"Councilor Tevos, they've built an almost impregnable fortress on the planet where they're cloning Krogan; I'm sending the data over an encrypted channel. Here is what we managed to find out, what the STG found, and a data package for the STG. Now, your questions, but make it fast—they could cut our connection at any second."
"No questions. Destroy Saren's base and return."
"Understood."
The connection cut, after which I left the comm room and headed for the ship's exit.
"Our plans? Well, we go in from one side, you from the other..."
Kirrahe shrugged casually.
"...you make as much noise as possible, hack the security system, and shut it down so we can infiltrate our area of responsibility and dig in. Afterward, one of the two fusion bombs we have will be delivered by a Kodiak Shuttle; the second should be delivered to you. We set them, we leave... boom."
"Alright, do you need any weapons?"
"We have our own..."
He shrugged dismissively.
"Well, if you have your own, you have your own."
I mirrored his gesture, then headed to my landing party, which included Joker. Not to go with us, but simply to coordinate actions.
"Joker... your job is to stay out of sight until the very end."
"I get it... it's fine here, but over the base itself, the Anti-Air Defense is too heavy. I won't break through... and if I do, I won't get back out. You don't have to explain that to me."
"We'll try to shut it down, so don't worry, they'll be able to pick us up. Especially since the bombs will be delivered by air, and for that, we need to disable the Anti-Air Defense, which can target both space and aerial objects. But still, I wouldn't bring the SSV Normandy too close... too much risk."
"Eh, I understand. But I really want to hit someone for once."
"You'll have that chance, don't you doubt it."
"I will?"
A look of anticipation appeared in the pilot's eyes.
"Yes, believe me, you'll have enough battles for a lifetime. Or did you forget we're expecting a war of annihilation? Or do you think there will only be one or two ships?"
"But we're trying to stop Saren..."
I shook my head.
"Jeff, that will only delay the war, giving us a few more years to prepare."
Liara answered in my stead.
"So hard times await us all."
"Understood... I won't complain anymore. I'll enjoy these last happy months, maybe years..."
"Right approach..."
Wrex nodded approvingly.
"...so, we're going in loud?"
The second part of the sentence was addressed to me.
"Yes, very loud, so take every heavy weapon we can from the SSV Normandy. Just try not to destroy the terminals. Tali..."
"I've prepared a clean Omni-tool with the programs, so we can just destroy it after the mission. There are a lot of Geth there, after all, and they might try to attack a hacker who's breaching the system they're in."
I nodded approvingly.
"Alright, since everyone knows the plan, let's begin."
We gathered the heavy weaponry; Tali also took two YMIR Mechs, and then we moved toward Saren's base. While nothing unexpected except a couple of Geth Colossi met us on the approach, the moment we entered the base territory, there was immediately a lot of work. The biotics didn't actually attack, as we took turns maintaining a hemispherical barrier that protected everyone else from very dense fire. We were being shot at by regular Geth platforms, drones, and larger versions of their platforms armed with a wide variety of weapons.
As if that wasn't enough, cloned Krogan came at us, having no understanding of what was happening. To put it better, they acted just like the Geth, simply charging forward without using any tactics.
"Damn, they fight even worse than the Geth!"
After another serious clash, when we got a chance to catch our breath while Tali hacked a terminal, Wrex kicked the body of a Krogan lying within the barrier's radius.
"And this is called a cure?! Better for everyone to die than to live like this..."
Wrex kicked the body again.
"Captain, there's nothing serious here, so we can continue."
"As you say."
I nodded, and we moved further. The deeper we went, the harder it became. At one point, turrets started firing at us too. When the fire density reached a critical point, we finally had to start using cover; otherwise, we might have lost our lives to a burst that, after piercing the barrier, would have reached our bodies.
"Alright, new tactic..."
"And what tactic is that?"
Ashley Williams, sitting not far from me behind cover and firing through a rifle scope linked to her armor—which projected the scope's image onto her faceplate—spoke with a hint of venom.
"The tactic is called... 'I'll kill everyone and be the only one left.' I'm showing this once, just don't blink..."
"John, don't!"
But Liara T'Soni didn't have time to stop me. Covered in an extremely strong biotic barrier—because I didn't have to stretch it into a huge dome—I lunged toward the nearest enemy in dashes that formed a sort of uneven pendulum.
A shot from the pistol... the Geth's light stops glowing due to a hole not provided for in the platform's design. But I didn't stop there; I pumped a few more shots into the joints, never ceasing movement and using the Geth platform as a shield against enemy fire.
"I'm coming!"
With a frightened cry, Liara rushed forward and began a very dangerous dance beside me. Our allies even froze for a couple of seconds as they saw what two synchronized biotics can really do when they work as a pair and care only for themselves and their partner. Geth, Krogan—it didn't matter to us who was attacking. All of them received just a couple of shots or were sent flying extremely high.
We didn't use any costly techniques, only pushes, pulls, and lifts, along with the barriers covering our bodies and with which...
Creating a barrier, I shielded Liara from an attack on the right; the barrier was immediately hit by buckshot fired at Liara by a Krogan. However, the cloned lizard himself was immediately launched extremely high, and I was sure that when he fell, he wouldn't be getting back up.
"Careful!"
Grabbing my arm, Liara pulled me aside, and a stream of flame roared through where I had been a second ago.
"Thanks..."
Saying this, I tossed Liara into the air with a lift, and she, pushing off a barrier that appeared at the peak of her flight, lunged toward another enemy, whom she literally crushed, scattering the rest with a shockwave as she dampened her fall speed with biotics.
"Damn, they're monsters..."
Kaidan Alenko's voice sounded a bit lost. He wasn't in a hurry to use his biotics, realizing that the further we went, the harder it would get. His abilities would be needed later.
The battle went quiet...
"Is that it?"
Tali peeked out from behind cover and looked around.
"Seems so for now..."
Jane, nodding, stepped out and approached me.
"...John, don't you dare do that again! And you, Liara, too! Don't take risks like that!"
"We'll try."
I answered for both of us, but I could see in Jane's eyes that she didn't believe me—not for a second. Then again, I wouldn't have believed myself in a similar situation.
"I didn't say I promise..."
I even had to raise my hands, as if to say I wasn't lying.
"...I said we'll try. So don't look at me like that. Let's just keep going."
And we did indeed move on, finally managing to get into Saren's fortress itself, where fighting the enemies proved easier. Before, even though they were as dumb as posts, the open terrain gave them plenty of room to spread out. But in the building... in the building, they started to bunch up, and destroying them became significantly easier.
Though 'easier' only if you take into account our abnormal company, in which Jane, Chifuyu Orimura, Rebecca Lee, Ashley Williams, and Garrus Vakarian were clad in exoskeletons and carried heavy weaponry. And heavy not by human standards, but specifically by exoskeleton standards. Five biotics if you count me, and these biotics are very strong. Wrex is a separate entry on the list, and then there's Tali with her two YMIR Mechs... all in all, a motley crew, but extremely effective and deadly.
Now, if I had acted in squads of three, as happened in the game, we would have all died here... and not so much because of the danger of the enemies, but because they would have simply buried us in bodies. And burying our company in bodies is a bit problematic.
"Damn, there are so many of them here..."
"Well, Saren needs an army."
Lissi responded to Wrex's dissatisfied growls, speaking with a slight thoughtfulness in her voice.
"So he's stamping them out... it's a good thing there isn't much room here and he just can't unleash everyone who's probably in here on us."
Her sister immediately joined the conversation.
"Or maybe he just doesn't see us as a threat yet."
I shrugged carelessly, watching Tali out of the corner of my eye as she connected to another terminal; this time she was fumbling a bit longer.
"Found a map of this complex..."
"Download it and let's move."
Soon, fighting through the complex's rooms, we found ourselves in a hall with a Prothean beacon, around which a sort of scaffolding had been erected.
"That's..."
Liara rushed forward, but since I knew what to expect, I grabbed her by the shoulder, not letting her touch that old piece of junk.
"You..."
A red image of a Reaper appeared over the beacon.
"...you are not Saren."
"Oh, you're mistaken... Saren is right here..."
I slapped Garrus on the shoulder of his exoskeleton.
"Lesser race, you cannot deceive me. I know who you are, but your struggle is futile. I am the harbinger of your destruction..."
"Harbinger?"
"Yes."
"Coo-ool... and what if you don't manage to destroy us?"
"Your fate is already sealed; the races of this cycle will make room for those who come after. This cycle will not be finished."
"Interesting, but we don't want to."
"Your desire is irrelevant. WE are the pinnacle of evolution, and only we will decide the fate of this galaxy."
"I see... well, then don't be offended when we don't agree to be destroyed."
"It does not matter... you will be destroyed."
"Eh... I thought I was talking to an AI, but this is just some glitched VI."
I shook my head.
"Your insults are irrelevant. Your cycle is coming to an end; you will be destroyed."
"Listen, you're right... some kind of glitched VI."
Jane also shook her head.
"You know... I've had enough of this!"
Wrex pulled out a grenade launcher, and we were forced to jump back as the grenade hit the Beacon exactly a moment later, blowing it to pieces.
"Wrex!"
Liara stood up from the floor and turned fiercely toward the large lizard.
"That! That! That!"
"Liara, don't touch Wrex!"
Lissi looked sternly at her boss's daughter.
"Yes, Wrex is a sweetheart! He did everything right!"
Missi also took Wrex's side.
"Yes, yes... we know you've fallen for our big guy..."
During these words from Ashley Williams, who decided to side with Liara, Wrex shifted from foot to foot. Honestly, seeing an embarrassed, nearly five-hundred-kilogram lizard... it was a surreal sight, though lately, I had been observing such things periodically. After all, this brute clearly wasn't used to having two Asari fighting for his attention at once, and not even trying to pull his attention only to themselves, but working as a single front.
"...but, damn, you could have at least warned us so we could move away properly..."
***
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