Chaaaapter 2! Enjoy!
Everything in this fanfic is owned by Bioware. No copyright infringement intended.
The lights turned off in the Comm room as the quantum entanglement call pinged the paired particle, untraceable and unobstructed. A hologram appeared in the far darkness of the room, rendering first the grey hair, then the blue glowing eyes and slowly the rest of the body of the Illusive man as he lazily took a puff from a cigarette. Jane crossed her arms with contempt as the man blew smoke and smiled.
"I see the party on Bekenstein proved to be entertaining. We'll have a better market share when we take the submachineguns you found apart, the modifications made on the "President Killers" would benefit our weapons department."
"We found more than a couple of guns," Shepard sneered.
"I would agree if you hadn't suggested that Miss Goto destroy the grey box. Now that information can't be used. At least she seems to see more reason to follow you into the Omega 4," the hologram took another puff and grabbed a datapad that materialized into the hologram a second later, "I have forwarded another Dossier to you, it came across my desk and it seems like he could be of use."
"Are you planning on telling me something more or should I just hang up now?" Jane raised her eyebrows, trying to distract herself from the impulse she had to take a fruitless shot at the hologram.
"Dr. Okeer, a krogan. He's working with the Blue Suns, trying to create a cloned krogan army. It seems like he has somehow recovered research from Saren's facility on Virmire. It also seems," the man paused for a fraction of a second, "like he's communicated with the Collectors, or so say the traces of his activities on the extranet. I've convinced him to come with you, but I doubt the Suns will want to let him go."
"I was planning on heading for Illium, but I'll have to make the detour. Was there anything else you wanted to tell me?"
"That is all, Shepard. Good luck," with that, the call was cut off and the hologram faded into the brightness of the ceiling lights turning back on. Jane blinked as her eyes adjusted to the light before turning around and heading for the cockpit.
…
"We're just a couple of jumps from Illium, commander, so you can recharge for some eight hours before going on another Blasto mission," Joker said as he swivelled around in his chair.
"Think more post-apocalyptic Joker," Jane smiled as she swiped a finger on her omnitool, sending the coordinates for Korlus, where Okeer was awaiting, "We're going to the Terminus' junkyard."
"Maybe we can drop off our discount-Avina," Joker tilted his head to the side.
"That was exceptionally harsh, Mr. Moreau. Did you by any chance wake up on the wrong side of the chair today?" EDI teased as her hologram popped up.
Joker made a face as he imitated what EDI had said, unable to find a witty comeback. He swivelled back around, plotting a new course, "Looks like we'll be at Korlus first thing in the morning, commander. Might be good to get some shut-eye," he peeked over his shoulder, giving the commander a solemn gaze, "You need it, it's been a long day."
Jane nodded wordlessly before turning around and heading for her quarters.
…
Baker sat at the port observation room, lathering medigel on the burns marks on his chest. The knowledge of the medigel ribcage he had was now impossible to ignore, and he felt the straight edges on his synthetic ribcage as he tended to his wounds. Slapping on a gauze patch, he put his Cerberus fatigues on and went to the mess hall. Everyone from the day-shift had turned in, and a lone deckhand sat at the table. Nicolas nodded silently and went for the fresh food cabinet. Getting an orange, he peeled it and ate the meat quickly as he put some water to boil.
Hal's voice crackled in his translator, "You're making two cups?"
Baker let air out through his nose in a stifled chuckle and typed a note on his omnitool, I think Shepard could use one, Alchera and stuff.
A synthesized laugh came from within his ear, followed by, "It's funny how small things like this can fix organic's moods."
…
The ride up in the elevator seemed short as her mind fogged up. She felt like she was walking through the blizzard on Alchera as she made her way from the CIC to her quarters. The N7 helmet sat on her desk, all traces of moisture now gone. It looked clean despite the scratch marks and the cracked visor. No more damage than what it would have received from grenade shrapnel slowed down by shields at 50% capacity. It was almost as if it had never fallen from low orbit. Her knees gave as she fell backwards onto the uncomfortably soft mattress and asked EDI to turn off the lights.
Thoughts of her descent towards Alchera materialized in her mind and the nauseating feeling of zero-g flooded her stomach. Goosebumps crept over her arms as her breathing hitched and her heart skipped every few beats. With a hoarse voice she asked for the lights to be turned back on as she sat up, trying to control her breathing and stave off the panic attack. On weak legs she stumbled towards the bathroom, tripping on the stairs. Her ribcage hit the floor hard and her lungs fought back against the intake of air, making every breath a wheeze and every exhale a cough. Pulling herself back up on the toilet seat, she reached the sink. She rested her elbows on the edges and sobbed into her hands, letting the tension from the day out in one big heaving breath. Her whole body shook as nausea made her mouth water. Hooded eyes made their way up from the sink to the edge of the sink's mirror to her reflection. When the gazes met, she found faint orange lights staring back from within her pupils and her stomach twisted, threatening to send her dinner back. In a blur, she dove for the toilet and retched. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she tried to hold something, anything back, but her stomach couldn't stop contracting. When nothing but drool left her mouth, she took a few hitching breaths and sat on the floor. Her head lolled to the side as her breathing steadied. A sound came from far away, it seemed like it was the elevator opening on her deck.
"I really did die."
"You sure did, Jane."
Shepard looked up to see Nicolas, setting two cups on her desk. He came into the bathroom and knelt beside her with pursed lips and knitted brows showing his worry, "Wanna get up from the toilet floor? I hear your bed is way softer."
She smiled half-assedly, "Wayyyy too soft, let's go to the sofa instead, alright?"
He was about to help her get up but she batted his hand away, "I can do it," she wobbled a bit but managed to pull herself up using the sink. She rinsed her mouth thoroughly and then with pause, made her way to the sofa, Nicolas following close behind with the cups in his hands.
The commander started the talking this time around, "We stopped by Alchera last night before going to Bekenstein."
"Yeah, I woke up around 0500 standard and you were down there. Why'd you decide to go now?" Nicolas took a noisy sip to avoid getting burned by the scalding water.
"Anderson reached out to me. I don't know how he got rumours of me being alive, but he asked me to retrieve the dog tags of the people who were KIA," she talked quickly, as if she didn't want to talk about the captain.
"How did that go?"
Glancing at the helmet on her desk, she sighed, "Almost too good. It's been on my mind… how was my helmet left behind? Did they find it on me and remove it or did they find it somewhere else and just took what was useful…"
"Hey, hey, you're here, that's what matters," Nicolas reached over and slapped her lightly on her arm, "You're here now, and you saw what you needed to see," the truth was, that question nagged at him from the moment he saw the old helmet as well, but he didn't want to imagine it.
Shepard looked back at the helmet for a moment before shifting her gaze back to Nicolas, then at her hands that were resting on her lap, "I found dog tags at the wreckage. I'd forgotten that I wasn't the only one who got killed by the Collectors."
"Have the families been notified?"
"Yes. I sent the mission report to Anderson, and I left the dog tags at the Citadel when we picked Kasumi up. I guess it's all wrapped up."
Nicolas pursed his lips for a moment before taking a long sip from his cup, "Even if it is, it's important that you talk about it if it continues bothering you. You know we're all here for you, right?"
Shepard nodded silently, "A lot of you are also getting payed."
Baker snorted, "You know what I mean, Jane. Chakwas, Joker, Garrus… me. We might be getting payed to go into the Omega 4 eventually, but we don't need to get money to tag along with you. Just don't let things stew around in that brain of yours too much, alright?"
She shrugged and Nicolas looked at his omnitool. He sighed, feeling unsatisfied at his efforts to make her feel better but knowing that Korlus was going to be a dangerous mission that he needed to rest for, "We should get a good night's rest if we want to extract Okeer tomorrow. Call me if you need anything, alright?"
"I will, Nicolas. Sleep well," she smiled as Baker got up and headed for the elevator with his cup in hand.
…
EDI's voice filled the cockpit, "Leaving FTL in 3, 2, 1…"
The planet popped into existence, a red-ish brown half covered in white clouds and a glittering aura of abandoned ships coating it while the night side twinkled with more junk in orbit, "So that's Korlus… you can practically see the rust from here." Nicolas snorted as he looked through the viewport.
"Looks like we're sending the Kodiak then. I wouldn't want my baby to get scuffed on the wreckage," Joker quipped as Shepard shook her head and chuckled.
"Don't be overprotective Jeff, she'll get scratched up when we go through the Omega 4 anyway," she said as she turned around to head for the cargo bay, "Find us an approach vector, I don't want to scratch the Kodiak on any of the derelicts in low orbit."
Joker nodded as he got to calculating, "That is if they don't fall in while you pass by."
The squad turned around to follow Shepard. She'd chosen Garrus, Jack and Nicolas to come with, now that he was deemed fit for duty by Chakwas. Garrus' suit speakers came to life as they entered the kodiak, "Mind if I tag along?"
"Hal!" Shepard jumped to the side as the familiar voice came from Garrus' direction, "What if EDI finds you?"
"I'm editing myself out of all her data feeds, as well as the responses you're giving me. Don't worry about Cerberus finding me. Anyway, can I help?"
Garrus' mandibles parted in a smile as the HUD in front of him flickered with Hal's presence and the Kodiak lifted off, hovering through the kinetic barrier at the open end of the cargo bay towards the wreckage covered planet below.
"So we're bringing Avina on steroids with us? Hey Hal, what can you do apart from forwarding my messages?" Jack asked the air with a mocking smile.
The other three chuckled and answered in unison, "You'll see."
As the Kodiak pulled away from the last vestiges of the Normandy's mass effect field, Jane opened a comm. channel to Joker, "Alright Jeff, we're heading for our approach vector. We'll keep radio silence to minimise the chances of being detected," with that, she shut off the channel and looked to the ceiling, "Care to bring us in, Hal?"
"I was waiting for you to ask," came the synthetic voice from the shuttle's speakers. The Kodiak creaked as it plunged into a nosedive, using correction thrusters to deftly avoid the layer of debris around Korlus. Inside the hull, the squad held onto the inner walls to avoid crashing into them and each other as the mass effect drive struggled to keep up with the erratic but precise driving of the AI.
Jane turned to face the ground team when her view screen turned a solid orange due to the outside camera being obstructed by plasma forming as the Kodiak entered Korlus' atmosphere. She raised her voice to a small shout as the hull rattled, "Alright, first order of business is to extract Okeer. We know he has created an army of lab-grown krogans with the help of Saren's studies and possibly, Collector technology. These krogan are supposed to be loyal to the Blue Suns in the area but our intel suggests they are entering a state of frenzy, where they attack anyone on sight, regardless of the uniform. It'll be in the Suns' best interest to find a solution to this krogan problem so they probably won't hand over Okeer if we ask for him. Everything that is armed is considered hostile except for Okeer. The layout of our landing zone is in your omnis, so follow me and watch each other's backs. Clear?"
The other three nodded as Hal announced, "I'll be providing support from your omnis and translators," his voice crackled as he engaged the auto-landing sequence and left the Kodiak's systems.
The blast door opened to a platform formed by the rusty and burnt hull of what was once a cargo ship. The squad jumped off before the Kodiak touched down and started moving in the direction their HUD's pointed them in. Distant sounds of gunshots became audible as the jets of the shuttle died down, and the squad jogged, guns raised towards their objective. There was a group of krogan shooting into the distance, suppressive fire keeping them pinned at least for the moment. They didn't seem to be aware of their presence.
"We could get around them," Garrus muttered, his voice carrying over the radio, "Save the clips for anything further down the road."
Shepard considered it for a moment before nodding and urging the group forward with hand signals, going into cover around the aliens. A female voice came from an unseen loudspeaker, "Attention all units, an unidentified vessel has entered Sector 7. Lure the krogan towards them."
Immediately, the suppressive fire over the krogan group ceased. The aliens got out of their cover and looked around before one turned to face Shepard's squad, some 50 metres away. With a hand signal and some radio chatter, the whole group of Krogan turned to the group and charged, shotguns extended.
"Alright. Garrus, Nicolas, take potshots while we take out the ones that get too close," Shepard said as she extended her assault rifle and Jack glowed blue.
"Like old times. You take the right, I go left, Broomhead?"
Garrus' rifle whirred as the barrel screwed itself into position.
"Works for me, Big Bird."
"What is this, Citadel Children's Channel? What's with the nicknames?" Jack made a finger pistol with her hand and 'shot' herself as she lifted her real hand cannon and began shooting at the approaching Krogan.
…
The bald human wiped orange blood from her brow as the last krogan of the group fell to the ground, a sniper round having gone through its head. The squad walked in the direction the krogan had been fired at before they had been alerted to Shepard's presence. The whole place had been coated in fog and smoke, surely in an effort to disorient the rampant krogan. Garrus scouted ahead using the infrared function on his rifle's scope.
"We have a wounded human some twenty meters ahead," his mandibles tightened against his face as he scanned the area ahead before lowering the rifle, "he seems to be unarmed and there is no one else nearby."
"Maybe he can give us a more accurate location for Okeer," Jane commented as she approached, calmly, holstering her gun on her thigh.
The group came within earshot of the human, but he seemed not to notice, gasping and out of breath, he moaned, "Goddamnit, I'm gonna bleed out. I'm gonna fucking die in this shithole. Fucking target practice," he groaned as he tried to move but failed due to the pain coming from his gut, "F-fuck!"
The squad stood before the Blue Suns merc as he looked up between pained breaths. Garrus muttered into his helmet's microphone, "He doesn't look too badly hurt."
"Looks like he doesn't know that," Hal spoke to the squad as the merc sputtered blood out of his mouth before addressing them.
"Who- the hell- are you?" he made a face of disdain, "Alliance? Mercs? It doesn't matter, I'm not telling you anything."
"Look, we need Okeer. If you point us his way, I might drop some medi-gel as I leave," Shepard activated her omnitool, omnigel at the ready as she bent over to be face to face with the merc.
"You fucking-… I don't know anything. I just shoot the overproduction from the lab. The things the krogan is making, they're insane from the get-go. Jedore has us use them for live ammo training, but this is just too much. The krogan has been making way too many for us to-" the merc shook his head with resignation before he was interrupted by a radio announcement coming from his suit's speakers.
It was the female voice again, "Does anybody have a visual on the intruders? Did the krogan eliminate them?"
Shepard stood up as the rest of the squad took a step closer. "You might want to think on your next words. Might be better to just keep quiet," she smirked, not taking her eyes off the merc.
The wounded human's lips tightened as he looked at the squad with glassy eyes. He started shouting, speaking as quickly as he could, "They are on my location! Send reinfo-"
A small crunch came from the merc's mouth as Nicolas jammed his synthetic hand in it just enough to keep him from talking.
A short moment of silence ensued as the squad eyed Nicolas and the merc's mouth. The radio came to life again, "Stay put, we are sending a squad to your location."
"Tell them to go somewhere else, man. This arm is made of metal," Nicolas sneered, "don't give me a reason to push further."
The mercenary nodded slowly, flinching as Baker retrieved his arm, a tooth coming out with it. He flexed his jaw before talking, his voice shaken, "They headed towards outpost theta. I'm too hurt to follow."
"Copy that. Stitch yourself up and head back for R&R, or we'll send a team when the intruders have been dealt with. Jedore out," there was a faint crackle coming from the merc's suit speakers as the communication was cut.
"Good boy," Shepard chuckled. The squad started walking and Shepard dropped a small medi-gel canister, "This should keep you alive until we're gone. Too bad your boss doesn't seem to care much about you."
As the group turned a corner around a crashed ship, Garrus smacked Baker's shoulder lightly, "might wanna shake your hand off, Broomhead, it's dripping."
…
"Theres a cluster of ship debris that has just entered the atmosphere above us. It will be making contact with the ground in 5 minutes, roughly. Be sure to stay under thick cover," Hal's voice crackled through the squad's translators as they neared the research facility where Okeer was working.
The group entered silently, guns raised and scanning through each room as they entered. Up a flight of stairs was a large group of mercenaries keeping guard. Shepard took a quick head count and crouched against the doorway that led to the stairs. The squad huddled around, "Alright, there's 15 hostiles up there. We can't take them out silently, and once the shooting starts, the Suns will know we're here. We cross this door, we race for Okeer."
Looking at each one, Shepard waited for confirmation before walking in, each one with their weapon pointed at a mercenary above. A step creaked and before the enemy could turn to inspect, a biotic shockwave coming from Jack blew them off their feet. A barrage of bullets rose up to shred through the dazed mercs.
Jedore's voice came through the PA system, "They are in the facility! All nearby squads storm the building! I want those fuckers dead!"
"Damn, that bitch has an attitude," Jack grunted as she raised a barrier, blocking bullets that the mercs shot down.
The squad ran up the stairs, Shepard providing suppressive fire with her grenade launcher. Hal was managing Garrus' and Nicolas' assault rifles, high rates of fire with small slugs to deplete shields and switching over to heavy, slow firing slugs to deliver the killing blows.
"Ground team be advised," Joker's voice crackled in their helmets, "orbiting debris has fallen and will be crashing near your location within the next minute."
Jane rolled her eyes before firing another grenade, vaporising a merc, "thanks for the heads up, Jeff!"
"We've got mercs on our tail, Shepard!" Garrus exclaimed as his shields deflected a shot coming from below.
"Shit, keep pushing forward people!" the commander shouted. There was a short cease in the gunfire as an ear piercing crack filled the building, like a thunder clap. A piece of debris had made impact on the building's kinetic defences and shorted it out.
The gunfire began again as the squad rushed the mercs up top as the ones coming from the bottom gained on the squad. Without warning, all sounds were snuffed out as everyone was deafened by a second piece of debris narrowly missing the flight of stairs but tearing a giant hole in the wall beside it. The impact shook the building, making the squad stumble and trip, and a thick cloud of dust completely obscured the bottom of the flight of stairs, swallowing the mercs that had come in.
Her vision was blurry as she stumbled to her feet. Tears streamed from her eyes as they tried to push the dust and ashes out. Her mouth was dry as the particles filled the air around her. She sneezed and coughed silently as the sounds around her were completely lost to the ringing in her ears caused by the derelict ship turned meteorite. Feeling around herself, her hands came to rest on her grenade launcher. A bullet impacted on her leg, coming from above and she stepped back down the stairs, almost tripping on a waking Jack. Jane turned around to see both Nicolas and Garrus had been concentrating their fire on the mercs up top. Surely the ones at the bottom were goners.
A gauntleted hand grabbed her armour's collar and Nicolas' voice rang muffled in her head, "we need that RPG of yours active, Jane! Wake up!"
The commander shook her head and looked down at the grenade launcher. It was caked in dust but hopefully the mechanism would work. She didn't have time to unjam it, so she spat a gob of ash and dust on the floor as the RPG whirred to life and she pointed up.
…
"Alright, booby trap the stairs. We don't want the mercs regrouping and swarming us. What's the damage, people?" Jane asked as everyone walked out of the top side of the stairs, coated in a thick layer of ash.
Garrus got to setting up tripwires and explosives around the top steps of the stairs before exclaiming "my mandibles are itchy from the dust but besides that, all good."
Jack was lathering medigel on a wound on her arm, "I'm gonna have to retouch a couple of tattoos. Nothing major."
Nicolas looked himself over, brushing his armour off, then shrugging and shaking his head. He looked at Jane and pointed a finger at her leg, "you've got a shattered plate, Jane."
She pursed her lips, "I'll try to not get shot there again, but I've got full shields now so it shouldn't be too hard."
"Maybe Hal can help keep you protected," Nicolas looked at his omnitool, hoping the AI would know it was being addressed, "Right?"
Shepard's omnitool flickered for a second before the synthetic voice came from her suit's speakers, "I'll be optimizing her shielding systems. Commander, my optimizations will kick in when your hold over your biotic barriers strain," he added through her translator, "try not to be reckless."
She nodded before eyeing Jack to make sure her wound was properly dressed before the squad left the stairwell, disappearing into the thick cloud of dust the derelict ship had raised.
…
A krogan huddled against the rusty wall of an old starship. Bullets pinged against the opposite side as the alien emptied his pouches in search for thermal clips. As the bullets zipped past the cover, lifting up dust, the krogan's eye was caught by a faint glimmer. It was a handgun, left there by another being, surely killed by either his equals or the falling debris. Digging his feet into the ground, he prepared to make a dash for the handgun and hopefully, a half depleted thermal clip to use in his assault rifle.
Reload, kill, live.
The three words repeated incessantly in his brain until his thoughts were interrupted by gunshots coming from a completely new direction. His keen eyesight spotted a group of four aliens, dressed in colours he didn't recognize, shooting at the blue clad humans that had been trying so hard to end his life. The krogan looked down at his hands, the armour caked in dust, its burgundy colour almost unrecognizable. Every muscle fibre in his body screamed for him to run for the handgun, but he knew that sudden movements provoked hostility, and for the first time since he first opened his eyes, he wished for nothing more than a break from battle. The muscles in his jaws had for the first time relaxed, wanting to open his mouth instead of clenching it. A tremor spread through his body and the dark, gravelly voice that had spoken to him before time had even been a concept died down. There was silence in his head and now the world spoke, loud and clear. Soon, the world also became silent, and his attention was drawn back to the approaching group. The one walking in front was particularly intriguing. There was the shimmer of biotic barriers around her, but there was also the faint blue glow of a shielding system.
The newcomers were definitely a force that he couldn't take on in his state, and if there was something he didn't want, it was to die in such unfair circumstances. The emptiness in his mind was becoming suffocating. He knew he could speak, so he approached the group, chewing and flexing his jaw even though his mouth was empty. One of the newcomers, a turian, raised his assault rifle at the krogan, but the weapon was lowered by the leader's hand.
The krogan spoke, his voice similar to the one that spoke to his mind, to his surprise, "You… are different. New. Something the voice hasn't told me of. For seven night cycles, I have only had the need to kill, but you… something makes me speak."
"I didn't know the cannon fodder could be chill," Jack spoke up, shaking her head, "but it's good with words for being a week old."
"I have existed for longer than 7 night cycles, but I was yet unborn. Everything I know, the voice has taught me. It taught me to kill, survive, to recognize what you are and what I am. It taught me I was imperfect and that I was to survive outside the glass mother, but it didn't tell me to speak things not of battle."
"So he's tank bred, and Okeer seems to be making them not just for army purposes- if he's trying to perfect them," Garrus pieced together.
"The voice said when the time comes, we would not march for the blue suns, but instead for us, as krogan. When we are perfect, it said."
"I'm guessing he wants to cure the genophage, then?" Shepard shook her head and took a step closer to the krogan, inquisitive.
"The voice didn't mention a cure. It mentioned that we were to resist, overcome, ignore."
Shepard stayed silent for a moment, taking in what the krogan was saying, "Can you take us to the tank mother?"
The krogan shook its head but started walking towards a wall, "I am imperfect, but I have been given a purpose. I must kill all of the blue suns, wherever they may come from, and I must guard the way to the glass mother, which is this," the alien gripped a piece of overlapping steel and lifted with a small grunt. It faintly glowed blue until the plate had cleared the floor and then the krogan dropped it to the side, "this is the way to the glass mother. If you speak with the voice, it can give you more complete answers. I must stay. My purpose is protect or die, and there is nothing else."
The group walked one by one through the hole in the wall as the krogan walked slowly towards the handgun at the far side of the area. Jack was bringing up the group's rear, but she paused at the opening. She drew her hand cannon and aimed for the krogan's back, smirking. A hand harshly pulled her gun down, almost making her let go. She turned with furious eyes to face the annoyed stare of Nicolas.
"What the fuck is wrong with you? Just let it fulfil its purpose. It'll be dead before long."
The biotic glowed blue and Nicolas skidded backwards, his legs adapting to the changed centre of gravity to keep his footing. She closed the distance herself now, getting up in his face, "If he's dead anyway, I could've shot him now. What do you care about it?" with that, she walked past him, bumping onto his shoulder as she went, "Since when have you actually had the moral compass of a human being anyway, Baker?"
Nicolas' heart raced in his chest, anger bubbling within his stomach. Hal's voice crackled through his translator, "Shepard gave her access to Cerberus files to gaud her into joining. I bet she knows a little of what happened in Omega. Don't let her get to you."
…
The squad stood facing Okeer and the krogan within the glass tank. The krogan Warlord unconsciously placed a scaly hand on the glass tube as he spoke, "The Collectors offered bits of their technology, which ended up allowing me to make variants more powerful than ever before, but Jedore has started growing impatient with my results. Stupid human, she does not know what she is hindering."
Jane shook her head, "But whatever you're doing is making the tank-breds insane, uncontrollable. Why use Collector technology if they make your results less krogan than the krogan?"
Okeer's sharp pupils focused on Shepard, "You do not understand either, Shepard. My tank-bred krogan are perfectly sane and capable. It is Jedore that lacks the strength to guide them, like a true krogan would. You miss the point of the Collector technology. You think it allows me to create smarter or stronger beings, but that is not what I search for."
"You're trying to cure the genophage," Nicolas offered.
"No. A cure to the genophage would cripple the intricate system that has made our species so resilient. No. The collector technology has helped me create a new way for us to overcome our curse. This specimen, this event of chance, this force of nature!" Okeer raised his hands to the krogan, "I let the technology accelerate his responses to the adversities that this Galaxy has for it and it ended up doing the worst thing the enemy, the genophage could endure: he's ignoring its effects."
A few seconds of silence ensued as Okeer admired his creation, before the PA system came to life with Jedore's voice, "The intruders are with Okeer! That's it, this is as far as you go, Krogan! All available units form up on me. We're starting from scratch, with Okeer's research. Purge the tanks!"
The warlord looked out the window of his lab into the Maturing Hall. He spied Jedore activate the emergency purge and the tanks started emptying. He turned to the console beside him to separate the prodigy's systems with those of the ones outside, "She would destroy my life's creation with a valve! Shepard, this specimen is unique. I cannot recreate it. I will not leave without it, so stop Jedore!"
…
Nicolas panted as he ran around an empty tank after a Blue Suns merc. In a split second, he batted away the barrel of the shotgun the mercenary was holding, making it fire against a frenzied krogan that was approaching the two. The pellets shredded through the armour and the alien's belly, letting a big splash of orange blood fall to the floor. As the krogan dropped to its knees, Nicolas punched the merc with his synthetic arm, shattering the visor on his helmet before he used his real arm to jam his pistol in the helmet's opening and pulling the trigger. Red blood sprayed out and Nicolas squinted, avoiding the warm liquid. As he took a step back, the back of his neck was surrounded by scaly fingers coated in orange blood. The blood-curdling roar of the dying krogan shook Nicolas' insides as he was lifted off the ground, the joints in his neck popping as the fingers tightened slowly.
"Jane, Nicolas needs help NOW!" Hal exclaimed through the commander's translator as she took cover behind a tank, her shields depleted. She looked up to see Baker being lifted by the bloodied krogan across the room. Her head throbbed as she took quick, deep breaths to ready herself for a biotic dash. Her vision blurred and nausea pooled up in her stomach as her biotics strained and the mass effect fields pulled at her brain. She started to glow blue as she blacked out.
The pressure from the krogan's hand slid down to Baker's neck muscles, allowing his jaw to open just barely as he screamed, hoping someone would hear before his medula was severed by the krogan. A blue blur made impact against the alien, making it let go, and Nicolas fell. His landing was softened by an unconscious Jane. She'd rammed into the krogan, pushing it to the ground, but not incapacitating it. The alien roared, fuelled by the rage of being near death. It grabbed Shepard's hair and started standing up. Nicolas stepped back and looked at the arsenal Shepard had on her back as she went up, "Hal, I need that shotgun."
The gun started expanding as Nicolas pulled it off her back and took aim at the krogan, blinded by its blood rage. A quick shotgun blast decimated its head and the alien let Shepard go before falling backwards. Nicolas let the shotgun fall and eased Shepard down before pulling her assault rifle off her back. He dragged her behind the breeding tank and fired towards any merc who even thought of coming closer, his energies renewed.
Jack propelled a grenade into the joints of the las YMIR mech with her biotics as Jedore unknowingly took cover behind it. The robot blew up as the shrapnel wreaked havoc within it and the merc boss was flung across the room. She got up surprisingly fast to line up her crosshairs on Nicolas and a waking Shepard when a sniper round from Garrus' rifle whizzed through her head.
EDI's voice came through all of their radios, "Shepard, Jedore's purge has caused a system failure in the labs. I have been able to take partial control over the systems and am ventilating Okeer's lab. The room had been flooded with neurotoxins and his life signs are dwindling. I doubt he will make it."
"Shit," Shepard shook her drowsiness away as she self-administered anti-inflammatories to stave the biotic headache away, "Everyone to Okeer's lab, on the double!"
…
"I see your mission was a success, Shepard!" The Illusive man took a puff from his ever-present cigarette, his voice a little more enthusiastic than other times.
"I don't see why you're so happy. Okeer is dead, and now we have a 'perfect krogan' asleep in the cargo bay. Who knows what perfect meant to Okeer."
"The krogan said he'd put all his research into the tank-bred's mind. Whatever he knows of the research on the Collector technology, I'll get it from him when you finish the mission."
Jane crossed her arms, wary of what the Illusive man might do, and what he might find. She made a mental note to find a way in which she could avoid handing the krogan over to Cerberus. She chewed on the inside of her lip for a moment before speaking again, "If there's nothing else, I'll set a course for Illium to retrieve the-"
The Illusive man had stopped listening mid-sentence before he interrupted Jane, "wait, Shepard. This just came in… Horizon! One of our colonies in the Terminus! It just went silent. If it's not being attacked by the Collectors, it will be soon. Has Dr. Solus created a countermeasure for the neurotoxins they use?"
Shepard frowned and shook her head, "Not just yet."
"Well, let's hope he works well under pressure. You have to head that way now. I calculate you'll be there within 24 hours. There is one more thing. A member of your old crew, Ashley Williams, has been stationed at Horizon."
Something was wrong. Jane looked at the Illusive man, trying to read his face, "Ashley is alliance. Why would she be out in the Terminus?"
The head of Cerberus puffed out smoke, the side of his mouth curling up in a self-satisfied smile, "officially, it's an outreach initiative to improve alliance-colony relationships. But they're up to something, and if they sent Chief Williams, it's big. The Collectors are cunning. Maybe they're invading a colony with her in it to get to you, which is exactly why you cannot fail. This could be our breakthrough, Shepard, the first time we get first-hand experience with them!
The excitement was contagious, and Jane jogged for the cockpit to talk to Joker as soon as she had cut off the call.
"I've been forwarded our course, Commander! Should we get going?" the pilot didn't even turn around to face the newcomer as his hands dashed around the screens in front of him.
"Punch it, Joker! How soon 'til we're there?"
The pilot tapped a finger on an aerogel screen, "Twenty-one short hours, taking into account atmospheric entry. Should I gather the crew for a briefing?"
"I'll do that tomorrow, after a little planning. Remember we can't land without Mordin's countermeasure," with that, Shepard left the cockpit and headed for her quarters.
…
"Commander, Mr. Baker is requesting permission to enter." EDI's voice filled the room as Shepard sat at her desk, datapads set edge to edge, covering her desk to make one large screen.
"Let him in, EDI."
The door whooshed open as the human entered, an energy bar in his hand, "You missed dinner, Jane."
"I'll go get something to eat when the planning's been done."
"Planning? What is there to plan?"
"The Illusive man was able to get me the layout of the Colony. It's important that we know the field as good as possible, so we can adapt quicker to anything the Collectors send our way," Shepard spoke, her eyes glued to the map on her desk, marking possible landing zones and important buildings.
Nicolas shrugged before offering her the energy bar, "Makes sense. I just wanted to say thanks for the save down there."
"Don't mention it, just try to get in trouble before I overstrain my biotics next time," she turned around at the end of the sentence and winked before taking the energy bar.
Baker smiled, "10-4, commander!"
"Military talk doesn't fit you Nicolas," she chuckled, "Just don't be reckless, alright?"
"I'll do my best."
"That's what I want to hear. Now go get some shut-eye. We've got a long day ahead of us, and I need everyone ready tomorrow. Could you tell Garrus to leave the rest of his calibrations for some other time?"
"I'll pass it on," he rested a hand on her shoulder for a moment before turning around to head for the door, "Good night, Jane!"
The door whooshed open and then closed as he left. She put a hand on her shoulder, where Nicolas' had been, "Good night."
And that's it! Chapter 2! Hope you enjoyed it! Until next time!