Chapter 9. Phalanx

"So, let's start the test," he said out loud, not even trying to restrain the excitement that slipped through every now and then.

Still, I have progressed very far in the study of nanobots and have now observed the work of the results of twenty years of research that have passed since Tala's death. Yes, my small, spider-like boots were far from "nano" and reached two centimeters in height, not exceeding the phalanx of a finger. Hence the name of the bots - "Phalanx". But even if they are far from "nano", at the moment this is the height of miniature technology. Although, of course, there is the same mini-assembler in tooltrons that is used every day for processing small parts into others, it is not so universal and is inferior to the Phalanx in literally everything. After all, even if a mini-assembler can disassemble, say, the body of an assault rifle and reassemble the body from the module of this very rifle from the resulting materials, then the Phalanx can serve as an entire mining, processing and production workshop, and all sorts of devices with which the Phalanx bots are equipped to the envy of any Swiss knife provide the widest possible opportunities for work. These little paws have everything from a particle emitter, ultrasonic emitters and lasers of various configurations to repulsors that provide fast and maneuverable movement. Tiny EM cores ensure the autonomous existence of each Phalanx bot and make it possible to use low-power EM fields, and built-in transmitters connect the Phalanx with the "Hive" - an autonomous factory for the production of Phalanx bots, which also acts as a data bank and controller of these same bots.

The energy autonomy of the Hive is ensured by the Mass Effect core copied from the Reaper, and the excess power of such a core allows the creation of miniature EM cores without the expense of a zero element. That is, to create bots, there are enough minerals and silicates extracted from the earth, some of which, although very rare, are not as rare as element zero. The extracted materials, after being processed, are used to create "empty" Phalanx bots, which are then placed in the Hive, where they are "filled" with EM cores.

According to calculations, one Hive can easily maintain control over ten trillion bots, and the complex VI of the Hive ensures their coordinated work to complete their assigned tasks. And when I say complex VI, I mean REALLY complex VI, which I have been poring over for years. Tens of thousands of behavior patterns and algorithms, a colossal amount of planning for all sorts of situations... it would be much easier and faster to create AI and impose all sorts of restrictions on it, but I don't trust AI, so I had to work.

And all this work was done exclusively to create weapons against the Reapers, and if specifically I want the Phalanx to process the planetoids found by my geologist drones into huge shipyard worlds, or even more correctly, forge worlds in which the fleet I need will be created, in the design of which I have gotten my hands on over the past two decades.

After I entered into an agreement with the asari, it didn't take long for these clever women to collect the necessary data about the theft of FreeMan Armory technologies by Khaliat Armory and in court they obtained the termination of the cooperation contract. Moreover, my former partner Bartus, who has now died of old age, was fined half a billion credits, almost ruining the weapons corporation and significantly tarnishing its reputation. This is why the financial affairs of turians tend to be handled by the volus. These barrels with legs know when and to what extent they can be impudent, and when they need to butter up their business partner.

In general, now Benezia, using her own finances, set up production on Thessia and on a number of other inhabited asari planets, including Illium in the Terminal systems, where for the development of VI for combat mechs and equipment systems for recruitment, quarians were a priority at my request (and young and gifted quarians those who went on pilgrimage now have a guaranteed job), and began to expand the scope of production by opening FreeMen Technologies as a subsidiary company for the production of civil equipment.

And the first product of FreeMen Technologies was a line of civil aerocars of original design. A distinctive feature of these aerocars are four small Mass Effect cores operating synchronously at the corners of the car, instead of the wheels of the original car. Ion engines are also installed there, which, together with the increased number of EV cores, makes the aircars produced by my company more maneuverable and safe, and if the established factory speed limits are removed, then faster than modern models. The original aerocars have only one EV core and an ion engine in the rear of the car, thanks to which the vehicle flies.

 Benezia's technicians also went through old samples of the FreeMan Armory armor, replaced some expensive parts, removed combat modules, and in the vacated space they placed replaceable cells with liquefied oxygen for a long stay in conditions of absence or an unfriendly atmosphere, and on the remaining basis they created spacesuits for civilian use for work in extreme conditions. True, since this suit was made by asari, it was created for asari, and it is also suitable for batarians due to similar physiology. It will not be difficult to process samples for the physiology of other races, but still mine and Benezia's products are aimed primarily at the Azarian market.

 And the latest development was a prosthesis created jointly with Binery Helix scientists with a full connection of the prosthetic systems to the user's nervous system, just as asari do during sex, which allows them to feel it like their own limb.

Although, of course, with the help of this prosthesis it will not be possible to sense the outside world, but even so, for people with low incomes who have lost limbs, such a prosthesis will only be a joy, because according to user surveys, modern prostheses are still felt as something extraneous, despite modern neural interfaces. And we are already developing sensor systems for prosthetics with a direct connection to the nervous system, which in the future will make it possible to sense the world with an artificial limb as if it were a real one.

And of course, like all newly created asari, these prosthetics are primarily designed for asari and have an appropriate design. And besides, they have not yet entered the market, but are only undergoing tests, but the forecasts are optimistic and Binesia has already agreed with several clinics in Tessia to install equipment for installing prostheses and adjusting the mechanism systems to the nervous system of use.

 Although such a trinket is unnecessary for rich members of society, because when they lose a limb or organ, as a rule, they turn to the appropriate companies, where they grow the necessary organ, or even a clone, from which they then receive the necessary replacement organs. But for ordinary citizens this is too expensive a procedure, in contrast to relatively cheap prostheses (4.5-15 thousand credits).

And what's most remarkable is that all this was created not by me, but by hired Benezia specialists based on my technologies, having previously received permission. If I grabbed at the top and adapted the resulting technologies in the most obvious area, then Benezia went deeper and found a wider application for them, multiplying the company's profits. Yes, with Bartus I didn't even dream of this, loans just poured in like a river, although now there was much more attention to my person.

In general, while Benezia made us both richer, I continued to understand the Reapers' technologies, a small part of which I shared with the world under the sign of my company, continued to supplement the DNA chains with interesting mutations that appeared in the grown hybrid life forms, and prepared for the arrival of the Reapers, developing a fleet against them, at the same time, modeling ships ordered by the asari, fortunately I have already gutted the Reaper's memory of shipbuilding, mass cores and weapons, and now I need to creatively process everything received, possibly refine and combine it into a suitable form that can compete with the Reapers in terms of combat component.

In any case, for now I am only modeling ships, and the Phalanx, built by me, builds these ships, allowing me to identify both shortcomings in the designed ships and in the Phalanx itself. At the same time, I also developed new ships for the asari, working out design flaws on them and gaining experience. So far, the Phalanx has shown itself impeccably, and the asari received samples of three types of ships designed in their style. For example, the new SKAT model fighters that have already entered service with the Asari armed forces. I called them that because of the similarity of seventeen-meter boats with these fish: a rounded elongated base of a hollow body in the middle, on the sides and top of which there are wings of "fins", and two "shoots" located on the sides along the nozzle create an electromagnetic corridor for acceleration and increased lethality fired projectile.

 Since fighters serve mainly to overload the shields of more massive and dangerous ships, a projectile with a zero element released from the nozzle (which also acts as a very fast engine) is covered with a biotic shell, which acts as an additional factor overloading the shield of the enemy ship. However, SCATs can also fire conventional shells, and in different configurations, crushing the enemy with an insane rate of fire or with a single, but extremely powerful charge.

A special feature of the Azari fighter is its powerful shield, supported by a very powerful and overly large core for this class of ships (although all Asari warships are guilty of this). But the shield itself is not designed for long battles, nor is the fighter carrying charges with dark energy to destroy shields. Fighters in space combat operate at ultra-close range to deliver torpedoes filled with zero element, which do not fly far, and therefore lasers are installed against fighters on large ships, which are also very effective at close range and absolutely ineffective at long range. Lasers, using high-precision sensors, record the position of enemy ships and can easily shoot down disintegrator torpedoes (for which they are usually launched simultaneously in a large batch, so that the defense systems of the enemy ship simply do not have time to shoot down all the torpedoes), and fighters literally with one hit, because lasers pass through standard shields without any difficulty. The "Cyclonic Barrier" I developed, which works thanks to additional Mass Effect emitters, is a rapidly oscillating barrier that reflects shots from lasers and energy weapons in principle. Such a shield immediately increases the survivability of fighters in a space battle, although it required the use of a carrier cruiser in the battle, on which the SCATs will serve during the battle: replenishing disintegration charges, removing heat and static electricity, and recharging the shields' energy cells.

The new Azarian frigate, whose length reaches almost four hundred meters, is very similar in structure to its smaller brothers, except that instead of "shoots" on the sides of the nozzle, the nozzle itself is elongated, because the frigate's shells are much more massive, more lethal, and accordingly the "barrel" is needed much stronger and more reliable.

 Asari frigates do not have a "Cyclonic Barrier" as unnecessary, and they have ordinary shields, although they are extremely powerful for ships of this class. In general, all ships of the asari armed forces are guilty of this; these blue women prefer to take advantage of survivability, reliability, quality and skill, rather than quantity and numerous weapons.

Now the frigate is undergoing the last tests before entering service with the Asari armed forces, but the customers are satisfied with the ship, although they slightly changed the design of the vessel, as in the case of SKAT, which is why they acquired their current appearance.

The last ship I developed for the asari was a cruiser, whose length reaches about five hundred meters, but the overall size is comparable to a small dreadnought. In terms of combat and defensive components, the cruiser is also not far behind, and in appearance it resembles a frigate, but more massive and with a structure at the bottom of the cruiser, which houses close-range combat systems, such as lasers and homing plasma torpedoes.

Now the cruiser prototype is just being completed at their Asari shipyards, so it is unknown how it will perform, although the characteristics are already impressive.

 To be honest, I didn't like the ships. Yes, in modern realities of combat they are excellent and fit perfectly into asari combat tactics, which emphasize the individual power of individual ships.

By the way, the tactics are so-so, as for me, asari do not like and do not know how to fight, unlike the same turians, who have a very competent military doctrine, and although the ships will be weaker in individual terms, this is compensated by the coherence of the fleet, drill and discipline soldiers and extensive combat experience. It is not for nothing that turians act as peacekeepers of the galaxy.

Even the salarians have more effective combat tactics, although their ships are generally weaker than the ships of the turians and asari, but the frogs focus on stealth, sabotage behind enemy lines, destruction of enemy communications, disinformation, and so on.

But all this is useless against the Reapers, who can effortlessly dismantle even asari dreadnoughts and who have no "rear" where the salarians can penetrate and grab the Reapers by their synthetic eggs with their sticky paws. No, we need a more technologically advanced fleet, for the management of which we can put someone like the turians, and then we can fight with these ancient synthetics.

However, now I would be careful not to put anyone behind such a fleet, because each race is now pulling the blanket over itself and it seems to me that it will remain so until the threat of complete destruction forces them to unite. It is quite possible that we will have to let the Reapers fool around and "reap" some key planets like Illium or Palaven, so that everyone realizes the threat and understands their helplessness, and then gives them hope.

However, these are just thoughts; right now I don't even have drawings of my fleet, and now I'm just developing it.

***

Thessia, temple of the goddess Atame, ceremony of inauguration of Benezia and Etita as matriarchs.

 "Too pretentious," the asari whispered under her breath, continuing to smile at the public, or more precisely at the drone cameras displaying a picture of the ongoing event as the entry of two new participants into the Council of Matriarchs.

Although there are enough matriarchs in asari society, not all of them devote themselves to politics; most prefer to live out the remaining time with their family or doing their favorite pastime, but certainly not in such a nervous position. So it is not surprising that this event is usually held solemnly, with pomp and under the watchful gaze of cameras. And now, after the traditional ceremony, matriarchs Etita and Benezia could only smile sweetly and wait for the eldest of the Council of Asari Matriarchs to finish her speech.

"Well, finally." Benezia breathed out barely audibly when the matriarch Brelina finished and the women headed to the exit, where parked air cars were already waiting for them, ready to take them away from the gaze of annoying camera drones.

And only after taking off in her new car, almost not feeling the flight due to the smoothness of movement and the mass fields ensuring the comfort and safety of passengers, Benezia allowed herself to relax, lower her smile and unbutton the collar of her dress, from which her massive breasts, to which Etita's gaze was fixed for a few seconds , almost fell out.

"Is everything okay?" she squinted her eyes at her asari friend, noticing the twitching movements of the newly-minted matriarch.

"Fine." Benezia leaned back on the soft seat and asked her question a few seconds later. —What will you do?—.

-Business. Since I'm now a matriarch, I'll try to shake up this swamp, otherwise, because of our longevity, the asari are mired in stagnation," Aethyta answered honestly.

True, at the words "I am now a matriarch," the asari could not help but notice how her friend clearly twitched. -So, what's the matter Benezia, I see that something is bothering you. You are not yourself.—.

- Yes, it's just... it's just that we are already matriarchs, but we still don't have children. Doesn't that bother you?" she looked away from the landscapes flying past the window and fixed her gaze on her friend Binesia.

- No, you know my story yourself. Folder is a krogan who took part in the uprising, mother is a paratrooper, this uprising is overwhelming, but she did not tell her father about her service. And when everything was revealed, they both killed each other, not the best example of a family," Etita shrugged. -What, are you still missing your Gordon? I thought you were sick.—.

"...I thought so too," Benezia answered quietly, looking at the penthouse approaching through the window.

-Well, okay, apparently he is as long-lived as we are, you still have a lot of time.—.

- Maybe for me. Gordon's? No." Beni pursed her lips and, activating her instrument, brought out the medical indicators of their mutual friend, according to which, due to the progressive degradation of the body's cells, the examined subject had less than half a century left to live.

For the same salarians, a full life span, but for the asari, who at fifty are still considered children...

"Oh, crap." Aethyta swore as soon as she understood what exactly they showed her. -Well, now it's clear why he is so interested in the genetics and biology of other races, he is looking for a cure for himself.—.

***

"Not bad, not bad, the drells turned out to be much more useful than I thought." He noted the indicators of another grown biosynthetic hybrid, looking almost like a person, only bald and covered with blue scales.

But I was much more interested in the brain of the hybrid, which had inherited and enhanced the feature of the Drells - their phenomenal memory.

Drells have more than just a photographic memory, they can remember any moment of their life as precisely as possible, down to the warmth of the sun, the blow of the wind, the surrounding temperature or the texture of the material in their hands, as if they were actually in the past. Accordingly, to store such large amounts of memory, their brain has evolved, their nervous tissue, compared to the same asari, has greater conductivity, providing increased reaction and safe processing of colossal amounts of data, and the brain itself has a more dense structure, allowing it to store this data. In some ways, the brains of the drells are similar to the brains of the salarians, only they have different polarities, the salarians have brains designed for the speed of data processing, and the drells have brains designed for storing this data.

But it was precisely the memory capacity that was not enough for me to be born normally in an organic body, and the drells turned out to be one of the key pieces of the puzzle that I needed.

"Great, one step closer to returning to human form," he noted with satisfaction, comparing the genetic map of this hybrid and the maps of other successful samples.

However, there were also unsuccessful samples, many hybrids were "born" with defects, some were completely dead, but even they brought their benefits. For example, about ten years ago, one hybrid appeared, whose lifespan did not exceed sixty years due to cell degradation: dextro and amino acid proteins did not want to coexist in the same organism. And even so, it turned out to be my first relatively successful combination of opposite protein structures in one organism; others could not even survive a year.

And recently, his blood helped me in a completely unexpected matter: Benezia, tired of persuading me to share a blood test (after all, she is also interested in the characteristics of a hitherto unknown species), at one of our meetings, as it seemed to her, secretly took a test from me. Naturally, I replaced it with the blood of a defective hybrid, which would show that I had several decades left to live. During this time, I will finish my experiments and create a biosynthetic body for myself, where I will place my consciousness and soul and to which I will bequeath all property. And the suspicious type Gordon Freeman from the Terminus systems, about whom many, including SPECTER, have accumulated questions, will sink into oblivion, becoming the last step for my relatively normal life.