Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to my MechWarrior/BattleTech - Mass Effect crossover.

All of you wanted to see the Reapers get their butts handed to them, and I have answered the call. I even picked an appropriate theme song to commemorate the battle in this chapter.

As always, leave a review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the MechWarrior/BattleTech or Mass Effect franchises. They are the respective properties and trademarks of BioWare, Electronic Arts, FASA Corporation, FASA Interactive, Catalyst Game Labs, Piranha Games Inc., etc. Any material original to the franchises belongs to their respective developers and publishers. Any material not original to the franchises is of my own invention. I do not own any music listed in each chapter. Any music listed belongs to it's original composers and/or artists.

SABATON - Dreadnought

FCS Mjölnir

Approaching Palaven

September 16th, 2186

The bridge of the FCS Mjölnir was silent as they began to approach the Mass Relay that would take them to Trebia, the star system that held Palaven. Sitting in the command chair of the ship, Admiral Osman von Strauss watched the Mass Relay with cold, calculating eyes as they approached it. All other sounds were tuned out, as he finalized the strategy that he had proposed to the other Admirals, as well as to the First Prince and Archon.

From what he had heard, Hackett had been more than willing to bring the Federated Commonwealth up to speed on the Reaper War. Osman, who had heard the reports, had only shaken his head with disgust and anger towards the Reapers. It is like the First and Second Succession Wars all over again, only this time it's galactic genocide, he frowned. It is high time that we show the Reapers why the Federated Commonwealth will punish them for their evil.

With that in mind, he went over the strategy that he had cooked up for the battle that was to come. Once we're through the relay, we will have the FCS Mongoose use her Screen Launchers to deploy around two thousand Smart Space Mines. The thermonuclear warheads installed on each one should be powerful enough to atomize a Reaper if it gets too close. Either way, the Reapers will find that they cannot enter this system, nor can they escape

After that, we will contact the Admiral Victus recommended to us, Admiral Ravis Kandros, and inform her that we are coming in. Once she lures away a few Reapers, we will fall upon them like the mythical weapon that Thor wields, the weapon our ship is named after. It is time to wage war. Looking at his Tactical Operations or TACOPS Offcer, he asked, "Any hostile contacts near the relay?"

"Negative sir," came the reply. "The scope is clear."

"Good." A moment later, he hit the button that would allow him to speak over the entire ship's intercom. "Guten morgen, ladies and gentlemen," he began. "I wish to say that I am deeply honored to be serving with a crew that has not once shirked it's duty. Today, we begin our war against an enemy that has thought itself implacable, an enemy that believes it is invincible, unbeatable and inevitable: the Reapers.

"For millions, or even billions, of years, the Reapers have committed genocide on a level that makes the Succession Wars look like a playground scuffle. Today, however, will be the day that the forces of the Federated Commonwealth stood up and shouted at them, 'Not one step further!' We will crush the Reapers and their foul servants! We shall shatter our enemies on the anvil of war! Today, we will show them why our ship is named Mjölnir! ON TO WAR!"

"ON TO WAR!" the rest of the crew shouted, with the speaker giving a whine of feedback from the crew's combined shout.

Closing the intercom, Osman said, "All hands, brace for Mass Relay FTL transit!" As he said this, many of the smaller ships flew towards the Mass Relay. Within seconds, each one vanished as they were launched through the Mass Relay like a rock being hurled by a slingshot. A moment later, a tendril of energy reached out to the Mjölnir.

For a few seconds, Osman could see the multicolored kaleidoscope that was Mass Relay FTL flight, then it faded as the ship exited the Mass Relay. As soon as it exited, he said, "FCS Mongoose, begin launching Space Mines around the Relay once you are fifty kilometers from the entry point. All other WarShips, form up on the Mjölnir." Switching FTL comm frequencies, he began working to contact the HDF Spirit of Palaven, the flagship that Ravis Kandros commanded. "Admiral Ravis Kandros, this is the FCS Mjölnir, do you read me?" he asked. "Admiral Ravis Kandros, this is Admiral Osman von Strauss, do you read me?"

. . .

Onboard the Spirit of Palaven, Ravis Kandros was having an extraordinarily bad day. Her blue eyes shot to and fro as she checked readouts, while they continued to battle it out with the Reapers. Nearby, officers and crewmen were working frantically to ensure that the dreadnought would not only survive this engagement, but also retreat back to Aephus to conduct repairs.

It had all started out as it usually did, with a routine patrol before heading back to Palaven. That was when the Reapers attacked, with the Hierarchy Defense Force fleet at the planet being smashed aside like a wave smashing aside a rock. Now we are in a fight for our lives, she frowned. I don't know how much more the Spirit of Palaven can take!

"Incoming Reaper, bearing 0-5-0!" the Sensors officer screamed. Looking up, Ravis watched as a Reaper hurtled towards them, intent on smashing them into flotsam and jetsam.

"EVASIVE MANEUVERS!" she roared, just as the pilots threw the ship into a desperate hard left. Emergency thrusters roared to life on the side of the ship as they threw the dreadnought out of the path of danger. The Reaper soon passed by them, missing them by just two hundred meters.

"Spirits, that was too close!" a crewman shouted.

"I agree," another nodded, his mandibles flaring in panic.

Ravis was about to check up on the ship's status when another voice came in over the comm-link. It was a Human voice, accented, but clearly understandable. "Admiral Ravis Kandros, this is the FCS Mjölnir, do you read me?" the voice asked. "Admiral Ravis Kandros, this is Admiral Osman von Strauss, do you read me?"

"Isolate that signal!" she shouted. As they did so, she remembered a communiqué that she had received from Primarch Victus. According to the report, it detailed that help was coming from another faction, one that was advanced enough to take the Reapers head-on in a fight; in addition, she was to contact them as soon as she heard them contact her.

"We've got the signal isolated," came her Comms Officer. "It's coming from the Mass Relay at the edge of the system!"

Keying the comm, she said, "FCS Mjölnir, this is Admiral Ravis Kandros of the HDF Spirit of Palaven, we read you. Our ship is taking heavy damage, and we require immediate assistance! Can you help us?!"

"Affirmative, frau. Retreat and head for the Mass Relay. If you can, can you lure in a few Reapers while you're at it? I have a plan to show them why they have made a terrible miscalculation."

For a moment, Ravis was confused as to what Osman was getting at, then she realized exactly what he was planning. "Uh… roger that," she replied. "Are you sure that your warship can handle a few Reapers?"

"Ja, Admiral," was Osman's reply. "We have currently jumped to the asteroid belt that is in your star system. Once you are approaching the Mass Relay, signal us, and we will come in behind the Reapers, and my sensors officer will send you a flight path to safety. Then, we shall smash them against the anvil of war!"

"Alright, then. If you say so." Closing the comm line, she said, "Helm, plot a course to the Mass Relay ASAP! We! Are! Leaving!"

"Ma'am?" came the incredulous question. "Are you sure? We were ordered to protect Palaven!"

"We can't defend Palaven if we're blasted into thousands of pieces!" Ravis countered angrily. "In addition, the Primarch says that help has arrived! Do you dare question his orders?!"

"No, ma'am!"

"Then do your duty and get us out of here by the spirits of air and darkness!" With that, there was no more resistance as the ship turned towards the direction of the Mass Relay. While doing so, the ship's turrets fired on a few Reapers in the area, drawing their attention. A moment later, the ship jumped, with the Reapers following behind as well. As soon as they were out of FTL flight, Ravis said, "Osman, it's all yours now!"

Instead of a verbal reply, she got a reply in the form of a ship appearing on a magnified visual readout. To Ravis, it was not a ship that she had ever seen before. It was massive, with the ship being taller than her own, as well as slightly longer. The hull was covered, from what she could tell, with massive weapons, each one looking as though they could cut a hole right through an Asari dreadnought with little trouble, as well as thick armor plating. It's hull was a dark matte gray color, making it nearly disappear against the backdrop of space.

A moment later, several other ships appeared out of FTL flight. Two looked like an Alliance Corvette, only it was much blockier, and certainly looked more heavily armored. The third one to arrive looked like a flat base bullet that had been cut in half, only for rectangles and cylinders to be stuck in the middle of the two halves. Blue-white engines on the backs of each ship pushed them through the vacuum of space. In addition to the large ships, she spotted a bunch of smaller ships, each one being around the size of the SSV Normandy the Alliance had, or slightly smaller.

Seeing the new ships, Ravis realized that whoever had designed these cared little about the aesthetics of their ships, only their functionality. Each one, she, realized had a beauty, the deadly beauty of a weapon that was maintained and ready to kill anyone that dared hurt it's user. Where Asari ships radiated beauty, and Turian ships radiated strength, these ships radiated raw power given purpose. Part of her wondered if they had been created in the forges of Vortentos, the Turian spirit of metalworking and industry, for use by Vorenar, the Turian spirit of just war, conquest and liberation.

Apparently, her crew had been affected similarly, as their responses clearly indicated. "By the Spirits!" a crewman gasped. "Is that our support?!"

"Looks like it," another one nodded. "I don't know how I know, but I just know that the Reapers are going to be in big trouble."

Just then, the Reapers appeared out of FTL flight. Looking at the tactical readouts, Kandros noted that they were about a thousand kilometers from the aft section of the Spirit of Palaven, while she was about a thousand kilometers from the Mass Relay. As for the other ships, they were just a thousand kilometers to the left and behind where the Reapers had emerged.

Onboard the FCS Mjölnir, Osman found himself looking at the Reapers on a magnified visual feed for the first time. By the hammer of Thor, they are extremely ugly ships to look at, he thought, and he wasn't wrong. Each one of the Reapers looked like someone had taken a squid, made it biomechanical in appearance, and then scaled it in size until it was around a kilometer or two in size. Long, biomechanical tendrils extended from where the 'mouth' of each ship would be at, as well as a few shorter ones along the length of it's 'bottom.'

"That is the ugliest WarShip I have ever seen," his TACOPS Officer deadpanned.

"I agree," the Sensors Officer nodded. "Ugly motherfuckers. Each one made from melting down another species before turning them into a monstrous abomination."

"Agreed," Strauss nodded. Turning to his Fire Control Officer, he asked, "Are the Heavy N-Gauss Rifles loaded?"

"Nein," came the reply. "They are charged, but not loaded as per safety protocol."

"Load them immediately, and get targeting solutions on one closest to us," he ordered.

A few seconds of silence passed. Then, "Heavy N-Gauss Rifles loaded, sir. Targeting solutions calculated. We are ready to fire."

Osman nodded, before taking a deep breath. In one moment, he was about to change the Reaper War forever. For the first time, an faction from another universe was about to unleash it's own version of hell. A moment later, he roared. "FIRE!"

As soon as Osman gave the order, the Fire Control Officer ordered the ship's VI to unleash the might of the Heavy N-Gauss Rifles on the bow of the Mjölnir. Inside the weapons, electrons rushed with unbridled fury from the supercapacitors inside of the weapon itself. Flowing along superconductors, they rushed into the nanocomposite magnetic coils that lined the barrel of the weapon. In just a few seconds, they began generating an extremely powerful magnetic field.

Grabbing onto the ultra-dense ferrous slug, the magnetic field generated an extremely powerful Lorentz force that sent the slug hurtling down the barrel at extreme velocities. The mass effect field inside the barrel reduced the mass of the slug, allowing the slug to accelerate to even higher velocities. In just a few milliseconds, the ultra-dense ferrous slug shot out of the muzzle of the weapon and towards the targeted Reaper at fifty kilometers per second. A few seconds later, it's twin fired an identical slug towards the Reaper at the same velocity. In just twenty four seconds, they would smash into the Reapers, with a three second delay between the two projectiles.

For all the Reapers preparedness for dealing with races that used the Mass Effect, none of them were prepared for the kind of hell the Federated Commonwealth was now capable of unleashing.

The first N-Gauss slug smashed into the Reaper's kinetic barriers with the force of a 145 kiloton thermonuclear bomb. The impact was so powerful that the 500 kg slug shattered on impact, with the shrapnel flying into the heavily weakened barriers, finally causing them to fail. The second slug, however, smashed into the center aft section on the Reaper, and it was here that the first Reaper was slain at the Federated Commonwealth's hands.

The ferrous slug, traveling at an identical velocity to the first, ripped into the Reaper with ruthless efficiency. Tearing through the armor, the slug muscled it's way past various components before spearing through the Element Zero Core inside of the Reaper. Here it hit a harder component, causing it to ricochet downwards slightly, whereupon it ripped out the front of the Reaper, tearing out massive chunks of armor and internal components. Flying through space, the slug smashed into the back of another Reaper, with the slug, which had barely slowed down, shattering into thousands of pieces.

The first Reaper that had been targeted promptly exploded, tearing itself apart in a massive red-white detonation as it's internal systems overloaded. The second Reaper, while not destroyed, was temporarily sent tumbling ass over teakettle by the force of the impact. Sensing their compatriot's distress, the other Reapers began to turn to see what had accosted them just now

As soon as the N-Gauss Rifles on the Mjölnir had fired, the twin Avalon-class WarShips present fired their AR-10 missile launchers, sending a swarm of missiles streaking towards the Reapers. Within one minute, they would cross the 1200km distance between the two sides before smashing into the Reapers kinetic barriers. Consequently, it was just after the Reapers turned around that the missiles impacted.

Normally, this wouldn't have been a problem for the Reapers, since their kinetic barriers would stop missiles armed with conventional explosive warheads. However, during a meeting with this Admirals, Hanse had decided that the missiles, if they were to have any effect against the Reapers, would be armed with pure nuclear fusion warheads, each one with a yield of fifty kilotons. It was a decision mirrored by the Star League with the development of the Santa Anna variant of the White Shark missile.

To make matters worse for the Reapers, these weren't traditional nuclear missiles. Military historians had found that, during the 1960's and 1980's, the United States and the later Strategic Defense Initiative had done research on how to create nuclear shaped charges. The weapon, which used a nuclear bomb as an explosive charge, worked by directing the resulting radiation towards a lightweight metal disk. That disk would vaporize, with the explosive force of the bomb detonating turning it into a jet of plasma that could cut through just about anything.

In other words, these were the first missiles to use nuclear shaped charges, known as Casaba-Howitzer weapons, and the Reapers were their first targets.

Each nuclear detonation had a cascading effect on the Reapers that were being assaulted. Nuclear explosions over twice as powerful as the bomb detonated at Nagasaki tore into the Reapers, with nuclear radiation tearing into the armor, while the immense infrared radiation and plasma tore through armor plating, cutting vast holes into the Reapers. in addition, each nuke generated a an EMP of considerable strength, causing disruptions to internal electronics. This sneak attack resulted in two more Reapers being destroyed, with each one exploding as the nuclear assault caused their internal systems to overload.

Osman felt a surge of exhilaration and relief at the sight of four Reapers exploding like fireworks in the void of space. Four out of six Reapers dead with but a single blow, he thought to himself. Now, the Reapers will suffer. We have to be careful, though, as they will attempt to adapt. No plan survives contact with the enemy. True enough, the Reapers were now throwing themselves into evasive maneuvers as they caught sight of the Mjölnir.

"Fire Naval Pulse Lasers," he calmly ordered. "Have the Pocket WarShips fly in at close range to engage the Reapers. The moment they lose too much armor, have them retreat to the Relay to head to our space and begin repairs. Hopefully, the shipyard that Hanse had constructed from the modules is already online and ready."

"Aye aye, sir," came the reply. "Pocket WarShips moving to engage."

Moments later, emerald, sapphire and ruby beams of laser light cut through the vacuum of space from the ships present. While the Reapers were far enough that they could dodge Gauss slugs, Autocannon shells and missiles, they weren't nearly far away enough to dodge laser light. To make matters worse, their kinetic barriers weren't properly calibrated to bend light away from critical components.

An angry cut of molten material was cut between a gap in a Reaper's armor by a pulsing emerald beam, damaging internal components and systems. A pulsing sapphire beam of light began cutting into another Reaper, with this one scoring a critical hit. There was an explosion, followed by one of the Reaper's tendrils being blasted into space. If Osman could've heard anything, he would've heard the loud bass roar of a Reaper screaming in pain.

That wasn't all that the Reapers had to worry about, as they promptly found themselves being surrounded by dozens of comparatively tiny ships lashing out at them with their own weapons. One Pocket WarShip, the Verdant Gleam, zipped past one of the Reaper's tendrils, before getting below it's kinetic barriers to fire it's weapons into the hull, tearing off armor and damaging internal components.

Another one was irritating the Reaper with it's Sub-Capital Pulse Lasers, with each beam carving an angry welt into the Reaper's armor. One tendril reached up to swat at it, only for the Pocket WarShip to quickly zip out of danger, before going in again, like someone poking a snake with a long stick. It was quite annoying for one Reaper in particular as it targeted the Mjölnir with it's main weapons. "Enemy Reaper charging main weapon!" a crew member shouted to Osman.

"Barriers up?" he asked.

"Kinetic barriers at 100%," Engineering reported. At that moment, the Reaper fired, sending a jet of molten metal directly at the Mjölnir. While the projectile was traveling fast, the Mjölnir was far away enough to where they could dodge the shot. While Osman believed that his ship could take the blow, he didn't want to find out.

"Evasive maneuvers," he ordered. Right on cue, plasma thrusters on the port side of the ship fired, pushing the Mjölnir hard to port. While it wasn't a terribly fast maneuver, it was just barely enough to allow them to dodge the molten jet of metal being hurled at them. In response, the FCS Tharkad fired two of it's Naval PPC's at the offending Reaper. Both bolts smashed into the kinetic barriers, and while they didn't penetrate, the electrical disruptions generated threw off the Reaper's targeting, allowing the Avalon-class WarShipto fire it's other set of Naval PPC's

This time, the effect was catastrophic. The third bolt finally downed the kinetic barriers on that part of the Reaper, with the emitters being fried by the immense jolt of electricity. That allowed the fourth particle bolt to tear into the Reaper. Armor plating ablated as the bolt cut partway into the Reaper before dissipating. In response, the Tharkad fired one of it's Naval Plasma Rifles, sending a purple-white bolus of plasma towards the Reaper. Another forty seconds later, it impacted, with the bolus melting through the armor and into the Reaper's Element Zero Core. That caused the Reaper to shut down, with the construct simply becoming a dead hunk of debris in space.

That left the last Reaper, which was still injured. Firing it's weapon, it targeted the Mjölnir once again. This time, Osman knew that he couldn't dodge in time. "Brace for impact!" he shouted. Just as everyone braced, the mass accelerated stream of molten metal impacted the Mjölnir's kinetic barriers.

The ship shuddered as the jet of metal impacted, with Osman and the rest of the crew being shaken about. True to her mythological namesake, however, the Mjölnir remained unbroken by the attack, with the stream of metal ricocheting off into space. "Are we alright?" Osman asked.

"Kinetic barriers down to 82% and recharging," Engineering reported. "We survived a direct hit from a Reaper's main gun."

"Let's give it our answer," Osman decided. "Fire our Heavy Naval PPC's. They should pack more punch than the standard ones."

"Aye, sir," the FCO replied. A moment later, bolts of high energy particles zipped towards the Reaper at relativistic velocities, just as the Pocket WarShips got out of the way. All of the bolts impacted, with the third tearing into the Reaper with even more damage than the one from the Tharkad. Now that they were close enough, the Naval Autocannons on the Mjölnir opened fire, shelling the Reaper with powerful warheads.

Evidently, that was enough to kill the Reaper, as one of the shells tore into the Reaper's internals. A moment later, there was a massive detonation as the Reaper was ripped apart. When the light faded, the Reaper had been blasted into numerous sections that were now drifting away from each other. With that, the naval engagement ended in a clear FedCom victory.

Osman could hear cheering on the fleet-wide comm as the last Reaper was blasted apart. "HAHA!" he heard Patrick Rhine, the CO of the Tharkad shouting. "The Reapers in this battle have been shattered by the Hammer of Thor! Nicely done, Osman."

"Thank Admiral Ravis," he told Patrick. "Thanks to her cooperation, we were able to lure the Reapers out here, where they were far from help. Regroup and begin moving towards Palaven at best speed. We are here to provide support for our Turian friends." Keying his comm, he said, "Pocket WarShps, do you read?"

"We're here," one of them replied. "We're good. We nearly got some armor shaved off by that one attack, but we're good. We had to deal with Oculus drones, the Reaper's equivalent of AeroSpace Fighters. Boy are they annoying, but we out-shot them and gunned them all down."

"Excellent," Osman nodded. "We will begin heading towards the planet ASAP."

. . .

Onboard the Spirit of Palaven, the entire bridge was silent as they witnessed the first time the Reapers lost a battle against their newfound allies. Ravis Kandros' jaw had dropped open, while her mandibles were pointed as far down as they could go. Even the Element Zero core's hum was subdued, as though the ship was in awe of what the Mjölnir and her sister ships had unleashed against the Reapers.

They thrashed the Reapers like it was child's play, she thought as she looked at the Mjölnir just before it jumped towards the planet of Palaven. Looking ahead, she watched as a small object drifted past the ship, but it was not debris. "What is that?" she asked.

"Looks like a space mine," one of the crew observed. "It's an old-school tactic, but it's effective when done right. I wouldn't be surprised if that one was armed with a nuclear warhead. Makes me glad that we're moving on a safe course to the Mass Relay."

"Me too," Ravis nodded, even as the Spirit of Palaven began it's journey to Aephus.

(Author's Q&A)

Heart of Shepard: I can't wait to get to those points either. Hope you stick around to see those too.

Guest: Thank you. I hope you have a pleasant week too.

MarauderPrime12: Thank you.

SulliMike23: Oh they are going to have a treat, especially in this chapter.

RandomReader: Yep. The Reapers won't know what hit them.

edboy4926: Thank you.