Disclaimer: I do not own the Mass Effect games. This story is written with no profit in mind. I make no money from it. It isn't for sale or rent.
Chapter 4
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Part 3
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24.04.2183GS
SSV Normandy
Knossos system
A tense hour passed while the Normandy made four orbits around Therum. She put all her passive sensors to good use and gave her crew tons of data to work with. Despite the nasty mixture of clouds and ash that covered much of Therum on the best of days, is soon became clear that there were active power signatures and what looked on thermals like ongoing firefights on at least three locations on the surface. The largest centre of activity was what passed for capital city with close second being a large refinery complex along with an archaeological site in its vicinity and finally, the entrance of the second largest mine on the planet.
"We do have alive people down there fighting, we even picked up pieces of a distress signal on our closest pass to the capital." The sensor officer reported. "Unfortunately, we have no indication as to the location of the VIP, though it is at least obvious she is still alive and free – otherwise there would be no more need for the Geth presence."
"They might be pursuing a secondary objective if the primary failed." Presley pointed out after a few moments of thought. "The transports meant to pick up metal shipments never arrived – there must be a fortune down there waiting to be loaded. I'm sure the Geth could use the heavy metals – a lot of them have applications in shipbuilding."
"A target of opportunity to coincide with retrieving Dr. T'soni. Plausible." Vasir agreed. "They would need to land their frigates to pull it off. I'm not seeing any cargo ships they either brought with themselves or captured."
"We're approaching the broadcast window." The comm officer reminded them. "What should we add to the package besides the gathered Intel?" She asked.
"Add our orbital coordinates for the beacon to stream us the reinforcements attack plans. We'll receive them on the next pass and then decide what to do. You've been working on a plan to cripple that cruiser as an opening shot, Acting Captain Presley?" Vasir inquired.
"Shift orbit to intercept the target, we should be able to do it more or less stealthy, then release a spread of torpedoes and have them drift until point blank range before going active. Then we'll make a strafing run, targeting the cruisers engines with everything we have. The reinforcements should drop right behind us, once we get the Geth's attention and hopefully mop them up before they know what hit them."
"I like it, nice and simple." Vasir praised. "Shepard, options once we've secured the orbitals?"
"I should drop in the Mako at the capital with as many people we can safely cram inside, link up with survivors and figure out where the VIP is supposed to be. That has the bonus of minimizing the odds of friendly fire because someone on edge shot first and asked question never when they see more aliens landing on their heads. You and the Turians remain as a reserve on the Normandy and drop when we have positive confirmation of Dr T'soni's location. Either that, or we drop on two of the three active locations ground-side and have the reinforcements sent marines to the third and begin scanning for survivors and additional Geth troops."
"We're doing best. I would prefer to avoid friendly-fire accidents. We," Vasir nodded to the Turian LT, "will go to that refinery complex and secure the dig there while you take care of the capital. Comms, add a suggestion to the reinforcing ships that once the orbitals are secured they should help us retake the colony with critical objectives being the archaeological sites and the capital in that order."
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CIC
CWS Agile
outer system
Knossos
The CDF task force dropped from FTL on the edge of the system not too far from where the Normandy arrived an hour ago, spoiling for a fight. They had both short and long range sensors up, not particularly concerned that any forces deep within the system would notice their arrival in time. Instead, Senior Fleet Captain Quintus, the Turian in charge of the battle group, was afraid of was an ambush – a depressing possibility if the enemy was numerous enough to have had picket ships sniffing around the Knossos' outer system. It was what he would have done if he had the numbers or time and enough reckon satellites to deploy. A smart commander would have left the enemy scout, the Normandy in this case, slip in without confronting it, before setting up in wait for the reinforcements to show up.
"No enemy contacts close by." Agile's sensor operator reported. "We're getting time-lagged signatures from Therum's orbit. No apparent change since Normandy's arrival. They either have no idea we're here or we've flown into a nasty trap." Senior Lieutenant Kerelis added with her usual cheer. "We also detected Normandy's beacon. Thirty three K from us." She pressed a few buttons and a small dot appeared on the tactical display to the left of the battle group.
"Sending access codes… handshake in progress… We're good, downloading data packages in secure system. We've got a message for you, sir, complete with Spectre codes." The comm operator announced. "It's clean." He added after scanning it for unpleasant surprises before sending it to the Captain.
Surprisingly enough, the message itself was worded in a polite and suggestive manner – not the orders he expected from a bunch of Spectres. The rough plan they had wasn't bad and he suspected that his Human counterpart on the Normandy had a lot to do with it, still it did the Spectres in question credit that they listened. There were horror stories circulating within the CDF about Spectres commandeering naval assets and then making asses of themselves because they had no real idea how and why the navy did anything. They were often worse than the army types or so rumour had it. Until now, Quintus has been lucky enough not to get entangled with any spooks, much less the Council pet ones so he wouldn't know first hand.
By the time he was done with the message, his tactical and network security officers already had the Normandy's tactical data on display – number of known enemy ships, their orbits, speeds, location of active Geth ground forces and human survivors and the best thing – it really looked like that the enemy had no idea they were under observation. Apparently that new project could give the STG a run for their money in the quietly skulking around department. Quintus couldn't wait until the Hierarchy put those new frigates in mass production. The tactical and potentially strategic implications were staggering. Besides, at the very least they might just put them on a more even footing with the Salarians and their infamous STG in the intelligence gathering business.
"Comms, compile a package for the Normandy. In thirty minutes they're to cripple or destroy the Geth cruiser. We'll be jumping in in thirty one minutes. Menae's Shadow will stay at the edge of the system, random location and observe in case we fly into a trap. The rest of the frigates – pair up and jump a Geth equivalent, I'll be designating targets shortly. The Agile will finish off the enemy cruiser then move in to intercept the closest Geth frigate. Once we've established orbital dominance, we will launch marine to help secure the VIP we're here for, reinforce any SA holdouts and neutralize any and all Geth ground forces. Targeting priorities are..."
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CIC
SSV Normandy
high orbit of Therum
Twenty seven minutes after they heard from their reinforcements, the Normandy emerged from Therum's dark side with the local star at her back. Their initial entry in orbit was such as to facilitate a similar manoeuvre if necessary. For a few brief seconds, the frigate was in a blind zone of the patrolling Geth warships, which were more concerned in scanning the surface than looking for enemies in space. That was either complacency, or more likely, thanks to Saren, the machines knew what were the odds of the SA dispatching a force that could challenge them here in the foreseeable future – which were admittedly low. If it wasn't for the stroke of luck that revealed the rogue Spectre's connection with Benezia T'soni, Therum going silent would have had a distinctly secondary priority compared to securing and locking down the borders. Or perhaps, what the Normandy's crew witnessed above Therum was a SOP for the Geth – they simply lacked enough data to be certain.
It mattered little in the end. The machine's complacency or single mindedness was going to cost them. For a brief moment manoeuvring thrusters lit up and the Normandy shifted her orbit to make an interception with the more or less stationary Geth cruiser above the capital possible. Eight disruptor torpedoes stealthily left their berth and proceeded to drift in a rough formation around their mother-ship as Joker prepared to guide her first attack run in anger.
Even as fast as she drifted, it took the Normandy minutes to reach effective engagement range – which in this case was close enough not to give the machines enough time to react. Those minutes felt like hours to the crew – every moment now a stray radar or lidar sweep, thermals or even a Geth platform looking through a window – if they had windows on their ships, could have discovered the Normandy. Time dragged at a snail's pace, while the frigate drifted past its normal engagement range, through point blank and they were almost close enough for Gardian to be able to slice through their armour when the Cruiser lit up its active sensors.
"Fire for effect." Presley ordered and even before his words could properly reach the cockpit and Joker, the pilot was already busy bringing the Normandy to full power – engines, shields, sensors.
A press of the button made the drifting torpedoes lit up their engines and seeker warheads. With the cruiser so close and its sensors just lit up – there was no way for them to miss it. The suicidal drones accelerated to an extent that would have turned any organic to paste and headed for the rear of their target. Within moments, the Normandy had locked in and Joker launched a second spread of torpedoes followed before opening with her spinal mass accelerator.
To give them credit, the Geth reacted faster than any organic could… for all the good it did them. The range was too short, acquisition and engagement time – shorter still. Nevertheless, the cruiser's Gardian lit up and managed to swap three, then four torpedoes from the first spread. However, the rest slammed into its rear, near the engine just as it came to life. With their mass increased beyond any reason by the warheads they carried and with unstable fields warping time and space in front of them, the torpedoes suddenly became too massive mass signatures for the cruiser's shield to stop. In fact, they simply either punched through or bypassed it entirely and homed at the siren song of ME emitters, targeting sensors or the heat signature of an antiproton engines…
Those weren't the small, used en masse weapons launched by fighters or bombers. In fact, the ordnance the Normandy carried was almost the third of the size of a standard fighter – which made for a much harder hitting weapon, faster, longer ranged and in theory able to survive more punishment. The Geth Gardian demonstrated that the later wasn't really true at least as far as their active defences were concerned. However, there was nothing wrong with the larger disruptor torpedoes that hit. One ripped through the starboard main sensor array, two more pulverized shield emitters before crashing deep into the cruiser, warping and shattering armour, decks, power lines and delicate equipment alike. The last torpedo managed to clip one of the engine pods and only automated safeties prevented chain reaction.
Again, the Geth showed reaction times and level headedness that an organics couldn't possibly match. The ship began to rotate moments after the torpedoes hit – a desperate attempt to shift the now crippled side from the line of fire. It was a commendable attempt that would have made a difference if the Normandy hadn't been able to sneak in as close as she did to act as an assassin. Mass accelerated slugs and five more torpedoes slammed into and through the cruiser's rear fully collapsing the shields on the rear half of the starboard, and perforating or cutting the power to systems on the other side of the warship… before a torpedo warped its way through a fuel tank and the rear third of the cruiser vanished in a blinding flash of light. The rest of the now dying warship jumped and began tumbling out of control. The brief pulse of the engines and the force added by the explosion ensured it broke orbit so Therum could catch it in its gravity field, which began dragging it down.
Yet, the remaining Geth on board appeared unshaken at the prospect of fiery death and the wreck lashed at the Normandy with her remaining Gardian lasers. Joker sent two disruptor torpedoes at what was left of the cruiser – as a distraction if nothing less and banked the ship away, towards the closest enemy frigates.
The four smaller Geth ships wasted no time in reacting – they all lit up their engines and went to acceleration that would have made organic crews black out, followed by turns that virtually guaranteed it.
"Thirty more seconds and we're making a short FTL jump. Everyone, hold on, for aggressive manoeuvring!" Joker's excited voice echoed throughout the Normandy.
Mass accelerator rounds, disruptor torpedoes and even long range laser shots lashed at the SA frigate. Her shields managed to turn aside the few slugs that struck her and at the current range, the only lasers that were any threat outside of blinding the odd sensor came from the dying cruiser that the Normandy was quickly leaving behind. Still, the Geth managed a few solid shots that melted armour and slagged various sensor clusters before the timer went to zero and the SA frigate jumped into FTL. The Geth warships, hot on her heels failed to notice in time the arrival of the Citadel forces. Two of the frigates still making their way around Therum found themselves targeted by a pair of their Turian counterparts, each, and before they could move into vectors that would allow them to flee into FTL, a flurry of lasers, Mass accelerator fire and disruptor torpedoes raked them both causing enough damage to prevent such an escape. The Turian ships didn't emerge unscratched either, even if far less firepower came their way – short range lasers and slugs slammed in their flank building heat and slagging exposed systems. However, due to the respective vectors of the combatants, the Geth were in no position to respond with torpedoes, something that gave the Citadel ships a distinct edge. Once the Turian ordnance hit, multiple torpedoes sheared the engines off one frigate and left it a drifting wreck and provided the coup de grace to the other by detonating engines, fuel reserves and sending the eezo core out of control in a lethal chain reaction.
The Agile and her single escort came out of FTL behind the four Geth frigates busy chasing the Normandy. Captain Quintus wasted no time ordering weapons free. The cruiser's firepower proved too much at such a short range and rapid fire shots from her spinal mounted mass accelerator blasted through her first target's shields in a short order. Even a Geth controlled frigate couldn't accelerate away and successfully evade given the unexpected attack vector and that proved lethal for yet another Geth warship. Meanwhile, Agile's escort unleashed hell upon its own target and while the Turian frigate was unable to outright destroy its target, it managed to cripple it before it entered FTL only to drop out mere hundred thousand kilometres away – a fact announced by a bright explosion that heralded the wreck's location. The remaining two Geth warships within Agile's engagement envelope wasted no time and fled.
After it came from behind Therum, the last enemy frigate took at the battlefield, noticed the four lightly damaged Turian ships converging on her position and decided that discretion was the better part of valour and made herself scarce.
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Part 4
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24.04.2183GS
SSV Normandy
Knossos system
Three minutes – it took that long for the Normandy to decelerate, turn around, accelerate again and reach Therum once Presley decided they had moved far enough to be safe from immediate Geth retribution.
"We have lost sensor clusters five to seven. Moderate damage to eight. Our atmospheric manoeuvring surfaces on the port side are degraded twenty percent and we have minor to moderate thermal damage to the armour from section..." The Chief Petty Officer responsible for damage control rattled off from a list compiled during their flight away from Therum.
"When practical, launch repair drones to restore sensor coverage – that's your primary concern." Presley ordered. There wasn't much they could do about the armour, perhaps fix the manoeuvring surfaces if they were merely wielded down by the Geth lasers, otherwise they would need either a repair ship, dock or place to land safely. Not really a concern for the time being.
By the time the Normandy got back, the battle was over. The Turian cruiser and two frigate moved in an elaborate evasive pattern, while there was no sight from the rest of the pack, no debris either, at lest not such that corresponded to Turian ships. There however was a lot of Geth wreckage drifting around, complete with what was left of their cruiser getting closer and closer to slamming into the atmosphere.
"Tactical, give me a projected point of impact if that wreck hits the surface intact. Comms, patch us through to our allies." Presley ordered. He looked away from the tactical plot to face the Spectres. "The orbitals are secure for the time being. Depending on how many enemy ships remain and their condition, they might attempt an asset denial strike."
"That is a concern. I hate being on the wrong end of an orbital bombardment. Let's go, boys, we have a maiden fair to pick up before the Geth decide to bring down the sky on us." Vasir paused and gave Presley a sharp nod. "Good work, Acting Captain." With those parting words, the two Spectres and Turian officer headed down to the hangar.
"I've got Senior Captain Quintus for you, sir."
"Put him on speaker. Senior Captain Quintus, Acting Captain Presley. Status on enemy task force?"
"Three frigates fled. I have three of mine deploying a sensor net three light seconds out that would hopefully give us a bit of warning in case of long range bombardment, then we'll do our best to cover our ground forces."
The bad news was that if you were crazy enough to target a planet, you could technically do it even out of system. In practical terms, for a frigate slug to survive entry in the atmosphere, much less hit a city sized target, you had to be very precise in your targeting, especially as far as the vector of impact with the atmosphere was concerned. If the Geth merely wanted to wreck facilities on the ground, their best bet would be long range saturation bombardment – enough shots would survive to hit the ground in the general vicinity of their target that way. However, to make a difference – which in this case meant taking out the VIP before she could be recovered, they would need to get close to the planet before firing a barrage – otherwise, ordnance flight speed would be too long to really matter.
"Understood. We'll deploy our ground forces and be on station to provide close air support." Presley informed his Turian colleague.
"I'll have Long-strideron station to support your efforts and our marines. The rest of us will keep the Geth off your back if they return. Senior Captain Quintus, out."
"Joker, get us to the capital, we're dropping the Commander's unit with the Mako there."
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Nova Yekaterinburg
Therum
There were only three reasons why Zaeed was still alive. He stood below the first – only one of two still more or less intact Gardian towers that prevented successful air strikes on his position. Fortunately, so far the Geth had declined to bomb the town's proper from orbit, which by itself was a small blessing.
Second, were his now almost completely gone colleagues – there were just enough competent EAE mercenaries, a smattering of SA marines who were lucky enough to be far away from the garrison and armed volunteers, some of whom were retired military. Most of them were dead now, even if they went down hard. At the start, Zaeed had almost a full platoon of people gathered to protect the tower. Now, after too many hours of fighting to count, there were two of them relatively intact, a wounded medic trying and failing to keep the critically wounded alive and a few more worse to wear people who could still hold a rifle and shoot.
The third saving grace was that apparently the Geth had a limited number of robots to deploy, a number that got attried taking out most of the towers and the administrative centre where EAE had its HQ. The last he heard from control was that they were under heavy assault and purging all the data as it was SOP… to deny it to competitors or pirates willing to sell it to the highest bidder.
That was two hours ago and since then all anyone could hear on the comms was an automated distress beacon and burst transmissions coming from the people protecting the last remaining tower. When the others finally got overran, the few survivors either made their way to the remaining Gardian emplacements, tried to go to ground or more disturbingly, made a stand trying to protect the shelters when Geth went for them.
What the bloody machines wanted with the civies, no one knew nor wanted to think about.
Hell, from what Zaeed saw and experienced, this whole assault didn't make any sense. If it was a mere smash and grab, why didn't the Geth take out the emplacements from orbit as they did the garrison? Why were they going after the administrative centre and at least two of the shelters so far?
Why did they have so few ground units and thus far failed to overrun them? Zaeed knew he was tough, however the damn robots were bloody dangerous and enough of them would have punched his number, EAE shaped meat-shields notwithstanding!
"Sarge, check this out!" Their sole remaining combat engineer, Karl, shouted from where he sat bleeding. For a moment, Zaeed felt frustration at the younger man, but that was before his tone fully registered. There was… hope in his voice? "That Geth cruiser in orbit? Someone just took it out!?"
"What?" Zaeed turned to look at the wounded man.
"You know, the sensors of those things?" Karl waved at the tower they huddled beneath. "They can see pretty well in orbit. Something just came of nowhere and nailed that cruiser and now all the Geth frigates are going after it like bats out of hell! Huh, we just got an IFF ping… It's one of ours… SSV Normandy, I haven't heard of it..."
"We've got incoming!"
"They'll try to overrun us before any reinforcements can get to us. Hold position!" Zaeed snapped.
When asked later what exactly happened, all Massani could remember was a blur of shooting, explosions, screams and flashlight-heads. Jessie overheated in his hands and shut down as he pumped burst after burst into a sprinting giant robot, Karl screaming something incoherently as he pushed himself up on his mangled legs and sent overload and attack programs at the advancing machines… drones roaring overhead only to meet the last remaining frag grenades thrown by the combat medic who had to abandon her patients and use her shotgun… A shadow roaring from the heavens and blinding lances of light evaporating whole clusters of Geth… heat and shock-waves slamming into his face and then he was on his back seeing only dancing white spots… Another different roar, a familiar one too and the comforting sound of friendly heavy weapons… Then the next thing he felt was a stimulant being shoved in a vein on his neck and when it kicked in and cleared up his head, there was a SA corpsman kneeling over him and waving an omni-tool over his head.
"This one will make it." The man shouted before pressing a button on the omni-tool and administering another dose of stimulant.
"Sergeant, report." A woman in a distinctive white and pink Phoenix armour gripped his arm and pulled him up in a sitting position. He saw her distinctive Gunnery Sergeant chevrons and almost forgotten instincts kicked in along with the second dose of drugs.
"Zaeed Massani, Sergeant, Alliance Marine Corps, retired." He rattled out.
"Report, Sergeant. What do you know about the Geth down here – objectives, troop dispositions?" Behind the woman, a Mako blocked the main approach to the tower with its turret swinging left and right searching for targets.