The server transfer went as planned. And now I could watch as a small courier ship flew off into the unknown. Well, rather, for most, it was flying into the unknown, but for me, it was flying to one of my colonies in the Terminus Systems. Specifically to the water colony Bali, where at a very great depth, where no scanner can detect it, lies a bunker that is to become the foundation for the survival of species in this cycle.
"Captain?"
Chifuyu Orimura approached me, and I, turning around with a slight smile, raised an eyebrow.
"Yes?"
"I wanted to ask you..."
"Chifuyu, let's agree: you just tell me what you want, and I'll tell you if I can do it."
"Uh-huh... I actually have a request: can my brother be moved to one of your colonies?"
I raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"Well, I'm not against it, but what made you think of that? Your brother... if I'm not mistaken, he's on Earth. A fairly protected place. What made you want to move him to one of my colonies?"
"John, well, I have eyes and ears. And I perfectly understand the tone you just used when saying Earth is a safe place—it emphasizes that there's no safety there at all. And I also understand that you personally won't want to abandon your colonies; you work on their security and generally take very serious care of the colonies. You have bunkers there and everything..."
She waved her hand.
"...anyway, I want my brother to be safe when the full-scale war with the Reapers begins. And I'll achieve that if I move him to one of your colonies."
"Well, I'm not against it..."
Carelessly shrugging my shoulders, I activated my Omni-tool and, quickly checking the data, waved to her, as if saying: follow me.
"Alright, let's go, I'll issue a warrant for an apartment, then we'll coordinate where I should send a transport so your brother can get to the colony you choose without any problems."
"And I have a choice?"
"Of course you have a choice..."
I nodded to her, showing that it couldn't be any other way.
"You can choose Eden Prime—it's not all good there yet, but I think in the next two years everything will change significantly. Bali is a colony on the water, and Limis is a planet where this colony is located, mostly forested. So..."
"Bali. He always loves the sea. So Bali is better."
"Alright."
I nodded, and when we reached my office, I sat at the desk to write the apartment warrant, but then Joker contacted me.
"Sir, we have problems."
"What kind of problems?"
"Just received a signal from the colony on Terra Nova. Asteroid X57, where they planned to build an orbital port, has stopped communicating, and its engines are still running. If things continue to develop this way, the asteroid will simply crash into the colony."
I frowned.
"I'm correct in understanding that the fall of this asteroid will simply destroy the colony?"
"Correct."
Joker was dead serious.
"Then head for the asteroid as quickly as possible. We need to deal with the situation."
"Understood."
"Joker, when I say as quickly as possible, I mean I authorize running the engines and core at peak levels."
"Understood! Attention crew. Operation of engines and core at peak levels is authorized. Landing group, get ready."
"I'll be there later..."
"Wait..."
I waved my hand carelessly and finished writing the document, which I immediately forwarded to Chifuyu, as well as to Oriana, with a note as to whom exactly the apartment warrant was issued and that he needed to be picked up from Earth. Only after that did I wave my hand to Chifuyu, showing that she was free.
"You can write a letter to your brother now, or after this mission, use the radio room and just call him."
"I really can?!"
"Well, I think the news that he's being taken from Earth is better delivered personally. Since he might react... inadequately."
"Hm... I'll contact him personally after this landing. You're right."
"Well, then get ready for the landing, because I think this time we'll need all possible forces and means."
"Think it's that serious?"
"I think a terrorist attack is quite possible, but from whose side, I don't know."
"Well, it's clear from whose side... only Batarians do that kind of thing."
I grimaced, as I realized that Chifuyu was likely right. Unfortunately, I remembered from canon that it was a terrorist attack, but I no longer knew who had staged it. So all that remained was to prepare for everything possible. Which I began to do, as did the entire landing group.
The landing was quiet and unnoticed by our possible opponents. My group included Jane, Chifuyu, Tali, Garrus, and Liara, and everyone else was on the second M35 Mako under Rebecca's command. And, splitting up, we headed for two different engines that were pushing the asteroid toward the colony.
"Sensors are picking up a minefield."
Chifuyu's voice was tense.
"Don't stop."
"Understood."
Chifuyu didn't argue, nor did she slow down or speed up, and maintaining the same speed, she drove into the minefield. At the same time, the surface of the asteroid in front of us was covered by a biotic barrier that we were driving on.
Explosions!
They were what accompanied our progress, but the mines were unable to harm the M35 Mako, although in some cases the biotic barrier became so thin that one more explosion could have completely destroyed it. But fortunately, the mines weren't placed close enough to each other. So in literally a minute, we flew through the entire minefield and very quickly disembarked from the M35 Mako, heading inside the hull that was responsible for the engine's operation.
"Enemy!"
They were Batarians after all, and judging by their equipment, far from ordinary ones; though it's understandable—among Batarians, piracy is put on an assembly line. They simply engage in mass slave trade, theft, and everything else, while justifying it with some nonsense.
These thoughts didn't stop me from covering us with a barrier from a Batarian who opened fire on us; though in the next second, an unplanned hole for a fifth eye appeared in his head, left by Garrus with his sniper rifle.
"Fire!"
Jane gave the order, and the others immediately began shooting at the Batarians, who, though not many, managed to put up some resistance. And I would have even started to worry if there were more Batarians, or if they were better armed. However, what wasn't there, wasn't there.
"Tali, shut down the engine."
I gave a short order to the girl when there were no Batarians left in this control point, and she, quickly reaching it, connected to the local computer.
"Captain..."
Rebecca's voice came over the internal comms.
"...we're in place, entering the control room."
"Be careful in there. They're Batarians, at least that's who we encountered."
"Understood, will report as soon as we shut down the engine."
I only smirked under my helmet, then looked around but found nothing noteworthy.
"Captain..."
Garrus caught my attention and I, turning slightly, watched as he approached me with Omni-tools, weapons, and those armor elements that could be quickly removed and used in our armor as spare parts.
"Where does all this go?"
"Mount it on the M35 Mako..."
Respect could be heard in my voice, and in the next moment, we heard the engine stop humming, which meant it had been shut down.
"I'm done."
"Good job, moving to the main building."
As we loaded into the M35 Mako, a signal came from Rebecca.
"Revi reporting. No enemy detected, engine shut down."
"Excellent, move to the third engine, but don't go inside; your intervention might be needed from an unexpected side or something... don't even show yourselves; take sniper positions and wait."
"Understood."
Our M35 Mako's engine growled, after which we moved to the third destination.
"Captain,"
While you are traveling, there should be survivors at the third point. At the very least, a girl contacted us asking to save her and her colleagues.
"And there will most likely be enemies there."
"Thank you for the information."
"Yeah..."
The Mako drove smoothly over the rocky terrain, and I felt the slight tension reigning inside. Everyone understood perfectly well that if we hadn't arrived here in time, it could have been a very significant blow to humanity. And not in the sense that the Systems Alliance would suffer greatly from it. Not at all; the ruling circles of the Alliance wouldn't suffer, and the most thieving ones would even make money on pseudo-charity, collecting donations and pocketing anywhere from fifty to one hundred percent of the funds raised. But the civilians would be killed... a great many civilians would be killed, and they have friends, acquaintances, families...
At the same time, the possibility of this blow happening still remains. All because we haven't deactivated the third engine yet. And even when we deactivate them, the inertia of movement will remain, which will need to be dampened, and then the asteroid must be returned to its previous orbit.
"We've arrived."
Chifuyu Orimura stopped the Mako.
"Chief, rig the Mako with explosives so that if someone doesn't know it's mined and tries to get in..."
"Khem..."
It seems my words slightly shocked the girl, who hadn't expected such a request from me. However, she didn't argue, as usual, and soon we were walking toward the main building, which was significantly larger than anything we had seen previously on this asteroid.
"Silence... like a morgue."
Jane Shepard said this quietly as we walked through the building, looking closely at what was happening around us.
"Stop!"
A gruff voice, whose owner was clearly addressing us, notified us that we should go no further.
"Who are you?"
I asked this question in a calm voice; there was no need to search for the one who addressed us, as I noticed him immediately as soon as we entered this large hall.
"Hah, I am the one whose plan you ruined! This asteroid was supposed to fall on Terra Nova and show humanity that they are nobodies! That you only exist because the Council is covering for you!"
"Yes, yes..."
I nodded mockingly.
"And the Batarians as a state entity only exist because the Council doesn't care about you for now. But if you attract too much attention, the combined fleet of Citadel Space will simply destroy you..."
My words clearly displeased the Batarian, who was holding a girl right in front of him.
"Shut up! You know nothing of the Batarian Hegemony!"
"I don't have to know anything. However, I suggest we get down to business... what do you want? Since you started this conversation, you clearly want something..."
"Hah, this bitch and her colleagues—we'll leave them alive if you let me and my subordinates leave."
I sighed.
"Well, sure... and you want me to believe that you'll just let them go?"
"Just? No..."
The Batarian shook his head.
"...you'll have to work to save her colleagues, as they are hidden in this building and are near a bomb... one of them."
The Batarian smirked. It was visible through the transparent visor of his helmet.
"And if you let us go, you'll have a chance to save them... if you start fighting us, you definitely won't have time to defuse the bombs and the civilians will die."
"Fine... I give my word that we will not leave this building until we defuse the bombs and ensure the safety of the civilians."
I shrugged quite calmly.
"The right choice..."
The Batarian smirked and, along with his subordinates who began emerging from cover, headed for the exit of the hall. As he passed us, he shoved the hostage toward me, and I caught her carefully.
"I hope you die here."
"I hope your ship, or wherever you're going... well, I hope it can't fly, because I'll come and kill you after I'm finished with the bombs."
"Dream on... human."
They finally left us.
"Let's work!"
Jane Shepard gave a short order, and everyone rushed to find the bombs and the hostages.
***
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