"EDI, ship-wide comms."
"Go ahead."
"Attention all crew. Information has been received that the Collectors have been spotted near the colony of Freedom's Progress. Joker, we need to be there as quickly as possible. I authorize switching all ship systems to overdrive mode."
"Got it, Cap!"
The response from Joker followed immediately, and a few seconds later, everyone could hear the faint hum of systems being pushed into overdrive.
"All landing party, prepare. We will be landing in Exoskeletons and directly onto the colony territory."
Fortunately, this SSV Normandy and the Exoskeletons currently on board the ship allowed for such a possibility.
"The ENTIRE landing party is deploying, even those temporarily assigned to the SSV Normandy."
I said the last part specifically, as there were huntresses on the ship who were temporarily assigned to it.
"Commander, Solus is asking what he should do."
"EDI... Solus is a scientist. He served in the STG, of course, and I'm sure he won't be redundant in the field. But only he can decide where he is more useful. Since only he is capable of fully assessing the tasks set before him. So if he thinks he'll be more useful on the ship, then..."
"I've passed it on to him. Though it seems he's already realized I'm not a VI."
"Not surprising... alright, need to get ready."
"John..."
"EDI, you're in the landing party too."
"Understood!"
The AI clearly took my words with great enthusiasm. I, quickly checking my gear—or rather, the charge of my armor, shields, med-kit, in short, checking all consumables and only after making sure everything was in perfect order—walked through the ship for a quick inspection.
"Lipsi, tell me, are you tired of living?"
"No, sir!"
The girl, located in the CIC, snapped to attention in front of me.
"Then why the hell is your armor indicator glowing yellow?"
"Sir, it's at sixty-five percent!"
"Ah, so I should write your obituary in advance? Or will you finally take my subtle hint and replace the shield energy cell while there's still time?"
"Yes, sir!"
"And?"
Raising an eyebrow, I finally waited for the girl to run off to change the cell.
"Addressing everyone: if a fight is unexpected, I have nothing against cells with sixty percent charge, but since we have time to prepare, your shields must be at no less than one hundred percent. MOVE!"
Several people immediately dashed to change their energy cells, while I continued the inspection; there were twelve hours left until arrival at the destination...
** Ten hours later. **
Stretching, I opened my eyes and got out of bed, then once again checked the charge of all cells and, making sure they hadn't drained over the elapsed time, headed for the shower, where I washed up and brushed my teeth.
Only after that did I reach the cargo bay, where Jane was already waiting.
"Did you even sleep?"
"Yes... woke up an hour ago. And yes, you don't need to check your Exoskeleton; I checked all the armor and weapons."
"Thank you."
"Yeah."
She nodded.
"Nervous?"
"Not exactly... I just want to finally kill a couple of Collectors who think they can just hunt humans like this. And the more of those creatures I kill, the better I'll feel."
"Can I help with anything?"
"No. Everything's already done; all that's left is to wait."
I just had to sit down and sink into waiting, gradually watching as the members of the landing party gathered in the cargo bay.
"Sir, no sign of Collector presence."
Those were the words Joker spoke when we were over the colony, and it made me tense up.
"Signs of life?"
"There is life in the colony, but no one is responding to comms."
Those words made me tense up even more. Well, it doesn't happen that the Collectors don't take absolutely everyone with them.
"Looks like a trap."
Samara spoke what I was thinking myself.
"Quite possible. Everyone take your places in the Exoskeletons and prepare for landing. Joker, will you hover over the colony—specifically over its center?"
"I'll do it, but you've got a tough flight ahead of you."
"That's fine... fine..."
After that, we had to wait a little, but only a little, and then the ramp opened and we jumped out of the ship. Then we flew down.
When we almost reached the ground, the braking thrusters fired and gave us a sharp jolt, after which our feet touched the ground, and as soon as the feet of the last of the landing party touched the ground, Samara created a Barrier that covered us.
"Contact!"
Garrus managed to shout this, after which the ra—
An explosion rang out, and I immediately reinforced the barrier with my own.
"Why are you standing there?!"
Jane's shout was largely unnecessary, as no one was actually standing still. Those meant to take the front row in such a situation activated the energy shields built into their left arms and took up defensive positions, while the others paired up behind them.
"Hey! Human! We have hostages! Either you drop your barrier and armor, or we slaughter them!"
"John?"
Jane's voice sounded somewhat tense.
"EDI?"
I asked the question over the internal link so the attackers couldn't hear.
"I need a few more minutes."
"And why should I believe you? Show me at least two hostages first, then we'll talk. Or do you think I'm just supposed to take your word for it that you have hostages?!"
"Wait!"
"John, there are twenty Batarians and fifty hostages."
"Not good…"
"Calculating Batarian positions. In ten seconds, all shooters will receive mobile tracking markers for the Batarians."
"Waiting."
"Red markers are targets, green are civilians. Dark red markers are targets behind impenetrable walls; bright red are penetrable."
Following EDI's words, the markers appeared, and I cautiously looked around, pretending to assess the situation.
"Damn… they're all right next to the hostages, and we can't reach some of those bastards."
"Heh…"
My chuckle came out a bit strained. Soon, a Batarian brought out two hostages.
"I'll try to distract them… their pride is higher than skyscrapers, so let's give it a shot."
"Hey, Batar! Tell me, how does it feel to live as a coward?"
As I spoke, I slowly began removing my armor.
"Shut up, and have your curs take off their armor too!"
"Oh, you know, I have an idea… I'll strip down to my undergarments, take an infantry knife, and come out to you. Then you can try to take me down in hand-to-hand combat—or you can be the despicable cowards you are, unable to face even a single opponent as a group. And if you take me down, they'll strip and won't interfere. You hear me, Jane?!"
"I hear you…"
She was very displeased. She understood my plan, of course, but that didn't mean she liked it. Shortly after, I found myself outside the barrier, with only a knife in my hands.
"And?!"
Raising my hands so the Batarians could see I had nothing but the knife, I spun in place.
"Are you really such cowards that even you…"
I pointed the knife at the Batarian standing behind the hostages.
"…are afraid to face me? It turns out the rumors are true—you can only pick on civilians in a crowd, and even then, not always. You need to jack yourselves up on drugs just to find the courage."
"You'll regret this…"
The Batarian who had brought out the hostages began stripping off his armor very quickly, and soon he stood across from me, knife in hand.
"…I'm going to cut you very slowly and with great pleasure!"
"Well then, come on… step up!"
After my opponent's very first movement, I was disappointed; I could see all the holes in his technique. I could have killed him, and I could have done it extremely fast, but then they would try to gun me down with rifles, and the hostages would suffer…
Awkwardly dodging the Batarian's knife, I made an even clumsier strike than he did, which brought a highly arrogant smirk to his face. He already believed in his victory.
I stumbled back clumsily, tripped, and rolled sideways, flailing my arm and "accidentally" parrying the Batarian's knife with my own.
"John, you're taking a risk…"
EDI's voice sounded in my earpiece, but I couldn't answer her. I had to keep up the performance.
"Distributing targets… you… your plan is working; the Batarians are shifting their positions. But I want you to know: I do not approve of this."
"You're not the only one…"
Jane didn't hide her irritation.
"…and I don't care that you could have gutted that Batarian during his first move; you're still risking it. Because this performance… every move you make is an extra risk."
I had to remain silent and keep flailing my arms, rolling on the ground. I even let myself get nicked slightly by the knife and scratched the Batarian's cheek in return.
"Just a little longer… John, on my command, kill him."
I tensed slightly, just a tiny bit, but luckily my opponent didn't sense a thing. Then EDI's command came, and my actions changed instantly. In one motion, I slashed the Batarian's wrist, causing the knife to fall from his hand.
A step forward, a slight twist of the wrist, and a backhand slash across the throat, followed by two steps back.
"Oh boy…"
"Fire!"
"…got lucky."
The Batarian touched his neck in disbelief as blood flowed out, looked at the knife in my hands, and then began to collapse to the ground as my people opened fire on the Batarians. A few seconds later, it was all over.
"No Batarians remain."
"Everyone, break into trios! Search the colony! Drag the bandits' bodies here, gather the hostages in one place!"
After giving the orders, I returned to my armor and began putting it on.
"Good work…"
Mother approached, placed a hand on my shoulder, and squeezed it slightly.
"…you took a risk, but you saved many lives. Very good work. I'm proud of you."
"Thanks, Mom."
Those words were extremely pleasant to hear.
"Samara might support you, but I can't."
Jane approached and looked me intently in the eyes.
"You took a risk… and you know that risk was not justified."
"Jane…"
"No, you're going to listen to me. Too much is tied to you, and you had no right to take THAT kind of risk. You could have given an order, you could have even ignored the hostages—in the end, fifty people aren't that many compared to the number of beings currently depending on you…"
"Jane!"
Raising my voice slightly, I forced her to fall silent.
"The risks were assessed and deemed insignificant. Do you really think EDI wouldn't have noticed if someone was aiming at me? She would have warned me before they even fired, and I would have raised a barrier. In that case, we would have ignored the hostages. After all, I'm no saint out to save everyone, but I tried, and it worked."
"John, even if you were warned, it was a risk. An unjustified risk."
"Jane, don't say that…"
Shaking my head, I looked at her closely.
"…simply because there was no risk here. Even anti-biotic weapons don't break shields with the first shot. No, a Widow would have nailed me, sure, but I wouldn't have stood still; I would have dropped to the ground while raising a barrier, so everything would have been fine."
"Still!"
She showed with her entire demeanor that she was unhappy with what happened, but realizing she was currently in the minority, she didn't continue the conversation.
***
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