Chapter 551: Chaos

? "Well……"

"well……"

"snort!"

In the ring area of ​​the Citadel space station, in front of a huge floor-to-ceiling window in the aisle outside the council’s arbitration office, the four council members of the four races are looking at the almost invisible window outside the window with different expressions. , the city in the third guard district that has been devastated by the flames of war.

Now, the turian army that had been fighting fiercely there for nearly half a month is withdrawing in an orderly manner, sending out those places that they spent a lot of manpower and material resources and killed countless elite soldiers to successfully capture... …

"..."

That blue-skinned member of Asari, at this moment, had a calm expression on her face. No one knew what was going on in her heart right now... The successful peace talks with the rebels this time can actually be said to have been suppressed by the rebels. It was made possible by the efforts of the Asari councilors. Of course, the other councilors did not object too much.

It's just that their other congressmen didn't want to oppose it, but they didn't dare to oppose it...

"well……"

The Salarian councilor with a small head and a pair of big eyes blinked his huge eyes for a while, looked at the situation outside the window, and sighed again helplessly.

Obviously, the Salari people don't want to see this kind of result...

Because, the conditions put forward by the Krogan rebel leader are too outrageous and harsh for them... The other party asked for the entire third guard, and even named them Salari, asking them Hand over all the 'gene phage' details?

This kind of thing makes their Salari family feel extremely embarrassed...

Back then, it was the Salarians who handed over the 'gene phagocytosis' biochemical weapon to the Turians during the Krogan War, which almost caused the Krogan race to be completely destroyed. Extinction!

But now, after they hand over those things... Once the krogan really develops the antidote to crack the 'gene phagocytosis', and then let those krogan regain the terrifying super reproductive ability , I am afraid that within a few hundred years, there will be a new krogan war... There is no doubt about it!

However, even if they think of all kinds of bad consequences in the future, even if the Salarians are very dissatisfied with the results of the negotiations, they have to do that... because they can't bear the risk of losing the God's Citadel space station now ...Compared to the rebellion, the risk of losing the Citadel is obviously more serious?

"Members of Congress,

Please listen to me! "

After struggling for a while, the Turian councilor glanced bitterly at the turian soldiers and war machines who were evacuating the third guard area on a landing craft in the distance, then turned his head and glanced at the other councilors around him .

Yesterday, the official evacuation order was issued, and the Turians must complete a full-scale evacuation operation before tonight, and vacate the third guard area that was regained after paying a huge price, and then leave it to those damn thugs !

In the future, I am afraid that there will be no city in the third guard area of ​​the Citadel Space Station, but it will become the "Galactic Freedom Alliance Autonomous Region of the Citadel Space Station". Those thugs really want to fight against the council

"Do we really have to do that? Do we really have to compromise with the rebellious thugs?"

"The conditions proposed by the Krogan Grant are nothing short of blatant blackmail!!"

Whenever he thought of the outrageous conditions proposed by the other party during the third negotiation yesterday, Councilor Turian would gnash his teeth with hatred! If possible, he even wanted the turian army to kill all those thugs, leaving no one behind!

Because, this time the riot at the Citadel space station had dealt a severe blow to their Turians' army and prestige!

It can be said that their Turians have lost all face and pride...

In addition to their turian personnel who lost most of the C-SEC SWAT team and patrol team, they also killed thousands of soldiers in the street battles in the guard area and the 'foundation' world at the same time, plus they were killed by that damned opponent. The 'Super Big Ivan' nuclear weapon was given to the Turian military port and nearly half of the Citadel's defense fleet!

According to incomplete statistics, there are at least more than 100,000 Turians and several dreadnoughts stationed in the Turian military port far from the God's Citadel space station, and there are countless other large and small ships! Until now, the exact number of casualties in that military port has still not been counted.

It can be seen from this that under such a heavy loss, the Turians were the last ones, but not only did they get nothing, but they were also secretly laughed at by the various tribes of the God's Citadel... How could the Turians not hate this? ? !

You know, the Turians still have a blood feud with those krogan people. From the krogan war to the present, both sides can't wait to put each other to death and hurry up! But now, those krogan who were almost extinct actually caused their turians to suffer such a big loss, how could they let it go?

"really……"

"We also know that this is not the best choice, but... Senator Turian, do you have any better ideas now? If so, we will definitely consider it..."

Shaking his head lightly, he didn't want to look at the guard city outside the window that will soon no longer belong to the God's Castle, the Asari councilor turned his head with a gloomy expression and was still angry at that one, even for a while. The ferocious Turian councilor asked with a wry smile.

This time, the Asari were the ones who lost the most when the Third Guard District was handed over to those thugs to build a so-called 'free city'!

You know, the Asari were the first to colonize God's Castle back then!

Therefore, in the third guard area in the distance, the most of them are the Asari's property... Over the past few hundred years, how many retired Asari have sold the land of the "capital" of the galaxy and successfully become She doesn't even want to count the super rich... But now, they have to give away to those thugs for nothing... Just thinking about this matter, you can know that she, a member of the Asari Council, will , How much abuse and pressure will they bear in their Asari's group?

So, now the Asari councilor not only does not feel the slightest sympathy for what happened to the Turians in his heart, but also complains and hates the Turians faintly in his heart!

Because the C-SEC special police team and patrol team responsible for arresting smugglers are all Turians! She felt that it must be the turians' inaction, which allowed countless dangerous goods and weapons to be smuggled and flowed into the castle, which led to today's bad results!

They Turians are all self-inflicted! The reason why this kind of thing happened today is that they brought the blame on themselves and dragged down their Asari.

"snort!"

Obviously, the Turian councilor was just venting his emotions, and he didn't have any better ideas.

"Everyone!"

"I think you all know that that greedy krogan will never be satisfied just like this! And our appeasement and compromise this time will only increase their endless greed... who knows What kind of outrageous demands will they make next time?"

"At that time, what should we do?!"

In fact, after the fusion weapons bombed Turian's military port a few days ago, the crazy General Turian and his council member suggested that the Council of the Citadel directly cut off the third guard area of ​​the Citadel and abandon that guard. District cities, and then let the Citadel Space Station fly away from this star field, and then gather troops to annihilate those thugs who dare to provoke the Citadel Council!

However, that motion was quickly dismissed after discussion...

That's because it would be a huge project to cut and discard a whole huge third guard...

In short, that kind of movement is absolutely insignificant, and it can't be completed in three to five days! And once those thugs notice it, who knows what kind of serious consequences it will have?

so……

After the discussion, the council had to give up the idea that sounded very tempting, and finally had to give in, and began to formally compromise with the thugs, even if the other party's demands were a bit outrageous, even if they themselves were actually very unwilling, But also had to do that.

"Please don't be blinded by anger, Councilor Turian..."

"Of course we know what you said... We have actually discussed these things many times... But now we have to do that, because we have to temporarily stabilize them!"

"Otherwise the consequences..."

Otherwise, Senator Salari did not say clearly, but drooped the eyelids of his huge eyes, bowed his head slightly and sighed.

That krogan thug, that guy named Grant, has a terrifying weapon of mass destruction in his hand. Once it is detonated here in the Citadel, it can directly threaten the Citadel space station and the 1300 people living in this space station. The lives and property of more than one million residents are safe!

Therefore, they will never have a better choice except compromise.

Grant, the krogan, the opponent doesn't need to have the strength to defeat them, they only need to have the courage to perish together, and they have to satisfy most of the opponent's "blackmail" that is not too outrageous... Otherwise, once the opponent does not Satisfied or felt threatened, threatened or really going to detonate that terrible fusion weapon, what should they do?

"alright!"

"We have already reached a conclusion on this matter, so don't waste time arguing about it now! Let's think about the future..."

"Actually, it's not bad to do this for the time being... In the future, we can either slowly influence them with gentle means, bind their interests with the Citadel, and restrict and supervise them accordingly; Find a suitable time to completely remove their threat?"

After speaking, Senator Asari shook her head in a self-deprecating manner.

The idea is very good, but it will definitely not be so easy to implement... After all, no one is a fool, and that krogan will definitely take strict precautions against those three fusion bombs in a short time, even if he really has to deal with those The thugs must also be patient and plan and arrange slowly until new opportunities arise, until they confirm the three damn fusion bombs and are sure to deactivate their detonators!

However, it will definitely be a long process, and it cannot be easily solved in a short period of time.

"Yes, Senator Asari is right."

"We have no other better choice now, we have to temporarily abandon this third guard area... As for whether those thugs will make more excessive demands in the future, we can only discuss it at that time..."

Taking one last look at the third guard district that was being abandoned by Turian soldiers in the distance, Senator Salari sighed with bleak eyes, intending to end today's meaningless topic, and then leave here, just take a look Not seeing is pure.

In any case, the matter of the third guard has become a foregone conclusion!

Although those thugs lost in the end and suffered heavy casualties under the siege of the Turian soldiers, they got everything they wanted! The Citadel Council has now been forced to make a big concession on this matter, and it is meaningless to argue any further, unless someone can take away the three remaining large-equivalent coins from the krogan The fusion bomb!

"..."

Anderson on the side of the Human Star Alliance kept holding back and didn't speak, because this matter has nothing to do with their human interests, not to mention the whole area of ​​the guard city that can live in millions of people sent to the Citadel Space Station. Even if they send out another piece, the Star Alliance doesn't care.

After all, their Star Alliance is still too young compared to the Citadel Alliance... In the Citadel Space Station, which is equivalent to the "capital" of the Milky Way, most of their human beings from Earth can't afford it. Land or real estate... So, of course, Anderson wouldn't feel too much about giving away other people's things.

"Feel sorry!"

"Members, please wait a moment, I still have some important matters here!"

Seeing that Senator Salari and that Senator Asari were about to turn around and leave, after struggling for a while, Anderson finally couldn't help it, gritted his teeth, and made up his mind to say a more important event at this time.

"It's actually like this!"

"Some time ago, didn't we restore Shepard's position as 'Castle Ghost'? Now, she has made a major new discovery in the Kaiser galaxy! She has captured some collector monsters and successfully destroyed A Collector ship, and now that crashed ship is under the control of our Federation!"

"I believe that soon, she will be able to find conclusive evidence of the connection between the collectors and those harvesters!"

"Then we can..."

Anderson completely ignored the consultant Udina who was winking at him, and just talked loudly excitedly. In fact, even he himself didn't expect that Shepard and the others would do such a good job, catching the tail of a group of collectors in the "Horizon" colony of the God of God Galaxy, and Chen successfully caught a living person and Destroyed the opponent's spaceship?

"You mean... soon?"

"So, obviously, the existence of those so-called 'collectors' can only be barely confirmed, and there is still not enough evidence to show that they have a relationship with the 'reapers' you invented?"

"I'm not surprised by this..."

Senator Salari, who was about to leave, turned his head and stared at the human councilor Anderson who was looking excited. Then, for some reason, he first stared at him with some curiosity, and finally regretted shook his head.

"Okay, Senator Anderson..."

"We have more important things to deal with now. There are already enough things here in the Citadel of God. Please don't mention the matter of the World God Galaxy! Unless...you get enough hard evidence to convince us?"

"Sorry, we're excused first."

Councilor Azali politely said a few words to Anderson, then turned around and talked with Councilor Salari in a low voice, and walked slowly into the distance together, disappearing through an automatic hatch after.

Councilor Asari doesn't want to pay too much attention to the matter of the collectors... because, as early as hundreds of years ago, the Citadel had already received reports from the Turians about unknown creatures attacking the colony in the World God Galaxy ... Now, it seems that there is nothing strange about those mysterious and dangerous races coming out to mess with and attack humans again?

Besides, they have already warned human beings about the Jieshen galaxy and the Omega 4 repeater. They insisted on going to that chaotic and dangerous place to colonize. They will definitely not take care of the place!

"Hmph! Please let me go!"

Seeing the other two councilors leave, the Turian councilor also turned his head and looked coldly at the two humans beside him. He was not in a good mood, and he didn't even want to say polite words, so he snorted coldly and squeezed arrogantly. The two of them quickly left in the other direction.

This time, the Turian stumbled a lot here in the Divine Castle. He had to find a way to wash away his responsibilities. Otherwise, in a few days, he would have to pack up and go home and stay away from this beautiful place. out of place.

"this……"

"They, how could they do this?!"

Seeing the irresponsible and prevarication attitude of the three council members, Anderson suddenly felt confused and dumbfounded...

Now the threat of the Reapers to the Milky Way has become more and more serious, and those collectors who are closely related to the Reapers have also begun to be active in the God Galaxy, plus Saren, Overlord and Geth two years ago... Anderson seems to be watching It turns out that a huge conspiracy is enveloping their entire galaxy and all races. All kinds of situations have shown that: the Reapers are likely to come back again. At that time, no one can survive the powerful enemy!

But now, those guys, how can they still ignore it? !

"Anderson!"

"Look what you've done now?!"

"I told you a long time ago that this matter must not be brought up in the near future, because the timing is not suitable at all!"

After all the members of the council were gone, and only Anderson and Udina himself were left here, Udina gritted his teeth, stepped forward to stare into Anderson's eyes, lowered his voice and said in a cold voice. He sneered fiercely.

He finally knew that this member of the council who was a military general was an idiot who failed in politics!

Udina himself naturally attaches great importance to Shepard's investigation and information, and even the Star Alliance is now discussing it specifically, but... this kind of good card should definitely not be at this time. Bring it up when you can't take care of yourself and are messed up by the riots!

He had warned Anderson before...

But who would have thought that the other party really said it at this inappropriate time? Look, this guy finally got his wish and got the worst result! The other members of the council didn't want to pay attention to that matter at all, and were blind to what Shepard had gained when he desperately went to rescue 'Horizon'.

"But now that the threat of the Reapers is imminent, I have to do that!"

"Udina! Compared to the Citadel space station, isn't the safety of the entire galaxy more important?!"

Anderson also stared at his consultant in a bit of embarrassment and growled in a low voice. He just wanted to remind those congressmen kindly, but who would have thought that they were still so stubborn? !

"Threat? Huh!"

ridiculous……

"Anderson, let me tell you this: right now, even our Star Federation is hesitating, unable to deduce the truth of the matter, and why do you think you can take those specious things at this inappropriate time? 'evidence' to convince the Citadel Council?"

The matter of 'Horizon' and all the materials, images, monster corpses, living bodies, spaceships, and the testimonies of the Star Alliance officers, soldiers and residents after the colony was arrested, etc., have been submitted to the Star Alliance headquarters by Shepard for the first time. ! However, the Star Alliance is still in the process of research and intense demonstrations. Those high-level people who are willing to believe that there must be a connection between the "Reapers" and the Collectors are probably less than one-tenth of them, right? !

Because of this, he warned the political idiot in front of him early: At this time, unless the army of the Reapers appears directly in front of the Citadel, otherwise, those congressmen will never believe them It really exists!

Even if this matter really has to be brought up, it should choose a better time, but no matter what, it should definitely not be the worst time when the energy of the Divine Castle has been completely dragged by the rioters!

Udina didn't understand. Even if the Reapers really came out to harvest the various high-level civilizations in the galaxy, they didn't just harvest the Star Alliance and humans first. Those Asari, Salari, and Turians were all What's the use of Anderson being anxious when he's not in a hurry?

"..."

Anderson didn't continue to speak, but just stared at the prisoner with a cold face. Udina, who was a member of the congressman, was teaching him a lesson as a consultant. It is not unreasonable for him to hate this kind of politician, of course, including those other members of the God's Castle Council!

"So, obviously!"

"Anderson, it's you who messed up everything! One word from you made all of Shepard's efforts go to waste!"

"Although you are a good officer, you are not a qualified council member!!"

Udina continued to criticize mercilessly, regardless of Anderson's face gradually turning red.

"I'm still saying the same thing as before: Although Shepard elected you as a member of parliament... But, Anderson, you are not suitable for the Castle of God at all, and you are not a qualified politician! And you, you should return to you sooner. Fight your battles in the Starfleet Navy!"

"I think... it's time for you to consider finding a suitable opportunity to resign and give up this council member position to a more suitable me?"

"Here in the Citadel, your military's method will not work!!"

After finishing speaking, Udina no longer looked at the ugly purple face and trembling fists of a certain Star Alliance admiral, just waved his hands, turned and left bitterly, and let everyone stay in the huge aisle. The opponent is alone.

"..."

—————

After brilliantly completing the "Horizon" rescue mission assigned by Cerberus Phantom Man, successfully crushing the Collector's plot, rescuing almost most of the colonists and annihilating the incoming enemies, Normandy II only needs to repair After two days, they left the colonial planet and began to return to prepare to process their harvest.

In addition to obtaining collector equipment that is similar to the geth technology of the year but a little more advanced, and speculating that collectors and geth, or collectors and 'reapers' have an inevitable connection, Shepard and the others have also obtained more Valuable things:

In a material warehouse on Normandy II, it is filled with frozen hibernation cabins.

Inside, the Collectors that Shepard and the others managed to catch and were still alive were being frozen and imprisoned! They have the blue ordinary corpse puppets, poisonous sac monsters, collector soldiers who look exactly the same, and the killed collector 'harbinger' elites and collector consuls!

Except for those dangerous guys who would self-destruct if they were not careful, they didn't dare to take them in, and they didn't have corpses for them to store as specimens, they basically kept one or two corpses of all the collectors!

In short, they caught quite a few collectors, and frozen them to fill the entire cabin! They even captured a guy who looked like the leader of the collectors!

"..."

"Commander Shepard, the leader of the Collector inside is not simple... Its abilities are unparalleled, and its danger level is very high! I suggest... you'd better 'dealt' it now? "

Dr. Modine Sollers approached a modified large-scale frozen hibernation chamber, and looked through the transparent glass at the collection that was steaming with white gas and was being pressurized and frozen by liquid nitrogen and related facilities. Or a monster... Then, he thought about it, finally shook his head, and suggested to Commander Shepard who was following him.

Because, this monster's ability is really too powerful...

When his detection equipment was close to the opponent, it was directly at the outrageous full value, so it was completely impossible to estimate the opponent's real ability level? And judging from the 'Consul', the collector who can shoot eye-beam lasers, they met before, the leader of this collector is definitely not bad.

Once this kind of existence is out of trouble, it will be a disaster!

"You mean... want me to kill it directly?!"

Dazed for a moment, Shepard took a while to come back to his senses, and probably understood the meaning of the other party's "handling"... It seems that this Dr. Modine wants to kill the leader of the Collectors they managed to capture alive ?

"No, absolutely not!"

"We managed to catch it after a lot of hard work. If it hadn't been seriously injured when the spaceship crashed, maybe we would really have to kill it!"

This weird thing in front of her is the living evidence she collected with great difficulty. Whether it is handed over to the Citadel or given to Cerberus to study torture information, it is very valuable. How can it be killed casually? Lose?

It is alive, but it is definitely more valuable than a dead one!

Now, the colonists and soldiers of the Star Alliance Navy who were captured and taken away by the collectors have all been rescued from the crashed collector spaceship. The battle of taking advantage of the fire is not too difficult.

Although the casualties calculated by the people of the colonies afterwards were not small, there is no doubt that they did win! They successfully shattered the collector's conspiracy. Whether it was them or the Star Alliance Navy that arrived later, they captured many living collectors and directly obtained a fairly complete collector spaceship! And now, this guy who seems to be the General Collector is their biggest harvest, the spoils they have managed to secretly intercept from the hands of the Star Alliance Navy.

"So this is ah……"

"But, Commander Shepard, what do you want me to do? Do you want to dissect it... or study something about it?"

Since Commander Shepard is unwilling to kill this powerful monster easily, Dr. Modine has no other way, but can only look at the heroine of the galaxy with questioning eyes.

When almost most people are unwilling to believe that collectors and reapers exist, it is this human woman who is running around with her life, smashing the enemy's plots one after another, and even really died for it once... Therefore, Dr. Modine felt that this was a truly noble human being who deserved to serve him to the best of his ability.

"neither!"

"I need you to allow me to have a normal conversation with it while ensuring safety! Are you sure you can do it?"

Shepard doesn't care about dissection or research, she just wants to learn what she wants to know from the other party's mouth, that's all!

But……

This leader of the collectors cannot be released easily. If he is released casually, with the other party's abilities, something big will definitely happen! Those brainless corpse puppets and collector soldiers who are not afraid of accidents seem to have insufficient communication skills, which made her worry about this matter all the time.

From the fact that the dead collector 'consul' could speak, she knew that there must be something she needed in the head of the collector!

"You want to communicate with it...?"

"Hmm... It's not impossible... I think I should be able to insert a probe into this guy's brain while it's frozen, and then activate it locally to amplify its brain waves... And if their biological composition and If most creatures in the galaxy are the same, then I should be able to do what you want to do, Commander!"

Regarding technical matters, especially regarding biological aspects, Modine is a very authoritative Salarian! Otherwise, the phantom man of Cerberus would not recommend him for Shepard.

"But, what's the point of that?"

"Your Excellency, Commander, please forgive me: You should know that in a short period of time, we may not be able to communicate with this creature that we have never seen before... Translating the language of a new race is a huge project , based on our Normandy II, it will take several months at least."

For Dr. Modine, who is proficient in biology, to have limited communication with an immobile monster is simply a trivial matter! However, communicating with unknown species is not an easy task. It requires comparison and translation of a large number of unfamiliar words, and it still requires the cooperation of the other party.

Otherwise, the language barrier will become an obstacle to communication!

"No! We don't need to do any translation! Yi Di's database should allow us to communicate with the other party directly!"

Shepard said categorically, her tone was very firm and full of confidence.

"No need to translate...?"

"Unfortunately, Commander, I don't think any of us can communicate with it, not even the artificial intelligence EDI! Because, they should be a brand new species, I have never seen a creature like this. "

Modin looked again at the prisoners who were frozen in the life-support cabin and in the glass cover, and then looked at the other soldiers who were similar to them, and then he came to his own conclusion: obviously, this is definitely a brand new The species, except those corpse puppets, should all be of the same race, which can be guessed from their triangular heads and two pairs of eyes.

"Because they are the 'Proxians' harvested by the reapers 50,000 years ago! The reapers turned them into this, and then wanted to use them to harvest us?!"

"As for Prothean's text and language, I think that Itti of our Normandy can definitely translate for us!"

Shepard is now almost certain: these collectors, they are undoubtedly the "Proxians" who were harvested by the harvesters in the last reincarnation! This can be deduced from the beacons she has seen before, as well as from the Prothean ruins, language, writing, etc. that have survived to the present.

And what she heard on the battlefield before, the monster that was beaten to death by little Annie, the language spoken by the other party has been confirmed to be the language used by the "Proxian" people after comparing it with Iti!

And this seems to vaguely explain the relationship between the Collector, Prothean, and the Reaper.

This is just like what she just said... 50,000 years ago, the Protheans who almost dominated the entire galaxy were defeated, harvested and transformed by the Reapers, and after 50,000 years, these transformed monsters became active Come on, if you dare to guess, it is very likely that the Collector is the forward of the Reaper? !

"Proxian... I just remembered, it turned out to be like this?"

"This is really shocking information... Well then, Commander Shepard, you can send someone to move it to my laboratory, and you can have trouble-free communication with it by tomorrow at the latest !"

"Of course, it's only limited to language."

Eyes wide open in surprise, I went to the glass again to look at the collector inside for a while, and then walked aside to look at the other ones who looked alike to each other, but to the extent that the leader of the collector had been transformed. After looking at the different ordinary collector soldiers for a while, Modin nodded in satisfaction.

That's right, although there are many traces of transformation, these collectors, especially the collector soldiers with a relatively low degree of transformation, are very similar to the characters in the materials of the Prothean ruins that Modin has seen. Features like... a big triangular head and two pairs of eyes... are really recognizable.

"In addition to the guy you need, Commander Shepard, I need these, and these..."

"Move all the corpses of these collectors to my laboratory!"

"Tonight, as long as I dissect and study their specific structures, I can do what you requested, Commander, by this time tomorrow."

Reapers, Gatherers and Protheans...

Modin felt that the great discovery of a century was about to be revealed by him! Maybe, they can really become the savior of the entire galaxy?

"Very good! I'll arrange it now!"

Hearing that Modine was sure, Shepard finally let go of his hanging heart. She believes that as long as she can have a normal conversation with the leader of the collector who seems to have high intelligence and can even speak Prothean, she will definitely get a lot of valuable information!

"ah!!"

"Kaden...is that you? Aren't you supposed to be stationed at the 'Horizon' colony? How did you end up on my Normandy II?"

As soon as he went out, Shepard, who met an acquaintance, couldn't help but exclaimed.

She clearly remembered that when they defeated the Collectors and spent two days resting on the 'Horizon', Cayden Alanco, who was rescued by them from the Collector spaceship, should have returned to the Star Alliance Navy to report... ...Why now, it appeared on her spaceship?

When did this guy sneak into her boat, and who approved it?

"Report!"

"Commander Shepard, since you are dealing with the Collectors and those Reapers, then I, Cayden, will also join in!"

After giving Shepard a serious salute, Cayden Alanco, who was still wearing the Star Alliance military uniform, stood at attention in an orderly manner and reported loudly to his former officer Shepard.

"But……"

"Are you sure? I'm not a lieutenant colonel of the Star Alliance, nor a ghost of the Citadel. I'm working for Cerberus now..."

After hesitating for a while, Shepard still truthfully told the other party the truth. She had to make this matter clear, and she didn't want to cause any conflicts in the future co-existence because of this matter.

"I don't know any Cerberus, and it doesn't matter whether you are a lieutenant colonel or a ghost, I only know you, Officer Shepard!"

"Please let me return to the team, Commander Shepard!!"

Cayden Alanco still stood at attention and said loudly with a serious expression. Obviously, he who is already on the spaceship must have made a certain decision.

"All right……"

"Now, I agree to your request for enlistment! But I can't give you any military rank and position, and even salary is hard to guarantee... Regarding this, Kaiden Alanco, can you accept it?"

Shepard is very aware of Kaiden Alanco's ability. Not only is the opponent outstanding in combat ability and skilled in technology, but he is also an old subordinate of hers. The existence of the other party, so, for Shepard who is in urgent need of capable men, it is the best for the other party to join.

"No problem, Commander!"

"As long as it is your order, even if we are to be with Cerberus terrorists, I will gladly accept it!"

As long as he can fight under his own Chief Shepard and work together to protect them humans and this galaxy, he Cayden will not have any complaints!

Besides, he has had enough of doing the job of defending planets under the Star Alliance all these years, and he still yearns for the days back then, the kind of traveling around the galaxy, constantly fighting Saren, a life of bloody combat against the geth.

Although those geths are rarely seen now, they seem to have shrunk back, and Saren's conspiracy has been completely shattered... However, more powerful collectors and the reapers behind the collectors have emerged again, they He must follow behind his own officer, whether it is for the officer Shepard he admires, or for their human homeland, he must fight and fight hard!

Even if it fails, it's better than waiting to die on a broken planet!

"Hello!"

"You lackey of the Star Alliance Navy, what happened to us Cerberus, are we as miserable as you think?!"

Just passing by here, when Miranda heard that the newcomer was saying that Cerberus was a terrorist, she immediately became angry, and like an angry lioness, she walked over quickly and pressed her hands The opponent's chest was pushed hard, and he stared provocatively at the guy who seemed to be Cayden Alanco.

This Starfleet officer, she still remembers, when the Normandy II was about to take off and leave the 'Horizon' colony, she was Miranda who approved the other party to board the ship, but who knew that the other party turned out to be a lackey of the Starfleet, dare to say they Bad words for Cerberus? !

"..."

Kaiden didn't fight back, but just looked at the mad woman with some embarrassment.

In fact, he doesn't have much prejudice against Cerberus... On the contrary, when he was in charge of the garrison mission at the 'Horizon', it was the colonists of Cerberus who treated him, Cayden and other Star Alliance soldiers. There are prejudices, but those residents are hostile to their Star Alliance Navy!

Otherwise, Lilith in the colony should have been taken down by him long ago.

"Okay, Miranda, what are you doing here?"

Shepard asked curiously after grabbing this partner who was from Cerberus but got along well with him and had a relatively tacit cooperation on the battlefield.

Because, she could see that the other party's face seemed a little bit wrong?

"Oh! I'm looking for that little Annie, do you know where she is now?"

Seeing that Kayden didn't dare to oppose her, Miranda could only spare Shepard temporarily for the sake of Shepard's face.

"this……"

"I seem to have seen her eating in the restaurant just now?"

After recalling a bit, Shepard quickly remembered where the little guy was.

"Thank you! I'm going to take care of that little bastard right now!"

After thanking Shepard, Miranda turned her head away in a bluff.

"..."

"Miranda! What the hell happened?"

Seeing that Miranda's clarity was not quite right, and she was walking quickly towards the elevator, Shepard was puzzled, so she asked a question in confusion.

"I asked that little guy to get me some of the local products given to us by the 'Horizon' colony, and gave her permission to pick up the goods, but now, I've been waiting for a long time, and I haven't even seen her shadow! "

"Maybe your share is gone. I heard the quartermaster said that she seems to have abused her power to take away all the shares, all!!"

Thinking of this incident, Miranda was still a little bit annoyed! That little guy who ate alone, did a little too much this time. Those good things, more or less, should be reserved for them, right?

But that little bastard was lucky, using the authority she gave, he took them all away at once! And she, Miranda, ordered it? She could swear that she never let that guy do that herself!

"..."

Well, Shepard originally thought that he could continue to eat those special delicious local products produced by 'Horizon' at night, but now, I am afraid it is hopeless... because the colony produced after being attacked by the collectors is not Too many, and it was only a few years since humans tried to settle on that planet, so I gave them a little bit of gratitude.

"Forget it, Miranda?"

Shepard felt that little Anne had also made great contributions in the battle of the 'Horizon' colony, and it was okay to give the little guy who made great contributions a little extra preferential treatment.

"Hmph, don't worry about it! I must teach that dishonest guy a lesson!"

"..."

"Let's go, Cayden, and I'll find a few people to help Dr. Modine carry something."

Shaking her head amusingly, Shepard waved her hand and let the new Cayden follow her. She was going to find some people to help Dr. Modine, and then she also wanted to find a few marines to help Dr. Modine. Stand guard around your lab just in case!

As for that little Annie, let Miranda mess with the other party...

"yes!!"

—————

The spaceship Normandy II is not too big, and it is not too difficult to find someone... So, when Shepard was busy with business, Miranda managed to catch someone at a table in the restaurant. A nasty little guy!

'Tibbers...'

‘Why is this big sister Miranda waiting for me so angrily? They don't seem to have done anything bad recently, right? '

Annie secretly communicated with her little bear in private.

At this time, in front of her, after finding her, Miranda sat angrily on the opposite side of her desk, blowing her nose and staring at her, and kept staring at her with her arms folded. She must have no good intentions!

￣●)

"Little guy, don't you plan to say something?"

After confronting the other party for a while, looking at the innocent and cute eyes of a certain little bastard, finally, Miranda couldn't help but speak first.

"say what?"

"Oh... Sister Miranda, have you had lunch? If you haven't eaten, it's too late, because it's already past the restaurant's serving time. If you want to eat something else, you have to pay for it yourself?"

After thinking for a while, Annie felt that she had really done nothing wrong, bit her finger and licked a certain memorable smell on it, then blinked her eyes and tentatively said something.

"..."

"It's wrong for a child to lie! Little Annie, you shouldn't pretend to be me and Shepard to cheat things!"

That's why Miranda insisted on this matter, she didn't want this little guy to learn the wrong way, and she shouldn't be cheating!

"Huh?"

"I didn't cheat anything! You asked me to get the things, so I said directly that I wanted to help you get those copies together, and then the little aunt in the warehouse gave them to me..."

o

Annie said this matter blatantly at the time, and she still has authority, so how could she be cheated?

"Oh? Help? Well, what about the things I asked you to take?!"

Miranda, who knew that the other party would definitely argue, squinted her eyes and asked.

Although she doesn't really care about those things, some bad habits can't be learned by this mischievous little bastard!

"Of course I was eaten!"

"Then what else do you have to say?"

"I asked you to go to that thing, but you took it all away and ate it all?!"

Miranda slapped the table angrily, and spoke viciously.

Miranda cannot tolerate crimes such as abusing the authority she has given, deceiving others, abusing supplies, stealing food and so on!

"I only agreed that I could get it out for you, but I didn't say I wouldn't help you eat it together!"

Thinking about the delicacy that I just ate up in one go, Annie couldn't help but wipe the saliva that inadvertently flowed from the corner of her mouth even though she was already full.

Those things are delicious, just a little less...

"You bastard!!"