Chapter 41: 41
Within three minutes, we had cracked the armoured door. It slowly rose upwards, and five stormtroopers in heavy armour waited for it to open, aiming their rifles at the entrance. Prime stood in the centre with an RPG, the stormtroopers to the sides. On the other hand, I stood against the wall of the complex so that I could not be seen if you were looking from inside the complex. And there was only one reason for that. I may be a get, but I'm not immortal, and I was terrified. Because Kyla doesn't let a Salarian sniper or a hybrid stand there or a herd of krogan go ramming. The distance would be too short even if we didn't kill them all. The sniper will kill me instantly, and the hybrid will bash me so far away with biotics that I'll collect nuts all over the planet. So no matter what anyone says, I'm not taking any chances. I'm getting to be a general. Don't risk your own ass; risk the asses of others who answer to you. I'll deal with that later, but right now, the main thing is to save the queen from Shepard and Kirrae. Judging by their conversations, they're already in the compound and carrying a giant artisanal bomb with them. All right, we'll have to hurry.
As soon as the door opened, 15 krogan flew at Prime. Thankfully, I could see what my soldiers could see. Prime fired an RPG as soon as they ran at him. The shell exploded with deafening force. In a three-by-four-metre corridor, the crogans didn't stand a chance. The shockwave alone was enough, but the shrapnel... Anyway, when we were already in there, we saw mangled walls, torn wiring and gutted corpses of krogan huskies. After only a few turns, we approached another door. However, it opened before we wanted it to, and behind it, we saw five Geth Heretics. We didn't even have time to stop. Or rather, that's what it looked like from the outside. I actually had time to order Prime to accelerate and ram them. And so he did.
Two of the Stormtroopers were nailed with the rifle he was using as a club, two more were determined by me with the gun, and another was fixed by another Stormtrooper, also in medium armour. We ended up in a room filled with incubator pods, and in each of them was some shapeless embryo to which dozens of tubes of various sizes were connected. There were 50 capsules, and at the end of it was Prime-erotic. He immediately opened fire on us, but we hid between the pods. Prime first tried to hit us while smashing the pods, which spewed liquid and spilt all over the floor. However, by the time he transferred to our Prime, it was too late. He had already loaded the RPG with its last shaped charge, aimed and fired. As in the test, the missile ignored the shields and burned through Prime, causing him to collapse to the floor and pass out.
- Xad, do you know where the queen is now? - I contacted Protean.
- Just a moment... - He replied. That meant he asked it of Tory, who would ask it of the queen and describe everything to him, and then it would all come back to us. - She's probably over the reactor of the complex right now. It's two levels below you.
- Thank you. - okay, now we just have to find her and get her out before Shepard and Kirrae do, or they'll probably be taking her to the other side.
Swinging, Tali, sitting behind a metal box, threw a singularity at a group of creatures similar to the Batarian and the Krogan. Five four-eyed and two-Crogan-shaped creatures soared into the air and began flying helplessly back and forth. In another second, Liara sent a warp into the singularity, causing a massive explosion and ripping all seven creatures to shreds. This put a halt to the fire on the entire team's hideout. Garrus climbed out of cover and blew away the last of the krogan huskies. Behind him, the Kirrahe as a whole squad and Shepherd's team climbed out. All simultaneously opened fire on the crowd of four-eyed creatures. They, in turn, couldn't even do anything. Except to fire a couple of shots at the team and knock down the shields of the two Salarians, but then they were turned into mincemeat. In about ten seconds, it was all over. No one else was left in the compartment, and the whole group started to pop out of hiding and walk to the other side of the room. There was some sort of equipment storage area, which was in metal crates, behind which the group hid.
- I've never seen a Quarian biotic before. - said Kirrahe while everyone waited for the group to check their weapons.
- It is... Long story. Believe me. - Tali said and activated the unit, starting to open the door. The whole squad checked the weapons and the bomb, and Tali opened the door. The corridor turned out to be empty; beyond that, the wall was already covered in vast panes of glass. As the squad approached them, they saw a terrifying sight. The vast room, about 100 metres by 100 metres, which they looked at from below, was filled with krogan pods. Some were still in the fetal stage, while others were on their way to being released and sent into battle. Even Shepard was horrified by the sight, to say nothing of the Salarian. The captain looked apprehensively at Rex, who was silently staring at the whole thing. You couldn't tell anything specific from his gaze, but he had said it all himself.
- Let's get this over with. I don't want my people to suffer the fate of slaves and acolytes again. - Everyone, even Kirrach, silently agreed and moved on, but suddenly everyone felt a jolt which shook the whole complex. It was a weak jolt, but everyone felt it anyway. The jolt was followed by a barely audible siren that rumbled somewhere in the distance. The shock was followed by another, more perceptible one.
- Tali? - Shepard asked, still staring at the ceiling like everyone else.
- I am still determining what it is. But a siren-like that doesn't mean anything good. - replied the quarian, and everyone moved on, as now everyone knew they had to hurry. Behind the door, however, huskies were waiting for them. Thankfully, they were ordinary human huskies and just went ramming, which they regretted. Tali's singularity picked up all eight huskies, and Liara's deformity took them apart again. The girls were already working as a cohesive team.
Behind another door, the geths were waiting for them, but they, too, could not stop such a team. With each new corridor, there were more and more geths. They were aided by four-eyed creatures, husky humans and krogan, but nothing could stop the team.
As they descended the lift, Shepherd's team encountered a bunch of Geths and two Primes. Tali and Liara launched singularities at them, and all the geths, even the Primes, began to fly down the narrow corridor. Rex and Cayden threw a warp into the singularities a second later, and a massive explosion destroyed all the robots.
- Somehow, I expected more. - Rex commented.
- There's something not right here. - Shepherd replied, and everyone fell silent. The incessant tremors only became more frequent and robust, and now everyone knew they were coming from beneath. Suddenly everyone heard a roar and heavy thumps. They were regular and getting closer. Everyone realised it was footsteps, and they were coming from the corridor in front of them, from around the corner. There was nowhere to retreat, for the lift had gone behind the Kirrahe group, and there were no turns in the corridor. The footsteps grew heavier, and the growling grew louder. The whole team was prepared for anything to come out of there, but different from what they saw.
It was a broad, powerful creature with two pipes instead of arms, most likely cannons, as a blue glow was coming from them. No head was visible, but the face was still there, showing several pairs of eyes and three jaws. The creature stopped and looked at the team.
- Was it a YAG? - Rex asked, and then the creature shrieked at them, opening all three jaws and ramming for some reason. Everyone immediately opened fire with everything they had. Tali and Liara fired the singularity again, but the creature ignored them. Strikes and even grenades did nothing to the creature, though it had no barrier. And lo and behold, the team was three metres away when suddenly, there was a powerful explosion somewhere below. Immediately the floor shrank, and everyone on it rolled down to the level below. Everyone collapsed to the floor and was completely disoriented. Dust came from somewhere, making it hard to see the hole from which everyone had fallen. Shepard came to her senses first, but as she looked ahead into the cloud of dust, she noticed a bluish glow. And the scary thing was that this glow was moving. A Jag emerged from the cloud in another second and walked slowly and heavily towards Shepard. It didn't take long to walk two meters; there, the creature had already aimed its cannon arm at the captain's face. The captain had managed to lose her weapon, the crew was just coming around and couldn't see what was happening, and Shepard was not a biotic. Therefore her life was already beginning to pass before her eyes. And as the weapon glowed a mere white light, a high-pitched shriek was heard behind it. What it was could not be understood, but the creature was distracted by it and turned its back on Shepherd. And in the next instant, it was ripped to shreds in different directions, showering the captain with a black slurry. Another, more uterine and quieter growl was heard from the smoke, but the captain didn't care about that anymore. She and the crew took up arms and aimed at the cloud of dust and smoke. And it didn't take long for the creature's killer to come out. Out of the cloud emerged a head with a giant horn on its head, eight glowing eyes, and a strange mouth of tentacles or something else. Everyone immediately realised it was the Rahni queen who was on Noveria. And it was as if Shepherd could sense that the queen was only looking at her.
- Hold your fire. - Shepard sternly ordered, though she did not lower her weapon.
- Captain, what are you doing!? - in a low but still, very stern voice, asked Ashley, whose finger was already trembling on the trigger.
- Stand down, Sergeant! - already angrily commanded Shepard. Ashley was about to say something or fire a shot, but suddenly the queen spoke.
- Are you Shepard? - It was precisely a question, not a statement. The uterine voice sent goosebumps or their equivalent running down the backs of everyone on the team.
- Y-yes. - The captain answered somehow, much to Ashley's surprise.
- Captain, what are you... - the sergeant began to bicker, but she was interrupted by the queen.
- So... you're not my enemy. - With a distinct accent on each word in Azarian, the queen said, and then, glowing with her biotics, she turned to the right and passed the crew, not paying any attention to them, and in another minute, she disappeared into the ranks of the krogan pods. The entire crew stared after her in silence, unable even to say anything.
- Captain? - Kirrahe's voice was heard, which had brought the entire crew out of their stupor, and who was now looking at the crew through a hole in the wall. From the same hole protruded a massive layer of the floor from which the team had moved to this level a moment ago. - Was it... rahni? - Shepard was sure Kirrahe had heard the queen speak to her.
- Sort of. - Shepard replied since she wasn't capable of much more than that. - Alright, let's get moving. It's a little further to the point. - No one argued with the captain. Tali and Liara began to help lower the bomb with the biotics, and the Salarian squad began to descend quickly to the level Shepard and the team had reached.
Generally speaking, the resistance was less intense than anticipated. In all the time we'd been walking around inside, we'd only had one Prime and three Stormtroopers in medium armour killed. Enemies came at us in waves, in small groups of cannibals, krogan, huskies, and getch. In general, the defences were simply rubbish. And we lost Prime only because a Krogan jumped on him and managed to turn his head off in the literal sense of the word. Three of the Stormtroopers were killed by a battering ram, too. Anyway, we were moving fast. Suddenly, as we approached another door, I was contacted by Xad.
- LEHAT! We're totally screwed! A Salarian fleet has arrived! We won't last long! - Your division and what THEY are doing here. The Council kept chattering about how they couldn't send a fleet to the Terminus systems because then there'd be war with the races that live there, and here's a whole fleet...
- Xad, is it the Salarians, or is there someone else out there? - I asked.
- Yes! It's the Fifth Fleet of the Salarian Alliance. We're eavesdropping on their communications. They're preparing a landing party to kill the Rahni Queen and capture YOU.
- So, have you tried hacking into them?
- Yeah. They've got good protection against AI hacking. It would take about ten minutes to hack into them, even with our powers. Besides, we need more energy to hack all the ships. Five, max!
- DAMN IT! Can you destroy them?! - That's a question I was already asking. I didn't feel much like killing Salarians, but I had no choice.
- No. The ship is only some-powerful. We can take out half the fleet if we fire, but our shields will be down in minutes. But if we shut down the gravity and divert all the core power to the guards, shutting down the guns, we could hold out for about ten minutes.
- Good. Do it. I'll try to find the queen quickly and get back. Over and out. - I set the timer for ten minutes, and now our whole group ran to where the queen was supposed to be. And so, as we opened another door, we saw an extraordinary picture. A scene, to be exact. The biotic glowing rachni queen spat a blob of energy at the heretic Prime, and he was literally torn to pieces. Her tentacle grabbed the Stormtrooper by the leg and threw him into the ceiling, which was ten meters high. With a second tentacle, she repeated this with another Prime. She couldn't throw him, but she could rip his leg off and then finish him off by stabbing him in the leg. Three more Stormtroopers were impaled by sharp legs; a couple of the drones spinning and firing at the queen had already taken us down, though there was nothing they could do since there was little that could penetrate the queen's barrier. A tank?
Suddenly my musings were interrupted as the queen prepared to nail us for good measure.
- Hush, hush... Our own. - I said, lowering my weapon. She must have slowed down because we were wearing Quarian armour. That helped.
- Are you Legate? - The queen asked in Azarian. Can she speak? Come on, it's easier for us.
- Yes. We must hurry, or we won't be able to escape. - I briefly explained.
- Okay. - And then we ran. We ran as fast as we could because, from the hacked video cameras, we could see Shepard and Kirrahe planting their bomb. We saw through the cameras huskies of all stripes running at us. We could hear the heretics negotiating, who was also running towards us, but they had too far to run - the complex was too massive, yes, and we were in their way, closing and opening doors so they would run for as long as possible. So, we finally made it outside and started to weld the main door shut. We did it in a minute, after which we de-energised it. Now we were safe from the goeths. But providence seemed to be mocking me.
- Comrade Legatus, Rilik, is under attack by Salarian Alliance troops. Attacked from two sides. We're holding our ground. - Notified me by the Get, who was supposed to notify me if anything goes wrong with Rilik.
- Can you hold out for seven minutes?
- Yeah. Hurry up. Spotted Union landing shuttles with armoured vehicles. The estimated landing site is a ravine near the entrance to the compound.
- Shit! Okay, we're on our way. Hold the fort and jam the Salarian communications.
- Copy that. - Oh, now this is going very badly. And it's only bad for us. It's all about protecting the queen; it's all about getting out of the way. We were running down the gorge as a team. The jeep rode with us, and the queen kept up. As it turns out, she's good at running.
- I see the enemy. - alerted me to the goeth sitting behind the jeep's cannon. And the enemy was in the form of three large shuttles, each with a tank and infantry of 30 Salarians.
- Shoot them down! - I ordered, and the cannon began to work on these shuttles. The first shuttle was shot down with five hits, hitting both engines and the fuel tank. The shuttle tilted, separated from the group and slammed into the rock at full speed. There were no survivors. At the same time, the cannon began to fire on the second shuttle. It caught fire after three shots but didn't crash, continuing to fly with the other shuttle. They disappeared out of sight around a bend and landed there. It was dangerous because they were landing and about to run after us. Now it was up to us to run.
Once inside the next room, Shepherd's team looked around. There was no one in it except... A Protean lighthouse.
- It's the same beacon as the one on Eden Prime. - Cayden commented, and Shepard didn't argue with him.
- Looks like it's still in working order. Let's activate it. - Garrus suggested.
- Are you suggesting I read it? - the captain clarified.
- That should help you. - Liara encouraged the Turian.
- Well then... - Shepard removed the glove on her right hand and slowly, reluctantly walked over to the beacon and touched it.
- What? Two hundred... Two hundred and thirty-five? That's... This is the end.
- How could you!? You were supposed to protect us, not kill us. You... You ruined us!
- I had no choice. My power resources were running low. I started shutting down the junior staff pods to keep you alive.
- What's the point? We... We won't restore the race. It's impossible with that many!
- We must help those who come after us.
- I agree. We've done enough to help the Azari. They can handle it. They still have time.
- Yeah, there's just...
- What?
- We have to make sure they're not taken by surprise.
- Yes. We have to finish the Channel and understand the nature of the Citadel.
- We can't!
- We have to! We must message the imperial beacons and let them know we're alive. In case someone else survived. There were other bunkers. There are bound to be survivors.
- Right. We could rebuild the population.
- What if the Reapers aren't gone? If they find out about us? We can only do something else then.
- It's unlikely. They've taken everything they can and flattened the Empire. We'll have to risk it.
- And how will they find us here on Ila? How will they get to us?
- They'll find a way. I'm sure they will.
- Ahh... Okay. ...pard.
- ... herd. Shepherd, you all right? - Asked Cayden, who was standing across the room. The captain's helmet had already been removed, two trickles of blood streaming from her nose, tears streaming from her eyes, and her hands twitching involuntarily.
- Il... - mumbled Shepard.
- What?" Ashley interrupted.
- "Il... The Channel is on Eel. - Shepard said, trying to pull herself together a little.
- Well, it worked. - Garrus said. He and the rest of the crew were glad it had worked.
- That's it, let's go. - Shepard ordered, unsure of her weapons.
- Shepard! It's Kirrahe! - Suddenly, a Salarian voice came through. They were left behind so they could set the bomb, and Shepard's squad went on ahead as Saren was on the landing pad, waiting for the shuttle. Except now that shuttle was being chased all over Vermeer by the Joker with Normandy's help. The crew hurried to get to Saren, who was just standing there. Well, he gave orders, but that's about it.
- Yeah. What have you got? - Shepherd answered.
- The bomb's not working! It's been hit by a grenade, and it no longer works! It can't be repaired! What are your orders?
- Shit! Now, hold on. - Shepherd turned off the comms and turned to Tali. - Tali, can you remotely activate the reactor to full power and shut down the cooling system? There's no other way.
- I think... I think so. This terminal will do, but it'll take time for me to get control of the entire complex. Except I don't think the getch will just let it go. - Tali explained.
- Got it. Lock down the lift and get started.
- I will," Tali replied and began to act.
****
The Salarians were stepping on our toes. Two of their tanks would occasionally fire at us, trying to hit the queen. I didn't have the strength to hold them off - the last Prime was blown out of the tank, and I sent the heavily armoured ones to defend Rilik. It was attacked from two sides along the shore. On another side was the sea, and on the fourth was a gorge. And the shoreline was jammed with rocks. And after another meeting with Rilik's pilot, I realised that the situation couldn't get any worse.
As it turned out, the Salarians were well-trained to fight the Geti. Special ammo, communications jammers and the like. Half of those defending Rilik had already gone down, the Light of Kila had 27% shield power left, and a third group of Salarians was breathing down our necks. I was well aware that once we started landing on Rilik, we wouldn't have enough power to cover the retreat, and the tanks would just blow Rilik away with direct fire, or the same tanks would nail the queen. Yes, you could put the queen in the frigate when you're attacked by Salarians from two sides. There's a whole labyrinth of shuttles there, which helps defend it now, but the entrance to the ravine is protected only by sand, and Rilik's hangar looks into the canyon. But there was no power to hold off the Salarians. I thought for 10 seconds about how to get out of this hellhole, and then for another 20 seconds, I thought of a plan. And I couldn't think of anything better.
- Rilik. Listen to me very carefully.
****
I was lying dead on the sand in the middle of the gorge. I could already see the Salarians coming towards me. All of mine had already fled as fast as they could. I hope the plan works. The main thing is to talk long and tediously.
There, they're all ten metres away from me. Well, it's all or nothing. I slowly crouched on the sand and then got to my feet. I forced the Salarians to stop and pointed every weapon they had at me. I had the guns in my hands, which I defiantly began dismantling for parts. Every second gave us a chance to escape. After the base of the rifle dropped to the floor, I raised my empty hands and spoke loud enough to be heard.
- Negotiations. - None of the Salarians lowered their weapons, but after thirty seconds, one Salarian lowered his weapon and slowly approached me. I lowered my arms, forcing him to stop, but he did come towards me. God, the poor man's heart is pounding. Come here already; I won't bite you; I can't.
- Do you... Do you understand me? - The old Saracen asked. His voice trembled. After what seemed an eternity to the Salarian, for five seconds, I answered.
- Yes. We surrender. What is your name? - That question made the poor man uneasy, but he managed to pull himself together. The training was showing.
- Why do you want to know? - That's right, dude, ask, stall for time.
- You can call me Legatus. I need to know who I'm negotiating with to surrender my troops. - The fact that I said that and that I said "MY" troops perplexed him. I can see it in his eyes.
- Captain Merlon Lart of the Special Response Group. Do you... surrendering? - Well, that's alright. Good.
- Yeah. I'm the one you're after. So I need to make sure my troops are treated appropriately," I said, and the poor man is fucked up. The Geth requires him to treat the other Geths properly. Yeah, that's never happened before in his career.
- Properly? - he asked again.
- Yes. We are reasonable and demand to be treated as prisoners of war by the Declaration of Citadel Space on the rights of prisoners of war in connection with surrender to units of the regular army of a Citadel Council member state. - Yeah, the dude took a minute to digest everything I said to him. Either he was remembering the relevant declaration, or he was asking himself, "What the fuck is going on here!?" or something else, but it took him a minute to answer.
- And... what exactly do you want?
- We don't need food and water, of course. We need enough space for accommodation and stable power sources for recharging, and you have no right to perform any experiments on us or kill us to do so. You're also obligated to give us medical care, relying on Article 3 of the Declaration of Citadel Space on the rights of prisoners of war. - I was bluffing about the recharge, but I had to stall for time.
- Medical care? - I didn't say that for nothing. That statement really threw him for a loop. What are we supposed to do to help? I got an idea.
- Yes. We require your help in repairing damaged soldiers. We need parts to fix them. As well as a guarantee that you won't sabotage our repairs for killing and experimentation.
- Um... All right. I guarantee it. - Well, well, boy, don't you dare break my promise. And so, as the genuinely tight handcuffs closed on my hands (yet they couldn't disconnect me as they had ordered), I heard the hum of an engine behind me. I turned around and saw Rilik hovering backwards towards us, thirty metres above the ground, soaring into the sky. In another minute, it joined the dreadnought with 3% shields left. After another minute, the Light of Kila turned and ran off at the superlight. Immediately all the Salarians had a communications link where the Salarian who had attacked Rilik told everyone the terrible news.
- The Rahni Queen has escaped in the enemy's ship! Repeat! The rachni queen has escaped! - The Salarian shouted hysterically, and Captain Merlon looked at me like he had learned zen.
- Oh, you...
- Sacrifice little to save much. - After that, the Salarian retreated, pondering how I had fooled him. They put me in the shuttle with ten rifles pointed at me. And when we were already in orbit, in the porthole in front of me, I saw Normandy flying away and the flash of an 80-megaton explosion. Mission accomplished.
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