78 – Priority : Thessia (12)

This is before Samael arrived at the main fight

____

FLASHBACK

'This is a nightmare.' Shepard thought as she ran towards where the Normandy and the Phoenix were parked. With her, Tali, and RR.

'The Reapers weren't supposed to appear now. Even in the worst case scenario, Javik and LD said they would arrive only 5 years later ... but not even 5 months had passed since their presence was announced to the governments.'

' There's no doubt in my mind about the Reaper being real and attacking Thessia. Samael is trustworthy and even said he had a bad feeling today.'

' I think - I hope we can hold our ground.'

The worst thing about this whole situation is that different from other wars, where conflicts happen thanks to different opinions or straight-up evil, the Reapers only want one thing: the extermination of all organic life.

So, Shepard hoped they could at least save as many people as they could.

Finally, after running like maniacs, the trio arrived at their destination.

By the headcount, they were the second group to arrive, as Jacob, Veronica, EDI, Clare, and Dr. Chakwas were waiting for them at the door of the ships.

With a swift motion, Jacob passed Shepard her armor and guns. Veronica did the same to RR and Tali. It seems the first group had separated everyone's armor and were just waiting for the whole crew to arrive.

It saved a few minutes, at least. They knew that any second counted.

Shepard asked as she put on her armor, " Joker?"

EDI responded, " At the Normandy cockpit, waiting to engage."

At this point, the attack still hasn't started. Hell, even the enemies were missing. But the crew knew it was coming.

" Good. The rest?"

Jacob shook his head, " Last contact, they said they were close by."

By this point, everyone there was suited up and ready to battle, minus both doctors. Tali had personalized armor, just like RR.

Speaking of RR, both she and EDI were being overworked today, as their attention was split into so many areas it was getting difficult even for them to maintain.

The small group there stayed in silence, as they waited for their crews to arrive.

Suddenly they heard a sound that sent shivers down their spines.

They all rushed to a place where they could see the sky better and they almost regretted doing so. Up in the sky and getting close to their location, thousands of Geth ships were seen.

But the worst part was what was behind the Geth ships.

"..."

A massive 'unknown' ship was seen entering the atmosphere. It didn't land right away and stayed in the sky, almost like overseeing things.

Even Shepard, who has courage that could topple mountains, was doubting their chances of surviving today. And that was only seeing ONE Reaper. If what Javik and Samael reported were true, that the Reapers had an almost unlimi-

SLAP

Shepard slapped herself hard, making those thoughts go away. She had her mission and she would complete it, no matter what.

She looked around and was proud to see everyone had already recovered from their initial shock.

Just then, all crew had arrived in full. They took less than 3 minutes to ready themselves. In those 3 minutes, both crews heard a lot of screams and destruction happening around the planet, but they weren't ready to act yet.

But, now they were. By the way, Liara and Kasumi already warned everyone that they would not be able to regroup with them, as they were already fighting the enemy.

Shepard saw everything was ready and started to delegate functions.

" OK, listen up. Samael already gave orders so Joker, Veronica, take to the skies now and help where you can. Take the Doctors with you."

Veronica and Clare entered the Phoenix, while Dr. Chakwas and EDI entered the Normandy. The AI was tasked by Samael to help Joker.

Shepard now was going to separate the groups. Both crews had a lot of members, totaling more than 50 members.

She separated the normal members and focused on the elite, " Jacob, Thane, Keiji, take 20 members from the crew. You will focus on saving civilians. Do your best to not engage with the enemies, and only do so if necessary. Take the civilians to shelter or as far away as you can from the fight."

Thane was an assassin, so that mission was tailored for him. Kasumi would've been nice too, but she wasn't there, so Shepard had to improvise. Keiji would help, Jacob would act like a bodyguard, and the rest would provide support.

Thane was, ever since he arrived, praying. Not for him, but for his enemies, because of what he was about to do to them.

" Also, only use the channel Sama started the conversation in case of emergencies. Make one to communicate between groups."

" Leave it to us." Jacob took command of that group, made a different group in his omni tool, and turned to Keiji and the others, " Everyone ready?"

They all nodded.

" Then let's go!"

With that, that group joined the fight on Thessia.

Shepard turned to another group," Ash, Kaidan, John. Take 20 members with you and go join the temple. Samael said their main goal was there, so obviously the main fight will be there. Go give them hell."

Ash did the same as Jacob and created a different group in her Omni tool. John took command of that group and they departed soon after.

Only Tali, RR, Shepard, and 10 crewmembers remained. " We are the reinforcements. We will go around, helping all other areas."

Shepard looked at Tali with concern, as from her point of view, the Quarian was still wearing a suit that she didn't need to, that might make her slower or weaker." How about you ditch the suit? It might hold you back."

Tali smiled at Shepard, " I'm ahead of you, Commander."

With a click, the 'suit' opened up, revealing a normal-suited Tali. The Quarian explained, " Samael made this for me. It's an armor that looks like a quarian suit but way way stronger. It allows me to fight without revealing myself."

At this point, Tali sighed, " He made this for the future when the Reapers attacked... I never would've thought I would be using one so soon."

The armor was so good even Shepard didn't notice the difference. She then looked at RR. She knew, based on her limited knowledge, that the AI must be under extreme pressure right now. " RR, you good to go?"

The AI looked at Shepard, " I was made to stop the Reapers. It's time I started doing that."

Shepard nodded, closed her eyes, and prepared herself mentally.

" Let's go!"

With that shout, all crewmembers of the Normandy and the Phoenix, have joined the battle.

-- 

PRESENT

Not even 30 minutes had passed since the Geth and Sovereign arrived at the planet, but the number of civilian deaths was enormous.

Even though the Asari forces were doing their best to protect the population, they were caught off guard and thanks to that, their initial response was slow. Now, they finally got their shit together, thanks to the Matriarchs, and the battle for the temple was in a stalemate.

AT THE TEMPLE

From the beginning of the invasion until now, this place was the focus of the Geth attack.

Thanks to Samael's warning, the 100 Asari elite, who learned the content of the Beacon and would probably be chosen to go to Andromeda, were evacuated, leaving only the Matriarchs behind.

Liara, Benezia, Kasumi, and Tevos had joined them at the beginning and were fighting the enemy force until now.

Benezia and Tevos had joined the other Matriarchs and they separated everyone so that they could protect the temple from all directions.

It was decided that Liara and Kasumi would go together. The place they were protecting was supposed to be easy.

Supposed...

WITH LIARA

Liara, who was finally getting tired, used a Singularity on a group of Geth and husks who got close, and Kasumi, cloaked ( it means she was invisible, thanks to technology), used a grenade to finish that group off.

That made the duo finally have a breath. But, it wasn't for long, as another group of husks started to approach their location.

Liara had her stomach turn, as she tried not to think that those things were once her sisters. She had lost count of how many she killed since the invasion started.

' If the death count is this big in only half an hour of battle, imagine in a day or a week.'

Liara had that thought as she launched another Singularity on the husks. They were relatively simple to deal with, but you have to be careful as if you got surrounded by a huge number, things could get ugly.

BANG BANG

Kasumi dealt with the Husk. The human was a force of nature with her cloak, but she was afraid to fight the Geth head-on, as the piece had a brief cooldown before you could use it again.

" Isn't this area supposed to be the safest?" Kasumi asked Liara as she sat down and waited for more enemies to arrive.

Liara also noticed the number of enemies was only increasing. So, the Asari suggested, " Kasumi, do you want to check the situation outside?"

Kasumi shook her head, " I doubt it's looking good and you need me here."

Sure, Liara had been receiving training from Samael but even she could get overwhelmed. The only reason the duo was okay until now was because they were together.

" ... I honestly don't know for how long we can hold this place."

Just as Liara finished saying that, the group call started at the beginning, and finally said something other than asking for help and silence.

" This is Samael. We have arrived." 

He didn't say where, but Liara relaxed just from hearing his voice.

Kasumi, the newbie who only heard about Samael and never saw him in action, was still on edge.

But, both were glad to hear reinforcements had arrived.

Not only them, but the others who heard the message also got a morale boost. They knew Samael was a trump card, and while they doubted he could single-handedly win the war, they knew he could help immensely.

WITH SAMAEL

Thessia was transformed into Hell. An hour ago, this place was considered one of the most beautiful places in the galaxy, now....

The worst thing was, that Samael was accustomed to what Thessia had become. In past cycles, the one where the Reapers won, the whole galaxy was like Thessia. The silver line was, that they could still rebuild Thessia and they still haven't lost.

The resilience of the galaxy could not be underestimated, but for it to show, the Asari would have to survive today. And from what Samael was seeing, things could be better.

' The response was slow at the beginning, that's why there are so many Husks around. But, now it's on a stalemate.'

Just like Samael predicted with the things he had at hand, the main goal of the Geth seems to be the temple/beacon, and at least for now, the place still stands.

The other areas need more help.

Samael immediately acted with that in mind and commanded the personnel inside the Phoenix.

'' Veronica, you are our eyes. Drop us where is most needed at the moment.''

'' On it!'' Veronica was fighting the Geth ships and helping the Asari forces in the sky, all while looking around the place. The years of training under Samael were paying off.

She then dropped batches of temple guards in different locations, leaving only Samael, Samara, and Grunt behind.

'' Lead us to the temple.'' Samael said that to Veronica and used his omni tool to contact Tevos.

The Asari answered and said in a hurry, '' I'm busy at the moment Samael.''

Samael could hear shots being fired in the background of the call, '' It's a simple call with a simple motive. Destroy the Beacon.''

'' ... What?''

'' The Reapers are after the Beacon, so we destroy it. Besides, it's not a loss, as we have already extracted all the data inside it. We just have to analyze it now.''

This was something Samael had thought immediately after seeing Sovereign arriving at Thessia.

Tevos thought it made sense, but she could not act alone '' ... I'll talk with the other Matriarchs.''

Samael sighed. This was one of the many examples of what was wrong with the Galaxy. Even now, in the face of death, they would still ask others. Even Tevos, who Samael considered an exception, still falls victim to this.

Just then, both Tevos and Samael heard something in the background of the call, '' Spectre Saran arrived to help!''

Immediately after hearing that, Samael roared to Tevos, '' DON'T TRUST HIM! HE'S WORKING WI-''

Static filled the call, meaning Sarem jammed the signal. The silver line was that Samael had alerted Tevos way before today, and Benezia not long ago, about Saren, so they should be on edge.

Still, this was something that even he didn't predict. Another problem has arisen.

' I was too passive... I should've killed him long ago.'

Regret and doubt about why he didn't act sooner filled his mind, but, Samael didn't delve too much into the what-ifs of this situation. He just screamed at Veronica, '' FASTER!''

While Samael doubted Saren could face all Asari inside the temple, things were so crazy now that even he didn't know what to believe anymore.

They were running out of time.