66

Illium. The frigate Normandy-SR2.

Well, some kind of deja vu - again I wake up, again in the sick bay, again I see repaired "tentacles". In any case, the associations were only like that. I get up from the couch and see Chakwas.

- Good morning, Legatus," the woman said calmly.

- Morning, Doc," I said, running a diagnostic. The platform was already mine, a black-coloured heta stormtrooper. Still, it was nicer for me to be in. More pleasing aesthetically. That armour was combat armour, only to withstand biotics in confined spaces. - I've been visiting you a lot," I joked, which only made Karin smile.

- That's what you think. While you were sleeping here, I had to patch everyone up, even Mordin. I had to patch up Mordin first, and then he and I had to patch up everyone else.

- Poor bastards. How bad is it?

- The whole package. Zaid was biotically thrown from the seventh floor. Garrus was hit with a rocket launcher. Shepherd was lifted into the ceiling and then the floor. Susie was burned to the skin on the platform. Liara and Tali are sleeping like dead...

- Tali? Is she okay? - I asked, getting more than a little worried.

- Yeah, just exhaustion. Biotics get tired a lot, and she overdid it too much.

- How did she overdo it? - I asked, as curiosity got the better of me.

- She picked up an IMIRA, threw it five metres, and then finished it with a blow to the head. And then she ran around the building, throwing everyone who would look at her wrong. Anyway, the girl got carried away. Youngblood, what can you do?

- That doesn't sound like her," I said because I didn't usually see that in Tali.

- Biotics can be like that sometimes. They feel their power and rush into battle. It's subconscious. It's mostly newbies.

- Is that so? Thanks for the enlightenment, Doc. All right, I'm going to go chat with my... colleagues," I said, heading for the exit. I should have chatted with Xad.

- Good luck, Legatus. Oh, and one more thing...' Karin said as the door in front of me had already opened.

- Yes?

- Thanks for not skimping on the medical equipment. It's nice to see that someone cares about the crew's health.

- You're welcome. There wasn't anything special about it.

- Trust me, you haven't been to the Alliance yet," Doc said with a smile and an undertone of 'you don't have to try it on your own'.

- I don't even want to check it out," I said firmly, walking out of Sick Bay.

****

A short time later. Legatus' quarters

- Oh, finally awake. Did you enjoy your flight? - Xad greeted me and then joked as soon as his hologram appeared in my quarters.

- Ha ha, very funny. I'll pat sarcastically some more now," I replied, as I wasn't in the mood.

- All right, all right. Glad you're awake. That was a hell of a flight you had. You should have heard what they called you for forgetting to unlock the lifts. Yeah, Zaid gave me a little vocabulary boost on the Cycle. As far as I can tell, you don't have the guts to tear it up, so you can relax.

- Was that Zaid's way of threatening me? - I asked a little warily.

- No. Shepherd.

- Shit. Okay, I wanted to talk to you. Do you know what the hell happened with Morinth? - I asked the question I was most worried about.

- Yeah, I know something. It's this drug she's been taking. It's called Menagen X Three. It increases nerve conduction, but it also poisons the body. Plus, Morinth is Azari. We've modified their nervous system to increase conductivity and added one organ. It's an appendage that's an appendage of the cecum, called the appendix in humans. The organ secretes a substance called melton. In general, it is released by all biotics when exposed to zero elements; without it, the organism would die. Melthogen remodels the nervous system at the cellular level, which allows us to manipulate gravity. In other races, the adrenal glands secreted the pathogen in very small quantities. The Azari have a separate organ for this, which allows them to be natural biotics. Plus, chalcogen is a reserve fuel that is produced and stored in that organ. The energy capacity is five times that of glycogen. And that's what helped Morinth get so strong. Menagen stimulates the growth and performance of the organ. Still, it also builds up toxins that soon cause inflammation and death. But Morinth was able to overcome this. Taking it in super low doses and increasing it each time. The azari body is quite good at adapting to toxins, so the body got used to the manager, and the organ's performance increased.

- Just like King Mithridates," I said, remembering the story of that ancient king.

- Exactly. People even have an allegory for it. Anyway, during the week you held Morinth on Illium, she turned into this biotic monster. Her appendix, let's call it that, grew to fifty centimetres, and her nervous system became a superconductor. Not without consequences, though.

Was it because of this drug that she thought she was biotic? - I asked, remembering the shit that the stoner was saying.

- Yeah. It's a side effect that the body can't adapt to. Let's say that the substance blocks some parts of the brain responsible for rational thinking and stimulates the parts responsible for... imagination. Because of this, these "addicts" desire to make their secret desires come true, disregarding absurdity and logic. And the Ardat-Yakshi are very fond of... dominance. That's why she thinks she's the "Most Biotic". It wouldn't last long, by the way. She'd last another five, maybe seven minutes with that kind of pressure, then she'd be exhausted. But, like I said, junkies don't care about logic.

- I see. At least now, I know it's not a good idea to mess with junkies.

- That's for sure. I'm still amazed by your drugs. Especially heroin. You've got to get something like that into your bloodstream.

- Was it different for you? - I asked, wanting to educate myself about Protean drugs.

- Yeah. The drugs were not addictive, and the Emperor completely controlled their production. It was done to shame those who took the drugs. That's because there was only one way to administer the drugs - rectally. But it was mainly administered by concubines, but that's not important. The important thing is that the process itself was designed to humiliate the one who decided to take it. That's why we had very few drug addicts.

- Okay. (chuckles) Thanks for the enlightenment. How's ours, by the way?

- The Nargul are having fun in the galaxy, sometimes scaring the Azari and the Turians. You should have seen the look on their faces when they spotted him. Girla's got three systems and a fleet under his command. They've started building fighters and a battleship. We'll have one battleship by Harvest using organics, of course. Twenty kilometres long, though..." Xad thought, but after a second, he spoke again, "But never mind. We've built more than that in the Empire. Tory is working on the vorka. They've already rearmed half of them. The Jags are doing well too. A fifth of them have already got armour and weapons. We're also building planetary defences for Heshtok and Parnak. We'll be there in time for Harvest if your idea of shutting down the Alpha transponder works.

- You got a problem with that?

- No. It's a good idea. If we shut it down when the Reapers are ready, it could delay the Harvest by a few months. They probably have a backup plan, but it'll take a long time to get to it. This plan is all about timing.

- It's a shame we won't be able to find all the transponders the Reapers have for getting out of Dark Space," I admitted the sad fact, which Xad didn't deny.

- Yes. The galaxy is one per cent explored, so finding all the repeaters now is pointless.

- That's for sure. So all we can do is prepare. All right, I'll see you later.

- See you later," Xad said goodbye, and I decided to visit the captain.

As soon as I entered the captain's quarters, I realised I didn't need to say hello. The picture was of Liara sleeping peacefully on Shepard's bed and Shepard herself admiring her lover. As if she was going anywhere.

When Shepard saw me, she was immediately happy and left the bed.

- Let's go outside," Shepard whispered as quietly as possible, and I didn't argue. - So, our hero is awake," she began louder as the door closed behind us.

- Come on, I'm not a hero," I said, unsure what I'd done that was so special.

- Don't be modest. You've done a lot. If it weren't for your armour, Zaid and Garrus would be sitting at Chakwas. We're lucky our armour isn't ceramic; it's all metal. It's the lightest alloy I've ever seen, but it saved us.

- Is it that serious?

- More than serious. Garrus got hit with a rocket launcher that dented his armour like a Krogan fist. Zaid got a couple of broken ribs. I hit the ceiling like a jumper. So, thank you," Shepard smiled and then suddenly grew serious, "but for forgetting to switch on the lifts, I'll...

- I don't have a goose," I said preemptively, and it worked.

- Be glad of that," said the captain firmly, and I was mentally glad that I was a geet. - And another question, why did you use hydraulics in your robots? Geth have synthetic muscles, and they're more efficient.

- I know. I just needed platforms, and I needed them fast. We don't have a synthetic muscle factory on Illium, and it's a three-day wait for them to arrive. Morinth would've been even stronger by then. So we had to use hydraulics. Although I realised, it was no good. The Geth have good reactions, but the hydraulics make them poorly manoeuvrable and agile, and that's why we lost so many of them. Well, it doesn't matter, though. As cannon fodder, they've proved themselves. The Geth programmes themselves are alive and well, and we'll consider our shortcomings. It's okay.

- I didn't realise you had such a thing for the Geth," Shepard said, which surprised me a little.

- Remember the terms, captain. To me, cannon fodder is the platforms, not the geth themselves. Believe me, we have different concepts," I explained to her.

- All right, then. Now who's next in line. Thane?

- Yeah, we need to figure out where he is right now. I'll pick him up myself. You've been through a lot, I see.

- That's an understatement. Liara and Tali will sleep all day, Samara's thinking, Mordin's dissecting Morinth, and Zaid's coming off anaesthesia. Everyone needs a rest.

- I see.

- See you later, Legatus.

- See you, captain," I said goodbye and went to my quarters.

But before I could even get out of the lift, I was contacted by Kherd.

- Legate. We're in very big trouble," Kherd said excitedly.

- Oh, God, what is it again..." I turned to myself and then turned back to Yag. - All right, talk to me.

- That Thayne of yours tried to kill Nassana Dantius today, which he did, but then Cerberus grabbed him, and you won't believe who's in charge.

- Miranda Lawson," I answered, mentally swearing like the last cobbler in VirtuaLand over the speakerphone.

- Exactly. They're negotiating with him now to get him to give up the customer. Still, they're as good at diplomacy as I am at ballerinas.

- Threatening him?

- Yes. And they're threatening him with rectal punishment with a Black Widow. Is it just me, or does that Lawson girl have a serious case of the pussy?

- I'm sure she does. Damn, this is bad timing. All right, send me the coordinates. I'll take it from here.

- Gladly," Kherd disconnected, and I called Susie. I should have improvised faster.

- Dad. Did you want something? - She contacted me on the digital link.

- Yeah. Get your platform behind the flyer, and get Garrus on it. Tell him to take his sniper rifle and armour and run to hangar three. That'll take five minutes. Tell her Shepard said it's okay, and tell her I took you and Garrus to take down Cerberus.

- Okay, Dad, is something wrong?

- Cerberus and Thane Krios happened. Okay, there's no time. Come on, hurry up.

****

Illium. Over Nos Astra

We were flying towards another skyscraper, of which there were plenty on Illium. It was a hasty plan, but it had to work because of the surprise effect. And it did. I was to rope down from the Letun, break through the glass, strap Taine and climb back up, and then fly to the factory, where no one would touch us. Garrus was already on the second flyer; he was supposed to hang in front of the floor where Thayne was interrogated to kill everyone. And who, tell me, thought to interrogate Thayne on the 132nd floor of Dantius Tower when there was glass instead of one wall, and it wasn't even bulletproof. Oh, Miranda, thank you.

- Legatus, would you tell your pilot not to drive so fast? We're doing two hundred kilometres an hour," Garrus complained.

- Oh, come on. The main thing is not to vomit on the flyer. For that, you can open the door, - I said, to which Garrus reacted in his own way.

- Oh, go to the Abyss, Legatus, you joker. I'll have to shoot from the aircraft, which will hang at a height of more than three hundred metres.

- Is that a problem for Archangel?

- No, but-- I-- Spirits, you should be a diplomat.

- Yeah, but from whom? Vork or Yagi? - I decided to ask our sniper.

- Geth. I'll sell out to the Spirits to watch you take on the Admirals of the Migratory Fleet.

- I'll gladly make sure you see it," I promised, and then checked the map, "All right, get ready.

- Got it," Garrus replied, and his invisible flyer came in on a flight vector. A minute later, he stopped over a busy street with rivers of aircars flowing in three rows. There were no other metaphors. My flyer was already over the tower, and I began to descend, attaching myself with a rope.

And here's the weird thing - now I was really scared. It's one thing when I'm attached to the roof, and below me, there's just an island and a platform patrolled by bastions, and another thing when you're attached to the flyer and below you, aircars are flying at 100-110 km/h. It's still different, though.

- Legate, I see him. Okay, there's a brunette with size three breasts. There's a black guy with a bald head. And three soldiers in armour of some kind," Garrus informed me. They couldn't see him thanks to the hologram, even if he started ballet dancing in Letuna.

- I see it. Okay, here's what we do next. I go in there and finish the two on the right, which is the nigger and the fighter. You take the two on the left. The brunette may be a biotic, but Thane will be in the line of fire, and her orders are to interrogate and keep them alive at all costs.

- Roger that. What are you gonna kill them with?

- Blaster pistol. They were able to make one. It only hits at a hundred metres, but it's specifically designed for storming buildings, so it'll do. The main thing is it's a rapid-fire weapon, and they have no defence against ray guns. Your rifle is fast, so you'll be fine," I said confidently over the radio. No matter how hard we tried, we couldn't get the sniper rifle to work. The railgun that Garrus/Archangel had and that he had now had a lack of rapid-fire capability. The laser one didn't fit due to too much spread. The plasma one shot at 300-310 metres at most. The anti-creature rifle, which, as it turned out, could penetrate Mako's hull with an armour-piercing round, was against creatures that weren't too numerous, so speed was sacrificed for killing power. And we had to fight Huskies, which would be VERY numerous, so we needed accuracy and speed. So we had to turn to good old firearms. Of course, the cartridges used not gunpowder, but a much more powerful substance, so the bullet had a high velocity. Yes, of course, it was enough to be held back by a shield, but due to the size of the bullet, the shields could not cope with such force and only slowed it down. The force was still enough to penetrate a helmet or armour around the neck. And huskies, raiders and even Krogan huskies were enough to be shot in the head with an explosive round. However, we were not going to give up on the railgun. It had bullets that ignored shields and barriers, allowing us to fight banshees.

- Damn, Legatus, that girl will shove a rifle up his arse! - Garrus's excited voice shouted to me. - She's got the Black Widow in her hands, and the nigga's already got his trousers off.

- Roger, you. I'll take care of the dark man myself. You take the two on the right; I'll take the one on the left. What are they doing going round and round? - I said, looking at the picture Garrus was seeing through the optics. - Ready - I attached myself to the glass and was ready to jump when suddenly Garrus started yelling on the radio.

- WHAT THE #%#@$! Spirits be damned... Whoa!

- What is it? - I asked, but Garrus sounded totally freaked out. 0.45 seconds after I asked, the glass I was about to hit shattered and was broken by Jacob. Or rather, his screaming body, which, after flying 315 metres, crashed with a thud on the granite floor of the platform near the Dantius Towers. Yeah, 132nd floor. And that was the end of Jacob Taylor's story.

- That Thane got away. This is the first time I've seen something like it. He only left the brunette behind before he could finish her off. Now he's gone.

- Damn, why does it always have to be like this? All right, I'll scan for him. Susie, get me up. - I was quickly dragged onto the flyer, and then we switched on our scanner. It was a high-powered infrared thermal imager, so we could see Thayne safely. And we did. - Garrus, you can roll up. He's in the vent. Looks like that's how he's gonna get out. All right, I'm going to contact him.

And there was a lot to contact. After a minute, Thane came to a dead end and had to climb out. Two figures were standing there. He jumped out and did a somersault and quickly snapped the head of one soldier, grabbed the other's arm, twisted it so it was probably broken, and then broke his neck. Meanwhile, I hacked into Cerberus channels and addressed the dead soldier's radio.

- Thane. Thane, come in. I know you're standing next to two dead Cerberus soldiers, I want to help," Thayne stopped and took the walkie-talkie in his hand, but he was in no hurry to answer. - Come on, Thayne, answer. We only have a little time.

- Who are you?" the drell asked warily.

- Legate. The mediator contacted you about the contract, and you said you'd consider it.

- Yes. I agree.

- Good. I'll help. All right, let's-- Oh, here we go. Go to the lift, I'll open the door there, and you go down on top of the lift car; I'll stop it on the floor below.

- Roger that," Taine didn't hesitate and quickly ran to the lift. The door was already open. He carefully descended to the cab's roof and began to lower them. Not too fast for Thayne to keep himself there.

It took only a minute for the lift to arrive, and it only stopped on the first floor, as he couldn't get out through the lift - there were five soldiers.

- Okay, Thayne," I began, preparing a plan. - I'll open the lift now, and you run through the office right through the window. It's on the first floor, so you won't crash. Then you run to the car park, and we'll pick you up there. And Thane, run like you've never run before. There's a lot of Cerberus out by the windows, but we'll cover you.

- All right.

- Ready. Let's go! - As soon as the door opened, Thayne ran out before several Cerberus had time to react. As he ran down the corridor, he smashed through the door of a room with three soldiers in it, but there was no furniture, so there was no stopping Thane. He smashed through the glass quickly and landed on the floor. Meanwhile, we activated a 40-calibre blaster minigun. This weapon immediately began to unleash hell on the second and third floors. The beams pierced through the Cerberus, melting their armour, the glass between them and me, and then crumbling the concrete wall behind them. No one ever fired a shot at Thayne or us. Everyone was just dying from those death rays. In ten seconds, it was all over. Thayne reached us, a little surprised at suddenly appearing out of nothing.

- Good afternoon, Thayne," the drell was even more surprised to see a geth and such a polite one but sat down nonetheless. He had no other choice.

- Are you a Geth? - He asked me a normal question.

- I am," I answered and then turned to the pilot. - Let's get out of here," and Susie lifted the flyer into the air. Now I could leave Illium in good conscience and go after Grant.