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Chapter 19: The Top-15
Vershina-15 greeted us with a dozen Geth in a spacious garage. Fortunately, there were no very fast and extremely deadly ghosts and hunters. The massive juggernaut was shot by Rex, and the change was killed according to an already well-established pattern: our biotics, Liara and Kayden, picked up synthetics hiding behind boxes and lifted them into the air, where they were shot by Garrus and me, as in a shooting gallery. Nihlus and Ashley were covering up in case we didn't notice something.
Now, in the unreal silence of the garage, the familiar Geth seemed like a familiar evil. Synthetics were no longer as feared as before. Their actions were easily predicted, and we didn't expect any special setups from them. Another thing was what was waiting for us in the depths of the complex.
The fighters spread out across the garage. Externally, there is no special damage. The shooting marks are fresh and ours. Apparently, there was no resistance here.
"Tali, look at the gate." The Quarian left Geth's head, shattered by a massive Harpoon bullet, alone and turned her attention to the locked gate. A couple of minutes of work, and the sash trembled, quickly crawled up. The biotics moved the wrecked all-terrain vehicle, and Nihlus drove our Mako into the garage.
"Where did all the staff go?" Ashley asked softly.
"I guess they're already dead." I replied. "We need a plan for the complex. There's a checkpoint behind the garage. At least, it should be."
A wide staircase led from the garage to the main complex, rising in two flights to a wide platform, from where three doors branched off. Two of them were locked, but Tali quickly convinced them to swing open, opening access to small storage rooms partially filled with drawers with various spare parts and useful junk.
"We'll have to check on the way back to see if there's anything interesting." I closed the doors. "Let's move on."
The third door led to a short vestibule, literally four meters long. Two turrets looked down from the ceiling. And they were looking at the doors leading out of the complex.
"Take them off." I nodded at the turrets.
Rex's shotgun roared behind him, and the left turret sparked, sagging limply. The Krogan came up, yanked the cannon off the carriage with one jerk. The second turret suffered the same fate.
"Why are they looking in the wrong direction?" Liara walked around the wreckage of the turret.
"It's more important for them not to let anyone out than not to let anyone in." Garrus replied with a shrug.
Fortunately, the doors did not open automatically, but after touching the sensor, which allowed us to calmly inspect the premises while Tali blocked or unlocked the doors we needed. We didn't find anything interesting at the checkpoint, but the nimble Quarian managed to download the plan of the complex and transfer it to our instruments. Having marked the checked rooms, we went on.
The complex seemed to have died out. No Geth, no Rahni, no staff. No one. There were traces of mayhem in some places, and a couple of times we found torn synthetics and traces of green insect blood, but not a single organic body. Only robots. It was as if the Rachni, having defeated their enemies, had stolen the bodies for their own purposes.
The elevator to the upper floors was located in the far wing behind the administrative offices. Here, the traces of the pogrom were more clearly visible: potholes from gunfire, green, red and blue bloodstains, spent thermoclips by overturned tables and a couple of broken geths. But again, no bodies.
"Who attacked them?" Liara carefully touched the green pool of blood with the toe of her shoe. "I do not know whose blood it is."
"Apparently, the experiment got out." Nihlus crouched by the spot, gazing intently into the viscous, pungent-smelling liquid. "The blood hasn't completely clotted yet." The armored finger pointed at the blue puddle. "The attack happened very recently. The complex did not have time to freeze after the emergency shutdown of the heating."
"Why turn off the heating?" Kayden asked, carefully avoiding the deep scratches on the metal floor.
"It's minus forty outside." Nihlus shrugged his shoulders. "At this temperature, most biological organisms will either die, or hibernate, or simply lose activity."
"Tali, is there a response from the local VI?" I asked.
The Quarian shook her head.
"There are no signals." a diagram of the complex has appeared above the omny-tool. "This is where the core is located. It can be restarted manually."
"How to get there?" Take the elevator up three levels.
"Lead the way."
A wide semi-cargo elevator obediently lifted us to the desired level, creaking slightly and swaying suspiciously. Somewhere on the edge of hearing, there was a rustling and clacking of claws on metal: the rakhni settled into the slowly freezing complex.
*Rir.*
A clear thought roused the mental. I looked up, meeting the wary gaze of green eyes.
*Yeah?*
* Rachni?*
* They are the ones. They're swarming. They're doing something.*
* It's getting cold in the complex. They're looking for warmer places.*
* Does the cold slow them down?*
* It's hard to say. I'm not a xenobiologist. I've never been interested in this species.* the Turian confessed.
The elevator jerked and stopped, interrupting our conversation, and the doors swung open with a rustle. The rattling and rustling abruptly subsided. The Krogan came out first, cautiously pointing the muzzle of a powerful shotgun at every suspicious rustle and knock. Nihlus and Ashley followed with assault rifles. Behind them are Kayden and Liara, wrapped in the blue glow of active biotics. Garrus, Tali, and I brought up the rear. *Harpoons* have been removed: in the narrow corridors of the complex, a sniper rifle is of little use.
The feeling of someone else's attention hit my nerves. I stopped abruptly, giving Rex a sharp sense of unease. The Krogan immediately froze, looking around warily. We've been spotted. Such attention is characteristic of unreasonable or conditionally intelligent beings. This is how a predator looks at its prey, aiming for a throw.
We've been spotted.
Rex nodded slowly and continued moving. We walked in an extended chain. The corridor is very narrow, and the two armored men are already cramped. Ahead, the green panel on the oval doors flickered invitingly. Rex approached, and the doors automatically swung open, allowing us to enter a spacious three-tiered observation gallery. The door slammed shut behind us, and the panel changed color to scarlet with a soft squeak: Tali had blocked the doors. Whatever's going on in the ventilation shafts, we don't need any sudden surprises in the back. There was a fight in the gallery not so long ago. There were traces of explosions and dents from biotics on the walls, three double-glazed windows were knocked out, and snow vividly covered the blood-covered floor. A quick check revealed five Geth pieces that had been torn to pieces. There are clearly visible bloody dragging marks on the floor. On the far wall, near the doors to small offices, there is a green smear on the wall floor.
"The rocket was covered." Krogan said dully, examining the green trash.
"Oh, the Great One..." Liara's voice in the headphones was interrupted by a strange convulsive swallowing. "Take a look..."
A moment later, Kayden's muffled cursing rang out. After exchanging glances with Rex, we ran down the stairs. The soldiers crowded at the turn of the flight of stairs, looking at something under the stairs. A pale-faced Kayden stepped back, allowing me to see... eaten bones, smeared with red and blue blood.
"Now it's clear where the staff went." I stared at the bones with a kind of unhealthy interest. "They were simply devoured."
Liara shuddered.
"Trio. Two human and a Turian." Garrus poked the dice. "We ate it recently. The flesh is softened." Strong fingers easily removed a piece of meat from a rib bone fragment. Ashley swallowed hard. "It was like being treated with weak acid. Or gastric juice."
The Turian dropped the bone, got up, walked over to the snowdrift and wiped his fingers on the snow.
"There are no teeth marks. It's definitely some kind of animal. Strong enough and large enough to break bones, capable of assimilating equally well..." Garrus paused, glancing at the Asari's pale face. "both types of protein."
"Do you think this is the stuff that was smeared on the wall?" Rex pointed in the direction of the spot.
"Quite possibly. The beast is definitely not alone here." Garrus glanced at Liara. "A colony? Possib..."
A booming crash interrupted the Turian. The soldiers instantly raised their weapons. A high-pitched squeak, metal screeching, blows... The ventilation grate fell out, and two people fell into one of the offices... creatures. Tall, about one and a half meters, a long flexible body encased in crimson-red chitin, turning into light beige platinum on the belly, four thin paws ending in sharp spikes, a flexible neck, two upper limbs-whips with some kind of *buds* at the end...
"What the hell is this?" Ashley whispered.
"Rachni!" Rex growled.
"But they're destroyed!" Liara stared in amazement at the dark red creatures screeching behind the sturdy glass.
"Apparently, not to the end." I leaned into the optics, examining the monsters that Saren had bred. "They're really strong creatures. Are they poisonous?"
"They're poisonous." Garrus replied. "They spit toxins from the upper appendages. These are ordinary fighters. They are fast, dangerous, strong, and stupid." Seeing the surprised looks, Garrus chuckled. "I was interested once. Rex, why aren't you talking?"
The Krogan just spat.
"Damn the bugs. Grebenchy is right. They are fast, strong, dangerous, and spit toxins. Drones explode if you get close. Blood is toxic. It corrodes like a weak acid. Shields don't hold this stuff at all, just armor."
"Do they reproduce quickly?"
"Very quickly."
The bugs were pushing behind the doors, but they couldn't get out. Either the panel was jammed, or it was just closed, but the automatic doors would not open, and the rahcni only whistled and screeched, scratching behind the sturdy glass.
"Now it is clear what was done in this laboratory." Ashley stared intently at the monsters whose civilization had been destroyed before humans had soared into the skies of their planet.
"Won't they get out?"
Tali activated the omny-tool.
"No."
Thirst and hunger flashed from somewhere behind. I spun around, running up the flight of stairs, peering into the darkened room. It came from somewhere here... Hunger will increase. I felt something like vague echoes of thoughts. Fast, messy, almost elusive. And there were A LOT of them!
"Behind you!"
A grate in the floor flew up with a crash, releasing a crowd of small, barely a meter tall, green creatures. The workers are rachni!
"rachni!"
The fighters woke up from their stupor. Rifles rattled, Rex's shotgun rumbled, and the singularity hummed.
"Don't let them get too close!" Rex barked. "They're exploding!"
The bullets tore through the chitinous shells, piercing through, but the creatures were purling and purling with some kind of maniacal thirst to get to us. They died fast, but damn, there are so many of them!
"Back! From the stairs!" I shouted, shooting down a wave of creatures, preventing them from approaching Kayden and Garrus.
Another grate bulged, releasing three red rachni. Garrus jumped over the railing, ran to the middle of the gallery, laid out the Harpoon and clung to the sight. A shot rang out, the rachni soldier jerked, screamed, and the second shot took off the insect's head. Nihlus threw a grenade. Undermining. Fragments of green bodies scattered across the room of the abandoned office, splattering the armored glass. One of the green creatures ran up to Ashley, twitched, swelled, but the discharge of the shotgun blew the drone off the site, preventing it from exploding. A *Harpoon* boomed loudly. The second red beetle jerked its entire body and went limp. Pause. A second booming shot, and the third red soldier collapsed on the landing, shot almost through the head.
"Garrus! Behind you!"
The sniper spun around, but the small green stuff managed to burst, spraying the Turian's armor with a light green caustic filth. Garrus instinctively managed to put out his hand and rifle, covering his unprotected head.
The wave of rachni has dried up. We quickly finished off the last drones and retreated to the broken windows. Garrus cursed as he wiped the acrid stuff off his armor with snow, dropping the stained rifle into a snowdrift. Nihlus walked around the corpses, checking for survivors. Rex stood at the edge of the stairs with Liara, keeping an eye on the creatures twitching behind the glass.
"Did it hurt?" I asked Garrus, standing so that I could see the ventilation outlet on the upper level.
"A little bit." The angry Turian growled, cleaning the toxin from the weapon and examining the rifle. "damn it! Rin, I'm left without a *Harpoon*! This stuff ruined the optics." he raised his weapon, peered through the scope, and spat. "Visibility is zero."
I took the sniper rifle off the grips and handed it to the frustrated Turian.
"Take mine."
Garrus nodded gratefully, took the weapon, checked the condition of the thermoclips and ammunition, switched the Harpoon to antipersonnel bullets.
"Tali!" The Quarian turned to me. "Can you let these two out?"
"Yes."
"Let me out."
The indicator on the door changed color to green, and two Rachni rushed towards us along the glazed corridor. Garrus dropped to one knee and positioned the rifle in the crook of his elbow. Rahni jumped out onto the landing, there was a booming shot, the creature stumbled, jerked and fell to the floor with its head completely blown off. The second monster braked sharply, showing at least some kind of brains and self-preservation instinct, but did not have time to stop and flew into the sniper's kill zone. Shot. Rahcni fell to the floor and kicked his legs. Garrus adjusted the optics settings, raised his rifle, and put a bullet into the twitching beetle.
"Tali, where is that core?"
"Behind those doors." The Quarian gestured toward the locked exit from the gallery. "Down to the level, and there will be an entrance to the technical floor."
"Let's go." I've laid out the Predator.
A short vestibule and another automatic door with a strange symbol and the number 323 were waiting for us behind the doors, behind which the elevator we were looking for was found. This time it's a passenger one. The cabin was a little cramped for eight armored fighters, but we somehow squeezed in. A short trip down and there it is, another corridor lit by dim emergency panels. Another door kindly swung open, and we entered a small technical room filled with incomprehensible junk and VI access terminals.
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