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[Kel Riever]

Team Boom and Team...

"Arrow?"  Iole raised a brow in obvious disapproval.

"No. No.  Boring. Boring."  Tallis added her negative view.

Adonya Makris shrugged her shoulders as the Command Team stood outside their deployment shuttles.  "Well, I don't know. I don't have anything nearly as unique as 'Team Boom' to call us for the purposes of your approval.  Besides, let's face it, you all did some work earning that name..."

"I kind of liked Team Sushi," Jenus muttered, though the group she was with had nothing to do with the people who were around when that name came up.

"It doesn't much matter to me," Mira shrugged, "I'd typically pick something like Strike Team, or Second Team, or Team Divine..."

Iole, Jenus and Tallis looked at Mira horrified.

"...We'll pick something easy and that can be remembered on the way.  Come on, time to load up."

Team Boom was going to be travelling in one Scythe with Essul and Faed/Legion.  Normally, Iole would pilot, but with the dropoff, she was with the rest in the passenger cabin.  The other Scythe loaded the second Commando Team, which was Adonya, the twins, and one other asari.  There was the idea of using the turian or human security teams to back them up but in the end, Mira had decided against it since Naleena hadn't given her strong affirmation in the matter.  Garvug was going to be a potential pit and Mira was concerned about throwing more meat into a grinder.

As they boarded, Iole noticed Jenus carrying a new sidearm on her backpack and extra lift grenades.  "What happened to your standard load out being fine?" Iole inquired.

Jenus glanced at Iole and then away.  "I never said that.  I just thought a few extra things might help and since we're already ruining our uniforms with these inserts, I'd have to compensate for the new efficiencies."

"Sure....," Iole remarked, clearly taking what Jenus said with a grain of salt.  "Or the change in uniform started having you think outside your regulation norm."

"That's what I said."

Iole and Tallis looked at each other, trying not to smirk.

 

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Sergeant Ferro reported to the hangar deck to pilot the shuttle with Team Boom. Specialist Cascian climbed into the second shuttle, both pilots left the doors open for ventilation since it could be a while before they got the green light.

 

Ereba sat kind of quiet, tapping on her omni-tool, then closed it. "I didn't believe it at first how we got the name 'Team Boom.' The Nova Dawn Building? Really, Jenus? That was you?" she asked shaking her head. "Punching through the floor of the car and damaging the eezo core?"

 

"Hey, the Spectre wanted a diversion. 'Blow up the car,' she said. So I did my job," Jenus replied, still quite sensitive about that event. "She had to have known the risks. She's not as smart as she thinks she is."

 

"Maybe, but you could have just planted the charge," Iole said.

 

Jenus glared at Iole momentarily. "You weren't there. I...."

 

Ereba interrupted. "Hey, I'm not finding fault. My dad would have been proud of you. That kind of overkill could come in handy here.... And I like the name 'Team Sushi.' Why not? I don't know the significance, but it sounds good."

 

Mira shook her head in silence.

 

Ereba opened her omni-tool and began tapping again.

 

*****

 

Weather conditions over Dhazil were clearing with fog burning off for the day. Commander Selani gave the order for the Janiri to begin its descent into the atmosphere, and Jorril and VERA were already calculating their approach vector. The drop zone for the Mako had been selected. There was no doubt that all AA batteries would be turned on the ship as soon as it was detected. Given the thermal emissions created by friction of the ship’s shields in the atmosphere, there was no hiding the ship. Whether or not any of the batteries would actually hit target would be another question given that Krogan ordinance was relatively primitive. However, Sonax left numerous positions behind and there could be sophisticated weaponry in some quarters.

 

Since the time period was short, VERA cut life support by 10% and boosted power to the shields. She would restore it locally if anyone started complaining about it being stuffy. At the moment, shielding was more important.

 

Naleena’s team entered the Mako. This would be a rough landing at high speed. So not only did the team have to be strapped in, but their heads had to be stabilized in shock absorbing foam. The Quartermaster had fabricated the proper devices that were used to protect Turian troops on rapid deployment missions during the Krogan rebellions when they would drop in hot zones like this. A special one was made for Vayne. Each of them accommodated a head crest, but that wouldn’t cause a problem for the humans.

 

A bump was felt throughout the ship as it hit the outer layer of atmosphere, and another bump felt as the kinetic barriers increased. Protective hatches closed around all of the portals on the ship so that no windows were open. The ship operated on sensors only. Those on the ground saw a bright light in the sky like a very large meteorite entering the atmosphere. Three minutes of burn. Once past this the crew felt the chop of the planet’s stratosphere.

 

Arian’s mandibles quivered when he saw them. He took his seat between Naleena and the human female. The Krogan was in the back. Johnny was in the front in the operator’s seat with his head strapped to the seat back. It was quiet enough to hear a pin drop. The Mako was lifted up by the ship’s missile rack and taken to the exterior of the ship on the port side as it descended further and further to its drop height.

 

“60 km from the drop zone,” Jorril said. “Decreasing velocity to 2000 kph. Arrival in approximately two minutes.”

 

 ///

 

“Is everyone ready?” Naleena asked.

 

“You should have asked before we got in this thing,” Vayne laughed.

 

Arian glared off into space.

 

///

 

AA batteries locked onto the ship and began firing, but VERA compensated as needed taking power from all systems she considered non-essential and diverting it to the shields.

 

“If they fire GARDIAN lasers, I will use the main gun to protect this ship, Commander,” VERA said.

 

“Orbital bombardment of a populated area is a war crime, VERA.” Selani replied. “You are not to use the main gun.”

 

“Understood. May I remind the commander that we are no longer in orbit?”

 

“Point taken.”

 

Jorril continued his countdown. “30 km to drop zone. Decreasing speed to 1200 kph. Prepare for drop in 12 seconds. 10; 9; 8; 7; 6; 5; 4; 3; 2; 1.”

 

The clamp holding the Mako released and the free fall from 200 meters began. Johnny hit the retro and attitude thrusters trying to keep the vehicle upright. Seconds later it landed at a speed of about 200 kph. Johnny struggled to gain control over the rough terrain.

 

///
 

The Janiri’s pilot hit their full thrusters accelerating the ship over the city shaking the ground like an earthquake as the cruiser’s sonic envelope passed in its wake. Debris fell from ceilings. What glass was left in windows shattered. Hailot Wrund and his guard looked up to see a ship unlike any he’d ever seen before, yet it was definitely Asari in design.

 

What were the Asari doing here? Did they just buzz my city for fun? No. Asari don’t do things like that. I’ll bet Sonax brought in Eclipse Mercs because they couldn’t do the job! They think Eclipse will do better than Bloodpack? Ha! Wrund tried to convince himself, but he suspected something else.

 

///

Spoiler

 

 

The Mako skidded to a stop. Johnny flipped a couple of switches on the console in front of him. “Status.”

 

“Planet: Garvug. Ambient temperature: 12.78 degrees. All systems: nominal,” the VI replied.

 

The padding surrounding the team retracted.

 

“I’ve got this,” Irina said as she climbed into the turret control console.

 

“Okay, Johnny, take us to our first target,” Naleena said. “We have to open up a path for Morgan. Southern battery on your map.”

[Kel Riever]

As the turbulence was felt throughout the dropping Scythe shuttles, Iole talked through her com so she could be heard.

"Let's get this straight for the record on the Nova Dawn building."

Jenus' helmet turned to Iole, in surprise at what would be her defender.  The second asari team's helmets all turned in curiosity towards their monitors, since Iole was broadcasting to their shuttle as well.

Iole was rather insistent as she explained, though not without a grain of humor in her voice.  "Jenus was trying to get access to a skycar to get to her destiny and create the distraction.  She took it on herself to figure out what an engineer would know, which is she pulled what she thought was the systems lock computer out.  Of course, what she did was pull out the regulator for the core."

The second asari team was seen silent and immobile through the monitor.  Probably under their helmets, there jaws were dropped.

"Yeah...," Iole went on, "So the auxiliary regulator kicked in but that piece of junk is meant to have the car survive in a shut down mode, so you can call emergency services immediately.  Instead, Jenus ran the car in the red, all the way to her destination.  So, instead of setting off a distraction, Jenus set off the core."

"You don't have to rub it in, Iole," Jenus said actually sheepishly.

Iole shrugged.  "It worked.  Maybe it cost an insurance company a few hundred million credits."

Even under her suit, Jenus could be seen gulping.

The drop seemed to take a lot longer for her than it was supposed to, but on the approach Mira straightened any unfocused minds out.

"Crests on, this is how we'll proceed...Team Boom exits running, the second Scythe will drop seconds behind.  We move into position, taking cover and assess the battlefield quickly.  The wall, the position Sonax is defending, will be a hundred meters away, through streets of ruined buildings.  We'll be protecting the left flank when we deploy, and that's where the mobile force will move from.

"Iole, Tallis, head to the wall.  Establish command with the Sonax survivors and com.  Keep krogan heads down and thinking about their advance."

Iole and Tallis gave a nod each.

"Everyone else with me, follow Essul's orders.  Faed and Ereba, if we need it, on the move pinning sniper fire; count out no more than 5 seconds if you have to make an important shot.  Second Team, alternate with us on reloads and advances."

"Affirmative," Adonya acknowledged.  
 

[Cainhurst Crow]

"Everyone Okay?" Vayne asked as he got over the initial jolt of the landing, wanting to do a head-check of everyone else in the mako. As he felt the tires rolling, he couldn't help but grin, with a bit of sweat coming from his brow. He was nervous, and he couldn't help but feel a bit of a sinking feeling in his gut.

 

'Well...here we are...belly of the beast...' he thought.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------

As the janiri passed overhead, the forsworn were busy at work coordinating the efforts of the bloodpack, as the top logistics and scouting unit of the mercenary company they took pride in their ability to identify threats and assess situations.

 

"Get a ping on that ship. Keep it tracked." One of the turians said as they worked on the portable terminals, tracking the trajectory of the vessel as they assessed the size.

 

"Look at that thing. It's practically a crusier-class. No way is it dumb enough to make a pass..." A batarian said as they worked to get the vessels structure mapped out as best as their ground surveliance could do, using the wrund tower as a large soanr array.

 

"Wait a mintue. That shape...isn't that the-" Before they could finish, the massive shockwave of the ship passing over rocked the tent they had set up shop in, causing the terminals to blink off for a moment as the generators shuddered from the force.

 

The one in charge looked towards the air, pushing up their glasses with a nervous gulp. "....Inform the Warboss....An asari vessels made a pass overheard..." The krogan said as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

 

"Right Away, Commander Talyth...." One of the turians said as they went towards the base of Wrund Tower, where the bloodpack had set up shop as their main base of operations.

 

Talyth fidgeted his fingers nervously as he set forward to check on their defenses, around the base a shield shimmered around them, protecting them in a dome of kinetic energy.

 

--------------------------------------------

 

"Warboss....Boss Ganar...." The turian said as he went into the base lobby of the tower, where their leader sat. The sound of the respirator system could be heard, echoing in the wide structure as he approached his leader, "There was a ship overhead. Made a pass for a city and-"

 

"I heard it...I'm not deaf..." The echoing voice cut off as the pale krogan sat in a large metal seat, yellow eyes looking down at the turian as he spoke, "Scramble the Deathclaw...I want their ships scowering the skys and ready to rip apart anything that tries to enter....and get the tanks ready. We're going to make another push against sonnax..." he said as he paused to take in a deep breath, "Sonnax thinks it can scare us...we'll see how they like a bit of fear tactics themselves...."

 

"Right away boss...but the ship...it's shape and signiture match those of the one you've been looking for....the asari vessel, with the murderer aboard..." The turian informed him.

 

Ganar Slayt went silent, hands shaking as he reached down and gripped the armrests of his chair. With a grunt he rose out of his seat, rolling his shoulders as he walked forwards a few steps, clad in heavy black armor with various fluids flowing into him from the tubes attached to his back, a resperator like mask covering his mouth.

 

"Get me my gun...and my personal tomkah...." He said as he came to a stop in front of the turian, standing at least 4 feet taller then him, "I want to know exactly where that ship is heading...."

 

"A-anything else, Boss?" The turian nervously asked.

 

Ganar looked down to the turian before he spoke, "Order the Hammer of Dawn to pull back to the city....don't let them anywhere near this battle..." He said firmly, "We can't have her at risk...not now, of all times..."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Spoiler

 

The Mako pushed toward its destination of the first battery through the streets of the suburbs of Dhazil. The place was a bombed out wasteland. Civilians somehow managed to survive in shanties. No contacts showed on the radar. Debris littered the road. Still Naleena had Johnny keep their advance to no faster than 80 kph. Soon the VI picked up something on the radar.

 

“Warning: Enemy contact ahead,” the VI said.

 

“It’s go time,” Johnny said and brought the vehicle to a stop.

 

Naleena took a look at the screen. “Try to line up a shot on that thing.”

 

Irina now had a view. “It’s no good. There’s a wall obstructing it. I don’t have an angle.”

 

“Get her an angle, Johnny.”

 

Johnny nodded, and began moving the Mako off the road.

 

“Warning: Mine field detected,” the VI announced.

 

“****!” Johnny said and carefully backed up the vehicle along the same path. “Looks like they want to make sure everyone enters through one point.”

 

“Then let’s make our own entrance,” Naleena said. “Irina, line up a shot dead ahead. AP round. Johnny, scan the road in front.”

 

The sensors ran a scan for the next kilometer. “It’s clear…. On the road.”

 

Naleena gave the signal to go. Johnny took it to mean drop it. Irina pointed the 155 mm toward lock.

 

////

 

“What the hell is that? Wrund didn’t say anything about any reinforcements,” one of the Krogan guards said. “But after that ship passed over we’ll take ‘em.”  

 

“Uh, that doesn’t look like a Tomkah,” the other Krogan said. “And it’s not slowing down.”

 

“Fire!”

 

////

 

“We have incoming,” Johnny announced.

 

“Target locked,” the VI reported.

 

“Firing!” Irina said and the thunder of the rail gun discharging its projectile.

 

The barricade and wall around the perimeter of the area crumbled under the explosive force of the shell.

 

“Enemy target: destroyed,” the VI announced.

 

/////

 

The outer wall blew out of the building overhead, and debris landed on the battery. A large chunk crushed one of the fire team.

 

“What the hell was that? First a cruiser flies over, now this?” Weyrloc Url said. He commanded the team. He motioned to the gun. “Clean that up!”

 

Url looked around for his radio. He found it under some debris. “Trark! Trark!...... Damned thing!” he said and whacked it a few times on the side. “Trark! Can you hear me?”

 

/////

 

Still there were a number of bombed out buildings between them and the A-A battery, and the debris from the wall blocked their path. Johnny brought the Mako to a stop, entered the locking code and prepared to exit.

 

When they hit the ground, Vayne went over to one of the dead Krogan and his face turned a shade of pale that no one had seen before.

 

Irina walked over. “I’ve not seen you like this before. What is it, Vayne?”

 

A radio lay on the ground distracted Vayne. “Trark! Can you hear me?”

 

Vayne reached down and picked up the radio. “I can hear you.”

 

“What the hell is going on out there?”

 

“Small vehicle with a big gun. We’ll handle it,” Vayne said.

 

There was a pause. “I’m sending Drayak up to help.”

 

“I said we’ll handle it.” Vayne growled.

 

“Then take ‘em out or I’ll **** on your grave.” Url said and that was followed by a click.

 

“That should buy us some time,” Vayne said. “Now what’s this?”

 

He reached down and picked up an assault rifle and examined it. It wasn’t like the ones the team was carrying. It was big and bulky. Krogan sized.

 

“Hmmm…. I’ve heard about these, but I’ve never seen one before,” he said. “According to records, we used them against the Rachni. When the Council gave us this planet as a reward, we must have built a factory. Then we got modern style weapons like the Claymore. The thing is these look new. Wrund must have fired up the old works. Then you add in Slayt, no wonder Sonax pulled out.”

 

He handed the weapon to Irina. “****! This thing weighs a ton!” she said.

 

“It fires 12.5 mm high velocity slugs in three round bursts. They pack quite a wallop. I wouldn’t want to be hit by one,” he said as Irina handed it back to him. “Check the other body; see if you can find any spare ammo. I know what I’m using.”

 

“Are you sure? You’re not checked out on it,” Irina asked.

 

“It can’t kick any worse than that shotgun you gave me,” Vayne replied.

 

Irina searched the other corpse. The magazines carried 36 rounds each and there were 12 magazines between them. She handed them to Vayne.

 

“Only 5 spare magazines each? They’re running low on ammo,” Vayne said and looked up at Naleena.

 

Naleena had been surveying the area. “I’m going ahead… alone. Vayne, I’ll stay in contact. I want to see what we’re facing,” she said. “If you hear gunfire, attack.”

 

Vayne nodded.

 

Naleena cloaked and disappeared. Since it was daytime, when she moved if you looked carefully, you could see an outline, but when she was motionless or moving slowly she was fully concealed. Still on the rocky ground it was challenging to remain totally silent. Fortunately the Krogan were making enough racket moving rocks inside the battery compound.

 

Two Krogan finished up their work and walked out of the sun into the shade near where Naleena was moving. She ducked into a corner. The two stopped about six feet in front of her.

 

“So Qrelak, you really think Sonax was stupid enough to attack us from the rear knowing we’ll simply crush them in our final assault on the last stronghold in about an hour?” Strigg, the Krogan to the right, said.

 

Qrelak laughed. “We shot down their last shuttles. Why would they try landing? No. That was probably some last Vorcha hold outs.”

 

“Good point. I can’t wait for this to be over. I’m tired of eating rats, and I’m getting hungry.”

 

Then go somewhere and find some rats, you ****** Krogan! Don’t just stand around, move.

 

A voice off in the distance. “What are you two doing standing around?” Url shouted.

 

Strigg looked at Qrelak. “Back to work.”

 

The two turned and went back to the A-A battery.

 

Naleena followed them, cloaked, in the shadows. When she got into their main area. She saw it. A large Krogan designed projectile cannon in the center of a very large clearing. There was plenty of room for it to go to multiple angles without hitting any of the buildings around it. Yet being in the rear it was guarded only by a fire team of 5 now. Used to be 6, but one was crushed. That didn’t seem to bother the Krogan. Weyrloc Url walked around barking orders at the others just for the fun of it.

 

The problem she could see was they would be exposed. Or would they? If they could get in and Vayne could get one shot off with the Cain it might just take care of the rest of the Krogan.

 

She got on her communicator and spoke quietly. “Vayne, I’m in. Small fire team…..” she said and gave Vayne all the details. “Two Krogan seem to be patrolling the perimeter so that leaves three plus their leader on the gun. Anytime you’re ready.”

[Kel Riever]

On board the Medusa

“The shape is not a problem, right?” Babe asked the red haired, freckled Sophie as they watched one of the Medusa’s robotic rigs through the protective window looking into the shielded core of the ship.  The rig was handling a cylinder of what was spent fuel material, and it moved slowly despite its mechanical strength, due to both the weight of its cargo and care. 

Sophie frowned and nodded in agreement.  “Aye.  We’re gowen to use the one heavy fabricator on ower ship, like meant just for the laarge equipment.  Shape’s no problem, I’m certain of that I am.”

“Great.  Doctor Hayashi is working the firing trajectory formulas with VERA from the bridge.  Dogger and Largo are moving the closest cannon to the forward hangar and locking it in.  I’ve got to get there to manage the modifications.  When those missiles come out, please take the extra precaution with shielding.  The last thing I want this to become a radiation incident.”

“Will do. Tara!”

Babe winked and headed off.  She couldn’t help the spring in her steps as she headed for the hangar.

[Cainhurst Crow]

Essul nodded at Mira's instructions, she was good at what she did, he had to admit. "I suggest alternating your fire between the fringes of the enemy and the center. Keep them guessing where the fire is concentrated, and they'll have a harder time focusing in on us..." Essul said as he kept seated in the unusual locked system.

 

As the scythes flew, however, they were not alone, as a high pitched screech began to echo through the air.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Overhead, The skies which had been cleared earlier had now been filled with new forces. The Deathclaw, the aireal forces the bloodpack had brought along, soared overhead as they made a pass over the skies, raising up as the 12 star fighter squadron began to bank to circle around dhazil.

 

The vorcha pilots steered their angular vessels well, their large wings cutting through the air and modified engines giving a much louder and more ear piercing tone as they blasted them to make another pass. None of them fired their weapons, and seemed to be more intent on soaring overhead, circling the sonnax territory like over sized vultures then engaging the shuttles just yet.

 

Almost as if they were waiting for something.

 

Spoiler

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Vayne looked up as he heard the star fighters overhead, nodding as he looked to the others. "We need to take out the patrol first. Then the rest of the squad inside. We'll use that..." He said as he pointed up to the sky, "As cover. When they pass, we move in and clear out what we can."

 

"What the hell are those?" Irina couldn't help but ask as she heard the ear piercing noise from overhead, "It's like someone torturing a ****** cat..."

 

"Those would be the deathclaw. Arieal aces for the bloodpack. Probably around to-" The rest of his explination was lost as they passed overhead, temporarily deafening the conversation, "...use the custom noise as a fear tactic. Now, let's move up while we have time..." Vayne said, as he motioned for the others to begin approach of the AA-Guns. As he did so, he adjusted his grip of the assult rifle, gettng a feel for the old krogan gun, 'Heavy...but not too heavy. Fits in the hand like a club...old krogan weapons really were a dream...' He thought, as they managed to get closer towards the entrance to the guns.

 

Vayne waited near the entrance, Raising one arm as he heard voices coming from the inside. As he others formed up, Irina came to stand behind him, getting ready to lay into the enemy as vayne listened to the jets. "Steady..." He said as he waited for the jets to pass overhead once more, "....Steady now..." He said, as the voices began to get drowned out in the hallway, though he knew they were drawing closer.

 

As the jets passed over, Vayne threw his hand forward, motioning for the others to move in. He took point, aiming down the sights of his gun as he found the first target, one of the two scouts as he opened fire. The loud 3 round burst of the gun sprayed out, and the heavy rounds designed to punch through brood-warrior carapaces drilled through the armor of the krogan. The shrapnel cut through them, and as they exited the back, each blast of gore was like a shotgun blast out as it punched through its target.

 

The other krogan looked towards the fallen krogan, reaching up to his radio to try and call into it, only for his voice to be completely drowned by the jets above.

.

[TheMajonese]

Clever..., Arian thought about Vayne's plan when the fighters returned and deafened the voice of the remaining krogan who couldn't do much to either save his life or alert the rest of the krogan defenders. Arian fired at him and even though the time window until the fighters would be too far away was quite short, the Typhoon's high rate of fire made sure that the scout was dead before he could get behind something. The turian didn't even need to take aim since the krogan had no cover at all.

 

"They might still know that we're coming", Arian remarked after the fighters were gone and tried to keep his voice down in case the krogan at the AA battery could still hear over the radio. "If they're smart they know that the scout had a reason to contact them, even if they couldn't understand him. They might be suspecting something."

[Kel Riever]

Doctor Amy Hayashi was approving the final set of formulas that VERA compiled and sent.  Amy H. was on the bridge, and sent her message back to VERA.  "Everything looks good.  The programming on the pilot computer that will be at the rear of each rod should have basic navigation taken care of and receive any course corrections sent to it, as long as it is not sufficiently jammed.  I leave that to you, VERA."

"I have considered the enemy capacity to interrupt signals and am confident in our ability to guide the rods."

Amy Hayashi, still in her black and gold kimono, with bare legs and high white boots provided by her previous uniform, nodded once emphatically in satisfaction.  "Then we have done our duty!  VERA, it pleases me to work with you.  I will now inform the Master Gunner myself of our accomplishments."

The doctor was over-the-top enough that VERA took notice, though it was likely stemming from a personality quirk previously undetected in dealing with the scientist.

~ ~ ~ ~

At the front hangar, Babe, Largo and Dogger were all head to toe in bulky Survivor light armor that was kept onboard for extremely hazardous exposure.  Not many of the suits were around and they were old, but an inspection by Sophie revealed them to be in excellent shape.  The engineer herself was directly observing the transfer of the material safely from monitors. There was no real threat of a leak with all the shielding but no one was taking chances.

Dogger and Largo were using one of the grav sleds for moving the palate holding the relocated cannon into position.  They'd protested as Babe moved another palate with the huge barrel extension but she waved them off. 

When Babe heard the news from Doctor Hayashi, she replied through her com, "Thank you for getting it done so efficiently."

"Yes, Master Gunner.  VERA was wonderful to work with.  The devices are being brought forward to you now.  Have the missiles arrived?"

"Not yet," Babe informed Hayashi, "Like with the cannons, it was safer and easier to bring them by rig along the outside of the Medusa. Keats and Arthur are managing that.  We'll have the weapon set up soon enough."

"Aye, aye, Master Gunner!"

Babe paused with a look at Dogger and Largo.  They too had noticed the sort of overt enthusiasm of Amy H..  "Is everything else all right, Doctor Hayashi?"

"Yes, Master Gunner!  I am very pleased to be involved and am here one-hundred percent!"

"Well...good.  Keep it up."  Babe cut the com to the bridge.  "I think she needs a break after this," Babe then said to Dogger and Largo.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

The remaining Krogan scattered and took cover behind rubble around the gun. Weyrloc Url saw the muzzle flashes from Arian's Typhoon and fired his hammerburst toward that position. Chunks of concrete broke away in front of Arian as the high caliber rounds impacted.

 

"Focus fire on the entrance!" Url shouted.

 

His team responded, and forced team Mako to take cover. The fire from those hammerbursts were not only accurate, but they would penetrate pretty much any armor.

 

Naleena saw her team was about to be pinned down, and Url would soon call for reinforcements.

 

Url took out his radio and while his team kept up the pressure and was raising it.

 

She was still cloaked and had her Black Widow scoped on max zoom. She saw the radio in his hand and fired, the shot shattering the radio and blowing his left hand completely off while ricocheting off his chest armor. 

 

"Sniper!" he shouted, rolled, and rested the hammerburst on his forearm and fired in Naleena's direction.

 

Shots landed all around her. She ran toward another position along the outerwall of a building on the north side of the courtyard, and hit her cloak as soon as it recharged. She took cover behind a blown up vehicle, then got on her local communicator.

 

"Vayne, can you get a shot?"

 

****

 

Irina was hidden behind a wall that was slowly being eroded away. "We should have used the main gun on a fly over. We need bigger guns," she said then muttered under her breath. "I didn't sign up to fight the goddam Krogan rebellions."

[Cainhurst Crow]

Vayne activated his omnitool as he cycled to his multi-grenades. He was laying on his knees as he felt the concrete rocking from the shots of the hammerbursts. As he heard naleena on the coms, he smirked.

 

"I can get more then a shot. Fire in the Hole!" He said as he rose out of cover and launched the grenades, aiming towards the base of the guns as he ducked back down. He shifted the rifle back into his two hands, counting down in his head as the grenades hit the side of the AA guns base and scattered down to the ground.

 

The explosions didn't hit much, but it did go off behind the cover, and vayne rose up to line up a shot with the spot, in time to see one of the krogans trying to get into a new place to take cover.

 

The hammerburst ripped through his head as he shifted to firing towards the second gunner, working on keeping them pinned as he called out, "Light Em Up! Don't let em get out of cover."

[Kel Riever]

Morgan

"This is really not what I had in mind." Morgan had his face in his hands.

"Oh, come on, Handsome," Miss Priss said as she stretched in the shuttle's co-pilot seat in her tight fitting pink light armor.  "What kinda tulips do ya think grow on Duellos?  I'm a pistol and you know it.  Besides, there's other ways to get about this little desert community besides blowing it up with a gun.  Not that I mind blowing..."

"You're a civvie, Priss.  Sure, a tough minded..."

"Shut up and drive."

Morgan looked up and across at Miss Priss.  She just winked at him and smiled broadly. 

The Kodiak was set and Morgan launched as the front hangar bay door opened.  Morgan and Priss were leaving as the rig was bringing in the fabricated rods that would be used in the drop from their trip along the outside of the Medusa.  Babe, Largo and Dogger, all sealed in their Survivor suits, watched as the shuttle departed.  Babe gave a short wave.

Morgan double-checked the feed he was receiving from the Janiri and said nothing more as he lined up his pattern to descend to the surface of Garvug.
 

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"I don't think that what she had in mind, Vayne," Irina said as she poked her Harrier over the top of the concrete wall and fired. "I think she meant a shot at the gun. Use the Cain."

 

Vayne grunted and handed her the Hammerburst. "Cover me."

 

Irina took it, and had a wild eyed look in her eyes. "Are you nuts? I can't use this. It's too heavy."

 

"Rest it on the wall, aim and shoot. Hold down the top of it with your hand. You don't have to be accurate," he growled and took the Cain off his back. 

 

Arian laid down a stream of shavings on the left flank keeping the Krogan pinned there. Naleena lined up another shot but just as she was about to shoot another burst landed near her forcing her to take cover. She was cloaked but Url had an idea where she hid. It made sense. 

 

Url was making his way toward her staying low to the ground out of the line of fire from the main group. He wanted revenge for her taking his hand.

 

Vayne had the Cain in position charging now. "Now!" he shouted. Everyone hit the deck and the projectile slammed into the gun with a huge mushroom cloud shaped explosion. The two Krogan near the gun were killed. Url felt the heat burn away the armor on his back. 

 

Naleena's cloak clicked off from the heat. Url saw her and he rose up, blood dripping from the stump on his arm, his hump now exposed. He pulled a long blade with his right hand. He let out a blood curdling growl and charged. Johnny fired emptying the magazine of his rifle into Url's hump and the large Krogan collapsed at Naleena's feet. 

 

When the dust cleared, Naleena walked down to inspect the gun and frowned, then returned to the group. 

 

"Vayne, we only damaged it. It's still functional. Wrund could send another team here and get it working again," she said.

 

Vayne nodded. The team took cover and with one last shot from the Cain the battery fell over.

 

When they returned to the Mako, Naleena got on her communicator to the Medusa. "Morgan, I hope Babe is ready. It took two shots from the Cain to take down the first battery. You should let her know to have some extra ordinance ready."

 

Then she contacted the Janiri. "Mira, just a heads up. The Krogan have some real heavy weapons. Vayne calls them Hammerbursts. They used them during the Rachni Wars. I don't know how many of them there are, but they fire 12.5 mm slugs. If you feel you need more grenade launchers, get them. You're authorized to use depleted uranium blocks. We're headed to the second battery."

[Kel Riever]

High above the planet, Naleena's urgency was relayed from Morgan to Babe, thanks to Aelias. 

Babe, as she had in the past with other events, seemed to have a shift in her mood.  And that mood took effect with those who were around her.

"Affirmative, Morgan, I'll update the Spectre directly.  We'll be ready."

Despite her technical rank as someone subordinate to Dogger, to Morgan and to Jess, Babe seized command.  There were others who were in the bay now, also wearing protective space suits, and preparing the cannon for firing.  All of them fell under Babe's orders.

"Dogger!  Arthur!  I need you to get this cannon confirmed bolted to the deck properly in position!  Largo, bring that barrel extension around and line it up for me to secure myself directly!  Serafina, how is the attachment of the guidance computers coming?"

Fina, in her coppery bubble helmed suit, was manipulating a set of mechanical arms that were inside the shielding for the missile shaped rods, and attaching the mini-computers programmed by Doctor Hayashi and VERA.  "According to plan.  The first rod will be done in five minutes."

"Too long!  You've got three before we proceed to loading!"  Babe contacted Aelias by com.  "Bridge!  I need the ship to be a zero gravity environment so we can handle the weight of this gear and get our jobs done quickly!  Tell Jess to rotate the ship into firing position!"

"Affirmative.  The Captain approves your request."

"Keats!"

"Aye?"

"Get the sled and get the first rod ready to load as soon as Fina is done!"

"Aye!"

The gravity was cut.  Mag boots locked into place, but Babe removed her locks temporarily to leap in Zero-G towards the barrel extension while pulling out a meter from her tool belt that would help her make sure the extension was aligned properly.  Largo had maneuvered the extension into place with the benefit of next to no gravity.  He could see Babe's eyes close up through her helm, even with the glare protection.  The blue eyes that one could lose themselves in sparkled with obsession.   

"Spectre this is Babe on the Medusa," Babe contacted Naleena via her com, "We'll be ready to fire as planned.  All I need are the coordinates.  I want three confirms to Jess before we drop this stormhammer on your target before we fire and she'll give me the final order.  Three confirms or I won't proceed, you need to be sure!  Absolutely positive because what is hit will not exist when we are done."  As if a glimpse reoccurred to Babe of who she was talking to, she asked, "Copy that?"

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"Copy. I'll paint your target," Naleena replied. Formalities didn't matter now. "Babe, what's minimum safe distance?"

[Kel Riever]

"Doctor Hayashi?"  Babe included Amy H. in the loop.  "Minimum safe distance from impact site is the question."

"Ah, uncertain.  The weapon is designed for vertical, directional efficiency while minimizing escaping damage, which supports its use in a civilian area.  However, it can depend on the material housed within the battery itself..."

"I'd keep it from Get The Hell Out Of There to Already Gone," Babe said.  "We don't know, but firing to target will take some minutes as it isn't a direct mass cannon shot.  Once you've got the proper coordinates, I'd be under heavy cover or on your way out.  Hope that sort of answers the question."  
 

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"Copy that, Babe. 500 meters and under cover," Naleena replied. "We'll return to the site to kill confirm."

[Cknarf]

Garvug

 

Well concealed in the distance, he observed a group using his rifle's powerful optic. The crosshairs first settled on the humans, male then female. Then the turian, followed by the krogan, on which they lingered for a moment.

 

That may be a problem later.

 

Eventually, they came to rest upon an asari. His mandibles twitched slightly as he tracked her, likely with excitement. The rifle she carried was a good indicator of a worthy opponent.

 

Perhaps she will be the one?

 

He followed her with his scope, all the way back to their vehicle, an Alliance M-35. She remained outside, keeping a watchful eye as her team embarked. He lined up his shot, and exhaled, his talon smoothly tightening against the trigger…

 

It would have been a clean kill. One and done, just like every other time he had pulled a trigger, but something gave him pause. Although he knew she couldn’t see him, he was practically invisible at this distance, she still somehow manged to make eye contact. It was nothing more than a simple coincidence, but he felt otherwise. To him, it was a clear sign that he had found exactly what he had been searching for all these years.

 

Not like this.

 

He moved his talon from the trigger, and back to the side of the receiver. He watched her climb inside, and close the hatch. Considering what she and her team had just destroyed, he had a good idea of where they would be heading next. He prepared to relocate.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Spoiler

 

Johnny guided the M-35 on its way to the new target completely unaware that they were being tailed by a new foe. Vayne had grabbed some more ammo off the dead Krogan, and Irina picked up another Hammerburst and was fashioning a makeshift harness for it out of the extra seatbelt that Vayne wasn’t using.

 

“You’re crazy, you know that?” Vayne said. “The kick from that thing will wreck your shoulders.”

 

“Who said anything about shoulder fire?” Irina countered. “If I can fire it from the hip like a .30 cal braced against my armor, I should be alright. I wasn’t expecting this. None of us were. Should have asked Sonax why they were leaving….” she grumbled and went back to work.

 

“What got into you?” Vayne asked. “You’ve been doing nothing but *****ing since we got here.”

 

“Things changed on Thessia. I’ve got a life waiting for me. I didn’t have one when I signed on,” she replied.

 

“Why didn’t you just stay?”

 

Irina didn’t make eye contact. She kept working on her harness. “Because I’m stupid. I keep my obligations, and now I could end up dying on this ****ing rock. And yeah, I’m scared. All this courage and heroism in battle is a bunch of crap. People do heroic things in battle because they’re scared s***less of dying if they don’t,” she said, paused, then looked up at Vayne. “There are three kinds of people in a war: cowards, those who die, and survivors. If I’m going to die here, I’m sure as hell going to take a few bastards with me.”

 

She threaded the belt through a slot on the underside of the Hammerburst and slung it around her shoulder then used the buckle to secure it in place.

 

“There, that should hold it,” Irina said and tested it. “Still I wish I had one of those Kinetic Exoskeletons right about now.”

 

Naleena sat in silence. She knew now was not the time for fancy speeches. Irina was right. She should have obtained more intel from Admiral Speight about the situation on the ground. She looked across at the Turian who sat stoically in his seat with his Typhoon next to him, moving only when the Mako hit a bump. There was no fear in his eyes, or at least none that he cared to display. Or perhaps Arian simply didn’t care? That was a possibility that made him extremely dangerous. He lived for battle.

 

“VERA, talk to me,” Naleena said over her com.

 

“You are approaching the north battery. I would advise stopping and making your way by foot,” she replied. “Babe is ready. You will need to paint the target from three positions. I will calculate the coordinates to the nearest ten thousandth of a meter and send them to Babe. Because this is not a near relativistic weapon like our main gun, atmospheric conditions must be taken into account.”

 

Naleena motioned for Johnny to find a place to stop the Mako. “Meaning.”

 

“There is a high probability of some drift,” VERA said, “but the likelihood of missing the target by more than 20 meters is small.”

 

“The first target survived two shots from a Cain.”

 

“There is a non-zero probability that the gun will survive, however I would not want to stick around to test those odds.

 

“Understood. T’sarius out.”

 

“One more thing, Boss… Good luck.”

 

“Thank you.” Naleena said and closed her com, opened the hatch and hopped out. “This is it everyone. We’ll go the rest of the way on foot. Try to avoid contact. I need to paint the target with the IR laser. We’ll fight if we have to. There are a lot of blown up buildings in which to take cover. Once I’ve finished, we need to get the hell out of there.”

 

“They had the area around the first gun mined except for the road,” Irina said. “How do you plan to flank them here?”

 

“Good point,” Naleena replied. “This is more of an urban area than in the south. More streets. More of a chance we’ll run into patrols so we’ll have to listen and be quick about ducking into buildings. There also might be civilians still in the area. Let’s go.”

[Cainhurst Crow]

Wrund Tower - Blood Pack HQ

 

"What the hell did that!?" Talyth Strakoda exclaimed in shock as he looked out to see one of the massive AA guns begin to explode and collapse in. The leader of the forsworn had to catch his glasses as they fell from his face, bright yellow skin and copper colored headcrest beaded sweat down from it.

 

"No radiation detected. Given the cloud burst it was most likely a Cain discharge..." One of the technicians reported as they scrambled to get in contact with the deathclaw, "Report in Squad Leader! Did you see anything?"

 

"We no see what happen! Too much smoke!" Came the vorchas screech on the line. The arieal forces having missed being able to track the makos movements.

 

"Get This News To Ganar at Once!! And Someone Tell Me What The Void Wrund's men are doing!?" The krogan communications officer barked as he wiped his brow, putting their glasses back into place with a snarl as he paniced a bit. This wasn't according to plan. How could this have not gone according to plan?

 

"They're failing to do their job..." A voice cut through, as the silver clad kroganess stepped out of a newly arriving Tomkah, hammer in hand as she approached the communications center, "I warned my father this would happen. Tell my father to deploy my unit to crush whatevers happening now. Before it has a chance to spread..."

 

"Tell Ganar Slayt what to do...heh, like I have that kind of death wish..." Talyth chuckled nervously, not liking how despite his size, somehow Ganar Shinaga managed to stand taller then him. Probably some of her fathers freakish genes at work.

 

"You can either tell him. Or I can...and I can tell him how you decided to disobey my orders as well..." Despite not having visible eyes, the glare beneath her sealed suit was all too clear for Talyth to feel, cringing a bit as he stood his ground.

 

"I-I am just as much in charge here as you, Shinaga! My scouts do their job well, and my unit keeps this operation flowing strong and proud! Without them, your forces wouldn't know what's coming for them. S-so show me some respect, dammit!" Talyth barked, only to immediately take a step back as shinaga slammed her hammer down from her shoulder, now clutching it in two hands as she approached.

 

"Your Scouts are cowards. Just like their leader..." She said as she approached, and as she gripped her weapon of choice her omnitool flashed to life, her hammers head sparking with electricity as Talyth and the others backed up further and further, "They run and hide when there's a fight. And you dare compare them to my unit?"

 

"Stay away from me..." Talyth whispered with wide eyes, his own omnitool ready with a shield, though he knew it'd do little good. Shinaga's Hammer was a legend all on its own, and the only thing more infamous then it, was her more then short fuse to use it.

 

Instead of answering, Shinaga raised her hammer into the air with one hand, preparing to strike as Talyth closed his eyes and braced for impact.

 

"You No Fight here! Boss is Coming!!!" Came a shout, as Shinaga instantly lowered her hammer back to her waist and turned around on her heels. Talyth looked over to see the approaching vorcha, sickly purplish blue with yellow markings, wearing what appeared to be a maroon flightsuit. It was sleeveless and ended at the vorchas knees, as below the stubs were two red armored legs, slight gaps showing them to be prosthetics. Their arms had small shield generators strapped to them, and as the vorcha approached, Talyth nodded to his compatriot.

 

"Ahhh...Commander Dengara...So nice of you to join us..." The yellow krogan said with a nod, as the vorcha looked between him and Shinaga, as she rested her armored glove on the head of her hammer and collapsed it back in, the electricity hissing out as she slotted it back on her back. "This is not over..." She said towards the two, before moving forward to meet with her father.

 

Dengara glanced towards Shinaga as she left, half his face scarred and burnt as he growled, looking back towards Talyth. "Get my warboys information. Tell them where to strike. Your scouts hurry..." He said with a narrowed glare, before reaching into his pockets, pulling out a small tin and opening it up, "Contact Wrund as well. Get line going fast. Boss will want that..." He pulled out the contents, a cigarette which he lit with his omnitools flamer, unphased as the jet of flammable material shot up for a second, "Better hurry. He coming soon..."

 

"How soon are we-" Talyth began.

 

"10...9...8..." Dengara began to count.

 

"Get the line up! Get the line up!!" Talyth shouted, knowing by now that the Air Commander of the blood packs best, and only, aerial combat units had a freakish ability to have his timing down.

 

As he counted down, out rode the familiar white colored Tomkah, a massive grill attached to it with a wedge like piece giving it it's distinctive look. Shinaga stood in front of it, looking up as the other blood pack members gathered to greet their leader. The tank came to a stop, and the door opened. The white krogan stepped forth, standing tall as the rest of the blood pack went to their knees, his eyes falling on the one standing at the front.

 

Shinaga stayed on one knee in silence, hearing the heavy footsteps come closer until she felt the hand on her shoulder. She rose to her feet, staring up into her fathers eyes as she gave a nod.

 

"3...2..." Dengara said as he let out a small puff of smoke, looking away from Talyth as he stuck his hands in his flightsuits pockets. He made his way towards the flight field where the starfighters were being prepped without finishing his countdown.

 

"My child...my one true krantt. I am glad to see you here, unharmed." Ganar Slayt said as Shinaga gave a bow of her head.

 

"You honor me, Father. But these rebels and fodder are nothing I cannot handle..." She said, following behind her father as she continued, "They are hardly a challenge. These new people however..."

 

"Will be dealt with by the Blackguard. Crushed like all the rest..." Slayt interrupted, coming to a stop in front of Talyth as he gave a nod to his other lieutenant, "Deploy your scouts to the secondary gun. And get me in contact with Wrund."

 

"There's no need for the blackguard to sully themselves with this. The Hammer of Dawn can deal with this. Send me out there, Father. Let me show them our families wrath..." Shinaga said, Slayt taking the small tablet from Talyth, who bowed and went to work ordering his troops out, and didn't look to Shinaga or her pleas, "My Unit can do this...I can do this. Father,-"

 

Slayt looked to Shinaga, and she quickly stopped talking as his yellow eyes narrowed, his breathing stopping for a mere moment as Shinaga quickly recomposed herself, "...If you would permit me the honor..."

 

"...Shinaga...You are my child. My most trusted second...But do not forget your place..." He said, shinaga's head bowing just a little as she listened, "When the time is right...you will bring glory to the line of Ganar. You will ride into battle, and your wrath shall mark path to Kruban..." With that he brought a heavy hand under her chin, raising her to look him in the eyes, "...But...only when I have deemed it so...Is that understood?"

 

"...Yes, Father..." Shinaga answered, her neutral tone hiding whatever bitter words she would have said otherwise.

 

"You will guard the city with Wrund's forces. Keep the vorcha whelps and aliens under control..." Slayt said as he let her go, "A leader commands from any place on the battlefield...even behind the line..."

 

"As you wish, Father..." She said, before turning to march off to join the rest of the hammers of dawn, making sure to get far away enough to begin to clench her fists.

 

Slayt watched her go, raising the datapad as he saw the familiar figure come into focus, "What happened to the men you set to guard the guns?"

 

"They're not responding. And judging by the cloud, I doubt they'll call in anytime soon..." Hailot Wrund said with a scowl on his face, "Weren't your vorcha pilots supposed to watch for any ships trying to bomb us?"

 

"This was no bombing...you know full well what's happening, don't you?" Slayt said between breaths, his respirator getting to work to keep him breathing calmly, "That ship that passed must have dropped some forces. Have your men on high alert....Shoot anything that even tries to approach. My own scouts will see what's happening..."

 

"Sonnax probably tried to bring in some eclipse dogs. As if the asari will stand any better of a chance?" Wrund laughed, not seeming too concerned over the loss of one of his guns, "You know what I think? I think we aught to just crush Sonnax, once and for all..."

 

"They're heavily fortified. Our new weapons do well, but they're ready to wait this out...as are we." Slayt said, knowing full well the plan. Keep them on this rock, and keep them from resupplying. Their forces would wither and die, and then be easy pickings for their forces.

 

"But if we crush them now, those blue skinned milk drinkers they've paid to come help them won't have any reason to stay..." Wrund said as he stroked his chin with his one arm left, "Trust me, I know these peoples type. The minute the credits stop coming, they'll turn tail and run...not like you, Ganar."

 

"Just remember our Deal, Hailot. When this is over, I expect you to keep your end of the bargin..." Slayt said as his eyes glanced towards his daughter, walking off into the distance.

 

"Don't worry about it...you have my word, I'll get you what you want. Just so long as you keep yours...." Wrund grinned widely, "Now go kill these maggots. I've had enough of them shitting up my world."

 

With that he disconnected the call, Slayt nodding as he tossed the tablet back to Talyth. "Have the Deathclaw prepare for a bombing run. And get the rest of the tomkah units ready. I want this message loud and clear, nobodies allowed to die until they take down at least 10 human worms..." 

 

"Right Away, Warboss Ganar....Anything else I can help you with?!" Talyth said as he practically jumped to get the orders relayed, just doing his best to keep alive in this crazy place.

 

"Your scouts...whoever they can spare, are to go to the residential areas. There's someone there. Someone I need found..." He said as he leaned forward to loom over Talyth, "Your scouts are to but a bullet through their skull. Destroy anything they have on them. Torch the whole area if need be...." He said as he layed a heavy hand on the yellow krogans shoulder.

 

"And if they fail...tell them to not bother coming back..."

[Cknarf]

Garvug

 

He sat on his bike for a moment, staring wearily up at the remains of what was soon to be his new perch. At one time, the building was likely one of the tallest in town. Not so much anymore. Still, it offered an excellent view of the surrounding area. The only problem was the climb. Lugging a six foot, 45 pound rifle had become somewhat of a challenge for his aging body.

 

If only the lifts still functioned...

 

With a wince, he climbed off of his machine. From a mount on the right side of the bike, he retrieved his primary weapon, and slung it across his back. A suppressed M-6 would take its place for now. Keeping low, and sticking to cover, he made his way towards the building. His destination was near the tenth floor, where a large chunk of the building had been destroyed. The remaining debris would provide him with sufficient concealment.

 

As he neared the doorway that opened to the tenth, he spotted a crude sound trap running across the hallway. It was nothing more than bits of metallic debris attached to a length of thread. He carefully stepped over it, and proceeded. The sniper who was already in place was quickly dispatched by two suppressed slugs to the back of the head. His tags were promptly removed, and added to the collection. The corpse was rolled aside just enough to make room to set up.

 

Now comfortably in place, there was but one thing left to do. Wait.

 

Shouldn't be long, now.

[Kel Riever]

The Medusa

Garvug loomed large in front of the Medusa, the planet's geography and weather visible from orbit by the naked eye if one were looking out the fore of the vessel.  Certainly, those few left in the open forward hangar had that view, and it filled the bay door aperture.  Of course that was perspective.  From the planet, one could consider the point of view that the Medusa  was pointed straight down at the surface like a giant rail gun.

The only people left in the bay were Babe and Largo.  Safiere had run a backup cable that would control the gun out the hangar along the deck to the landing observation area, really a control panel that overlooked the bay from high above and a reinforced window.  Dogger had left with Keats and Arthur, their jobs done.  Largo only remained if Babe needed an extra set of hands to handle equipment but with everything in place, Largo was simply locking down any loose gear before he too would get out. 

Babe surveyed the planet as she climbed into the gunnery chair.  There was no aiming to be done with this cannon manually, though that was one purpose of the position attached to the weapon, but the primary fire controls were still at the attached seat.  Babe proved it was possible to still look good wearing an entire, yellow, form fitting Survivor light armor suit.  Only her face was visible through the front visor, and her blue eyes were fixated with Garvug or the systems in front of her.

Though nuclear science wasn't exactly her field of expertise, Serafina did think to ask Babe through the com, "What about radiation from the rods once they strike?  I mean, they aren't disappearing once they hit."

Babe didn't mean to make the matter inconsequential, but it sounded like she'd already weighed the consequences.  "The rods will end up buried deep.  Long term, the area will have to be sealed off but it will be very local, given how far down they'll end up.  And short term, lives will be saved.  No one will be exposed to the rods for any dangerous period of time, unless they decide to go build a house on the drop site after the strike.  Radiation is the least dangerous part about the munitions we're sending down, and we're the only ones who have to be worried about the time exposed to it since we're so close to them."

"All right..."  Serafina still seemed uncertain but let any other question she had go.

"We're ready," Babe sent her message directly to Naleena.  Then came the waiting, but Babe seemed patient and was silent from there on, anticipating the moment she'd put her design to the test.
 

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

The Approach North Battery

 

Spoiler

 

Signs of recent battle were everywhere: bombed buildings, piles of rotting corpses burned in the streets most likely stacked by the few residents who stayed behind, hiding. The Krogan left nothing standing despite the fact this was their city. Sonax had held it and became enemy territory. It gave a chilling validation to VERA’s analysis of the Krogan’s lack of advancement for the past 4000 years. Gunfire could be heard throughout the city with Krogan forces clearing pockets of resistance.

 

Naleena linked her omni-tool with VERA’s tight beam and the Janiri’s sensors. “VERA, I need tactical data on enemy troop movements in our immediate area, and the best and safest route to our destination.”

 

“Copy that, Boss,” VERA replied. “There is a patrol approaching on the next block. I suggest that you duck into one of the buildings.

 

“Thanks,” Naleena replied and motioned to the team to enter the nearest building.

 

Just as Naleena cleared the entrance and closed the door, the patrol rounded the corner and continued up the street toward their position. The four carried standard Bloodpack Vindicators and Claymores.

 

“This is a waste of time. There’s nothing here,” the one in the rear said.

 

“Slayt said to be on the lookout for any Eclipse that ship may have dropped off and report back,” the team leader said. “If they’re coming, they’ll be here. We’ll go out to the edge of town, look around. If we don’t see anything we’ll head back.”

 

Naleena turned to Johnny and spoke quietly. “The Mako, you’re sure it can’t be seen from the road?”

 

Johnny gave Naleena a look of disbelief. “It’s behind a bombed out dwelling.”

 

Naleena nodded.

 

The Krogan continued onward toward the edge of town. Irina cracked open the door and watched them disappear around the corner, then signaled to the others it was clear. She saw an alley across the street.

 

“I think it would be best if we stayed off the main streets. Less chance of being seen or shot by snipers,” Irina said. “You have thought of that, right?”

 

“Alleys can also turn into dead ends, and we can get trapped,” Naleena replied.

 

“What about fire escapes? We could move through buildings to another alley?”

 

“Too slow. We need to move quickly.”

 

Vayne laughed. “Fire escapes? You’re dreaming. This is a Krogan city. Naleena’s right. We have to move quickly. Those were Bloodpack, not Wrund troops. Slayt’s probably fortifying our target.”

 

Naleena tapped her com. “VERA how far are we from our destination?”

 

“You are 0.5 kilometers,” VERA replied.

 

Naleena turned to the team. “We have get closer and start looking for a place with a view.”

 

“Boss, there is a ten story building that is relatively intact two blocks west of your position,” VERA said. “You might have a line of sight from there.”

 

“Plus it will give us an overview of the area. Good work,” Naleena replied.

 

“Boss, it is also an ideal place for snipers. Approach with caution,” VERA said.

 

Naleena adjusted her Black Widow for thermal. “Anyone else? Bring thermal?”

 

The team members looked at each other.

 

“Right. It wasn’t specifically mentioned in the load out,” Naleena replied. “I’ll take point and scan the building before we advance. Irina, watch our rear.”

 

Irina grumbled but did what she was told. She hated being in that position and preferred point, but understood the reason. Naleena was an infiltrator and probably one of the best at spotting small details she’d ever seen. If anyone was off her game it wasn’t the Asari.

 

Sticking close to the north side of the street heading west, Naleena led the team while scanning the buildings and surrounding area for anything that looked out of place. A few blown up vehicles were alongside the road including a wrecked Tomkah. It looked like a major firefight took place here. Naleena raised her fist, and motioned for the team to take cover by the Tomkah. She drew her Black Widow, cloaked and moved toward the intersection up to a dead Krogan.

 

Across the street was the 10 story building. She scanned it with her thermal scope. Any motion near a window would show up. It appeared quiet. Nothing on this side anyway. She was about to return to the group when she noticed something strange laying on the ground next to the Krogan. It was a bow unlike any she’d seen before. It had a laser sight, mechanical draw, and there were about a dozen explosive-tipped bolts on the Krogan. She picked them up decloaked and waved the group to advance.

 

The group followed by Naleena ran across the street into the building.

 

“Krogan using bows? Vayne?” Naleena asked once they were in the building.

 

“That’s originally a hunting weapon called a torque bow,” Vayne said. “We started using them in battle during our war against the Council worlds. Your kinetic barrier will stop high velocity rounds, but this is much slower and will penetrate the shield. Your shield will slow it, so we added a sticky explosive tip that sticks to armor then detonates. Quite nasty.”

 

It didn’t go over Naleena’s head that Vayne referred to the Krogan Rebellions as their war against the Council worlds. It was a different viewpoint. Of course a Krogan wouldn’t look at it as “the rebellions.” Another was the genophage. The Krogan look at that as an atrocity, but the Turians look at it as necessary action.

 

Naleena simply nodded. “Let’s get up to the roof and have a look. Let’s see if we can get our first target line on this battery.”

[Cainhurst Crow]

"Right..." Vayne said as he held his hammerburst close, looking to the torque bow with a frown before moving up. The hammerburst rifles were something to worry about, but seeing a torque bow as well was troubling. They were good weapons during the war, really damn good from what he'd heard. When the genophage started to wipe out their numbers and their system made into a DMZ, there went most of the factories for making these. Turians saw to that, in what they probably hoped would be enough to cripple the krogan forces.

 

But hunting weapons could just as easily be turned into sutible firearms; part of the reason guns like the Striker or the Graal, not to mention all the claymores you'd occasional see looted from the corpses of the fallen and sold throughout the galaxy. Very few understood what it meant for a krogan to see one of those shotguns in a non-krogans hands. An ache in one of your hearts, knowing it was probably some clans last link to their ancestors or something.

 

Not that it mattered to vayne of course, not for some time at least. His race had shown time and again, it wasn't worth the effort to keep going. They were all on borrowed time, just waiting for the inevitable extinction to occur. So why not just cut loose and kill as many people are you liked?

 

'Maybe if there was less killing, and more helping, we could at least go out with something we could hold our heads up proudly about...' Vayne bitterly thought to himself before shaking his head. 'These weapons though, like someone picked them right out of a vid. These ain't weapons mercs were supposed to have. This is stuff armies were built on.'

 

"Vayne...You awake in there?" He heard from besides him, turning to look to irina with a look of surprise.

 

"What?" He asked, confused.

 

"You looked like you were spacing out for a sec. We need you to stay focused here." She said as she got her own gun ready. Vayne simply nodded before getting ready, the coast clear as the sound of jets overhead seemed to die out for now.

 

With a sprint, the team made a break to the building, keeping low and moving fast as they got inside. There was no door to close on the ground floor, or vayne definitely would have done so. The place looked ransacked, which hopefully meant it had been cleared out by the previous patrol.

 

Curiously, vayne walked carefully towards one of the structures, an elevator door. It's green door-light flickered on and off as he looked to the others. "We might be in luck. Looks like there's still power running to this place..." He said, right as the doors opened. The elevator was stuck between there floor and the ground, half of it sticking up only as he looked to the stairs.

 

"We better get started. It'll be a long climb up."

[Kel Riever]

Team Boom and the Second Team

"Vorcha Fighters?" Mira asked Ferro.

"Those with the anti-aircraft battery that's left?  Forget it.  We're nimble, but we're not craft meant to take on dedicated interceptors or fighter/bombers.  Best we can do is wait for the team below to do their job and stay within as close a range as we can without risking.  If they chase us instead of focusing on the ground, we'll have to head up to higher altitudes, back to the Janiri."

"Great," Jenus sarcastically exclaimed from the passenger compartment.  "Be blown to bits in high orbit or wait.  Give me a grav chute, I'll jump out myself."

"Sure," Iole said, "I bet those fighters will wave to you right before they put a cannon round through you.  Good news is you'll land feed first, before the rest of your torso follow later."

"Funny, Goldie.  Very funny."

Iole winked, "We're all pent up.  Save it for the krogan."

Jenus nodded, "And then some."

Morgan and Miss Priss

"How long you think we got, Handsome?"

Morgan checked the scanners.  They were in low orbit, holding steady with enough power to maintain position, keep the engines ready, and life support going only.  "It depends on the ground team.  The good news is if we're detected, which is a fairly low chance, we'll just be another Kodiak shuttle, likely owned by Sonax, trying to get people out.  Otherwise, if someone comes for us, we'll have to double back.  There's time to pick an enemy up, though, especially fighters.  The vorcha aren't known for flying craft meant for stealth."

Miss Priss leaned back, swung herself around  in her chair, and put her boots on Morgan's thigh.  "I like a man in control of things, and from the sounds of it, you know what's the what.  Maybe you need to get rid of some of that stress?"

Morgan shook his head.  "I have to stay focused, Miss Priss.  You wouldn't want this kodiak to turn into our coffins."

"Mmmn, talk like that's only gonna keep me interested, Handsome.  I could think of worse ways to go."

"You're persistent, Priss, I'll give you that."

"My secret to success, Handsome."