The Council Era (83 CE)/ The Siege of Krulus Mor

1
Kredawt Darx

Apart from the hum of the tanks and dropships, and the whir of vehicles, there was also the march of soldiers, but Kredawt didn't care. He was lying on top of a Krogan Tomkah, staring at the lower area of an asari, hanging her legs off of a gunship.

Kredawt grinned again, when his view of the wondrous asari was cut off by a building. He sat up, and saw the soldiers had entered the city. The formation was simple. Krogans up front, being the strongest, a Tomkah behind them, quarians, salarians, and batarians sandwiched in the middle of more vehicles covering the rear. There were occasional rhooks running besides the convoy, but asari had the comfort of riding in the Tomkah and other vehicles, or in the gunships.

Kredawt looked around, and static came in on his comm, along with the voice of a krogan Tomkah driver. "This place is deserted...."

Wind kicked up sand in the tall, adobe looking buildings, curved, and rounded. No one seemed to question the fact that an hour ago, the dezba had been but all killed.

"You got anything on radar?", a quarian asked.

A salarian responded. "Nothing. This place is dead..."

There was movement inside a building, a door blown down, apparently. A krogan noticed.

"We've got movement inside a building."

A quarian looked around. "Which building?"

The krogan rolled his eyes. "The one over there!"

A salarian chimed in. "We can't see where krogan. We are safely in the middle, where as you, are cannon fod-"

There was a loud explosion, and suddenly the krogans spread. The Tomkah driver squealed onto the comm, saying, "Ready your weapons comrades! Three krogans just got downed by a rachni worker hiding in the sand!"

The krogans threw grenades into buildings, and one threw one into a window, halfway up a skyscraper. It was a very narrow building, and all that was above the window fell unto the road ahead.

"Who threw that!?", the Tomkah driver asked impatiently, as the road ahead was blocked. There was no reply. The Tomkah turned, everyone following, as they saw a line of rachni ahead. The Tomkah fired a large bullet from a coilgun on top, blowing a hole in the rachni. The pure force threw Darx off.

"Hey!", he yelled, but no one heard him over the gunfire and acid rain. He waited for a gap in the convoy, and then moved inside with the other species. The gunships spread, all firing on the rachni inside buildings, collapsing many, others just disintegrating.

The Tomkah fired again, wasting more than twelve rachni. salarians ran out, following the convoy from inside the buildings, clearing them of ambushing rachni. The convoy moved out unto a large, long bridge running over a fast, boulder filled, whitewater river. There was a line of rachni ahead. The Tomkah driver crackled onto the comm.

"I can't fire here. It could collapse the bridge, and we wouldn't be able to get out of downtown. We'd be swimming, ya hear?"

An asari gunship pilot crackled in too.

"The bombers can't engage either, but we'll get 'em with the chaingun."

Fifteen gatling guns fired on the rachni, but one started throwing acid on the bridge supports.

"They're trying to collapse the bridge! Ground forces, engage!", an asari commando said.

The salarians were catching up to the rest of the convoy, climbing over vehicles to get to the frontlines. They hadn't made it just yet.

2
Morva Dervan

Morva stood in a batarian gunship, hands on the chaingun. The rachni were moving for the bridge to cut off support taht would slow down the offensive. The gunship swooped in from the rachni controlled side of the bridge. Morva kept squeezing the trigger watching the rachni get glassed by the three hundred and eighty seven round-per-minute fire. The gunship swooped over a Tomkah and Morva jumped out. Landing on the top where snipers and riflemen were putting suppressing fire on the rachni. He ran up to a quarian with a Locke. He patted his shoulder and he ignored him. He yelled "Lieutenant," over the gunfire and the quarian, merely a sergeant turned to him. "Cache?" he asked him. The quarian pointed to the far left end of the Tomkah. Morva nodded and ran to see around seventy Malaks. Because the guns took long to reload and were depleted quick. Most units kept a cache of Malaks so when one's clip was empty they could pick up a loaded one instead of reloading to save time. Morva grabbed one and hooked three to his back. His armor had three sets of six hooks running verticaly. The hooks would open and then be snapped shut. Perfect for storing weaponry. Morva then ran to the Tomkah's front and started to fire on the rachni as they ran towards them. He yelled to the snipers to focus fire on the one's trying to collapse the bridge as a quarian gunship started hovering on oe side of the bridge firing away while marines jumped from and into the water to swim to shore. Mova kept firing as the rachni resistance died down. STG started to arrive and started firing away. In ten minutes the rachni had fallen back and the convoy was moving. The convoy kept moving. The rachni had dissapeared now. Everybody knew they were waiting to ambush the convoy. They didn't know when however. Morva looked at a silver knife with an obsidian hilt. Takavor had left it behind before his clan dissapeared. "Shame," Morva thought. "You kill one rich guy's kid after saving everbody's lives and daddy has your entire species destroyed." Morva had been unwilling to kill a single dezba after Takavor saved their lives and killed that queen. To him they deserved that much.

Foxtrot12 06:57, August 15, 2010 (UTC)

3
Adaria She fell about ten feet through the air until she hit the ground, her feet making a 'thump' sounding similar to a rock striking a helmet. Adaria had been deployed to the forefront of the Rachni War. Her team quickly followed her, thump, thump.... One of her sisters turned to her and asked, "What exactly does Tyrin want us to do, again?"

"We're going to destroy the religion of the manaba," she replied nonchalantly.

"And how exactly are we to do that?"

"He'll contact us soon enough."

"What kind of fucking response is that?"

"Vivia, shut the fuck up, we've got rachni on our asses!" A small pack of three or four buggers charged straight for them.

"Like shooting Pyjaks in a barrel..." one of the batarians muttered, swiftly ending each of the rachni's lives with a quick shot to the head from his Mattock.

"Good job, Karr," Adaria stated. The ten-member team began marching forward, down the rocky mountain path. Adaria and her two sisters were in the front, as always, with the two batarian brothers, Karr and Lissk, behind them. The rear was taken up by the five salarians. Adaria noticed several caves ahead; she expected that there were more rachni, ready to ambush them on the moment's notice. She ordered the rest of her team to back up, while she continued forward. Suddenly, a dozen rachni barreled towards her from all directions. She swept them into the air with a biotic whirlwind, then gripped each one in a biotic field, finishing them off by crushing their invertebrate bodies.

"All right, that should be all of them, for now at least." The only team member that was the least bit surprised by her power was their newest recruit, one of the salarians. They marched on for an hour or so, until Adaria spotted a lone krogan standing several dozen yards away from the edge of the path. "Hoi, snipe that krogan. Show the disgusting fucks what we think of their kind." Hoi walked over to the corner of the path, and began aligning his shot. He fired with perfect aim, but his round barely made an indent into the krogan's head, despite the fact that he wasn't wearing a helmet. "What the fuck?", Adaria shouted. "That was flesh you hit right there...dead on, straight into his skull." Those were the last words Hoi heard. A rachni leapt from the cliff above Hoi's head and mauled him. The beast was shot full of rounds, but his comrades were too late.

"Poor bastard...didn't even see that monstrosity." Adaria and her team bowed their heads in respect for a moment. They heard the unmistakable bellow of a krogan from the nearby cavern. "Shit!", they all cried. They turned themselves in the direction of the cavern, cautiously. There was a small-ish krogan standing in the entrance of the cavern. He was the spitting image of the krogan Hoi had shot.

"Peace, fellows. I am unarmed, not a threat to any of you. I am wondering what this mixed species group is doing on this planet. I do not get the feeling that you are soldiers."

"Why does that Krogan look exactly like you?", Adaria said quickly.

"Oh, that is one of my stone decoys." He began to pace around the group, as they lowered their guns, accepting that he was not a threat. "Allow me to introduce myself; I am Bragan, the krogan master of deception, and evasion. Or at least on this little rock."

Lovelyb0nes 16:55, August 15, 2010 (UTC)

4
Kredawt Darx

Darx grabbed a Malak, and got behind the coilgun on the Tomkah. He looked up, and grabbed more MREs. He ate more "Long-lasting Fish-dog Meat". Little, compacted, varren bites. They tasted horrible, not like the good, fresh meat from Tuchanka. He scarfed down three more, and took a drink of water from his bottle. All of the convoy finally crossed the bridge. He heard talking behind him, and saw three krogan standing by the bridge, all clad in black armor. They were arming charges. Kredawt listened in, as one said, "Remember, we don't blow up the bridge until the convoy comes back over. This place is an island, remember, and one small bridge to funnel all the idiotic rachni into."

Another rolled his eyes. "Fine." They put a charge on each column of the bridge, and ran to some foliage to the side. Special forces Krogans. They would hold the bridge.

The manaban streets were quiet, the towering tan structures were wondrous, yet drab. It always appeared that there was movement, but there never was. They were still in the outskirts, in an industrial part of the city. There were trenches on the sides of the road, with drainage tunnels. Perfect cover for rachni. The convoy moved on, in complete silence. Everyone was watching the trenches. There was an industrial factory, smoke still fuming. Suddenly, there was an explosion.

Kredawt's eyes widened. "GET TO COVER!!!", he screamed, jumping from the top hatch into the Tomkah. He saw hundreds of rachni spawn from the facility, as the facility erupted in a deafeningly loud, and blindingly bright explosion. The Tomkah was thrown into the air, all forces that were inside, shaken. The coilgun fired a shot into the air, but landed in a drainage trench. Kredawt shook his head. He sat up, and felt wet. Water from the drainage trench was leaking in from a large hole. A few asari and a quarian had survived, but the rest of them were dead. An asari opened the door to the driver's room, and looked back.

"Driver's dead," she said, over the sound of water trickling into the Tomkah. Kredawt opened the top hatch, which was now the side hatch. He smelled a horrible stench, as he looked up and out. There was no sign of the facility. It was decimated, all that was left in its wake was a large, charred crater. There were small spots of fire everywhere. Some forces were still alive, hiding behind the turned over Tomkah, or in the trench, but most were left on the road, wounded, burning, crawling, or dead. Kredawt jumped out, and looked around. The gunships had landed. They were unscathed. There was no sign of the rachni, though.

5
Adaria "I find it very difficult to believe that a Krogan could evade anything."

"I cannot blame you for such thoughts, blue woman. My people have a brutish nature. My people's philosophy is destroy, destroy, destroy. I rejected such an ideology. I chose to hide until the brutes destroyed themselves through their senseless war, and then I would emerge from my cavern and build a society out of their ruins. However, after a century of hiding, I grew weary. I decided that I could wait for the self-destruction of my people from offworld. So I boarded one of the ships sent from your Citadel to recruit my people, and with the rest of the soldiers, I was shipped here to Ragnora. When we were dropped off, I simply snuck away. It was fortuitous that none of the soldiers recognized me."

"Why do you say that? Are you a fugitive from justice among your people?"

"In a way, I am. As I had said previously, I did not embrace the bloodthirsty nature of my people. I simply was not born with the blood rage inside of me. I am a peaceful, pacifistic being. When I refused to serve my clan as a soldier in my people's civil war, I became an outcast, hunted for my refusal to serve. I believe there is a term for it...going AWOL."

"Going AWOL is generally out of cowardice, Bragan."

"Ah, I see.... But I am no coward. Despite my preference for nonviolence, I knew that at times I would have to defend myself while in hiding. So I found and trained in a combat method that kept me as far away from the violence as possible. I am highly skilled with sniper rifles."

"How long have you been wandering this planet?"

"Around 8 months or so. In that entire amount of time, I never had to engage in combat with a single rachni."

"How is that even possible?"

"I told you, I am a master of evasion. On Tuchanka, I developed cloaking technology and built it into my armor." He pressed a button on the arm of his armor, and completely disappeared. A few moments later, he pressed it again, reappearing about 10 yards from where he had been standing. "I also use stone decoys that distract hostile beings, like the one your team mate shot. With simpler beings like the rachni, once the statues are destroyed, that can convince them for short periods that I have been killed, until they see me again."

"You said you are skilled with sniper rifles?"

"Indeed."

"How would you like to join my team? You're competent enough, and we need a new sniper. You can take Hoi's old rifle."

"May I ask you just one question first, blue woman?" "

Yes, you may, krogan. And my name's Adaria, so you know."

"Very well Adaria. What exactly is this team of yours?"

"We're freelance mercenaries, serving whoever pays enough. But our primary loyalty is to a salarian politician known as Tyrin Lieph. He's a good friend of mine. He's presently working to prevent the Krogan Union from instigating a revolution against the Council.

"Soldiers for hire...well, I don't expect to have another chance for upgrading my lifestyle. I will join your team. This Lieph sounds like a good man. I cannot pretend that I sympathize with the domineering nature of the Krogan Union."

"Then let us continue forth. Welcome to the team, Bragan." She shook hands with the krogan, who could be no older than 150. Bragan walked over to Hoi's body and took his rifle.

"This gun seems to be in good condition, but when I have the opportunity, I would like to rebuild the custom rifle I had on Tuchanka. I lost it when my last shelter was raided."

"I'll get you whatever parts you need, Bragan. Everyone, huddle up, Tyrin has finally contacted me. Bragan, he can explain some of the events that have been going on of late to you, and then he can give us the specifics of the mission."

Lovelyb0nes 18:48, August 15, 2010 (UTC)

6
Adaria "I can lead us to this Tomb." The entire team looked at Bragan in surprise. "It's within a massive cave system inside of one of the mountains. Unfortunately, the entire cavern system is infested with rachni."

"Well....shit," one of the batarians remarked.

"Actually, there is a small fissure split off from the rest of the system. I used it as a shelter for a month. I found the tomb, and the rachni, when I went scavenging within the caverns with my cloaking on, looking for food. We could use that fissure as our entrance point, but part of the team would have to defend it from the Rachni until the other team returned."

Adaria collected her thoughts for several moments. "We'll split the team 60-40. The salarians will defend the fissure with Karr and Lissk, while you lead my sisters and I to the Tomb."

"Then let's move forward."

Lovelyb0nes 20:46, August 15, 2010 (UTC)

7
Adaria They had finally arrived at the fissure. Bragan had modified her and her sisters' armor sets so that they could be cloaked as well. As they were preparing for their departure further into the caverns, Adaria turned to her soldiers and gave them what possibly could be the last words they would ever hear from her. "Karr, Lissk, I swear that if you two die during this mission, I will deliver your shotguns to your father. I will tell him that you two gave your lives for the good of the universe."

"It's for the good of the universe to commit cultural genocide?", Bragan asked.

"In this situation, yes it is Bragan."

"Very well, continue."

"All of your lives will be at extreme risk, so all of you should get inspiring words."

"This isn't very inspiring, Adaria."

"Shut the fuck up, Lissk. Do you really want those to be the last words you ever hear? I didn't think so. Now, as I was saying, you're all going to make out like bandits if you live. So put all you've fucking got into this!"

"Now that's inspiring...or at least the make out like bandits part."

"I suck at inspiring. Sue me."

"I will if I die in here."

"You really have to be this bitchy in what could be our last conversation? You couldn't just hold your fucking tongue for one moment? I expected better than that."

"I thought you knew me better than to expect anything above not stabbing you in the back from me, Adaria."

"Good point, Lissk."

She turned on her cloak and began to walk behind Bragan, with her sisters closely following her. He led them until they reached the end of the tunnel, and an entrance into a larger chamber stocked with rachni. "We need a distraction so the chamber will be less crowded, Karr."

Karr pulled a cluster bomb out of his pack. "This should get their attention." While his brother and two of the salarians guarded the other entrance into the area, he stationed the other two salarians behind him. He swung and tossed the cluster bomb into the main chamber; as it fell to the ground, each piece of explosive ordnance was launched by pressurized air from the main device. As the harmless main chamber fell in front of a rachni, the clusters scattered around the room and detonated, each killing at least a dozen rachni in the large chamber. Almost all of the beasts went for the entrance that he had thrown the bomb from, giving Bragan and the asari sisters a clear run to the next chamber.

Lovelyb0nes 02:56, August 16, 2010 (UTC)

8
Morva pushed the wreckage from the Tomkah off of him. It hurt like his third wife, a total bitch in all sense of the word. He grabbed his malak from a few yards away and looked around. The Tomkah was wrecked. He looked around the gunships were landing and letting off reinforcements, mostly krogan. He kept moving. The convoy was reforming this time in a simple group walking down the street no spreficic formation. They walked two to four blocks. Seeing nothing but the empty buildings looming over them casting an ominous shadow. Morva thought he saw movement in the shadows but couldn't be sure. It was scary as hell. Then suddenly the lead krogan dropped a rachni in front of him. It hissed as they started to emerge from the shadows. Soldiers screamed and ran into buildings. Dervan followed a quarian squad into an apartment. He flicked on his flashlight and looked at the quarians. One was sitting down huddled in a ball against the wall. Morva pushed him to see a hole in his chest and a hole in the wall. The rachni were in this building. And they had stabbed a man through the bloody wall. He loked at the leader, a seargent the same one that was on the Tomkah earlier. "Got a light?" Morva asked him as he pulled a cigarette lighter and lit it. Morva froze as it revealed a brood warrior behind him. It impaled the sergeant, then charged the other two quarians. Morva fired and ran. But the rachni was to fast. It was hopeless.

9
Kredawt Darx

Darx watched the wounded pile into the dropships, and watched as they flew away, when Darx noticed something in the sky. A bright green Rachni, with wings. Wings. Rachni didn't have wings. Darx grabbed his radio, and looked at an STG captain. Darx pointed to the rachni, saying, "Those are a new kind of Rachni. And they're about to take the wounded-".

Before Darx could finish, a strange, large on the upper chest of the rachni dropped an organic "bomb". A mix between a hard layer of mucus which would break upon impact, and highly explosive chemicals. As soon as one hit, the dropships broke formation, and began flying around like a wild bunch of Pyjaks. Darx saw a dropship come down, and the STG captain came over, grabbed Darx, and put him on the gunship. The gunship went into the air, and as Darx crested the horizon, he saw horrors. Krulus Mor's epicenter was swarming with rachni. Literally, there were so many he couldn't see the ground. And hundreds of them were flying straight towards the evacuation ships. Some were green, and Darx remembered his encounter with one, in the early hours of the battle. The acid from it would slowly burn through the ship, ripping through skin and infecting it with horrible bacteria, harmful to even a krogan. Darx spooled up the mounted gun, and readied himself.

10
Adaria Adaria and her sisters Vivia and Iya were led by Bragan through the caverns until they reached the central chamber. There was a Rachni Queen, surrounded by her brood, guarding the Tomb. Adaria was unsure about why the creatures had not destroyed the Tomb; perhaps they were not the mindless beasts she had perceived them to be? Perhaps Bragan's theory was correct... Perhaps there was an outside force manipulating the species. Such thoughts brought the Rachni War into a new light for her. Was it possible to prevent further bloodshed if she and her sisters found this outside manipulator? She would have to discuss it with them later.

While her sisters plowed through the dozens of rachni and Bragan held off any coming from the entrances, Adaria set up the camera Tyrin had sent her. Once it was linked to the Citadel News Network, she turned around to find that her sisters had completely cleared the chamber for her, save the Queen. Displaying considerable stress and effort, she gripped the massive monstrosity with a biotic field, and crushed it's invertebrate torso. She made the camera float with her biotics, had it follow her as she strode across the large central chamber to the Tomb. She spoke into the camera, "It is time for the Council's will to be done. It is time for the pillars of sand supporting the manaban people's faith to collapse into the abyss."

"There is no room for extremists in a civilized universe. As the fate of the dezba should be a lesson to the savage krogan race who believe that they can rise up and seize the universe for themselves, this should be a lesson to all races, that religious extremism, terrorism, and warmongering will not be tolerated. The manaba must accept their place in the universe, as must the krogan." She hovered in the air, her body glistening with furious biotic power. With a single, massive Heavy Warp, it was done. The Tomb of the Virtuous was obliterated by an asari on a galactic news network.

The Tomb detonated into a thousand shards of stone. This shrapnel soared through the air, piercing the already deceased piles of rachni. Bragan, Vivia, and Iya stood in awe of Adaria's actions, and words. Surely the entire universe was equally paralyzed with shock. Once her act had sunk into their minds, the group returned to action at once. They proceeded to dash through the chambers, blasting through rachni to get back to the fissure.

Lovelyb0nes 03:46, August 21, 2010 (UTC)

11
Sevalaus Morkaneto

Sev dropped from his ship, soaring through the air. He had left an accomplice of Tyrin Lieph's behind to fly it out of danger. Sev landed on a building, quickly rolled, and then turned. He saw a building at the pinnacle of Krulus Mor. Tan, in a strange adobe like texture, like the other buildings, this building was unique. It had several twists in its structure, and a balcony. Sev examined the entrances, and then jumped up from his position, slid down the building, and landed. He ran up to a flag pipe, grabbed it, and jumped onto an awning. He bounced off the wall next to the awning, and grabbed a window ledge. Sev blasted the glass with his S-2 Heavy Dual Power Sidearm, and jumped in. He looked around for anything he could loot. There was a wretched smell coming from the living room of the apartment. Sev grabbed some credit chits from the kitchen, and saw a picture of a Manaban family behind them. They looked happy. On vacation. Omicron. Sev looked away, and walked into a bedroom. A wallet. He grabbed it, and stashed it in his pack, then ran into the living room, where he saw three dezba on the floor, dead. He grabbed his lighter, and lit the manaban father's finger on fire. He then blasted open a window in the living room, and jumped out, as the apartment was set alight. He grabbed onto another window ledge, to an office building, and jumped in, as the window was open. He sped through, jumped out, and barrel rolled onto a roof. Sev jumped onto a vent box, and from there, jumped down, onto another building. He jumped from that building to a vertical pike on the church, candles burning outside, and swung around the pike, thrusting himself onto the church tower, where he climbed a ladder down.

The church was mostly quiet, but through the tower's opening to the inside of the church, Sev could her a priest, his target, preaching to a few surviving manaba. He looked down a skylight, and could hear the manaban priest speaking. In his language, he could hear him saying that he was going to end Tyrin Lieph's life with a single punch. Yeah right, Sev thought, aiming his pistol down at the manaba. He smiled, and kicked down the skylight, landing it on the coffin of some manaban pope. Everyone looked up at Sev, and the last thing the priest saw was a .45 bullet speeding towards him from the traditional silver pistol.

The priest fell onto the ground, spraying blood from his head. The few churchgoers that were left ran for the exit, screaming. Sev turned around, and started shooting them as they came out. He didn't ever like the manaba. That's when he saw the convoy. There was a krogan charging ahead, wearing blue armor. He was shooting at Sev.

12
Morva grabbed the dezba blade and jumped back as the rachni pounced on him. He thought he was dead, but it didn't move. He looked to see the blade embedded in the rachni's face. He breathed a sigh of relief as he struggled to push the rachni off of him. Once it was he pulled the blade and grabbed a malak from a dead quarian. He loaded the clip in seven seconds and ran out of the apartment. He took cover behind a trash can as he saw miniguns fire on odd green rachni. If he fired he was doomed. Morva ran back into the apartment and got to the third floor. He saw a dead manaba, most likely a resistance fighter, with a quarian made Exar thirty nine heavy assault rifle. He checked the manaban's pack and said a silent prayer in thanks upon seeing a council issue Mark twelve guided flare launcher and several flares in the pack. The advantage of the Exar was that without a foregrip, almost any weapon could be placed underbarrel. Morva locked the flare launcher onto the machine gun and selected a yellow flare, the SOS signal. He loaded the flare in and ran up the exterior stairs two floors to the roof. The gunships were almost pulling back and luckily towards his position. Likely to just let the artillery do the work. He jumped when a small rachni "bomb" went off near him. Morva looked up to see a flying rachni and fired eight times with the armor piercing rounds. Technically the Exar was an LAAG or light anti air gun due to it's size, rapid fire, and power that was strong enough to tear through a fighter. Morva switched the Exar to semi-automatic to conserve it's two hundred round clip and popped a few more rounds at some flyers as a normal soldier crawled onto the roof. Morva saw the gunships moving closer in a second they would be gone and they wouldn't see him unless he fired the flare now but if he did the soldier and flyers would pick him off. He cursed and aimed his exar towards the sky and fired the flare as the soldier drew closer. Morva could only hope the gamble would pay off.

13
Adaria

Tyrin had dispatched Adaria and her sisters back to Ragnora, to clear out any manaban revolutionaries. Apparently, a recently recruited dezba was also on the planet, hunting down manaba as well. If they happened to cross paths, they would work together. Bragan had declined to aid them, as he was currently too busy gathering numbers for his Krogan Resistance. They would not serve alongside the soldiers, but one of the commanders had ordered them not to fire if they saw the sisters. Twas simply good luck that a commander serving on Ragnora was a prominent member of the Soldiers of Salvation.

She had used credits that the Tyrinians had donated to her mercenary band to buy her sisters the most powerful assault rifles on the market, Exar 39's. They were itching to try them out on some zealots. Adaria spotted a troop of them several yards away; they were distracted by some rachni. "Perfect set up.... Fire at will, sisters." The manaba were no more in mere seconds.

"These are impressive guns you have bought, Adaria," Ajiya said.

"Indeed.... Look out, rachni swarm!"

Lovelyb0nes 13:31, September 4, 2010 (UTC)

14
"No no no!" Morva screamed as the gunship flew past him. He fired the Exar at the rachni soldier and watched as red hot, barbed, radioactive, and armor piercing rounds flew through it's body. Morva grinned and fired on the flyers as they shot back. He heard a click and closed his mouth in as one clip ejected and radiation was emmited. Once it was out he inserted a new one as rounds fed from the bottom clip. It was odd, the swarm had stopped coming. Morva ran to the edge of the roof to see why. On the ground a group of asari were firing off Exars, to Morva's surprise. Morva had no clue that asari could even use them. An exar's kick was comparable to a fiteen pound punch at thirteen miles an hour. Enough to shatter a salarian's arm. Morva switched the weapom to semi-automatic and zoomed through the adjustable zoom scope. The Exar could function like a sniper in most cases, as it had a literal VI built into the scope. He checked the distance, 200 yards and minimul wind. The semi-automatic Exar could be an incredibly deadly weapon. He zoomed in on the first rachni and fired as the swarm assaulted the mercenaries.

Foxtrot12 02:56, September 5, 2010 (UTC)

15
Adaria

Adaria had noticed the batarian soldier at the top of a nearby building. She appreciated his efforts to aid them against the swarm, but the fool had distracted himself from any surrounding threats. A rachni was barreling toward him through the air, from behind. She gripped and crushed it without a second thought, then unleashed a biotic shockwave to destroy the rest of the swarm. She formed a platform of biotic energy for the batarian to float down on.

"What are you mercs doing here? This is a major hot zone, and the soldiers need all the help they can get! Help me get back to base camp, and aid the other soldiers."

"We're not here for the war effort, batarian. However, I will gladly serve alongside you, and aid the soldiers serving here, after our mission is complete. We've been sent to eliminate pockets of manaban resistance in the city."

"Oh....you all are Lieph's agents, aren't you?"

"Indeed," Vivia said. "Hold on..you're not just any asari. You were the ones who destroyed the Tomb of the Virtuous, and killed that Rachni Queen, weren't you?"

"I see my reputation proceeds me...well batarian, we-"

"It's Morva, my name's Morva."

"Well Morva, we can help you reach base camp. Perhaps we'll find the dezba...or even better, the batarian commander here who's loyal to the boss."

Lovelyb0nes 05:35, September 5, 2010 (UTC)

16
Morva looked at Adaria. "Alright. The regroup point is about half a click out. Troops are gonna regroup there to make the final push towards the Hallow Ground, center of the city a big square surrounded by a lot of important buildings. Manabans believe it's the place where their god struck down his son. If we take that place then we have Krulus Mor. The manabans believe it to be an incredibly holy place and their palace is on the far side. If you're looking for a batarian commander then he's gonna be there and any manaban resistance will be as well. But for now we gotta move. The plan for this district is to bombard it to hell and back and there are mortars and 700 milimeter artillery guns ready to do that in about ten minutes. So unless you got a vehicle, can fly, or have another way out. I'd say that we're fucked."

Morva listened in on the radio he had taken from the manaban resistance man. A manaban started talking. "Alpha six four, they are gonna bombard this place, get the truck out. Down Derimakshan street."

Morva waited until he heard a driver respond with a "Yes sir." Morva looked at a destroyed sign. And read "Dermsan Stet."

"I think I just found our ride out of here," Morva said as he heard the sounds of a large flatbed truck approaching from around the corner.

Foxtrot12 05:57, September 5, 2010 (UTC)

17
Adaria

"Sisters, batarian, hold your positions. Prepare to fire at will." Adaria floated above and around the buildings, to get behind the truck. She blasted a couple of weak Throws to get their attention. The manaba panicked, and drove as fast as they could around the corner, right into a hail of gunfire from Vivia's, Ajiya's, and Morva's Exars. While her sisters and the batarian took the truck, Adaria hovered several yards above them, and followed. After traveling for approximately ten minutes, they witnessed the district they had been in be obliterated.

Adaria decided to scout ahead while the rest followed in the truck. Eventually, she found a large army pushing towards the center of the city. She had found the army Morva had been with...and they were most definitely fucked. There was several hundred rachni marching towards the army from the east. They were going to flank the army... The soldiers would have no chance. To conserve her biotic energy, Adaria stopped hovering. She ran until she was right in the path of the massive swarm. Her body began to pulse with the immense biotic power building within. She unleashed a massive surge of biotic strength, decimating the entire swarm.

Adaria suddenly collapsed. Releasing that much biotic energy had utterly drained her of vigor. She was surrounded by manaban soldiers. "This is the one who destroyed the Tomb...we shall make her pay dearly." The manaban's head exploded in a fountain of blood and brain matter. The rest followed suit. Adaria weakly looked up, gazed through the streets to a rooftop near a cliff on the outskirts of the city. It was Bragan. Adaria smiled, and lifted herself, rising back to her feet. She saluted Bragan, who had already vanished, no doubt looking for krogan to join his cause. Morva and her sisters picked her up, and laid her in the back of the truck. They began their drive toward where the base camp was currently located, just a couple hundred yards away.

Lovelyb0nes 14:53, September 5, 2010 (UTC)

18
Morva waited in the back of the truck. Stabbing his dezban knife into a wooden crate full of munitions then pulling it just to stab it again. The truck jerked to a stop, Morva looked out to see 'base camp', a full city block wiped clean of buildings, now home to tents, vehicles, and troops. Morva stepped out as a quarian major walked up to the truck. "You our reinforcements?" he asked worriedly. Morva looked at Adaria as she shot him a glance. If the army knew their loyalty they would be imprisoned or shot. Morva nodded. "So then did the eggheads in command brief you? And where's the rest of the convoy?"

Morva looked at the major. "Dead sir and we have no briefing."

The major shook his head. "Alright. I'm Major Temulials. We are getting ready to assault the Hallow Ground. Very important manaban religious site. On the north side of the rectangular plaza that is paved with gold, ivory, and gems, is the Manaban Emperor's Palace. It's divided into multiple buildings. The western side is made of marble and gold, really difficult to miss. Then there's the Temple of Redemption to the north, which made of granite and ivory. And on the east is the Lake of Sorrow, also known as Derocrik's Tears. Big fucking lake about thirty feet deep. We are on the south. The plaza is half a mile long and completely open just paved with riches. If anyone is caught looting then they are under arrest. Let's just make that clear. Now because your convoy got so destroyed, that means we are very low on ammo so if you start seeing some makeshift ordnance don't panic. Captain Redlock is gonna be dropping tanks full of grenades on the battlefield with a dropship. That's how low we are on explosive munitions. The manaban remnants are a wild card. Some of the ones around here never accepted their religion, they're just going to kill anything that moves. There are also some who still have faith; they're with us."

"Plan's simple, we advance toward the columns up the plaza led by armor and engage with makeshift bombs and fighter support. Some teams will go into the temple and palace. You are on the palace team. Now get ready attack could start any minute." The major finished talking. Morva saluted and watched him walk away.

Morva looked at Adaria. "If you have any business here, do it now. I'm getting ready for the assault. Meet me by the Tomkahs if you're gonna stay. If not, it's been a pleasure knowing you all." And with that Morva grabbed his Exar and knife and walked off.

Foxtrot12 00:11, September 8, 2010 (UTC)

19
Adaria

Adaria found the batarian sector of the base camp. "Commander Nikhail, I'm always glad to see your ugly mug and two eyes..."

"As bitchy as ever, eh Adaria?"

"But seriously sir, it's good to see you." Adaria fiercely shook Nikhail's hand. "Is the soldier Morva Dervan with you, Nikhail?"

"Indeed, in a few minutes I'm going to lead a team, including him, into the palace to hit the manaban remnants. It's their major base of operations."

"Sounds perfect, considering that eliminating them is what Tyrin sent us here to do. Vivia, Ajiya, and I will join up with your team, alright?"

"Sounds good, ma'am. Just try not to collapse the whole fucking building with those absurd biotic powers of yours."

"Fuck off, Nikki..." Adaria waved him off, and marched toward Nikhail's unit, who were awaiting the order to head out. "We're going with you, Morva. The palace is the base of operations for the manaba, making it our major priority."

"Let's get going, then," Nikhail said.

Lovelyb0nes 01:40, September 9, 2010 (UTC)

20
Morva looked at Nikhail as the Tomkah plowed through the paved hollowed ground and towards the plaza. Adaria had explained it all. They were going into the palace CQB style. The manaba had a base of operations there and a large rachni presence was confirmed, including a queen. "Alright soldiers, get ready," yelled one allied manaban sergeant as all soldiers grabbed the vehicle. The Tomkah ended its descent and crashed straight into the palace. Some men who didn't hang on were flung off. Morva stood up, grabbed his Exar, and looked around as soldiers charged into the palace. Morva jumped down and mumbled to himself, "If I ever find that driver, I'm gonna wring his neck."

Foxtrot12 01:56, September 9, 2010 (UTC)

21
Adaria

Adaria had gotten into the palace from the side, catching several manaban soldiers off guard. She effortlessly crushed them with her biotics, then began to proceed through the palace, slaughtering all in her path, clearing the entrance room for the other soldiers. She saw the truck Morva and her sisters were in crash into the palace wall. When the soldiers had gathered in the entrance chamber, she offered to scout ahead, clearing a path for them. They could clean up the survivors with their guns. The soldiers agreed to this.

. ..

She had been in the palace for at least an hour now. The manaba and rachni were giving all of the effort that flowed in their veins to stop her and the soldiers, but they failed every time. Her comrades had only lost several soldiers. The army came upon a massive central chamber, stocked with numerous rachni swarms, and in the very center, a Queen rested. Nikhail gave a rousing speech to his men and women. "Alright soldiers, this is what we were sent to Ragnora to do. We're hitting the bugs where they live, and cleaning up the manaban resistance. We're going to wipe out the bugs, and the entire fucking galaxy will thank us. We don't need their gratitude. We get paid. But it's the gratitude of your brethren that makes this worth all the risk."

Lovelyb0nes 01:30, September 11, 2010 (UTC)

22
Morva looked at Nikhail down below from the scope of his Locke 370. He was in a small and hidden perch for snipers where the royal manaban sniper was normally overlooking the vast throne room. He looked at his squad of Batarians. "Alright soldiers, this is it." He observed the seven batarians he was in command of. "We've all known each other and lost good men. But that is how it will be. Dorack, Funt, Ealiname, all of them were good soldiers, yet all of them were lost to those bastards. Now look at each other right now. Because odds are that not all of you will survive. And you all know it. But remember. Do not let fear of death hold you back. For to die here is an honor. You will die as heroes. Think of your children and spouses and your children's children for generations to come. Your wishes for them. Your hopes for their future. Generations unborn look upon us now with awe and wonder. For what we do here will ensure that our children will have a future. I have known you all well. I would die for every one of you and you all would do the same for me. So whatever happens out there. Remeber what you fight for. Remember what you may die for. Your families. Your children. Yourselves. Your way of life. For what we do here will shape those events. Marines. Sons of our god. Go now and fight. This is what we were made to do. This is what we were asked to do. And this is what we will do. Take these words of advice, that a fallen soldier once said to me." Morva pulled out Takavor's knife. And looked at his men. "For it is better to lose life and die honorably for the strength of the clan. Than to have life as a coward and have nothing." Morva sheathed the knife. "Marines, let's show these motherfuckers what we're made of."

Foxtrot12 02:55, September 11, 2010 (UTC)

23
Adaria

The assault had been a major success, with minimal casualties, and maximal kill capacity among the enemy. According to approximation numbers done back at the camp, around 500-700 manaban resistance fighters were killed, and 2000-3500 Rachni were killed, including two Queens. While there was still plenty of rachni clean up for the krogans to handle, the city was essentially theirs. Within months, they could begin restoration efforts, and within a year or two, the planet could possibly be open for recolonization. Adaria was proud of what they had accomplished. This was a major victory against the rachni. The camp was already preparing for being picked up in the next day or two. While resting in her bunk, Adaria received a message from Tyrin, congratulating her on the success in eliminating the manaban resistance, and asking for her to pass on an audio message he recorded to Morva. She figured it was a recruitment offer.


 * The audio recording*

"Morva Dervan, my name is Tyrin Lieph. I am sure you know who I am. I am impressed with the track record you possess, and Adaria speaks very highly of you. But perhaps I should get to the point. You've seen how well my agents serve in the field, Adaria and her sisters are some of my best agents. You show similarly advanced proficiency in combat, and a high intellectual status as well. I suspect that you could be a valuable new recruit for my swiftly growing Soldiers of Salvation. Think it over, and then record a response message for Adaria to send to me. She will be our mediator. If you agree, we will work out the terms of this arrangement shortly after. Lieph out."

Lovelyb0nes 03:50, September 11, 2010 (UTC)

24
Morva listened to the message for the sixteenth time before turning it off. Lieph was a political genius. Morva had never heard of these Soldiers of Salvation, but he knew good and well from his limited time in the Hegemony Intelligence Agency when he was a field agent that a group like this would never be heard of. Lieph had massacred the dezba, but they killed his son. His moral compass was difficult to grasp. Morva flicked on another audio recording and started talking.

"Mister Lieph, I am familiar with you, and am flattered by your proposal, but regrettfully I lack knowledge of your agency, these Soldiers of Salvation. I worked in the HIA and am familiar with the private mercenary bands politicians recruit to fufill their will. I have to admit, working in a private army was never what I thought my life would be like. But events have come up recently that have troubled me. I am now reconsidering my thoughts. Only hours ago I became aware of the death of my fifth wife and two small children at the hands of a group of manaban zealots. That has complicated things for me. If I stay here, then I will have a life filled of front line work with no meaning, and some young officer waiting to replace me. My dear sir, if this group offers a chance for me to make an impact, to avenge my family, then I accept. Though I would prefer to speak with you personally by holographic communication to confirm mutual goals on this group."

Morva turned off the comm device and paid a rhook eight credits to deliver the message to Adaria.

Foxtrot12 04:10, September 11, 2010 (UTC)

25
Tyrin Lieph

Tyrin had Adaria inform Morva that he was to go with the shuttle that would pick her and her sisters up, and then be transported to meet with Tyrin personally. A day or two later, their shuttle arrived. Adaria and her sisters had been dropped off on Omicron to help with their defense efforts, and Morva had been brought to Emalrus to speak with Tyrin personally. Morva was escorted into Tyrin's room by a batarian guard. Tyrin began his speech as soon as the guard left. "Mister Dervan, there is much to speak of. But first, allow me to explain the goals of myself and my Soldiers of Salvation, as you requested."

"You ask for a chance to avenge your family, but that is a mistake, Mr. Dervan. A significant part of my ideals, part of the Soldiers' ideals, is setting aside personal feelings for the sake of working towards universal sanctity. You see Morva, I am not like many politicians. I have no care for what the public thinks of me, of polls, of how high in the leadership ring I am. I am for one goal only, universal salvation. I became a politician because I knew that if I was to change the universe for the better, I would need political sway. I would recognize how much power I would require to be able to make decisions, and adjust myself accordingly."

"Many, including you most likely, believe that I had the dezba exterminated to avenge my son. But those events were not so simple. The dezba were a wild, savage, and unpredictable people. They had no place in a civilized universe, no chance at redemption in their current state, the only reason we gave them space travel was to use them as a weapon. I knew it was necessary to ensure that the dezba could not wreak havoc once the rachni were dealt with, but I needed a catalyst. With a species as wild as the dezba, all I needed was a little push to get them to react violently. This reaction would cause the Council, and the public, to sway to my way of thinking, and justify to them what I knew needed to be done. It was a unanimous vote between myself, and Councilors Roraan Fretly and Telia Millangada that retaliation against the dezba was necessary, and the public celebrated our decision. They all allowed my plan to move forward."

"I believe you know what I am getting at with this. It was regrettable that Foran died, but as soon as he enlisted, I knew he was doomed. At least he helped in my push for galactic sanctity with his death. I understood that Takavor had single-handedly taken down a Rachni Queen. That, and his role as a clan leader, made him perfect to be the catalyst, the little push to put everything in motion. But now, we must move back to the point I was making. I have dedicated my life, and the lives of my soldiers, to keeping the universe peaceful. Obviously, that made the rachni a major priority. But with our alliance with the krogan, the rachni have been downgraded to a minor irritant. The real inevitable threat now is the krogan."

"I am sure that the krogan soldiers you served with were decent enough, but believe me, I spied on the Krogan Overlord and his advisor for months. They are planning an uprising. They believe they can conquer the entire universe with their massive army, that they will continue to build over the next centuries. I am prepared for them. Allow me to show you one of my labs here, Morva." Tyrin led Morva down one of the bunker's hallways, and continued his speech. "I am forced to live here in hiding, out of political responsibility, but I have not merely cowered down here for the last several months. I have multiple projects in place to combat the krogan uprising, including what I am about to show you."

Within the lab were carefully sealed tanks full of the airborne virus Tyrin had created. "This is my War Virus, Morva. It is designed to eliminate the krogan race. Unfortunately, it is still in a prototypical stage. I attempted to use it during negotiations with Halak Marr earlier this year, telling him that I had released a controlled amount if it, which killed off 30 % of his army. He didn't fall for my bluff, he knew that that was all the potency the virus had, but at least it set them back. Of course, 30% sounds like nothing, considering they claimed that their soldiers numbered merely 17,000. But they were lying about those numbers. They had 500,000 soldiers, and undoubtedly, their numbers will soon reach and then surpass that number once more."

Lovelyb0nes 16:13, September 11, 2010 (UTC)

26
Morva looked at Lieph. "Mr. Lieph, I have married five times. My first wife gave me a single boy and died of cancer. My second was a spy for the Salarian STG when I was working in the HIA, my third was," Morva sighed before continuing, "let's just say a bitch, my fourth was a prostitute whom I married to avoid the shame of an illegitimate child whom she had aborted, and my fifth was the one I finally loved and had two children with. She and one those children are now dead in some zealot's suicide bombing of the deli I proposed to her in. Now my heart is broken forever. If I say no, I will be an empty shell, a tool to fight the rachni until I die."

"I don't want that. No man wants to live for nothing. But what you, and what we all have done in the last few months has made a mark on history. My surviving child will live better for what we do. My grandchildren will learn about this in their history classes. Mr. Lieph, I am not asking to avenge my family. I cannot bare any more attachments. My son will never see me again and that, I believe, is for the best. But I would like to continuously strive for what you're doing here."

Foxtrot12 17:07, September 11, 2010 (UTC)

27
Tyrin Lieph

"Morva, you were perfect for our organization, I knew so as soon as I read of you. No alliances, no ulterior motives against anyone here... Allow me to welcome you to our agency. I am truly sorry for your losses, Morva. You will serve under Commander Nikhail, whom you fortunately already know well. He is the head of the Soldiers of Salvation's military sector. I suspect that when you're no longer combat-able, you will make a fine replacement for him, commanding over our soldiers from afar. I believe you're destined for our inner circle, so you should be aware of our programs intended to combat the krogan when they strike."

Tyrin brought Morva to the mech factory on Emalrus. "Morva, I have several other factories like this one scattered around the galaxy, and in the coming years, the number of factories could expand into the hundreds, then thousands."

"But what are they building?"

"They're building mechanical soldiers, Morva. The mechs are controlled by a computer program that gives them the equivalent of multiple decades of service as an STG operative, a BARD operative, an asari commando, or a krogan battlemaster. On top of their initial skeleton-like build, augmentations are added to give them the appearance of an asari, salarian, batarian, quarian, or krogan soldier."

"You have a mass-produceable army at your disposal."

"Indeed, Morva. But now for my true ace in the hole."

Tyrin brought Morva to a massive laboratory chamber, full of large glass tanks. "Another biological weapon, Tyrin?"

"No Morva....something far more ambitious." Tyrin turned on the lights in the lab, revealing dozens upon dozens of tanks with dezba within them. Morva was speechless, stunned by awe. Thankfully, Tyrin was not. "This will be my greatest achievement, Morva. It's so...wasteful to wipe out an entire race that could be of use, not to mention that if their culture had been altered at some early point, I'm sure they would've been a civil race. Do you recall what I said before? I said the dezba had no chance at redeeming themselves...in their current state."

"I recently recruited a dezba who survived the extinction of his people, in return for a serum to prolong the disorder that would kill him in ten years from now, Terolk's syndrome. While he was here, I took a sample of his DNA. After eradicating the disease affecting his tissue, I began to clone the sample. These dezba are in a sort of embryonic state, currently. Physically, it will take them at least another 20 years to fully develop, and as for the conditioning, well let's just say thank whatever god is popular these days that we likely have centuries before the krogans make their move."

"What do you mean, conditioning?"

"Simple, Morva, I am altering the mental state of the dezban clones, so when they are awoken, their minds will be conditioned to lose their highly violent nature and culture, and replaced by a much more civil state of mind, that is also loyal to my cause."

"Don't you find forcing them to think a certain way as questionable?"

"Yes.... But I gave up on the moral high ground long ago. It's not as if the rachni or the krogan are going to hold back out of a sense of morality. Marr and I are two of a kind...and it seems we're both destined for hell. I will pay for taking the low ground after I die, but there always has to be someone who is willing to make such a sacrifice, for the sake of something far greater than themselves. It's part of the order of things."

Lovelyb0nes 20:16, September 11, 2010 (UTC)

28
Morva felt the need to be circumspect in this choice. Tyrin had resolved the conflicts between the Citadel and the krogan, manaba, and dezba, but he was unrelenting and not regretful for any of his actions. Tyrin was bettering the universe, hell, he was making a far greater effort than many, including the Councilors, but he was clearly on the precipice of moral consciousness. His resolutions were absolute and could not be rectified. There was quite possibly no conscience whatsoever to interrupt his thought process and question his judgment. Morva realized that he truly could not make an impact any other way. Whether he would be absolved or damned in the afterlife for his involvement in this man's harsh attempts to craft utopia, honestly, he did not care. There was no one on the mortal plane to judge him. And he would be regarded as an equal by his colleagues. Something good did come out of even Tyrin's worst actions. And that was good enough for Morva. He tilted his head to the left as a sign of respect towards Tyrin. And perhaps with a considerable amount of awe and fear as well.

"I am not asari nor krogan. I will not live centuries. That I guess is the curse of life. I am forty-three right now and my days where I am combat ready are waning. Mr. Lieph, if I can make a difference and help progress your goal, then sign me up. The rachni killed my parents when I was infant... I was found by some asari commando. The galaxy should not be so. Salvation is needed. And from what I have seen, it is at hand here. I would be honored to play a part."

Morva looked at the dezba in the tanks. "Mr. Lieph, I have no clue how you intend to do it in scientific terms. But civilizing a dezba. That will be something to see for sure. I served with Derishama. Takavor was the most savage son of a bitch alive along with his clan. If you can civilize them and have them wear a three piece suit then that would be nothing short of amazing. I remember one night on Ragnora some poor quarian bastard who was carrying a beer tripped over a crate. He fell and spilled the beer on some dezba's armor. The dezba shot him in the leg and dragged him into his tent where we could hear incendiarys going off and screaming for about two hours. Not a single man there was brave enough to go help the bloke. In the morning we got the bones back. Every one of them picked clean no blood, marrow, tissue, nothing but bones."

"The dezba are uncontrollable. You might be able to civilize them. But genetic instinct will most likely eventually revert them. The only way to stop it would be surgerical procedures on their brain to edit their genetic thought process. Which wouldn't be too hard. The dezba were once one of the smartest races ever. But after the Great War, brain development stopped, like they stepped back in evolution. Sad that they became such savages. But if you can revert them, they may have a place in the galaxy besides savages meant to be used for war puppets. But that is not what matters. I am here to serve. And yours to command. I still have a few contacts in the HIA if you're interested. But for now just tell me where to go. Also just asking is there a tattoo?"

Foxtrot12 21:09, September 11, 2010 (UTC)

'Once the Omicron page has been properly revised, readers may avert their attention to that page for further insight. Until then, consider this the climax for The Council Era, the first part of a two-part storyline. The Krogan Rebellions will be a long time coming. I hope any who read this believe that this story's quality will make the continuation of it be worth the wait.'

Lovelyb0nes 01:09, March 11, 2011 (UTC)