A/N: Okay, welcome back to here. We're back with more stuff.
And this time, we'll start to get some explanation into what some of Orange's words meant last chapter. This time, we also find Grunt. Fun times are had there. And yes, Garrus will always be doing calibrations. Fuck that.
So without further ado? Let's get this show on the road.
Chapter 3: Dutilleux: Metaboles
I find myself in a hallway. It's almost like the hallway of my apartment building back in Boston. Except... It's kind of narrow. But that's besides the point.
I advance in the hall, seeing a table to my left. The table... This is a little odd, isn't it? It looks like it's melting into the floor. Some of the paintings in the walls are also a little strangely shaped, all in unnatural shapes and that. I can see details of Van Gogh in there, and it all looks perfectly fine, except the canvas seems to flow in time like a river of molten magma. The paintings themselves stay in there. But it's still damn creepy to see the canvas just creep around. I also see various light fixtures bent in all sorts of strange positions.
Well, someone must have had a field day in furniture design. Or really loved the paintings of Salvador Dali. Either way, I don't like where this is going... It's too surreal for my own good, I think...
I walk down the hallway, watching as it twists. I feel something unpleasant creep into my skin as I look around. I slowly feel the hallway seemingly flow around me, like I'm standing in a river of solid concrete that is always changing. It's ebbing away, slowly, and I can feel some kind of strangeness.
I look around... Something isn't right about this setup...
I can hear the sound of an out of tune string quartet somewhere within the walls, and also the sounds of voice actors of Heavy Rain. The sound seems to be travelling around me in an endless circle with the voice-overs taking turns to talk. As I walk, the only thing that pierces this strangeness is the sound of my own footsteps. Despite certain things, though, I can't really hear them; if they echo off the walls, it's not showing...
I look around as I traverse down the hallway. My steps seem lost in the air around me. I feel stifled in here, and yet I don't see any dust around here. It's old, and yet the paint job is really deceptive as the hall traverses about. It's so seamless how it's doing it. I don't really know what to think of it...
I walk along, looking around. As I do, I feel like the room is rotating around itself. Or something; I don't really know what to describe how I feel as I walk down. It's not just my skin going cold; I feel like something is trying to tug me away from my feet but isn't really succeeding in doing so. This is a little disturbing, I think... But I can't explain it...
I suddenly hear a very loud creak. I look down to my right foot as it steps on a certain area of the floor. Well, that's strange. If it's a steel floor, why is it that it creaks like a wooden floor if I step on one particular spot.
I don't get to think too hard about it, though, because then I hear someone scream out from behind me. I turn around, and suddenly there is a very angry mob of people. They're rushing towards me in the hallway, and I suddenly don't know what to do.
So I do the first thing that comes to my mind. I run as fast as I can, taking a glance at the mob behind me as my feet spring into action.
My feet pound against the steel floor, making no more sounds as the mob rushes in behind me. Despite myself, I keep looking behind me, afraid of their progress. My heart's pumping really fast, and my eyes are wide in fear. I run down the hallway, but don't see any end in sight to the hallway. It keeps meandering, and I feel the strange tugs all around me as something tries to hold me off. The sounds of the string quartet and the Heavy Rain voices stop, and I can only hear the rushing mob.
As I go around, I finally see a door at the end of the hallway. It's wierdly shaped, as if Dr. Seuss drew it onto the wall. Either way, it's the only place I can turn to for safety. So I rush for it.
But as I do, I turn the knob and find that it's locked. I turn it again, shaking the doorknob for extra measure. But it's no use. I can hear the thunderous mob behind me, and I look again. I can see it more clearly now. They're held back by something; maybe trying to get over each other. I turn back to the door, and ram my elbow into it. I shake it again, bang my head against it, whatever comes to mind.
But it's not enough, for then I suddenly feel the mob crash into me. I'm briefly aware of being shoved into the door before I begin to feel things beat and stab into my body. I scream out as pain begins to scream in my skin. But it all seems far-off. Like it's happening to someone miles away, but not to me. It's the strangest sensation.
And I slowly get beaten to death, seeing my own blood leak out around me and onto the floor, and suddenly I swear the blood is pooling in a corner and running up the wall...
I let out a sharp gasp, sitting up in bed. I'm back in my room on the Normandy SR-2, my viola case still by my mattress as I blink. I briefly turn my head to the terminal, and subsequently the window it's situated in front of. The pale blue light of the drive core can be seen from here...
I groan, and bring my hand to my face as I shake my head. I let out a shaky breath, taking another one in as I throw my arm unceremoniously against my leg, looking at the wall.
Oh, god damn it... It's the same dream I've been having for the past year now. Jeez, I'm on the Normandy and I still can't get rid of it? Jesus Christ on a pikestaff...
It's always that dream. I specifically remember strange dreams like that for some reason. I remember being beat down in alleyways in some brick-walled city. I remember being taken away on a starship that was on a mission to destroy worlds. I remember being left out on a snowy field. Hell, I even remember that one dream where the cast of Super Smash Brothers: Melee was taken to some secret laboratory, with testing that ended with Zelda wielding an arm cannon and kicking ass.
But all those are dreams I have had a comparatively small number of times.
This one... I remember every detail. Not just because it's so damn strange, but because I've been having it over and over again for no reason. I've almost memorized the table to exactly where it seems to melt into the floor from its table supports. I've come to recognize some of the paintings on the wall in the hallway. I seem to remember the way the hallway pulls at me as I move along it. I know the door is locked whenever I get there, but there's nothing else I can do. I've even placed a few names to some of the faces from the mob, even if I've never met some of the people in the mob.
It's a dream that terrifies me every time I have it. I wish I could not have it just for once, but I still have it all the time for some reason...
I hope I can figure out what lies beyond that door. I have the distinct feeling that it's the door Orange is talking about, and yet I have no clue how to fucking open it.
So what am I supposed to do?
I see a panel in the room light up, and then I see the globular interface of EDI light up. "Serviceman *********," says the AI.
Oh, dear... "I guess some names stick, huh?" I ask, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. "It's wierd to be called 'Serviceman' again..."
"I see nothing unusual about referring to you by your rank," replies EDI nonchalantly.
I shake my head. "Yeah, well, I feel a bit differently about that from two years of not being in the Alliance," I reply as I throw the covers off of me. "What is it?"
"Commander Shepard is requesting your presence in the briefing room," says the AI. "We are about to recruit Okeer, and she would like you on the ground team."
Oh. Well, good thing my dream woke me up at an opportune time. Well, we're recruiting Grunt now, eh? I know it's technically Okeer, but he's gonna be dead by the time we're done killing all the mercs that are in the area at the same time. Some things just can't be helped, I suppose. But that's not really an issue, I think. Just don't mention that we'll have a baby krogan on the team until we actually have the baby krogan on the ship.
"All right," I say, looking to the AI as I stand up. "Tell the Commander I'll be down there soon."
"Of course," says EDI. "Logging you out."
And with this, the blue globe peters out of existence on the control panel. I look up at it as I stand up, brushing the back of my head and breathing in and out nervously as I bite my lower lip. Well, no use wondering about my dream now, I suppose. Time to get back into my armor.
I look over to where I kept my armor stored throughout the night. I smile, and walk over to it. The first thing I do is to pull a grey cloth out of the armor. It's the very same grey cloth that Ash gave me on the first Normandy. I kept it stored in my greave on Omega; I ended up not needing it. I rarely use it these days; my hair's grown out a lot since I've been here. Now it's long enough that I can tie my hair behind me into a sort of ponytail that comes to around the midway point between my two shoulders. I still shave some parts of it, and I still cut my bangs every so often, but now that I don't have my mom trying to get it cut at every opportunity and my dad making 'one hair cut' jokes at my expense, I've found that growing out is good for me.
But, I still keep the cloth as a sort of token of my days from the first Normandy. Usually I tie it around my arm now, covering one of the black tattoos that I have. Now that I'm no longer really Alliance, I can keep my hair pretty long. I guess it also explains why Miranda always wades into battle with her hair flowing out behind her.
Ah, well. I shrug, and set the cloth back on the table. I take my armor and start to put it on piece by piece, loving the feeling that comes with putting it back on in a ship called the Normandy.
Well, we're here now. We're on the Kodiak, and somehow I feel a little more at home in here than I ever have before.
It's a small bunch I'm here with, and undoubtedly a rather strange one too. Shepard is busy piloting the Kodiak down to Korlus, with me wondering how long it's going to take before we touch the planet. I look to the others around me, and cross my arms. Garrus is sitting next to me on the rather small shuttle, checking his sniper rifle yet again. Mordin and Jack are also here, and I'm beginning to wonder if Shepard just doesn't like Miranda and Jacob. I mean, honestly, Jacob's a nice guy, but it's clear he doesn't approve of every Cerberus decision there is...
Hm...
I look over to Jack as she sits on the other end of the shuttle, and then over to Mordin as he simply stands around. It's fairly quiet as I sit there, and my eyes flitter between the fast-talking salarian doctor and the violent manic-depressive woman on the other side of the shuttle.
I shift where I sit, feeling my normal three-piece ensemble behind me. Right... Pistol, assault rifle, shotgun. Fuck the sniper rifle; I've found I'm a terrible sniper if I don't have time to set it up beforehand. I work better with shotgun, I find. Even if I did elbow Ash that one time by accident. But... I've grown used to the recoil. And thank good for the firing range; that thing is great at helping me keep my firing skills up to par.
But... stuff happens.
And so, I look between the doctor and the convict, looking up.
"You seem edgy. Must be nerves. Understandeable. Nerves always present before mission."
Wait, what? Wow, Mordin really does talk fast. So fast, I don't even realize he's done talking. I blink, glancing at him as I bite my lower lip.
"Uh... right," I reply. "I'll pretend I was actually listening to whatever the hell you were saying and get on with my life."
"Different individuals react differently to nerves," says the doctor. "You deal with it by sarcasm. Much to think about. Implications... variable."
I blink. Okay, I actually heard all of that. "Oh, great," I reply, shaking my head. "You've only ever said two sentences to me, and already I'm afraid of what's going to happen. I fear what little sanity I have left..."
Jack chuckles at this, and then I look to her. "You're in the same room as me, kid," she says. "I'm surprised you haven't already driven yourself up the fucking wall yet."
I raise my eyebrow, crossing my arms. "Really?" I ask. "But the thing is, we only just met. So I haven't really gotten much time to drive myself up the wall, you know?"
Jack shakes her head. "You've heard all the crazy stories, though, right?" she replies. "What with you being the Commander's fucking lap-dog or something."
I frown at this, but before I can throw in my towel, Garrus speaks up. "We didn't always agree with Shepard back on the first Normandy," he mentions. "I remember it took nearly two days to convince him out of his room after that one mission on that one planet... We had STG with us there..."
"Virmire?" asks Mordin. "Have heard of it, yes. Serviceman big hero there. Led STG unit into battle, very few casualties."
I shake my head. Oh, for the love of peace... "Really, Garrus?" I ask. "You're going to bring up that mission?"
"Yes," says the turian.
I playfully punch him in the arm, shaking my head as a half-hearted frown comes on my face. "Fuck you..." I whisper, chuckling as I do this.
"What?" asks the convict. "You went all ape-shit after that?"
I shake my head, my smirk dying away. "I'd rather not go into that," I reply. "It's one of the more... embarrasing moments of my life."
"He was busy crying through it all," says Garrus without missing a beat.
Oh, the little-! "Garrus!" I squeal out, punching him in the arm even harder.
Jack lets out a laugh, looking right at me. "And to think that the same kid who took down that fuckin' warehouse was cryin' for two days over one person," she replies plainly. "You need to man the fuck up."
I shake my head. "Trust me, it was much more complicated than that," I reply. "First of all, that was two years ago. I've had plenty of time to think about it, so I'm not planning on wangsting on it anytime soon. Second, Garrus here oversimplified it. Greatly." I cross my arms. "He doesn't even know the whole truth, even. And the day that he knows the whole truth is the day that Cerberus will be ethical in its experiments."
At this, Jack lets out a short bark, throwing me off. She looks at me, a small smirk on her face as she looks. "Good to know we're on the same fuckin' page here," she says. "Fuck the two lapdogs."
I blink. "Well, I mean, Jacob's actually a pretty nice guy," I point out. "And he doesn't totally agree with Cerberus."
"He still wears the fuckin' uniform," replies Jack. "That's enough for me. But at least you've got your head screwed on right. I'd hate to have to yell at yet another human on this fucking ship."
I snort, shaking my head as I look at the ceiling of the transport. "I know the feeling," I reply. "I imagine you'd want to drown them in the ink from all your tattoos?"
Here, she gives me a steeley look, and I suddenly find any mirth I had evaporating almost on cue. Wow, just one glare from her makes me shut up. I fear my sanity already. "In ink, but not from these things," she replies, pointing to her tattoos. "I'll rip your head clean off your body before you pull any shit like that."
I blink. "Uh... Okay..." I say, scratching the back of my head. "Not like I have any way to take them all off anyway... Unless you wanted me to take a scalpel to all that and extract the individual ink blots, and even then I think I'd fail miserably at getting all the ink out in a form suitable to get it in liquid form. Not without me accidentally cutting you once or twice. Or dying first, either by old age or because of you tearing me apart with biotics."
Garrus appreciates the humor at least, but she blinks at this, non-plussed. "You really don't know how these things work, do you?" she asks. "What the fuck do you mean by all that?"
I shrug. "You tell me," I reply. "I've never stepped into a tattoo parlor before, so I wouldn't know shit about tattoos. And plus, I've never needed to, so yeah." I better not go into how being raised by loving parents on Earth was. Yet, anyway. She'll be incredibly pissed until we blow that facility on Pragia to Kingdom Come if I mention it. Ah, well, good thing we can't exactly activate the casual sex scene, what with Shepard being a woman.
"Right, you're a pussy," she says. "An incredibly ballsy pussy, but still a pussy. Should've known it from the moment I saw that fuckin' music thing or whatever you call it."
I frown, crossing my arms at this. "Wait, so if I'm 'ballsy', doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of being a pussy in the first place?"
There is dead silence in the Kodiak as we feel ourselves slowly lower towards the ground. I keep my arms crossed, and nobody dares reply. I shrug at this, looking at Jack as a smug smirk comes to my face. Nobody dares challenge me, and I feel Jack look straight at me boring holes into my head. Somehow, I don't care that she'll violently rip me to shreds without a second thought. And as her glare intensifies, my smirk only intensifies.
But before she can reply, the salarian speaks first. "Interesting," he says. "Strange mesh of personalities. Will be great to work with. Looking forward to rest of the mission. Especially talk about tattoos. Will be interesting to see solutions on how to remove them. Knife? No, no, too messy... Perhaps injection is preferable. No... would not work..."
I blink again as the salarian goes on and on after that I glance at the doctor as Garrus chuckles. Jack and I are both speechless at this, and we both lose our glare and my smirk. I look to Mordin, then back to Jack, and then back to Mordin before I let out an exasperated sigh.
"Note to self," I say, closing my eyes. "Never talk about tattoos around Mordin. Ever again."
"Ditto," agrees Jack.
And with this, the rest of the Kodiak ride down to the planet Okeer is on is rather silent.
When we step out of the Kodiak, we see that we're on a rather deserted planet. There's debris absolutely fucking everywhere, like we just touched down on a huge chunk of ground zero. Well... My question is, how the hell did things get so bad? Granted, Tuchanka is a planet-wide case of Hiroshima, but really, this place doesn't look like it's faring much better.
We rush over to a chest-high wall, taking cover behind it as we look on. Shepard is silent as we sidle up against the wall, and I give her a nod.
"The dossier doesn't say if Okeer is here by choice," she says. "Assume hostiles."
Before we can get moving, however... "There is only one measure of success," shouts a voice over a loudspeaker quite a distance away. "Kill or be killed."
I blink at this, coming out of cover to see nobody heading our way. Our weapons are already drawn, and then we look over there.
"Broadcasting orders over loudspeaker. Foolish. Indicates lack of organization," comments Mordin.
"Stay focused," replies the Commander. "We're looking for a krogan warlord.
I step over the uneven stones as I grip my assault rifle in my hands. Jack has her shotgun out, with Mordin holding out a pistol and Garrus standing by with his sniper rifle in his hands. Shepard comes to the front of the group, dressed in... Well, her armor certainly changed. Now she's in that armor from one of the DLC packages. It's that black armor with the red kind of thing you'd find in the inside of the 3D version of the Citgo logo rather than on the battlefield. But hey, what can I do?
We advance slowly, my eyes flying over the broken wasteland around us. Yes, there is a lot of damage here. A reactor there, a broken building there, stuff like the WTC when it first fell off in the distance... Wow, whoever was on the planet last really did a number here, especially on this stretch of land. I can see huge numbers painted onto something in the distance, and the whole thing reminds me of post-apocalyptic America...
...Oh, great, that was another flashback to the Book of Eli that I didn't want. Good God, did I hate that movie. Seriously, fuck that movie. They really couldn't have come up with a better plot twist than "oh, he's blind, and God is real". Yeah, you also invalidated your premise. So fuck you, movie.
"Being hired is merely the beginning," I hear a loud voice boom in the distance. This effectively interrupts my thoughts as we all look to the source of the sound. "You must earn your place in the mighty army we are building."
We turn a corner as we hear this, and then I roll my eyes. "Great, we're dealing with crazies..." I mutter to myself as we advance.
Yeah, there are an inordinately high number of chest-high walls around here. Yeah, Yahtzee, you really weren't kidding. That's where the first firefight starts... And it looks like they're ready for battle.
"Observation post," comments Garrus. "And ready for a fight it looks like."
Shepard nods at this. "Keep calm," says the Commander. "And if we enter a firefight, we take them all down."
We only acknowledge this, and then we come across them.
My shields flicker suddenly, the report of a shotgun going off and taking a rather large chunk of my shields. I dive behind cover as soon as I feel this, Mordin rolling up next to me as Garrus takes a position behind the wall. Jack simply runs over to cover, firing her shotgun at one of the mercs and then throwing him into the air as Shepard rolls behind cover, shooting at him with her assault rifle.
All right, my first firefight of ME2 begins!
My shields regenerate, and without waiting to see what else is there I come out of cover. I see another merc pop out of some chest-high wall up an incline that's directly in front of us. I decide to concentrate my fire on that, as Mordin comes out as well. He manages to fire a few pistol shots into the merc there, taking its shields down. I tear at it with my assault rifle, the rounds flying across the air as they impact against the merc's face. He goes down, and then I dive behind cover as I feel my shields take a hit. I reload, watching other people do the same as I peer back out of cover.
Yeah, the merc is down, but in his place is someone else. Not a moment too soon, I suddenly see Shepard jump straight out of cover, and before I'm aware of what is happening I see her fly across the battlefield in a burst of blue energy, and then I sit there shocked as she rushes up to a merc and punches it in the chest. Holy shit... As she retreats, a lone sniper shot nails him in the head. Garrus.
Holy shit... I almost forgot Shepard was a biotic for a second! And I forgot that biotics can punch things in ME2 for a really powerful attack. Shit, I can't believe I forgot that! There are two other mercs that show up, and then they both shoot at the commander. Her shields take a hit, but Jack manages to toss a warp at one of them. This throws them off balance for massive damage, and Mordin immediately starts shooting it.
Which leaves the last one to me. As Shepard lowers its shields, I come out of cover, and then fire on the merc. Its shields go down, and then a few more rounds from me puts the merc out of commission. I turn my attention to the merc that Jack threw, and after seeing Mordin destroy his shields I fire at it myself.
All is silent as we look up. I blink at this, and then get out of cover.
Well, that was fast. A little anticlimactic for a first firefight, too... Well, the mercs don't really get hard until we find that one tank-bred krogan over there.
Shepard comes out of cover, her assault rifle still brandished as we climb up the incline. We don't see any more mercs here, so... Yeah, we should be safe. We walk past the chest-high walls, and then we're greeted with the sight of a wounded mercenary sitting on the ground and muttering to himself. We see him stand up, and constantly swearing his head off as he stands up. He holds most of his weight on one leg, and we hear him complain about his wounds.
I raise my eyebrows at this. "He doesn't look too bad, actually," I reply. "I've seen worse." That is, if you count Tommy Wiseau's ass as 'worse'.
"He doesn't need to know that," comments Shepard.
With this, our full attention goes to the merc. Yep, he's in Blue Suns armor. Fun. He looks to us, and he frowns a little. Yeah, he's all bloody, but nothing some good medigel won't fix.
"Oh, I knew it wasn't berserkers," he says between clenched teeth. "Not in range. You're mercs. Or Alliance. I'm not telling you anything!"
I see Shepard's omni-tool light up as she looks to the merc. "I've got a nice application of medi-gel ready to go," she says. "Or if you'd rather I just keep walkin'."
I gesture to her with my head, and he nods his head down once. "Son of a bitch," he says. "I just... I don't know anything. I just shoot the overflow from the labs. The old krogan up there... He's really been cleaning house lately. Jedore hired him to make her an army, but the krogan he creates are insane so we all use them for live ammo training." Somehow, actually hearing it live is a little more scary. "God damn it, I don't get paid enough to bleed out like this."
As soon as he finishes talking, his comm unit is activated. "Outpost four, Jedore wants us to move. We need coordinates on that krogan pack."
I blink and raise my eyebrows, looking at the merc. He looks to us, and I look over to Shepard. I'm going to leave this one to the commander.
"You heard the man on the radio," she says, her voice suddenly turning quite cold. "He needs direction."
...
Hey, wait a minute. Isn't that from the Intimidate prompt? What in the world...?
"I mean... I don't have the info they want," says the merc. "You showed up before I could get my normal sightings."
She pauses for only a second before replying. "You've got other problems," she says icily.
Yes, yes it is from the Intimidate prompt. What the hell? I thought she was Paragon all the way! What happened that she went with the renegade option? Wait... Her scars are still showing... So... The scars only heal up if you're completely paragon. Oh, dear, did she turn into a Paragade on my ass? I hope not. Eh, this will probably only be one instance. Right?
"Patrol, uh... uh... Patrol sighting, east of station 2," says the merc, a lot of uncertainty in his voice. "Yeah."
"Copy, east of 2," says the voice on the other end. Wow, the person over there must be a complete idiot if he fell for that shit...
"Bitch, they'll run blind into krogan," he says, his eyes steely even despite wounds.
Shepard decides to get straight to the point. "Have you seen Okeer?" she asks. "Does he know about all this?"
I space out as the conversation continues. Yeah, this is gonna be pretty boring. Infodump, infodump, infodump. It's not like I don't know what's happening here, and the snippets I do catch match what I know so far. Okeer is still in the labs, Jedore hired him to make a krogan army, they all come out insane, she can't control them, it's guarded enough to keep airships from doing too much damage, blah blah blah, , cock puncher.
Right. I'm in good hands as Shepard talks. But I can't help but think about her going Renegade on me earlier in the conversation. This is... disturbing. And I don't like it one bit.
Still, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she won't do anything as reckless for a little bit. Ah, well.
I know the conversation is over as he limps away. Jack makes some off-handed comment about the scare, and after a brief amount of time Shepard takes out her assault rifle.
I pull out mine too, and prepare myself for the firefight that's undoubtedly ahead of us.
Phew, that was a lot of mercenaries. Some of them were firing rocket launchers at us... Others were just damn crazy. I really couldn't understand the freaking deaths here... Here is Jedore screaming over loudspeaker about how they need to move. What the hell is Jedore's motivation, anyway? Does she want to take over the suns from Vido? Does she want to take over the galaxy? What?
Either way, it makes it a bit hard to understand why the hell she hired Okeer to make all these tank-bred krogan.
One of which we're standing in front of right now. It's fully armored, and I can see its yellow... erm... eyes looking at us. We approach, and Garrus' first action is to keep his sniper rifle trained on us. I can understand his trepidation... But he's not that bad. Seriously, didn't you see him firing off shots at all those mercs, earlier? He's friendly! Trust me on that much, Garrus.
The krogan simply tilts its head to the side. As soon as we see this, Shepard can see he means no harm, so she lifts her hand up. Garrus obediently de-aims the sniper rifle from the krogan in question. As he does, the krogan comes forward, standing right up to Shepard.
"You... are different," it begins. "You don't smell like this world. Seven night cycles, and I have only felt the need to kill. But you... Something makes me speak."
"Seven night cycles?" asks Garrus, one of his mandibles moving in curiosity.
I set my hands on my hips. "Okay, and now I get to socialize with fully-grown baby krogan," I comment. "This is gonna be fun."
"He must breed them full size and ready to kill," replies Shepard. "Not much better than regular mercs if you ask me."
"Bred... to kill..." says the krogan. "No. I kill because my blood and bone tell me to. But it's not why I was flushed from glass mother. Survival is what I hear in my head against the enemy that threatens all my kind, but I failed, even before waking. That is what the voice in the water said. That is why I wait here."
Shepard shifts slightly where she stands. All right, here come the questions. "You were made for a mercenary company," she says. "Do you remember Jedore?"
The krogan looks at us. "I know that name," he says. "It causes anger, but also laughter." Oh, she sounds more like Tommy Wiseau with each passing second. "It is not a name that will be sung when we march. I don't know what it means, but I have heard it many times."
Shepard gestures to him with her hand. "How can you speak if you're only a week old?" she asks.
"There was a scratching sound in my head," he replies. "It became the voice. It taught things I would need. Walking, talking, hitting, shooting. Then the voice said I was not perfect. And the teaching stopped. And now I am here."
"Taught everything they need in tank," says Mordin. "Interesting."
"The question is, why?" I ask. "If Okeer was looking for the perfect krogan... What does that mean?"
"Maybe a krogan that can kick a lot of ass without breaking a sweat?" asks Jack.
I raise one of my eyebrows at this. "Possibly," I reply. "But why breed them in a lab?"
"Something to ask Okeer," notes the salarian scientist. "Possibilities... interesting."
"Indeed," notes Shepard. "Why were you not deemed perfect?"
"I don't know," replies the krogan. "It was decided before I left tank mother. I was not perfect."
"If mercenary was correct, krogan prone to mental instability," says Mordin.
"Eh, I doubt that's the only thing at play here..." I comment, rubbing my chin in thought.
The krogan is not phased by this. "I do not know of that," he replies. "But I know am not perfect."
Shepard seems satisfied for now, and looks to the krogan. "Can you show us to the labs?"
The krogan nods simply at this. He walks on, and slowly we follow. We see a piece of metal there that seems out of place with everything else, and the krogan approaches it. His hands come around it, and with a grunt he hefts it. The piece of metal falls to the side with a crash, and then we see a rather small pathway lay out before us. Shepard approaches, the rest of us following behind closely. Yes, there's a pretty crazy firefight in here...
"You fleshy things are slow when big things are in your way," says the lab-bred krogan.
Shepard turns to him. "You could have run, or tried to fight your way through the labs. Why stay here?" she asks.
"I am waiting," he says. "The voice told me. If they come, I will fight."
I raise my eyebrow at this. "But you could die out here," I point out.
"I have accepted that," replies the krogan. "An imperfect krogan doesn't have a purpose, but it is the way things are."
I look over to it, and suddenly pity washes over me. Here's a krogan that's been tank-bred for one purpose. But it fails even at that purpose, just because one voice says so. And now, he's just left there, either until he dies a thousand years from now or the Blue Suns get him. I look over to him as Shepard draws her gun. Jack and Mordin file in next, but I hang around, with Garrus giving me a strange look.
Finally, I move slowly over to the krogan, Garrus giving me a surprised look as I edge closer to the krogan. I slowly lay my hand on its arm, blinking as I come closer. The krogan doesn't move at the contact, which is good. I... How could anyone do this to their experiments? I don't understand this at all. It's... it's unfair.
My fingers then touch the krogan's arm, and my hand pulls away. I draw a straight line down, biting my lower lip. My hand comes up, and I draw another line horizontally. Wow... It feels so damn wierd to be doing this. My hand pulls away as I look to the krogan. I can't read the expression behind the helmet, but I can tell that it's confused by what I'm doing.
"Uh..." I say. "Sign of the cross. It's a human gesture. For good luck. And for hope."
His posture softens, and I can sense something in there. "I have never..." he says. "I do not understand what hope is. But... I feel... strange. I cannot put a word to this emotion. It is a good emotion, though. I shall call it 'hope', then. Thank you."
I smile sadly at him. He regards it with a shift in tone, and as I look to him I pat his shoulder. "You take care of yourself, all right?" I ask.
He simply nods in reply. I then hear some gunshots fly out from the area, and I hear mercs scream in pain. I look over to Garrus, and then I draw my pistol as he draws his sniper rifle. We both leave the krogan standing there, and descend into the passage after Jack and Mordin. As we move along, I suddenly see that there's a krogan rushing straight for us. Oh, great, the other lab-bred krogan are meanies. Great going.
Garrus looks over to me as we rush behind cover, Shepard and Mordin taking down the Blue Suns mercs as they rush our position. When they get behind cover, they see a krogan rushing towards us. Neither of us speaks until we get behind cover, and then he taps me on the shoulder. As he gestures out to where we just exited from, I can already sense what he wants to talk about.
"I guess I shouldn't have been surprised," he says. "But still, I can't help but wonder. Was that really for good luck?"
"Well, technically, it's a blessing," I reply. "Religious symbols tend to double for a lot of things."
"Religious blessings... coming from an atheist?" he asks.
I nod. "Sure," I reply, shrugging. "Why?"
"It means you gave him false hope," replies Garrus.
I look over to the turian as we both take cover, the firefight starting ahead of us. "It's still hope," I reply. "He's milling about there with no purpose just because one person said so. I don't think anyone deserves that fate, Garrus. He's sentient; he could use a positive emotion somewhere after what happened to him..."
The turian looks over at me as I pop out of cover to take a few pistol shots at a krogan that approaches. I see Jack snatch it up with biotics, and then duck down behind cover.
"I suppose you're right," says the turian. "Once again, you prove to be a good friend of krogan everywhere."
"All in a day's work," I reply with a smirk as I reload.
Garrus nods his agreement before popping out of cover and lining up his sniper rifle. I hear the harsh report of the sniper rifle go off, and then my mind goes entirely into the battle.
The turian's sniper shot takes down the krogan's shields as it kind of just floats in the air. Peering out with my assault rifle, I pepper the krogan with bullets. It goes down unceremoniously, and then it plops to the ground. But it still stands up. Fortunately, Shepard's reloaded, and so a couple of pistol shots to the face take the krogan completely out of commission.
We pick ourselves up, and then we all advance. I come forward in the group just a little bit, with Garrus remaining just the slightest bit behind. We're on a precarious pathway now, and it looks like a long way down if we get in there. Hm... Reminds me of that one part from that obscure Lord of the Rings RPG that was released for Gamecube... I think it was Minas Tirith? I forget. Anyway, I'm reminded of how lost I got in those corridors trying to find the way to the end point. It was fun controlling Gandalf in a party with the Balrog, although I really hated it because the Balrog kept off killing everyone except Gandalf. I forgot the name of the RPG... It didn't feature the canon characters all that much, though... What was it called?
Ah, it's not important. For then I see a krogan coming out at us. It fires its shotgun once, and I see Shepard's shields flicker. There's a crate nearby, but I roll into cover quickly as the shotgun is fired. I peer back out and fire my assault rifle into the krogan, its shields depleting somewhat. I see another tank-bred krogan rush our position out of the corner of my eye.
It's not important. I duck back down and reload, the heat sink popping out unceremoniously. I hear the krogan yell out in surprise, and when I come out of cover, I see the first krogan floating around a miniature black hole. Ah, thanks Jack. Or was it Shepard?
I don't really care, because there's another one rushing right at us. Mordin and Garrus both take aim at the floating krogan, and I look over to the one rushing us. I pepper it with assault rifle fire, and I smile as its shields go down. Jack catches on, and then she tosses a biotic warp into play. The warp tears at him, and then I see Shepard fire a few pistol shots into the krogan.
It stumbles backwards, and then I reconcentrate my fire on the floating krogan. With a final grunt, I see it hang lifelessly around, and then the black hole finally expires. We look ahead of us, and then we advance slowly. We see another krogan rush at us as we hold our weapons level, and there's another one close behind it.
Shepard is quick to act. She throws one of those black hole things out at the krogan, and it takes to the floor. As one krogan rushes it, it finds itself suddenly floating around in a strange gravity. The other one seems to learn, and instead of rushing in fires its shotgun at us. My shields take a very slight hit, and as I quickly fall into cover I see Jack throw a singularity at it. The krogan is sent stumbling back, and I come out and move to shoot at the floating krogan when I see it float over the chasm. Oh. Well... I just have to hope it'll stay there and we'll be good.
I accordingly redirect my fire at the other krogan. Mordin and Shepard all get the same idea, and as Jack pumps her shotgun and shoots the floating krogan the three of us assault it with fire. Shepard's pistol, Mordin's submachine gun, and my assault rifle all bore into its shields, and when those fail they bore into the krogan itself. The krogan falls after a few shots from Mordin cause it to fall over, and at that time, the black hole's grip on the floating krogan greatly weakens. It falls into the chasm below unceremoniously as it screams at us, its arms flailing around.
We don't get much of a break before another one comes right for us. However, Garrus is quick, and we see a bullet deflect off of the krogan's shields. This gives Jack enough time to pump her shotgun once again and fire it at the krogan, taking down its shields completely. I'm behind cover, reloading as quickly as I can. Mordin is already firing bullets into the krogan, however, and Shepard decides enough is enough. As I pop out of cover, I see her rush forward, blue biotic energy flashing out as she then punches the krogan. It stumbles back, orange blood spilling from its nose as Shepard quickly backpedals.
She's able to unload one pistol round, and then the krogan goes down.
I blink, looking over at the krogan. There are no more of the bloody things rushing our position, so I take it this is our opportunity to move our asses.
And we do so, passing the dead bodies of quite a few mercs as we do so. I hear something about heavies on the radio, and know that we're in for a bit of trouble soon. I mean, they're going to start firing rockets at us! It might as well be Garrus' recruitment mission all over again!
We come to a door, and as Shepard hacks it, I look to my assault rifle. Eh, we'll be very close to some mercs soon... I whip out my shotgun, cocking it briefly as I look over there.
"More dakka?" asks Jack.
I smirk, glancing over to her. "You bet."
I lick my lips as the door opens after Shepard's successful hack attempt. We ascend up a flight of stairs, and then Shepard sees a weapon laying down there. She quickly scans it with her omni-tool, and then walks over to the doorway. The lock is flashing green, so she brings up the omni-tool. The door opens unceremoniously, and we see a firefight going on.
Well, that was a short break. There are mercs firing into an area below, and there's one right there. There's a big chasm, with one merc here and all the rest across the chasm.
Right. More dakka, indeed. I bring up my shotgun and shoot the guy in the back. His shields go down, and then he turns to us with a startled expression on his face. Jack is right behind me, though, and so she blasts his face in with the shotgun, and he falls over dead. I quickly come up behind cover as Garrus, Mordin, and Shepard all enter, and then I press my back up against it.
I hear a whoosh go right by me, and suddenly, I see a rocket launcher. I peer back around cover, seeing another rocket fly past me as the first one impacts against the wall. Well... It's too far away for the shotgun to be of any use, so let's fix that.
I quickly change to my assault rifle as I see yet another rocket whistle above me. I peer out over cover, and see one merc fall. I glance over to Garrus, who had scoped and dropped the merc in question, and then nod as I come out of cover.
Okay... Ah, there's one of the heavies. She's aiming a rocket... Now! I let loose some assault rifle fire at the heavy. I miss the rocket, but I manage to take some of her shields down. I look over to the rocket, and then I fall flat on my back just as the rocket is about to make contact with my shields. I roll back into cover and come back up, resuming firing on the heavy. I see another one fly up in the air, and as Mordin fires on that one the heavy I was shooting at sees its shields drop. Shepard takes this opportunity to fire at it with her pistol, and then the merc falls after a few shots.
I come back down under cover and reload. Man, I wish there was some kind of foot pedal here. Oh, well. I glance over to see Mordin is still taking down the floating heavy, and as I see Jack she comes out of cover and launches a singularity somewhere to the other side. I come up and see a merc fly to the side from the force of the singularity. Deciding to concentrate on this, I pepper it with machine gun fire. I feel pretty satisfied when his shields drop and I get him with bullets across the chest, with one lodging itself in the merc's neck.
I look up and see another merc rushing on the other side that Mordin's already weakening with submachinegun fire. With a sniper shot from Garrus, the merc's shields go down, and I think quickly. I pepper the merc in question with some more assault rifle fire, and then he goes down just like the rest. Jack's already lifted another merc by this time, but when the biotics wear off he's sent falling into the chasm below.
Right, time to move on.
We file out behind Shepard, coming out to an area with a bunch of chest-high walls. Yep, there shall be no firefight here!
And of course, my hunch proves correct, as then my shields take some hits from some mercs that are then rushing into the room. I duck down behind cover, Mordin rolling in next to me. You know, for an old motherfucker, he sure is agile. I'll give him that, especially when he starts gunning down a merc with his submachine gun. I come up, switching my assault rifle for a shotgun and seeing a merc rushing right towards us. Idiot. Mordin concentrates his fire on that, and then when his shields go down I come up and shoot him in the chest with the shotgun. The force of the blast is enough to send him back to kill him, but my shields have been torn down and now it's just normal health.
Right. I duck back behind cover, waiting for my shields to regenerate. I see a rocket suddenly fly right by me, impacting on Mordin's shields. The proffessor quickly ducks behind cover, and I take the time to replace the heat sink on my shotgun. I glance over to Mordin, and as the indicator shows that my shields are back up I nod to him. I come back out of cover, only to see another rocket heading straight towards me.
Thinking quickly, I fall backwards, falling on my back as the rocket passes overhead. It impacts on a wall behind me, and then I look to the professor. I can tell he's disapproving, but he simply shakes his head as his shields come back online. I quickly stand up, the shotgun still in my hand as I bring it up. There's a merc rushing Shepard and Jack's position, and to my great relief I see that Jack has thrown the heavy up in the air. I fire at the merc rushing us as Shepard and Garrus finish the floating heavy. With my shotgun blast, his shields go down, and then Mordin takes it down with some submachine gun fire.
We both nod to each other, seeing the lack of mercs coming in. At approximately the same time we both come out of cover as Garrus kills the floating heavy with a precise sniper rifle shot. Mordin and I both come across pair of pillars at the L-shape that leads out of the room. I take position at the closer one while Mordin moves to the further one, the fast-talking salarian running as fast as he talks. It doesn't mean that some fire doesn't pepper his shields, however, and then Jack takes a place close to where I am. Shepard and Garrus both reposition themselves quickly, and then I see the mercs come at us.
Without wasting any time, I cock my shotgun and peer out. Okay, there's one merc... there! I fire the shotgun at it, the merc's shields dying out with a sputter as Shepard then fires her pistol several times at it. I don't care to look at the merc's demise as I cock my shotgun and fire it at another merc that's rushing Mordin's side of the room. Its shields go down, and the salarian doctor finishes it.
Jack comes up from behind me, and I lean against the wall as she then sends out biotic energy. The lift throws one of the mercs up in the air, and then I wait for her to fall back behind cover before going back out. I see another merc come at us, and I shoot at it. Its shields have already failed thanks to Garrus, so it only takes one shotgun blast to take the motherfucker down. He stumbles forward, and then I see the floating merc fall down onto the ground as Shepard shoots at it.
With this, I suddenly see Jack rush out of cover, her fist glowing blue. She rushes forward, letting out a battle cry as she jumps up. When she jumps, we see her fly back down to the ground, a huge biotic shockwave impacting the ground and sending all the remaining mercs storming our position flying away. Some fall into the chasm below, and some fall right in front of us.
Taking the cue, I fire my shotgun one last time into one of the mercs, blowing its head and... ew, brainstuffs. Ew, just ew. Shepard and Mordin both take cues and shoot most of the rest of the mercs down. Garrus takes up his sniper rifle as Jack then seems to throw some biotic energy at mercs that are not in our view. He snipes one merc that was thrown away as I come out of cover and rush the area Jack is at. Shepard and Mordin do the same as Garrus snipes another merc.
And seeing one crawl away, I shoot at it before we get into a successive hail of gunfire.
Well, looks like cutscene power to the max doesn't apply here. Good thing, too; we could really use her unleashing hell on these mercs, even if she's wearing nothing but straps on her tits. Seriously, what's with the choice of attire? I don't know, and I won't ask.
Either way, it helps clear the coming area of mercs as Garrus comes around. Shepard throws a quick biotic black hole into the area, suspending quite a few people. Garrus comes in quickly, and doesn't even care to set up his sniper rifle before he starts firing. I hear mercs moaning in pain as they all get shot down by Garrus, and then I see Jack throw in a few singularities for good measure. After that... well, we pretty much annihilated them all. It's a rather quick firefight, but I know it's not over. We still have a few mercs to work our way through, and then it's time to give Okeer a piece of my mind.
So I come out of cover and follow Shepard as we get closer to Okeer's lab. We come to the lab's defenses, and then we're greeted with gunfire from a whole crapton more mercs.
Well, that sure was an intense firefight. If my mom knew what I was getting myself into, I'd be afraid of what she'd be doing in the bathroom. Either way... fun times abound with that. It was full of Jack throwing biotic stuffs, but what can you do when cutscene power doesn't apply to real life? You have a ball, that's what!
Well... that was before we ran into the random asari scientist. Apparently she was on Virmire for some reason. I dunno. I just didn't expect to see a well-dressed asari scientist in a facility run by Blue Suns. There's a first time for everything I guess. She ran the hell out of there, knowing how we work. Given the fate of Virmire, I can't say I blame her.
And after all that, here we are. We see a gigantic tank in there. Why, hello there Grunt. I think I know who's a cute widdle baby krogan! Shepard comes around first, and then we see the hulking figure of a krogan presiding over some kind of terminal. I'm standing just behind Shepard, with Mordin and Jack the same distance from her as me. Garrus looks over at the tank, and the krogan mutters something quiet. I come forward, my body very close to the tank as finally the scientist krogan turns his head.
"It's about time," he says impatiently. "The batteries on these tanks will not wait while you play with these idiotic mercs."
Well, he sure is quite gruff. Oh well. Shepard holds her hands on her hips as she speaks. "I take it you're Okeer," she says. "You don't seem particularly caged or grateful that I'm here."
The krogan looks at his monitor for a brief second. "You may claim to be here to help, but a formerly deceased Shepard is not a sign of gentle change," he says, turning to face us mid-sentence. He turns fully around as soon as he finishes this. Okay, yeah, he's a bit stimpy for a krogan. Brown face-plate, yellow eyes (that are just a little sickly in real life, I might add), yellowing armor. He just looks old more than anything else. Like a really old, pathetic man. Much less manly than Wrex, and he's supposed to be older! Really, is there anything I should like about this son of a bitch, other than the fact that he created Grunt?
A response is just on the tip of my tongue, but Shepard takes the words right out of my mouth. "If this is about my actions on Virmire, I did what I had to," she replies. "I'm sure you're eager to retell the story."
Okeer slowly advances, throwing his arms out. "Such a tale," he says. "Saren, the Spectre traitor, threatens the return of the krogan horde by curing the genophage, undoing the gentle genocide of the turians and salarians." He turns right back around, heading back to the terminal and facing us again just before he gets there. "But, before Saren can deliver his endless troops, in rides Shepard, securing victory through nuclear vial. I like that part. It has weight..."
I blink, feeling a small shiver crawl down my spine. I close my eyes, biting on my lower lip as Shepard continues the conversation. "I didn't have a lot of room for finesse," she replies. "If there were any other option, I would've considered it."
"But I approve." The krogan gestures with his arms. "Saren's big hoarde were not true krogan. They were the mistakes of an outsider, one that these mercenaries have also made." He walks over to the window, and for the first time I see the numerous tanks that are there. Wow... There's a whole city-load of these things! "I gave their leader my rejects for her army. But she grows impatient. It's time for you to take me out of here."
Right. I look to the rest of the group, and seeing that nobody else is willing to speak, I cross my arms. "Makes it easier on us, then," I reply. "'Cause we're here about the Collectors."
The scientist krogan turns back to us, a strange kind of glint in his eye. "I see..." he says. "Yes... Collector attacks have increased. A human concern. My requests were focused elsewhere."
"Like what?" I ask, the words flying out of my mouth before I can contain myself. "Making a perfect krogan?"
Before anyone can reply, the lone breathing krogan in the room looks to the tank. "You could say that," he replies. He edges closer to the tank, looking upon it with glee. Okay... you shall drip rubies, you'll soon drip precious rubies much? Seriously, if this guy were any more obsessed with his goals I'd hand him a razor and a scheming Angela Lansbury and tell him to go nuts. "I acquired the knowledge to create one pure soldier. With that, I will inflict upon the genophage the greatest insult an enemy can suffer: to be ignored."
I shift where I stand as my glance looks to Grunt. My gaze hardens as it turns to Okeer, but before I can say anything...
"There sure were a lot of rejects," says Garrus from behind me.
"Yeah, what the fuck was up with that?" asks Jack in turn. "You're just going to leave them out there to get their faces shot off?"
I would question her in any other circumstance. Given what happened on Pragia, though... "I fail no one," he replies simply. "My rejects are exactly what Jedore asked for. She simply lacks the ability to command. They are strong, healthy, and useless to me. I look for perfection. If a few thousand are rejected, so be it. We will be renewed."
I frown at this. "I dunno, it's kind of hard to have any leadership over krogan that are undergoing identity crises, you know?" I ask. "Either way, you're one manipulative son of a bitch."
"Experiments quite unethical," adds Mordin. "Also possibly sadistic for failures."
"That is your opinion," states the warlord. "But I will restore the krogan. My soldier will not provoke a nuclear response, as a cure or a horde would. My legacy is perfection, with each perfect krogan reaching higher by standing on our dead." Yeesh, I wouldn't wanna be around Grunt when he's an adolescent, then... "They will exceed, but not forget."
"Right..." I reply, shaking my head. "Pretty it up however you want. I'm still drawing a gigantic black spot on your face if I ever have to say anything about you."
"Do as you wish," says Okeer with a dismissive arm gesture. "My work is for the krogan, not for you."
With this, the subject is dropped. The silence threatens a headbutt, and given that I got one from Wrex, I'm afraid of getting that spot hit. Yeah, that was definitely a bad idea... Shepard shifts around, looking at the krogan warlord.
"So you don't want a horde, and you don't want to cure the genophage," replies the commander. "I see..." She pauses, pondering what to say next. "What about the Collectors?"
"They are strange," admits Okeer. "I gave them a few krogan in exchange for some tech." Oh, fun, you just admitted to being a little like whoever worked on that facility on Virmire. "The tech was consumed in the prototype, however. I cannot tell you more as much as I would like to."
Shepard tilts her head to the side, crossing her arms as she eyes the krogan. "Your methods are extreme, but you know how to deconstruct a threat," she says. "Will you help us?"
Okeer looks out the window as he replies. "Perhaps I can strike a deal to secure passage," he says. "But my prototype is not negotiable. It is the key to my legacy." My eyes look over to Grunt as he lays suspended in the tank. From this position... he looks innocent. Almost too innocent, really. And to think, this guy will go running around the battlefield with a shotgun in the near future shouting "I AM KROGAN" like he's King fucking Leonidas. Oh, well. I guess I'll enjoy his innocent phase while I can. It'll fade out soon enough, unfortunately...
Jedore's voice suddenly surprises us as it comes on over loudspeakers. "Attention, I have traced the krogan release," says Jedore. "Okeer, of course. I'm calling a blank slate on this project. Gas the commandos and start from scratch with Okeer's data. Flush the tanks!"
We all gather at the window as we see Jedore. I look down there, watching the woman move around. "Okay, scratch that," I say. "I'm drawing the black spot on her. I mean, why the fuck does she even want these armies?"
Before Okeer can reply, a sharp ping throws us all off. We look behind us, and suddenly notice that the vents in the room are starting to leak some kind of gas in here. I jolt where I stand as the streams of air start to fly up. Oh, shit... This is not good. This is not good at all... The jet streams are released all around the room, and then, perhaps most startling, I see a valve open just above the tank. Oh, dear, that's not good.
Okeer turns to the tank that Grunt is in. "She's that weak willed," he says, disdain apparent in his voice. Yep, that she is. "She'll kill my damn legacy with a valve. Shepard, you want information on the Collectors. Stop them. She'll try to access contaminants in the storage bay!"
"Sorry doctor," says Shepard. "It appears your position has just weakened."
I glance over to Shepard in surprise. But this is all too brief before Okeer looks at us with his arms crossed. "I understand, but you'll have nothing if she poisons us all," he says. "Jedore will be with the rejected tanks. Kill her. I will... stay, and do what must be done."
I look to Jack, who smiles wickedly as she grabs out her shotgun. I raise my eyebrows as I pull out my assault rifle. Garrus does the same with his sniper rifle, and Shepard and Mordin both draw weapons. We nod to each other, and then I tilt my head to the window.
"Right, you heard the man," I say. "To the Bat-Cave!"
Garrus lets out a hefty groan of disapproval as Shepard shakes her head. Mordin doesn't comment, and Jack just looks at us confusedly. We simply file out of there, leaving the lab where Okeer is standing, frantically typing away at the terminal by his tank. We move around, and before long we come across a door.
When it opens, we're peering out into the area where the tanks are simply standing there. Jedore has pulled out a rocket launcher by the time we're down there, and we also see an YMIR mech. Yay, I get to fight one of those fuckers! As we enter, we also see a few of the tanks open, and then there are krogan stepping out unceremoniously. All of these things look to us, and I grab my assault rifle. My grip is firm on it as we stand at the door, watching them eye us as we begin to radiate outward throughout the room. I'm close to Garrus and Mordin, while Shepard and Jack seem to go in another direction. It just sort of happens, and we stare everything down.
All right... The stage is set, the actors are in place...
Commence firefight!
Jedore fires the first shot at us, the rocket flying straight for me. I jump out of the way just in time, the rocket impacting harmlessly (somehow) against the wall. If I'm supposed to be thrown back... Then what the hell is this? I don't know, and I don't have time to think about it. I see Jack lift one of the krogan up biotically, with Shepard throwing in a miniature black hole. All the krogan are sent flying around, leaving them prime for Jack's shotgun. I see Garrus take this time to snipe them too, and Mordin and Shepard contribute their own firepower.
I raise my assault rifle at Jedore, who I see is preparing another rocket while tapping buttons on a console. Oh, yeah, we kill her, the krogan stop spawning. Unless she auto-runs the damn things to open by themselves in real life...
I look back down to see more krogan rush out of the tanks. It's a group of five this time. By this time, however, Mordin is only then finishing the krogan off, with Shepard having taken two of the others down with her weapon. I look to the YMIR mech that's approaching them, seeing it slowly approach as the krogan peer at Shepard's group from behind the mech.
Yay, I get to fight a mech, and I start with the big guys rather than the small guys. I turn my assault rifle and pepper its shields with fire. I need to weaken it enough that Shepard, Mordin, and Jack can kill it. Garrus lifts his rifle, setting his sites on Jedore as she works at a console to release more krogan. He steadies his aim, but just before he can pull the trigger Jedore notices this. She ducks behind the console just as Garrus pulls the trigger, the bullet flying to the side. I hear him grumble something before he moves on down another area to find a better vantabe point.
Right, he'll take care of the sniper. I better provide cover fire for Shepard and her group.
The YMIR mech approaches them, and this time I see Shepard and Mordin firing at the thing relentlessly. Jack is concentrating on the steady stream of krogan that is being released. By now, there are a good fifteen krogan in the area. I reload quickly and fire once more at the YMIR mech, and with a satisfying sound, the mech's shields drop.
And god damn it, Jack is good at catching cues. With a hand signal from Shepard, the small biotic woman lights up with an ethereal blue energy, and she rushes up to the mech. As she lets out a yell, she jumps in mid-air, her fist charging with energy. When she lands on the mech, she unleases a ludicrously powerful punch that's enough to send the things' head flying right through the shields of some of the krogan. Another biotically charged punch puts an end to the mech, and it seems to go in a huge shower of sparks as Jack looks to the rest of the krogan.
Her hands still glowing blue, she lifts one of the krogan up, with Shepard throwing in another small black hole. I see another group of three krogan enter, and then Jack seems to notice this as she prepares as biotic shockwave. Jeez... She's surrounded by krogan, they're coming up really fast... And I'm sitting here doing nothing!
Right. Time to change that.
I aim my assault rifle at the krogan lifted by jack, and fire away into the krogan's body. It's shields go down rather quickly, but fortunately Mordin catches on fast and finishes the krogan with a few submachine gun rounds to the face. I quickly divert my attention to krogan that were unfortunate enough to get caught up in Shepard's biotic black hole, picking one out of the crowd and firing at that. Shepard also fires at it quickly, and before long its shields are down. Some assault rifle fire from my end puts it down, and then I concentrate elsewhere.
Well... that is, not before Jack throws out a biotic shockwave. It sends krogan flying everywhere; some fly up in the air, where Mordin unloads into their already almost obliterated shields, some crash into already-open tanks, some get sent flying at an angle away from Shepard and Mordin...
And one would likely have crushed me if not for the fact that I had rolled out of the way in time. It creates a dent in the wall before slumping down, its shields pretty much destroyed. I blink at it before I turn my attention to the rest of the room.
I promptly see a rocket flying straight for my person. Oh, crap, Jedore! I do what instinct implies and jump out of the way of the rocket, the thing impacting. But I also hear a groan, and as I lay there in surprise I look back to the tank-bred krogan. And when I do, I promptly find that part of his face has been blown off, and... well, he's sort of sitting there, still trying to hold his shotgun. I quickly bring up my assault rifle and end it for him with a few rounds to the face. He slumps to the ground, and I breathe in and out before turning my attention back to Jedore.
Oh, God damn it, Garrus, where are you?
When I look around the room trying to find the turian, it's only then that I become aware of how scattered the krogan are. They're only now getting up, but already I see Shepard and Mordin killing some of the krogan. Jack has pumped her shotgun, and is now firing almost too gleefully into whatever krogan are unlucky enough to cross her path. I see another two tanks open, the krogan from within looking at Jack wildly...
Shit! I aim my assault rifle at one of the krogan that just came out, and pressing my advantage I open fire. The things shields go down, but at this distance I can't get everything I need. I think it was only partly down when I hear the harsh report of a sniper rifle crack overhead.
I look over to Jedore then, and I can clearly see that her shields have failed her. She looks to the source of the sniper shots wildly, her expression of professionalism long having melted down. She doesn't get to find out who did it, though, as then another shot is fired, and I see her collapse to the ground. Okay, thanks Garrus! That'll stem the krogan release.
With this, I take a stronger hold on my assault rifle and rush over to Jack. Shepard and Mordin are all taking care of some other krogan, so I figure Jack can use the help. I switch out my assault rifle for my shotgun as I approach, and then I see her lift one of the krogan off the ground... from where she was apparently knocked. I see the other krogan charging at her, cocking his shotgun.
Oh, no, we can't have that! With a blast of my own shotgun, the krogan's shields drop. I cock it again before firing at the krogan, and this time I manage to blow its face off. Not taking any chances, I cock the shotgun again, taking down the krogan quickly.
Jack by this point has gotten back up, and by now Shepard and Mordin are firing at the biotically lifted krogan with their guns, and as his shields fail he falls to the floor. Right, time to put an end to this! I cock my shotgun again, and as Jack gets one last blast in, he impacts the ground. One last shotgun blast from me puts the final krogan out of comission.
After this battle, I see Garrus rush towards us, his sniper rifle having been stored on his back. I look to Mordin and Jack with a nod, a small smile settling on itself. Jack finally has a chance to relax her biotic energy, and she turns her head on her neck slowly. Garrus eventually joins up with us and gives us a nod. I bite back the urge to make some kind of comment at his expense about Jedore. After all, I'm sure he did his best, so I can't really fault him for that.
As we stand there, Shepard suddenly gets some kind of comm transmission. She nods to us, gesturing back to the lab. Oh, dear... Looks like EDI just gave us the warning about poison gas. Shepard stores her gun away and we're all high-tailing it to the labs. I store my shotgun away, knowing that we're done with firefights for this mission.
As we move, I can't help but think about Jedore. What the hell did she want with her army? Why the hell did she think she could manage an army of krogan, anyhow? I don't understand. Was she trying to take over the Blue Suns? The world? The Alliance? The galaxy? What?
Either way, the response is probably going to stay the same given these power-hungry types of villains:
Of course!
I hear some computerized voice mention something about emergency vents kicking in, but by that time, we're pretty close to the labs. So we move quickly...
And we see Okeer has collapsed over by the tank and the terminal. Wow, he didn't move an inch from where he last was. That says something about him. I'm not sure what it says, but it still says something about his obsession. Jeez. There was a barber and his tank, indeed...
There's a recording on the terminal that plays. As we get closer, we see that it's playing a video feed of Okeer's last moments. Oh, I guess he had enough time to do that in real life, too. "Shepard," it says. "If I knew what the collectors want, I would tell you. Everything is in my prototype. My legacy is pure. This... one soldier..." Here, he stumbles away from the monitor, and we can already see him in his deaht throes. "This... Grunt... Perfect..." He sinks out of range of the camera, and then a thud is heard on the playback.
We look at this for a few seconds, and then I come around to look at the tank holding Grunt. Garrus, Jack, and Mordin all come around as Shepard looks over to the tank's side.
"I can't believe Okeer just wasted his life to save one krogan," says Garrus.
"Seemingly obsessed with one simple krogan," says Mordin. "Implications are disturbing."
I look at the tank and cross my arms. "So, Shepard, now that Okeer's joined the crowd invisible, are you planning on opening this thing?"
"I say crack it open," comments Jack. "See what the pure krogan's got."
"Inadviseable," says Mordin. "No one knows what perfect krognan capable of. Also don't know mental state. Could be quite dangerous."
Shepard looks to all of us. "We'll just have to see what happens then," she says, crossing her arms. "I'm taking the tank onto the Normandy."
Her hand shoots up, and then she radios back the Normandy. "Shepard to Normandy," she begins. "Okeer's a no go. But we have a package that needs retrieval. A big one."
She cuts the comm link after this, and then I smirk and shake my head. "Oh, goody," I reply, bringing my arms up playfully. "We're bringing a baby krogan onto the ship. One that'll be violent, possibly manic-depressive, and given to bouts of insanty if he's anything like the rejects."
"Indeed," says Garrus. "I'm not so sure about this, Shepard."
The woman shrugs to us. "Well, we'll just have to live with it," she says. "I'm not leaving without something of Okeer's."
"True enough," I say, bringing my hand up to the tank. "But still... Don't you guys think he's so adorable?"
At this, everyone looks at me with their eyes bulging. Even Jack turns her head, her expression showing surprise. "What the fuck are you talking about, kid?" she asks.
"I mean, look at 'im!" I reply, gesturing to the tank. "It's a baby krogan! Don't you think it'll be cute?"
"Erm... Never actually seen krogan baby, have you?" asks Mordin as he points a finger clinically. "Baby krogan as violent as parents. Get into fights constantly. Could be dangerous to have full size baby krogan on ship."
I pout at this, crossing my arms and shaking my head. "Oh, chill doctor," I say, facing the krogan. "I still think it's a cute baby. A big one, but a cute one."
"Right, well, don't give him some pussy nickname," comments Jack. "That's the last thing he'd want, knowing these fuckers."
I blink, looking at the tank-bred krogan as he lays suspended in there. "I'll keep it in mind," I reply, rubbing my hand over the glass of the tank.
We wait in silence for the rest of the time, waiting for something to come pick us and the package up. Ah, Grunt, I think we're going to have some good times, you and me. We'll just see what happens when you grow up and become a real krogan and we'll all be in good hands.
Oh, and you better be up for killing Thresher Maws. Because if you're not, I'm... Uh... I'm going to do something! And it ain't gonna be pretty! Right?