23

Saint Diego Hospital. Terra Nova Planet.

Shepard walked through the white corridors of the hospital to the place where she was sent. She left Liara on the Normandy so as not to strain her leg unnecessarily, and went to the hospital herself. What Chakwas had told her didn't make sense in her mind, and she didn't really listen. As soon as she heard that they were all in the hospital and all in serious condition, she immediately rushed to them. Now she had one thought - just to make sure they were all right. This was the most important thing for her at the moment.

Turning into the right corridor, Shepard saw Rex, who was sitting in a chair and had a bag of ice, about three kilograms, on his head.

- Rex! - she immediately shouted, but the krogan only looked at her with a pitiful gaze and exhaled tiredly.

- Shepard... Eh... Hello... - Rex managed to say.

- What happened? What's with the others? And what's with you? - Jane started, as she was overwhelmed with concern for the team.

- Hey-hey, not so fast, please. My head is splitting.

- Sorry... So what happened? - Shepard asked more calmly.

- In general... Remember those two quarians I went drinking with?

- Yes, - Shepard began to recall.

- Well, here we are. We got terribly drunk. I passed out... Then I woke up and... from some kind of hangover decided to take the mask off one of them... I don't know why, but still... Somehow I took it off, and... Ah, Shepard, I swear to you by all the Spirits of War and Blood... I swear to you by the Sanctuary... But I know for sure that there... Ah... There was a geth...

- WHAT!? - Shepard was genuinely surprised.

- Yes... Geth. Yes, I was so drunk that I don't remember how I ended up there, but... Ah... as soon as I saw that eye, I immediately sobered up, but... There was another one, he hit me with something heavy. I ran after them, and they shot at me with a fire extinguisher... like a rocket... In general, then I turned and... Flew off the fire escape... Ah, flew down five floors, then ran downstairs... Then woke up in the sobering-up station... Ah... It turned out that these two dragged me to the "Terra Nova" hotel, rented a room... In general, they meant well, but it turned out... Ah... Well, you can see for yourself... - Rex finished, and Shepard immediately understood all the irony of the situation. After all, it was in this hotel that she and Liara... Loved each other all night, there's no point in hiding it. And it turned out that such things were happening there.

- I see. Okay, what about the others? - Shepard remembered immediately.

- Ah... About them... They encountered those two in the docks, and then the Minister of Finance of Terra Nova, who was also there... Eh... Ordered them killed... In general, one took off his mask, a chase started, and then... Eh...

- What happened next? - Shepard couldn't resist.

- Saren's mercenaries. They were also looking for the geth, and ours cornered him right near their dock, where the mercenaries came out. In the end, the geth escaped, and our guys had to deal with the krogan. They killed them all... Eh... but they got hurt themselves. Meanwhile, the geth was already gone, you can check the news. Their frigate was flying through the city center, and he was firing back from a truck... In general, it was not boring there even without us... Well, how about you? Did you have a good time with Liara? - Rex suddenly changed the subject, which Shepard did not expect.

- What are you talking about? - Jane didn't want to talk about this with anyone at the moment, even though she knew that Rex could keep secrets.

- Oh come on, Shepard. All of ours already know about it, and the rest of the crew has long suspected... Eh... Besides, I'm a krogan... Predator... And from you, her shower gel scent... Forgot to take a shower today, heh? - Shepard was genuinely surprised by this. Indeed, she herself could smell this barely noticeable to her receptors, but still so soft, tender, pleasant, and even slightly intoxicating scent of the blue-skinned beauty. Jane knew it was just shower gel, but still... And indeed, she really did forget to take a shower, as Joker called her (although he got through on his 17th attempt), and told Shepard to RUN to the Normandy immediately, which she did right away. Therefore, she did not answer anything, but just guiltily lowered her head. - Oh come on, Shepard. I understand. I've noticed a long time ago how you look at our archaeologist... Eh... I can tell you right away - it's love... - Rex comfortingly said, trying to cheer up the captain. He had already seen that she was starting to blame herself for what had happened.

- Thanks, Rex. As I understand it, you have a serious hangover, - Jane decided to change the subject.

- You don't say... Eh... At least, I know that I was outdrunk by the geth...

- Does that console you? - Shepard asked.

- They don't drink at all, so it means, only I was drinking, listening to the story about the pink volus and the dead batarians... Heh-heh-heh... Eh...

- And how did you get out of the sobering-up station?

- It was confirmed that I'm in the SPECTRE team... Eh... It helps a lot... They even apologized to me... Eh... It was so bad that I even forgave them... Heh...

- I see. So where are the others?

- In intensive care. Everyone got hit. True, there are problems with Tali... Eh... Because of the suit, and in general... So they're here for a long time, plus rehabilitation... In short, we have to wait! Ouch... - Rex's head reminded of itself for the nth time.

- What, doctors have already annoyed you by saying the same thing in response to all questions?

- Exactly, - Rex answered, as Shepard was right as never before.

- Well then, if we have to, we have to, - Jane replied and sat down opposite Rex. There was nothing to do but wait.

Frigate "Rilik".

- What's the situation? - I asked directly when I approached the pilot. After all, it's much nicer when you see your interlocutor, not when they're in your head.

- Critical damage to the second engine. Minor damage to the first and third engines. - The pilot responded stoically.

- And what hit us?

- A missile with an unknown warhead. Launched from the Zeus-One orbital station.

- And how did it manage to hit us despite the jamming?

- Unknown.

- Ah, I see. Will we be able to make it to "Kila's Light"?

- Probability - 10.3%.

- Encouraging. Alright, pass through as many relays as you can, then send a signal to "Kila's Light" and land on the nearest planet.

- Understood, - replied the pilot, and I... Damn, I don't even know what to do now. There's no point in waking Mila. There's no Wi-Fi. I can't even do an inventory. It's a sad situation, no doubt. Alright, I'll go... think, I suppose.

17 hours later.

My grand reflections on the future were interrupted by a noticeable jolt to the ship, causing a severe shake.

- What the hell? - I asked mechanically over the internal comm, thankfully the geth understood the Great and Powerful language.

- We have exited the relay. We detonated a mine.

- A mine? Where are we even!?

- Unknown. Relay protocol violation. Arrival in an unknown system.

- Damn it! What's the status of the ship!? - I started yelling at the pilot.

- Decompression of the captain's cabin. Critical damage to the communications relay, - reported the pilot.

- Is there a planet to land on? - I asked, already approaching the pilot.

- Yes. However, there is a problem. Mines of unknown origin have been detected in the asteroid belt.

- Fly over them and land somewhere in the desert. At least we'll land softly there.

- Complying, - the pilot directed the frigate above the asteroid belt, and I began to wonder what all this was about. Who put mines near the relay? And what were those asteroids anyway? They were white, and there was plenty of dust. This was odd. - Attention: orbital station detected. Unknown weapon guidance detected.

- WHAT!? - and before I could be even more flabbergasted, they fired at us... A Collector's particle accelerator? Yes, it was. The pilot immediately veered away from the yellow beam, and we were not hit. And then I finally got a good look at the station. It somewhat reminded me of Omega, only it was much smaller and didn't have an asteroid as its foundation. It didn't look like pirates, and it wasn't the Collectors, but what the hell was it then!? A few seconds later, they fired at us again from the accelerator. Again, we managed to dodge, but they immediately fired from another accelerator, which pierced us through.

- Decompression of all decks, - reported the pilot.

- What about the hangar?

- The hangar is undamaged. Atmosphere within organic tolerances.

- Alright, land on the planet and be ready for surprises.

As the frigate entered the atmosphere, I saw that we were flying over an endless desert. However, with a bit of zoom, I spotted a power line pole. Another one 30 meters away. That is, half a pole, the other part was lying next to it, almost completely covered by sand. In total, I was able to count 73 poles of varying degrees of integrity, stretching from one horizon to the other. Further counting was obstructed by darkness. At the place where we were landing, the sunset was at its very last stage. That is, the sun was barely visible, despite the fact that we were at an altitude of 50 kilometers. Suddenly a quickly approaching object showed up on the radar.

- Hey, hey, hey, what's this? - I asked, because I didn't like it.

- The object does not pose a threat, - the pilot responded impassively.

- What is it anyway?

- Unknown, - said the pilot, and at that moment this "object" split into 5 objects, and the alarm went off. The pilot reacted instantly and tried to evade, but it didn't help. All five missiles hit us, causing the ship to shake so much that I fell. Three missiles knocked out the shields, and two more hit the hull.

- Attention: critical damage to the mass core cooling system. Emergency shutdown of the mass core, - and after these words, the ship went into free fall.

The landing turned out not to be so harsh. The flat shape of our ship and the sand onto which we landed belly-down considerably softened the impact. Exiting the frigate, I saw an awe-inspiring sight - the sun had already set, but the sky was still glowing pink and orange. On the other side it was dark and some stars were already visible.

- Beautiful, - I said aloud as the other geth disembarked from the ship. - So, what's the condition of the ship?

- Critical damage to the second engine.

- Critical damage to the mass core cooling system.

- Decompression of the captain's cabin.

- Decompression of decks one, two, three, - they reported to me over the intercom, and I began to think about what to do next.

- Can we fly through the relay or at least at FTL speeds?

- No.

- Damn it... - I cursed, but then pulled myself together. - Were you able to send a signal to the "Quill's Light"?

- Yes.

- So, we'll stay here and wait. Just wonder what it was? Who shot us down?

- No data.

- And the weapon that shot us down? - I already knew what it was, but I wanted to hear how the geth would try to explain it.

- No data, - impressive indeed.

- What is the condition of the cargo?

- Object "Asari" is alive. Capsule integrity - 95%.

- Good. Inspect the ship and find out what they shot at us near Terra Nova. Then wait for darkness and determine our location by the stars.

- Acknowledged, - the geth replied and had already turned around to go about his business, when suddenly he turned around again. - Legate. A distress signal has been detected.

- What? Details, - this was unexpected. And now the dilemma - to respond to this signal or not. Because if we were shot down, they would surely come for us to capture. Or it was the planet's defense system. But then they will come for us anyway. And the distress signal might be meant to divide our forces. Or these could be pirates, and the signal is here to attract any passersby. Here's the dilemma for you.

- SOS signal. Sent using Morse code. Ship type and affiliation cannot be determined. Presumably, the signal was sent from a ship of the Systems Alliance Navy.

- I see. Where is the ship? - well, if it's Morse code, it means humans sent it. And if they're mercenaries, it's most likely Blue Suns. Although... No, it's definitely Alliance. But still, we need to be careful.

- 137 km to the south, - the geth pointed in the direction where the ship should be. - Attention: three flying apparatuses detected, - and just from the direction the geth pointed, three... flying transport apparatuses were approaching. They resembled Mass Effect shuttles only in their spacious rectangular body.

"Everyone on the ship. Ready the turrets. Now! Only fire on my command!" We all quickly ran onto the ship, but the door wasn't closed. I hid in such a way as to keep an eye on the "street" and waited.

And I didn't have to wait long. Three shuttles landed right near us. Then suddenly I heard the speech of the drells.

"So. Check the entire ship. Anyone who resists is expendable. We'll take any wounded or unconscious with us, they might be useful. Let's go."

Ah, expendable. Slave traders or pirates. Though most likely, these two professions are one and the same.

"Everyone is expendable on my command..." I said and prepared the grenades. "Let's start."

Quickly leaning out, I threw three fragmentary explosive grenades. Generally, such grenades had two types of fragments. Tiny ones, 3-4 mm in diameter, needed to take down shields, and larger ones, 1 cm in diameter. The smaller ones flew faster, knocking down shields, then the larger ones arrived and gutted the armor. If it was light armor, also the living body. And the blast wave from an explosion equivalent to 3 kg of TNT disoriented the enemy or knocked them back. Sometimes knocked them off their feet. And it's exactly 3 such grenades I threw at thirty humanoids who got out of the shuttles. They were still standing pretty close together, so about half of them were killed by these grenades. The rest were shocked, disoriented, and didn't know what to do. But the strangest thing was that they were all drell. This was very strange. However, there was no time to think about this. I started shooting from a rifle that was found in the truck along with the red sand. The rifle was really good, not for nothing it was contraband. With a burst, I mowed down three. No one had any shields left. Two primes ran out behind me. Now they had no chance. A couple more bursts killed another three. And seven more drell were killed by the primes before the drell finally started shooting back. However, our shields were the best in the galaxy, so they couldn't really oppose us much. Suddenly someone behind everyone else lit up, and the next second I was caught in a singularity, and then hit from below. I was thrown up 20 meters, then started falling, and a couple of seconds later I hit the sand like a sack of potatoes. While flying, I had to strengthen all the shields to the maximum, so after the shields flew off from the impact, I lay for another twenty seconds until the system recovered. But when I finally got up, the fight was over. Against two primes, they had no chance.

"Alright, gather all the weapons and armor, and drag them into the hangar. And check out the shuttle. Also, me, one prime, and two rocketeers will get into one of the shuttles and fly to the SOS signal. Carry out," giving orders, I went into the shuttle. The rocketeer became the pilot, another one sat with me in the passengers' place, and the prime... Well, the prime stood hunched over, as awful as that sounded.

We flew for 40 minutes. And indeed, at the site we found an Alliance frigate. There were several drell bodies around, and next to each was a small crater from an explosion. Most likely, it was a tripwire or a mine. We landed and started looking around.

"You two, search the ship. Don't shoot at people, even if they start first, kill the drell.

"Understood," they replied to me, and two rocketeers went to search the frigate, and I decided to look around. In general, near the airlock, we noticed a more strange picture. A fire was burning, 7 drell corpses, 5 humans. Wire with meat on the fire, next to it a completely drunk drell. I decided to approach the fire, but immediately stepped on something ringing. Looking down at my feet, I noticed... Shell casings? Yes, they were definitely casings. Of various sizes. There was even a casing from a flare gun, and near the frigate itself I noticed the body of an Alliance soldier. An officer, in uniform, blonde, Aryan facial features. The rocket went straight into the mouth, burned out the entire oral cavity and burned through the spinal cord. I also examined the drell's weapons. The first assault rifle I came across was homemade. Rough welding, no sophistication and elegance. Principle of operation - use of powder gases. The same with the rest of the weapons. Although, some assault rifles were real - with a factory stamp, neat welding, and the details inside were also well made, although already worn out. Then I looked at the drell's armor. I can say right away - there's no mass effect here. There isn't even the simplest electronics. At all! Just iron, plastic, leather armor. All with spikes, protruding parts of armor, and the drells themselves were with all kinds of scars, piercings, and tattoos. And some scars were even specially made. They were too neat. And where did we get carried away to?

Having finished undressing the drells, I approached the fire and the drunk drell. In his hands was a half-empty two-liter bottle of Irish whiskey. Approaching the fire, I touched the meat, from which fat droplets were dripping. The analyzer on my fingers gave out - human flesh. And there was something behind the fire, covered with sand. Getting closer, I noticed that parts of blue clothing were sticking out of the sand. Shaking it off, I realized what it was. Alliance soldier. Officer. Young, about 30. All that could say about his rank - missing. No tags, no epaulets, nothing. The buttocks are cut off, as is all the thigh muscle of the left leg. Apparently, all this is now frying on a small fire.

Suddenly, shots were heard from the ship, but immediately died down. There were only two shots, no screams. I didn't want to contact my people, I again felt an irresistible anger. This time at these green creatures. They just killed everyone, and now they eat them like ordinary meat. But this time I still held on. I just got up, took a pistol and started shooting at this drunk drell, who didn't even understand what was happening. I shot at him until the pistol overheated. In the end, I saw the dismembered head of this reptile. Another minute later, two geth came out of the ship.

"What was that?" I asked, trying to restrain my rage. I was ready to shoot all the bodies of these reptiles right now, but I understood that this wouldn't help anyone.

"Two drell. Killed. No more survivors. There are traces of fierce battle. Also, there are traces of a fire."

"Good. Rilik, do you hear?

"Yes, Comrade Legate," they replied to me.

"Were you able to find out which planet we're on?" I decided to find out the most important thing.

"Yes. Diamond Sea Cluster. Karglah System. Planet Rakhana," they replied to me unflappably.

"Thank you," so we're on the drell's home planet. Well, this explains a lot. Have they really sunk to this level? But those who attacked us were better armed. Rifles with a mass effect. Armor with a mass effect. Shuttles with a mass effect. Perhaps they were government troops, they are sure to have remained, and this means marauders. No wonder they are armed with homemade weapons. They make it out of any junk they find. But then there are still too many questions left. Well, that's all for later. "Hey, you. Were you able to find out what kind of ship this is?"

"Yes. Alliance VCS Cruiser "Rome."