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[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Garvug

 

With no power they had to take the stairs. This didn’t bode well for Naleena. While the rest of the team was ready to keep going at a slow pace when they got to the fifth floor, Naleena had to ask the team to pause for a couple minutes on the landing so she could catch her breath.

 

Irina scowled. “You should know better, Spectre. You’re slowing us down, and that could get us killed.”

 

“I’ll be fine. Just let me catch my breath,” she shot back.

 

“Of course. Battle conditions can change in a minutes. We don’t have time for this,” Irina said. “If I see one cigarette in your mouth during this mission, I’ll knock it out myself, and no one is going to stop me.”

 

“Is that so?”

 

“Yep.”

 

The two glared at each other for a few seconds. “Let’s move out,” Naleena ordered.

 

Arian looked on with amusement at the interaction between the two, but hoped it wouldn’t cause a distraction from the mission. Irina was focused on survival, and for her that meant taking out as many enemy as possible. To him that was good. Johnny kept out of it.

 

Vayne continued up the stairs to the roof and stopped when they got to the door. He heard voices. Irina and Arian flanked the door while Vayne was ready to kick it open.

 

“Ha! The coalition thinks they can hold the wall. They’re setting up mortars to try and slow our advance,” the sergeant said. “Copy that… we’ll tag ‘em for the hammer.”

 

Naleena used her thermal scope again to get their locations. “There’s four up here along the west side. I can see some obstructions that could provide cover on either side of the door. Arian, you take left. Irina, take right. Vayne there’s an exhaust fan directly in front. If we’re quiet, they might not hear us.”

 

Johnny pointed. “The door frame is rusted. It’s likely the hinges are rusted.”

 

“Well, there went surprise. After me,” he said and kicked open the door.

 

Arian went left. Irina kept low and went right firing bursts that sounded like a jackhammer in the direction of the four Krogan who hit the deck, suppressing them for her team as they entered. She took cover before they could return fire.

 

Naleena set up behind a ventilation unit, and saw the sergeant reach for his radio to call for reinforcements. She hit him with a biotic stasis. Then fired a warp on him. The resulting biotic explosion shattered the radio and caused internal injuries to the Krogan.

 

 

The Krogan on the right took an opportunity to move to flank Irina, but it was the wrong move, as she propped the hammerburst against her hip and fired four bursts into his midsection at close range that ripped through his armor. He collapsed and crawled toward her with a knife in his hand. As he tried to raise up, she lifted the heavy gun and repeatedly smashed the stock down on his head until it was a pulp, blood splattering all over her armor.

[TheMajonese]

For the relatively close distances on the roof Arian switched from his light machine gun to his Phaeston. The two krogan who were still fighting were focused on Irina and Vayne and Arian decided to end this encounter as quickly as possible. He pointed his omni-tool at the first krogan to overload his shields and briefly stunning him. Then he jumped out of cover and dashed towards a new position to flank the remaining krogan. He recieved several hits to his armor but he ignored them as he got in position to shoot at him. It took several hits to the krogan's armored head and chest to take him down, enough time for the last krogan- now shieldless- to turn to Arian and fire at him. 

 

The hammerburst rounds forced Arian to duck behind his new cover but now that he had the krogan's attention, the rest of his team had a good opportunity to take him and the wounded scout leader out.

[Cknarf]

His talon never left the receiver, passing up several clean shots as they moved between cover. For now, he was just observing. As the group entered the building, an unknown voice cracked over his previous victim's radio.

 

"I can't believe you didn't take that." 

 

He immediately began scanning the area below. Apparently, someone else had eyes on them, at least for a brief period.

 

"F*** it. I guess it's their problem now. See you back home."

 

He targeted the turian who revealed himself on one of the smaller rooftops. The turian waved before hopping down from cover and leaving the area. By the time he turned back to the group, he had lost them in the building. He waited patiently for them to appear again. And appear they did. When all hell broke loose on the rooftop, he decided it time to make his presence known...

 

The projectile entered through the hump at a nasty angle, passing clean through and into the skull, demolishing the entire side of the targets face, just as a deafening report was heard. The round had finally come to rest in one of the rooftop structures, still leaving a deep, fist-sized hole even after passing through an armored krogan.

 

If one were looking in the right direction, they may have caught a muzzle flash out of the corner of their eye. Or maybe, with powerful enough optics, a cloud of dust kicked up from the shot. By the time anyone would be able to get a closer look, they would see nothing more than an armored corpse, laying before a bipod equipped M-92 Mantis.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Garvug - rooftop

 

Johnny hit one of the two standing Krogan with an overload which shorted out his armor then he unloaded his Hurricane into him. Vayne focused on the second one with his hammerburst, the rounds ripped through his armor and dropped him to the ground.

 

A shot from a nearby rooftop ripped through the Krogan whom Arian had been firing at, his head exploding out the side of the exit wound. Naleena noticed and looked in the direction of the trajectory with her rifle, but all she saw was an empty Mantis on a tripod. The sniper, friend or foe, was gone. They were being watched. There was one thing certain. She didn't like it. 

 

It was over except for the fate of the Krogan sergeant who was crawling across the rooftop coughing up blood. Naleena did a quick scan, emerged from her cover, pulled Irina’s shotgun out of its holster, and walked toward him. The Krogan reached for a weapon, but Naleena stepped on his arm. Irina picked up the weapons.

 

Naleena put the shotgun to his head. “I’ve already caused one of your hearts to burst. Cooperate and I might let you live. Where is Wrund?”

 

The Krogan coughed. “Whoever you are, whoever Sonax brought here to do their dirty work you’ll never take him,” he said and coughed more blood. “You’ll never land more troops or escape…. You got lucky on that first battery.”

 

“I said, ‘where is Wrund?’”

 

“I’ve nothing more to say to you.”

 

The look in Naleena's eyes hardened. Johnny had seen it before. He knew what was coming. “Have it your way,” she said and discharged the shotgun.

 

After tossing the weapon back to Irina she headed to the edge of the rooftop with her Black Widow and aimed over at the north battery. There was a lot of activity. The Krogan were at full squad strength, armed with a mixture of hammerbursts and Graal spikethrowers. There appeared to be at least two grenade launchers. The area was well defended.

 

Babe had insisted on three tags with the laser for accurate targeting. She took out the laser and shot one tag from their current location and heard the locking tone.

 

VERA contacted her. “I have the first set of coordinates. Babe wants two more.”

 

“That does not appear to be possible,” Naleena said.

 

“I will link you to her,” VERA replied and connected her to Babe.

 

“Medusa, Babe, here. Talk to me, Spectre.”

 

“Babe, the Krogan have reinforced their position around the north battery. We’re outnumbered 3 to 1,” Naleena said. “I have a clear shot from my current location and can maintain paint on the target while VERA processes the data and you aim your gun. I can give you paint on points on the ground around the gun from here. If that’s not accurate enough, what about firing an extra round?”

[Kel Riever]

Babe was in her chair, and practically had to snap out of her obsessing over the control panel to reply to Naleena.  When the Spectre's voice came through, carried loud and clear on the encrypted channel, Babe replied.

"I meant I wanted you to give me three verbal confirmations before I pull the trigger.  Just to make sure, Spectre, that I'm going to go ahead and drop this thing.  Like, 'Fire for effect. Fire.  Fire.'  Am I cleared for the shot, Spectre?  It's a matter of simply making sure.  One set of coordinates is all I need and I have them."

The coordinates, in fact, had already been programmed in.  Jess, Doctor Hayashi, and VERA were already included in the com loop.  Babe's finger hovered over the trigger.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena had misunderstood and aimed her laser. "Painting target. You are cleared to fire."

[TheMajonese]

While the spectre was busy laserpainting the battery, Arian used one of his vials of medi-gel for the wound in his abdomen. It was quite painful but it wasn't deep and wouldn't kill him for now, so he barely even considered it a scratch. It would need more than one bullet to take him down.

 

With a frown on his face Arian moved towards the dead krogan that had shot at him. At first he thought that either Vayne or Johnny had killed him, then he spotted the hole in the floor. "Sniper!" He instinctively ducked behind cover and searched the buildings in the direction the shot had came from for a sign of the unknown marksman. Of course nothing was moving and if the sniper really intended to take them out, he would have already killed half their team by now. But he still didn't trust their potential unknown ally.

 

"Could have been Sonax...", he assumed with a growl and rose from his cover again. "We should get off this roof as soon as possible."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"Agreed," Naleena replied as she kept the laser painted on the target awaiting the bombardment. "We're being watched. Keep your eyes peeled."

 

//////

 

VERA calculated the shot vector to the ten-thousandth of a meter and sent them to Babe. 

[Kel Riever]

The last confirmation came from Jess.  “Fire, Jocie.”

Babe felt the vibration of and saw the cannon fire before she realized she’d clenched her finger on the trigger.  The cannon, normally meant for firing a devastating shot at close range, was perhaps lower velocity that most other mass effect weapons, but that didn’t mean it was slow.  Without incident, the missile left the barrel and sped towards the surface of Garvug.  Babe watched, as if she could see it with her own eyes, her hand still squeezed down hard.

From the surface there was no real warning, either.  A person might have caught the slightest glimpse of a flare when the missile entered the atmosphere.  It’s decent was being tracked, however, very closely by Dr. Hayashi and VERA.

“There is a very small irregularity in one stabilizer,” VERA informed Hayashi, “It was likely that the fabricator was not designed to deal with such unusual materials.”

“Is it a problem, VERA?”  Amy patted the bun on top of her head.

“Negative.  Spin is under control, and the slightly altered course is within the parameters of our calculations, and our guidance computer’s ability to compensate.”

Amy gave a nod and a thumbs up to Jess.
 

[Kel Riever]

The eruption of the second anti-aircraft battery came in two parts.  There was no warning.

First, there was a blast of what looked like a phosphorous explosion, for those who’d seen one before.  It was a flash that spewed out of the top of the battery and vanished in an instant. 

Second, came the real explosion, a ‘WHUMPF!’ that was a seismic event for anyone within a kilometer of the battery.  Though a mass effect weapon which typically fired solid projectiles, there were a variety of ammo types stored inside the anti-air gun, including high explosive rounds.  Then there were a variety of other combustible materials stored in the battery, such as ammo storage for small arms and vehicles the krogan used, fuel for said vehicles, other chemicals for war and utilitarian use, and the power systems that moved the battery.  The gun housing and turret functioned as a local bunker in addition to providing armored protection for the gun.  And everything that could go off, did, blowing back up the hole that had been punched through the top of the structure, like a bullet through paper.

Dirt lifted off the ground in plates.  The fire explosion was devastating, but as predicted, was mainly a vertical phenomenon.  Perhaps the oddest and definitely the most dangerous thing that happened to anyone on the ground was when the turret crowning the structure flew into the air, like a plastic cup thrown by a child.  Alloy armor being light as it was, still didn’t explain the movement, as total the material weighed more than 135 long tons.  The turret didn’t hit anything but a completely abandoned building when it came down, out of sheer fortune, and it went right through it.

The second explosion and ensuing inferno ventilated high into the air, assuring that no one within the battery had survived.  But also as predicted, the buildings surrounding the structure were still left standing, and bore no casualties, including the krogan who’d taken strategic positions around it.  At least physically.  The casualties of the mind and impact on the krogan were another matter entirely…

“Direct hit.  Target is destroyed,” VERA informed those about the Medusa and Naleena, though it was an entirely unnecessary confirmation for the Spectre who saw everything with her own eyes.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

The projectile made a bright flash as it entered the atmosphere. Naleena saw what was coming and covered her eyes just before it impacted the ground. About a second later a ground wave impacted the building and knocked everyone off their feet. The building kept swaying for several seconds.

 

Irina was the first to her feet. “We have to get the hell out of here! Now!”

 

The group grabbed their weapons and ran down the stairs as fast as they could while the steel structure of the building creaked around them. Despite most of the explosion being confined to a vertical event, there was a shockwave. Although buffered by the building around them, the air impacted the building and its weakened structure causing it to sway even more. The team ran out onto the street and was no more than 100 meters from the building when it pancaked, a dust cloud enveloped everything in the immediate area. 

 

After catching her breath, Naleena got on her communicator. "Mira, Morgan, you're clear for landing."

 

///////////////////

 

Adrmiral Speight watched the orbital bombardment of the anti-aircraft guns by the Spectre's forces with amusement as she stood in the observation deck of the Nemesis on her artificial leg. 

 

"Apparently she's pulling all stops in this operation," Speight said. "I figured her for another Council do-gooder. I didn't think she had it in her. Orbital bombardment of a civilian area."

 

"Ma'am, the ordinance used was strictly designed to destroy the target and limit collateral damage," her XO said from his terminal.

 

Speight raise her eyebrow. "What kind of ordinance did they use?"

 

"Our sensors show it was.... a spent eezo core rod."

 

"So there will be a radioactive clean up needed."

 

"Yes, Ma'am." 

 

Speight smiled. "Good. We can use this as evidence with the Council if we need it. I doubt we will, but keep the records."

[Cainhurst Crow]

If the explosion of the first battery had not gotten everyones attention in Dhazil, then the orbital strike had. The massive bright flash, and the almost biblical spire of flames that had followed, coupled by the massive sound wave that echoed through the whole city, was enough to make anyone on the surface stop and stare, and any below ground to seek shelter from potential cave ins.

 

As the flames began to die, and the debris began to fall, a lone vorcha watched with an unimpressed gaze, smoke trailing from the cigarette in their mouth as the carcinogenic roll began to slowly smolder.

 

"...Heh. Actually had the guts to launch a bomb...." Commander Dengara said as he dropped his cigarette, crushing it beneath his metal foot as he walked over to his white colored starfighter, the cockpit opening as he got on his comms, "This is Dengara. All bombers; we fly now..." He said.

 

The starfighters who had flown back had come to get outfitted with new weaponry. Under their wings now sported two large caliber cannons, another weapon of the krogan wars, these being heavy guns known simply as Breechshots. Ammo drums were attached to the weapons, as were a belt of grenades, and each shot was designed to shred apart anything krogans might have rolled up on in armored vehicles before the widespread use of the Tomkahs.

 

As the starcraft began to take off, Dengara shifted the controls for his main gun, the two new attachements shifting with the movements of his front undermounted machine guns. "All systems going...Warboys, Prepare for Booming..." He said with a smirk as he led the other black and red fighters. 

 

There was some blood that needed repaying, and the Deathclaw would see it extracted before the Blackguard ever arrived.

 

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

 

"Kalros Claws!!!" Vayne exclaimed as he looked back to see the building collapsing in on itself, and the smoldering ruins that used to be the AA guns. "I can't believe we just did that..." He said, in a bit of a shock as he processed what had happened.

 

The krogan hadn't seen anything like that in hundreds of years. That level of destruction stirring something deep inside of him as he fought back a growing urge. His breathing was quickening, and he fought back the slowly growing smirk as his pupils dilated. His blood was pumping, and his body was translating the shock he was feeling into the one emition it knew from generations of krogan genetics.

 

The Urge to do more. The Urge to kill more.

 

He closed his eyes, working on calming himself down as a thought crossed his mind, "There'll...There's gonna be more...There's no way they won't show up to scour this area..." He said, fighting to wipe the smile off his face as he reminded himself of the mess they were in, "We need to move...before they get here."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena dusted off her coat and armor. "Everyone, back to the Mako! Now!"

 

There was no bothering to take cover as the team double-timed it to where Johnny had parked the vehicle. On their way through the streets, the Krogan patrol that had passed them earlier lie dead on the ground, victims of sniper fire. The use of metal block shavings made it difficult to identify the types of weapons used, so Naleena led the group past them. The only thing for certain was that the enemy would be sending a reconnaissance in force to this area soon, and the team didn't want to get caught in it.

 

The Mako was where Johnny had left it, but Irina wanted to do an inspection before getting inside.

 

"Paranoid?" Vayne asked as he helped check around the wheels.

 

"Always. Whoever killed those Krogan could have planted something for laughs," she replied, then took out one of her tools and unlatched the engine compartment.

 

"Hey, that's only supposed to work from inside," Johnny said as he walked over to Irina.

 

"Yeah, they tell you that in tech school, don't they," she replied, "and when one of the cables snaps when you're in the field you use one of these..... and look what I found." Irina turned three shades of pale. "Hey, Goggles, you know how to disarm this?" she pointed at the plastic explosive that was rigged to the ignition system.

 

"I do. I've rigged enough of them," Naleena said after seeing Johnny hesitate. "This one is pretty simple. It's almost like a test to see if we could find it. Just pull the electrodes out of the plastic, then remove the explosive. Semtex is pretty inert at this point, but let's check it for remote detonators." Naleena scanned the one pound ball with her omni-too. "It's clean. We'll keep it. You don't know when we could use it. There are detonators inside the Mako. Check the vehicle again for more surprises, then let's get out of here."

 

One more check and the vehicle was clean. Everyone got inside. Johnny got behind the wheel. "Where to, Boss?"

 

"Take us in," she said. "VERA I want continual updates on enemy troop movements."

 

"Understood, Boss."

[Cknarf]

Between the broken lifts, and the crumbling stairs, it took some time to reach the ground floor. The old sniper stopped to rest for a moment in the lobby, knowing the group had likely moved on.

 

I should do the same...

 

His own building was in rough shape, and at a risk of coming down. Not to mention the forces that would soon be sweeping the area. He was in no shape, and definitely no mood to be engaging multiple krogan in close quarters. He reached back for the radio that he had taken earlier, and switched it on. He turned the volume all the way up, and pressed it hard against the side of his head. While he couldn't hear anything, he could still feel the vibrations emanating from the device, each species having their own distinct 'sound'. He was able to get some idea of what kind of resistance he would be facing.

 

Switching the radio off, he slowly stood and headed outside.

[Kel Riever]

Team Boom

The Commando drop, which included Essul and Faed/Legion, went according to plan, at first, not stress free.

Ferro's voice was a shade shy of yelling and intense as the ramp door dropped.  "Everyone out, moving!  Fighters are inbound and we're not sticking around!"

The first Scythe had slowed to what was the safest speed to keep going and still drop along the ground.  It requires quite a bit of piloting skill to pull it off, let alone time it with the second incoming Scythe.  Team Boom, for their part, had to drop and roll as Ferro skimmed along the ground.  Then they had to get out of the way quickly as the second Commando team did the same.  As soon as Adonya and her group were out, the two Scythe's punched their engines for space. 

Tactical advantage was on the side of those dropped off, but it would be fleeting.  Tallis and Iole had to haul themselves across a hundred meters to the wall where Sonax held out.  Fortunately, the Sonax people recognized allies who weren't shooting at them as they moved.  Unfortunately, the krogan with an eye on the Sonax position had been surprised, but certainly not to the point of inaction.

"Take positions!  Covering fire!"  Mira's unusually demanding callouts still had the asari's underlying tones of serenity somehow, driving people to action rather than fear.  She herself happened to be packing a Shuriken, and sent some bursts in the direction of a hunkered down krogan fire team. 

"What's that going to do?" Jenus mocked.  "You want to give them a massage?  Give my eggs a boost, Mira!"

Mira had worked with Jenus long enough to know exactly what she meant.  Jenus was carrying a maxed load out of lift grenades and had one in each hand.  As the first was hurled, Mira hit it with a biotic throw, launching it at top speed to slam into the wall behind the krogan position.  It detonated, sending one of the krogan lifting up into the open.  Both Mira and Jenus dropped behind a low wall, waiting the seconds for Mira's recovery and the krogan to be shot, then they repeated the team maneuver, and this lift grenade struck right into the cover, lifting the other two krogan to total exposure in the air.

Morgan

"Sonofa!..."  The exclamation was heard over the channel to Naleena from Morgan, presumably in regards to the fighter cover.  "I'm blasting into the gap now."  The Kodiak Morgan was in fired its engines to full and shot towards Garvug, at top speed.

It was still a few minutes before they landed, but Morgan had found  a safe zone on the outskirts, away from any strategic position of the conflict.  There was always the risk of a perimeter patrol, but Morgan and Miss Priss had gotten lucky.  The Kodiak itself was hidden in the courtyard of a shelled out and abandoned office building, so it took them a bit of time to work their way to the outside and assess their situation.  When they did, Morgan was much calmer.

"Are you ready?"

"Handsome, spontaneity is my middle name!  I'm always ready."
 

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

VERA's voice crackled over the com once again. "Boss, Team Boom and Team Sushi have made touchdown," she said. "Due to lack of cloud cover, I have been able to zoom in with great detail on activities of smaller enemy units. A Krogan fire team is setting up a mortar 0.35 kilometers northeast of your position. If you hurry you could surprise them. I am sending coordinates to your VI."

 

Naleena ordered Johnny to stop. "Are there others in the area?"

 

"Yes, the Krogan have separated them by approximately 0.5 kilometers. Logically, they will use them to support their assault currently in progress."

 

"Why didn't they use these to soften the Sonax positions first?"

 

"It appears that our flyover, and your attacks on the anti-aircraft guns distracted their command and caused some confusion. A certain elite unit appears to be held back in reserve. Also the Bloodpack have launched starfighters to provide air support for their assault."

 

Naleena was worried. "Mira's squad is over there. Any chance of providing support?"

 

"Affirmative, but it will require moving to a low altitude and higher output from our engines to maintain position in order to get into range of the laser batteries," VERA replied. 

 

Vera continued. "You could use this mortar to attack the others. I can send you the coordinates. They are within range. Warning: once the Krogan figure out this unit has been compromised, it is likely that they will attack, most likely with any surviving mortars."

 

"Noted," Naleena replied. "Johnny, take us in. VERA, transfer me to Commander Selani.”

 

Commander Selani tapped her comm.

 

“Commander, the Bloodpack is using starfighters to support the Krogan assault. Mira’s squad is in the area. VERA informs me that you can provide support from a lower altitude.”

 

“That’s correct. I can take us down to 10 km. That’s too high for any anti-aircraft batteries. I didn’t see any missiles launched at our shuttles. It doesn’t look like the Krogan have any remaining. It will require a tremendous amount from our power plant to maintain position while VERA targets the enemy Starfighters with our GARDIANs,” Selani said looking over the battlefield and Mira’s position.

 

“Do it. Give them something to think about,” Naleena said. “I just want to buy Mira some time to get out of there. If the ship is threatened with a fighter attack, jump back to orbit. The destabilization caused by the in-atmosphere jump should take any nearby fighters with you.”

 

“Yes, Ma’am. Selani out,” she replied then turned toward her helm. “Prepare for descent to 10 km, and hold position over the hot zone.”

 

//////////

 

 

Naleena got on her communicator again. “Mira, give me a status.”

 

“We’re on the ground taking heavy fire,” she replied.

 

“It’s going to get worse.”

 

“Of course it is,” Mira replied.

 

“You’ll have incoming mortar attacks soon, but we’re on it,” Naleena said. “Also the Bloodpack are using air support… Starfighters. I’ve ordered Selani to counterattack with our GARDIANs from 10 km to take the heat off so you can get out of there. Let us know when you’re on your way.”

 

“Will do.”

 

“T’sarius out.”

 

Naleena gave the go ahead to Johnny to take the Mako into the mortar position. Irina loaded the 20 mm machine gun and the 155. Sensors picked up a fire team setting up the unit at the coordinates given by VERA, and there was a large pile of rubble between the Mako and the mortar. Johnny drove the Mako up the steep slope and down the other side.

 

The Krogan turned to face the incoming vehicle. One remained transfixed on it with his hammerburst aimed at it, the other four scattered. Irina opened fire with the machine gun, its rounds ripping through the Krogan’s armor with ease, then she rotated the turret to face the left side trying to find the others, but they had taken cover behind more rubble. Everything in the area had been reduced to rubble. The VI located two large Krogan. She fired the 155 with a HE shell and it hit the what was left of a wall behind them and detonated, the flash damage killed them instantly. The sensors on the Mako revealed that the other two had fled, probably north.

 

The team exited the Mako.

 

“Let’s set up a perimeter. Irina, Johnny, get this mortar set up,” Naleena said then she got on her comm. “VERA, give Irina the position of the nearest mortar north of our position.”

 

VERA sent Irina the coordinates. The team would be able to get about 8 mortar rounds off before they’d have to pile back into the Mako and move on.

[Kel Riever]

The Commandos

Three krogan floating through the air were made quick work of.  Ereba and Faed/Legion dispatched two nearly immediately with their widows, while two teams of Commandos ripped the third to shreds (and provided an insurance policy of carnage on the other two). 

"Well, they sure as void know we're here now," Jenus remarked.  "We better move."

"We're clear to get to the wall," Iole informed as she and Tallis took off for the Sonax position, "You can move."

"This way," Mira said.  The two teams of Commandos began alternating moving and firing.  Their job wasn't to cause casualties yet, but to keep heads down.  That job would turn over to Tallis and Iole, and any Sonax allies they could work with, once the two got into position.  It was a standard, practiced, and still very effective tactic with Commandos; it didn't take a lot of fire to keep heads down, especially from a support weapon like a Hellbringer, and in the meantime the main Commando force would flank.  In this case, there was a fixed position to defend, but it was still viable as the krogan would be forced to draw away attention from the wall.

Of course, the krogan were not tactical imbeciles either.  And they were, after all, built for war.

Morgan and Miss Priss

Walking through the war-torn city was no casual affair, but a person watching Miss Priss wouldn't have known that, as while she avoided the open areas with Morgan, she still had a saunter in her gait.  If Morgan hadn't worked with her before, he'd be infuriated at what he would have considered to be dangerous naivety.  But he knew better with Priss, and while she wasn't a soldier, there was a way about her that he'd seen and she had some sort of experience in combat he couldn't put his finger on.

"Penny for your thoughts, Handsome?"  Miss Priss caught Morgan checking in on her.

"Well, we're looking for a krogan named Pradrax Vask, and he's likely at a place called Kradek's.  Vask is a Shadow Broker agent, and the Network needs to find him.  I don't like the idea at all of getting involved with my prior employer, but it's for Naleena.  She has a list of reassurances, none of which really make me comfortable, however a job is a job."

"Some people like what they do." Priss raised her eyebrows twice.

Morgan shook his head and smirked.  "The point is, we have to find this krogan, and I'm sure if he's gone out of communication there's a reason for it.  Starting at Kradek's is the best lead we have."

A sad sound drifted through the streets that made Morgan and Miss Priss' hearts want to leap out in pain and sympathy.  Both turned their heads in the direction the sound came from.  Along the side of the street, out in the open, was what looked like a half-sized krogan lying with his hump facing them.  Above him was another full sized krogan, poking at the small one and trying to get him to move.  Again, the wail came, an awful sound of agony, from the small krogan.

[Cainhurst Crow]

Strike Team Sushi

 

Essul was used to air drops, though in truth he hadn't needed to do on in a long time. He didn't bother drawing his rifle or any of his guns, not yet at least. The mag locks kept them more secure then anything his hands could, which was good in case something went wrong.
 
As he ran out with Mira's unit, and essuls boots touched the ground, he drew his argus rifle and advanced up with the rest of the unit. He'd never worked with a unit of asari before, usually part of a task force and not so much a strike team. And the batarian didn't want to reflect on the last time he worked on a team. This was a new path in life for him, and a chance for a new start.
 
"Target the floating or glowing units. Use anything explosive or biotic..." Essul said as he threw himself behind one of the walls, seeing a krogan as he shot out a throw of his own, throwing it out to the left as it shot forward, before curving right to seek out its target. A massive one-two punch that sent his target into a wall.
 

He nodded as he saw the biotic explosions go off, before moving up with the others. He worked on following Mira's path, staying with the other commandos as he helped to direct strikes. He spotted some fire coming from a blown out building, it's upper level blasted open but walls still standing, "Target the walls..." He called out to the others, sending out a throw towards the top part of the collapsed roof the krogan were under.

 

It was struck with another throw, and soon the windowed wall tilted back, landing on the crumbling floor, and caving it in onto the krogan hiding below.

Essul was about to move up when he suddenly stopped, throwing up his arm as he heard something above, "Do you hear that?" He said as his ears picked up a faint sound growing louder. It was high pitched, growing louder with each second, like some sort of screeching animal.
 
"Areial Forces Incoming....Ereba, Faed. What's heading our way?" He called into the comms.

 

From a distance, above the battlefiled, the squadron of fighters could be seen moving in at a quick speed. Their engines gave them away before they approached, but the deathclaw fighters, a white one leading the force of 10 interceptors closed in from the east and turning north. But there was another problem as well, another group of fighters, this one numbering 10, had broken off and was heading south, circling around the battlefield.

 

As it stood, VERA above could see what the formation was doing, as a third unit began to approach as well, heading in from the the east, and heading for the battlefield. This one had 12 fighters, and as the ships began to turn, it became clear what they were up to.

 

A 3 pronged attack, each one preparing a flyover to intersect each-other right above Sonax Territory, and 3 groups to try and neutralize from arriving.

 

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"All Warboys, Circle and strike..." Dengara said as he issued out his orders. The bombing run was one they tended to do for well fortified targets. Certainly it had been quite a surprise for Sonnax when their frigates had come under fire from multiple angels by the Death Claw. More so when they began to show their commitment to areial combat, the blade fabricators attached to both wings doing well to shred the hulls of any mass effect protected vessels, and every damaged ship setting a course to crash directly into the enemy that damaged it.

 

"Remember our Saying...." Dengara said into the comms as he heard it back from his other flyers. "Better Crash and Fly, than Crawl and Die...".

 

That brought a smile to the old Vorcha's withered and scarred face. At 22, he was well past when he should have been alive, and he knew it. Many of the Warboys here were of a similar age, some of them 17, others 18 going on 19, but all of them not fit for fighting on the ground as much as their younger 4 or 5 year old brethren.

 

On the ground, they'd be mulched up by gunfire easily. In the air though, flying at these high speed, they could garuntee to take out more people then any ground force could, even if only by crashing their vessels into the enemy.

 

What more could a Vorcha ask for?

 

"Light Them Up!" He called, as he fired off the two Breech-shot cannons towards the Sonnax forces, the heavy caliber explosive rounds punching through concrete and reinforced steel before violently blowing apart, like fragmentation grenades. However, no sooner had they began when a bright flash of blue caught him off guard, Dengara peeling off as he pulled up quickly and saw what he knew to be Guardian Lasers firing down to hit two of his fighters, seeing a massive ship 10 KM above that hadn't appeared on the radar.

 

"Impossible!" He called out as more and more came down, directly at all 3 groups and alternating between them as the panicked screams could be heard from within. Dengara snarled as he looked to his radars, seeing nothing come up as he smacked it hard.

 

"Radar Not Working! Scramble! We Dodge Now!" He called into his comms, doing his best to dodge the raining hail of guardian lasers. Nothing should have been able to enter the range to do this. Dengara snarled as he jerked his white fighter down towards the ground.

 

"A-Wings! Attack that ship!" He called as he began to lower his ship, going as low as he could to try and confuse the ships targeting, spinning, weaving, and swooping out of each laser blast as the A wings rose to try and attack, "Y and X Wings, On Me! And Do Not Die. That is an Order!"

 

The rest of the units flew low, making  their way down to 500 meters and preforming a wide pass away from the Sonnax location as they worked to avoid the Guaridan lasers, their formation broken for now and the threat from above temporarily halted.

 

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Vayne got out and went over to the Moarters, "Let me help with that. Explosives are my thing..." He said as he went to asssist Johnney with getting the Moarters properly sighted and loaded up. The shells the krogan were using were heavy for non-krogans, but vayne managed to pick one up with just a single hand, ready to help load them quickly and get them fired out.

 

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As Morgan and Priss explored the Civilian area, there was a noticeable tension in the air. While there were people out in the streets, many were hiding within doorways or peaking out of windows. They spotted one group of people standing outside of a building, mummers and angry shouts echoing out as two blood pack memebers stood guard outside, A turian and a Batarian.

 

The sound of crashing and overturning could be heard, and out emerged 8 more bloodpack memebers, all wearing the usual red armor say for a the usual white skull they liked to adorn. It was gone, and instead a White Eye was there, in the middle of an open hand. They called into their comms before leaving and heading a block over, forming up and kicking the door into another residence before pouring in, more people being evicted as the last ones filed back into heir homes.

 

It was clear that these Blood pack, the Forsworn, were looking for someone. Looking enough to do a home-by-home search.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

It was quite strange for Faed to be observing Legion's movements on the battlefield through his own eyes, feeling like a passenger in his own body, but he knew he was not in any way ready to be in combat. Legion on the other hand moved smoothly to a position where he was in cover, protected, from what was coming overhead. 

 

We will be safe here, for now. Legion thought, then heard the explosions of the incoming starfighters overhead. He looked upward, saw the Janiri hovering several miles overhead and then spoke. "T'riel, Lieutenant. The Janiri appears to have descended to an altitude where it is now providing assistance. It may be advisable to take this opportunity to move past the Krogan line and continue with our mission to the communications tower."

 

******

 

At the mortar site, Johnny nodded and took Vayne's place on the perimeter. Irina had set the coordinates for the shot. The other Krogan mortars paused, waiting for the starfighters to complete their strafing runs and leave the front before resuming bombardment of the Sonax position. Irina waited. 

 

"Vayne, if I fire on them now, they'll know where it's coming from," Irina said with her finger on the firing mechanism. "If I wait we may be able to get a couple shots off on this mortar, then switch to the one further north. It'll make it difficult for them to figure out which one until those two who escaped make contact. Then we have to get our little commando operation out of here. We'll not be unnoticed for long."

 

******

 

People scurried about in the CIC in battle alert conditions. It had never been this active aboard the Janiri. Selani felt good. She felt alive. Her normal stoic self even let her aura glow a slight blue for a second or two before she reined it back under control. The battle map received continuous updates from VERA, and the Commander analyzed it. "We have incoming fighters. Prepare to go FTL to orbit."

 

Lt. Jorril turned around in his pilot's seat. "Ma'am, that maneuver is against regs at this altitude."

 

"We have Spectre Authority, Lieutenant," Selani said with a smile. "Gunnery, keep firing until I give the order to jump."

[Cknarf]

He moved carefully through the lingering cloud, holding the sleeve of his loose fitting garment up to his face in a futile attempt to filter the air around him. The dust made it nearly impossible to see, but that was the least of his worries, as he knew the city well enough to navigate anyways. What he was concerned about, however, was walking right on top of a krogan patrol. While they likely wouldn't be able to see him, they still had the advantage of hearing.

 

When he finally reached his bike, he discovered it was in less than perfect shape. Part of the building where he stashed it had come down right on top of it.  He tried pulling it free. When that didn't work, he tried pushing the debris off of it instead. That didn't work either.

 

Perhaps I should have parked it elsewhere...

 

He thought, as if he could have known about the bombardment. Unable to free his machine, he would be forced to continue on foot. He collected some supplies from the saddlebags, a few grenades, some plastic explosives, one canteen of water, and a tube of nutrient paste. There was only one item left to grab...

 

Around the handlebars, hung a long chain. From that chain dangled an extensive collection of identification tags, all varying in shape, size, and origin.  He carefully removed them from the bike. Pulling down his hood, he moved to place them around his neck. He paused for a moment, deciding whether or not his noisy adornment was worth the risk. He shrugged, and put it on anyways, before heading back into the dust.

 

===========================================================

Not wide enough to be a Tomkah…

 

He ran a hand over the tracks, likely left behind by the group he had been following. There was no telling how far they had gone, and catching up to them would be an issue now that he lacked transportation. A look to the skies gave him some indication of where they might be.

[Kel Riever]

Command Teams

"Right, let's go," Mira said to Faed.  She signaled Adonya, whose team was across the street under cover.  "Tallis, Iole, we're moving."

"Affirmative," Iole came back on the com, "Tallis and I have met with Sonax.  They seem grateful to have a couple more guns, negotiations were no problem.  You're good to proceed."

Jenus was on point.  She slipped down the street first.  As she did, the krogan positions were hit with a steady fire, among which was the distinctive sound of the Hellbringer.  The krogan wouldn't let the fusillade go unanswered, so returned fire.  They proved they weren't going to be pushed around, but also proved to be fairly well distracted.  With a clear avenue, Jenus gave the all clear to advance, and so the teams moved onward.

Iole and Tallis

"Easy.  Easy."  Tallis said.

The Sonax commander at the wall raised an eyebrow.  "What does she mean?"

Iole peered out at the krogan positions.  They had overwhelming force, and it seemed they hadn't taken the Sonas position yet only because of a few emplaced guns that would grind any infantry moving through the open to a pulp.  Possibly armored vehicles would suffer too, given they'd be at short range with the city blocking straight avenues of fire and advantages of range.  "She means it was easy to get in with you and explain we're here to help."

With a short laugh, the commander said, "It hasn't been hard to tell who our enemy is, since they aren't exactly a diversified force.  Maybe if you were turian, we'd hesitate."

Iole made a quick assessment and said, "Without the Janiri holding off some of those fighters, this place would be compromised.  Even without them, if they bring enough indirect artillery, you'll be shelled into the ground.  If you want hope, you're going to have to help our other teams achieve their objectives by keeping the focus on us, but also while keeping krogan heads down.

"We don't have an unlimited amount of ammunition."

Iole communicated with Mira.  "You don't need to unload.  Just keep the fire up so the krogan can't advance.  They may even think you're spending your shots unwisely.  If someone needs taking out, I'll hit them with my gun."

"That's rather self-confident, don't you think?"

Iole let loose a few bursts from the Hellbringer at the bottom part of a building the krogan had turned into a bunker with plating that shored up windows and doorways.  "It is, but I know the teams out there.  This is our best chance of getting out, and we wouldn't have inserted ourselves with you if we weren't confident."
 

 

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Dengara’s wing reached its low altitude and approach vector to strafe the Sonax positions.

 

“Now we see Sonax die,” he said as the red box in his visor screen highlighted the targets. “Y wing! We go in now! X wing! Attack!”

 

The breachshots on the remaining Starfighters ripped through the Sonax positions. The slow firing, 20 mm HE rounds exploded in the streets, hit buildings, and killed anyone caught out in the open. A pair of rounds hit what was left of the four story building across the street from where Iole and Tallis were taking cover and caused two stories of it to collapse.

 

Dengara ordered the Starfighters to circle around and prepare for another pass, but this would take a while to regroup and he gave orders to the mortars.

 

/////////////

 

Irina heard the mortar fire resume. She hit the firing trigger on her weapon and the shell shot out of the tube on a high trajectory toward its nearby target. Vayne grabbed another shell and loaded it. She fired again.

 

////////////

 

One of the Krogan members of the nearby fire team heard something. He looked up. “What the…. Incoming!” he shouted.

 

The team hit the deck and the shell impacted the ground and detonated. The team just began to recover back to their feet when seconds later a second shell arrived. Two of the team were dead, and the rest scattered taking cover. Then another, this one impacting near their own mortar, detonating their ordinance in a thunderous explosion that shook the ground enough to be felt back at Irina’s position and at the position further north.

 

The Krogan knew something was up.

 

///////////////

 

Irina smiled at Vayne. “Sounds like we scored a hit. Time to change coordinates.”

 

The vibration through the ground made Vayne’s heart pound with excitement. Again he fought back the urge that made him want to kill more. He nodded and provided assistance changing the launch angle slightly. It was a crude adjustment, but this old equipment somehow felt natural in his hands, like it was meant to be there.

 

“That should do it,” he said and smiled. He picked up a shell and inserted it into the tube.

 

Irina released the firing mechanism.

 

///////////////

 

“Someone has our locations. We’d better move,” Gurvok Korg said. “Crukar, pack our shells. I’ll get our mortar. The rest of you, watch for Sonax varren.”

 

During the lull, the team managed to get everything ready to go, but as they were about to leave, the first shell arrived. Korg hit the deck with the mortar in under his chest.

 

“Kalros! Get out of here! Now!” Korg shouted as he tried to scramble to his feet. He stumbled, then heard another shell, turned and looked up at the sky with his blood red eyes squinting in anger, as the shell fell toward him scoring a direct hit.

 

The rest of his team had gone.

 

///////////////

 

Irina glanced up at Vayne, and collapsed the mortar. They carried it and a few of the remaining shells back to the Mako.

 

Naleena nodded. “You’re right. We should probably leave. What was the range of those mortars?”

 

“8 kilometers,” Vayne replied. “According to your map, we’re 7 kilometers from the front.”

 

Naleena smiled. “Things are going well, so far,” she said. “My plan is to continue heading northwest toward the comm tower. We’ll pass through central Dhazil which should be very lightly defended since all of the action is at the front. Let’s saddle up and get out of here.”

 

The team boarded the Mako. Johnny drove through the rubble strewn streets of Dhazil. It was slow going having to maneuver around barricades, stop and cut through concertina wire that was thrown down to disrupt anything coming in from the rear. Apparently Sonax had been assaulting the city from this position, but since abandoning the planet, there was no need to even secure it. Naleena found this very odd, especially considering the ease at which her own ship had been able to disable the Bloodpack fighter wing that was brought in. And now a small force of Sonax and coalition fighters were on the ground keeping Wrund and Bloodpack occupied. It didn’t make sense. She began to wonder if Speight was planning something.

 

It was getting dark and Johnny was driving slowly. They had reached the outskirts of central Dhazil. Johnny stopped and pointed out a building. It had a garage, and scans showed it was vacant.

 

“Good find,” Naleena said. “We’ll pull in there and bivouac. Hopefully by morning Morgan will have something for us.”

[Cknarf]

The Sniper

 

During the short time he had been in Dhazil, he had come to know the city's underground fairly well. Underground meaning, of course, sewer system. He moved silently through the darkness. The smelly, smelly darkness. As rank as it was, it was much safer than moving above ground, especially considering the current state of the city. While the tunnels were definitely krogan-sized, the larger creatures never seemed to bother entering the sewers. Vorcha, on the other hand, were fairly common, but they were often non-combatants, just riding out whatever hell was going on above ground.

 

He checked his omni-tool, and looked up at the large access cover above him. He took a reluctant breath, and stretched a little before climbing the short ladder. Krogan sized sewers, unfortunately meant krogan-sized covers. They were by far the worst part. It took quite a bit of muscle to open them, so there was no peeking before climbing out. Shove it aside and run was the only way to go about it. He tried forcing it open, but found himself unable to. He was far too tired, and quite frankly, too old for this sh*t.

 

================================================

 

The Twins

 

Lusia and Asteria were quite the sight to see. Two individuals functioning as one, engaging enemies, and carrying out orders with efficiency rarely observed in organic beings. They looked to each other, nodding before emerging from cover to engage their target. Just as they did, a large metallic disc struck their target, and sent him to the ground. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be an access cover of some kind.

[Kel Riever]

Morgan and Miss Priss

It was worth noticing that Morgan and Miss Priss had the same counter-intuitive reaction, despite having vastly different backgrounds.  When the krogan search team moved up the block and into their next dwelling, both slipped out along the wall of an alley and towards the small krogan on the ground.  And, of course, the adult above him.  The dusk did help with its long shadows, but the risk had less to do with others spotting them than those they were approaching.
 

There was another wail from the small krogan on the ground.

“You’re whining like a sick varren,” the adult said, but they were words that it was evident weren’t honest.  The adult krogan had worry in his eyes.  At least until he sensed the two humans moving towards him, when his worry changed to a snarl and he stared at Morgan and Priss.

Morgan held one open hand out, and slowed his approach.  The other hand reached backwards and moved Priss close behind him.  “We’re not here to hurt you.”

The adult’s eyes were still angry, but he stopped growling.  “Sonax mercs.  I can see that, but you’d be better off if you just died already so the rest of us could get on with our lives.”

There was a wheezing from the little one.  Morgan saw an exit wound out of his back.  He’d been shot.  “I have medigel.”

It took little time for the adult krogan to change his mind.  He gave a jerk of his head in affirmation to Morgan. 

“We’re not with Sonax,” Morgan informed as he pulled a medigel applicator from his suit and placed it near the wound.  He administered the dose and the little krogan stopped his sobs of pain.  “I’m here to find someone and hoping that you could return the favor to me by getting us somewhere safe and maybe a little information.”

The adult krogan looked down at the child and began to pick him up carefully.  “I must be getting soft.  Plenty of fathers would let this one go to his own fate.  But I guess he’s a little stupid like me.  Tries to hard.  Got himself shot trying to protect me, even though I didn’t need it.”  Grunting a bit with the lift, the krogan adult added, “I’m Varrug.  Come with me.  They’ve already searched my home over there and done their damage.  I doubt they’re coming back for a while.”

Morgan and Miss Priss went with Varrug and his son. 

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

The Krogan led Morgan and Priss into his hovel. It was large with kerosene lamps providing light. Morgan was quite surprised with the conditions in which the Varrug and his son were surviving. One thing that Morgan noticed was that Varrug's female was missing. Varrug appeared to be a full adult male, middle aged, with a long scar on his forehead plate. 

 

Varrug offered Morgan a seat and turned to his child. "Why don't you go play with your toys while this human and I conduct business," he said and watched his son limp off to his room. "We don't get many visitors. Especially since this war started. Not that anything on this rock has improved over the past four hundred years." He studied the humans a little. 

 

"You look thirsty," he said and set two mugs in front of them and filled them. "All I have is some water I boiled recently. It's cool enough to drink. Alcoholic beverages are in very short supply. Damned war!

 

"First Binary Helix came here and said they were going to clean up the environment so we could fish again. Wrund said fine. Then Guanghui Corp and Sonax Corp came here and discovered Iridium, and they started fighting each other for the rights. It was ours," Varrug said. "Wrund resisted. But Sonax set up an election and registered Vorcha and the Turians. This is a Krogan world! We'd be the majority if the Turians hadn't unleashed the genophage! They put this Vorcha in power and Wrund resisted. Guanghui and Binary Helix are gone. And now we're finally pushing the Sonax varren off this rock.

 

"I'd be out there fighting, too," Varrug said then turned his head toward his son's room. "But I'm all he has now. Wrund decided to gather all the fertile females and reapportion them to his war heroes once Sonax is gone. So I have no love for him either. If you're not with Sonax, and you're not with Wrund, what side are you on?"