Disclaimer: I own no franchise mentioned in this work. Halo belongs to 343, Mass Effect to Bioware.
A long while ago, near the beginning of this story, a reviewer asked me to make a map of the Halo and ME galaxies. I did, as I thought that it would be helpful to keep everything straight. Quite frankly, those maps looked awful. I know that very well because I pulled them up for this chapter to coordinate fleet deployments.
That annoyed me. Now, three years later (and isn't that weird to write out), I've updated them to look passable, nothing amazing but more readable and less idiot-drawing-in-paint-with-a-mouse bad. If you wish to verify locations or get an idea of the galactic layout, the url is: tinyurl dot com / OntheIllusionofMight
Apologies for the long delay in publishing this. Life has been hectic and I've let myself drift away from writing, even as I think about how I want to continue this story every night. To try and remedy the plethora of distractions that I am so apt at falling into, I have reserved time at the end of my day to focus on writing whatever I damn well please. Hopefully that means I can get back onto a regular update schedule for this fic.
Anyways, enough of that, on to the story!
June 29, 2589/20th Day of 6th Month, 2459/June 29, 2180
Tikkun System, Rannoch
UNSC Dauntless
Regardless of how simple they may have been when compared to the other members of the Assembly, the Geth were undeniably the most combat ready force in their galaxy. Within hours of the attack on Bastion entire fleets had been recalled from across the Veil, unburdened by the need to protect civilian centers or worry about deployment orders and relief forces.
Any assault was delayed as the other species organized their forces and the diplomats played their games. Several days was all it took for the Council to silently back out of the matter, unwilling to bring up the dispute publicly and risk the solidarity of the Citadel bloc for what they saw as a squabble in the Terminus. As the center of Warden operations in the galaxy, Bastion was the obvious launch point for the coming push into the Terminus.
While the bulk of the Warden forces prepared for the offensive, special operations teams were deployed across the region to confirm and update intelligence reports. Of these, the most important had not been heavily occupied areas such as Omega but rather a small, unremarkable world on the edge of the Terminus by the name of Jartar.
There was no massive fleet holding a position that would threaten Warden operations, no critical infrastructure on the surface that required orbital bombardment, none of the usual objectives that usually drew the attention of HIGHCOM. Even so, attention was drawn all the same as multiple vessels that participated in the attack on Bastion had previously visited the planet. In and of itself, that may not have meant much, but the lack of any other information relating to their activities implied that the Hegemony had gone to great lengths to keep the entire system under wraps.
It was that dearth of intelligence that concerned High Command, even drawing the attention of the Council of Guardians when it was brought to light. Multiple successful breaches of Hegemony systems had revealed no such project in the area that would require so many ships. Further information was blocked by the difficulty of accessing systems on the Batarian homeworld, leaving boots on the ground reconnaissance as the only option. Sending in a fleet that would be capable of handling whatever unknowns they would be facing would require significant effort, both in logistics and personnel, and was deemed a misallocation of resources. Additionally, the hostile environment of the planet would make a direct assault difficult to achieve without additional casualties.
The Geth were not hindered by such limitations, which when combined with their relative proximity to the target system made them an ideal choice for a strike force. While the Geth Collective was certainly capable of mounting an assault on their own, the Master Chief had been assigned to accompany the force in the off-chance that the Batarians had been messing with Forerunner ruins or any other bit of nastiness that the Devil seemed so proficient at finding.
Watching the numerous Geth vessels drifting around the massive form of the UNSC Dauntless was merely a way for the Spartan to pass the time as they prepared to depart. A prowler had already dropped by the Dis System and reported a small fleet of Hegemony ships in orbit as well as an STG frigate poking around the area. If they were fortunate then the Salarians would bug out to observe the much larger conflict igniting deeper in the Terminus, but if that was not the case then permission had been given to annihilate any observing craft as necessary to maintain operational security.
As the countdown to their departure ended, a massive slipspace rupture swirled open in front of the Dauntless. The swarm of Geth ships that had essentially taken up orbit around the Forerunner capital ship moved to enter first. Modified energy shields flared around them as they entered the higher dimensions of the slipstream, enough to protect from the hostile environment but limited in combat due to insufficient energy generation by their Element Zero cores. Unfortunately there had not been enough time for the Collective to construct ships that used their own slipspace drives, leaving this method of tag-along as their only tactically viable option to avoid using the Mass Relays.
Once the vanguard had passed through, the Dauntless moved to follow alongside an escort of several dozen more Geth ships. Chief turned away from the undulating sight of the slipstream outside and made his way back towards the rest of Blue Team. Linda looked to be asleep next to her sniper while Kelly was browsing the omni-tool she had integrated into the Artemis Tracking System on her arm. Fred was browsing through a datapad as he poked at the disassembled components of his Z-250 lightrifle, likely ensuring it was fully operational.
Linda was the only one to acknowledge John with a slight turn of her head in his direction as he came to a stop next to them.
Before the Spartans could fall into a comfortable silence, Cortana stated, "Latest intel shows no discrepancies in Batarian movements. Forces have begun moving into contested territory, no major engagements yet. An STG frigate was identified near our target, we'll be entering at the edge of the system to prevent it from reporting any observations of the Geth if it's still in-system. The Geth will engage Batarian orbital forces and deploy preliminary ground forces to the surface with Prometheans reinforcing as necessary. Plans remain unchanged from that point, we move in once a critical objective has been identified."
"Time to engage?" Kelly inquired.
"Geth are entering the system near the second planet now and will jump towards the target. This scouting force will report if they can detect the Citadel vessel, however unlikely that is, as well as hopefully draw out Batarian defenses. The main force will drop in between the defense force and the planet, landfall several minutes following that. I would estimate about twelve minutes before we get ground intel. As for Blue Team, impossible to say," Cortana replied.
Fred grunted softly as he finished reassembling his weapon and said, "We stand ready, do we have visuals?"
The slipstream disappeared from the front of the bridge and was replaced by a camera feed from one of the Geth ships, complete with multiple streams of information that was scrolling too fast for any but an AI to process. Blue team focused on the view as the vessels jumped to FTL, all of them curious as to what the different form of transport looked like.
It did not take long for them to cross the relatively miniscule interplanetary distance as the ships dropped back into normal space, a barren and lifeless world taking up most of the background. Small markers appeared at various points on the screen, each denoting a vessel in orbit that was still invisible to anything but sensors. As the Geth obtained more data, the view zoomed in to show a decent force of eight frigates and 3 cruisers, all Batarian in design.
Seconds later, the scouting force on the other side of the planet reported no further ships. From the deployment and holding pattern, it was easy for Chief to determine that they were positioned above a specific location on the planet. The Geth reacted instantly to this information as both scouting forces accelerated towards the enemy to force them to react.
Exactly as predicted, the Batarian force turned to confront the primary scouting group as they detected them. A sloppy formation slowly took shape to face the incoming threat, a pattern that quickly broke down as each ship accelerated at a different pace. The resulting distortion worsened even more as the secondary scouting force finished its orbital slingshot and approached the Batarians from underneath.
Chief frowned at this, thrown off by how unorganized the Hegemony vessels were. Even a Covenant fleet, under the most arrogant of commanders, was still able to conduct itself in an orderly manner. Regardless of their societal shortcomings, the Batarians should have been able to respond to an attack appropriately rather than falling apart at the slightest surprise.
Whatever the problem was, however, would have to wait until later as the main Geth attack force dropped out of slipspace to the side of the enemy. This effectively created a three-sided killzone as the AI's coordinated their arrival so all elements were in range.
Within seconds the skirmish was over, leaving the enemy vessels in pieces as the two scouting forces moved in to clean up any survivors and maintain secrecy of their involvement. Two of the cruisers had managed to fire off shots, though neither was well-aimed. The main attack force didn't bother breaking formation as one shot glanced off the shields of a frigate, doing essentially nothing. As orbital supremacy was established, multiple dropships swarmed from the fleet as the Geth began moving to land on the planet.
"Exiting slipspace near the Relay," Cortana announced as the view changed back to the undulating realm of the Slipstream. Relevant tactical information continued updating on the side but was ignored by all as the Dauntless appeared once more in the tangible universe.
Equipped with the most advanced Citadel stealth technology and controlled by an experienced organic crew, the STG frigate racing towards the Mass Relay stood no chance of evading detection. While their flight towards the Relay was probably started by the arrival of the Geth, it was quickly stopped as the Forerunner ship annihilated the vessel with a beam of hardlight. The only indication of its existence at all was the cloud of orange motes that quickly disintegrated into the surrounding void.
"No other ships detected, jumping above the planet," Cortana informed them. She continued, "SIGINT shows several enemy concentrations on the surface, Geth units inbound now. Anti-air cover is strong, low-yield orbital strikes have been authorized."
That was Blue Team's cue to ready up as the Spartans finished their adjustments and performed pre-combat checks. Outside the ship, the slipstream appeared and then quickly disappeared as the massive ship took up position above the Geth force. As they continued to prepare to deploy, the scouting force joined the main group, adding their own forces to those already landing.
After several minutes, the AI stated, "Strong resistance has been encountered in multiple locations, I'm deploying Prometheans to break through."
"Understood," Chief replied. "Any initial indication of our drop point?"
"It appears that our intelligence was correct, there is evidence of a large vessel crashing on the surface. I cannot verify the age but enemy systems seem to indicate that they believe it is about a billion years old," Cortana responded. "However, no units have encountered the ship, and it would be somewhat noticeable to make an impact crater of such size. I would expect close-range combat as you clear structures with long sight-lines between, probably near the bottom of the crater that the Batarians are focused around."
Kelly snapped the pieces of a suppressor together as she finished examining it and placed in on her thigh as she inquired, "Enemy force about what we expected?"
Cortana's hardlight form coalesced in front of them as she answered, "For such a highly secretive project, there are actually a lot more than we first estimated. Even more worrying, the Batarians appear to be mentally compromised, refusing to give ground towards the crater. Several Geth have already reported sightings of strange cybernetics and the Prometheans are detecting some kind of passive interference."
"You think this might be affecting the enemy," Fred deduced.
"It's a possibility I cannot dismiss," the AI admitted. "We've seen Hegemony forces in action, they may be better than the Kig-Yar but they do break. These ones seem to be trying to give Elite Zealots a run for their money, refusing to retreat even if it makes tactical sense."
Chief questioned, "Will it affect us?"
Cortana shrugged and replied honestly, "Can't say for sure. The Geth seem fine, but whatever it is doesn't seem to be actively transmitting, remaining unresponsive when contacted directly. If this only influences organic minds, your armor may be able to protect you. It may only affect Batarians. Your neural interface may prevent any issues or it may exacerbate them. I need to know more to say for sure."
"Do what you have to, we still need to decide where to drop," the Chief ordered. Cortana nodded and disappeared, a large map of the ground terrain taking her place as the Spartans observed the ongoing battle. Already the Geth had pushed back the Hegemony from their main line of defenses, forcing and exploiting openings faster than most organic armies could respond. Promethean squads were labeled as well, with several spread around the battlefield to provide boosted firepower where necessary.
Stiff as their resistance may have been, the Batarians were still being forced back towards their central site. Several Promethean strike teams were wandering behind their lines, guided by Geth hunters that explored almost unopposed by enemy counter intelligence. It only took about another fifteen minutes of hard fighting for the Spartans to notice the primary focus of the defensive efforts.
Considering the incredible devotion to doomed positions shown by Hegemony forces, it was obvious that they moved a significant portion of their forces forward to try and halt the attack. Whoever was commanding the troops had to be utterly inept at basic battlefield tactics as this wide spread of enemy forces made concentrations far more noticeable.
Of all their positions, the Batarians were completely unwilling to pull forces from one specific building near the eastern side of the site. Multiple Geth had scouted the area but determined that a stealth insertion would be too risky for unknown gain. Promethean forces had harassed the defenders but could not lay siege and break through as their position behind enemy lines required them to stay mobile. Their vision had revealed significant enemy presence underground, though not the full extent of what was being defended at that location.
Suspicions roused by the concentration of force, Chief began planning as he analyzed the battlefield. Within seconds he was ready as he stated, "Warden Eternal will deploy with an assault force behind enemy lines near the center of the field, pushing West to draw enemy forces out of position. All strike teams are to rendezvous with this force and support the distraction as necessary. Cortana, begin pulling units back on the eastern front, allow them some breathing room so their attention is focused on Warden."
"Blue Team will infiltrate via the north entrance of the target and move to eliminate possible enemy officers, assuming this is the main headquarters. Our primary goal is to move downwards and determine why this location is so valuable before securing the area. This will likely be a Spartan mission, any large-scale assault could trigger attempts to scuttle intel by the Batarians. Questions or suggestions?" Chief asked after explaining the rough plan.
Before anyone else could speak, Cortana interjected, "I've narrowed down that signal to the area around that building, likely underneath it given the scans. From the observations I have, it shouldn't be able to penetrate your armor but be aware of any breaches. This signature is unlike anything I've seen before or have on record, keep an eye out for anything unusual. Identifying, disabling, and acquiring the source of that signal could be critical to what the Hegemony is doing here, but I can't tell you what to look for."
Kelly shifted slightly at that as it was her job as scout to call out anything of that nature. That Cortana couldn't match the signal to any known was slightly concerning but understandable given the foreign galaxy. Without at least an idea of what to look for, however, it would be almost impossible to quickly disable this strange digital attack vector.
"Wouldn't put it past them to have some bulkheads down there if it's that important," Linda stated, tilting her head ever so slightly towards Fred. 104 just grunted at that, acknowledging his role as their impromptu door opener in such a situation.
"Warden has departed, I expect it to be a few minutes before you're clear to drop," Cortana said.
Chief nodded and ordered, "Gear up and prepare for a slipstream drop."
With that, the Spartans fell silent as they went over their gear with small clicks of metal on metal being the only sound. A small slipspace portal appeared at the end of the bridge, bathing the area in a dull blue glow while simultaneously sucking in all light that hit it.
Knowing that that was their queue, John stated, "Blue Team, fall out."
Rather than leading somewhere else in the massive hull of the Dauntless, the portal put them in the upper atmosphere of Jartar. Strong winds barely affected them as all four soldiers calmly fell into formation as their visors highlighted the landing zone below. Several Batarian soldiers were patrolling near the north entrance, but none of them had even thought of looking up towards the threat quickly approaching them.
Less than a dozen seconds after launching, Blue Team touched down as thrusters on their armor allowed them to soften their landing. Fred and Kelly did not hesitate to further cushion themselves as each landed on an enemy combatant, easily killing them as their armor failed to stop a metric ton worth of Spartan hitting them at more than a hundred kilometers an hour.
Before the rest of the defenders even had a chance to react to their arrival, the team sprung into action. Linda sighted in on the squad holding a weapons emplacement at the door and fired four shots in the time it took the Batarians to start moving at all. While the Hegemony troops were equipped with kinetic barriers, unsurprisingly, these did little to stop the ridiculously large 14.5x114mm bullets as four of the six were eviscerated. The last two fell just behind them as Fred finished clearing her six and fired off two shots from his light rifle, resulting in their disintegration.
Kelly and John sprang forward and picked off any enemies on the flanks, each taking a side as they pushed towards the north entrance of the targeted building. A shotgun blast from 087 sent a Batarian flying backwards, half of his head gone as the Spartan flicked a grenade at two others that happened to be behind cover.
On the other side, Chief let loose a burst from his SAW, the rate of fire quickly overwhelming the shields and armor of four Batarians as he shifted his fire with inhuman speed. Only one of the soldiers managed to fire, though it did nothing as he was completely incapable of keeping up with a running Spartan.
As the Team reached their entrance, 117 exchanged his weapon for an MA5S assault rifle specifically altered and enhanced for use by Spartans. The only reason he had brought the SAW was an expectation of more resistance as they approached the building as well as a backup if the team got pinned down, as unlikely as that was. Linda followed his lead as she shouldered her sniper in favor of a far more reasonable DMR for the close-quarters fighting inside.
Years of working together meant there was no communication as Kelly, Linda, and John stacked up while Fred faced the locked door. Once they had all flashed a green light, 104 raised his foot and kicked, annihilating the door and anything behind it as he immediately activated his hardlight shield and rushed inside.
The rest of Blue Team followed, streaming into the room to overwhelm any resistance. A couple Batarians tried to engage their left flank but were efficiently cut down before they could aim their weapons. Other than that, the small entryway was empty, though a small berm of sandbags at the back made it clear that this used to be a defensive position.
Kelly pinged the door the Batarians had been in to alert her team to more hostiles, which indeed there were as six more enemy soldiers tried to push them out. Five were cut down as they peeked into John's suppressive fire, the relatively large bullets quickly destroying their kinetic barriers before shredding their heads. The last was able to react fast enough to avoid that fate, but was not spared as Kelly poked around the corner and blasted him with a shotgun at point blank.
A quick scan from the team scout gave the entire team a detailed view of the area as the Artemis Tracking System and Promethean Vision on Kelly's worked together to build a detailed rendering. With their path now clearly visible, Blue Team moved as one to the door the Batarians had fired at them from. A stairwell led down beneath the building and to yet more enemies at the end of a long hallway.
Rather than charging forward into the machine gun that the soldiers had set up, Linda popped a smoke grenade and tossed it several meters down the corridor. Almost immediately the air was filled with minuscule rounds accelerated to many times the speed of sounds, the heat of their passage causing them to glow while the smoke gave a clear picture of the firing pattern. After several seconds of observation, Linda simply went prone and used the scouting information fed to her from Kelly to pick off the enemy while they uselessly fired above her head.
The deafening sound of Nornfang was muted by their helmets, but even then they could hear the panicked shouts of the enemy as they tried to react to the effectively invisible threat. Of the hundreds of rounds fired, only two ever hit Linda as they skipped off her energy shields to minimal effect.
Eventually the thirteen Batarians that had been desperately fired were reduced to a mere four hiding behind the corners as they still refused to retreat. Frowning at the unexpectedly solid discipline, Chief motioned the team forward. Kelly took point as she rushed forward, giving the enemy no time to react to the sudden lack of sniper fire as she jumped around the corner, aiming to the right.
Not having expected someone to be jumping around the corner near the ceiling, the soldiers were helpless as two shotgun blasts sounded out. Reaction times on the other side of the hallway were no better as the Hegemony troops stepped out of cover to try and fire at the sudden threat as she rolled behind a wall of sandbags behind them. They never got the chance as Fred fired twice before the Spartans blasted by, not even stopping to consider the slaughter.
Within seconds the team was standing before a heavily reinforced door as they heard the distant footsteps of other Batarians running through the halls trying to find them. Chief once again pulled out his SAW and took up a position next to Fred a ways down the hall from the soon-to-be-open door. Linda and Kelly lined up to either side of the barrier, the sniper now toting her DMR for the upcoming close quarts fight. Each pinged a green light, giving Fred the signal as he unloaded a Z-390 Incineration Cannon at the target.
A blast of unstable hardlight disintegrated the door and let the secondary homing charges through, resulting in a series of explosions and screams as anyone standing near the door was annihilated. As soon as the first blast was clear, Chief began unloading his weapon at the silhouettes on his visor, courtesy of Kelly's Promethean Vision being streamed to the team. Eight Batarians had been killed by the siege weapon that 104 had fired and two more fell to John's controlled bursts, but that was nothing compared to what was coming as both 087 and 058 activated their cloak and slipped under their teammates line of fire.
Surprised by the breach and effectively suppressed by the constant stream of bullets from the Chief, the Batarians were completely oblivious to the two invisible humans now among them. Considering that it took the enhanced vision of a Spartan to spot cloaked beings by eyesight or a motion tracker to alert one to their presence, the enemy stood no chance as the two easily made their way to the back of the room.
Now that Blue Team was in position, John ceased fire and quickly ducked to the opposite side of the corridor from Fred as the enemy within began their own barrage. As they waited for a gap to exploit, he attached the SAW to his back and grabbed the handle of the energy sword from his hip. With a flash, the modified weapon ignited as a hardlight blade appeared in place of the usual plasma. Fred mimicked this action as he snagged his CQC knife from his back, twirling it into a backhanded grip as the two Spartans prepared to sprint forward.
A shotgun blast from within the room was their signal as they rushed forward, the fire facing them dropping off as the Batarians tried to combat the sudden threat that had appeared behind their lines. Unfortunately for the Hegemony soldiers, they found little to shoot as their attackers seemed to disappear into thin air. The sloppy rotation left the entire group of forty completely unprepared to face the two Spartans that came charging in from the hallway.
With a burst of his armor jets, Chief crashed through a terminal and straight into the back of the four enemies that had been hiding behind it. One was instantly crushed as a foot collapsed his chest, another two sliced down by a swipe from the hardlight sword. As the last soldier reacted to his presence, Chief reached forward and grabbed his neck before igniting the energy dagger built into the wrist of his armor, an idea shamelessly stolen from Covenant Zealots.
Three steps later and he was in the midst of the next group, carving through armor and shields with abandon as the enemy desperately tried to figure out what was going on. Unused to such quick combat and totally helpless against the assault, the Batarians were unable to coordinate their fire, resulting in haphazard lines of fire that rarely came close to hitting the Spartans. Eventually one of them had the bright idea of throwing a grenade to force a mistake from Blue Team, but they were sorely disappointed as Fred slammed into armor lock above it a second before it went off.
In less than fifteen seconds, the massacre was over, the last enemy soldier collapsing as Fred drew his knife through the Batarian's chest with almost no effort. Even with the room now silent, the team was still in motion as Kelly took up a position beside the entrance while Fred glanced down the elevator shaft at the back of the room. Linda began policing the enemy bodies, ensuring that none lived while also sabotaging their supplies so any reinforcements could not salvage replacements for their own equipment.
Chief ignored this activity as he approached an intact computer terminal. He felt the familiar sensation of Cortana transferring into his armor and mind as the AI moved effortlessly from the Dauntless into his specialized MJOLNIR. As he held out a hand near the computer, the sensation disappeared, the two of them having worked together for so long that no communication was necessary for this process.
It took several seconds for Cortana to access the system, probably due to damage from the battle as well as its inefficiency compared to a functional Construct. Even so, she was able to complete her analysis as she informed him, "Still no connection to any pertinent data. You'll have to continue lower into the facility, that signal has shown no change in strength even as we press forward. The Batarian lines are collapsing above, many of them are moving towards this location in particular."
"If they know we're here anyways, could we get a SHIS of this location?" Linda suggested.
"Will do, standby for Subsurface High Intensity Scan," Cortana responded.
Seconds later, a screeching wall of orange light flashed through the room as the electronics in the area flared, excited by the high-energy particles bombarding them from orbit. A map appeared in each Spartan's HUD as the scan completed and was compiled by the UNSC AI. Highlights indicating areas of interest flashed too quickly for an unaugmented human to process before the map disappeared to clear their vision.
"I would guess that your target is the thing that they have buried down there. Some sort of Obelisk?" Cortana stated hesitantly. "Acquire a visual if possible, but we aren't bringing that on board. Get me into the system and I should be able to pull some data, assuming they don't have their own Cole Protocol."
"Understood, Kelly?" Chief asked.
The scout took a second to respond before suddenly peeking out the door and throwing a pulse grenade down the hallway. As the screams of Batarians drown out the screeching of the Forerunner weapon, she answered, "Hostiles are moving in behind us, we don't have the time to deal with them."
"Cortana, units to the Eastern front, push in and contract the killing zone to this building to distract them," Chief ordered as he joined Fred at the hole that led down to their objective. A carriage was already moving up, probably bringing reinforcements to secure the room or a demolition team to block their progress. "Kelly, fall back, I've got you covered."
With that, 117 turned to aim at the doorway as his teammate sprinted for them. Behind him, Fred stepped off the edge into the shaft, impacting the elevator a second later with a loud crash. Linda followed him as gunfire broke out, only to be quickly silenced as the Batarians learned why it was so unwise to engage a Spartan in close quarters combat. As Kelly leapt in as well, Chief opened fire at the first reinforcements that tried to enter the room after them.
Three enemies fell under the high rate of fire, giving the Spartan time to snag a plasma grenade and throw it into the breach before stepping backwards. A blast from above was accompanied by pained screams from the intense heat, but John ignored that as he collided with the roof of the elevator carriage, falling straight through the weak metal and onto the corpse of a Batarian officer.
Unable to support the immense weight moving at such speed, the bone and flesh gave way beneath his boot to form a bloody mess which Chief easily ignored in favor of stepping over to the glowing edge of a hole in the floor. Seeing the IFF tags of his team already clear of the landing area, he slipped through and fell several hundred feet before landing heavily at the base of the elevator shaft. Three similar craters already marked the arrival of the rest of Blue Team, who were already clearing out the nearby hallway of hostiles.
John slipped through the door that had been forced open at the bottom and joined the fray as two identical holograms of his form rushed towards the enemy line. While the Batarians were distracted by the ploy, he sprinted forward and led Blue Team as they charged the defensive barricade the soldiers had hastily constructed.
A multitude of enemies were already down but more were already arriving to reinforce the choke point as their commanders separately tried to respond to the Spartan strike team. Chief leapt over the metal crates the Batarians were hiding behind and quickly processed the scene as he noted the numerous bodies already covering the floor. He ignored the carnage and began marking enemies, assigning each to a member of the Team based on priority and location as his suit communicated with his neural lace to provide near-instantaneous coordination.
In less than two seconds the primary command staff was gone, reduced to a bloody mess or disintegrating particles as Kelly and Fred initiated. John followed up as he drew his combat knife and went to work, interspersing his stabs with bursts of fire from his assault rifle as Linda covered them from further back. The Batarians were incapable of responding as they struggled to track the Spartans and even when they got shots off, there was usually a fellow soldier in their line of fire.
While they were carving their way forward, Chief suddenly took note of the door ahead of them closing, dooming the soldiers that were already through but also blocking Blue Team's route forward. It would be possible for them to bypass it one way or another, but it would be far easier if the Team kept up the momentum and pressure on the defenders. That in mind, John highlighted the door for his teammates as he sprinted towards it.
The enemies he had been dealing with were seamlessly engaged by Linda before they could follow. As he sprinted, several Batarians were run over as they failed to make way for the massive form bowling through their ranks. Reaching the door, Chief took the simplest approach and hurled his shoulder into the panel on the right side of the door, causing it to buckle and jam with a screech of metal. He turned and struck the track on the left side, blocking its path and creating a decent gap that the Spartans could enter.
Task complete, John turned his attention to the hostiles on the other side of the door as sparks began to fly off the unshielded metal next to him. Rather than focusing on the soldiers, his attention was grabbed by the rocket flying towards him. Putting aside his confusion at the Batarian firing a rocket at his allies, Chief reacted appropriately as he initiated armor lock.
A wave of fire and smoke obscured his vision, but it seemed far less potent than UNSC equivalents as Chief broke the lock and stood up. Aside from some black spots on the floor, there was little evidence that anything had happened. Before the enemy could get another shot off, he slipped behind the door and began laying down targeted fire, trying to soften the resistance before the rest of his Team joined him.
Several Batarians behind him attempted to attack his position but were quickly taken out by sniper fire as Linda finished clearing a lane of fire. She kept her position near the beginning of the hallway and fired off shots through the door using Nornfang since her DMR wouldn't be able to take out shields in such a narrow sightline.
Kelly and Fred finished off the last holdouts of resistance that had fallen back into a side passage before moving to stack up on the door next to the Chief. Promethean Vision from Kelly appeared on John's visor, giving him the chance to assign targets as well as plot a path for them to advance. Their target was two floors above according to the map that Cortana had generated from the scan, but it looked like an enemy command post was present on the lowest level. Taking that out would make it much easier to take and defend the mission objective as the Batarians lost coordination and communication lines.
Even more importantly, they needed to disrupt any orders to sabotage their target or the base should the Batarians realize their situation. It was unknown if the Citadel species would go to such lengths, but Humanity and the Covenant had both used information denial tactics to great effect during the War.
As they pushed forwards, the resistance from their enemy continued to mount. More Batarians joined the ranks as they basically threw themselves at Blue Team in a desperate bid to stop them. Chief's world turned into a blur of metal and death, his mind fully concentrated on the horde before them. Even with the numerous foes, the Spartans were still making progress as their augmentations and training counteracted the fatigue that most units would face.
Suddenly, the hallway in front of John was clear, his rifle aimed at nothing as the last soldiers fell to Kelly's scattershot. Looking back, Chief noted well over a hundred bodies littering the ground, all of them having gone down fighting. With this chance to breathe, he tried to figure out why the Batarians were so single-minded in their determination. No standard force would sustain the casualties that had been inflicted without deserters, and no leader with any sense would think that throwing men into the grinder would actually stop a strike team of their caliber.
It was possible that Hegemony Command was truly that inept, but considering the importance of this site, that seemed highly unlikely. Something else was going on, something that the Warden forces did not understand. The actions of the defenses on the surface had roused his suspicions, but this ridiculous waste of life convinced the Master Chief that this mission was not as straightforward as had first been believed.
"This isn't right," Linda muttered, communicating that the same thoughts were shared by the rest of Blue Team. "The Covenant may have been zealots led by inept commanders at times, but this is beyond that."
"It's senseless," Kelly commented.
Taking one last glance at the carnage, John looked to his team and stated, "I'm changing the mission parameters. This is no longer a smash and grab on the target, we need to recover enemy intel. Cortana?"
"Comms are steady, it seems that our mysterious signal isn't adjusting to our channels. There's a large number of enemies gathering around the building above, they're setting up defenses now. We have the firepower to break through," she replied.
"Negative, hold position and begin siege tactics. Keep them occupied, we don't want reinforcements behind us," Chief ordered. "Can you upload a fragment, we may need to move fast."
A slight chill went down John's spine as the AI answered, "Of course, I'll concentrate on sabotaging enemy communications, lift the jamming and give them some room to relax. Call if you need me."
"Of course," the Chief responded before turning to address his Team. "We will move on the command center, non-lethal on leadership. Once that is complete, Fred and Kelly will rush the target while Linda secures the captives for Knights to transport out. I will focus on information and identifying any self-destruct mechanisms. We will disable them if they exist or join you at the target if not."
Three green lights blinked in his visor, words unnecessary between the veteran Spartans. In the time they had been talking, they had not stopped moving forward now that the base was mostly clear of resistance. Surprisingly, the door to the command center was unguarded, allowing the Team to simply walk up to it, though none of them let their guard down. Chief cautiously pressed the button to open the door and was surprised when a hiss of air precluded the metal barrier pulling away, allowing the four to charge in fully prepared for a fight.
That was not what they found, however, as Blue Team came to a halt and stared at the bodies of the command staff laying between the various desks and terminals that filled the room.
"Unfortunate," Fred stated. Chief dipped his head in agreement before looking to the two and tilting his helmet up slightly. Taking the silent signal, 104 and 087 turned and began to sprint towards the primary objective, their forms quickly disappearing behind a corner as they picked up speed.
"Self inflicted gunshots on all," Linda informed him as she finished her sweep.
Chief shifted slightly to indicate that he had heard but focused on his task as his teammate took up a position by the door to guard against any stragglers. Within seconds the fragment of Cortana went to work, breaking into the system with ease as it sorted through each piece and downloaded relevant information to his armor. Almost everything was not only recoverable but easily accessible, which was confusing considering that the Batarians had seemed to be going for information denial. Usually someone would have had the wits to wipe the computers if they had decided on such a tactic.
Sighing in frustration at the number of unknowns they were encountering, John pulled away from the system as the AI fragment returned to him. Cortana spoke almost immediately after as she stated, "I processed the data as it came to you, no self-destruct detected. It's odd, that they would go to such lengths and yet fail so miserably."
"Keep an eye on the Relay and on the ground," Chief responded, unable to say more than that obvious order.
"Already on it," the AI said before going silent once more.
Nodding to Linda, the two Spartans began to follow their comrades. As they advanced, Chief opened his comms and inquired, "Kelly, Fred, status?"
"Engaging hostiles near the objective, no sabotage so far," Kelly replied after a second.
"Understood, we are on the way," John replied.
It only took a little bit for the two to begin hearing the sounds of battle echoing through the halls. They were still some ways away so it took some time to reach their teammates, during which the fight had begun to calm down. Coming into the room, Chief ignored the whirlwind of death that was Kelly and instead observed the space.
A strange object was located in the center of the space, obviously the focus of the Batarian efforts in this part of their excavations. Jagged edges and exposed components indicated that this was merely a piece of a larger object, probably a ship given the size. Various wires and cables looked to be providing power to it as several glowing lights could be seen between the cracks, indicating a thin but durable hull.
Pushing a dead alien off one of the consoles, Chief held out his hand above the computer as Cortana entered his suit and began her work. As she did so, she informed him, "The signal we detected is definitely coming from that thing, but it's nothing like anything we've seen before."
"Understood," John replied as he examined the target. Behind him, the last few enemies were neutralized as Blue Team cleared the room before setting up their fields of fire for defensive action. The expected fight never came as Cortana finished her work after several minutes, a substantial amount of time for any AI.
She did not hesitate to begin her report as she announced, "I am sending a priority message to HIGHCOM with the information I have." That quickly caught the attention of Blue Team as the other Spartans listened in, though they kept their attention on the exit by habit as she continued, "The Batarians found something here, something ancient. Of course, they went and messed with it. Sound familiar?"
"It just keeps getting better, doesn't it?" Linda asked with a huff of annoyance.
"Oh, don't worry, it's far worse than you think," Cortana stated with cheer. "This thing they have here is just a piece, there was an entire ship embedded in the planet when they first started digging. There is a debris field kilometers to either side and even longer behind this main excavation. When they first began, there's notes on odd behavior from the team, specifically those working in close proximity to the wreck."
Chief interrupted the AI as he inquired, "Where is this ship?"
"Glad you asked! According to some highly secured files, they took the majority of their findings to Khar'shan, their homeworld."
"What? Why?" Fred questioned with legitimate confusion. To the Spartans, it was unthinkable for an alien object to be transported directly to Earth. The Cole Protocol specifically forbade it for very good reason, the risk was enormous for almost no gain. Only dire emergencies would validate a violation of that procedure, and it hardly seemed that an ancient wreck would cause such a situation that it had to be taken to a different planet.
That meant that the Hegemony was hopelessly careless or there was more to the situation than was immediately obvious. It was unlikely that the excavation site had been threatened by an attack considering that there were no signs of battle in orbit or on the ground. Incompetence from the Batarian government couldn't be discounted, but Chief was far more intrigued by the final option given the behavior of the hostiles they had encountered.
Cortana quickly confirmed this as she answered Fred, "I can't say for sure, but it seems that the team was mentally compromised, for lack of a better term. The lead researcher kept an impressive set of notes about the operation here which show a clear descent into paranoia that was unnaturally fast. Several reports to the Hegemony show subtle signs of this as well, but they were surprisingly well written compared to the degradation of his other actions. His last report insisted that the dig site was under immediate threat and requested that the wreck be relocated to a more secure system."
"Apparently the Hegemony believed his assertions, hence the fleet in orbit of an unremarkable planet. They sent out one of their very few dreadnoughts and etricated the ship in pieces, dragging it into orbit and discreetly transporting them to Khar'shan. Research here only accelerated from that point, with more of their forces being assigned to the dig by orders of high-ranking Hegemony leaders," the AI explained.
"Any reason why?" Kelly questioned.
There was another second of silence before Cortana replied, "Not that I can find, looking back over what we retrieved. The initial investigations aren't particularly notable aside from the wreck, preliminary excavations went well, but it seems that the Batarians never quite understood what they were doing. Over a period of several months, multiple individuals reported similar medical issues, headaches and voices, all of which were dismissed in favor of studying the unknown ship. It would seem that their leadership saw this opportunity as too valuable to pass up and kept up the pressure for results."
"As we get closer to the present, the data becomes incoherent. At this point it looks like most of the team here isn't even mentally fit to serve, only the most basic tasks are fulfilled and almost all investigations into this structure have ceased. The Batarians have focused on locating and gathering all evidence of the wreck, though no reason is given as to why," she said, cutting off the inevitable question.
"So it's mind control?" Linda asked skeptically.
"From what I can surmise, but it's not like anything we've encountered before," Cortana answered. "It must have something to do with this signal that we detected, I would guess that Citadel technology is not capable of identifying it."
Putting together the various pieces of what he knew about the Citadel Council and their rise to power, Chief suggested, "Could be similar to the Mass Relays."
"That was my thought as well. Every species on the Council was guided to the same technological base. Even if Humanity and the Covenant both used the Slipstream for travel, we had vastly different techniques regarding its utilization. That's not the case with species in this galaxy, they all rely heavily on Mass Effect even when there are other viable options. It becomes a default to solve problems, but its superiority is predicated on the assumption that it is the best solution," Cortana stated.
An image of a Mass Relay appeared above Chief's forearm bracer alongside material analysis results as the AI observed, "Basic spectral and material composition samples show significant differences in the elements used to build the Relays and Prothean ruins. Even the Systems Alliance with their limited resources were able to determine such with ease. Whatever built the Relays was far, far older than the Protheans, as well as far more advanced given the scale of their engineering. This ship that the Batarians found is similarly beyond anything else in this galaxy."
"The Reapers," John concluded.
"I can't corroborate that theory, but it would be my first guess," Cortana confirmed.
Chief nodded at that and questioned, "Is there anything we can recover to-"
"Not that I would approve being brought on board," the AI interjected. "We have the information from the Batarian study, and they've taken the majority of anything worth salvaging. That such a small piece can still exert influence on unprotected individuals is critical intelligence, and I will not risk the Dauntless until we can secure a more complete piece of this technology to develop countermeasures."
"What about this then?" Fred asked, waving his rifle towards the centerpiece of the room.
Cortana gave a hum of acknowledgement at the question before answering, "Batarian forces have fortified themselves in the building above and are probably gathering at the bottom of the lift that you so kindly destroyed. Whatever direction they had is gone, they are acting much as those you encountered down here were. Time for a field test I suppose, let's cut the power and see what happens."
"Is that a good idea?" Kelly questioned cautiously.
"A reasonable question, but probably not," Cortana responded honestly. "We need to know whether disrupting the source affects those being controlled. As much as I would love to organize structured tests, we do not have the time to stick around in this system. I also don't trust the caveman to not release some ancient horror."
As Blue Team looked at John, he shrugged and remarked, "She's not wrong."
"Well get to it, we have hostiles on the edge of my sensors," Kelly said. Chief nodded at that and ignited his hardlight blade while examining the series of cables connecting the surrounding equipment to the artifact. It took him less than a second to determine an optimal slice pattern as he went to work, the silent hum of the sword quickly joined by the sizzling of its targets.
The last of the connecting wires fell away, its end glowing orange from the heat. Unlike most alien technology he had worked with, there was a distinct lack of any reaction to Chief's actions. A soft glow slowly faded out from between the metal plates, there was a slight shift in background noise from the computers as they lost their purpose, but otherwise everything was silent.
"Nothing?" Linda inquired as she glanced around the room.
"So it would seem," Cortana responded with a hint of confusion. Suddenly, she announced, "Reports from multiple units. Surface, now. Slipstream bypass is authorized."
The urgency in her voice spurred the Spartans to action as a tiny slipspace portal opened next to the Chief, courtesy of hardware on his armor combined with calculations from the Dauntless above. Blue Team moved as one as they rushed in without hesitation, experiencing only a moment of darkness in the Slipstream before emerging next to the massive figure of Warden Eternal.
"Reclaimers," the Forerunner Construct greeted. "It would appear that your actions have had unintended consequences, though from what Cortana has told me I would believe such to be inevitable." With his part said, the AI gestured in front of himself to direct the attention of Blue Team to the front line.
It wasn't exactly difficult to tell why there were no weapons firing as the Spartans laid eyes on the battlefield. The Batarians had been surrounded, forced to retreat towards their headquarters by the overwhelming number of Geth and devastating Forerunner weaponry fielded against them. Scorch marks and holes littered the exterior of the building that Blue Team had initially infiltrated, the cement and metal warped and jagged from the abuse.
Spread around the structure were hundreds of bodies, many awkwardly laying on or around makeshift defensive lines that had formed as the Warden forces backed off so Blue Team could accomplish their mission. A quick scan from his armor confirmed that they were all dead, not unconcious or otherwise temporarily incapacitated.
Walking forward, Chief kept alert as he reached the first line of victims and bent to examine them. It was obvious that most had not been killed by the invading forces as they lacked the obvious wounds that Warden weaponry inflicted. One detail caught his attention as he noticed blood leaking from the eyes, ears, and nose of a soldier, a common wound from massive concussive force.
The only issue with that was the lack of any evidence of such an explosion going off, there was no crater and the surrounding bodies were splayed out randomly rather than away from a point of detonation. Making his way further into the impromptu graveyard, John took note of similar symptoms in the majority of the dead, some more severe than others.
"Cortana, assessment?" Chief asked.
"Cerebral hemorrhage, consistent with severe mental trauma. Scans show significant damage to the cortex of all enemies, I'll need more time and specialized equipment to determine more. It would seem that severing the source of the madness triggered biological reactions, very curious. I wonder if the same would happen if the source of the control was alive?" the AI pondered.
Ignoring the rambling after getting his answer, John tilted his head to the side and inquired, "Any activity?"
Kelly replied after a second, "Nothing that I can detect."
"Understood," he responded before turning to make his way back to the Warden forces.
"I'm directing the Prometheans to retrieve a variety of enemy bodies for study in full containment on board the Dauntless. We may not be able to bring the item that caused this, but we can at least try to understand the effects and possible countermeasures," Cortana said.
Fred spoke up as he asked, "The rest of this place?"
"High Command has authorized scouring, the entire area will be cleansed from orbit. It may make our involvement more obvious, but we can't leave this threat given what we've observed," the AI answered.
"Pull our forces, recover what you need, fire on your mark," Chief stated, giving his unspoken support for the decided course of action. With that, Blue Team reformed and began making their way through the battle lines as the Geth and Prometheans began their own orderly withdrawal. Even as they marched through the devastated ruins of the Batarian base, the sky above them became alight with hardlight rounds fired from the Dauntless in orbit.
Distant thunder heralded their impact, followed shortly thereafter by small rumbling in the ground as the shockwaves reached them. The Spartans easily ignored distraction, used to it as they were from the countless battlefields they had walked during the Covenant War. Eventually the group reached a slipspace portal that led into one of the massive hangar bays of the Forerunner ship above. Thousands of Geth and Prometheans preceded as well as followed them, the machines moving in perfect synchronization for maximum efficiency, a pattern that the Spartans fell into with ease.
As they broke away from the flow of regular troops, Chief glanced up at the pair of Geth Dreadnoughts docked in the hangar. While the Geth were building larger vessels using technologies separate from Mass Effect, none of those ships had been deployed on this mission since it was a strike force rather than an occupation. Looking at the kilometer-long capital ships and height of Mass Effect technology in this galaxy, John merely felt concern.
Against the backdrop of Warden ships, they simply didn't hold the firepower to fight the war that was coming. The Wardens of the Mantle, much as they may have grown following the War, were not capable of defending an entire galaxy against a force that had proven it could cover that much territory. This newest development of some form of mind control hinted at how the Reapers might be able to do such a thing, as an enemy already under their control would hardly put up formidable resistance.
Quite simply, the Wardens lacked the same thing in regards to the Reapers as the Council did in regards to the Wardens; information. The insipid distraction that the Batarians had caused in the Terminus would work to spur the Council towards building up their forces, but Chief was no longer sure that that would actually help if they did not take the real threat seriously. More direct evidence from their allies would be necessary, and in much shorter order than even he had anticipated.
Blue Team emerged onto the bridge of the Dauntless several minutes, and slipspace portals, later as they finished trekking through the massive vessel. Glancing out of the front view, Chief noted the barrage of hardlight slowly making its way across the surface below, annihilating everything in bursts of high energy particles.
Cortana's form appeared before them as she remarked, "Just in time for the finale, the last of the Geth are evacuating now."
Less than a minute later, a massive beam of plasma shot out from the Dauntless to scout the ground below. Following the trail of destruction was a high-intensity scan to ensure that everything salvageable had been destroyed. Once the scan finished and confirmed success, the AI nodded to the Chief.
"It's finished," John stated with a teasing smile behind his visor.
Cortana glared at him before sighing and replying, "No, I think we're just getting started."
Hope you enjoyed, I certainly did so while writing this chapter. Until next time.
-evevee