[IC] Mass Effect: Downfall

[Legion-114]

Alliance Space, Sol System, Earth Orbit



Fiery debris of Alliance ships filter down to the planet below as if they were falling stars, purple metallic objects float past as if they were ghosts, descending down into the atmosphere. Their shrieks piercing the minds and hearts of the inhabitants below. Red beams of light torching the structures that once stood so high. Those who tried to resist were turned to ash. They weren’t discriminant; man, woman or child - it didn’t matter. The Cycle Continues.

Many try to flee, but they met the same fate, barley a handful escaped but where to go? Of course the Citadel was the only option for those who could not fight, but what if they were there too? What if other systems had already fallen victim to the Reapers. What chance did the galaxy have?
That's when his voice was heard, broadcasting on all Alliance and Council Emergency Channels.

PRIORITY MESSAGE. THREAT LEVEL: OMEGA
EARTH ORBIT COMPROMISED.
ALL EARTH BOUND SHIPS ARE TO EXIT VIA SOL RELAY. DO NOT APPROACH!
REAPER INVASION CONFIRMED. EVACUATION UNDERWAY.
IF ONLY SHEPARD WERE HERE. WE MAY HAVE HAD A CHANCE.
INVESTIGATE ARCADIA IF POSSIBLE. EVACUATE TO CITADEL SPACE IF NOT.
MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON US ALL.

Arcadia? The human mining world? What could be found there?

---

UNKNOWN LOCATION

I told you Harbinger… the humans knew of our arrival. Had I bee-
Enough! Know your place among our harvest. You are but a fresh born… This Cycle will succeed.
As you desire. What is your wish?
Follow them. Learn of their path. Destroy those who are not fit for harvest.

[Kurai Assassin]

"Commander Faltus. The Primarch has sent a tier 1 broadcast out to the 43rd Marine Division and Blackwatch to leave Palavens orbit. The 43rd is going to assit with the defence of the Citadel, Blackwatch will be helping Alliance frigates and the Asari on Thessia. The Council will contact you when you can return to fight on Palaven or for that matter Earth. Good Luck...Commander"The Halodeck faded, Faltus stood still for a few moments aboard the Ghost of Vakarian. He made a transmission to the Ad Victoriam Heavy Cruiser. "Captain Karrel Vakarian, Commander Faltus here. Take the Ad Victoriam and Go and help the 43rd defend the Citadel." Karrel Vakarian, the younger brother of Garrus. After what happened on the Normandy he felt as though it was his duty to make sure Karrel survived the war, as an honour to Garrus. He turned around and strode out of the holodeck room towards the CIC room where the Ghost of Vakarian team were assembled. "Ladies, Gentlemen, Turians, Humans, Asari and Salarians. Today, we were attacked by a new enemy. The entire galaxy is at war. We as The Blackwatch have the honour of fighting on the frontlines at every theatre. Thessia, Praven, Earth are just some of the places where we will fight the enemy. We will not surrender. We will never Give up. WE WILL HONOUR THOSE WHO HAVE ALREADY LOST THEIR LIVES FIGHTING THIS NEW THREAT. At the end of the day, The Reapers wont know what hit them. Before we leave for the Citadel we are going to take a few moments to read of the list of names of Soldiers who have died to get us this far. John Sheppard, Ashley Williams, Kaiden Alenko, Garrus Vakarian, Mordin Solus, Wrex, Liara T'Soni, Jack. They may no longer be here body but they forever will live on in our Fighting Hearts." Faltus snapped his legs together and Saluted the group before him. They did the same. "AD VICTORIAM"He shouted, to which they shouted back. The Ghost of Vakarian's FTL drives began to charge as they left for the Citadel.

[The Fated Fallen]

It wasn't often the Captain took his calls in his quarters, instead of on his omni-tool in the middle of the bridge. Kaelyn brushed aside a mechanic and the open hatch he had fitted his head through, nodding apologetically at one another. The Captain would only do that when the message was from The Alliance. And the only time The Alliance was to contact them was for a mission, which would not bode well. It wasn't known by the majority of the crew that the ship operated for the Alliance, and every mission they were sent where they didn't loot everything there raised suspicion. Captain Maurinnus walked a fine line between leader and mutiny. She entered his quarters, making a point of not knocking.

"Morning sweetheart," her playful greeting immediately felt crass when put next to the hard look he fixed her with. If it were possible for a Turian, she would say he looked gaunt
"We got a priority message," He started, and waved at his terminal. This didn't make sense, The Every Dawn didn't get priority messages, it lacked the tech to pick up wide band military transmissions... Unless this wasn't aimed only at military...
"It's threat level omega." He spoke the words like they had heavy meaning to them, but Kaelyn wasn't Alliance ops, so it meant very little to her.
"Is omega the kind of alert that's often transmitted to civilian ships?" she asked.
"Yes, it demands we clear all distance from the affected worlds. Earth and Palaven, as far as the message goes, are war-zones. We are being reassigned to Arcadia, to receive further instruction there."
"War zones? War zones with who? Eachother?"
"I don't know." he got up, presumably to plot a course from the bridge. Kaelyn followed close behind,
"And why Arcadia, that's no staging ground for any reinforcements, the planet can barely support itself."
"Prepare yourself and your team for combat, we have to be ready for anything once we get there."
"Sir," she pulled on his shoulder pad, and he turned to face her. "Don't you feel like something this major would have more weight to it? Something more than just a message or something?"
He fixed her with another hard look and let it hang in the air for a moment, he bristled in that way Turians do, "It's omega, the message code isn't common knowledge and it has only been used once before, undercover when some terrorists were going to fly a moon into Earth. Your government kept that quiet at the time to prevent panic, but this they announce to everyone. That should speak louder than anything you were expecting. Tell Cabin to get the stealth systems ready and prime the engines."
Kaeyln saluted, and headed off to her errands. And to think the day was going so well... This vessel was a Turian ship technically, if they were in combat with each other, she might be playing for the wrong side

[Legion-114]

Exodus Cluster, Arcadia Orbit

Above the planet sat a single Systems Alliance Dreadnaught, heavily battle damaged and undergoing repairs. However, there was no sign of hostile activity in the area, at least not yet. This ship itself was broadcasting an in-system distress call, most likely to prevent the Reapers from picking up the cries for help.

“Attention all inbound vessels. This is the SSV Thor’s Hammer. We’ve been heavily damaged by an unknown vessel. The Scientists have discovered some kind of vault on Arcadia. All past attempts to open is have been futile, however for some reason they’ve opened up once word got out about the invasion. Whatever’s going on down there needs to be investigated before they show up.”

Widow Nebula, Citadel Perimeter

Hundreds of ships were already waiting to be cleared by C-Sec. Never before have so many refugees from all over the galaxy sought aid at the Citadel. But somehow the lanes were moving and ships were being docked in their respectable places.

Many military ships cruised alongside civilian ones, merely to keep the feeling of safety. But a Reaper’s beam would easily cut through both in a single swipe.

Across ANN and CNN broadcasts of incoming reports of Reaper attacks across the galaxy, but one of the key events was the meeting of all the Races of the galaxy.

[Kurai Assassin]

Faltus and the Ghost of Vakarian, arrived at the Citadel quite quickly. He knew if they Vakarian and Ad Victoriam were going to be able to Liberate Palaven they would need all the help they could get. "Specialist Keyes, Get me the Turian Ambassador on Vidcom." He turned to walk out of the CIC back to the Holodeck room. "Ambassador, Commander Faltus of the Ghost of Vakarian, Turian Blackwatch. The Primarch has order Blackwatch and the 43rd marines to defend the galaxy as we see fit, but for that to happen i need to staff my Warship and my cruiser with more ground troops. With your permission Ambassador id like to recruit some C-Sec officers and some of the refugees to aid my fleet". The Ambassador turned away for a few seconds, before turning back to the Commander. "Commander, at this time we can spare only two C-Sec officers at this time, Lieutenant Commander Liam Taylor and Lieutenant Jane Cortez. As for the Refugees, you have permission, but they are your risk to take" .

"Specialist broadcast the recruitment message now" The message appeared on all the screens around the citadel.

Ladies and Gentlemen, This is Commander Faltus of the Turian Blackwatch, Refugees are being drafted into our ranks, Starting immediately all Refugees over the age of fifteen are to report into the Docks, you are board the Ad Victoriam warship and the Ghost of Vakarian cruiser. Only come if you have fired a weapon before. Everyone who arrives will be trained as Blackwatch soldiers. That means that you will learn to fight Effectively as a Unit alongside Asari, Salarians, Krogan and Humans. the ships with leave at 1100hrs.

[Catchphrase]

"What the fuck is happening?! Who are these guys?!"
"Doesn't matter! Just keep fighting! Keep ARGH!! *static"

This is all going to hell in a handbag. Some giant fleet was attacking Omega, and already a lot of people were dead. It had already communicated to everyone that Omega had fallen, now everyone was fighting just to survive. Nobody knew where Aria was, or even if she was alive, if she was, she was taking her sweet time telling someone.

"This is Lady Luck, has anyone got any idea where Aria is?!" No response, everyone was too busy panicking, and then, a voice popped over the Comms, a voice that was music to Williams ears.

"Everyone, this is Aria. Omegle has fallen, taken over by these Cereberus assholes. Everyone, if you can't fight, head back to the Citadel. If you can, head for Acadia, I have contacts there that say something big is going on there. After we are all sorted, we will return to Omega. Will beat these Cereberus bastards, and I will personally skin their commander alive!"

There a lot of cheers at that last part, but William had heard all he needed. He set a course for Acadia, and prayed that Aria would make it out alive. If she didn't, he'd have to find someone else to pay the butchers bill.

"Alright folks, let's see what Acadia has for us, punch it!"

[Legion-114]

Arcadia Dig Site: Iris

The surface was nothing but a barren landscape, littered with strip mines and mining stations. However all but one was silent. The last light of hope.

But a great terror stood in the horizon. - Searching.
A single Reaper - Chimera. Surrounded by metal corpses of ships that dared oppose it. Now war was no longer in its interest, instead it used its laser to dig the earth beneath it.

The vault entrance was entrenched in a small mining station, luckily missed by the Reaper. The station had a small dock that was used by cargo freighters - big enough for one or two small ships.

Through the vault entrance, bodies of both humans and Collectors laid down the corridors until it lead to a single unopened door, its architecture unrecognisable.

[Kurai Assassin]

Many refugees came aboard the Ghost of Vakarian and the Ad Victoriam. Faltus knew he would have to address his new troops directly if they had any hope of fighting as a unit. An alert sounded on the Vakarian calling for all troops to be in the hangar.
"Alright recruits. I'm not going to tell you this battle is going to be easy, cause very clearly it's not. If I had any doubts though that your expertise would not help us win the war I wouldn't have called upon you to help. That being said Welcome to the Blackwatchover the next few months we will be training all of you as individual soldiers and as a unit. You will learn how to fight alongside other races in the Galaxy effectively and you will be trained in guerilla tactics. You will be trained by the two C-Sec officers who have kindly agreed to join us."

[Catchphrase]

Everyone looked tired. Some of these people were profesional mercs, or at least claimed to be, and they were barely holding it together. Most of them were just average people, so it's safe to say that they were scared. William couldn't blame them, Omega fallen, Aria fleeing, it seemed like something out of a dream. Except this wasn't a dream, and it was up to William and his crew to keep everyone together. They had received word from other surviving ships. Most of them were heading to the Citadel, but only a dozen or so we're heading to Arcadia. And only Lady Luck and another ship called Moby Dick had anything remotely resembling a warship, the rest were mostly transports and cruise ships that had been nicked by some Eclipse. Hopefully they won't face a fight when they got to Arcadia, but William had a sinking feeling in his gut.

"Open Comms to Arcadia." The crewman in charge of Comms nodded and patched him in, "Arcadia, this is Lady Luck, is anyone hearing me?"
*STATIC*
"Arcadia? Is anyone there?"
*STATIC* "-ed evac. There's a Reaper touched down on the planet. It looks like it's searching for the" *STATIC* "-e are hold up near it. Somebody, anybody,, please help. MESSAGE REPEATS"

William paled at the word Reaper. If they were the only ones going to Arcadia, they'd be screwed. He had to do something he never thought he'd ever do. Call the cops.

"This is a general alert to anyone heading to Arcadia. A Reaper has touched down on the planet proper. No idea if more are coming or not. No idea if anyone is even alive there anymore. Me and a few other ships are already en route to the planet, and we are unable to change course at this time. If you can hear me, either tell me what's so important on that planet, or we are running. Somebody please respond, I don't intend on dying for nothing."

[Kurai Assassin]

@Catchphrase
A message played across the intercoms as Faltus set the new recruits training. "Specialist Keyes open a Secure transmission with who ever is sending that signal, If theyre on their way to Arcadia then they need some Firepower to take out a reaper. Lieutenant Commander Cortez send message to the Ad Victoriam that we are en route to arcadia and to be ready to battle a Reaper." Cortez saluted then left the room to make the call and Faltus turned back to his troops. "This is your chance to prove yourself to the Galaxy that Reapers can be beaten. This is your chance to prove to me that i didnt make a mistake picking your sorry asses up. In the time it takes us to get there I want to brief you on our plan to take down reapers." A board glowed behind the Turian Commander as he pointed to each Strategic point. "Our Asari troops will make a barrier to hold the Husk and Cannibals and whatever else the reapers throw at us. Turians will flank around and try to find out where their troops are coming from. Batarians will take out the enemy ground troops. A small salarian science team will follow me and my ground squad to the Vault on arcadia. The Ad Victoriam and The Vakarian will fire at the reaper until its destroyed. save any civilians left on the ground"

[The Fated Fallen]

The Every Dawn jumped into the Utopia System, and drifted gracefully towards Arcadia. It's crimson and white hull cutting through the black sea.

Now armed and armoured, Kaelyn nodded at her team and headed up to the bridge. Captain Maurrinus had just finished on the comm. He didn't turn to face her when she walked in, and his co-pilot, Davids, was too focused on something on his monitor. He started listing off names; "SSV Pinnacle, SSV Sweeping Cry, SSV Yesterday -" he was cut off by Maurrinus, "I get the picture, Davids, how many?"
Davids was silent for a second, "16, of varying size. From dreadnaught to cutter."
"We need to know why an enemy would send a fleet to Arcadia." Kaelyn spoke up. Maurrinus laughed
"It's not a fleet, Kaelyn. It's one damned ship! A Reaper. I was part of the battle for the citadel, it took the combined forces of the Alliance to take it down. I didn't want to believe the message... I didn't want to believe Shepard when he said it."

The comm crackled into life; "Arcadia, this is Lady Luck, is anyone hearing me?"
Lady Luck? She didn't know the ship, but she knew that voice... "Davids, get us a link."

Another message popped through, "This is a general alert to anyone heading to Arcadia. A Reaper has touched down on the planet proper. No idea if more are coming or not. No idea if anyone is even alive there anymore. Me and a few other ships are already en route to the planet, and we are unable to change course at this time. If you can hear me, either tell me what's so important on that planet, or we are running. Somebody please respond, I don't intend on dying for nothing."

"William, you bastard. How did you get a ship? Never mind, The Every Dawn is in system, and we need to come up with a plan. Never mind tell me what's so important, if Admiral Hackett himself asked for it, it must be important. Who have you got with you?"

[Catchphrase]

"Kaeyln? Is that you? Haha, it's been a while lass, how've you been? Forget it, we will talk later. I've got about a dozen ships of varying size and crew number, with only my ship and another being warships, the rest have little to no combat capabilities. I've got refugees from Omega, as well as some freelance boys, hell, we got a few Blue Suns on one ship, Elcipse on another, and a very pissed off squad of Blood Pact. Asides from that we have nothing. We've slowed down as much as we can, but we can't change course. As soon as we enter anywhere near Arcadia that Reaper will spot us, and probably kill us. But I've got a plan. Five teams of five will leave in shuttles and head to whatever this vault thingy is and secure the outside. As soon as we touch down planetside, the ships will fallback to a safe distance from the planet, while me and my guys try and enter, or wait for reinforcements. So, what do ya think of the plan? Also, I won the ship in a card game."

[Kurai Assassin]

The Vakarian and the Ad Victoriam entered the Utopia system, and sped towards Arcadia.
"Any ships in the Area this is the Ghost of Vakarian and Ad Victoriam, Turian Blackwatch. Weve received reports of a Reaper on Arcadia and are here to provide assistance during the attack. All Ships respond" The message was sent to any of the ships in the vicinity of Arcadia

[Legion-114]

On the Arcadia surface, near Mining Station Iris, flashes of purpose energy flashed constantly. As the flashes appeared over husks, cannibals and any other monstrosity created by the Reapers were torn to shreds without any indication as to what was slashing them. Only those with quickly senses would see the partial of a blade emerging from the warp and retreating back again once it tasted the blood of its victim.

Within minutes an entire strike force was eliminated. As the dust settled, the assailants made their debut. Five Slayer-Vanguards, all in their N7 Armour specially created to complement their abilities. They watched the horizon as the Reaper in the distance hopelessly searched for whatever it was looking for.

“Sir, we should get moving.” One of the lighter framed soldiers said, his voice stern.
The one with the red chest piece turned to him and simply nodded in agreement, his facial expression hidden by the helmet that he wore.

They began to head further into the camp, slaying anything that stood in their way, that was what they were trained to do. That’s when the radio broadcast came in.

“If you two are bloody done with your little chit chat, would you kindly help? The Reaper has probably already locked onto both our signals now. But he seems too preoccupied by whatever its looking for. If you have firepower I think you should bring it down, we need to blow this door down and find whatever its looking for before it does.”

[Catchphrase]

They exited into the system, and saw the Turian ships nearby. "Turian fleet this is the Terminus fleet. We will provide ground fire support and evac anyone still alive down on the planet." As the fleets grew closer to one another, shuttles from the Terminus Fleet launched, making their way down to the planet. In total there were about fifteen of them, five of which belonged to William's crew.

"If anyone is alive down on Arcadia, hold your fire skywards, we are coming in to help you. And if you could give us a general idea of where to land, that'd be great." William looked out the viewport of his shuttle, and saw what looked like a dig site, and a few Alliance soldiers still fighting for their lives. "Land us over there, teams two through five back us up. The rest of you stay on stand by." The shuttles veered towards the entrenched, where they saw a fair amount of Reaper ground troops, both dead and living ones. "Alright boys, let's do this!"

The shirts landed with a bit of a thud, the doors opened, and weapons fire opened up on the living Reaper Husks. The Husks were caught between hammer and anvil, and were shredded to bits. When the smoke cleared, both literal and theoretical, the group of mercs stood opposite of the group of Alliance soldiers. William made his way to the front of the group, and spoke in a loud voice, "So, is anyone going to tell me what the fuck is so important on this planet?"

[Legion-114]

Green shook his head with annoyance as he prised corpses both friend and foe alike for spare thermal clips, seeing as they would be needing a lot more for the upcoming battle. His attention still focused on the Reaper… and the Reaper corpse that laid next to it.

“Well to start with, a vault that has been sealed forever and is believed to be older than Prothean magically decides to open itself. Oh and whatever is here, the Reapers are willing to kill each other for.” Green said, pointing towards the distance where Chimera towered over a recently killed Reaper, larger than itself.

[Kurai Assassin]

@Catchphrase@Legion-114

"Terminus fleet, this is Commander Faltus of the Ghost of Vakarian, we are sending in our ground team to assist with an overall Evac of Arcadia, Myself and my squad will meet you and assist with any objectives. The Ad Victoriam will provide fire support from just outside the planets atmosphere. Can you drop a smoke signal as to your location so we may assist." Commander Faltus turned towards Specialist Keyes. I want all calls sent to my earpiece from until we get back to the Vakarian" Faltus made his way down to the armoury to get his weapons for the mission. He picked up an M76 Revenant and an N7 Valiant sniper rifle, which was given to him by a friend from the Alliance before he was shipped to earth to help fight the Reapers. "RECRUITS FORM YOUR SQUADS AND BOARD THE DROPSHIPS. THIS WILL BE A HOT LANDING, EXPECT HEAVY ENEMY RESISTANCE AND UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES ARE YOU TO ENGAGE TERMINUS OR ALLIANCE TROOPS UNDERSTOOD" "YES COMMANDER" Faltus knew he would lose some of the rookies on this offensive but if there was reaper planet side then it was looking for something, especially if Aria had sent the Terminus fleet to help the Alliance defend it. "Cortez, Taylor, Keyes, Moreno, Jackson your with me everybody else evac civilians. lets make it back in one piece people. BLACKWATCH. PREPARE TO DROP"

[Legion-114]

Green looked as the drop ships began to descend from the skies. His fists clenched, he knew that most of those men and women weren’t going to return. However, there were far more pressing issues at hand. As he waited for William to get his forces ready, one of Alexander’s squad had noticed a Marauder keeping up near some fuel tanks. But in a puff of purple smoke the trooper had teleported behind it and penetrated its shields.

---

Meanwhile…
Chimera watched as the organic forces scrambled to intercept them. He had calculated that their chance of defeating him was non-existent. – Had he been allowed to engage them directly. However, Harbinger had ordered him to observe them, learn of their patterns. That didn’t mean he was not allowed to defend himself… even if the threat was so minuet.



Chimera looked up to the drop ships and without discrimination began to open fire on whatever one he felt like. Trying his best to ‘miss’ them. But one or two were intentionally shot down as he had liked to begin harvesting as soon as they crashed.

The signature siren of the Reaper echoed throughout the plains and was heard perfectly. Sending shivers down every organics' spine.

[Kurai Assassin]

Faltus looked out the window of his dropship to see two of his dropships get knocked out by the Reaper. "Shit, we just lost the Batarian division. Fuck, Keyes send a transmission to the Alliance forces groundside." The human specialist looked horrified as the two dropships spiralled into a building exploding and sending debris everywhere. "Specialist Keyes, Look at me. I promise you Amanda you will get through this, even if I have to take a bullet for you." The specialist nodded to the Turian as she tapped away at the datapad on here wrist opening a secure comms channel with the Alliance forces on the ground. "This is a message to the Alliance commanding officer on Arcadia, this is Specialist Amanda Keyes from the Ghost of Vakarian. We've suffered losses due to the reaper. We need that smoke up so our forces know where to land to assist. Please Respond"

[Catchphrase]

William covered his ears at the sound of the Reaper Horn. It hurt like hell, and it felt like his ears were bleeding. He heard something about smoke to mark a position, so he threw down a smoke grenade near his position, and prayed he hadn't just called in an orbital bombardment. "If anyone can hear me, I can't hear shit. This Reaper is emitting some kind of ear shattering noise. If someone could shoot that fucker in the eye, I'll be eternally grateful. Also, whatever is on this shithole planet is apparently important, I know this because it seems that this Reaper killed another one for control. And bring some explosives, we may have to blow some shit up here."