Liara T'Soni.
An hour ago, hysterical reports began coming in from Batarian agents in the territory of their capital world, Khar'Shan. Given that the Batarian block is currently cut off from the rest... the Mass Relays haven't been restored yet, they have problems. Big problems. Though it's easier to say where they don't have them.
And yes, the Shadow Broker has agents there too. Batarians often buy information about routes and patrols for their raids through my agents. And no, I see no point in refusing this. I receive information about what is happening in the Batarian Hegemony through them, and if the Shadow Broker doesn't sell this information, someone else will. It's just a sensible approach.
Data from a UNSC ONI server stolen from Humans fell into the Shadow Broker's network. The server was seized, taken apart, and is being studied in pieces to complicate the activation of security systems. But it's a real "dead hand"; these servers are a gold mine. With a wealth of information. And pieces of AI, in which Joker found fragments of EDI's code.
The pilot took it all hard; after all, he was attached to EDI, to say the least. He put on a brave face for a long time; a member of the SSV Normandy understands what Reapers are and the threat they carry. But Humans let go of the deceased much worse than Asari. Even if Joker spends most of his time alone, meaning his grief is seen by no one. Almost no one. But his statement that EDI's code is on the servers...
"Are you sure, Jeff? She couldn't have survived the Crucible shot, and you know it."
The man recoiled, sighed. But nodded.
"I'm sure. I... I know her code. Not at the same level as she did, of course. But I see familiar lines, commands, blocks. These are parts of her, Liara. They copied her," Joker pointed to lines in the Human language, "see? Lich-17. Maiar. That was the name of the AI that stored this data. EDI had her tags here too. And here and here. I'm sure if we connect more blocks, there will be traces there too."
I reminded him:
"You shouldn't."
"I know, but it's a fact. This 'Lich' Maiar is created based on my EDI. These are her children, in a sense. Well, or younger brothers."
I pondered, for the umpteenth time. All AIs after the Crucible shot should have been burned out. And all sufficiently complex mechanisms, meaning recreating an AI would be a problem. But Humans did it, and previously their AIs were different.
There are two options here: either these are remnants of AIs—though how did the servers survive after the Crucible fired? Unknown. Or Humans were able to create them anew, recovering very quickly. And, perhaps, they preserved working AIs. The second theory is supported by the recent incident involving the Geth, who stormed an STG base in one of the colonies. Interesting information, food for thought. Likely, the Geth survived too. Somehow.
Given that there is indirect evidence of Reaper activity (someone is repairing the Mass Relays damaged by the shot), the conclusion is unpleasant: the Crucible did not handle its task. Of course, over the decade, the Citadel fleets were able to pull up their general technical level quite well, but against the Reapers, it will still be too little. Far too little. And they, taking advantage of the relaxation and confidence of the Council Races, could return at any moment. And our only weapon didn't even fully destroy the Geth. It's simply beyond words, certainly beyond polite ones.
I just don't know how to get out of this. All we can do is look for other options, prepare, and gather information.
When mass distress signals began coming from the Batarians, I paid attention to them as well. Not only because it's my job as the Shadow Broker, but also sensing that this wasn't all the bad news for this decade. I would never have guessed how much.
The first was a message from an agent requesting urgent evacuation. And an image. A city being shrouded in a yellow mist. Flashes of gunfire. A battle is raging in the city; screams and howling can be heard. A howl I will never forget. And yet, there was no direct evidence of the enemy; proof was needed. Without it, the Matriarchs, and even the Citadel Council, won't even budge. At least not actively. No one will send a fleet to the Hegemony capital; a very compelling reason is needed.
It became much clearer when new messages arrived. New recordings and images.
Batarians in full armor, streets barricaded according to a "slave revolt" plan. A yellowish fog shrouding the streets. And a firefight with something in the fog, invisible on the recording, only movement in the shroud and defenders firing at every rustle. Howling. And only on the third recording can the attackers be seen. Distorted, bloated bodies with whip-arms, crudely holding weapons with deformed limbs. Dressed in Batarian armor and clothing.
Sacks with tentacles gnawing through a Batarian soldier's armor while another uses Biotics to tear them off. A Brute biotic throwing Batarians around while other creatures in civilian clothes pounce on them in close combat.
There is no doubt; these are the creatures from the ring. Rumors about them had been circulating in the Terminus Systems for the last three years, but then they died down, and the Terminus Systems were effectively declared a quarantine zone with strict biological threat screening. They weren't particularly looking for drugs or contraband, but any unregistered organics were burned on the spot, which sparked several major scandals involving the burning of illegals with flamethrowers. But the Council showed unexpected firmness in its position.
There was also a scandal when Krogan from the Blood Pack conducted asteroid bombardments of several planets inside the Terminus Systems, following the precepts of their ancestors. A colossal hysteria broke out on the Extranet. The Council then sent a Spectre into action and officially stated that nothing had happened. Interestingly, even she, the Shadow Broker, had to settle for rumors. The Citadel displayed a level of paranoia of extreme intensity. The Blood Pack cell was exterminated, the incident classified. But rumors persist that these were not Blood Pack Krogan, but fighters in much more complex and technological armor with markings of Clan Urdnot and Clan Nakmor. But no proof. Rumors, rumors, and rumors.
"Forgive me, but we know little ourselves. A Council Spectre was operating on the planet. After which we conducted a repeat bombardment and put the system under quarantine," an agent said then.
And others answered in the same vein. There were several blurry photos and rumors of undead and monsters. Naturally, I followed this, but even the Shadow Broker has limits to her awareness. And those limits are precisely the professional intelligence services of various races and the Spectres. In the latter case, Tela Vasir could have helped (that's why I didn't kill her back then; she was useful), but she didn't survive the events of Erinle and the "black light." Unfortunately.
Now, numerous panic messages are being sent from Khar'Shan. The capital is almost lost; numerous cities are under attack. Moreover, it turns out that the creatures are capturing slaves, obtaining a large amount of cannon fodder. The lower castes, lacking coherent protection, die from wounds, spores, and diseases, quickly replenishing the ranks of the entities. And their insensitivity to pain allows them to break through the defenses of already armed Batarians. The creatures' bullets only stop them if they tear them to pieces. And even then, those pieces rush into battle. Also, there were many Asari biotics among the slaves, which makes life very difficult for the defenders.
The most hellish sight was a tank covered in a layer of organics, continuously attacking everything around it with Biotics. It danced in space like a Mako under Shepard's control, struck with Warps, anti-gravity, set up Biotic barriers, and simply changed gravity in a wide radius, crushing barricades and defenders (and pulling them inside this monstrous mechanism with Biotics and tentacles) just in passing. The Batarians had to sacrifice nearly five thousand soldiers to quiet THAT. And then several more like it appeared.
Wounds lead to infection and death, and the spore infects everyone not wearing environmental suits. To step into the yellow mist is to die quite painfully as your lungs become overgrown with spores in a matter of minutes. Troops shoot down any ships trying to flee the infected part of the planet. And all of this took, according to reports, about four days. The speed of spread is such that civilians, and the military too, are in outright panic.
I had seen something like this before. The Ancient... showed it in fragments. As if he himself had seen only someone else's memory. And on the ring, there was something similar. And I-Vorhess, also known as Khaela, was deathly serious and focused at the mention of these creatures. And now it is free and eating Batarians, unrestrained by anything.
What to do? The problem isn't reporting it. No, the problem is that after the Crucible shot, the Batarian Hegemony, located quite far from the Council Races, is quite difficult to reach. The Mass Relays of their cluster are still not connected to the general network, at least not directly. There is one channel through secondary Mass Relays, but it's indirect and quite long.
That leaves ships of the Humans, The Covenant, or the Citadel with Slipspace Drives. But in any case, that's weeks and months of travel. Even in the best-case scenario, The Covenant, at speeds of a thousand light-years a day, would be flying for weeks. It's not a fact the Batarians will hold out. So it turns out that all that's left is to inform the Council of Matriarchs and watch what happens.
In the meantime, I can work with what I have. With the stolen servers. Some things were taken while still in flight, but most will be processed by The Covenant and my specialists.
Also, I need to spoil the day for the Salarian STG; they're interfering too much, trying to break into several bases, there's a risk of exposing the Precursor.
And there is an excellent place where they can be hit. One of the Terminus colonies in the Enoch system, on the planet Joab. An apocalypse occurred on the planet a long time ago, and the local race was completely exterminated after certain events. Presumably as a result of orbital or asteroid bombardments. Theories vary, from internal conflict to Rachni or Krogan, but there is no proof. What's important is that the planet has a habitable atmosphere, albeit a dead biosphere. And thanks to hydroponics and Atmospheric Domes, it's quite possible to live there.
The Salarian base on the planet became known about five years ago. Several multi-kilometer craters appeared on the planet. As it turned out during reconnaissance, the Salarians are testing various dangerous equipment there. After the "black light," the path there became useless to everyone, which means tracking movement through Mass Relays became very simple: any stranger by default shouldn't be here. But no one will fly in head-on.
So, give orders and contact the Matriarchs.
Their representative listened to my information about the Batarian Hegemony and demanded:
"Don't go there, Liara. You have no business there. What is currently on the Hegemony... We can only pray to the Goddess for those sentients. And burn what remains. Don't show up there; I would be sorry to lose such a promising employee. Did you hear me?"
I tried to object:
"But, Matriarch..."
"No!" she interrupted sharply, "Maidens have no place there. Especially smart ones like you. All these recordings. Have you passed them to anyone?"
I shook my head.
"No, Matriarch."
She exhaled with obvious relief.
"Then don't you dare. It's dangerous there. The Hegemony will become a quarantine territory."
I thought and took a risk.
"Like in the Terminus Systems?"
The Matriarch-warrior fell silent, looking suspiciously via the projector hologram.
"What do you know about that, Liara?"
I shrugged.
"Very little. There were rumors that something like that was happening. Quarantine. But who and why, I don't know. Given the recordings from Khar'Shan, I ventured to guess it's the same disease."
The Matriarch looked sternly for another ten seconds, then finally answered:
"Once again, Liara. You have no business there. You did well to find the information. And you did the right thing by informing me. But there are things where all the cunning, all the intuition won't help you. And even bullets won't help. Your curiosity will be your undoing, and that would be very sad. So I expect a vow from you that you won't poke your nose in there. We will handle everything ourselves. Stay out of it!"
Well... I had to promise. Regardless, even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to get to Khar'Shan. The Batarian Hegemony capital was never a place where one could easily enter or get lost. Asari are only there in one capacity—as slaves. Not an experience I would care to live through. Especially in the current situation. And I was going to give the huntresses the task of visiting Joab anyway.
A Covenant ship will be able to bypass the Salarians' main lines of defense and detection. And then penetrating the complex is a matter of technique.
***
A pair of Phantoms detached from the Swords of Sanghelios cruiser and headed for the planet. The gray-blue surface of a dead world. Water and sand. Unexpectedly, the Sangheili allocated a pair of Mgalekgolo and a squad of Sangheili with a large group of Unggoy for this task. I stayed up on the cruiser, watching what was happening through the cameras on Jalim's armor. And I can communicate with those around me via hologram.
To my direct question:
"Why did you decide to help us with such forces? We were talking about a much more modest squad."
Their leader in gold armor, Vras Tarkoh, replied:
"There may be our prisoners on this planet, witch. These amphibians captured many warriors. And hid them."
An argument. During the battles with The Covenant, wounded were captured among others. And they were taken prisoner. There are several gangs in which even a decade ago there were already individual Kig-Yar or other filth, perfectly integrated with the Batarians. And searching for and selling live representatives of The Covenant quickly became a profitable but extremely dangerous business. Still, there are several teams that found low-observability shuttles. They landed on planets, paralyzed with Biotics, and grabbed Covenant races to then fly away and sell the live subjects to the Salarians. Humans too.
A quiet, guttural growl came from the side. Turning your back to a Mgalekgolo is a bit scary. Huge, like two hugging Krogan and noticeably taller, in heavy armor like a M808 Scorpion MBT's. When you see such a fighter break enemies with his bare hands, there's no doubting his strength. And Biotics won't particularly help; he'll still have time to tear or shoot your head off. And if not, their weapons cut through the armor of armored vehicles like paper.
In any case, I unfolded the map. Only the external structures of the Salarian complex; nothing more could be obtained. I showed this to the watching aliens.
"It's not much, but it's all the intelligence I have. Managed to get it a couple of hours ago thanks to a probe. The base is covered under an Atmospheric Dome. A communications dish, several external buildings. What's inside and how many, it's hard to say."
The Sangheili snorted.
"Doesn't matter. We're going in anyway," he pointed to the communications complex, "so, the transmitter. That won't be a problem."
I reminded him:
"The transmitter could be a decoy. Quantum beacons are more reliable. But you're right, it doesn't matter. Help won't arrive in time."
Jalim, standing nearby, smirked.
"And that's good. Auxilia-class, beam torpedoes. We might have a hard time even without all that."
"The warriors will manage," the Sangheili stated insistently, clearly showing irritation, "we are strong."
Fact. The Citadel forces have significantly rearmed, replacing destroyed ships immediately with new models. Turian light cruisers with Thanix Cannons, missile carriers with beam torpedoes. Carriers. The Citadel fleet over these ten years, like the military budget, has doubled. And rumors say it's even more. Even the Volus, who had one Dreadnought out of all heavy forces, have six heavy-class ships in orbit over Vol.
What can be said about the Turians, who on this occasion reunited and engaged in massive modernization of the military-industrial complex. Rumors say they even managed to recreate plasma weapons with the help of Element Zero. And that's an indicator.
"I'm not arguing with that, Lord Vras," I replied easily to the Sangheili, "it's just all very strange."
Meanwhile, the base is approaching; tracking systems, judging by the activity, have detected the Phantoms. The cruiser lunged closer through Slipspace and hovered directly over the Salarian complex, shelling the communications systems and beginning to bomb the turrets with beams of kindness.
"Plasma shields," the operator growled irritably, "our shields."
And true, the ground is melting from the shelling, but around the hemisphere of the tower, from which a long railgun barrel sticks up, the space is relatively intact. On the bright side, the gun also doesn't inflict particularly much damage on the shields.
"Use the light spear?"
"Carefully," the ship's captain replied, "the landing zone must not be affected."
A beam struck the anti-aircraft tower, and finally, it melted, along with the shields. The process began. I, standing on the ship's bridge, watched as the landing forces deployed from the Phantoms. Unggoy, Sangheili, Mgalekgolo, my Asari. They immediately scattered, shelling the enemy entrenched in the buildings under the cover of the Phantoms' heavy turrets.
After the shelling, the base was somewhat mangled. Well, molten rivers, fused structures. Not much, but noticeable. The Phantoms, staying ten meters above the surface, are shelling. However, the landing party is more than managing on its own. Salarians are good, but their problem is the total lack of heavy armor. And personal shields. In the end, only the Unggoy are taking serious losses, but even they are fewer than the defenders.
As I heard, the technological base prevents the recreation of compact personal shields. We simply don't have many of the formulas needed to copy the technology. Something can be duplicated with the help of Element Zero, but far from everything. And personal shields are among the equipment that couldn't be copied. Meanwhile, the squad finished the sweep.
"We are on the surface," Jalim reported, "going in."
The squad dispersed through the buildings, sending Unggoy ahead for reconnaissance. Characteristically, the Mgalekgolo were sent into the largest one with cover. All that was left for us was to watch. And ensure no one flew away.
"Found the entrance to the underground complex," Jalim noted, "descending."
Through the cameras, you can see how a pair of giants simply plow a path through the cordons head-on. The Salarians blocked the corridor with a barricade; the giants fire beams, one left-to-right, the other vice versa. And you can go further; the barricade is simply turned into sludge along with everyone who was behind it. And from the sharp temperature spike, from which plastic boils and paint burns, we are protected by armor.
An alarm siren wails at their base; squads move, covering the corridors one by one. At first, it was a bit cramped, but with each fork, the squads distribute through the complex. Laboratories. Clearly biological. I'm not a biological expert, but I've watched specialists like Mordin Solus at work. And I can distinguish the equipment.
And there are prisoners here. Mostly Covenant races and Humans. Interesting.
"Jalim, wait. Look at the Human, two cameras back. B-2. Yes, this one."
The cells are single-occupancy cubic units with a two-meter edge. A typical modular construction, based on standard containers. Such a box can hold typical robots or cages with living beings. A standard lift can move them without any problems. It's not that which is important, but the sentients in these containers, specifically one in particular. Jalim recognized him herself, approached the cage, and said hello:
"Stefan Zentske. What a surprise. I see you trusted the wrong sentients."
The man in a prison robe, bearded and untidy, irritably remarked:
"They did a good job of introducing themselves as Cerberus, gorgeous. Brought weapons, said they were from you. They'd help, all that. Said they'd take the ONI servers from their base. Well, they helped, as you can see."
I really wanted to swear. Situations where the Salarian STG finds out and interferes in our operations happen. But something else happened here. They somehow arrived parallel to us, did what they wanted, and flew off into the sunset, taking prisoners. They even managed to convince the Humans they came from us.
Zentske is no simple man. He is convinced the government stole his daughter and did something to her. That's why he hates his native Humanity, or rather the official authorities. A perfect pawn. He fit into cooperation with Cerberus like a glove; he has been a guide to the Human worlds for eight years now. He even had his own evacuation team from ships in case of a raid. And they saved him from the UNSC and even Human warriors more than once. But this time he was set up from our side. Ironic.
Jalim realized this herself.
"This is a Salarian intelligence base. We will return you home."
The man sighed, watching his capsule being broken with Biotics, and noted:
"I already figured that out. Only you can't take us home. They were injecting us with something. I feel like crap. Don't know what they could have been injecting, I've got the chills."
Looking closer, I did indeed notice the man's reaction and ordered:
"Take them anyway. There are enough uninhabited worlds; we'll find out what the Salarians came up with."
And, switching to the Sangheili, I asked:
"Vras, what about you?"
The Sangheili replied:
"Found our prisoners. They were performing experiments on them. We will free them, witch. And then we'll burn everything here."
Well, that works.
"They're holding Human rebels here who are against their government. They also need to be moved somewhere."
The alien replied quickly:
"You helped, and we will help too. The Humans will be delivered where you say, once. If they don't cause trouble."
The squad continued clearing the territory and freeing prisoners. Including Jalim and the other Asari, extracting servers. And at the same time freeing prisoners. The surviving Salarians offer no resistance. After all, most of the personnel here were not military.
The base has clearly been here for more than a year. The surface part can be built quite quickly, that's true. But the numerous underground complexes, with infrastructure, ventilation, and a quarantine system, are more difficult. The squad managed to pass through it so easily precisely because the defense was directed inward, and there was a control node along the way. As it is, in a high-danger zone, there is also an Active Sterilization System.
"Jalim, look! Chamber PR-14."
I immediately switched to the speaker's camera. This was a huntress left in the security room. Of course, it took Jalim a few minutes to reach the room. And Vras was already there.
They were both looking at a screen where a stump of a Human was on an operating table, connected to life support mechanisms. Lacking arms and legs, with noticeable scars. This says nothing if Medi-gel was used. But the size of the Human speaks volumes. A warrior. He doesn't move, just lies in one of the rooms, attached to the table. Likely, non-responsive.
"A Demon," I flinched slightly as the ship's pilot approached unnoticed, "in such a state. He needs to be finished off."
I grimaced. A warrior is such a useful trophy. Of course, Human stealth frigates did crash or were shot down. And sometimes survivors were taken prisoner. But SUCH survivors, I've never heard of that. And I don't want to kill him at all. This is such material for study! If I use "Embrace Eternity" on him...
But it's not that simple. The ship we arrived on belongs to Vras. I can't just ignore his position.
The Sangheili correctly understood my delay in answering and added:
"He is a strong warrior, and I would not run from the chance to meet him in battle. But in such a state. Tell me, witch. Would you want to live like this?"
And there was a clear threat in that last phrase. Given the pair of blades on his belt, it was very much executable. Fine, I understand your position, and we need your ship.
"Jalim. Find the warrior and finish him. I am quite sure the Salarians were studying him. Find what you can, any records. There should be plenty here. If you find scientists who worked with him, take them too."
The Matron clarified:
"And the rest?"
What about the rest?
"There are no witnesses, Jalim. Secrecy must be maintained; no one survived the base explosion. Especially since there were clearly biological developments here, it needs to be sterilized."
No one objected.
***
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