Chapter 2: Annexation
It would only be a few more moments before the Teqyt arrived at the Shuvat's position. Considering the state the Teqyt was in, it would no doubt be detected by the sensors of the colony. There wasn't enough power to charge its necrodermis to absorb the incoming radar pings though Du'Maat of course was ready. He would wreak havoc on their systems once the Teqyt was detected, but Veronakh didn't mind that the colonists would have warning. To the Necron Lord it would allow them to test this new faction's combat abilities against their own warriors.
While the Shuvat had stayed in orbit, a transport had come into the system. Du'Maat had kept tabs on the colony's communications and it seemed that a VIP important to their operation had arrived. The Cryptek took note of the transport's ship design. It was sleek and bird like, reminding him of Aeldari craft but significantly slower by comparison. Du'Maat had also infiltrated the colony's personnel manifest and highlighted many targets of opportunity. It included the operational leadership, several members of three different species, and people designated as biotics. While the computers he accessed didn't contain much relevant information about them, what inboxes and on-site data he did find on the subject of biotics intrigued him. As Du'Maat contemplated the possibilities, Veronakh opened communications with him.
"Du'Maat, I assume the data you are sending me is accurate? I do not question you, I question these humans ability to actually maintain factual records" Veronakh's doubts weren't unfounded. In the Imperium of Man, the human's beauracracy was atrocious. It was marred by the paranoia of keeping secrets along with the sheer logistics of their empire. With their crude technology it was a miracle they actually got anything done at all. Du'Maat however was confident in his findings.
"Correct, though their systems are not as capable as ours, I cross-referenced the manifest with my own scans. For the most relevant information I believe these targets will be the most sufficient." he replied.
"Excellent Du'Maat, I believe you have earned the right to lead this assault. My only directive other than capturing your targets is to not cause too many casualties. Destroy significant resistance but only to break them. Once their morale crumbles, capturing the rest will be trivial. As for the subjects of your studies, I only ask that you don't render them...unserviceable." said Veronakh.
"Of course vymark. Though if I may ask, what of the Serap? The repairs on the crew of the Shuvat is nearly complete and its lord will soon awake." Du'Maat raised a good point. Each ship had at its head a Necron Lord, though ones in charge of escorts were of lower standing in the dynasty. The Shuvat and Serap had their respective lords defeated and in pieces but soon they would recover. Veronakh it seems was aware of the upcoming meeting with the other lords as he explained.
"I have already taken care of the Serap and initiated its repair protocols myself. It will take longer without your guidance but it will manage on its own. Besides, Kor'Pharas and I will need to remain here to verify and update the surviving nobility as to the dynasty's current condition."
"As you will vymark." Du'Maat replied as he terminated the connection and prepared for transference.
Veldin was back in the communications center going over the console and its connections to the main array with his omni-tool. So far so good, no serious faults other than the usual errors that were within an acceptable range.
"I don't know what to tell you Laura. The system is running fine, if there's any errors its probably not the suite's fault." Veldin explained as he switched his omni-tool off.
"Oh come on! I'm tired of freaking out over every ping coming back, with nothing to show for the anxiety its causing me!" Laura exclaimed as Veldin began to walk away.
"What can I say? The suite is working fine, maybe it was just a meteoroid passing by. That does happen more often than you think." He said as he continued to leave the communications center to head back to the lounge.
Laura sighed and laid back in her chair. If what Veldin said was true than the universe was cruel for playing these games. Suddenly a ping came back on her console, she righted herself in her seat and took a look at the numbers. Second ping confirmed with more data streaming into her console. She saw the numbers and her eyes widened before she nervously called out to the salarian tech, " Veldin, you're sure its working fine right now?"
Veldin then came back with a furious look on his face, his last nerve on the subject clearly crossed, " Laura...yes for the fucking third time! I have checked this repeatedly because I knew you would ask! Everything is working fine!"
"Because if I am reading this right, we have an object coming into orbit and it's over twenty-eight hundred meters long!" Laura replied. Veldin's anger began to evaporate, his expression turning to worry as he could only meekly say, "...What?"
"I can't get a reading on its mass, I'm just getting an error, but I can read its speed. Its slowing into an orbit above us right now!" Laura said as she kept reading and typing into her console.
"Twenty-eight hundred...no way. That can't be a ship! That's...that's like a dreadnought hanging over us!" Veldin replied, the gravity of the situation only ramping up his anxiety. He quickly came over the asari's console as she continued working,
"It sure is acting like a ship! I'm attempting hails and so far no response!"
"Hang on let me check the system again before you issue the alert." Veldin brought out his omni-tool and ran a quick diagnostic and once again everything was nominal in the suite. " That...can't be. As old as this thing is I have data on the mass of every ship material known in this setup. You're getting an error because it doesn't know what its made out of!"
"What does that mean?! That...this is a first contact situation?" asked Laura.
"Either that or some pirate group or military has some tech that this thing doesn't know about. If they aren't talking and are setting up above us then...oh no." said the salarian, the dread in his voice all too apparent.
That was all Laura needed to hear, she shifted her focus to her training and began typing furiously into the console before slamming down her outstretched palm on a circular holo display. A warning siren then began echoing across the colony. Workers and security were confused at first, thinking this was a drill until Laura's voice dispelled that notion over the intercom, " All personnel, we have a code 22 red. Repeat we have a code 22 red! Civilian personnel must find shelter immediately! Security personnel report to your assigned defensive positions!"
The message began to loop as the situation dawned on the people out in the open. They began scrambling towards either emergency shelters or to rally points to gear up for battle. Darrel met up with his squad heading towards the armory, " So its actually happening?" he asked.
"That's what Laura said, I sent her a text on my omni-tool. Twenty-eight hundred meter long craft in orbit, no response she says." Tanaka replied as they kept running together.
"Fucking Christ..." said Roland, the third man in their patrol. He was relatively new and the engineer in the squad.
"It'll be okay kid, a lot of us are ex-Alliance marines so-" before Darrel could finish a turian in full combat gear was waving him over to the armory door shouting, " Darrel get your squad's ass in here and suit up!" he said.
It was Kirrus, chief of security. He could be rough when breaking you in but once you get past his initial gruffness, he was an okay guy. He was not so different from any other CO Darrel had when he was in the Alliance at least. The squad quickly got into the armory where they found several other squads of humans and turians getting armor on, along with stacking weapons onto their backs. Darrel grabbed a Carnifex pistol and a Tempest submachine gun. He saw Roland grab his own Tempest SMG along with a Predator pistol, with Tanaka taking up his M-97 Viper. As the squads in the armory finished gearing up with weapons and standard mercenary armor they left the building where Kirrus grabbed their attention.
"Alright people this is it! We've run drills and simulations not long ago on scenarios similar to this, time to see if what I tried to drill into you stuck."
Kirrus rallied them into a huddle around him as he brought up his omni-tool to display a map with waypoints designating different areas of the facility. "Just a quick recap of all your assigned positions. Take a good look and remember that its not just your buddies at stake, its the people in those shelters too."
Darrel noted that most of them were protecting the processing facility, which did make sense against raiders. Slavers usually just went for colonies with more people, these guys likely just wanted to hit their goods. The processing facility had favorable terrain for the defenders. Enemies assaulting from the northern road would have to go uphill at a thirty degree angle in the open to reach their elevation. The western side was a seventy-five degree mountainside slope and to the south was the landing area which was defended with anti-air turrets and mechs in reserve. To the east was the residential sector where a few squads were placed with mechs and anti air systems in support. Darrel's squad was up with another on the rooftop. He would provide the biotic muscle of his team, Roland his tech, and Tanaka was one of the sharpshooters. The main force of the heavies would be on the ground holding the line while the specialists on the roof were to provide support. Between the AA from the residence sector and the landing area with bad terrain south of the facility, the most likely attack will hit them either north or east. Considering there was a dreadnought size ship in orbit both areas would likely get hit and hit hard.
After a moment of letting them take in the information Kirrus asked everyone present, "Alright any questions?"
"No sir!" shouted many of the security squads in unison. Must be the old boot camp habit, Kirrus thought. Regardless despite the odds at least spirits were high and that had to count for something.
"Alright everyone get into position!" Commanded Kirrus as he took his own squad to the northern checkpoint. Said checkpoint now had barriers erected to block vehicles and act as cover for infantry. Mechs of various makes moved up to support the frontline, including Ymir and LOKI Mechs. As Darrel's squad moved up the outer catwalks to the roof of the processing building, Roland thought out loud, "I'm surprised they haven't been bombarding us yet, you know...soften us up for their landing parties."
"Well if these guys are raiders, destroying the facility they are trying to raid isn't exactly a great idea. Not to mention orbital bombardment isn't perfect. Even with the best targeting system, you could potentially hit the wrong target and ruin the whole point of the raid in the first place." Tanaka replied attempting to reassure the rookie engineer.
"That's why we aren't too worried about orbital strikes. Our facility has mountains which cover our west and south. With our defense plan these assholes are going to get fucked either way they choose to come at us." proclaimed Darrel with a smirk on his face.
"Just seems weird to me that's all. They have a giant ship in orbit and they're just letting us get prepared? Not even bothering to attempt to send craft at us?" Roland wondered aloud.
"Who knows, maybe they didn't realize how tight our defenses were. Anyway stay focused on your job kid and we'll get you through this." said Darrel as he and his squad entered the building.
Meanwhile back at the communications center Veldin was at the mech control station along with Laura. Laura was currently on the line with Jerry via her ear piece and he was a bit livid at the whole emergency taking place. Veldin worked at his console in the back getting mech forces into position to support security and monitoring for any hacking attempts. Surprisingly no attempts were made to disable the AA turrets, which was strange but he didn't question it. While he worked, Laura kept reassuring the head administrator,
"Listen Jerry I know this is the worst possible time for this to happen but my readings are accurate, Veldin checked...I understand you have trouble believing that raiders could have a dreadnought but I'm looking at it right...now..." As she trailed off she saw more pings come back. Three more contacts, smaller objects leaving the giant ship. They were en route to their position and coming in fast. Laura got a hold of herself, took a breath and laid it out for her administrator, " Boss... get yourself and the VIP to shelter right now! Three contacts coming in fast! Jerry just fucking go!"
She cut the call short and kept tabs on the objects. It seemed that two were staying high in the troposphere while one was coming in at a moderate pace. Based on its trajectory it looked to be keeping its distance and would land due north of their position. She began to input authorization to have a distress signal sent. Though remote, if they could hold out long enough maybe someone would come to help. Before she could get an exact estimate on where the enemy's landing site would be, she watched the console start to flicker. Then suddenly the holographic displays began distorting. Laura called to her salarian cohort, " Uh, Veldin what the hell is happening!? Are we getting hacked?!"
"I don't know! This isn't like any kind of hacking attempt I've ever encountered before!" Veldin replied as he was losing his console as well. He activated his omni-tool in an attempt to diagnose what was happening and then suddenly the console cut out followed by an electrical surge through the cabling that went up into the main array of the comm suite. The following explosive short in the equipment caused Laura to gasp in surprise, as the power in the communications center went out. They were in darkness now and heard what appeared to be the rumbling of thunder outside. Laura was the first to say something,
"Veldin...what the hell happened?" she said still in shock.
Veldin tried to bring up his omni-tool again lighting him in its yellowish-orange glow. It looked like he was having some difficulty as it kept flickering for a moment before it finally stayed solid. He looked at the readings before sighing, "Whatever it was, hit the system with a power surge...the communications suite is fucked." He said, looking at his readout with a dispondent look on his face.
Laura then tried to bring up her tool and it too was having similar issues. "What the hell is wrong with our omni-tools?"
"Electromagnetic interference, where its coming from I have no idea, but it's incredibly intense... it's literally destabilizing the atmosphere!" Right as Veldin finished that sentence another louder round of thunder sounded, this time even closer. In the dark they started seeing some viridian green flashes outside. Proceeding out of the building, Veldin and Laura looked to the sky. It had been a cloudy day, resulting in gray sky but now it was turning black and blotting out any remaining sunlight as the sky darkened. Then they saw the streaks of lightning flash across the clouds also colored viridian green followed by loud cracks of thunder. The noise startled Laura while Veldin was too dumbfounded by what was going on to respond.
"What the fuck is going on?" asked Laura fearfully, as more lightning flashed in the clouds.
Darrel and his squad were on the roof as the sky began to darken. Nobody had told him that the weather was going to turn, though strangely enough there was no blowing wind or rain associated with it like a normal storm. But he could feel the same sort of feeling you get in a thunderstorm as the air becomes unstable, a feeling of static buildup across your skin which was followed by the noise of the thunder. As the sunlight faded, night lights across the colony switched on. Darrel saw green lightning surge across the clouds followed by the thunderclap. It unnerved everyone at the northern checkpoint, especially the squads on the roof. Darrel called up Chief Kirrus on comms, "Uh chief, guys are getting a little nervous up here. Think we could alter the plan a bit?"
"It's alright Darrel it's just a thunderstorm, it happens." Kirrus replied as another light show began in the clouds above.
"Yeah but the last thing we need is to get struck by lightning right before a fight." Darrel argued.
"Look we got a mountain nearby to take most of the strikes and its not like this is the first time we've been-" Kirrus was interrupted by a viridian lightning bolt that struck in front of the checkpoint. Its deafening thunderclap startled the entire security force as they took cover and started swearing at the display, " Holy fucking shit! That is nuts man! The fuck is going on?!" said one of the security officers closest to the strike. Kirrus was quiet for a moment taking in what just happened before replying to Darrel, " Uh...you know what.. I'm starting to think that's not a bad idea Darrel. All teams on the roof shift position, snipers get indoors. Specialists you'll come to ground with us."
"You think its a good idea leaving our snipers uncovered?" asked another of the officers over the comms.
"They'll be fine, I doubt they'll get flanked by any incoming transport craft. No sane person is going to fly through this." Kirrus replied as he looked to the clouds above.
"Copy tha-" Suddenly the comms started to become filled with static.
"Hafi?...Jones?...Darrel?" Kirrus was now getting nothing but static over the comms but he did see said officers waving to him from their positions or shifting as ordered. They were making hand signals indicating their comms were having similar problems. Kirrus' situation now just got worse with reduced coordination among his squads.
"Shit...comms are down. Guess we'll have to use the omni-tools to-" As Kirrus activated his omni-tool he found it flickering. When it finally was solid again he noted that he couldn't even send text messages. Nothing but errors or failed to send popped up on every attempt. " What the hell?"
He saw Darrel with Roland coming down to meet with him at ground level along with other security specialists. Darrel was the first to ask, "Chief whats going on?"
"Looks like comms are down with everybody and my omni-tool can't even send text messages. Roland, you got any ideas?" Kirrus asked as he turned his omni-tool off.
"Well, I think it's-" before he could say anything he was interrupted by a more senior member of the tech specialists gathering around.
"It's due to electromagnetic interference. You can literally feel the energy in the atmosphere right now it's crazy."
"I was going to say that...kinda rude man." replied Roland looking incredulously at the other security tech.
"Get over it pal, point is we got no comms and can't send texts." said the other tech as he crossed his arms annoyed at the situation. Kirrus could only sigh and shake his head,
"Well... guess we're back to hand signals then...or yelling. Take up positions along the line I expect the main event is about to start. Spread out and keep down. Lightning tends to nail jackasses who are standing tall."
The assembled specialists split up to support different areas of the front line. Roland and Darrel went to aid the right side of the check point. All the while the thunder and lightning kept surging up above. As Darrel and Roland took cover on the right with some of the other security officers Roland voiced something that was troubling him,
"Chief is right, no one is sane enough to go through this storm in small transports and I doubt its natural either."
"Yeah...but we still got a plan and Laura has had to have sent a distress signal by now. All we got to do is hold." Darrel replied huddling against his cover.
"If we can..I'm starting to have doubts man." Roland replied.
"We'll be okay kid just-" but before Darrel could finish his thought he heard Tanaka shouting from the second floor interior of the processing building. "Hey! I see something coming in from the north!"
Darrel and Roland peeked over to see if they could see what Tanaka was looking at. However, the storm was making visibility at a distance difficult. If the enemy was flying in low below their elevation then there was nothing they could do about it. Kirrus shouted back, "What do you see Tanaka? Transports?"
"Just one and it looks like a...pyramid?" Tanaka replied a bit confused at what he was seeing through his scope.
A pyramid? Darrel thought. There was always the possibility out in the terminus that they could run into some other alien race or something. Maybe it was just how this alien race designed their transports or perhaps it was a robotic construct of some kind. Whatever it was, in his mind they still had a shot against this unknown force. They had mechs, they had positioning and since the pyramid had to change course to avoid the AA turrets it's possible it knew what would happen if it just charged in. Tanaka shouted to the teams on the ground level once more, "Its coming in for a landing at the bottom of the slope!"
"Everybody get ready!" Kirrus called out before getting into cover.
Darrel readied himself behind the barricade, powering up his barriers and switching to his Carnifex. Now it was just a waiting game, as Darrel looked around he saw his fellow security officers and specialists. They were anxious and a little twitchy as they clung to their cover with their Avenger and Vindicator rifles. An unknown enemy along with the constant thunder and lightning above was addling more than a few nerves. He looked back at Roland who was removing something from his back. It looked like some kind of mobile transmitter, and he was working with his omni-tool to get it working. Least he was taking initiative with something though Darrel was curious as to what, " Hey what are you doing Roland?"
"If our comms and omni-tools are having issues, the comm center is probably in the same boat. I figure with this amplifier I can cut through some of the electromagnetic interference at least. We need the mechs coordinating and if I'm lucky maybe I can get the drones up." Roland replied.
"Nice initiative, but don't get too distracted with that once they start hitting us." Darrel reminded Roland.
"Hey, least working on this I won't have to think about how fucked we are right now." he replied still working with his omni-tool.
Darrel nodded at that, he shifted his focus back to the front and began to hear odd noises in between the thunderclaps. There was some kind of loud sound like that of a drive core on a ship and a yellowish-green light coming from the road up ahead of them as it went down the slope. When he peeked over his cover again he saw bursts of light coming from up ahead. He still couldn't see what was going on down that road but something was coming whatever it was. More bursts of light with lightning striking north of the checkpoint again startled everyone. Another moment passed and the thunder became more distant, leaving the loud humming sound of the alien generator up ahead. Darrel then started hearing another sound, one that he had heard before in the Alliance. He started hearing the footfalls of feet in unison like a parade march, but it wasn't human feet in boots. The sound was metallic and heavy, moving in perfect step coming right at them to the checkpoint. Tanaka was the first to see what it was and called out, "Mechs! An ass load of mechs are coming at us!"
While they most likely weren't mech units that they knew of it was probably Tanaka's only frame of reference. Kirrus got the message though and ordered, "Alright anyone with armor piecing mods for their weapons switch em on! Techs get ready with overload we got bots incoming! Someone get those Ymir's ready to fire missiles!"
Darrel looked to Roland again and noticed him pumping his fist, "Yes! I got drone control! Chief! Missile drones are coming!"
"Good work Roland! Set em up to rain fire on the top of that slope on my word." replied Kirrus, peeking from his own barricade as the enemy approached.
Alliance missile drones appeared from the residential area and were quickly flying onto buildings to overwatch the checkpoint. The metallic footfalls kept getting louder and louder... then Darrel saw them. Grey heads and skeletal bodies with a gaunt looking humanoid face. They had green glowing eyes to match their deadpan expression as they kept marching forward. Large barreled weapons glowing with green energy were in their hands. Under the long barrel of their weapons was a menacing looking axe bayonet. They just kept marching toward them just like any mech that Darrel had seen before, though strangely they weren't shooting their weapons yet. The security forces arrayed at the barricades including Darrel trained their sights now on the approaching machines as Kirrus shouted, "You are entering a restricted area! Turn back or you will be fired upon!"
Darrel figured the Chief wanted to feel he at least gave these intruders warning before he fired first, but they didn't look like they were interested in talking. They just kept marching forward despite the warning. The robots were already passing the checkpoint entrance, an organized formation of mechanical bodies. Then someone among the security forces opened fire on one of them, the burst of rounds taking a small part of one's armor off. Several of the alien mechs then looked at the specific officer who had fired on them and began moving to aim their large weapons at him. At that moment Kirrus shouted, "Now!"
The pair of Ymir mechs and drones unleashed a storm of missiles which connected with the closest groups of skeletal machines. The security teams took cover from the blasts as the missiles sent robot bodies and pieces flying. Kirrus then commanded, " Open fire!" as the security forces unleashed their assault. The smoke flung up from the missiles made it difficult to see what they were shooting at but they had a general idea where the bots were coming from. Everyone was unloading into the cloud of dust and smoke to suppress the enemy's advance. Darrel could hear the sounds of metal impacts as he fired rounds from his Carnifex into the now dust filled checkpoint entrance.
He ducked back into cover to reload his thermal clip and all of a sudden he heard screaming as green beams surged out from the dust. He popped back out of cover to see what was happening and he was horrified. Green beams of energy had connected with one of the officers on the left side. He was literally dissolving as his flesh and armor seemed to melt from several of the beams striking his upper chest. Screaming in agony the poor bastard fell onto his back and seemed to just keep dissolving until the upper portion of his chest was ash. He gasped his last and finally died but it wasn't over yet. More beams were lancing out from the cloud as the approaching green eyes of the killing machines came into view. More screaming came from the center of the defensive line as the officers on there were hit with green beams. One lost his weapon arm as he fell over clutching his burning green stump. Another had been hit in the head, his face dissolving as he screamed. It quickly turned into a skull as his body fell forward hitting the barricade. All the while Kirrus tried to keep the focus of his teams on suppressing the enemy but the metallic killers kept took the hits and kept coming. Even when bits and pieces of them had been shot off they continued to advance as another formation of them came through the smoke. They took aim and fired onto more security personnel, decimating the left and center squads along with the LOKI mechs supporting them. Despite the screaming of his dying fellows Darrel was trying to do his part by putting rounds into one of their heads. The heavy rounds made one bot jerk it's head back, only for the machine to whip it back forward and train its sights on him.
Another barrage of missiles came from the Ymir mechs and drones to blast the advancing group of the skeletal mechs apart. Then energy beams from further behind the enemy front line began shooting the drones. Roland scrambled to get the drones into the air via his omni-tool but they were getting blown up so fast he couldn't keep up. Another wave of death machines marched forward through the smoke. Coming behind the first rank of them stepped forward an even larger version of their kind. Its body and limbs seemed reinforced with armor while it carried an even larger weapon with two barrels. It was connected to its form with a large cable going to its back and the firearm looked more like a cannon then any kind of small arms. It stuck out among the rest to Kirrus and he realized the greater threat. He called on several techs to try to hit it with overload. The machine and its brethren around it were soon charged with electricity from the attack as it staggered. It was soon followed by concentrated gun fire from the Ymir mechs and surviving officers. The skeletal robot's lesser brethren were knocked back by the assault, but its armored form withstood the incoming projectiles. Recovering from the overload it quickly readied its weapon, to which Kirrus yelled, "Get down!"
An even larger beam of green energy and excited particles discharged from the weapon into a Ymir mech behind the security line. The beam disintegrated the mech's head and neck causing it to fall on its knees. Knowing what was about to happen, Darrel and Roland pushed up into the barricades and took cover just before the Ymir mech detonated in a large explosion. Officers caught off guard were thrown to the ground from the blast. The other Ymir mech then readied another missile but the armored skeletal bot swung around and fired first blasting a hole through the center of it. The Ymir collapsed and exploded into pieces as the security personnel near it took cover. When Darrel recovered he found himself on the larger death machine's right side twenty meters away along with Roland. But it didn't seem to pay him any mind at all, he took the opportunity to charge his biotics and hit the robot with a warp attack. The rapidly shifting mass effect fields shredded into its body causing the robot to stagger. Darrel and Roland unleashed fire from their weapons tearing off pieces of the machine's armor. Other officers and specialists took the initiative the two created to riddle the machine full of holes with concentrated fire and biotics. But even as it fell over it revealed to them something they had missed. The skeletal mechs that they had blown apart earlier were now gathering themselves. Ones blasted in half or in pieces were still active and slowly reforming. Their metallic bodies and joints were re-merging with each other as they put themselves back together again. Others that had been too badly destroyed from the missile assault had mysteriously disappeared. While distracted by the scene, they then noticed the armored death robot they had just focused fire on begin to get back up again. Its armored body regenerating all the damage they had inflicted on it before their eyes. Darrel heard Kirrus shout out to them, "All of you get out of there now! Pull back!"
Darrel and the others began to withdraw as the enemy recovered and soon more robots were coming into the checkpoint. The larger machine soon started taking fire from its rear, it was one of the snipers firing from the processing building. It coldly looked in the direction of the shots and brought up its weapon. A blast of green energy tore into the building, dissolving a good portion of the wall along with the shooter as a lower portion of an officer's body without its top fell to the ground. Darrel looked back and yelled out, "Tanaka!" realizing his friend may have just been vaporized.
"Everyone pull back now! Roland get reinforcement from the east squads!" Kirrus ordered as he fell back with the survivors to the south find cover.
As Roland split from the others to go get support from the squads assigned to the east, more large beams of viridian energy struck from the dark sky. They smashed into the AA turrets destroying them utterly in explosions which knocked Roland off his feet. On his back he saw another pyramid, a black monument against the dark sky now erupting in more green lightning. It had turrets sticking out along the sharp edges of its shape and it was now hovering towards the residence sector. Some of the squads in the area tried in vain to open fire on it which did nothing but ping off its obsidian surface. It then landed in the midst of the residential area and Roland was able to see a green doorway in the pyramid's lower portion, out of which the grey skeletal robots emerged after a flash of green light. As they arrived in greater numbers out of the pyramid the same result at the checkpoint happened again. The squads and LOKI mechs throughout the residential section opened up on the arriving robots. Only for the skeletal machines to retaliate with their terrifying energy weapons, dissolving officers as they screamed in agony and destroying the LOKIs. Those that survived the initial attack fell back running past Roland as he watched it all unfold. Then the robots made their way towards him, out of reflex he tried to hit one with an overload only for one of the robots to unleash its weapon on his outstretched arm. He cried out in pain and terror as he watched his right arm dissolve into a green ashen mist. Roland clutched what remained of his arm as a small group of the silent metal killers moved past him after the other survivors. The pain for Roland was unlike anything he had felt before, so intense was it he couldn't offer anymore resistance as he writhed on the ground. Then he felt metal hands grab onto him and begin to drag him off, he cried out amidst the pain, "Noooo! Fuck! Please god no! Aaaaaaaaaah!-" Roland continued crying as they dragged him off and out of sight.
Darrel could hear Roland screaming in the distance, he had fallen back further south with the rest of the survivors of the northern checkpoint. They were attempting to make a stand at the landing area where the last hope of escape was. The cargo vessel that the VIP came in on had enough room for them all, but Darrel voiced his concerns to Chief Kirrus as he took up position with what was left of the security forces,
"Chief, are you sure about leaving the civvies behind?"
"We're cut off from the shelters and there's no way we can hold out against this. Its a shitty thing to do I get it, but no one is going to get out of here if we don't take off now." Kirrus replied.
"So you'd rather run than even try to save those people?" angrily said Darrel, after everything Kirrus said about this whole thing being about protecting the people here. It rubbed Darrel the wrong way seeing Kirrus quickly drop the noble soldier act when it got tough.
"After what we've seen you even think you have a shot at that? Besides, I have no intention of running." Kirrus replied, as he looked to the north. The skeletal bots were now linking up with more of their kind from the residence sector and they would be on them in a few minutes.
"What?" Darrel said, now slightly confused.
Out of the corner of Darrel's eye, he saw Laura and Veldin running up from the comm center. Laura called out, " Darrel!" and they proceeded to hug each other. Laura then asked, "Where's Tanaka?"
"Hes...well-" Thankfully Darrel didn't have to answer that question, another answered for him.
"Not dead yet!" shouted out Tanaka as he ran from a back exit of the processing building to link up. Darrel's relief was palpable as he stepped from Laura to hug his friend next.
"Jesus dude, I thought you got wasted!" Darrel said happily. Tanaka simply joked at his near death experience,
"Not yet anyway! Laura! good to see you too. So whats the plan now Chief?" he asked, now looking at their small group of survivors. It was just a handful of them and what remained of the mechs now.
Kirrus shrugged, "We're backed into a corner. At this point, some of us getting out is better than no one." the turian turned to face the rest of the gathered survivors.
"Listen up, this ship is our only ride out of here." Kirrus said pointing at the transport behind him.
"Not all of us are going to be able to run, some are going to have to stay behind to fight a delaying action. That way they keep their focus on us and not on the ship trying to flee. I need several other people to make this work." Kirrus looked at their assembled faces. They were scared and terrified to get thrown back into that grinder again and Kirrus didn't blame them. After a moment Tanaka stepped away from his friends to Kirrus,
"I'll do it." he said
"Wha...Tanaka no!" Laura cried out.
"The Chief is right... Laura, you and Darrel should go with the others." Tanaka replied resolutely.
"I'm a biotic though and it seems like biotics are one of the few things slowing them down." said Darrel.
"Yeah but its not about beating them at this point, we just need to divert their attention-" But before Kirrus could explain his plan it became moot. Another green lance of energy slammed into the transport ship from above. The explosion made the survivors duck down to avoid shrapnel, as more green beams slammed into the nearby AA turrets and mechs. When they recovered from the shock Darrel cried out at the wreckage, "No!" as he pounded on the ground with a biotic fist cracking the asphalt of the road.
"This isn't fucking fair!" Darrel shouted.
"It's over..." said Veldin as he fell to his knees looking to the ground.
The survivors didn't have time to lament, for the construct responsible for their end had come. A third obsidian pyramid was coming in for a landing due south, blocking their escape. As it landed the remnants of the security forces panicked and scattered.
"Wait! Get back here!" said Kirrus as he attempted to maintain order but it was too late.
Skeletal machines began to appear from the entrance of the dark craft, their eyes fixated on the beleaguered colonists. Those that tried to escape from where they came saw the rest of the mechanical horde marching towards them. The colony was now overrun with skeletal robots. Those that tried to get past them were promptly apprehended or were being beaten by the metal monsters with their weapons. One turian was grabbed by the throat as one of the larger robots throttled him repeatedly into the processing building's wall before being dragged off. Another officer was clotheslined by a metal forearm as he tried to run past the robots before being pinned. "Let go of me! Fuck you mother f-" was all he could say before he took a metal fist to his face knocking him out.
"Why aren't they shooting us?" Asked Laura still with Darrel helping him up from the ground.
"They want us alive...for god knows what." Tanaka replied grimly.
"What do we do?" Laura asked fearfully, while holding onto Darrel. Kirrus was at a loss for words and his head hung low. Tanaka stood with Darrel and Laura who now held onto the former. Veldin was still on his knees watching the whole thing with the group as more of their captors kept coming from the pyramid and moving into formation.
The latest green flash came from the pyramid's entrance as another bipedal machine appeared, but this one was different from the others. It was carrying an odd ornamental staff and its pauldrons were bronze in appearance. It had what looked like bronze blades attached to its head on either side, but its most distinguishing look was its single cyclopean green eye. It scanned the colonists for a brief moment before in another green flash, a pair of large robot beetles appeared from the entrance behind it. With a wave of its hand the giant bug robots levitated and headed towards the direction of the shelters. Laura got behind Darrel as Tanaka and Kirrus stood alongside him with weapons still drawn.
"What do you want?" Darrel asked the machine. He figured it was their leader based on the more ornamental appearance. The only reply from the skeletal figure was silence, which only infuriated Darrel further, "Answer me!"
The only answer that was given by the ornamental robot was to bring up its left hand and point to Laura behind him. Then the machines moved to surround them as Darrel's biotics flared. He hit one of the warrior machines with a warp attack that struck in the center of their formation. With his anger at a fever pitch he was able to muster a throw field to follow up his initial attack. The warp fields of the two biotic powers detonated, blasting apart the skeletal bot and knocking down the others around it. Encouraged by Darrel's example, Laura enveloped herself in a biotic field of her own and sent a throw attack to knock back some of their attackers. Kirrus unleashed his Phaeston rifle on the closest of the death machines but with no armor piercing mods it did little damage. Tanaka attempted headshots on some of them with his AP modded Viper. While it did inflict more damage, there were just too many of them as more just took the place of any that fell over. The mechanized bipeds closed in around them as the fighting went into hand to hand. Kirrus rifle butted one attempting to hit him with its weapon before he was grabbed from behind by a larger robot that pinned him to the ground. Tanaka also hit one with his rifle before another smashed down his Viper with its own weapon. A punch to the back from another followed getting hit in the gut by the tube end of the robot's gun. It knocked the wind out of him and he fell to the ground clutching his stomach. Veldin simply surrendered without a struggle to the machines as they grabbed him by the shoulders to take him away.
Laura and Darrel fared better as they were now back to back constantly knocking around the machines with biotics. Darrel looked to the leader robot, it had its free hand stroking its chin almost contemplating them as it watched the fight. A flash of light from the pyramid entrance and another giant robot bug appeared. From its underbelly a loud sound of buzzing was heard, as a dark cloud seemed to come out from inside it. It moved above the scene while Darrel and Laura kept their attackers back. Suddenly the cloud descended upon them and the buzzing was so loud it was drowning out everything else. Laura and Darrel used their biotics on the cloud but it only dispersed some of it. Most of the cloud continued through and it ran into the two of them. They were a swarm of bugs, robot bugs the size of beetles. It felt like they were getting pelted with rocks, staggering them both and suddenly their bodies felt heavy. The robotic beetles were now grabbing onto them and physically forcing them to the ground. With no more biotics hitting them, the skeletal robots now closed in and proceeded to grab them both. Laura screamed from the bugs being on her along with metallic hands grabbing her to take her away. Darrel continued to struggle shouting out, "Let her go you bastards! Urk! Fuck you and your fucking bugs!" The only response from one of the machines was a hit from its weapon to knock him down.
He fell face first with the metal bugs and skeletons pinning him to the ground. Darrel managed to look ahead despite all the weight of his captors and saw Tanaka and Kirrus too being pinned down. He then saw the feet of the leader machine move towards him. The leader bot stood over him for a moment before it turned around and it went to the other captives. The robot seemed to be evaluating each of its new prisoners before it then stopped at Tanaka. It waved its hand at the skeletal bots around him and they brought their weapons over their heads, the axe blades ready to fall upon Tanaka. Darrel saw what was about to happen and cried out, "No! Stop!" only silence from the machines was their reply. Then came screams from Tanaka as the machines chopped into him repeatedly. Laura couldn't see what was happening but from the screams and sounds of chopping, she started crying. Darrel could only lay helpless as he watched his friend get hacked apart by the machines until he finally made no more sounds. The skeletal robots then picked up Darrel and the others to drag them all away. Laura suddenly realized she was being separated from the group and called out, "Darrel!"
"Laura!" Darrel shouted and coughed due to bruised ribs. The last thing he heard was Laura calling out his name as he attempted to charge up his biotics. Before he could muster any kind of attack though, he was hit in the face by one of the robot's weapons knocking him out.