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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.
The terminal was not working. When we tried to turn it on, a soft female voice pleased us with the news:
"A critical launch error. The virtual intelligence interface is disabled. Manual loading is required."
"Why is it that when we need something, it either doesn't work, or we don't have access, or it needs to be repaired?" I grumbled, turning off the holographic interface.
Nihlus chuckled softly.
"This is fate."
"Very funny. You do realize that you'll have to run it manually, right?"
His partner nodded, keeping his eyes on the turn in the corridor.
The fighters entered the room, spread out and quickly checked the room. Drones screamed shrilly somewhere around the bend, and Rex cursed, taking down three green creatures hiding behind the access block to the VI in a couple of shots.
"A little dirty trick... Why is it so dark in here?"
Garrus waved the massive pistol vaguely, pointing somewhere at the ceiling.
Backup power system. The main reactor was apparently shut down when the alarm was sounded at the complex. I have a suspicion that we will have to go and turn it on." I grumbled. "Manually. Rex, what is it?"
"A locked door and a core."
"Tali, close this door and see what's wrong with the core."
The Quarian nodded and clacked her instruments. The indicator on the front door turned red, and we all fell into a fairly spacious room in the building: a circular hall covered with narrow black panels, in the center of which stood the core block and a small technical elevator platform.
While Tali was fixing VI's brain, we were frankly bored. I didn't feel any fever, it was quiet and cold in the complex. Only the beeping of the instrumentron and the barely audible cursing of the Quarian dispersed the deathly silence, and a lamp crackled somewhere near the ceiling.
"Ready!"
Tali went up to our level and turned on the VI. A pink hologram of a human woman appeared on the elevator platform, painfully reminiscent of Avina Citadel.
"Virtual intelligence is reactivated."
I stepped aside, gesturing for my colleague to chat with the computer. Nihlus grimaced, but stood in front of the pink hologram.
"Are you VI, the manager of the complex?" The Turian asked dryly.
"Right. The system responds to the name of *Mira*. Let me ask yours."
"The spectr of Nihlus Krayk."
"One moment, please." There was a brief pause as VI scanned the sentient in front of her and checked his credentials. "The powers of the Council's spectr have been confirmed. You are allowed special access to all systems. Please note that privileged access is required to access corporate secrets."
"Who has this access?" Nihlus asked calmly.
"Employees of the Bayneri Helix company who hold senior positions. As well as scientific staff of category *A* and *E*." VI kindly explained. "This system is ready to process requests. You can contact Mira through any of the Vertex-15's holographic interfaces."
"We need to find Matriarch Benezia. Where is it located?"
"Lady Benezia took the monorail to the auxiliary laboratory of the station *Cleft*." VI responded immediately.
The hologram blinked, and VI's voice said:
"To the attention of users! Currently, the monorail system is not in operation!"
"What is the situation in the complex?" Nihlus asked.
"One moment, please. Diagnostics are underway." a pause and an expressionless reply: "Critical failure: The main reactor is shut down due to emergency safety measures. A manual restart is required." Pause. "Critical failure: ground lines of communication are disconnected. The monorail has been discontinued. End of the message." VI's voice perked up. "Would you like to enter an additional query?"
"Why is the main reactor shut down?"
"Accidental contamination of the laboratory." The pink lady politely pleased us.
"Why does the main reactor shut down during an emergency contamination of the laboratory?" Nihlus patiently asked the question in an even, calm voice, although his fingers twitched nervously.
"It is assumed that biological pollutants will die or lose their activity due to a drop in temperature." VI said.
Nihlus took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, venting anger and irritation into his mind. Ashley snorted:
"Do we turn off the heating and wait for what escaped to freeze and die on its own?"
"Somewhere like that." Garrus shook his head.
"What needs to be done to restore the power supply?" Nihlus asked patiently.
"It is necessary to open the helium-3 supply valves. This can be done using the controls of the reactor itself."
"What are the landlines?"
"Ground lines connect the main Vershina-15 complex and my central block with auxiliary sub-complexes and risk laboratories. This provides employees with remote access to databases and my functionality without having to leave the lab. If an emergency occurs in the risk laboratories, the cables are automatically disconnected."
"How do I connect it back?"
"The router is located on the roof of the operating building. Turn it on and the system will reboot automatically."
"It's clear. What kind of creatures are these?"
"I'm sorry, Spectr. This information requires privileged access." Mira said sweetly.
Nihlus spat.
"End of the session."
VI politely said goodbye and hung up.
"Which was exactly what had to be proved. Turn everything on manually." I sighed. "Let's go to the roof first. It's supposed to be cold out there, and there shouldn't be any bugs. Theoretically. Tali, which way is the roof?"
Instead of answering, the console on the door behind us blinked and turned green.
On the way to the roof, we really didn't meet anyone, and the temperature dropped significantly. The router was located in a part of the roof protected from wind and snow, right at the base of the node subsystems, which looked like floor-to-ceiling cast metal cylinders extending into hexagonal sockets. There were no wires, boxes, unnecessary terminals, or anything else. There are only six groups of three subsystems, and there's a control terminal on the far wall.
On the frozen site, one stiffened corpse of a drone was found, climbing in a futile attempt to keep warm under a massive metal cylinder, and it just died there. Tali quickly rebooted the system, and the huge metal cylinders lit up with lights and hummed low. Mira appeared over the activated terminal and immediately reported:
"The connection has been restored. Processing new data. To the attention of users! Connection to laboratory services is not possible!"
Ignoring the pink lady with the good news, we drove back. Turn on the reactor. As far as I remember, there were Geth, and a lot of them! What will happen in reality... We'll find out now.
"Damn it..." Garrus shivered. "It's so cold in here..."
Nihlus nodded in agreement and pointed at the elevator activation plate. The doors closed, and the booth slid down.
"Hah! You've relaxed, Vakarian, in the warmth and comfort of the Citadel."
The sniper glanced sideways at the pleased Krogan and shivered.
"Turians don't like the cold, Rex."
"And people, too," Ashley added faintly, agreeing with Garrus completely for the first time.
The elevator stopped and let us out into a corridor of the same type. After checking the map, we drove to the reactor. Turn it on faster, get off this planet faster! Apparently, similar thoughts were wandering in the minds of my fighters, as we ran through the hall with the VI core, casually shooting the rachni soldier who fell out of the technical manhole at us. In the complex, the temperature confidently exceeded minus two and successfully dropped further.
The first sign of the Geth presence greeted us at the exit of the next elevator: static cut off the tactical locator in the armor, the connection was filled with a crackle. The fighters switched their weapons to armor-piercing bullets.
Ahead of us was a short straight corridor and the entrance to the control room of the reactor unit. According to the map, this is a huge sixty-meter room with four levels: a common control room on the third level and two technical rooms on the fourth. The second level is the technical ramps that give engineers access to the reactor units. The first is the base of the reactor array, and access to it is possible only through a special gateway system. However, our goal is the control room on the third level, from which you can access the platform to the manual control panel.
"Tali, lock all the doors in the reactor room." I said softly. "Ready?"
About fifteen seconds later, the Quarian nodded sharply.
"Block it."
The indicator flashed red.
"Is everything blocked?"
A short nod.
"Let us into the control room."
The door hissed open. In a small rectangular room, a geth-stormtrooper was waiting for us, who caught a single volley from a shotgun and two rifles.
"Clear."
Rex entered first, followed by the others. They didn't block the doors. You never know how the battle will go, the escape routes should be clear.
"Is there something?"
Garrus stared intently at the huge room through the sturdy armored glass. Tali connected to the terminal.
"I see the Geth." Garrus's vibrant voice sounded dry. Hunters. There's one on the wall opposite. Another one is just above the ramp. Stormtroopers on the left ramp. Trio."
"The juggernaut is on the right." added Nihlus. "The ghost. I'm not sure, he left quickly in disguise."
"If there is one hunter, then there is more. Knock out the ghost as soon as it appears. He is a priority target. Are there snipers?"
The fighters shrugged, and the Krogan spread his arms.
"Tali, open the right door."
The indicator blinked and the door obediently swung open. The Geth creaked. I poked my head out and barely had time to dive back in when the familiar red death ray flashed over my head.
"The ghost on the wall." Garrus dropped to one knee, raised his rifle, peered through the scope and swung sharply to the right, peering out from behind the door and immediately fired. Rex yanked it back. Bullets and a red ray hit the wall.
"Three ghosts, four hunters." Garrus reported calmly, fiddling with something in the scope. "The juggernaut is coming."
Standing up, the Turian abruptly surfaced and fired two shots with a doublet and immediately dived back into the room. A moment later, a bright scarlet ray pierced the place where his head had been.
"Two ghosts and four hunters." The sniper stated dispassionately, changing the type of bullet.
Damn it! My hands were shaking. Shields won't absorb the ghost's shot, some of it will pass anyway. Garrus is without a helmet. One hit and...
The footsteps of the running juggernaut sounded. We raised our weapons. A moment of waiting, and then the synthetic appeared in the doorway to catch the combined volley of a shotgun and five rifles. The shields were blown away instantly, and the geth only managed to creak something before falling to the floor.
"Tali, open the left door."
The indicator has changed color. I raised my rifle. The doors slid up and down, revealing the Geth milling around the door. Touching the trigger plate, the rifle jerked, spitting out a short burst. A singularity flew past me, making my hair stand on end. The stormtroopers were lifted into the air. A moment of pause, a queue. A shotgun rumbled nearby, rifles rattled. The singularity worked out, the Geth fell to the floor. The roar of a shotgun, the last functioning Geth collapsed backwards and did not get up. A harpoon boomed loudly behind him. The whistling of the beam, Garrus's muffled cursing.
"One ghost, four hunters." a short report.
I leaned against the wall and peered around the doorjamb. Quiet? A sudden movement somewhere to the right. The hunter! A short burst of fire slashed at the nimble creature, knocking it off the ceiling, and *Krayz* Nihlusa chattered nearby. The hunter fell silent.
"Minus the hunter." I said.
"A ghost jumped towards you." Garrus's vibrant voice sounded strangely muffled.
As if to confirm his words, a scarlet ray flashed over my head. That's a well-aimed brute! A black shadow darted somewhere to the right.
"He jumped back."
Two shots from the harpoon boomed loudly.
"Minus the hunter."
I moved away from the left door, letting Nihlus and Kayden pass. Rex stood next to Garrus and somehow looked hard at the Turian changing the thermal clip in the rifle. A viscous blue drop fell onto the metal floor, sliding from the right elbow of the kneeling Turian.
"Garrus, are you hurt?"
"He grazed my shoulder." he replied indifferently, raising his weapon.
"Treat the wound." I took the Harpoon out of his hands, cutting off his attempt to argue with a gesture.
Garrus blinked, nodded slowly, and took a step back. I leaned into the scope, quickly peeked over the edge. Ghost... Where are you? The red flash is slightly to the right and higher. I raise the rifle sharply and shoot at the movement and immediately fall down, adjust the scope, shoot. A deadly ray flies over his head, and the ghost leaps away with one ragged leap. The quiet hiss of reloading, catching a vague black shadow flashing red, shot, shot. The ghost falls down somewhere, and I barely manage to stagger back. The beam passes close to the head, incinerating the hair.
"Minus the ghost."
There was silence in response. I turn around and meet the heavy gaze of bright blue eyes. There is a frightening silence in emotions. Rex is standing next to the tense Turian, staring at me just as intently. What are they doing? Without getting up, I silently hand the rifle to Garrus. He picks it up, folds it and puts it in the clips.
"Never! So! Don't! Do it!" Garrus growled clearly, typing out every word.
A short queue, a high-pitched squeal from geth, and the long-awaited:
"Clear!"
The interference disappeared, and the armor's locator started working. Ashley and Kayden slipped out onto the ramp and ran to check the area. Liara followed them a little late. A minute and Ashley's voice:
"Clear."
Nihlus came up, jerked me to my feet, shamelessly grabbed my chin with his fingers and turned my head slightly to one side, examining the slight ray burn on my temple and singed hair.
Kayden and Ashley returned to the control room. They saw our silent composition. Surprise flooded my mind generously, clogging up even the seething emotions of the Turians, which I didn't even try to sort out and analyze.
"Something happened?" The man asked cautiously, looking suspiciously at the evil Nihlus.
Instead of answering, the Spectr just moved away a little, showing biotic my singed face. And he pressed it dryly.
"The ghost ray."
"Almost doesn't count." I chuckled, carefully unclenching his armored fingers. "Garrus, how bad is the wound?"
"The beam pierced through his shoulder." he replied, slowly calming down. "I smeared it with panacelin."
Panacelin in the form of an ointment was much more concentrated than in the form of an injection, but it acted only at the site of application. I took out the injector and handed it to our only sniper. Garrus squinted at my kind face and didn't dare to argue, but just used it for its intended purpose.
"Tali, start the reactor. Ashley, Rex, cover her. You never know what..."
The Quarian ran across the bridge to the massive column of the reactor unit, Ashley and Rex followed. Liara looked at me strangely, looking from me to Garrus and back again. There is a belated fear in emotions. Is he afraid for us? It's so late.
Nearby, armor clips clicked softly, metal rustled and creaked, and something wet touched his temple. I turned my gaze to Nihlus, surprised to see him silently smearing my burn with panacelin under Garrus' gaze.
"It's just a slight burn." In response, there is a heavy gaze of green eyes and a complete disregard for my words, which, coupled with a suspicious silence in my mind, is somewhat... scarecrow. Nihlus finished smearing the clear ointment, swirled the jar, rubbed the remnants over his palm and pulled on an armored glove.
* And what does that mean?* I sent a question, looking into the green eyes.
* Back to the ship, I'll tell you.* an immediate and promising response came. * I guess Garrus will add if I forget about something.*
Uh... I have some vague doubts... I didn't pry into his mind, but the Turian turned away, breaking eye contact and walked over to the VI terminal.
The reactor hummed sharply, the lamps glowed brighter, and the previously inactive equipment started working. Nihlus touched the terminal, bringing up a pink hologram of VI. I wonder who was senile enough to make a PINK woman as an avatar of virtual intelligence?
This electronic beast of the World, having confirmed the launch of the reactor, informed us in the same sweet voice:
"There is an infection in the monorail cars." Holy shit! Can we just get to this fucking Crevasse without taking on all the problems of this complex?
"What does it mean * there is an infection*?" Nihlus asked dryly, squinting at my kind face.
"Dangerous biological substances have entered the monorail cleaning chamber." Mira explained willingly. "For the safety of the staff, the station has been blocked."
Nihlus silently closed his eyes, inhaled slowly, and exhaled just as slowly with a low growl.
"Unlock the cleaning chamber." The Turian ordered.
"To the attention of users! There is contamination in the cleaning chamber. Entry to the camera is not recommended."
Garrus shook his head, glaring at the pink hologram with distaste.
"How to get rid of pollution?"
"The camera is equipped with an emergency system that supplies plasma at a temperature of 5,000 degrees Kelvin. It is able to eliminate any possible contamination." VI explained, and relief flashed through Nihlus' emotions.
"How do I activate the system?"
"The control of the emergency system is located at the security post next to the cleaning chamber." Mira explained. Pause, blink of the hologram, and... "To the attention of users! The emergency system is out of order."
I heard Nihlus gritting his teeth. Garrus gave a muffled, rumbling laugh. Rex shook his head.
"Like. Her. Fix it?" The slowly beastly Turian asked clearly.
"There was a hardware failure in the system management." Mira replied, and Nihlus flared up with anger. "Repairs are possible on site using standard omny-tool tools."
"At least something good." The Krogan growled.
"We don't have time!" Nihlus growled. "Lift the ban and open the doors!"
"Acknowledged, Spectr. Protection is disabled. Your safety does not fall under my jurisdiction."
"The session is over!"
Mira obediently went out. Nihlus rubbed his comb, slowly calming down.
"This is not an emergency security system, but a system of *get a minor repair team*! Specter grumbled."
"Sometimes it seems to me that VI won't let us on the monorail until we fix this fucking complex and do a general cleaning." I added. "Tali, look at the map where this cleaning chamber is."
"The entrance is opposite through the technical room of the VI core." the Quarian replied after a short delay.
"We're going back."
On the way back, a Rahni soldier fell out of the ventilation on us, but was knocked into the wall with a generous kick from Rex and shot with a shotgun. Judging by the simmering discontent, the Krogan still hadn't let off steam. It's not enough for him, damn it! Nihlus walked to my right, glancing with displeasure at my singed face. Garrus walked between Ashley and Kayden, wincing painfully from the bullet holes in his shoulder, which was hastily regenerating under the influence of panacelin. Bad. Garrus is the only sniper in the squad. I'm not up to his level, and I never will be. Nihlus has never been a sniper. Rex... Rex is a Stormtrooper, and that says it all. Ashley is with sniper rifles on *you*, preferring a shotgun and an assault rifle. Liara and Kayden are biotics. Tali is only good with a pistol and explosives.
"Here?" Nihlus pointed the muzzle at the door.
Tali nodded.
A short straight corridor led us to another elevator, which took us down a level. Another short corridor of the same type led to the desired cleaning chamber and checkpoint. Where we found two corpses of Salarians and a crowd of Rachni behind glass.
"Tali, turn on the cleaning."
The beep of an instrumentron, the girl's finger touched a pair of buttons, and a fiery hell opened up behind the glass, blinding us for a moment. The bugs burned up instantly.
"Cool..." Kayden glanced suspiciously at the terminal. "Maybe it's worth disabling this cleaning. Somehow..."
"Don't you want to share Rachni's fate?" I smiled knowingly. "It's a sound idea. Tali, block those flamethrowers out of harm's way. And then, who knows how they can be shortened."
Tali's fingers fluttered over the keyboard.
"Ready!"
"Are the doors unlocked?"
"Yes."
Despite the confidence in the Quarian's voice, we passed through this red-hot vestibule with caution and VERY quickly! It's a creepy feeling... Like in a crematorium... from inside the furnace. We greeted the icy, frozen corridor with a collective sigh of relief and stomped to the monorail platform. VI didn't bother us anymore, and thank all the gods! We've had enough of minor repairs in combat conditions!
A pot-bellied monorail trailer was waiting for us on the platform, which was slowly being swept away by snow, silence and no problems. Of all the control levers in the car, there was only one small terminal with one single function: to run a pre-programmed program and send the trailer along a single route. The fighters settled comfortably on the wide benches, and Nihlus started the train. The lock on the door turned red, the monorail moved smoothly and raced through the blizzard to the final station, the risk laboratory *Cleft*.
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