Saren didn't want to wake up, but for every sleepyhead, there's a Samara who knows how to kick sleepers perfectly. She handled the task assigned – bringing the Spectre to his senses – excellently. And fortunately, no one was harmed; our victim's body consists mostly of implants, not living tissue.
To put it simply, we didn't even break his ribs, because he doesn't have any.
As soon as he came to, he immediately became despondent, starting to suspect me of brainwashing. Unthinkable! What an ignorant turian I've stumbled upon! Me, abuse the Force's suggestion, forcing cosmic races against their will to do something for me?
Definitely, that happened yesterday, and the day before... And about twenty minutes ago...
Alright, his suspicions aren't unfounded. But with him specifically, I didn't need to use brainwashing. Any interference in a strong mind leads to the deformation of combat skills, and I need the Spectre at the peak of his strength to counter the threat.
I tried to explain this to him clearly, using my companions as arguments, who can express their will in any of its manifestations. As a rule, they do this by joking about me, their poor commander.
One way or another, after half an hour of peaceful conversation, he finally accepted my position. He himself must have understood that many of his actions were at odds with his past personality, and that only speaks of outside interference.
Saren weighed everything, then cited an instance where he shot his colleague in the back, even though he always considered himself above stooping to the level of humans – after all, they are the ones who betray their comrades most often.
— The Council won't just let this go, Starkiller. I'm in deep shit. Now they'll put a bounty on my capture, and all the Spectres will be sent to punish the traitor. Convince those cretins that I wasn't in my right mind and fell under the influence of Sovereign, a Reaper dreadnought? Come on, they'll never believe that nonsense. Not even if they come face to face with the threat.
— Video surveillance cameras, recordings from your omni-tool, Reaper technology and knowledge. You have plenty of proof of their existence. We'll provide it and present the Council with the fact of the cosmic threat's reality. If, after the statements of two Spectres, after all the evidence and arguments provided, they just wave us goodbye... Oh, I've already planned the capture of the Citadel in my spare time...
— What? - Samara asked.
— What? - I spread my hands, deciding to change the subject: — Don't you all think about how to destroy all life or conquer the universe in your free time? Or at least the Citadel?
— Only about how my people will defeat the geth and win back our homeworld, - Tali spoke up, nervously fidgeting with her three fingers.
— Interspecies differences, - I chuckled. — But that's not important. There's an opportunity, through blood and sweat, to seize the Citadel and take matters into our own hands, if we achieve nothing with peaceful solutions. Because, as I understand it, time is running out?
— I found the Beacon. It showed me a vision from the past... The Protheans left records of how they were destroyed not by hundreds, but by thousands, tens of thousands of Reaper ships. One is enough to wipe out all life on a planet. Not immediately, but through rapid genocide. What will an invincible fleet do? It can't be stopped. It is an inevitability.
— Yep, inevitability itself, - I shook my head. — If they really have a powerful fleet, leaving our forces no chance of victory... Then while there's time before the invasion, we should try to match their power.
— Any ideas?
— Let's just say, I just so happen to have knowledge of how to build a weapon capable of destroying worlds. One shot – one corpse. Only instead of a sentient individual, a whole planet features in this equation. The Death Star. We can build it, improve it, and increase its power using element zero. One of those is enough to keep one System under control. That's in theory. In practice, if the Reapers suddenly manage to bypass the line of fire and destroy the Death Star's reactor, it will be sad. Building one will require so many resources, you couldn't get them from a hundred asteroids. Losses are unacceptable.
— If the Reapers hack it and take control of it, we'll be the ones praying, not them. We'll die by our own blade, - Saren commented sensibly.
— I completely agree. I don't know where you got the knowledge to construct such a weapon, but if it falls into enemy hands, we'll be worse off than without it, - Samara also spoke as the voice of reason.
— Um... If we cut off the extranet, and also improve the security system, - Tali looked at her hands, clasping her fingers. I hope she has a quick count, since there are only six fingers in total. — Remove all unnecessary devices. Install a signal jammer... Select personnel without implants. Hide the development... Um...
She finally ran out of fingers.
— They won't be able to hack the system. I will place mental barriers on all Death Star personnel, thereby eliminating the factor of betrayal. As for the technology itself, I know a unique coding language that is unknown to the Reapers. It's impossible to hack something you don't understand, something you're unaware of, something that is beyond your comprehension, - I assured them calmly, having already prepared for such a question.
I'm not used to throwing around baseless proposals incapable of helping the mission. Our mission, as stupid as it sounds, is to save an entire galaxy from destruction.
It wasn't to be a savior that I learned to wield a red lightsaber. However, while I may not be a saint by human standards, I am not a slave to the Dark Side of the Force either. I am Starkiller – the exterminator of any among the cosmic inhabitants who hinders me from achieving my desire.
— So, we will need all the resources we can theoretically get. Physical, synthetic, and biological. Geth, quarians, turians, humans... Are you saying all sentient races must turn out their pockets for the good of common survival? Eh, this won't be easy, - Saren sighed.
— The Justicars will help; the asari will be forced to cooperate under threat of being accused of crimes against our race, - Samara proposed a cunning plan, in which I sensed the hidden power of the Dark Side.
If it were hardened, she would make a first-class Sith. Hmm, should I train someone to control the Force? No, not an option. It would take years, decades. I myself trained my whole life, and still reached barely half of what my enemies know – Darth Vader, and even more so, Darth Sidious.
— Turians... I have many connections with their high command. As long as the Council doesn't drive wedges of discord, I will try to bring many squads to our side. After all, we're already doomed; we lose nothing if we try to fight back.
— Well... my father is an admiral, - Tali'Zorah stated unexpectedly, turning out to be a girl with good family connections. Among the quarians, admirals are considered something like kings.
Even if their power is limited by voting, if you've won one king to your side, it will be easier to negotiate with the rest. Consider it one vote already in the bag. Once the quarians vote for the fight, we'll acquire the strength of thousands of outstanding technicians.
— An Admiral. A Justicar. A Spectre. A good team is shaping up, isn't it, Starkiller? - the turian let out an ironic chuckle. — Suspiciously good, enough to make one doubt a few things. Haven't you been brainwashed? What if the plan to create the Death Star doesn't belong to you, but to the Reapers? You talk about an encryption language that no one knows. About a weapon no one has heard of. And you've gathered allies who are accelerating the assembly process.
— And I also possess unbridled Force, - I smirked. — But this has nothing to do with the Reapers. It's about the origin of the Force. It permeates all life and shows not only the present, but also the times between eras.
— Understood, but it's called something else. Not eras, but cycles. Every cycle, the Reapers come to our galaxy, exterminate all life, giving new life a chance to emerge and undeveloped races to evolve.
Stepping away and leaning against a container, Saren continued:
— The Reapers don't wipe everything out completely, as I learned from Sovereign. Their task is completely different: to give everyone a chance to reach their peak development, after which they come and erase all achievements. It's like a program, programmed for a monotonous routine. Yes, most likely, our enemies are robots, just like the geth. Only an older generation, much older than the Protheans. After all, someone existed before them. And before them, technologies like the Death Star and a unique coding language could have existed. But the Reapers existed then, too. Consequently, if I understood you correctly... You know about a past where they already were. This means our enemies are already prepared.
Beads of sweat began to form on my face, but the helmet hid everything securely.
— Life exists not only in this galaxy. I'm talking about the scale of the universe. And I know of sectors where extermination has never occurred. Where, as you put it, "cycles" have never existed.
— I understand, - Saren nodded, continuing confidently: — The Council will send us to the aedagus.
Aedagus...
Pondering the hard life of turians, who have an aedagus instead of a penis, I noticed an approaching starship. There was no need to guess its affiliation – Saren informed me they were geth scouts, delivering living cargo.
Asking for details, I learned about the illegal kidnapping of an asari named Liara T'Soni. A scientist who dedicated her life to studying the Protheans. Her mother, an asari Matriarch, is considered an incredible warrior and is currently... breeding rachni to attack the Citadel.
The Rachni Queen survived after all, and now the Milky Way is once again threatened by insectoid monsters. Wonderful. I can brainwash the queen and get an army of cannon fodder!
Hmm... No, I definitely don't abuse the Force.
When we approached the ship, the airlock opened, and an interesting picture appeared before us: a first-class beauty with skin the color of the blue sky, surrounded by geth.
Saren decided to deal with her escort.
Walking up to them, he snapped his head sharply and exclaimed:
— Who is that?!
After his question, the geth turned in the direction where there wasn't a single life form. A fatal mistake on their part. Saren snatched his pistol from its holster and opened fire on the allied geth.
— You claimed... how did it go? That shooting someone in the back is low? - Samara calmly reminded him, slightly surprised by his actions.
— Pathetic asari. You don't understand, these geth are not our allies. It's okay to shoot them in the back! - Saren wanted to add something to his excuses, but restrained himself.
— Shooting geth in the back is an honor, - I couldn't restrain myself.
— Glad you understand, Starkiller, - he nodded gratefully, heading towards the geth ship.
I motioned for my allies to help the captive, while I drew my red lightsaber, activated it, and fell in step with Saren. For some reason, he raised his hand, as if offering a fist bump, like combat comrades do. But I had lost all trust in such a comrade. Not even a masochist would trust his back to this guy.
But oh well, our little squad for saving the galaxy is like a family.
And every family has its black sheep...
Bumping fists, we abruptly rushed forward, penetrating the enemy ship, which was full of geth. They immediately recognized Saren as a traitor, so they opened fire on him. They only broke their fangs. He has the most advanced energy shield in the galaxy; you couldn't break through it even with a rocket launcher, let alone assault weapons.
As for me, since Saren had taken on the role of bait, I acted as the main striking force. I darted from one enemy to another, elegantly performing a dance of blades, chopping the synthetics into iron straw. Those who were in an inconvenient position for me became targets for Saren.
We understood each other perfectly, and this helped achieve amazing results: clearing the ship took less than five minutes. As a result, we had a vessel full of geth technology. If we let Tali loose on it, she would quickly extract useful information about our enemy, and also switch the ship to allied mode for the flight to the Citadel.
Returning to my allies, who were actively discussing something, I addressed the scientist:
— Liara T'Soni, welcome to the enemy base that has become allied for us.
— Saren! - she ignored me, looking ardently at the turian. — You... why did you order me to be kidnapped?! And by geth, no less! I wasn't bothering you in any way.
— You didn't tell her? - Saren looked questioningly at Samara and Tali.
— She assumes you were acting of your own free will, - the justicar briefly explained. — And it's hard to convince her otherwise.
— Sovereign ordered you to be delivered, because you possess knowledge of Prothean technology. But I wasn't the one running the operation, - he sighed, spinning his pistol on his finger, then returned it to its holster. — Matriarch Benezia.
— Mother? But why? Why would she do that? - Liara looked stunned.
— We were brainwashed. Anyone who set foot on Sovereign's ship became its slave. Benezia is no exception. But we have a cure; it will help restore her sanity, just as it helped me, - the turian pointed at me.
— I possess abilities that allow me to protect another's mind from outside interference. If we find her, I will try to selflessly help one of the spiritual leaders of your people. A leader who has connections on Thessia, valuable resources, and squads of outstanding asari warriors.
— Selflessly? - Samara was surprised.
— Um... I'm not experienced in these things, but that sounded a bit too heroic, - Tali remarked with doubt, trying to join the conversation. — To promise help and then list everything you can get from it... Yes! Right! There are definitely no, um...
— Hidden stones, - Saren helped, familiar with the culture of his enemies – humans.
— Yes, hidden stones and other...
— Slippery nuances born of greed, - Samara added, closing her eyes as if praying for my sinful soul.
— Eh... We have a ship; it's time to transfer everything we'll need for the war and the Council onto it. Or the war against the Council, - Saren looked toward the warehouse. — As soon as we're done, we'll head straight to Benezia. I'll show you a shortcut and help you break through the research complex's security systems.
— And you'll show me where the Rachni Queen is being kept.
— Why?
— Wait, didn't the krogan exterminate all the Rachni? - Liara chimed in.
She definitely looked cute for an asari. She even had eyebrows – a rare genetic mutation for her race. And by all appearances, Liara was a strong biotic. Weaker than Samara, but still impressive. Strong and beautiful, a good addition to my team.
— Don't interrupt me! - Saren raised a hand. — Starkiller, why do you need the Rachni Queen?
— To subordinate her to my will and use her brood to fight the Reapers.
— And after this, you said something to me about a shot in the back? Asari... Humans... how I hate you! - he snarled, turning away, as if a lesser villain had been offended by a greater one.
— Reapers? What is going on?
— What, exactly, were you two talking about? - I asked my allies.
— About the weather? - Samara asked for some reason.
— We were helping her recover after the kidnapping, - Tali explained. — And we didn't want to shock her... with Reapers, Rachni, the destruction of all life in the galaxy...
— Thank you very much, - Liara noted sarcastically. — But I would be grateful if you would actually bring me up to speed. I can help.
— Who will take this?
— Any of the asari race will believe the words of a justicar, - Samara volunteered.
— As a Spectre, I confirm everything she says, - I backed her up.
— Enough talk! Starkiller, will you help me move everything from the warehouse?
— I can move the warehouse itself, if you don't mind.
— Humans, - he hissed with disgust, but no refusal followed.
How much does a warehouse with all its equipment weigh?