Relevant Notes Will Be At The End Of The Chapter

-000-

A month has passed since the Relay 314 Expedition began, escalating the incident into a full blown war.

Solar Sphere Congress and Citadel Coalition forces spill blood among the stars, one to defend their home, the other to maintain galactic order. Thousands die in the opening battle alone, with thousands more to follow in the coming months.

In the Citadel itself, drastic measures are being prepared by parties who oppose Primarch Lacinius' heavy handed approach to the enforcement of galactic law.

Meanwhile, men and women from all over the Solar Sphere prepare for a counteroffensive unlike Humanity has ever seen.

The year is UC 0379.

The fate of the galaxy will be written on the world called Shanxi.

-000-

Mobile Suit/Mass Effect

Episode 13:

In the Promised Land

-000-

"Admiral on deck!"

The bridge crew of the battleship Crocea Mors quickly stood at attention as a tall and lithe woman, dressed in a CSF Officer's uniform strode into the chamber. While her fancifuly braided red hair and youthful appearance suggested she was better suited for a more... glamorous line of work, the commanding aura she exuded would quickly tell you she was exactly where she was meant to be.

"As you were." She quickly said, voice stern and authoritative.

The bridge crew returned to their duties, though the Mors -and the rest of the Arcturus Fleet by extent- wasn't engaged in much of anything at the moment. Right now, they were simply waiting as all the detached elements of the fleet slowly trickled back to the main force. Only once they were at full strength would they depart the Eden Prime region and head for Shanxi.

Truth be told, she was absolutely frustrated at the whole ordeal. If Drescher had her say, the entirety of Arcturus would've reinforced Shanxi weeks, if not months ago. As always, it was bureaucracy that bogged her down. The Arcturus Fleet had already agreed to help the Eden Prime Fleet to contain the Secessionist organization Eden Zeon and couldn't break that agreement so easily. Her fleet had to complete their obligations first before they were allowed to move out.

Sighing, the Admiral stood over the holographic command table at the heart of the Mors' bridge.

"Any new reports from Shanxi?" She asked.

"Still nothing since the siege began two weeks ago." One of her staff officers answered. "Nothing out of Yunnan either."

Drescher scrunched her nose to avoid vocalizing out her frustration.

"Keep an ear out. As soon as you hear something I want to be informed ASAP." She reiterated. "Anything else from that front I need to know about?"

"Ma'am, Admiral Lohengrinn's Odin Fleet, from the Valhalla Sector, reported that they're moving to reinforce Shanxi, but we haven't heard anything else from them since."

"The Boy-Admiral?" Drescher asked, somewhat derisively.

Admiral Reinhard Lohengrinn was a complicated character. He had, by all regards, gotten his position as a flag officer through nepotism thanks to his sister's husband. However, he also displayed talent for command that bordered on genius. His record was near pristine, with only minor defeats marring an otherwise perfect record of victories. This, in addition to the nepotism had made Logengrinn the youngest Space Force officer to reach the rank of Admiral.

The Admiral reluctantly had to admit that the man had what it takes to command a fleet, but his relative inexperience shows. While normally cold and calculative, Logengrinn was known for particularly vicious outbursts and verbal abuse of subordinates that couldn't meet his exceedingly high standards. He hadn't the patience that a more seasoned officer would have, and Drescher feared it could one day cause catastrophe.

"Y-yes ma'am." The staff officer hesitated to answer at first after hearing how negatively the Admiral said Logengrinn's name.

"Well, if he can keep his temper in check, he could make a real difference out there." She dismissed. "Keep an ear out for reports on his activity as well."

With a sigh, Drescher turned back to monitoring the Arcturus Fleet's status, organizing a plan of attack for when they finally made the jump to Shanxi, and other administrative tasks, instead of letting her frustration take over. Having the decision to redeploy Arcturus taken away from her was endlessly frustrating. However, since the Secretary of Defense believed that Eden Zeon was still a belligerent threat, Arcturus was bound by agreement to help the Eden Prime Fleet for the foreseeable future. Once their current obligations had been met and all the detached Arcturus Squadrons had rejoined the main fleet, only then would Drescher be free to make her move.

Damn those bureaucrats.

She took another sip of her coffee.

If only the people in charge had the guts to do what was right. Mankind needed someone who could cut through the red tape and actually get things done...

Or a group who could keep watch over Humanity, take a proactive approach to protect it from threats... like guard dogs...

The Admiral paused for a moment as the idea struck her.

Yes... that was something worth looking into in the future.

-000-

It was early in the morning when Castis Vakarian angrily marched towards the holding sections of the ISB wing in Fort Zere. A scowl was on his face, as opposed to the normally composed expression he wore. The Chief was pissed, and his subordinates knew better than to get in his way. He was on a warpath, and the object of his ire just happened to be one of his subordinates. Only something extraordinary could save them now.

The ISB Chief would've kicked open the door to the holding section... but it was an automatic sliding door, so all Castis did was quietly fume as he waited for the door to open for him. Only once he had entered and the door had closed behind him, did Castis start cutting loose.

"I've just been woken up by a dozen or so messages from General Pullo, asking me to release a staff officer of his that I've supposedly wrongfully arrested!" The ISB Chief yelled at his subordinates. "Given that I haven't been briefed on any such arrest, I'll have to assume one of you jokers were responsible this."

The ISB agents currently on duty looked to each other apprehensively, unsure how to answer the Chief's words. The two bickered non-verbally, trying to get the other to answer.

"Well?" Castis tapped his feet impatiently.

A few moments of uneasy silence passed before one of them spoke.

"Chief Vakarian, sir... our cybersecurity monitors detected an unauthorized data packet being transmitted originating from Section 5. After investigating we've... rounded down the list of suspects to someone from General Pullo's office. Given that Lieutenant Sionus was the only one currently in Fort Zere at the time, I decided to bring him in for interrogation."

Castis sighed deeply and rubbed his forehead. The Chief took a seat and hunched forward as he processed the situation.

"What did you find, Agent Sorka?" The Chief asked. "And where was it supposed to go?"

"Well, that's the thing." The other ISB agent, Agent Marro, now spoke up. "It's a heavily encrypted data package, far beyond what a regular non-classified transmission should have. As for the recipient... the package was supposed to bounce a few different comm buoys -probably to throw off trackers- but after putting the package through a VI analyzer, we believe that it was being sent to someone in the Citadel... either Zakera ward or the Presidium."

Hearing the report from his agents, the ISB Chief groaned. He felt a headache coming soon.

"Damnit all." He cursed. "Where is Lieutenant Sionus now?"

"We're keeping him in the holding cells."

"For how long?" Castis then asked with a raised browplate.

The two became uncomfortably silent for a moment, shifting where they stood while they looked for a way to answer the question without making Castis even more mad. Eventually, the chief got tired of waiting.

"You've been holding him for over a day, haven't you?" The ISB chief then said.

"Haha... yeah..." The agents sheepishly laughed.

"Damnit... at least tell me you've got something to pin on him."

"Well... kind of... it's a work in progress." Agent Sorka squirmed.

Castis gave them a deadpan look that made the two shrivel up.

"Explain." He demanded.

"W-well, we've broken through the encrypted locks on the package, but the contents are all written in code. We're having trouble deciphering what it means exactly, but it appears to be instructions."

"Instructions? For what?"

"That's what we're still trying to figure out."

The ISB Chief let out a rumble out of his throat.

This had turned into a very a delicate situation. Castis would have to step in to sort out this whole mess.

"Fine then. Agent Marro, you'll continue your codebreaking work. Agent Sorka, since you made the decision to bring him in, you get to process the Lieutenant Sionus' release papers." Castis decided. "Speaking of which, which cell are you keeping him in? I want to talk to him, see what I can find out."

"He's in Holding Cell 8, but he hasn't exactly been cooperative. We've tried every reasonable method and he still wouldn't budge."

The ISB Chief let out a little smirk after hearing that.

"I have my ways, Agent. Trust the plan."

-000-

Landing in the Aster Sea had let us get away from the space engagement, but it had been a close call. Letting the alien invasion fleet through had slackened their encirclement over our Squadron, letting us escape by following the invasion fleet down to Shanxi. Taking out over half the landing force was merely a little bonus in our getaway. It was as insane a plan as any, frankly I'm rather surprised Bullow managed to think of something so daring in the middle of tall that chaos.

Unfortunately, the landing force we had bloodied was just one out of many dropping into the planet. From what we've been able to piece together from the snippets of intel we've plucked from the airwaves, the force we fought with was meant for the Deguo continent. Now though, they were scattered across mainland Xinzhou.

The Aster Sea was big. It separated Xinzhou from Deguo and was wide enough for three CSF warships to avoid enemy air patrols. A chance rendezvous with a Congressional Navy Hospital Ship relieved us of the wounded we picked up along the way from the Bullhead Line, though they refused to take those who didn't need medical attention. It wasn't much, but it did mean we could last longer with the supplies at hand... which would be the next problem to solve.

Squadron 13 was at a crossroads. Which path we took here could mean a whole world of difference for us.

The Xinzhou continent was Shanxi's commercial, political, and military center. New Taiyuan was the colonial capital and Long Mountain Military Base housed planetary command. It wasn't too far from New Taiyuan too, so it doubled as the local garrison. We had a much better chance of resupplying and dropping off the survivors if we tried to make our way there.

However, Long Mountain had gone dark, throwing the Xinzhou command network into disarray. To make things worse, Field Marshal Marigold was also missing. She was supposed to be in charge of Shanxi's planetary defense. Her absence meant that each continent was largely on its own, which did not make our situation any less precarious.

The safer option would've been to hightail it to the Deguo continent. The regional capital of Port Tsingtao was still safe from the enemy, but that was a much further journey. We'd have to go either sail around the continent or try to dash through what was very quickly turning into contested airspace. There was every chance things could go sideways during our journey.

No matter which choice we made, Squadron 13 would need to tread carefully. Considering our predicament, Bullow called for the Monty's and Darrian's officers to come aboard Risima, so that we could brainstorm a solution together.

Captain Helio from the Darrian came aboard first. She was a strict officer. She ran a tight operation and expected her subordinates to work like a well oiled machine... though rumors were that she was something of an alcoholic. Captain Ren of the Monty arrived shortly after. He was a quiet man, much more laid back than Helio and Bullow, making him much more like Captain Koda. The man brought with him several thermoses filled with some kind of tea.

Admittedly, it was a very good brew. Mom would've loved to get her hands on something like this.

As I sipped on the tea that Captain Ren had brought, Captain Helio straightened the spectacles sitting on her nose and spoke.

"Between the Risima, Darrian, and Monty, we've got less than a week's worth of rations at most." She reported on her findings. "Whichever resupply point we're going to go to has to be one that we can reach within that timeframe."

"We landed in the middle of the Aster, the biggest and deepest sea in Shanxi." Verns then said. "Couldn't we supplement our food stocks by fishing?"

"Fishing would force us to slow down for hours each time." Helio shook her head. "It could keep our stocks in good order, but we'd be making ourselves a pack of sitting ducks while we did."

"So we have to resupply and it has to be somewhere close." Captain Ren pointed out. "Wasn't there a coastal depot that the CSF used to ferry supplies before Long Mountain's ship berths came online? If I'm remembering it right, it should be somewhere in South Eastern Xinzhou. That would be as good a bet as any."

"I know which base you're talking about, but I don't think it's an option." Bullow shot the idea down. "Mansley Base hasn't checked in for over two days now. I'm worried it's already overrun."

"Well, if the south is no good, then we'll have to head north." I pointed out. "Any depots that can take us?"

All of us present at the meeting scoured the list of Space Force, Army, and Navy depots to the north... but came up with nothing. Xinzhou's population center was on the south side of the continent, where it was warm and temperate all year round. Further north, the continent became more hostile. The land was far less arable, crops had a harder time growing, and the climate was far harsher. It was just rolling hills of grass and mountains of rock there. A few military watchpoints were built there, manned by the Colony Defense Forces... but no supply bases.

To find any major military center this far north, one would have to go even further, to Atlas Point. The massive floating base was where Bullow had hoped to resupply at in the first place, but we had strayed too far during reentry and fell too much to the south. Now our supply situation was dire and we didn't have enough to even make it half way.

I was close to tearing my hair out in frustration when something in the holographic map caught my eye.

It was a large cove in Northeastern Xinzhou. The holographic map said it was empty, but I knew that wasn't the case.

"Verns, can you include civilian air and space facilities into the map filter?" I asked my friend.

He raised a brow at my request, not quite understanding why I asked, but didn't bother asking why as he added non-military depots to the search list. The results confirmed exactly what I had been thinking.

"There." I pointed to the previously empty cove, now marked with a large civilian facility. "Yuu Liang Spaceport. That's where we should go."

"Right, of course!" Verns said, leaning back into his chair. "The answer was right there, how did we look over the Sea Dragon Farm?"

The other officers, all of them having lived in and around Shanxi for years now, nodded in agreement... all except Bullow, who had only transferred here last year.

"The... Sea Dragon Farm?" Bullow asked hesitantly, being caught out of the loop.

"An old spaceport, built into Yuu Liang Cove." Verns recounted the facility's history. "It's a relic from Shanxi's early years. Back then, we didn't have any freighters that could easily haul massive amounts of cargo from the surface to space, so the early settlers used heavy lift rockets based on a late Anno Domini era design. The Xinzhou mining industry kept them around today since industrial Mass Effect driven freighters still don't have the same carrying capacity."

"We might be able to requisition food and medical supplies there." Captain Ren added. "Engine coolant too. They'll definitely have plenty of those."

"What about spare parts?" Captain Helio asked.

"For the ships? We could probably find something." Verns answered quickly. "They're an industrial spaceport, after all. It's mobile suits spare parts and ammunition that we have to worry about."

The room fell quiet after that. It seemed we had all collectively come to the same conclusion, one that Bullow voiced for us.

"Well, looks like the Dragon Farm is our next bet." She said. "Chart a course. It's time to head northwards."

-000-

"Head northwards?" Larian repeated what his commanding officer told him.

The Turian Captain had just exited the mobile communications vehicle when Larian asked this.

"That's right, we've been ordered to head northwards." His superior confirmed, setting foot on the grassy hill that the command vehicle sat on.

Connection to Fleet Command had been extremely patchy and inconsistent. They'd only been able to cut through the radiation interference on certain times of the day, for a few minutes at a time. This compounded the regularly occurring skirmishes and raids conducted by the aliens, who so far have yet to commit a single one of their MoWS units to the attack. It was always some kind of conventional vehicle, be it tracked, wheeled, or driven by an archaic non-mass effect hovering system.

The seeming lack of enemy MoWS made the Lieutenant wonder why it is the enemy had yet to send a larger force after the battered 2nd SNLF group. Perhaps the bulk of the enemy forces were tied down fighting the 1st Group further south? Larian didn't know if he should be relieved that the enemy was bogged down fighting other Turians, or concerned that the enemy was holding off an entire SNLF Landing Group.

"The enemy's population and military centers were to the south of the continent." Larian pointed out before continuing. "The 1st Group aren't going to be able to pacify it all by themselves. Captain Corinthus, with all due respect, we should be taking our forces there to assist them."

The two officers walked away from the command vehicle together as they continued their discussion. As fate would have it, Larian was left as second in command of whatever's left of the 2nd SNLF Group, originally assigned to Continent 2 of 314-2... hence the name. Corinthus was also stepping in for a now dead SNLF General. By all rights, he should've been raised to Colonel or higher by now, but that particular detail had been lost in the chaos of the current expedition.

"Much as I agree with you, Lieutenant, FleetCom's adamant that we take Continent 2." Corinthus sighed. "Which is why we're tasked to secure what appears to be a coastal spaceport to the northwest of Continent 1. They want to use it as a staging ground to launch a proper offensive across the ocean."

Larian quietly hissed and scowled at that.

"Do they really expect us to take a continent in our current state? Or for 1st Group to hold on to the continent on their own?"

"FleetCom's working with the Army and the Huntress Corps to fast track their deployment planetside." The Captain half-heartedly answered, repeating what his own superiors told him. "We'll be getting reinforced as soon as we take that spaceport."

The two of them had continued their walk until they reached the Captain's Equitae tank. Corinthus began to climb the vehicle and mount up, even as Larian continued the conversation.

"How does FleetCom expect us to hop over to Continent 2 anyways?" Larian grumbled more than asked. "Contested air and sea isn't going to make things easy, especially with our forces spread out as it is."

By now, Corinthus had already opened the Equitae's turret cupola and slid inside, leaving his head popping out of the turret.

"Let tomorrow's problems be solved tomorrow, Lieutenant. We have plenty of problems today as it is." The tanker captain dismissed Larian's concerns. "Now get to your machine, I want to be on the move in 15 minutes and your bipeds on the vanguard... Spirits know that it won't take long for the harassing enemy scouts to figure out what our target up north is. The sooner we take that spaceport, the sooner we'll be able to dig in and get some breathing room from all this fighting."

With that, Captain Corinthus buttoned down his hatch and sealed himself in the tank. The Equitae's grav sleds activated shortly after, before driving away towards where all the other tanks were pooled.

Larian sighed and shook his head.

The expedition really was in over its own head.

-000-

The ISB Agents tasked with watching the holding cells briskly led Castis to Lieutenant Sionus. The two of them could sense that the chief was in a foul mood and wisely decided that they'd better not test his patience.

Sionus' cell was close to the rear of the facility, far from the entrance. It took a few minutes' walk before Castis could finally meet the Turian that had caused him such a headache this early in the morning.

One of the guards punched in a code which unlocked the holding cell before opening the door manually.

"Leave us." The ISB Chief ordered.

The two agents didn't need to be told twice, quickly closing the door behind Castis and scurrying off to their post.

Vakarian now turned his attention to the object of his ire. Sionus was sitting on his cot, leaning against the wall, still dressed in the black and blue dress uniform used by the Turian Army. His eyes stared down the ISB Chief defiantly. Castis knew that look. It was the look of a Turian who stubbornly believed he was in the right, regardless of whether or not he actually was.

That meant Sionus could be trouble.

"Whatever it is you want, I'm not talking without a lawyer." The Lieutenant immediately said. "I know ISB protocol. Unless you're charging me, I should've been released hours ago."

Okay, Sionus was definitely trouble.

"A regrettable error, certainly." Castis tried to smooth things with the Lieutenant. "I have my subordinates dealing with the paperwork for your release. They should be done shortly."

Sionus' eyes narrowed as he listened, a look of skepticism coloring his face.

"So you won't be charging me?"

"Not at all." Castis shook his head as he started pacing around the stark metal cell. "It's a terrible misunderstanding on my subordinate's part. You'll have to forgive Agent Sorka, he's very zealous about his work."

That skeptic expression softened Lieutenant's features... Sionus was starting to lower his guard. Castis was starting to make progress.

"I suppose I could understand that." Sionus nodded. "But still, that's no reason to violate due process. I expect Agent Sorka to be disciplined for this."

"You have my guarantee that I shall." Castis said sincerely. Agent Sorka did break a whole bunch of regulations by treating Lieutenant Sionus the way he did, so disciplinary action was always in the cards. "I'll also forward a full report to General Pullo, so that he can be assured that we're doing everything we can to set things right."

After their short conversation, Castis lead the Lieutenant out of his cell and to the front office. Agent Sorka quietly had Sionus sign his release papers, before returning all the items that the ISB agents had confiscated from him during the arrest. Nobody said anything during the exchange... which was probably for the best. Neither side had anything nice to say anyways.

The ISB chief then personally escorted Sionus out of the ISB wing of Fort Zere, speaking only once they've exited the Bureau's halls.

"Once again, I apologize for the breach in protocol, on behalf of the entire Internal Security Bureau. Agent Sorka's violation of due process will be addressed as soon as possible." Castis said, once again doing his best to worm his way into Sionus' good side. "Rest assured, I'll have a comprehensive brief and apology letter on General Pullo's desk by the time he returns from lunch break."

"Yes, yes... that's good." Sionus nodded along. His scowl had softened considerably since he left his holding cell and Castis felt like he was making some real progress with the Lieutenant. "It's reassuring to know that at least some of those in charge still hold protocol and due process in high regard in Fort Zere."

There it was! Sionus finally let his guard down. Castis had to make the most of this while he could.

"Any honorable Turian with in a good state of mind would've done the same as I have." Castis responded, further trying to ingratiate himself to the Lieutenant's good graces. "I'm sure we're not all that rare."

"Maybe, but it sure feels that way with how the Old Breed have been as of late." Sionus scoffed. "Have you seen the Primarch, lately? Must've been a dozen Military Council sessions that he's cancelled already. Sometimes I wonder if the Asari are right that Primarchs have too much centralized power."

Right on target.

So Sionus wasn't liking the Primarch's recent conduct? Well, to be frank, he wasn't the only one. Discontent with the Primarch's increasingly authoritarian tendencies have been rising among the officers... and Castis counted himself among them.

Was Sionus' discontent with the Primarch linked to the secret message he sent? More importantly, was General Pullo involved in this? These were questions Castis needed answered... yet he knew better than to push too hard too quickly. Doing that would simply cause Sionus to lock up.

No, it would seem he had to play the long game with this one.

-000-

A/N: Fairly short and uneventful this episode, I know. It's mostly setup for a lot of things that's going to happen in the next two story arcs. Speaking of which, we'll mostly be focused on Shanxi for the foreseeable future. Things will heat up in the next episode though, that's a guarantee. It'll also be the first time our Human characters will meet the Turian characters face to face... if we count fighting each other using giant 18 meter tall mechs to be 'face to face' that is.

Also -almost forgot to include this before uploading- I commissioned a friend of a friend to draw the Gunstrike for me. You can find it at

(d e v ! a n t) a r t (d o t) com /slash/ quattrobacheema /slash/ art /slash/ M-18-E-Gunstrike-1037366421.

God I hope that thing above doesn't get me flagged.

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THIS WORK IS CROSSPOSTED IN FFNET AND AO3