Disclaimer: I own no franchise mentioned in this work. Halo belongs to 343, Mass Effect to Bioware.
Apparently a good number of readers are desperate for the action to begin. While I don't necessarily agree with that, it was easy enough to push back the chapter I had prepared to release today and instead write up a plausible situation for combat.
Does this chapter need to be written up? Well, no, not really, but it will give us a break from the political happenings that I've been covering in the last few chapters.
To be clear, the major action is still a ways off. Since an immediate First Contact war did not happen, tensions will take time, and, oddly enough, REASONS to grow. Meeting a new species isn't all about how big of a stick they wield, it's what it defends, what makes it strong. The people, the culture, the economic, social, and societal drives that necessitate a defense from forces that would threaten that.
Will there be pointy stick waving? Well, yes, because it's fun and I like my pointy sticks. Ultimately, however, I want to explore why each side in such a conflict thinks that they are correct, how they justify their cause as being above that of their opponents. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter who wins, it matters if their reasons for fighting maintain their validity.
Anyways, enough with the philosophical underpinnings of the story, now for Review Responses! If you don't care, skip to the breakpoint below. For responses, later reviews will be listed first, because I'm lazy and can't be bothered to reverse-order them. To those I do not explicitly mention, thank you for reviewing!
To all reviews mentioning the Asari theory presented last chapter: At the moment, the discussion between Cole and Hood relating to that topic was theories, and theories are very rarely correct without extensive refinement. I can tell you that Asari did NOT evolve independently of any tampering. Both because it goes against rather important ME canon and because the idea that Humanity and Asari naturally evolved to be so identical is blatantly ridiculous. To give an idea of how insane it would be for our evolutions to match independently, see the bottom AN.
Foureyed Giraffe: Glad you're enjoying the story! As for the Assembly, the canon is that it is an organization of Artificial Intelligences devoted to the continued survival of Humanity. They voted to remove Reclaimer status from any Alliance citizens, but they needed Abaddon, the Precursor AI that, well, IS the Domain, to do so. Because you caught that, I'll give you a pointer: Just because the Assembly decided to remove Reclaimer status from the Alliance does not mean that they were the first to do so. Yes, joint operations will reveal some technologies, though more on that when we get there.
Fer82: Yep, civilian dealings will be coming soon. I figured that getting things straight with honesty would be better so as to avoid some confusion when the politicians start mucking things up.
SierraB312: All your points about Ancient Humanity are valid, but please don't assume that Cole and Hood are correct, as I said above. I understand it's confusing, but they won't just magically know the truth. Just because it confuses readers doesn't mean that I'm going to be having characters know stuff that they have no business knowing, at least not yet.
Guest: There are 4 fighting ground vehicles in the Mass Effect series. At least 2 were made by the Systems Alliance. One is from the Andromeda Initiative. One is from the Krogan. No, the Citadel does not have hundreds of other vehicles, as far as I can tell, they never developed any ground fighting vehicles, or if they did, they were all gone by the ME series.
GrimmKenway8646: I promise that the focus on the main characters is coming! Glad to hear that you are enjoying the story, and thank you.
DireProphet: Maybe important Forerunner stuff, but the Covenant used Forerunner tech, so that feature can't be in everything. Really, though, how will the Citadel get to study Forerunner installations with Monitors?
Elim Garak: Are you saying that characters take the stuff they say as fact or that the readers do? I think I made it fairly clear (IE, explicitly stated) that both Cole and Hood acknowledged that they were just throwing around ideas. I also made it clear in my AN that nothing stated as conjecture should be taken as immutable fact, because, well, it isn't.
Anyways, some action this chapter. Not the implosion of everything, but a little something to get some feathers ruffled. Apologies for the delay, all work and no editing makes evevee slightly late in crediting this story.
March 14, 2589/13th Day of 20th Month, 2458
Slipstream Space
UNSC Serenity
As Rear Admiral James Cutter entered the bridge of the UNSC Serenity, all idle personnel paused to give him a salute which he promptly returned. The bridge crew who had neglected to respond to his presence beyond glancing at him were forgiven, as the Admiral knew that they were undertaking some important task or another that was essential for the coming assault. Executing their jobs well took higher priority than idle gestures for the crew of the Serenity's bridge, as was common on many ships with established crews.
When no shouts for assistance or requests for orders came his way, Cutter continued to approach the holotable. The orange avatar of Isabel appeared beside Serina's light blue equivalent as a large tactical map of the planet they had targeted floated alongside the two. Small icons representing ships, stations, and other assets moved above the surface, their predicted orbital trajectories being updated in realtime by the Serenity's advanced sensor banks. A small timer was counting down towards their exit from slipspace in the upper corner of the display, though Cutter ignored that in favor of addressing the two AI.
"Analysis of the target?" he asked, coming to a stop beside the table with his hands clasped behind his back.
"All vessels are holding formation in orbit of the planet. Our estimated time of arrival is less than thirty minutes," Serina reported.
Isabel added, "All support ships of the battlegroup are reporting as ready to handle the evacuation. Ground elements have almost finished their preparations as well, though they will be delayed until a flight path can be cleared to the surface. I will deal with any logistical issues, as planned."
"Good work. Still no sign of the Council's forces on the scanners?" Cutter questioned.
Serina shook her head and replied, "We're in the clear. I have detected several groups passing through realspace relatively near us, most likely pirates or other criminals, but nothing that needs to be dealt with."
The Rear Admiral nodded but stayed silent as he examined the projection of the planet they were attacking. Called Logasiri by the Batarians who had colonized it, the world was famous for the brutal conditions for the slaves who worked beneath its surface. It had been chosen for the operation due to its location in the Terminus Systems as well as its proximity to the famed Omega station.
By launching an assault on such a world, the UNSC, and by extension the Wardens, were showing their ability to conduct military operations outside of their immediate sphere of influence. It would both allow the UNSC to begin building a reputation amongst the populace in the Terminus Systems as well as harass the Batarians. Why High Command wanted to prod a member of the Citadel in such a way was above Cutter's pay-grade, but he figured that they had their reasons.
What the overall plan was didn't matter, however, as Cutter had his orders and a battlegroup to fulfill them, so that was what he would do. He glanced at Isabel to get her attention as he asked, "The Guardian is ready to activate if necessary?"
"All ships are ready for combat, though I don't think we'll need that much to win this," the orange AI responded easily.
James let out noise of acknowledgement of that statement but countered, "Never hurts to use overwhelming force. Keep all sub-vessels prepared to launch to guard our flanks if reinforcements arrive for the enemy, but alert the commanders that their deployment is unlikely. We've been given clearance for orbital bombardment of military targets, but I would prefer to minimize collateral damage. Wait for my signal to initiate any strikes on the surface."
"Understood," Serina responded. "I will coordinate any targets with Isabel, if that is acceptable."
"Of course. I would prefer to have the Serenity out of the line of fire when we're dropping rounds is all. Ground teams won't be deploying until the sky is clear anyways, so we can get some clean shots off before they land," the Rear Admiral replied.
With those orders given, the avatar's of the two AIs disappeared as they went back to work elsewhere. Cutter, meanwhile, examined the projected battlefield and tried to determine how the enemy would fight against them. Various strategies were dismissed easily while others took slightly longer to show disadvantages.
The reason for his indecision was the nature of the enemy that he had been deployed against.
When Cutter had been the captain of the Spirit of Fire, the enemy of the UNSC had been Insurrectionists and the Covenant. Seeing ship to ship engagements with the Innies was rare, since they knew they could not challenge the naval might of the military, and the Spirit had never fought against the Innies herself since her refit was in 2520, just five years before the beginning of the Covenant War.
Cutter had served on ships that had fought stolen Insurrectionist vessels, however, he had never been in command in any of those fights. From his subordinate position, though, Cutter still knew that the Innies would run sooner than fight, and what fighting they did with their stolen craft was sloppy and uncoordinated. Few Innies had any training in operating ships, let alone the military vessels they used against the UNSC.
Fights against the Covenant, on the other hand, were something that he was no stranger to. Going against the technologically superior alien hegemony was an entirely different fight from those against the Insurrection, and it showed. The UNSC was not fighting enemies that would hide amongst the populace but one that would simply steamroll any defenses. Instead of tactics and clever maneuvers, the massive vessels of the Covenant had blasted anything in their way before killing any civilians they found.
To counter that, the UNSC relied on their superior Artificial Intelligence and strategic capabilities, along with secrecy and informational security. Cutter had seen the records on how the War had ended, however, and he knew as well as every other person privy to that information that Humanity had survived through luck. It was only the Great Schism, caused by the Prophets and the destruction of Alpha Halo, that had allowed them any chance to survive, if not win.
Neither of those strategies were applicable in the coming attack, at least not directly. It was certainly a possibility that the enemy ships would adopt similar tactics to those used by the UNSC against the Covenant, but even that was doubtful. They did not have the computing abilities nor experience to allow AI cyber-attacks or pinpoint accuracy for their Mass Accelerators.
What the Batarians, and seemingly all Citadel ships, had was an impressive reload speed for those weapons. Against the unshielded hulls of pre-war UNSC vessels, they would've posed an appreciable threat. While it was doubtful that a single Citadel round would be able to penetrate the meters of molecularly enhanced titanium armor that human ships utilized, the quantity of fire would have proven significantly more problematic. No matter how strong the armor, multiple hits would weaken and ultimately breach physical barriers.
Of course, the same was true with Energy Shields, but the barriers of magnetically contained plasma did not require repair nor were they prone to random failures if a lucky shot got through. It was that advantage that Cutter was counting on, as intelligence given to him when he was assigned this mission seemed to indicate that the Citadel did not know of Energy Shielding.
How ONI had figured that out was certainly a good question, but not one that Cutter was concerned with. The Citadel species' confidence in Mass Effect technology was understandable, as they hadn't seen anything different until they met the Systems Alliance. Their perception was only strengthened when the Alliance deceived the Council with inferior pre-War civilian technology.
Taking these factors into account, Cutter was leaning towards the rather ironic strategy of using simple brute force to break the ranks of the defenders. As critical as Cutter was of the strategic aspect of the Covenant, he had to admit that it was unbelievably intimidating to see ships simply ignoring enemy fire as they entered the battlefield. Unlike the Covenant, however, the UNSC was not above using their own ships as oversized battering rams, a habit that the Banished had adopted as well.
This particular tactic had become increasingly popular when its effectiveness was proven by the UNSC Infinity above the Forerunner planet of Requiem. Combined with the power of human Magnetic Accelerator Cannons, the close range combat prowess of UNSC ships was formidable.
Getting into range to utilize those advantages had been the main problem during the Covenant War, especially with the strong hulls of the enemy vessels. Citadel ships did not have that advantage, instead relying on long-range fire provided by their dreadnoughts while close-range combat was usually limited to fighters and frigates. For them, it had worked, as everything that approached their fleets had to do so through realspace, and any enemy fleets had the same disadvantages in various ranges of engagement.
Slipspace was the key to Cutter's strategy in this attack, as it would allow his battlegroup to emerge on top of the Batarian defenses. Considering Serina's current projected exit vectors, he was fairly sure that that assessment would not only be correct but quite literal as well. So long as she kept the Serenity in one piece, however, he wasn't too concerned about that issue.
When no further preparations or directions came to mind, Cutter sent out a mental command to his neural lace for the holotable to highlight ground assault locations. Available intelligence on the mines underneath the surface of the planet was significantly more limited than orbital territory, as was to be expected with underground installations.
Due to the extensive tunneling that the Batarians had achieved with their enslaved labor, it was almost impossible to know exactly where large concentrations of civilians were versus military targets. As much as Cutter might have wanted to simply level the entire planet with orbital strikes, he recognized the Public Relations stunt that ONI's Section Two was attempting to pull by saving a bunch of slaves. While the spooks probably didn't care all that much, Cutter knew that they were monopolizing on the opportunity to drive a wedge between the Batarians and Citadel.
Thus, instead of protracted orbital bombardment, Cutter had been ordered to neutralize all ground threats with the forces provided to him. This caveat had proved to be the largest hurdle to overcome due to the warren of tunnels that made up the mines of Logasiri.
Collapsing the tunnels to bury Batarian forces alive had been considered, but that also presented a threat to the slaves that would inevitably be down there as well. Clearing the planet with numbers alone was completely out of the question, as it would require far too many ships and troops to be viable without revealing the strength of the UNSC to the Citadel, not to mention a waste of assets when there were better methods.
Eventually, some scientist somewhere had suggested breaking out chemical weapons to sedate, incapacitate, or otherwise disable anything in the mines. Considering that Logasiri had no atmosphere, all the mines on the surface were sealed, creating the perfect environment for such an attack. Some defenders with exoatmospheric gear might be able to avoid the fate of their comrades, but ODST and Marine fireteams could deal with them easily enough.
As Cutter went over this plan, he was once again struck by how different combat against the Citadel species was from previous conflicts. Utilizing chemical weapons against the Innies was ill-advised, if not impossible, as the insurgents hid in large civilian populaces. Deploying chemical weapons against the Covenant was simply useless, as Elites had energy shields to survive, Unggoy already had breathing masks, and Mgalekgolo could cease breathing for up to a year. It might have affected the Jiralhanae, but that was little help against the unstoppable tide of the other Covenant species. Using such weaponry on the Kig-Yar and other post-War nuisances was never necessary, as they were never a direct threat to UEG space and any ground invasion would be precluded by orbital bombardment to kill rather than incapacitate.
To achieve the non-lethal incapacitation of the populace, the UNSC had supplied Cutter's battlegroup with weaponized 3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate, an ancient but effective chemical that would render the victims delirious and unable to coordinate their defenses. Deployment would be handled by Longsword bombers assigned to targets identified by ONI and the battlegroup's own observation teams.
Any outstanding issues would be handled by the Spartan IV's assigned to the Serenity, though Cutter didn't think that it would be necessary. Many S-IV teams were being sent down to establish beachheads alongside the ODSTs to gain experience fighting against Mass Effect technology with several held back if needed for a quick deployment, but there was no pressing need for them in this battle.
Cutter's use of land vehicles was extremely limited by the field in this attack, though several were to be deployed to provide for surface operations command on board Mammoth transports. With the deployment of chemical agents, however, it was unlikely that those assets would provide anything more than simple logistical support for Isabel to coordinate.
Now finished with his last review of the engagement plan, Cutter had no further insights. Some of the elements would probably be disrupted by the Batarians, as was to be expected in combat, but that could be dealt with when it happened. Unforeseen circumstances withstanding, the attack on Logasiri would be far from difficult, especially compared to the battles that Cutter had directed from the Spirit of Fire. Probably comparable to the raids against the Kig-Yar that Cutter had participated in after the Spirit was recovered by the UNSC.
A quick glance towards the timer on the holotable drew the Rear Admiral from his thoughts as he noticed that their exit from the slipstream was drawing close. The projection above the surface changed once again from the targeted planet to the field of battle where the UNSC battlegroup would meet the Batarian defenses.
Of course, since that was the void of space in the middle of the asteroid field that Logasiri was a part of, there wasn't much to show. Most of the debris that would've threatened them had been pulled in by the small planet's gravitational field, leaving the orbit clear of hindrances or cover for either side.
With Logasiri cut out of the frame, the projected progression of the coming battle was displayed. As the fight went on, Cutter would manipulate individual ships if he changed tactics or felt that a commander was deviating from their assigned paths. Now prepared, he turned towards the front of the bridge and took a seat in the Captain's chair to observe their exit from slipspace. Shortly afterwards, Serina brought the battlegroup up to combat alert alpha, and while there was no visible change in the bridge crew, the atmosphere grew more tense as anticipation built.
They did not have to wait long, as within a minute the flickering dimensions of the slipstream gave way to to the bright stars of reality, though the view was greatly obscured by the dreary sight of Logasiri floating before them. The dull surface of the small world served to highlight the few Batarian ships that were in near them. Barely a moment passed for all present to process this before slight vibrations emanated from the lower decks more than a kilometer away.
Cutter glanced at Serina as the AI reported, "The battlegroup is clear of slipspace, sir. Two enemy frigates and a cruiser are down, and the Thunderstruck is reporting minor damage to her port bow. No casualties, superficial damage to armor plating from a missile housing cover breaking off, damage control is not being dispatched. All other vessels are reporting green across the board."
"Understood. Clean up what forces remain here. Isabel, make sure that no communications leave the system through any means," Cutter ordered promptly.
"Of course. Ships are holding their courses and approaching the enemy. So far, I have detected no coordinated response. Would you like me to deploy the ground teams early?" the logistics Intelligence inquired.
The Rear Admiral thought about it for a second before replying, "Negative. It's sloppy and an unnecessary risk. Alert them that they will deploy soon, but no transports are allowed to disembark until we establish orbit." A nod from the orange avatar was the only response before she disappeared to carry out her duties.
Cutter's attention was directed forward once more as the deck shuddered slightly. Instead of a collision with another vessel, however, this feeling was caused by an undersized MAC round leaving the ship. Glancing up, Cutter noted that the bow was aimed at an enemy vessel that had been too slow to leave the Serenity's engagement envelope. While he couldn't see the round due to the lack of an atmosphere as well as its speed, it was far too easy to see the effects as the massive chunk of metal impacted against a Batarian frigate.
A slight flash was visible for a moment as the ship's Kinetic Barriers tried and failed to hold their own against the shot. Visible tears in the hull material appeared as it too attempted to shield those inside from the inevitable, only to be outclassed by the massive round. A second after the shot exited the ship, it began to break apart, not in an explosion of atmosphere and material but slowly as the Mass Effect field failed and inertia broke it to pieces.
The only thought that the sight brought to Cutter's mind was how different it felt to be on this side of such a display. Going by the fact that the enemy frigate was still in existence, he knew that the shot had been greatly underpowered, probably utilizing a small 250,000 kilogram MAC round at a decent velocity, maybe a thousand or so kilometers a second. Going by those figures, the round would've hit with about thirty megatons of explosive force, with some taken by the Kinetic Barrier but most wasted as the round penetrated the weak armor and simply continued on into the void.
Once again Cutter appreciated the versatility of the CR-03S8 MAC cannons installed on all Infinity-class vessels. The ability to fire a variety of calibers at mixed velocities had been helpful many times, both in providing support for ground troops as well as avoiding collateral damage when dealing with enemy ships. If needed, they could fire a three million kilogram round at velocities in excess of twelve thousand kilometers per second from each of the four barrels, bringing more than two hundred gigatons of explosive force to bear on a single target.
Seeing as Covenant ships during the War hadn't been able to withstand the rounds from ODP platforms, nothing short of a celestial body or Forerunner ruin would require that amount of destructive power. Thus, the capability to fire smaller packages from the main guns was implemented. These smaller packages could be anything from small MAC rounds to ground vehicles, so long as it fit in a delivery shell designed for the 27-meter bore cannons.
Unluckily, the Serenity would be rather limited in using that asset today as the flagship of the battlegroup focused on the ground assault. Several ships had already jumped back into slipspace to make their way to other concentrations of Batarian ships around the planet while Broadsword fighter formations wove twisting paths between the wreckages to eliminate any survivors. Since their attack had been so unexpected, the opposing craft had not been grouped, with ships and smaller transports spread out as they orbited the planet.
With their beachhead now established, it became a waiting game due to Cutter's orders to hold back the ground assault. Considering that the nearest Mass Relay was over in the Omega system, a known center of criminal activity, Cutter was not concerned about reinforcements. All communications in the system were jammed and any vessel capable of FTL travel had been or would be destroyed.
After several short minutes, Serina's avatar appeared beside the leader of the battlegroup as she reported, "All ships have been eliminated. Multiple small craft are still present and have been marked for our squadrons. Further analysis of the surface confirms defensive structures around hangars for enemy transports."
"Understood, bring us into low orbit. You have permission to put a few rounds on target with the Onagers. Once the Pelicans are away, maneuver the Serenity above the military facilities that have been identified. Successive strikes from sub-vessel MACs are authorized. Isabel, ground teams are cleared to leave the battlegroup," Cutter ordered.
Serina gave a nod and disappeared once more as the massive bulk of the Serenity began to descend towards the surface below. Several other ships followed, more to keep the formation intact and less for protection since every orbital threat had been dealt with.
His commands given, Cutter sat back in his chair and watched the beginnings of the assault. Multiple streaks of light appeared as Serina utilized the ten Onagers on the side of the ship to destroy any ground-based surface defenses. There was little curvature on their path through Logasiri's trace atmosphere due to the light gravity, leaving it clear where they would impact, even if it was invisible to the naked eye.
As they flew high above the surface, the Serenity and her escort slipped into the shadow of the dark side of the small planet. It became clear just how little the world had been populated as Cutter could only pick out one or two sources of light from the Batarian agricultural habitats. The sleek forms of several Longsword bomber squadrons flew by the massive UNSC vessel, though their dark forms quickly became indistinguishable from the shadowed hemisphere below.
With more and more ground assets disembarking for their part in this assault, Cutter couldn't help but glance over at the Forerunner Guardian off the Serenity's starboard bow. Even without the light of the system's star, the silver metal still seemed to glow with strength and support. The Rear Admiral knew that a Spartan team was almost certainly aboard the vessel, even if he hadn't been personally informed of its participation.
Whatever their orders were, however, was no concern of his, so long as they didn't interfere with his assault. Cutter had multiple Spartan-IV teams under his command to deploy as he saw fit, as was the case with most UNSC vessels at this point, but he knew as well as every other service member that the Spartan branch stretched far further than that. Their specialty was clandestine operations that the public didn't need to hear about, and they were good at what they did.
Spartans were assigned to ships and facilities to give the branch a public face, something for civilians to look at as a symbol of Humanity's recovery from the War. It was what the public didn't see that really showed the difference between regular UNSC soldiers and the Spartan branch, though. Cutter had seen that himself when Red Team had joined the crew of the Spirit of Fire so many years ago.
As much as he appreciated having an entire Spartan IV complement to deploy as needed from the Serenity, he could see the difference in how they fought. Red Team had moved with fluidity and skill, each knowing what every other member of the team was doing at all times. The IVs, on the other hand, had not grown up together, even if they had spent years working within their own teams. While they were certainly skilled, they required direction and orders, unlike the S-IIs who simply blew through any resistance against them when given a target.
If there was a Spartan team on that Guardian, then their purpose would be to assess Citadel capabilities. It was no secret amongst UNSC service members that the Citadel was outclassed, but by how large a margin was unknown. Of course, that was certainly a part of why the Serenity and her battlegroup were here, though Cutter knew it wasn't the only reason.
Flashes of light drew the Rear Admiral's attention away from the Forerunner Construct as Pelican's breached the upper atmosphere of Logasiri. Aboard would be several thousand marines, Spartans, and ODSTs, all equipped for the coming conflict, what little of it there would be with the planet inundated with QNB. A quick order through his neural lace brought up a map of the surface with targeted locations highlighted in red, allowing Cutter to lean forward and begin directing the planetary assault as necessary.
13th Day of 20th Month, 2458 (March 14, 2589)
Logasiri
Batarian Agri-Habitat 03
Pren Gapbarah hated waking up as it was, let alone earlier than he expected. His hatred extended beyond the confines of his bed to encompass the planet and everyone on it, something that wasn't helped by the inherent danger of operating in the Terminus Systems. While the Hegemony could pay off the largest pirate groups through Omega's leader, there were still smaller groups that would attack any target that they saw as vulnerable. With its small number of ships as well as harsh environment, Logasiri was seen as such a target.
Leaving would have been the ideal solution, except that the pay was decent and he had nowhere else to go. For all its boring, worthless, and utterly depressing atmosphere, Logasiri was at least somewhere Pren could be without needing to worry about anything beyond shooting some idiots from time to time.
With a grunt, the Batarian soldier rolled from his position and began to get into his armor as the alarms of the agricultural habitat continued to blare around him. Running on automatic as he was, it only took a couple minutes for Pren to armor up to kill whatever had disturbed his rest. Before he walked out, the Batarian idly considered leaving his helmet behind before deciding against it. Getting a bit of sleep behind the opaque visor might be possible if the defense turrets shot down most of the incoming raiders.
Now that he was connected to the communications network, Pren could pick out the panicked reports of multiple small craft inbound. He was slightly confused as to why they were so concerned as nothing could get through the Kinetic Barriers of the agricultural habitats without going through the hangars, which were defended by anti-aircraft guns. A frigate might be able to break through, but the Hegemony ships above the colony would be able to handle anything that small.
Keeping his attention on the comms, the Batarian soldier dutifully made his way to his post at the entrance to the mines. Apparently every other guard posted there was listening in to the chaos as well as Pren barely received a glance when he arrived. This came as no surprise to the Batarian as any thoughts of sleep had fled on his march over.
From what he had picked up from the frantic shouts, all communications had been lost with the other mines around the planet as well as the fleet in orbit. The smaller craft had apparently broken off before they came within range, likely doing reconnaissance, though that sounded too intelligent for the usual suicidal pirate crew. Pren frowned as he considered the implications of that. If those fighters were just doing flyovers to assess the defenses, then that implied that they had some sort of means to take them out as well, or at least break through.
That conclusion was supported as within the next minutes several rumbling vibrations emanated throughout the agri-habitat and surface of Logasiri. Several choice words left Pren as he stumbled slightly at the shaking and bemoaned the inability to see the surface outside so that he knew what they were dealing with. From the feel as well as the sound, it seemed that their enemy was not above using large explosives near a pressurized environment. Pren only hoped that their enemies would hesitate to begin orbital strikes if they managed to break through the defenses in orbit.
Suddenly, the comm channels were flooded with sightings of fast attack craft closing on the agri-habitat. With the anti-air defenses down, the hangar was open to attack from those ships, which brought up the question of why they were headed towards the habitat. The massive dome of metal and synthetic glass was protected by Kinetic Barriers strong enough to hold off orbital bombardment, let alone some bombers or whatever other fighters came near them.
Pren glanced around as his fellow defenders and noticed their lack of concern over the attack. Most of them were simply standing or sitting around waiting for orders or for the comm network to report enemies. All of them were lacking helmets, though Pren was sure that their Kinetic Barriers were still active. As much as he was considering removing his headgear, the Batarian soldier elected to keep it on until this odd attack had passed.
High above and several dozen kilometers away from the Batarian agricultural habitat and mines beneath, a squadron of Longsword bombers blasted through the little atmosphere that Logasiri possessed as they waited for a target to be designated for their payload. Their wait was not long as Isabel quickly slotted them into an attack run on one of the installations identified from orbit.
With the outer defenses destroyed and no apparent response from those inside, it was a prime target. It took less than a minute for the exoatmospheric craft to traverse the rather short distance to their drop zone as the lack of air resistance allowed the bombers to accelerate to high speeds quite easily.
As they approached the target, each pilot keyed in the authorization codes for their bomb bays, a safeguard to ensure against accidental or unapproved drops. Now ready, the group of small UNSC ships dipped down to do a flyby of the dome that they would hit. At a precisely calculated time, the chemical weapons in each fighter detached, floating down towards the enclosure while their transports quickly closed their bay doors and blasted back to the vessels in orbit for more ordinance.
Below, each of the large weapons slowly picked up speed as the planet's light gravity began to take hold. The glorified tubes eventually picked up enough speed to orient themselves towards their targets as small adjustments were made to the guiding fins by an onboard computer. There was no resistance as they passed through the Kinetic Barriers around the target as the weapons were too large and moving far too slowly to be recognized as a serious threat.
Thus, when the bombs smashed through the glass of the habitat, all inside were quite surprised. This quickly turned to confusion as the weapons detonated before anyone could get a look at them, though it was easy to see the fragments of metal pinging off the ground and ceiling through the small cloud of smoke that quickly dissipated. Up above, the hole that had been broken was quickly sealed by thin metal sheets that deployed from the beams of the habitat, much like bulkheads were closed on a ship with a hull breach.
Unluckily for those inside, that automatic measure prevented the gases that had been released by the UNSC weapons from leaving the space. As the enclosed environment was sealed off from the vacuum outside, the invisible and odorless chemical began to circulate through the ventilation systems.
Hearing about the breach of the agri-habitat was bad enough sitting down here at the entrance to the mines, but wondering what those weapons had been was even worse. For all his experience throughout the Terminus, Pren couldn't figure out why these raiders would drop some seemingly worthless hunks of metal onto the habitat. It was certainly a clever way to get around Kinetic Barriers, but why try to attack the agricultural center of the facility in the first place. The only thing of any value beneath the shield were fields, and it wasn't like conventional explosives could do that much damage to the ground.
Such considerations would have to be left for later, however, as Pren caught mention of attackers being spotted on approach to the hangar on personnel transports. With the number on the way, there was little concern that the attackers would reach the mines at all, let alone the slaves below. That meant that whatever the raiders wanted was in or near the hangar, though Pren couldn't figure out what that would be. Everything valuable was stored in finished sections of the mine, well away from the surface and the slaves.
Either way, the Batarian soldiers around the habitat had begun setting up defenses to repel the attackers. Many of the squads were asking for information from the fleet, though from what Pren had heard communications were still down with the ships in orbit. Unluckily, that meant that no one on the ground had any idea how many forces were still in orbit.
None of the others around Pren seemed to be concerned about that as they continued to sit around, not that he was complaining. The biggest concern with this post would be keeping any slaves from escaping if the handlers down in the mines were distracted by the attack.
It was at this point that things really went to shit as a sudden burst of static flew across the comm network, leading Pren to wince at the sound. Oddly, those around him seemed less affected, even though their comm links were open to the same frequency. Figuring it was due to his helmet, the Batarian went back to listening to the network chatter, only to receive silence from the channel. Flipping through several frequencies showed that it wasn't just that channel that was affected.
Pren looked over at his fellow soldiers to ask them if the comms were still working, only to notice that the silence wasn't just from his comms. Everyone around him seemed completely relaxed even though their own communications were still silent after the burst of static.
Suddenly, Pren became acutely aware of just how silent it had become now that their comms were down. There was no noise from the mines or the habitat above, just the ambient breeze as air was pumped through the mines to keep the slaves from dying.
A little paranoia began to color Pren's thoughts as he quickly picked up his weapon and moved towards a more defensible position. There was no reaction from the other Batarian soldiers, and while he could see that they weren't dead, it still did nothing to help the situation. Knowing that they'd be a liability in combat, Pren began dragging each of his comrades down further into the mines to keep them out of the way.
With that done, he took up position at the edge of the entrance, using one of the supports that held up the roof as cover. Slowly, he began to hear sounds from the habitat above him. At first, it was just gunshots from mass accelerator weapons mixed with a much deeper rattle from a weapon that Pren couldn't figure out. Those few shots quickly turned into many before transforming into barking orders and clanging footsteps across metal grating.
Several minutes of tense waiting led to three Batarian defenders rounding the corner of the entrance, firing behind them as they fled. Pren quickly got their attention and gestured for them to get behind him as he sent covering fire down the passage to hold off whatever was chasing the group.
As the three made their way past Pren, he heard them curse as they saw the bodies of his squad laying prone on the ground. One of them got Pren's attention as he commented, "They hit the whole agri-habitat as well. Wonder if we'd have any luck in the mines."
"Any idea what is happening?" Pren asked, turning back around to look at the reinforcements. "Haven't heard any communications after the hangar was hit." As he brought his attention to the three Batarians, Pren noticed that each was wearing a helmet along with multiple signs of battle damage on their armor.
"They hit us with something in those weapons. Anyone without filtered air is out. Our squad was lucky enough to have been equipped to defend the hangar, which required sealed suits," one of the defenders replied.
Another scoffed at that and added, "Unlucky enough to be the first to meet them as well."
"Them?" came the expected inquiry from Pren.
"No idea, all I know is that they aren't the usual Terminus bastards. Our comms were cut same as yours, no word from the commander either, probably out with the rest of the habitat," the first responded.
Pren stole a quick glance down the passage to make sure it was still clear before questioning, "What species are they, Turian? Those birds wouldn't hit a Hegemony Colony, though, and no one else in the Terminus has the power to do so."
"Every one of them wears a suit, like the Quarians on their fleet nowadays. I'd almost say Asari, except that I don't recognize the armor and they would never do a frontal assault without commandos," the last Batarian said, speaking for the first time.
"Well, whoever they are, they can fuck off and die," Pren replied.
The soldier that had first spoken looked at him incredulously and argued, "There's four of us and at least ten dropships worth of them. Our only chance is to pick them off in the mines, or at least lose them so we can call in reinforcements from one of the other habitats on the planet."
Before anyone could respond to that, Pren's gaze flickered to the side slightly as his peripheral vision detected a faint movement. With the high tension due to the combat situation and his high strung nerves, it was only natural for the Batarian to react with violence to the possible threat.
Such a reaction saved his life as the invisible form of a positively massive being was suddenly highlighted by a glowing golden field as Mass Accelerator rounds impacted its form. At the sudden movement from Pren, the other Batarian defenders had startled, a reaction which was furthered by the appearance of the unknown being.
Even with the lucky sighting that Pren had gotten on the enemy, however, the closest soldier still had no chance to react as the thing sped towards him at a frightening speed. Surprised at the sudden change in location of his target, Pren's next few shots lagged behind the form. The Batarian soldier cursed and ceased fire to keep from shooting his allies as he tried to follow the enemy.
The unfortunate Batarian that had been selected as the thing's first target slammed into the wall as Pren brought his gaze around, just in time to see the Batarian's head turned in ways it was not supposed to. Pren idly noted that the metal of the soldier's suit had been unable to follow its user's motions and had ripped a hole in the previously sealed armor.
Several shots pinged off the enemy's odd shield once again as another soldier managed to bring his weapon to bear on the temporarily stationary enemy. This did not last, however, as the being moved once again, charging away from Pren and towards the other two defenders. Seeing the opportunity this presented, the Batarian put as many rounds as he could into the thing's back, though it seemed to have no effect beyond making the golden shield slightly brighter.
Even with the impressive amount of rounds that the being had already taken, the attempts of the three remaining Batarians were still insufficient to bring it down before it reached its next target. An almost contemptuous flick of its hand batted aside a rifle as it bowled over the soldier holding the weapon. The last of Pren's allies had no time to retreat as the being reached out and grabbed the Batarian's shoulder.
Pren could see the metal bend and heard the soldier scream in pain as his shoulder broke underneath the immense pressure before he was silenced by a strike from the mysterious enemy. Undeterred by his imminent death, Pren kept up his fired, even as the thing turned towards him. This last effort was finally rewarded as the aura around the thing popped, leaving it open to weapons fire.
Any hope of escaping alive quickly left Pren's mind as he noticed the heavy armor that his rounds were now impacting. Small scratches appeared in the dark red paint of the figure as the rounds from the Batarian weapon made contact, but Pren noticed the distinct lack of actual damage on the thick plates.
This observation was quickly pushed out of the way as Pren saw the being dart towards him, impossibly fast for something as large and heavy as the thing must be with so much armor. Seeing that if he didn't move, he would meet the same fate as his allies, Pren quickly stepped to the side. What looked like a glance of surprise came from the armored figure at the unexpected motion, but it still took a swing at his side with its gauntlet.
With no time to do anything else, Pren jerked his rifle down, blocking the blow at the cost of losing his weapon and falling to one side at the strength behind it. Looking up, the Batarian threw an arm up to block the strike coming from above.
A brief flash of pain from his arm was the last thing Pren felt as the figure's strength simply broke through the obstacle and continued to its destination. The Batarian soldier never had the chance to feel anything more as his helmet caved in beneath the blow, causing an immediate death through blunt force trauma to the brain and spine as it attempted to hold against the forces put on it.
March 14, 2589/13th Day of 20th Month, 2458
Logasiri
Batarian Agri-Habitat 03
Looking down as the last enemy fell, Spartan Kinslow admired the fighting spirit of the defender. As little as it had helped him, it had shown her that Batarians could be adaptable in the middle of combat, though that trait seemed to be a rare thing. That such a soldier possessed that intelligence was interesting, as the Batarian commanders most certainly hadn't.
So far, there had been few reports of true resistance across the planet. Apparently the defenders had been more prepared for the UNSC chemical weapons attack than predicted, though, as several addition squads of Spartans had been deployed to assist in the assault. On their way down, Kinslow and her comrades had witnessed the Guardian that accompanied the battlegroup firing off a Pulse to knock out enemy communications on the most active part of the planet.
With that hit, it had been easy for the marines to hold their ground long enough for reinforcements. Over the last half-hour, Kinslow had been scouting ahead for her squad as they broke through enemy lines and eliminated pockets of resistance that might have threatened the lives of the marines.
Her original plan going down into the mines was to leave these four Batarians to their fate at the guns of the marines behind her, but the one had somehow spotted her cloaked form. While impressive, the ensuing close quarters combat had allowed the Spartan to assess the strength of their weapons. That Kinslow had done so with her face was going to get her a talking to from her platoon leader, but that was alright as the scientists on the Serenity would be appreciative of the tactical data it gave them.
A quick glance at her shoulder allowed the Spartan to take note of the damage from the quick skirmish. No warnings had been triggered by the hits, though the sensors of her armor had detected the physical impacts at the least. Several tiny scratches were visible in the titanium plates, but nothing that a quick paint-job wouldn't fix. Some lucky shots might have hit the weave of her bodysuit, but nothing had punctured as far as the Spartan could tell.
The hard thudding sound of marine boots on rock brought Kinslow's attention to the squad of marines that had been chasing down the defenders before her interference. One of them grimaced at the battered bodies of their previous targets while the rest simply ignored the corpses, having become used to the sight after securing locations cleared by Spartan teams.
"Pretty sloppy bit of work there. We could have handled them easy enough with a grenade," the squad leader commented, though his tone was more amused than annoyed.
Kinslow gave small shrug and explained, "All it takes is one to get lucky seeing the outline. Wasn't planning on tangling with them."
The marine grunted his understanding, "I assume you have somewhere to be, then. We'll secure this area and dispose of the trash."
A nod was the only answer from Kinslow before she once again engaged her cloak and continued her descent into the Batarian mines. With the power out from the Guardian's Pulse, it was completely dark, leaving the night vision capabilities of the MJOLNIR limited to supplementing the view with different strategies.
Infrared scopes fed basic temperature readings to a graphics interpreter, allowing it to be overlaid on Kinslow's HUD. This was enhanced with high-frequency sonar readings for depth perception and easy mapping of the surrounding area. Any tunnels with movement were also sent through predictive algorithms so that the user could have an idea of what might be above or below them.
It was the last measure that proved to be the most useful in this situation, as Kinslow almost immediately crossed above a juncture that was full of motion. Deducing that the large number of unidentified contacts were the slaves that worked in the mines was no challenge, and within seconds Kinslow had a path projected on her visor that was predicted to lead to the people below.
After following that lead for a short time, the Spartan scout came to a shaft the led both up and down further into the mines. Surprisingly, light was visible from a short ways down. Obviously the Pulse from the Guardian could only pierce so far into the ground before it became too weak to interrupt power.
A quick order from her neural lace to the MJOLNIR armor brought up a map with the explored areas of this location visible. On it were all friendly forces, rally points, and areas of resistance. Kinslow ignored the other points to focus on the location of the other three Spartans in her squad. All were marked with green, showing their status as battle ready, and all were advancing together along the path into the mines that Kinslow had just explored.
With reinforcements that close and no change in her orders, Kinslow closed the map and dropped down to follow the tunnel that her suit had directed her to. The lights in this section of the mine were still on, likely protected from the Pulse by the ground above and powered by a generator somewhere else in the warren of tunnels.
Kinslow wavered between cutting the line of power versus leaving it before eventually deciding on the latter. As helpful as it would be to be the only one able to see in the absolute darkness, that same lack of light might also make her job harder if the slaves began to panic. Eliminating the Batarians overseeing them would be easy enough, but evacuating and caring for the forced workers would be overseen by the colony ships with the battlegroup.
Thus, the scout continued further down the tunnel. Considering that she had not yet seen anyone, be that slave or Batarian master, the Spartan knew that there must be another exit at the other end of the passage. As she went along, Kinslow noted her squad passing above her in the tunnel above.
A blink of light on her HUD drew her attention for a second as she sent back a responding blink of green followed by two yellow flashes to the rest of her team. Going by the standard Spartan communication signals, she was efficiently reporting that her status was green, she was advancing on the enemy and would evaluate the situation when she arrived. The reply was a blink of green, green, and red in that order to convey that Kinslow's actions were approved, her team was on their way to back her up, and she had permission to engage if she saw fit.
Less than a minute later and Kinslow came to a stop as she reached the location that she had encountered motion before. Instead of any people, however, there were just footsteps in the dirt and dust on the rocky floor of the tunnel. It didn't take any thought for Kinslow to know that this meant that the Batarians were directing their slaves deeper into the mines, probably hoping to hide out the assault until reinforcements arrived.
There was no way for them to know that their allies would never arrive, that their fleet lay in ruins and all other colonial locations were under the same assault. Keeping the Batarians ignorant of that was the most important objective at this point, as if they learned the truth of their situation, the slaves they commanded could be used as either fodder or simply slaughtered out of spite.
To prevent that, however, Kinslow first had to find the few surviving defenders that would be keeping the slaves in line. With that in mind, the Spartan continued her advance down the tunnel, using the disturbances caused by her target to guide her. Twisting and turning through the complex tunnel system, the scout was thankful that there was no air movement in the mine to wipe away the trail, as without it she would have no chance of locating the group.
As she progressed, it became clear that the group was heading downwards, though keeping fairly centered underneath the habitat above. Such a design was almost never seen in UEG space, both because of the concern of weakening the foundations of large buildings but also due to the strip-mining that was used on many resource-rich planets.
Eventually, Kinslow reached her destination, though she did not enter the chamber she had discovered. As heinous a violation of sentient rights as it was, even the Spartan had to admit that the large space dug out for the slave pens was rather impressive. All the workers were kept on the lowest level, with no exit tunnels and only a single ramp leading up to the level where Kinslow and several Batarians stood. Interspersed between the mass of beings were pillars of rock to hold up the ceiling, a necessary measure due to the large size of the room.
From Kinslow's point of observation, she estimated that there were about 250 to 300 slaves in the pit, giving them enough room split up but still creating an extremely claustrophobic environment. Around the rim of the holding area stood a number of Batarians, though none of them looked to be in any shape to fight. Most had probably gotten a good dose of gas, but not enough to fully incapacitate them for dispensation by UNSC forces.
That was acceptable as Kinslow saw it, as their elevated, and therefore prominent, positions gave her easy targets to hit. After years of practice, it was second nature for the scout to reach back and grab the Hardlight rifle off her back and shoulder it without making a sound. The lack of any reaction from the Batarian guards signified her success, allowing the Spartan several seconds to line up her shots.
A couple quick switches from target to target gave Kinslow a good idea of the most efficient manner of eliminating her enemies, along with how she would have to move while doing so. Due to the control chips that the Batarians used in their slaves, the number of masters assigned to watch over them was rather small. As simple and crude as the implants were, there wasn't much that could survive having its brain turned to mush.
It was that fact that Kinslow was counting on as she put her first shot straight through the farthest Batarian's head, using her advantage of surprise as best she could for easy shots. The bright streak of light immediately alerted the other enemies, as expected, but their reactions were far too slow as Kinslow sent a second shot at the next target.
By this point the others were lifting their weapons as they tried to locate the cloaked attacker, though their movements were slow and clumsy due to the QNB gas that they had inhaled. This gave the scout enough time to take another shot before swiftly moving away from her former position.
This came just in time as mass accelerator rounds began to pepper the area she had been standing. When the Batarians failed to hit what was no longer there, they apparently assumed that the shooter had taken cover in the tunnel that Kinslow had emerged from. As they began to converge on that location with cautious steps, the Spartan put another hard light round through the head of the last soldier.
With all their attention focused forward, the Batarians only became aware of their fallen comrade when his body fell into the pit below. None of them had seen where the shot had come from, though they knew that it wasn't the tunnel they had been approaching. Several of the overseers began to look uncertain, as they were trapped however many meters underground with an unseen and unknown enemy.
Keen to continue her game of mental warfare, Kinslow ceased fire for a short time as she moved around the edge of the holding pen. After her three kills, there were eleven Batarians left that she could see, though it was possible that there were more elsewhere in the mine. Those were not her concern for the moment, however, as her mission here had been to locate the slaves that the UNSC had known were mining ores for the Hegemony.
As the Spartan reached the farthest point from her targets, she quickly analyzed the situation and once again took aim. The remaining enemies had bunched up as they attempted to figure out what had killed their comrades. To find her, they would have to split up, which would in turn make them vulnerable in such an open area.
Figuring that she might as well not give them the chance to properly counter her one-Spartan assault, Kinslow sent a round through the faceplate of the Batarian standing with his back against the wall. Of course, this gave every other soldier there a chance to see where the shot had come from, but that was hardly an issue considering the alarm that was created by the scout's shot.
Seeing a being, be it an ally or enemy, die in such a way at such close range was disturbing. Anyone who had served in the UNSC during the War or conflicts that followed knew this and knew it well, but such was the way of war. By setting the enemy off balance with High Value Target or Priority Target eliminations, further assaults could be made with ease due to the uncoordinated response of the enemy.
This same tactic worked well in this situation as the Batarians lost any cohesion they had achieved. In their confusion, Kinslow picked off two more targets before they could start sprinting for cover. Of course, due to the wide open space of the slave pit, there wasn't a lot of cover in the first place, but the defenders made do.
Unluckily, one of them had miscalculated and left part of his body sticking out from behind the pillar he had hidden behind. Instead of taking that opportunity, however, Kinslow held her fire and moved from her position once again. With her enemies in cover and therefore stationary, it was easy enough to line up an easy firing cone on several enemies.
High energy light once again made contact with the Batarian forces, with the Spartan scout downing four targets that had all been taking cover behind one of the pillars that held up the room of the underground room. Kinslow's choice of location for the fight was deliberately close to another two Batarians, allowing her to close the distance with them easily as they tried to react.
Before they could do more than turn their heads to track the shots that had killed their allies, Kinslow was on top of them. A bash from the stock of her rifle pulverized the face of one opponent and allowed the scout to knock the weapon of the other Batarian away with her recovery. The disarmed slaver attempted to back away but only managed a step before his head was removed by another hard light round.
This left only two Batarians alive, with one fairly close to the cloaked Spartan and the other close to the other side of the pit of slaves. Both of them were obviously beyond fighting, seeing as they had yet to even get a confirmed hit on their enemy. The farther target had already turned to flee the battlefield, hoping to escape into the mines and perhaps survive the invasion somehow. Such a plan was infeasible for the Batarian closest to Kinslow, and the slaver seemed to know that as well as he began to raise his weapon in one last gamble at life.
Knowing that the Mass Accelerator rounds would be unable to break her shields in time to do any real damage, Kinslow turned her attention to the fleeing opponent. A quick mental calculation and the scout took aim, putting a round from the light rifle through the Batarian's back. While she was doing this, the closer enemy had managed to take aim and begin firing towards her position. The streak of light that had been fired from Kinslow's rifle was enough for the last survivor to pinpoint her position, as little as that would help him.
Several rounds pinged of the energy shield of her MJOLNIR as Kinslow turned her attention to the Batarian. With almost contemptuous ease, the scout turned her weapon on the Batarian and put a shot straight into his neck. The Batarian twitched slightly as his spine was severed before falling to the ground.
Kinslow scanned the area for any reinforcements but found none. Instead, the Spartan was greeted by the sight of stunned slaves staring up at her, able to see the outline of her form just briefly before the cloaking field recovered its integrity. Seeing as she had just slaughtered the beings watching over them, Kinslow felt obligated to reassure them that they would be released to freedom rather than left to slavery or death.
A quick order from her neural lace to the MJOLNIR dropped her cloaking field, allowing all present to see her. Kinslow mentally increased the volume of her helmet's speakers as she announced, "More forces are en route to evacuate you. Please hold position and keep order until they arrive. By UNSC law, you are now considered civilians and are afforded all the rights, privileges, and freedoms associated with that designation."
With that done, Kinslow waited as the declaration was run through the translation software developed for the Citadel species and repeated in various languages. Apparently the news spread quicker than her translations, however, as those in the pit began celebrating with their fellows. As this was going on, the scout mentally highlighted humans that she could pick out amongst the crowd. The signs of harsh treatment were visible on all those below, and it merely confirmed Kinslow's determination to fulfil her duty in wiping the planet clean of the scourge.
After her suit had finished broadcasting all the languages necessary, Kinslow nodded to the free beings below before activating her active camouflage once again. This drew awed looks from the former slaves as their unaugmented eyesight was incapable of seeing the slight outline that a Spartan could discern with focus. Instead of paying any attention to that, however, the scout silently made her way to the last Batarian she had killed and examined the damage.
Considering the unknown nature of Kinetic Barriers, many UNSC soldiers had been prepared for the Mass Effect fields to stop hard light rounds. From what she had seen fighting in the habitat as well as down here in the mines, Kinslow could dismiss that possibility.
Regular UNSC kinetic weapons, such as MA5 rifles or any other weapon that fired physical rounds, would be countered by the Barriers due to their nature. Once those weapons pierced, however, the damage caused was catastrophic. Such a large object impacting at a high speed caused massive trauma to a target, which was exactly the point of those weapons.
Hard light weapons, on the other hand, used high energy light as ammunition. This improved their effectiveness against energy shields as well as their accuracy, as the round actually traveled at the speed of light. Upon making contact with flesh, however, that energy was converted into various forms. Thermal energy cooked flesh and melted material while kinetic energy caused liquefaction, both rather nasty effects. Combined with the radiation inherent in such a form of light, and any unshielded target would almost certainly be killed. If it wasn't instant death, then it was a horrendous wound to recover from or a slow and very, very painful death by internal hemorrhaging contained by the cauterized wound. Or disintegration, though the UNSC had disabled that on their own hard light weapons since it made counting bodies and recovering supplies rather impossible.
By comparison, Mass Accelerators were very tame weapons, which had confused many service members when they were briefed on it. While Mass Effect weapons had ridiculous muzzle velocities, the mass of their rounds was almost insignificant. The tiny, sand-sized pieces of metal that were fired from Citadel weapons had more energy, but with such a small round, the only real advantage they would have would be penetrability, which was also their weakness, ironically.
Quite simply, the tiny rounds didn't have enough mass to actually transfer a meaningful amount of energy to their target. Against thick armor, they lacked the mass to hold their course, hence the scratches in Kinslow's armor from her previous engagement, and against lightly armored targets the rounds simply penetrated through. As painful as it was to have a piece of sand blast through the body, it simply wasn't an incapacitating or even serious wound. A quick application of will, biofoam, or other such methods would allow a casualty to easily return to fighting status.
Multiple rounds would probably drop a fighter, given that they were wearing the light armor that the Citadel species used. Intel had suggested that the alien species relied on their Kinetic Barriers rather than physical plating far more than the UNSC forces, promoting sloppy tactics and a lack of offensive drives.
Kinslow wasn't complaining about the nonsensical nature of it, however, as she turned her attention away from the body to bring up the map of the facility. Seeing that her team was closing on her position, the Spartan quickly made her way to the tunnel they would emerge from. A short time later and the other three Spartan stepped into the chamber, each focused on the bodies from the fight as well as the mass of slaves below.
Since they were not in scouting roles, none of the other three had devoted cloak like Kinslow and thus drew attentive stares from the slaves below. The group of Spartan-IVs ignored this, however, as they followed the invisible form of Kinslow around the pit and towards the rest of the mines to scan for any surviving targets. Behind them, marines stepped out to deal with the slaves, providing reassurance and guidance to efficiently evacuate them from the combat zone and into the colony ships above the planet.
Not everything Cutter assumes is true. Assumptions, and people for that matter, aren't always correct. Please do not take everything in his line of thoughts as immutable fact in the story. Saying that, facts that are stated (UNSC vessels have meters of molecularly reinforced titanium armor, for example) are true, as Cutter knows them due to his position as an officer of the UNSC.
Essentially, I'm telling you that some of his assumptions are wrong. Not all, but some.
Not sure why Halo uses weight as a measurement for their MAC rounds, since weight changes with the gravitational acceleration of an object. All appropriate numbers are for the mass of MAC rounds in kilograms, assuming the weight figures given by canon are calculated using the mass of the rounds and 9.83 m/s2 for acceleration.
All statistical information on the Serenity is canon based off Infinity-class vessels. Well, I did inflate the maximum round mass from 2.7 million to 3 million, but that doesn't change the outcome of an impact beyond making it slightly larger. Obviously.
Not much for the fleet battle here. There's no big fleets being thrown around, as this was a surprise attack, hence no unified Batarian response. That's the whole point of a surprise attack, catch the defenders unaware and unable to coordinate together. Duh.
Energy transfer is dependent on mass, acceleration, and distance. A bullet with a really small mass transfers less energy than a large mass, and something decelerating slower transfer less energy per unit of time than something decelerating faster, regardless of velocity. Due to the small size of Mass Accelerator rounds, they will decelerate slower since there is less surface area to slow them.
The human genome is made up of about three billion (3,000,000,000) base pairs. Of those, about ten thousand to twenty-ish thousand determine what proteins are made, or in other words, what makes us, us.
Now, Asari are fairly close to Humans, albeit with biotics and some physical changes. Considering that Humans and Fruit flies have fairly similar number of Protein-Coding genes, let us assume that the Asari are also fairly close, mostly because there is no canonical data on this.
So, out of 10-20 thousand Protein-coding genes, some number for Asari must be different. Some of their other non-coding DNA would also be different, but in species with high amount of ncDNA, this ends up being mostly junk.
Let us set the difference in Protein-coding genes for Asari and Humans at around 2500-5000, or 25%. This is probably far higher than it would actually be, but whatever.
Out of all the DNA that determines biological things for humans and asari, 25% is different. Out of all the DNA in a human and asari, assuming similarity, about 98% is junk DNA. Of that remaining 2%, or 60 million base pairs, about .00017% to .00034% is Protein-coding DNA.
Since these two would have evolved separately, their full DNA structure must be taken into account, since have coding DNA in a different structure would cause differences. 2500 to 5000 meaningful differences between base pairs out of 60 million base pairs, out of 3 billion total base pairs. A total difference of about .0000000000000139% to .0000000000000278%.
Please note that due to the shared ancestors of creatures on Earth, differences between apes and humans, or other such animals, will be much higher since we can discard the junk DNA. Even if we discard the junk in this scenario, the difference is about .0000417% to .0000834%. Much, MUCH higher, but still quite low. The differences between Quarians and Humans would probably be on a magnitude of 25 to 50 times higher, as they are still bipedal but possess much more prominent physical changes.
Now, we look to the chance that the Asari evolved in the galaxy next to Humanity. In the observable universe, we have narrowed down the range of the number of galaxies to 200 billion to 2 trillion. Now, we take the chance of Humanity evolving in the Milky Way as 1/1, since they didn't evolve but were created by the Precursors. That is Halo canon, by the by, and since this is sci-fi, I'm using it, however bullshit it may be.
Since the Asari cannot evolve in the Milky Way, we take away one galaxy from the possibilities, so 199,999,999,999 to 1,999,999,999,999 possible galaxies, respectively. The galaxy we want them to evolve in is the Mass Effect galaxy in canon, which is just one galaxy. This gives us 1 acceptable answer out of ~200 billion to ~2,000 billion possible galaxies.
1/199,999,999,999 to 1/1,999,999,999,999, or .000000000005% to .0000000000005%. In reality, that is close to the actual chance that Humanity had of evolving in the Milky Way, on top of the 1/10 to the 40th chance that life evolved at all (note: there are billions of simultaneous trials occurring for the creation of life at any time, sheer number makes up for the low chances), and the 1/100 billion chance that we evolved on Earth, out of all the planets in the Milky Way.
In the end, we have a near-zero chance of the Asari evolving in the Citadel galaxy along with a significantly better but still ridiculously low chance of the Asari being similar to Humanity.
Perhaps this can give people an idea of why I am going in the direction that I am.
-evevee