章 147: Chapter 145

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On the Human colony of Elysium controlled by the Alliance, a huge band of pirates mixed with terrorists from the Batarian Hegemony's remnants, partly funded by various Batarian corporations who lost a lot of profit from having to end their practice of slavery.

The attack was intended to destroy Elysium and was in response to the Alliance's aggressive expansion into the Skyllian Verge. The Skyllian verge is a largely undeveloped patch of space situated along the borders of the Systems Alliance and Batarian Dominion.

As such, both powers are contending with each other to colonize, develop, and exploit the worlds in the region. While mostly there had been only slight diplomatic repercussions between the two, there was still a developing hate between the two races.

The Batarians who had been in the galaxy longer than the Alliance and saw the Skyllian Verge as rightfully theirs and opposed the Alliance being allowed to colonize planets in the Verge. Axel decided not to step in and let the situation play out as whatever happened, he would be there to stabilize the situation in the aftermath. His attention as well as the Ascendency's was required elsewhere.

The Pirates descended on Elysium targeting the colonies' defenses first which allowed for more of their forces to land. The attack was being led by a former Batarian General who defected to the remnants side when the war ended. His name was general Krevok, a notorious name throughout the galaxy, feared and despised by many. With a cunning mind and fierce ambitions, he was a well-known terrorist wanted for many crimes that he had committed throughout the years.

Elanos Haliat, was the leader for the Pirates and was working alongside General Krevok to launch a combined attack against Elysium. Haliat rallied the inhabitants of the Terminus Systems to attack Elysium, an assault that would later be known as the Skyllian Blitz. He intended to use the prestige of the Blitz to cement his position as leader of the Terminus Systems' many pirate bands.

General Krevok was a ruthless pragmatist. His assault on the colonies' defenses was swift, brutal, and efficient. The Alliance had expected skirmishes, minor hit-and-run tactics; they had not been prepared for the full-out onslaught that Krevok brought down on their colony.

As the defenses fell, pirate warships combined with ships bearing the symbol of the Hegemony's remnants descended from orbit, disembarking hordes of Batarian and other alien troops onto the colony's surface.

On the ground, the Alliance forces were desperately trying to defend the colony against the overwhelming enemy forces.

But even as they rallied, their numbers dwindled, their defenses collapsing under the weight of Krevok's relentless assault. The residents of Elysium found themselves thrown into a warzone, their homes reduced to rubble and their lives hanging in the balance.

In the midst of this chaos, soldiers from the Alliance fought back with everything they had. They erected makeshift barricades, setting up positions at key vantage points throughout the colony. Heroes emerged from unlikely places; factory workers took up arms alongside soldiers; doctors, nurses, and medical staff transformed storefronts into field hospitals; ordinary citizens stepped up and aided in evacuation efforts.

On one front, one particular young officer, Lieutenant Junior Grade John Shepard was in a difficult situation.

"Sir, we can't hold this position for much longer, we need to get our wounded out of here." shouted a soldier as they were ducking behind cover.

Analyzing the situation, Shepard saw that the onslaught of the enemy forces wasn't slowing down anytime soon, and if they retreated now, then they would allow other forces to be flanked should they lose this position.

"Alright," he said, his voice steady amidst the chaos and noise. "Fall back to secondary positions, we'll cover your retreat." The soldier nodded hesitantly before turning to relay the order.

A stray grenade exploded nearby, shaking the ground beneath them and raining down debris on their heads. Shepard didn't flinch, didn't break his gaze from the battlefield as one misstep and they would lose everything.

He knew this was a losing fight, but retreating now would put too many forces at risk, and surrender was not an option. He'd make damn sure they paid a high price for every inch of Elysium they took.

As the wounded soldiers began to move, Shepard rallied what was left of his team. "Gomez! Cover fire! Blaze, start laying down some mines!" As his orders echoed around him, Shepard gripped his rifle tighter, ready for what was to come.

As Shepard and his team held their position, providing cover for the retreating wounded, the enemy forces pressed forward. Kinetic shots whizzed past them, men and women shouted in pain or fear.

As the wounded soldiers got farther away, Shepards team was losing people fast. Shepard himself had taken out a lot of enemies, but it wasn't making up for the number of marines that he was losing.

From above, a pirate shuttle with a mounted gun was providing aerial support for the attacking enemy forces. Gomez had grabbed the rocket launcher that they had and aimed it at the shuttle to take it out. But as he was doing this, an enemy had thrown a grenade directly underneath his feet. Gomez was busy locking onto the shuttle, so he didn't see it.

Shepard attempted to save him, "Gomez watch out!!" but he was too late. The grenade had gone off and sent Shepard flying back a few feet into the ground. Blaze seeing this attempted to run to his comrades, but his armor was penetrated by the mounted gun on the gunship.

Shepard, the last one alive, had attempted to stand back up to fight, but he was pushed back onto the ground as a Batarian had placed his foot on his chest.

"Pathetic human, you should've just laid down and died like a good little dog that you are" spoke the soldier as he aimed his gun at Shepards head prepared to execute him.

Shepard didn't have the strength to move as the impact from the explosion had shattered a few of his bones. As he awaited his death, he had seen a few black dots falling from sky. But he didn't think much about it until the pirates started panicking and shooting blindly into the sky.

The pirate who was about to shoot Shepard had turned his attention to the commotion and saw what his fellow soldiers were shooting at. He joined them, leaving behind an immobile Shepard to watch the commotion from the ground.

A few seconds later, the black dots had got closer until they eventually hit the ground. Once the dust settled, 10 Spartans whom the pirates were familiar with were standing in front of them.

In the seconds that followed, there were no words spoken by the Spartans as they began massacring all the pirates in the area. As the sounds of screams occurred, one of the Spartans approached Shepard who was the only one in the area still alive amongst the Alliance soldiers.

Leaning down, the scanner showed that the soldier was still awake but had been immobile due to a lot of broken bones. The spartan pulled something from his armor and watched as small healing nanites had begun to repair the Alliance soldiers' broken bones and body.

This was one of the many medical advancements that the Ascendency had made and incorporated into medical technology of the military. It was used to heal broken bones, wounds, and certain conditions in a matter of seconds.

Shepard could feel the sudden relief as his body began to feel better, his strength returning to him, and he was able to move his body.

Sitting up the Spartan had handed Shepard his pistol, "Get up Lieutenant, we still have a fight to win," said the Spartan.

Grabbing the pistol, Shepard knew who these armored titans were as most within the Alliance knew about them and few had seen them.

"My names Shepard, Lieutenant Shepard," he said as he grabbed the pistol.

"I'm called the Master Chief," replied John.

Shepard nodded, acknowledging both the name and the reputation behind it. He had heard stories about the Spartans, about their strength and combat prowess, stories which he was now witnessing first-hand.

With renewed vigor, Shepard stood up, pistol in hand. "What's the plan?" he asked, turning to face Master Chief.

Master Chief surveyed the battlefield, his visor reflecting the smoke and explosions around them. "We need to push back their advance; we have Ascendency marines combined with what's left of the Alliance marines defending the evacuation point while other forces are engaging the pirates. They won't be able to leave the planet, and our mission is to annihilate any pirate that we find… No prisoners."

"Got it," Shepard responded, gripping his pistol tighter. For the next few hours, the battle of Elysium turned into a victory for the Alliance colony and considered a major failure for the Terminus Systems pirate forces.