36

Frigate Normandy-SR1

- Again, why are we going to Noveria? There you'll either freeze your ass off, or she'll be sold without your knowledge," Joker argued over the intercom while everyone else was in the hangar, already fully prepared for anything.

- Ask Saren that," Shepard snorted. She didn't like flying to that cold planet of bureaucrats and corporations herself, but she had no choice. If Saren's going there, we'd better go after him.

- I'll be sure to ask him as soon as he's in the holding cell," Joker said dreamily. - Oh, by the way, aren't they going to court martial you there? Because you sent the Admiral away so well.

- We were going to, but the conflict sorted itself out. Shepard dropped a hint, but only Talie understood the direction.

- The Legate?

- Yes. The Geth flew his dreadnought to the Moon, landed on it and took away the mutinous Wee. Literally took it - pumped it from one core to the other.

- But that's impossible! - Tali protested. - The V's are bound to the core in which they were created!

- And Legate was able to. The V's weren't in the core, and the Geths were dragging a large crate here and there. Anyway, they flew away as fast as they came and didn't kill anyone either. They were even shot at, but they only reinforced their shields and stared at three dreadnoughts firing at them from the main calibres until their infantrymen flew away from the Moon. Ultimately, ours were disgraced, and the dreadnought escaped via the Charon relay to an unknown destination. The Council told my former superiors that the mission to capture Saren was far more critical than pacifying the VI. We would have lost time, and the Lord had arrived in Novelia ten minutes ago. And how much would we have lost if we'd gone to the Moon and for nothing? - Everyone agreed in silence, but Shepard somehow didn't understand the silence. - Joker, I'm asking you.

- We'd have lost a day for sure. Plus, minus a shitload of time before you'd make your way to the core. It's a firing range, all the turrets are loaded, and there are all sorts of whistleblowing around every corner," the pilot replied.

In five minutes...

- Captain, there's... well, we've got a problem..." Joker's voice even strained the captain. Joker rarely stuttered, and when he did... This could be better.

- What is it, Joker?

- We're out of the repeater. The Overlord's here, but he's as pissed off as if he'd been drinking at the Academy. He dug a crater in that Hilltop 15, where Saren seems to be headed. There's no other entrance to the complex, and this hole is protected by quite a few goths and tanks," Joker explained.

- Can you drop us off close by?

- Sorry, Captain, but I'm no wizard. There are ten Geth frigates above that place and an air defence system, so I'm sure the Overlord can hit us. And our stealth system is of no use in the atmosphere. They'll just see us on the radar and shoot us down.

- I see. Move to the port of Hanshan. I'll be right there," Shepard ran to the Joker after that. And just in time.

- Port of Hanshan, this is Normandy. Requesting permission and landing vector.

- Normandy. Landing prohibited," replied the operator's angry and commanding tone. The Joker looked at Shepard, and she nodded, with a look as if to say, "Tear and kill, but land us there!"

- Port of Hanshan, this is not a request. The Citadel Council's SPECTRE is aboard, Joker said calmly. He was already aware that if they responded with a refusal again, Shepherd herself would step in.

- Normandy! I say again! No landing! - Here we go.

- Now you listen to me, you greyhound sitting misunderstanding. Either you give us a landing vector now, or I'll land somewhere else, and after the mission, tell the Citadel reporters a fascinating story about how the Noverian Development Corporation obstructed the work of SPECTR and is, in fact, complicit in the actions of SPECTR traitor Saren Arterius. At what rate will you lose your job? - blurted out in the same breath the captain, after which she waited for an answer. It came in five long seconds.

- "Normandy, you are cleared to land. Dock number D15.

- Good. We will not disembark at the port. We need a free exit by transport to the Apex-15 complex," Shepherd warned.

- Normandy, you'll have to disembark at the port so we can see you live. And that's out of the question. Your transport will be taken to the correct exit.

- Acknowledged, Hanshan port," the captain replied, then turned to Joker. - 'Get everyone except Garrus here. He can take Mako where he's told to, and we'll have to check in at the port.

- Roger that. Oh, Saren's gonna get in trouble when he's in the brig. I'll hit him personally," the pilot promised angrily, and Shepard went to the airlock to wait for the others.

Port of Hanshan

Shepard and the crew walked confidently and quickly through the dock, except for Garrus, who had already left the hangar and was moving through the underground garages towards the suitable garage. On the way out, however, they were met by some skinhead woman, whom Shepherd recognized as Baba only by her armour, two Turians, who looked like some convicts, which in the slums of Cairo were every second and two turret, but which with one sad look said - "Do not kill us. We have children to feed." As they walked, Tali performed a secret task on the uni-tool of Shepherd that only the two knew about.

- Good afternoon," Shepard said hello, but the woman wasn't so optimistic.

- Surrender your weapons. Immediately," the woman said in an orderly tone.

- I will not," Shepard said in a voice that hardly allowed her to argue.

- I am Maeko Matsuo, captain of the Hanshan Police. And I'm ordering you to surrender your weapons, and I don't care if you're SPECTRE! - What a nervous wreck everyone is. Didn't a giant dreadnought squid get everyone's ass up here? Not such an evil Lord, as it turns out.

- Tali..." said Shepard calmly, turning to the Quarian, who was not a moment behind the Unique.

- Already..." said Tali, and suddenly both turrets were aimed at Matsuo, causing the Turians' eyes to run back and forth.

- Attention, D15 dockside reinforcements required," Matsuo said over the radio, but she was in for a surprise.

- Communication is down. Cameras, too. I'll get to the lifts in a minute," Tali stated, earning an angry look from the Japanese woman.

- You quarian bum..." Matsuo pouted and was knocked unconscious by Shepard, then punched in the eye. The Turians didn't even know what to do. On the one hand, they had to shoot the gang; on the other, they wanted to live. But Tali was faster, and both Turians were lit up in their unicorns in seconds.

- Um..." began one of the Turians, "Are we fired?

- And you got your bonus for the year? - the other one already said.

- Civilian. Put your weapons on the ground immediately," the Turian began menacingly ordering the turian, who was fulfilling his direct duties. There was no need to repeat it twice. The Turians quickly dropped their weapons on the floor and, without even saying goodbye, ran off down the service corridors.

- Let's go. We don't have much time," Shepard said, and everyone entered the lift.

Noveria itself now resembled an anthill. Everyone was running around, shouting on the phone, drinking in every sense, punching each other in the face, or just sitting around freaking out about what was happening. Another one was sleeping. How he did it, Shepherd herself didn't know, but the man was really asleep, and there was no alcohol in his hand, which was even weirder. Anyway, everyone was busy. So they didn't pay any attention to the three humans, Azari, the Krogan, and the Quarian, though they threw nasty glances at the last two.

- Everyone here is a..." Tali began but paused, trying to find the correct phrase.

- Gondons," Rex finished.

- Let's be quiet. If we're stopped here, we can't sort it out quickly," ordered Shepard, and everyone agreed silently.

A minute later, they arrived at the garage, but there were guards in the form of a whole ONE guard.

- Ma'am, you can't go in without a pass," the guard said as soon as she saw the horde approaching her. In response, Tali activated the unic, pressed the right keys a few times, and the guard's unic lit up a second later.

- F... Fired?!

- It seems a civilian can't demand a pass from us," the captain said bluntly.

- But... B-b-but I..." While the guard tried to object, Tali activated the lift without a pass, which the entire team had already entered. Before the door closed, Tali pressed a few more keys on the unit, which made the guard, reading the message, freak out enough to make anime rest with its big eyes compared to this guard. It was when the lift moved that Rex decided to ask.

- What did you do to her?

- Made her head of the port security," said Tali innocently.

- How can you get into that system so quickly? After all, this is the Noverian Development Corporation! - Ashly protested.

- They use protection systems based on Quarian technology. Maybe stolen, maybe traded, but I feel at home here," the Quarian said quietly, which gave Ashley an angry, xenophobic look, but Tali didn't see it. Twenty seconds later, which seemed like an eternity, the lift arrived and opened the doors. The team ran out of it as the air in it heated up quickly. Inside the garage itself was the following picture. Garrus standing near Mako, and the two guards trying to explain something to the Turian.

- Once again, I repeat that this is the Council's SPEAKTR transport, and I answer only to it.

- And I tell you once again, you Turian idiot, that there are no SPEAKTR people," one of the guards began to say.

- And if you don't have permission to drive this vehicle and you don't have documentation that the car belongs to anyone, then we will requisition it," began the second.

- Who's the one who decided to steal the Mako from me," Shepherd growled, and both of the guard's goons turned to her.

- Well me. Who are you?

- Not SPECTRE, are you? Tahehehehe! - What idiots. They don't know who they're fighting with.

- You're the guard, aren't you? - Shepard asked, and Tali immediately took the hint.

- Yes. But I need to find out who you are. And it doesn't matter. The transport is requisitioned for..." The glow stopped the guard, and his eyes became even more significant than the previous guard's.

- W... Wh... W-what the...

- Two civilians trying to requisition a vehicle. What a mess," and with those words, Shepherd and the team went into the Mako, leaving the two guards in a stupor.

As they drove out of the garage, the team began praying quietly as Shepherd got behind the wheel. They already knew from experience what it was like, but they could do nothing about it. The garage had closed, a blizzard was outside, and time was running out. The first 100 metres were covered without incident, and Shepherd held the steering wheel confidently despite the narrow and slippery road. Garrus was about to say something about it, but suddenly Shepard shrieked.

- Geths!!! Garrus, behind the gun, now! - Garrus immediately activated the gun and looked through the scope. There he saw a dozen Geths and a marching tank. The tank shrank and fired from its head. Shepherd dodged, turning right and snagging the rock, and the clot flew past. Garrus took aim and fired his gun, taking out three stormtroopers, then began firing his machine gun. After putting down two more, he suddenly noticed the tank about to fire again and Shepherd only speeding up. The tank fired; Shepard dodged again and pressed the accelerator to full throttle.

- Shepard, WHAT ARE YOU..." shouted Garrus, but Mako rammed the tank before he could finish speaking, causing it to drive off the transporter for about ten metres. Then Mako ran over it with his wheels and drove on, leaving the remaining five Geths bewildered. The team, on the other hand, was already praying. Garrus to the Spirits. Ashley to Jesus. Tali to Kila. Liara to the Goddess. Cayden didn't know how to pray. And Rex was already thinking of converting to the Quarian faith. Then Mako drove another two hundred meters, and Shepard and Garrus saw a tunnel jam-packed with Getas with three tanks.

- Shepard, you're not going to..." Garrus began nervously, but Shepard didn't listen to him much.

- Shoot, Garrus. Just shoot," Shepard said in a voice not her own, as if she'd been replaced by someone else, and then pressed the accelerator again. Mako twitched, Shepard grinned, Ashley clasped her hands together and prayed out loud, Liara closed her eyes and prayed in whispers, Cayden started searching the units for Our Father, Tali prayed out loud over the radio, Rex repeated after her, and Garrus, promising to sell his soul to the Dark Spirits if he lived, started shooting.

The cannon shot immediately killed the missile turret; after all, Garrus had spent so much time calibrating it for a reason. Then the machine gun killed the four Geths on either side of the tank. Mako dodged the tank's shot and crashed into it at the exact moment, causing it to fly over Mako and land somewhere behind him. The rocket launchers started firing, but Mako was quick to dodge. Swerving to the right, Mako took down two Geths, then shifted to the left, crashing into two more Geths, bending to the right and smearing two robots against the tunnel wall. Mako was hit by a missile, but the shields held, only slipping by 10%. After a few twists and turns, Mako crushed three Geths, who didn't have time to escape. Shepherd rounded the second tank on the left, crashed into it and slammed it into the tunnel wall with such force that it immediately shut down. Mako backed up, swerved to the left, crashed backwards into the same division, then shifted to the right and drove on. Halfway through, the journey had already passed. The Geths were firing rockets, and the last tank was helping them as best it could, but it was not for nothing that Garrus was calibrating the gun. The machine gun quickly dealt with the rockets, and then the gunshot dealt with the five goeth; Mako ran over two goeth, turned around, and hit another goeth into the wall, which caused the transporter wheels to go into the wall and after riding, Mako drove on the three right wheels for a few seconds. Once on all wheels, the Mako moved straight towards the three rocket launchers and the last tank in the tunnel. Garrus fired his cannon and swept away the three goths while Shepherd pressed the pedal, and Mako raced towards the tank. It had already started to huddle for the shot, but with a second to go, Mako crashed into the tank, pushing it out of the tunnel. The Geth somersaulted five metres and was left lying on the snow as a lifeless pile of metal. After a couple of seconds, Mako drove on. There were five Geths and a tank waiting for them at the bend. Garrus immediately began firing at them. Three were taken down by the gun, and two more by machine guns. The tank fired, but Mako dodged again and then crashed into the tank and rammed it into the rock, and the head of the tank rested defenselessly and dead on the transport. Pulling back and turning right, Mako drove on.

Nothing happened for a long time after that. Shepherd drove smoothly along the narrow, snow-covered road along the lighthouses, and beneath them was a gaping chasm, though the captain herself could not see it because of the blizzard. Fortunately, the beacons were linked to the lighthouse and showed the driver a road map. The chasm was marked with a red area painted in shading. So Shepherd steered the transporter smoothly. After the next bend, however, Shepherd saw another tunnel. And there were many more geths.

- Garrus! - Shouted Shepard.

- I see it!" Garrus fired immediately, killing three of the rocket launchers. With another shot, the turret was destroyed. Then the machine gun began to work. One goeth, two, three. Seven rocket launchers fell before Shepard crashed into the first tank, causing it to fly over the Mako, crash headfirst into the ceiling and fall behind, then the transport came to a halt. Those goths in the tunnel were smarter and stayed closer to the edges while the tanks were in the middle. Shepard swerved to the right, almost against the wall, while Garrus began to take everyone out from the left. Mako was crushing the Geths with his wheels, and Garrus was killing the Geths on the other side with his cannon and machine gun. Then, turning sharply to the left, Mako rammed the second tank into the wall, backed up, turned left, backed two goths into the wall, drove forward, dodged three rockets, and drove forward. A few more dodges from the missiles and crushing/shooting the goths, and Mako rammed another tank. Now all that was left was five geths... and the Colossus. Gathering all her courage into a fist, Shepherd drove forward. The cannon killed two, the machine gun finished off two more, and Mako crushed a fifth, except that this goeth of some hell managed to jump. His body got stuck between the cannon and Mako's body, and now the gun would not turn, as evidenced by Garrus' mats, which the translator could not translate. Now only Kolos and Mako were left. Both stood still and waited for the enemy to make the first move. He followed Shepherd. After doing some calculations and entering the necessary commands, Shepherd pushed the accelerator to full throttle, and Mako sped off at the fastest speed possible. Kolos huddled like all his little brothers and fired. His shot was much quicker, so Shepard didn't have time to dodge. She didn't try, though. Colossus's shot only knocked down 50% of the shield, but there is still 50%, and Colossus is already 10m away. Three seconds later, Mako slammed into the giant with a crash. Or rather, the transporter slammed into his legs as he was already huddling and preparing to shoot. The spike, doing a triple somersault in the air and scraping the tunnel's ceiling, fell to the floor, and Mako stopped 20 metres away, already in the snow. There needed to be more for the goeth. He started to get up, trying to put his feet up to get back into the fight sooner. Shepherd shifted into reverse and explained to the goeth that it was now his gop-company's quiet time. When Colos was already up, Mako crashed into him again, and Colos tumbled over Mako and landed right in front of him, but he was alive and well after that too. Shepherd, having switched back, hit the throttle and ran into Kolos. He didn't care about that, so he tried to get up anyway, but the attempts were unsuccessful, causing Mako to start wobbling from side to side. Shepard didn't pull away and pushed Colossus again. She simply activated the jet engines. The Mako jumped three metres and dropped onto the overgrown tank. Then again. And another. Another and another. After five times, Kolos barely had a chance to get up, but Mako was still wobbling back and forth. Shepherd had had enough of that and simply opened Mako's door. Thankfully, the pressure and atmosphere were the same, and the driver had his own door. The others began to wait to see what would happen next. They could hear some metallic noises being made by Kolos, but because of the jolting and feeling nauseous, the team didn't pay much attention to it. Suddenly there was a loud shot that could only belong to a sniper rifle, and immediately the shaking stopped. Then followed about a minute of swarming outside, the door opened again, and a calm Shepherd got behind the wheel and moved forward.

They didn't meet anyone else along the way. Only two turrets, four rocket launchers, and a Prime were waiting for the command at the very entrance to the complex. A cannon shot destroyed the turret, and then the machine gun managed to shoot all four goths before overheating. Another cannon shot killed a second turret, and Mako went for Prime. He started firing, but the shields held up well. Another second later, Mako slammed into Prime and pinned him against the garage door, nearly running over the burning transporter.

- Get out," Shepard ordered and climbed out of the transport. Everyone immediately followed her. Before anyone could say anything, however, a Geth transporter flew over their heads and stopped in front of the team, and a second later, a missile hit the transporter. There was a small explosion, and the ship whirled on its axis and landed somewhere beyond the cliffs. A strange triangular-shaped ship flew out, oblivious to the crew.

- Joker. Who was that? - Shepard asked the pilot.

- 'Signature's the same,' Joker said, most likely to himself, then turned to the captain specifically. - It's Legate, Captain.