85

In 20 hours. The frigate Normandie-SR2.

- I. I wouldn't say I like it. Azari," Yavik said as a Vorka poured him his fifth 100 grams of freshly made Protean brew, "I hate this Cycle. I hate women.

- The Azari aren't women. They're same-sex," Garrus interjected but got a disappointed look from the protean.

- Don't kid yourself, turian. The Azari are a whole race of women—a curse on this Galaxy.

- So maybe the Reapers are women too?" suggested Garrus.

- Then I'm not surprised we lost. Yeah, Liara took him down hard. Morally.

- That doesn't sound like something a Revenge avatar would say," I said because I hadn't expected that from him.

- It's just that I've never met someone like that before... Like this. Azari!

- What did she do to you?" asked Garrus, who certainly didn't expect this from a brave soldier who had hardly been persuaded to give up his rifle, much less armour.

- She's very... Curious! Even children aren't like that. You could say "No!" to them, and they'd leave. I've been ordered to talk to an Azari! And then it starts. Your religion, politics, economics, law, and etiquette! As if I remember all that! - apparently, Javik was driven to the point of metal vapourisation, not just white-hot. Now he had reached the "Fuck you all!" stage, and he was understanding.

- Don't exaggerate," Shepard said, "Did Liara get you that far?

- If I weren't protean, she'd have talked me to death. Seventeen hours in your primitive time. Seventeen hours of constant questions about everything! Geth, why wouldn't you let her talk to the Reverend?

- You mean Xade? I don't get it. I should ask the bastard about his title.

- What did you say? Javik needed help understanding me.

- It doesn't matter." Yeah, well, I'm Xade's "brother-brother-brother," and Javik is Imperial Counsellor and "His Reverence.

- So, what's the deal with Liara? Shepherd's been going on and on.

- What about her? She's fine," Javik blurted out, "Primitive Azari. I think she got an orgasm from talking to me! And I'm about to get alcoholism and a firing squad from His Eminence as a superior!

- You're so straightforward. You're just like Mordin. I remarked.

- Don't compare me to a primitive, you primitive machine," Yavik replied, "I call things by their proper names. And things are what they are. The Captain ordered me to talk to her mistress to please the latter. And now I know worse things than Inusanon's husky.

- You don't know how to keep your mouth shut at all," the Captain said, her voice already sounding angry.

- What did I say wrong? What else should I call your azari? Friend? Partner? An interlocutor? Don't make me laugh. You're lovers, and that says it all. And the scent of her pheromones on you says as much. So does the smell of a turian. Oh, where have I come to? Primitive races, primitive ships, primitive communications, primitive relationships. Primitive Cycle! What has Liara done to him that Javik is already pouring out like this? Let's watch the tape.

- You have a primitive outlook on life, protean. Welcome to the primitive club of primitives." Yes, that joke would have sounded better if I'd had lips, but that was fine. Javik let out a long sigh and banged his head on the counter.

- Okay, get some rest," Shepard said, "We'll be on Tessia tomorrow. Get in shape.

- Aye, Captain." The protean replied without raising his head.

- That goes for you, too," Shepard said to Garrus and me.

- Of course," I confirmed, followed by Garrus, and we went to our quarters.

****

Thayne's quarters.

When Taine walked into his quarters, Kasumi was already there. At the drell was a tray with two cups with tea in them. Japanese tea. Taine decided to make some after all. Good thing Shepard approved. Taine was glad of that, so now all left was to implement the plan. With that being said, it was almost done. The Japanese girl was sitting at her desk reading a book, but as soon as Taine entered the cabin, she immediately turned her attention to him.

- Oh, Taine. Hi." The girl said hello.

- Hi. I, um. Brought you some... ch-tea," Taine said in a low voice. That word was not in the drill's vocabulary, so he had to curve his throat, tongue, and vocal organs to pronounce it in Russian. In that language, Legatus said about the Japanese's favourite drink.

- Chai?" Kasumi had said it in English, but the Drell's translator had managed it, translating the word into Russian, which the drell had already memorised. It was strange that he was paying attention, but Tain was getting worried right now. He needed to lie to Kasumi now, but he consoled himself that it was for her good, even if she didn't realise it.

- Yeah. I... I hear it's the Japanese people's favourite drink.

- Um. Well, yeah, actually, but I'm not Japanese.

- What's the name? Tain was surprised. The Legatus said it was a Japanese name.

- Well, it is. My dad's Japanese; that's why I got my last and first names. But... Oh, all right. Let's have a drink. I like tea, after all." Kasumi took one cup and sniffed what was in it, "Mmm... Jasmine..." the girl practically purred, "Thank you.

- You're welcome.- Taine replied and took the cup as well. As Kasumi and Thayne took a few sips each, the drell looked at Kasumi strangely, and she noticed.

- What?

- Nothing. I like looking at you." the drell lied nonchalantly and blatantly.

- I see. I thought you were waiting for something..." The Japanese girl suddenly stretched out a vowel and started to pass out, falling off her chair. Tain quickly placed his cup and tray on the table and immediately picked up Kasumi's cup and herself-Theeain... What..." The Japanese woman couldn't help but say something. The sleeping pills had taken effect quickly. Thank Mordin that it didn't specifically work on drills and worked very quickly. Now Kasumi would sleep for twenty hours while the entire landing party would become the most wanted criminals of the known Galaxy.

****

Shuttle. The orbit of Tessia.

- Is everyone ready?" Shepard asked one last time as we flew under stealth cover. I, Shepard, Javik, Garrus, Rex, Grant, Zaid, Legion, Jack, Miranda, Thayne, Mordin. The rest of us stayed on the ship of our own free will. Susie had been monitoring the negotiations and trying to block them out if possible. Now all that's left is to get in there, get the data and get out.

- Yes, Captain," Javik replied immediately, "you were right to choose Tessia. Tactically correct. I can't understand why some people stayed on the ship if they were part of the crew.

- They stayed of their own free will," Shepard replied, but Javik wouldn't stop.

- Deserted? Then why are they still alive?

- They didn't defect. I gave them a choice. To come with us or stay, to keep their hands clean. I told them to choose. They chose. But they're still with us. Shepherd wasn't about to give up, either.

- Then that's just stupid on your part. You left three powerful biotics and one good engineer on the ship, taking them away from the mission.

- It's one thing to kill Huskies; it's another to kill innocents doing their duty.

- There are no innocents, Captain. And the motive was the same at the Collector base as it is now, to destroy the Reapers.

- There's still a difference. Anyway, enough arguing. I'm sick of it. Yeah, Shepard was understandable. Killing the Azari who try to kill us is not a pleasant experience. It's a good thing Tali agreed not to go because I wouldn't have let her go. I couldn't have talked her out of going to the Collectors' base, but I could have talked her out of attending Tessia. But I didn't have to. What about the evacuation? The Captain changed the subject.

- Normandy will pick us up in orbit. The reserve shuttle is ready. We'll get to it by underground passage. Then Nargul will pick us up. We'll use it as a transponder so it won't catch up with us, and then it'll fly away on its own. That way, they won't catch up with us in the superlight, and their transponder will point in the wrong direction.

- You mean that traitor reaper? I wouldn't trust him. The protean has joined in.

- Maybe. But you're not likely to throw him out the airlock," I said, and Yavik thought about it.

- That's a good point.

- All right, that's taken care of. Tain, how's Kasumi?

- It went well, Captain. She's asleep. Thank you, Mordin. And to you for letting me keep her out of there. She didn't agree to stay just for me. I'm not going to get her involved in something like this. The Collectors' Base is a stretch.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, we all don't like that," I interjected, "Let's just do it for a few trillion bags of meat, and then we'll figure out what to do. Okay?" I said, and they all responded with mute agreement, heads down, so we flew silently until we landed.

The shuttle landed at the very entrance to the temple. There was no point in trying to break into the cameras; it was impossible to do it remotely. There were not many people in the temple, and that was good.

We entered the temple, and we were already noticed by the priestess who was giving a sermon.

- What are you doing here?" she asked, and we were immediately noticed by everyone present. In response, Zaid fired a line into the ceiling. Everyone except the priestess screamed like little girls and fell to the floor.

- Everybody lies down, and nobody gets hurt." Shepard ordered though all of our faces were hidden. Well, except for Legion and me, we were like, geth here. It had to be to scare everyone. For my life, I wasn't scared yet, the platform had been modernised enough, and Javik was also helmetless. He told us it was habit.

The Azari all fell to the floor, and some of us started lifting them, taking them to one of the walls, and injecting one with a drug that neutralised the biotics for a while.

On the other hand, the front row was where I was in for a surprise. Aria T'Loak was sitting there. What a surprise. But what worried me more was that she wasn't going to obey.

- Do you need a special offer?" I asked.

- I'm not going to obey some machine," the Omega Queen snorted presumptuously, but her gaze exuded contempt and anger. I wouldn't waste time on her, so I shot her with a drug vial. Aria only looked sceptically at the glass sticking out of her leg, then pulled it out and threw it on the floor. Then she craned her neck defiantly and tried to strike me. Only she hit me with a regular fist since she didn't have biotics for ten hours.

- It was my turn." I calmly punched her in the stomach, causing her to bend in three bends and fall to the floor. There was no point in dragging her off.

- Come on," Shepard shouted, and Legion pulled out a grenade launcher. It wasn't powerful enough not to damage the beacon but good enough to destroy the statue.

A shot rang out, followed by an explosion. The statue cracked open, and everyone present saw the protean beacon. Aria's stunned look was unmistakable; her eyes said exactly that. Then Rex cracked the marble at the foot of the statue, and the dashboard controlled the beacon.

- Javik, move, and fast!" Shepard shouted. We could call him by name, but we talked to each other on the intercom.

- Aye, Captain!" Javik immediately activated the beacon, and a scanner came out of the dashboard, scanning the protean's face, and then green holograms popped out. All of the Azari, including the priestess, freaked out. Yeah, a living Protean here reporting to someone who knew about the beacon.

- Captain, police and temple guard units are approaching you," Susie announced.

- Legion, what's the status of the barrier?" I asked the geth on the digital link.

- Almost.- I got a reply, and in a second, the entrance to the temple was sealed by the barrier.

- Yavik, what have you got?" the Captain asked.

- The military passwords have been activated. You'll have to enter them manually. Wait. - Javik typed the passwords manually. There was no other way. On one of the screens, I saw that one lock was opened each time a word was entered. At five "openings," the locks were mixed up, and all had to be entered again but with different passwords. Five levels of protection, what can I say?

- Get a move on. The Captain was right. The first squads of police had already blocked the entrance and even came close to the barrier to see what was inside. But when the curious Azari's gaze met mine, she immediately understood.

- Attention! This is three-seven-three speaking. In the temple of the geth! Repeat, in the temple of the Geth!" she screamed, but Susie jammed the connection. If she hadn't done that, the entire Tessian army would have converged on us, and we'd have a dreadnought in orbit right on top of us.

After another minute, I realised I'd been wrong to think jamming the comms would help. A happy company of police, special forces, paratroopers, Tela Vazir's SPECTRA, three Justicars and temple guards had already arrived at our place. We had already managed to tie up all the Azari, including Aria, prepare a shelter of benches, and prepare an escape route.

- Yavik!" Shepard said as the ladies began to cut through the temple's panelling to get to the wiring. Cut it, and the barrier would shut down.

- Almost, Captain." The last level of defence was removed after touching the keypad a few times. And immediately, a hologram balloon, if you could call it that, flew out of the beacon.

- I'm getting a timestamp. One minute..." came a voice that sounded a little like a mixture of Javik's voice and synthetic distortion, "The timeline has been determined. A cycle is post-Protean. Unlock passwords confirmed. Confirm your credentials.

- Identification code is Targon-Lartik-Grishin-Brolesh.-Javik said the four words Xad had made him learn.

- Identification code accepted. The credentials of Imperial Counsellor Xad Hashid have been confirmed. Your orders, user?

- The emergency evacuation of beacon data.

- Acknowledged. Data carrier required. Javik then retrieved a data carrier specifically for the beacon. It was a copper-coloured metal ball, 10 cm in diameter, which Javik inserted into the socket on the dashboard. - Carrier accepted. Wait for the upload to complete." The hologram disappeared, and Javik moved one of the benches so that he could hide behind it and stay close to the beacon.

- How long will it take?" the Captain asked the important question.

- According to your time, ten minutes.

- Shit. All right, let's get ready.

Another minute and the barrier was removed. And immediately, a wall of special forces shields came at us, and smoke bombs flew into the temple. A cloud of grey smoke began to fill the room, and Rex and Grant pulled out grenade launchers. This time powerful enough to take out the SWAT team.

Two synchronised shots and two projectiles slammed into the wall of shields. Fifteen of the Azari scattered in different directions while we began to finish off those who could still stand on their feet. The Krogan reloaded and fired again—this time at the vehicles. There were even more powerful explosions that tore everyone who was standing nearby to pieces. Those we were killing were pitiful, but we could do nothing. It was in the name of more for this Galaxy. And that's what was driving all of us right now.

We all just shot everyone we saw. Garrus killed the SPECTRE first, then the two Justicars. Those were the most dangerous opponents. Then the Shieldbearers came at us, but not in a solid wall, but one at a time, so there was no use for grenade launchers. We had to aim at them through the observation slits to hit them in the head. And also throw grenades, which explode behind their backs, throwing them back a few metres and turning their internal organs into mincemeat because of the shock wave and shrapnel.

Then they started shooting at us from cover. All the Azari hid behind the aero cars and tried to shoot mindlessly. We could see them through the smoke screen, so we had no problem putting holes in their heads. However, all those shooting at us were firing suppressive fire, so the wounded also started to appear at us.

Suddenly, a flyer appeared right in front of us. Rex was engaged by it, firing a grenade launcher. The shell hit the engine, which made the flyer spin like a yule, and then it fell right on the cars. A huge explosion scattered everyone who came to us like dummies, and some of the debris flew even to Javik.

- GRANATE!" Shepard shouted and jumped away from the gift that flew straight at her, throwing Mordin off. Both survived, but Mordin was still wounded in the leg.

Then another flyer came in and opened fire on us, but Miranda had managed to put a shield over all of us, and it held up well, though it was hard for the last one to hold it back. Ten seconds later, Miranda was already angry from the pain in her muscles, gathered all her strength and sent a powerful wave at the flyer. The kinetic wave threw the flyer several dozen metres away and everything that wasn't attached to the floor. Yes, it was attached too. The flyer fell, rolling across the ground and crushing several police officers' aerocars.

But the third flyer seriously pissed us all off and scared us all. He just tried to destroy the beacon with missiles, but thank Allah that Yavik was there. He could use his biotics to pick up three missiles and return them. The three explosions didn't kill the pilot, so Garrus had to finish the pilot off. The pilot's head hit the dashboard, so he flew towards us. But he was flying higher, and that's why he flew not inside the temple but into the archway, from which it collapsed and, together with the burning debris, filled the entrance.

- Wooh, how many are left?" the Captain asked, reloading her rifle. As it turned out, the Azari return fire was not without consequences. Zaid was hit in the right shoulder, Tain in the arm, and Mordin in the leg by shrapnel.

- Three minutes," I replied. By the way, even I was surprised by that. I hadn't been keeping track of the time, so I hadn't even noticed seven minutes had passed. Now all that was left to do was wait...

A noisy, if I were organic, explosion in the wall threw me and Garrus back. Blue sparks flew from the hole in the wall, and a second later, a Justicar flew into us, burning with rage and a biotic glow... To be torn to shreds by a furious Jack, who swore like a harbour worker who'd had a crate fall on him and then been told there would be no bonus. Then Jack was hit with a grenade launcher, which made her fly off, but her barrier held. A paratrooper entered the hole but was immediately hit in the jaw with a shotgun butt from Grant and a shotgun charge to the chest.

- I'm CROGAAAAAAAAN!" Grant wailed and ran into the hole. I don't know what happened there, as I was paralysed from the blast. The self-repair was working fine, but it took time. I heard explosions, screams, gunshots, shouts, mats, curses, and prayers from the hole, all to Grant's screams. It was only a minute later that it was over, and Grant came back to us, covered in blue blood.

And so we were in a bad way. Miranda was shot in the lung, so Jack was so angry. Zero herself is concussed. Garrus is unconscious. And Legion got his arm blown off by abiotic. The Justicar had time to throw a punch at him.

- Done, Captain." Yavik shouted, picking up the flash ball.

- Let's go.- Shepard ordered, and we all gathered in one place, after which I activated the charges on the floor. That's how we were supposed to get into the underground passage, by breaking the floor. A few explosions blew apart the marble, which fell into the abyss. Here we attached cables to ourselves and to special columns, which we had placed in advance on the edges of this abyss.

We descended without incident. So we quickly unhooked the ropes and ran down the corridor. It was short, only three hundred metres. After a minute, we climbed the ladder leading to our transport.

- Hurry," Shepard grumbled. She had no desire to linger, with Garrus, Jack, and Miranda on her hands, unable to continue.

- Halt!" shouted an Azari, who suddenly ran out of the alley. There were three others with her. And in the next moment, only two more, as two more were shot by Rex and Grant.

- Let's go!" the Captain shouted, and Rex and Grant didn't argue with her, so they didn't kill the Azari. Once we were locked in the shuttle, we took off and were about to leave, but suddenly Susie contacted me.

- Don't take off! Keep to a hundred-metre ceiling! You're going to get hit! She was shouting. I immediately dropped to seventy metres and for a good reason. A few missiles exploded behind us that weren't supposed to see us.

- What the hell!" I was outraged, but I was also asking Susie a question.

- You're wearing a bug! On the hull of the shuttle! You can be seen no matter how you hide!

- I see. Try to turn off their air defences, and we'll fly around.

- I'll do my best. And Susie alerted me with an orbital image.

- okay, we'll deal with that.

Indeed, we had to deal with it. A few tight turns between skyscrapers did us no good. Five fighters were on our tail.

Opening the door while picking up Garrus's blaster rifle, I aimed and fired at the fighter. I hit it right in the cockpit, shooting the pilot. The M.L.A. lost control due to the pilot falling onto the dashboard and the road. I also hit the second M.L.A., which made a sharp 90-degree turn and crashed into the third M.L.A.

And then they started shooting at us. First, from mass accelerators, but the shuttle's shield withstood, dropping by 70%; then I hit the M.L.A.'s mass core, which caused it to explode. The last pilot fired missiles at us, but the traps worked well against them. The last shot and the M.L.A. swerved out of its trajectory and perfectly repeated the feat of the Al Qaeda pilots of 9/11, ramming into a skyscraper. Thankfully, it won't collapse..... I hope so.

- Take off. You have one minute! - said Susie, and the Legion lifted the shuttle at an angle of 80 degrees.

In orbit, we quickly boarded the Normandy and flew to Nargul. That one sagged ALL of Tessia's fleet on itself. They didn't fire, but as if they weren't happy to have such a behemoth near their planet. The weird thing is they even tried to contact him. Yeah, it's a bad case of pacifism, but it's good for us.

There was already a whole M.L.A. air regiment on the Normandy. But we were already on a jump trajectory. "His claw was our repeater.

A blue glow enveloped the Normandy, and a second later, we jumped. A moment later, Nargul followed us. Mission accomplished. And I hoped it wasn't for nothing.