Liara T'Soni.
Transferring the Shadow Throne into our space took some time, so we were temporarily cut off from the world, excluding the quantum link with agents. And news, also via quantum link.
During the transition, the Shadow Throne is a quiet place. The ship already has a small crew, who are currently busy with various things. Joker is bored in the cockpit, indulging in watching his collection, and the rest of the time he trolls the crew. Once, the pilot and his films became a point of interest for the Raloi: Luan didn't understand what she was seeing and asked directly. Joker choked on the question and, embarrassed, gave her a lecture on the reproduction of warm-blooded viviparous animals. I later asked:
"Jeff, usually you aren't so easily embarrassed. And here you were turning red, as if it wasn't you who threatened to dump your collection on me."
To which the pilot replied:
"I somehow didn't expect that I would be telling all this to a teenage girl. It's one thing to make dirty jokes, another to give lectures like that. Her questions are completely childish. I didn't expect it."
I thought about it and, in a maximally thoughtful tone, reminded him:
"If you've forgotten, Joker, by human standards, I'm about fifteen years old. And you weren't embarrassed by me."
It was hard not to laugh, watching Joker grimace.
"You're a different story!" the pilot immediately found an answer.
I made a thoughtful face and asked:
"Really?" I wonder what he'll say.
Joker nodded confidently.
"Well, of course! Liara, you're not a little kid! I read that Asari live with their parents until they're thirty-five and have a certain level of legal capacity from thirty, and they work in clubs from twenty-five. And I'm almost certain you have much more experience in relationships, after half a century of study and then practice as an archaeologist. And Luan said herself, she's a princess and lived in a palace. That's completely different; they don't let guys near princesses! They're supposed to wait for a husband in a tower and all that," Jeff shared his knowledge and immediately changed the subject: "By the way, Liara? What's interesting happening in the galaxy? Only you have access to the news."
Hmm. Once again, I'm convinced that Joker is definitely not a fool, even if he acts like a clown. He can be when he wants to.
"The Council is going to retake Omega. This time, it's not mercenaries going into battle, but a professional fleet. Citadel forces with intelligence and everything else. And since agents from among the locals are involved, I know quite a lot about it."
The pilot whistled.
"Think they'll manage? Last time they were just torn apart. It was just a slaughter."
I shrugged.
"I don't know. Citadel forces are using new ship models. They say the Turians were able to recreate Thanix Cannons and mass-installed them on ships. A new model of light cruiser, the Auxilia-class. The Quarians, those who survived, went to the Turian Hierarchy as technical specialists. So the Turians have built up their combat potential quite well during this time. If the Covies don't catch the fleet by surprise and don't bring a Covenant Supercarrier, there's a chance, I think. And if Omega is successfully retaken, it will be the Collectors' base's turn."
The door opened and Jalim entered the room. Obviously, she had heard part of what I said.
"Ambitious. And what's there, at the Collectors' base? It sounds like you're afraid, boss."
Joker replied.
"When we were there, there was a huge unwashed Krogan's ass on the base. Big, it stinks, and he wants to sit on your head with it. First, a graveyard of ships, with hidden defense devices. Reaper Strike Craft, maybe turrets. Powerful enough to cut through a frigate's armor and stage a boarding action. And yes, those are Reaper fighters, not Citadel races. They are much more dangerous."
We know this from personal experience; the SSV Normandy SR-2 was hit by a Reaper fighter during the suicide mission. And it cut holes in the hull and penetrated the cargo hold. John and the team had to fight back in the cargo hold. And that sphere was an extremely dangerous opponent.
"Sounds like a problem," Jalim replied interestedly, looking at me.
I nodded.
"It is. Jalim, assume that any weapon with a 'Reapers' label is much more dangerous than we're used to. More dangerous than everything the Council Races have shown in the last ten thousand years. It's easy to underestimate the Reapers, but they are always, always stronger than you think. I'm not sure they can be defeated in battle at all. Whether with our technology or with human and Covenant tech. There are too many of them, they are too dangerous."
The Matron nodded slowly.
"I understand, boss. And then? I take it the ship graveyard is only the first line?"
We exchanged glances, and I suggested Joker continue the story. After all, he was there, unlike me.
"Well, then the real fight begins. A Prothean cruiser flies at you from the Collector station. If you're lucky—one. If you're not lucky, I think they should have about five. Or maybe more, I have no idea. And their weapons are powerful—like our Thanix Cannons, but even cooler. So there will likely be losses. Well, when you deal with them and take out the base's defense system, the landing begins. And yes, Collector base shields are no joke; you can't just punch through them. But I didn't participate in the landing, you understand, I have a different job," Joker explained, pointing to his exoskeleton, "my job is to get people out when things go south."
I smiled.
"Well, I wasn't there either, but I've seen the recordings. Husks, Collectors of all kinds, Seeker Swarms, like on Omega..."
Jalim shuddered. As my security chief, I had shown her the recordings. She needs to know what forces the Collectors could field against us. The Matron clarified:
"And why are we going there again?"
I sighed; why did she decide we were going there? It would be interesting to see, that's true, but we can't.
"We aren't going there, Jalim; the Shadow Throne would definitely be unmasked. And we won't have time to reach Omega. But the Citadel forces... This time, they want to deal a good blow to the Covenant. Omega is suitable; there are agents and even surviving troops on the surface. Later, using IFF codes, the strike will also be against the Collectors. We'll watch the broadcast, and I'd like you, as a military person, to watch the broadcast and tell me what you think. You have more experience."
Jalim thought and smirked.
"I want the broadcast on the big screen in the mess hall. And some Valar berry tincture."
Excellent. I smirked.
"You'll have it. Pick a spot; it's about to start."
"That's cheating!" Joker protested.
I just spread my hands. Who said it would be easy?
***
The Citadel fleet appeared from the Mass Relay in a surge, in a single formation. We observed the process not from the side of the attacking ships, but from Omega; apparently, someone is recording from one of the towers. Not surprising; there are agents on the station from both me and the Council. Moreover, the Council, through the Spectres, is buying information from the Shadow Broker. If anyone found out, they wouldn't believe it.
"And there are the new ships. They really did adapt my bird!" Joker threw out discontentedly, "but they're bigger than the Normandy."
I nodded.
"By a hundred meters. I was only able to get a couple of general photos; the ships have an enlarged tungsten tank. The Auxilia-class light cruiser."
A known problem with the Thanix on the Normandy: a small ammunition capacity. Only about a dozen shots. These aren't compact slugs; it's specifically a stream of liquid metal; to turn it into a glowing suspension and use it in a shot, you need a lot of material. Plus, you need a significant volume for the heating mechanism and mounting the weapon in the hull (on the Normandy, the weapon retracts into the fuselage). On the Normandy, a larger ammunition capacity could only be placed at the expense of internal space. And considering that there was never enough room on the ship, even with an incomplete crew...
The Normandy was not originally designed for mounting such a weapon. But the current Turian project is.
The ships, unlike the slow-moving dreadnoughts, scattered to the sides at full speed, avoiding the fire of the fleet from above and below. The Covenant ships, having already understood how to meet ships exiting the Mass Relay, engaged in a firefight. Part of the forces were positioned above the Mass Relay, part below. The exiting ships practically cannot attack themselves and find themselves under crossfire. The first casualties appeared immediately, mostly among the slow-moving ships. The nimble light cruisers race around no worse than the Normandy, though not quite the way Joker does it.
The cruisers began to douse the Covie forces with glowing streams of blue metal; plasma flew back in response. Every hit dealt terrible damage to the Turian ships; the metal of their shots flashed on the shields.
"Cumulative and kinetic effect," Jalim said interestedly, "look, it's helping."
The shields of the first Covenant raider collapsed under heavy fire from the ships racing around. Then the second, the third, at the cost of a dozen ships damaged or destroyed. The Covenant ships aren't the largest; the carrier and escort are at Omega; the patrol forces at the Mass Relay are small. And while the remaining two dozen Auxilia-class cruisers are sawing through the Covenant ships with streams of metal, the Mass Relay flashed, releasing new, heavier ships. And a new batch of light cruisers.
"And now they'll bomb the stationary defenses," Joker smirked, and turned to me, "they have a map of the stationaries from Omega, right?"
I nodded.
"Yes, my agents helped map the station's guns. The question is how the carrier and escort will react."
The ship released Strike Craft. A huge swarm began to launch from both the ship and the station, flanking the Citadel ships. In response, the GARDIAN system activated, and mass launches of missiles began from three rounded transports. The ships turned into disco balls, and dozens and hundreds of dots from two heavy platforms spread in all directions on the scanners.
"I don't remember those among the Turians either," Joker noted, "missile ships, imagine that."
I nodded.
"I only heard about their existence from the Matriarchs. Missiles are good at shooting down Strike Craft; not all of their ships have shields. And the small Covenant ships don't have GARDIAN. If there are many missiles, the defense is good."
And that's a fact, as the missile swarm slammed into the stream of Covenant ships, blowing apart more and more ships; dots are going out by the hundreds per minute. From two more Turian Hierarchy carriers that arrived from the Mass Relay, Strike Craft launched, moving to intercept the enemy. At the same time, the cruisers, lining up, began to shell the station from maximum distance. I noted:
"My agents and Council agents are helping with target designation."
From the filming point, white dots can be seen, merging practically into a beam, striking the shielded towers. The shields flash, becoming visible and marking their position in space. More and more slugs began to explode on the shields, making them burn more actively. First, the shield turned white, then red, showing that the fire density from an entire fleet is quite high. The Auxilia-class cruisers are also helping with Thanix fire from maximum distance.
When the first of the projectiles pierced the shield, the station shuddered, and the explosion shook everything, making the structures ring and grate. The one filming cursed when an Omega tower at the point of impact was snapped and the metal structure began to fold in on itself, falling onto the station under the influence of gravity generators. From the impact, it bounced and, in a crumpled state, flew away from the station, clearly leaving the atmospheric shield zone. The screech of crumpling structures became simply deafening; the nearby towers are vibrating slightly. And the battle continued, and new hits struck the station.
Of course, the Covenant towers are firing back, but from ultra-high distances, the ships have time to evade, which they do.
The Covenant patrol ships at the Mass Relay were successfully finished off, ultimately losing ten ships completely destroyed and four more damaged. The Auxilia-class cruisers scattered, taking positions at some distance. While the bombardment is underway, the carriers and missile ships and their machines clashed in battle with the Strike Craft, while the cruisers continue to trade fire with Omega and the carrier at extreme distances. They are dousing them with tungsten of all sorts and kinds.
"They're waiting for a group of Covenant ships to appear from a jump," Jalim concluded.
And they came. Flashes appeared, and below the Citadel ships, Covenant ships began to exit... and immediately flashes of explosions appeared. Nuclear ones, at that. At a distance from the Citadel ships, but the flashes are noticeable.
Joker leaned forward and asked:
"Mines?"
Jalim nodded.
"Those very ones. Mines. I'd guess they laid them immediately after exiting the Mass Relay, scattered them from the hardpoints of the light cruisers just for such a case."
The flashes of explosions are clearly absorbed by the shields that turned on after their ships exited. The Covenant forces appeared in full, ready to spray the Citadel ships into their defenseless bellies. But they themselves were struck in the flanks by the light cruisers with installed Thanix Cannons that had previously been waiting at a distance from the main forces. And the Turian cruisers turned out to be equipped with missiles and guns that struck downward. They expected it to be this way.
But one of the ships that appeared is a five-kilometer one. A glow appeared in the upper part of the enemy supercarrier, and a blue beam pierced a Turian heavy cruiser through and through, exploding and cutting it in half. I shuddered, and Jeff grimaced noticeably, clearly remembering what happened during the Reaper attack. Back then, the synthetics, only not with white-blue but with crimson beams, also burned and cut through ships. I had already seen this.
And again, the missile ships went into action. A wall of projectiles struck the roof of the ship, making the shield flash purple. Unfortunately, it's impossible to tell exactly what they're firing.
"Disintegrator ones. See how the light flickers?" Jalim immediately inserted, refuting my position, "will it punch through or not?"
The ship fired another beam, ignoring the swarm of its own Strike Craft swirling around the missile ship, and struck the rounded belly of the missile ship flashing with lasers. A second later, the ship shuddered as the beam pierced it through and through and literally cut it into two parts, after which the ship exploded from within when the ammunition detonated.
At the same time, a carrier detonated, and two heavy cruisers, falling apart in flight and with flames breaking through the breaches, judging by the operation of the maneuvering thrusters, are trying to stabilize their flight.
But, what's important, the streams of tungsten, the white flashes of mines and shells, as well as the missiles were able to break the giant's shields, albeit at a high price. And not only them; several Covenant guns from Omega opened fire on their own.
"And that's help from the humans," I answered the unspoken question, "I bought information from them on how to reconfigure the guns, with pictures. The Salarians bought that data for a twenty-fold rate. It seems to be helping."
Jeff whistled, and we are watching the second phase of the battle. New ships arrived through the Mass Relay, Asari and Salarian ones. And while the Asari ships focused on the Strike Craft, working mainly with missiles and GARDIAN, the Salarians are also using numerous Thanix Cannons on the Covenant supercarrier, which continues to attack everyone around. A couple more Turian carriers deployed Volus bombers, turning the battle at the Mass Relay into a slaughterhouse, which the carrier also joined. Which was blown up by a series of hits. Now there is a real field of debris in front of the Mass Relay, which will have to be cleared before the device can be used.
"When it's all over, the Mass Relay will have to be seriously cleared," Joker noted this same fact, "there will be such a field of debris there, even I'm not sure I could fly through on the Shadow Throne. On my bird, yes, but the Shadow Throne is too clumsy for that."
Suddenly, a large Covenant ship was jolted, and it retreated in a blue vortex, leaving behind a field of debris from its own mechanisms. And after it, the carrier and the remaining large ships.
"Excellent," I smiled, "they drove it away."
"Yeah, but the losses..." Jalim sighed, "and that was only a small group."
Four artillery cruisers (three destroyed, the fourth seriously damaged), more than two dozen light ones in various states of destruction, two missile ships and carriers each were traded for six destroyers, three cruisers, and a seriously damaged carrier, and only a damaged but clearly still combat-capable Covenant Supercarrier, which retreated.
l from the battlefield. A victory? Against the Citadel races, this would have been a clear defeat. But in the case of the Covenant and in close combat with a super-dreadnought, it is a good result. So, we will consider it a victory.
The ships continued to bomb Omega based on targeting data, in no hurry to begin the landing, shelling the station from extreme distances. Had the defense not been stationary, this would have made no sense. But the PKO towers are forced to fire from maximum range at a moving target, whereas the ships can afford to maneuver, drenching the shields in tungsten and punching through them. A turret isn't going anywhere. Meanwhile, the fleet continues to exterminate the Covenant strike craft abandoned by their own.
"Whoa, they're attacking," said the invisible cameraman, "look at that, boss."
It was clear that the Citadel forces had begun the assault on the Covenant bases on the surface, attacking the shield-covered outposts. I looked away from the footage.
"One minute, I need to send a correction so they don't hit our own."
I had to spend several minutes indicating which of the structures visible to me were being attacked by the Council forces on the station's surface. The Citadel forces cannot afford to ignore their own troops and bomb them, even if the Covenant can. During this time, the situation calmed down somewhat. The Citadel forces, judging by the recording and scanner readings, are evacuating crews from damaged ships and picking up surviving pilots. There is, if I remember the terms correctly, a struggle for survival. But I might be mistaken.
The bombardment of Omega lasted for some time longer, during which the landing forces were in no hurry to disembark. The operator hid several times after hits, cursing as several more towers collapsed. A few even flew off into space along with chunks of the station.
Finally, the landing began. Having ensured there was no more resistance, the Citadel forces began delivering the landing party to the station. Not everyone—fifteen ships, a carrier, five Asari cruisers, and several ships of other classes—having confirmed the lack of resistance, moved toward the red Mass Relay.
At the same time, the Citadel troops continued the landing, dropping aviation and atmospheric landing transports, drop pods, and even ships that entered under the atmospheric shield and assisted the paratroopers with GARDIAN. After all, a powerful laser can burn out even an APC if necessary. And the GARDIAN system has more than one of them.
"Will they manage, do you think?" Joker asked.
I shrugged.
"Hard to say. This is only the first line of defense. No one knows how many Covenant and their supporters are in the depths of the station. Vorcha, again. There could be very, very many of them."
Jalim pondered.
"That's not required right now. They only need to intercept the outer defense lines, regain control of space. After that, Aria T'Loak will be able to retake the station with mercenary forces. Or deliver reinforcements and supplies from space, slowly and methodically."
"So Aria T'Loak survived?" Joker clarified, "You didn't say where she ended up in the end."
I sighed. It would have been better if Aria T'Loak had been there in Matriarch Benezia's place. But no, the Queen of Omega had survived once again.
"An indecently agile Matriarch. Our corporations had plenty of production facilities in the 'cap' of Omega, as did the Turians and Salarians. So it won't be a problem for Aria T'Loak to find the forces to retake the station. She'll buy them."
"And then there's the Batarians, and everyone else," Joker added, "By the way, where'd we lose the bird? I thought Luan would be here."
I suppressed a smile; it wasn't polite.
"I asked the commandos to give her a training session so she wouldn't get in the way. So the princess is sleeping it off; she'll watch the recording. But you're right about the Batarians. Omega is good for both cheap labor and test subjects. Synthetic medi-gel was developed right here. Tested here, too."
Joker winced. Out of interest (he was curious if the local Salarians could replicate the success of the Alliance and the others and create a synthetic analog), he had looked at the results of the drug's trials. And those results were enough to make one shudder. Yes, the synthetics, like the original medi-gel, are suitable for boosting regeneration, closing hematomas, and surviving bullet wounds if the organs haven't sustained serious damage and immediate surgical intervention isn't required. However, the synthetics easily become unstable, and instead of regeneration, malignant tumors can start to form, flesh knits together in the most unpleasant ways, and if the damage is severe, organs might grow incorrectly, which will simply kill you in the middle of a fight. I can understand Joker's reaction. It looks disgusting, but it's better than nothing. Humans aren't ready to supply all the Citadel armies with the necessary amount of the drug, and they're hiking up the prices. I can understand them, though it's hardly pleasant.
"The landing continues. Look, there's a fight going on," Jalim noticed, snapping me out of my thoughts, "The Covenant is clearly resisting."
Indeed, not much was visible from the filming point, but on the outer Covenant bases, flashes of blue, green, and purple plasma were visible, along with shots and explosions, and the crimson flashes of GARDIAN from the ships hovering over the battlefield.
"They're turning the turret."
And indeed, one of the Covenant plasma turrets smoothly turned and, at point-blank range, vaporized a ship providing support to the ground forces with a white-purple plasma droplet. The turret began to turn further when several dots jumped onto it—it seemed to be Citadel rocket infantry. The tower managed to fire three more times before a bright flash blinded everyone and the platform collapsed. The rocket paratroopers jumped overboard a few seconds before the explosion. All I can say is, the paratroopers are actively using jump packs.
On the other hand, according to the scanners, the second group successfully passed through the Omega-4 Relay. Whether they succeed or not, we'll find out sooner or later.
"Well, good luck to them," Joker said, looking at the same screen as I was, "Cerberus, as you told it, dragged an entire fleet through there. They must be no worse. You did sell them the IFF codes, right?"
I nodded.
"Otherwise there would have been no point in setting all this up. I hope they succeed."
"Me too," Jalim agreed, "We've been losing too often lately. A good victory won't hurt us."
The landing, meanwhile, continued. Gradually, other guns fell silent as APCs with infantry moved through the streets of Omega. The fighting moved to the city streets, which hadn't even been properly restored after the last siege. For example, an APC gunned down two Mgalekgolo and a Covenant patrol that couldn't destroy the vehicle, but its nose was blown apart. Unpleasant, but the fight could continue. After that, it entered a battle at a barricade blocking the street, and the IFV, catching several plasma hits, exploded. Two more vehicles arrived and blew apart both the barricade and the resistors.
But a hundred meters later, having driven onto an intersection, they were blown up by hits from a plasma tank. Only for the tank to be destroyed by paratroopers with jump packs and rocket launchers. But they ran into Covenant Yanme'e, who overwhelmed the paratroopers with numbers, and they were too small for the ship's GARDIAN. But for infantry with Phaestons, they were fine. Just as they were against Vorcha, but Vorcha know how to throw and use grenades...
Thus the street fighting continued, while I switched to the only camera available to me on the Asari ship. Omega-4 Relay. Collector Base. The second strike point.
"Goddess, protect them..."
***
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