"The Turian Phoenix, flying high against the AI threat!" - Pro-Turian rally following the battle of Hanan Pacha, Ventrire City, Jangala

"Military personnel are hereby forbidden from playing the theme song of "Fleet and Flotilla" on loudspeakers when deployed alongside Hierarchy troops. This also extends to the Turians, the excuse of 'they offered to play it for you' is not valid." - "Army Primer: Do's and Do-Not's", 200th Legion Infantry Command

"An artificial intelligence is a self-aware computing system capable of learning and independent decision making. Creation of a conscious AI requires adaptive code, a slow expensive education, and a specialized quantum computer called a "blue box" or an advanced neural lattice substitute called a "generative matrix." Artificial intelligence is split between two key classes: Council-standard AI and Domain-standard AI. Domain-standard AI are significantly more powerful than their Council-standard counterparts, but are more susceptible to development of superiority complexes and other near-psychological disorders. The means of control for such AI are only known to the Domain." - Codex Entry: Artificial Intelligence, 24.02.2167 Update

~{•••}~

Ravis could feel it in the air, as could Corinthus back on the planet surface and their Hegemony counterparts.

They were about to engage the enemy.

According to the admiral of the Hegemony 3rd Fleet, Maxwell Fletcher, they could finally identify some of the ships within Tri-Tachyon's fleet. One of them, the command ship leading the enemy fleet, was an Astral-class Carrier. When she had inquired as to why he sounded worried, the admiral confessed that the Astral-class was in a league of its own.

And looking at the technical data given to her, she had to agree.

There was no conceivable way to plan around it this late into their preparations, but she would be remiss not to study the ship design as much as she could. Originally, she had been confused as to the significance of a carrier - they were large ships, yes, but oftentimes they filled a niche role in combat, and very often stayed far away from any sort of engagement. This carrier wasn't an exception to that rule, but it did make up for that fact in more ways than one.

Namely, the fact it could be outfitted with long-range missile weaponry. Again, they had no idea what sort of missiles they were carrying, and despite only being capable of fielding two missile systems, the level of adaptability she was seeing was concerning. The ships of this galaxy were strange, and now she would have to see if they were effective. But, in her career as admiral, there was one thing she was taught never to do - and that was to underestimate her enemy. This modularity could prove to be the undoing of many a fleet, especially if they had intelligence on the composition, loadout and positioning of said fleets well in advance. But that was only one of her grievances with the Astral-class, the second being the fact it was a carrier.

She was given an estimate of how fast fighters and bombers were in this galaxy. And, very distressingly, they could keep up with her ships. More than that, they had the maneuverability to outflank them if push came to shove. Fortunately, she made it a point to have GARDIAN lasers on standby fleet-wide at all times during combat scenarios. She supposed that'd have to be enough. Still, that did little to address the third fact.

It was the size of a Spirits-damned dreadnought.

As if she could catch any sort of break.

Other ships in the enemy fleet included Heron-class Cruisers, exactly seven of them. These ships, as she was told, were the more traditional carriers familiar to her. That is to say, they had virtually no capacity to engage in direct combat. The rest were a combination of Sunder-class Destroyers, Shrike-class Destroyers and Tempest-class Frigates.

The presence of destroyer-class ships had surprised her initially, but then she reminded herself that this galaxy did void combat differently.

She blinked as a notification reached her omni-tool. The battle had finally begun.

The defense fleet wasn't small, but neither was it equipped to deal with a carrier-centric fleet, per Fletcher's words. Consisting of a single Dominator-class Cruiser, three Falcon-class Cruisers, five Enforcer-class Destroyers and another, separate section of three Enforcer-class Destroyers, it was enough to delay the inevitable. She was there to break the offensive, which only now made perfect sense in her mind. Her fleet was to be the trump card that'd break the tide.

The Dominator and the three Enforcers were intriguing due to the fact that they stood out much more than the other ships. Something she found out the day earlier was because those ships were a cut above the rest. Survivors of the original XIV Battlegroup that had arrived in the Persean Sector, she recalled. Besides the original colouration of light and dark rust brown, they had streaks and lines of bright orange, a common theme within the Hegemony, it would seem.

Reviewing the plan one last time, she began watching the battle on the tactical display in earnest. Fletcher was to distract the Tri-Tachyon fleet until he sent her the attack signal, at which point she would pincer the enemy from both sides and engage the Astral-class to break cohesion and, ultimately, force them to retreat. It wasn't long before Tri-Tachyon's far faster and more agile fleet reached the defense line, ships coming unnervingly close to other ships as they bridged the gap expertly. Both sides, she surmised, had no distinct advantage over the other, not counting Tri-Tachyon's slowly approaching fleet of carriers with fighter craft that put the Hierarchy's own to shame.

Tri-Tachyon's way of waging battles was oddly reminiscent of the Asari. They dove in and out of combat, never committing until it was advantageous for them to do so. But even then, elements lingered, ships were left behind so that they would disallow their enemies the chance to regroup and organize. That, combined with their penchant for keeping at range unless necessary (surmised from this one engagement, of course), told her that this foe would be different from others.

The Hegemony, on the other hand, was a wall. It went into battle with the firm belief that they would outlast their opposition in a protracted fight. It was a wall of layers upon layers of armour and overlapping firing envelopes, a wall of kinetic and explosive projectiles which raced to their targets in cold fury. But just like with every wall, there were the foundations. And the foundations of this particular wall were not as strong as she would've liked. As soon as the carriers joined the fight, the cracks would begin to show. The other ships were there to distract and obfuscate, a particularly effective camouflage for the true threat that was approaching Fletcher's fleet. But she was there just for that possibility, the perfect trap with which to turn the tides around.

And then, it fell apart.

"Report!" She commanded as alarms started blaring. To her satisfaction, the crew did not forget their training and discipline, even on the eve of their, possibly, first true taste of combat after the Relay 314 Incident.

"Second fleet on approach to Hanan Pacha, admiral! Bearing 173! Detecting at least three ships bearing Tri-Tachyon signatures!"

"Scan the fleet."

Silence, at first. "Five Valkyrie-class Transports, two Medusa-class Destroyers, four Phaeton-class Tankers, four Buffalo-class Freighters, admiral." The reply was as forthright as it was damning.

They knew...

The tactician within her found the idea brilliant. Shrewd. They knew that the defense fleet was not the only one present near Hanan Pacha, and rather than risk being overwhelmed or possibly outflanked, they presented an impossible situation to the defenders. This was most likely the ground invasion fleet. Tri-Tachyon separated the two halves of an occupation force, and sent them to fulfill their objectives separately of one another. Thus, they gave Kandros an uncomfortable decision to make. Either she engaged the carrier fleet as planned, thus leaving little, if anything to impede the invasion fleet, or she dealt with the invasion fleet and potentially allowed Fletcher to be overwhelmed and defeated, exposing her flank and leaving herself in a disadvantaged position.

She couldn't rely on the Quarians. They had made their decision known - they were there to counter Tri-Tachyon's attempts at electronic warfare. As fearsome as she knew the Flotilla could be, four ships barely constituted that, most especially since one of them was a lightly armed vessel compared to the others. Specialized civilian one, she assumed.

Damn these people. They waged war much more differently than she'd imagined.

"Orders, admiral?" A crewman asked, still focusing on their work as they kept watch of the second fleet. She thought for a moment. Neutralizing the invasion forces that'd make planetfall would ensure that Corinthus, his men and the Hegemony ground forces wouldn't be engaged in combat, and, at worst, they'd be facing a significantly weakened offensive. That would, however, risk the planet's overall defense and all but ensure that Fletcher was going to be overrun.

Sticking to the plan ensured the greatest chance of repelling the main fleet led by that Astral-class, but it also meant that she would have to completely abandon Corinthus to Tri-Tachyon's forces planetside until she could come back and assist them.

"We proceed with the plan." It was a choice that made the most sense. They were Turians, and they would endure. And when they endured, their entire war machine would roar to life and annihilate the corporate forces and their AI pets once and for all. That, of course, couldn't come to pass if they didn't live to inform them of how they fought.

Corinthus would have to hold out on his own alongside the Hegemony's forces on the ground. But, she was certain he would succeed.

There was no dissent to the decision. So focused were they that they recognized why she chose this course of action, even if some of them, perhaps, did not agree with it or its reasoning.

The signal was sent, and the fleet immediately jumped to action. Moving from their positions, every ship worked in coordination with one another, an example of Turian discipline and martial prowess. Today, they'd show this mirror galaxy what exactly they were made of, and why one galaxy already feared and respected the Turian war machine.

The fleet moved as planned, meaning that everything was going well so far. How long that would last... she couldn't say.

Wouldn't.

It was best to deal with it when the time came. And that time was quickly approaching.

~{•••}~

"INCOMING!"

Shockwaves from an artillery shell hit them like a wall, the Turians sputtering a little as they quickly recovered and got back behind safer cover.

Six hours. It had taken six hours for Tri-Tachyon to land on the outskirts of Kelsen City, take out the planet's entire network of defensive guns, enter the city suburbs and, finally, enter the city proper. The soldier in him balked at such a series of events taking place in so short a time frame.

When the Armiger Legion was sent to assist the humans of a mirror galaxy in a war against AI's which threatened to spill into their own galaxy, and more specifically to the Citadel, the Hierarchy was under the assumption that the humans of the 'Hegemony' had everything well in hand, and only needed reinforcements to help shore up any potentially problematic fronts. Spirits, they were under the impression that any ground battle would play out similarly to Shanxi during the Relay 314 Incident. Apparently, they couldn't have possibly been farther from the truth.

The Turians weren't caught flat-footed, no, far from it. They responded to the initial incursions into the suburbs with gusto, cooperating with their Hegemony counterparts well enough. The initial incursions were repulsed swiftly and efficiently, with minimal casualties on their side.

Then the mechs came. Supported by infantry, the three-legged battlefield monsters unleashed their HMG's onto any machine and vehicle which possessed shields and kinetic barriers.

Once those were down, infantry rushed in with armour piercing weapons and forced the defenders to withdraw to secondary defensive lines. So he was told, at least.

"Vakarian! What do you see?"

Garrus Vakarian, part of the Armiger Legion and among the first Turians to set foot on a planet in a different galaxy. His tenure in the Hierarchy's military wasn't supposed to be anything grand, mostly relegated to anti-piracy action and military enforcement on several colonies as ordered by Palaven Command and the Citadel Council. But, as luck (or fate) would have it, recent... "developments" have made those expectations obsolete and outdated. Instead, he would now be in a war.

A war which, by all metrics, should have been perfect for the Hierarchy. A war in which they could let loose everything and crush their opposition without regard for the enemy, given that half of them would be organic-hating AI's and their misguided or mad creators.

Instead, here he was, in a city within friendly territory which was under siege by a corporation and their mercenaries. Or, far more accurately and immediately for him, staring down a large, tracked vehicle with the meanest looking engine block he ever laid his eyes on through the scope of his sniper rifle. He couldn't forget the rather squat and round turret spinning around as if searching for them, either. A tank, he recalled. Most, if not every modern military all but phased them out, or modified them heavily so they couldn't exactly be classified as tanks anymore.

"Turret's looking for us. Front is still facing away, we likely caught it moving to a better position." He explained, sighing in restrained relief when the turret spun back to the front. "Turret's back front. Wait a minute or two, let's see if it moves."

He could feel the five others in his squad tense up in spite of his claims, and for good enough reason. Tachy mercs were thorough. Very, very thorough, as they found out. Unless they believed the job was done, they'd remain alert. Fortunately, Garrus' instincts were proven right this time. The tank lurched forward, kicking up a cloud of dust as it did.

"Last thing I expected was for a Spirits-damned tank to fire a Spirits-damned artillery shell." One of the Turians groaned, caressing the back of his neck.

"Got nicked by those HMGs on its front twice. Twice, and it killed the whole barrier." Another retold, making Garrus shudder a little. His first experience with those guns earned him a nice view of quite a few humans dead on the ground, riddled with holes. The rate of fire on those guns was ridiculous, it's as if they didn't fear running out of ammunition for them.

Another nodded. "Yeah, I remember that. Let's go, whole sector's compromised, and air support isn't flying into enemy CAP's."

With a series of nods and affirmative grunts, the six of them moved out.

He needed to stay focused. All of them did, in truth, but he needed it the most. He was the greenest of all six, besides perhaps one Lantar Sidonis. Another person he likely never would've met if they weren't shipped off to fight in this war.

Sidonis kept watch of their flank, their squad leader took point, and Garrus was right ahead of Sidonis. If they couldn't return to their lines, at least not now, they'd have to set up shop in one of the skyscrapers and pick off their enemies from there. A solid plan with a solid chance of success.

However, there was a problem with choosing exactly which skyscraper to shelter in.

Tachy patrols were plenty. Merc patrols moreso. The common thing about them, unfortunately, was the protection provided to them by the tanks. The squad of six noticed quickly that, as they slowly moved through the abandoned streets of the city, that every sector under Tri-Tachyon control was quickly locked down by tanks, enabling their forces to move unfettered to the frontline. If any sniper dared shoot at the infantry, the tanks would very quickly identify where they were shooting from and make a few new holes in the side of the building, most assuredly killing the sniper, or at least compromising their position.

Combined arms at its finest. The only reason the Armiger Legion couldn't deploy their own air assets as freely as they wanted to was because they quickly found out that Tri-Tachyon, despite having their main carrier force tied up fighting the defense fleets, brought along specialized hunter-killer drones which hunted down any air asset mercilessly and single-mindedly.

In short, most, if not all elements the Turian infantry worked alongside with were restricted. Armour by the tanks and mechs, and aircraft by the hunter-killer Combat Air Patrols.

The only ones readily able to counter these adversaries were the Hegemony's own combat elements. Although not numerically extensive (as much as he wanted them to be, Garrus admitted), they had two things going for them, admittedly.

One, they had tanks as well. Last he heard, they were moving out of the suburbs and into the streets of the city proper to establish kill-zones for mercenaries and corporate forces to pile into.

Two, they were apparently the elite fighting force of the Hegemony, the fabled 200th Legion - a "pre-Collapse" element of a much, much larger army.

"Finally, CommNet's online again." The squad's communications specialist declared, already requesting new orders and updates on the status of the fighting. "Thank the Quarians for propping it back up." She said.

"Just in the nick of time." Garrus heard Sidonis state. "Any update on what's going on?"

"One moment..." She trailed off, the squad hunkering down in an abandoned restaurant. Overturned tables and still unfinished food painted the scene of a life turned upside down in a moment's notice. "Got it. Tri-Tachyon is still encircling the city. The river is a no-go for civilian evacuation, they're locked-in for bombing from those tankers up in orbit."

"Any word from General Corinthus or any other officer?"

She shook her head. "None. We're getting intermittent orders from General Kirkman of the 200th, however. He wants any squad behind enemy lines to distract or destroy any tanks they come across. Some of them are being ordered to the front, it seems, and he doesn't want them there."

It made sense. Destroying them would be optimal, but keeping them in place was good enough.

With short, clipped updates on the status of their guns as well as the state of their thermal regulators, the squad went on the move again.

"Anyone else find it weird how Tri-Tachyon moved in so fast?"

Garrus shook his head. "Not really. Intel says they caught one fleet, probably didn't catch the second one. I read a bit about them, they're every bit as tech-savvy as the Quarians." He decided to thank one of them if he saw them in the future. Without them, it could've been a whole lot worse, he imagined.

"Then we should be thankful that the Hegemony's accepting any kind of help." Another squaddie stated, scanning his surroundings for a moment before vaulting over a piece of debris. He made sure to stick an explosive charge on the side of said debris, just so the enemy had a nice little surprise if they ever ran through here.

Continuing to trek through rarely trodden ground, the distant sounds of a raging battle kept intensifying, with distant, thundering booms accentuating the unintelligible staccato of rapid, controlled gunfire.

The squad leader raised his arm in a motion to stop, each member getting onto a knee.

Rumbling which inched ever closer to them was now more audible than before. A tank, they suspected, but something felt off about the sound of it. It had an imperceptible bass to it and a deep, bone-vibrating thrumming coming from its general location. They decided to get into a building and scout it out before deciding whether to engage and distract or find a better target that they could suppress effectively.

Garrus positioned himself at the edge of a window overlooking the nearby intersection down below, giving hand signals to his squad in order to describe what he saw. Mostly soldiers and a few support weapons carried by antigrav platforms, but now he also had a look at what was causing such rumbling.

And by the Spirits, it was a beast.

Up-gunned, up-armoured and taking up the entire width of the street, which was in no way narrow, the tank he saw was somehow even more aggressive-looking than the one they encountered.

He was by no means a vehicle designer, hell, his primary fascination was with simple guns such as sniper rifles, but even he could recognize that whatever this tank was, it could deliver a massive amount of punishment. Although possessing only one turret, it was a large one, larger than any he'd ever seen. He then started counting how many HMG's it had. Three up front, one on the turret itself, two on the track armouring and two on each side of the turret cupola. Even those guns looked meaner and bigger than the ones he saw. Sidonis approached him, the man looking through his own scope.

They watched in silence as both of them now described the tank - Garrus with hand signals and Sidonis with rather hushed explanations and elaborations. Then, he pointed something out to Garrus. "What's that?"

He quickly pivoted his sniper, taking care to minimize the glint of his scope as he did. On the side of the tank was a rather faded logo of some sort, but as he focused on it, Sidonis let out a gasp. "No way..."

"What?"

"Logo. We've seen it when we landed. Remember?"

He racked his brain trying to recall what he meant. And then, just as suddenly as he started, it hit him at full speed.

Legion of Whispering Death - Domain 200th

Stolen, or a remnant of an older time, a bygone era now twisted and perverted by the current generation. That tank was massive.

"I'm reporting it." The comms specialist swiftly said, already setting up a connection to the Command Center. "Command, this is Leviticus-One, requesting to speak with an officer from the 200th, over."

A crackle of static answered initially, before a voice fit for any respectable veteran answered. "This is General Kirkman, Leviticus-One. You have intel for the 200th? Over."

They all stiffened a bit, but other than that, nothing had changed. "Yes, sir. Spotted a tank on the intersection between Bertram's and Leopold, massive. Heavily armoured and sporting your legion's faded insignia. Over."

Silence, at first. "Can you confirm this? Over."

"Yes, sir. Two of our squaddies confirm it, they're running recon. Over."

"Shit." He paused, as if to look for information, or simply vent out whatever he was feeling. "That's an M84-T3 'Atlantic Wall'. I know exactly what you're referring to, only one the 200th used pre-Collapse. I'm not sure how the mercenaries got it working, but even if it's outdated by roughly 200 years, it's still leagues better than anything we have between your forces and mine. Don't let it get to the front, that's an order. I'll brief General Corinthus about your assignment, he'll likely give you any support that he can. Over."

"Understood, general. Out." The line went dead.

A tense silence fell upon the squad. They knew what had to be done. And Garrus, at least, was going to make sure they all got out of this alive.

One way or the other.

~{•••}~

"-shitbox with no AC, because guess who decided it was more important to fix the fucking turret's HMG when we already had seven others!"

"Shut it! The engine was good on this thing before you decided to needlessly improve it! Wasted a bunch of spare parts yourself!"

Domino wanted to kill himself.

Working with Tri-Tachyon was always a hit-or-miss, and by Ludd was it a massive hit this time. Did the money actually justify deploying the Atlantic Wall, though? Well, no, it didn't. Not mentally, at least.

Mike Domino and the "First Piece" mercenary outfit were old hands at requisitioning pre-Collapse tech and fixing it up as best they could. Having started out as simple salvors, they quickly became proper mercenaries once they unearthed a cache of marine armour and weapons. After that, they simply kept stumbling upon more and more Domain-era tech and before they knew it, they found a genuine M84-T3 on Maxios of all places.

Sure, it was in a horrible state, and it took them over eight cycles to get it back into working order, but once Domino and his crew scrounged up the spare parts necessary for it, it was as easy as pie to bring it back into operation.

First thing they did with it? Raid the Hegemony.

After the disaster on Opis, they weren't really fit to call themselves the successors to the Domain, at least in the eyes of Domino and his like-minded band of misfit mercenaries. Hell, no one in the Sector was, but the Hegemony topped that list by a mile. Tri-Tachyon was scum, but at least they were honest about it, in their own way.

Which, of course, led himself (the commander), Saturn (their impassioned gunner), Straitjacket (the bitchy driver), Radar (their resident mathematician and namesake operator), Peacock (the equally bitchy second gunner), Raptor (the meanest medic they knew) and Juno (their mechanic with choice comments about 'shoddy' work) to fight both the Heggies and their new allies, the Birds, on Hanan Pacha. And they weren't the only merc outfits on the planet, either - Domino remembered spotting the "Devil Dogs" somewhere in the suburbs before they split off from the main force. Meaning that this was a majority merc force.

Meaning Tri-Tachyon was throwing astronomical amounts of credits at this job.

Meaning shit was gonna hit the fan soon.

"Nothing on scans, sir."

"Radar-" Domino stopped himself. Little bastard learned how to read his face and realize what Domino was gonna say before he himself knew. That answered that, at least.

"Okay, keep an eye on our surroundings. We're going to the front." He wiped a bead of sweat off of his forehead. He had to agree with Straitjacket this time - an AC would've been a Ludd-send right about now.

"Hey Saturn, bring the turret up to that building on our left." Straitjacket sounded off, now seemingly focused on his driving to continue fussing over the lack of an air conditioner.

"Uh huh. What for?"

"One of them Birds popped out the window a second ago. Might be funny to give them a scare, make them do something stupid."

A Bird? This deep in Tachy territory?

It was likelier than one thought. "Yeah, just make sure they don't blow off any of those HMG's, or it'll be your ass on the line next op."

Juno was smacked upside the head by Raptor, the woman not wanting to deal with the arguments any longer. "Knock it off, it's your ass in the sling if I hear you bitch and moan one more time."

"Yes ma'am."

Domino grinned. He felt the tank's weight shift a little bit as the turret started pointing at the building. COFFIN systems were amazing, and they were probably even better pre-Collapse. Reactivating it took the better part of three cycles, but it paid off in dividends. Every crewman could look out of the tank without any view ports, meaning that, short of an armour-piercing weapon, they couldn't be hurt in any way.

He watched as Peacock jerked with his controllers a little, likely aiming the HMG's at the same building. Domino grabbed hold of his radio. "Anyone got eyes on the building we're aiming at?"

The mercenaries on the outside halted as they raised their weapons, now somewhat on edge. "Yeah. Want us to investigate?"

"That'd be real nice, right about now. Noticed a Bird inside, could be a few more." He paused, eyes landing on Radar. The man nodded, earning a smile from Domino. "Link your cams with Radar and turn on your motion sensors. Might need to get into a firefight. If so, just flush 'em out here, and we'll do the rest."

This was turning into a relief for his beleaguered mind. This way, with combat now imminent, he didn't need to listen to his crew argue inside the cramped confines of a plasteel sarcophagus.

He really was one lucky sunnovabitch.

Aaaand CUT! Welcome to part one of the Hanan Pacha arc! I'm gonna be focusing on this planet for a while before eventually doing a time skip (as everything would be a repeat of the same formula) until we get to the unique stuff again. As always, thank you for the follows, favourites and reviews that you are leaving, and I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, as well! If you've any questions or suggestions, either leave a review and I'll answer it in the next chapter, or reach out directly through DM's! As always, have fun and stay safe.

Frankieu - Yep! It's real fun planning for the war, and although I only teased space combat this chapter, you're gonna see it next time! For now, enjoy the set-up for what's to come.

Halo - Thanks for reading and leaving a review for each chapter. Not entirely sure what the questions are for, if you wanna ask something, you could reach out to me in DM's and I'll try and clear things up as best I can.

This chapter was brought to you by the Tri-Tachyon Corporation. Titan of the energy conversion, generation and projection industries, and pioneer of AI technology.