81

Fire.

Scientifically speaking, it's just a collection of glowing gases and plasma.

But sometimes you have to send science to the far reaches and realise there's more to some things than that. Something. Mystical. Something you don't want science to explain.

The fire was unique.

The world had four elements—water, earth, fire and air.

And only fire could destroy everything irrevocably. Destroy everything so it can never be used again. So that it would no longer harm this universe and defile it by its very existence.

Those were my thoughts as Joker and I sat in the control room, staring at the fiery spot that used to be Cerberus' complex. The nuclear explosion had started a forest fire. The first rain would put it out, but everything the Phantom wanted was turning to ashes right now. Except the biotic thresher was roaming the planet, eating the trees. I've already checked the data we found in that complex. It was horrifying. Terrifying enough to make me hate Cerberus. I wanted to fly to Kronos right now and atomise the Phantom. I realised that I had to wait for the Reapers to find a replacement, but it made me want the Harvest to start as soon as possible...

No, no, NO!!! Fuck all these thoughts. It would be better if the Harvest never happened at all. I knew that I would be on this team with the Reapers, the Harvest, and the Cycles right now. I wouldn't have met Tali, and we would have nothing. However, if that's the price for not having the Reapers at all, and Tali would live her life... I'll settle for that. I'll settle for not knowing or meeting anyone if it would allow Tali to live in peace.

- Hey, guys, can I join you?" Jack asked calmly as she entered the cabin.

- Yeah, sure," Joker replied. I didn't mind either.

- I won't be long. Legatus, can I have a word with you?" Jack asked, but Joker intervened.

- You can sit down. I want to sleep anyway. You can let Susie take over if you need to. I need to sleep.

- How about a drink?" I asked, still staring at Pragia's firestorm.

- That's the first thing. And then sleep." Joker got up and shuffled towards the cabin, though it was always empty. Jack sat in the pilot's chair and watched the fire raging below.

- How are you?" I asked. I had to start the conversation somewhere.

- I'm okay. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know shit! This place seems to be on fire, but... I don't think that's enough," Jack said.

- I feel the same way," I said, looking at her.

- Why am I here? This is the first time this has ever happened to me. I don't even want to swear or kill anyone. Anyway. Thank you. for saving me from Purgatory and helping me with Pragya. Thank you.

- You're welcome. I don't regret saving you anymore. Then we wouldn't have come here and stopped this madness.

- Yeah. Fucking Cerberus. Oh, you know, it's so-- It's weird. All my life, I thought I suffered the most in this galaxy. Because of that, I thought I was allowed to do many things, that it was everyone else's fault... And now. I see that someone has suffered more than I have. Ta'azari. To die like that, alive. What the hell is wrong with me?

- It's called a reassessment. I said it succinctly.

- What? Jack didn't understand.

- Re-evaluation. It's when some values don't make sense anymore, and you find other values. I've had that, too. Not like you, but it lasted for seconds.

- What were your values? Zero asked.

- I used to prepare for war with the Reapers. I wanted to protect all the races here. I didn't want this galaxy to drown in blood a dozen times. And then I realised something else. I realised that there's only one value I'm fighting for. That I want to live for. Tali.

- Oh, I see. Susie told me. Jack was trying to say something. She tried to, but after three tries, she gave up. "Hell, I don't even want to joke about it. I would've laughed at that before. A geth and a quarian. And now? I don't feel like doing it. Я... Good for you!" the girl exclaimed, "No, seriously. Я... happy for someone else. Good.

- That's what this is, a redistribution of values. I could give you a psychological lecture now, but the " why " question somehow stops me.

- Seriously? No lectures and "you need to look inside yourself" and "there's something light in you"? Not even a deep breath?" Jack stared at me in surprise, but I didn't want to turn around.

- Why? You already said it yourself.

- Yeah. I'm sure you did. I'd have sent you away before, but now?" Jack looked away from me and at the spot of fire, I kept staring at, "Thank you.

- You're welcome. I replied.

- I've been thinking. You're not a robot, are you?" she asked suddenly.

- What are you talking about?" I retorted, even though I knew what she was talking about.

- No robot can be like that... Like this. Alive! There's a lot more good in you than there is in this galaxy." "What are you? A personality transplanted into a robot? I've heard of them. The Quarians used to do it. And the Batarians. The last ones didn't do it legally, but still.

- I don't know. The first thing I remember is two Quarians, admirals, trying to hack me. I didn't kill them. I didn't kill anyone then. It wasn't until I escaped that I wondered who I was. But I don't know anything. I still remember the platform, but it's only goth history. Although maybe you're right, and I was someone else before. I was lying. I remembered my past life. But I never told anyone about it. And I don't think I'll ever tell anyone. I don't need to.

- Okay. Thank you." Jack got up from the Joker's chair and turned around. "Hey, Tali," she said suddenly, and I turned around. Tali was standing there, crying her eyes out. We both waited for Jack to leave before we started.

- Hi," she said, sitting on the armrest of the copilot's seat.

- Hi. How long have you been here?

- Almost since the beginning," she said, and I put one arm around her. Still, it helps. And she needs that help right now. Legatus, listen. Am I really that important to you?

- Yes. I said it right away. I love you, Tali. And I'd do anything for you. I'd do anything to make you happy.

- And what sacrifices would you make for-- for me? Like she didn't realise it herself.

- Everything. I answered again. I didn't want to elaborate.

- Legatus. Who am I? I'm just an ordinary Quarian and the daughter of a crazy admiral. Do I deserve this?

- You're not selfish. That's why I love you." I lifted my head and looked into her eyes. And for her beauty. That's for sure.

- Yeah, we Quarians are like that. Always thinking of others, not caring about ourselves," she explained, and then she looked at the bright spot on Pragia. The sight of the complex attracted everyone. Let's go to quarters.

- I'm sorry, I can't," I apologised, "Joker's gone, and Susie's pretty upset too. And we have to go. To Omega, to Illium, anywhere you can drink yourself into oblivion.

- Susie and the Joker saw the whole thing, too?

- Yeah.

- All right, then. Good night." She said and went to her quarters. I've taken over command of the Normandy—set course for Illium.

****

Virtual.

Susie sat in her skyscraper, built from her blueprints, and thought. Or rather, trying to make sense of what she'd seen at Shepard's landing. There was no way the sight of that poor azari was leaving her. It didn't make sense that she was an A.I. or I.L. She was a sentient being and could empathise and get depressed too. And now was that moment.

- Hey, are you okay?" asked Xad, who suddenly appeared beside her. Susie was sitting at the table while Xad and Nargul's avatars appeared on either side.

- No way," was the girl's reply, "No way at all.

- I understand. I'm like that myself. And even Nargul." Xade replied.

- What was the purpose of those atrocities? Why did they kill that girl?" Susie asked as if she had nothing to say.

- It was because of her age," Xade began, "Fifty years old is the beginning of puberty in the Azari. Hormone production begins at the age at which you should start training for biotic potential. While humans have about one hundred hormones, Azari has three hundred and thirty-five, most of which are directed towards biotics. Cerberus tried to get a mixture of blood and hormones artificially but constantly picked up the wrong proportions. Finally, he decided to take them from the children. Literally.

- What did they need it for? Susie asked.

- It was all to improve Miranda Lawson. All her blood and bone marrow have been replaced with Azarian. Her peripheral and partially central nervous systems have also been replaced. Some elastic superconductors. Most likely, Collector technology.

- Is her DNA compatible with Azari DNA?" Susie asked.

- No, but that's what her suit is for. It's an implant that keeps the bone marrow and blood from rejection. I'm still figuring out how to get the suit off her. It'll take some digging, but it'll be worth it.

- What's all this for? Why did they do all this to her? Susie still needed help understanding.

- She's become a powerful biotic. And that's not saying much. She's become biotic. That's sort of Morinth. And that's very strong. However, that's not what worries me... There is a device in her brain. Device.

- An implant?

- Worse," Xade answered Susie's question, "An inhibitor. I've experimented with such a device in my Empire, but it didn't have much effect. In a nutshell, inhibitors are used to suppress will.

- So Cerberus could control it," Susie summarised, but Xade wasn't finished.

- Exactly. They could send her on any mission they wanted, do anything to her, and she wouldn't even squeak. Cerberus was able to get his hands on several whole Collector corpses and then get the inhibitors out of them and make his own.

- I see. Can you shut it down?

- Yes. I've already sent the data to Chakwas and Mordin. They'll safely remove it from her brain, but removing it'll take a while. It'll kill her. Xade explained.

- That's good. It's better than nothing. What about the thresher?

- Oh, that's the height of insanity—a cyborg thresher, irradiated with null element and riddled with implants. You wouldn't believe it, but they would breed these things and then drop about two dozen on Palaven or Sur'kesh. Plus, they were going to put armour on them. Metal.

- As Daddy says..." Susie said, quickly remembering Daddy's words, "Ab#nuts.

- That's an understatement," Nargul began, "They were going to start their own Husky army. Not those dumb zombies, but special forces that would follow orders, feel no pain, and ask no questions. That moron Ghost seriously thinks he's in control of them.

- Doesn't he?

- For the time being. They're built with technology so primitive the first Reaper to arrive will control them. Degenerates. Nargul's avatar made a facepalm, and Xadh noticed.

- I see you've studied the current cultures.

- Yes. And sometimes I can't contain my emotions at the stupidity of the current Cycles. And sometimes, I make that gesture with a platform. Claw. Because it's just so outrageous! I come out of FTL, fly to a pirate ship, and two Azarians hug their Eternity in the deckhouse. They didn't even notice me!

- That's a huge blow to your ego," Xad said.

- Yes! It's a pleasure to scare these races. No matter how much I flew around their ship, they didn't even notice me. The Proteans would have started chasing me all over the galaxy by now, and these... Primitives." After this verbal outpouring, Nargul calmed down a bit, as much as a machine could calm down.

- All right." Susie stopped the whole thing. "What about the alien-alien system?

- Honestly, it's more than I thought or even expected. I still need some more tests, but what we've got. It could save us all.

- Explain.

- You see, all the relays have a Reaper V.I. that does all the calculations for the jump. If we can change the alien-alien system, we can control every transponder in this galaxy.

- That's good, but the Reapers can go FTL. And with their patience. That won't help us long, " said Susie, but the Nargul avatar just smiled.

- Yes, that's true. However, I have a plan to destroy the Reapers with this. End all the Cycles and avenge the ones that have already been. But I won't say anything for now. I need to ensure everything, and then we'll discuss it with the Legate.

- Okay," Susie agreed, "I'll see you later." With those words, Susie disappeared. Nargul followed suit, and Xade went about his business.

****

Three days later. Frigate Normandy-SR2

- So. Can we wake her up? Shepard asked. Me, Mordin, Shepard and Rex should see to that. Everyone else was outside the lab. Of course, we turned off the inhibitor, but we couldn't prevent the shock.

- Yeah. Can we get started? I asked.

- Go ahead.

After some manipulation by Mordin, Miranda slowly began to open her eyes. Then she rubbed her face with her hand, encased in light armour.

- Mmm... What the...," Miranda mumbled, trying to get up. She succeeded and was sitting at the table trying to organise her thoughts. Then she looked at us. Shepherd.

- Well, hello, Miranda. How are you feeling?

- Я... I don't--" Then she looked at her hands and herself, "No-- No. It's... It was a dream!

- No, Miranda. It wasn't a dream.

- No. No, Father. Father couldn't do this. With me..." she said curtly. Her heart was pounding like a carving machine, but it was prosthetic, so it could safely withstand 120 beats per minute.

- Father? Henry Lawson? I asked.

- Yes. Yes, he is. Я... I remember him. He was in charge of the project. He was in charge of this..." She put both hands forward, showing that she was referring to her suit, "I... I remember the pain in my head. I had no control over my body. It was just obeying commands. My father. I thought it was all just a bad dream. No... No, it's impossible! He couldn't!

- Yes, he could," I said, checking with the security cameras. Nothing about Lawson was in the paperwork, but the cameras had him.

- But... But why? I mean...

- It's Cerberus, Miranda. They need soldiers." Shepard sat down next to Miranda and put her arm around her shoulders. "And what better way to help them than with a strong man like you?" Miranda couldn't take it anymore and cried. I understood her. Maybe in the game, she had been a smug "perfect" bitch who defended Cerberus and all its atrocities. Still, now she was a victim of those atrocities herself. And even people like her cry. I learnt one thing a long time ago. There's nothing wrong with crying. Even Shepard cries, and there's nothing wrong with it. It isn't nice to give up.

I nodded to Mordin and Rex for us to leave them. It's about to get broadside here.

****

Captain's quarters.

- Anything about Miranda's father?" Shepard asked as she summoned me to her quarters. Liara was asleep on Shepard's bed, and the Captain sat quietly in her dressing gown.

- Yeah. He's gone off the rails. I knew the Captain was referring to the Pragia project, not the prick's biography. He's decided Miranda could be better in biotics. It was after we killed Morinth. He decided Miranda had to be perfect at that too. So he, uh. he has modernised her.

- Can we take the suit off her? Shepherd asked right away.

I- Still waiting. She'll die. But we're working on it. I think we'll have it soon," I said.

- Good. She-- She doesn't deserve this. Yes, she was protecting Cerberus, but suffering like that... A bullet to the forehead is still something, but to be trapped in a metal shell like that... No, we have to save her.

- Are you sure?

- Yes. She's remorseful. I saw it. Eh," the Captain exhaled, "Okay, you can go. And thanks again for taking us to Illium. It helped. Blow off some steam.

- And it helped me lighten my wallet by fifteen million credits," I said sarcastically, "You should have burned down a rented bar.

- Shepard looked away guiltily, "It happens.

- Yeah, it happens. Okay, I'm going to go.

- You go. See you later," Shepard said, and I left her quarters. It was time to get ready for my meeting with Donovan Hawk.

****

The next day.

- Okay, everyone's here," Shepard said, looking around at everyone. Miranda was also present. Miranda, are you sure?

- Yes, Shepard. I'm ready. Miranda replied. All right, one more person on the team.

- All right. Legatus. She turned to me.

- "Okay," I began, "this is our target—Donovan Hawk's mansion on Bekenstein. There we must retrieve a grey box containing very... dangerous information. I don't think anyone wants a war between the Alliance and the Hegemony before the Harvest," I looked at everyone, and they all agreed, "So, at first, it was supposed to be discreet. We dress decent, quietly take out the grey box, blend in with the crowd, and then quietly leave.

- What do you mean by "supposed to"? Kasumi doesn't get it.

- We have a slightly different plan," I replied innocently. "Okay, okay, okay, a completely different plan," I corrected myself when I saw the thief's reproachful look, "Anyway, I'll start a little from afar. For over a year, I could embed my man in every small organisation of mercenaries. "The Luminaries, the Eclipses, the Pack, the Claws, all the security agencies and gangs of smugglers, pirates and other scum. In short, it's several million armed and quite professional soldiers. Now imagine what would happen if they were all combined into one organisation. One army.

- It wouldn't be bullshit. Rex said.

- You want to unite them all? Shepard asked.

- Exactly.

- But what does that have to do with Donovan? Susie still needed help understanding.

- It does. In three days, there's a banquet, or more specifically, a huge gathering of Terminus leaders, from small to large. And every organisation whose ringleader will be there, not without my help, already has my man, who is already the second man after the ringleader," I explained, and then Garrus spoke up.

- The only thing left to do is to kill the current ringleaders.

- Exactly. That's what we do. We go there, dressed in the uniform of some unseen group of mercenaries, and make a meat grinder while cleaning out Hoka's vault. Everyone will be unarmed and unarmoured except for the guards and the biotic guests. We put on such a show there that the whole galaxy will trumpet it, and Terminus will be completely decapitated. But then new heads grow up and...

- "Obey you," Mordin finished. "You order them to unite. No one resists. You get an army.

- That's right! I exclaimed.

- Heh, mercenaries like power. If we slaughter there, we'll show what we can do," Grant said. Okir had given him some brains, which was good.

- Not us, but a group that would unite all the rabble of Terminus. Even Aria would keep that kind of power.

- Ha, that lady would shit her pants at the sight of what we're about to do," Grant said.

- You're not just going to kill all those intelligent people?" asked Liara.

- Only the worst scum of Terminus will be there," I said. "They're all wanted and have so many crimes that the minimum punishment for them is a firing squad.

- And the maximum?" Samara asked.

- Firing squad." I replied casually.

- A contradiction has been discovered. The same punishment for different gravity of offences. Lack of choice. - Legion said suddenly.

- And you read their dossiers. You'll see what I mean.

- The data is being processed," Legion said and fell silent, but after three seconds, he replied, "You're right.

- Well, all that's left is to plan everything. The weapons will be based on mass effect, and the armour should be the same design. We are mercenaries from the same faction, and I will not arm our future army with beam weapons even in pain of death.

****

Bekenstein. Donovan Hawk's mansion.

So here it is, the mansion. It's already undergone a lot of changes compared to the original game. It looks like Hawk did a lot of renovations and rearrangements. We were more than well-armed ourselves. Me, Shepard, Legion, and Zaid were in super heavy armour with individual anti-gravity to lighten the weight, an exoskeleton so we could walk normally, and a special helmet that was a monolithic piece of steel. There were no eye slits in it; that function was performed by hundreds of microscopic cameras and sensors, making it look to the wearer as if the helmet didn't exist at all. A metal collar was also around the head to prevent being shot from the side. We were armed with mass-effect machine guns. Garrus, Rex and Grant were also armed with them, and we had special armour. The girls also had special armour that covered their faces. It was Samara's request. All the armour was black with silver symbols of our new "Legion". The machine gun itself fired bullets weighing 3 grams. The magazine held 1,500 of these balls.

The plan was simple. In the best traditions, we go in armour and cosplay Makarov and the massacre at the airport. The biotics cover us, keeping the barrier above us and covering the rear. And after all that, my men will take the leadership of the mercenary groups and then, without blood or anything else, unite. Considering we will arm them with quality weapons and armour on mass effect, it will be a serious army.

We've also taken care of communications. Susie's been intercepting everything. And to ensure everything was covered up, Kasumi and Taine were now supposed to infiltrate the mass effect shield generator that covered the entire mansion and change some settings to make the shield soundproof. Just in case no one heard us.

- All right, it's time," Shepard said, and we all went down the technical corridor after checking our weapons. Then we got into the lift and went up.

The lift door opened, and we went down a corridor that led to the largest hall. Two more staircases led to the first floor, and the fountain disappeared. The hall was packed with guests—the sort of scum you'd expect to find. Half of them Hok had yet to invite. But he had no choice. They all had invitations, they were all genuine, and he couldn't afford to disappoint and turn away THOSE people. So we went to this huge crowd. My agents in all the mercenary organisations are ready to take over; all that's left is to remove the last obstacle. And that's exactly what we're going to do.

And so we enter this hall and spread out along the wall to shoot in a straight line. Some people are paying attention to us but need to know what's happening. The guards don't realise anything either, but their sensors show "ours", so it's all limited to mild suspicion. But when the krogan show up here, and with weird machine guns too, they're already reaching for their weapons.

I, Shepard, Legion, Zaid, Grant, Rex, Garrus and Mordin are holding machine guns along the wall, pretending to be guards since we didn't point them at them. Susie told the guards over the comms that everything was fine and they were having a good time. Then Grant and Rex blocked the entrance with their carcasses, and it was easy to realise they were not our own.

- Let's go." Shepard ordered briefly. Here we go.

We pointed our weapons at the crowd and opened fire. Seven machine guns started tearing the crowd of scum apart. The first, who stood closest to us, had their limbs torn off, bullets pierced through them, and even hit the second, third, and fourth. The first fell, followed by the second, dead, and so on. The bullets pierced the heads, tearing them off in pieces, or only half of them, causing the victims' brains to fall out of their heads. The Salarians lost their heads completely, as did the Turians; the Hanar, of which there were seven, were turned into mincemeat and spread out on the floor, as were all the innards of the guests. The Krogan were tougher, but even they couldn't take a hit like that, so they quickly fell to the floor. Azari and humans lost only a piece of their heads, staining the floor with their blue and red brains. The Batarians lost their arrogant four-eyed muzzles unprotected from three-gram bullets. The Volus exploded from the pressure differential.

A bullet hit one Quarian, an exile, in the mask. It shattered completely, and his face became mincemeat. The bullets penetrated any shields the guests were wearing. Some were biotic, but their barriers were powerless. Only the Eclipse guards had armour, but their weapons didn't even scratch us as our biotics held a barrier over us. Our bullets penetrated the shields and armour, even in the most heavily armoured places. Half the guests had left their limbs and carcasses on the floor by now. Another half of them were crowding around the huge window, but they couldn't escape to the balcony: as soon as we started shooting, all the doors and windows in Hawk's house were blocked. Now they just crowded around the window, knocking those still on the balcony.

We, on the other hand, began to move forward in sync. We were a relentless wall that killed these scum. And nobody felt sorry for them. They deserved it. Drug dealers, slave traders, smugglers, paedophiles, sectarians, mercenaries, sadists and a bunch of Terminus shit. And now, we're down to the last of the guests. Their blood and bits of entrails get on the window, then drip and slide down. The last victims are also sealed to the window, then slip away, leaving a trail of blood. And so, the main hall is cleared. It is strewn all over with corpses, bits of limbs and internal organs and painted red, blue, orange and other colours of blood. Their fine and elegant clothes have been turned into bloody rags that even bums wouldn't wear.

After reloading our weapons and thermoclips, we split up. Rex, Garrus, and Jack took the left staircase to the first floor, while Grant, Zaid, and Samara took the right staircase. The rest of us went to deal with the others. They were few, so our squad quickly assigned them to the League of the Shot. Their blood spattered the walls, floor, and furniture. Some of the Azari tried to fight back with biotics. Still, their blows and deformations scattered against our barriers, which Tali, Liara, and Miranda held, making us insensitive to singularities.

Screams and gunshots rang through the house. Our two groups were shooting anyone who was still in the house. There weren't many there; most of them were gathered in the centre hall, now a bloodbath.

Then we went to the balcony, where there were also many guests. The doors opened before us, and we went in on both sides. These were thinly prepared. Seven azari in beautiful dresses made an impenetrable biotic bubble for all the guests. Three more were ready to fight us with biotics. If they had killed us, all of Terminus would have honoured and respected those Azari. But the key word is "if". We calmly started reloading our weapons, and they were squinting a little strangely at the quarian biotic.

- What do you want? Asked the azari.

- Money? Power? Enslaved people? Drugs?" listed one Salarian.

- You have no idea what will happen to you, do you understand!?" shouted a Batarian.

- Shut up, arsehole, you're in the wrong position." the turian shouted at him.

- We can share anything with you!" the human woman shouted.

- Tell us what you want, and we'll fulfil it." said the drell. It's like an international gathering. But we didn't say anything. Calmly reloading all weapons, we aimed and opened fire. The bubble held by seven Azari didn't burst immediately, but the Azari realised that they couldn't hold it. We were hit a few times with biotics, but it did nothing. I could see the Azari fighting to hold back and their muscles straining to the limit. I could see their desperation and their fear of death. Then three more azari, who had been throwing punches at us before, started to help hold the bubble. I couldn't even tell what exactly was driving them. The hope that we wouldn't have enough ammunition? Hope that help will come? We'd see their strength and decide to negotiate. All their organisations are weak, but that's why we're here. To unite them all into one Legion. It was symbolic. It's all because of my name. Legatus. In Roman times, they were ambassadors, and I became one. An ambassador from the synthetics to the organics, offering them friendship and support. And in Roman times, they were legion commanders. I hope the Legion itself doesn't know this yet, but the fact remains, I will command the most formidable force in Terminus. How symbolic. Symbolic squared.

And so the bubble burst. The Azaari were depleted, and we'd used up half our shops. So we started turning those scum back into a bloody substance of blood, muscle, organs, bone, marrow, gastric juice, jelly, skin, food and alcohol. Within a minute, the last sentient, the hanar, had turned into several hundred small pieces, and just then, everyone's shops emptied. We swapped them out quickly. It was much slower than reloading a normal weapon, but the large magazine for fifteen hundred rounds, good cooling system, and killing power made up for it.

After ensuring everyone was dead and finishing off a few of the "lucky" ones, we returned to the mansion.

- PERUJA!!!" we heard a voice from the basement, where the vault was.

- There's Hawk," I said over the intercom.

- "Let's go to him," Shepard said.

- Shepard, the mansion's been cleared, but we haven't found this Hawk," Zaid said.

- He's here. Come with us," said the Captain.

We walked down the stairs and the corridor to the vault door where Hawk was hanging out.

- PERUJA!!!" he shouted, almost crying with fear.

- The voice was unidentified," the V.I. of the vault door answered Donovan dryly. Understandably, his voice had been distorted by fear.

- DAMN IT! FUCK!!! FUCK!!!" Hok shouted, banging on the console, and then he heard our footsteps, "You! Who the hell are you?!" We weren't going to answer. Standing right in front of him was Kasumi in stealth. In the corner lurked Tane, also in stealth. Hawk couldn't see them, but our sensors could tell them apart. Suddenly Kasumi came out of invisibility, and Hawk was speechless.

"Hi, Hawk," Kasumi said, stabbing Hawk with a dagger. Right in the side, piercing his gut and kidney. Unable to respond, Hawk just mumbled something inaudible, and after a few seconds, he fell to the floor and began writhing in agony.

We started to open the door. A crude method but efficient and easy. A plasma cutter. And while the Legion was melting the door, we silently looked at Hawk. He was. Pathetic. He tried to stop the blood, but the wound was double, and the blood was pouring out of the wound like a bucket. No one had any sympathy for him. He deserved it, just like everyone who had become bloody biowaste today.

In two minutes, the Legion was done. The door was open; the lift was breached. It was time to head for the vault. Before I did, however, I did kill Hawk. Seven bullets to the stomach are lethal to a man. I answered the team's mute question on the intercom.

- You can't leave the enemy behind.

And here it is, the vault. A truly vast one. Statue of Liberty head, a krogan statue and a lot more. We decided to take a look around.

- "David". Michelangelo Buonarroti. One thousand five hundred and fourth year in human annals. - said Legion, approaching the marble masterpiece of human culture.

- Should I rip the hands off the arsehole who ripped his leg off?" I said indignantly.

- Well, at least it hasn't turned to ashes yet, which is good," Shepard said.

- That's what it is," I said and went on to the krogan statues.

- The Krogan are no strangers to the arts," Samara said.

- Ha, our people were great at everything," Rex said with undisguised pride.

- But you destroyed it all yourself," said Mordin.

- I don't deny that. But without the genophage, we could have risen from the ashes and rebuilt Tuchanka.

- Well, the genophage was necessary. The only problem is it could have been done much more humanely. And then Krogan would have rebuilt Tuchanka and lived peacefully with the galaxy. But some people wanted to play gods," I said. Rex was angry at first, but I was talking about compromise, and that's what Rex wanted for his own. He may have been a krogan with his usual temper, but he knew how to think ahead.

- Here. The only intelligent mind that understands me. After Shepard. Rex said.

- Queen of the Rachni. One I encountered once." said Shepard, examining a golden statue of a Rachni.

- Girla sends her regards, by the way. Her and a few million more of her children," I quipped to the Captain. Rex had been fine with that for a while now since I had talked him into the queen's adequacy and necessity.

- Oh... Thank you. How is she?" the Captain was a little embarrassed, and everyone just listened to us, even though they pretended not to.

- She's fine. She built herself an underground palace and is raising kids. She's thankful she got a second chance.

- More like her last. Remind her to remember, Grant said.

- She knows that. And she's not one to break her word," I assured the krogan.

- It's rare to see Turian art outside of Palaven. Sometimes I think it would be better if it stayed that way," said Garrus, looking at the strange creation of the Turian dusky genius of art.

- Quarian cuneiform. How did this even end up in Hok's possession?" said Tali indignantly, looking at the stone tablets.

- Don't worry, we'll take it back," I reassured her.

- And the Krogan." Rex and Grant said in unison.

- And the David." Kasumi smiled sweetly.

- Well, I'll have a turian statue and a Hierarchy fighter. Though I don't know what he's doing here." said Garrus.

- A Quarian abstractionist statue. Three hundred and ten years old. Mine.- Mordin said briefly, pointing to the strange statue just after the Quarian texts.

- An Egyptian statue for me. However, it could be sold outside the Alliance, too. The Azari, for example. They're hungry for human art," said Miranda, who was glad to join in the looting, so she decided to take the Egyptian statue, which was not yet looted. Ironic.

- I'll have the protean statue. And a protean vase. Liara joined in immediately.

- It's not a Protean statue," I objected, "It's Inusanon, the primary race before the Proteans. The Inusanon were to the Protheans what the Proteans are to us. This statue is about one hundred fifteen to one hundred twenty thousand years old." As soon as I said that, Liara looked at me with saucer eyes.

- W-what?" Liara asked.

- H-h-how long?" and that was Kasumi.

- A hundred and fifteen, a hundred and twenty thousand, well, I can't tell you exactly. And that vase over there, you might want to think again, it's a container for pickling Salarian liver. It was a delicacy to the Proteans, like frog legs to us," Liara looked at me like I was crazy, Mordin gulped, and Grant slapped the Salarian on the shoulder.

- Ha! I like the proteins already!

- By the way, this container holds a hundred livers. Bon appetit!" I quipped, and Grant licked his lips suggestively.

- I'll have that statue, then. It's-- It's peaceful. It was Samara who decided to take the weird globe.

- I'll have that monster. A reminder that there's something scarier in the world than a drunken krogan. Tain took this huge monster.

- And I'll have the Haribon!" Jack exclaimed, picking up the machine gun that had killed the Pope. "And we're left with this obscure thing." Jack raised her hand, holding up a grey box.

- This is it!" Kasumi ran at Jack like a madwoman and snatched the device from her hands, "This is it. It's intact. We can go." The smile on Kasumi's face was brighter than a white dwarf. She was almost in tears, but it was understandable.

- Okay, time to get out of here. The Vorka will take the rest. And " Legate," Shepard said, "the Statue of Liberty is mine.

- We're taking the statue of the Rachni queen," Legion added.

- As you command, Captain." And then, we quietly exited the vault through the cargo corridor. "The Eclipse was no longer there; it had been ordered to retreat. And it was Susie who ordered it, speaking for the head of the entire Eclipse, who, by the way, was dead.

- Kasumi, if you're seeing this, then I'm dead. All the information we found is here. It's very dangerous, Kasumi. If the council even glimpses it. The Alliance will be in big trouble. Kasumi, I-- I encrypted the information to keep it safe. I uploaded the key to the encryption to your grey box so no one can access the information. But if anyone finds out about it when I'm dead. Then I've put you in trouble, my love. Please forgive me. I know you, Kasumi. You'll want to keep the memories forever. But you don't need computers to know I'll be with you forever. Please, Kasumi, destroy those files. It's the only way I can keep you safe. Goodbye, Kasumi. I love you.

Well, that's a sad story. But then I realised I had to destroy the box. I didn't want a war between the Alliance and the Hegemony. I realised that as long as the box was intact, I couldn't guarantee that the information would be safe and sound. I'd have to stop the races' attempts to spit tungsten bolts at each other.

- Shepard..." Kasumi began in a tearful voice, "I... I don't know," Shepard looked at me, and I spoke to her on the intercom.

- We'll have to destroy it.

- Kasumi," the Captain turned to the Japanese woman, "He wanted you to destroy it. He died hoping you would.

- I... I understand..." Kasumi's fingers trembling with sadness, pressed several buttons, and then after hesitating for a few seconds, she pressed the last one, and the data went into oblivion.

- I'll make sure someone knows that the data is gone. A lot of people still can't breathe.

- Yeah. I'll do that. Я... I'll be in my room. No one was stopping her. The Japanese woman started crying as she walked, but no one judged her. It was quite normal.

****

Cluster: unknown. System: unknown. Asteroid belt. Tungsten asteroid. Object Delta.

Representatives of every known race in this galaxy gathered today for a momentous event. In the three days since the Bekenstein Massacre, almost every faction across Terminus has been taken over by deputies of the dead. Pirate gangs, the four toughest mercenary gangs, hundreds of small and large security organisations, most of which were legal and engaged in illegal activities, the drug cartels of Illium, Bekenstein, Palaven, Thessia, Khar'shan and other major planets that had their armies. Thousands of paramilitary organisations, from the tiny and well-known in a small circle to giants like the Claws, the Blood Pack, the Eclipse or the Blue Luminaries, had already fully recovered from the Archangel War. And today, they were united by one thing - they would become a single force.

- So.- the turian, who came forward so that everyone could see him, started, - I think everyone here is a member of the Legion, - to prove his words, the turian showed his ceramic black card with the silver crest of the Legion on it. All the others showed the same card, and the turian continued, "Well, let's dispense with unnecessary words and get down to business. Please come here one by one and write your name, the name of the organisation, the names of all its members and your handprint.

After that, the turian was the first to do so. The first name appeared on the large holo-screen behind him - 'Claws', the leader's name and crest. The human did it after him, the Blue Lights, the Azari, the Eclipse, the krogan, and the Blood Pack. Then came the Volus, the new leader of the Biotic Gods, the Salarian - the Sir'gil gang, the Quarian - the Exiles, the Khanar - the Wrath of the Inspirers. The Drell - the Children of Rahana, the Elkor - the Agdol, the Jag - the Steel Fist, and so forth. The data about the organisation's members were entered via flash drive, which made the process much easier, but it all lasted 5 long hours despite that. Finally, the last representative, a Salarian, head of a small security agency on Illium, entered his data.

- Well, gentlemen," the turian exclaimed, "we are now united." The turian turned back, and everyone looked at the holo screen. In a second, all the crests of the organisations began to change to the same one. After a few more minutes, all the organisations had the same coat of arms and disappeared. There was only one name on the scoreboard, after which the turian exclaimed, as it was necessary to make a kind of final initiation.

- And our name is Legion!

- For we are many!

- And we are strong!

- For we are one!