don't give a rat's ass. They came, they saw, they shot up our shit and now we're about to return the favour." The Ghoul replied nonchalantly. "They're about to learn that payback is one hell of a bitch."
Xxx
BFS Chairman Benny
Reactor Sector, Outer Ring Crossing
March 15th, 0530 hours
"General Desolas Arterius, I presume?" Victoria asked, peering down the sights of her Theta rifle at the pair of grey scaled Turians standing less than fifty feet from her and Nathan.
"You presume correctly. Judging by your armour you would be part of the team that utterly humiliated my colleague General Oraka." Desolas replied, resting one hand over his still folded up heavy pistol.
Nathan nodded, "Yes, we would be."
"Before we take this conversation one step further, I'd just to ask something." Victoria stated calmly. "...Are you god damn cross wired?!"
To his credit Desolas did not appear startled or affronted by the outburst as Saren did-if anything he appeared to be amused by it. "I wonder what would provide that idea."
"I'm just going out on a limb here but I think the answer is upwards of ten million tons and we're standing right inside it." Nathan provided, "Crashing a station into a city? Don't you Turians have certain conventions that mark that as a big no-no?"
"Or as completely ludicrous, amoral, maybe even a crime against sentient life?" Victoria added.
Desolas shrugged. "Those are conventions that can be contravened in the event of a threat to galactic peace. And I've been staring one such threat in the face for several days now."
"Hold the phone! We're a threat? Us? You're joking, right?" Nathan questioned, keeping his eyes on Saren. "I don't suppose you've noticed but you've kind of been kicking our asses one inch at a time across the board even after that hit on your airbase."
Desolas exhaled in exasperation. "I'm not surprised that you don't realize what I'm referring to. Younger races never do consider the future as we do." He turned and casually walked to the side of the corridor, stopping at a viewport that showed the vast radiation filled chamber separating the core from the rest of the station. "This is an impressive station your people have built. Enough power to provide for most of a planet, defences that would have torn apart half of my fleet if I had not acted quickly to neutralize it and wonders the likes of which I've never before seen..." He frowned and turned his head towards the pair guarding the security door. "And terrors the likes of which I cannot allow to exist unrestrained as you so foolishly have."
By the end of the Turian's speech Nathan found himself switching his helmet speakers off and whispering through the radio to Victoria. "Feel free to skip the monologue and enlighten us, Mr Mechanist." (1)
Victoria stifled a giggle at the reference, attempting to maintain her focus on the present situation. "What makes us a threat?" She asked once she knew she could speak with a serious tone of voice again, "If what we know about you is true you're part of a massive galactic community and hold all the cards in terms of military might. How could we possibly be a threat to something that big on our own?"
"Maybe not now, but as I said very few primitives like you ever consider the future." Desolas answered, "Tell me...why did you not put all of those freaks you call Ghouls and Super Mutants out of their misery the first chance you had? Why did you give machines sentience when such an act is doomed to lead to death and destruction?"
He faced them entirely now. "Why did you repeat these mistakes even after you finished burning your planet to cinders?!"
Both humans flinched in response, not even their armour hid the reaction from the satisfied Desolas. "Yes...it took time to crack the files you hadn't erased but I know the story behind your little Alliance." He chuckled and held his arms up dramatically as he proclaimed, "Born of an atomic wasteland, much like another species that once went on to almost overwhelm the galaxy, only you have so much more potential for destruction. Your butchering of your own genome and that of other creatures has produced monsters that are both straight out of a child's nightmare and strong enough that they could tear apart whole armies. The amount synthetics that you allow freedom number in the millions as far as I am aware, and very few are actually shackled or properly restrained to keep them from inciting rebellion despite an existing precedent that should have taught you better." (2)
"Your whole civilization is quite simply a ticking time bomb; your entire history is one of disaster after disaster perpetrated by your own reckless disregard for order and blind devotion to making bigger and more dangerous weapons." Desolas summarized, "Eventually your Alliance will break down and the rest of the galaxy will suffer the fallout of your collapse. I intend to snuff out the flame before it can turn into a nuclear fire as it did three centuries ago on your home world and to do that I will gladly wipe out as many of you as possible to ensure that I preserve the lives of as many of my own people as possible."
The General shrugged and glanced out of the corner of his eye at Saren, who had one set of talons clenched behind his back and glowing with rippling Biotic energy.
"So you see," Desolas added, "It isn't anything personal...it's just your people or mine, and the Spirits themselves will have to come down and stop me before I let my people suffer for your mistakes."
Suddenly the corridor shook and lights began to flicker.
"Ah...and now we know how much time we have left to work with." Desolas added.
Victoria realized what he meant. "Oh God, no."
Xxx
Detachable thruster modules had been fixed to different points of the Chairman, positioned to decrease the chance of any breaking off in mid descent. This technology was initially created as a way of guiding asteroids filled with valuable deposits to a convenient position for mining operations, or to relocate crippled ships for scavenging vital material. They were now firing at full thrust and pushing the entire structure out of position, guiding it on a VI controlled crash course for the city below.
Several million tons of metal came roaring down towards New Taiyuan, leaving the A'Kalez dangling in place.
Xxx
"You don't have long, humans." Desolas called out. "Abandon your efforts and I will allow you to live as prisoners of war."
Nathan glanced at Victoria. "I'm up for telling him to blow me, but I'll leave that up to you."
"Every second is another gamble with your lives that you can't afford to lose!" Saren shouted. "Take the offer!"
Victoria tightened her grip on her Theta Rifle. "General, our response to your 'generous offer' is as follows...Blow me!"
This rebuttal caused Nathan to grin. "Vic, you're a woman after my own heart."
Desolas sighed and turned his head to look at Saren. "Did you hear that brother?" He asked, "...that was their last chance going out the airlock."
His pistol practically leapt into his hand and before either human could properly react to this Desolas fired four shots into Victoria's shields while Saren swung his talon out into the open and lobbed an orb of dark energy at Nathan, who attempted to dodge only for the projectile to curve and follow him before striking him and exploding. Violently fluctuating mass effect fields tore away as his armour beneath his shields, making it easier for Saren to rip through them with his own pistol in two shots before Nathan could return fire. Their opening blow no delivered, both Turians rolled into cover on either side of the corridor and manually opened their weapons' heat sinks to cool them down quicker.
"Got another one in you, brother?" Desolas asked as he swapped his pistol for a Phaeston assault rifle.
Saren responded by clipping his weapon back onto his hip and holding up both hands as an aura of dark energy flared around him.
Back down the corridor, Nathan groaned as he knelt behind cover and listened to the wail of his suit's internal alarm. His visor projected an outline of his armour to show the amount of damage piling up across each section of his suit, and so far he would be lucky if he could take one shot without his shields.
He heard Victoria call out to him. "Campbell!"
"I'm alright!" He replied. "Can't say the same for my-"
A moment later Nathan came to realize that Victoria was not checking on his condition, but had been trying to warn him. Another orb flew from the Turians' position and raced down the hallway, bearing down on Nathan even as he glanced over the edge of the barricade.
"Oh shit!"
The resulting explosion of gravitational forces sent Victoria flying and consumed Nathan entirely. As she scrambled back to her feet Victoria tried to spot her companion in the cloud of dust that had formed around his position. "Nathan!"
Her recharging barriers flashed as a fresh wave of slugs slammed into them, causing Victoria to kick herself mentally and take cover again as Desolas vaulted into view and kept her suppressed with short, controlled bursts.
"Finish her, Saren!" The General called out.
Saren stood up alongside his brother and charged up a third attack. Using his Biotics so much within a short period of time was a strain on the body, but he knew for sure that he was capable of at least several more attacks before it became too much for his brain to handle. Turian Cabals may not be well liked but they still received the best Biotic Amps the Hierarchy could afford if they had enough Biotic potential like Saren did, and the fact that he didn't have blood dribbling out of every orifice in his body was a testament to that quality right now. In no less than ten seconds he had lobbed a Biotic Warp to prime his target followed by a Push to trigger the explosion that had rid him and Desolas of one annoying obstacle.
Repeating that basic but practical combination in the same amount of time would be what humans called a cake walk for Saren, who flung out one arm and lobbed another Warp which curved down to land right on Victoria. However she had seen how he had managed to direct his attacks to follow his targets and anticipated this, waiting until the last second to rolled to the side and let the Warp harmlessly strike the floor beneath where she'd been a split second ago. Victoria used the momentum of her roll to bring herself back up onto her feet and fired her rifle from the hip, striking Desolas in the side while three of his shots bounced off of her restored shields before she slid to where she had last seen Nathan.
"Brother!" Saren glanced at Desolas, who was already shoving his Phaeston into the Cabal's hands.
"Go! I'm fine. Go!" Desolas insisted, collapsing to his knees and covering the burnt and warped area of his armour with one hand, clearly in pain.
Saren wanted to argue the point, but knew that the mission had to take priority over anything else. He growled and aimed the rifle at Victoria's position, waiting for the first hint of his target popping back out for another round.
Xxx
Turian Dreadnaught A'Kalez
Command Deck
0534 Hours
"Sir! The Chairman is moving! It's on a re-entry approach and being guided right towards New Taiyuan!"
Owen looked to Zero. "Where the hell is that main gun?!"
"I still need two minutes to access it!"
"By then we won't have a clean shot." Elder Thompson said, watching the shrinking silhouette of the Chairman on that tactical display. "We'll be more likely to hit the city or somewhere near it at this angle."
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Turian Cruiser Valor
Command Deck
0534 Hours
"Admiral, the human station has begun its descent!"
Kravos cursed as he stared at the approaching forms of the Alliance fleet. He had managed to gather the surviving Turian ships in the system, but he was almost down to half strength after the destruction of the Relay Guard Flotilla. Now he was outnumbered and had a ship that was larger than anything bar the Destiny Ascension aiming its guns right in his face.
The Alliance flagship was almost fifteen hundred meters long and had torn through the cruisers and frigates at the relay with frightening ease. He didn't want to think of how one sided this fight had become...or what few options he had left besides fighting at all.
There were maybe minutes before the station struck the surface and killed hundreds of thousands. When that happened there would be no peace, his entire fleet would likely be slaughtered as a result of misplaced but understandable righteous fury from the Alliance and afterwards the Hierarchy would be forced to retaliate. They'd send hundreds, maybe thousands of ships right at the Alliance until it was defeated.
The only thing preventing the deaths of most the sentients in the Shanxi system was those few minutes, and he was about to waste them fighting a pointless battle.
"Hail the human flagship."
"Uh...yes sir." Hen'ar complied. "Transmitting now."
They might not even take his call. Even they could see the station beginning its plummet, and they would likely put two and two together quickly.
As the seconds ticked by Kravos could not help but appreciate the irony of his situation. Here he was, promoted to full Admiral with all of the privileges and authority that any Turian would desire. He had command of a whole fleet and more firepower than he'd ever possessed before in his entire life.
He had all of that and yet he was as helpless as a Quarian with a cracked visor in the face of the armada bearing down on his remaining ships. The only thing he could do now was pray that they listened to him long enough to save both his fleet and the city they had come to life the siege of.
"Sir...they're answering."
Kravos shot to his feet as static hissed over the communications channel for several seconds. Once it cleared the room became dead silent save for background noise from the other end of the link.
"Turian vessels, you have encroached upon Alliance sovereign territory and invaded an Alliance world. If you do not withdraw your forces and cease all military operations immediately you will not be shown any quarter. If you force our hand then rest assured we will not show you mercy."
The speaker was cold, to the point and matter of fact. He also had confirmed Kravos' fears. His response would be the difference between life and death for tens of thousands of Turians.
Kravos inhaled slowly. "Alliance vessels, this is Admiral Kravos Pridius, commanding officer of the Turian Hierarchy's 3rd Fleet." He said it as if that was something to be proud of, and what he said next were as good as consigning himself to death in Turian society. "I offer the complete and unconditional surrender of all forces under my command."
Less than an hour as Admiral and he'd surrendered in his first engagement.
It would have been more merciful just to shoot him right on the spot.
When the Alliance officer finally responded Kravos could sense how surprised they were by his statement. "Admiral Pridius...your offer of unconditional surrender has been received and noted by the Systems Alliance, pending the cooperation of you and all of those within your command. Power down your weapons and shields and prepare to receive coordinates to proceed to. Any deviation from this by any vessels in your fleet will result in their immediate destruction. Any effort to flee or reactivate weapons will result in the complete annihilation of your fleet."
After a brief pause the speaker continued.
"Furthermore, if you do not cease in the de-orbitting of the station Chairman Benny your surrender shall be disregarded entirely. You have five minutes to comply."
Now came the hard part: convincing them that his people were not responsible for that.
...
Easier said than done.
Xxx
ASV Einstein
Command Deck
0536 Hours
"Well...that was anticlimactic," The Ghoul crewman grumbled as the word came in across the fleet that the Turians were apparently surrendering. "What gives? You'd think they'd still put up a fight or try to run."
"You're more concerned about that than the fact that the Chairman is being falling towards Shanxi right now?!" The ensign next to him demanded.
"Ah don't wet yourself, they already sent a few of those fancy new frigates to blast the station to pieces if the Turians don't stop." The Ghoul shrugged.
Hannah Shepard gripped the arms of her chair tightly, digging her fingers into the leather as she watched the tactical display where three frigates from the Olympian's battle group were accelerating towards Shanxi while the rest of the fleet took up position around the Turian ships, weapons still locked and prepared to fire if the Turian Admiral did not meet the demand to abort the deorbitting of the Chairman. Given their current distance and the danger of attempting to travel at FTL speeds too close to the gravitational mass of planet Hannah was not confident that they would be able to intercept the station.
As this went on the enemy flagship remained fixed in geosynchronous orbit where only minutes ago the station had drifted next to it in a perpetual rotation around Shanxi.
"You're sure that the transmission was not coming from the enemy flagship?" Hannah directed her question at the communications officer.
"Affirmative skipper, it came from one of the enemy cruisers."
Hannah peered at the image of the flagship. "Why wouldn't a fleet's commander be on their flagship? We already know that it led the initial invasion."
"Ma'am, I decided to run a check just now and it seems that the signal originating from the enemy flagship is broadcasting on an Alliance frequency. It's short range and so weak that it's probably a Pip-Boy or personal communicator of some kind. I don't think anybody would have found it unless they ran a direct scan of the ship." The Comm. Officer turned in his seat, "Should we answer?"
The only dialogue between the two fleets was going directly through the Olympian and the cruiser of Admiral Pridius. This whole situation was becoming more perplexing by the second and it wasted time that could be spent focusing on stopping the destruction of a whole colony.
"Answer the hail and tap into any remaining satellites over Shanxi to boost the signal."
"Roger that. Channel open."
"...eat, this is Captain Owen Mason to any Alliance ships, please respond!"
The sound of her cousin's voice caused Hannah to surge out of her seat and blurt out a response before she could stop herself. "Owen?!"
"Hannah?!"
"Owen, why is your signal coming from the enemy flagship?"
"Because I'm on it! Hell, I just led a siege and took control of the bridge a few minutes before you showed up!" Owen replied. "Hannah, listen to me. The Turians aren't deorbitting the station-well not all of them! One of their officers went completely insane and is doing this all on his own! You need to stop wasting time with their fleet and send everything you have to stop the Chairman before it can impact!"
This answered some questions and raised many others, but Hannah luckily had inherited her mother's ability to respond quickly to new information. "Lieutenant, hail the Olympian immediately! Get me Drescher and Davis!"
Xxx
BFS Chairman Benny
Reactor Sector, Outer Ring Crossing
March 15th, 0536 hours
At first the two remaining combatants simply exchanged fire, both aiming to observe one another's reaction time, speed and accuracy. Saren was quicker to analyze Victoria, but more due to experience than haste. He used his Biotics to continuously force her to dodge between barricades, and over the brief span of time since their battle had commenced he had watched her act more aggressively. It was a matter of time before she did something reckless, and he was content to hasten that process with more casually flung Warps and Throws.
When that time came and Victoria made her move Saren was ready for her. She vaulted over the barricade and out into the open before letting off a shot at Saren's chest as he charged forward, abandoning his own position. The turian dropped and slid beneath the Theta bolt while returning fire, once again depleting her recently restored barriers. As the Turian began to rise back up to his feet Vic fired off a second shot which grazed him as he side stepped, but she never had time for a third before Saren grasped the body of his Phaeston and swung it in an arch that knocked her weapon from her hands.
Victoria's hands shot forward and grappled with Saren for his weapon. The advantage of physical strength was hers thanks to her armour, but Saren had Biotics on top of more than one surprise that she wasn't ready for. At first he wrestled for the rifle, but then he released it and stepped back while a blue aura covered the rifle...which found its mass being dramatically increased to the point that it drove down into the floor plating and pinned Victoria's right hand that had been transferring itself to the handle. Thankfully it wasn't heavy enough to cause damage, just to take her by surprise long enough for the sudden weight to take her off balance.
Rather than struggle to bring the rifle up Victoria lifted it enough to release her hand as Saren conjured an Omni Blade on each arm and lunged at her. She hastily unsheathed her Proton Knife and parried his first strike before twisting to avoid a stab that left a scrape along her chest pieces. Vic engaged her thrusters and slammed into Saren, flinging him back only for him to recover without even falling and quickly re-engage. He was making sure they remained as close as possible to keep Vic from going for any of her ranged weapons, forcing her to fight on his terms as he dictated the field and method of battle.
"You aren't changing anything with this," Saren said before Vic lashed out with her knife, which he dodged by leaning back out of reach and then raised one of his blades to deflect a jab. "All that you will accomplish is dying with your city."
"And you'll accomplish is killing my city!" Victoria retorted and forced his arms down before her right leg shot up, several thruster ports along her lower leg firing to propel the attack with enough force that it sent Saren flying back when it struck him in the chest. "So who's the bigger fool?"
Before she could get an answer from him a hail of slugs slammed into her barriers from behind. Vic spun around and reached for her Theta pistol as Desolas squeezed off several more shots from his own side arm to drain her shields. When she pulled the gun clear and fired back the Turian was too slow to react thanks to his injury and took the shot right to the chest. Remembering that she had another opponent behind her, Vic pivoted to face Saren but stopped as she felt a burning pain erupt from her right side between her hip and her rib cage. She was unable to hold back a pained scream or keep hold of her weapon as Saren twisted his Omni-Blade in her side and drew back his other arm to sink the second blade into her chest.
"That was your last mistake," He hissed.
But just before he could plunge the blade towards its target Saren felt something slice into his arm at the elbow. When he finished his motion he didn't see the orange glow of his Omni-Blade...only the bloody stump of his right arm as blue blood spurted from the end.
"No, that was yours."
The speaker slammed the hilt of a weapon into the side of Saren's head as he gaped at the sight of his own severed forearm twitching on the floor by his feet. The Turian collapsed as his functioning Omni-Blade dissolved, and Victoria would have joined him if not for a set of strong arms catching her.
"Hang in there, Vic. It looks like he cauterized the wound, so we have time to get you to a doctor."
She looked up and saw the familiar blonde hair and squared jaw.
"N-nate..."
Nathan smiled as he lowered her down onto her back. She could see that his armour was barely holding itself together after that explosion, which he must have only barely survived. "Yep, good old Nate Campbell playing the hero, complete with the bad guy wasting time with a monologue as he prepares to kill the pretty girl." He pulled a Stim-Gel Pack out and inserted it into the burned area where Saren had cut clean through her armour, causing Vic to hiss in pain. "Sorry, I know this feels about as good as a dinner with the in-laws but it'll keep you from going into shock or getting blood poisoning if he nicked anything too important."
"How did you...survive?"
"Oh, just uh...the same dumb luck we've been running on ever since we met." Nate replied and unhooked her helmet. "Sorry that I took as long as I did. Contrary to how I look that explosion did a number on me and I think I blacked out once or twice getting over here."
"Well about time you two cleaned up out there." The sound of Parker's voice rasped through the speakers by the doors, which began to unlock with a series of 'clunks' as numerous locking mechanisms began to shift within. "I'm all done in here, now let's get the hell off this tub before she blows!"
Nathan continued to remove different sections of Victoria's armour, taking care not to aggravate the wound in her side. "Give me a minute. Vic isn't in any condition to walk and I don't think either of us can carry her in full armour. My suit's barely staying in one piece as is."
Jane limped out through the doors towards them. "Aw stand aside you pansy." She shoved him and began to aggressively tug different components off of Victoria, using her proton blade to sever components with such speed that Nathan was surprised to witness her successfully avoid cutting Victoria even once. "Don't have time to be delicate, Campbell. This station's crashing in about twenty minutes and I just pulled every override out of my ass to set it to blow in fifteen!"
After discarding the final piece of Victoria's armour and leaving her clad in a semi-form fitting bodysuit Jane stepped aside. "You carry her, I've already done all the hard work and I'm still bleeding here."
"No complaints here," Nathan hefted Victoria up into his arms, going for a bridal style instead of slinging her over his shoulder like some luggage given the fact that placing her on either side would agitate her wound some more. "Been waiting to get off this station since we got on board! But uh...how are we going to do that? If this thing is dropping already that docking tube won't even be intact."
"Thought on that, and I have a solution." Jane gestured for him to follow her. "We're going to be bringing Mason his ship back."
Xxx
Get up.
Desolas heard a clatter of foot falls as he opened his eyes. He was laying on his back, and in his peripheral vision he saw the figures of one of the humans just before they vanished from view.
Get up! The path is open!
Every movement triggered a fresh wave of pain from his torso. Upon glancing down Desolas saw a mess of...wires...and metal. Pulsing red lights flashed from within his exposed rib cage, showing synthetic devices fixed to every bone and organ, spreading like some infestation. His mandibles fell open as he stared in abstract horror at the unnatural view of his own chest cavity.
"What is this?!"
The doors are open! Move quickly and you can undo what they have done!
For a moment the commanding presence dulled the pain and cleared his panicked thoughts. Desolas' eyes glazed over as he looked to the open command center...but the sight of his brother bleeding out on the floor brought him back to reality.
"Saren!"
Desolas crawled as fast as he could to his sibling's side and turned him over onto his back. Now the dismembered limb was clear to see, and a scan from his Omni-Tool confirmed that Saren still lived, though not for long. Desolas placed one knee down on his brother's abdomen and held his Omni-Tool close to the stump.
He is nothing! Focus on your mission!
"Shut up!" Desolas shouted before forming an Omni-Blade and pressing the flat side into the bloody mess. Steam rose as blood was evaporated and a coppery scent quickly permeated the air. The improvised cauterization method drew Saren back to consciousness in a fit of pained groans and screams as he struggled against Desolas' weight, but the older Turian managed to keep him pinned until he pulled the Omni-Blade away and dismissed it.
The mission must be completed! They must see! They all must see!
Desolas groaned and grasped at his head, dropping Saren in the midst of trying to drag him back down the corridor. "No! Saren...he's hurt! I...can't...!"
They must see! You must complete the mission!
YOU MUST!
"STOP!" Desolas howled.
YOU WILL OBEY!
"NO!"
Before he even knew what he was doing Desolas saw the metal floor rushing to meet him as he slammed his cranium down, impacting hard enough to make the metallic carapace that served as a Turian's skin crack and splinter from the force. He remained there with fresh blood beginning to drip down as the voice faded, and then pushed himself back up.
"Saren..." Desolas whispered, "Have to...get Saren...out."
That was all that mattered anymore.
Mission be damned.
Across the galaxy, the dreaming god shrieked as it fully awoke for the first time in many millennia.
Xxx
ASV Einstein
0542 hours (13 minutes to detonation)
"Captain Mason, what you have just described to me can be categorized as nothing short of the most convoluted, melodramatic and insane tale that I have ever heard in my entire military career."
Hannah was forced to sit by and watch as Owen attempted to talk Admirals Davis and Drescher out of annihilating what was left of the Turian fleet. The bridge of her ship had been silent for the past several minutes except for the exchange of dialogue between the two flag officers and Owen as well as someone named 'Zero' and a mercenary by the name of Harper who threw his two cents in.
"We understand how this sounds, Admiral Davis." Harper replied, "It took us by surprise as well, and while we were attempting to sabotage and destroy this flagship no less. But we are convinced that threatening the Turians with death will not accomplish anything, as stopping that station from falling is beyond their control no."
Admiral Drescher cursed softly. "Unbelievable, the aliens have a breakdown in the chain of command and this happens. We'll just need to rely on those frigates we sent to intercept the station."
"They will not arrive in time to be of any use, even by travelling as close as possible at FTL speeds." A third disembodied voice of a rather articulate man broadcasting from the Olympian stated. "And even if they did they would be unable to sufficiently destroy enough of the station to negate any significant damage that it would inflict on New Taiyuan. I am loathe to admit this but the design of the station is too sturdy for it to be destroyed in time by conventional means, even when factoring in the enhanced offensive measures we possess. All that we would accomplish is breaking it into several sizable pieces that would still be likely to strike in or around the city. It appears that we may very well have to rely on the fire team which Captain Mason has on board, failing at that we will have to hope that the city's shields will be truly qualified for deflecting something of that size."
Hannah didn't need to see the Alliance Admirals to know that this prospect did not sit well with them. They were being told that there was absolutely nothing that they could do to assist in averting a catastrophe and that they would have to sit by and pray that somebody else was able to do the job right. The three frigates had last reported dropping out of FTL as close as they could to Shanxi and initiating pursuit at sub light speed, but just as the mysterious benefactor aboard the Olympian claimed they would not be able to do enough damage even if they caught up in time.
"Admirals, it may please you to know that I have just detected a powerful energy build up within the Chairman Benny." Zero stated. "It appears that its core override has been engaged."
"That means they've done it!" Owen said urgently, "Admirals, I advise that you keep those frigates on course. They're going to need to run a rescue operation very shortly to pick up my team."
"Admirals Drescher and Davis do not have authority over the assets of the Olympian battle group, Captain Mason...however your request is still granted." The mystery speaker responded. "In the meantime I would advise that New Taiyuan be informed that they should take precautions. An explosion of such magnitude may still likely cause some damage despite the distance and elevation."
"Given the station's current speed, trajectory and its manoeuvring thrusters attempting to resist the descent that explosion would have to be within the next few minutes to avoid catastrophic damage to Shanxi's environment." Zero informed all those listening. "At the minimum elevation required for that any fallout should be minimal and dispersed globally, but the resulting electromagnetic pulse may cause damage to unprotected systems and there may be a risk of environmental contamination in some regions."
To Hannah this was slowly becoming a repeat of the Great War which she and every other child had been taught about. The station was looking more and more like one big missile ready to rain down death on a once peaceful city. Even if it was detonated long before impact it would still leave its mark on Shanxi, no matter how diluted the fallout was by elevation and weather patterns.
The Ghoul crewman from earlier took this opportunity to speak. "Well...that makes two planets that get nuked...I'm starting to notice a pattern here."
"Do enlighten us." His neighbouring crewman drawled.
"Base your entire civilization on nuclear energy in haste, repent in the medical ward as you get your new extra limbs lasered off."
Xxx
BFS Chairman Benny, Dry Dock Level
ASV Fawkes, Command Centre
0547 hours (10 minutes to detonation)
"Orbital re-entry is on track," Lieutenant Ossellus stated while examining his Omni-Tool and pacing slowly across the bridge of the human frigate. "Estimated window allowing for safe departure is approximately ten minutes; synchronize Omni-Tools for nine. If we need to leave with or without the General we will wait until we have enough time to safely execute an evacuation."
He looked to the helm where one of his men was deciphering the controls. "Corporal, I trust that you now have an adequate understanding of this vessel's propulsion and navigation."
"Yes sir, as long as you don't ask me to do anything too complex I'm confident that I can pilot us to a safe orbit and maintain it long enough for friendly forces to reach us."
Pleased, Ossellus let him get back to work and contacted the guard he'd posted by the air lock. "Private, did you receive my order?"
"Affirmative sir! Omni-Tool synchronized and-"
A burst of static suddenly replaced what had been a clear line of communications. Ossellus began to go through the motions of re-restablishing contact before realizing that there should not be anything interfering with a short range communication link. Attempting to contact the fleet would require a feat of brilliance in their current predicament, but Private Myrmal was less than a hundred meters away. Interference was minimal at greater ranges and practically non-existent at shorter ones.
Testing his theory, Ossellus contacted the trio of soldiers he had sent to the human engineering section. "Comm. check, go."
"Comm. check acknowledged, we hear you sir."
"I copy that."
"Communications are fully operational, sir."
"I've lost contact with Myrmal," Ossellus informed them. "Make your way to my position and sweep the ship on the way. I want Sensor Drones online; we've all see the capabilities of a human cloaking field."
"Affirmative, we're on the move!"
Ossellus tapped into the nearest console. "I need access to the security systems, internal and external."
"Wish I could help sir, but I've only just mastered the ability of pushing this backwards hunk of scrap forward, and only in theory with this half assed translation index." The Corporal manning the helm replied, "Should we push the deadline forward?"
Shaking his head, Ossellus tapped into the security systems and had the bridge doors seal themselves shut. "No, we need to give the General as much time as we can. I'll handle accessing surveillance and you keep analyzing the helm controls."
Before he could get too far in his efforts Ossellus heard a burst of gunfire through his communicator. "Sir, we've engaged hostiles on the crew deck! Thaelak is down and we are pinned! There are at least two hostiles with a third wounded and-AGH!"
"Spirits! It's like our shields are little more than tissue paper! I'm falling back to engineering; I can't hold this-UGH!"
His pulse began to race as Ossellus lost the signal. He unfolded his assault rifle and glanced at his last remaining squad member. "Belay my previous order. Prepare to take off, and afterwards we can figure out how to flush every compartment but this one and send these humans out the air lock."
"Uhhhhhh no." A new voice interrupted, originating from the speakers on the bridge itself. "I've had to deal with you bird faced creeps crawling all over me and going to places that meat bags have no business stepping, so I think I'll help show you the door."
The doors suddenly unlocked and parted in time for Ossellus to catch sight of a figure in black armour aiming a pistol his way. Before he could bring his rifle up a blue sphere spat from the tip of the weapon and in an instant the Turian's entire head was reduced to little more than a mess of blue pulp and fragments of carapace scattered across the bridge floor. The Corporal at the Helm reached for one of his weapons, but never even got an opportunity to stand up before the intruder shot him in the back once.
Jane lowered her weapon. "Alright, that's the last one." She waved one arm, signalling Nathan to step out from cover with Jane still in his arms. "Well ain't that typical: these things fly a trillion miles to start something and they can't even master the art of locking a door. I'm starting to think life out there ain't as intelligent as we thought."
"Actually, you can thank me for unlocking the door, along with every other door on the ship for you." The voice from the speakers, which had a similar rasp to Jane's-the kind found in all Ghouls, "And I have to say it is about damn time you guys showed up."
Nathan laughed. "Grump! How are you up here? You're supposed to be ground side!"
An avatar of the AI appeared before them as they entered the bridge. "It's called a copy, dumb ass. AIs do it literally all the time. Prime Grump left me up here just in case there was more to be found out from these birds. When I detected them going through my systems I came back online and lo and behold all Hell has broken loose. Care to give me the abridged summary?"
"The Turians are trying to crash this station, we set it to blow and now we really need to get out while we can." Nathan explained while setting Victoria down in one of the seats. "Is there still a med kit in here? The infirmary was picked clean."
"Wondered why you brought her here. Check under the floor panels for one of Owen's stashes."
Nathan knelt and searched along the floor while Jane tugged the dead Turian away from the Helm station. His searching paid off as he pulled up a panel to reveal a concealed compartment with a fresh supply of Stim-Gel among other things readily available.
"Score!"
"Wait for treating her until after we're clear." Jane slid into the pilot's seat. "Grump, can you help me get this junker moving?"
"Well fuck you too, this unker is my body and I can't help it if Owen went and got me dinged up-"
"GRUMP!" Both Jane and Nathan shouted.
"Fine! Christ, I already have the engines back online." Grump replied defensively, "Just give it a minute and we'll be out of...uh oh."
Nathan looked up from the compartment. "Uh oh?" He inquired, "I don't like 'uh oh' right when we're making a dramatic escape, especially after every single conceivable thing going south today the way it has."
"Two Turians just boarded before I could lock down the air lock." Grump explained before clarifying. "Well...two badly wounded Turians."
With rising suspicion, Nathan asked. "Is one by any chance missing an arm?"
"Bingo, and the other looks ready to drop dead...yeesh, I'm guessing you guys did a real number on these chumps. By the way, in case you're wondering, you've got just over seven minutes left now."
Nathan looked at Jane. "Lock down the bridge and get us ready for takeoff, I'll go handle them."
"Or we could just vent them," Jane suggested, "You know, forgo another epic showdown?"
"If they're badly wounded as we left them then I could convince them to stand down." Nathan replied as he strapped Victoria into her seat and then checked over his rifle and pistol. "Ah crap."
The Theta-Rifle had survived the explosion from earlier mostly intact, but the frame was badly damaged and a red light blinking on the side indicated that at least one vital mechanism within the weapon was beyond functioning. The power cell he'd inserted was still intact otherwise the rifle would have exploded, but his primary weapon was as good as toast.
"You can take mine then." Jane unhooked her rifle, which she had kept on her back in favour of her pistol for the sake of wielding a lighter and smaller weapon in a more enclosed space while reducing the strain on her injured shoulder. "And try not to break it; this shit comes out of our pay."
While that little tidbit didn't bode well for Nathan, he chose not to comment and stepped back out of the bridge while Jane sealed the doors behind him.
"Alright, now to focus on driving," Jane muttered.
"Good thing these bird brains already had the engines cooking. We'll be set to go in a few moments, but I can't guarantee that we'll stay flying after we take off."
Xxx
Shanxi
New Taiyuan
0550 Hours (7 minutes until detonation)
The moment that the Chairman Benny had been spotted beginning its descent Williams had issued an immediate order for all remaining units to evacuate to the nearest bunker or to find a functioning air craft and escape the city. He and Sentinel Noland were coordinating both the evacuation of the Citadel and one final hasty attempt to repair some of the Shell's disabled emitters.
"We never did get to test this damn thing for meteors." Williams commented as he and the Super Mutant climbed into an ARV which shrieked out of the plaza in front of the Citadel and made for the edge of the protected zone. "What do you think the odds are on the Shell holding?"
"I would rather not test it at all with the lives of our people depending on it." Noland answered, "But I am surprised that you so easily agreed to accompany me for this."
Williams glanced over his shoulder into the back seats at the Sentinel. "I've got a son and a daughter-in-law down in one of these bunkers along with three granddaughters." He stated firmly, "If I can increase their chances of coming out of this alive then you can be damn sure I'll drive out here, suicide or not."
The driver chose this moment to speak up. "Sir, we're approaching the nearest emitter!"
"Well Colonel if we live through this and you have any grandsons I expect to have one named after me." Noland grunted and opened one of the doors as the vehicle shrieked to a halt close to where one of the Shell's damaged emitters was still standing.
Xxx
ASV Fawkes
Command Deck
0551 Hours (6 minutes until detonation)
"Navigation is green, life support and gravity green, engines...yellowish with a hint of orange." Grump announced. "Alright, I'll release the docking clamps and open the hangar doors. Whatever you do just go absolutely straight so we don't scrape off half the hull, I've already lost the feeling in enough extremities here thanks to you meat bags."
Jane grasped the controls and made sure her harness was keeping her secure to the seat. "Do it!"
The doors parted ahead of the damaged frigate, showing the curve of Shanxi slowly creeping up further into view.
"Clamps releasing in ten seconds, so make sure to hit the forward thrusters immediately-"
"Make it three!"
"Fuck the countdown then! NOW!"
Jane gunned the ship forward just as Grump had the docking clamps release their hold on the hull. The Fawkes shot forward and exploded out through the open doors. Before she knew it Jane was treated to the view of the Chairman in one of the functioning dorsal cameras, eliciting a cackle from her. "We're safe!"
Suddenly the controls died in front of her.
"We just lost the main thrusters."
Jane's eyes widened as she watched Shanxi through the canopy. The initial thrust had been enough to get them accelerated enough to hold a stable but temporary orbit, and the navigational thrusters were still online and could provide some additional velocity, but if the few functioning monitors were to be believed...
"We're dead." The Ghoul groaned as she watched a countdown estimating the time that it would take for orbital decay to bring the frigate crashing down. (3)
Xxx
End of Chapter
CODEX OPENED
Accessing Files...
File Opened: The Shame of the 3rd Fleet
The Battle of Shanxi is considered one of the most humiliating events in the recent history of the Turian Hierarchy. What began as a simple pacification mission against a reportedly hostile species turned into a destructive rampage by General Desolas Arterius and opposed by 3rd Fleet's Admiral Trisun, who was murdered by Arterius after attempting to retake command of her flagship, the A'Kalez. After Kravos Pridius was promoted by way of the Rite of Digeris he formally surrendered to the Alliance Fleet that arrived in the Shanxi System minutes later, leaving a sizable portion of the 3rd Fleet at the mercy of the Systems Alliance. The aftermath of this incident marked the end of many careers for promising officers and the execution of many others complicit in Desolas Arterius' plan to commit the Hierarchy to a full interstellar war.
Others refer to this event as 'The Humbling of the Hierarchy' and 'The Fall of House Arterius' among other Turian clans and species.
(1) A reference to the Mechanist from Fallout 3- though I've heard in a recent DLC the Mechanist has appeared in some new form. I must make a note to download that while I have the chance.
(2) Desolas is referring to a history record of the Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel's encounter with The Caulculator, the mad AI of Vault 0 which commanded a robot army and considered everything organic an enemy.
(3) Okay I'm not going to lie, this moment is inspired by a moment from Star Wars Rebels in the episode 'Brothers of the Broken Horn' where Hondo Ohnaka is assisting Ezra Bridger in fighting a group of pirates only to end up falling on a tram that is sent shooting towards an open hangar door. On route, a case full of credits falls into Hondo's lap and he eagerly snatches it up while shouting 'I'm rich!' only to shout as he almost gets shunted out into space 'I'm dead!'
Oh, and because I did promise to do this a few chapters ago, here's the summary for this chapter
The Alliance Fleet finally launches its attack to lift the siege of Shanxi , supported by a mysterious battle group of highly advanced warships commanded by a mysterious benefactor. Kravos, faced with the choice of surrendering or letting what is left of the depleted Turian fleet being destroyed, chooses the former despite knowing that it will mean the end of his very short career as an Admiral and very likely would result in him being alienated from Turian society. However, the Alliance fleet believes him to be responsible for the Chairman station being de-orbitted and threatens to destroy his fleet if he does not stop.
As Owen and the freed Alliance prisoners aboard the A'Kalez attempt to unlock the primary systems and find a way to render aid to Victoria's team on the Chairman, Victoria and Nathan confront Desolas and Saren at the reactor core. After the station begins its forced descent the four engage in a brief but fearsome duel that ends with Saren losing an arm and Victoria being badly wounded. Nathan and Jane carry Victoria to the Fawkes while Owen successfully contacts Hannah Shepard, who is part of the Alliance Fleet coming to Shanxi's aid, and informs her of Desolas' plot. The Alliance fleet is unable to scramble quickly enough to destroy the station before it can impact New Taiyuan, but Jane has set the station to detonate before it can impact.
After storming the badly damaged Fawkes, with assistance from a copy of the AI Grump, Jane prepares the ship to depart while Nathan heads aft to deal with Desolas, who has managed to get aboard with Saren. Jane is able to launch the Fawkes only to lose use of the primary engines almost immediately afterwards.