The Shadow of Old Transgressions (Homeworld/Mass Effect Crossover Quest)

The Heartlands

Cradle Nebula
The Great Harborship, Bentus

Your fleet quickly splits in two. Streams of small craft move back and forth as you, Laverna, and Ullyses send your resource drones to Iuno in order to make room for as many acolytes as possible. As many dervishes as possible cram into the shepherds hangars.

Oracle-13 leaves first. It forges forward with its driving burning creating a wake of dust as it pushes through the thick clouds. Its sensors are on high alert for any more fighters or other potential hostiles. Iuno and Aurora follow while the Irunese frigates and remaining Dervishes hover around them in a protective sphere. Their task is to look for Sentinels to find what is going on and possibly offer what aid they can.

For a non Bentusi it would be almost impossible. The Sentinels are based out of hidden bastions shrouded in the thickest dust clouds and equipped with the best stealth technology that the Bentusi can build. They are where the ancient warfleets sleep to hopefully never be used again, and the modern Sentinels hone their minds and weapons for the worst possibilities. They are the last resort of the Bentusi.

But the purpose of the bastions is protection not vengeance. It would be a tragedy if any Bentusi was lost when aid was so close. So from a young age Bentusi are taught the shifting routes to reach the Bastions. Iuno and Aurora aren't searching for a refugee, but this is still an emergency if there ever was one. Hopefully there will be at least one Sentinel still at the bastion for them to link up with.

---

Four quantum gates open and your attack squadron makes the briefest of journeys of hyperspace before being shunted back into real space. It's a short sharp discontinuity. In fact shorter than you were expecting. Your emergency overrides dropped you back into real space early. It seems there is a massive hyperspace inhibitor on Bentus's location. A very bad sign.

You automatically launch acolytes and quickly clear your sensors from the static of hyperspace. What you see is just a series of terrible scenes culminating in a horrible choice. First of all the space nearest to your flotilla is swarming with the jagged fighters. Opposing them are more acolytes than you've ever seen in one place. But even in their thousands they are still outnumbered and an enormous dogfight is underway that your own fighters are quickly drawn into.

Further out you see the transponders of sentinels. Cruisers and frigate bodies alike plowing through the dust and wreaking havoc on the enemy fighters, but they are not unopposed either. Facing them are long ships with domed tops and massive protruding cannons. From what you can see they are armored even beyond Bentusi standards and their cannons are wreaking havoc on friend and foe alike as they fire indiscriminately through the melee at their targets. In a single salvo you see a dozen acolytes and eight enemy fighters destroyed before the beam slashes a jagged rift across a Sentinel cruiser's armor.

Even worse, the Sentinels are not the only Bentusi transponders you are reading. A flock of Chrysalis and Pilgrims are desperately burning towards a thick gas cloud at the edge of the battle attempting to seek cover from the raging battle. These are the youngest of all Bentusi and they are not unprotected. Two sentinel juggernauts are fighting to cover them. But they are clearly the last of a long line of defenders as the children's back trail is littered with burning hulks, and a trio of the enemy ships engage their protectors. Even as you watch one of the juggernauts sacrifices itself to intercept a salvo of cannon fire. You can hear the desperate cries of the chrysalis's as the sentinel falls.

But if the children were sent away instead of nestling in the safety of the great harborship, then it implies there is worse yet to come. And indeed as your sensors finally resolve Bentus you can see that the great harborship is battered. Bentus's armor is cracked and several of its fins are missing. Facing the eldest Bentusi is a monster. You thought the Wraith flagship was enormous, but this thing matches Bentus in length and its angular hull is far more bulky. Small shuttles keep landing and taking off and the true scale is made clear as your sensors resolve them as being the ships fighting the Sentinels on an even footing. Ancient databank entries make their way to your mind as a positive match is found. This is a T-Mat reef ship. The eighth of its kind, Ninhursag.

The battle is not wholly one sided. There are rents in Ninhursag's armor as well. Bentus is lashing out with ion beams as wide as a frigate. Acolytes are flying into the gaps along thus created. And Bentusi corvettes of a type you've never seen before are unleashing cascades of what look like plasma bombs on the massive T-Mat mothership. A reminder that for all you've seen and done you are still young by Bentusi standards and not privy to all of the elders' secrets.

Compared to the ongoing battle your flotilla seems impossibly outgunned. But you remind yourself that you have trump cards of your own. Your dervishes are scything through the T-Mat fighters. Ion cannons designed to destroy Wraith armor punching through multiple fighters at a time. Laverna is flying your drone swarm with an elegance that belies their ferocity as they converge their fire to destroy entire fighter squadrons. Ulysses is literally smashing through the nearest fighter squadron. Their T-Mat pilots unable to account for his uncharacteristic speed and their frames no match for his golden armor. A small ping over the fleet network alerts you. Ulysses has charged his siege cannon and wants your input on the best target. And of course there is yourself. You turrets are downing fighter after fighter even as your main cannons punch into the nearest T-Mat frigate. Your journeys have left you a match for any of the Sentinels.

But what should you do?

[ ] Prioritize the Children
The Bentusi have very few children. Each one is a precious gift for the whole race, and now they are in grave peril. Your flotilla must rendezvous with them as quickly as possible and escort them out of the battle.

[ ] A Parting Shot
Your flotilla will rendezvous with the flotilla of young Bentusi, but you'll curve your path to bring you close enough to Ninhursag for Ulysses to fire his siege cannon at it. It will leave him slightly depleted and you might need that energy later, but you can't leave Bentus completely unsupported.

[ ] Sacrifice the Drones
The Shepherds, the Dervishes, the acolyte swarms. The fruits of your clashes with the Wraiths. You'll use them now against the T-Mat. While you, Ulysses, and Laverna move to support the children your drone fighters will burn to Bentus's aid. You'll see how well Ninhursag's armor compares to a Wraith's when a dozen dervishes focus their fire.

[ ] Prioritize Bentus
The children are important, but there aren't that many ships chasing them. Between their current guardian and Laverna they should be safe. Especially if you send one of the shepherds as well. Meanwhile you and Ullysses will take the dervishes and directly support Bentus. You can't let the eldest Bentusi fall.