Tela Vasir. Planet Oma Ker, Turian Hierarchy.
This is a rarely shitty mission! In a month of active fighting, the squad's composition has managed to change completely six times. There have been no safe places on the planet for the last two weeks, just as a matter of fact. Not even theoretically safe. For about a week, leaving the planet has also been unrealistic; ships are simply shot down. There is effectively no supply; you have to sleep wherever. Oh yes, food for non-dextro races is in short supply. The planet is populated by Turians, so the food was imported. The key word is "was."
When the supply problems started, the variety of necessary products hit everyone. Different races require different rations, and Biotics require specific things so as not to burn out and not take several days to recover. And different races need different medications... In short, being a supply officer on Oma Ker is as miserable as being a Turian. And somehow, no one thought about that.
When troops go to the planet's surface, they exit into...
strictly for the purpose of sabotage or a raid. Just try finding shops or warehouses among the ruins. If the attackers initially tried to act carefully, they failed. The Turians dug in so deep that they can only be pried out by leveling buildings. Sometimes entire blocks. Which is exactly what was done. As a result, almost no cover remains on the surface. You either hide among the rocks or go underground. The second option was chosen.
And even then, the survival rate is, frankly, small. Just recall the assistants assigned to Tela as a Spectre. The first five squads died in the line of duty, and command simply issued a new one, the sixth. Because on Oma Ker, this has been normal for the last few weeks.
The first squad was wiped out during the retreat from that base over a month ago. The monorail was still working, and there was a station near the outpost. To deliver the information, it was decided to use a trolley. And for the retreat, of course. They called the trolley, boarded, and headed for the nearest city.
We didn't know yet about the nasty little flying craft the Shadow Broker called "Banshees." They destroyed the monorail and nearly killed the first team, if not for the Salarian pilot. He got Tela Vasir and the sniper out at the cost of the rest of the squad.
The second and third squads died in the colony's capital, trying to reach a truly colossal, sun-blocking ship. There were several attempts to storm or penetrate it, by surface, by air, and through the numerous tunnels under the city. And that's where it got difficult.
The second squad died in battle with the Brutes (ever since they were spotted roasting Asari on a bonfire—that's the only name for them). They die well enough from bullets to the head; they often wear no armor or shields. But they have extremely powerful, heavy, crude weapons and strong bodies. However, nothing unkillable; enemies with shields are harder.
And then the squad ran into a particularly large and hairy white-furred Brute with a massive hammer. Bullets didn't take him, but his hammer simply tore apart everyone it hit. The second squad found that out personally for her, at the cost of their lives.
The third squad was ambushed. They managed to destroy the enemy tanks, but Tela herself preferred to retreat and preserve the data. While another squad, at the cost of their lives, distracted the enemy.
The fourth squad never even managed to complete a single mission. During the transfer from the capital to one of the major cities, the convoy was attacked and smashed from the air. Survival here was only possible because Tela Vasir managed to hide. And then, with the next group and the fifth squad of Turian Shock Troopers, she reached the city.
Here, everything was both better and worse. Better, because no Covenant Supercarrier hung over the city. Worse, because due to the aerial bombings, the Turians had retreated into the tunnels. The calmest eight days were spent in the tunnels, while the enemy couldn't adequately break into them. And we could counterattack. Tela almost relaxed; finally, the situation was improving.
The Turians had the initiative; tunnels were literally everywhere under the large cities. You could attack in the most unexpected places, and the most dangerous enemies simply couldn't fit into the ventilation. The enemy was being squeezed while Shock Troopers with jetpacks emerged from the tunnels and hammered them.
Of course, there were attempts at counterstrikes. But a full-scale defense was organized in the tunnels, with artillery, vehicles, and machine guns. It was even possible to relax slightly. And then this "Covenant" introduced massive combat robots into the battle.
Two models: a taller one with a massive cannon-head that easily cuts through dozens of meters of rock to reach the tunnels, incinerating the defenders' lines right through the cliff. The second version of the siege walker is more squat and wide. More of a siege platform with a massive caliber plasma mortar. These mechs began to roam the city, mowing down defenders along with the buildings they tried to hide in.
You sit in a building, fire at the enemy, and immediately numerous blue energy spheres from plasma mortars fly into the structure. Or a green beam cuts through the base of the building, causing it to collapse. Those who didn't manage to flee, died. The building would be brought down, burying the streets and hindering maneuverability with multi-meter debris. Jetpacks and cars quickly became the primary means of transport in the city. If you don't get shot down, of course. But without them, moving through the city is impossible.
Furthermore, these "Scarabs" possess anomalous durability; the only reliable way to destroy them is boarding and detonating the power plant. Or an orbital strike; anything less simply doesn't affect them. That's how the fifth squad died. Tela was covering them as a sniper, and the squad with jetpacks climbed onto one of the machines to plant mines and destroy it. Apparently, the enemy realized this and simply covered the Scarab from the air, killing the boarders along with the vehicle.
Now, the sixth squad. Two Salarians, six Turians, two Asari. The enemy really dislikes Biotics; they are clearly unaccustomed to it. So Biotics are now worth their weight in gold and are included in squads on a "voluntary-compulsory" basis.
Not even for their striking skills, but for area control. Anti-gravs, pushes, levitation, directed gravity vectors. All of this is far more important than another rifleman, of which there are plenty.
So, everyone capable of using Biotics has been conscripted into the Oma Ker forces. For example? One of the two Asari in the squad is a local, a Maiden dancer. She had never held a weapon before the attack; she learned to fly a jetpack during the invasion. But she is Asari and a Biotic, so she was given a pistol, armor, and sent forward into battle. To dance among the ruins. There's nowhere to run anyway.
The city took a heavy hit. From a forest of glass spires hundreds of meters high, shimmering with reflections, only burnt ruins remained. Almost not a single skyscraper left intact; everything that could burn, burned, collapsed, or melted.
Part of the buildings were melted by orbital strikes, leaving behind craters and ugly, flowed structures in which it's very hard to recognize buildings—usually, foam concrete doesn't turn into a liquid state. But here and now, it's a way of life. By the way, flowed foam concrete stinks incredibly.
Every battle involving "Scarabs" leads to destruction, considering these enemy mechs are almost the only things that can walk freely over such rugged terrain. Only them, aviation, and infantry.
Destroyed buildings form multi-meter debris piles, and the use of the green beam cuts through high-rises like a knife, creating new destruction. There is no talk of a controlled collapse; buildings fall onto one another or simply into the streets. According to locals, there were collapses even before the arrival of the walkers, but it was after their mass appearance in the city that it turned into ruins in a matter of days.
If not for the tunnels, the city would have been lost already. But even so, it's a matter of time.
"Breach in tunnel seven-A," a Turian's voice over the radio told the driver where not to go, and he turned into a side tunnel. The minibus carrying the squad would take a detour. But it's better that way than flying into enemy squads, right into the line of fire. No shooting is heard, but that doesn't mean anything. Better not to go looking for trouble. The further from the front line, the safer you'll be.
"Another Scarab. Who even puts a massive cannon on a massive robot," grumbled a Turian.
"A drill. Given the situation, it's a drill," the Salarian driver corrected him.
"What's the difference?" snapped another Turian. "It's not like we're going to attack with tanks. This thing melts tanks like they're made of glass. Our strength is the jetpacks. We knock out the defenders on the hull with grenades and snipers, jump on, and plant mines. Simple and clear. In theory."
Yeah, right, simple. And the three machine guns on the hull, and the possibility of getting hammered from the air, were apparently canceled. Still, it was lucky that she, Tela, called herself a sniper.
The survival rate for boarders is a bit low for a comfortable and long life. Perhaps everyone topside will go down today. The squad was sent to destroy another Scarab punching holes in the tunnels. If the problem isn't solved quickly, the defense will crumble.
The bus drove past a defensive line blocking the entrance to another side tunnel. Judging by how everything on the other side of the airlock was charred and melted, and the defensive line had been moved deeper, a Scarab had recently been at work here.
Tela adjusted the camera to better film the contents of the tunnel. She didn't see much, but it looked like the drill had burned a hole in the ceiling right above the defenders' positions, flooding everything with plasma and instantly killing everyone there. In a confined space, the heat of thousands of degrees instantly turns the tunnel's contents into a furnace, burning everything capable of burning. Infantry, vehicles, armor—it doesn't matter. Only melted and unrecognizable wreckage remains. At best.
The squad wound through the tunnels a few more times before the bus stopped at another defensive line. They had arrived.
"Go the rest of the way on foot. The exit is nearby," indicated the Turian officer defending this section of the wall.
"Any word on what's outside?" asked the third Asari, this time a commando.
The commander clicked his mandibles.
"Behind us? Ruins," he pointed deeper into the tunnel. "In the next section it's still okay, but further on, it's the enemy. At the very least, you'll run into those damn insects."
Oh, the insects. They look quite large, almost the size of an Asari. But they fly and can squeeze into fairly small ventilation. True, they are very light and not durable at all; they die from anything. But they fly in swarms and are capable of covering you very densely from the air with green horseshoe-shaped pistols. We'll wipe them out, but likely with casualties.
"Better not to cross paths with them," our Turian agreed with the officer.
She had absolutely no desire to memorize her current partners. They were on the recording, and as for the rest... what difference did it make? She wouldn't have to work with them for long anyway.
"Let's go, watch the ceiling, we don't need to run into those cockroaches."
The squad passed through barricades made by the Turians from containers and vehicles. Essentially a wall of containers, machine guns on top, with cannons poking out between them like embrasures. There are two YMIR Mechs and a simpler squad.
Not the worst defense; if the soldiers are good, you'll get tired of trying to break through. The gate leaf is partially lowered so that aviation or insects can't slip through. Those small "Banshees" could.
But the squad needs to move further. There, beyond the defensive line, then up a technical tunnel to the surface. The tunnel is quite narrow; not every enemy can crawl through. They have to go up one by one.
"When we get out of here, I'm getting drunk," one of the Turians said quietly, but everyone heard.
He could be understood. It was impossible to recognize a metropolis with shining towers reaching for the sky in these mountains of stone and melted concrete. Emerging from the tunnel, the squad found themselves in a literal canyon of wreckage. There are sounds of gunfire, smells of burning and smoke, as well as the stench of corpses. But everything is muffled. After all, the battles for the upper part of the city are almost over. Gray sky, gray ruins, gray dust.
The Shock Trooper commander looked around—no one was nearby—and said:
"Alright, you know the plan. Climb higher, find the walker, blow it up, withdraw. The less of that junk walking the surface, the better our chances in the tunnels. Move out."
The squad, albeit unevenly, took off on jetpacks. This wasn't a final dash under fire; everything was by the book. The main thing was that the ruins didn't crumble. Climbing through ruins without a jetpack is quite the experience. There's a risk of getting shot, but at least you won't break your legs if you do everything right.
It doesn't get better higher up. The squad reached the top of a pile of debris, inside a partially tilted building, and looked around. Gray, charred ruins, over which an enemy corvette hangs. The Scarabs should be around here somewhere. Banshee dots are visible on the horizon, but they are far away for now and haven't noticed. The squad in gray camouflage, matching the color of the ruins, might be spotted.
And the sensors on those single-seat flyers aren't great. Banshees are small; normal sensors simply don't fit in them.
"Varren shit. We'll have to act very fast," the Turian cursed, looking at the ship above us.
That's exactly how my fifth squad died. If the boarders don't plant the mines fast enough, the machine will be covered from the air, destroying both it and the boarding party. And boarders and jetpacks aren't infinite. Since the supply lines were cut, we're relying only on stockpiles.
"We just need to be faster than them," Tela threw out.
At this, the civilian Asari took offense.
"That's because you're a sniper. If they cover us, you'll survive. But I have to go in there."
Tela only snorted at that.
"And if I'm spotted while you're in the attack, you simply won't have time to help me. One grenade and all that's left of me will be melted armor."
It's not that the kid was exactly wrong; Tela has been surviving all this time partly because she retreats in time. But that's generally part of her training as a Spectre. The priority is the mission; Spectres always complete the task. The second priority is the organization's reputation.
From the Shadow Broker, Tela Vasir had read about Shepard. The first human Spectre from the future. Some might think this character, more loyal to his government than the Council, isn't fit for the Spectres. But he performed loud deeds. Not always ethical, but always loud. And the Council, thanks to the Spectre title, had its share of reputation from those deeds. Her thoughts were interrupted by the Salarian's voice:
"Over there! A Scarab. We can attack."
And indeed, near the former monorail freight station, which was destroyed because it was used in army supply, a four-legged walker is moving slowly, stepping over debris. The station was active in the early days, but the enemy quickly realized it was an important logistical center and took it by storm, destroying it with constant bombings.
Nearby lies the wreck of a Turian Hierarchy corvette. It had tried to help defend the station, fired on the enemy, and was also shot down. There are almost no tall structures in that area, but further on, in the direction the walker is heading, there are enough multi-story ruins. The squad noticed the same thing.
"There, ahead. Eight floors, we can jump from there. Tela, to the neighboring building, cover us."
"Understood."
The squad moved in dashes and jetpack jumps, watching the sky, toward the target. They need to outrun the machine and occupy a building suitable for boarding. All this must be done unnoticed, otherwise they'll simply be incinerated.
Tela took a position in a window a block away. Previously, this had been an office building, then there was a fire, so the floor-to-ceiling glass windows were broken, partially charred, and had become opaque. Everything in the room itself had long since burned, which is why the stench of burnt plastic and corpses is indescribable. But that's not her problem. The main thing is to find a more or less intact table and set up her position.
"Tela Vasir, in position."
Rest the weapon on the table and look carefully through the gaps so as not to attract attention with optical reflections or a silhouette. You'll live longer. Snipers are generally long-lived in this conflict.
"Boarding party in position. Waiting, stay down."
And this isn't an empty demand. If the Scarab sees them, it will simply bring down the building with a shot from its cannon. Then the squad will be forced to leave cover or be buried under debris. That wouldn't be ideal.
They weren't noticed; the walker passed slowly by her building and moved on. Close enough to the Shock Troopers' positions. Someone is walking on the platform, but she can't pull out the sniper rifle; they might notice. Waiting for the command. From the other side of the radio, a voice rang out:
"Get ready!"
"Grenades ready."
Tela raised the sniper rifle. Not exactly her weapon, but snipers live longer than Shock Troopers. So, on the platform we have two with power shields and blue rapid-fire guns, four lizards, and two dwarfs. The Asari sniper rifle, like all their weapons, has smooth, streamlined shapes and a white body, now painted in urban camouflage.
"Sniper ready."
"Good. Three, two, one, go!"
The pops of an automatic grenade launcher rang out, and immediately Tela fired at one of the tall ones, trying to knock down his shield. Grenades, as practice has shown, are as good against enemies without shields as they are weak against those with them. The best weapon against shields is a shotgun. But a sniper rifle is also good.
The first shot shattered against the shield at face level, making that gray-skinned one with the split jaw recoil. The second shot also hit, knocking down the shield, and then grenades hit the platform, mowing down the enemy. Shrapnel began to cut down enemies one after another, and then grenades went off in a blue flash. Several blue explosions ended life on the upper platform.
"Excellent! Boarding party—forward!"
In a flash of jump engines, the squad jumped onto the Scarab on a shallow trajectory. In flight, a burst of blue flashes hit them, but one of the commandos lit up purple and the firing ceased.
"Take that, Throw!"
Tela, meanwhile, fired at an enemy who peeked out below, but he hid.
"There are more enemies inside, covering."
The boarders jumped onto the upper platform almost successfully (two flew past and had to jump again), and a firefight began. Unfortunately, there isn't much for a sniper to do here, only watch the sky.
The communicator beeped. That was unusual; few people could call here. It's a small, wrist-mounted device for planetary communication. Who could possibly need her? Hm, Versar Secullus. Well, well. Must answer.
"This is Tela Vasir, we can't be heard. Just make it quick, I'm on a mission."
"It doesn't matter anymore, Tela Vasir. Execute Protocol 66. Immediately, if you want to survive."
Um, what? That's evacuation. Protocol 66 is definitely evacuation. Of course, things are bad in the colony, but still. Are the problems really so big that she's being pulled out?
"Why evacuation, Broker? The situation is fairly stable."
"The ship in the capital. The battles for it prevented the reactor from being shut down. An explosion is inevitable; my sources see energy accumulation. You have five hours to reach the evacuation point. Coordinates transmitted. The choice is yours; the evacuation won't wait."
The transmitter beeped with an incoming message and cut off.
"Shit!"
What bad timing. But she couldn't stay either; if the Broker ordered an evacuation ship to land in the south, outside the city, they wouldn't wait. If Tela wasn't there in five hours, she wouldn't be able to leave.
And yet, how must a ship's reactor blow to wipe out not just the capital, but the entire surrounding area? It sounds like fantasy. Could they be quietly writing her off? They could, but there are easier and faster ways to kill one Asari. Thousands of sentients die here every day; she simply wouldn't be noticed. That Turian Spectre died a couple of weeks ago. A Scarab strike through the tunnel ceiling, no chance of escape. And there was nothing left to identify.
But she had to decide. There simply wouldn't be a second chance. Ah, to hell with it! First, she had to figure out how to get rid of the group. Preferably fatally; if the group reported that Spectre Tela Vasir had died and she survived, it wouldn't be good. Which meant spotting a group of Banshees a couple of kilometers away and firing on them. Not immediately, but they eventually figured out the direction and flew her way.
Banshees are very compact; that's both a plus and a minus. The machine can be considered not even a plane, but a flying exoskeleton. The armor is thin, located around the body of the horizontally lying pilot. The weapon is powerful, the machine is small, but it's also easily pierced by a machine gun. There are no shields; the only problem is the pilot's shield. Exactly what's required.
"Boarding party, how are you doing? I've got Banshees coming in. Six of them, flying our way from the west,"—and a couple of shots, for plausibility.
"Copy that, Tela. Withdraw to the third position. We're finishing up and will fight them off."
Well, that's grand. After firing a couple more shots, making the first Banshee veer, Tela ran. And almost immediately, green flashes from grenade launchers hit the floor she had occupied. Melted glass doesn't hold its shape at all and easily gave way under the pressure of explosions and blue flashes of shots. Along with the furniture and a piece of the floor.
Firing broke out from the Scarab, and things got a bit easier. Not that Tela was going to help them. The Shock Troopers found themselves in an extremely bad situation, hiding on the Scarab while Banshees flew overhead with their characteristic hum, and they couldn't stay because the machine was mined.
"Jump! Leave the Scarab! Tela, cover us! Tela Vasir!"
Sorry, boys. But I have my own route.
A few seconds later, the Scarab's reactor exploded, and the shouting on the line diminished. The humming didn't stop; presumably, they would be finished off.
Tela herself used the descent method used by her ancestors—the stairs. Banshees are flying outside; a cleanup crew might be sent here. No point lingering.
***
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