Chapter 310: Asking for help
The CIC of the Budapest is several times larger than that of Normandy, after all, it is the main class warship of the Star Alliance, and the communication, detection, fire control, VI and other systems are all of the latest generation. The cabin design also leaves room for upgrades.
After entering the CIC hall, the first thing you see is the huge room and the huge holographic star map in the center, which is 3 meters high, twice as large as the star map on Normandy, and is in the center, so it is very conspicuous.
Under the light of the star map, you can see two people standing in front of the somewhat empty operating table in the center, pointing at the star map. Under the illumination of the star map, only their dark backs could be seen, that was Shen Chao and his deputy captain.
At this time, except for the two of them, the rest of the CIC was busy, and officers were constantly standing up from the operating stations not far from both sides to report new situations.
The members of the communication group and the electronic warfare group were working at full strength, and constantly sent the latest reports to the control panel and hologram in front of Shen Chao.
Shen Chao stood in front of the hologram, giving new orders or asking about progress from time to time, today's battle situation was so smooth, and he suddenly liked this kind of battleship space battle.
Just like the first time he killed someone back then, although there was an accident, he completed his maiden battle in space perfectly, which made him feel a little fluttering with a sense of accomplishment. He barely even noticed that the group had arrived at CIC.
"Captain? The commander arrived. Alice resisted the urge to walk behind Shen Chao and pat him on the shoulder, and reluctantly saluted Shen Chao, who turned around.
She still doesn't like to call Captain Shen Chao, and she doesn't like to salute her boyfriend, but they are now on the battleship, and there are still many members of the Star Alliance, and she doesn't want to make a bad example of disrespecting the chief.
"Ah, Commander, welcome. Shen Chao walked over and shook Sister Xue's hand, and at the same time made a look in Alice's direction, meaning to let her go back to the warehouse below.
A little-known fact is. At this moment, there is a space-time door in the cargo compartment on deck 8, which is guarded by a whole team of soldiers.
At this time, the vast majority of people in Shen Chao's team were actually in the main plane base on the other side of the space-time gate! That is why no one on the ship saw them after the battle began.
This is all to avoid the risk of space battle, none of them thought that this battle would be so smooth before, so the escape work has been prepared for a long time.
Back to the present, Shen Chao was introducing Sister Xue to his newly recruited adjutant at this time. Oddly enough, though. Both reacted strangely, as if they had known each other for a long time.
"How did you get him from the command of the First Fleet?" Sister Xue asked in a very strange tone, in her impression, Damien seemed to be a celebrity in the fleet.
Even if she went out to the First Fleet herself, it would take a lot of effort to get someone. How did Shen Chao recruit him as his adjutant?
"I didn't. I recruited him at Omega. Shen Chao replied, he looked at the two people in front of him, and the more he looked at it, the more strange he felt, this Damien and Sister Xue definitely knew each other before, and they were very familiar!
But before he could ask what was going on. There was new news from the electronic warfare group, and an officer shouted: "Captain." The scan results are in! Suddenly, Shen Chao's attention was drawn back to the operational command.
Shen Chao had sent a squadron of fighter jets half an hour earlier to scout the Collector warships that were already lying on their stomachs at close range. The pilots of the fighters are all members of the Star Alliance, and he will not be too sad if there is an accident.
At this time, the fighters had already set up the scheduled scanning equipment and carried out a detailed tomography scan of the local warship with a reconnaissance pod, and now, the first results have come out.
"Pass the results. When he heard this, he ordered, and the electronic warfare team immediately sent the image of the scan that had been corrected to his control panel.
Shen Chao called up the results to display on the hologram, and the 3D translucent image of the Collector battleship was immediately displayed. The structure inside can be clearly seen.
"Let the fighters return." Shen Chao saw that the picture he needed had been obtained. The order was given for the fighter to return home. When the order arrived, several pilots flew back to the flight deck in Budapest as fast as they could.
It is not fun for a squadron of several fighters to carry out a close reconnaissance mission against a warship of this size, as long as the opponent has a secondary gun, then they will definitely not be able to run away from such a close distance when the secondary gun is turned on.
Back on the Budapest, the people at CIC were already analysing the images in front of them. They soon discovered a very big suspicion.
"No heat signature? Isn't there anyone piloting a battleship? This is what Sister Xue said, and she found that there was no infrared signal above the background on this map, as if there were no creatures on the entire battleship.
According to their understanding, if the collector really saves zĂ i. They should also be living beings, and as long as they live. It will also definitely emit a heat signal at least above the low temperature background, as other organisms do.
"Maybe they're all in hibernation pods now. Anyway, we should report ......" Shen Chao gave his "conjecture", the current state of the collector battleship is a bit like the situation in the game when the second generation lured Normandy.
So Shen Chao was not very surprised by the situation at this time, he just wanted to quickly let Xinglian take over the situation here, divert his attention, and then he could go and carry out his large number of plans.
A few minutes later, Shen Chao, who had delegated command again, and Sister Xue left the 3CIC together and went to the communication room dozens of meters away to prepare for the report.
The communication group has set up a link, and at this time it is in the process of contacting Admiral Hackett, who is on the Arcturus space station, after layers of approval. After a while, the communication finally reached Hackett's office.
Hackett, dressed in a Star Alliance uniform, appears on the hologram in front of him. At the same time, their holograms appear in front of Hackett.
"Lieutenant Colonel Shepard, Major Shen Chao, I remember that you were still on different missions in different star regions a few days ago, right?" How did you come together. Hackett's particularly majestic voice came.
Although the commander-in-chief of the fleet was involved in various affairs during this time, he still knew very well the state of the two human ghosts when they set off. So he wondered how these two people got together.
"It was an accident, Admiral. We just happened to be led here by a clue, and the collector ......" Sister Xue tried to explain.
"Oh, Collector? Tell me about it, but don't repeat any rumors to me. Hackett was a little interested.
He had heard of the legend of the Collector before, and there was also a file on the Seventh Fleet of the Star Federation that showed that a team of Marines had encountered them at the borders of the Boundary-God System.
So, Hackett doesn't think it's just a legend when he hears about the collector, as most people do. But he still needs evidence to fully believe their claims.
"That's the proof you want, Admiral. Shen Chao interjected, saying that he used a multi-tool to connect to the communicator and sent an electronic report. The report contains a large number of photographs of the Collector's battleship and the results of the scans that have just been obtained.
It contains a large number of close-up photographs and a preliminary analysis report that has just been made, which clearly shows most of the important numbers of the collector's battleship.
"Is the ratio accurate?" Equivalent to the volume of the overlord? Hackett asked as soon as he saw the scale in the picture, he remembered the battle of the Citadel a month earlier, and the Overlord's unprecedented size and combat power shocked them all.
And now the photos sent by Shen Chao and them show that there is still a warship in the galaxy that is comparable in size to the overlord, and it has just been overturned by a heavy cruiser? He definitely needs to make sure.
"The proportions are absolutely correct, both from a distance and from a close range. However, its combat effectiveness is far worse than that of the overlord......" Shen Chao explained by pointing to the contrast in the photo.
"Keep talking......" Hackett believed his account after examination, and asked him to recount the incident to him in detail.
"One week ago, I received information that there might be a connection between the collector and the reaper. Five days ago, I followed the clues, and the Budapest brought it here to wait, and then we found the Collector battleship......"
Shen Chao briefly recounted his version of the story, explaining how they waited for the Collector battleship, how they "accidentally" discovered Normandy, and the subsequent battle process.
Except for a fabricated source of information and clues, all other information is true, so his story sounds so realistic that even someone like Hackett can't find anything wrong with it.
"Lieutenant Colonel, is it true?" Hackett still asked Sister Xue next to him and confirmed.
"It's totally true, my Normandy is being repaired with the help of engineers in Budapest. Sister Xue nodded to confirm that she had just been rescued and completely believed Shen Chao's statement.
"I see, how much support do you need?" Hackett was silent for a few seconds, then asked them directly.
He knew that the Normandy and Budapest manpower alone would not be enough to safely capture the ship, and that they had to act quickly to take control of the ship. They must be supported.
"We need at least 4 fully manned heavy cruisers, and at least 1000 marines to ensure the safe capture of this battleship." Shen Chao reported the numbers he calculated, and Sister Xue also agreed with his judgment.
"Very well, I will send twice as many forces and a whole detachment to meet you. Estimate... It will take 5 days to reach your sector, can you guarantee the safety of the fleet until it arrives?
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