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"Right. Can you help us?"
"Sure. If I want to stay out of work." He chuckled softly. "There are beacons on all the cars. The security service will immediately notice if at least one leaves the garage without permission."
A setup... I was upset. I won't be able to get a car... it remains only to raise the "Norm"...
Apparently my face was VERY expressive, because Lilichjerax chuckled and said:
"Don't you have your own car?"
"There is, of course. But she's in the hold of the ship."
"But... I thought you wouldn't mind minor repairs... in the workshops of Hanshan. My guys are experienced, and my hands are growing from where they need to. We'll quickly check, fix, and adjust. It's still a blizzard."
Looking into Lilichierax's sly eyes, I couldn't help but smile broadly and sincerely! Lee is actually an even more good-natured guy than his in-game reflection. And if he couldn't help us according to the canon, then in reality...
"Thank you for the GREAT idea, Lilichierax!"
"I am always happy to help the Council's Spectr's. Especially so much... unusual."
And he was really happy to help us!
I shifted my gaze to Nihlus. There was no need to explain anything. After discussing some technical issues with his subordinates over the communicator, Lee retired to our ship, and Garrus and I returned to the garage.
Nihlus quickly obtained permission from Analeis for stationary repair of the all-terrain vehicle and, on completely legal grounds, drove the car to the workshops of the port of Hanshan. In order to eliminate suspicion, Lee and his team really went through our Mako, removing several damages that were hardly noticeable without serious inspection. We waited patiently for the end of the unscheduled inspection, rested and prepared for the ride along the mountain serpentine in the gathering snowstorm. But finally, the gate in the side wall of the garage swung open, allowing our trusty Mako, driven by Kayden. The car taxied to the garage gate, I gave the order to the soldiers to load into the all-terrain vehicle, and I went to Lee, who was discussing something with an unperturbed Nihlus.
Lee was eager to tell Specter the local gossip. The conversation apparently turned to the matriarch's visit, as I heard the end of the phrase:
"...she flew to the top of 15 before we lost contact with the complex."
"And what are the problems at the Top of 15?" Nihlus asked.
"I don't know." Lee spread his hands. "There's a storm there now, but they're not uncommon here, but satellite communications have never failed so far."
Nihlus and I exchanged glances, which did not go unnoticed. And Lilichierax chuckled:
"The 15th has always had a bad reputation."
Nihlus jerked his head up.
"What exactly was happening on it?"
"No one says what exactly they are doing there." The mechanic replied softly. "But everyone who has been there returns... taciturn."
That's how.
"Stay close to the rocks as you drive." the guy advised. "The road is slippery and treacherous, and it's a long way to fly to the surface of the Aleutian Valley. I don't want to dig your Mako out from under the snow later. After the storm."
"Is the road going high?"
"Yes. They made a nathach trail and reinforced it with supports. And sometimes it crumbles, so you have to repair it. If you want to catch your breath, wait until you reach the tunnels. They are securely fastened. I do not recommend braking on bare ground. Beware of avalanches. They come down often during a storm. If you see an avalanche, turn back, you won't pass anyway."
"Thank you, Lilichierax." I sincerely thanked the good-natured mechanic. "The Turian broke into a smile."
Have a nice trip, Spectr.
The mechanic waved his hand and went into the workshop, whistling to his subordinates: two people and a Turian who were inspecting the all-terrain vehicle before leaving. We boarded the car, and the gates parted, letting us out into the blizzard rolling over Hanshan. The Vershina-15 scientific research complex is exactly fifteen kilometers away. In a straight line.
"Touch it, Kayden. Garrus?"
"Visibility is almost zero." The sniper from the gun turret immediately responded. "Only by instruments."
"Drive slowly." The Geth will most likely be waiting for us.
Kayden nodded. The Mako rolled slowly along a not very wide mountain road. The port gates disappeared in the blizzard almost instantly. There was a viscous silence in the cabin: anxiety and a nagging sense of problems did not allow us to relax.
Lee warned us for a reason. Due to the strong wind at the turn, the Mako was almost blown down the icy slope into the abyss, but Alenko managed to turn off the sloping edge and cling to the rock. After that incident, our biotic was extremely careful. After he calmed down and stopped swearing.
We drove calmly for about ten or fifteen kilometers along the winding road along the mountains, when Tali reported the detection of active targets giving signals like Geth. The lidar turned out to be completely useless in the storm, but the location array was more or less working.
"Garrus!"
"Heard. Visibility is zero." The Turian immediately responded, and the tower came alive.
"Kayden, drive slowly." The Mako started moving and slowly crawled forward, sticking to the rock. There was a deathly silence in the cabin, dispersed only by the rumble of the engine, the rustle of the turning tower and the howling of the wind outside. The markings on the screen were getting closer: a thin, smooth chain before entering another tunnel.
The car suddenly lurched, jerked, and accelerated sharply. There was an explosion a little to the side, and Kayden, swearing through his teeth, spun the steering wheel, turning it toward the rocks. A machine gun rumbled overhead, and a rocket launcher boomed loudly.
"The Geth!"
"Break into the tunnel! It's not enough for these freaks to unleash an avalanche on our heads or collapse the trail!" I shouted.
The running engine roared. The maneuverable all-terrain vehicle literally flew up into the air on small engines, overturning a suddenly blown-up Grizzly that had grown out of a snowstorm, and shot forward.
We flew into the tunnel, knocking down a formation of Geth stormtroopers and quickly leaving the line of attack of the stationary turret. Kayden didn't stop, and Garrus quickly shot the Geth running after the car.
"Pull over!"
Alenko obediently slammed on the brakes.
"We're going back." My voice sounded very loud in the sudden silence. "We must destroy the tower, otherwise it will shoot us on a loop with impunity."
Kayden obediently turned the ROVER around and drove towards the tunnel entrance, stopping before we got to the attack line of the Get tower.
"Tali, can you break it?" The Quarian nodded affirmatively.
"Rex, Tali, Ashley. To the tower. And keep your head down. It is mandatory to take safety cables. Strap yourself aboard the Mako. Rex, you're the most physically powerful in the squad. Make sure the lady doesn't get blown away."
The Krogan grunted and nodded. No one was going to take any chances once again. Ashley, Tali and Rex buckled their carbines on the special handrails on board the ROVER and cautiously moved towards the visible tower, followed by the muzzle of a machine gun.
The Geth tower couldn't shoot itself in the base and only helplessly moved its "snout" while Tali opened the panel and connected to its interior. Literally a minute later, the combat platform, having jerked one last time, finally quieted down, and Tali, muttering something untranslatable in her native language, actively dug into her interior.
"Tali, what are you doing there?"
"Just a minute, Irene!" A gambling voice distorted by the storm came. I'll pull out the memory block! I managed to disable it before it self-destructed.
"Faster! We still have twenty kilometers to go!" Tali did it quickly: pulling out a heavy block, she handed the loot to the Krogan and, holding on to the cable, dived into the tunnel. The fighters returned to the car, Kayden drove on, and Tali immersed herself in studying the new toy.
"The program on this platform is dumb and limited," The Quarian said, "but something may remain in the imperatives. Other than shooting and distinguishing her own from others, she is good for nothing."
The Quarian went to work. I brought up the road map on the omny-tool screen. The next tunnel is five kilometers away.
"Kayden. Drive non-stop. And it doesn't matter what you meet on the way. If we get caught in an avalanche, we're definitely finished. The road will collapse under us... You got it."
Kayden nodded. The edge of the tunnel appeared.
"It's five kilometers to the next one. Garrus, fire at the ready of your choice."
Garrus didn't answer, but I knew he'd heard me.
The Mako left the tunnel and raced forward, constantly turning towards the rocks. The loop of the road was surprisingly narrow in this section, and it was only half a kilometer to the other side of the gorge. A scattering of active points quickly appeared on the screen, a tower came to life overhead, and a rocket launcher boomed. The all-terrain vehicle bounced over a pothole, the wheels screeched, the car jerked sharply to the side, and somewhere behind us there was an explosion. The machine gun started firing. A pause, the launch of a rocket, another, an overheating squeak, the sharp voice of a Turian:
"Kayden, to the right! The tank is at the edge of a bend in the road! Shoot him down! To the right!" The car lurched, veering to the right. Garrus guided with short commands until it sounded:
"Now!"
The Mako jerked sharply to the left, slamming into a walking tank that suddenly appeared out of a snowstorm. Geth was thrown aside by the impact, our car shuddered all over, it skidded, Alenko, cursing, leveled off and drove towards the tunnel that appeared ahead. And behind him, the tower rumbled. The tank slid off the edge of the path, which it had so carelessly approached, and disappeared somewhere into the abyss. Kayden slammed on the brakes: a rocket flew in front of the windshield and whistled somewhere in the blizzard. The machine gun started firing.
"Slow down a bit." Garrus's hoarse voice was lost in the roar of the rocket launcher. "That's it, go ahead."
Some of the notes on the screen went out.
"The tower is ahead."
"See." Biotic replied, circling the smoking Geth tank in an arc.
"There are eight marks ahead." I reported when the locators worked out and brought the information. "Two large ones."
The Mako jerked, skidding away from two rockets and a blue pulse that exploded somewhere on the rocks behind us. The machine gun fired in short, stingy bursts: Garrus mowed down the Geth hiding behind the blue hexagons of the force shields as the rocket launcher rolled away. The click of a reload, the hum of a rocket rushing towards the tilted turret and this time completely silenced. The machine gun rattled again... The ROVER burst into the tunnel, knocking down stormtroopers and a massive geth in dark armor, and drove on without stopping while Garrus calmly shot enemies running after the car.
We reached Peak 15, breaking through from tunnel to tunnel. Twice, small avalanches descended behind us like a white veil, caused by Geth missiles. One day, a piece of road collapsed when the blue pulses of a tank stuck into the supports. There was nowhere else to go back to. And we drove only forward until the tower of the laboratory complex floated out of the snow.
We've arrived.
The Mako stopped at the gate, and Garrus spent another twenty minutes shooting at the Geth who were pulling up to us. Until, finally, all the markings on the locator went out. Only we were left outside the research complex. Turning off the rover's engines, we entered the complex, leaving the faithful Mako in front of the hangar gates blocked by the burnt-out ROVER. Somewhere inside this complex we are waiting for the Geth, the monorail to the station "Cleft", the matriarch Benezia and Queen Rachni. And the most important thing. The coordinates of Saren's base on Vermire, which Benezia knew for sure.
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