"Oh..."
"What?"
I shot a quick glance at Tali, who had managed to connect to a terminal after the Beacon's destruction.
"I've entered the system and disabled the Anti-Air Defense towers... unfortunately, they don't have a self-destruct..."
"Overload the systems... have them open rapid fire into the void on some ultra-demanding operating mode. One where they'll just burn out all their electronics in a couple of minutes."
Ashley Williams said this in a casual tone, and Tali immediately slapped her faceplate with her palm.
"How did I not think of that myself?! Thank you, Ashley!"
Tali did something very quickly, and immediately we heard the Anti-Air Defense towers operating. Moreover, it was immediately clear to anyone even slightly in the know that the towers were working at the limit of their capabilities.
"I've disabled the jammer too."
"Kirrahe, how are things on your end?"
"Oh! Communication is back! That's good, and things are going well for us, thanks to you. You made such a good noise that we barely encountered any enemies."
"Good... we've turned on the Anti-Air Defense towers so they overheat and short-circuit, so the bombs can be delivered to us soon. Also, we've got a map of the complex; I'm sending it over."
"Thank you... that will simplify the advance to the target point."
With that, the negotiations were over, and we continued moving toward the destination. It was only when we reached it, after going through a few more battles, that the Anti-Air Defense towers had already been disabled.
"John Shepard..."
Saren Arterius appeared on a platform above the base wall, and pain could be seen in his eyes. I got the impression that he already understood what kind of shit he'd stepped into but could no longer get out of it. I don't know if he's trying to resist, but it doesn't matter. What matters is that he must be stopped.
A singularity was sent his way, but he merely raised the platform higher.
"...ha, that won't get you anything..."
But the singularity stopped exactly under the platform and began to warp it, so the Turian had to jump off it and, going into a roll, hide from a hail of bullets that shredded the Geth who were about to disembark from other platforms.
"Shepard! You're like a speck in my eye! Just like your whole race!"
"Oh, I can be more than a speck in your eye; I can be something much worse..."
Of course, some analogies were on the tip of my tongue, but I didn't want to voice them in relation to myself. So I preferred to leave room for the imagination. As they say, everyone thinks to the extent of their own depravity.
At the same time, I threw a few more biotic techniques toward Saren while the others continued to shower him with a hail of bullets.
"You don't understand! This is the only way to survive!"
"Survive? Like the Krogan you're cloning here? They have no brains of their own at all! Just like the Geth! Standard tactics, barely use cover..."
I didn't forget to throw biotic techniques at Saren, which he dodged.
"...that's not life anymore. It's hard to even call it existence."
"You don't understand! We have no chance of opposing them! We can only submit! To ensure survival somehow!"
"Ha, and do you like your current existence yourself?!"
A thunderous shot from a sniper rifle at the Turian, who was jumping from another biotic move, shot off Saren's arm—that was Garrus Vakarian doing his wicked work.
"A-a-a-a-ah!"
A cry of pain, after which an almost unimaginable number of Geth and Krogan swarmed us, simply giving us no chance to end this fight with Saren's death.
"He's going to get away, the bastard!"
Jane was extremely unhappy that Saren had begun to retreat.
"Fire! Fire!"
We even stood up to our full height and started firing from all barrels, but Saren still managed to escape, after which the enemies soon went quiet as well.
"Boss, I've sent the Kodiak Shuttles with the bombs... so expect the presents."
Joker contacted us, and literally five minutes later the shuttles arrived. We began unloading the bombs, which we set for a specific time. However, we couldn't just take off and leave; as if sensing that the base was about to be destroyed, wave after wave of new enemies threw themselves at us. We had to repel them, repel them, and repel them again.
"We're leaving!"
When literally three minutes remained until the explosion, at my command, everyone boarded the shuttle, which immediately, pushing its engines, flew as far away as possible. There was no longer any way to defuse the bomb, and soon an explosion sounded behind our backs, and our shuttle jolted slightly.
"Is that it?"
"Well... almost... I still have work to do..."
Tali held up an Omni-tool that had belonged to Saren. Kaidan Alenko had pulled the arm with the Omni-tool to her, and I was grateful to Tali for thinking of it and to Kaidan for helping her.
"Go ahead..."
I sighed.
"What happened?"
Jane, catching my mood with slight concern, turned to me.
"I just feel like I'm going to get chewed out for this explosion... whatever, though... those are my problems, and I'll deal with them. And you... you should rest..."
** Some time later. **
"Shepard, how are we to understand this?"
Valern looked at me with distaste.
"You detonated dangerous charges at an extremely dangerous scientific complex, which could make Virmire unfit for further development. Do you even understand the consequences of your actions?"
"I do..."
I answered quite calmly, as I didn't fear the wrath of these politicians. After all, when you know the end of the world is coming soon, you start to perceive the chatter of politicians differently. No, I understand they can certainly cause me trouble, but at the same time, I'm not going to tremble at the slightest displeasure from these characters.
"...I helped STG operatives carry out the destruction of a large base belonging to the rogue Spectre Saren, where he was conducting experiments to create an army of Krogan absolutely subordinate to him. Yes, the ecosystem of Virmire may have suffered during this operation, but considering what the consequences could have been had we not destroyed this laboratory..."
I shook my head.
"That is not for you to decide."
"Nor for you, Councilor. This will be decided only by a vote of the Council, not by you personally. I understand, of course, that you want to divert our attention from the fact that the STG was on Virmire significantly longer and achieved nothing... Also from the fact that it was the STG representatives who suggested the explosion... And that it was they who provided the bombs. However, you have not succeeded..."
Tevos spoke in a calm voice.
"Councilor!"
"I agree with Councilor Tevos."
Sparatus supported the Councilor, who nodded to him as if to say, "We'll call it even." Or at least that's how I took it, while she just thanked him for not staying silent. Who knows with these politicians.
"Councilors, I am not absolving the STG of responsibility, but I wish to point out that a Spectre has much broader authority, and he could have prevented such barbaric actions."
Sparatus and Tevos sighed; they clearly didn't like that Valern continued to insist on being right.
"Councilor, it is already decided; the Spectre will not be punished. He acted within his own authority."
Tevos drew a line under the discussion.
"In any case, I demand that Spectre Shepard return to the Citadel for a public review of this matter. You cannot refuse me this."
Tevos sighed, after which the connection was cut, but not for long, as literally five minutes later I had to return to the comm room.
"Shepard... you shouldn't worry about Valern. He wants to shield the STG, of course, but in any case, you are in no danger."
"Well, I'm..."
I shrugged somewhat uncertainly.
"...not very worried about the hearing; I'm more worried that I might not catch Saren. But there's nothing I can do about that now. An order is an order."
"I'm glad you understand that... and, by the way, we were able to get the address of the relay that leads to Ilos from the Queen. So when you arrive at the Citadel, I will personally give you the data."
"Thank you."
"We're in this together..."
She sighed.
"...though not everyone understands that the war will be truly terrible. Some sentients believe that by closing themselves off in developed territories, they can wait out the storm and then take a leading place in the galaxy."
"And that's because the Asari showed excessive softness in their time and established this Council."
Tevos only smirked at my words.
"Eh... makes you want to just run away from the galaxy..."
"Anyway, return to the Citadel, and we'll sort everything out there."
"Understood."
The connection cut, and I, with a sigh, headed to my cabin.
** Somewhere. **
"Damn! How am I supposed to get to her?!"
A beautiful black-haired girl in Cerberus clothing bit her thumb nail. She had specifically avoided contacting her sister so that she wouldn't be in danger not only from their father but from Cerberus as well—she understood perfectly well that her organization wasn't a gathering of saints. And now, when she finally had freedom of action because she had become the Illusive Man's right hand, she decided to secretly check on how Oriana was doing...
"How could she get mixed up in this?!"
A biotic charge flew into the wall.
Miranda Lawson—for it was indeed she—did not understand how her father could have caught her sister and forced her to work for him. She didn't believe that his heir had done it, nor did she believe that her father was dead. She was certain it was all his cunning plan aimed at lowering her guard.
"Damn, damn, damn..."
Miranda was literally pacing her room.
"...what should I do?!"
She froze in the center of the room, and now she was literally torn between trying to make direct contact with her sister to reveal all the cards to her, and turning to the Illusive Man—he would certainly have enough resources to put pressure on Henry... and on this heir of his.
"Tch..."
Miranda spat out a piece of the nail she had bitten off in a completely uncultured manner and looked at her finger with irritation.
"Hm..."
An idea appeared in her head.
"After all, my sister clearly has to take care of herself... I should try to find out exactly how she does it and try to replace a specialist with myself. And then, in a personal meeting, tell her everything as it is."
Resolve flashed in Miranda's eyes as she figured out how to save her sister from the clutches of that scum who was their father.
** End. **
"Come in..."
I glanced at the entrance to my cabin and saw Ashley Williams, who walked in and shifted from foot to foot.
"Yes?"
"Captain... I... can I talk to you?"
"About what?"
"I... I just thought... when all this is over, I'd like to return to service in the Systems Alliance, and so I want to ask you to help facilitate that."
"If that's what you want..."
I shrugged carelessly.
"I'll write you a recommendation; I don't think Jane will refuse to write a few positive reviews, and then we'll hand you over to Anderson or Hackett. They're good men; they won't pay attention to your grandfather's history."
"I... Thank you."
"Nothing to thank me for yet... when it's all over, then you can thank me. Until then, I hope you'll continue to serve on this ship with full dedication."
"Yes, sir!"
The girl was very encouraged.
"Good. Now, if there are no more questions..."
"No questions, but there is a request."
"A request?"
"Yes... don't torment Tali..."
I raised my eyebrows, as she was the last person I expected something like that from.
"...talk to her. Your ignoring her is hurting her very much."
"Alright... I'll consider your request."
After that, Ashley Williams left my cabin, and I thought about her words.
***
Read the story months before public release — early chapters are on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Granulan