Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to my MechWarrior/BattleTech - Mass Effect crossover.
Thank you for your wonderful feedback and support. I greatly appreciate it.
For anyone that thinks that the previous battle was a little too easy, I'll explain my reasons why in the Author's Q&A down below. It should help you understand how Osman was able to catch the Reapers completely off guard.
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., WizKids, 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 – Hellfighters
FCS Ares
Docked to FCS Mjölnir
September 16th, 2186
Onboard the FCS Ares, one of the two Fortress-class DropShips docked to the Mjölnir, Celicia and Nyreen were making sure their gear was fully ready to go. Checking her M61B Pulse Laser Rifle, she smiled when the Advanced Power Pack that it used was fully charged, ready to provide a full thirty seconds of power to the rifle. Checking her new biotic amp, she smiled when a purple aura formed around her. That was much easier to form than with the older amps, she noted.
Turning around, she looked to see Celicia. Despite her injury over two years ago, she was doing extremely well, which wasn't too surprising. According to the doctors, her body had taken quite well to the cybernetic that replaced the leg she had lost during the Battle of Pinnacle. The wonders of cybernetics, she thought to herself.
She then remembered when she had decided to head to the front lines with her daughter. Garrus hadn't been too happy about it, though that wasn't because he was angry. Rather, it was because he was deeply worried about her. He's right to be worried, but he also has to remember that I'm not a piece of human china that can be shattered at the slightest touch. I gave birth to soldiers, and I was a soldier long before I was a mother. I'll be fine, but I will do my damnedest to get back to him when I can.
Just then, someone tapped her on her shoulder, prompting her to look to her right. There, she spotted a large mechanical claw near her head, prompting her to look up at Vorenus. After the Battle of Pinnacle, the Federated Commonwealth had managed to snag a number of Clan Wolf Elementals as bondsmen as part of the Treaty of Pinnacle. While the bondsmen didn't know what would happen, Hanse had a brilliant idea: use them to train people in the use of Battle Armor, while being heavily monitored to ensure compliance.
While unhappy with the fact that they had been taken far from their homeworlds, the Elementals had been happy to have a purpose, even though they knew they were being monitored at all times. Thankfully, the majority of those Elementals had come from the Warden faction of the Clans, and they were quite happy to teach other soldiers how to use Battle Armor effectively.
One of those people had been Vorenus, who'd been taught by Gavin Calbot, the Elemental Shepard had claimed asa bondsman. From what she recalled, he had made the training especially brutal, but not out of hate for the young Turian. According to him, it was to ensure that war wouldn't be hell for him, and that he would be at his very best once the fighting began, and it showed in the way he moved so effortlessly in his armor.
As for his armor, it was quite a specimen indeed. A customized version of the Mountain Lion Battle Armor, Vorenus had customized it with Lamellor armor, an Advanced SRM-2, as well as an ER Medium Support Pulse Laser installed on the arm. The customized part came in the most when it came to the structure, as the suit design had to be modified to account for his unique biology. "You alright, Mom?" he asked. "You looked worried for a moment."
"Just memories is all," Nyreen explained. Looking at her son, she smiled, a purr coming from her as she examined him in his armor, from head to toe. "You are a very handsome Turian, Vorenus. Somehow, I wonder if you were born to wear that kind of armor."
"I might very well have been," Vorenus nodded. As he began to walk away, he said, "Take care of yourself, Mom. Please come home to Dad alive and well."
"That I will," Nyreen decided. In reality, she knew that she could be killed at any moment in the military campaign the Federated Commonwealth. Still, she was very much determined to come back home to her husband.
All conversation was interrupted when the intercom chimed. "Attention: Undocking Procedure In Progress. Repeat: Undocking Procedure In Progress." At about the same time, the DropShip shuddered as it undocked from the WarShip, before it turned towards Palaven and Menae and fired up it's engines.
With that in mind, Nyreen braced herself for the conflict that was to come. Soon, the Reapers were going to learn that just because they thought they were the pinnacle of all existence, didn't mean they were. Soon, they would have a taste of mid-31st century warfare.
. . .
Outside of the DropShip, another battle was about to be waged. Jumping into the cockpit of his AeroSpace Fighter, Barnard Wright quickly went through the pre-flight checklist, fingers expertly hitting switches and buttons, while a screen showed him any steps that he missed. Once he completed those, he threw on his Neurohelmet, made sure is g-force/cooling suit was on and closed the canopy.
As he did so, he remembered when he participated in the assault on Terra, while it was under ComStar's control. That was one of the harder fights in my life, he thought to himself. The fighter was unproven, the weapons new, and I was doing some slight seat-of-the-pants flying. Still, I survived and I made it to this point.
He frowned, though, at a memory that drifted through his mind. If only Bravo 8 could've lived to see this point. She was one of my best pilots... and a good friend. Pulling out a small photograph, he looked at the woman in the picture before putting it away into a nearby compartment. Alexandria, this mission is for you.
Outside, he watched as a flight deck crewman gave him a series of instructions. Looking to his left and right, he made sure that all of the flight surfaces and RCS thrusters on his ASF were fully operational. A moment later, the crewman gave him the thumbs up: he was go for combat operations.
Keying his comm, he said, "Mjölnir STC, this is Bravo Squadron. We are go for deployment and assault."
"Roger that," the STC officer reported. "To all fighters, you are go for deployment." Hearing that, Wright used the VTOL mode on his ASF to rise above the deck, after which he gently pulsed the engines, allowing him to exit the ship. Once he was outside, he gunned the throttle to full, with the intertial dampener in his fighter working to keep the g forces as low as reasonable.
This afforded Wright a look outside of the cockpit. While the WarShips were holding off a good distance from the planet, he could still see the massive space battle that was being raged over the planet of Palaven. Mass accelerator rounds, particle beams and missiles were being thrown around as though they were confetti, though it was clear from this distance that it was going badly for the Turians. Wright didn't need too much help to see burning ships and debris floating off of them. He imagined that there were corpses floating about in the vacuum over the planet.
The planet itself was also in a bad way. Even though it was the nighttime side, he could see blotches of light that indicated fires on the planet, as well as cities that were burning. It's a wonder that the Turians are holding on, he noted. I guess they're just too stubborn to give up. Good for them if you ask me.
Shaking his head slightly, he keyed his comm. "Bravo Squadron, report in," he ordered.
"Bravo-2, ready."
"Bravo-3, online and ready."
"Bravo-4, systems green."
"Bravo-5 here, good to go."
"Bravo-6 reporting in."
"Alright," Wright began. "Our orders are to escort the DropShips to the surface of Palaven. Once that is complete, we will return to space and keep the Reaper's Oculus drones from harassing the Mjölnir. Understood?"
"Affirmative," came the reply. With that, each Morgenstern in the fighter squadron zipped away and towards the DropShips, which were now quickly burning towards Palaven. Using the Element Zero Cores that they had, they began traveling at a fraction of the speed of light without incurring relativistic effects. Once they were close enough to the planet, the automatic safeties, and they began to move towards the planet's atmosphere.
Thanks to the Spirit of Palaven luring away a few of the Reapers in orbit, there was a gap in the enemy force that was large enough to allowing the landing force to get to the planet's surface. All the while, the WarShips began opening fire, using their distance to avoid taking too much damage, while allowing them to use their longer range weapons to begin slapping at the Reapers.
Apparently, the Reapers had gotten wind of the death of their compatriots, as many of them began to dodge any incoming particle bolts and laser beams aimed at them, even if said dodging was futile. In addition, swarms of Oculus fighters began to fly into the paths of any missiles that were being fired at them. Not that it mattered, as any missiles that were intercepted detonated into nuclear fireballs, further thinning out the enemy fighter force.
For Wright, it meant that, sooner or later, the enemy fighters would take notice of the DropShips, and then he would get to work neutralizing each one. Just as the DropShips began to brush against the atmosphere of the planet, he heard Bravo-3 report, "Bandit's coming in! On my 3!"
"Copy that," Wright replied. "Bravo Squadron, you know the drill! Protect the DropShips as they land!" With that, the real battle began.
An Oculus drone flew towards his fighter, intent on coring it with a straight shot through the hull. Using his motion sensor gloves, he threw the Morgenstern he was piloting into a high g-turn, his fight suit's liquid compression cells filling in order to keep blood from pooling in his lower body. The Oculus drone, while agile, wasn't able to match this level of agility, with the Morgenstern breaking free from it's pursuer, before turning to engage the Oculus.
Index finger depressing in a trigger pulling motion, Wright unleashed the first of his ASF's weapons. A pulsing beam of emerald-green energy shot out from his fighter and smacked into the Oculus' engine manifold. Apparently, he got a lucky hit, as the Oculus promptly exploded, sending debris flying everywhere as the laser beam compromised critical components in the fuel system. Maneuvering fast, he locked onto another Oculus and fired a stream of LRM-5's towards the enemy fighter.
Each missile, flying at tremendous velocity, zipped through the extremely thin atmosphere and impacted the drone. Two of the smacked into the drone's kinetic barriers, but the third one shattered the barrier, allowing the remaining two to detonate against the hull of the Oculus. Armor plating was ripped off by the powerful detonations, while one cored into the enemy ASF's central processing core, destroying it.
Nearby, the others were fighting as well. Bravo-4 turned and fired her RAC/2 at an enemy Oculus, sending a stream of high velocity HE and AP shells towards the enemy fighter. The HE rounds smacked into the kinetic barriers, whittling them down through momentum and explosive effects, while allowing the AP rounds to penetrate and do considerable damage. While that burst didn't destroy the Oculus, it sent the enemy ASF tumbling, after which a missile from Bravo-2 blasted it apart.
"Poor bastards," Bravo 3 chuckled, the tone of his voice indicating he was anything but sympathetic for the Reaper fighters. "Do they even have any armor on those things?"
"From the looks of it, I'd say that they're made out of aluminum," Bravo-5 snorted, her voice filled with contempt. "That's what you get when you don't invest into other branches of technology. I'm just glad we avoided the same trap."
"Same here," Wright nodded. "Focus on keeping the enemy ASF's away." With that, they, and several other ASF Squadrons worked to keep the Reaper forces from molesting the DropShips as they flew into atmosphere.
. . .
Onboard another Fortress-class DropShip, the Hammerfall, Nihlus was finishing with his pre-combat checks for his 'Mech, talons moving quickly over the controls. Nearby, he could see other MechWarriors inside of their cockpits, making sure their 'Mechs were ready for war. Finishing up his checklist, he waited for the DropShip to land.
As for why he was here, it was quite simple, really. Due to the fact that the Reaper War was being fought on Palaven, as well as on numerous other worlds, the Federated Commonwealth had decided to focus it's efforts on Palaven, since that was where the Reapers numbers were greatest, aside from Earth. This would not only allow them to hammer the Reapers, it would also allow them to see how effective their WarShips, Combat Vehicles and BattleMechs were in combat against the Reapers. In addition, Mason had decided to lend one of his Lances to the Federated Commonwealth on an extended loan, at a suitable rate of interest, of course.
As such, here I am, about to arrive on the homeworld of my species, and we are at war, he noted to himself. Someday, once the Reaper War is over, we'll begin to rebuild. Maybe then, I'll be able to see a glimpse of what Palaven was like before the Reapers began to trash it. Just as he thought this, there was a muted THUMP, which indicated that the DropShip had landed.
"Alright," he could hear MechCommander Albert Wright, a thin and wiry man with a voice that was bigger than looks suggested, decided. "Command wants us to provide some relief for the Turians on this front. We're going to attack from the flank and force the Reaper forces back towards the waterfront in this area."
"Roger that," the others replied. A moment later, Nihlus got the go-ahead to begin moving his Victor out of the 'Mech Bay and onto the surface of Palaven. Following the nav-markers on his HUD, he quickly exited the DropShip and looked out onto the surface of Palaven.
In many ways, the devastation that he saw before him was similar to that of the Battle of Pinnacle, only more complete. The city they had landed in was near one of the rivers on the planet, with the city being a mixture of ancient buildings and modern architecture. Now, the buildings were nothing more but piles of rubble in some areas, while others were still mostly intact. Any skyscrapers, however, had been cut in half, leaving only ruins that were like stumps sticking out of the ground. Even the blue sky was filled with smoke.
Clearing his head, and his throat, Nihlus asked, "Commander, what is my Lance's orders?"
"Move to engage the enemy forces at Nav Point Alpha," came the reply. "Turian forces there are bogged down by Reaper infantry, as well as Reaper Harvesters. Neutralize the Harvesters and engage any Reaper ground forces that you find. In addition, we are deploying Combat Vehicle regiments to begin assisting your forces."
"Roger that," Nihlus nodded. "Moving to Nav Point Alpha." Switching frequencies, he said, "Epsilon Lance, form up on my lead." With that, they moved towards Nav Point Alpha.
As they moved along, he spotted hostile contacts on his HUD. His DIC promptly pointed them out, with the computer saying, "New Target: Harvester." Looking up and to his left, he could see the immense, dragon-like Reaper constructs flying towards them. Seeing that his fourth 'Mech was a Rifleman II, he said, "Epsilon-4, engage enemy Harvesters."
"Roger, leader," came the reply. A moment later, spears of blue-white light cut towards the Harvesters. While their barriers and armor were excellent at stopping projectiles, they were next-to-useless when it came to blocking ER Pulse Lasers. As such, one exploded, while the other, despite being heavily damaged, began a suicide charge. That was countered when the Rifleman II's LB 10-X's fired, blasting the offending Reaper construct to pieces.
It was around this point that they arrived at Nav Point Alpha. True to form, it was clear that the Turians were being pushed back, as Husks, Cannibals, Marauders and Brutes were throwing themselves into the allied ranks. Spotting a Brute about to charge towards a group of Turians around a hundred meters away, Nihlus growled, "Oh no, you don't!" before firing the A-SRM-4 Launcher on his 'Mech.
All four missiles streaked out and, with pinpoint accuracy, they smashed into the Brute. The creature's armor soon found itself being torn apart by MAHEM warheads designed to penetrate far thicker armor. Four missiles promptly tore the creature apart, sending pieces of it flying everywhere. The Turians, shocked by this sudden event, looked with an expression akin to awe, before returning to fire at the enemy.
Several Turians that were getting their wounds patched up were gazing at Nihlus and his 'Mechs with an expression of awe. They had not expected a massive, bipedal machine to come to their rescue. "By the Spirits, what is that thing?!" one Turan gasped.
"I don't know," another frowned, "but it is against the Reapers. That is enough for me."
"Settle down," their CO, a hardened and grizzled Turian that was missing part of his horned crest, told the others. "That thing there is something that the Primarch said would help us on the ground battle. I think he called it a 'BattleMech.'"
"I'm glad it's our side then," another that was feasting his eyes with the visage of the 'Mech remarked as it marched on.
. . .
It wasn't just 'Mechs that had all the fun either. Combat Vehicles that had deployed from the DropShips were quickly moving through the debris-laden streets of the city and towards the front line. Inside a Rommel, Tank Commander Richard O'Neil was looking out towards the streets of the ruined city, his lips tight and his expression grim. The others inside of the tank were just as grim in appearance, even as they drove over wrecked vehicles or smashed them aside with their superior weight.
This reminds me of stories that my many times great grandfather told me of the First and Second Succession Wars, he said to himself. Those are the only wars that come close to what I am seeing, and even then, the devastation of the Succession Wars was even worse than this. Already, he could see that Palalven looked like what Kentares IV, his homeworld, must've looked like during the First Succession War.
"Sir," his driver reported, "we're getting a comm transmission from Nav Point Sigma. Patching it through."
A moment later, a tired male voice said, "This is Lieutenant Corvus Mortaven of the 21st Hierarchy Infantry Corps. Are you the forces that the Primarch informed us would be coming to provide assistance?"
"Affirmative," O'Neil confirmed. "The Primarch said you'd be expecting us. The WarShips are currently in orbit hammering the Reapers, while we've been sent to the ground to provide assistance."
"Thank the Spirits," Mortaven breathed. "Get to our position as fast as you can. We have Reaper Brutes bearing down on our position. If you move fast, you can get to our position quickly. Hurry!"
"We are just three hundred meters from your position," O'Neil reported. "Hang in there. We're coming." Looking at his gunner, he asked, "Is the LB 20-X ready?"
"Affirmative, sir!" came the reply. "Canister shell is loaded!"
"Good." With that, they covered the three hundred meter distance in short order. Looking around, O'Neil could see various Turians that were having to perform a coordinated retreat, while beyond, he got his first glimpse of a Reaper Brute.
To him, it looked as though someone had fused a Turian with some massive behemoth of a creature. It was hunched over, with the Turian-like head looking at him with blue glowing eyes. One of it's arms was a massive claw, and it was clear from it's size that it was meant to charge on it's short, stubby legstowards an enemy and bludgeon, or slash, them to death. Against infantry, it would be highly effective.
A Rommel however, was a different matter entirely. "Identify: Brute!" O'Neil shouted.
"Firing!" the gunner shouted. There was a muted THOOMP as the LB 20-X fired the canister shell, sending a storm of 20 explosive submunitions flying towards the hostile target. Designed explicitly for handling infantry or Battle Armor, the munitions were now tested against the Reaper's equivalent of a close range Combat Vehicle.
The munitions were found to be effective, while the Brute was found to be lacking. Fifteen of the twenty submunitions impacted the Brute at low hypersonic velocities, tearing into the armor plating while detonating at the same time. Pieces of armor, and bits of the Brute, were ripped off by the detonations, while a cloud of dust was raised by the munitions. When it cleared, the Brute had been ripped apart, it's biomechanical body lying in pieces.
"Target: traverse left!" O'Neil ordered when he spotted another Brute. "Load canister & lase!"
"Loading and lasing!" the gunner shouted. The sound of the Autocannon's autoloader lasted for for two seconds, then, "Firing!" Another muted THOONK resounded, and that Reaper Brute was reduced to blackened gibbets.
Just then, O'Neil spotted a Reaper Brute that was getting too close, too close for them to use most of their weapons without trouble, most that is. The gunner, seeing the approaching Reaper, quickly turned the tank and hit another firing stud. In an instant, nuclear fire belched out of the Flamer built into the tank, roasting the Reaper Brute before it was within range to charge at them.
Just then, there was a loud CLANG, with O'Neil spotting the source. Apparently, one of the Brutes had gotten close enough to where it was attempting to batter the tank apart. Ferro-Lamellor Armor was battered, only to hold strong, frustrating the Brute. Bending down, it attempted to flip the Rommel on it's side.
The driver, however, wasn't about to let that happen, as he immediately gunned the throttle. Backing the tank up, he tore off one of the Brute's arms, before ramming the thing with the tank itself. Another loud CLANG resounded, with the tank knocking the creature over, before one of the tracks drove over the beast. It gave a loud, bass roar as it's body was crushed, with the creature falling silent as the tank drove over it's head, popping it like an enormous zit.
"That was lucky," O'Neil grunted. "All Reaper Brutes are down."
"Roger that," Mortaven reported. "We're pulling back to resupply and rearm. Can you hold down the area for us?"
"Affirmative!"
. . .
The fighting wasn't just taking place on the planet of Palaven either. On Menae, Palaven's moon, Nyreen was firing her M61B Pulse laser Rifle from cover, with the beam cutting down a Reaper Marauder. Nearby, she could hear the booming report of a Support Machine Gun, with the gunner accurately cutting down any Husks, Marauders and Cannibals that tried to invade the FOB they were at.
Looking around, she could see more soldiers leaving the FCS Ares, which was using it's weapons to keep the skies clear of any Reaper Harvesters flying towards them. One flew into view, just as an ER PPC bolt smashed into it's barriers, downing the Harvester with the resulting EMP. There was a loud KRA-THOOM as the Long Tom built into the Ares fired, sending a massive shell towards a clump of Reaper forces nearly four kilometers away. A tremendous explosion rumbled from the distance, and Nyreen imagined Reaper limbs and gore flying everywhere.
As she hurled a biotic warp at a Reaper Marauder, she looked up to see the naval battle as well. The nuclear missile offensive that the Tharkhad had initiated had certainly made the skies over Palaven much easier to navigate, as the nuclear detonations had torn massive holes into the Reaper forces over the planet. In addition, each nuclear detonation generated a powerful EMP, with those EMP's frying and destroying more Oculus fighters than the detonations themselves. While the EMP's were far away enough to not fry the equipment the Turians were using, they did cause some minor electrical disruptions
As such, the Reaper forces in orbit over Palaven were really starting to thin out. She could fancy seeing a few dead Reapers floating in space, their bioorganic bodies destroyed by nuclear radiation. It's almost ironic, she thought as she gunned down a Cannibal with her rifle. We got rid of the one thing we needed to fight back against the Reapers with. I wonder why.
During a lull in the fighting, one of the soldiers came over to her. "Beautiful, ain't it," he said to her. "We got nuclear Capital Missiles again and now we're showin' them Reapers how that we wage war. I wonder if there was ever an SLDF missile like that. Do you?"
"Yeah, there was," another soldier butted in. "The SLDF took the White Shark Capital Missile and stuffed a 50 kiloton thermonuclear warhead onto it. I think they called it the 'Santa Anna' or some shit like that."
"They did," another one chimed in. "Used it for engaging enemy WarShips back in the day. Now we're doing the same thing, only against Reaper forces. I'll bet they didn't see that one coming." Nyreen could agree, even as they went back to fighting the Reaper ground forces, which were making another charge.
(Author's Q&A)
The reason why the Reapers, during the previous chapter, were caught off guard was due to complacency, as well as the fact that they weren't expecting another foe to come towards them. In addition, the Inner Sphere's development of technology in different areas allowed Osman to have multiple options available to him. As such, he had considerably greater tactical and strategic freedom when it came to deciding what course of action he should take. In addition, he is a talented Admiral who has a strong understanding of how war ought to be fought.
P0K3d4th: Possibly. It depends on any bursts of inspiration I get, as well as if I have the resources to do so.
THATs1I3ntGUY: Thank you. I'm glad you appreciate the theme song I chose for this chapter. I'll be certain to keep your music recommendations in mind for future chapters.
Blanchimont: Indeed. The Reapers will soon find out what happens when an force like theirs encounters a military with the tools needed to defeat them.
SpaceCommander-09: An interesting idea. I'll give that franchise a look at some point.
Guest: Thank you.
edboy4926: Thank you.
MarauderPrime12: My thoughts exactly. They're about to have an even harsher thrashing.
Chronus1326: Thank you. I did my best to portray space combat. Not easy, but well worth the effort.
SulliMike23: I don't think the Reapers will give up that easily. Still, if they think they can 'harvest' the galaxy willy nilly, they've got another thing coming at them.
Just a Crazy-Man: Thank you.
Violet Toyger: That was the only song that I thought fit that chapter. Still, I appreciate it.
loremaster: Correct.