Matriarch Ja'Noir stands proud on the bridge of her flagship, observing her crew when the helmsman announces, "Matching solar system angular velocity and directional vector in 3...2...1."
Once the fleet comprising of 33 frigates, 2 dreadnaughts, 16 destroyers and 7 supply vessels drops out of FTL, there is a rush of activity. Experts already primed at their conns begin scrutinising their surroundings, looking for anything out of place and marking dangers to avoid. A flutter of asteroids over there, a sprinkling of solar dust here, and...
"Fleet at vector 08243.79225.23447. Distance 1.09 Megameters."
Exactly where the Human fleet promised it would be waiting for them, give or take a few hundred thousand meters, which is nothing in space terms. As Turians would say, Marksman accuracy. "Composition," Ja'Noir asks calmly, she hopes her calm demeanour may help subdue the younger and more excited staff. None of her staff are currently scared or fearing for their lives, but they are looking forward to meeting the Human fleet. She had been promised a war fleet that could conduct a 'lightning attack' into the heart of the Collector's territory, or a blitzkrieg as they call it, but the Humans were not overly forthcoming of its composition. Arriving in this sector had been a leap of faith on her fleet's behalf.
"It looks like 20 cargo ships and 10 vessels of unknown design, but no warships."
The Human fleet must be significant to need 20 cargo vessels, or they expect extremely high consumption rates of consumables, which would align with extremely fast-paced warfare; not something she would expect from her own fleet, "Hail them."
After a moment, the hail is answered, and an older Human picks up, he has a gravelly voice and a tuff of fur around the lower jaw. "Admiral Hackett, Officer Commanding of the 5th fleet. Identify yourselves." Prior to arrival, she has spoken extensively with the man, and holds quiet respect for him. He carries wisdom much like Matriarchs but holds an impressive understanding of naval warfare any Turian would be proud to bolster.
"Matriarch Ja'Noir. Officer Commanding of the Asari Joint Expeditionary Force." Hackett already knows her name, so she assumes this is a formality and nothing more.
Hacketts aged face lightens up, "Good to eventually share the same solar system, Matriarch; we have been expecting you. Please forward a list of IFF codes for your fleet." Ja'Noir nods at her comms specialist, who quickly forwards the pre-prepared list. After confirming the contents of the package, Hackett then looks back to Ja'Noir. "Welcome to Arcturus. Please adopt an orbit of the 2nd planet at 400,000km, angular velocity of 2.38 micro rads per second. Once your fleet is settled in, meet me on the Dauntless for a tea." He then looks away for a second before saying, "You will be receiving a list of our IFF's imminently."
Ja'Noir raises one of her brows just as a terminal beeps, indicating it has received a data package. For the most part, the orders are straightforward to follow, "Admiral, I was led to believe we would meet your fleet here."
"You have," Hackett says before nodding off-screen. 3.58 seconds later, Ja'Noir hears her Tactical specialist begin rapidly working on her terminal, punching in codes and scrutinising data. "We will at long last meet face to face on the Dauntless. Hackett out."
Once the comms ends, the tactical specialist says, "39 vessels have decloaked around the cargo ships. 2 Geth dreadnaughts positively identified. We also have four large space stations, one identified as Arcturus Command, some shipyards and hundreds of planetary defence platforms, enough to make a Primarch blush." Ja'Noir knew human stealth tech is legendary, and all naval captains are warned of it, but to see it in action sends a chill down her spine. Humans may not have the largest fleets, or the most capable expeditionary warfare ships, but their Stealth tech is terrifying. To add to the horror, the Geth have evidently been given the technology or are working with their own stealth tech, which can match their Human counterparts. How power dynamics in this galaxy are swiftly changing, yet few seem to realise or recognise it.
"Into the maw," Ja'Noir says with a voice no louder than a whisper before asking, "Do we have a positive ID on any Human dreadnaughts?"
"12 Heavy ships that could qualify, but some look strange."
"On screen."
Eight of the heavy ships were of apparent dreadnaught design, featuring slanted armour, no windows, a spinal cannon, missile tubes to the top decks and plasma casters tucked up under them. Few would question their purpose as their appearance alone screams of war. Of the twelve, four heavy-weight ships are odd; they have little armour, only a few missile chutes to boast of, but excessive defences. "Do we have an ID on the Dauntless?"
A ship is highlighted in green. One of the less evident dreadnaughts. "This ship is broadcasting a friend foe of HWV Dauntless."
"Are you certain?" The ship is different from what she would expect of a command vessel. It is neither the most armoured nor the most armed.
"Certain."
Ja'Noir takes note of what she is seeing in front of her. A fleet of unusual compositions, Turians and Asari work on 30:1 ratios for dreadnaughts, and yet here the Humans have 12 of them in a fleet of 39 with two additional Geth dreadnaughts attached. Ja'Noir can only conclude that their military doctrine must be 'heavy-fisted'. Hit hard and hit fast. The Humans have a book that ignores all Council, Turian, Asari and Salarian Doctrine. Had a Turian officer been amongst them, he or she would be positively convulsing at the idea of a new doctrine to analyse, scrutinise, and then wargame.
"Let me know when we are in orbit, and I'll launch a shuttle. XO, I'm visiting their command ship. You have the bridge. Everyone else, learn all you can; this is a unique opportunity to study Geth and Human vessels alike. Operations Officer, you are with me."
/.../
18 hours later.
Ja'Noir raises her brow as she looks at Hackett, "And you are going to pilot them remotely?"
"Yes," Hackett says as he stands in front of the monitor showcasing the fleet designated 'OPFOR' he is asking her to attack, "We need to know and understand how you fight, and the same is true for yourselves from us."
Ja'Noir looks down the list of enemy vessels. Mostly, they are all older ships that show some cases of battle damage; many of them look like they have been partially melted. A few of the vessels are Hanar in design, numerous are old Turian frigates with patchwork repairs, meaning Pirate ships and some are outright Batarian warships. There are two Salarian reconnaissance vessels, both modern vessels, maybe ships of the line. "Dare I ask how you got these?" She gestures to all the ships.
"Certainly," Hackett responds, "For the last ten years, we have experienced 164 incursions into our space. These 29 are the ones that did not heed our warnings." Ja'Noir looks at the ships again and searches for the tail numbers of the Salarian ships. The Salarians probably know they are missing, probably even that they were captured, but have not said a peep. "This one," Hackett points to one of the two Salarian ships, "Is our latest addition. Despite numerous warnings, it persisted in trying to delve deeper into our space."
Ja'Noir looks at its details closely. She recognises its tail number, "How did you capture it?"
"A well-placed shot." Hackett replies before moving on, "They will be defending an objective, laser designate any you target, and Excon will designate mkills, sustained damage and destroyed." From experience Ja'Noir knows any Excon will use a dizzying amount of mathematics to calculate ships that are hit, evade fire, or can absorb the shot and shrug it off.
"And its crew?"
Hackett pauses for a moment to look at her before saying, "Alive and well. We are waiting for the Salarians to recognise their transgressions into our space, and they can have them back."
"I will ensure the Salarian embassy is aware you have their people."
"If you would, that would be champion."
After a terse silence, Ja'Noir speaks again, "So, what is your plan?" Ja'Noir nods along as Hackett describes a detailed set of wargames and training serials. The Humans will stand for nothing less than going to battle highly prepared. The question now is, how prepared do they want to be?
/.../
6 Months later
Getting to her office at the Citadel Tower, Tevos meets her assistant and eight fellow Circle members before blinking at them, "Let us commence," She states without much fanfare for what is about to happen.
The members of the Circle silently blink in agreement before they all sit down at the table, and after a moment to settle in, the most senior Matriarch in the room asks, "Has any of our resolves quivered?"
The night prior, they had all agreed on the course of action but had elected to give it 30 hours before signing anything in case they had second thoughts. The oldest Matriarch looks to the youngest in the room first, and then the next, and so on till all have answered. There are no protests. "Then let us make this quick."
An assistant walks in with nine folders and places one down before each circle member. Inside is an electronic device detailing various war edicts, but most importantly, it can take their biometric signature.
"War production to 3%." The oldest Matriarch says aloud, and each person presses their thumb to biometric recorder, signing the act. "Secrets act." The group go through numerous acts, signing each one as agreed long before this meeting. In one hour, the Asari nation will enter a war footing; nothing can calm the Republic's rage except the utter surrender of the Collectors or the Republic's defeat, militarily or politically.
With all the edicts and acts signed into Asari law, the lead Matriarch then announces, "The deed is done. We will announce our declaration in 4 weeks, 1 hour before the fleets arrive at the Collector homeworld. May the Goddess guide their hands."
"I will authorise Matriarch Ja'Noir to depart for the Collector Homeworld at 0800 tomorrow morning. I understand the Humans are waiting for us to greenlight our operation, so I expect an immediate departure."
After a few blinks between them, the lead Matriarch stands, signalling the meeting is concluded.
/.../
5 hours later, Citadel Motorclub.
Ladochka walks into a pristine engineering bay and looks around. A Turian is diligently polishing exposed metal on a fancy sky car in one of the bays, and in the next bay over, a set of clearly Asari legs from the waist down is hanging out from under another car. The Asari and Turian share some rather colloquial banter between them as they work; one would assume they are good friends.
Seeing her enter by her reflection in the shiny metal of his car, the Turian turns to Ladochka, "You can't sneak up on this call sign, Human."
"Calcius," Ladochka replies with a small smile, "You have missed a bit by the third manifold; it looks duller than the rest." The quip gets her the desired response, one head whips towards the manifold, and a Turian closely scrutinises his work.
"I trust you as far as I can throw you." The Turian then remarks, "Which isn't far."
Ladochka smirks at him before approaching the skycar with Asari legs protruding out from underneath. "You rang?" She asks.
"Yes," Tevos responds before asking, "Can you pass the ratchet, 8mm socket."
Ladochka finds the required tool before passing it down under the car. After a few moments, Tevos emerges from underneath, her clothes and skin black from oil and carbon. "Calcius, can you give us ten please."
The Turian quickly finishes before saying, "No issue. I'll grab a 'sari tea if you want one?"
"No thanks," Tevos responds as she looks for a clean rag to rub her hands down, "I'll be concluding my work, and we will be departing shortly."
As Calcius makes his way out of the workshop, Ladochka asks, "How is it running?" She gestures to the car with a bob of her head.
"There is a lot of new fretting juice under there, so I have my work cut out for me, but I have plenty of time to work it before it's an issue."
"So, still useable?" Osh knows Tevos will be missing in action for as long as her precious skycar is grounded. Vast portions of her time not at work is spent on the damnable car.
"Yes, but a large work package is looming. I'll probably get another year before it's cause for worry. As for the job I actually went in to do, the new power yoke is in place, so all good."
Ladochka nods along while making some mental notes of the work required, and asks Freya to investigate what Tevos may have found. She tries to show as much interest as possible in Tevos's favourite hobby, and help where and if she can, even if that is just passing tools. "So, what's up?"
Tevos surprises Osh by picking her up, using a small spell of biotics to aid her in lifting the heavy augment, "Do I need a reason to see my bondmate?" Tevos places her down on a table nearby and positions herself between Osh's open legs.
"No," Osh replies, "But you know you can't fool Freya."
Tevos scowls a little, before pulling away a few inches, "Then you are correct. It is time."
"For that thing we always knew is coming?" Tevos blinks and then watches Oshs's facial expressions but is most surprised when the Human shrugs, "Okay."
"Okay?" Tevos asks, sounding uncertain.
"Okay," Ladochka repeats before pulling Tevos closer, "We knew this day was coming. When do we need to make the big reveal?"
Tevos feels like a huge weight is lifted from her shoulders. While she knew Osh would ultimately accept their fate, as she had no other choice, she was expecting a more broodish response. "We should make it in the next 5 days."
Osh blinks, "So, what is our game plan? Announce it via whatever social media you use?"
"No, of course not," Rebukes Tevos, "I... we will release an official statement via my press officer. We should probably do this tomorrow."
"Yeah," Osh blinks, "Let us get it over with, but first...
/.../
Later that evening.
Osh closes her omni-tool when Tevos enters their living room and gives the Asari an accusatory look, "900 million credits."
Tevos looks puzzled for a moment before a realisation hits her, "Oh, yes."
Osh raises her left hand, "You mean to tell me I have 450 million credits on my wrist right now." Upon realising that their secret is going to be revealed in less than 12 hours, Osh had decided to look herself up to see if there were any rumours already on the intranet. Over the years, there have been dozens of rumours regarding Tevos's love life, but no solid evidence. Eventually, Osh got onto a gossip site which revealed a wealthy person had spent nearly a billion credits on a set of bonding bracelets, the who is unknown, but Tevos is a primary suspect due to being one of the wealthiest individuals in the galaxy - and an Asari. It took only a tenth of a second for Osh to recognise the bracelet wrapped around her wrist.
Tevos looks to Ladochka's left hand, where her bonding bracelet rests. "Yes. I do not buy cheap." She will not show any remorse over the act.
"When the public finds out, which they will, we will have a huge target on our head to steal these."
Tevos shakes her head in slight amusement, trust her wife to always think of security, which she is, "No, we won't. These..." Tevos raises her wrist, now publically donning her bracelet, "Are fashion pieces. Their material worth is slim pickings. If anyone tries to sell them, we will know instantly. Besides, I'm a councillor and will always have a target on my head. As my bondmate, you will also have a target on your head come tomorrow morning. A bracelet is not going to change anything."
"Abazhaniye, you should have told me."
"No," Tevos replies as she sits beside her bondmate, "I read into human traditions. You have similar practices of not revealing the cost of items of significance and gifts, I see this as somewhat similar."
Osh breathes out deeply before shrugging, "Well, I'll just have to keep it in mind when engaging with the public. How did your phone call with Athetya go?" Osh notices the dark look that quickly overtakes her bondmate's face.
"They are entering into what they hope is an endgame for Sarren. They know he is on a planet called Ilos and are about to launch a ground assault."
"Well, best of luck to them," Osh replies.
/.../
6 Months of wargames at Arcturus has told Ja'Noir vast amounts about how the Humans fight, their consumption rates are through the roof compared to any citadel-aligned fleet, and they use stealth with near perfection. They shy away from traditional confrontations, preferring to ambush, and they do not attempt to protect their supply ships since they operate in stealth at every possible moment. The only ships they protect with ferocity are their 10 'battery' ships, which their warships must regularly recharge from during intense warfare. If the Humans lose one of their 'battery' ships, their ability to wage war is significantly reduced as their ships must wait longer to recharge.
It surprised her entire crew to learn that Humans use huge superconductors hidden inside their ships as batteries instead of using tried and tested eezo engines to power their weapons. The advantage for the Humans, however, is clear. They looove high rates of fire, and their eezo engines are unsuitable for use with their plasma casters. The engines must constantly run at high consumption rates to generate the required energy, producing so much static that the crew would quickly perish from their own ships.
The Plasma Casters alone are a weapon Ja'Noir desperately wants since few defences work against them effectively; even her own ships would suffer catastrophic casualties.
The Geth have also partaken in the wargames somewhat but ran simulated battles since they lacked the ships. Where as the Humans enjoy ambushes and stealth, the Geth prefer straight-up, close-quarter melees. The Geth ships are designed to take and pack a punch, but due to their up-armoured designs, they lack speed, resulting in a limited ability to wage manoeuvre warfare. Their approach to war makes a lot of sense, however. The Geth control relatively little space and are understandably more focused on defending what they have, not expeditionary warfare.
Asari fleets are generally designed for rapid manoeuvre, striking where lines weaken and then pulling out before a response occurs. Typically, the slower, heavily armoured Turian vessels would then barge through the hole her fleets made to sew chaos and destruction, but this now will be the job of the Geth.
All being told, JaŃoir admits war games held so far have been nothing short of extensive and, arguably, some of the most exhausting her fleets have ever waged. While her fleets exercised, the Human commanders commanded the OPFOR fleets, 'OPFOR short for Opposition Forces'. Then, when the Humans exercised, her commanding officers were allowed to control the OPFOR. Regularly, she would exercise side by side with Hackett. Hence, they both learned how they operated, and she realised he had a ruthless, unrelenting warfare style that is harder on his own fleet than the enemies; he won by accepting risk and making bold moves that may not be doctrinally sound.
Hackett would get on like a house on fire with a Turian Primarch's Chosen, but she dared not tell him that. A game of Kapesh-Yakshi between the two would be worth every penny to witness. But in real-world terms, a Primarch's Chosen is scary enough on their own; mix them with Hackett, and you get a mix of unquestioned experience with phenomenal strategic know-how.
Since it has been just short of a 6-month deployment so far, her crews have also had the chance to mingle with the Humans and vacation on their planet, and while she would not admit it has been entirely smooth sailing, her people, for the most part, have gotten on well with the Humans and their AI. A good portion may even be getting on a little too well for her liking, but she hasn't stopped any questionable activity.
Seeing someone approach, Ja'Noir looks up from her comfortable position in an ox-blood red wingback chair. A distinctly Human paper sits in her hands, and a sweet smelling Asari tea sits on a table, ready for consumption. She has a full command team on the Human space station she is working off, and most of her crew have picked up some Human habits. Her favourite has proven to be 'Officers Coffee,' a 30-minute period once a week where all officers converge in a single location for a hot drink and a biscuit. "Yes?" She asks of the Asari who has approached her.
"Priority message is waiting for you in the communications suite."
"Very well," Ja'Noir takes a quick sip of her tea before gesturing to her chair, "Keep it warm for me."
Getting into the comms suite on her own dreadnaught half an hour later, she enters her secret code and activates the terminals. A pre-recorded message is awaiting her from the Councillor. The fact the Councillor has something to say to her is not surprising; she has shared regular messages with her since she embarked on this mission. With not much to think about the message, she presses play, causing a 3d holographic image to form.
"Captain," The Councillor says without much emotion while looking directly into the middle of the room, "Another colony has been attacked. Perssius. You are to strike the Collectors. The Asari Republic has agreed to a state of war, and you have the resources of the entire Republic at your disposal. Your fragmentation order 18A is permitted. Win." The message ends abruptly. With new QEC tech, the news from Tevos is only an hour behind when it was recorded, not quite as impressive or as quick as the Human QEC, but every year, the technology improves and the gap between their tech and human tech closes.
Ja'Noir takes a moment to compose her thoughts before leaving the room and almost immediately walks into her second-in-command, who has been standing outside waiting on her, "So?" The officer asks as she pushes off a bulkhead to meet her.
JaNoir blinks slowly before stating, "Prepare the fleets."
/.../
2 Hours later.
Seeing an old-fashioned pen and a wad of paper placed in front of her, Ja'Noir looks down at it. Hackett has proven to be sentimental, favouring some aspects of old technology. "For the record keepers," He says aloud and after sipping on some coffee. Ja'Noir tried coffee a few months ago, but much like Human beer, it is too bitter for her tastes; Hackett however, seems to be fueled by the substance.
The paper features some movement orders written in Galactic Asari and details how the fleets will advance onto the Omega Relay. Some of the most significant bits are the 'actions on'.
JaŃoir picks up her own Asari tea with one hand and nurses it before studying the orders and reading it line for line. Her own operations officer had authored the orders with the Human operation officer. While she doubts she will find anything worth noting, it is not impossible for something to have slipped past them.
"Are your people ready for this?" She asks as she comes to the end of reading the 2nd page of orders. The Humans operate off a 2 pager, two A4 pages of orders for a complex mission. At first, she found it madness, doubting the detail contained was enough, but eventually, she understood their reasoning. All can comprehend two pages of orders and know what their job is. Any more details are best left to the commander on the ground and the utilisation of mission command. Her own fleets will not use the 2-pager, instead opting for a more detailed fragmentation order.
Hackett looks up from his coffee and newspaper to say, "Without any measure of hesitation." Without even giving a moment, he returns to his paper and begins to scribble an answer to some puzzle. Another oddity is that the man loves old-style newspapers and the quizzes found within. He is never without a paper at breakfast or during a coffee break. One of his hobbies is completing crosswords during coffee breaks; if other humans are nearby, they all seem to get involved.
An hour after starting, Ja'Noir reaches for a pen and puts her signature next to Hacketts, authenticating the set of orders. After a breath out, realising she has signed orders to take her fleet to war, the first for Asari in over a thousand years, she announces, "The fleets are set to depart in 71 hours. May the Goddess travel with our fleets."
Hackett looks up from his paper, now covered in scribbles and nods at her most respectfully.
/.../
The next morning.
"No." Tevos annunciates to the room of advisors, "I will not accept that."
Ladochka silently thanks her wife for stepping in, this morning has been filled with bad news followed by worse news. After calling in all her lead advisors, the team had devised a plan to announce their bonding, and now they are attempting to figure out what life will look like for Ladochka. As it would turn out, an entire team is dedicated to looking after the Councilor's bondmate, who are now fussing around and quickly irritating Osh.
Ladochka can not honestly blame them for being excited about their job; for the past quarter of a century, they have not been fulfilling their primary role, but now they find themselves stuck in a situation where their subject does not want their help but reluctantly accepts it.
One advisor had just suggested that she could no longer attend the Armax Arena, which Tevos ended sharply, "No. I will not accept Ladochka can no longer partake in the Arena."
The frustration on the advisors' faces can't be missed, Ladochka knows she is not an easy subject. Not only is she not Asari, but she is not an easy Human. "Peitho," She begins, using Tevos's first name, but stops when everyone's omni-tool buzzes to life simultaneously despite being silenced.
Quickly reading the omni-tools alert, Osh stands from her seat, "I need my kit." The Omni-tool alert was an emergency alert used for only the most extreme reasons. Currently, a large Heretic fleet is dropping out of the Citadel Relay, their intent anything but peaceful.
Tevos blinks twice before clenching her fists, "Protocol is for us to board the Ascension with the rest of the Council. We will need to leave now."
"All the Council on one ship?" Ladochka asks with apparent confusion, "That makes it a primary target. And where is it going to run to? There is a fleet between us and the Relay. Staying on the Citadel is your best bet right now."
Tevos looks torn for a moment before blinking, "Then we need to get to the C2 room."
"Where is it?"
"Asari Embassy, fifth floor."
Ladochka blinks before creating a route in her head, then just before she can speak again, her omni tool buzzes once more, "Geth are on the Citadel. Dozens have been sighted on the Presidium." One of the aides speaks up.
"How?" Another asks.
"Doesn't matter," Ladochka replies, "We get to this C2 Room. I will get Nyx and a team to meet us there." 'with my guns' goes unspoken. Ladochka then looks around the aides, looking for a weapon, but she sees nothing of note, "We will need to move quick, so we will take your skycar. Send your teams home, let them secure your families." The Skycar can only take two people, and aids that look after their private lives are of no use right now. Tevos looks temporarily torn before blinking and dismissing the aids.
Other than a few people rushing back and forth, they see less than a handful of people on their way to where Tevos has parked her car. Getting inside the luxury car, Tevos simply turns the engine on then says, "Hold on," And the car shoots off like a bolt of lightning, the engine raging with loud, untamed growls underneath the bodyworks. Just a minute after taking off, a car in front of them is shot down through surface-to-air missiles. "Keep going. Pedal to the metal." Ladochka says, knowing turning direction will slow them down and increase their chance of being the next target.
As Tevos drives Osh turns to look out the rear, she notices a missle following them, but its speed is far below that of the car. For once in her life, Osh is thankful for supercars. She dares not say anything to Tevos.
After another heart-racing 30 seconds Tevos lands the car on the embassies roof, the engine glowing a cherry red from its efforts. "I probably just set the speed record," Tevos remarks lightly as they get ushered inside by embassy staff and start heading down some stairs. Osh refuses to use the elevator incase one of a numerous set of events happens, which could trap them inside. Only 89 floors to descend.
16 Floors from the end floor, a small squad of commandos join them and escort Tevos
Knowing that she will not be allowed into the highly secretive C2 room, Ladochka falls back and promises Tevos she will be in close proximity. As she waits for Nyx to arrive, she studies the floor above her, the current floor, and the below floor, discovering their vulnerable points, entry and exit routes. Just as she starts tapping her fingers against her leg in agitation at how long Nyx is taking, the Asari shows up with two others, carrying four large bags and very much out of breath.
"Good work," Osh tells them as she takes one of the larger bags, "Run into any trouble?"
"We had to take the long route to get here. Certain sky lanes are shooting galleries out there. It looks like Geth are everywhere."
"Heretics," Osh corrects before putting her bag on the floor and unzipping it. Inside she finds a part of her armour and some Asari leathers. Pulling the leathers out, she hands it to one of the guards guarding the entrance to the C2 room. "Give that to Tevos." The leathers will provide limited protection to explosives or blunt force but contain some powerful shields that will stop a bullet dead.
The guards initially look at one another before she pushes the leathers into one of them and goes back to the bags, next she starts to pull out her old relay-metal armour. The armour is as black as the darkest night, and carries an intimidating look.
The suit has been religiously upgraded with Asari shields since her arrival on the Citadel, but she knows its shields are pale compared to Geth and Heretic tech. Freya had upgraded and continues to maintain the shield software, but software improvements can only do so much. Without caring where she is, Osh strips naked and then begins the larbourous task of donning the various layers of the armour. As she pulls the kit on, she talks to Nyx, describing the vulnerabilities of the building and immediate floors.
When fully kitted out 10 minutes later, she goes into the next bag and pulls out a Turian rifle. The rifle isn't military grade since that tech is out of bounds to civilians, meaning no full auto, but it fires reliably, packs a hard punch, and could be used to bludgeon someone to death if needed. She had adapted it a while ago to fit a bayonet fitting, but Nyx either needed to remember to pack the knife or couldn't carry it.
Before pulling the helmet on, Osh frowns before grabbing her long hair and extending an omni-blade. Tevos will not forgive her for her following actions, but she can take her scorn later when still alive. With the blade extended, she cuts her hair so it is only as long as the top of her neck. Had she not, it would not fit into the helmet.
With the helmet now in place, she checks her HUD, and Freya confirms all systems are nominal.
Over the next hour, Osh stalks the building, scoping out its defences and noting areas vulnerable to attack, and to her scorn, the building is not easy to defend. However, the building has two saving graces: a contingent of Asari commandos protecting it and a shield generator any cruiser would be happy to wield.
Looking down a scope, Ladochka notes the slow advance of Heretic machines and some blood-raged Krogan. For the most part, they are advancing freely. Next to no resistance is trying to stop them.
"Osh," Tevos voices pulls Ladochka away from her scope, her bondmate sounded worried.
"Go on," Osh tells her.
"The Estate is under attack. We have nothing to send to protect it."
Osh releases a deep sigh as she understands the unasked question, "I'll take Nyx with me. This place should be able to sustain any ground offensive."
Tevos only looks ever so slightly relieved to hear this, "Take my car."
Osh blinks. Tevos has taught her how to drive her precious sky car, and it is the fastest sky car on the Citadel so taking it is logical. Its only downside is it only has two seats. "We will. I need you to tell these goons to give me some military-grade gear." Osh gestures with her head to some commandos holed up behind concrete fabrications nearby.
"What do you need?"
"Two SMGs, two shotguns, heat sinks, and as many grenades as I can fit into a black grip." She would ask for a fully automatic rifle, but as she lacks time to zero it, she would far rather her rifle that she can use to nail the wings on a fly. A military-grade weapon's only advantage is its ability to fire full auto. She uses her rifle in rifling 90% of the time, so no full auto is not a big deal.
It barely requires a finger flick for the weapons and sinks to appear, something Tevos promises Osh that she would have been able to do herself had they known she was her bondmate.
After packing the weapon bags, Nyx, Osh, and a few guards make their way to the top floor of the building via the stairs and to Tevos's awaiting skycar. "Get in," Osh says as she passes the black grip over to an out of breath Nyx.
The Asari does not question Osh and jumps straight into the passenger seat. With the engine still warm from its drive to the embassy, it does not take long for Osh to get in the air and put pedal to the metal.
Arriving far above the Estate Osh completes a few wide circles around the building, the garden is filled with Geth, Krogan, and a few mercenaries, all attacking the Estate's main building shields. Unfortunately one of the attackers is also glowing a bright orange. Many of the Estate's older Asari are using their biotics in defence of the Estate, in addition to the shields, but it can't last long, and a long Turian is firing from within the Estate. A Heretic Armature is slowly assembling itself in the centre of the garden, and from the Geth, Osh knows it will have the fire power to break through the shields in less than five minutes.
"Nyx, swap seats."
"What?" The Asari asks with confusion.
"Swap seats. 3...2...1... swap."
The swap is ugly, but they do not crash and Nyx has complete control of the car. Maybe only the third person to ever have full control of the car after Osh. "Keep circling." Nyx does as asked.
"See that glowing Krogan?" Nyx takes a second before blinking, "Fly directly above it."
As Nyx does as asked Freya begins to power up a rarely used set of algorithms called 'Overdrive', allowing Osh's cybernetics to draw on more power than usual, and it pumps her body with drugs, allowing for more power out of her muscles, and quicker reflexes. Osh rarely uses it due to the cost it has on her body. "When this is over, I will need you to pass me this cannister." Osh then places a small canister in a drink holder.
"What?"
"My body will be running extremely hot. It will need to be cooled, or I'll run into issues. This is liquid helium. Do not lose it. I will desperately need it." Nyx gives her an uncertain look, but a one which says she will do as asked. "Good. Land once the firing stops."
Realising they are about to arrive above the glowing Krogan Osh opens her door, and leaps out, carrying a shotgun, her rifle, and half a dozen grenades.
/.../
"There must be reinforcements out there," Ophellia breathes through deep breaths behind her cover, "Nothing has pinged off our shields for the last few 2 minutes."
It is true that the Geth attention has been drawn elsewhere, but one could not hear a typical Turian CSEC squad or any other citadel-aligned military defence crew.
After a few more moments pass and the shooting dies down, Ophelia dares risk poking her head over the concrete boulder and notices Ladochka slam dunk a fully armoured Krogan onto its head. She would believe it impressive if the Estate is not under direct attack. Seeing no other enemies moving, she dares jump down from her cover and carefully approaches Ladochka, who is now slamming her fists into the Krogans neck. All around them, there are dead bodies, dead geth platforms, and dead privateers. It is a horrific sight, and most of it has been caused by their Human. One Krogan even has two Turian mandibles sticking out of its skull where Osh has torn them off an enemy and used them as knives.
"Osh, are you alright?" She can see plenty of red blood soaking the human armour, amongst other colours of blood and blue hydraulics, but she can not see where the red is coming from. If anything, from the quantity of red blood, she is most impressed Osh is still standing, never mind slam-dunking Krogan.
"Water." Osh says immediately, "I need water." The Human sounds desperate, so Ophelia does not question it and immediately finds someone to task off. Being one of the most senior members of the Estate, she has a lot of authority. As she has her back turned to Osh, she can hear a Krogan scream in absolute agony and glimpsing a look, Ophelia can see nothing wrong with the Krogan Osh is standing dominantly over.
Getting back less than a minute later with a bottle of water, Ophelia looks at the Krogan on the floor, "What did you do to it?"
Osh looks at her momentarily before greedily downing the water, then answering, "I used nano-bots forced into its blood to activate every nerve cell I could find in its body. It felt like every cell is on fire or worse."
"Torture." Ophelia outright states as Nyx approaches in a light jog. On arrival, Nyx immediately hands over a small canister and Osh desperately grabs for it before slamming it into a port on her armour, then sighing as if someone had given her great relief as she sinks to the floor.
"What was that?" Ophelia quietly asks of Nyx. Osh is for the moment, oblivious to their presence.
"Liquid hydrogen," Nyx answers, relieving Ophelia's fear of drugs, "She said she desperately needs it to cool down."
After waiting a minute, Osh begins to respond to them, "My core body temperature had risen to 47dc. I'm supposed to be at 37."
Ophelia looks to Nyx, who is also confused, so she ignores it to ask, "Are you hurt?"
"Nothing a week of rest won't repair," Osh replies before standing shakily onto her feet, "These guys, though, these cunts were here for me."
"Is that what your torture told you?"
"Yes," Osh replies before grabbing another bottle of water brought by another estate member, taking her helmet off and pouring it over her head. With her helmet off, she also starts to scratch her head, a small relief anyone who has worn a combat helmet will understand.
Before anyone else can comment, Osh's phone rings and she struggles to get it out of her armour's pocket. Nyx eventually helps reach for it and hands it over. On receiving the phone, she answers, "Talk."
"Shepard, please tell me you're on the citadel?"
Osh rolls her eyes before activating her phone's loudspeaker, "Yeah, what do you need?"
"Sarren is at the Citadel tower. If you can get there, you must kill him ASAP, or this entire galaxy is fucked."
"Alright Ash," Osh replies before picking her rifle up and exchanging the heat sink, "I'm on my way. ETA 4 mins." Looking to Nyx she then asks, "Have you got one more fight in you?"
"I haven't fought yet," The Asari replies, "I think I should be asking if you have another fight in you? Your bleeding everywhere."
Osh smiles toothily, "This is what I was made for. Mount up."
Seeing Osh leave, Ophelia has a cold shiver run down her spine. She knew the Human was dangerous, but looking around at the utter devastation and death around her, she never realised just how dangerous that was. This Human is a weapon that she is thankful has bonded to her Matriarch.