Khaela. Cruiser UNSC Apollo.
The Cruiser UNSC Apollo, as well as the Ajax (both ships carrying native energy guns from the Boundless Will), along with the Jupiter and Dominion—new generation ships—and a support group of three more cruisers and fifty destroyers and frigates as escort, are gathering for a raid.
Where were we headed with such a group? Intelligence discovered assembly lines and other Covenant infrastructure on the planet Jericho-VII. There is a small group of ships in orbit; throughout the observation period, no large enemy groups have been noticed, only transport or small fleet forces. Exactly what is needed to test our new ships in battle. The others will play a support role.
The Vice Admiral is handing out tasks to subordinates:
"Objectives: first, suppress the Covenant fleet. We have superior forces, so the priority is minimizing losses. Act carefully; the priority is to show maximum efficiency, not speed. Questions?"
There are no questions; there are no suicides who ask Margaret Parangosky questions in person either. The Vice Admiral continued:
"Second, the assault on ground structures, extracting everything that seems valuable. We approach, suppress defenses from orbit, and drop the landing force. First wave: UNSC Apollo and Ajax; the Jupiter-class ships do not possess the required number of landing forces. Frigates Kronshtadt, Baikal, Tayozhnik, destroyer Churchill—you are on anti-aircraft cover."
The captain of the Ajax raised his hand.
"In the event the Covenant focuses on the landing group, our actions?"
Margaret Orlenda Parangosky replied calmly:
"Hold the defense, sit under shields, and fire back. Priority is minimizing losses. If the enemy focuses on us, the Jupiter-class ships will support us with energy gun fire. If they focus on them, we will support as necessary. If the enemy splits up, we first destroy those attacking the forward group, then the rest. The support group has superior forces; this will not be a problem. Clear?"
"Yes, Vice Admiral."
She nodded.
"And the final stage. Third, destroy everything we cannot take with us. This was once a human colony, but now there is only the Covenant. Everything that is not captured will be destroyed. Now, the details..."
Naturally, we must act quickly. The Covenant still moves through Slipspace faster than we can afford. And we cannot simply lose prototype ships. In general, engaging large enemy forces is undesirable. Which means everything must be done quickly and precisely.
Simulations, plans, and combat schemes. While the fleet prepared for the campaign, officers worked through options for various scenarios. The paratroopers figured out how the assault should go. They trained.
Preparation took several days. Scientists were offloaded, just in case the ship was damaged. Dr. Catherine Halsey remained on Earth to polish our program for treating AI Rampancy to get the final version 1.0.
And she also planted a couple of dozen of her own clones, as if we didn't know about it. Black Box told me and showed me.
A smart woman who successfully pretends she didn't try to hack me. I also pretend I don't know about it, though I keep an eye on her. And on her new project, which requires clones and which isn't in official documents. There is a theory that she is trying to make—or rather, whom—her own AI. But it's too early to say. The clones might simply not work out, or the project might fail.
Jacob Reyes and the Possessed lab assistant continue to work on the weapon. They assembled their own mini-plant for enriched hydrogen on my assembly line. Essentially a small automatic ship with a factory function.
It will enter Slipspace, process hydrogen there, saturating it with neutrons, and return. The machine is fully automatic to avoid irradiating personnel in case of errors or system damage. These are prototypes; there will be errors in any case. Even if we screw up the weapon, creating factories using an eleven-dimensional working environment will be a breakthrough. But I am sure we will succeed with the weapon, sooner or later.
Jacob... is complicated. He constantly tries to use his authority, doubts his and my capabilities (he doesn't know I'm not human). He fears that in case of failure, he'll be forced to pay for all the developments we've built here. He constantly tries to be cautious, to limit, to play it safe, and thereby increases the cost of the project. And that no longer suits me.
Despite the fact that calculations say his project will work. With problems, after refinements, but it should work.
The only thing saving him from his bouts of paranoia is the fact that he isn't the project lead. And prompting kicks remind him of that. But even so...
"Jacob, you are over-insuring yourself!"
The man sighed, hissing something through his nose about "women pushing forward who will die of radiation, and he'll have to answer for it." Aloud, he said:
"I am not over-insuring enough! I'm not saying you're a bad specialist, Dana, but someone in this team has to have a self-preservation instinct!"
My calculations are precise.
"I am not mistaken; everything worked perfectly."
The man winced.
"Are you joking? You melted the compartment wall! Twice!"
"Only twice. And no one was hurt! A minor design defect. And further tests will take place at the Sahara Desert ranges; you can start a nuclear winter there if you want, no one will be upset. By the way, that's an idea."
The man shuddered. But he took the shoulder container with the emitter hose and placed it in a lead box. Our prototype. A yellow tank, a container with a radiation hazard sign, and rails in the form of a backpack, with the emitter hose in his hands. When we refine it, it will be the weapon of victory. The main thing is to make a durable hull; piercing the container kills the shooter and delights the surroundings with a couple of thousand lethal doses of radiation. Jacob Reyes snorted:
(I'm not even hiding that Jacob Reyes is creating this weapon, a little whim of the author)
"Sure, sure. And don't think that during the tests I'll be closer than a hundred meters behind a bunker lead wall. It's your eccentricity that demands decomposing enemies into plasma and lots of radiation. I like my body in its current form."
In general, he was almost glad to land on the planet. And the science group with their projects too. The Possessed went with them, but the Sahara test zone is indeed perfectly suited and much safer than ship compartments; he's absolutely right about that.
The Krogan also got their dose of joy. In fact, less had to be done than we thought. The Salarians themselves invented both The Genophage Cure and a dozen new strains. Why? Out of pragmatism.
No one wanted to exterminate the Krogan completely; that negatively affects ratings. And as long as all Krogan are concentrated around Tuchanka, it's just convenient. And in case the Genophage was too effective or vice versa, new versions were being prepared right on the station. More or less destructive.
We found records where Turian and Salarian scientists, killed during the assault, discuss whether to apply a more powerful strain. They had already noticed the excessive fertility of the Krogan and were deciding how best to proceed. And they developed everything needed; all that remained was to make a decision, which was where the main difficulties lay.
Well, we only had to take the cure and work not on full restoration of fertility, but on its slowing. Characteristically, Nakmor Drack's scientists, from Clan Nakmor, understood everything, agreed, and also worked on this together with humans. We watched them, but they were doing everything honestly.
The first successful results were obtained quite quickly, in a couple of weeks. There are still tests ahead, but we can solve the Genophage issue; that's the main thing.
When Wrex found out there was a cure, he ran straight to the ship to deliver the samples, knocking everyone out of his way. This enthusiastic five-hundred-year-old lizard didn't even listen to the Krogan scientist; he was just too happy.
Until he got punched in the face by Drack, who took the samples and sent that joyful body to build a city while he himself went into battle with us. After all, the cure needs to be checked before putting it into use. Conduct final tests, but that's a matter of weeks, fortunately we have cloning capacities available. Growing the whole Krogan isn't necessary; a part of the organs is enough, and the results on them are good, the forecasts for the new versions of the cure are too. We are managing, thanks to the Citadel scientists for the templates.
Drack had his heart and several organs replaced so the old man would be more vigorous. Performing operations on a Krogan is easy as pie; the main thing is that the organ is correct. If it doesn't take, the Krogan's regeneration will solve the problem itself.
But humans can do organ growing; everything took. Experience in transplants is also available, even if not transplants of organs to Krogan. The doctors were delighted and did everything in the best possible way, parallelly gathering material for a couple of doctorates in xenobiology. Nakmor Drack is vigorous, fresh, and ready to smash faces.
In the end, Wrex went to Kalros (as the Krogan named their new home), the Nakmor science team stayed below on the planet, and Drack is with us on the UNSC Apollo.
We will work as a separate team. My combat platform, Javik, Drack, and a couple of his soldiers. Yalorae is currently on Eden Prime, digging up the beacon, so we're without him.
Spartans will also participate in the battle, but they have their own specifics, so they are separate. Although both the Spartans and we will work as mobile units breaking through the enemy. But that's all a bit later.
For now, the ships are moving through Slipspace, the avatar stands by the window and looks into the abyss, hoping that it will look back. Not noticeable yet; there is definitely something there, but too little, too indistinct. Only echoes of something. There is a working atmosphere on the ship; everyone knows we are flying into battle.
and preparation. From behind came the heavy thud of metal soles on the metal deck.
"See anything, Drack?"
The Krogan approached and stood beside me, staring into the blackness. We remained silent, gazing for several minutes into the absolute darkness of slipspace. The Krogan spoke thoughtfully:
"There's something. Something… I don't know. What do you see?"
The combat avatar, in full armor but without weapons, shrugged:
"Hard to say. I see something on the edge of perception. But every time it's not enough, even though I'm constantly looking there. Ready for a fight, Drack?"
The Krogan bared his teeth, standing next to me.
"You bet. With everything going on, we warriors almost forgot about a good scrap. I can't wait for a battle with a new enemy."
I nodded.
"It's coming. Javik," the Prothean approached as well, but remained silent, simply stopping about two meters away, "the fleet will clear the sky, after which we'll descend and sweep the complex of the enemy. We need to act fast; the enemy is very fond of self-destruct systems. If we don't reach the terminals in time, there will be problems."
Well, you will die, and I will lose a combat avatar. But that will be later. For now, before the hum of the battle alert begins, we must prepare.
***
The ships emerged in a unified formation in blue flashes from slipspace. The escorts appeared first, followed by the destroyers, cruisers, and finally, in the center of the formation, four ships with large-caliber plasma cannons.
"Welcome to the planet Jericho VII. An outer colony of humanity, partially glassed in the year 2535. It has four moons. A significant portion of this world's refugees joined the UNSC Army after the glassing." At the moment, the system is under the control of The Covenant.
For example, refugees joined the Spartan-III program, which was being formed back then, but that is classified information.
"What matters is that The Covenant has established a base on the planet. And that is our target."
The planet Jericho VII is a combination of oceans and jungles. Humans settled three large islands; those were the ones glassed during The Covenant attack. More than a hundred other islands remained wild territory. And on one of them, near the planet's north pole, The Covenant bases are located.
When the human ships emerged at the edge of the system and redeployed, a dozen Covenant ships immediately began to turn and were almost instantly under fire. The shields of eight Covenant ships began to flare under the hits from the MAC (Magnetic Accelerator Cannon) of the frigates and destroyers, but they did not fail.
At that moment, a question arose for the Sangheili defense commander: why were the large human ships not attacking? It was clear that the human forces were too great; they would take losses, but they would win this battle. The only question was how heavy those losses would be. And the fact that the large ships were in no hurry to deal maximum damage before they were hit by plasma torpedoes was strange. Why?
The answer came a few minutes later when the human ships were enveloped in silver spheres of shields, with gaps for the guns. The first return volleys shattered against these domes. Shields were a problem, but a solvable one. They were not invulnerable; plasma would simply evaporate them over time. But why weren't the large ships firing their main batteries? The shield on the bow of four large ships had no opening for their main gun, while three of them did. This was strange, and it caused the Covenant commander to hesitate.
Both fleets continued to deplete each other's shields when the answer arrived. Two lead Covenant ships exploded as a blue beam traced a line from two human cruisers to the Covenant vessels. The kilometer-long machines bloated from within, venting energy from every crevice and tearing the ships apart with internal detonations. Escape was impossible.
Two other human cruisers, larger than usual, attacked with short blue flashes. There was the answer!
The humans had energy weapons, and they were mounted on an entire ship group! Moreover, they weren't plasma-based, but beam weapons that struck the target instantly.
"Evasive maneuvers!" but it didn't help; the human ships had clearly mounted their beam weapons on swivel mechanisms.
A few more hits later, two more Covenant ships exploded. Something had to be decided; half of the defensive group was destroyed. Yes, several torpedoes broke against the shields, having punched through the point-defense lasers, but the fire density was too low to knock out more than one ship with energy weapons in time. And one couldn't forget the smaller vessels, which were more than enough to handle the problem even without help from the "big ones." Their fire was making the shields of his flagship, a carrier, flare. Which meant...
"Jump to the enemy fleet. Inform High Charity about the energy weapons!" the Sangheili ordered.
He had no intention of fleeing the battlefield. After the extermination of the humans on the planet, sacred relics had been found, and they had to be protected at any cost, including their lives and the lives of the crew. The evacuation of the relics was being prepared; after all, no one expected to see humans here. A mistake. Now, they had to buy time for the evacuation group.
But the humans had no intention of stopping. When the Covenant ships executed a practiced maneuver and jumped, the human task force commander ordered:
"Reform! Formation 'Lily'!"
The large-caliber, triple-barreled railgun-sized turrets of the Jupiter-class ships swung into motion, and the liquid shield around them parted. Up and down. The frigates and destroyers slowed, aiming at sectors around the fleet. The Covenant loves to use jumps, and one must be ready to fire at the target's new location. Wherever it might be.
Command expected this. The defense fleet was too small. They would either retreat or try to disable as many ships as possible after a direct micro-jump.
And yet, the Covenant fleet managed to jump onto the flank of the human formation, right at its rear. The frigates that found themselves surrounded were immediately caught in heavy fire. Their own liquid shields, for those who had them, withstood the first strike. But those without shields instantly began to explode and disintegrate under the plasma hits and fight off boarding craft. A final, desperate assault led personally by the Covenant commander.
The human fleet reacted; two cruisers, three frigates, and a destroyer rushed at full speed toward the planet, while the rest began to turn to finish off the enemy. The Covenant managed to destroy or damage five more frigates and two destroyers before the new human ships, equipped with "turrets" (!!!), could lock onto the targets' new positions.
Here, the frigates' shields worked against them. The liquid shield has a downside: it requires magnetic fluid. For the shield to cover the entire hull of the ship, a vast amount of fluid is needed. On the stealth version of the frigate, the reduction in habitable volume and hangars is compensated for by the large number of Geth, who can be packed onto shelves in crates by weight, keeping only one or two active.
For a standard frigate, a choice had to be made between crew, landing force, and the volume of magnetic fluid. As a result, the frigate's sides are covered by shields, but the bow, where the railgun is located, and the stern are not. So at close range, they can't "angle" the armor, nor can they dodge, and the ships take damage. Still, it bought time; the laser defense system took part of the hit while the human fleet reacted.
And then the rest turned, opening up a dense barrage of lasers and railguns. After all, human ships are equipped with maneuvering thrusters that allow them to quickly rotate the hull in three dimensions. Fragility is compensated for by good mobility and shields, and the heavy firepower of the MAC (Magnetic Accelerator Cannon). And The Covenant felt this fact firsthand.
Two more ships were suppressed by the fire of plasma cannons and destroyed by railguns, while the last cruiser was disabled, spinning on its axis. And then the enemy flagship began to accelerate, attempting to ram one of the new human machines. Naturally, it was launching a multitude of strike craft of all kinds.
At such ranges, point-defense frigates can barely detonate plasma torpedoes to destabilize them, but lasers can effectively burn out strike craft. Some strike craft were launched in advance, and they tried to attack the UNSC Apollo and UNSC Talos with their escorts as they broke for the planet, while others were launched right in the middle of the human formation. Those pilots died very quickly, often right at the hangar exit in crimson laser fire.
The human ships reacted to the ramming attempt. The smaller vessels parted, taking the upper and lower echelons. The Jupiter-class and Dominion-class ships began to rotate on their axes, also shifting to attack the ship in a crossfire. Blue beams slid across the Covenant ship's shield, causing it to flare brightly. The ship snarled back, but the shields on both sides held. For now. One ship against an entire fleet—the outcome was obvious.
The ships' shields collided. Plasma flared brightly, and the magnetic fluid began to evaporate rapidly as the two ships pushed against each other.
The plasma gave out first, aided by the dense bombardment. And at point-blank range, the ship began to be torn apart by beams burning paths through the enemy machine's hull and shells ripping off chunks of metal.
When the carrier passed through the formation, it was already a mangled, twisted thing, moving more by inertia and slowly rotating. In any case, no one intended to leave these ships behind. There was no point in storming them; The Covenant would scuttle their machines. All that remained was to finish the job. And the fleet, having finished its work, rushed toward the planet.
Here, turning ninety degrees onto its side, the flagship and its sister ship suppressed the planet's anti-aircraft system with short pulses. Plasma flashes gradually depleted the shields, and Covenant strike craft tried to slip under them to deal damage. But the human fleet was guarded by the laser PKO (Planetary Defense) of its escorts, GA-TL1 Longsword interceptors, and missiles—lots of missiles.
So, from the perspective of the moving reinforcements, it looked like this: two large silver spheres with a blue beam striking downward, red beams and yellow tracers in all directions, purple and blue glowing projectiles flying from the planet—some detonating, some evaporating chunks of the shield. Four more smaller spheres, with only lasers, but also very many of them.
"How the tables turn when the playing field is level, eh, Covies?" a Marine sergeant smirked, watching his troops load into the ships. Gradually, the anti-aircraft defense below them was being suppressed, which meant the landing was about to begin. "Alright, girls! Today we're visiting the big bad boys. We're going to drink their booze, break their toys, and set their apartments on fire after pissing in the fridge. Is that clear?"
"Sir! Yes, sir!" roared dozens of men and women.
Some D77 Pelicans had been refitted using the same method as the "umbrellas," turning them into rams with a seven-meter radius shield dome on the nose. Of course, they had to give up the troop capacity, but there was still a machine gun and a missile pod. And the shields would draw fire.
Separately, the xeno special teams and Spartans were loading. These would take their own route, choosing the role of the bat that would crack Covenant heads. You could feel however you wanted about the aliens, but those big lizards were tough bastards who weren't afraid of a sparring match. The cockroach, Javik, felt like a veteran who had seen some serious shit.
And the one with the ears and tail, carrying her signature pink hammer, was now a dead-serious combatant with a pile of grenades.
"I'm actually curious to see who wins. Her or a Brute Chieftain," a technician remarked, for which he immediately received a clip round the ear.
"Don't talk nonsense, son. She's on our side, which means she wins."
The technician nodded.
"Yes, sir."
And the sergeant went to his vehicle. The fire density was dropping; the landing was starting right now. New armor, new weapons. New ships. Maybe humans weren't dominating the battlefield yet, but this was definitely a bid for victory.
Finally, the battlefield in space was cleared. Irrecoverable losses—one destroyer and three frigates against eight Covenant ships. There was damage to the cruisers, but nothing critical; they would leave under their own power. Yes, the attack was a surprise, but estimated losses had been twice as high, even considering the numerical advantage. And now, to everyone's delight, the humans and The Covenant had swapped roles. The sky belonged to us, and the Covies were digging in at their base, preparing to receive the landing force.
The Vice Admiral, meanwhile, listened to what the combatants thought of the new ships. Via holographic link, of course. After all, ground operations were not her area of expertise.
"The Jupiter-class ships performed well. Minimal damage, some PKO points and three shield projectors knocked out. Nothing critical, considering the battle is over. The beam cannon, unlike the original (which punches through supercarrier shields), pierces a cruiser's shield in five to eight hits, and a carrier's in twenty. Worse than a cruiser-grade MAC (Magnetic Accelerator Cannon), but the guidance guarantees a hit and doesn't require ammunition, which allows for more shells for the smaller MACs and turreted railguns. Rate of fire—one shot every five seconds. In total, the firepower exceeds any human ships."
The Vice Admiral seized on the comment.
"You said the plasma weapons performed worse than the MAC."
The officer replied:
"Yes and no. Yes, the single-shot damage is lower. No, we didn't use the entire arsenal in this battle, as we were conducting tests. Furthermore, ma'am, the rotating turret allows for much faster targeting. You can't use a railgun if your ship is broadside. You can use a beam cannon. A frontal volley from the turreted rails, two MACs, and the beam weapon exceeds a cruiser's by more than double. But with this weapon, even a broadside volley isn't much weaker than a cruiser's."
Margaret Parangosky nodded to the officer's hologram.
"I will expect a full report from you on the machine's strengths and weaknesses. Dismissed," and turning to the hologram of Khaela, she added, "Give me the feed, with a full report on the progress of the landing."
"Complying."
The Vice Admiral delved into the data.
***
Read the story months before public release — early chapters are on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Granulan