Rebirth: The Mass Effect. Book 1. part 2

Unlike the game world, the camp turned out to be quite large: about a dozen modular buildings, a small warehouse and an airstrip, now littered with bodies and bristling with a palisade of Geth stakes. Some of the train houses were smoking greasy smoke, in some places the flames of a dying fire were still visible, charred bodies of humans and Geth lay on the ground in the craters of the explosions. A small military truck was burning down peacefully at the edge of the road to the spaceport.

A soft rustle sounded a little to the side of us. Kayden flinched and spun around.

"My mother! What is it?"

I turned around, peeking out from behind the stone. As I watched, the spikes folded, retracting into the support, and the body, which had previously hung limply on the stake, convulsively moved.

"It's a husk!" Ashley whispered, raising the shotgun.

This creature looked like a dead zombie, raised by a half-educated necromancer who had screwed up during the formation of the ritual. The shrunken skin split, exposing bluish muscles intertwined with strange growths, blue lights of implants and metal parts glittered through the altered flesh, glowing eyepieces instead of eyes. It's disgusting! But this is an extremely dangerous abomination!

"He's still alive!"

"Kayden!" I couldn't resist cursing. "SHOOT!"

The short-lived battle with the Husk's has put the last points in the situation on Eden Prime. Now even the stubborn Alenko did not ask stupid questions, looking at the bodies hanging on pins. His attempt to shoot them was stopped by a short phrase:

"They're already dead. It's useless to shoot until the transformation is over."

The biotic lowered his head, nodded briefly, slightly shrugging his shoulders. His emotions were so strong that I could feel them even at the initial stage of empathy development: fear and disgust.

He was impressed by the husk's.

Unpleasant creatures, no doubt, but nothing more. They don't have long-range weapons, they have speed... significantly exceeds the speed of a human. They are agile. They are very strong physically. Extremely dangerous at close range. Wounds to the body and neck are treated indifferently. A headshot kills you outright. Hitting other parts of the body doesn't even slow it down. Ordinary, unremarkable zombies, except that they don't try to eat and they can't stand the infection. And they don't stink. Nothing special. There are hundreds of such items in ancient burial grounds of varying degrees of contamination.

I wonder if the creation of husk's is a Geth technology, or did the Sovereyn share it out of the kindness of his heart? We should ask Saren if possible, we'll have at least a couple of interesting conversations anyway.

While Kayden was meditating on a high-tech zombie, Ashley wasted no time checking the surviving houses.

"Commander! The security system is enabled here!" The fighter waved her hand, pointing to one of the modular buildings.

"Crack it."

Ashley nodded, bent over the lock plate, and I noticed the golden sheen of the instrument. The lock gave up quickly, with a slightly muffled squeak. The doors opened.

"Commander, there are survivors!"

With a short shout, I brought Alenko back to reality and entered the modular house. Two scientists, a man and a woman, huddled fearfully in a dark room. People sincerely thanked us, glancing fearfully at the street, which was slowly being flooded by the coming darkness. It will be dark soon.

"I know you! You're Dr. Warren!" Ashley roused herself. "You led the research!"

The woman nodded. Tall, thin, with short dark red hair, she was perfectly in control of herself, unlike the hysterically terrified man huddled against the wall.

"What happened to the lighthouse?" I asked.

"He was transferred to the spaceport yesterday. We stayed behind to help break up the camp."

The Doctor sobbed, but quickly pulled herself together.

"Excuse me."

"What can you tell us?"

The scientists could tell us a little. A strange ship in the sky, an unexpected attack, the death of the soldiers protecting them, husk's. A small End of the World in a separate world. Dr. Manuel was whimpering softly, huddled against the wall, staring at me with a half-crazed look. The poor guy's world cracked and couldn't come together. Ashley looked at the man sympathetically, Alenko — disgustedly.

But in vain. Crazy people sometimes see a lot more... Insanity did not make them blind and deaf, nor did it reduce their mental acuity and powers of observation.

"Tell me," I asked cautiously, turning on the recording. "Have you seen a Turian here?"

"I saw it!" The man suddenly said with fanaticism in his voice. "He is a Prophet! Leading our enemies into battle!"

Either I don't understand something, or this psycho saw Saren.

"It's impossible! Nihlus was with us on board the Normandy!" Kayden was quite reasonably indignant. "He couldn't have attacked!"

Dr. Warren looked confused.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Manuel is a little bit... I'm not himself." The woman said guiltily. "We didn't see the Turian."

"Perhaps YOU haven't seen it." I caught Manuel's eye. "Doctor, tell me, did you really see a Turian?"

"Yes! A prophet in white armor! I saw him!"

"But..." Kayden blinked in surprise. "Nihlus has black armor."

"Apparently, he's not the only Turian on this planet." I said grimly. "Ashley, do you know if there were any Turians in the colony?"

"No, ma'am. There were no aliens on the planet." Williams said proudly.

"It's interesting..." I muttered, switching on the comm. "Nihlus?!"

"Shepard?" the answer came immediately.

"We found the survivors in the research camp. Dr. Manuel says he saw a Turian in white armor, as he put it, *leading our enemies into battle*."

I tactfully kept silent about the doctor's mental state. Moreover, he is right.

The pause dragged on, and an icy wave of apprehension swept down my spine.

"I understood." Nihlus answered briefly and somehow lifelessly.

The connection abruptly disappeared.

"Holy shit... It can't be!"

"Doctor, you'd better stay here. The area has been cleared and will be practically safe for another couple of hours until the morphing of the huskies ends."

The Doctor nodded.

"Ashley, take us to the spaceport. Quickly!"

After saying goodbye to the scientists, we left the cabin. The lock turned purple, switching back to the *locked* position.

"Commander, do you really believe this madman?" Kayden asked quietly.

I didn't even slow down.

"Yeas. I believe that Manuel really saw the Turian. But who is he? Where did Eden Prime come from? And what is he doing here with the Geth? Ashley, where should I go?"

"Here. It's very close here!"

It took us about fifteen minutes to get to the spaceport. On the way, we only met a couple of Geth and a lone Husk. Behind the trees, buildings and a small take-off pad appeared, and the two-kilometer-long giant of the Soveren, almost black in the setting sun.

Alenko swore under his breath, staring at the huge ship.

"What is it?"

"A ship, of course." I muttered, looking at the Reaper wrapped in scarlet lightning.

The launching Soveren hummed and howled, blotting out the sky with its massive bulk. If he left, it means that Saren has already visited the lighthouse, and Nihlus... Damn, the way he said *I got it* still makes my skin crawl!

"Faster!"

The Soveren folded his paws and disappeared into the bloody sky, and we ran down to the spaceport.

"Kayden, look around the houses. Ashley, cover him."

"Commander!"

"NOW!"

"Yes, ma'am."

Throwing a grenade at the rising husk, I shot the geth who emerged from behind the box, flying out onto the spaceport platform. Quick inspection. The assault rifle in his hands fired a short burst, cutting off two synthetics. A grenade exploded somewhere to the side. I turned behind a massive container and gasped for air. Nihlus Kraik lay on the light gray slab of the runway in a pool of dark blue blood.