Rebirth The Mass Effect is old

The woman 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, huskies. 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 squinted at the man sympathetically, Alenko — disgustedly. But in vain. Crazy people sometimes see a lot more... Insanity has not made them blind and deaf, nor has it reduced their mental acuity and powers of observation.

"Tell me, have you seen a Turian here?" I asked cautiously.

"I saw him!" The man suddenly said with fanaticism in his voice. "He's a Prophet! Leading our enemies into battle! He was here before they attacked!"

Kayden and I exchanged glances. Either I don't understand something, or this psycho saw Saren. How interesting!

"It's impossible! Naylus was with us aboard 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... His 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. "Naylus has black armor."

"Apparently, he's not the only Turian on this planet." I said grimly, turning on the comm. "Naylus?"

"Shepard?" — the answer came immediately.

"We found the survivors in the research camp. Dr. Manuel says he saw a Turian in white armor. BEFORE the Geth attack."

The short pause dragged on. I didn't say anything. Naylus is a smart guy. He'll understand.

"I understood."

The connection is gone.

"Doctor, you'd better stay here. The area is cleared and practically safe." I took the shotgun off my belt and handed it to the woman. "Take it just in case."

The Doctor nodded.

"Ashley, take us to the spaceport."

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

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

I slowed down a bit.

"Remember, Alenko. Madmen look at the world in a slightly different way." They may interpret familiar things and events strangely, but they almost never lie. Lying is the prerogative of logic. I believe that Manuel really saw the Turian. Ashley, where should I go?"

"Here. It's very close here!"

We passed only a couple of Geth and Hask along the way, and through the trees we saw the buildings of a small spaceport and the huge Reaper looming over a tiny shuttle. Alenko swore under his breath, staring at the huge ship.

"What the hell is this?"

"The ship, vestimo." I said ironically, looking at the Reaper wrapped in scarlet lightning.

A single shot rang out in the distance. What? Really... Did Naylus expose himself after all? Damn it! The launching Sovereign hummed and howled, blotting out the sky with its massive bulk.

"Faster!"

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

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

"Captain!"

"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.

On the light gray slab of the runway, Naylus lay in a pool of blue blood.

Chapter 3: Eden Prime: The Aftermath

"Naylus! Damn it!"

I ran up to the Turian. The SPECTR, to my great relief, was still alive. Hoarse, gurgling breath foamed bloody bubbles at the corners of his mouth, and his chest was torn open by a shot from a powerful rifle at almost point-blank range and resembled a mess of flesh, blue blood, and fragments of black armor. But at least not in the back of the head... It would have blown half his head off right away.

The flaps of the armor gave way, and I carefully removed the cuirass, revealing an ugly wound and a blood-soaked jumpsuit. I tore the first-aid kit from my belt and yanked the panacelin syringe out of its socket, injecting the miracle drug into his neck and a second injection into his chest between the twisted chitin plates.

"Shepard calling Normandy!" I turned on the transmitter and yelled.

The answer came quickly:

"Shepard, this is Moro."

"The Joker! I don't care HOW you do it, but in five minutes, Naylus SHOULD be in the Normandy Infirmary! Do you understand me?"

The pilot seemed to get fucked up by my tone and the essence of the claim, as the answer, spoken in a hoarse voice, expressed all shades of deep amazement:

"Roger that, Shepard."

"Five minutes, Moro! And not a second longer, otherwise I will wring the neck of whoever is responsible for the delay!"

There was a clatter of footsteps. I raised my rifle. Ashley and Alenko appeared from behind the container.

"Explore the port and train station!"

The fighters ran away. I hope they can handle the Geth without my help. Or what is it, really? Kayden's help is zero on the way out, just problems. It's like being with a child, literally... then he pokes his nose where it shouldn't be, that he catches a shot and stands looking at the guilty face of the shitting cat...

-Shep-par-rd...

The Turian's low, croaking voice was barely audible over the roar of gunfire.

"Naylus..."

"This... this..." The SPECTR choked on blood and coughed heavily.

"I know. This is Saren. Now, please be quiet! Then you'll explain HOW you caught that shot."

The fucking look of eyes clouded with pain will warm my dark soul at night for a long time! Such amazement! Such emotions!

I didn't leave the side of the dying Turian, keeping an eye on the surroundings. Gunshots and the buzzing pops of biotics could be heard at the train station as the fighters destroyed the Geth. As far as I remember, there aren't many of them, so we should be able to handle it. Soon the gunshots died down and Ashley reported:

"Clear!"

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, Captain."

"Take up the defense on the train. I'll join you soon."

I don't know exactly what the Joker did or what he said to Captain Anderson, but just three minutes later, the graceful silhouette of the Normandy appeared in the sky. I watched closely as Naylus was placed on a stretcher and carried away to the ship, and for a long time I will not be able to forget the gaze of those green eyes. Or rather, what I saw in those eyes. A powerful mix of guilt, disappointment, pain betrayal, and gratitude. Well, Naylus, just try to die now! I have huge plans for you! For some reason, I am sure that this SPECTR will become part of the Normandy team. The concept of "gratitude" is not an empty phrase for Naylus. As well as "revenge".

The frigate disappeared into the sunset sky, returning to the safety of low orbit, and I ran to the fighters of the landing group. If my sclerosis doesn't let me down, bombs, a bunch of Geth, and a lighthouse are waiting for me on the other side. Well, and future nightmares, where without them.

* * *

The train rolled steadily, the engines humming faintly, and I peered at the platform emerging from the twilight. The optics of the rifle already made it possible to see the synthetics involved in installing bombs.

"Ashley, Kayden, the Geth on the platform. They're doing something with..." I peered at the elongated cylindrical device. "Damn it! They're mining the colony!"

Kayden flinched.

"Who can deactivate the An-3 bomb?" I asked a sacramental question, catching Geth in the crosshair.

A shot, the butt pushed into the shoulder. The Geth collapsed to the floor, visibly sparking.

"I can." Ashley replied softly.

Shot, shot. The squeak of an overheated weapon.

"Kayden, cover up."

The rifle cooled down, to catch the creature in sight, a shot. The train was slowing down, automatically braking between the platforms. The Geth became animated, and bright lines of queues stretched in our direction, clearly visible at dusk. There it is, a muzzle sticking out over the box and invitingly shining a flashlight at me! A blue light touched the tip of the sight, a shot. The flashlight was gone.

Ashley and Kayden rolled off the train platform. The first bomb was practically under their feet. The woman bent down, and the uni-tool lit up...

"Shepard, it's three minutes on the timer!"

"Well, move it!" The rifle poked into my shoulder. "Kayden, check the transition!"

The man rushed up the stairs.

"Clear! I see two more!"

"Faster!"

The lights on the first bomb went out, and the panel collapsed.

"The first one is ready!" Ashley, ducking, ran after Alenko, and I noticed movement in the dense shadow of the box.

There was a brief flash of a flashlight on his muzzle, and a rifle roared loudly under his ear. Geth fell, rolling out from behind the container.

"I'm disabling the second one!"

I moved to the other side of the tracks, carefully searching the long platform.

"The second one is ready!"

Kayden ran forward, peering behind every crate, behind every support. I moved further away, stopping at the huge spacer. Here, the platform descended by a wide staircase to a loading platform, on which, as far as I know, there should be a lighthouse.

"The third one is ready! One minute!"

"Check the platform to the end."

Kayden darted into the gathering darkness, a moment of silence, and a natural scream.:

"There's another one!"

Ashley took off from a low start, like a runner on the finish line, throwing a shotgun on her back. The seconds melted away one by one, the soft squeak of the instrumentron, the agonizing expectation, and finally:

"Ready!"

"Ashley, you're doing great." I whispered faintly, exhaling slowly. My heart was pounding in my chest, and my arms were shaking.

"And if there is more?" Alenko's uncertain voice.

"We'll find out now."

The minutes dragged by one after another, but, as expected, there was no explosion. There really were four of them.

"Damn it!" Ashley's voice cracked. The woman slid to the floor next to me, clutching the shotgun with trembling hands. "I haven't felt this way for a long time!"

"The hand of Death on your shoulder?"

The woman shuddered, shivering.

"Yes... The hand of Death on my shoulder. What an accurate definition..."

We cleaned up the platform with the lighthouse quickly, but Kayden was shot in the shoulder again and slowly fell into prostration due to excessive use of biotics. There were no Huskies this time, only five Geth. Ashley winced: her right arm was hanging like a whip due to the impact of the geth pulse.

And the Prothean lighthouse in all its dubious glory: a narrow pylon glowing with a ghostly green light, covered with dim lights.

"Unbelievable! The current Protean technology!"

Kayden admired the ancient device, slowly walking around it in a circle. The lighthouse's pylon stood right in the center of the site, flashing green and gold lights and humming softly.

"How much time has passed, and it's still working."

"I wonder what he's hiding?" — Alenko crossed the security zone and the beacon was activated.

A powerful arc of energy passed through the pylon, throwing out a tight beam. Alenko screamed, slowly rising into the air. No matter how much the man resisted, an invisible force persistently dragged him towards the ancient device.

"ALENKO! Curious idiot!"

Running, I slammed into this jerk, knocking him out of the beam. The fighter collapsed to the floor, and I felt an invisible grip lift me into the air and pull me towards the lighthouse, which was slowly opening like a flower.

The visions flashed suddenly, instantly overloading the mind with an abyss of information: coordinates, chronicles, excerpts of recordings and short videos. Blood, war, planets burning in nuclear flames, collapsing cities, armies of beetle-like monsters tearing sentient beings to pieces at various times, fleets of ships dying under the blows of black machines so familiar to me, Reapers descending on the planet. Episodes, excerpts, memories, emotions, feelings of despair, threats and hopelessness, drawings and diagrams, a strange planet... It seemed that my head would simply burst from the endless stream of data being lavishly pressed into my poor brains!

But finally, my consciousness could not stand it, and I plunged into blessed darkness. One last coherent thought: "Alenko, you moron... I'll kill the cattle as soon as I wake up..."

* * *

Consciousness returned painfully and slowly, pulling me out of the depths of a bloody nightmare. The information embedded in my poor brain was slowly digested and sorted out, but its volume is such that colorful bloody dreams are guaranteed for me for a month in advance. My fingers were clenching convulsively from the desire to strangle Alenko, even though I knew in my mind that I would have climbed under the lighthouse anyway. But... Damn him! You idiot! With his L2, brains would definitely boil over!

The medical equipment beeped softly somewhere to the left, the rustle of the doctor's clothes, the tapping of fingers on the keyboard. I slowly opened my eyes. His vision cleared, revealing an agitated and anxious face.

"Dr. Chakwas..." I croaked.

"Shepard, you scared me again."

I slowly propped myself up on my elbows and struggled to sit up.

"Damn it! It feels like a galactic library has been uploaded to my brain..." I shuddered, cupping my aching temples with my fingers.

"You have a severe information overload, Captain."

"Yes, I've already figured it out."

There was another beep from the left. Turning around, I saw a naked Naylus on the next bed, studded with some tubes, medical devices of unknown purpose, wires and sensors. The Turian looked like a victim of a rabid spinner, wrapped in an untidy cocoon with a pile of strange garbage.

It's a good thing the doctor can't read my mind... I'm afraid she won't appreciate such a comparison and will be offended.

"How is he?"

My gaze involuntarily clung to the huge blue spot that spread across his chest, to the numerous scars, to the swollen cyanotic burn that crossed his right thigh, multiple bruises and abrasions. I didn't understand, was he beaten up? Or did he manage to fight with Saren?