Chương 78: 78
Palaven. Palace of the Primarchs. Meeting of the Extraordinary Council of the Military.
- The unexpected disappearance of Ardat-Yakshi from all temples of the Order of Justicars was qualified as a mass and well-planned escape. Now all possible forces of the Order have been sent to catch the fugitives. The Army of the Azarian Republics assists the Justicars in every possible way. Still, so far, there have been no results. The Azarian First Fleet is combing the Terminus Systems, where the fugitives may hide. We are following the developments," the Primarch switched off the Azarian news and turned back to the Council. He had a sense of deja vu for a moment, and justifiably so. This situation had happened before, about a year ago. But now the situation was more dire.
There was silence in the cabinet now. All eyes were fixed on Primarch Fedorian, but the leader of the Hierarchy himself didn't care about that. He was thinking about how to start the conversation. And he came up with one.
Opening one of his desk drawers, he pulled out a glass and a bottle of good turian whiskey. Pouring himself about 250, he gulped the drink down, waited a moment for his throat to stop burning, and then turned to the Council.
- Will there be anyone?" the Primarch asked, and a hand was raised by the turian who was second, after the Primarch himself. The Primarch set the bottle down and pushed it towards the turian. The bottle slid nicely on the polished table, so the turian calmly took it, poured it into the glass beside him and tipped about 200. Then the Minister of Military Industry took the bottle. He was the one who needed to calm his nerves. The bottle didn't go any further. Everyone was either an ardent teetotaler, only two of them. Others had taken a drink before the meeting, and one more was in such a state when alcohol did not help. So, - the Primarch began, - I have gathered you here not because of some escaped Azari... But because of this." The Primarch activated a table stuffed with electronics, and everyone present got a recording of the destruction of a Batarian planet, "Does anyone have... ideas, suggestions. Does anyone have any idea what that was about?
- Well," the Minister of Intelligence said, "We don't know much. Only what the Vazir SPECTRE was able to record. An unknown fleet, a ship twenty kilometres long, fired a gravitational anomaly, and it maintained it long enough for the planet to turn to dust. We also know that this fleet hovered near the planet for three days, demanding the evacuation of all the enslaved people. When the request was met, the planet was destroyed. We were unable to communicate with the enslaved people. We haven't been able to. We don't know where they've gone," the turian said with a sigh of guilt. He realised that it all meant nothing.
- So," the Primarch replied, "in a nutshell, we have a twenty-kilometre-long unidentified ship, a fleet of unidentified ships, and a weapon that has destroyed an entire planet! Did I miss anything!?
- No." said the turian briefly.
- Well, that's good. Now... What did you find out about the ships?
- Surprisingly, more than we bargained for." said the scout and began to show the data, "For example, these 'cylinders' look the most like... Airships.
- Airships," the Priamarch repeated, "Airships, for fuck's sake. In the name of Hanar sausages, did you hear yourself!?" said the Primarch.
- Yes, I did because it doesn't sound like anything else. Here's a picture of those cylinders, our helium-powered battle airship from the Empire, and a human hydrogen-powered zeppelin from the twentieth century. The resemblance is striking. The scout defended himself.
- Yeah. Anything else? - Only a deaf man would not hear the sarcasm in the Primarch's voice.
- We've also managed to find an analogue to these cigar-shaped little ships. I wouldn't call them M.L.A.s.
- Well," the Primarch demanded briefly.
- They're remarkably similar to" the turian hesitated, preparing for the next bout of anger as he realised how absurd what he was about to say sounded-"submarines.
- Submarines. Boats. In the second sentence, the primarch spoke with his head down so he wouldn't be heard. But some of them had very good hearing. - And what makes you think that? - asked the calm Primarch.
- Here are those ships, and here is a submarine of people of type seven of the twentieth century.- the images that appeared quickly put everything in its place.
- Ehhh... Show of hands to those who think this situation is absurd but are disappointed that this is all happening for real, - said the primarch and raised his hand first. Everyone followed suit. And not because the Primarch did so but because they agreed with him. Because everything that was going on seemed foolish. It would be if this "stupidity" didn't grind the whole planet into dust. - I see. Vickrix," the primarch turned to the scout, "does your theatre of the absurd continue?
- It does. - disappointedly answered the turian, who was addressed, - Unfortunately, it does. And you know, if I'm going to be fobbed off with Krogan mats and Azarian curses, Turian ones will not be enough. I'll understand it.
- Go ahead.
- In general, that huge ship that destroyed the planet is a complete copy of... - Vickrix, who had prepared all his army stamina, said, - of the star super-destroyer "Executioner" from the film "Star Wars".
Then the office was filled with the sounds of seven turian facepalms and one double one from the Primarch himself.
- Holy Spirits..." said the Primarch, not removing his hands from his face, "How absurd this is, but... It's useless to argue with him. And so, now, let's get back to the pressing questions. What do we do about it? We don't know who it is. We don't know how it's even possible. And we have no way of knowing this fleet won't decide to do the same to us! Where are we on the planet-destruction project, huh?" Primarch's angry look spoke for itself. He knew the answer, but he wanted others to tell him.
- We shut it down," said the Minister of Military Technology, realising the extent of his guilt.
- That's right. And we shut it down because Someone didn't want to work their brains out and settled on the idea of "a big mass accelerator we can't build"! And now it turns out that Someone knows how to multiply planets by zero, and the only thing we can do is orbital strikes with nuclear warheads! And how many of you can guarantee these unknowns won't want to do the same thing to Palaven?!? А!? What if they're Reapers, like the Overlord?
- Actually, the Overlord is a Geth dreadnought...- objected one of the generals.
- Only an idiot believes the official version!" the Primarch blurted out, simply brushing the general aside like a pesky gnat.
- But that's what the Council says!" the turian persisted.
- I say only idiots believe the official version. What don't you understand in that sentence?" The turian was silent, having understood the hint of the Council, and the Primarch leaned back in the chair where he was sitting and began to think. The others were thinking too, but not so hard. And after five seconds, the Primarch did begin to speak, though it was not entirely clear to whom. "I will not let them get close to Palaven. Not to any Turian or Volusian planet! If these are the Reapers Shepard was talking about... We're in big trouble.
- Her reports said there were thousands of ships just like the Overlord," said one turian who hadn't spoken a word today.
- Maybe. But even if they're not Reapers, I'm not just going to sit on my arse and wait for this thing to come to Palaven," the Primarch took a deep breath, thinking it over, and then continued, "All right. Take the dreadnoughts out of preservation. No, take out of preservation EVERYTHING we have. All 23 dreadnoughts we've managed to hide from the Council! And take 300 and 20 cruisers out of mothballing as well! We didn't build them for 20 years for nothing. We also have ten more dreadnoughts, ninety per cent complete. There's work for another five months. So they'll be off the slipway in a month. We also have fifteen cruisers almost finished. I don't care how you do it, they'll be finished in a month. All dreadnoughts and cruisers that we've just started building and that are only twenty per cent complete at most, stop and redirect forces and resources to those that need to be finished as soon as possible. Also, cancel all Navy leave. Try to bring back the fleet veterans; you can even offer them unspoken salaries. Frigates won't help but finish what we are building immediately. What we have in mothballs, take them out too. Where are we on the ten aircraft carriers?
- Half finished. They still have a year to finish them. - replied the Minister of Military Industry.
- You have three months.- the Primarch briefly ordered, and the Minister of Military Industry realised that he had carte blanche on the construction, namely, "Do what you want, but do it".- Also, withdraw all fleets from Terminus and the seventh fleet from the Krogan DMZ. They're not going anywhere anyway. Distribute all ships to the colonies. Take the Volusians, too. And full alert! Let's keep moving. We have to show the Council that we're preparing for an invasion by these Reapers, not a war with the Alliance. I understand from Shepard's reports that the Reapers' tactic is to recycle the local population into synthetic zombies like they did with Eden Prime. Do the following. Allow civilians to own medium weapons, not just light weapons. Assault and sniper rifles, shotguns, and submachine guns. I allow combatants to own grenade launchers and similar heavy weapons. They know how to use them, and our people will quickly take the hint and buy them.
- What are we gonna do about the Council? He won't let it go," the scout said, but the Primarch wasn't going to worry about that.
- That's their concern. If they don't want to do it, that's their problem. I'm not going to sit still!" the Primarch blurted out, almost reaching the point of "A cycle of insults and curses against the Council" "Well, let's move on. What the hell's going on with those geth biotics?
****
Thessia. Palace of the Matriarchs. Meeting of the Extraordinary Council of Matriarchs
- I.T.'S THE ALLIANCE!
- These people are not capable of such a thing! They're an unknown race that a diplomatic team should be prepared for!
- How can you be sure they'll want to communicate with us?!? This race is aggressive and not worth communicating with!
- That's right. We must capture samples of their technology.
- You're going to declare war on the race that rescued all the enslaved people from a Batarian planet?!? That's insane!
- It's crazy to try to be friends with such an aggressive race.
- They're only aggressive towards slave traders. Why else would they order all the enslaved people to be released and let them go?!? ALL OF THEM!!!
- It's just a diversion!
- A diversion!? If they wanted to, they could have destroyed Tessia in peace.
- What are you implying?
- I'm not implying it. I'm saying it straight out. Our fleet is simply unprepared for such a threat, and a fleet based on Tessia is just posturing civilians.
- What is that supposed to mean?
- The way to understand it is this. We need to modernise the fleet and increase its numbers!!!!
- Modernisation? Increase in numbers!? That's militarism!!!
- That's not militarism! It's not even madness! It's madness!!! The budget's already been approved, and the Navy gets three per cent of our total G.D.P.!
- That's not enough!!!
- You dare deny the approved budget!
- I was against it when it was voted on! And even then, I said that the Navy needs a minimum of ten per cent!!!!
- TEN PER CENT!!! Did you hear her!? T.E.N.! The entire Matriarch Council will be impeached for this!
- Your position is more important to you than the safety of our entire race!?!?
- WHAT? How dare you!
- And how dare you cover your fear of impeachment when our entire planet is in danger!!!!
And so it went on for three hours. The matriarchs were arguing about what had happened to the Batarian planet, and the general matriarch was looking at it and getting to the point of "How stupid they all are". And the most disgusting thing for the matriarch was the fact that she understood the extent of the threat and was going to impose martial law, alert the entire fleet, rework the budget to meet military needs, increase the size of the fleet and army, cancel military leave, call all the Azari mercenaries from Terminus to the carpet to their superiors, decommission and order the construction of a heap of ships... Only all of this required the permission of the Matriarchs' Council. And most of them thought that it was a new race and it was necessary to get in contact with it; one of them thought that it was necessary to find them and get samples of technology, and another one thought that it was the Alliance because the ships were too similar to some of the ships of humanity. But there weren't many of those. So the General Matriarch could just watch this theatre and pray that the Goddess would send these fools such an important organ as a brain.
****
Sur'kesh. Dalatressa's palace. A meeting of the Emergency Military Committee.
- This is unthinkable! Unthinkable! Unthinkable! Unacceptable! Unacceptable! Unimaginable! Impossible!!!-Dalatress was hurling adverbs at the video, which had been taken by Tela Vazir's SPECTRE, while she was pacing around the office without even sitting down in her chair. And Tela Vazir herself had already gone on indefinite leave after a nervous breakdown for rehabilitation. Still, the sight of a dying planet, even a Batarian one, has not gone unnoticed. So now SPECTRE was resting in the mountains of Thessia, surrounded by maids she could use as she wished (the G.O.R. had already confirmed). Dalatressa was bombing.-How could you miss this!?" The Salarian turned to the All Director of the G.O.R., the most fearsome and powerful mind in this Galaxy, who was more powerful than the Grey Mediator. Had he known that all the G.O.R. servers were part of Virtual and that the geth and the Grey Mediator read and even filtered all the G.O.R. data, the guy would have shot himself.
- We only knew something once we saw this video sent to us by SPECTR by Thela Vazir. She accidentally mixed up the sending address, and the video went to you, Dalatressa, the Council of Matriarchs and the Primarch of the Hierarchy. And then, she sent the video to the Council.
- I don't give a damn if she sent the video to the wrong place! What I care about is that we still need the technology. We have a planetary destruction project, but the only thing we've achieved is destroying planetary satellites like the moon. And here comes Someone who can destroy a planet and has a ship twenty kilometres long. TWENTY KILOMETRES LONG! If it's a new race, don't you dare use that technology! You'll be court-martialled.
- We have our doubts about it being a new race," said GOROVETZ.
- I know. The resemblance to ancient human ships. And the ship itself is some "Executioner" from a human film. It's just absurd! BREAD!!! However, it's still all true! I won't let them do the same to Sur'kesh. No! Never! No way! Not under any circumstances! I'd rather cure the Krogan genophage than give up my homeland without a fight! Let the Azari surrender to them and solve everything with diplomacy and intrigue, but I will not surrender. That's it. I've put up with these referendums for a long time. I've put up with the anti-militarists, the Democrats and the Conservatives. I've put up with the Council for a long time! For twenty years, my hands have been permanently tied in the ability and desire to defend our entire race! I've had enough!!!-the Salarian woman yelled out, stood before the window, and began to think. Thinking fast until she came up with a solution, - Do the following. Take out of conservation all fourteen dreadnoughts we built secretly from the Council. Seventy cruisers and 300 frigates go for them too. Plus, we need to finish our aircraft carriers. Four for seventy M.L.A.s and one for three hundred. Finish them all in a month; I don't care how you do it. All ships were to be distributed over Sur'kesh and the million-man colonies. I don't want to hear anything about military leave or agents. Also, send agents to Terminus and frigates to every system. These unsubs have to be somewhere.
- But the people may need help to understand all these decisions. Neither will the Council." a Salarian objected, not to discourage but to remind them not to forget such details.
- I don't care about the Council! The people are easy to deal with. We'll show them this video," Dalatressa pointed to the holo-screen, where she paused to show a bubble planet with a gravitational anomaly in the middle, "and then the G.O.R. and the T.V. channels we fund will confirm the truth of the situation. And the danger of it. I don't give a damn about the Liberals, the Council, the Farixen Accords or any of that crap! And the people will do the same. They'll do anything to protect us and shut the mouths of those who oppose us. Oh, and one more thing. Put all planetary defences and strategic orbital arsenals on full alert. Load the dreadnoughts with strategic missiles. If that ship shows up on Sur'kesh or any of our other worlds, fire everything we have at it.
- Even the latest plasma warheads?" asked the Salarian behind Dalatressa's back.
- The Salarian replied dryly as she looked at the huge storm front from the East. It would rain in the capital today, but that was a hint of sorts to the Dalatress. A storm was coming.
****
Terra Nova. The temporary capital of the Systems Alliance. Meeting of the Emergency Defence Committee.
- You know, I remember a lot of absurdities in my life," Admiral Mikhailovich began after everyone had watched the video sent by Counsellor Udina, "Like when a turian mercenary was hired to train our first biotics. But this..." the Admiral pointed to the holo screen, "Lucas is silently proud of his child from the other side of the world.
- Yes, you're right about that, Admiral," Anderson, who had been urgently summoned to Terra Nova, backed him up. "It has a lot in common with us and our ancient technology. German type-seven subs, zeppelins... Star Destroyer Executioner," said David awkwardly, who realised the situation's absurdity, "Someone's playing a good joke on us.
- Yeah, they did. A joke that ground an entire planet into dust. Literally." said Petrovsky. Of course, he was still too distrustful after Cerberus attempted to recruit him. However, Petrovsky flatly refused to go to these, as he put it, "Assholes, degenerates and xenophobes." That's exactly what Petrowski said to Ghost, who contacted him personally. Maybe it was because of his quick promotion about a year after the Battle for the Citadel, maybe it was because of his strong friendship with Mikhailovich, maybe it was because of the pay raise for all the top Alliance officers, which Petrovsky now belonged to after his promotion, or maybe it was because he had an azari mistress. Pregnant. One way or another, the Legate's calculation was correct. Petrovsky sent the Ghost into the woods, though he thanked God, not the geth, but God for the promotion, his beloved with his future daughter, and the pay raise. Who, as the Admiral believed, saved his beloved in a car crash. Just opposite the Orthodox church. But the Legatus had "nothing to do with that."
- Well, now let's decide what to do about it, - Anderson suggested.
- What is there to decide, - answered Mikhailovich, - Full combat readiness and defend all our planets, even if we have to use the tactics of "Banzai!".
- Maybe you should refrain from speaking out loud about your people's prejudices about mine," Admiral Nagumo immediately perked up. He was a descendant of the same Vice-Admiral Nagumo who, in 1941, organised a well-planned light show and, at the same time, dismantled many U.S. Navy ships at Pearl Harbor for spare parts.
- And this is not a statement of prejudice but a suggestion. There's no convention against ramming enemy ships, unlike turning a planet of millions of people into a dust cloud.
- Although they demanded to evacuate the enslaved people and for that, they hung in orbit for three days, which from a tactical point of view, is illogical. The effect of surprise is lost. However, among the enslaved people, if we believe the intelligence, as much as half of them were people." said Petrovsky, "It looks like Someone holds a grudge against the Batarians. And that's good for us.
- What are you implying? - said the Prime Minister himself, who was obliged to be here so the soldiers wouldn't make a mess of things.
- If this is a new race inspired by us and our military progress, it gives us a good negotiation chance. Especially if we find them first.
- I certainly agree with Admiral Petrovsky, but we shouldn't hope for their mercy just because we can see the obvious similarities between their ships and ours." Anderson objected though he didn't argue that Petrovsky's suggestion didn't make sense.
- And what do you suggest? - asked Nagumo, although the Prime Minister wanted to ask the same question.
- Full combat readiness and deactivation of all secret ships. We have ten dreadnoughts hidden from the Council. And fifty cruisers, fifteen aircraft carriers and twenty frigates. We have enough crews for all of them.
- Is this a joke?" the Prime Minister asked, "It's like shouting in the Council's ear over a loudspeaker, 'We're breaking the Farixen Accords!'
- Is the Council's opinion more important to you than our entire race?" asked Mikhailovich, and Anderson, Petrovsky, and Nagumo glared at him. The other officers didn't want to get involved in this quarrel. These were serious guys arguing. Anderson is Udina's assistant councillor. The "Russian Duo" of Petrovsky and Mikhailovich, who could collectively nail anyone. Nagumo fiercely protected the Alliance Fleet and was ready to tear up anyone who stuttered about reducing the fleet's funding. And if Hackett was here, the others would pretend to be furniture.
- Oh, and one more thing," Nagumo added, "it's time for us to finalise the matter of our newest ship. I understand that a three-kilometre ship is difficult, but we've been building it for five years and have never built it. And here it turns out that this is our only trump card against that giant.
- Yes, indeed. - supported the Japanese Mikhailovich - We need this ship now more than ever. It's time to take Someone by the balls and finish it.
- And who will do it? - asked the Prime Minister.
- Even Mikhailovich himself. Let him become chief of construction and then - the ship's Captain. - Petrovsky said firmly.
- Indeed. He is one of the few who does not steal here, and if he does steal, he steals moderately and discreetly.- said Anderson, drawing all the eyes of the meeting. Still, the truth hurts.
- Despite his nationality." The joke belonged to Admiral Jacques de Colion. He was French and Captain of the Mont Blanc. The Admiral had a nasty and arrogant character, inflated self-esteem and suspicion of French nationalism. Tactician, however, was a good one. And in response to his joke, he heard laughter from European colleagues - Spanish, German and British. But from the side of Petrovsky, Anderson and Nagumo, an ardent Japanese, did not hear a sound, and even mines were stone.
- I'm afraid you shouldn't engage in humour anymore.- Mikhailovich said dryly. His friends smiled at that.
- And so, jokes aside, - came to the point David, who especially for this purpose even spread his shoulders a little, - What do we decide about the ships?
- Deconserve everything we have, - began the Prime Minister, - All fleet to arrive at the orbits of the main worlds and full combat readiness. Mikhailovich becomes the supervisor of Project Titan. You have three months to complete it. You can even choose your own name. No objections to all these decisions? - the Prime Minister looked at everyone present, including the Defence Committee, with a stern look. No one was going to object because the decisions were correct. I don't give a damn about the Council and these Agreements. Humanity is in danger here!
****
The Citadel. Council Chambers.
- What do you mean, "twenty-three dreadnoughts"!? What do you mean, "Three hundred and twenty cruisers"?!? This is a blatant violation of the Farixen Accords!!!! You will not be forgiven for this!!!- Udina yelled at the hologram of the Primarch of the Hierarchy.
- Actually, the Alliance itself has already started decommissioning ten dreadnoughts and fifty cruisers," replied the Primarch, "And that's what the Prime Minister himself told me. And the Salarian Alliance has fourteen dreadnoughts and seventy cruisers.
- Primarch Fedorian," said Councillor Irissa angrily, who could hardly contain herself now, "You, the Alliance, the Salarian Alliance have committed a flagrant violation of the Farixen Accords," Irissa was not just saying this to Fedorian. Dalatressa Linron and the Prime Minister of the Systems Alliance, Drake Grigham, were also present as holograms. It was just that Udina had begun to take umbrage at the Hierarchy before anyone else. "We are convening an emergency commission on this matter. You are all required to be there. The Matriarch, General Etina, will also attend.
- Listen to me, Counsellor. It is not my concern that members of your Council of Matriarchs forgot to put in an organ as important as the brain. I'll remind you that a huge, twenty-kilometre-long thing can multiply planets by zero! And I won't follow your example and sit on my arse on your commissions while that ship can come to us! So I'm going to tell you straight, Irissa. Fuck you!" and after saying that, the Fedorian hologram cheekily switched off. The Primarch was not keen to talk to the Council and did not consider this gathering any authority. So he cursed at them as he wished.
- I will refrain from speaking in the manner that Primarch Fedorian did, but I agree with him. Goodbye." Linron said and immediately disconnected. Only the Prime Minister of the Alliance remained. However, he was now standing firm even in the face of the Council. His recent conversations with the Primarch and Dalatressa and their support for full fleet readiness had given him good support and solid ground under his feet.
- Prime Minister Grigham,‖ Udina began, and the Prime Minister prepared to listen to the dreary accusations. They couldn't be any different. Do you even realise the position you've put the Alliance in?
- You know what, Udina. You should know that I'm doing this for the good of humanity," the Prime Minister replied with a serious expression.
- For the good of humankind?" the councillor exploded, "You're doing it to its detriment!
- God, why did Shepard put this idiot as an advisor! - the Prime Minister raised his head and started talking to the Heavens. They didn't answer, but the Prime Minister wasn't disappointed. - Oh, you know what, Udina. With all responsibility, I declare that for the first time, I agree with the Primarch of the Hierarchy. Fuck you!" and then the last hologram switched off, leaving the Council stunned.
- So we're officially sent." concluded Valern, the only one in favour of what was happening. Quentin had yet to make up his mind. The turian councillor was trying to defend the Hierarchy and support it simultaneously. It was not working out well, as he could not do anything against the All Troll Donnel Udina. Quentin was way ahead of him.
- We'll talk more about that. And what happened to the planet Barhog. A survey committee has been assembled and will be travelling there shortly. The Hegemony has surprisingly agreed to give us a free rein in the system. Some. Personalities from the Hegemony government have even offered to return to the Citadel Space if we help overthrow their leader.- Irissa said sternly, but then Udina continued.
- Don't tell me you would agree to that. Then we'd have to defend them, and the races won't give us their ships for that. They won't give us anything at all right now. It's a delicate situation. Any more, and they'll all declare us illegitimate.
- That's all we need, Quentius said. Valern, on the other hand, could rest easy. He had re-promoted Shepard to SPECTRE, along with Udina. He had done nothing against the races or their actions. And anyway, he'd be dead soon. So he could sleep easily. But the other three had to find an answer to the eternal question. What to do?
****
The frigate Normandy-SR2.
- Okay, now let's put in a new reactor," I said as Susie helped me fix the Legion. It wasn't called that yet and was down, but I decided to fix it and share some of the technology with the community. Why let them understand my good intentions. So we'd already fitted him with new sensors in his eye, plasma blades, and a new, more durable body to withstand pistol shots without a shield. Now we had to put in a plasma reactor. I realised that the geth would immediately realise how they worked and start using them, but that was good enough for me. The geth would be able to modernise themselves quickly. But I still had to make them allies and didn't know what to do. I needed to make peace between the geth and the quarians now. Because I remember what happened in Mass 3. And I didn't really want that to happen again. Or happen. Basically, I didn't want it to happen.
Suddenly the door opened, and Shepard walked into the A.I. bay.
- Legatus," she said, "Can you explain to me why you took the geth? I didn't explain it to her when we arrived. Everyone went to Chakwas's then, as everyone was getting one. While I was downloading the data, Zaid got hit by a spawn blast, and Garrus got hit by an offspring shockwave. The biotics are dead tired. And Tali. Well, I wish she had a stronger suit. Damn husky bit her, and Tali got something in her bloodstream. Luckily, the drug she injected herself with slowed the effects of the poison. But there were consequences. She had to cut off almost her right arm, though it was not amputated. So now her arm was placed in an incubator, which built up muscle tissue with all the nerves, blood vessels, etc., etc., and Tali herself was under anaesthesia and sleeping peacefully. So much for the Reaper mission. Unexpected. What the hell were the Quarians doing there anyway? How did they find him? We didn't look at their logs, although we sent the coordinates to the fleet. Still, many ships, including the Geth, is a freebie. The Geth ship didn't work out so well at all. The Reaper killed all the geth programs, and the Legion just went offline, saving it. Well, we'll deal with that later. We've got the Legion, and the Reaper's been ripped to shreds by Nargul.
- This geth is from the Core Commons. A true geth," I replied, keeping my eyes on the reactor.
- You want to talk to him?" the Captain asked, but she knew the answer.
- Yes. Do you have a problem with that?" I looked up at her as I asked the question. I didn't know the answer to that question yet.
- Of course not. It's just deja vu. I remember two years ago when Tali stammered and asked me to activate you.
- Yeah, I do. That was a tough conversation. But all's well that ends. Why, that's true. It did end well for everyone.
- Except it didn't end well with Mako," Shepard reminded me, and if I'd been organic, I would have blushed.
- It was.
- Why do you even want to talk to him?" the Captain moved on to more important matters.
- I want an alliance with the Commonality. And another thing. Peace between the geth and the quarians." I sounded serious.
- For Tali's sake. It wasn't a question. Shepard had stated a fact, and she knew full well she was right. Looks like Tali told her all about us. Oh, come on.
- Yeah. For her. I want her home back. Her and her people. Enough of this war. No, I don't want to talk about it. I'm going to get philosophical. I see you've found out about us.
- Yes. Susie told me. I'm happy for you.
- Are you? You're not even gonna judge me? I was surprised. I'm a geth.
- Look, I don't really care about that. And besides, Tali's happy with you, which makes me happy. I can see how happy she is walking around the ship. Even Adams noticed that. But if you break her heart..." Shepard said in a menacing tone, hinting at what she might do.
- Don't worry about that, Captain. I'd tear anyone apart for her. And I'm not likely to make an exception," I said in the same tone. I wanted to say it in the Lord's voice, but I decided not to tempt fate. With Shepard, it's fraught.
- I see. I'm glad to hear that. И... I'm glad Tali has a date. She's definitely behind a rock wall.
- More like a titanium wall. Plus extras," I corrected the Captain, "Speaking of love. Susie..." I turned to my daughter without looking up. The hint was clear.
- What? - innocently (after all, the platform was turian, she seldom took it off and was always sitting in the pilot's cabin) answered Susie, actively helping me to install the reactor.
- How's Joker doing?" I continued calmly.
- What about him? He's fine. Sometimes he's in pain, and his arm isn't fully healed yet. Mordin and Chakwas have helped a lot, though." her daughter rambled on. She didn't want to talk about it, so she rushed to find an answer.
- That's not what Xadus told me.
- Xade? What can he tell you? He's joking, as usual. A digital fossil. Please don't listen to him.
- And there was a video.
- That's it, Legatus!" said the Captain, who had been silently watching and listening, "Stop embarrassing the girl. Susie, go help Mordin. I think he needs help to do it.
- Sure!" Susie said and flew out of the compartment. And that's exactly what she did because you can hardly walk at that speed.
- Why are you embarrassing the girl?" Shepard asked, though there was no judgement in her voice.
- Why? Why?" I said casually. "Okay, that's it. We can switch it on, Captain. Okay, I've got the reactor in place, the hull too. It's ready.
- Let's do it.
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