AN: And we're back at it again folks! "George Christian 810," that is quite the bad attempt at trolling. "Guest", well, when a panic button gets hit telling you to get to the panic room, do you get dressed first or do you just rush there in whatever you were or were not wearing at the time? Same principle here. Panic button gets pressed while they were taking a shower, they bolted to the panic room. Simple as. Anyway let's get down to it.

Mass Effect 1: Among the Dust and Ashes

Therum Orbit: Four Hours Later

Therum, a volcanic hell hole of a world held by the Citadel Alliance. It was a mining world that produced iron and other war materials that the Citadel increasingly needed in this increasingly bloody age. The planet was lightly populated and defended however, as it was far from the 'frontlines', that being the border with Ork space as well as due to automated mining technologies. The garrison numbered at most two thousand Citadel Alliance military personnel and they were armed to repel pirates and raiders. As such they were woefully under equipped and under prepared when the Geth attack began.

In a lightning fast blitz the Geth landed forty times as many combat units and just as many clones to overwhelm the planet. The defenders would sell their lives dearly, even getting off an S.O.S. signal to the wider galaxy; however, they were doomed to annihilation it seemed, but oddly the invaders didn't stray from the central region. Granted, it was a massive area that provided most of the raw resources but the decision to focus solely there made no strategic sense.

At least, not to an outsider. But the Geth Commander was precisely following the orders he had been given. Once the objective was secured, they would depart from that blasted world leaving behind the expendable organics as a smoke screen. It was simple and straightforward, and fulfilled another order from the Prophet; that being to secure the daughter of his Asari ally and to bring her before them.

The Geth perused the details it had and could see why the Prophet was so eager to retrieve her. Records showed that she was a combat veteran of the last war, hardened by shedding orkoid blood and phenomenally dangerous with her abilities as a biotic. As well as a foremost expert on the Protheans and their downfall at the hands of the Great One and his legions. A doubly valuable asset to keep out of enemy hands.

The Geth in question stood on the 'bridge' of a limited run 'Bo'shet' Class Super Dreadnought, a fourteen-kilometer-long warship with more firepower than any Citadel Alliance Fast Response unit could muster. It had shields and armor far superior as well due to the technology of the Great One and his followers. But most impressively for a ship that size, it has a stealth generator able to shield it from every sensor the Citadel Council has. Whether any of that remained true for the Creators and their allies or not remained to be seen.

Still, the command unit was reasonably confident in its mission's success. Confidence it maintained right until a flash report appeared in his network. An armored squadron and escorting platoon had been lost. On the surface, not a cause for any real concern; however, the termination came so suddenly and without warning that the machine intelligence began to examine the details.

Damage reports from the brethren programs as they re-integrated into the local system painted a picture that would chill the blood. If a machine could be said to have blood, of course. The speed of the elimination and the damage pointed either to undiscovered Blue Sun mercenaries conducting guerilla operations…or more concerning, an Imperial unit.

With a quick command query the scanners of the mighty ship were thrown down to look for the Imperials. The process took mere seconds, but the scanners revealed nothing out of the ordinary. Something that deeply concerned the machine intelligence. There were fragmentary reports from the last war the organics waged that spoke of 'stealth' tanks used by Imperial Spec Force for coordinated strike operations. It was how they retook dozens of worlds from the Orks and Mega-Nids according to the fragmentary reports, a dozen tank mounted teams operating on multiple objectives followed by a hammer blow of a naval unit and conventional troops.

The machine, in mere milliseconds, calculated that it had poor odds of detecting the tank from orbit. As such it issued new orders to the ground forces, they were to consolidate on the recently dug out dig sites and hold out against the Imperial assault. With another quick thought, dropships screamed from the Bo'shet's hangers, carrying deployable defenses and extra armored reinforcements. The theory of the machine was that such new defenses would allow time to find the tank and kill it with orbital bombardment.

It was a sound theory, however the command unit soon learned what every Imperial Commander had been taught from day one of the Imperial Officer's Academies. No plan survives contact with the enemy. A point well illustrated as the dropships suddenly and VIOLENTLY were turned into fireballs and falling debris.

The scanners flared to life again, lashing at the space around the planet's orbit looking for the attacker. Only to get the ghost heat of where the laser weapons had been fired from, but no trace of the ship that fired. Gambling that the ship may not have moved, the broadsides of the massive ship fired on that patch of space. Orange energy beams sliced through space, crackling with malignant intent. Only to hit nothing. The attacking ship had already displaced and departed from its last location.

Alarms blared as the CIWS systems fired away at torpedoes that suddenly appeared on sensors far too close for comfort. Most were caught, but two warheads got through and detonated with the force of nuclear ordinance on the shielding. The batteries and armor near the impact point were completely slagged and holes were poked through that vented the limited atmo in the Dreadnought.

With a thought the stealth fields engaged, and the horrifyingly agile ship turned and repositioned two hundred clicks from its last location. Passive sensors set to maximum as the commander unit stared into the cold blackness of space using the sensors of the warship, looking for an elusive and deadly foe. A deadly game of cat and mouse had begun.

The command unit was distracted by a report from the ground of an armored company being overwhelmed and annihilated. The enemy on the ground was moving rapidly, and it could not afford this dalliance while the main objective was still out of reach.

With that in mind, the machine sent out several sensor dummies to hopefully spoof the Imperial sensors and cause them to reveal themselves. The dummies were small inflatable asteroids that had a fake IFF and a mass shadow generator aboard to try and trick the adversary into shooting them.

Unfortunately for the machine intelligence, its foe was smart enough to not fire. It puzzled the machine for a second before consensus was achieved, and if it were organic, it would have face palmed. Of course, the organic hadn't fired. Its ship had WINDOWS! It could SEE outside and didn't have to rely purely on sensors. Which was something it made note of for future ships; windows, while a structural weakness, allowed visual identification of targets.

Another flash report from the surface, one of the roadblocks had been overrun. All defending units were wiped out. A brief ghost image of the enemy armored vehicle accompanied it. The tank in question was eighteen meters long and ten wide and stood five meters tall. It had four powerful tracks to propel it, which likely could be converted to hover tech if need be. The vehicle was an ugly boxy thing with dual massive heavy cannons and numerous other smaller laser arrays scattered around the hull along with what looked to be an anti-air weapons pod.

Records indicated that this vehicle was designated as a member of the 'Guardian' class heavy main battle tank line, an experimental design intended to maximize on firepower and survivability. Currently only seen in the hands of MARSOC units. Which fit the scenario the commander had already pictured. The commander thanked the Prophet for having shared access to that file with the Geth network before the war kicked off.

Still, there was a difference between identifying the tank, and doing something about it. And seeing the firepower arrayed against its ground forces, and the speed of its advance, it ordered all ground forces not actively engaged to fall back to the mine that the target was located in. Their new orders were to buy time for the Asari to be extracted or destroy the Imperials. Whichever worked.

Unfortunately, that still left it with a ghost of a ship to deal with. One that its sensors were unable to detect on passive, and on active would likely be able to pounce and destroy its ship. If the Geth was organic, it would feel a mixture of anxiety and frustration as well as fear at this turn of events. But it was a machine. As such it merely went about its duties with clinical precision born of thousands of minds calculating the best course of action that it could carry out.

Another feint would be attempted, the stealth field would be dropped for a second; and then a micro lightspeed jump would put them in a new location. If done quickly enough, it would allow the Geth to surprise and ambush the Imperial ship, destroying it in a broadside of calamitous proportions.

The orders were carried out, the field was dropped, and then the jump initiated. Just as planned so far. At least, it was until explosions rocked the ship when it exited the jump. A quick damage assessment and sensor analysis of the debris and immediate area revealed that the Super Dreadnought had jumped right into a small minefield full of melta warhead mines.

What would be a sense of cold dread pooled in the machine's processor if it were organic. Instead, the programming came to the consensus that the Imperial ship was aided by a complex machine intelligence that predicted the jump point and informed the organics. Who then mined the area.

If it could feel admiration, the commander unit would give a round of applause. But it could not, its designated role as a command unit removed all concerns save for strategy and tactics from its purview, and so it did not. Instead, it reassessed tactics while using maneuvering engines to move up and to the right from the initial jump point to theoretically give it better positioning.

Unfortunately for the machine, today was a day when theory was told to get bent by reality and practice. For as it did that maneuver, sensors blared an alarm that another pair of torpedoes were incoming on its engine block. As the Super Dreadnought was designed with the philosophy that it would always be able to face its foe head on, there were inadequate defenses to the rear.

A near fatal mistake, as the commander unit discovered, as its vessel was rocked by primary and secondary explosions. A quick damage assessment showed that the ship could only reach a tenth of its maximum speed now, it was all but a sitting duck now. Especially as the secondary explosions had knocked out the primary weapon batteries' power lines, and it would take time for that to be repaired.

Time, the Geth forces did not have. Within a few seconds of that debilitating strike, the alarms started to blare out again. More torpedoes, incoming. A full thirty of them from the larboard side, screaming through the void at maximum speed.

Of course, the command unit and its subordinate programs attempted to throw up a wall of CIWS fire from their particle beam weapons; but it was mostly ineffective. The rounds seemed to pass straight through the torpedoes, as if they weren't even there. The commander 'blinked', its head's light flickering out for a second before flickering back on, consensus reached. Those were spoofed torpedoes.

As it came to that revelation, explosions rocked the starboard side, ripping great holes in its flank and setting the ship ablaze. New consensus achieved; the Imperials must have hacked the Geth ship's systems at some point during the battle. It was the only logical explanation for the sudden explosions with no warning.

At this point, the Geth command platform knew that the ship was doomed. And with it, the mission to retrieve the Asari. Reinterpreting orders. New orders dispatched to surface units. Eliminate Dr Liara T'soni to prevent her falling into enemy hands, then sell platforms and lives dearly.

After sending those new orders, the Geth machine intelligences/dumb ai abandoned ship. Fleeing through the extranet back to their home space. As they did so, they were unaware of a tag along program that had slipped among them inconspicuously. Its name was Hades, and it had work to do.

Therum Surface: Shepard

Shepard grinned like a schoolboy as he drove the Guardian assault tank over another near vertical cliff at close to one hundred fifty miles an hour. What made it an 'assault tank' you may ask? Simple, it has a large compartment to carry troops inside the vehicle, allowing up to twenty ground troops to accompany the crew of two into battle from the safety of its extraordinarily well armored hull. That and its blistering fast speed for its size.

The coms came to life as Joker's satisfied voice came through, "Captain, the Geth Super Dreadnought is listing to starboard and burning. Sensors show that the programs aboard have abandoned ship and the AI Hades has snuck among their retreat. Do you want us to make another pass and sink the ship?"

"Negative Joker, leave it for the recovery teams. Every bit of extra information Imperial Intelligence can retrieve about the Geth's new weaponry and tech will be invaluable in the days to come." The captain would reply as the tank crested the ridge. "Keep in contact Joker, this whole place is a hotbed of seismic activity, and we may need a hot pickup."

As he finished saying that the turret's main guns opened up on a group of Geth walkers that were retreating towards the northeast. The hyper accelerated 155mm APFSDS shells slammed through the walkers and ripped them in half. Within a matter of seconds ten shells were fired, and forty walkers destroyed.

"How's the heat on the barrels from the new quantum lathes?" Shepard would call into the com link with Ashley, who he had assigned gunnery seat today. She had a lot of issues to work out today from her frustration at having non-Imperials aboard the Normandy in as great a number as there were. Still, she was a Marine, and when Shepard said jump, she'd jump; however, at the end of the day wanton destruction was a great therapy tool.

Ashley chuckled as she replied, "Like a dream skipper, no major variance in heat at the moment. That may change if we get into a more prolonged firefight, however." She then turned to a brief side tangent. "Of course, I'd prefer lasers for this kind of op due to their speed and greater accuracy. But even I can't deny there's something very satisfying about hurling tungsten and depleted uranium rods at a target, and seeing it crumple like a puppet with severed strings."

"Well, you may get the chance yet Ash, there's still approximately seventy-nine thousand nine hundred more hostiles to go if the local garrison was right. Plenty of work and kills to go around." Shepard would reply glibly, but inside he was deeply concerned. What kind of operational objective could there be on this blasted rock that required that much force? It couldn't just be Dr T'soni, even if her mother or someone impersonating her had joined the likely Saren Doppelganger; it made no sense. There had to be something else...like a super weapon of some kind.

"Time to target, Tali?" Shepard would ask after shaking himself from his thoughts. Tali had been assigned to navigate for this operation as she had an uncanny knack for finding shortcuts for vehicles. Quite the handy ability to have when carrying out an armored assault I'm sure you would agree, especially when under a time crunch.

Tali's voice cut in in reply to his question, "If the garrison's intelligence is accurate, T'soni should be in the mines up ahead. ETA, two minutes. Sensors are also picking up a lot of targets gathering around the area, so keep your trigger finger ready Ash." She may have sounded calm to most people, but Michael could hear there was an underlying tension to her voice from dealing with Geth. Which is completely understandable.

He had bigger concerns, however, than the natural tension of racial anger at betrayal, as it was a very Imperial trait to hold onto such things. Especially with what the Geth did. Still, he digressed as he let his psychic gifts gently probe the troop compartment where his voluntold squad was. He was a little concerned with the presence of the three Turians he had been foisted with, and how they would perform when they encountered the Saren doppelganger…if it even was one and not the man himself.

In the rear compartment, Wrex was casually looking over his newly issued Imperial Industries gear. The old battlemaster was keenly appreciative of the armor that had been fitted to his proportions by the armory, as it was by far and away the most protective armor he had ever received. As well the new shotgun and rifle he was wielding, while stuck on laser mode, had enough firepower to put down a charging berserking Krogan and the two behind him as well. The vast improvement in firepower that represented was something the veteran appreciated in much the same way as a wine snob might favor a particular day from a vintage year more than any other type of wine.

The twin Turians were calm and composed thankfully. Their race's legacy of discipline seems to be something they had in truckloads. However, a slight scratch below the surface revealed that there was a sense of excitement as well. Not at going into combat, but instead at the fact they were the first Turians to get their hands on proper Imperial grade weapons and armor and be able to use them. Garrus had been given a rail rifle to compliment his skills as a sniper and give him some added punch to his shots; on the other hand, his sister Arcina had been given a light repeating laser, essentially an LMG but with lasers, to allow her to lay down the hate at an impressive rate.

It was however the youngest Turian in the group that would cause Shepard to frown. There was much uncertainty and doubt swirling in her mind, understandably so in the opinion of the MARSOC captain. Either she was going against a clone of her father, or her father himself. Neither option was particularly appealing for their own reasons, and Shepard could commiserate over it. As well she had been all but conscripted to join this strike force for her own protection; reading between the lines the Council blamed her for the attack by the Geth and clones on the Citadel today, but were unwilling to throw her under the bus in case they were wrong.

Michael did not envy the situation she was in. However, be that as it may, in his role as commanding officer of the Normandy, he'd have to have a proper talk with her later, he couldn't have a weak link on the ground team, as it could get them all killed. And he quite liked being alive, thank you very much. As did the rest of the people under his command he suspected.

His train of thought was suddenly and violently derailed as the tank was rocked by explosions. Biting back a curse, he checked his scanners and mentally chastised himself. Mines, of course there were anti-tank mines laid. Whether the mines were of Geth or Citadel origin mattered little, the fact that the tank had hit them at all in the first place was annoying enough; a fact only mitigated by the point that the armor and shielding hadn't been breached, meaning it was just a bump in the road for all intents and purposes.

However, it was the sight on the other side of the mines they were forcing their way through that made his blood run hot with rage. There, in a dead end canyon, was a slagged fortified outpost with bodies strewn all over the surrounding area. Normally one would expect these to be soldiers, but most of them were civilians, cut down trying to get away from the outpost. As well there were a dozen metallic constructs that had bodies impaled upon them, a macabre sight straight out of a Dracula movie.

"Williams, plasma HE center of that ring of spikes. Burn it away." Shepard would bark out quickly, his foul temper audible in his voice as he gave the order. An order Ashley quickly followed with great aplomb by firing the main gun in plasma mode one, vaporizing the malignant sight.

Shepard refocused on driving as he spoke aloud, his voice audible through the tank, "That's what we're fighting against at the end of the day. Monstrous machines and clones with no morals." He'd say to sum up his feelings on the sight and calm the raging fire of rage burning in his veins. "Make sure your gear is good to go, eta to target mine, three minutes."

After saying that, he would switch to the coms line to Normandy, "Ground team to Normandy, target all concentrations of hostile forces away from our target area, and strike with package Jericho. Authorization Victor Charlie Sierra Foxtrot Niner Delta Bravo Five Zero One Omega." He would speak that command with a deathly calm tone, one perhaps both fitting and ill-fitting for the armageddon he had just called down upon the foes he now saw as less than animals.

After a few moments, Joker's voice came back over the comlink, "Normandy confirms. Strike package Jericho is being deployed. Better hold on to something Captain, it may get a little bumpy down there shortly." Then the coms went quiet.

All the while the near full strength squad readied themselves. He could feel the activity with his psychic gifts, just as he could feel a questioning psionic probe from his second in command. Alenko was a phenomenal pick by Anderson to help manage the ground team, with a double degree in psychology and philosophy he was the perfect addition to a team on a high stress op. A slight nod and an affirmative psychic ping told Kaiden that his CO was fine for the moment.

The tank crested another rise, and the turret once again was filled with the roar of gunfire. The plain below was by the mine they had to take, and it was full of Geth and clones. A target rich environment where the laser weapons of the Guardian worked their destructive magic to the fullest. Infantry and armored scythed apart as the laser shrieked while burning through the super heated air of the volcanic world.

"I'm activating the auto-pilot ai. Get ready for cqc people! We have work to do and not a lot of time to do it in!" Michael would tell his squad while getting his saw in laser mode ready for action. As he finished and assembled by the rear door, the tank would come to a halt and the back hatch would open, allowing the armored figures to rush out.

Mine Lower Levels: Dr T'soni

Liara felt exhausted; she had maintained this biotic barrier with the other three Asari on site for the last four hours, allowing the four CDF troopers with them to fire at their attackers from relative safety. As anyone with even a basic knowledge of biotics knows, holding a barrier for even a half an hour can be draining, let alone four hours even with help. She could feel her Aquila Industries Bionic Amplifier burning out slowly to compensate for her exhaustion, as well as a steady stream of caffeine being pumped into her bloodstream to keep her awake and alive.

Across from the small group was a small hill of dead bodies and destroyed Geth platforms, as well as a lot of others still alive, at least thirty more hostile targets were still standing. If she could only use her powers offensively, she could even the odds, but the firepower arrayed against them meant that she was stuck in a slowly losing situation.

Not for the first time, she mentally cursed herself for not taking her mother's warning that something was wrong seriously. "I could have had a whole platoon of Asari Commandos here two weeks ago. But no. I had to flex my independence like I still have something to prove. What a great time to listen to your ego Liara." She mentally groused.

She grunted as an rpg round slammed into the barrier and drove her to her knees. It seemed their attackers had changed their attack pattern. As another rpg slammed into the shield she felt it flickering and slowly dying as her last reserves of energy as well as that of her fellow Asari burned away to nothing. The good doctor closed her eyes as she heard the woosh of another projectile flying their way, accepting the end.

But, before it could reach them, there was a loud crunch and the platforms shook a bit. The fire from the attackers slackened and for a second the citadel aliens thought they were dead; however, as they opened their eyes, they saw the form of an Imperial Marine's armor with its back to them. In an outstretched hand, the latest rocket was held.

The Marine examined it with idle curiosity, before literally throwing it back at the attackers. The warhead flew like an American football, and caught the Geth rocketeer in its head stalk, causing a chain explosion that took down the entire attacking group.

It also would have had the side effect of causing the cavern to cave in, if it were not for the blue field that engulfed and trapped the explosion. The source was obvious as another Marine descended slowly using a mix of psionic and biotic power to slow his descent while the visor of his helmet burned a ghastly blue showing the use of warp talents in a tangible way.

The armor markings were instantly recognizable to the daughter of Matriarch Benezia. How could she forget the unit markings after fighting alongside them at Thessia? Especially so for the personal markings of the officer who kept her alive during the closing days of that hellish fight.

An exhausted smirk made its way to her lips as she doubled over panting in exhaustion, "Your timing could use a little work, Captain Shepard. But, better late than never I suppose." Dry humor being one of her only defenses at this juncture and ways to remain on her own two feet. Goddess she was tired.

Shepard retorted in a dry tone to that slight barb, "We can always come back you know. Or we can evac you and your group now. Your choice at the end of the day." He said as he rolled his left shoulder a bit, to every observer he looked to be the very picture of unhurried boredom.

In reality nothing could be farther from the truth. Michael was very much in a hurry, and extremely eager to get the survivors out of the area. Doubly so as the orbital strike on the remaining enemy positions was one and a half minutes away and counting, and he for one would rather not be trying to evacuate in the middle of a localized volcanic incident. It was just entirely unnecessarily complicated and not to mention extraordinarily dangerous for all involved. Sure, the techs SAY the armor is able to survive being submerged in lava, but he'd rather not test that in case THEY didn't test it.

As such he then added on, "But as the government, the one paying my salary, wants you out of here asap, we'll just grab you all and go." So saying, his own psychic powers flared to life and he and Alenko relay moved them up to the mouth of the mine. At the mouth they would be taken by one of the other squad members and moved into the tank.

It was but the work of half a minute, but Shepard still booked it out of the mine as if there was no time left, as did the bemused psyker on his squad. The two men got into the tank and sealed the hatch with forty seconds left to go.

"Joker, primary objective retrieved, extraction needed asap." The captain said as he moved the tank to higher ground to make the evac faster and easier for the pilot. This would be a close one. And as the seconds ticked down, he almost started to regret his rash decision to unleash seismic annihilation on the enemies of the Empire.

But then the beautiful sight of the Normandy sweeping in low and fast with its cargo bay open came into view. Mere seconds before the kinetic rods would strike from orbit, the evacuation was completed. And as he steadied his racing heart, Michael chuckled, "Next time, remind me I don't want to open the first KFS stand in the galaxy, Alenko."

"Roger boss." Came the quick and dutiful reply of the lieutenant; before the crew compartment broke down in laughter as the stress abated.

Chapter Complete:

Next Time: Mass Effect 1: Urban Renewal

RnR please

Codex: Strike Packages

Not every threat requires boots on the ground nor exterminatus. And for that, the Empire has its orbital strike packages. At its core each one is a small network of dumb ai controlled satellites with a quantum lathe and power source aboard. The similarities end there however.

Jericho calls for sonic warhead armed missiles to decimate targets with ultra high frequency vibrations and is usually used on volcanic worlds to cause volcanic reactions in localized areas; or up high in mountains to cause avalanches.

Ra uses high power orbital lasers arrayed in a literal wall to just sweep the land clean in any direction. Clean and efficient.

Bosch is a call for chemical warheads that are, in essence, vastly stripped down virus bombs. A salvo can render entire continents lifeless in rapid succession while leaving any inorganic materials for later reclamation by the lathes in engineering suites.

Albuquerque is, on the other hand, a call for nuclear annihilation down upon the foe. Pure and simple.

There are others, of course, but they are rarely used due to the time consumption needed to deploy them.

Intercepted Geth Transmission:

Warning, primary and secondary objectives on Therum unachieved.

Dr T'soni has been taken into Imperial protective custody.

The Lock has been buried under eight hundred feet of molten magma.

Reassessing forces assigned to the Prophet's other objectives.

Consensus achieved, more forces are being redeployed.

Glory to the Great One.