Liara T'soni

Liara used the external camera of Garrus Vakarian's slave dwelling to view the streets of the slave quarter. It was a spirit town now. As if the goddess herself had plucked all life from its formerly bustling streets in the middle of the day. Stalls were left unattended, vehicles empty, shops empty but still lit as if ready for business. The soldiers were no longer conscripting slaves to fight for the planetary militia they had been redeployed somewhere else, perhaps to protect the Cardasian and Batarian quarters.

Garrus had turned into a Batarian secret police agent in the way he was now interrogating little Naomi.

"Listen fuzz head. It is really important we know whether these are good guys or not. Judging from the way your people are moving through the system they look like folks that have done this a couple times. So if they are going to be gouging Batarian Hegemony eyes, we need to know if they will be discriminating. Catch my drift?"

Naomi Nagata was of brownish complexion and just approaching Liara's shoulder in height. She was considerably darker than many of the hooman slaves that had been brought back from her home world. Yet she also possessed the narrow eyes that Liara had noticed most but not all of the humans from Shanxi seemed to have.

'Hmm she must be a clan half-breed' Liara's anthropological mind accurately estimated.

Naomi was apparently only 12 years old, not even a toddler by a thousand year lived Asari. Yet she carried herself like a mid age Asari maiden. The hoomans called this stage in life "adolescents".

Little Nagata had been mostly ignoring Garrus during his attempted interrogations. The news sims were still providing basic information of the invaders to the citizens the 314 system. Primary info was focused on six of the ten Super super dreadnoughts and dozens of their formidable escorts. The latter of which had literally alighted from within the bows of the super super dreadnaughts. Without eezo they were moving at impossible speeds toward the capital planet of Barak. Liara couldn't imagine how they were able to get the necessary power to drive such monstrosities across the system.

Naomi finally broke her silence. "See those 5 km long monsters? Ya those are the Mountain class battle carriers of the Coalition Star Navy. Think of them as Space Bases for the actual fighting ships…"

"5 kilometers? Spirits damned! I think your translator is damaged…" Interrupted Garrus. How powerful are their main guns? I bet they could crack a damn planet with them?" The speed at which Garrus had gone from terror to currioristy was amusing.

"Actually, you are right, but if a battle carrier is having to use its Railguns. Then someone, somewhere screwed up really badly. Its real weapons are its escort compliments. All of those smaller warships that they vomited on their way here. Those Destroyers, Frigates and Corvettes are the working men of any taskforce."

"Corvettes? These damned translators are not working after all! I don't see any Corvettes, smallest ship class by my guess had to be a Destroyer…" Said Garrus.

Liara noticed that the news casters had not given precise details on the sizes of the ship. The only definitive clue had been when one of the Super Dreadnaughts had taken Port Tarforn 3. Formerly a major 314 space station. The port had put up a miserable defence, literally falling in an hour. While the behemoth itself had not gotten anywhere near the station, one of its complement "destroyers" had. Extrapolating that 4 such "destroyers" had alighted from the bow of the Super Dreadnaught; it was easy to deduce just how colossal the humans built.

That solitary super dreadnought was definitely bigger than any dreadnaught within the Hegemony. Yet according to Naomi it wasn't even the biggest class. Apparently the Super Super Dreadnaughts that were racing in real space toward Barak were the true Giants of the system.

"Ya the Martian's don't play. They have this massive inferiority complex when it comes to major powers of Sol. They kind of wish Mars was the ancestral homeworld, not Earth. So Martian engineers and shipyards were tasked with building newest Coalitions main flag ships. A ship bigger and tougher than the Earth developed and built Titan class battle-carrier. Both still in service, but I wager that this Armada is being commanded by a Martian, which is why there are no Titans."

In the past few moments Naomi had said more about her people than she had in the weeks to months Liara had known her. It alarmed Liara as well as intrigued her.

"Your people appear to be highly tribalistic. Sort of like the Krogan. Shanxi clan, Coalition Clan, Mars and Earth clans…" Liara spoke her thoughts out loud.

Little Nagata cocked her head and merely smirked. "Dr. T'soni you have no idea. The Coalition isn't a clan. Think of it as a confederation of clans controlled by the gun. Specifically the guns made by Earth, Mars and the Jovian Systems Alliance. The Tripirate. They make up the major factions of Sol." Said Naomi.

"So your people are from this Sol System right?" Garrus questioned nervously.

Nagata made a face that looked like she had been expecting to drink water but instead tasted Krogan ale. "I am from Shanxi! We are a free system not ruled by the fascist Coalition!"

'Wow Krogan levels of tribalism indeed' mused Liara.

"Let me say that a little differently fuzz head. Are those CSN folks liable to shoot you, capture you or rescue you when they get here?" Interrogated Garrus.

Before the young human could respond Liara interrupted.

"Naomi right now neither you or Garrus can move free through the streets. If you are discovered the authorities will take you wherever they have been taking humans. If they find Garrus he will be given a rifle and expected to fight off an invasion. So, are we safe here? Just waiting? Or should we be taking our chances trying to get out of the cities?" Gently questioned Liara.

The little human seemed fixed on the news sim, neither joyous or afraid. It was as if the arrival of her people had had no effect on her state of being.

"My grandpa was a historian. It is my favorite subject in school. There is basically a rebellion happening all the time somewhere in Coalition space. And even more examples in history. Taking and retaking systems is something the CSN is really good at." Naomi crossed her feet to get more comfortable. She then positioned herself facing Garrus and Liara like a Matriarch about to tell a night time tale.

"First. Things are about to get really bumpy. The CSN is going to start by drop really little rocks at high speeds on military targets. Complimentary of the Railguns attached to the Cruisers and Destroyers soon to be in our orbit. There will be booms, I hope we are not within 2-5 hundred meters of a military target?" Nervously questioned Naomi.

"No Barracks and space port are in the rich quarters not the slave quarters. And the military base is outside of the city" Clarified Garrus.

"Good. Then after the boomies, the CSN will begin spreading the AID's. Lots and lots and lots of AIDs. The tin men will be arriving in hypervelocity orbital entry vehicles. It will look like its raining meteors for a few minutes."

"AIDs?" Interjected Garrus.

"Ya robot soldiers. Dumb as rocks, but they like, don't have families to mourn them when they get dead, so they have that going. Anyway, the AID's are basically going to shoot at anything they deem a threat. So don't carry weapons and don't approach them unless they demand it. They will storm every home. So if you got weapons Garrus those things need to become scarce right now." Naomi and Liara both looked at Garrus.

"I have my ancestral rifle, its been passed down through the Vakarian line since before the Hegemony or Council eras. The only thing more important than that is my life. And if i was an honorable Turian then even that would be up for debate."

Without blinking Naomi gave it straight. "If it's stashed away somewhere the AID's probably won't kill you on the spot, but they will take you prisoner. I would dismantle it and scatter the pieces all over your house Vakarian. AID's are dumb they might let that slide."

Without hesitation the young Turian went into a back room of is slave dwelling. Little Nagata continued her tale after Garrus had returned with a truly ancient Turian rifle.

"After the AID's have shocked everyone, the Marines in power armor will start landing in gunships. While AAD's will rule the sky. Oh, sorry "Autonomous Aerial Drones." Naomi Clarified. She then smirked and continued.

"Lastly the grand finale!" Liara had studied humans enough to recognize sarcasm, a trait they shared with the Asari.

"A Marine command and control ship, the equivalent of a Navy Frigate will park itself 500 meters above the city. That is when the Capital will more or less be under CSN control!" Sarcastically exclaimed the young human.

"So we just sit here and wait? Are you sure we should not be evacuating, the news claims it will be hours before your people arrive?" Liara had a doubtful expression on her face.

"Trust me Dr. Tsoni. Out there, in here it's gonna be just as fun. Might as well lay back and relax and watch the fireworks from the comfort of Garrus' not home. Things are about to get interesting."

The human teenager's tell tell sarcastic smirk was starting to worry Liara.