EA and Bioware own this stuff, and I guess Disney too, still not me.

Reviews:

Tom2011: Thank You.

opus fecker: Thank You as well.

Azai Jin: up until this point the only turians that have seen blasters and lightsabers are the boarders in chapter one, and they're all dead, so they are still mostly blind to the Sith's true technological prowess, and will continue to be until they meet The Vengeance of Nox. Plus the arrogance of putting themselves above other races isn't just a turian issue, as you shall see down the line. I like the way you think about reality checks.

Asharzal: When humanity settled full time on Mars/Korriban, the dark energies there awoke their latent powers and influenced their DNA, making red skin a physical trait once again, since the DNA was there but suppressed by their ancestors when they devolved themselves. And yes, 'justice,' will be brutal and will see the Sith look to their ancestors for inspiration.

Guest from 12/10: They are much more powerful, mostly because they're military is their main focus at the moment. As for the Saren vs Anderson fight... read on below.

jctherebel: The turians have yet to really see any of the Sith's weaponry on the infantry scale, the only ones who did all died before they could report. they'll learn soon though.

M1stymix: Okay I see what you're saying now. It won't terribly affect the story, as infantry scale mass accelerator weapons are not long for the galaxy. Yes, this will be pretty one sided, but Saren's main weakness is that he has no idea how to fight a Sith Lord. If/when he learns, he can apply every trick he has to killing one.

Kagega: Close but not quite, and Saren is not getting away clean from this.

SurplusHook: Here's more for you.

jmknz777: I plan to.

Comet9: Thank You.

atengawchak: Mercy is the last thing on most of their minds. Here's the thing, would the super peaceful asari rather put resources into fighting the Sith, especially after seeing what their tech can do, or try everything to get them on their side, even if that requires some compromise?

CVSzasz: Normally I'd agree with you about Disney canon, but there's a purpose for that, I promise.

HadrianCaeser: Thank You (also, it won't let me put the dot in your name for some reason, it just erases it when I click save on the doc editor)

heartfanglives: The wreckoning is coming.

Mandalore the Survivor: I wasn't planning on doing a Mandalore storyline, as I will mostly focus on the Reaper War in later episodes, but there will still be a healthy does of Mandalorian politics sprinkled throughout the story. Saren and Anderson will both learn from their battle here and adapt to fight one another in time. Atrocities will be commited, but that's the horrors of war for you. You are very astute about Victus, his experience here will shape how he operates and what he supports in later parts.

Now, on with the Show!

Lightyears away from the battle for Shanxi, within the Arcturus system, the gateway to Sol where lay Mother Earth and Father Korriban, the home worlds of the Sith, huge ships gather en mass around the giant orbital station that acts as the Alliance Parliament and Ministry headquarters, Arcturus station. While Terminus destroyers accompany the amassing fleet, they fly in the shadows of the Harrower-Class Star Destroyers, the backbone of the Alliance Navy.

From the relay, a dozen or so terminus destroyers limp into the system, baring heavy damage in their battle against the turians. From the bridge of the lead Star Destroyer, The Judgement of Marr, a woman marked as an admiral watches the defeated ships make their way to the station. Her face is touched by age and her hair is more grey than blonde, but her eyes hold a focus of a woman decades younger. She scans through ships as they pass directly by her vessel and narrows them at what she sees, or rather doesn't see.

"Lieutenant," she calls out.

A woman with cybernetics along the left side of her face rushes to the admiral's side, "Yes, Admiral Drescher?"

"The last word from Shanxi was that they had a transport full of civilians coming and they'd be delayed due to loading beyond their normal capacity, correct?"

"Yes ma'am."

"So where is it?" Drescher inquires, "It should have arrived before any of the Shanxi defenders."

The command console in front of her lights up, "They're hailing us."

"Put them on, I will have answers from them," Drescher orders.

The Lieutenant activates the holocomm and a captain appears before her in blue light, "Admiral… Captain Muliani reporting…"

The look of utter defeat on the man's face worries the admiral, "Report, Captain, what happened?"

"They… We were forced to withdraw, the enemy came at us with over seven hundred warships, they overwhelmed us and… they targeted the last civilian transport, we tried to defend it, but we couldn't intercept the shots in time," his sorrow evolves into rage, "The ship went down with its 16,000 passengers. Captain Irons ordered our retreat just before he rammed the enemy ship that did it."

Drescher and her lieutenant freeze, "Captain… Confirmation on your report. You said that the civilian vessel was targeted specifically by enemy forces as it tried to flee?"

"That is correct ma'am."

Drescher's breathing becomes deep, her teeth clench, and she trembles. As her face begins to turn red, she slams her fist on the console and the hologram disappears. The sound is loud enough to draw the attention of every officer nearby as she turns away from the console with a furious snarl.

"Hackett!" Drescher roars across the bridge.

A man with a well-trimmed goatee with just the slightest bit of grey moving in at the edges marches toward her and salutes, "Ma'am?"

"Get the fleet ready to deploy as soon as possible, we're moving the moment all troops are on board." Drescher commands.

The cyborg lieutenant gasps, "Admiral we're still waiting on most of the 1st Exploration Fleet to return, we'd be going into battle at only 70% capacity."

"16,000," Drescher responds, "That's how many of our people have died waiting for us to get our asses into gear. I'm through waiting, and to the Jedi Scum with whomever wants to try and stop me. I gave you an order, Vice Admiral, I expect you to follow it."

"Gladly," Hackett growls, "I'll report back the moment we can make the relay jump, Ma'am."

Hackett double-times it away and begins relaying orders to the bridge and to the fleet. The lieutenant is less enthused about the ordeal, "Ma'am, is that wise? According to the reports, we'd be outnumbered four to one with the numbers we have here."

Drescher shoots her subordinate a dirty snarl, "So you would have us shy away from vengeance? What kind of Sith are you? Did the Old Empire cower and shy away from conflict because they were outnumbered? The Galactic Republic outnumbered them my magnitudes, yet our ancestors fought on regardless, and beat them into submission in the Great Galactic War. The numbers have, Always, been stacked against us, Lieutenant, but that's what makes us Sith. We fight, we survive, and we win despite it all. Now get it together and get this hunk of durasteel moving!"

"Yes Ma'am!" the lieutenant salutes as she rushes off.

The bridge explodes into a flurry of activity as preparations are rushed. Ships throughout the fleet do likewise once news disseminates throughout the fleet and shuttles hasten their deliveries and pickups fighters and bombers are loaded into each battlecruiser at an unprecedented rate. The Judgement of Marr completes preparations and flies right up to the relay, others follow suit until the full fleet of 154 Harrower Star Destroyers and 102 Terminus Destroyers lowers their deflector shields and jumps.

"Bastards!" General Williams roars as he punches a wall, cracking a few fingers.

His three lieutenants cringe as he rages, the more courageous of them steps forward, "It's true, sir. They went out of their way to target our fleeing civilians. They ignored all combat vessels to make the kill shot. Captain Irons did what he could, but they were just too fast. He did make sure to take the ship that did it down with him though."

"Damn It!" the general's rage builds, "Damn them! Kalig Damned Aliens! They will pay, by Ragnos, they will pay!"

The officers stay silent for a minute as Williams' rage cools down. The general cradles his injured hand as he paces the office.

The second lieutenant, a dark-haired shorter man, speaks speaks up once the air has calms, "Do you require bacta, sir?"

Williams takes a long and drawn-out breath, "That would be efficacious, thank you."

The lieutenant excuses himself and leaves his fellows to deal with the general. The only woman of the group breaks the silence, "Sir, what are your orders concerning these developments?"

Williams looks out the window, up into the sky, "All we did was activate a relay, and the moment we do, these spikeheads trespass into our space, order us around, and shoot when we refuse their demands. In the end, it's my fault this tragedy happened. I've played too defensively, and our enemies saw it as us bowing down to their fleet. I even used the tactics of the Galactic Republic and the damned Jedi, hoping to save my men, and civilians have paid the price for my cowardice. I was content to hunker down and let Drescher fix everything once she arrived, no more. Order everyone guarding the shield generator to the front lines."

"S-Sir," the male lieutenant objects, "That would leave you, the shield, and everyone here completely defenseless to any attack made by the turians.

"Two of those statements are correct," he replies, "Get my combat armor ready and requisition an X-3 from the armory."

"Sir, as much as I agree that these aliens need to die for what they've done to our people, what good will charging out yourself do?" the other lieutenant asks.

"It will prove to the Dark Side what kind of General I intend to be. It will spurn our forces to action, and it will. Most of all, it will allow me to crush a few of their skulls beneath my boots personally."

"Sir if they get the shield down, they'll destroy us all."

"And Drescher won't have to worry about friendly fire when she arrives and bombards them into nonexistence," Williams counters, "Either way, Shanxi will become their grave."

Saren and David face one another down; studying, analyzing, and prodding for weaknesses before going on the attack. That ends when the impatient Sith Apprentice, sprints forward. Saren fires several bursts at David as he closes in on the turian. David evades the rounds as he switches back and forth along his path. Saren lifts a cut up car chunk and throws it at David with biotics, but the Sith slices it clean through and redirects it with telekinesis. Saren then goes more direct and pushes at him with a biotic throw. It hits but only stops David in his tracks, instead of bowling him over like Saren intended and it only takes a second before David is on the attack again. The Sith strikes but Saren erects a barrier to defend himself.

David's strikes are resisted but he continues undeterred. He strikes again and again, with more fury and more power behind each succeeding blow. In a panic, Saren detonates his barrier into a biotic nova that blasts David, and everything else around them, away. With his defenses down, Saren made for cover behind a yet untouched sky car, only for it to be dragged away. David pulls the car towards him and slices it to chunks with his sabers before lifting the pieces into the air.

David throws the chunks of debris with telekinesis at the biotic turian one after another. Saren dodges all of them with only a few bumps and returns fire, forcing David to dive off to the side. Saren checks his rifle as he makes his way to more solid cover, the temperature cools but the prolonged and constant combat is wearing on its heat tolerance. The buzz of lightsabers draws nearer, and he tosses a smoke bomb in the air. The device explodes and covers the area as Saren moves form his position. Within the massive cloud, Saren stalks his opponent. He finds the red glow of lightsabers without issue and lines up a shot without nary a sound. He fires off a controlled burst but David leaps to the side. Astonished, Saren fires freely at the moving crimson light.

David weaves through the cloud dodging when he can and ducking behind cover when he must. He turns his lightsabers off and the shooting stops. Saren cuts his losses and makes a biotic charge to safety, finding cover inside a building as his rifle cools. David sweeps both hands in front of him, and the cloud blows away in a rush. David stalks through the now battle-scarred street, his lightsabers at the ready.

"It's no use hiding from me," David taunts, "I bet you think you're so clever, thinking smoke would hide you from me. Sight or no sight, I was trained in the depths of Korriban's ancient tombs where k'lor'slugs waited around every corner to tear me up and feed me to their hatchlings. Darkness is always the ally of the Sith. So long as The Force serves me, there is nowhere you can hide!"

David leaps towards Saren's cover and ignites his blades, cutting through the wall and forcing him away. Saren withdraws deeper into the building as David pursues him, slicing up anything that stands to obstruct him. Saren leaps three floors up with biotics and takes position behind an open apartment door. David makes his way up in much the same way but as he clears the railing, Saren tosses a grenade at him. David pushes the explosive back with The Force and Saren throws up a partial barrier in a panic.

The explosion throws him out a window as indigo light shines around him, slowing and directing his fall. He rolls through the impact with minimal damage but David blasts through the same window and swoops in like a bird of prey. Saren almost smirks to himself as he throws a singularity at the approaching Sith, suspending him in the air. Though caught off guard, it enrages David, and he releases his rage into a mighty Force Scream. It blasts at his opponent as Saren raises his gun. The shockwave throws the turian back into a local vending machine, somewhat cushioning his crash.

Saren's options die off quickly as David overpowers the biotic pressure with The Force and lands on his feet. The Force powers of the Sith frustrate everything the Saren is trained for. Use biotics to keep an opponent pinned at range and wear down heavier opponents until you get a kill shot, simple. However, the Sith apprentice continues to power through and bring the fight as close as possible while making projectiles moot.

Oh, and then there are the lightsabers, those plasma swords of death that spit in the face of all known Citadel technology that this Sith is swinging around like a man possessed. Though the turian admits to himself that there must be a method to the madness, as David has yet to injure himself with such potent weapons and has come, very, close to taking off Saren's head. Saren's frustrations, however, are pushed back in his head as the angry Sith comes at him again.

A biotic charge moves him to safety, and he avoids David's thrown offhand weapon with a second. He lands by the bodies of his comrades, crushed between skycars. He flips over the cars and drops a grenade in the middle as David flies after him. Saren charges away as David bounds over the vehicles and the explosive does its job, triggering his comrades' grenades in the process.

The blast knocks David off trajectory and causes him to crash in the street. With the resulting smoke obscuring his vision, Saren takes cover in the relative safety of the alleyway. He braces against a wall, catching his breath, and his comm rings. He groans as he taps onto it, "This is Arterius."

"Saren, I'm calling off the infiltration operation. You were right, we should have just made a steady advance on their position. I have reports of at least seven of our advanced and recon teams having been ambushed," Desolas' voice says from the comm, "I've sent two armored units to extract your team, rendezvous with them back through your infiltration route."

"My team is dead," Saren admits as he vaults a wall, "This, this thing tore them apart with energy blades and some kind of mystic powers."

"Energy… Magic… What?!"

"It just won't get hit," Saren hisses, "It's like it knows exactly when we're going to take a shot at hit. He killed most of my team in under thirty seconds and I've only just been keeping him at bay."

"Saren you're not making…"

Saren ceases listening as David roars and throws the two cars at Saren, who charges away again as the cars crash into the alleyway, "Exfiltrating now, tell those tanks to double time it."

Saren takes the opportunity to withdraw deeper down the path. David slices the cars in his way in his efforts to pursue, but Saren unleashes a full barrage of his rifle at him from a distance. The tall and narrow passage prevents the Sith from dodging and so he leaps back to the street as Saren retreats.

Saren zips back through the side streets the way he and his squad came, taking every turn at speed and charging down every straight path. The buzz of lightsabers fades away after a minute of nonstop movement but the turian biotic pushes himself further. The familiar sights of his team's infiltration play back to him but in reverse. A right here, a left there, through one abandoned building to the next. He throws his biotics around to cover his tracks and make tracks along alternate paths that he passes. His stamina, however, fails him after so long and his pace slows. Before he can collapse, reaches an open street and readies himself to fight. He braces against the wall and aims his weapon down the alleyway, waiting.

The ignition of lightsabers above him forces him to dive away as David leaps down from the rooftops to strike. Saren aims his rifle, but David is upon him before he can shoot and slices the weapon in two. Saren attempts a charge away, but David pulls him back with The Force, stopping him from getting far. Pulling his sidearm, the turian begins to fire but David dodges the shots and rips the pistol out of Saren's hands with The Force before slicing it in the air. Saren steps back and activates his orange omni-blade, his breathing ragged. His new weapon stuns the Sith Apprentice, as he laughs at the display.

"You must be truly, truly desperate, attacking me, a student of the Sith Academy's Pyramid of Warriors with a bladed weapon," he mocks as he brandishes his weapons, slicing them against one another in a flourishing display, "For years I have honed my skills with a lightsaber. I have been trained by masters of all lightsaber forms and was one of the top duelists in my generation of acolytes. Do you even know how to properly use that? Because your stance is far too rigid, and your blade position is too high."

Adrenaline pumping, Saren's body glows indigo as his aching muscles tenses up further, "Shut up!"

With biotic energy focused into his body, Saren makes fast, targeted slashes at David. The Sith blocks the attacks as his jovial reprieve ends. Despite his boosted speed and strength, Saren's strikes can't get passed David's defense, his boasting holding weight. David executes his maneuvers and blocks with more flourishes and showmanship than Saren has ever seen. David doesn't even attack back, just defend against Saren with that cocky grin on his face. Saren's biotic focus wears off in less than half a minute as he locks blades with his opponent. The lightsaber eats into the blade, but the mass effect field keeps the saber from slicing through entirely. David disengages and goes back on the offensive, smashing both his sabers into the superheated silicon construct.

The omni-blade shatters and the force of the blow pushes Saren off his feet and to the ground. David smirks at the ease of his fight and steps towards the downed soldier, "Was that really it? I was just getting started."

He brandishes his main hand saber as he stands above his foe, laying near motionless and vulnerable. He thrusts his blade down, but in a last-ditch attempt, Saren springs forward, grabs his right arm with his left as a new blade forms around his right arm, and stabs David in the chest. David's armor keeps the blade from jabbing right through, but the burning silicon blade bites his flesh right beneath his underarm, where is chest plate ends.

David staggers back with a snarl before leering death at the turian, "I've had enough this! No more running and no more of your little tricks, Turian! You die here and now!"

David reaches out his main hand in a constricting gesture and Saren lifts into the air as his throat seizes up. His hands jolt up to his neck on reflex but feels nothing to pull away at. Turian discipline kicks in as he reaches for his belt but finds all his grenades spent and his sidearm gone. With the last of his strength, he charges his biotics in his left hand, much to David's anger.

"I said no more tricks!" David shouts as he releases Saren and slices his left arm off at the shoulder.

The turian screams as both he and his arm fall to the ground. David relishes it for the moment as he circles the turian like a vulture, "You think this pale imitation of The Force can stop me?! That anything you could do can even hold a candle to the abilities of a Sith Lord. It doesn't matter how much discipline you have, how many little toys are on your belt, or how your fake abilities work. Without true power, you cannot win."

Saren's eyes look desperate as they find their way back to his attacker, who looks upon him with utter rage and disgust. However, Saren's eyes then land on something else, something behind the raging Sith. David senses a disturbance and turns his head back as well.

Not one, but two turian light tanks take position behind him as their infantry takes aim at him. David flips away from the oncoming barrage, but a luck shot scores a glancing hit on his lower left arm near his wrist and he drops his offhand saber. He hisses at the pain as he lands and finds his way into cover. He tries to recall his offhand blade but the first tank fires at him. He leaps away as the round blows up a chunk of the ground where he once was. David crashes as he lands and takes a moment to reorient himself and catch his breath as the second tank fires its main gun.

David's fatigue and injuries costs him as his second leap is slowed and the force of the shot throws him into a building wall. He crashes and tumbles as the infantrymen move in to take shots at him and drag the maimed Saren away. The Sith apprentice rolls into a pile of rubble. The one tank drives closer, while Saren is loaded up into the other as it retreats.

David pulls himself up as he takes stock of his surroundings. He curses as half the infantry and one of the tanks advances. The young Sith Apprentice dives away as the tank fires on his cover. Hunter becomes the hunted as David speeds from cover to cover to avoid the full brunt of the tank. With The Force empowering his muscles and his injuries fueling his hatred, he gets a good distance away without issue. Finding a good spot of cover in a building, he rushes through it and to the neighboring one. He climbs to an elevated for and peeks out a window for the tank. He spies it a way off but then ducks his head down to avoid being spotted. As David keeps his head down, he feels the ground tremor. A slow rhythm, becoming louder with each beat. Boom, boom, always in sets of two. Not explosive, but rather… Heavy. Like footsteps. As David realizes what's coming, he grins.

From the direction of central command, stepping out from a crossroad is an armored bipedal Talon-Class walker. The ground crunches beneath its feet as turns towards the turian tank. The two seem to stare down one another for a moment as their crews report the contact with one another, then the shooting starts. The walk fires first with its heavy cannon as it chases its prey. The tank endures the hit, but damage alerts send the crew into a panic.

The infantrymen around it are not so lucky as the blast sends everyone outside the armored vehicle flying. The tank fires but misses as the walker's irregular movement throws off their firing solution. The walker retaliates with its lower mounted gun, unleashing a storm of fire upon the turians. The next shell from the tank carves into the frame but the walker keeps running. The second shot from the heavy cannon blows the turret off the frame and cripples the engines. The crew flee the doomed vehicle as the walker comes upon it and crushes the downed tank underfoot.

Having relocated to the top of a city building with their captives, Zaeed and his crew laze about looking down for more turians to ambush. After no other forces come their way the Mandalorian warriors become bored. Said boredom leading to addressing the topic of their new friends.

"So, these things have some kind of Sith Lord wannabes on their side," Zaeed says, "They thought they had the balls to put one over on us there. Only question now is what to do with these bird faced di'kuts."

"Pretty sure we just hold them until they can get a POW camp running," the man in artic blue armor beside him says, "Maybe a few more of 'em will run, and we can get some more target practice."

"Yo, Zaeed!" Jessie calls, "Just got a message on the holo, these scum-sucking aruetii blew up a transport full of civies!"

The jovial air turns bitter cold his words, "They did what?!"

"Lies!" one of the turians, "The hierarchy would never stoop so-"

A punch from Zaeed and a broken mandible cuts him off and shuts him up, "Who gave you permission to talk?!"

Any thought of resistance ends right there as the squad turns back to their comrade, "New orders from General Williams, all turians are to be killed on sight, only exceptions being lieutenant ranked officers upwards, and they're getting a one-way ticket to the Sith Academy for interrogation."

"None of these spikeheads have any bars," the only woman of the group in sandstone and amber colored armor says as she draws her pistol, "Orders are orders."

"Took the words out of my mouth, love," says the artic blue man as he strides beside her with his rifle at the ready.

"You can't do this!" another turian shouts, "We are prisoners of war by Citadel law."

"And is blowing up civies in line with your precious law?" the woman growls, "Because where we come from, it's punishable by death!"

"We have rights! You damned savages!"

"And our people don't?!" her partner shouts as he takes aim at the turian's head.

"Nilsson, Hamada, put those things away!" Zaeed orders as he approaches the captives with his wrist mounted flamethrower pointed at them, "These things murdered our people, they don't deserve something that quick."

Zaeed ignites his flamethrower, and his squad does the same before torching the turian captives. They burn in agony screaming semi-coherent pleas as the Mandalorians give them an extra dose of fire. As they turn to ash, the Mandalorian flamethrowers cease, and the group is once again left to their own devices.

"Anything else from the general?" Zaeed asks.

"Just that we march to the front lines and take the spikeheads head on," Jessie relays.

"Bloody brilliant, I've got several thousand reasons to gut these aliens today. Move out, we're going in hard and fast." Zaeed commands before jetting off, his squad following.

At the turian forward base, Desolas waits among the troops as the armored units he sent out return with his failed infiltration teams, or what is left of them. Most no longer walk amongst the living, but the one that matters most is alive, according to reports. Alive, but injured.

"What happen to the other tank?" Desolas asks.

"Gone sir," the commander of the heavy unit replies, "Last we were informed, they encountered an enemy mobile heavy weapons platform that walked on two legs. They engaged and were defeated when their vehicle was… well based on the communications we received, it was stepped on and crushed. One of the scouts accompanying it managed to send some images before their demise."

The commander sends the images to Desolas' onmi-tool, the walker astounded him. The legs are an obvious weakness, but the design allowed it to effectively carry more heavy weapons without costing too much of the vehicle's mobility and range of fire. If the fact it can take a tank shell and keep going is anything to go by, it is well protected too. The last image confirms that, indeed, the tank met its end beneath the foot of the walker.

"What's the current status of the extracted asset?"

The commander looked away, "Alive, sir, but… The enemy did a number on him. The squad medic did all they could but, to be frank, sir, there's not much more we can do here without a proper medical facility."

Desolas holds his professional expression together but almost shoves passed the commander to get to the vehicle. As he arrives, the squad pulls Saren out on a stretcher. Desolas gasps at his brother's armless and battered state. His professionalism shatters as his brother lay in front of him. Unable to speak, the medic approaches with a report.

"Sir, it's not good. Aside from the obvious missing appendage, we have a crushed windpipe, scattered spinal damage, muscle tears across his body, fractured bones, and minor internal bleeding. Thank the Spirits that the cut was cauterized, else infection or bleeding out would be all too real of a risk."

"Saren!" Desolas shouts, "What in the Spirits' names were you thinking?"

"Mission…" he groans, "Lost all my men, needed to complete the mission…"

"I called off the offensive," Desolas growls.

Saren reaches for his belt and draws Anderson's lost lightsaber, "Sith technology… Brought back a sample for the Hierarchy…"

Saren gives the blade to Desolas, and the general ignites it. Several of the turians around him jump back from the crimson sword. Desolas stares at the lightsaber and Saren's missing arm with a morbid realization.

"These prim…" he shakes his head, "The Sith really do have energy blades and Spirits know what else."

Desolas deactivates the saber and gives it back to his brother as he opens his mouth again, "Had to… Bring back something… Couldn't let the mission… be a complete failure…"

"Brother…" Desolas tries to speak, "Why?"

"Wanted you… to be proud… couldn't betray your trust…"

Desolas fights back his emotions and turns to his subordinate, "Get him off world and tell my command ship to get him back to the hierarchy as fast as we can, he has captured a valuable technology sample and has experience in fighting these advanced soldiers."

The men nod and transport the downed turian to a shuttle. Desolas returns to his command base and slumps into a chair as he assesses the data sent to him from any survivors of his advance teams. It paints a grim image. Despite taking down the normal rank and file Sith troopers, they stand no chance against the special forces the Sith deploy. Soldiers with jet thrusters on their backs, men waving plasma blades around, and one report of a Sith shooting lightning from their fingertips. Desolas' mind turns to biotics, but it doesn't quite fit the reports. He shutters to think of what the Sith may have in their possession to grant such abilities.

He sends time reconfiguring his forces for the slow push into the city, but his thoughts are interrupted.

"General," the officer at the communication station grabs his attention, "We've picked up a holographic frequency being broadcast from the colony, unencrypted."

"So, either they want us all to hear it, or they've gotten desperate," Desolas replies, "I very highly doubt that it's the first. Put it on."

Williams appears on hologram a moment later, suited up in heavy combat armor (all black supercommando set), with his head exposed and grimacing, "This is General Andreus Williams, leader of all Sith forces in the defense of Shanxi. It is a dark day for the Sith Alliance. Not long ago, I was informed of a great tragedy befalling our people. The defense flotilla that had been assembled in orbit failed it it's first and foremost mission, and a transport carrying over 16,000 civilians was fired upon and destroyed with no survivors as it attempted to flee the system from the orbital station."

"There's way that's true, no self-respecting turian would knowingly fire on a civilian vessel."

"Liars, all of them!"

Desolas ponders his foe's statement. Yes, no good turian would, 'Knowingly,' fire upon civilians. However, with the admiral's rush to secure the planet in the face of the inevitable reinforcements from the Sith military, it is a definite possibility that he fired upon it not knowing what it was in his desperate push to entrench his forces in orbit. Desolas didn't believe his enemy general at face value, but he also didn't doubt that something could have happened.

"The turians have shown that they intend not only to trample over our sovereignty, but that they hold no regard for our very lives and will murder everything and everyone that they come across in their conquests. They have made a grave error this day, for this day, they have made a true enemy of the Sith, if they want genocide, then they will have it. We have endured more than our fair share and have come out stronger for it. The Dark Side demands retribution, and as its chosen race, we shall be its sword."

"Oh Spirits," Desolas bemoans, "Their whole race is a full of religious zealots."

"As of this moment, all forces are ordered to the front lines. There is no quarter to be given to any alien that has set foot on our world. Rank and file are to be terminated with extreme prejudice. Officers of lieutenant and higher are to be captured to be sent to the Sith Academy for in interrogation, and to the turians listening in on this frequency…"

Williams' hologram reaches out to the side and a heavy assault cannon appears in his hands, "You will wish you had died a quick death here. The Order of the Sith Lords will not be so kind. Make your peace, because one way or another, this planet will be your end."

The hologram cuts off as the turian officers stare at where it once was, "What have we unleashed on the galaxy?"

"What were you thinking?!" Lord Shepard shouts at his wounded apprentice, "No, don't answer that. Let me. You were too focused on the fight in front of you that you failed to notice the bigger battle. How do tanks sneak up on you, a Sith Apprentice? Come now, David, I taught you better."

David groans as bacta is injected into his chest and arm, "Yes, Master, it won't happen again."

"You say that, but how many times have you lost track of your surroundings? The Dark Side is about survival, adapting, and living. You can do none of that if you die from a ballistic tank shell of all things, primitive little birds."

"Hey, cut me some slack there," David argues as another injection finishes, "These things were hyper-velocity, faster than a blaster bolt."

"Excuses," Shepard waves off, "Use that anger and fear to get stronger. General Williams is out for blood after they destroyed a civilian transport."

"These bastards did, what?!" David sits up too quick and pulls a needle out mid-injection.

"They shot down fleeing men, women, and children; innocent Sith lives," Shepard growls, "Our enemy is as ruthless as they are dishonorable. We've been ordered to go on the offensive to retaliate. If it isn't Sith and isn't an officer, it dies, preferable in as painful a way as possible."

"Then get me another bacta injection and put me back into this fight, Master. I will make Shanxi run blue with these birds' blood," David affirms.

"Bacta is in high demand right now," Shepard says, "You'll have to wait your turn for either that or a sorcerer to finish patching you up. In the meantime, I'll be heading off to the front lines."

"You're just leaving me here?!" David growls.

"Until you are healed enough to fight properly."

"I was well enough to get back here just fine, Master. I can fight."

"With your injuries, you're not fighting at your full potential, without your second saber, you're going in handicapped," Shepard counters, "If it was just one, I would allow you, but with both, I'm not letting you go anywhere. Besides, no matter what the general says, someone needs to guard this place against infiltration, and you've such a great track record so far."

David grinds his teeth together before relenting, "Fine."

"Good, you can rejoin the counterattack once you are cleared by a medical personnel or sorcerer. Understood?"

"Yes, Master."

"And if I catch you outside of this facility without any of their consent, save for it being under attack, I will thrash you so hard, break your disobedient ass so thoroughly that you'll wish you were bound and taken alive into a breeding k'lor'slug nest," the air writhes around the Sith Lord as he speaks.

David shows no fear, but feels far more than he'll ever admit, "I understand."

Septemus punches the human ensign, crimson blood flies from his mouth and the gashes on his forehead and cheeks. The Sith grunts and groans as he turns his glare back on his captor.

"If you think this is anything I can't handle, you wouldn't have lasted three minutes during the Rebellion. My people have done things that will peel the skin off even your ugly ass face. You hear me, you Hutt scum sucker?! When my people get their hands on you, you're going to wish your parents, or spawner, or however the hell you things procreate, were never born! You killed our people, and you will pay blood for blood as The Dark Side demands!"

Septemus shakes out his wrist as he leaves the chamber, "Keep him here a while, I may be back."

"Yes sir," the turian marine says as Septemus departs the room.

The admiral makes his way back to the command deck. Commodore Victus, his faithful second, stands reading something brought up on his onmi-tool. Septemus strides to his seat.

"Has anything changed on the current battlefields?"

Victus nods, "The station is resisting very effectively, our squads are disappearing as we try to break through their security. They don't seem to have remote access, or none that we can detect so they've been forced to break them open using the control wiring, a long and unreliable method. There are also reports of shadows coming to life and taking soldiers, but we assume these are some kind of advanced recon agents of the Sith."

"And on the ground?"

"Even worse in some regards," Vitus answers, "While there are more survivors to report back, we've lost much more of our troops in the campaign to take the city. General Arterius has ordered his command ship back to turian controlled space with what he called 'valuable technology samples,' as well as compiled a report of their initial findings for the troops here… Personally I'm not sure what to make of it. Take a look."

Victus sends the report to his commanding officer and the admiral pulls it up. Septemus reads through the reports from the ground, his eye twitching as he comes to the claims of soldiers on jetpacks and walking vehicles. When he reads the words, 'Plasma Swords,' he scoffs and disregards everything beyond.

"Get me in contact with that sorry excuse for a general, Now," Septemus orders.

The communications officer obliges and connects the line to Desolas' command base on the surface.

"Admiral," Desolas salutes as he appears on the hologram.

"Arterius, you incompetent excuse for a commander," Septemus shouts at the holographic image, "What nonsense is this?! Plasma swords? Jet pack troops? Walking tanks?"

"I have multiple squads confirming everything," Desolas shouts back his patience wearing thin from setback after setback, "Their biotic super soldiers are cutting men in half and tossing troops around with telekinesis. I've held one of these plasma blades in my hands and it is no primitive device, it is more advanced than any weapon we've ever known. Their jet troops are handily tearing even our cabals apart. Oh, and one of my tanks was destroyed because it got stepped on. Stepped On!"

Septemus growls, "I don't care! Just get that shield down and then you won't have to worry about them. So long as we maintain space superiority, they have no real chance of victory."

An alert from the scanning console silences the admiral.

"Sir, more ships have appeared behind us, same class of ships as before, over one hundred in total," an officer proclaims, "They're already well within our cruisers' effective range."

Septemus curses himself, "No matter, divert cruisers to protect the rear and pull up their formation."

"Yes, sir."

"We will have more words later, Arterius."

"Believe me, I have plenty for you as well," Desolas growls back.

The battlefield appears via hologram in front of the admiral. He taps his talons and hums looking over it, "Their formation is very loose, leaving all those gaps between their ships. It would make it easy for even a dreadnaught to fit between them if necessary to escape. Almost like they intend to fit a large ship through…"

As the words leave the admiral's mouth, over one hundred and fifty Harrower Star Destroyers exit hyperspace between the Terminus destroyers. The moment the near dreadnaught sized ships appear, fighters swarm out from between their two prongs and fly to the nearest turian ship. The appearance of these massive ships stuns the turian admiral and his crew, then panic ensues.

"Order! Order!" Victus commands, "Everyone keep to your stations and prepare for battle!"

"Sir, scans show these ships are nearly eight hundred meters long and well exceed the tonnage of a dreadnaught."

"Each one is releasing fighters by the dozens, and I detect an energy spike, they must be charging weapons."

"Sir, they're transmitting a message across an open channel. Should I put it on?"

Septemus breaks out of his shocked stupor as his ingrained discipline kicks him to action, "Yes, put it up."

The hologram shows Admiral Drescher, her face is contorted in a snarl as she speaks.

"I am Admiral Drescher of the Sith Alliance 2nd Defense Fleet. We have come to liberate Shanxi from your paltry invasion force and avenge the lives you've unjustly taken. Any cries for mercy will fall on deaf ears, surrenders shall not be accepted by any Sith Alliance officer. The only choice afforded to you filthy spikeheads is how you wish to die: combat or on your damn knees. The Force is with, Us, and by the will of the Dark Side, you will pay for what you've done here!"

As her message ends, plasma begins flying through the battlefield, ripping into the turian fleet.

Retribution is at hand! Not really too much to say about this chapter. David wiping the floor with Saren only for his arrogance to cost him the kill, and Saren realizing that he can't fight Sith Lords like he's been trained to. Unlike most things in the Mass Effect universe, guns don't really work on Sith Lords, unless they're tank sized. David is still very young here, young and arrogant so he's not a flawless warrior, yet. We also see the roles reversed where David is caught off guard because he doesn't understand that omni-blades are disposable. Shame the turians don't have bacta, or medi-gel for that matter, guess it makes sense that humanity make the best healing agents, mostly because of our capacity for bravery/stupidity. We also have one of the biggest changes to a character's history, at least for ME1, so far. General Williams refusing to back down and surrender, this will affect Ashley and how she turns out. Turian command's bad day is about to get leagues worse. Drescher has made her debut, along side Hackett. His importance will grow as the episode progresses and the war goes into full swing. Also next time, Shepard Sr. shows us why he is a Lord among Sith and we get a peek at the Dark Lords.

As always, leave review or comment if you liked what you read, or a scathing reminder of what can be done better. See y'all next time.