Aboard Pelican transport
One kilometer out from unidentified xeno city
2557 Military Calendar, 09:59
When the Elites came down from the sky, full wrath of the Fleet of Retribution engaging every squid, it was a mixture of slight distrust and fucking salvation.
HIGHCOM sent in the sharks. Of course they did. The same ones who glassed Reach, Crystal Cove, Chi Ceti, so on. But Mark could see through the prejudice unlike the others. The Elites were reliable. That was a strange staple of their species. They owed Humanity a debt in their minds. In the end of the Great War the Elites viewed Humanity helping them destroy the Covenant instead of the other way around. Nobody will say it but without the Elites, Humanity and Earth would be glass. However, without the Master Chief, along with the heroics of decorated legends (Medal of Honor and all that) Sergeant Major Johnson and Commander Miranda Keyes the Elites would be long dead.
Whichever way it's viewed the Elites also had to honor the Human species when Lord Hood secured their government with the UNSC Infinity back in '53 and the UNSC's work to help the Arbiter in his revenge war against the Covenant remnants. So, it wasn't as if the Elites were waiting to stab them in the back.
Both Pelicans were already in route to pick up another group of pod survivors near the city under Lieutenant Duvall. They were getting beaten badly by squid bastards. But before they got there the Shadow of Intent slipped in from exosphere, launching type-52 Phantoms immediately to crash sites.
"Can anyone get a line through?" Florence said in particular to Contradiction.
The AI spoke through Lucy's helmet. That electronic echo painted every word. "Fucking Elites… They're still using Covenant encrypted channels from the War. Ah, give me a moment."
"Right. Tell Morganson to follow our Pelican. IFF tags on brights. Get it screaming on every channel."
Orders were filled out, leaving Mark to himself again. The wounded were strapped as tight as possible. Still gripped their injuries, with critical in a state of forced slumber. The one heavy critical had a face completely caked in blood. Biofoam and other biomass materials forming a pool in his chest. He might've been seventeen or eighteen. Some greenback kid. Here for who the hell knows. It came down to him dying on cold metal in a shaky transport.
"Let's hope the Elites have doctors aboard who know something about Human anatomy." Mark said to Lieutenant Banks. According to Naval Intelligence, the Elites considered doctors the lowest of society. Getting wounds healed was considered... "dishonorable" while idiocy was held in high appraise. Either way Human anatomy wouldn't be in their knowledge, being unneeded. It might've changed from their days out of the Covenant. "If not we still might have to wait for UNSC reinforcements."
"Yeah. The men seem stable, for the moment. So, that's the best we got." Banks said, rather curt and seeming to trail off.
Mark turned from the poor kid when Banks began nodding. From Mark's observations he seemed anxious, possibly nervous. It was constant, ever since he got aboard. But well, his men were on the verge of death. Mark probably displayed the same set of physical characteristics. Yet there was something about Banks that Mark couldn't place.
He looked like a normal marine. A man in his late thirties, dark circles, along with the usual features that marked a veteran of the Great War. However it wasn't him that Mark took cue. It was from Lucy. She was watching Banks. A helmet turned to his direction, no subtlety at all. Why though wouldn't be understood now.
Mark felt the sudden pressure as the Pelican increased altitude. He headed towards the cockpit, found Tom at controls.
They were heading home, hopefully… With utter consequences. He wouldn't know how HIGHCOM and ONI would react to the Captain's decision. He'll face the punishment. For his crew more than anything. If trial was under that bitch Admiral Osman no doubt he would meet the barrels of a firing squad, even if it was her fucking op. Under Lord Hood and his fleet admiral subordinates of HIGHCOM there was no telling. He just hoped whatever is left of his crew go home, peacefully. Take a long shore leave from this disaster of an operation.
"Hey, Captain. I'm making my ascent. Everything checks out. Morganson is following close behind. Let's just hope the Elites will get to our boys fast enough." Tom said, full attention as the Pelican scrapped by burning buildings.
Rain continued to battle against the fires where the Shadow of Intent wasn't covering. A layer of grey and darkness where the clouds were thickest. There were ships moving in the buildings. A low level fog settled within the city, helping conceal movement. In all, this reminded him too much of Reach in the planet's final days. The burning of New Alexandria and evacuation in the boneyards on second-rate ancient ships under Code Omega-three. When Reach command called omega-three then completely went off air everything ran for their lives. All was truly lost. Marines, army, ONI, naval, civilian. All breaking through the gates to the boneyards like wild animals, trampling over each other. Mark was just one of them, trying to do his best to maintain control.
But who knows what's going on here. How many civilians were down there? How many bodies piled up? Blue and red lasers, unidentified contacts and the squids. For all Mark knew this was a squid city and they were the ones fighting for their lives. Mark and his crew were they invaders, and the squids were frightened. Fighting like hell for their homes and families…or whatever concept of home and family these xenos have. But their disturbing figures removed any sympathy for them. Changed and enhanced on a scary scale. Abominations.
"Ever get offered to join the IVs?" Mark said.
"Well, sir, Lord Hood actually personally talked to…whatever IIs and IIIs are left and discouraged us from taking the offer from ONI." He said.
"Really? I thought you were under ONI's jurisdiction already?"
"NAVSPECWAR originally, but now we bounce around with SPARTAN OP nowadays."
It wasn't surprising. HIGHCOM (primarily the Navy) and ONI hold so much 'distrust' towards each other it was poisoning to say the least. But it never altered or halted the UNSC's ultimate goal. When the 'Spartan Branch' was created everyone within the Navy smelled it from a mile away for what it truly was. A highly bureaucratic process by ONI as they tried to spread away the Navy's control over the Spartans. The product? A military branch without a clearly defined structure with independent fireteam groups unlike a regular military branch that's been pretty much the same for centuries. Untraditional at the least and highly disorganized at the most save for the Spartans aboard naval ships. Squads were listed, sure, but can easily disappear out of the bloom? Immediately replaced by a quickly snatched up group from the ODSTs, say, and lost in the mesh?
Mark could press on. But if they worked for ONI….
"Any interesting ops?"
"Some, sir. But this mission can be considered a highlight." Tom said, rather uncomfortable.
Mark nodded, friendly. A slightly forced smile. It became clear that Tom didn't know how to deal with this. Spartans had a reputation of weak social skills, at least from what Mark heard. He could tell now. Mark was pealing into sanitized records, classified. And Tom said 'mission'. Not the usual words people would use for operations like these, such as "tour" or "deployment". A mission.
For what?
"Stand by, sir. Unidentified radar contact closing in at pursuit speed, drag by thirty-five, sixty miles out. Angels three, steady over the deck, dodging on top from building to building. Nose pointed at us." Tom said, a flashing red dot on a radar screen.
"Fucking Christ." Mark responded, moved to the command seat above Tom.
Mark activated the screen. Two screens, radar and weapons control panel. The radar showed exactly what Tom said. Unidentified flight, one bogey. Luckily since he was flying at angels three the buildings were giving no interference. But he was beginning to descend fast, sudden halts, reaching the tops of the skyscraper. It could've possibly been a VTOL like the Pelican. Must've been hell to be in the cargo hold with that sudden turn.
"Not falling for this twice. Right, get to angels point five, start maneuvering between buildings. Prep weapons. Keep the cargo door closed unless needed. Get Morganson in front of us."
"Wait. Unidentified contact hailing on unknown encrypted channel. FM frequency. Christ. Sudden dive to our angels. Fifty klicks out, gaining."
"Get them on the horn." Mark said, quickly removed himself from the chair and made his way to the back.
Lucy was already ready, holding a M41 Surface-to-surface rocket launcher she got from the weapons compartment above the seats. The other marines and the engineer still tended to the wounded, secured them for wind currents.
"Lucy," Mark yelled. "Open the hatch and spin up the gun. Fire at all incoming ships at my orders!"
The hatch propped upon, releasing the two metal connecting doors for Lucy to ready and produce the twin barrel of the M41. Rocket ready, locking on.
"Accept the hail," Florence ordered, immediately speaking into the horn. "This is Captain Mark Florence of the United Nations Space Command to unidentified vessel you are entering our radar airspace and will be considered a pursuing target. We will use deadly force."
At first static broke, incoherent words, yet fluency prevailed.
"Th-…i-….This is Lieutenant Leng transmitting to unidentified vessel. We mean no harm. We're evacuating local survivors from escape pod sites to be delivered to you. You are entering unsecured airspace; we were sent out to protect you!"
One kilometer outside Nos Astra, 2186 Citadel Calendar, 10:00
"I said drop the weapons!" The Turian sergeant barked. Dressed in standard black armor with red display lights and M-15 Vindicator standard to the Turian military. Aimed down the sights. Body in combat stance and personal kinetic barriers ready for attack.
Lieutenant Kurin aimed her Disciple. Which might've possibly go off like a grenade or refuse to work in her hands with an unstable thermal clip. The transport stayed still. Those tiny, gas-masked figures used small hands to aim their turret from person to person.
"Sergeant, I don't think this is appropriate. Just put your weapons down…" Liara said, trying to calm the situation. She placed her hand on the rifle, tried to gently lower the Turian's gun. The soldier didn't budge, only shouldered the gun.
"Ma'am, we're enforcing First Contact Procedure. We must deem them hostile until they prove otherwise!" He responded.
Since when did Illium care about Citadel procedure? Or were they so frightened of the unknown they turned to it…
"Human, I would tell your imbeciles to remove their weapons before they make the matters…worst. We were sent by your people to return you to the Infinity." The large beast dressed in pearl white armor threateningly ordered, so common to roll off his tongue in a deep and commanding latinistic voice. It was the same one broadcasting the FM signal. The Shipmaster of the Shadow of Intent.
The other hulking monsters prepped to fulfill his orders. Taking position to aim those weapons topped with intimidating, large bright purple crystals sticking out from the dark weapons. Other weapons were blue coated arms with a single electrical current traveling between the tips of the opening.
The holders of these weapons had large, muscular, lizard-like bodies taller than everyone in the area, even the Krogans. Lead to an upper jaw with four mandibles holding an interior of sharp teeth that made up its mouth. A under opening where their jaw should've been. Most bore dark blue armor, formed to their digitigrade legs of the body and their tetradactyl hands.
The helmet rose from black under armor to a curved war mask. A sharp tip near the end, giving them a appearance of a shark. Produced the same intimidating appearance as their weapons. Their eyes, glaring in what was to be called anger appeared in yellow glows from those helmets, turning from the twenty Illium militia soldiers to Shepard. All these monsters stayed in a slouch position, readying like the Turians, waiting for orders.
In all, there were about eleven including the leader. A scared, experienced and tired leader removed of two mandibles. Each stood in the open in a circular position, as if unafraid of what the militia or Shepard's squad will do. Their transport still hovered above, gunners on ready. Whoever they were the gunners were definitely not the species on the ground
"Sir, I understand this is a little tense. But contact procedure states that you must lay down your weapons or else we have to consider you a hostile threat. We won't open fire at you. You have my word. We just want to make sure you aren't hostile" The Lieutenant said. Her arms slightly shook. Shepard's were too, under the heavy weight of the loose armor. That was it.
Hell, Shepard's weapon either won't fire or blow up. Tali was still in the Mako on Shepard's orders, quickly trying to repair as fast as possible, making sure Cortez is still alright. Maybe Tali would start up the Mako's weapons, just in case. But before it comes to that Shepard needed to try everything to come at peace.
"I'm not here for your will. I came to retrieve this man and return him to the Infinity." The pearl armored beast retorted, slowly grasped at a small black cylinder that was strapped to his belt. Edged with grips and curved to fit the palm. The cylinder was engraved with mysterious carvings, slightly unclear from where Shepard was standing. Whatever it was it was the only weapon the leader had.
"You sure have a funny way of showing it!" Turian sergeant yelled. "Look, you either drop your weapons now or we'll be forced to take hostile measures."
"Shut it, Staff Sergeant." Kurin responded.
"This command cannot be fulfilled after the way you have treated us. Hand over the Reclaimer, and we shall be on our way." The monster said.
"Drop your goddamn weapons!" The Turian yelled, letting the small click signaling deactivation of the safety ring.
The monster grasped the cylinder, removed it from his belt to present a display of purple light crafted to a sharp oval hilt forming around the hinge of the cylinder. Sparks of auroras. The oval didn't connect at both ends. The rounded symmetrical edges halted, with one side creating a guard that encompassed the monster's hand, passing the hilt. The other side spanned out into two thinning blades, modeling a thin sword. Both these blades didn't connect, sharpened into tipped points. Electrical currents traveled within the opening between the blade. The purple light made the black skin and white armor of the beast glow along with surrounding areas. Overall, the sword was about four and-a-half feet long.
One of the other monsters stood at his side as subordinate, dressed in a red variant of the trooper armor. This one carried an elongated purple rifle with a thinly scope and stretched bottom hilt that ran along the ulna (or where the ulna would be if he were human), Five feet long, looking quite small in the his hands.
"If you will not hand him over…" The commander raised his sword along with his voice. "Warriors, burn their mongrel hides!"
"Wait…wait, wait!" Shepard said, rushed with Liara from the Mako to stand in between the weapons of the two groups. The two had their rifles holstered, raised their hands in surrender, as if there were a point to it. "Look, I have no idea what you're talking about. I was sent here by my superiors to secure the surviving crew of the crashed ship, UNSC Legend After."
"Ah, then you were sent as a rescuer, as our allies have commanded us?" The commander said.
"Maybe I can help. I'm Doctor Liara T'Soni. I specialize…well, I specialize in archaeology. But, anyways, this is the first time Shepard and I, including these soldiers, have witnessed your species. We've never heard of this ship, Legend After, Shadow of Intent, or whatever this Infinity is until now! If you were ordered to return a "human" to this ship, then at least explain why. And who ordered you to… And explain why you called him a "Reclaimer"."
She seemed less calm and excited. The situation suppressed any of that. If it were less…hostile, she would be rolling over millions of questions on culture, history, everything about them.
"You claim of ignorance?" The commander asked, perplexed. Looked to his subordinate who only shrugged. He looked back to the militia. "And what of them?"
"They're only scared of what you'll do. We've never meet. Of course they would have an aggressive attitude to protect themselves." Shepard said, still calm despite everything he felt.
"I find it hard to believe you have never met us, Human. Even in the days of our false Covenant?" The commander said.
"What the fuck is he talking about?" A Turian said.
"Shut it!" Liara responded, looking back in a threatening way then turning forth. "Can you answer our questions?"
"For who ordered us, it was his Shipmaster of Shipmasters." He said, pointing to Shepard.
Well that helped.
"Can you give us a name?" Liara said.
"He knows him by Lord Hood." He said. "As upon his request we were sent into the holy… the artifact to retrieve the survivors and return them. We assumed you were one of the survivors. Yet you claim you are not, Reclaimer."
Shepard was one of the survivors? What? He didn't even look anywhere near like one of them
Shepard didn't respond, confused. And a response was given not by the alien commander, or his comrades, but by a high pitched screech from the walls beyond followed by the mixed noses of gunfire and flashes of light. Kurin opened up her glitchy Omni-tool, turned to the holo-projector to find red dots encroaching the base camp.
"Reaper attack! Staff Sergeant, gather your men and prep any available gunship squadrons! All men to combat stations! This is not a drill!" She ordered.
Out of all the luck. The EMP from the nuclear warheads didn't even affect the Reapers. Maybe it should've been obvious. They were built with a variety of countermeasures.
An even farther distance away the emergency alarm sounded from the communications towers. A deafening roar. Shepard could see marauders leading dozens of cannibals supported by ravengers and husks. Militia soldiers took cover either within the trenches or behind defensive walls. Few of them began to peak from cover, firing off weapons as the Reapers engaged. Theirs could've possibly already been repaired or were lucky and didn't get affected by the EMP. The rest scrambled to a building a bit out. Probably an armory. A pair of harvesters flew across the defense, carrying preemptive strikes. Balls of red and black light that threw bodies in the air. Dead before impact.
One of the harvesters struck the alien transport, attached itself onto it and used its cannon to carve a hole in the ship. The mounted gunner panicked. Shepard could swear he heard a high-pitched squeal. A patterning sound as blue flares attacked the Harvester. Fires erupting and energy burning through its armor like paper.
The aliens on the ground turned towards the Reaper attack garrisons. His subordinate handed the alien commander one of the blue electrical weapons. He grasped it, sword in other hand, completely charged the Reapers head on. No thought for his men or own safety
"Remove this abomination, Warriors! Grind them into dust!" He said.
His warriors followed, jumped over barricades, moving past friendly troops who tried not to be dumbstruck. The alien Commander displayed his sword. His troops fired off bolt after bolt. Sparks of blue light making a loud, energized sound. The crystal weapons ignited pink shards. When each one fired it sounded similar to glass breaking. They followed slowly, similar to the incineration ball on Shepard's Omni-tool.
The bolts burnt through armor. Shards pierced the biomass. One Cannibal got a group of pink crystals, exploded in almost an instant in pink and bright purple dust.
The commander trucked a marauder. Reaper round after round deflected off his shields, sparking a blue electric bubble that surrounded him. He turned towards a cannibal, impaling it with his sword, throwing the lifeless body at another cannibal.
Shepard looked to the Mako entrance, Tali still hunched over a repair station.
"Tali! How much longer?!" Shepard said, staying low in the middle of the open.
"Keelah. Keelah! Hold on…ah, I almost have it!" Tali said. There was a flicker of electricity, and she went to her Omni-tool, typing in commands. "Electrical current reduction, redirecting into subsystems. You little…ah, I got it!"
Shepard's armor slowly lost its heavy burden, making slight adjustments to move back into his body mold. He pulled out a weapon block, unfolding without difficulty. A white and black M-96 Mattock within his hands. Liara pulled out her M-6 Carnifex and Tali a M-22 Eviscerator.
Shepard didn't have time to say thanks or even ask how Cortez was. Moved forward towards the barricades, reloading another thermal clip just in case. Aimed down the scopes with mostly steady accuracy from micro inertia dampeners. One of the other militia members can control the Mako, minding with Cortez in it. Shepard needed to be on the ground, with the aliens. That, and he didn't want to spend another minute in that tank.
He pulled the trigger on a cannibal, rounds of Eezo. The gun violently shook after each shot. The thermal clip moving ordinance to cool down the weapon. Still very sketchy. But it seemed to work. Liara followed, using her biotics to charge a ball of singularity. Opened in the midst of a group of Reaper husks before they engaged the militia.
The alien commander turned to one of the floating Reapers, tearing a gash within the body before turning on the others and opened up his rifle, one-handed.
Shepard entered cover behind one of the barricades next to the red armored alien as he looked up and opened fire with the elongated rifle. A slash of purple light that bounced back a Husk. Immediately turned into ashes. He got to truly realize the size of these aliens. Close enough now to show its monstrosity. This particular one was about nine feet tall. The alien could grab Shepard by the neck and left him fifteen feet in the air if he really wanted to. A frightening species.
Shepard looked out, engaged his Omni-tool and used overload EMP to rip through the shields of a Marauder, easily putting him down with a few rounds. Next target. Electric grenade from Shepard's Omni-tool. Burst of electricity hitting a Cannibal and burning holes through the body.
Liara and Tali joined him, entering into cover. Tali aimed her shotgun, opening up a grouping of rounds at charging husks. Knocked them on their back where she quickly finished them off.
"Can someone grab that maniac before he gets himself killed!?" Tali said, ducking back into cover.
Militia soldiers in the trenches were being ripped apart, falling back to the barricades with the rest of the platoon. The aliens however, pushed forward. Shields appearing and encompassing their bodies every time a Reaper round hit them. These tactics were suicidal. Idiotic to say the least.
It could've been arrogance. Size over the pathetic little aliens. Weapons that can cut through at least biomass armor and weak marauder shields. Unknown how they would do against reinforced kinetic or biotic barriers. The ravengers fired, bounced up dirt and grass. The aliens dodged. One of them was engulfed in a flurry of dirt. Shepard didn't see him come out. The others turned on the bug. Bullets scorching unlike any eezo round Shepard has seen before.
Their transport, with harvester still attached, flipped. Gunners fell out and hit the ground. It crashed into the grass on Shepard's left. About thirty meters away from the nearest trench. The grey panels ripped open to reveal the insides half-buried in dirt. The Harvester's body was crushed under the weight. Head torn off with bursting electrical wires and red mesh that was once its biological body.
There were three survivors. Small individuals that looked nothing like the monsters. Two of them wore a red triangular backpack, far too large for their body. Masks covered their mouths, connected to the backpack. They had oversized arms with small spikes similar to a crab or lobster back on Earth. A small, slouched body with even tinier bipedal legs. Overall, they only stood at four feet. A drastic, almost cute, if not ridiculous change from the commander and his men. The little guys held a small, ugly black and purple pistol with green electrical lighting that traveled in the open spaces of the weapon. Very similar to the blue rifle.
The third was far different from both species. A scrawny body with skinny legs and arms. The majority of his body was encased in thin armor, leaving his arms uncovered. His mouth was stretched out, similar to say a dog or the beck of a bird. Eyes were startling. An ugly shade of purple with no evidence of pupils. Rows of tiny razor sharp teeth lined his mouth along with jagged hair standing on the top of the head. He held the same green pistol and there was a band on his opposite arm. Opened into a circular, bright blue shield.
They quickly recovered. Took cover in the wreckage. Fired off green bolts that made a slight splattering sound with every shot. It partially slowed down the cannibals and husks. The actual alien muscle seemed too spread to help out. The approximate ten busy with the other enemies. Some of their shields burst apart, light spreading in different directions from more ravenger rounds. The commander and his men fell back into the trenches.
Shepard activated his reinforced tech armor shields. Orange electronic padding lying above the metal suiting. He placed back his Mattock. Took out his Black Widow despite closer range.
His squad mates immediately understood. Rose from cover and opened firing. Liara released a singularity again, lifting about three or four Reapers from the ground. Tali released Chatika. A blue ball moving around and crashing into a cannibal. Killing it. The Qurian pushed forward, leaping over the barricade, up one on one against a marauder. She used an energy drain, depleted its shield and added own to her own. Knocked him off balance with one hit and killed him with another.
Shepard moved from cover. His squad mates out of his sight. Sprinted at a sharp left angle. Militia soldiers were forced to pull back from the nearest trench, leaving it abandoned and overturned as Cannibals began to pour in. However, they still provided cover with blue bolts firing overhead.
Burning rounds flew past Shepard. Some hitting his kinetic barriers. Left only residue that scratched his armor or raised microscopic burns across his face. He pushed with the rush, reaching the edge of the trench filled with Cannibals. He put back his sniper rifle for a moment. Made a leaping step on the trench's edge as he lifted his arm back and the Omni-sword formed and stretched forward.
A cannibal turned just in time. A mouth wide open in a screeching rage. The bastard only met the end of the orange saber plunging into the abyss. It collapsed, legs giving away and arms flopping. Shepard pulled out his M-22 block. Transformed into the shotgun. He used his left shoulder and smashed against the dense armor of another cannibal on his left. Pushed it against the dirt of the trench walls. Shepard forced him back. A blue mouth barely away from his face. Only held by the tech shields. A burst of rounds from his shotgun directly in a cannibal's face on the right, leaving only disintegration and ashes. He turned towards the held Reaper, pumping up the forend of the weapon. Single-handedly shoved the barrel into the Cannibal and unloaded another round, leaving it to the same fate of ash.
Barely more than five seconds. Two more left. Far enough away from Shepard where he pulled out his Black Widow. Quickly unloaded a round and ripped the arm off one and left him to succumb to the dirt. The recoil on this weapon always threatened to break both hands. Inertia dampeners moved in to barely save him. He loaded the lever of the sniper. Another aim down the scope. Forced down the trigger. Ripped a chunk of biomass.
Shepard didn't have time to acknowledge his own work, lifting himself from the trench. A clear shot towards the crash site. Liara and Tali killing off anyone in his path.
A final all-out sprint. Lungs pushing against the metal. Feeling constricted despite the combat mold compensating for breathing expansion. He reached the site, slid into the cover of one of the transport pieces next to the three small aliens.
He laid on his back, shoulders sat on the transport wreckage. One of the triangular aliens stood next to him, fully covered by the transport, not even noticing Shepard.
"Are you guys alright?" Shepard said.
The little guy looked to him. Jumped up and screamed in panic in a high tone. He fell on his ass. Gathered himself quickly with a pistol aiming right at Shepard without any concern of weapon safety.
"Yeah, me alright." He said in a relaxed, high-pitched voice. "Me kicking ass and chewing nibble, but me all out of nibble."
Shepard didn't even have a response. But it wasn't out of confusion. A roar spread across the battlefield. Its source coming from a heavily armored brute standing on a hill only about fifteen meters away from the aliens' occupied trench. It slouched its body, revealed less vulnerable spots. It charged. Claw ready.
It seemed like the alien Commander took a personal offense to this attempt. He removed himself from the trench. Stood before the brute with energy sword ready and a body height only slightly shorter than the Reaper.
The alien commander returned the charge, left the blue rifle behind on the dirt. Arms out, sword ready, sprinting. They were only a few feet apart. A complete collision course waiting to happen. As the brute swung its sword leftwards the commander dodged right. A full leap. He got in close and gripped the brute's chest plate. Wrapped his arms around the Reaper's shoulder. The energy sword dug into the metal armor and biomass near its jutting spinal bone without effort. He repeatedly stabbed it, quickly forcing the Brute to its knees. The Reaper used its claw and tore the grip off.
The other more so warrior-like aliens charged forth afterwards, defending their commander and pushed whatever Reapers back from the conflict. Tali and Liara soon enough used the clear path and joined with Shepard. The little guy jumped again at the two's presence, almost opening fire.
The other aliens didn't help the commander though. It was his own battle. Some of them were opened from engagement yet only watched. The three small aliens only engaged the Reaper advancement. The creepy looking one used his shield to defend the other two small aliens.
The brute grabbed the dirt of Illium. Used it as a foundation as it sliced the claw sword in the air. Tried to reach the commander. He jumped back, unfortunately allowing the creature to completely turn around, getting back on its feet. Another idiotic charge.
This time, the commander leaned down his left shoulder, something similar to Shepard's tactic earlier. He aimed at the creature's right side; the one without the claw. A direct hit within the depression between the jut spinal bone and where the neck tubing connected to the main biomass. He right hooked the creature's belly with the sword, cutting directly between the heavy body armor. The commander used his strength to push the Brute down.
His final move was an immediate slash of the neck tubing, cutting off the Turian-like head.
His alien troops led by his second subordinate still pushed onward, backed up by Illium militia men who saw the initiative and took it. Momentum pushed them forward. The alien Commander admired his work, breathing heavily as his entire body shook with every chest expansion. He didn't even notice the fighting until a stray round hit his shields. The alien turned towards Shepard and his friends, walking calmly, mandibles hanging open with anger in eyes.
There were about seven friendly aliens left. The other three lying unmoving in various spots on the battlefield. They took up an enormous space.
He reached Shepard, energy sword disappeared into the hilt, holstering it. He looked to the three small aliens as if he were disgusted. The three just continued fighting.
"You fight well, Reclaimer. As does your companions." The commander said. "Even if it were for these mere runts."
Well that showed a lot about their people. The commander continued. "I shall call another transport. We must redraw quickly, Human. Our ships can only hold off the bastards for so long."
"Well, you seem to be holding them off a lot better than we are." Tali said. "You didn't answer our questions earlier."
"Nor do I have the time or will. Truly, if you are ignorant of the situation then all questions shall be answered aboard my ship."
They were going aboard that thing? A completely unknown ship with God knows what's up there?
"I'm not going unless I can bring my 'companions' along and you can guarantee my safety." Shepard said, leaned back and crossed his arms, looked up towards the beast.
"I do not understand why you would even bring up a proposition like this. Harm will only come if you threaten us. As for your companions, I was not ordered to bring these people back to your clan. But if you must then it is none of my concern. I did not know you had other allies aboard your ship"
Why the hell did they seem to know Shepard? Or acted like they do at least? Did they not even care they were making first contact… Okay, there was humans. But what about the Qurians? Asari? No surprise, honor, anything that goes along with First Contact? There seemed to be no way to convince them otherwise, towards the truth, that this commander didn't know Shepard. That Shepard wasn't whatever the alien thought a "Reclaimer" was. Were they watching them the whole time and just called humanity by this title? What were they reclaiming exactly? They already knew the name of Shepard's species. Could the alien not explain anything? Shepard had to set them straight. But there wasn't enough time.
Shepard also looked to the militia and Lieutenant Kurin as she led the soldiers onwards. They still had to fight on.
And what about them?
With a gigantic fleet with ultra powerful ships they were supposed to stop this. Not even a EMP from a nuclear bomb slowed them down for a second. They couldn't care less. Couldn't care about the others.
What the hell is a Reclaimer?
Liara noticed the gaze, looking to him. She knew what he was thinking "They'll be okay, Shepard. If this works out, everyone can be saved."
It was reassuring and probably a tactical sound option. Piling thousands of refugees aboard an unknown ship with aliens of an unknown psychological state wasn't safe.
And before Shepard could answer there was another alarm from the Normandy. An orange symbol appeared on his Omni-tool. For a moment Shepard debated answering, mostly for the patience of the commander. It appeared on Tali and Liara's too.
Urgent. It would be wise to stay informed of every event in the situation.
Shepard answered. Again, Joker's 'calming' voice spoke. "Commander! Cerberus vessel entered the solar system not more than twenty minutes ago. Two dozen transports launched at super-FTL speeds, slipped under to thermosphere about five-hundred kilometers away from the city. Right under the aliens' exosphere defensive position. EDI's got them locked. One of them is gaining on the two transports."
"I thought you couldn't launch any shuttles due to the aliens and Reaper AA ? How did they manage?"
"It looked a little like Saving Private Ryan, Commander." Joker said.
"Launch the secondary transport. It can swing around and pick up my squad, then we can-"
"Negative, we're in high orbit, almost three-hundred thousand mikes. The transport doesn't have the speed to make it in time at the rate and distance the Cerberus transports are at."
Shepard looked to the commander who seemed more perplexed than ever. A small twist of the head like a confused dog.
The transports didn't have enough speed but the Normandy did. It's density-to-thrust index far above any Kodiak shuttle and little to no halter in an atmospheric pressure setting like Illium.
"Something's wrong. Two transports are being attacked. They're in danger." Shepard said to the commander.
"We have stood here long enough. This was an all-out -as your people call it- "catch-and-grab"." What my people call it? "We do not have the current resources necessary to withhold a mission of such sorts. We did not expect such heavy resistance from these mongrels. Most of my men are currently deployed evacuating other survivors. Our plan is to evacuate everyone we can and head back into the Forerunner artifact."
How many were there?
"I have a ship. In orbit as we speak. The SSV Normandy. It can slip in and pull out the transports. We can meet up at this…Forerunner artifact."
Perplex turned into confusion. "Your Shipmaster of shipmasters called us here in the absence of your vessels."
"Look, I need to set something straight. I'm confused on who you think I am but I was not part of the Legend After's crew, nor was I sent by this shipmaster, Lord Hood. I'm a part of something else. There isn't a lot of time but I can bring the survivors back to the… Infinity. My ship will have to enter your defensive perimeter; it's small, two-hundred-thirty-seven meters in length."
His subordinate holding the elongated rifle stood at his side. The commander turned to him then back to Shepard. "This ship, the Normandy? I have heard of such names in your navy's arsenal. If you insist then retrieve your people. I shall questions your activities later, with your leaders."
Shepard's people? Was the crew of the Legend After not one of their own?
"Arbiter! A Human ship is making its way through under the name of SSV Normandy. They're here to help escort the survivors back to their people." The commander said through his comms.
This Arbiter's voice came through, a small echo on the commander's comm. Whoever's voice it was sounded oddly familiar. As if Shepard heard it somewhere before, but he couldn't place it. "Hmm. We shall permit its passage. But tell these Humans to take heed. These abominations are stronger then we perceived. We cannot hold them off forever. Soon enough we will have to retreat and regroup with the Infinity.
"There you have it, Human. Call your ship, rescue your clan." With that, without any other word, he walked away.
Liara finally realized what excitement she's supposed to have. She tried to stop him. But he either didn't hear or didn't listen. So she asked a simpler question. "What do you mean his clan? The Legend After isn't his ship."
Without even turning, he spoke. "I believe that we are both presented an enigma. Your companions... I can believe their ignorance. But yours, Reclaimer, is baffling. Go to the transports. All questions shall be answered."
A cope out if Shepard had to say. But maybe the alien Commander just didn't have the ability to explain it all. Whatever the fuck was going on. The other smaller aliens stopped their charge, slowly pulled back to the defensed. One looked up at him and said "thank you".
Shepard stood there for a moment. This was the new contact? He didn't know what to expect, and now it seemed strange to think. They didn't seem to care for Shepard's needs, only for their crew, this Infinity, and Lord Hood. A name that sounded scarily human. Just like the name Mark Florence. But that was... that was impossible.
"Joker? The aliens will let you through. Pick us up at these coordinates and get us to those transports, ASAP. I don't even want to think what Cerberus will try to do." Shepard said through the comm.
Those are thoughts Shepard didn't even want to think about.
"Roger, Commander. Just fly past the funny looking ships, nothing horrifying at all…piece of cake."
…
"New contact! This thing's about half the size of a Paris-class frigate. On direct intercept course. Traveling at five-hundred miles per hour, about thirty-two klicks out and closing, angles two, slow descent!" Tom yelled from the cockpit.
Jesus Christ.
Moving a UNSC frigate within a one-g atmosphere, at least using Human-made RCS technology, was extremely hard, and the power required to station a UNSC ship for at least an hour is on equal to the power of the Tsar Bomba. And it was slow and un-maneuverable, and highly vulnerable. But from the way Tom worded it it almost made it sound like this ship was being used as a fighter.
They already had limited maneuver options with the wounded. With only fit naval personnel and marines, already used to the hell of G-force, Mark would've instantly get above the buildings and travel near Mach two with decent maneuvering on par with late twentieth century fighter jets.
But these men can't handle the stress. And there was no way in hell Captain Florence was even readying to begin to trust this 'Lieutenant Leng' after today's events.
In fact, how was he speaking English? They might have fast translators. It wasn't as if it were something new. The Huragok engineers of the old Covenant were able to process English Standard within a few minutes, gave it out to the Covenant soldiers seemingly to only taunt Humans as their homes were about to be glassed.
Something to this extent could've possibly happened. Leng, a Human name, Asian origin, might've just been one of the words found within the language. But that would mean they would have to recover some sort of UNSC technology, and the only possibility was the pod and the bodies Mark was forced to abandoned or some captured soldier broke his/her oath to Humanity. It didn't matter. They would obtain nothing truly important in any event. The only people in the UNSC who knows the exact slipspace routes and coordinates of Earth are naval captains, admirals, and AIs.
"Contradiction, get Morgonson. Tell her to arm the HAVOK nukes. Last resort." Mark said. "Prepare to dump them."
"Roger, Captain. Getting her on the line. We can use them like mines just in case." He said through Lucy's helmet.
The Captain nodded. Turned back to his comms. "This is Captain Mark Florence of the United Nations Navy. You said you have our men! How did you get them? Who? How many?"
Leng's shuttle strayed off, smart enough not to bait them. Leng's voice spoke through on the FM encryption. "Admittedly we were monitoring your FM communications when you entered the system. We rescued your crew before the Reapers, what you call "squids", could get to them. We have eleven survivors in our possession, and are continuing as we speak-"
"You Will Not rescue any more of our people!-"
"Then we shall halt all operations. Captain Florence, I understand you have no reason to trust us after today's events but we are not the Reapers…squids! We have a common enemy. We have medical supplies and doctors that can help your wounded."
"So you have an advanced medical understanding of our species, which according to you barely met."
Leng sounded slightly frustrated, maybe nervous. That was a good sign in Mark's mind, for whatever reason. Or maybe it wasn't, prone to violence more likely?
"Listen, Captain. I can't explain, and if I were to try you would never believe me. I have a proposal. You might perceive it as stupid but if you were to follow my shuttle I can bring you to a secured location with your men. I'll land. I'll be the only one -unarmed- to come out with your men. You can bring whoever, and whatever you like. You have my word. I'll explain everything. Who I work for, this war, the Reapers. Whatever you want."
Mark wondered why they called the squids "Reapers". Sure, guessed it would be a demon from God to see one of these monsters arrive from the clouds and unleash destruction. But still, it instantly reminded Mark of a squid. An, evil, terrifying, technologically advanced squid, but a squid nonetheless. Maybe they've never seen the animal species before.
"We have a frigate incoming. What about that?" Mark said.
"It's on my radar also. If you scan it you'll find it isn't a Reaper. It's one of our enemies, and if it's guaranteed to be hostile to us it is more likely to be hostile to you. Our transports are small. We can use them to maneuver from building to building and avoid the frigate."
Mark turned to Lucy. "Contradiction, what's your reading on the incoming ship?"
"Hard data radar came up. Ah, it's definitely not a squid design as Lieutenant Leng said. Single, thin, elongated compartment with a downward curved upper hull design. Four rectangles acting as wings, connected near the back and pointing out longwise. Two on each side. Five engines in total. Two aerodynamic rudders mounted at the back on top of the main compartment. For atmospheric use…hopefully.
"Its bottom hangar is opened, attached to the underside of the main compartment. I'm not sure why, but I'm picking up lifeforms, maybe about sixteen of them? Wait, standby, I'm getting an open FM transmission. Point of origin from that frigate."
...
Slightly traveling under five-hundred miles per hour, wind pierced Commander Shepard's face. The cargo hatch opened and revealed the fast passing hills of Illium about a kilometer below, tinted an electric blue from the hangar bay's shielding curtain. The shield took most of the brutal wind current. The city limits were approaching. First smaller buildings and homes. Heading towards the center of the city spread out skyscrapers. Some nearly one kilometer in height.
Garrus, James, EDI, and Ashley along with the Normandy security team made up of about eight people joined them on deck. All secured somewhere on the bulkhead to battle the wind currents. Cortez was brought aboard by the militia when one of them driving the Mako realized he wasn't alone. The shuttle pilot was immediately attended to by medics and Doctor Chakwas. Moved to the infirmary under intensive care.
Chakwas was able to heal up most of it yet didn't possess the right medical equipment. He would need an actual hospital. His injuries far worse than Shepard or the crew had expected. Internal bleeding. Organ trauma.
"I guess negotiations weren't the smoothest they've been." Garrus said, secured next to Shepard. "Or the landing either!"
"Something to that extent." Shepard yelled, almost forgetting he was right there. "But it's been going better than some others."
"I don't doubt it! I saw some of the snapshots of the aliens. What a lovely looking group of people. We couldn't just have another race like the Asari, could we? Or even a human-like species would do."
Shepard only smiled at the joke. "At least it's better than the Turians."
EDI stood next to Shepard, robotic voice speaking. "Shepard, I've built up a FM frequency algorithm, similar to the one these UNSC people used. Switch to the channel I've set up on your communications. It should get a connection through to those transports. But there's another problem Shepard. These aliens…the large ones, are using a completely different encryption algorithm in no way similar to the Legend After."
"From what I'm seeing and hearing, it sounds like two different species." Shepard said.
"I cannot say, and I've not seen enough evidence to prove or disprove your statement." The AI said.
"The Shadow of Intent shipmaster blurred the lines. He made it sound like…it wasn't his species. He acted like he knew me, or at least my species. The alien didn't even care about Liara and Tali." Shepard said.
The two also joined them. Liara looked frightened, probably more confused and disoriented then Shepard. Tali, well, from what Shepard could tell, seemed anxious to say the least.
"They'd have to be. These ships are nowhere near similar in any way. The Shadow of Intent has no visible RCS engines, if any. Maybe you look similar to these species. I mean…Asari and humans look very similar." Tali yelled in a very hollow matter.
"Theorization won't get us anywhere at this point. There's only one way to find out. Switch to the channel." Liara said, stern and edged on anger in her usual approach.
Shepard nodded. He moved to communications, switched to the FM secure line. A few moments later, a young and energetic voice played through.
"Hi! Hello! Fuck you, you are loitering in our airspace…our personal space. Please refrain yourself immediately or I will contact the authorities-"
"Contradiction, get the hell off the line!" A slightly familiar accent ridden voice yelled. There was a small muffled sound, and it became clear. "This is Captain Florence of the United Nations Space Command Legend After. Identify yourself, or we will used deadly force!"
Shepard wondered what kind of 'force' they could use from two small transports against the Normandy.
"...Um, Shepard, speaking of which, I've also forgot to mention that I've detected large quantities of ionized uranium and hydrogen within the lagging transport. Nuclear bomb. Same type used in the Legend After." EDI said, opening up a screen on her orange visor
Oh.
They were willing to sacrifice their lives. Not only that but take down almost everything with them. But Shepard didn't see that with the commander and his alien troops. Or... he did, actually. They threw themselves against the Reapers. The commander and his allies were more powerful, sure. But it was still stupid. It was worse than the Krogans. At least they cared about personal survival and the survival of their friends.
"I'm Commander Shepard of the SSV Normandy. Systems Alliance Navy Special Forces, Citadel Special Tactics and Reconnaissance. I don't want to fight you. My original orders were to safely make contact and help whatever way possible!"
"Shepard? Normandy..." The Captain said, almost as if they name were familiar, trailing off.
"I've already made contact with a commanding officer and his crew of the Shadow of Intent. Shipmaster Rtas' Vadum. He gave me direct permission to retrieve you and return you to the ship."
There was another halting moment of silence. Dreadfully long.
The Normandy was gaining closer and closer.
"We can manage to make it to the Shadow of Intent on our own, Commander." He said, almost sullen.
"Captain, it's a miracle so far you haven't been shot down by a Reaper Hades Cannons or Cerberus hasn't tried anything yet to bring you down!"
"Who?"
"That transport shuttle that's following you. It's part of an organization called Cerberus… I can't tell you everything but I can tell you that you shouldn't believe a word of what they say!"
…
Mark turned back toward the "Cerberus" shuttle. Clear view through the buildings. A small, square transport with a curved front. Painted white and a black strip on its portside. The Pelican can easily knock that thing down from the sky in an instant.
Why this distrust towards each other is beyond the Captain. His first decision was to cut loose and run straight towards the Shadow of Intent above. However, judging by the speed of the frigate they'll catch them before they even made it to angels two.
This Commander Shepard…he seemed fair too sincere for it to be true. It reminded Mark of Commander, now Captain Lasky, during those boring morale speeches on the Infinity in its first deployment. Lasky truly believed in what he was doing. A more sympathetic and optimistic output despite the manifestation of emotion and oddly near nihilism in everyone from the War. Lasky was hopeful, loyal. And from mere simple tone so did Shepard.
Then there was… Normandy. The precursor battle that ended the fascist evil known as the Third Reich. A battle that loosely connected to the beginning of the United Nations. Where in God's name would they find that name? How did they know about a location on Earth?
Then there were the nukes. Mark wasn't ready to go down in a semi-heroic sacrifice. And it wasn't his choice to make alone, but that of nineteen others. To use the nukes now would require a far worse extent than this. Any other captain might have used them now to enforce Cole Protocol but Mark had to know how Shepard knew about Normandy.
How does he know about Earth?
"Contradiction, connect both lines into one. We're going to have a forced negotiation." Mark said.
The AI did as told, optimizing both FM frequencies.
"Commander Shepard, Lieutenant Leng, here's my deal. I'm going to land my transports on a secured building top. Both of your ships, if possible, will land on the same building. Both of you will do as I say, and you will answer any and all questions I have. We'll see where it goes. You will leave your weapons on your ships, and you will not kill each other. If there is any problem, I have a few nukes equaling about two-hundred megatons that I will use and blow us all back to God. Do you understand?"
…
This…wasn't unreasonable. Shepard had been in a few of these situations before, and he successfully negotiated through without any casualties. Captain Florence felt confident, little fear present... which was a good sign. A fearful group would be more prone to the illogical. Mark might listen to reason. Hopefully.
"Alright. I'll land my frigate. I'm going to come out with two of my crew members. Neither me nor my crew will be armed." Shepard said
He heard Kai Leng's voice on the other end. "My transport will land near yours. I'll come out alone, unarmed."
Of course it was him. Out of the dozens of Cerberus transport his successfully got through. Honestly, it wasn't a surprise. A high level operation like this would require Cerberus's best to undertake it. Let's just hope he doesn't do anything stupid, like try to run a betrayal and bring out more shuttles or something and disable the nuke somehow. He always seemed to be a step ahead. Not this time though. Not against an atomic bomb.
"Well they seem very distrustful." Tali said.
"They entered a Relay only to be attacked. In the end do you blame them?" Shepard said.
"Was I the only one who noticed the Captain was distraught when you said your name? Or mentioned the Normandy?" Liara said, removing her Carnifax along with Tali. Gave it to James and Ashley to carry.
"The whole situation seems a bit more than distraught. We'll guard you from the Normandy if they decide to try anything." Garrus said.
"I can't risk that. It may scare them. Once Tali, Liara and I exit the ship we're going to close the door. Reduce the chance of Captain Florence perceiving it as bringing armed force."
"Not what I would do but it's your call, Shepard. Be careful."
He only nodded in response, removed weapons carefully. Hopefully if this Captain Florence did try something according to Garrus, Liara's biotics and Shepard and Tali's tech abilities will hold them long enough to fall back.
The Normandy finally reached the two transports. Joker had to carefully move the ship through the skyscrapers, wings barely clipped the sides. Shepard could get a clear view of the ships. Tan transports with four separate engines spanning as wings. Two in the front and two in the back. One of the transports had an odd vehicle attached to the back… He realized it was a car with something strapped onto it. Like the old history vids of the twenty-first century. An actual car. Not like the Mako or other ground transports.
Small RCS engines were located on the bottom hull with metal landers at the end in the cargo hold. Overall, it looked ancient, bulky and ugly. A shared design trait to the Legend After.
The ships landed on top of a cleared out building. Flat surface. No Reaper in sight. Joker hovered the ship's end of the hangar door at the edge of the building letting Shepard's squad get on the roof.
He stepped through the shielding curtain into the cold air and the metallic smell of rain and asphalt. The grey and black world under the clouds and the high above purple demon known as the Shadow of Intent.
The roof under his feet. Heard the words of Captain Florence first before anything else.
"What the fuck?"