26

In just four hours, we were all rearming our weapons. Besides what I had brought, the vehicle had a good stash of firearms. There was a single-shot grenade launcher in the glove box, several pistols under each seat, and even something similar to an Uzi. I picked up a homemade automatic rifle, found among the Drells, and there was also a machine gun on the roof, but you still had to climb up there to use it. Hackett loaded a shotgun and an Uzi for himself. Anderson chose a shotgun and a bolt-action rifle, luckily Hackett gave a quick briefing. Daro picked up a six-shot grenade launcher and a 13mm pistol, which was comparable in power to a Desert Eagle. Zaal took an automatic rifle and an RPG. In the end, I decided to call everything by the names I was used to, and it was easier for Hackett too, since he knew these names.

"So," I began, glancing again at the side mirror. "Shoot their tires. Don't aim for the gas tank, it's in the car's interior for most of them, and if not - it's armored. Also, aim for the drivers, they usually have regular glass, but some have multiple layers, so don't spare your ammo on those. In general, save your bullets, it's better to fire in single or short bursts. If they try to jump onto the car, shoot at them with pistols. For cars that come too close, use these sticky grenades. They detonate after five seconds, so don't hesitate. Save the RPG for the most dire circumstances, best for armored vehicles, they do have those. That's all, Stephen, take the wheel," as soon as Hackett took the wheel and then put one foot on the gas pedal, I opened the door and climbed out. When Hackett finally sat down, I closed the door and moved up to the roof. I closed the hatch, laid down on the roof and started preparing the machine gun. We had three magazines, but each had 1000 rounds. I also brought with me a homemade sniper rifle. I've learned to shoot from it - the principle was "the longer you squeeze - the more powerful the shot". I had 500 bullets, or rather balls a centimeter in diameter. This should have been enough.

Now I decided to take a look at my opponent. We were being chased by 30 cars. Each had 7-8 heavily armed Drells. Every car had a machine gun, and some had three. I also found the boss. An armored vehicle the size of a trolleybus, with bulletproof windows, five machine guns, an iron ram like the old locomotives, and a very, very angry driver in decent armor. It seemed that this was the main one.

Teyr "The Butcher" Layton

Leader of the "Desert Demons" gang

Oh yes, there he is - the bane of my life. Three admirals of different races, and some high-ranking guy. And they didn't get those positions for nothing. No one has ever escaped from my fortress, and yet they managed to, almost without making a fuss. Well, except for blowing up the outer door, but that's nothing. I can't help but feel some kind of respect for them. I even want to kill them quickly, not in torture, as is usually done with fugitives who took down quite a few good guys. But I can't kill them. I can make such a fortune from them that maybe I can leave this planet. Of course, neither the Alliance nor the Migrant Fleet would even talk to me, but the Government... Heh, they have longed for the Galaxy to take notice of them. That's what the traders told me. So the Government will pay a lot for the opportunity to get their hands on such individuals. A lot. And that's why I need them alive. At any cost.

"Crane," I began over the radio. "Pass the order to the others - no killing, just disable the vehicle."

"Understood, boss," Crane replied. He was my most loyal commander, but even he sometimes couldn't hold himself back, which is why I was leading this mission. The risk of failure was too great.

"Alright, gentlemen, full speed ahead. Surround them!" The fastest ones floored the gas pedal and started flanking them. Suddenly, several flashes came from the admirals' car, hitting the nearest vehicle. I immediately knew what it was. A machine gun. The shots hit the driver, causing the car to sharply turn left, and a few meters later, it was rammed by another car. The second car kept going, but the first one was completely wrecked. It seemed these admirals weren't going to give up so easily. Well, we'll see who comes out on top.

Legate

Ha, now that's what I call a machine gun! Turns out it had armor-piercing rounds. Well, now you'll dance to my tune. I turned this vehicle around and fired a burst at the car that had just rammed its own. The bullets hit the engine, which caught fire, and a minute later the car exploded, incinerating everyone inside. Then I shot at another bold one who was trying to overtake us from the other side. I hit the armored gas tank, so the car was torn to pieces. After that, some of them lost their courage, and only one decided to come at us. It was the massive vehicle, but it wasn't the boss's car. According to the radio chatter, the boss's car was a factory-made military jeep, while this one was something strange, but my thoughts were interrupted. Suddenly, a harpoon flew out of the car towards us, with a metal cable attached to it. Then a second one latched onto us. Both were attached to the trunk door, and now they started slowing down our car. Well, I won't give up so easily!

Coming up with a plan, I opened the hatch to communicate with my team:

"They're slowing us down with these cables! I'll try to get rid of this car, and you don't let any others approach you! And try to salvage everything you can from the car! They won't brake suddenly, otherwise they'll tear off the trunk door! So the main thing is, don't brake!"

"Understood!" Hackett shouted back, already flooring the gas pedal.

Meanwhile, I closed the hatch, stood up, and jumped onto one of the cables. Clinging to it with my hands and feet like a sloth, I started crawling quickly towards that car. Suddenly, they started shooting at me halfway through. Pistol bullets didn't scare me, so I calmly turned my head and saw a Drell who was holding onto the car with one hand and shooting at me with the other. I pulled out my pistol and fired once. The Drell fell with a bullet in his head, and I continued crawling. Then the second Drell decided to cut the cable with a welding tool. And he was quite successful at it. In 5 seconds, the 2cm-thick cable was almost severed. I didn't have time to shoot at him as I noticed it too late, but luckily, I was already almost under the car. I grabbed onto the bumper with my hand when suddenly the cable snapped, and a second later, I found myself under the car, holding onto the bumper with both hands and dragging my legs in the sand. Now I had to take control of the vehicle.

I quickly started crawling towards the rear of the car along the underside, gripping onto pipes and protrusions. In a minute, I reached the edge and saw that things were going very bad for us. Not only were 30 cars chasing us, but there were also motorcycles. And there were at least twice as many of them. But I didn't have time to think about that now. Flipping over, I grabbed onto the ladder and climbed onto the roof. As I climbed, they started shooting at me with machine guns, but I managed to climb up quickly, so I was only hit three times, and none of them hit anything vital. As soon as I reached the roof, I immediately ran towards the driver. Reaching the cabin, I ripped open the roof hatch and saw two Drells inside. I shot the passenger immediately, then jumped into the cabin and shot the driver, who turned out to be a female Drell. Opening the door, I threw out her body and took the driver's seat. Quickly familiarizing myself with the controls, I pressed a button and detached the second cable, freeing my team, and then I began to think about what to do next. I decided quickly. Turning the wheel, I maneuvered the car and rammed into another one. That one lost control and crashed into yet another car. Both of them turned into scraps of metal, and I started looking for new targets.

Meanwhile...

Firing the first shot, Anderson took down one motorcyclist. Another shot took down the second one, and a second later, another one came at him, but both of them fell onto the sand. Then another shot - and another motorcyclist was down. And another, and another. Then another shot, and suddenly, a Drell with a twisted face of wild fury appeared before his eyes. The Drell grabbed onto the car and tried to open the door. Moving the barrel back and firing, Anderson realized he had nothing to shoot with - he ran out of ammo. However, Daro came to the rescue. She fired a shot from her pistol, sending the Drell to the afterlife, blowing off half his head.

It turned out to be a Drell - he had already opened the door and was trying to pull Daro out of the car. She couldn't shoot because she had dropped her pistol, and there was nothing to hold onto. Fortunately, Anderson managed to grab her leg, which saved Daro from being dragged out of the car. Anderson couldn't reload his shotgun now, but there was already one round in it. David grabbed the barrel, placed the shotgun on the floor, quickly pulled the barrel back, then took the shotgun in one hand and pulled the trigger. The Drell's head exploded, and due to the recoil, David dropped the shotgun but still managed to pull Daro back into the car. She closed the door and picked up her pistol from the floor.

"Thank you," Daro said, catching her breath and wiping her half-bloodied mask.

"You're welcome," Anderson replied, inserting a round into the shotgun.

"Watch out!" Daro shouted, and Anderson instinctively turned around. There was a motorcycle next to them with two Drells. One of them was holding a spear and was already aiming it at the wheel. Anderson aimed the shotgun again, took aim, and fired. The motorcycle exploded, engulfing both Drells in flames.

"They're trying to puncture our tires! Zaal! Don't let them get close!" Daro shouted.

"I'm trying! This damn thing weighs as much as I do!" Zaal angrily replied, then mowed down three motorcyclists with a burst of fire. "Wow! Looks like the Legate is having a blast! " Zaal saw the car seized by the Legate crashing into another car, causing it to veer off the path and crash into another car, and a second later, a third car crashed into them, followed by a powerful explosion.

And again, the Legate

I don't even know how to count the ones I've knocked down anymore. Officially, I've taken down 5 cars, but in reality, I've already destroyed 9 cars. And that has seriously angered someone. The jeep, which was the boss's car, was now driving parallel to me, and something bad was being prepared there. I found out what it was when a three-barreled minigun emerged from the roof. The Drell pressed the button on the minigun, waiting for it to spin up, and then opened fire.

Within a second, thanking God that I was a Geth, I was crawling on the cabin floor to get out from the other side. The main thing was to jump onto another car. The bullets fired from the minigun were explosive, each containing a small amount of explosive material that detonated like 100 grams of dynamite. Several bullets hit my legs, causing me to lose my left foot, and a few more shots created a hole in the place where humans have their left lung, revealing a mini-reactor that was my heart. As soon as I opened the door, a grenade flew into the cabin and exploded right on top of me. Fortunately, it turned out to be an incendiary grenade, so all it did was set the cabin and me on fire, but it didn't cause any serious damage.

Preparing myself, I leaped onto the car from where the grenade had come. I landed flat on the roof, bending it almost to the floor of the car, but the driver was still alive. Raising my head, I saw the remnants of the cabin I had just escaped from unfolding, dragging the entire car along. The car spun so abruptly that within the next second, it flipped over, somersaulted several times, and exploded in hellish flames, engulfing the cars and motorcycles with everyone inside. Some tried to maneuver, but they only collided with each other. It turned into a horrifying chaos from which few could escape, as the sand kicked up created a cloud that caused everyone to collide again, knocking motorcycles down or crashing into those who had already crashed. Only a few, the most heavily armored, managed to withstand it. When everyone regrouped, there were 5 cars and 17 motorcycles pursuing us. A handful compared to the number that was chasing us at the beginning. I flipped over, opened the passenger door, and swiftly sat in the driver's seat, stunning the driver almost to unconsciousness. Immediately, a gun was pointed at my head, but my reaction was faster than these bandits. I pushed the Drell's hand up, but it immediately hit the bent roof, breaking at the elbow, and at the same time, a shot rang out, grazing my head. I grabbed the Drell's hand with one hand, seized his pistol with the other, shot him in the head, and then shot the driver, grabbing the steering wheel simultaneously. Opening the door, I threw out the corpse, sat in the driver's seat, and directed the car towards my allies.

Tyre "The Butcher" Layton

DAMN IT!!! How is this possible!? Those bastards have already taken out most of our guys! They didn't become admirals for nothing! They know how to defend themselves! But we have to catch up to them! At any cost! I'm not letting such a big score slip away!!!

"Tyre! I intercepted radio transmissions! The 'Cobras' and the 'Vipers' are coming here!!! They're coming from the west! Looks like they've joined forces to take the hostages!" Crane suddenly spoke, still alive and coordinating the attack.

"What!? The 'Vipers' and the 'Cobras'!? I'll be damned! Those two bitches would never work together!" No, it's impossible. Two female gangs working together? The desert would turn into a grassland faster.

"But it's true! They're coming on motorcycles! They'll join us in 10 minutes! They already see us!" Crane replied with concern.

"Damn it! Alright, maybe we can still negotiate with them! For now, don't attack, just pursue them!"

"Understood!" Crane said and disconnected. This is the last thing I needed.

Legate

I pulled up to our group, who immediately noticed me. I decided to sit next to the driver, so I gestured to have the door I needed opened. The request was fulfilled, and I opened my door, stepping onto our car. Sitting inside, I closed my door and addressed everyone present.

"There's good news and bad news. Which one should I start with?" I began.

"Let's start with the bad news. It can't get any worse," Hakett replied.

"It can. Two female gangs on motorcycles are heading our way. I intercepted their communications. There are a lot of them."

"Approximately how many?" Zaal asked, fidgeting with the machine gun's bolt. He inserted the last belt.

"I counted seventy-three, but I think there are more. Each of them has a portable radio," I replied, recalling everything I had learned while approaching our group and intercepting their communications.

"And what's the good news?" Dara asked with a hint of irony.

"These pursuers behind us have no friendly relationship with the ones who are coming here. That might work to our advantage. They won't attack us for now. They're afraid. So let's assess what we have left."

"The machine gun's last belt."

"Grenade launchers are empty. All of them."

"The rifles are empty too."

"We still have the three-barreled machine gun. We haven't used it yet."

"We have some pistols left, but ammunition is scarce."

"My rifle and shotgun are also empty, but your rifle hasn't been used yet."

"I see. Alright, reload everything you have. And, Steven, reload your pistol, it's empty," I said, scanning the weapons of everyone present.

"Thanks," Hakett replied and quickly reloaded his pistol. "Last magazine."

"Same here," Anderson added.

"And mine," Dara said.

"Alright. I'll move to the trunk."

Once inside, I started preparing the minigun and rifle. That was the most powerful weaponry we had left.

We still had at least an hour's journey to "Rilika," and I decided to contact them.

"Rilika, do you copy?"

"We hear you, Legate," they replied.

- How's the repair going?

- The repair is ninety-five percent complete. We'll be able to take off in half an hour.

- Damn! We don't have that much time. Can you fly?

- No. The cooling system is being installed. Attention: Deteriorating weather conditions detected, - the get suddenly said out of nowhere, and I realized it was an opportunity.

- Tell me more.

- Sandstorm ten kilometers east of your position. Wind speed is thirty meters per second.

- Excellent! Thank you. Take off as soon as possible and keep an eye on us.

- Roger that, - the get replied, and I had already come up with a plan.

- Zaal, get in the car. Close all the windows and the hatch. Hakett, turn right. I have an idea. Wait, I saw goggles and rags in the glove compartment. David and Steven, put them on. Zaal and Dara! Do your filters work against sand?

- Yes. They're designed for that, - Dara replied. - What do you have in mind?

- There's a sandstorm ahead. We're going into it. It will simply blow the motorcyclists away.

- Understood, - Hakett said and immediately started putting on goggles and various rags on his face. Anderson did the same. However, these goggles were designed for drells, and because of that, Hakett and Anderson looked quite ridiculous. Turning around, I saw that the remaining cars had already turned behind us. Now the main thing was to enter the storm before they caught up with us.

- Well, I hoped so. Within twenty minutes, 120 motorcycles were already catching up with us. Hakett pushed the engine to the limit, but the motorcycles inexorably closed in and surrounded us. Other cars were not lagging behind either, though they kept their distance. Judging by the conversations, half of which I couldn't understand due to profanities, the commander we escaped from and two female commanders had decided to capture us and divide the ransom they would get when they sold us to the Government. And in five minutes, when we saw the sandstorm, the airwaves were filled with curses.

- It was truly an epic sight. A massive wall of sand, reaching from the ground to the sky, was approaching us, and we were moving towards it. It seemed impossible to survive in there, yet we had to drive through it to cut off the pursuers. Dealing with five cars was easier than with a hundred motorcyclists. Who, by the way, had already started to act.

- Through the rear window, I saw a female motorcyclist aiming a spear at us.

"Hakett! Swerve!" I shouted, and Steven immediately turned left, causing the spear to hit the body of the car and get stuck. However, the motorcyclist took out another one.

"Get ready... and... turn right!" the car turned right, and the spear hit the windshield. Luckily, it was triple-layered and didn't shatter. "Damn! I'm going outside! Drive into the storm, it's our last chance! And I'll try to fend them off so they won't puncture our tires! Damn! Turn right!" As I opened the hatch and explained everything, I noticed that the motorcyclist had one spear left. It had landed in the sand and was now riding not far from us. I crawled out through the hatch, locked it, and positioned myself on the roof with the machine gun. Simultaneously, I began listening to the radio communications.

- TEIR!!! Where the fuck are you going?! - Keila shouted at me. Well, go ahead and shout, but my cars can withstand the storm, while those two bitches' motorcycles will simply be blown away.

- Shut up, Keila! They're mine!

- What?! We had an agreement!

- Get lost! Fuck off! - After that, I addressed everyone on the radio. - Everyone! Crush those bitches if you can, but we're heading into the storm for our loot! Faster! - all the cars immediately accelerated, paying no attention to the motorcycles they simply ran over if they couldn't get out of the way.

- Well, Teir, you've gone too far. Everyone! Stop that vehicle! Quickly, before they enter the storm! - with those words, all the motorcycles started speeding up, pushing their limits.

Legat

They've gone mad! That's it! Well, there's not much left, the main thing is not to let them stop us. Aiming the machine gun, I fired at the closest motorcyclists. Two motorcycles immediately fell, but that didn't stop anyone. Ten of them were already preparing to throw their spears, so I just held down the trigger. An endless stream of bullets from the machine gun mowed down everyone in sight. I simply swept the machine gun back and forth to cover everyone. Some tried to go around, but I started shooting at them with my pistol. It helped, as I was a geth, so my accuracy was excellent. It only took one bullet to make those motorcyclists fall to the sand, their heads opening up the desert. After a few seconds, everyone suddenly started turning, some to the right, some to the left. I decided to turn around, but as soon as I did, in that same second, the storm swallowed us.

At first, I couldn't see anything with normal vision, but with sensory vision, I saw that the motorcyclists were simply blown away. They didn't manage to escape the storm, so they were now falling off their motorcycles, and some were being crushed by the cars that were perfectly fine in this storm. Their drivers tried to stay as close to each other as possible, but they were still chasing us. And suddenly, the sand wall was left behind. Now there was a massive sand tornado in front of us, with small tornadoes swirling around it. And all of it was illuminated by the sun directly in front of us, shining through the sand and giving it a reddish hue. However, because of this, the vehicles noticed us. I tried to shoot with the machine gun, but it was already jammed with sand and couldn't fire. The same was true for the pistol, although it wouldn't have helped against the monsters that were now chasing us.

As two cars had positioned themselves on both sides of us, I prepared my final surprise. Sticky grenades. Activating one, I threw it into the car on our left. Five seconds later, an explosion resounded, and the engine of the car no longer worked. It simply ceased to exist. Then I threw another one, hitting the windshield, and the explosion tore the driver apart. One more grenade stuck to the driver's door. As a result of the explosion, the car veered and crashed into the boss Teir's jeep. However, it didn't budge him at all. He was too strong. Suddenly, our car was side-swiped. It was a similar car to ours, and two seconds later, it side-swiped us again, giving us a good jolt. Haket didn't hold back and responded in kind. This infuriated the driver, who backed up a bit for a run-up, then turned the wheel to hit us once again. However, Haket slowed down a bit, causing the driver's car to collide with ours from behind, after which it spun at a furious speed. After traveling about 12 meters like that, the car was caught by the tornado and flew up, exploding in a bright flame of burning fuel at a height of 20 meters. That's what I call burning on the job. I wanted to look at the last car when suddenly that very car rammed us from the side, coming from the direction of the tornado. The car flipped over, I fell onto the sand, and then the jeep ran over me, breaking my reactor and causing me to shut down.

Critical reactor damage.

Activation of backup accumulator.

Restoring platform functionality.

Once the interference subsided, I saw the sky. The blue sky, and then I heard a voice.

- You guys really did it. Such a mess. I wanted to do this the nice way, - that's what the drill was saying now. He was standing over Anderson, who was lying next to the battered car we had escaped in. I realized I had to get up. - Hand you over to the Government, get my bribe, and get out of this hellhole, - I stood up, and immediately sand began to pour off me. I couldn't run properly without a foot, and I couldn't move one arm. The elbow servos were broken as my arm was bent in the opposite direction. I could still move my fingers, but my forearm was dangling on wires. But I still kept going. I had to keep going. - But no, you had to go on a killing spree! Slaughter so many people... Damn! - Teir took out his pistol from the holster and cocked the slide. - Well then... I'll hand those admirals over, but as for you... You're not an admiral... So... I have to kill someone among you. - Teir pulled the trigger, and as it moved just a millimeter from the breaking point, I managed to rush forward and push his hand to the side, and immediately a shot rang out.

The bullet hit the sand, and I struck Teir with all my strength in the chest with my elbow. He was thrown back a meter and fell. As soon as he regained his composure, he started shooting at me. But his pistol bullets couldn't penetrate my armor; they simply got stuck in it. I began to approach him, but I stepped on something metallic. It was a double-barreled shotgun. I picked it up and, just in case, aimed it at Teir and pulled the trigger. There was no shot, as I had expected. So I simply walked, limping slightly, towards Teir, who was trying to crawl away. However, after three meters, he hit the overturned jeep. Fear was now evident in his eyes. Animalistic fear of death. He couldn't even utter a word, even though just 11 seconds ago, he had pretended to be a tough guy delivering a speech before attempting to kill us. Without anything else at hand, I struck Teir forcefully with the shotgun on the head. And again. And again. And again. And again. After 17 strikes, I decided it was enough. I knew he had died after the fifth blow, but sometimes scumbags like him can come back from the dead. So I didn't want to take any chances and rely on technology. Sometimes it's risky.

When I turned around to help the others, I heard a familiar sound. The sound of engines running. It was the "Rilik." Within a minute, it had landed, and the Geths started assisting everyone in getting out of the vehicles and boarding the ship. Fortunately, everyone was alive. Not entirely intact, but alive. Within five minutes, we were all on board. Following my orders, the Geths took the sniper rifle, minigun, and the jeep, quickly bringing them onto the ship. After that, the hangar closed, and the "Rilik" ascended, leaving Rahana. Hopefully, for good.