Never Fade Away: When It's War (ch. 54) (Patreon)

Admiral Tacitus Orolus had been honored when he was selected to lead the punitive fleet. His career was a long one, but with dedication and diligence, he’d climbed the steps of the Turian Hierarchy -- he became a ship captain by the age fifty, a Rear Admiral by sixty, and now at eighty, he was the High Admiral, braving uncharted space. He was the iron fist of the Council, tasked with reaching out to bring an upstart race to heel.

A year ago, a Turian patrol fleet discovered a race now known as the humans attempting to activate a dormant mass relay. In accordance with Citadel law, they were fired upon -- a harsh measure, but given the dangers of what may lurk beneath a dormant relay, it was a prudent one. The Rachni Wars killed millions, and the Krogan Rebellion that followed killed millions more. What wasn't in accordance with Citadel law was the patrol captain pursuing the fleeting ships to a garden world.

The colony had no people, the patrol captain quickly learned when he had arrived in orbit. The colony was completely automated -- mining, subsistence farming, with habitation being erected. Signs pointed to planned inhabitation, but the humans were waiting until the colony was established enough. The ships that were fired upon were no more than drones and, upon being damaged, the colony entered a state of emergency.

Any security information was scrubbed, vital infrastructure self destructed, and everything but basic electronics were fried, leaving the city frozen in time. There were many questions that arose during that time, but they only had one answer. A name and a logo -- Arasaka.

The Council discussed the matter before they assembled an expeditionary fleet, who were tasked with exploring the activated network of Mass Relays and finding the then unknown race that inhabited this arm of the galaxy. Progress, to Tacitus’ understanding, had initially been rather slow. They braved another activated relay, only to find that there was little to no signs of inhabitation in the system they arrived in. Not even a colony, much less any notable defenses.

The cycle repeated itself again and again and again, much to the horror of all those that were informed. The humans had activated every relay that they managed to find, completely unaware of the dangers, and rapidly expanded beyond their means of settlement. The expeditionary fleet picked up the pace, rapidly exploring the web of Relays to discover that the humans had activated dozens of them that were found. It was only when they entered through the eighteenth that they found the first sign of humanity.

A colony on a garden world. Another Arasaka colony, this one being populated with some ten thousand humans living a life of decadence. First contact was made and the information packets were traded.

The very moment that the Admiral of the expeditionary fleet understood what the humans were, she promptly broke contact, returned to Council space and informed the Council of her findings. After a short deliberation on a course of action… he had been summoned to their chambers and it was then that he was given his task -- to bring the human race to heel by any means necessary. He was given a thousand ships and two hundred thousand soldiers, along with all the materials he would need to wage war.

And now… now the war has begun.

“Your report, Admiral,” Councilor Trevos began, bringing his attention to the hologram of the Asari Councilor that he stood before. It was only recently that the beam casters were established enough that he could have a real time meeting with them. The Asari was the longest serving member of the Council at more than eighty years, dressed in dark red and white robes that contrasted her bluish purple skin. She was attractive, but all Asari were.

“There have been developments,” Tacitus began, and he saw that wasn't what the three Councilors wished to hear. His gaze flickered to Councillor Brutcus Proctis, the second longest serving councilor at seventy years. He was more than a hundred, and likely wouldn't retire. A true example of what it meant to be a Turian. “The human augmentation is far more widespread than we were led to believe. Additionally, they are more powerful than anticipated.”

To verify his words, he sent a data packet containing combat footage of various code Blacks. Chief among them was David Marintinez, who began throwing tanks around like they were toys. A known associate of the mercenary L.

As they watched the footage, he continued. “In terms of ground warfare, we lose every time we encounter one. Their only weakness is their stamina, but that weakness is being addressed as human militaries are performing wide scale augmentation.” A lone Code Black could break their defenses at a critical time. Not all used the ‘Sandevistan’ to blur forward with impossible speed -- most used it to enhance their reflexes, making them virtually untouchable for a short period of time. However, with the recent deployment of newly augmented soldiers, their lines were being hammered across the planet.

“Procedure is dangerous. Long term medical issues all but guaranteed,” Councillor Girant Wilji muttered, his voice dripping with distaste. The Salarian Councilor. He had only been on the Council for little more than a year, and Tacitus didn't envy him. It was certainly shaping up to be a problematic year.

“The humans are as warlike as the Krogan,” Tacitus stated his opinion. “They manifest it differently, but now that they are at war, they will launch nothing less than total war despite the losses that we inflict.” As far as Tacitus was concerned, that was humanity's only redeeming feature. “Detection of implants has been problematic, as has differentiating between civilian, resistance, and militaries.”

“Your request for increased bombardment is denied,” Councilor Tevos said, knowing what he was building up to. It was disappointing, but not surprising. Still, it would be his men that paid the price. If the humans wished to blur the line between combatant and noncombatant, then he wished to let them. Total bombardment on their cities, and those who didn't surrender in the rubble of their homes would be slain like the soldiers they were. “I understand you feel strongly about your losses, but we will not condone the mass murder of civilians as acceptable collateral damage in this war.”

Tacitus’ mandible twitched as he swallowed his retort. He lost dozens of men to children weeping in the rubble, only for their efforts to rescue them to be repaid with treachery and murder.

“Your losses are within the expected parameters. Except for the losses of two ships,” Councilor Brutcus stated, his voice cold and unyielding.

“A human named L. He has his own information packet, but by any metric, he is a genius inventor. As of now, the human cities are beginning to shield their cities with what my technicians are describing as hard light. Similar to a kinetic barrier, but without any eezo. Additionally, he has created a clean WMD that he used on an encampment. Both ships were brought down by him -- the first he boarded and captured by himself, and the second he shot down from the ground with what seems to be… a handgun.” Disbelief and suspicion.

Let them chew on that, Taticus thought as he forwarded the relevant information. In hindsight, it had been a mistake to handle L as he had. Taticus should have accepted his offer, allowing him to return to Night City and leave with those that he called family. At the time, he had been blinded by ignorance, thinking him as nothing more than a particularly dangerous Code Black. And disgusted that he could so easily abandon his species.

Hindsight was the best teacher, or so they say. Taticus hadn't known that a lone human could single handedly change the course of the war, and he regretted his part in L staying to fight at all.

The Councilors lingered on the packet as it began to sink in what they were dealing with. Taticus was all too happy to drive the point home. “In the two weeks since felling the Spirit of Palaven, he has been unusually proactive. Our predictions were that he would secure Night City, or perhaps leave it with a small band of humans that he deems to be close. However, the dome went up around Night City three days after, and in the two weeks since, six additional domes have gone up with more in production.”

The domes were different from the one found in Night City. The technology that produced the shield was affixed to the highest point of a city, thus rendering their aerial superiority null and void without danger close missions, something that would escape the human commanders. The only good news was that the ones outside of Night City were much larger and took longer to set up, otherwise they would have spread across the planet already.

“They are attempting to force this into a ground war,” Taticus continued. And there, Taticus knew, the humans would win. “Special missions are underway to sabotage the domes that are currently up, and to prevent the establishment of more, but we are facing strong and bitter resistance. The humans aren't giving an inch, because they know they can't afford to.” Which was partly why he wanted to sidestep the issue entirely and begin flattening cities. There could be no highest point of a hole in the ground.

“Additionally, L has begun issuing energy based weaponry to those in Night City. We haven't seen it outside as of yet, but-” Tacitus continued, only to be interrupted by Councilor Girant.

“Energy based weaponry? Plasma and lasers. Reports confirmed. Surprising, but confirmed,” he muttered, looking upon how the lasers and plasma completely bypassed the kinetic barrier -- after the first week, orders were issued to drastically lower the settings to prevent the ‘smart’ weaponry from bypassing them as well. It has worked for a time, but now they were seeing signs of the bullets traveling even slower before bursting with a delayed speed before impact.

“And they are all sourced from one person? This L? I see that you have him marked as immediate termination… or negotiation,” Councilor Trevos observed.

“L is too dangerous to be allowed to live as an enemy,” Tacitus replied. “Thus it is prudent that we kill him before he can further develop and spread his technology, or we ensure that he is not an enemy.” It was simple reasoning. “He is an established mercenary with no loyalty to his race. For good reason. He was experimented on in highly illegal and invasive ways, which seemed to have given him the ability to accelerate his tech development. We are in possession of one of his enemies, and with promises of safeguarding his people, I foresee that he can be reasoned with.”

Part of that galled him. L had mercilessly vented a ship, killing everyone on board. His soldiers. His men.

But that was war. It was war. Unfortunate losses, distasteful allies, and necessary evils -- all were part of his position, and he had to look past any personal feelings that he might have.

“The human company -- Arasaka,” Councilor Brutcus ventured, his mandible twitching in distaste.

“We've reached an agreement with them,” Councilor Tevos stated lightly. “For their cooperation during the war, they would be the representatives for humanity upon becoming a Turian client race.” She reminded as if he could forget.

“Deals can be broken,” Tacitus said, his voice flat. “They give less than it would cost dealing with L.”

“It would reflect poorly for us to renege on a deal when it has barely been made,” Tevor continued.

To that, Brutcus scoffed. “It looks worse dealing with scum. They've played no small part in the human degeneracy as a species -- they created AI, helped cause an AI rebellion that nearly destroyed them, and even now they still utilize them in secret, against their own laws and ours.”

Councilor Girant's lips thinned, “No proof do we have of continued use of AI.”

“Yet,” Councilor Brutcus growled. Taticus was glad there was at least one member of the Council that spoke his thoughts. “It is an alliance of convenience, nothing more. They provide information and military armaments -- but we don't need them. This human boy shot a cruiser down with a handgun. If he can be reasoned with, let us reason with him. If he can't, then we must kill him.”

“Waste, that would be. Technology fascinating. Mutation fascinating. Rapid acceleration in technological development in unconnected fields. Useful if captured alive. Revolutionary if mutation can be reproduced,” Councilor Girant stated, making Taticus’ mandible twitch in annoyance. He saw this coming -- he'd be a blind fool if he didn't, but that didn't make it any more welcome to see.

Tevos nodded, “Capture or reason. He's too valuable to kill.”

“He's a prolific killer that rode a WMD at a military base, laughing all the while,” he interjected, a cold edge entering his voice. “With augments that allow him to tear through tanks and move faster than a bullet, while he wields a handgun more powerful than any mass driver that I have ever seen. Councilors, he will not be taken in alive. The only possible alternative I can see is kidnapping members of his family unit, and you can ask Arasaka how well that worked for them.”

Councilor Brutcus inclined his head to him, but all the same, he uttered the words of damnation. “Capture or reason, Admiral,” he said, and it didn't soften the blow to hear them from one of his own kind who understood what he was asking. “However, it is clear that the scale of the war is expanding. You will be reinforced by the Eighteenth Fleet and Fifty-Third army.” That was… welcome news.

Around two thousand additional ships, completely outfitted with war mechs and an army of a half million. What's more, this army wouldn't be a careful handpicked selection of unaugmented soldiers to ensure that the human weaponry or hacking couldn't affect them. A Council army was more than a Turian army, displaying a mix of races. Meaning biotics. Something that the humans had few of.

“The deployment will be slow, because as of now, First Contact with humanity is being kept a secret. It would be best to only announce their existence once this unpleasantness is done with,” Tevos gave some bad news with the good. “They'll be quietly gathered over the course of two months.” Not ideal, but workable. It would mean digging in, but that was already part of the plan as advancing assaults were suffering unacceptable losses.

“Thank you, Councilor. I understand my orders,” Taticus stated, swallowing his annoyance, knowing that there was no point in arguing the matter further. Good Turians didn't question orders. Still, it galled him to be told to fight a war with his hands behind his back. They even expected him to negotiate with empty hands.

“STC is working on alternative armor to deal with the plasma and laser based weaponry. Progress will go faster with samples,” Councilor Girant continued. And until then, his soldiers were essentially naked in the face of the non kinetic weaponry. “Already testing prototypes. Hesitant to give deadline, but expect first batch with arrival of reinforcements.”

“... thank you, Councilor,” Taticus replied stiffly. They’d shat down his throat and were trying to wash the taste out by ending things on a good note. Only the good news would be arriving in two months. If the weaponry spread… if the humans went on the offensive…

Taticus was barely aware as the Council ended the call, leaving him to his reeling thoughts and plans that needed adjustment. He had hoped for more. He had hoped that seeing L, and the technology that he could produce would convince the Council to wage war the way this war needed to be fought. Instead, he found that he was fighting within more defined lines. Bureaucracy. A necessary evil by all accounts, but one that was now getting his men killed.

Inputting a command into his omnitool, Taticus brought up a display of Earth and the progress that was being made. His gaze instantly went to Japan -- the one nation that had yet to suffer an invasion. A part of the deal on behalf of Saburo Arasaka. Sentimentality.

Then he looked to the ruins of a city called Hong Kong -- a deserted place even before their arrival. It was only recently that he had learned that the empty city wasn't so empty. It had been populated by AI. An entire city dedicated to housing them. The very first thing he did was flatten it, the Council be damned.

Thus far, they had avoided any serious cyberattack, yet the spies that Arasaka provided informed him that the humans had managed to crack the software differences and were actively developing ‘daemons’ to unleash on their systems. The report hadn’t named him, but Taticus knew it was L behind the unwelcome development.

The rest of the map was a mess of red and blue. Blue was their secured territory, red was still in the hands of humans. Their efforts were concentrated in China, the Soviet Union, South Africa, and Europe. The Americas, in the end, were a decapitated state and could offer little in the way of organized defense. At least until L began getting involved.

The fighting was cleaner in Asia and Europe. The line was still blurry, but it wasn't the NUSA where children walked around with missile launchers in their arms. The invasion progress was within acceptable parameters, meaning that they could still advance. A number of key cities had been taken already -- Paris, Moscow, Shanghai, and more. Each one acting as staging grounds for further advancement.

However… they could not afford a grinding urban war. Especially when he didn't have express permission to bombard them into submission before they launched a ground invasion. They at least had the means to repair and replace their mech losses to eat the worst of the casualties, but…

Taticus saw it. A dome around every major city. A protracted ground war that they would be forced to fight in. Every city would be a siege, in essence. The human defenders would be well aware of that fact and take steps to ensure they had water and food. L would likely involve himself in some capacity, making the cities self-sustaining.

In the end, he had two real choices. Attack or defend. Defending would give him time for his reinforcements to arrive, as well as specialized armor. It would also give the humans time to build up their defenses and become essentially unassailable by any preferred means. Committing to an all out offensive would be costly. Brutally so. But it would mean that they could take ground and establish staging points before the humans were ready to defend.

Meaning that there really was only one choice.

An alert from his VI aid alerted him to a message and this time, Taticus openly clicked his mandible in distaste. Saburo Arasaka had arrived at their scheduled meeting. He wished he could pass the responsibility to another, finding the man to be vile. A traitor to his kind that would sell out his species for his own advancement. A species that he had paved the way to their downfall every step of the way.

However, as the Council reminded him, whether or not he dealt with him wasn't his decision.

“Arasaka wishes for you to meet him at the loading bay. For a demonstration of the assets that he has brought,” the synthetic voice rang out. More disgusting technology. He had seen what they built -- the land strikers were incredible. A blend of biotic potential and technology. They would be perfect. If only they didn't kill everyone who piloted them.

Soldiers died in war. Yet there was a significant difference between ordering men to die to accomplish an objective and throwing their lives away with callous disregard.

“Anything for our resident traitor,” Taticus allowed himself to grumble. Then he swallowed his sentiments down and left the communications room on his dreadnought, the Valcun. The doors slid open for him as he entered an elevator that would take him down and sideways to the docking bay where the human ship would have landed.

His hands were clasped behind his back, standing tall and proudly as he displayed his Admiral attire when the bulkhead doors opened. There, he saw a human designed ship within the bay -- despite their incredible advancements in augmentation, the humans were on their first steps when it came to space travel.

Their ships relied on primitive eezo drives, their range short, and the design simplistic. Which made their rushed journey beyond their home star system that much more reckless. Worse, it was for petty greed. The average human was completely ignorant that a mass relay had even been found, much less that humanity had audaciously activated them.

Saburo Arasaka might not be singularly responsible for humanity's current state -- a species rapidly facing self-inflicted annihilation -- but he certainly had a helping hand in it. The human was elderly for his species, his skin withered and sagging, a slight hunch in his posture as he leaned upon a cane. It was a face that he chose to wear. He had seen the man’s daughter, a woman in her eighties, that seemed as youthful as a fresh-faced recruit.

He stood before the spacecraft, watching him with dark eyes as Taticus approached. Then he bowed his head, “Admiral Taticus-sama. Thank you for agreeing to meet me here -- alas, the demonstration is unfit for the bridge of your fine vessel,” Saburo began. How he spoke reminded Taticus of an Asari, a species so adept at telling you to kiss your own ass that you thanked them for it. He didn’t care for it. Why speak a dozen words when a single one would suffice?

“I would hope so. Your position is determined by the contribution to the war effort,” Taticus reminded, in no mood for this flowery speech. It still rubbed him wrong, like sand in his joints -- war made for strange bedfellows, but this…

Saburo bowed further, “Of course, Admiral Taticus-sama. Our factories have reached full production, and we are ready to meet our quotas in full.” He stated, and at the very least, that was good news. Officially speaking, his organization was located within the asteroid belt of this system, where they had a number of facilities mining the resources within. However, additional eezo had to be brought into the system, where they then refined it.

Unofficially, his sensors had detected unusual activity throughout the system. It very well could be other humans -- One of the first things they did was subjugate the humans on Mars. Arasaka stated that he was unaware of any others populating the system, but he fully expected that they existed. So, it could be others. Or, in the much more likely case, Saburo was lying about his base of operations.

“Many years ago, I was lucky. I would like to call it something else, of course, but the truth of the matter was, I was simply lucky,” Saburo began as the bay doors to the ship began to slide down with a hiss of compressed air. “A warrior entered my service when he could have joined any other, his talents unique and his capabilities extensive. He had only one desire, and a bargain was struck between us. He would become my fist… and I would grant him a body of steel.”

The bay doors hit the ground and the protective covering began to slide upwards. War machines. Four legs, eight arms, each one heavily equipped with high end weapons. Mounted missiles on the shoulders, a long barrel-like canon alongside them, the two largest arms equipped with quad-miniguns, as the humans called them. The lower arms carried rocket launchers and more heavy machine guns, these of Turian make, while the lower arms carried dual chainsaw-like blades.

Thick armor of a metallic black, the head on the torso was little more than a bump. The four legs kept the dense body up, and Taticus saw hints of kinetic shields and additional equipment such as thrusters. Each one was about twelve feet tall and, as one, they stepped forward in perfect unison while Saburo continued.

“For many years, we struggled to take the final step for his completion. The one part of the body that we could not replace with circuitry and steel -- his mind. The last six percent,” Saburo continued, his voice proud as a pit opened up in Taticus’ gut. Disgust and fear in equal measures as he looked up at the monstrosities, understanding what this meant. “While the original has perished, his will yet lives on. The Relic technology has been completed… granting my Oni a digital mind.”

As one, the blood red eyes of the machines let up, and Taticus could feel the malevolent intent in that light.

“I would like to introduce the Smasher Units. As of now… we have three hundred of them ready for deployment at your convenience,” Saburo informed and Taticus knew what he was looking at. He had seen the videos when compiling data about L. A battle within Night City that was the single most stunning display of biotic power that he had ever seen. He knew that the units before him, the odd dozen that they were…

There was no other choice.

“Prepare them for immediate deployment.”