I don't have any rights to this stuff. Sometimes I like to pretend I do, but I don't, they all belong to EA, Bioware, and Disney, and I very much doubt that they are interested in selling.
Once again I would like to thank y'all for supporting this story up to this point, it just passed 1,500 followers. Also reviews are now on the bottom because a review gave me some good points as to why that is better placement for them.
Shepard strides through the back allies of Cipritine towards the AA tower, keeping his senses open to everything around him as he moves along. Stealth doesn't come easy to the heavily armored Sith Lord, he's a warrior not an assassin, but so far, he has no issues. He keeps low, avoiding the no doubt numerous surveillance systems that a city of this size has installed to keep it running.
He only elevates his position when he senses the presence a great many turians moving near him. He ascends the buildings from the hidden sides and gazes down at the force from afar. His eyes narrow at the roughly two hundred troops marching in the direction of the transport station that he can see. Shepard taps a button in his helmet and accesses the assault squad's comms.
"This is Lord Shepard. Be advised that a company of turians are enroute near your location."
"Are they coming to reinforce the station?" the captain follows up.
"Unknown, they're marching at patrol speed so chances that they aren't after you specifically. Likely they are reinforcing the whole area or sweeping for us. They seem well equipped. If I had to guess, I'd say these are actual soldiers and not conscripted militia."
"Soldiers that we have been killing in droves since Shanxi," David chimes in.
"Regardless, with their numbers they are still an issue that may prevent us from taking the station is they reach it before you've completed your assault if they catch wind of it, and they likely will," Shepard says as he ponders the situation for a moment, "I'm changing up the plan. If I can draw them back to the tower, then the operation will go smoother."
"Milord, any commander worth their salt, even a fresh one, would more than likely split their forces once they are alerted to our attack considering the number of men at their disposal. Besides, how are you going to draw their attention by yourself?"
"It may not bring all of them back, but every turian focused on me is one that isn't focused on you. As for the means, well, use your imagination. I likely won't be reachable once I begin. If you cannot reach me…"
"I'll just assume you're having fun, Master," David says.
That gets a chuckle out of the Sith Lord, "Sure, let's go for that. Keep the course and I'll update you when I can. Lord Shepard out."
As Shepard scales down the building, hundreds of fighters approach the city from the east. Flying it at supersonic speeds, they screen the airspace as they take on the Sith strike craft and retreat away from the in-atmosphere Star Destroyers in a series of hit and run strikes. As they flee back towards the tower, some of the Supremacy fighters pursue them, only to get cut down by the AA tower guns. The Sith fighters break of their attack but swarm about as the turians come in for another go.
Shepard parts his eyes from the sky and follows the path to the AA tower. He keeps himself in the shadows as he approaches the position and scouts out the area. There are two manually operated turrets at the front of the complex with soldiers patrolling the rest of the perimeter. He smiles to himself as he moves to the rear of the tower.
He climbs to the top of the closest building and looks down upon the patrolling squad, waiting until they are at their closest to his perch before striking. He leaps down, crushing two turians upon landing. He takes his time killing the rest as their squad leader calls for reinforcements. After that, Shepard cuts them all down with extreme prejudice, wasting no more time. Shepard then dashes to the building wall and drives his lightsaber through it. He cuts himself a new way and blasts the carved-out piece in with The Force.
He jumps in as alarms go off in the tower. He smirks as he hears squads moving through the halls. He takes his time walking through the tower looking for something to properly sabotage the tower. He is set upon by turians before long and ducks into a room to avoid oncoming fire. He moves to the end of the room closer to the turians and blasts the wall down with a Force Push when he senses them along the other side. The blast and debris crush several and the Sith Lord's lightsaber takes care of a few others.
However, as Shepard is fired upon from down the hallway, he pulls a still breathing turian into the air. Their kinetic barriers block the shots as Shepard throws his saber at the attacker, cutting him down. He pushes his captive forward into his saber's return arc, cutting them in half before he catches it back.
Shepard ascends to the next floor, searching for a control room. Unfortunately, all he finds are more soldiers ready to defend the tower. He pulls them all towards himself and cuts them apart as he leaps through the air. He continues to rampage through the second floor and then to the third, until he comes upon a plaque his helmet translates as, 'Main Control,' sealed shut by a reinforced door. Shepard rolls his eyes and scoffs as he drives his saber into the edge and carves the door right out of the frame. He then takes a few steps back and leaps at the door feet first.
Shepard rides on the door as he bursts into the room and runs over two turians aiming at the door with their guns. In the confusion, he hops off the door and holds it up to shield himself from the incoming mass accelerator rounds. Using his saber, he slices apart the turians closest to him and keeps his impromptu shield between himself and the distant masses. Once enough turians are dealt with, he rushes the others, slicing them apart and bashing them into the floor with the door until they are almost all dead or dying.
"This is anti-air tower 21-7, Sith have taken the control room, requesting immediate back- AGH"
Shepard pulls the last turian into his lightsaber and grins beneath his helmet, "Perfect."
He drops the bloodied and dented door and turns his attention to the long panels of controls and computers and then back to the mostly dead turian officers formerly working on it. With none able, or willing for that matter, to shut it down, he holds his hand to the line of panels and blasts them with a steady stream of Force Lightning. The arcs of electricity tear the panels apart and overload all the components within until they melt down and burst into flames.
"Warning, Control Error, Emergency Shutdown Engaged. Warning, Control Error…" a VI keeps repeating over the base speakers.
His job done, he taps his helmet comm, "This is Lord Shepard, AA tower disabled. The skies are free."
"Copy that, Milord," a voice replies.
Satisfied with his duty and the amount of noise he's made; Shepard makes his way to the top of the tower. The turians, however, converge on his location and hold him in the hallway for as long as they can. Shepard, however, cuts a hole in the ceiling above and jumps up to the next floor. He does this a few more times until satisfied he's left most of the forces behind and makes his way up normally.
At the top, he looks over the edge at the entrance where the guard has locked down the entrance. He steps off the ledge and falls to the ground between the turrets. The moment his feet hit the ground, he throws his hands out and blasts the turrets off their emplacements with Force Pushes. He follows up by pulling all the turians towards him and bisects them all at once. As he departs the tower, he reaches his senses out to find the battalion he spotted earlier. He doesn't wait long as he can feel a little more than half of them rushing back to reinforce the tower.
He eventually encounters them and considers his options. Chances are the soldiers left at the tower will discover his escape and warn the soldiers sent to them and they will turn back around. The more soldiers focused on him the better and if he can lead them around in a wild goose chase, then the mission will more likely be a success. So, he decides to get their attention.
He lies in wait as the soldiers pass by him until the rear guard is just within striking distance. He throws his saber at a few of the turians and retreats back into the shadows. The turians go on high alert and sweep the area. Shepard looks towards the opposite direction of the station where David and his troops are sieging. The buildings have many windows and balconies, indicative of urban residential buildings. Shepard rushes to the area through the streets, antagonizing the flank of the turian forces. The turian soldiers take the bait to follow him. The Sith Lord conceals himself as they sweep the streets, staying near enough to make an attack if needed.
As the soldiers come up empty in their search, they fall back towards their route. Lord Shepard strikes as they withdraw and pulls them back into their quarrel with him. He has them jumping at shadows on and off as he whittles down their force of a hundred with this tactic. Then a new sound screeches from the sky, Supremacy fighters. With the tower taken down, they face no extra opposition as they engage with the turian fighters in air combat above their formerly safe haven.
While the air resistance of the in-atmosphere environment slows the Sith fighters, they maintain a speed advantage as they make their runs against the turians. However, their real advantage comes from the months of real combat experience that a great number of the Sith pilots have over their turian counterparts. They know the turian maneuvers inside and out. Plasma and mass accelerator slugs fill the sky above as Shepard retreats once again to the residential district.
The further he goes, however, the more his sensory abilities fail him. Civilian stragglers are bunkered down in their apartment homes in larger groups. Shepard's senses have trouble differentiating between large enough groups of civilians and the soldiers he's baiting, made even worse when the soldiers split up into combat squads to cover more ground pursuing him. He encounters one squad by accident and tears them apart before they can call reinforcements.
He backtracks towards his former position, foregoing a low profile in order to cover more ground. It matters not, however, as his pursuers find him and engage combat. Civilians scream from the buildings as ME rounds tear into windows and walls as Shepard dodges the onslaught of projectiles. A sniper round zips through the air and scratches the collar of his armor, just missing his neck. Shepard dives behind a vehicle for cover at the close call and traces the trajectory of the round across his armor. The turians continue suppressive fire so Shepard takes a moment to breathe.
His reprieve is cut short as another squad flanks him and he throws a Force Push at them. His senses blare at him as he leaps back just before a grenade detonates below the vehicle, igniting the fuel in the process. The smokescreen gives him cover and he pushes the broken vehicle at the line of turians. The skycar takes out three soldiers and Shepard goes back on the offensive. As he tears through the rest of the small group, a civilian fires a burst of shots from one of the balconies. Shepard dodges and looks up to see the turian man aiming a well-worn rifle at him and firing another burst.
A Force Pull topples him over the balcony and the fall ends the turian's life. Shepard's attention is pulled back to the ground as two more sniper rounds zip passed him. As he withdraws from the open street between a pair of buildings, he encounters a huge swarm of turian militiamen coming at him. He growls as they begin firing at him. Their numbers combined with the narrow space makes it a nightmare for Shepard as rounds ping off his armor despite his best efforts to dodge.
A few rounds pierce the weak spots in his armor. Shepard blasts the wall apart with The Force and seeks refuge inside. A group of terrified civilians scream and run from the armored Sith Lord as he breaks into the building and Shepard wastes no time looking for a way out. Said way out is either the front where the less numerous soldiers are, or the back where the swarm of militia fighters are. Opting not to get bogged down immediately, he leaves through the front.
A Force Scream blasts the front door open. The attack itself sends a few soldiers off their feet and the shattered door injures several more. He moves from target to cover and target to cover, as the snipers resume their potshots. Spying one on a low balcony, he pulls a grenade off of one of the dead soldiers' belts and throws it with The Force, taking him out. The other makes themselves known in that moment taking a shot from a farther off alleyway.
However, a new problem emerges, the militia fighters rush out from the alleyway and the building Shepard used for an escape. Opting to leave the sniper for later, and assuming he'd not take a riskier shot with so many of his comrades around, Shepard attacks the emerging forces. Engaging so many foes at once, Shepard is only passably aware of the battle going on above him.
The fight against the Sith fighters is not going well at all in the turians' favor. As the Sith overwhelm them, the turians form up low and then ascend in an effort to consolidate their numbers. The turian fighters, however, pull up right into an oncoming squadron's filed of fire and are caught by a barrage of plasma. The turians that aren't destroyed outright with their fighters eject and their ships crash into the city, into several of the buildings near the disabled AA tower.
Shepard, being in the midst of combat, does not sense the incoming danger until it is upon him, and he dashes away from the epicenter of the carnage. Turbolaser fire rains down all around him and the militia he's fighting; tearing through the streets, knocking down smaller buildings, and killing many of the civilians trapped inside. One such building falls atop the Sith Lord as he carves his path out of the devastation.
He plants his feet and channels The Force into a defense to shield him as half of a crumbling building and a squadron of turian fighters come down upon him and blast him away. The turians around him scatter and fall back as best they can but most are crushed by the buildings or caught up in the explosions of crashing ships. Leaving the area silent, save for the scattered cries of those lucky enough to have survived.
As David and his troops come upon the perimeter of the station, they breathe somewhat of a sigh of relief. The occupying forces are far from adequately entrenched, however, getting there requires crossing a very open area. The Sith bunker down out of sight and spread out just enough that they won't be in each other's way but can reliably cover one another.
The men all respond with affirmatives back while checking their weapons, readying grenades, and invoking the names of the ancient Sith Lords for the final order. David addresses the captain, "I'll strike first, once they're distracted, have your men charge."
"We can cover you, milord," the captain says.
"No, I need them focused on me completely so that you can charge at full strength. The moment I breach their cover, charge in guns blazing, don't worry about hitting me."
"Yes, milord. May The Force be with you."
David nods and leaps over his cover and dashes across the road, drawing the fire of the turians. He evades their shots, some pinging off his alchemy enhanced armor, and closes the distance quickly. David takes a few sift strikes at the front lines before bounding over them and moving past their fortifications. Both lightsabers carve into the turians, their emplaced weapons, and the building itself as the Sith Apprentice rips the defenses apart.
"Hold the line! We can-"
A lightsaber to the neck ends that particular officer as David continues to tear them apart. The troops follow after him with a barrage of blaster bolt fire. David deflects a missed blaster bolt into the chest of a turian attempting to take a potshot at him before dancing through the storm of incoming fire towards the next obstacle, the heavy weapons troops.
Though incredibly close, one still fires a rocket at the Sith Apprentice. David smirks as he pushes it back at him and his comrade next to him. The next rocketeer hoists the weapon up as David crushes the muzzle of the barrel with telekinesis. The weapon explodes just after the turian pulls the trigger, killing him. The last few wise up and abandon their heavy weapons in favor of their rifles, laying down fire at David. However, with so few numbers, he evades their attacks and cuts them down without much issue.
His troops reach the entrance of the station as he finishes up with the heavy weapons team. They take up positions as David and the captain prepare to breach the front. Compared to the outside, the station itself is much less defensible and is filled with militiamen as opposed to the soldiers outside. The Sith troopers toss in smoke bombs and breach while visibility is low. The turians fire blindly as the Sith keep their heads down. David begins cutting down their foes as the troopers spread out and position themselves throughout the main area.
As the smoke clears up, the troopers train their weapons on the remaining militiamen as David cuts down another one. Completely outnumbered and with about a quarter of their forces cut to pieces on the ground, they drop their weapons and surrender. Half tempted just to execute them on the spot, David chases the thought away. The faster they take the station, the faster he can get to his master.
"Bind them, then search the station for any more stragglers, if they don't surrender, kill them," David orders.
"Yes sir."
David taps his helmet comm, "This is David Anderson, the transport station is secured. You may begin landing troops."
"Roger that, Milord," an officer responds, "Sending reinforcements now."
"Good, we'll-"
It is at this moment that The Force hits David like a freighter as the bond between him and his master wavers in a way he's never felt before. Fear and panic flood into his mind, both his own and his master's. He senses it clear as day, his master is critically injured.
"Shit…"
The captain beside him looks over, "What's wrong sir?"
"Lord Shepard is in danger, I can feel it," David answers.
"Imperius preserve us… You don't think we should break off to aid him?"
David looks away ponders the option for a moment. His instinct says yes without a moment of hesitation. However, as he opens his mouth to voice his orders, his brain and rationale kick in and tell him the opposite. The big picture dictates that he finishes the mission before rushing in to save his master. Lord Shepard expects him to follow his orders, and he would do so.
"No, Master Shepard trusted us to hold this place, not rescue him," David says as his fists clench.
"We can do both," he replies, "Now that we hold the more defensible position and reinforcements are on their way, your powers are wasted here, Milord."
David turns back to his captain, "Think you can hold this place without me?"
The captain nods, "Go get Lord Shepard, we'll only slow you down."
David face turns grim as he nods and sprints off towards the tower, Shepard's last known location. Out of the station and through the streets he goes, desperate to find Lord Shepard. He feels for the ailing bond and reaches out into The Force to find Shepard. His focus completely on searching for Shepard, he runs blindly into the vanguard of the other half of the turian battalion Shepard warned him about. As the first shots are fired, David ignites his sabers with a snarl.
"Let me through!"
Pain assails Lord Shepard even before he opens his eyes. His entire body aches in some way or another. When he tries to look around, he sees nothing but cracked transpara-steel. He rips his damaged helmet off and discards it as he takes in several deep breaths. He pulls his senses back in order as he takes stock of his injuries. The armor protecting his leg is bent and cracked and there's more bend to the limb than is healthy. His chest piece had been breached in a few places and his chest feels crushed by the compresses metal. His right gauntlet is shredded, and his lacerated skin is exposed to the open air. As the ringing in his head dies down and he can think and process properly, he takes in his surroundings.
The sounds of random alarms both close and in the distance irritate his eardrums. He can hear some of the rubble shifting and other damaged buildings groan as gravity tries to pull them down. He struggles to his feet, his broken leg causing the most issue in the process and coughs up some blood. He reaches for his holo-comm only to find nothing on his belt. He peers through the clearing dust and tries to make sense of his direction when a new sound peaks his eardrums at the edge of the half-destroyed building. Alien cries.
A turian, a woman by the look of her, desperately claws at the rubble, unable to lift it. Lord Shepard notes her attire, civilian and with no weapon. Without both his helmet and holo-comm, he can't make sense of the squawking noises she lets out. He turns his back on her and limps away, hissing in pain.
His murmur of grief is enough to catch the woman's attention and she pursues him. She is able to grab hold of his shoulder and the Sith Lord immediately backhands her away and summons his lightsaber to his battered hand. He turns to her with an angry and pained snarl as she returns to her feet and continues to try grabbing hold of him. Unable to understand a word she says, he turns his senses on her and her emotions become clear as day. She's scared of him, but more than that she is scared for the life of her child trapped in the debris. The reality hits him all at once, she's no different from Hannah with John.
By force of habit when thinking of his wife, he reaches out to his bond with her. Anxiety and concern dominate her feelings across the stars. Her fears range from her husband's safety, her own unborn child, and John, always worried about John. Her steeled military nerves built up over the course of a decade are no match for the love she holds for her family. That love fills his mind as he feels for John. The boy is a tempest of emotion, both positive and negative. The two largest are excitement and fear and both are in regard to his father.
Lord Shepard pulls himself out of his mind and finds the turian woman still squawking at him. Though he can't understand a word she says, The Force tells him everything she's feeling. He pushes his feelings away and turns his back on her once again, but as he tries to take a step away from her, the nagging emotions at the back of his mind refuse to yield. The very source of his strength betrays him.
With a groan, he turns back around to the spot where the turian woman was digging. As he reaches out with The Force, he senses the presence of the turian child, a boy, and groans at even more parallels between his family. Lord Shepard extends a hand towards the rubble and the stones lift away. One by one the debris is pulled off the child until his blue splattered face emerges and then the rest of him. He's bloodied and battered, but alive. The turian mother pulls him to his feet and lifts him into her arms. The child just stares at Lord Shepard, who lowers his hands and walks away.
Until his senses light up with danger. The damaged and groaning building beside them crackles without the anchoring of its foundation, and the support walls crumble within. The turain woman lets out a cry as she shields her child with her own body. Lord Shepard holds out both his hands and halts the building's fall. It takes all his strength to keep the half-destroyed building aloft as his mind works overtime to figure a way out of this. As he tries to think his senses flare up again, but he's too late to react.
The sound of a sniper rifle echoes from many meters behind him, and the hypersonic round tears his main hand from his arm, flinging Shepard's lightsaber away. He roars in pain as he drops the building for a moment and throws a chunk of debris at the offender, that damned sniper that he dismissed had survived. The turian falls dead as Shepard resumes halting the building. The pain of losing his arm empowers him for a moment, but the increasing blood loss stacked on top of the damage his body has sustained begins taking its toll on him. The building begins slipping further and further, and Shepard cannot stop it.
He looks at the turian family, too terrified to move and yells at them, "Run! I'll not have my last act be for nothing! Get out of here!"
The mother looks to Lord Shepard and back to the slow falling building, piecing it all together. She takes her son and runs away, the child keeping his eyes locked on the Sith as they retreat. The moment that the two are out of immediate danger, Shepard lets the building go and unleashes the strongest push he can muster at the area directly above him as the building crushes him.
As he stabs two more turian soldiers and pounces at another, David senses the bond between himself and his master almost break. Emptiness fills his heart as he feels the bond he's shared for years with his master slip away from him almost all at once. Fear grips the heart of the Sith Apprentice. As he looks on to his rapidly approaching target, however, he turns the internal fear into external rage.
He lets out an agonized roar as he cuts up his victim, cutting her into fourths, then sixteenths, and sixty-fourths. As the turian lays in smoking chunks, he turns to a new target and pulls them to himself. They claw at the road in an attempt to slow their demise, but it does nothing. Once the turian is within striking range, David cuts them apart limb by limb as they lay helpless to fight back.
A series of shots attract his attention to an entrenched soldier and David almost misses the rocket fired from the other direction. David shields himself but is flung away by the blast. He tumbles across the ground before stopping himself and rolling back to his feet. With a snarl he lifts the offending turians by their throats and bashes them together. As they fall, his senses catch back up to him, and he dives for cover behind a solid metal bench as two more squads fire at him from the buildings.
As the initial adrenaline high wears down, his muscles ache and he gasps for air to fill his tiring lungs. The numbness of his body gives way to more aches and pains than he thought possible. Checking himself further, he finds blood dripping from wounds he's just found and a sizable cut under his chin. As he breathes, the anger that had kept him going regresses back into fear. His master is dying and he's laying about, building up his anger again.
He senses another rocket coming at him and stands back up in time to redirect it to the ground. The blast gives him a few seconds of obscurity as he advances on his foes. The turians have consolidated on David's position and cover one another. Once they realize they are beset by the Sith Apprentice, the line falls back and the others cover fire, halting David's building momentum.
David's rage hits a new boiling high as he thrashes about the retreating line of soldiers in his wake. As his anger gets the better of him, the bond between him and his master flickers, turning his rage back into fear. As the two emotions wrestle for dominance over one another, a wounded turian takes a shot at the Sith Apprentice with a sidearm. The shot hits his chest plate at its thickest point, but it knocks him back, snapping him back to reality.
David scrambles back to cover just before another shot can take his life. The thought of his master dying, and the overwhelming emotions assailing him causes his hands to tremble. He's trapped, pinned down by a superior numbered force and hindered by his uncontrollable emotions.
He takes a series of deep breaths in an attempt to slow his breathing. It does little as the anger and fear seeps into every corner of his psyche, he feels his rage slipping away from him. He reaches out to his master, the bond near breaking for any sign of assurance. When he finds none, he thinks back to everything his master has taught him, recalling their conversation on Torix about emotions and discipline, and then to their conversation earlier as they were landing.
"When the galaxy turns against you, you say, 'Bring it.'" David echoes his master, "My emotions do not control me, I command them. Use fear for a boost of power, use anger to push through, and use passion to remember what you fight for."
His breathing slows but his heart continues to pound in his chest. His eyes turn from fearful to focused. His hands steady and grip each saber tighter. The Dark Side reigns in as David channels his emotions into his body, feeling his strength grow.
"Bring it on. I'm the fastest among us. Time to kick it up a notch"
After a half second lull in the turians' covering fire, David vaults over the remains of his cover and blitzes the turian line. Two soldiers immediately fall to his igniting sabers. The next two turians each receive a saber to the chest as David thrusts both blades forward. He pushes the two back into the next two soldiers in line and bisects all four as he charges forward.
"Faster."
The Force propels him into the next squad of turians, bowling them over as he takes quick slashes at their torsos. He throws both his sabers at two turians just out of reach and recalls them as he speeds towards a new target, trisecting them. He's fired upon by a small group with SMGs but vanishes in a blur of movement at them and cuts each of the offenders down.
"Faster!"
He continues to move like a red and black blur across the battlefield, cutting down any soldier he passes before they can so much as raise their guns. He turns the well-organized force into a disarrayed mess. In their desperation to hit him, some fire haphazardly as he bolts around, hitting some of their comrades. The rounds miss by a mile as he continues the bloodbath, never stopping, only stalling his movement long enough to cut more turians down until they are reduced to a paltry fraction of their former numbers. As they are down to their final ten combatants, their lone rocketeer locks on to David from an elevated balcony.
Desperate to kill David, the turian fires his rocket launcher as the Sith Apprentice is cutting down his compatriots. The recoil throws him back a little, but the targeting system is set. The turian lowers the cumbersome weapon and watches as the rocket detonates exactly where he fired it at, taking out friend and foe alike. He falls back down to the ground as shame and relief flood into him and his breathing slows.
Until he hears a hellish buzz in front of him. His eyes explode open, and he beholds David standing before him. He reaches for his side arm, but David is upon him before he can draw.
"Too slow," he says before slicing the turian soldier into chunks.
The fragmented remnants of the soldiers from the Sith Apprentice in all directions. David dashes towards his master's last location, cutting down every spikehead that crosses his path. The bond is weak, but he can still feel the pull and The Force guides him to the wrecked street of the residential districts and to the fallen buildings. David pushes his senses out and finds the spot where his master lays. He rips the rubble apart until he comes across his master's body.
"Master!" David looks over the broken body of Lord Shepard.
His right hand is gone, his legs are crushed, and he's bleeding from his head. Shepards eyes struggle to keep their focus on his apprentice flickering from gold to brown, "David…"
"I'm here, Master. I've come to get you out," David says as he pulls out a bacta syringe and plunges it into his master's body.
"How… did you get here… so fast…" he replies, a bit of his cognizance returning.
David swallows the lump forming in his throat, "As we were securing the transport station, I felt your presence flickering. I'm sorry… but I believed completing the mission was more important… what you would have wanted me to do. If I had come immediately…"
"Did the right thing…" Shepard coughs out.
"It wasn't enough!" the ground shakes, "I could have made it but the enemy reinforcements you were worried about caught me. I left my men to hold the station, I thought I could move faster without them…"
"You tore through… all those soldiers… without backup," Shepards eyes lose a bit of their focus.
"Nothing else mattered than getting here, Master, they stood in my way. It didn't matter how many there were, they would die."
David drags Shepards body out of the rubble and carries him back towards the transport station as he taps his helmet comm, "This is David Anderson, I have Lord Shepard with me, send a medical team to this location, he's gravely injured."
In the deepest reaches of the central government compound, beneath many layers of defenses, sits the Primarch's emergency bunker. The turian leader himself by his lonesome, his guards keeping watch. A terminal feeding information from the battlefield has gone silent for some time, comm lines having been cut some time ago. They simply wait for someone to retrieve them once the fighting ends.
And find them someone does.
An alert goes off, signaling a breach in the outer layers of defense before the door itself begins to groan as the guards ready their weapons, "There's no way these sith have something that can breach here. This bunker door was made to withstand orbital bombardment."
Seconds pass, and the metal and machinery creeks and moans, the motorized locks begin to be forced open until, at last, they snap one by one with a metallic clang and the doors fall apart, kicking up a cloud of dust as they hit the ground. The guards ready their weapons as the sound of metal stomping on metal rings in the room and a crimson blade ignites within the dust.
The turian guards train their guns on him as Darth Ferrus walks out of the dust and into the bunker. No one moves as the Dark Lord stands before them, his burning eyes settling upon the Primarch.
"As much as I thoroughly enjoy inflicting carnage upon my enemies, this is beginning to grow repetitive," he says.
The Primarch attempts to steel himself, "What in the Spirits' names are you?"
Ferrus waits a moment before removing his helmet, placing it on the ground with The Force, and gazing upon the turian leader with his own eyes. The two old warriors hold a glaring match, their unwavering gazes telling each other more about the other than words can. Ferrus breaks the silence as he answers the Primarch's question, "I am Darth Ferrus. Dark Lord of the Sith. Who are you?"
The turian leader raises his head and puffs out his chest, "I am Kaetius Dominian, Primarch of the Turian Hierarchy."
Ferrus narrows his hateful eyes as he points his blade at Dominian, "Primarch Dominian, I have come for you."
The Primarch glares in defiance, "You think I will just surrender myself to you without a fight?"
"It isn't a matter of belief," Ferrus replies, "I know there is nothing you or your guards can do to stop me. I have torn through your elite soldiers with the only proof of combat being a single scratch on my armor and a trail of corpses in my wake. What makes you and these guards any different?"
"Surrender is not in our nature," Dominian growls.
Ferrus scoffs at that as he steps forward and the turians open fire. The hypersonic rounds stop half a meter in front of the Dark Lord and fall like sand to the ground.
"What part of, 'You cannot stop me,' don't you understand?"
The Primarch pulls his own weapon at Ferrus, a bulky, ramshackle pistol. He pulls the trigger and a green blaster bolt fires from the barrel. Ferrus raises his saber and deflects the bolt at one of the guards, hitting him in the face and killing him. The turians freeze at the sight. Ferrus snorts.
"Did you honestly suspect that you could use our own technology against us? Our ancestors mastered blaster technology; did you not believe that we would have a counter for it? There is half of an entire form of lightsaber combat dedicated to combating against it. Was that supposed to be some kind of ace against me? That hideously underpowered little stunner? How many shots does it even have? Ten? Less? That thing likely wouldn't even pierce our troopers' platsteel armor, let alone my alchemy enhanced plate."
He pounds his fist against his chest piece, a hearty clang ringing out. The Primarch fires again, only for Ferrus to reflect the bolt back at his weapon, destroying the underpowered prototype. The guards hold their weapons up, though fear creeps deeper into their minds.
"Sir, orders?" the closest one asks, though all of them are thinking it.
Dominian looks at the Dark Lord and back to his men. The feats of skill and speed of the man before him dwarf anything any turian has ever achieved in the history of their race. Their weapons are useless, their strength is pitiful by comparison, and he could kill them all by thinking hard enough about it. However, the Primarch clenches his talons and steels his resolve as he pulls a proper pistol from his mag-belt.
"To me, men! For the Hierarchy!"
His resolve spreads through his troops and they attack. Their mass accelerator rounds do nothing to Darth Ferrus as he weaves between the lines of fire. The Dark Lord comes upon the first guard in his path, cutting him in half from head to groin. He flings the two pieces back at the others as he moves on to the next turian. Ferrus cuts their weapon apart, followed by their hands, and finally their neck.
He sends a torrent of lightning at the next turian and throws his saber at another. He summons his saber back to his main hand and another turian to his offhand, crushing their skull with a Force enhanced grip. He uses him as a meat shield and cuts down two more soldiers. The line thins down to the Primarch and his last three guards. A Force Push sends them all tumbling through the air and with a Force Leap, Ferrus is upon them and cuts them to ribbons, save Primarch Dominian.
The turian leader scrambles to his feet, aiming his sidearm at the Dark Lord. He pulls the trigger several times, but Ferrus dodges every single round. The Dark Lord pulls the pistol out of the Primarch's hand with The Force and throws it into the wall. Scrambling for a weapon, Dominian takes one of the fallen guards' assault rifle and unloads into Darth Ferrus. Once more he stops the rounds before they can get close to him and they fall like sand to the ground. When Ferrus steps close enough, he slices the barrel off and the Primarch drops the gun. In a last attempt, the turian ignites an omni-blade and takes a stiff stance. Ferrus drops his guard and leaves himself open for an attack. Primarch Dominian lunges forward.
As he jabs his omni-blade at Ferrus, his whole body stops. Ferrus maintains an angry glare as the Primarch tries to move his arm. When it does move, however, it inches closer and closer to his face, bringing the searing weapon towards him. The Primarch tries to stop it, but to no avail as it keeps coming closer and closer. He can feel the sting of the heat as he pulls his head back as far as he can. He breathes a sigh of relief when the flat of the blade moves passed the right side of his face, only to scream in agony as it presses against his face plates.
Ferrus releases his control and the Primarch cradles his burning face. Ferrus glares down at the turian, "Your suffering has scarcely begun, Primarch."
The air shimmers around him as Dominian shivers.
"Thousands of my people are dead because of you!" Ferrus growls as he lifts the turian up by the throat, "And for what?!"
The bunker shakes at the Dark Lord's rage.
"To show us that we are beneath the Protectors of the Galaxy? The Defenders of all Sentient Life? The Greatest Military of The Citadel" he spits out those titles, "Lies! You are nothing but an arrogant, self-righteous belligerent! You invaded Our space without so much as warning shot! You didn't even have the courage to declare war before you began the slaughter! Honorless!"
The machines around them crumple.
"Pitiful!"
The walls break apart.
"Cowardly!"
The Primarch drops to the ground gasping for air as everything around them lifts into the air.
"And what say you, Primarch?! What does the esteemed leader of the Turian Hierarchy say now that your home world is soon to be under our control and there is nothing that you can do about it? Are you proud of your actions now?!"
Dominian looks up at the Dark Lord, his awesome power on full display. His eyes burn with a molten fury as his form radiates power. While he knows nothing of The Force, he can see that the monster before him is beyond any logic or science. He feels the full weight of the Dark Lord's demands as he struggles for any sort of answer. However, Dominian hangs his head in defeat.
"That's what I thought. Now get up!" Ferrus hisses as he lifts the Primarch to his feet with The Force, "You're coming with me."
Ferrus summons his helmet back and puts it on, "It's me. I have the Primarch… Fine, I can bring him to the roof, meet us there."
He takes his hand away from his helmet and turns his gaze at the Primarch, "Good riddance, the sooner I get rid of you, the sooner I can go back to battle. Now get moving! You have two options; walk there of your own volition or I drag you all the way to the top of this complex by your throat, in which case, you will not require your legs."
Ferrus brandishes his weapon before gesturing to the exit with his saber. Primarch Dominian relents and does as he's told. He follows the Dark Lord all through the complex. He passes the eviscerated bodies of his guards and soldiers. The turian leader recoils at the horrific display.
"No stomach for the horrors of battle?" Ferrus asks.
The Primarch snarls at the Dark Lord, "Battle? This is a massacre."
Ferrus glares at him, "I suppose from the perspective of someone who prefers to shoot their targets from 10,000 km away, you would have that impression. Makes it very easy to create dissonance between yourself and the people you kill, lest you actually muster up the wherewithal to look someone in the eye when you kill them."
"Why you…" the turian seethes.
"Move it," Ferrus orders as he shoves Dominian along, "My associate has issued a request for your presence, and the sooner I can make you Tempestus' problem, the sooner I can get back to fighting, and I am far from finished here."
They continue to ascend as they encounter more and more Sith forces, both troopers and lords alike. Ferrus pulls the Primarch out onto the highest levels of the compound. The turian looks out over the city and his eyes grow wide at the scene before him. Towers of smoke rise up in all directions, the buildings and streets are scared with the marks of battle, and Sith troopers drag the bodies of his people haphazardly through the streets.
The turian grumbles as he is lead to the roof as a Fury Interceptor descends from the sky towards them. As the starship lands and opens up, two short rows of crimson Honor Guards descend the ramp followed by the Dark Lord of Sorcerers, Darth Tempestus. As he steps out of the shadow of his ship, a static barrier encircles his form and reflects the light of the rising star. Around his wrists he bares two eerie gauntlets pulsing with restrained lightning.
The purple clad lord walks between the rows and in front of the waiting pair, "Ferrus, you've certainly been having fun. Is that a new gage in your armor? Getting a bit sloppy in your advancing age?"
"I brought Primarch Dominian, like you wanted, I will take my leave now," Ferrus says before turning towards the nearest edge of the compound.
"Yes, yes. Enjoy your time, though do stay out of the industrial district, that one is mine," Tempestus says.
"Just remember, you owe me," Ferrus says back at him and leaps from the roof to the ground below.
Tempestus turns his gaze back to the Primarch. As the two lock eyes, there's a hint of recognition in the old turian's leer, "You know who I am?"
His eyes narrow at the Dark Lord, "You are Darth Tempestus, Dark Lord of the Sith, the highest authority of your Sith Alliance."
"Hm," Tempestus hums, "Didn't know I had such a reputation amongst alien kind."
"You murdered Admiral Yervem," the turian growls.
"Who?" the Dark Lord questions, "Oh right, that admiral at Torix. Also, murder? We were at war at that time. He was just another battlefield casualty, one among thousands, millions perhaps at this point. I don't suppose you'd consider a surrender at this point and avoid any more deaths on both sides?"
"Go to hell," he grumbles back with no bite in his insult.
"Thought not," Tempestus says as he narrows his eyes and releases a painful shock of violet lightning from his fingertips at the turian, his gauntlets pulsating faster with the lightning strike.
Dominian drops to his knees and barely holds himself up from there, "If you're going to execute me, just snap my neck and get it over with."
"We're not quite there yet," Tempestus says as he circles his victim, "Killing you would rob us of a very valuable political hostage, and you may still prove to be useful to us. However, despite the thrashing and scare that Ferrus has given you, I don't think you've personally suffered enough for everything you've put my people through."
He turns towards the northern districts of the city where lies the manufactories and assembly yards of the turian capitol city. The Primarch looks out towards the area as well, some hope returning seeing it almost untouched. Tempestus grins as he senses that hope, ripe for destruction.
"Your people have established quite the improvised stronghold in the industrial sector of your city. The amount of manpower it would take to actually take it from the ground would be considerable, so I've ordered all our forces out. Now, normally I would just order a simple bombardment from a Star Destroyer battlegroup, but then it occurs to me, why waste this opportunity. I have the leader of the turian race in my possession and an entire section of his capitol city ripe with soldiers, and a fair few unfortunate civilians, all to myself."
"Get on with it, sith."
"I believe that it's safe to say that at this point in time, I am the strongest Force user in the galaxy," Tempestus brags, "My contemporaries on the Dark Council may forget this from time to time, but there is none, save perhaps Ferrus at his most blood lusted, who can rival me in raw power. While he plays with his foes, I eradicate them. While he has his fun, I get down to business. While he attacks your soldiers, I wreak havoc on your world."
"Is there a point to this?" Dominian growls.
"Yes, you see, I have experience breaking turian political leaders," Tempestus replies, "You put a great deal of faith in your civilization. Though I imagine you are a bit different considering that you are the highest leader of your people, I think I have a solution for that. Here we are in the very heart of your civilization, a city founded upon countless generations of your people; I wonder how you would fare seeing it laid to waste by a single Sith."
"You intend to senselessly slaughter my people?! This is madness!"
"Madness, yes, but there is nothing senseless about it. I assure you that there is most certainly a method. I would feel honored were I in your position, you are about to see something the likes of which no being in this galaxy has yet laid eyes on."
Tempestus takes many steps away from the turian leader and takes several deep breaths. The Force stirs around him, a pure aura of darkness and lightning emanates from his being. His new gauntlets flare to life, the lightning running up and down the Dark Lord's entire arm. The air stirs and then spins into a bellowing gust, carrying a part of the Dark Lord's power into the air. The ground itself begins to shake; rocks lift before the Primarch's eyes. Small stones and debris at first but then entire sections of buildings float around him. The sky darkens as clouds swirl into existence in the lower atmosphere.
Then Tempestus raises his hands, and all that building darkness and lightning shoots into the sky. The dark energy collects into the clouds and tears the heavens apart. For a few moments, reality itself seems to come undone. The gust becomes a raging wind, sweeping everything into the eye of this brewing storm. Purple lightning strikes down upon the land as the clouds become darker, more violent, more destructive. The strikes lash out at the industrial sector before them, and the winds begin wrenching pieces of debris and swallowing them up in the clouds.
The power emerging from the Dark Lord doesn't cease as more and more Dark Side energies flood the skies of Palaven. The clouds near the line of low orbiting Star Destroyers, lightning branching out towards them. Tempestus growls as he brings his hands closer together. The growing storm twists and writhes as if defying its creation. Tempestus redoubles his efforts and pours more power into it, almost as if punishing and subduing it. The storm lashes more and more but becomes more and more focused over the industrial sector as opposed to growing out indiscriminately.
Across the galaxy, from the grand manors of Thessia, to the Sith Academy of Korriban, the seedy underbelly of Omega, and even the far off reaches of dark space, the echo of the Dark Side rings to all those who can perceive it. Though many do not understand it, a clear message is sent, the Dark Side of The Force has risen to power and dares any to challenge it.
Tempestus lets out a battle cry as he makes a final push at his creation. The storm all but roars back as it descends upon the industrial sector. The black tempest tears buildings apart and the lightning scorches the land, lashing out constantly at the surplus of metal infused materials. Then it moves, slowly, but definitely away from the Primarch and the Dark Lord. Darth Tempestus lowers his hands, his gauntlets returning to their restrained pulsing, and turns a cruel grin at the Primarch. The smile almost hides his exhaustion, but the hesitance of his steps, the sweat of his brow, and the obvious controlled breathing gives it away. Not that the Primarch notices him over the massive supernatural disaster inching away from them and out into the rest of Palaven.
"I'm curious… How does it feel to witness the true power of the Sith?" Tempestus gets out.
"Y-You're a monster…"
"I have been told," Tempestus says as he attempts to broaden his smirk, "Ponder this while you witness this destruction upon your people. Destruction the scale of which would take you an entire dreadnaught, I can do with my own hands. A storm whose equivalent would take nature an unfathomable amount of time and conditions, I can create with naught but my own power and will. Should you choose to drag this out, we will take more and more drastic measures. If we must unleash storms like this across every turian world, so be it. If razing your planets of all life is what we must do to secure victory, it will be done. If your entire race must face complete and total annihilation to be defeated, I am more than willing to see it through to the end. Are you?"
The Primarch doesn't reply, only continues to stare off towards the Force Storm. As it lurks closer to the center of the district, he imagines how it must look from the ground, and how many people are getting caught up in it.
Sensing his thoughts, Tempestus capitalizes on them, "I want you to ask yourself some things. Who exactly fired the first shots in this war, and who exactly doesn't need something as clumsy as a ship mounted railgun to do this kind of damage to your world?"
Tempestus takes short and quick steps away from his prisoner and to his men, "Make certain he witnesses this until the storm is out of sight."
"Yes, Milord," his lead guard replies.
Darth Tempestus makes his way, slowly, to his interceptor and boards without so much as looking back. The moment the ramp closes and he's alone, he braces himself against the wall.
"Hubris is one hell of a drug," he grumbles to himself as he looks down upon his arms, "I will have to thank Chemos. These may be the greatest thing she's ever created; easily worth all the favors she's asked for."
He slides along the walls of his ship until he reaches his chambers. He removes his gauntlets to see his hands spotted with electrical burns. He disregards the damage and sits on the floor in the center of the room.
"I'll meditate until I can feel my hands again, then I'll bring that toad up to the Superbia."
The Force Storm is on every channel across the entire extranet. Some claim it to be some kind of ionic charge-based weapon. Others say it is the result of so many heavy cruisers hovering so low in the atmosphere creating unnaturally powerful fluctuations in the planet's magnetic field. The most superstitious even claim it to be the beginnings of the very same cataclysm that caused the protheans to disappear. To those with even an inkling of the truth, however, the reality is much more terrifying.
Benezia watches the supernatural catastrophe from her quarters aboard the Destiny Ascension, horror etched across her face. Still days away from reaching Palaven, she feels the pressure mounting for her to get the Sith to the negotiating table. The Force Storm amplifies the pressure as her mind works tirelessly to break down the amount of sheer power it would roughly take to create anything with that destructive potential, not even touching sustaining it. While she can only imagine the exact numbers, one thing is certain, the powers of the Sith are nothing to scoff at. Whether this was the work of one or thousands of their strange warriors, it doesn't matter; no number of even the most powerful Asari Matriarchs could create anything close to this Force Storm.
While her mind is buzzing with many of the implications, one thought above all else comes to the forefront of her mind, "They must never be allowed to roam the galaxy unfettered."
While she has nothing but respect for turians and their military prowess, it is well established that the average asari commando, or even merc for that matter, could best the average turian soldier purely on account of biotics and experience. The Sith all but annihilate that advantage with the almost supernatural feats they are capable of, and that is before technology is thrown into the mix.
As she continues to process the information before her, she tries to contemplate what happens next. She pushes the possibility of failure on the council's part and focuses on what the Sith would bring to The Citadel. They have a strong military; an injection of new soldiers and ships would cement The Citadel's martial dominance. They are technologically advanced; that should breathe new life into the tech development world. Then it hits her.
The Sith scare Her of all beings. Benezia reflects on her own lifetime experience and the nightmarish things she's encountered over the centuries. Yet the power of the Sith frightens her. If she feels such terror, what of all the lowlifes and vagabonds of the Terminus? The idea of facing a race capable of such destruction from the ground would be like the ultimate deterrent. How many battles could be avoided? How many conflicts resolved without a single shot? Fear can be a powerful tool for peace when all else fails.
"If they can be properly controlled…"
Yes, the Sith are going to be a great asset to The Citadel indeed.
The destruction of the industrial district and everything beyond emboldens the Sith forces all across the city as district after district falls to their might. The turians escaping the storm's wrath find themselves thrust into a new type of danger when they are assailed by troopers, mandalorians, and Sith Lords alike. Ferrus himself clears entire battalions by his lonesome as his escapades take him through the city seeking out new prey. Some sense of celebration spreads among those more eager to see the fighting end, but the sting of loss still lingers in many, especially those at an improvised medical station housing David Anderson and his troops.
David keeps himself outside the tent, his senses zeroed in on his master's life. While the initial procedures prolong his fading life, it does not stop the decline. When several medical personnel leave the tent keeping Lord Shepard, David storms in to find his master on a medical bed and hooked up to all manner of machines with a single officer over him.
The hardened looking medi-trooper bows his head somewhat to the apprentice of Lord Shepard, "Milord… I fear your master will not last long."
The Force stirred around him as David's eyes narrowed at the man, "Then try harder! Use everything-"
"We've used everything!" the medic shouts back, "At this point only a full submersion in a bacta tank would even come close to healing the damage done. He's lost too much blood, his heart was nearly crushed, he has one lung functioning anywhere close to what is necessary, and his other organs are shutting down one right after the other. Unless a sorcerer strong enough to chase away death itself walks by in the next five minutes, he's not going to make it."
Some of the equipment around them groans and creaks as David's anger leaks out indiscriminately, but a few breaths bring his powers back under his control. A stir from the bed catches his attention and he looks at his master in his fading eyes.
"I'll leave you two alone," the trooper bows and departs.
David steps beside the bed and kneels, removing his helmet, "Master…"
Shepard puts of a semblance of a smile, "In the olden times… Apprentices would use an opportunity like this… To finish the job. Glad that I was a good enough master… To inspire some loyalty in you."
"You are my master; your teachings have helped me survive where I would have surely fallen otherwise. I owe you at least that much at the end," David replies, "The transport station was captured, and we were able to send troops into the spikeheads' backlines. The city is all but ours thanks to the Force Storm of Darth Tempestus."
"Good… I must have taught you well… If you were able to do that with… Enough time to retrieve me… Even if it was after getting crushed to death."
"I suppose it's not a bad track record," David says, "It takes a whole building being dropped on you to fell the great Jason Shepard."
"Two buildings…" Jason huffs, "You missed me getting hit by the first."
"I'll take your word for it," David replies, "I wasn't able to recover your lightsaber."
"Bah…" he coughs and wheezes, "What good is a weapon… To a dead man?"
David's face falls, "I should have been strong enough to get there in time, to fight by your side."
Shepard uses the last of his strength to grab onto David's arm and look him in the eyes, "Do not obsess with the ideal what could have been… Take this loss, use it, survive, and teach the next generation to be stronger that the last…"
David nods, "Yes, Master."
Shepard coughs up some blood and steels himself, "Can you do your master… One last act of loyalty?"
"Of course, anything!" David responds.
"Tell Hannah and John, I love them… With all my heart…"
"I will."
"Make sure their looked after…"
"I will."
"Train John when he's old enough. Make him better than me…"
David pauses, but returns his gaze with conviction in his eyes, "I will, Master, he will be a true Sith Lord."
Shepard nods, "And never stop fighting… Never stop improving… and never give in, no matter what… Despair has never offered salvation to anyone… Only passion, strength, power, and victory can save you…"
"I swear to you, Master, I shall never cease in my training, and neither will John."
"You've been a good apprentice, David… And a good friend…" Shepard wheezes, "I'm proud of you… Don't forget it…"
"Yes, Master…" the light of Lord Shepard's eyes dims, and his arm goes limp, "Master Shepard?"
The medical equipment goes off with a myriad of pings and wining, but Anderson hears none. He only feels his most significant bond in The Force shatter as the man who taught him so much and molded him into a Sith Warrior, passes before him. Anderson closes Lord Shepard's eyes and rests his singular arm over his chest. His sorrow swells and his anger to match it, but he reigns it in and marches out of the tent. He puts his helmet back on and finds his captain checking over his troops.
"Where's the nearest battlefield? We have spikeheads to kill."
I am satisfied with this chapter, I told everything I feel like I needed to with this chapter, I am happy that this chapter is out. That being said, I hate this chapter, it has caused me great stress this past month and gave me a mini burnout trying to write it. I like action in doses and when I can do cool things with it, but there is only so many ways I can say, Sith Lord kills turians in epic fashion, before it feels repetitive. Like The Citadel Council, I am ready for this war to be over. Let it be known that the only thing that is in this chapter that survived from start to finish is the Force Storm scene, everything else was wildly different in the beginning, and the middle for that matter. the scene where David get Shepard Sr out of the rubble alone changed five times. In the earliest draft this is where David was made a Lord, and Shepard survived. I scrapped that because it destroyed the pacing and really didn't feel right. He'll get there soon but not right now. As for Shepard Sr dying, this is something that I really fought back and forth over. He really won't serve any purpose in any of the later episodes and John's character would work so much better if he doesn't survive the war. On the other hand I hope his death didn't feel like a total ass-pull. I also feel that Shepard Sr's death is necessary, because until this point, no named Sith Lord character has died and I don't want them to reek too badly of plot armor. Most Sith don't live to see 50 for a reason: they can still die and MOST of them tend to stay dead.
Originally Ferrus and Dominian were going to have a much more friendly scene, but it really didn't work and I scrapped the whole part for the angrier one published above. I was also going to put the reactions of various groups across the galaxy, but none of the scenes added anything to the story. For the council it boiled down to, "Oh no, the Sith are stronger than we thought. How are they doing this?" and the quarians were, "Glad they're on our side." I kept Benezia because of how she affects the story in the future, and to flush out her feelings about the Sith and her motives in joining Saren in the future. Atrior was going to get his own interrogation scene with the Primarch, but it just felt tacked on and pointless. Besides, he'll get his chance to shine.
Other than that, I have nothing left to say except, Thank The Force this is done! If you like it, please leave a review. If you hate it, tell me how I'm the worst writer ever. Thank you so much for sticking with me this far, only about two chapters to go before Episode I is finished. See y'all next time
Reviews:
frankieu: Ferrus knows what he is doing.
Zoltan-Atreyu: Biotics and The Force are not necessarily related, Hermina just has both. The Citadel races just have no idea how to detect The Force so hypothetically if they do see someone use it, they just assume it to be biotics.
King Quinn of Tucky: Humble pie incoming.
Riderwar93:Thank you for your words of encouragement, I tend to agree with that assessment of the different sides of The Force.
kite15663: The Sith will definitely take advantage of the treaty's limitation, Humanity did in canon so it makes sense. Sith ships will be built with the philosophy of 'Bigger, Badder, Better.' The number of allotted dreadnaughts doesn't quite matter to the Sith at this point, they only have 2 and a third on the way, they will have to build up their navy a bit more anyway so they will cross that bridge when they get to it, but will appeal for more. The Alliance stance on slavery is about this: if you take our people, we Will get them back.
Kaioo: The Sith aren't exactly clean in that regard either, but the asari will soon think twice before trying anything like that again.
Helkil: Yep, the Sith will ship everyone with the Force back to their desert death world for training.
valkrus: I honestly have mispelt so many names so many times that I sometimes just convince myself that I'm spelling it correctly when I'm not, my apologize.
Star Destroyer: The attack will put turian stoicism to the ultimate test. Here's the thing, if, and a big if there, any race starts their own order of Force Users, that's just one more thing for the Sith to crush and dominate. The Sith have just spanked the military arm of the Citadel with a thenth of their numbers, all they really need is an appeal of strength. there will eventually be a Sith Krogan Alliance, however the Sith are not keen on repeating the Citadel's mistakes and will only grant it when the krogans clean up their civilization.
guest#1 of 3/29: yes to both.
spartanzerg: I feel like Mandalorians fill that roll neatly enough. Elite troops that get in fast, wreck face and hold until the main force catches up and at this point every mandalorian is loyal to the Alliance.
KillTheXenos: No, they are just biding time and getting things in order before they let out some of the good stuff.
Asharzal: at this point he's been in the habit of calling Sith savages for months now, it's just his default when referring to them. Also, if the Sith go that far, Tevos likely isn't alive to see it.
heartfanglives: Ferrus will be the least of their concerns once this war is over. though no recordings though, just the stories of a metal demon carving through trained soldiers like paper
Zuracchibi: sorry about that.
EricFreak: unfortunatly, Hermina has been picked up by the Pyramid of Warriors, so politics is unlikely. she will however be powerful with a teacher like Ferrus.
loki98065: The new status quo will be more like the paragon council sacrifice ending of ME 1. Sith being the new big kids on the block.
PattycNyc: thanks for the advice about placement and for the pointers on labels.
EvilHound: thank you.
ShadowCub: They'd figure it out pretty much immediately once they ready about any part of Sith culture. Also it makes it easier to track down alien Force users.
CheesusChrist15: People take time to review so I like taking some time to reply to show my appretiation.
michalrd: Jane Shepard, though that may not be her name, will be in the story, but not as a main crew character, at least not immediately. Her an Liara will definitely have an interesting meeting. The one major problem with trying to get the turians as a client race is that the Sith do not have the manpower to really enforce their rule over them, yet. Their negotiation tactics will indeed have much bluffing and 'compromising.'
DahokStaz: It would be kind of pointless since the distration flotilla doesn't have enough manpower to really hold anything. and venturing too far forward risks them getting trapped.
Cairen5699: Sorry, not deceived speech, just some angry yelling and a Force Storm. The war's end does shake up the galaxy a bit.
shypunk; My apologies, and thank you.
Invictus602: Ferrus does use their proclaimed status as sarcastic mockery, even if there is no Decieved speech.
Lord Malum: I don't have any specific plans for Minoram at this point, but that may change.
mr1980rivera: Thank you
BlueTea: Sith killing things is good in small doses, but it gets a little tiresome after a while.
OscuroSignore-51: A clash of cultures in the Citadel is definitely something I want to incorporate, especially sine the Sith and asari are polar opposites. I'm still working through the full negotiations so terms are all a bit up in the air right now.
Uvuvwevwevwe Onyetenyevwe Ugwe: A Death Star would be just a bit too much and Sun Razors act as mini Star Forges so that's covered.
Stormzy: true, against a prime Sith Empire, the Reapers are small potatoes, but against a Sith Empire with a few dozen battle damaged ships and no way to repair them whose only planet at the time has less than a million living souls on it, not so great odds.
MichaelBishopone: Romances will come when they come.
StoneTheLoner: if you mean Saren getting out, his ship was sent away long before the Sith fleet arrived, he was gone by Desolas' design. As for teh rest, it's mostly for narrative tension.
saitamathewise: Thank you I appreciate the words of encouragement.
Carthienes: Bacta was introduced during the Great War and began replacing kolto. Since the empire escaped essentially at the end of the war, they would have information on it. The problem with mass accelerators is that it falls into teh Reapers' trap. even taking out one Reaper destroyer's shields takes the continued fire of hundreds of dreadnaught class guns(as seen in ME3) while it may help slightly in terms of dealing with other races, the Sith are primarily focused on the Reapers and combating them above all else. Kinetic barriers could definitly be used to enhance defenses like that. Force Sensitive roopeers do exist and may come into play later.
guest of 4/26: Thank you
CAV: new ship classes are planned for the future.
Abc12042001: I'm still kicking, even after such a long delay.
Perseus: Thanks.
Zanlorenzi17: Not Planning on mandalorian, but do have another path I would have him go down.
Mr. Winchester: New classes of ships will be coming in the next episodes, though they may not have the same names, Venerator feels too Republicy.