On Tuchunka, the fighting had just started as the Krogan Warlord Sekmor Strelak had begun his attack on the research base. Surrounding the research base were a few Krogan who believed the cure could be made. As soon as the fighting started, they joined the battle without any hesitation.
The commander of the Honor Guard was CDR Thom-A293 who had the callsign 'Noble Six'. He was one of the first batch of Spartan-IIIs to be selected and chosen to be an Honor Guard and had worked his way up the Hierarchy to be able to command an entire group of Honor Guards.
Upon first finding out about the attack, CDR Thom had given the order for the Honor Guard to defend the research base while he went to inform Catherine.
Walking up to the entrance of her lab, CDR Thom walked past two Honor Guards giving a brief nod as the two allowed him to pass as he was their Commander.
In the lab Catherine was deep into her research studying the Krogan physiology to develop a universal cure for each Krogan while also trying to solve the problem of their high growth rates. She didn't notice CDR Thom had walked in and had continued her research alongside Anders who she called to assist her in research.
"Ma'am" called out CDR Thom as Catherine's focus remained on her research. This was normal for her, so he just continued with his report "We have multiple enemies who I assume are mercenaries attacking the East and West side of the base. I have already deployed MCUs and a few Honor Guards to defend both sides and have already submitted my report to the CENTCOM."
Not looking away from what she was doing, Catherine responded "Are you sure they are mercenaries?" Questioned Catherine. If they were mercenaries, then there was no danger at all, and she could send the Commander to go and kill everybody who was attacking them.
But if they were from the Council then that was another matter which would spark a galactic war between the Council and the Ascendency.
"Yes, Ma'am, scans have identified many of the attacking force as Mercenaries, with some having bounties on their head or being wanted by various other races." Explained CDR Thom.
"If that's the case, then you have my full Authority to wipe them out and make sure none of them escape alive," Catherine ordered. She didn't take her eyes off her microscope, but the surprising command was more than enough to cause CDR Thom to hesitate for a moment.
Unlike Axel, Catherine was known to be less aggressive when it came to the subject of war and throughout his time as one of her Honor Guards, he had never heard such a thing come out of her mouth.
"Are you sure, ma'am?" asked CDR Thom, the surprise apparent on his face.
"Yes," she replied. "We need to send a message to anybody else who would dare try to attack this place again."
Hearing her words Thom saluted, "Understood, ma'am," he replied, turning to leave the lab promptly. As soon as CDR Thom left the room, Catherine resumed her work while Anders didn't pay attention to what had just happened as she had been attacked numerous times working in the field. This time was no different, plus she had some of the strongest soldiers protecting her so there is no need to worry.
Once the commander was gone, Catherine had called for Cortana who was assisting her with the research of the genophage, "Cortana" Called Catherine as Cortana's avatar materialized on top of Catherine desk.
"Yes, Ma'am" Answered Cortana.
"Pause your research for now and focus on finding the mastermind behind this attack," said Catherine.
"I will get right on it, Ma'am" replied Cortana as she began searching for any connections that may point to the person who planned this attack. She started hacking systems and finding any evidence that may point her in the right direction.
On the battlefield, Thom communicated Catherine's command to the Honor Guard and MCU teams and they began their assault against the mercenaries.
Mixed in with the mercenaries were not just Krogan, but also Turians, Asari, Salarians, and Batarians. Most of the mercenaries were Krogan followed Turians, the Asari and Salarians were a small part of the attack force, but they were the most powerful because of the Asari biotics and the Salarian tech.
The Batarians were either exiles or people who fled the new government out of hatred for the abolishment of slavery. Now they are back to return the favor by preventing the cure of the genophage from being completed.
The Krogan being the most formidable in terms brute strength were quickly overpowered by the Spartans and Sangheili. Amongst the turmoil, the Turians showcased their precision marksmanship while the Asari unleashed devastating biotic attacks against the Ascendency forces.
The biotics were effective against the MCUs but proved to be less effective against the Honor Guards who either dodged the attack or recovered swiftly.
The Salarians utilized turret emplacements to lay down suppressing fire on certain positions across the frontline while the Batarians fought with a fervor born from vengeance. Despite their combined forces, the mercenaries found themselves in a losing battle. The soldiers of the Ascendency were simply too disciplined, too powerful.
CDR Thom himself was moving through the battlefield taking out all the mercenaries in his path. The weapons that the other races used compared to the Ascendency were weak and didn't do much damage to his shields which allowed him more maneuverability.
The Kinetic barriers that the mercenaries had couldn't take the damage that the Ascendency weapons dealt resulting in quick deaths for a few mercenaries. As CDR Thom was running from cover to cover, an Asari had managed to catch him and landed a direct hit pushing back a few feet.
Thom quickly recovered from the attack as his armor had absorbed most of the damage and fired his own energy rifle in the Asari's direction, but his shots were blocked by a Biotic forcefield which surprised him for a moment.
While Thom was momentarily distracted, a Turian sniper targeted him. The shot was absorbed by Thom's shield and had managed to do more damage than one of their rifles. Not that the mercenaries could see how much damage their weapons were doing anyway.
The only thing they saw was his shield glowing every time one of their shots landed. Recovering quickly, Thom readied his energy sword and charged towards the Asari. The Asari pushed against him with her biotic field, but Thom's momentum was too powerful, and he broke through, slicing one of the Asari arms off.
She screamed in pain causing the mercenaries around her to look in horror seeing what Thom had just done. To end her suffering, he cut off her head and proceeded to his next target. The mercenaries were surprised by this quick change in how their opponent was fighting.
One moment they were being shot at, and now they were being charged and cut in half. A few of them had fled the battle seeing this overwhelming move, while many of them still stayed behind hoping to reap the rewards of this job.
While the battlefield was filled with the sounds of gunfire, slashing energy swords, and exploding grenades, there was one sound that rose above it all, the war cry of a Krogan warlord. Sekmor Strelak had finally joined the fight, and he was barreling down on Thom with a raw fury that caused the other mercenaries to move out of the way.
Undeterred by the sight of the Krogan warlord charging at him with his massive shotgun in hand, Thom stood his ground to face him head on. As Sekmor got close and prepared to ram Thom with his body, Thom swiftly sidesteppted the attack and used his energy sword to sever one of Sekmor's arms.
Sekmor roared in pain and anger as he swung his remaining arm at Thom, who ducked under it and thrust his energy sword into Sekmor's side. With a hollow gasp, the Krogan warlord staggered back, pulling away from the blade. The cut from the energy sword had penetrated his armor and pierced his skin.
Thom didn't hesitate. He moved in quickly, bringing the energy sword down in a swift arc that cleaved right through the massive Krogan shotgun and dealt a final blow to Sekmor's chest. The formidable Krogan warlord went down with a surprised gasp.
For as long as the Krogan lived, they had never met another race that could overpower them in hand-to-hand combat. Their standard tactics of charging headfirst into the battle without any plan didn't seem to work this time around as they were being obliterated.
With the death of Sekmor, the mercenaries attempted to flee, but Thom gave chase and hunted down each one of them alongside the other Honor Guards.