"Captain, some weird shit is going on here..."
Slight anxiety was heard in Joker's voice as he contacted me, and I hurried to the cockpit.
"Repeat, SSV Normandy, you are denied landing on Noveria. Should you attempt to land the ship, fire will be opened upon you."
"This is a Spectre of the Council speaking..."
I immediately gave Joker a signal to let me speak.
"My mission is approved by the Citadel Council. Any attempt to interfere with me will result in the planet Noveria being declared a pirate haven. Following your words, I have drafted an order to the nearest Citadel fleet for the total destruction of the planet. Should you open fire, I will have time to send it, and your days will be numbered."
"S-Spectre?!"
Panic was heard in the voice of the girl who had been telling us landing was denied.
"My apologies! I didn't know..."
"Bullshit, I said right away that there was a Spectre on board."
Joker wasn't going to make this girl's life any easier, and I understood him.
"Please wait just ten minutes, I'll contact my superiors."
"Joker, take us in for landing..."
I didn't hesitate to give the order to my pilot in front of the girl.
"However, in case of aggression, be ready to immediately return fire on the nearest administrative buildings."
"Understood, Captain."
Joker nodded seriously.
"Wait! That's not how it's done!"
"Listen, kid..."
A condescending smile could be heard in my voice.
"...I'm a Spectre; I don't give a damn how things are done on your planet. No, if I had flown here as the owner of one of the corporations with a branch here, I would have waited, while considering whether to move my branch somewhere else. But I arrived as a Spectre, and I don't give a shit about your procedures. I have a job to do."
"At least wait three minutes! I'll tell my superiors there's a Spectre here."
"Joker, start the descent in five minutes."
I decided to give the girl time to do her job after all. Although there wasn't much time for it—to be honest, it was cutting it close.
"Understood."
The connection with Noveria was cut.
"Joker, I've ordered a course of supportive medications for you. They'll be loaded right here on Noveria. You need to take them."
"Hm?"
He looked at me questioningly.
"Well, about your illness... I warned you that you'd have to undergo some treatment."
"Ah..."
He nodded understandingly.
"If you say I have to—then I'll take the course of treatment."
Hmm... during our last conversation, Joker was more enthusiastic when he found out he could be fixed up a bit. I wonder what happened in the meantime?
"Joker?"
"Yeah... I just looked up information on my illness. No new methods..."
"Right, I see, ego's through the roof."
"Huh?"
"Exactly!"
I put a little pressure on the guy with my gaze.
"Do you really think major corporations are going to release such developments to the public?"
"Why not? It's..."
"Because no matter how large a corporation is, it'll just be beaten down by the cooperative efforts of pharmaceutical corporations. No, something leaks out, of course, but..."
I shook my head.
"There's a chance for everyone to produce those biotic implants, but as for medications... and approaches to treating diseases. It's bleak there..."
Joker watched me with a focused gaze.
"In short, my corporation has the ability to treat you; yes, it will be hard, I'd even say very hard for you. You'll have to spend at least a year in the hospital."
"A year?!"
"Yes, a year without a flight stick in your hands. And that's the minimum. However, after that, you'll be even sturdier than a normal human. Though, of course, if you still manage to break something, the treatment will be much more complicated. But first, you need to take the course of medicine."
"Maybe I shouldn't?"
"Joker... we're not sure yet, of course, but you overhear conversations..."
He looked away, a smile appearing on his lips of the "What are you talking about? Me? Never!" variety.
"Don't give me those faces."
I looked at him sternly, and he immediately stopped fooling around.
"Have you heard about the Reapers?"
"Yes, but it's hard to believe..."
"That's just it—it's hard to believe, but you do. So we're preparing for war. And if I can afford to keep one of the Systems Alliance's best pilots..."
"The best!"
Joker importantly raised his index finger, then noticing that the allotted time was up, focused on the descent, expecting a strike against us at any moment.
"One of the best; I could name two or three pilots you'd have to struggle against. And that's coming from me, a man generally far removed from the art of piloting."
"They've locked weapons on us."
"Give a warning shot near one of the Anti-Air Defense batteries."
"Precisely?"
"No, just a snap shot..."
I waved my hand dismissively.
"...if you hit—good; if you miss—no big deal. And then aim at the main building where the administrator of this planet sits."
"Understood..."
Only ten seconds passed, and Joker switched on the comms.
"By order of the Spectre, I am firing a warning shot."
He then fired and immediately performed an evasive maneuver, as they opened return fire on us.
"By order of the Spectre, I am commencing fire on..."
"Belay that!"
A panicked female voice rang out over the general channel, clearly not the voice of the girl who had spoken to us earlier.
"Belay that, I said! Cease fire!"
I made a gesture to Joker, and he released several missiles, but supposedly at the last moment pressed the self-destruct button, and they exploded before reaching the building.
"This is Gianna Parasini, secretary to the Noveria administrator. Belay fire; the Spectre code transmitted to us is valid. SSV Normandy, you only had to wait a little and everything would have resolved itself."
There was an accusation in the girl's voice.
"You only had to not create obstacles to the Spectre's actions; my data could have been verified while the SSV Normandy was on its landing approach, instead of putting on this circus. All data will be transmitted to the Citadel Council, which I am sure will reconsider its attitude toward what is happening on the planet."
"They gave us a corridor."
"Are you joking? After they shot at us?"
"Captain, our entry into the port goes through a bottleneck anyway. If they want to open fire, they'll do it."
"Fine, at your discretion. And returning to the conversation... having one of the best pilots with a minor health defect while there's no war is one thing. But having that same pilot during military actions..."
"Sir, with all due respect, the SSV Normandy's compensators..."
"Joker, don't talk nonsense. Even I, a soldier far from piloting, understand that it's one thing to fly in a semi-combat or combat environment when there are few enemies. It's another thing when you're surrounded by dozens, if not hundreds, of enemies. In such a situation, the compensators will stop handling the loads, and you'll start feeling them yourself. Or am I wrong?"
"You're right."
He cast a grim look at me.
"See? I'm not saying you'll be grounded, no..."
I shook my head.
"...I'm just saying that my ship will require a physically sturdier pilot. However, you still have time to make a decision. Whether you want to walk this path beside me or if it's just important for you to be able to pilot a warship. If it's the latter, believe me, I'll be able to arrange a transfer for you to a very good ship."
"Do I have time to think?"
"Of course you do."
"Alright then, I'll give an answer this evening..."
"No need."
I waved my hand.
"Just if you agree, you'll get the medicine from Dr. Chakwas this evening, and then you'll start the course tomorrow."
"Understood, sir."
He nodded, and I activated my Omni-tool.
"Jane, the situation, as you must have felt, has changed. Everyone, put on your exoskeletons. I'm not going to play democracy with them here."
"Understood, sir."
Anticipation was heard in Jane's voice.
"Only we don't have exoskeletons for the huntresses."
"They aren't designed for biotics anyway. And one more thing... don't forget the shields."
"Don't teach your grandmother how to suck eggs."
I only smirked at such an answer and, patting Joker on the shoulder as a farewell, went to prepare for the landing. On the ship, after I became its commander, a mandatory requirement was introduced to wear environmental suits during flights, so I didn't need to put one on. However, taking extra ammunition for the weapons I carried and intended to take to Noveria would be a good idea.
"Hello everyone..."
I entered the cargo bay, where the entire landing party had gathered, including the huntresses led by Liara. And as soon as I greeted everyone, a ragged chorus answered me.
"...so, task number one: we must meet with allied forces in the persons of Matriarch Benezia and Aria T'Loak, where Liara will pass the information she got from Jane's head to her mother, and she in turn to Aria T'Loak. After that, most of the huntresses will head off with the Matriarchs on other business."
"And who exactly will go with them?"
One of the Asari asked this question, and I immediately caught her gaze, making her embarrassed; she even tried to hide behind her friends, but they decided not to hide her. Apparently, my look turned out to be truly formidable.
"The Matriarchs themselves will decide that. Task number two: get to the Peak 15 complex; according to our data, part of this complex belongs to Saren Arterius through front companies. And he's conducting some kind of experiments there. We need to find out exactly what he's doing there."
I stopped pressuring the Asari with my gaze and looked everyone over carefully.
"And remember, we have no friends on Noveria. So if you see someone with a weapon, your first thought is that they need that weapon to open fire on us. And only then do you think it's a guard or an ERCS representative. Understood?"
"Yes!"
The voices of everyone present rang through the cargo bay.
"Liara."
The Asari immediately took a step forward.
"You've trained, of course, and you're a strong biotic, but you haven't taken part in direct combat operations before, so I'm setting a separate task. You will protect the most valuable specialist in our squad. Namely, Miss Zorah."
"Me?!"
Tali gave a quiet squeak; she clearly hadn't expected that I would name her the most valuable specialist.
"Yes, exactly you, Tali. After all, you're the squad's best technician, and in a combat environment, you'll have to repair a malfunctioning exoskeleton, pick a door lock, hack a terminal—in short, all of that will be on you."
"But... a terminal—that's... espionage..."
She McQuade said this in a very quiet voice.
"It would be espionage if you were doing it of your own accord, but you'll be doing it by order of the Spectre."
"Uh-huh."
She nodded.
"Don't pout, just do the job, and the result will amaze you."
"Understood."
"Liara?"
"I could argue, of course, but I won't. You're the commander; you define the tasks for your subordinates."
"Good girl."
I smirked contentedly.
"Jane, I take it everyone is ready for landing?"
"That is correct."
"Excellent, then we wait for Joker to park the SSV Normandy..."
"Maybe dock it?"
Tali timidly corrected me.
"You're right, of course; the correct word is dock, but at this moment I felt like saying park. So I made a deliberate mistake. Anyway, we wait for Joker to park the SSV Normandy and then everyone out."
***
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