Khaela.
Now I recognize the looks of the crew directed at the Possessed. That is exactly how they look at us (intelligence). With a mixture of disgust and fear. And there would be a reason to be tense; I'm sure no one except Tali is eager to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the Migrant Fleet. And that is exactly what would have happened as soon as The Covenant, not tied down in battle, realized where it came from. They would surely have tried to find the authors who destroyed part of their fleet, including the flagship.
But all that will be later. For now, I asked the operator:
"Is the second torpedo ready?"
The man glanced quickly at the screen, hiding his face and trying not to meet my eyes.
"All systems normal. Aiming, hm, ready. Torpedo one—normal. Ready to fire."
The Quarian woman is still looking with fear now at me, now at the captain. Apparently, she realized something.
"Is that the weapon they use to blow up Mass Relays? You mentioned you blew up Mass Relays with it! You said that! And you're going to fire it into the middle of the Migrant Fleet? Half will be destroyed! The damage will be greater than from this attack!"
I countered.
"By my calculations, from a quarter to a third. Besides, we're giving them time to scatter a bit, which will reduce the damage inflicted. We could have fired immediately."
This didn't convince her.
"There's a civilian fleet there! You're proposing to kill millions of civilians! That cone will just sweep the ships away, and no shield will help!"
I shrugged.
"They were warned. And anyway, as I was informed, an evacuation was carried out."
I'm being a bit disingenuous; after all, in a couple of days, offloading ten million civilians from ships and placing them on an empty stone boulder is difficult, let's call it that. Which the Quarian woman immediately pointed out.
"From the ships participating in the battle, you stupid machine! Not from the civilians who are in the rear! They simply wouldn't have had time to offload everyone! And you immediately decide that you can blow them all up, firing into the very middle of the formation, into the civilian ships!"
The Possessed replied boringly:
"Exactly where the Supercarrier is currently breaking through. And they haven't even stripped the shields from it yet, and there's also armor there. It will just leisurely drain all your ships and then just fly away, not even scratched," ignoring the furious indignation, I turned to the captain, who is very grim indeed, "fire already. It's time for us to change position before we or the torpedo are intercepted. It's not impossible; the torpedo remains in real space. And there's no need for the Quarians to link what's happening to the Geth; it wasn't them acting. We were the ones firing," although the Geth have such weapons too, which I didn't say. In the event of a retreat to Rannoch, The Covenant fleet would have simply been evaporated.
The man held a three-second pause, then spoke.
"Launch. Change position, moving to zone three. Just in case, prepare the Slipspace Drive. To the others: in case of discovery—jump. Priority is survival."
"Yes, sir."
The missile remained hanging in the darkness of space, and the human ships began to turn to move further away. Given the situation, it was a reasonable decision to turn the ships first. The Covenant clearly appreciated the first launch; they are searching, but for now, they are far enough away not to notice the black ships with absorbing coating. This is temporary; we shouldn't give the Covies additional opportunities.
Meanwhile, The Covenant continued the battle, continuing to play around the dense formation of the Quarians. In the shootout of dozens of ships and thousands, The Covenant knocked out or lost about a third of their ships, not counting the use of the FTL-missile. Yes, the smallest ones, and yes, the Quarian first line took huge damage from plasma and is currently combat-capable at best at a third of its original level, but the concentration of fire from the dense formation of ships, with railguns turned toward the enemy, is colossal. So, while The Covenant fleet was closing in and then exiting Slipspace among the first line, the battle was not in their favor, even with a good score. The Quarians, at first glance, had every chance of stopping the main enemy forces.
But first, the large ships introduced chaos, smashing the second line at the expense of...
There are no plasma shields or armor; they are ramming and simply breaking through the formation, burning everything around them. Then the smaller ones joined the fray, gnawing into the front line in close quarters, preventing the large number of ships from focusing fire with heavy weaponry.
The situation is finished off by a supercarrier rushing toward the rear, toward the residential ships, farms, and industrial vessels. Those who could not or did not have time to retreat, which is the majority. Their armament is almost always designed at most for strike craft or small raiders; against a 29-km super-dreadnought, they are simply useless. I would venture to guess that the ship pumps its shields faster than the Quarians can penetrate them, not forgetting to create additional protection around itself from the debris of destroyed transports. This also works against kinetic weapons.
Part of the Quarian warships tried to help the rear, turning broadside and closing the line of fire for the others, shrinking the space between ships even further. Some were damaged or destroyed; the debris also hinders movement, creating a pile-up and a certain degree of chaos that the admirals are trying to organize over the comms. It's working poorly—too many ships at once for micro-management without the intervention of whom? Correct. Any of us seven could have solved the coordination problem of the Migrant Fleet. Well, they are their own malevolent Forerunners.
But since the enemy is both in front of the first line and in the second, and is pushing toward the rear, the chaos among the Quarians only grows. As do the corpses in the process; The Covenant continues to douse the enemy in plasma. Without the support of a coordinating AI, it is very difficult for them. And now it will become even harder when they see what is about to happen.
"Torpedo away," the operator said. "Launch."
With a sharp blow to the stomach, I folded the Quarian woman who tried to rush the operator. The Possessed grabbed her by the neck and twisted her arm behind her back. She remarked:
"You shouldn't. The Geth will arrive within ten minutes. We need to clear the space of the supercarrier, or it will mow down half your fleet and then leave when the plasma supplies run out. That would be a shame."
"You..." she wheezed.
I shrugged with The Possessed while the Avatar stood bored by the wall.
"Me, me, exactly me," and to the soldiers, "put this one in a cell, let her cool off. But first—let's watch the explosion. I'm not a guy, though I am tough; I'm allowed."
From our vantage point, the battle resembled a scattering of dots and sticks against the backdrop of the planet, even with very high magnification, flashing with multicolored glowing points. A very large scattering—after all, about forty-four thousand ships of all shapes and sizes. Yes, the supercarrier had made a good run, leaving behind a field of debris with a hole in the center, like a worm in a giant transparent apple. I think this one ship collected about a million or two corpses.
"Ten seconds," the operator added in a whisper, but I heard it, "just let it work. Just let it work."
I think right now the entire crews of our ships are glued to their screens, awaiting the results. A supercarrier is capable of single-handedly erasing dozens of human ships of all classes with our weapons and a main MAC an order of magnitude more powerful than the Citadel's. Here, against transports, liners, and production ships bristling with guns, it mows them down by the hundreds; I think a couple of hits would be enough to tear an almost unprotected ship to pieces. Or a single beam, sweeping diagonally and slicing through a dozen ships at a time. Not all the crew will die, and not instantly, but the ship will no longer be combat-capable and will even hinder the others. After all, they know that numerous survivors remain in the hull fragments, and they won't fire on their own at full strength, being cautious. The Covenant, however, doesn't give a damn about Quarian lives.
A real sun ignited in the formation of Quarian ships, as bright as the star in this system, and just as blinding to everything and everyone. The same cone, but from our position, it was a slightly uneven disk, rapidly expanding and swallowing thousands of ships in its brightness. The flash even stopped the battle, apparently killing the sensor systems on both sides, blinding everyone. Well, yes, likely many in the Migrant Fleet will need new optics, in addition to treatment for radiation sickness. An interesting side effect! I'll have to make Jacob happy with that; he was starting to calm down. Relaxed. The humans watched in total shock as the system erased the markers of Quarian ships. Like a hand with a rag wiping chalk inscriptions off a board. Everyone is in shock—the crew, even the Quarian woman pressed against the bridge glass, staring into the distance with wide eyes and sitting on the floor in silence. Only the hum of the screens and the operation of the ventilation break this silence.
My Possessed decided to break this idyll, quoting:
"I will show you human power. Look into the distance, how beautiful its light is..."
At my phrase, the operator thawed out, at whom first both Avatars looked, then the Captain and the others. The man, somewhat embarrassed, immediately reported.
"The supercarrier... I don't see it. Can't make out anything, Captain. We were blinded by the flash. What's going on among the fleets, I don't even want to think about."
The Captain nodded.
"Continue tracking. When there is confirmation that the target is destroyed, report."
"Yes, sir."
Judging by the whispers, everyone is very much hoping the ship was simply erased. Unfortunately, there is indeed a hellish cocktail of matter and energy of all kinds there now—anomalies, exotic reactions, and many other creative things. In short, confirmation must be visual; we won't see anything interesting on the scanners for the next few hours. And yes, The Covenant will also have to aim manually; we did a good deed! And when the Geth arrive, only their sensors will be working. Who's the best? Exactly! After a couple more minutes, when the battle resumed and the light faded, the operator reported:
"Got a picture!" We immediately stared at the monitors. "It's gone! Gone! Supercarrier destroyed, confirming destruction! It's dead! They're all dead! Hurrah!"
"Yessssss!" the bridge roared under the quiet hysteria of the Quarian woman, who, without resisting, went with the soldiers, judging by the sobs, bursting into tears.
Upon magnifying the image, a huge hole is visible in the Quarian formation, in which there is nothing. But on the planet behind the hole, it's visible that the atmosphere has caught fire and a firestorm is spreading. Let's hope they didn't land the Quarians there, or it won't turn out well. The supercarrier was at the epicenter, and not even slag remained of it; it likely evaporated completely. My Avatars gave each other a high-five.
Waiting for the soldiers who led the Quarian woman out to return, the Captain clarified:
"Losses among the Migrant Fleet from our attack? Visually."
The operator replied immediately; it seemed he had already checked himself.
"About twenty percent of the ships, a third of the rear group. On the surface... the area is expanding. If anyone was there, they will suffer."
I answered the unspoken question of The Possessed:
"A collision at several times the speed of light releases such an amount of energy and various interesting radiations that it will be difficult to survive on the surface. If possible at all. In any case, it's a dead world; there was no population there. Just a stone rock, no flora, no fauna, no permanent population."
"By the way, how much did The Covenant take out?"
The operator answered a bit more slowly:
"By our calculations, about the same. Ten to twenty percent of the ships; you can't say more precisely in such chaos. The Quarians lost about half of all their forces. The Covenant—from a third to two-thirds, but that's including those taken out of the fight; destroyed is from a third to a half, including the damage dealt by the two torpedoes. Again, you can't say more precisely with such density of fire."
The battle continued. Of course, the explosion added chaos, but the fight had already moved into a "pile-up" format and globally nothing changed; everyone is firing at the nearest targets as best they can, though the comms are pure chaos where they work. At the very least, the Quarians are trying to understand what that was. The fact that radiation jammed the comms as well is hindering them.
But the battle continues; The Covenant ships that remain—currently about half the fleet (another quarter retreated), including the remaining three five-kilometer ships—are moving through the Quarian formation, sometimes changing position with micro-jumps and adding to the chaos.
"Mass Relay active! Explosions at the Mass Relay!"
So, what's there? The Geth sent thermonuclear charges, which began stripping the blockade group's shields with bright flashes of nuclear flame. I wonder why no one thought before to attach a Mass Effect Core to a thermonuclear missile so they could fly at FTL. It's a terrifying weapon that can be sent to an enemy between star systems. Mass Relays are stationary, so plotting a course so that a missile passes through even several Mass Relays and then hits a target at fifteen times the speed of light is a feasible task. One could have dealt with the Krogan that way, simply bombing their infrastructure remotely. Especially since the Krogan practiced asteroid bombardment; no one would have been against it.
"And here come the Geth. The stage is set; we just need to realize the advantage," the combat Avatar remarked phlegmatically. "Forward, time to make friends by saving them from decompression and a cold death."
The Geth brought a whole armada through the Mass Relay. Dreadnoughts, carriers, multi-barreled MACs—of our caliber, if you please, Mendicant Bias—and very, very many smaller ships. Armed, dangerous, and their comms work perfectly. They immediately attacked the screening group.
"Twenty-eight heavy cruisers. They're playing it safe," the Captain chuckled into his mustache.
The pattern of the battle changed immediately. Who panicked more from the sudden guests, the Quarians or The Covenant, I don't know, but after receiving the first volleys from the gun carriers, The Covenant screening fleet, largely deprived of shields by the nuclear explosions, immediately began jumping en masse. And the Geth ships keep arriving and arriving under the flashes of the Mass Relay. And there are many of them, and they also—thanks to our ships' sensors and a multi-link connection through me and the Shard of Mendicant Bias—had exact target coordinates and could begin the attack almost instantly, which is somewhat disconcerting. Especially the fact that the Geth turned their ships onto the attack vector while in flight; they don't care about G-forces. Which might make it seem like the Geth ships were thrown out of the Mass Relay by a giant hand, unconcerned with their orientation in space. Of course, that's not the case.
With the Quarians it's more complicated; they definitely recognized the Geth ships, and in my opinion, panic is starting there. I turned to the comms officer:
"Loop a message on the general channel that the Geth have arrived to help. We don't need to increase Quarian losses due to panic. If these idiots don't fire at the Geth, they'll survive. So let them not do anything stupid."
The man nodded, and we continued to monitor the battle, quietly and invisibly watching what was happening. Having scattered the blockade group, which began its retreat, the Geth moved their ships toward the Migrant Fleet. I suggested staying an echelon below the direct path to the Mass Relay, as the Quarians might think they are being boxed in; let there be a route for retreat. Less chance they'll panic. I hope there's less chance.
Immediately, those wishing to retreat through the Mass Relay were found; the Migrant Fleet began to crumble. Not all of it—a minority of warships and the surviving rear ships immediately headed for the system exit. Moreover, the Geth warned:
"Creators. In the event of an attack, lethal fire will be opened. The Consensus has arrived to provide support."
Fortunately, no idiots were found; the Quarians decided to take the risk and believe their synthetics. Especially when the first ships reached the Geth formation and were not destroyed, while they continued to bomb The Covenant ships. The Covenant also realized the situation was not turning in their favor, and their fleet retreated quickly and quite organizedly, leaving behind a slaughter and a sea of debris.
"According to analysis, The Covenant lost about a hundred and fifty ships destroyed by the forces of the Migrant Fleet, including one five-kilometer vessel that was finally cracked by the forces of the Heavy Fleet and Patrol Fleet, two-thirds of the carriers, and one supercarrier thanks to us. Quarian losses are at least forty percent of the fleet destroyed. The number of dead is unknown. No losses on our side."
The Captain nodded, glancing at me. I voiced the position of the Vice Admiral.
"Operation completed with partial success. The weapon was successfully used to break The Covenant fleet. Part of the Quarians accepted Geth help, so the creators have become closer to their creations. The Vice Admiral personally expresses gratitude to all participants. Awards and bonuses will be announced separately"—the latter was received with enthusiasm and a desire to repeat it a couple more times, perhaps right after receiving new missiles.
The damaged Quarian ships and those who remained on destroyed ships and large debris accepted Geth help, albeit with difficulty. True, about half of the survivors ignored the offer not to rush and to discuss the situation and are now fleeing through the Mass Relay. The Captain asked directly:
"It seems their fleet has suffered colossal damage and is undergoing a split. Is this what you wanted, Agent?"
I shrugged.
"Any outcome suits us. Part of the Quarians will eventually return to Rannoch, and when they realize it's safe, they will begin to drain the other side. Undermine their position. Why endure hardships if you can just go back? From a certain point of view, we did a good deed. Even more than one."
The Captain gave me a very unpleasant look.
"Destroying millions of civilians is a good deed in your view? And I remember your part of the story; you don't have to repeat yourself. That was several generations ago; none of those living now are guilty."
At this, the Avatar and The Possessed exchanged looks.
"It's pragmatism, Captain. The tasks for our group included weapon testing, a possible agreement with the fleet, and the safety of our special operations forces. You know as well as I do that we have a limited number of stealth frigates and specialist teams to sacrifice them for the sake of Quarians who aren't particularly happy to see us themselves. Though I have no doubt they wouldn't have minded if we died instead of them. You may disagree with me, but you are alive to do so. And that is also a fact, Captain."
The man chuckled, stroking his mustache.
"So, a better solution to avoid the problem and not expose ourselves didn't exist?"
Well, there were options. We could have dropped the torpedoes and moved away; there were also launch options from other points, less convenient but safer. But when coordinating the launch positions with command, I advised this option. And so it turned out.
"This is the shortest Path of those proposed. The Path to Victory. Fast, safe, correct. Choose any two. Our command made a choice; we executed it. And now excuse me, Captain, I have work to do. We have a new operation coming up; I need to study the documents. Work doesn't wait."
And both of me left the bridge.
***
The news arrived four days later. A live broadcast from the Council chamber on the Citadel—I'll need to get there, by the way. Otherwise, it turns out ONI hasn't been there yet; that's not right. So, the broadcast.
On a pedestal in the center of a huge hall with plants around the perimeter and balconies surrounding it, stand three Councilors: a Turian, an Asari, and a Salarian. Interestingly, the Salarian is a male, even though they have a matriarchy and the power of the Dalatresses. Apparently, a talking head for his mistresses. Three unremarkable sentients, dressed not too lavishly, in suits. A white-and-red closed Asari dress, a black-and-red hooded robe on the Salarian, and a black-red-and-white Turian suit, closest to human clothing.
Below them, in the middle of the hall, stand the Quarian and Batarian delegations. Together. It turns out the latter have their own embassy on the Citadel, even though they don't belong to the Council Races, just for communication.
The irony of the situation is added by the fact that under normal conditions, Quarians, if they don't hate Batarians, certainly dislike them very much, as do the Asari. Since for Batarian pirates, a Quarian technician is an easy target as a slave, often living in a dangerous district. In short—prey. Which the Quarians know. But recent events have united them.
"And what has united such irreconcilable races?" the Vice Admiral inquired of my hologram with sarcasm.
The hologram replied calmly, ignoring her superior's tone:
"Us. And if the Quarians are my doing, then the Hegemony and the plan to create a buffer zone, Operation Sealed Wagon, wasn't worked on by me at all. And I haven't worked on it for the last two years. Even the torpedo launch at the Alpha Relay wasn't coordinated by me. Black Box issued no warnings," the hologram spread its hands, and it's true. I really didn't know anything. ONI in that region is entertaining themselves. And Project Electric Heart is being pulled off by them alone; I found out about it twenty minutes ago when I received the dossier by mail.
Parangosky nodded.
"True. Black Box, transfer the full data to Khaela. Now you will work together to somehow resolve this issue. Especially since the operation requires help with supplies and some other matters. So you'll handle it. Play the recording."
The picture jerked, and a Batarian began to speak.
"Humans! Wild beasts, xenophobes, exterminating colony populations by the hundreds of thousands and millions! Just because we are not like them! Urgent measures must be taken! First it was the Turians, now the Batarian Hegemony and the Migrant Fleet have been subjected to human cruelty! Millions dead thanks to the humans' new weapon and legions of Geth! What's next? Palaven? Thessia? Sur-Kesh?"
The Asari Councilor raised her hand.
"Your statements are quite dangerous, radical. But do you have proof? That our worlds are under any threat at all? Such statements must be backed by evidence."
This time a Quarian woman answered. An Admiral of the Civilian Fleet. How interesting.
"Humans contacted the fleet and reported an impending Covenant attack. They did not provide all the information but offered to use a weapon against them. But they did not explain the consequences of our agreement; they lied. They said Covenant ships would be destroyed, omitting the colossal casualties, the blindness, and the radiation sickness that struck many of our pilots. They waited until the enemy ships penetrated our formation, after which they activated the weapon that claimed millions of Quarian lives. The death toll is still being calculated but is complicated by the fact that in the blast zone, much was simply evaporated, and the surviving debris emits a level of radiation beyond anyone's limits. Also, a significant portion of our civilian fleet's ships were irradiated, and they will be difficult to restore. Of course, we kept records and can prove this."
The Batarian picked up:
"Some time ago, our colony in the Bahak System on the planet Aratoht was destroyed, along with the system. More than three hundred and fifty thousand Batarians died at once."
"We didn't know about this," said the Hierarchy Councilor.
The Batarian nodded.
"We were looking for the culprits, as it turned out the killers destroyed the Mass Relay."
"A Mass Relay cannot be destroyed!" the Salarian Councilor interjected sharply.
"We thought so too," the Batarian delegate agreed, "and so as not to be a laughingstock, we looked for proof of the crime. We looked for those who might have a weapon of the required power. I admit, we thought it might be The Covenant. But during the recent battle, we gained access to records from the Migrant Fleet. We showed them the destruction of our colony, and we saw... However, see for yourselves, Councilors. And draw your own conclusions, without any coercion."
A recording began to play on the wall, while the news shows a separate, clearer picture, clearly obtained from the authors. The image is split into two parts. On the first is a Mass Relay. On the second is the battle between the Migrant Fleet and The Covenant. For some time, nothing happens, only it's visible that the Quarians are taking losses. And then, in a flash on both images, a cone of light appears. A very similar cone of light.
In the first case, the cone flash is broken by a brighter and more powerful flash of blue flame from the collapsing Mass Relay, which covers the filming ship, which is clearly destroyed. Likely, the recording was sent via a quantum channel. In the second case, a breach remains in the Quarian fleet, and on the planet behind them is a blazing firestorm.
Looking at the Councilors, the Batarian is clearly pleased. It seems the deaths of representatives of his species do not move him. The Councilors' reaction is ambiguous. The Asari changed her complexion and clasped her hands, the Turian gripped the railing, and only the Salarian is as calm as a boa constrictor. It's impossible to gauge the Quarian woman's emotions. The Turian was the first to thaw.
"Have you found out what this weapon is? Can it blow up Mass Relays? Can it fly through a Mass Relay and destroy it and the entire system remotely?"
The Quarian woman answered.
"Likely, yes. The Geth took part of our population, those who survived. Or slaughtered them; it's not known for certain, but they are Geth; likely my kin are dead. Following this battle, the Migrant Fleet numbers less than half of its original number of ships and population. Importantly, during the battle, the Geth demonstrated missiles launched through the Mass Relay. What stops humans from sending their new warheads the same way? Nothing. We requested their weapon for study. And from a reliable source, we were told that humans assembled it, I quote, 'thanks to a creative perception of Citadel technologies; we simply didn't think of such an application of this technology.' But without specifics, unfortunately. Even so, these are frightening conclusions."
The recording was paused. Parangosky chuckled.
"So, the Quarian woman decided to spy for her own. Just as we thought."
The hologram shrugged.
"We are tracking her; such a thing was expected. She'll serve as a source of disinformation."
"Good, let's watch further," the Vice Admiral agreed.
The recording continued. The Asari asked a question.
"What specific number of casualties are we talking about?"
The Batarian replied:
"Three hundred and fifty thousand Batarians, plus patrol and freighter pilots, hired workers (we know, we heard, they're slaves). Four hundred thousand in total."
The Quarian woman added:
"We are talking about approximately four million human victims, plus or minus two hundred thousand, as the count and search for evidence is still ongoing, and as many Quarians lost because humans set the Geth on us. Plus up to three million missing in action. The fate of those who fell into Geth hands is unknown, but obviously unenviable. Considering the same records from the SSV Normandy."
The Salarian immediately clarified:
"The Migrant Fleet is essentially destroyed?"
"We suffered losses," the Admiral countered, "but still, our position is better than after the Morning War. And worse, since among the lost ships, two-thirds were not combat vessels. Farm ships, mining, and processing. In many ways, we will have to start our journey from the beginning. All because of the treachery and senseless cruelty of humanity."
Parangosky stopped the recording.
"You'll watch the rest later. Listen to what the victims of your plans think. However, the task was performed acceptably; well done. The active phase of Operation Sealed Wagon is approaching; you'll provide assistance. It's worth reducing stealth ship activity in Citadel Space; they'll be freed up. Get to studying. Black Box will help. And return the combat Avatar; we're going to participate in a combat operation; she'll be needed here."
The hologram nodded.
"Proceeding with execution."
This will be interesting.
***
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