Queen

Sarabaric System | Mars Spear Scout Ship

The euphoria of the transition began to wear off, and I started the systems check. The radar beeped and showed me a projection of a huge jellyfish-shaped station. If my calculations were correct, this was the moment. I ran my fingers over the control panel, giving the ship the command to move, then leaned back in my chair and lost myself in my thoughts.

I had already been informed of the successful negotiations on Thessia. The Order had done its job admirably, but there was still a long way to go before the plan was fulfilled, too much to do. Back at the console, I opened a communication channel with Mars. Soon the image of Karos appeared before me, who, judging by the piercing noise, was in one of the workshops. Seeing me, the mechanic immediately bowed.

- Greetings, Master," all the extraneous noises faded after a moment, leaving us alone.

- It is good to see you. I am pleased with your work on Thessia, but much must be done. There's an important task for you - get together with the rest of the Masters and give me complete information on all known races in space. Even those who have yet to go into space.

- Will do that. What is the purpose?

- There is no secret to it. If the plan goes smoothly, Imperial domination of the galaxy will be a matter of time. We must attend to the problems and needs of the races of interest. The others have no place in the galaxy. Take those flying jellyfish, for example. We don't need such pointless creatures. Your world might suit one of the Imperial races or become a new world forge. There is no place in the new Order for the weak and useless.

- I understand, my lord. When I've finished my work, I'll send you the results. And also, the Collegium and I have created something... We'd like your opinion and permission to produce it.

- Is it that serious? - The Order had enormous privileges; they could do many things without my interference.

- This should interest you. It's a huge project, and we need you.

- I understand. Let your man on Thessia continue the work. The Sentinel will take over from here. Tell the Tribune I'll send him the data later.

- Understood. When can I expect you back on Terra? - The image showed Karos giving orders to his subordinates behind the screen.

- We have yet to find out. There's a chance to secure Terminus for us now, so I'm busy. I'll get back to you when the time is right.

- Acknowledged. Over and out, Master.

- Kirk out," I looked ahead at the huge station the ship was hurtling towards. I've got my timing right...

***

"Alkar, report your purpose of arrival." - The voice of an obviously bored operator suddenly broke the silence in the cabin. Strange, I don't remember there being any sort of customs here.

- "Alkar here, control room. The target is trade and equipment procurement," I flicked a toggle switch and established a channel with the station.

"Roger that. Doc X-57, you're on your own from here. Over." - That's the attitude that works for me. I checked the readings, found the right hangar, and steered the ship towards it.

The magnetic clamps clicked, and the ship froze silently. I turned the dolly around and began to climb out of the cockpit. After a few minutes of crawling up the ladders, I found myself in the cargo bay, littered with containers of all sorts of junk. It was all needed to keep the legend alive. I made my way around the cargo, reached the ramp and pulled the lever. A stream of air from the station blew into the created space, bringing with it, not the most pleasant smells. But no matter. I jumped to the ground and looked around. I wasn't particularly surprised to find a fair amount of Imperial equipment alongside the ships created in space. Mostly civilian converted ships, but there were also two merchant house transports. The smaller ones belonged to lone wolves or pirate crews, which fit the first point.

Looking around the hangar, I didn't notice the appearance of a frontiersman next to me. A Salarian with a small tablet in his hand.

- Greetings" I didn't know what he wanted from me, so let's start normally.

- Yeah," the toad didn't even look up at me, staring down at her tablet. - Gas station or repairs or something?

- No, I've got everything," the last thing I need right now is someone poking around in my ship.

- Then sign for the hangar space and pay," he handed me the clipboard, and I quickly scanned the text. There was no cheating, just renting space.

- Were there any paid spaces? - I asked, transferring the required amount to his Omni.

- Things have changed," the Lardass muttered quickly, hurrying away before I could catch his arm. - What now?

- I have to go to the afterlife. How do I get in?

- You can't just walk in; you must go through the airlock and turn right. There's a sign," the border guard said, pulling out his hand and hurrying away.

A lot has changed, you say... I have to check. I put on my hood, closed the ramp and walked towards the airlock that led to the residential areas. On the way, I saw a few people poking around in pirate ships and five of the House Guards. The rest were of other races. A couple of fighters at the exit just followed me out with their eyes, so I had no trouble getting to the station.

The first people I encountered were the wind blowing through the streets and all sorts of smells. I hadn't seen any sensible ones yet, so I walked down the corridor in the direction the Salarian had pointed out. There were signs at the end... And among them, the corpse of a Vorcas. Fun. There was a fairly long flight of stairs and a pair of fast lifts ahead. They gave me the creeps for some reason, but I decided and pressed the call button... My apprehension was not deceived.

As for the first one, it was unnecessary to say it was dirty. On the second were three bodies of Batterians, the bullet holes clearly indicating that the lift had been shot at. The open arms of one showed that he was carrying something, but it had been taken from him. Either competitors or someone else. Doesn't sound like the kind of Order I wanted to see here. I closed the lift doors, sending them to different floors, and turned my eyes to the stairs. I hadn't been tired for a long time, so it wasn't an obstacle, but the unfolding picture wasn't very pleasant. OK, we'll figure it out. I fixed my clothes and went up the stairs.

Living quarters | Omega

The stairs led me to one of the dark alleys, where no lights were on except for a flickering one. I walked to the first corner and looked around. Crowds of residents, signs, and cars whiz by. All in all, nothing new. Coming out from behind the shelter, I soon found myself on the street. From here, I could see the towers in the centre and much more, but I was stressed by the columns of smoke rising in some areas. I had to get to Life, and the rest would clear up.

The blocks adjacent to the club were almost perfectly clean. Signs were burning brightly, cars were driving by, people of all races were walking around, and it was obvious that these were very serious people. The armour, the weapons, and the equipment showed it. But the place was expensive and elite; no one was allowed there. The reinforced guards at the entrance searched everyone, and only a few people were allowed in. The strangest thing was that the guards were from one of the groups, most likely the Eclipse. I wouldn't go in yet; I'm sure they'd wrap me up. I saw a Turian standing by the railing near the cars. I jotted down a few questions in my head and walked towards him.

- May I? - He looked at me lazily but shrugged. Standing beside him, I watched the entrance, looking for someone standing further away from the others.

- What do you want? - He was in no mood to talk. Nothing, there are ways to make him talk, even violently.

- I was away for a year, I had to get some new goods, and now I've come here, and I don't know anything. What happened? - The Turian just grinned at my question or did something similar with his lower jaw.

- You're not the first to have this problem," he stood up comfortably and continued. - The gangs got together and took Aria. Either they've already shot her, or they're holding her somewhere. There's a rumour that she will be executed soon, with the execution broadcast to all nearby systems. It's probably their way of getting their way - it's interesting how the girls dance, but I was a bit late.

- And what, everyone agrees with the new regime?

- No!" he waved his hand as if everyone in space knew. - There's fighting in many quarters, many attacks on patrols. Aria had a lot of fighters. They just struck unexpectedly.

- Yeah, we'll have to find a new buyer now.

- Well, it's OK. You can sell to the factions; they buy almost everything, especially weapons.

- Let's see, I have a few ideas..." I had to be a hurried trader, even turning on the Omni and going to the trade sites to give it credibility. That was unnecessary, as the Turian had already lost interest in me and was on his way to some Azari. Well, let's take that as a starting point. I went around the corner and found myself in an empty corridor. I checked the surroundings again for heat signals and cameras, connected the cloak and disappeared into thin air...

I moved slowly... along the walls. I'm not stupid enough to run through a crowd in a cloak. I was now moving behind a retiring Azari, waiting for her to stop or go somewhere. It wasn't long before she sat on one of the benches and started talking to someone on Omni, most likely her date.

After waiting for the conversation to end, I pushed off the wall. I simply swept the paratrooper away, rendering her unconscious. I quickly climbed up the wall with the body. I disappeared into the engineering corridors to ensure there were no witnesses.

- Talk to me,' I told the prisoner for about fifteen minutes. She did not respond to any threats, not even threats to her family. She just sat there staring at me, anger in her eyes. - I'm going to have to get tough now. You better tell me where you keep all your prisoners, or who knows," silence again, just her soft sniffling. - All right, you've chosen your own path," I stood up and clenched my fingers into a fist. A long needle sprang from my wrist. I brought it close to my prisoner's forehead and pushed it forward with all my might. The needle easily pierced the skull and entered the brain. The fumbling Azari, eyes already filled with fear, froze like a helpless puppet and rolled his eyes. Similar technology to the tire, but for sabotage. And billions of nanobots began to gather information and transmit it directly to my head... Yes... She doesn't know it herself, but her Salarian commander does. He's hanging around, so things are going according to plan... What else... You killed Archangel... Pity, but what can you do? Although they found his armour and weapons at the ruins, the flesh must have just burned off due to the infernal temperatures. Taking the needle out of my skull and putting it back into my wrist, I remembered the appearance of the murdered woman and started to make my way out; I didn't have much time left.

The object in question was found in the club itself, at Aria's place. They're feisty, I'll tell you that much. The party had gone far enough. Drunken soldiers and officers were everywhere, and those awake were drinking or arguing. Sneaking between the dancers' platforms, I found myself right next to him, behind his back. Silently the needle appeared, and no one heard the sound of its entry. He didn't even twitch. From the outside, it looked as if he was just sleeping. The body would not be found until the next day if the drinking continued. And that wasn't even a sure thing. So... Passwords, not that... Personnel, not that... Procurement... Mistress... Ah, here! A prisoner is being held in one of the faction's towers. They've got an obscene number of soldiers there, though. All right... I saw those tunnels on the map; let's go there. Locks are no problem, but I don't want to make too much noise. I left the club the same way and soon disappeared into the darkness of the passageways.

I had been crawling through these tunnels for an hour. Hundreds of years of building had created a veritable maze of shafts, tunnels and passages. Only a few people used them, so it was a great way for me to get around. The maps I downloaded from the main servers gave me excellent orientation and movement. Soon the tunnel began to widen, and after a few minutes, I ran out into a fairly large room serving as a local electronics control centre. The walls were lined with shields and tens, if not hundreds, of metres of wires of all sizes. The only thing separating me from the tower was a thick hermetic door, glowing hostilely with a red interface. So it was blocked... But who was it a problem for? As I approached the terminal, I simply placed my hand on it. Lines ran across the surface at an incredible speed, and I had the machine under control in an instant. The lock beeped happily at my mental command and changed colour to green. The door, on the other hand, slowly began to slide aside, allowing me to see the same wires but running upwards. Once inside and the passageway sealed behind me, I looked up and sighed heavily. About six or seven hundred metres of tunnels to my destination were still there. They must have cameras all over the place or something. Technology is the least of my worries. I've been alive for two thousand years for a reason. Jumping up, I grabbed a ladder piece and began my long climb. But while my body would be running on automatic, I would be thinking through the possibilities of further events.

I crawled the last fifty metres on my toes. Up ahead, I could hear someone talking and a muffled banging sound. Soon I was crawling carefully towards the ventilation hatch. I saw a couple of fighters kicking the Azari through the bars. At the same time, their main man stood at the entrance, seeming to enjoy the spectacle, only giving orders as to where to kick. Soon one of the soldiers, a Turian, kicked the prisoner's stomach one last time, and the whole company exited. Waiting for the unmistakable hiss of the closing door, I began to trickle slowly through the bars, turning my "flesh" into liquid. After a few seconds, I landed silently on the floor. I checked all the locked cells in the room and turned to Azari.

She was huddled in a corner, covered in mud, with only a few scraps of clothing to cover her. Her entire body was covered in bruises. But she looked at me angrily; some strength must be left.

- Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you,' I said, slowly walking towards her and showing her my empty hands. She was not mentally ill, so I had to be careful how I acted. When I got quite close and held out my hand, she jerked away from me like a wild animal. I had to pin her to the wall and do a quick body scan as the person started to kick and twitch. The machine, however, showed unpleasant things. It was not clear how she was still alive. The organs in her abdomen were a homogeneous mass. Multiple rape wounds, broken ribs. We have to get her to the Dominus, or she'll die. There was no point in talking now; she simply wasn't receptive. A very serious mental disorder.

After injecting her with a massive dose of nutrients and sleeping pills, which knocked her out in half a minute, I walked over to the wall by the door. Placing my palm against the metal, I shifted into another form of perception. I could feel in the coldness of the steel the lumps of heat behind that wall. I could hear the servos working in their armour, the machines whizzing by hundreds of metres below. I could destroy it all with a snap of my fingers... But I wouldn't. Stepping back, I took the woman in my arms and walked quietly to the door. One of the Turians, judging by the heat signal, was standing just behind it.

I gave the command to open, and my hand pierced the soldier's helmet, my fingers fusing into a monolithic blade. He didn't even realise he was dead, only that his body swayed and slowly rolled onto his side. But the sound of the door opening attracted the other guards. And that would have been fine, except there seemed to be a shift change at the post, so there were about twenty. The crowd immediately turned their guns on me, including two Imperial carbines from the captains. I had just enough time to activate my shield. A moment later, the energy shield was shaken by a series of mass accelerator bursts, and a few pulses blurred across the energy shield. I closed my eyes and shifted to the energy plane. Time flowed oh-so-slowly here, practically at a standstill. But here, it was possible to move incredibly fast. And now I was right in front of the fighters.

After replacing all the sparks in the attackers' armour and weapons, I was back in the real world. I was immediately greeted with angry and frightened exclamations as the fighters now appeared to be statues. Removing my defences and smiling, I mentally commanded the subordinate mechanisms. Immediately their arms and weapons began to rise to head height. The machines were stronger than any sentient being, though one of the warriors, a Krogan, resisted the longest. Still, the weapons soon found their way to every temple, and despite the desperate screams, shots rang out. In a second, two dozen bodies collapsed to the ground.

The captured cameras showed me how enemy units and patrols from all over the area swarmed towards us. There was no way to get down there. After checking the map, I found the spot where the door to the tower had opened in the beginning. It was accessible from the outside, but I would have to jump. Finding the direction of the breach, I took off and, activating my shield, punched through the window.

The computer counted down the last hundred metres before the surface. When the distance was less than a hundred, the inertial dampers on my feet kicked in. Keeping my balance with the weight on my arms, I landed carefully next to the breach. Glancing up at the skyscraper where the jump had come from, I gave the command for full overload. Immediately, the power distributors in the building began to flicker, the valves in all the pipes opened, and all the doors were blocked. Everything turned into an uncontrollable inferno. There was even a chain reaction that destroyed some floors. The fire started to spread through the building quite quickly as the fire extinguishing systems also went mad. On the other hand, I had already disappeared into the breach and was on my way to the hangar through the tunnels with my cargo.

Flagship | A few hours later

Leaving the woman in the care of the medical bots, I finally changed platforms and moved quietly towards the bridge. When I finally sat, Achilles opened the communication channel, and I was transported to Terra. My image appeared at the familiar long table where almost all the masters were assembled. The only one I didn't see was Tribuna, but he was always on time. As soon as I appeared, the noise around the table disappeared, and everyone stood up to greet me. THEY LOOKED AT ME WITH INTEREST once I was allowed to sit down.

- How was your mission, sir? - Karo was the first to speak.

- It is too early to tell the results, but if it is successful, we will gain control of another region. We can use it to divert Spaceland's attention from the pirate raids there. And our convoys will be able to pass through the region without threat. I'm interested in your project; what have you come up with that I should be aware of?

- Of course here", a series of diagrams and drawings of various mechanisms appeared above the table. They were soon replaced by an image of... Reapers? - We have analysed the Reaper strategy and found it quite effective. If the Empire had such ships to destroy their enemies in space and on land, it would greatly help our troops. We've taken the hull of the Ancient machine and modified it," he made a few movements with his hand, and the hologram came closer. - First, we reduced the size of the hull itself, as the smaller size contributes to greater manoeuvrability and survivability. The upper arches of the original were removed, leaving the main body. The undercarriage has also been removed, as it interfered with firing in the lower hemisphere. It still eliminates ground sabotage through explosives, detonation, and the like. The manipulators are replaced by mass dampers and an anti-gravity device. But the ship will be able to land on the surface if necessary," the schematic changed again, shining through the armour. - For ground attacks, there are hangars with robotic military equipment. The factories above will allow you to replenish casualties on the battlefield and resources next to the ship. This will reduce the cost of legion losses in such battles by 30.54%. "The diagram receded to reveal a list of weapons. "The beam cannon on the mass and force field effect has proven very effective. Producing and improving it won't be a problem. We plan to place four of these guns in opposite parts of the ship, covering all the space around it. There will also be two dozen of the latest high-speed molecular guns, the planetary reactor inside the hull is more than enough for all of them. For close-quarter combat, the hull will be fitted with pulse-gun ports.

- What about the production of these ships? - I was very impressed by their work. I could only hear Karo's voice and the blueprints, which I stared at eagerly.

- Let me show you," a map of the stars appeared above the table. - We are using several forges, as well as the archaeological dungeons that will be completed in a few months, to conveyor belt the construction of these ships. Production will be fully dedicated to this Order. We plan to start producing even the hulls by fusion. The Empire's requirements will be divided equally among all the other manufactories.

I sat silently, thinking about it. The project was incredibly promising, but too... Flawed. Something was missing.

- Is there no problem or flaw in the whole project?

- Unfortunately, there is, Master," the archivist sighed sadly. - As you know, when it comes to super-heavy machines like Titans, Colossi or Order ships, we have no computer or A.I.," the words made the Magister frown, "that has enough power to operate such a machine. Humans need to be more suited to such a project.

- I see your point... - There was such a problem. No device in the Empire had the power to operate such a machine. But the size and complexity of the Navigator on Terra made it impossible to streamline production; even the simple manufacture of these devices was almost impossible. That's why they used specially trained people with a series of implants. - Do you have any options in this regard?

- The board found a suitable machine to study. From the data from the ancient ruins, we learned of a functioning V.I. on Thessia. It's hidden in the temple, but we need to get it. If we can refine and protect it from subjugation, we can load copies into all new ships. "The Hephaestus Chain is the code name for the worlds where the new ships will be made.

- OK, I give you permission to proceed with the project. I'll talk to the Guardians about the V's. What will you call the ship?

- The Conqueror, my lord.

- The Conqueror... suits her. And where's the Tribune?

- He was just reviewing the latest report, something you should know..." "Suddenly, the door to the hall swung open, and the man we were looking for flew in.

- My Emperor," he bowed and quickly approached the table. - Bad news, a Turian-Salarian expedition discovered a cryo-capsule with a member of an ancient race on one of the planets. The capsule turned out to be functional, and the sentient survived. I don't know what happened to it. They also possessed much information about the ancient race and, most frighteningly, a working weapon from the time...