It was a quiet moment in the thicket of trees. Rare, considering he were in an active warzone, but then again, Matthew mused, it was in his job description. Covert Ops like him weren't supposed to be in the thick of it, though with an enemy like the Strogg, he could never be certain he was truly unwatched. He still half expected they had invisible troopers watching his every move or something like that. Though with the end of the thicket ahead, Matthew focused.
Just barely peeking his head out, he looked through his sniper rifle at the Strogg encampment. One of their ships had decided to fly just a bit too low in the atmosphere and got blasted by a strategic missile. Although just smashed by a missile and subsequent crash landing, the aliens built their machines good and the ship had survived mostly intact. GDF command had ordered the nearest battalion to get over there pronto and capture the wreckage, before Strogg forces could scuttle it.
Looking at them was just as freaky as when they first arrived. It all began when various space telescopes noticed an irregularity near Pluto. Specifically, it seemed like one of it's moons has disappeared. It was only days later when the horrible truth was revealed. Inside the moon was a gateway, out of which poured horrific aliens known only as the Strogg. They arrived to Earth and immediately rained hell down on us. At first we thought it was mass destruction, but it didn't take long for us to realize they were targeting heads of government specifically. It was the mother of all decapitation strikes. Then, they sent down the landing ships. With ruthless precision they hit civilian population centers, rounding up as many people as possible to be mutilated into more of their cybernetic kind. No conventional military could stop them, and only one unconventional one could come close.
It was pure luck the Global Defense Force existed. The United Nations approved a multi-national force to counter terrorism and provide support to impoverished countries. It passed by the narrowest of margins. By virtue of being made up of multiple countries, the GDF didn't have a central command or structure. They were the only military still somewhat able to have operations in a post-Strogg world.
Matthew shook himself out of his headspace and went back to scouting the wreckage. Command gave him an order and he was going to follow it. Though he had his doubts. The GDF might have grit, desperation, and the backing of the best minds on the planet, but the Strogg were an alien empire beyond anything else humanity had seen before. They had ships and technology that made the best weapons mankind could produce look like firecrackers. If they weren't hunting for bodies, no doubt they would just blow up every possible source of resistance. Could humanity, planet bound as it was, compare to that?
Though he didn't want to admit it, Matthew felt like they were gonna need a miracle.
The stars twinkled silently in the distance. Not that they ever did anything different, but Captain Victrus could do with some change in scenery. He was in charge of the small colonization fleet, the defense portion of it anyway. It was a standard flight out from Hierarchy space. Go to the nearest system with a proper star, check for any garden worlds, inevitable found out there were none, dump the static charge from the Element Zero core into the nearest gas giant or moon, leave a comm buoy, go to the nearest system, and rinse and repeat until they found a colonizable planet. It was slow, tedious work, but with no opening Mass Relays it was the only real way to find new worlds.
The fleet entered the new system, already slowing down from FTL. Victrus already started barking out orders. "Alright, you all know the drill, start scanning the system, check for any garden worlds."
The bridge crew diligently performed their duty, talons tapping away at consoles and devices. Turians did not do their jobs half way. Just as Victrus was settling back into his seat, ready for this system to be another dud, a private called out "Sir, I'm detecting multiple sensor signals. They appear to be a fleet of ships."
Victrus' head perked up. "Could be pirates. Check the models and numbers." While fighting pirates was technically his job, space combat was never an enjoyable experience. The private responded "Over a hundred, mostly at cruiser grade, some are frigates. They don't match any models in our databases and seem to be clustered around the third planet from the star."
"Sir" another private called "readings indicate the third planet is a garden world. And there appears to be sign of civilization on it."
Vitrus grunted. They may have stumbled upon a pirate stronghold. "Send a signal to the civilian ships, tell them to turn back to Hierarchy space. Inform them we have a massive group of pirates. And inform all military ships to do a slow burn towards the third planet."
Quickly his orders were carried out. The cruisers and frigates under his command, led by his ship, the Skyward Thrust, flew forward. Bridge crew continued to call out readings, from size and shape to formation. Most washed over him, quietly absorbed by his subconscious, until a voice rang out "I'm seeing a large source of gravity fluctuations on the other side of the system. Like a Relay."
"This just keeps getting worse and worse" Victrus muttered to himself. When they had passed the fourth planet's orbital ring, several of the alien ships began to turn to face his fleet. Thye were sending out hails, but no response was detected. The situation just seemed to get worse and worse, and Victrus had a bad feeling, vindicated when one of the ships released a burst of missiles. He nearly called to charge GARDIAN turrets when the barrage turned and impacted the planet below.
"They're bombarding a garden world. Alright, all ships, enter battle formation and begin calculating firing solutions, whatever these aliens have come to this planet for, I highly doubt they have any good reason to be bombing a garden world. We're likely dealing with hostiles and we cannot afford to show weakness here."
Finally, approached the orbital ring of the planet's moon. Victus prepared a final hail. "Alien vessels, we are soldiers of the Turian Hierarchy. In bombarding this garden world you are in violation of it's laws. Explain yourselves immediately or we will open fire."
Silence. Just as Victrus was going to order a strike with their mass accelerators, a private called out "I'm detecting energy buildup on several ships!"
Immediately afterward the enemy ships opened fire. Large blasts of energy crashed into Hierarchy vessels, mission killing several of them and causing one that had taken five beams to be torn outright apart. The Skyward Thrust itself had taken one of the blasts and rocked backwards, knocking Victrus out of his chair. "By the Spirits, what are those things firing?!"
"Several cruisers are firing escape pods, several more report large damage to their sides and front, we're venting atmosphere!" The bridge crew scrambled to get back into position. Victrus screamed out "Fire all weapons now!"
In coordination with most of the other Turian ships, the Skyward Thrust unleashed several rounds from its main cannon, though the barrage was severely weaker than initially planned. Some of the enemy ships took damage from the cannons, though they did not show kinetic barriers. Another barrage of energy followed, even more ships being outright destroyed. Victrus' ship took to blows to it's midsection.
"Massive damage across the ship. We're venting atmosphere, we need to get out of here!"
Victrus was pissed. But he couldn't argue here. They had picked a fight without knowing the full capabilities of their opponents and now were paying the price. "Fine, alert all crew to flee to escape pods and dropships. Aim for the garden world. If we stay in the void they'll just pick us off."
As the bridge crew began to evacuate, Victrus stared ahead. He didn't know what aliens these were, but he knew that this wouldn't be the last time they battled the Turians. A response fleet would surely be coming, notified by the civilian ships, the ones that were meant to colonize this world. If they got here fast enough, he and his ships could still live. With that thought in mind, he left the bridge.
Author's Note: Hey guys. This is my first new story in a long while and I still consider myself to be a novice writer, so feel free to go a bit hard on me.