Chapter 24. Dizzying flight

I don't know what exactly such a person as a justiciar forgot in the ordinary world, and especially in a small cargo transportation company, but it would be simply stupid to miss such luck. Therefore, after waiting for Samara to finally leave the building, I set up surveillance on her. Fortunately, she decided to walk. Well, or I thought it was good, because no one taught me camouflage and surveillance in urban conditions, Shiala had the wrong profile, and therefore they copied me much earlier than I even began to guess about it. And when I was left completely alone in an empty alley, it was already too late.

An unexpected blow to the chest from an elegant, strong hand was strong enough to knock the air out of me and put me back against the wall of an empty warehouse.

"Well, who are you?" Samara asked in a calm, but with a bit of interest voice, but immediately lowered her gaze, after which she again looked into my face with a mocking expression.

-What? The last time a sexy asari pressed me to the wall with completely different intentions!—he was indignant at the unspoken ridicule.

And we found ourselves in a very piquant situation: Samara almost completely pressed me into the wall with her body, pressing the barrel of her pistol into my stomach, while her leg rested between my legs, already pressing my "trunk".

While Samara was distracted, I with a sharp movement knocked out the gun from her and struck myself, encountering a hard block that almost turned into a grab. However, while the asari was trying to grab my hand, I managed to pull the dropped trunk into the other, only to immediately lose it and in order to prevent them from being used, I had to concentrate, disperse my consciousness and remember everything I know about hand-to-hand combat.

"Ha, ha, okay, that was cool." He grinned after a minute of fleeting contraction and immediately winced from the pain in his cut but already healing lip.

"You could have achieved much more if you hadn't held back," the justiciar relaxed slightly, but without thinking of reducing her concentration and dispersing the biotics in her hands. —But I agree, it's impressive.—.

Having examined me once again, Samara finally relaxed and picked me up from the floor and put her gun into the mount on her hip, inquiring along the way. —And yet, who are you and why were you following me?—.

—Well, it's not every day that you meet a justiciar in person, and in general I wanted...—.

"No." The asari interrupted me as she headed out of the alley.

"But I didn't even finish!" I was indignant at this attitude, but not seeing the reaction, I hurried to catch up with the asari. -You saw me in action, let me help you!—.

From my words, Samara stopped abruptly and again pressed me into the wall, but harder and not with her body, but with her biotics. -I do not need help.-.

What did Shiala say? Biotic fields of equal strength neutralize each other, and therefore, having estimated the strength of Samara's biotic field, I released my biotics of equal strength, destroying the justiciar's barrier, causing her eyes to widen in surprise.

"I need help," interrupted the prolonged silence. "I have to...prepare for something." The sooner the better, and now I don't see any other chance than to work with the justicar. Please.-.

"No." Samara said almost without hesitation, moving on, not paying attention to me.

However, I don't need anything more, my worm has already managed to penetrate her instrument computer and now I can easily track her position if she appears near any terminal with direct access to the extranet. Another thing is that such a "gift" can be discovered very quickly, but there is still time. And if you have time, it's worth contacting Liara, especially since she has already called several times, but at the very wrong time and had to hang up the call.

It didn't take much time to contact and calm the worried girl, as well as find the way back to the cafe where she was waiting for me. How to explain yourself to her.

"What happened Ivon?" Liara asked after a sweet kiss.

"Perhaps... just perhaps I found a way to get the intelligence work experience I needed and get a chance to become a SPECTER in the shortest possible time." Liara grinned at Liara's surprised face. —Do you know that right now there is a justiciar on this planet, in this city?—.

"And you want to impose yourself on the justiciar in order to work with her," Liara quickly guessed. -I'm with you.-.

-No. I'll have to leave you here, I'm not even sure that Samara will agree with my presence." I immediately refused my little sister because she had no business delving into the foul-smelling substance called crime. —Buy a ticket for a flight to Tessia, return home, finish your studies. Believe me, as an archaeologist you will help me much more than an action movie, of which there are plenty.—.

"What should I tell my mom?" Liara asked upset, admitting that I was right.

"If everything succeeds, tell the truth." The asari grinned at the dumbfounded look. —That I went AWOL to travel around the galaxy.—.

Having discussed all the details with Liara, I abandoned everything else and plunged into work. First, I checked the stable signal from Samara's instrumentron, and then compared it with the map, finding out the location of the justicar. And while I was heading to the apartment complex in a hired taxi, having connected to the microcomputer of the justicar's instrument, the translator was reconfigured so that it would broadcast the speech into my headphones.

"...I'm sorry, Miral will pay for this..." I only heard the end of the conversation after I connected.

I had to delve into the history of her personal device, compare the route in the city, find out what kind of places she visited, who works/lives there, compare the data saved on her instrument and only then a picture began to emerge. As a result, the former mistress of an asari working for the cargo transportation company Gruzpress was found dead at home in her bed with extensive brain hemorrhage and a burned-out nervous system. Samara believes that the death was unnatural and she was killed by a certain Miral, who was the reason for the couple's separation. But the most interesting thing is that Marlene, an asari, whose mistress was found dead, also considered Miral to be the culprit of death and, having independently found out where she was going, grabbed a hunting rifle and, having bought a ticket at the local spaceport, flew to Partenella - a planet on the borders of the asari sector, famous for its free interpretation of laws and morality.

"The goal has changed, take me to the spaceport," the VI of the car gave the order, hearing in the speaker how Samara announced the place of arrival to the taxi that had just been removed.

I arrived at the spaceport first and managed to clarify the flight schedule. There were simply no transporters flying to Partenella. The nearest one will be only in a week, and then it will fly with stops, traveling between repeaters, disembarking some passengers at the nearest port and picking up others. And to Partanella you will generally have to make transfers. There are also private flights, but they are all busy.

"My mysterious pursuer," a voice came from behind, coming up from behind Samara, whom I had noticed even earlier, fortunately she was not hiding. —What an "unexpected" surprise.—.

"Samara." He smiled dazzlingly at the sight of the beautiful asari. "I'm afraid you're unlucky and lucky at the same time." There are no flights to Partanella.—.

Having measured me with her gaze, the asari walked to the holo-image of the flight schedule and began checking them, noting them along the way. —Have you hacked my instrumenttron? Smart. So, what is your proposal?—.

"I'll take you to Partenella and wherever else you want, and in return I'll become your assistant... for a while."

Having measured me with a thoughtful gaze once again, Samara pulled out his pistol and pointed it at my head, causing frightened screams from the civilians around. —You hacked my instrument, you put conditions on your assistance in the path of my investigation...according to the code, I can regard this as a hostile action.—.

Okay, I didn't expect such a turn, but my biotic barrier is strong enough, and even if she breaks through it, the skin and bone should stop the cartridge and prevent it from killing me.

Similar thoughts instantly flashed through my head and, sighing, I just closed my eyes, showing that I would stand my ground, and at the same time feeling the adrenaline rushing into my head. I wonder if she will shoot or not?

But then a second or two passed and the rhythmic, receding tapping of the justiciar's heels reached my ears. Daring to open my eyes, I only saw Samara heading towards the shuttle park.

-You are walking? Assistant.— Samara's voice brought me back to my senses.

So, not believing my luck and the fact that I really succeeded, I hurried to catch up with the retreating asari, typing a message to Liara as I went. Well, all that remains is not to lose face.

Having adjusted the justiciar's course, I directed her not towards the ships, but towards parked private shuttles, among which mine was located. It took literally a couple of seconds to receive permission to take off with the justiciar on board, and having already risen into the orbit of the planet, we flew on, passing the orbital port for large ships under the surprised and wary gaze of Samara, heading towards a large asteroid in the orbit of one of the planets of the system.

—My ship is not a civilian model, and I do not have the appropriate permits to own and operate it. But I didn't steal it! "I built it, but unofficially," he hastened to explain to the justicar before she thought too much of herself.

Having accepted my explanation, Samara nodded her head and settled down in the next chair, closing her eyes to meditate. Well, at this time I checked Liara's short message that had passed during takeoff: "You will succeed, I believe in you, but be careful. I love you."

The flight to my frigate took less than an hour, and when the silhouette of my beauty appeared in the overview panel, I hastened to wake up Samara.

- We got there. Here she is, my baby, Victoria," he proudly introduced his frigate.

And even the imperturbable Samara was impressed by this appearance, she even looked at me differently. Ha, I probably thought that I had some kind of used transport ship with soldered guns, and not a hefty heavy combat frigate the size of a cruiser.

Victoria greeted us with silence and empty rooms, which surprised Samara. Usually such large ships require a large crew, but I have none here. When I settled into the pilot's seat and put the neurocontroller in the form of a hoop on my head, I decided to clarify.

—How will we fly without a crew?—.

I had to explain the principle of my ship's operation while we turned around and accelerated towards the relay located in the system. Well, a new stage of my life has begun, I wonder where it will take me.

***

Asari Republic sector, Kalistah system, planet Partanella. One week later.

Samara turned out to be a very... distant and unsociable asari. Perhaps he doesn't want to get attached thinking that we will quickly separate? Or perhaps hundreds of years of living under a strict code had taken their toll on her. Professional deformation? In general, I didn't manage to really talk to her, I just gave her a tour of Victoria and allocated one of the two cabins, which I managed to furnish to a minimum. The asari preferred to spend the rest of the time in meditation and contemplation. I, almost without being distracted from flight control, entertained myself by designing my future armor capable of flight. True, this is a very complex pleasure; in order to fly normally in such a small object, you need to install compensators, stabilizers, inertia dampers, insulation in it... In general, there was enough work so that I didn't get bored until we got to our destination.

- Samara, we have arrived. Could you come to the captain's bridge? - I contacted the justiciar through the speakers in her cabin.

When she came up they just contacted me.

"Unknown ship, identify yourself and the purpose of your visit," the dispatcher asked when I accepted her request.

"This is Victoria, on board." He cast a questioning glance at Samara, receiving a nod of agreement. —Justiciar on board.—.

"Accepted Victoria, head to the 137th keel block of the spaceport." I received an answer a few seconds later and headed towards a large orbital port for large ships not intended for landing on the planet.

Having moored and paid for fuel, I hurried to the hangar where I located the armory and where Samara headed. And I caught her just in time, she was already boarding the shuttle.

"Wait for me!" the asari said, hastily starting to put on his armor.

"Stop Ivon," the justiciar's voice came to me. —You're not coming with me.—.

The woman didn't pay any attention to my indignation, and all my arguments fell apart: "I won't be able to effectively do my job if I'm forced to constantly protect you." I had to return to my pilot's seat. Now it's clear how those losers in movies feel when the main characters refuse to take them with them on dangerous missions. Well, at least I persuaded her to put on a visor with a direct connection to the ship for communication and so that I would have a direct picture.

While Samara reached the planet, I quickly determined where and when the transport worker Marlene landed and where she went by hacking the port database and the fleet log of the local taxi service. We must admit that we arrived quite on time; Marlene arrived at Partanella no more than two days ago. Well, while Samara was tracking down her target, I was half-eying her work and delving into the catalog of a local spaceship interior store.

Samara found Marlene quickly and even calmed her down by promising to personally find and kill Miral, but we never found Miral herself. Although she still left a trace. The local gang "Night Hunters" engaged in smuggling were spotted with a beautiful asari named Marian and judging by the description, this is exactly our goal.

"She warned us about you, so we were prepared." You can't get further, bitch." The asari came forward with a hefty assault rifle, blocking the path of the one who broke into their main warehouse, which is used as a base in Samara.

Everything would be fine, just think, a crowd of aggressively armed asari, nothing unusual for a justicar. But judging by the signatures, they had old 'Mechs manufactured by FreeMan Armory stuffed into containers, among which were a couple of Terminators. Already activated and battle-ready 'Mechs, they were really prepared.

"Samara, take a little time," he said into the communicator, already bypassing the firewall of the mechs and gaining control over them.

And while the justiciar, in her own manner, namely with a cold look and rare, short phrases, was stalling for time, I changed the priorities of the behavioral matrices of the VI mechs and set the goal to protect Samara. The fact that everything worked out for me in the best possible way was evidenced by the sight of the walls of the containers exploding from the inside, riddled with shots, with a deafening roar, and the asari, who had not expected such a turn of events, turned into bloody pieces of meat in a matter of seconds. It's a pity for them, of course, but they themselves chose this life.

When it was all over, without waiting for a hint from me, Samara dug up the gang leader's tooltron and established a connection with it, giving me direct access to it.

"Samara," he hastened to say in a tense voice after a superficial check. -Is there something wrong. Several armed groups from different gangs with a total number of one hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty reasonable ones are moving towards you. The mechs will protect you, but there are still too many of them. I open access to their channel and for the sake of the Goddess, wait for me, I'm already on my way.—.

And then, without listening to the asari's objections, he hurried to the hangar where he frantically put on the armor and, taking with him a pistol, a submachine gun and a plasma shotgun, he hurried to the exit.

Alas, due to the fact that I have only one shuttle, and I myself was at the orbital station, it was simply not possible to get to Samara in the shortest possible time, unless... Not allowing myself to change my mind, I take a running start and jump down straight to the planet, feeling how the speed of free fall increases with every second. Fortunately, the city in which Samara was located was located just under the orbital station. While slightly adjusting the course, focusing on Samara, I notice how the first hot thermal charge is fired from the armor, followed by the second. Well, yes, friction with the planet's atmosphere, it's good that my armor has a heat removal and heat release system, standard ceramic plates would be useless in this case, and by this point I would most likely be a half-cooked piece of meat if I limited myself to them when constructing the armor.

When I was at an altitude of two hundred meters above the warehouse, which was already being stormed by criminal gangs, I warned Samara to take cover as strong a biotic barrier as possible and, having removed the limiters from the backpack, I began to reduce my weight as much as possible, forcing the operation of the device in order to reduce the kinetic force of my flight and already before By the very fall, he was enveloped in dark energy, trying to transfer the entire accumulated charge of kinetic energy during flight in the form of a biotic wave. But I wouldn't risk trying to extinguish it; here, at a minimum, the mass core from the fighter is needed to have enough dark energy for such a trick.

***

Lately Samara hasn't been herself. After many years, she finally stumbled upon the trail of the fugitive Ardat-Yaksha, the curse of her appearance, and therefore the justiciar had absolutely no time to deal with the annoying youth who decided to tickle his nerves by traveling with the justiciar. Although it is worth admitting that he knows how to fight, and as it turned out later, he is also well versed in technology and knows how to insist on his own. The battle cruiser he had, which he called a frigate, was another surprise, but Samara decided to deal with this later, after capturing Miral.

And as it turns out, working in tandem with an experienced technician who can quickly dig up information for you is very convenient. In the end, she couldn't get out of an ambush with heavy mechs so easily without help. I would have managed it, and I had been in more difficult situations, but the battle would have been difficult. And it certainly would not have been possible to fight off a decent group of militants from the criminal gangs of Nar-Rais, the capital of Partanella, without losses. So the warning turned out to be timely, as was the help of the mechs, who managed to stop the advance of the militants and allow the asari to dig in in the far part of the warehouse under the protection of the droids that remained in order. When Ivon said to take cover with a barrier, Samara decided to follow his advice and wrap herself in a dome of biotics, dense enough to withstand a couple of disintegration torpedoes and a direct collision with a fighter. What the justicar did not expect was that the fiery fireball would break through the roof of the warehouse and fall directly on the heads of the bandits, causing upon its landing an extensive kinetic, circular wave that instantly killed most of the intelligent ones who found themselves in the field of destruction, scattering their broken bodies. What about organic matter, the blow did not spare the mechs either, even the metal walls were torn like paper, and the boxes scattered outside the damaged warehouse, causing a series of explosions, clearly indicating that they contained not entirely legal cargo.

Samara's barrier passed the test with honor, but the asari had to work pretty hard for this. When the dust settled and the justiciar decided to remove the barrier, she saw her new acquaintance in massive armor standing on one knee with his fist resting on the ground for greater stability.

***

"Attention! Hull integrity is 61%...

Integrity of internal systems 81%...

Critical temperature reached...

The replacement thermal charges have run out..." I looked at the inscriptions popping up on the inside panel of the helmet while I, frozen in a pathetic pose, tried not to howl from the terrible pain in my bones, torn muscles, torn joints and burnt skin. If I had not been a semi-synthetic, such a landing would have left If only I had given him a bloody blast, but he managed to cope. But he still got injuries and something needs to be done about it.

I was distracted from the pain by a signal from the armor sensors about the approach of the enemy from behind, so having dispersed my consciousness and triggered increased production of adrenaline, I prepared for battle and rolled away from the shot almost point-blank on the move, placing thermal charges from under the weapon into the armor slots, fortunately they were quite suitable , ave my foresight. When I found myself opposite the enemy, I had already changed four thermal charges, which almost instantly became hot and fired, but at the same time lowered the temperature of the armor, so I was more or less ready for battle, and the pain faded into the background, muffled by hormones.

And I must say, by the look of the krogan standing opposite me, I'm not surprised; if anyone could survive my suicidal attack, it would be a powerful biotic like Samara or a krogan in heavy armor.

The beating of the heart was a frantic rhythm in the ears, and a tenacious gaze noted every detail. As if in slow motion, I saw the movement of the xenos needle gun, but before he could shoot, I closed the distance and intercepted the barrel of the weapon, knocking it out of the lizard's hands with a blow of my fist. The xenos also tried to hit, but it was not difficult to intercept his fist, after which he charged the handle of the needle gun at the outcast's exposed muzzle. The blow was powerful, the weapon shattered into fragments, but the lizard also "floated", completely losing the chance to take the initiative. But I was not going to let it go, delivering blow after blow, cutting through his other skin, breaking his forehead plates and crumbling his skull bones. When I finished, the krogan was dead, his head just a mess, and I was covered in his brain debris and blood.

"What stopped you from shooting him?" Samara's voice reached me, bringing me out of the combat frenzy. —If I'm not mistaken, you have a very real weapon hanging on your grips, not dummies.—.

Looking around the wreckage of the room, he noted that the justiciar was now putting a clearly just used cannon back on its mount, and next to her lay the bodies of several asari, with pools of blood spreading underneath them.

-Well? "What stopped you from shooting him?" the asari demanded, coming closer.

-Um, wouldn't that be so brutal? I just acted on instincts and...—.

—A cool mind, even during battle, distinguishes warriors from stupid militants. Remember this and don't lose your head in a dangerous situation in the future," the justiciar walked past. "I'll take care of your skills later, it would be stupid to leave such a powerful and reckless biotic unattended." Jump from orbit? That's crazy. Now we need to determine why they tried to kill me so persistently. I don't believe that it's just Miral.—.

"Wait," it dawned on me. -Will you take care of me later? So you will still teach me?—.

-You shouldn't rejoice ahead of time. If you disobey me again, the security service will deal with you," the woman looked at me with a cold gaze, which after a moment warmed up a little. —But you have potential, it would be stupid not to develop it.—.