65

Illium. Nos Astra. Police Station

Shepard, Liara and Tali entered the building and started looking for the man in charge. And they found one. Such an Azari was hard not to find, with the Legate sending her data.

- Detective Anaya? - Shepard asked, just in case.

- Yes. Who are you? - The detective asked right away.

- 'It doesn't matter what my name is. What matters is what I want,' the captain began dryly, and the detective realised that a big man, or a representative of such a man, had come to see her. She had already learnt how to tell people apart in seventy-five years on the job.

- And what exactly do you want?

- Justiciar Samara," Shepard replied calmly and succinctly, and the detective immediately exhaled disappointedly. - 'We need her to go free. Now.

- That's not possible. She tried to leave the planet bypassing customs and killed three of the Eclipse mercenaries," the detective explained, but she could see it was futile. The human was cold and hard, the Azari was the same, and the Quarian's face was invisible.

- And you care about these mercenaries. And strangest of all, bypassing customs, seven hundred and thirty ships a day leave Illium. And that's the Nos Astra average. So you let smugglers through and ignore them but don't notice the Justiciar, do you? - Liara took the floor. Anaya realised this Azari was younger than her, but she knew how to find information.

- Are you two journalists? - Anaya suggested, hoping so. After all, journalists were less popular in Illium, especially not locals.

- No. We're the ones who need Justice Samara. And that's why we're offering you two options right now," Shepard leaned her fists on the detective's desk and cracked them defiantly. The sound of cracking knuckles gave the detective goosebumps. The man was clearly from the military; if he was a mercenary, then the case was bad. - Option one - we give you fifty thousand, you release the Justiciar, and everyone is happy. Option two - we leave, after a few hours, the Justiciar gets bored of sitting here, and she goes for a break, as the Code demands. Now ask yourself, Anaya, can you, with your seventy-five years of experience sitting on your heels, handle a Justiciar who's only been trained to kill and can withstand a shot from Cain with her barrier? And there's nothing in it for her; it's all in the code. You obstructed her. You're guilty, simple logic. You won't even get compensation, and assaulting a justice who was doing his job isn't an insurance claim. And you've got a daughter to feed. I wonder what's better for her, a dead or disabled mum.

Shepherd rehearsed that speech in her head for an hour. And for good reason. The detective was already halfway through her monologue, and she was ready to cry at the mention of her daughter. Anaya took a minute to think it over and make a decision.

- Fifty thousand, you say?

- That's right," Shepard replied, realising it was settled.

- I'll take it," the captain immediately handed the credit chip to the detective, who immediately checked it. Having got what she wanted, she stood up from the table.

- I'll be right back, - the detective left, and the girls were waiting. Five minutes later, a graceful azari in light red armour with a large cutout on her chest came out to them. Her gaze was completely dry and calm.

- Justiciar Samara? - Shepard asked.

- Yes. To whom do I have the honour of speaking? - The voice was similar to the look - dry and calm. No emotion.

- Shepard. Jane Shepard," the captain answered briefly, widening Samara's eyes even wider.

- Shepard? Captain Shepard? You're... It's impossible," Samara could tell by the sound of her voice that she was absolutely certain she was right. That's why she didn't believe it was Captain Shepard.

- It's possible. With the help of one Geth, his technology and five billion credits, - joked Shepard, but Samara did not react, so the captain went straight to the point. - How do you know me?

- You are known in the narrow circles of the Azari Republics. It has to do with Matriarch Benezia and her daughter.

- Ahem- ahem..." Liara coughed, drawing attention to herself. Samara looked at the Azari and immediately understood everything.

- Liara T`Soni, I presume? What an unexpected turn. Well, I assume you paid for my release for a reason?

- That's right. We need you as a new team member," Shepard replied.

- Is that so? And what exactly do you need me for? What are you going to do?

- We want to stop the Collectors," the captain said firmly, a confidence that surprised even an experienced Azari like Samara.

- The Collectors... Terrible creatures. I would love to join you, but I have another mission.

- I know. That's why I'm offering you a deal. We help you kill your daughter, Morinth, and then you join us. It's not against the code, is it? - Samara couldn't tell if Shepard was asking about the code or just reminding her, trying to give her voice more weight in the Justiciar's eyes.

- Yes. It can be done. However, I've been after her for four hundred years. I was able to catch up with her here, but she's gone again. She could be anywhere in this galaxy now. It will take years to find her. You don't have that much time.

- She didn't escape. Morinth is still here on Illium," the captain encouraged the Justiciar, causing the former to stare in shock for a few seconds.

- What?! How? How is that possible?

- Our friend is keeping her on Illium by bribing the dispatchers. She's been under Eclipse guard for a week now.

- Since that's the case, I'm ready to thank your friend right away, whoever he is," Samara stated.

- Let's take our time. We'll kill Morinth first, and then you can join us. Okay? - Shepard asked and held out her hand.

- 'Deal,' Samara was not typical of the common handshake among humans, but she made an exception now. After shaking the captain's hand, Samara and the others walked to the Normandy.

****

Frigate "Normandy-SR2". Conference room

- Even if we split up and attack from both sides, even if not simultaneously, even with Vork or Geth support, it won't work. We'll be crushed. We'll have three hundred mercenaries and almost as many robots for each group," Zaid said again, arguing with Garrus. Mordin and I were afraid to say a word. They knew what to do, but they had different opinions. Zaid thought that we had to move the whole gang in one direction, working on the principle of a meat grinder: "The enemy is running, running, running, and we grind him up and go on, and so on, until we run out of meat. Garrus, on the other hand, wanted to split up and attack from two sides, dividing the enemy forces. Both also agreed that the Geth would have to be engaged. The Vorka are not allowed to enter Illium, but the Geth can be hidden in the right platforms. They were already made to be mistaken for humans. Well, at the very least, Azari. We couldn't use many of them, but we could use 20. Otherwise, the police would be seriously interested in the light show. However, even with the Geth platforms, we could only break through by some calculations. Our shields could penetrate the IMIRs with one machine gun or one rocket. The Bastions' armour was not penetrable by blasters, and stationary energy shields half the power of blaster shots. The Azari were also a threat. They were good biotics, but they were also drugged. The same drugs that Volus had pushed to the Eclipse in the game. They'd been taking them in small amounts for about a month, which had reduced their toxicity, increased their biotics, and made them addicted. Except it was the biotics that scared me. According to the scans, at least 7 Azari had reached Aria and Benezia's level, and 23 had reached Liara, Samara and Tali's. And another 70 were at Rex and Miranda level. The rest of the azari were Jacob Taylor level, which was alright too. And then there was Morinth. And this junkie had achieved something that made even my balls squeeze. Even Chuck Noris would have lost his cool because Morinth had reached level XI, higher than Aria and Benezia. I don't know how to deal with her, but we can't lure her out. She was much stronger than Samara, so she could only be killed with a blaster. But we couldn't use a sniper here. The skyscraper's glass was five centimetres thick, plus it was especially bulletproof and reinforced with a biotic shield. And while the latter wasn't important, 5cm of glass was impossible to penetrate. Airstrike or blowing up a skyscraper from the ground wasn't an option either. We needed Morinth's corpse to treat the syndrome. So that's what we had.

- If we go in as a group, we'll be blown to bits by the biotics. You've seen what they're like. A couple of them would be enough to tear us apart, even Legatus," Garrus said indignantly.

- I suggested we do it under a smoke screen," Zaid reminded him, but Garrus was not satisfied.

- "These aren't rookie batteries. They're Eclipse. They've all got thermal cameras and radar.

- Like that's a big deal. The Quarians are invisible to thermal imaging, I know from experience. You need armour with a closed breathing system.

- What about radar? - Garrus asked. - And remember the Salarians. They use overloads all the time.

- That's fixable. Shield the armour," I said, to which Mordin resented.

- Shield it from overloads? How? It's impossible.

- An analogue of a Faraday cage, a superconductor battery," I explained briefly. - But in our situation, we have a lot of problems. We attack the bridges, and we'll be crushed. Two IMIRs and ten "Bastions" on each bridge will be enough, and that's it - it's all gone. I'm thinking... Where do they expect the attack to come from? - Everyone thought about it, and in ten seconds, Mordin gave the answer I was waiting for.

- From the air.

- Exactly. So here's the plan. Me and thirty Geth land quietly and quietly on the roof, cleaning it from the air with sniper rifles with silencers. Then on ropes, we descend to the one hundred forty-ninth, one hundred and fiftieth and one hundred and fifty-first floors. There we clear everything, block all the staircases and reprogram the lifts so that they go only to us from above. That way, we cut off all the Azari biotics lounging and fucking on the upper floors. Then you'll be left with only robots, Salarians and humans. So here's how it works: Zaid, Garrus, Tali, and Samara go to the north bridge with ten Geths. Set up fortifications and start the meat grinder. You'll use RPGs against the IMIRs and Bastions. Then, a few minutes later, Shepard, Liara, Mordin, and Susie go under the smoke screen with twenty geths.

- Susie? What do you mean? - Garrus asked incomprehensively.

- I have a platform to go out into society. If I put on armour, I can be a walking tank," Susie's hologram suddenly appeared. Yeah, I decided to give her a chance to unwind after all. She's been asking for a while.

- Yeah. You'll be a sniper in the second group. They'll be wearing closed-circuit breathing armour, so they'll be invisible to thermal imaging. Also, shield them from radar. They go into the building and start shooting anyone who comes down from the other floors. Ten Geth will do that. The rest and Shepard will go to the rear of the ones you are grinding into mincemeat and join you. After that, you all clear the building, moving to join us. And then we kill Morinth.

- Well, in principle, the plan is normal. We can handle the LOKIs and the FENRIS. But you..." Garrus looked at me with an assessing look. - They'll tear you to pieces.

- Don't worry about that. I have my own armour," I assured the turian.

- Then there's no objection to the plan, Zaid?

- What were you saying about the shelters? How are you going to 'make' them," Zaid said, using his fingers to make inverted commas.

- Metallised rubber. Elastic, stored in a tube, only ten metres long, three millimetres thick. Unfold it across the bridge and take cover behind it. No infantry weapon can penetrate it with mass effect. Well, except for the heaviest and grenade launchers. But you can take out IMIRs with RPGs; that's what they're designed for," I explained.

- All right, then. Professor?

- Attack from the roof. Eliminate the Flyers. Deprive the enemy of air support and evacuation. Agreed," Mordin said in his usual manner.

- Well, now we just need to present Shepard's plan, and we can get Morinth, who will then go to our doctor.

- Why do you want Morinth? - Samara suddenly asked. I saw the door open, but the others didn't.

- Ohhh, Captain, you're back," I said, but Samara's look led me to believe something bad would happen.

- I take it you're a Legate," the Justiciar asked me.

- That's right. We've just prepared a plan of attack on the skyscraper," I reported, but Samara wasn't about to back down.

- You still need to answer my question. Why do you want Morinth?

- We're going to cure Ardath-Yakshi syndrome. We need a sample for that," I explained, but when I saw Samara's reaction, I immediately realised that things were bad.

- It's impossible! Ardat-Yakshi syndrome is not curable!

- To be more precise, the syndrome is hard to cure, - Mordin supported me.

- What do you think the Order of Justiciars was created for? Why do you think it still exists? Because the syndrome is not curable, full stop!

- Is that what they told you? - I asked. I've prepared a speech, so I'll have to push morally.

- What are you getting at? - Samara parried.

- The point is that some people benefit from the fact that the Ardat-Yakshi remains in existence because it is profitable. And don't look at me like that. Judge for yourself. Compare me to your entire race. I, a common Geth-meat-murdering scum-machine and a representative of the synthetic race, which, following a very strange, bad and short-sighted logic, exterminated seventy billion Quarians in one week, was able to revive a man whose internal organs had been turned into mincemeat and whose head had been cranially traumatised. Now think about it. An ordinary geth, just by wanting to, could cheat all the laws of nature and revive a human being. The most advanced race in the galaxy can't cure some syndrome. Do you really believe the nonsense the Order tells you?

- How dare you?! - Samara couldn't take it anymore. I had brought her to the boiling point, and I could see the anger in her eyes. - The Order's goal has always been to rid the galaxy of the Ardat-Yakshi.

- Yeah, that's what you've been told. You could explain why the Order gets a billion credits a year in funding when the syndrome hasn't been cured for about two millennia. Because it's profitable! With such funding, the matriarchs of the Order live in luxury villas, while the Justiciars are on their own and only rarely can ask for help from the Order. That's why they don't fund a cure for the syndrome; they don't even try to study it further. Because what if they succeed, and then, oh horror almighty, the Order will become irrelevant. And as a consequence, it will be disbanded, and there will be no funding. So now, Samara, I have a question for you. As a Justiciar, are you ridding the galaxy of the Ardat-Yakshi syndrome or its carriers?

****

Three hours later. Same place

- How long will she be... meditating? - Shepard asked while we were all in the conference room. In three hours, we had time to check and double-check the whole plan, discuss nuances, etc. And Samara was thinking. Long and hard. On one simple question. She'd never really thought about it before, and now, suddenly, some geth had opened her eyes. She's been reviewing everything we know about the Order for an hour. Well, you mean what Kherd knows, which means unofficial information. And there were a lot of skeletons or rather shit. Samara thought, we've thought it over, and we didn't know what else to do.

- Justiciars can meditate for five standard twenty-four hours," Mordin "encouraged" us.

- Well, that's just fine," Shepard stated, as suddenly the door opened and Samara walked in. - Oh, Samara. You're here already?

- Yes, Captain. It's been... difficult, but I'm grateful to you, Legate. You have revealed the truth to me. Though it is painful. - her voice was broken, and I wasn't the only one who could hear it. It was understandable, I had completely destroyed her faith in the Order, to which she had given over 400 years of her life, and that's a lot, even for an Azari.

- The truth is rarely different," I said, and Samara didn't argue.

- Indeed it is. Captain," she turned to Shepard. - I'm ready.

- Good. We'll go over the plan now and then get started.

****

Illium. Nose Aster. Night

Close to the "Fortress" Morinth.

- Ready," Shepard said over the radio.

- Spear in position," Garrus announced.

- Eagle in position," I announced from our aircraft, which looked like a hybrid of Apache and Mi-26 without the propellers.

- Dagger in position," Shepard replied to everyone. - All right, let's go," Shepard ordered.

After that, a completely silent transporter in stealth mode flew up to the roof. Opening the door, I pulled out my special rifle. This time I had to think about what to do about silent shooting. The rail rifle didn't work at all. On mass effect, too, because the Eclipse's shields were good and might not penetrate the first time. And we couldn't let that happen. So we had to look to the past. The distant past of sliding-bolt rifles with powder bullets. We put a special silencer on it, so you couldn't just hear the shot.

And now, I can see my first victim. Without a helmet, Azari stood looking at the beautiful views of the night Nos Astra, hidden from everyone behind the air conditioners and talking to her spouse, promising to hand over the money as soon as possible. Well, you don't have to make money this way. Aiming and firing. A quiet pop, and almost immediately, the bullet pierces the azari's head, ignoring her powerful barrier, turning her blue brains into mincemeat for cutlets. I flip the bolt and immediately see a Salarian who has also decided to go in there, most likely to check out who's talking. He's wearing heavy Salarian armour but no helmet, either. Terrible carelessness. He sees the corpse, and immediately, a bullet hits him in the eye, which widens with surprise. Half his head is blown off, and he falls to the floor. We fly on and see two people. A girl and a guy. No helmets, and they're kissing, so they're ready to move on. I aim and shoot. A bullet hits the guy in the neck, punctures his spinal cord, goes through his mouth, punctures his teeth, and then hits the girl's mouth and punctures her spinal cord. Two for the price of one. That leaves two bullets left in the magazine. I see an Azari who has also hidden behind the air conditioning units. She has heavy armour, and if I shoot her in the head, she'll fall on the air conditioning, which will come out very loud. And besides, she's already got someone answering the phone. Turian, 23, lives here on Nos Astra. There's no point in interrupting the call; it might arouse suspicion. We'll have to wait.

- Learn? Hi.

- Hi, Krin.

- Why do you sound so sad? Is something wrong?

- Yeah. I think I think I'm pregnant.

- What?! But-- But it turns out that--

- Yeah, it's your baby.

- Mmm, well, I-- I mean, why would you let that happen?

- I don't know. It was all so spontaneous... You remember when I came to see you a fortnight ago.

- Yeah, but-- Oh, I see. What are we going to do?

- I don't know. I'll come back tomorrow, so we'll talk then.

- Okay. See you tomorrow.

She wasn't actually pregnant. She had Hirgin's, the Azari equivalent of syphilis, but the symptoms were very similar, so it was often confused. You shouldn't have misused the fingers of an alien race.

Aimed for her stomach and fired. The armour delayed the bullet, so it didn't go through her but just lodged in her stomach. Azari bent and fell to the floor. She wasn't dead for a minute, but we were already looking for more victims. And just like that, we found one. One human stood at the edge, and three other azari stood between the air conditioners, chatting sweetly.

- I'll take the human; you three take the Azari," I ordered, and the three geth distributed the targets among themselves. - Fire," four simultaneous shots ended the lives of four sentients. I hit the man without a helmet in the eye, and the azari all decorated the floor with their brains and blue blood. I reloaded the magazine and then ordered everyone to disembark. The roof had been completely cleared by the other geths, so now the way was clear.

Upon disembarking, we immediately mined the Letoons. We couldn't give Morinth a chance to escape. In another minute, we had attached the cables and started rappelling down the glass. We were invisible, so upper-level people couldn't see us. Thanks to special soles and antimatter, we walked on the glass like on a flat surface. We walked slowly so as not to make the sound of touching the glass. We could see the IMIRs and Bastions patrolling this small island from above. At the same time, the Salarians and Azari units stood guard at the bridge. They had no idea of Garrus' unit, which was already sneaking up on them under the protection of the holographic dome. A good design could render an entire squad invisible. Still, it required the synchronised work of 10 geth being loaded into a generator. And it also sucked energy like a Mako, but it was worth it. Garrus's squad had already crept up close. So it was time to make our move.

As I approached the positions, I ensured everyone was ready and prepared a flash-bang grenade. After counting to three at the usual speed, I sent a message to everyone: "Begin".

Jumping away from the glass, turning in the air and coming down a metre, we all kicked through the glass and threw the grenades before flying off and getting our rifles ready. The assault came from all four sides, so there were 2.5 azari for each geth. Most lived on the floors above. And so, hanging from the ropes, we opened fire with all barrels. The blasters immediately began to burn through the azari, leaving burned holes. However, some of the Azari reacted as quickly as we were. One azari, equal in strength to Aria, fired a singularity at two of my men and the warp already in it. Three of my soldiers were swept up by the anomaly, which exploded almost in the same second, blowing the three geth to pieces. Their pieces flew at them, and Azari was dead from a headshot. In 3.34 seconds, it was over; we controlled three floors; the doors and lifts were blocked so that no one from below would come to us, and only those from above would come to us. From below, Garrus and his squad had already launched their attack. We had completely jammed the airwaves, so those from above couldn't contact those from below. So they just had to run downstairs, cos they could see the shit out of the window. And they ran straight towards us.

Taking a position at the stairwell, we prepared for the Azari attack. A few more seconds and the door opens. There are seven Azari in there. We open fire. They immediately make barriers, but it's no use. The last azari, however, still managed to kill the geth by tossing it up and squeezing it into a biotic bubble. Then aiming for the arriving lift.

To my surprise, an Azari runs out of there wearing only a top and trousers, not even shoes. However, before we can fire a shot, it's as if the azari was blasted with biotics. With such speed and force, a whole wall of gravity wave went into us that all our shelters and ourselves flew out of the building. Of the 7 Geth that flew, only three, including me, managed to grab the edge of the floor. Down below, we saw the height I was at and the beauty of Nos Astra at night. But we didn't have time to gaze into the distance. The others had already killed Azari, and we quickly climbed up and prepared for the next wave. Since we were robots and our armour was quite strong, we used an RPG and a fragmentation shell. Aiming it at the stairwell shaft, we started waiting. And lo and behold, 7 Azari are right in front of us, with another 15 running behind us. I fire and hide behind the couch. The missile hits the wall between the floors, and the shrapnel flies in all directions with great force. Small and fast, they pierce skin, muscles and organs like paper. Dozens of shards pierce the walls, crumbling concrete to steel rebar. Dust mixed with blood and chunks of meat and organs that fell from the corpses, causing a viscous blue substance that could hardly be called blood to spill across the floor. A few Azari had survived, causing the building to erupt in shrieks and squeals.

- Let's move," I ordered. We had to keep moving so we could put up a fight in the corridors and stairwells. There was no room for the biotics to spread out. We had weapons specifically for assaults, and the platforms were manoeuvrable. I had the same platform as everyone else. Still, I had to move the processor into it because my usual platform would be torn to pieces by such biotics. We descended the stairs, where a fragmentation missile had been sent in. The entire floor was covered in blue blood, chunks of organs and flesh were everywhere, and some had brains or organs just falling out of their bodies. Three of the screaming Azari were finished off quickly by the first geth. Still, as he aimed for the fourth, an Azari ran out of the entrance, her fist burning with biotics. She hit the geth with all her might and got a headshot from me. The geth slammed into the wall opposite the entrance with such force that it was completely destroyed. What kind of biotics are these?

Running onto the floor, I finished off two more azari. From around the corner, an Azari sent a wave at us. I jumped back, but one geth was thrown against the ceiling, but it wasn't fatal. The Azari was killed, and next, we met up with some twins. This I realised in 0.056 seconds due to the completely identical facial patterns. They created a large biotic orb, and as soon as I and two other geth saw them, the orb came at us. All three of us managed to jump back, but the ball was so fast that one geth had his arm ripped off, and two others were torn into segments that flew out the window. Those two azari had already started throwing punches at us, which hit one geth but didn't kill him, and I was lifted up, nailed to the ceiling, and then sealed to the floor. Then the Azari was still killed by a grenade, and I got up and led the squad onwards while checking on the others. The result was not comforting - a third of the Geth were lost. Downstairs, Shepard and Garrus have already entered the building and are mopping up the ground floors. Things are going a little out of plan; the casualties are too high but not fatal.

It was easy to get through three more floors - the Azari were still running at us, hoping to take up defences. We pelted them with fragmentation grenades, throwing them into stairwells or lifts, which we then closed to keep the shrapnel from hitting us. I can imagine the sight of several Azari killed by a fragmentation grenade that exploded a few centimetres away from them.

We ran up the stairs to the next floor and immediately ran into the Azari. After killing the first geth with a biotic-enhanced fist strike, she tried to kill me with a second fist. I was able to move the mercenary's fist at the last moment. The biotics flew out of her and hit the geth not weakly, but not fatally, and I kicked her in the knee. She fell to her knees, after which I grabbed her head and twisted 190*. I then run out into the corridor and kill three Azari with my rifle while flying off three hits taken to the chest. The breastplate now has a nice dent in it. Lucky, they're not too strong biotics, or I'd be dead.

And so, after another fifteen minutes of sheer hellacious brutality, we were down to the seven Geth who had participated in the assault from the roof. Now all that's left is Morinth. We weren't going to storm it, so we just waited for ours to come up. Suddenly the door to Morinth's room opened, and we were sucked in by the biotics. That's right, we were sucked in. We were just paralysed and pulled into the room, and then the door closed behind us. We fell to the floor, and I immediately saw a strange scene. First of all, the gravity was incredibly weak. About seven times weaker than on Earth. Because of this, all the objects that weren't attached flew around the room. Even the sofa. And then I saw Morinth.

That's who, but she was just exuding the aura of a bitch. She was all glowing with a faint biotic glow, sitting on a leather chair, cross-legged, with another Azari at her feet. At most, she was about 110-115 years old, but her eyes just read mental illness. Morinth stroked her head with her fingernails between her nubs, which gave the azari a fairy-like pleasure.

- And why aren't you coming in? " she asked disgustingly elegantly. - I was expecting you," I didn't answer anything but just glared at her. And to my surprise, the shot was repelled by... a vase. Yes, some vases flew up and absorbed the shot, shattering in the process. I fired another shot, then another. I shot her full clip bloody well, but something flew up and repelled the shots. The last shots were repelled by the couch. My other goths had no weapons; Morinth had taken them away. She left them for me to show me what she could do. Well, I'm impressed. - Tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk..." said Morinth reproachfully, pointing a finger to indicate that this was not the way to do it. - You can't shoot the lady of the house. Yes, Leekie? - She asked the azari.

- Yes, my Goddess," this Leekie replied almost on automatic.

- Goddess? - I asked her again. - What's so divine about you?

- Oh, another illiterate mortal," Morinth said. I was sick of her trying to make her voice sound mesmerising and majestic. Another bitch who thinks she's something else. You don't even know who I am, and you dare ask me questions like that. All right, I'll do you the honour of explaining who you're talking to. I'm Morinth.

- Yeah, I know, we were just coming for you.

- SHUT UP! - she shouted and, with one biotic kick, sent my geth flying openly from the 200th floor, ignoring the concrete wall. Now that's creepy. - Don't you dare interrupt me. So, why did you come after me? - she suddenly changed the subject.

- You're an Ardath-Yakshi, so we thought we'd kill you.

- Ohhh, Ardath-Yakshi...," Morinth said as if tasting the two words. - Yes, I remember that life. I remember how weak I was then and yet how weak everyone was compared to me. But now... I have passed into another life, another form of existence!

- A goddess? - I asked, for which another geth flew. Now with a climb through the roof. A metre of fucking reinforced concrete. You've got to be fucking kidding me.

- Goddess... Hehehehehe... That's what my concubines call me. Their minds are so short-sighted that they can't see me as anything more than that. I am not a goddess. I am beyond that. I am biotic! I am the very embodiment of this natural force on which the entire universe rests. But... Unfortunately, pathetic creatures like you cannot realise this. You're not worthy to even look at me. The only thing you can do is die from your defiance and become fodder for my future slaves, or... You can die giving me pleasure... You can have the honour of touching me and biotics itself and then die. That is the highest honour I can entrust to you. Only a few have been honoured. And only one has become my favourite - Leekie. She is very docile and sweet. She touched me everywhere and already had an orgasm. Yes, Leekie?

- Yes, my Goddess," the Azari replied automatically, and I realised that Morinth was obviously sick. No, she was sick in the head, bitch! And that was the softest thing I could say to her.

- She's so nice. Warm. Wet. Pliable," Morinth started stroking the poor azari's lips with her finger, and then she put her finger in her mouth. She began to lick it, licking it with unprecedented pleasure. Her heartbeat was racing, her temperature rising, and her womb rumbling. This action lasted for half a minute until Morinth pulled her finger out and licked it. After rumbling and getting her share of pleasure, she looked into the puppy-dog eyes of Leekie, who wanted more. God, this is so disgusting! - However, I won't let you pleasure me, so... I'll kill you now, and then... I think there are enough young Azari on Illium to make it the capital of my Empire. Well, I guess we'll get started," and with those words, Morinth took Leekie's head and turned it sharply. The crunching vertebrae sounded, and poor Zari's heart stopped. Morinth even twitched in slight convulsions while closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. - Oh yes... How I adore that sound. The sound of such a pleasant death... Pleasant because it's in my hand... She deserves it. But she does not deserve to see my power to kill you.

- Listen to me, you doped-up whore. I don't have the physical ability to vomit looking at a disgusting wretch like you, so let's get this over with," she didn't expect that kind of treatment. Her face changed immediately - her gaze became fierce, her smile disappeared, and her biotic glow grew stronger. And in the next second, she stood up and exploded with biotics. The force was such that the roof with all the air conditioners and flyers shattered into concrete rubble, and pieces of mangled metal flew in different directions. The walls on our floor also crumbled into crumbs and the glass into glass sand. The floor was broken on five floors, though the walls survived. We just flew away. And only I, by some miracle, could shoot a rope into the building in time to get a hold of it. The rest of us did it too, but they got caught on parts that flew off or fell apart, causing them all to go down. And now I was left alone.

I knew I had to kill it before Shepard and his team arrived. They're not gonna survive this. I have to protect them. I have to protect the team. I have to protect Tali. Wait, what?

I was prevented from thinking strange thoughts when Morinth flew over the chasm and saw me. I quickly climbed up and found myself on a metre-wide strip of concrete. It was the concrete that had been left on the wall. And now it was the only thing I could run on. And I had to run fast. Shining like a 1000-watt spotlight, Morinth fired 10 blows at me, which at first made an arc, but then all hit me. I ran, and luckily Morinth couldn't control those blows. The blows hit the walls and floor, causing a piece of the surviving wall to collapse. Now I couldn't run in a circle; it wasn't enclosed. Morinth sent a singularity at me, and I ran on. As I ran, I reloaded my rifle, and the singularity landed two metres away. It was so powerful that it started ripping chunks of concrete off an entire building and crumbling them into dust. Then Morinth sent another singularity, then another. And now, there are three singularities operating side by side at the same time. And Morinth is supporting them like hell. What the hell happened to her?!

Then two more singularities hit me, followed by 10 more blows. I couldn't run any further, as there was no further than the concrete floor. So I had to jump, cling to the edge with a rope and like Spider-Man described, arc and fly twenty metres above Morinth because of the antimatter core working at maximum. And while I was flying, the unprecedented happened. Morinth merged all five singularities and hurled the result at me. It was so powerful it picked me up on the way down. I hung onto her and lost the rope; she twisted around me and the singularity. Then she disappeared, but I didn't fall; I was engulfed in a biotic field. It was Morinth who decided to look me in the eye. Although there was nothing to look at, still. And now, I was already a metre away from her. We were flying above the abyss, and Shepard wasn't far away. I had my rifle in my left hand, but I couldn't move; her stasis also affected the robots.

- Yeah... I'm a little surprised... You're a really good soldier. You managed to hold on for a minute, which no one has ever done. But you still lost because that's the way the universe works. Mortals lose to biotics. And I am biotic! - Morinth gathered a colossal amount of energy into her right fist, and I had already figured out my course of action. I had less than a second to do it; that was only one chance. But it was the only chance. And so, Morinth looked at me, and she punched me in the chest with all her might. And that's where she failed. The stasis stopped working at that blow, and I aimed my rifle at her with all the speed I could muster, and when I was three metres away, the rifle was pointed at her head. Shot. The red beam flew at Morinth, and I still had time to see it pierce the Azari's head through. I flew from the 200th floor at 330 kilometres an hour. After flying 5.5 kilometres, I hit the water's surface with unimaginable force. I flew across it like a flat stone for another half a kilometre. From this "soft" landing, half of my right arm, all of my left arm, one-third of my left arm, and half of my right leg were torn off, and my head was twisted, breaking all the servos. The safety of the rifle and hydraulic system wasn't even funny to talk about. Neither was the safety of the mini reactor. The battery, oddly enough, survived, but when I started drowning, water came in through a hole in my chest plate and flooded all three backup batteries.

- I hated drugs," I said aloud over the miraculously surviving voice modulator, then shut down completely.