37

And the Keeper is already here, along with the Getae and the Krogan. The exciting thing is that there is now a massive hole at Russellina Station, through which they have entered. And that's precisely where we need to go. After collecting 50 platforms, and 20 Primes, we boarded the Rilik and set off for Novelia. Before we did, I asked Tori to contact the Rachni Queen. Still need to warn her and find out how things were going in Rasselin.

I stood beside the pilot, looked ahead, and suddenly saw something I could never confuse with anything else. It was Mako approaching Peak 15. And behind them was a Geth landing ship.

- Shoot that ship. - I ordered, and one missile flew out of the frigate. As the Geths prepared to fire, the missile struck the unshielded hull and damaged the engines. The ship started spinning frantically and fell into the drifts, tearing apart. And after a kilometre, we had to dodge the air defence systems that the Geths had deployed around the pit. The pilot lifted the frigate sharply upwards and then flew away from the pit, making a great circle to return to the same place. - Get all the missiles ready and blast all the guns there. We can handle the infantry.

- Comrade Legatus, three heretic Colossi have been detected. - the pilot replied to me when we were already flying straight to the pit.

- Take them too.

- Roger that.

- Right. Closer. Closer. Fire. - Twenty-five missiles came out of the frigate and headed for the pit. The Geths had no seeker system, so the turrets went up in flames one by one, and the Colossi were blown to bits. It was all over in a matter of seconds. There were only a few marines left to be dealt with quickly. I ran to the hangar and was there a minute later. Just as Rilik flew up to the pit and opened the hangar, a string of Primes began mercilessly pouring fire on the Geths. All the Geths were dead in half a minute, and we started jumping to the ground.

The hole itself was huge. 53 meters in diameter, 32 meters deep. At the very bottom was a spot three meters by one meter. It was a hole in the ceiling of one of the corridors. That's a lot of digging for a lord to do, right?

- All right, you stay here and monitor the situation. If Shepard and her team show up, fall back. The rest of us are expendable. Let's go. - I ordered 10 Primes, and 15 Stormtroopers stayed on the surface while we jumped into the pit. It reminded me of riding down a slide in winter on a piece of cardboard. Instead of cardboard, it was my metal ass, and the landing was not the most pleasant. When I entered the hole, I immediately stepped back so the others would not crash into me. After a minute, everyone was there, and we went to the rice lab where Benezia was, according to the story. Except now I realized Saren was here too.

- Legate. It's Xad. Tory was able to contact the Rahni Queen. She got out of her cell, bred her troops, and even raised them. However, there is still Rachni running around the complex that she couldn't raise alone. They will have to be killed; there is no other choice. - Xad told me over the radio. It's a good thing I gave him permission to do that. I like the sound of his voice better.

- How can you tell them apart? - I asked him for a critical detail.

- Those who are not educated, they want to kill you. - I was either being severe or blackly ironic when the Prothean told me we had our first enemies. Crogans. Ten of them in a narrow, long corridor. And they had spotted us. Luckily, we had a drill RPG with a 30kg dynamite charge and shrapnel. Taking it, I peeked out from behind the corner where they were hiding and fired. The projectile flew into the very midst of the crogans. There was a mighty explosion, followed by shouts, growls, and scolding from the crogans. Peering out of the corner, I saw only three half-dead krogan. The others were dead. I shot him in the head at point-blank range as I approached the first. The other two were finished by the Primes, and we moved on. The strangest thing we noticed along the way. The walls were smeared with blood, and nowhere was their Crogan blood. Human, Thurian, Salarian, Azarian, even Rahni, but no Krogan blood. Neither were any corpses, except the ones we'd left behind. And then there was the silence. An oppressive silence was interrupted by some metallic crackling in the ventilation system. I was well aware of what it was. Except that I didn't know if THIS was on our side. After a few more turns, we came to a door. Unfortunately, the doors and walls in this complex were shielded, so any vision was not helpful. Because as soon as we opened the door, a rocket hit the Prime walking ahead of us. It was an anti-personnel that only knocked out half of the shield. In a second, after assessing the situation, I closed the door, opened the shield, and tore off some wires there, and now it was impossible to open it in the usual way. And there was a need for it. There was a large room behind the door where the Crogans and Geths had taken up a good defence, and we had to run at them from the narrow corridor like a slaughterhouse. No thanks. The intelligent man won't go uphill; the wise man will go around the mountain. Having again looked at the plan of the complex, which I had safely downloaded from Hanshan port databases, we took a detour. But no sooner had we gone further than 20 meters along the corridor when six rakhni jumped out of a vent in the floor at once and immediately began to spit acid at us and hit us with their tentacles. The acid doused me from head to toe, so my torso was hissing and shrinking, but my shields were still intact. I blew the first bug's head to pieces with my rifle shot. Prime crushed the second one with his fist, then killed the third beetle and immediately got a tentacle to the body but couldn't get through. I grabbed that tentacle and pulled it towards me, pulling the rakhni up, and the next second, the identical Prime shot the beetle's head at point-blank range. The rest of the rachni were already dead. My platform was still fine, but our situation was not good. From around the corners, we could hear the noise of the footsteps of a dozen beetles. And behind us, they were coming towards us, too. Damn, clever critters. They were waiting for us to come in, and now they were surrounding us.

- okay, five Primes forward, five more back. Stormtroopers in between and keep an eye on the vent. They can come out of all the cracks. Do it! - Now, we walked in this peculiar formation. In another half a minute, the bacchanalia began. Ten bursts of heavy rifles, which only the Primes could lift, merged with the shrieks of the Rahni, who were being killed by these rifles. Some bugs would die, others would step over them and die too, and all made shrieking noises that were a potent psychological weapon. Ordinary organics would have had nightmares about such things. Suddenly I saw movement through the vent, and then the grate jumped out, and the rakhni fell from it. Seven stormtroopers took The first one at once; the other eight were dealing with the rachni on the other side, all within two meters of us. Then three and four killed the two Rahni who had come to replace the first. And with all that, our group walked towards the freight lift for the containers with the test subjects, stepping over the dead bodies of the rahni and shooting. Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, and shoot again because our lives depended on it. Mine certainly did. I learned long ago that my programming code, or essence, whatever anyone wants, cannot be moved from platform to platform. It was impossible. The only thing that was possible was to transfer it piecemeal, but it was impossible to control the assembly of the code in another medium. Simply put, if I tried to transfer myself to another platform, the code would be crushed to dust, then reassembled, and a new identity would be created by it, and it would no longer be me. So I fired. Shooting to the point of overheating to survive. So that I wouldn't be spit acid again, so that I wouldn't be dragged off into the darkness of the vents to be ground up into scrap metal, as I could hardly be helpful for food. That's why I shot. Because I wanted to survive. At any cost.

- Bloody rah-rah-rah-rah! - Rex spoke up as he finished off the last bug that was running after them, which was the gentlest thing he had said in the time it had taken the team to break into Vertex 15, activate the Vi core, then the helium-3 reactor, and now finally manage to arrive at the monorail station. Thankfully they knew that was where they were going; Mira had helped.

- Yeah. The Council would be thrilled. - Shepard agreed. - Okay, Tali, activate the monorail. Rex and Garrus watch the tunnel. The rest of you watch the corridor. - everyone executed quickly when the familiar sounds of pawing and squealing could suddenly be heard from the corridor. - Tali... - said the captain, hinting to the quarian to hurry up.

- I hear that. Now, there's just one problem... - The engineer made excuses, but then everyone was out of it. From the corridor came the little green rakhni kamikaze that looked like it was made of acid. Liara didn't wait and sent a singularity toward them. She struggled to hold on to it as more and more bugs rose into the air. After ten seconds, it was already under a hundred, but the Azari's strength was no longer enough. With the last of her strength, she fired a warp into the singularity, and there was a massive biotic explosion. The whole thing turned into acid, which began to corrode the walls, floor, rails, and ceiling.

- TALI! - Shepard couldn't take it anymore.

- Now. There's... Shit!!! Rex, open the door manually, and the train is de-energized. I'll be right there! - Tali shouted and jumped over the handrail, jumping onto the tracks. Shepard wanted to say something, but from the corridor came the rasping workers. Cayden started sending punches at them. It didn't kill the rachni, but it did cause them to fall off their feet and be disoriented. Garrus began firing his sniper rifle at the recumbent while Ashley and Shepherd fired at those who managed to get through. Luckily the corridor was one and narrow, so the Rahni went one at a time. Meanwhile, Tali was running under the train and plugging the correct elements of the carriage into the rail to get the current to start feeding into the train's mass core. She had to squat and act almost on a stylus, as the torch on her helmet was weak, and the radius was small. Just as she was about to find the fifth lead, someone grabbed Tali's leg. Surprised, Tali dropped her shotgun and somehow managed to look ahead. Only for a split second was she able to see the Rahni worker who had grabbed her leg. She turned around and started looking for the shotgun. Everything was happening so fast that she didn't even have time to be frightened. Tali quickly spotted the shotgun, but she couldn't reach it. It was only three centimeters short. Tali turned to Rahni again and kicked him in the head several times with all her might, but it didn't hurt him much. He did, however, relax a little from the surprise, and that was enough for the quarian to grab her weapon, but she couldn't get it out right away. It was stuck under the rail, and the girl's nervous tugging at the hilt did nothing to help. Rahni realized what Tali was trying to do, so he grabbed the shotgun with his second tentacle and pulled it out. However, Tali quickly grabbed the shotgun, pointed it at the machine's head, and fired. The beetle died on the spot, but the post-mortem muscle cramps squeezed the tentacle with such force that Tali felt a savage pain in her foot, and the tendons and cartilage beneath her skin went staggering. Tali screamed hysterically, a burst of biotic energy. Somewhere there was the sound of glass cracking and shards falling and, simultaneously, the screams of the rachni who had been hit by the wave. The rakhis corpse flew forward somewhere, and the tentacle that bound his leg ruptured, though some of it was still on his leg, petrified solidly. Tali inserted the last piece, and the train started up. She began to crawl backwards, herself glowing like a Christmas tree, and the unbearable pain was beginning to take its toll. Suddenly she heard a familiar voice.

- TALI! - turning her head, she saw Garrus. Her mind began to blur because of the intense pain, so she simply reached out her hand. Garrus immediately grabbed her and dragged her. Tali screamed in pain again, but Garrus didn't care. There was already hell on the surface. The whole team was already on the train and shooting out, smashing the windows. Rahni was lying all over the floor. Some were even still alive. Or maybe they were post-mortem convulsions. Three Rahni were flying on Kaiden's singularity, seven more on Liarina's, and Rex was kneading the bugs with bio-strikes. Ashley and Shepard shot at anything that moved. Garrus threw Tali onto the platform, climbed in himself, grabbed Tali by the arm, and dragged her across the floor into the wagon.

- Ashley, turn it on. - yelled the captain, and the sergeant quickly pressed the right buttons. The train moved off and, in a few seconds, was already in the tunnel.

- Tali, are you... Tali!? Tali, what's wrong with you!? - Shepard started yelling, seeing Tali couldn't get up and glowing like a skyscraper in the night. What's the big deal? She can't even say a word.

- But... The leg... Aaaarg... - Breathing heavily from the pain, Tali still managed to say something articulate.

- Son of a... - cursed the captain and immediately began scanning her foot with the Unicom. A few seconds later, the answer came back. - Damn, your whole foot's been ground to mincemeat. How did you do that? - The captain ascertained.

- R-r-raaaaah... Under the f-train... Ehhh... Ehhh... - Tali muttered something as Rex spoke.

- Shepherd. We've got a tail. - The captain stood up and looked back. A dozen workers were running behind them, and more aphids.

- Could this wreck move any faster? - Ashley complained.

- Uh-oh... lim... The limiter... Uh-oh... speed... - mumbled the quarian again, already falling into oblivion.

- Shit!" the captain spoke again. - Ashley and Garrus, shoot whoever comes up from behind. Cayden - watch the front. Liara and Rex, watch the sides. Biotics only use strikes, and only if the creeps get hooked on the wagon don't waste energy. Let's do it! - everything was executed instantly. Garrus was the first to work with a sniper rifle. One shot, one dead body. Just like he was trained to do. Ashley started shooting at the aphids with the rifle. As it turned out, these bugs ran better than the Olympians. And thankfully, their acid was also having an effect on the rachni workers. They began to dissolve alive, causing the tunnel to fill with gunshots and the squeals of bugs. The living stepped over the dead with no sympathy whatsoever for them. They were simply running after the wagon that had food in it!!! That's what it seemed to Garrus, who was looking at it all through the optics of his sniper rifle.

- On you, bitch! - Kaiden said as the first bug in the front jumped onto the wagon and immediately went under the wagon with a biotic strike.

Rex and Liara had already started to act with punches as well. Rahni jumped out of the sides' vents and onto the wagons. After five minutes, they had travelled only a quarter of the way, but the team didn't know it. Suddenly the group heard a crackling sound on the roof. No one even had time to react when suddenly the top split apart, and the face of a rakhni appeared in the hole. In the blink of an eye, a rahni tentacle pierced Shepard's shoulder, but luckily the armour was heavy, so it only reached the living tissue about five centimetres deep. The captain screamed hysterically, but at the same time, on reflex, Shepard grabbed a knife from her leg and sliced through the tentacle with a U-turn. Except that the sharp tip with a piece of dangling tentacle was still sticking out of the captain's shoulder.

- GET IT OUT! GET THAT SHIT OUT OF ME!!! - yelled Shepherd, trying to reach for the tip with her other hand, but the armour still obstructed her movement, as it was not designed for such arm twisting. Rex came to the rescue, pulling the tip out sharply. Shepard screamed again, falling to her knees as the pain was hellish. It was all because the tip plates were coated with microscopic hooks that ripped out tiny bits of flesh, but they tore through any flesh in the coupe. Vee armour injected Shepard with panelling, causing the wound to crust and a cold wave to sweep through her body. And no sooner had Shepard stood up than a bug appeared before her. Shepard just numbed in horror. An animal's fear of the creature paralyzed the woman. No one saw it as they were busy; Tali looked at Shepard but couldn't do anything about it herself. Time slowed to an impossibility. The beetle, seeing the defencelessness of its victim, stuck out its long butterfly-like tongue and tried to lick Shepard to taste its sweet victim. But Shepherd still had her knife. She scribbled a sharp arc with it and cut off the bug's tongue, which had already touched the girl's face. And it all happened in less than five seconds.

- REX! - Shouted Shepard, falling to the floor. Krogan quickly pulled out his shotgun and shot the squealing bug. - Thank you. - Thanked Captain Rex, wiping the bug's saliva from her face. That's when Shepard remembered Tali, who was muttering something in a whisper. Moving closer, Shepard heard Tali's speech.

- Mama-mama... maaaamma... Mama... Ma-maaa... aaaamam... Aaah... - Shepherd quickly pulled out the panacea for the suitable amino acids and injected it into Tali's leg. Tali began to subside, but her eyes remained open under the mask. Shepherd checked the portion once more with the unique. The result was disappointing.

- I'm sorry, Tali. But there are no options here. - With these words, Shepard took out her knife and searched for something to replace the tourniquet.

We are already halfway there, only halfway in that half hour. The Rakhni were just coming from all sides, and we kept bumping into Krogan and Geth roadblocks.

- Legatus. Hurry! That Benezia is torturing the queen. Tory's backing her as best she can, but she can't hold out much longer. - Xhasad shouted to me.

- Have they got her? - I said, tossing a grenade that nailed three of the krogan, with the fourth wounded being finished off by Prime.

- Yes. They've trapped her in a glass container and are torturing her with her mind. - Xad explained. Damn, that complicates things. If they know about Shepard...

- Xad, is Saren in there? - A rifle shot nails the rakhni that the krogan fought off when we approached them from the rear.

- I don't know. The queen doesn't know what kind of walking dead man stands next to him, but Benezia obeys him. - Fucking hell, that's all I need. If the queen surrenders and gives up the coordinates of this mu-retransmitter, Saren will finish her off just like he wanted to finish Tori in the game. - Oh, by the way. Be careful. Some other soldiers are coming at you from the monorail. And they're a lot stronger than these krogan. The queen is just trying to kill them.

- WHAT!? - I know who Xad is talking about. - What do you mean, off the monorail!? Who's out there? Which races?

- Azari. Krogan. Three more palefaces of some kind...

- Shit! Don't you dare! You hear me! Tell her not to kill them! If she kills them, I'll kill her myself, understand?! - That's the last thing I need. Shepherd gets whacked. This isn't a game. There are no respawns.

- Copy that. Pass it on. Queen's soldiers are retreating.

- Good. Tell her to protect them, but keep them out of sight.

- Good. Who are they anyway? Do you know them? - Xhasad asked.

- This? They are this Circle's last hope for unity and victory.

- Are you sure of that?

- More than that. Believe me. - Yeah, and you can't explain to him that I know all this from the game. But I'm still a machine, in part, so let him think I've got it all figured out years in advance.

After meeting the rahni 7 more times and the krogan/goths 5 more times, we reached the risk of the lab. And there, at the entrance, we saw an unpleasant sight. Six Azari troopers lying on the floor and against the walls. All dead and some torn to pieces. The walls were smeared with blue blood and palm prints and had traces of those tentacles the Rahni had used to tear apart their victims. And along with the Azari were not only corpses of bugs but one very much alive, chomping and eating one of the Azari.

- Hey, you. - I shouted, aiming at the beetle. It turned sharply but did not spit or attack. I've gotten to know the creatures by now. The smart ones ran away from us, even in groups, and the dumb ones attacked even when alone. - Is the queen in there? - I asked, pointing to the door near where the Azari had been finished. The beetle shook its head and then fled through the vent. It was his own. - Let's go. And don't shoot until I say so. - I ordered and went into the room.

- You know, Shepherd. I'm surprised at your tenacity, though. - Saren's familiar woofy voice poured in. It was just Saren and Benesia on one side of the room. Shepard, Liara, Kayden, and Ashley, on the other. Queen Rakhni on the third. And us on the fourth. No one noticed our arrival, so we hid quietly behind the crates of equipment. I had Prime and three Stormtroopers with me. And they all behaved very quietly. - But I'm also amazed at your stupidity. Though that is common to all Organs. - Saren spoke in a monotone, each word as if it were the beginning of a sentence.

- Foolishness? Look at you? What did you let the Lord Holder turn you into? That... A monster. - Shepard replied. I didn't know what she was talking about, but when I looked around the corner and saw the Turian... Well, I regretted it. It wasn't Saren anymore. It was a freak who looked like a Turian except in silhouette. It was made of implants, and its organics were artificial.

- Heh. - Saren grinned contemptuously, but he didn't do more than that. - All you organics do is fear the unknown. You give a name to your fears all the time. And for the most part, you fear what is more vital than you. The Azari fear the strongest biotics of their race and call them Ardat-Yakshi. The Krogan fear the thresher they couldn't defeat and call him Kalros. And humans... You're afraid of so many things you can't count them all at once. You call me a monster. I disagree with that. I'm stronger than all of you. At first, we should team up with the machines on a genetic level. But as it turns out, there's nothing substantial about organics. But being a machine... Ooh, that's different. I'm in the next stage of evolution. And not organic, Shepherd. No. Machines are the next stage of evolution. A logical extension of it. Reapers are the end goal. You need to understand my goals, but I do. I must lead all races of this Cycle to the final stage of evolution. I was chosen to do this because I have never had a passion for living beings. I have always considered them weak. Always striving for more. And the Keeper noticed that. And he chose me to help you. Too bad the Protheans didn't understand their Prophets, which the Reapers chose. They ruined everything, and now we have to find the Channel. If it wasn't for them, it would have started long ago. And it would have ended. But this Queen... She knows how to get to the Channel. All right, then. Goodbye, Shepard. - With those words, Saren grabbed the rachni camera, and after a second, it started moving up before stopping 5 meters and driving into the wall, out of sight. I already knew where this container was going. It would drive into a cargo ship and then leave the planet. And you can't destroy it because I don't know the coordinates of the mu-transporter myself. I know what system it's in, but it's a lot more complicated than that. So we'll just have to be patient and go to Vermeir. That's where Saren will send her. Now it was Benezia's turn.

- You have yet to learn what you're getting yourself into, captain. Moreover, you need help understanding our motives or trying to understand. - Benezia began, and I stood up and approached her quietly from behind. Everyone else followed quietly behind me as well.

- I saw what happened to the proteins. I saw what the Reapers had done to them. Drained the life out of them and made them slaves. - Shepard replied, and a second later, the whole crew saw me but didn't realize it was me. Though Shepard did give me an odd squint as if she recognized me.

- There. You're not thinking big. I can see. Saren will bring greatness to all races. And he has chosen me to stand at the vanguard. - Benezia was pouring in. What kind of nonsense is she talking about, huh?

- What the hell are you talking about? - Shepherd blurted out. She's reading my mind.

- Eh, you're impossible to talk to. People like you always get in the way of the Prophets. - By now, we were all standing behind Benezia. She was unaware of us, but the captain's team knew something was wrong. And when Benezia was already lit up by the biotic barrier, I grabbed her by the shoulder, turned her around, and kicked her in the stomach. It wasn't fatal, but it sent her flying five meters away at Shepherd's feet. She didn't get confused and immediately put a butt to the matriarch's head. While Kayden tied her up, Shepard turned to me.

- Legatus?

- Hello again, captain. How's the hospitality here? - I decided to make a joke, and it seemed to work.

- It's a hell of a joke. - Shepherd swore. She doesn't seem to be in the mood.

- Shepard, what are you doing? This is our chance to grab him! - whispered so I wouldn't hear Ashley.

- Sergeant Williams, I can hear everything. - I said ironically, which made Shepherd even smile. She might have been wearing a helmet with a respirator, but even the movements I saw on her face were enough to see her smile. Ashley, on the other hand, snorted angrily at me. Suddenly we all felt a sharp jolt. Then another, and then another.

- Comrade Legate. The Noverian Development Corporation has authorized an orbital bombardment of the Apex 15 complex. The projectile warheads contain antimatter. You are advised to leave the complex immediately. - the pilot informed me in 0.0073 seconds before a second jolt occurred.

- Get out of here!!! - I shouted, and we all ran back the way we came. The last thing I saw was Team Shepherd running out of this lab. - Rilik, hack into the orbital guidance system. Let the bombs fall only on the Complex Centre for the time being. And God forbid the frigate Normandy or Rilik gets hit.

- Roger that. - the pilot answered me, and we ran. We ran as fast as we could. On the way, I ordered Rilik to widen the breach in that tunnel. He was in that hole, so all we had to do was get there. We should have paid more attention to the krogan, geth, and rachni corpses. We just jumped over them. The complex was shaken by more and more tremors. Many of the glass here couldn't take it and burst, but we kept running. And that immensely widened the gap, and Rilik stood with the hangar doors open so much for irony. We made it from here to the labs in 4 hours of combat and back in 3 minutes and 17 seconds. We didn't even take any casualties today, so everyone who came with me to the complex quickly ran into the ship. The ones I left behind had already done so. And so, Rilik takes off and closes the hangar doors. I also run to the bridge and see the Normandy take off and rush upwards. We did precisely the same thing. It was time to get out of here. Our next target is Vermeir.