"Hmm......"

"Alas......"

"Humph!"

In front of a huge floor-to-ceiling window in the aisle outside the Council Arbitration Hall in the ring area of the Citadel Space Station, the four members of the Council were looking at the almost invisible city of the Third Ward outside the window, which had been shattered by the war.

Now, the turbulent army, which had been fighting there for nearly half a month, is withdrawing in an orderly manner, and has given away the places that they have spent a lot of manpower and material resources and killed countless elite soldiers to successfully capture......

“……”

The blue-skinned Congressman Asari had a look on her face at this time, and no one knew what was going on in her mind right now...... In fact, the successful peace talks with the rebels can be said to have been facilitated by the efforts of the Asari parliamentarians, and of course, the other parliamentarians did not oppose it too much.

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

"Alas......"

Councillor Serare, with his small head and big eyes, blinked his huge eyes for a moment, looked out the window, and sighed again with some helplessness.

Obviously, they don't want to see this outcome......

Because, the conditions put forward by the rebel of the Krogan are too outrageous and harsh for them...... The other party asked for an entire third defense area, and even named them Serrarui people, asking them to hand over all the details of the 'genophage'?

This kind of thing made them feel extremely embarrassed......

I think back then, it was indeed their Serari people who handed over the 'genophage' biochemical weapon to the Turks during the Krogan War, and almost led to the complete extinction of the Krogan people!

But now, when they hand over those things...... Once the Krogan people really develop an antidote to crack the 'gene phage', and then let those Krogan people regain that terrifying super reproductive ability, I am afraid that in a few hundred years, it will be a new Klogan War...... There is no doubt about it!

However, even if they thought about the consequences of the future, even if they were not satisfied with the outcome of the negotiations, they had to do it...... Because, they can't afford to risk losing the Citadel space station now...... Compared to that rebellion, the risk of losing the Citadel is obviously a little more serious?

"Ladies and gentlemen, please listen to me!"

After a moment's pause, the Turkian councillor glanced hatefully at the Turkic soldiers and war machines in the distance who were dejectedly evacuated from the Third Guard in a landing craft, and then turned his head to glance at the other councillors beside him.

Yesterday, the official order to retreat had been issued, and they Turks had to complete a full retreat by this evening, and leave the Third Quarter, which they had taken so hard to recapture, vacant again, and leave it to the damned thugs!

In the future, I am afraid that there will be no third guard city of the Citadel Space Station, but it will become the 'Citadel Space Station Galactic Freedom Alliance Autonomous Region', and that gang of thugs really wants to fight against the Council

"Do we really have to do that? Do we really have to compromise with that mob of rebels? ”

"That Krogan Grunte's conditions are nothing short of blatant blackmail!!"

Every time I think of the outrageous conditions put forward by the other side during the third negotiation yesterday, the Turkian parliamentarians gritted their teeth with hatred! If he could, he even wanted the Turui army to kill all those thugs, leaving no one behind!

Because, this time the riot on the Citadel space station has dealt an extremely serious blow to the army and prestige of their turian people!

It can be said that all their sharp face and lining have been lost......

In addition to the Turks who lost most of their C-SEC SWAT teams and patrols, they also killed thousands of soldiers in street battles in the Guard Zone and the 'Foundation' world, plus the Turian Harbor and nearly half of the Citadel Defense Fleet that were wiped out by the damned 'Super Ivan' nuclear weapons of the other side!

According to incomplete statistics, in the turbulent military port far away from the Citadel Space Station, there are at least more than 100,000 turbulents and several dreadnoughts stationed there, and there are countless other large and small ships! Until now, the exact number of casualties in that military port has not been counted.

It can be seen that under such a heavy loss, in the end, their turian people not only did not gain anything, but were also secretly laughed at by the tribes of the Divine Castle...... How can they not hate this?!

You know, they turians still have a blood feud with those Krogan people, from the Klogan War to the present, both sides are eager to put each other to death and hurry up! But now, how could the Krogan who had almost died inflicted such a great loss on the Turks?

"It does ......"

"We also know it's not the best option, but ...... Do you have any better ideas now, Rep. Turui? If there is, we will definitely consider it......"

Shaking his head slightly, not wanting to look out the window at the Guardian City, which would soon cease to belong to the Divine Citadel, Councillor Asari turned his head with a somewhat gloomy face and asked with a wry smile at the still angry Councillor who had even a hideous expression.

This time, by giving up the Third Ward to the thugs to build the so-called 'Free City', they Asari are the ones who have the most to lose!

You know, the first to come to the colonization of the Divine Citadel back then were their Asari people!

Therefore, in the third quarter in the distance, the most of them are the property of their Asari...... She didn't want to count how many retired Asari had sold land in the 'capital' of the galaxy and become super-rich over the past few hundred years...... But now, they have to send the thugs out for nothing...... Just thinking about this thing can tell how much abuse and pressure she, a member of the Asari Council, will have to endure in the future, in their Asari clan?

Therefore, now this Asali Councillor not only does not feel the slightest sympathy for the plight of the Turks, but also faintly complains and hates the other party in his heart!

Because, the C-SEC SWAT team and patrol team responsible for arresting smuggling are all Turui people! She felt that it must be their own inaction that allowed countless dangerous goods and weapons to be smuggled and flowed into the Divine Citadel, which led to this terrible result today!

They are all self-inflicted! The reason why this happened today is that they are to blame and drag down their Asari.

"Humph!"

Clearly, the Turkian MP was just venting his emotions, and he didn't have any better ideas.

"Everyone!"

"I think you all know that the greedy Krogan will never be satisfied like this! And our appeasement and compromise this time will only increase their endless greed...... Who knows what outrageous demands they will make next time? ”

"What are we going to do then?!"

In fact, after the fusion weapons bombarded the turian military port a few days ago, the frenzied general and his council members suggested that the Citadel Council directly cut off the third guard area of the Citadel, abandon the guard district city, and then let the Citadel space station fly away from this star field, and then gather forces to annihilate the thugs who dared to provoke the Citadel Council!

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

That's because it would be a huge undertaking to cut and discard an entire sprawling third quarter......

In short, that kind of movement is absolutely not small, and it can't be completed in three or five days! And if the thugs find out, who knows what serious consequences will be?

So......

After discussion, the council had to abandon the idea that sounded tempting, and eventually had to give in and formally compromise with the thugs, even if the demands were a bit outrageous, even if they themselves were very unwilling.

"Please don't let anger blind you, Congressman Turi......"

"Of course we know what you're talking about...... We've actually talked about these things many times...... But now we have to do that, because we have to stabilize them for the time being! ”

"Otherwise, the consequences ......"

Otherwise, Councillor Serari didn't say it explicitly, but drooped the eyelids of his huge eyes, bowed his head slightly, and sighed.

That Krogan thug, that guy called Grant, the other party has a terrible weapon of mass destruction in his hand, and once it is detonated here in the Citadel, it can directly threaten the lives and property of the Citadel Space Station and the more than 13 million inhabitants who live on it!

Therefore, they will never have a better choice than to compromise.

That Krogan Grunte, the other party does not need to have the strength to defeat them, only needs to have the courage to die together, and they have to satisfy the vast majority of the other party's 'blackmail' that is not too outrageous...... Otherwise, what would they do if they displeased or felt threatened, and threatened or really wanted to detonate that terrible fusion weapon?

"That's it!"

"We've got a decision on this matter, so let's not waste any more 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 will either use gentle means to slowly influence them, tie their interests to the Divine Fortress, and restrain and supervise them accordingly; Or, just find the right time to completely disarm their threat? ”

With that, Councillor Asari herself shook her head self-deprecatingly.

If the idea is good, it will certainly not be so easy to implement...... After all, no one is stupid, and the Krogan people will definitely be on guard against those three fusion bombs in a short period of time, and even if they really want to deal with those thugs, they must be patient and plan and arrange slowly, until a new opportunity arises, until they can identify those three damn fusion bombs and be sure to disarm their detonators!

However, it will be a long process, and it will not be easy to solve in a short period of time.

"Yes, Councillor Asari is right."

"We don't have a better option right now, and we're going to have to give up this third guard for the time being...... As for whether those thugs will make even more excessive demands in the future, that will only have to be discussed at that time......"

One last glance at the third quarter, which was being abandoned by the Turangian soldiers, in the distance, Councillor Serarui sighed gloomily, intending to end the pointless topic of the day, and then leave the place, simply out of sight.

Either way, the matter of the third ward is a foregone conclusion!

Although the thugs eventually lost the battle and suffered heavy casualties under the siege of the Turui soldiers, they got everything they wanted! The Citadel Council has now been forced to make big concessions, and it's pointless to argue about it, unless someone can take the three large-yield fusion bombs left by the Krogan people!

“……”

Anderson on the side of the Human Star Alliance has been holding back and not speaking, because this matter does not have much to do with their human race, not to mention the entire Wei District City that can live millions of people in the Divine Citadel Space Station, even if it is sent out again, their Star Alliance does not matter.

After all, their Star Alliance is still too young compared to the Divine Citru Alliance...... In the Citadel Space Station, which is equivalent to the 'capital' of the galaxy, most of the humans from Earth basically can't afford to buy land or real estate...... Therefore, giving away other people's things, of course, he Anderson will not have much feeling.

"I'm sorry!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, please wait a minute, I have some important information here!"

Seeing that Councillor Serrari and Councillor Asari were ready 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 something more important at this time.

"That's the way it is!"

"Some time ago, didn't we have reinstated Shepard's position as 'Ghost of the Divine Castle'? Now, she's made a major new discovery in the Realms Galaxy! She's already caught some Collector monsters, and she's managed to wreck a Collector's ship, and now that crashed ship is under the control of our Star Alliance! ”

"I'm sure soon, she'll be able to find conclusive evidence of a connection between the collectors and those reapers!"

"Then we will be able to ......"

Anderson completely ignored the Udina advisors who were constantly staring at him, and just shouted excitedly to himself. In fact, even he didn't expect that Shepard and the others would do such a good job and catch the tail of a group of collectors in the 'Horizon' colony of the Boundary God System in one fell swoop, and Chen successfully caught a live mouth and destroyed the opponent's spaceship?

"You mean...... Soon? ”

"So, obviously, it's just a grudge confirmation of the existence of the so-called 'Collectors', and there is still not enough evidence that they are related to the 'Reapers' you've made up?"

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

Councillor Serarui, who was about to leave, turned his head and stared at the human councillor Anderson who was looking excited, and then for some reason, he first stared at the other party with some curiosity for a moment, and finally shook his head regretfully.

"Alright, Congressman Anderson......"

"We have more important things to deal with now, there are enough things here in the Divine Castle, please don't mention the matter of the Boundary God Galaxy! Unless...... Do you have enough evidence to convince us? ”

"I'm sorry, we lost our company first."

Councillor Asari politely said a gentle few words to Anderson, then turned to whisper something with Councillor Serare, and together they walked slowly off into the distance, disappearing behind an automatic hatch.

Senator Asari didn't want to pay too much attention to the matter of the collectors...... Because, hundreds of years ago, the Citadel had already received reports from the Turks that unknown creatures had attacked the colonies in the Bounded God System...... Now, it seems that there is nothing strange about those mysterious and dangerous races running out to cause trouble and attack humanity again?

Besides, they had already warned humanity about the Boundary-God Galaxy and the Omega IV repeater, that they had to run to that kind of chaotic and dangerous place to colonize, and they would definitely not care about the place outside the law enforcement authority of the Divine Citadel!

"Humph! Please let me! ”

Seeing the other two councillors leave, the turian councillor also turned his head and looked coldly at the two humans on the side, he was not in a very good mood, and he didn't even want to say polite words, so he snorted coldly in his mouth, brutally squeezed the two of them away and left quickly in the other direction.

This time, the Turks had planted a big heel here in the fortress, and he had to find a way to clear his name first, otherwise, in a few days, he would have to roll up his bed and go home, completely away from this beautiful place.

"This ......"

"They—How can they do this?!"

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

Now that the Reaper is a growing threat to the galaxy, the Collectors who are closely connected to the Reaper are also starting to be active in the Boundarys Galaxy, along with Salen, the Overlord, and the Geth two years ago...... Anderson seems to see that a great conspiracy is looming over their entire galaxy, and all things have shown that the Reaper is likely to return, and no one will be spared from a powerful enemy!

But now, those guys of theirs can still ignore it?!

"Anderson!"

"Look, what have you 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 right at all!"

After all the council members were gone, and only Anderson and Udina were left here, Udina gritted his teeth, took two steps forward and stared at Anderson's eyes, lowered his voice and sneered viciously.

He finally knew that this council member who was a military general was a political idiot at all!

Shepard's investigation and the information he obtained, he Udina himself naturally attaches great importance to it, and even the Star Federation is now beginning to discuss it, but ...... This kind of good card should never be brought up at a time like this, when the Citadel itself is already too busy to take care of itself and is still in a mess of the riot!

He had warned Anderson before......

But who thought, the other party really said it at this inappropriate time? Look at it, this guy finally got the worst result he wanted! The other members of the People's Council didn't want to pay attention to that at all, and they were blind to what Shepard had gained when he desperately tried to rescue Horizon.

"But now that the Reaper threat is imminent, I have to do it!"

"Udine! Isn't the safety of the entire galaxy a little more important than the Citadel space station?! ”

Anderson also stared at his adviser with some annoyance and snarled in a low voice, he just wanted to kindly remind those councillors, but who would have thought that they were still so stubborn?!

"Threats? Scold! ”

Amusing......

"Anderson, let me tell you: right now, even our Star Federation is hesitant to deduce the truth of the matter, and why do you think you can use those specious 'evidence' to convince the Citadel Council at such an inopportune time?"

The matter of 'Horizon' and all the materials, images, monster corpses, living bodies, spaceships, and the testimonies of those Star Alliance officers and residents after the capture of the colony, etc., have been submitted to the Star Alliance headquarters by Shepard for the first time! However, now that the Star Alliance is still in the process of research and fierce argumentation, those high-level people who are willing to believe that there must be a connection between the 'reaper' and the collector are probably less than one-tenth, right?!

That's why he had warned the political idiot in front of him early on: at a time like this, unless the army of the Reapers appeared directly in front of the Citadel, those councillors would never believe that they really existed!

Even if this matter does have to be brought up, it should be a better time, but no matter what, it should definitely not be at this worst time when the energy of the Divine Citadel has been completely involved by the rioters!

Udina didn't understand, even if the Reaper really ran out to harvest the various high-level civilizations in the galaxy, but it was not the only one who harvested the Star Federation and the human race first, when those Asari, Serrarui and Turkians were not in a hurry, what was the use of him Anderson being in a hurry?

“……”

Anderson didn't continue to speak, just stared coldly at Udine, who was committing a crime and was teaching his own councillor a lesson as an adviser. It's not for nothing that he hates this kind of politician, and of course, the other members of the Citadel!

"So, obviously!"

"Anderson, you screwed everything up! One word of yours wasted all Shepard's efforts! ”

"You're a good officer, but you're not a good council member!!"

Udina continued to criticize mercilessly, ignoring the fact that Anderson's face had begun to turn red.

"I'm still the same as before: although Shepard elected you as a councillor...... But, Anderson, you're not fit here at Castle at all, you're not a qualified politician! And you should go back to your Star Alliance Navy to fight your battle sooner! ”

"I want to ...... 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 Divine Castle, your military's set won't work!!"

After speaking, Udina no longer looked at a certain Star Alliance Admiral's purple and ugly face and trembling fists, but directly shook his hand, turned around and left hatefully, leaving the other party alone in the huge aisle.

“……”

——————

After successfully completing the Horizon rescue mission assigned by the Cerberus Phantoms, successfully crushing the Collectors' plot, rescuing almost most of the colonists, and annihilating the invading enemies, Normandy 2 left the colony planet after only two days of repairs, and began to return to prepare for their harvest.

In addition to obtaining Collector equipment that is similar to the geth technology of the day, but a little more advanced, and it is speculated that the Collector and the geth, or the Collector and the 'Reaper' are necessarily linked, Shepard and the others have also obtained something more valuable:

In a supply warehouse on Normandy 2, it is filled with frozen dormant pods.

Inside, shepards are being frozen, and the collectors they have managed to catch and are still alive! They have those blue corpse golems, poison sacs, identical-looking Collector soldiers, and the Collector 'Harbing' elite and Collector's Archon who have been killed!

Except for those dangerous guys who will blow themselves up if they are not careful, they dare not admit them, and there are no corpses for them to store as specimens, basically all the corpses of collectors are kept by them one or two!

Anyway, they caught a lot of collectors and froze them all over the chamber! Even, they even caught a guy who looked like the big boss of the Collector!

“……”

"Commander Shepard, the leader of this collector is not simple..... its abilities are incredibly powerful, and the danger level is very high! I recommend...... You'd better 'get rid of it' now? ”

Dr. Mordin Solles approached a large, modified frozen hibernation pod, and peered through the transparent glass at the white smearing Collector monsters trapped in liquid nitrogen pressurized freezing and related facilities...... Then, after a moment's thought, he 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 an outrageous full value, and it was completely impossible to estimate the true ability level of the opponent? And judging from the collector 'Archon' who can shoot eye-prismatic lasers they met before, the big boss of this collector will definitely not be far behind.

This kind of existence, once it gets out of trouble, it will be a disaster!

"What do you mean...... You're going to let me kill it just now?! ”

After being stunned for a moment, Shepard came back to his senses for a while, and probably understood what the other party meant by 'handling'...... It seems that this Dr. Mordin wants to kill the leader of the Collectors that they have captured so hard?

"No, absolutely not!"

"We worked so hard to catch it, and if it hadn't been slightly injured when the spaceship crashed, maybe we would have had to kill it!"

This strange thing in front of her, but the living evidence she finally collected, whether it was handed over to the Divine Citadel or given to Cerberus to study and torture information, it was very valuable, where could she kill it casually?

It's alive, but it's definitely worth more than it's dead!

Now, the colonists and the soldiers of the Star Alliance Navy who were captured and captured by the Collectors were rescued from the crashed Collector ship, and the battle to loot while the fire was not too difficult.

Although the casualties of the colonies were not small after the fact, there was no doubt that they did win! They successfully smashed the conspiracy of the collectors, whether it was them or the Star Alliance Navy that arrived later, they captured many collectors alive, and directly obtained a relatively complete collector spaceship! And now, this guy who seems to be the general of the collector is their biggest gain, the loot they secretly intercepted from those Star Alliance Navy with great difficulty.

"I see......"

"But, Commander Shepard, what do you want me to do? Is it to dissect it...... Or is it something to study it? ”

Since Commander Shepard was unwilling to kill this powerful monster easily, Dr. Mordin himself had no good way but to look at the heroine of the galaxy with inquiring eyes.

At a time when most people don't want to believe that the Collector and Reaper exist, it was this human woman who was laying down her life to smash the enemy's plot after plot, and even died for it...... So, Dr. Mordin felt that this was a truly noble human being, worthy of all his ability to serve the other party.

"Neither!"

"I need you to be safe enough for me to have a normal conversation with it! Are you sure you can do it? ”

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

But......

This collector leader can't be easily released, if you release it casually, with the other party's ability, something big will definitely happen! And those brainless corpse puppets and collector soldiers who are not afraid of accidents don't seem to have enough communication skills, so she has been worried about this matter all the time.

From the fact that the dead Collector 'Archon' could speak, she knew that this Collector Leader must have something in her head!

"...... you want to talk to?"

"Hmm...... It's not that you can't...... I think I should be able to stick a probe into this guy's brain while freezing, and then do a local activation to amplify its brain waves...... And if their creatures are made up of the same way as most creatures in the galaxy, then I should be able to do what you want to do, Your Excellency, Commander! ”

When it comes to technical things, especially when it comes to biology, Mordinco is a very authoritative Serrare! Otherwise, the Phantom Man of Cerberus would not have recommended him for Shepard.

"But what's the point?"

"Your Excellency, with all due respect: you should know that in a short period of time we will not be able to communicate in any way with such a creature that we have never seen before...... Translating the language of a new race is a huge undertaking, and with our Normandy No. 2 words, it would take months to do less. ”

Having a restricted communication with a monster that can't move is a trivial thing for Dr. Mordin, who is well-versed in biology! However, it is not easy to communicate with unknown species, which requires the comparison and translation of a large number of unfamiliar words, and the cooperation of the other party.

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

"Nope! We don't need to do any translations! EDI's database should allow us to communicate with each other normally! ”

Shepard said categorically, her tone very sure and with complete certainty.

"No need to translate ......?"

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

Mordin looked at the prisoners frozen in the survival pods and in the glass enclosures, and then looked at the other soldiers who were similar to the other side, and then he came to his conclusion: Obviously, this is definitely a completely new species, except for the corpse golems, the others should all be of the same race, which can be guessed from their triangular heads and two pairs of eyes.

"Because, they are the 'Prosians' who were harvested by the reapers 50,000 years ago! It was the Reapers who turned them like this, and then wanted to use them to harvest us?! ”

"As for the words and language of Protheus, I think that our Normandy EDI must be able to translate for us!"

Shepard is now almost certain: these collectors, they are the 'Prosens' who were harvested by the Reapers in the last reaperation! This can be inferred from the beacons she had seen before, as well as the ruins of Prosin that have survived to the present, language, writing, etc.

And what she heard on the battlefield before, the monster that was killed by Little Annie, the language spoken by the other party has been determined to be the language used by the 'Prosians' after being compared by Iti!

And this seems to be able to vaguely explain the relationship between the gatherer, the prothean and the reaper.

That's what she just said...... Fifty thousand years ago, the Protheus, who dominated almost the entire galaxy, were defeated by the Reapers, harvested and transformed, and fifty thousand years later, these modified monsters began to become active, if you take a bold guess, it is likely that the collector is the vanguard of the reaper?!

"Protheus...... I remembered, it turned out to be like this? ”

"That's really shocking information...... Alright then, Commander Shepard, you can send someone to move it to my lab, and by tomorrow at the latest, you will be able to communicate with it without barriers! ”

"Of course, it's just about language."

With his eyes wide open in surprise, he leaned back to the glass and looked at the collector inside for a while, and then walked aside to look at the other ordinary collector soldiers who looked very similar to each other, but were not the same as the collector leader, and after looking at it for a while, Mordin nodded in satisfaction.

That's right, although there are many traces of transformation, but these collectors, especially the collector soldiers who have been transformed to a relatively low degree, are very similar to the characters in the Proxian ruins that he has seen...... A large triangular head and two pairs of eyes...... This kind of feature is really easy to recognize.

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

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

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

Reapers, Gatherers, and Prosians......

Mordin felt that a century of great discoveries was about to be uncovered by him! Perhaps, they could really be the saviors of the entire galaxy?

"Excellent! I'll arrange it now! ”

Hearing that Mordin was sure, Shepard finally let go of his hanging heart. She believed that as long as she could have a normal conversation with the leader of the Gatherers who seemed to be highly intelligent and could even speak Prosthean dialect, she would be able to gain a lot of valuable information!

"Ahh

Kayden...... It's you? Aren't you supposed to be stationed in the colony of Horizon, how did you get to my Normandy II? ”

As soon as he went out, he couldn't help but exclaim when he ran into an acquaintance.

She clearly remembered that when they were defeating the Collectors and repairing in Horizon for two days, this Kaiden Aranco, who they had rescued from the Collector spaceship, must have returned to the Star Alliance Navy to report...... Why is it on her spaceship now?

When did this guy get on her ship, and who gave it the go?

"Report!"

"Commander Shepard, since you're dealing with the Collectors and those Reapers, then I, Kaiden, are joining in!"

After giving Shepard a solemn salute, Kayden Aranco, still wearing the uniform of the Star Alliance, stood in place and reported loudly to his former commander Shepard.

"But ......"

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

After hesitating for a moment, Shepard still truthfully informed the other party of the truth. She had to make it clear about this matter, and she didn't want any conflicts to arise in the future coexistence because of this matter.

"I don't know Cerberus, and I don't care if you're a lieutenant colonel or a ghost, I only know you, Chief Shepard!"

"Please let me go, Commander Shepard!!"

Kayden Aranco still stood still, and said loudly with a serious expression. Obviously, he is already on the spaceship, and he must have made a decision.

"Okay......"

"Now, I've agreed to your request to join the queue! But I can't give you any rank and position, and even the salary is hard to guarantee...... Can you accept that, Kayden Aranco? ”

Cayden Aranco's ability Shepard is very clear, the other party is not only outstanding in combat ability and skillful, but also her former old subordinate, it can be said that he is a person who knows the roots, and he can also rest assured that he can hand over his back to the other party on the battlefield, so for Shepard, who is now in urgent need of a powerful subordinate, the other party's joining, it is the best.

"No problem, Commander!"

"As long as it is your order, even if we are in the company of the Cerberus terrorists, I will gladly accept it!"

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

Besides, all these years of staring under the Star Alliance, he has long had enough of it, and he still yearns for the kind of days back then, the kind of bloody combat life that shuttles around the galaxy, constantly fighting against Salen and geth.

Although the geth are rarely seen now, they seem to have shrunk back, and Salen's plot has been shattered...... However, the more powerful Collector and the Reapers behind the Collector have popped up again, and he must follow behind his Chief, both for the sake of Chief Shepard, whom he admires, and for the sake of their own human homeland, he must fight and fight!

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

"Hey!"

"You lackey of the Star Alliance Navy, what's wrong with us Cerberus, are we as unbearable as you think?!"

As soon as Miranda heard that the newcomer was actually saying that they were Cerberus a terrorist, she immediately became angry, and like an angry lioness, she walked over quickly, pressed one hand on the other's chest, and stared at the guy who seemed to be called Cayden Aranco with defiant eyes.

She still remembers that when Normandy II was about to take off and leave the 'Horizon' colony, it was she Miranda who approved the other party's boarding, but who knew that the other party was actually a lackey of the Star Alliance, and dared to speak ill of their Cerberus?!

“……”

Cayden didn't fight back, just looked at the frenzied woman with some scorn.

Actually, he didn't have much prejudice against Cerberus...... On the contrary, when he was stationed at Horizon, it was the colonists of Cerberus who were prejudiced against him and the other Star Alliance soldiers, and it was the residents who were hostile to their Star Alliance Navy!

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

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

After holding this partner who was from Cerberus, but was more compatible with him and had a relatively tacit cooperation on the battlefield, Shepard asked curiously.

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

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

Seeing that Cayden didn't dare to oppose him, Miranda could only temporarily spare Shepard's face.

"This ......"

"I think I just saw her eating at the restaurant?"

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

"Thank you! I'm going to clean up that little bastard! ”

After thanking Shepard, Miranda turned her head and left in a huff.

“……”

"Miranda! What the hell is going on? ”

Seeing that Miranda's clarity was a little wrong, and he walked quickly towards the elevator, Shepard was puzzled, so he asked a little puzzled.

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

"Maybe your share is gone, I heard the quartermaster say that she seems to have abused her power to take all the share, all of it!!"

Thinking of this, Miranda is still a little angry! The little guy who eats alone is really going too far this time, and those good things should be left for them more or less, right?

But that little bastard is good, using the permission she gave, and took it all away at once! And said that she Miranda ordered it? She swore she didn't let that guy do that!

“……”

Well, Shepard originally thought that he could continue to eat those delicious souvenirs from Horizon in the evening, but now, I'm afraid there is no hope...... Because, after being attacked by the collectors, the colony did not produce too much, and the humans had only been experimenting with settlement on that planet for a few years, so they were just a little bit of gratitude.

"Forget it, Miranda?"

Shepard felt that little Anne had also made a big contribution in the battle of the 'Horizon' colony, and the little guy who had made a great contribution could give a little extra preferential treatment.

"Hmph, don't care! I'm going to have to teach that dishonest guy a good lesson! ”

“……”

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

Shaking her head amusedly, Shepard waved his hand and told the new Cayden to follow her, she was going to find a few people to help Dr. Mordin, and then, a few Marines to stand guard around Dr. Mordin's lab just in case!

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

"Yes!!"

——————

The Normandy II ship wasn't too big, and it wasn't too hard to find someone..... so while Shepard was busy with business, Miranda managed to catch a nasty little guy at a table in the dining room!

'Tibbs ......'

'Why is this big sister Miranda waiting for me so angrily?' People don't seem to have done anything bad lately, right? ’

Anne secretly communicates with her bear in private.

At this time, in front of her, after that Randa found herself, she sat on the opposite side of her table angrily, blowing her nose and staring, and kept holding her arms and staring at herself, she must have just not done anything kind!

￣●)

"Aren't you going to say something, little one?"

After confronting each other for a while, looking at the innocent 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 don't eat it, it's too late, because it's already past the restaurant's service time, and if you want to eat something else, you'll have to pay for it yourself? ”

After thinking for a while, Anne, who felt that she really hadn't done anything bad, bit her finger and licked some nostalgic taste on it, then blinked her eyes and said tentatively.

“……”

"It's not right to lie to a child! Little Annie, you shouldn't pretend to be me and Shepard to fool things! ”

That's why Miranda wants to hold on to this, she doesn't want this little guy to learn crookedly, and she shouldn't go to the trap to cheat!

"Huh?"

"I'm not fooling anything! You asked me to get something, and I just said that I wanted to help you get those copies out at the same time, and then the little aunt in the warehouse gave it to me......"

O

Anne said this thing blatantly at the time, and she still had authority, where was she deceived?

"Oh? Help? Well, what about the stuff I let you take?! ”

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

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

"Of course I ate it!"

"And what else do you have to say?"

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

Miranda slapped the table in anger and said viciously.

Crimes such as abusing the authority given by herself, deceiving superiors and subordinates, abusing materials, stealing food and eating alone, etc., are all intolerable to her, Miranda!

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

Thinking about the delicacy that she had just eaten in one go, although she had eaten her full, Anne still couldn't help wiping the saliva that inadvertently flowed from the corners of her mouth.

Those things are delicious, but they are a little bit less......

"You guy!!"