Authors note: This chapter might feel a bit weird because of how I've written it. it's both preparation for far flung possibilities, and to help bridge a time jump.
On the upside, the chapter after this one will be the last pre-ME1 chapter, so we'll be getting to the real fun stuff soon!
Hope you like the chapter, and look forward to the next!
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Kala System, Quarian colonized alliance planet Atheesha, January 7th, 2145.
Rael Zorah walked down the halls of the Quarian Command Cntre with a smile on his face, though it could not be seen due to the tint of his mask. His people had a planet. His people were growing, advancing, rebuilding. And the best part was that while many older Quarians were having difficulty with the genetic modification work the Alliance was giving them, those who were younger were having great success with it! His own daughter, for the first time in her young life, had taken off her suit and played outside in a worlds clean air, and all she got was a small sniffle!
He had thought he would hate not trying to reclaim their home world, but just seeing his daughter so happy made it all worth it. The Alliance was making good on their promises, and while slightly slower than anticipated due to some unknown recessive genes that had begun popping up in the middle of the genetic work, it was still making good progress.
"Rael!"
Rael turned to see Han'Gerrel walking up to him with a wave. "Han, heading to the comms room as well?"
"It is almost time for our meeting, yes."
"I'll accompany you then," Han said with a smile as he held a hand out in front of him and was wiggling his fingers.
After a few moments Rael sighed. "What are you doing?"
"My son has a gift for magic it turns out. Though it seems I do not," he replied as he let his arm hang down. "I heard that your daughter has effectively gone suitless, yes?"
"Yes, she looked so happy and free. I think this is the best decision we have ever made!"
"I agree. Our people are finally being more than they were. Our engineers are revelling in unlocking Alliance technology, our citizens are growing and living for more than just the next day, and our children are having chances we never did. I am, however, worried about the fact that soon we will have to begin working far deeper with the rest of the Aliance, including military service."
"That was expected. And just think how much more effective our soldiers will be when they don't have to worry about suit punctures killing them."
"Yes, perhaps in the future our people will become respected again in council space."
"Those Bosh'tets are the reason we were slowly dying. The Alliance gave us a chance and is making good on it. They're even allowing us to continue with the pilgrimage as it has become part of our cultural identity."
"Yes, though it will probably be more a learning trip than one with the hopes of bringing technology back. The Alliance tech is so far ahead of council or mass effect technology its, what's the word? Comical?"
"Yes, that's the word. And yes, it is." Rael said as the pair came up to a door and walked in as soon as it opened.
The room inside was circular with a round, Alliance holocom table in the centre and five seats around it. Seated in three of the chair were the other members of the admiralty board. Daro'xen, Zaal'Koris, and Shala'Raan all looked up at them as they entered.
"It is about time the two of you arrived," Daro'xen stated impatiently as she tapped on her omnitool that glowed a faint blue color, due to the fact she had rebuilt it with Alliance tech and no Eezo. She was the most prominent user of Alliance tech of all of them, and little bits of her suit had clearly been modified with it.
"We are not late. What is the problem?" Rael asked as he and Han sat down.
"The problem is that we have numerous choices to make . . . and that the Alliance heads have sent us a message that they wish to converse." Shala replied calmly
"When?" Han asked nervously. It was honest as well. They had all met Yukari in person years ago, and that meeting still made them shiver. Someone with so much power was a terrifying thing, and the other two heads whom they met later was just as bad.
Kaguya Houraisen was highly intelligent, skilled, and worst of all, conniving. She was the head of research and science, and the way she spoke told them that she thought little of actual people's lives. She was supposedly immortal, and they had seen the vids that supposedly proved it, but it was still hard to handle.
Hackett had seemed like the most reasonable and sensible of them, and in most cases he was, taking things slow and methodically. Then the Skyllian blitz happened, and they witnessed his power as he organized a fleet larger than the whole council fleet in barely two days and had them on the enemy's doorstep less than a week later. Glassing moons and culling planets was insane, but it did the job that he promised it would, for the most part. Still, it was clear he was just as crazy as the two women he worked with.
"At some point today they wish for us to contact them, when we are ready." Shala answered calmly.
"When shall we call them then? After or before our other business?" Han asked.
"I say we do it now, hear what they want and see if it effects our other decisions," Daro suggested, sounding slightly impatient. She was always impatient when in meetings; she preferred to be in her lab, and made no attempt to hide the fact.
"I'm inclined to agree," Rale said with a nod. "Let us contact them and see what they require."
All of them nodded in agreement, and a second later Shala stood up and began tapping on the holocomm system. A few seconds later it flashed a bit, and the holograms of Yukari, Hackett and Kaguya appeared, all sitting.
"Good afternoon, Admirals. How are we today?" Yukari greeted with a small smile, fan in hand on her lap.
"We are fine, though it is the afternoon here," Zaal said simply.
"Well, that does tend to happen between planets," Kaguya said with a smile that quickly became a grin. "Straight to business, do you know why we wished to talk?"
"Officially, no. I however believe it has to do with the agreed to plans," Daro stated simply. "You wish for us to join further into the Alliance, instead of the vassal like situation we are in that allows us to rebuild on our own."
"Yes, and no," Hackett said seriously. "For now, the Quarians can still simply rebuild and integrate at a slower speed, but within the next year that will have to speed up. Right now all we require of you is an answer to a question."
"What is your opinion on the Krogan," Kaguya suddenly chirped, popping the question far faster than they could even think of what it would be.
None of the Quarians answered immediately, and simply looked at each other. Finally Shala stood up, and none of them stopped her. "If I may say so, that question really cannot be answered by us honestly."
"And why is that?" Hackett asked.
"We have had too little contact with them. For years the only contact we've had with them has been our young seeing them on pilgrimage, and those that they see are most often mercenaries or bounty hunters. Not the best image to see of a species. And just like us, council space has very set views of them, and it is hard for anyone in council space to see past that."
"I see, would you say then, that your willing to be open minded of them?" Kaguya asked next.
"Yes, I'd like to think so." Zaal, stated as he tilted his head slightly. "is this about the Alliances cultural work with them? I've heard it has only been moderately successful."
"It has both been better than hoped in some places and worse than expected in others," Kaguya said with a shrug before smiling. "Exactly as expected really. We ask because in the next few years, possibly a decade, the Krogan will likely be joining the Alliance as well. Therefore your peoples will have to get along."
"There's no need to run them in circles, Kaguya. Just tell them the real reason!" Hackett nearly growled, making the Quarians look at his hologram in surprise.
Kaguya let out a sigh and glanced out the corner of her eyes at Hackett. "You take the fun out of everything."
"We're asking them a question for a project, and you were requested to ask them. Do not insult their time, or ours."
"Ugh, fine!" Kaguya groaned as she looked back at the Quarians. "There is a second reason. There are a few Alliance people of minor note that are planning to undertake a special, long term operation, and they want both the Krogan and the Quarians onboard, before they try to bring the council races into it. They want to meet you, two of you specifically, as well as a few select Krogan within the next year."
"What is this project?" Dar asked instantly, her curiosity piqued.
"They don't even have a name for it yet, but they insist it is scientifically important, and that the council races would have absolutely no control over it, and that all included would be equals."
"Who are the two of us they specifically wish to meet?" Han asked.
"Daro'zen and Shala'Raan," Yukari said with a smirk. "They wish to meet with the two of you and a few Krogan at the same time. There is no set date yet, but they want agreement from you before they push further."
"Who do you keep referencing? Do they not have names to call them by?" Daro asked in a nearly demanding and insulted tone.
Kagiya let out a groan and disappeared from the holocom, making Yukari giggle slightly. "Do ignore her, she despises the pair of them both. The ones who wish to speak to you are old Lunarian Royalty, Watatsuki no Toyohime, and Watatsuki no Yorihime."
"Lunarian Royalty are notoriously inflexible in regards to certain subjects. Those royals who were once in power and those who lost power, seldom get along well," Hackett said with a sigh. "More accurately, Kaguya and the two of them do not get along well due to thousand year old grudges. Lunarians hold them worse than youkai do."
"Quite. You have time to decide, but at least I would like to know if the two of you are interested?" Yukari asked with a smile.
Daro and Shala looked at each other, and then Shala let out a sigh of resignation. "At the least we are both curious as to what they want to speak to us for. If this meeting happened where would it occur?"
"On Tuchunka in all likelihood," Hackett answered. "The Krogan they wish to speak to is there helping with their cultural reforms we are told."
"Very well, I am willing to go ahead with this," Daro stated quickly.
"Zen, are you sure that is reasonable?" Zaal Asked. "Tuchunka would be a death sentence for us!"
"Hardly, our immune systems are being repaired, and I myself recently managed to be without my mask for a number of hours. My body is taking to the genetic work well and I expect to no longer need my mask within a half year. I would simply keep it on in Tuchunka's atmosphere as a sane thing to do."
"It would still be very dangerous, just the radioactive dust in their atmosphere could kill us as we are! And that is to say nothing if they attack us!" Zaal Pressed.
"So we bring a retinue of guards. I'm sure that would be acceptable," Shala suggested. "I am curious as to what exactly these Lunarians want from us and the Krogan, but I am more interested in how the Korgan are managing their attempt at rebuilding. For all of our differences, our two species are very similar as well, and it would be good for both of our sakes if we began creating a relation between us, I think."
"I can tell you both will not be saying no to this," Rael said with a sigh as he looked up at the holograms. "Just the two of them?"
"For the meeting with the Watatsuki sisters, yes. In the future perhaps your people and the Krogan will have more, I will not say at this time," Yukari responded with a smirk.
"Then it seems we have our answer, as both of them seem intent on going through with it," Rael stated in a final sort of tone.
"Yes, we have," Daro agreed, sounding proud for some reason.
"Then I believe this conversation is at an end, unless of course if you have something you need to speak of?" Hackett asked neutrally.
"No, our meeting was just to deal with local issues and laws pertaining to the continuation of the pilgrimage and other cultural issues," Han explained.
"I see. Then we shall leave you to your work. We shall speak again in the future, both for the meeting with the sisters, and for the eventually merging," Yukari stated just before the holocomm cut out.
The room was silent for many minutes until Zaal'koris sighed. "Well, that was not what I expected."
"I've stopped trying to guess what to expect from those two," Rael admitted. "Shall we begin our own meeting then?"
"Yes . . .though now I feel as if it will be hard to make any serious decisions, "Han sighed as their meeting began in earnest.
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Aralakh System, Tuchunka, October 29th, 2145.
Eirin Yagokoro stepped out of her personal room of her ship and into her laboratory. Looking over her systems, experiments, simulations and results always helped her wake up fully, and things had become rather dull of late.
Her genetics work was done. She could cure the genophage, introduce an intelligent safe alternative that would both help the Krogan grow as a people, and keep the council from going insane on them. The only problem was that Bakara had still yet to unify the Krogan. She was making good progress, but it was still slower than Eirin had hoped it would be.
"Let us go! You cannot do this to us!"
"And of course, then there is the other issue," Eirin muttered to herself as she left her lab and entered what had at one point been a small kitchen that had recently been repurposed into a makeshift Jail.
Chained to the wall in classic iron manacles were almost a dozen salarians. The manacles were enchanted, and each Salarian was also held in a magic field cell. And then to add insult to their injury, the room had layers upon layers of barriers, both magic and technological.
Just a few days prior, out of curiosity more than anything, Eirin had gone to look into the Salarian made shroud facility. It was impressive enough, but she noticed many discrepancies in its design that would decrease its efficiency, and it was a far cry from Alliance terraforming technology. Of course finding a group of STG scientists preforming some form of study in its halls on the Krogan genome had piqued her interest. And of course, as soon as she tried to speak to them they had either tried to flee, or had attacked her. Hence why there was only just under a dozen, and not around three dozen. She couldn't just let them report back alive until she knew what they were doing after all.
"Are you listening? Release us! You cannot keep us here, Human!" Another Salarian declared, making Eirin look at his beaten, but still whole form. She conjured her bow into her hand, pulled back the string and let an arrow fly through the room, putting a thumb sized hole in his lower abdomen before getting rid of her bow.
"I can hear you, lizard. And as I said before, I am a Lunarian, not a human."
"That doesn't matter! You are attacking STG members! Release us and there may be some mercy toward your misguided actions!" Another declared angrily.
Eirin let out an agitated sigh and stepped further into the room, taking a seat on a chair near the door she had left there as she snatched one of the Salarians datapads off the floor. She had brought them into the room as a way to agitate the Salarians, and it had worked to an extent, but they were so damned sure of their encryption it made it useless to agitate them with just the datapads. She needed to actually break into them to get any reaction from them, and had done so a few times already.
Looking at the datapad for a second she suddenly slammed it against her knee, breaking it in half in one motion before looking up at the assorted Salarians. "Augmenting, improving, destroying. It's all your people know how to do, isn't it?"
"What are you speaking of? We are simple scientists," one stated innocently. It made Eirin feel disgusted.
"You know what I am talking about. The Luna damned Genophage! Here you are, looking into ways to increase its severity? After spending decades, centuries even, watching it slowly bleed the Krogan species!"
"The Krogan are gaining a resistance to it, they cannot be allowed to. we are simply keeping council space safe as it should be!" one stated, sounding like he believed every word.
Eirin pulled her bow out and shot him in the foot, severing it completely off with an arrow that disappeared as quickly as it had formed by the bowstring. "Every single one of you. Every member of your Luna damned species thinks it's so damn right all the time. You are so damn arrogant, and trust me, I know arrogance! You barely even understand the effects of your work, yet you push yourselves into it without a second thought. Well listen up, because I've finished the Alliances answer to your genophage, and it will be what finally helps the Krogan truly return to being a people that can respect themselves!"
Almost every Salarain gawked in horror and began ranting on about how it was a bad idea, about how it couldn't be done, about how the Krogan were not worth trying to help. All but one of them.
Eirin got up and walked across the room, stopping in front of the one Salarian that was not yelling or out crying against her work. As she stood there the yelling quieted down, until it was only a dull roar, allowing her to speak. "You look as if you wish to ask a question instead of simply yelling and stating how wrong you think I am. Speak."
"Am curious as to what your answer to the Genophage is and why you believe that history is wrong and that the Krogan have a chance. There is little historical proof that would state that they can be a proper part of galactic society." the Salarian answered quickly, sounding like he was close to jumbling his sentences together more than most Salarians did already.
Eirin smirked. "It seems that you are more interested in my work than your own current predicament."
"Many have tried various ways of escae, all have failed, see little chance at escape at current moment, no reason to panic like Vorcha or rage about like a Krogan," The Salarain said, others in the room suddenly quieting down and shutting up in embarrassment.
Eirin looked at him and tilted her head a bit. All Salarians looked the same to her, but this one was missing one of his horns, making him at least vaguely different looking. "What is your name, Salarian?"
"Mordin Solus," the Salarian replied, his tone calm, while his eyes seemed to dart all over. Eirin knew the look however, it was not frantic nerves, but curious desire that was driving him to look her over, to look over her and everything about her he could see.
Eirin compared some options in her head for a second and smiled as she stepped closer to Mordin and raised a hand. Every Salarian in the room except Mordin flinched as she did, but she simply flicked a piece of the manacle holding him in the air, dropping him to the ground. The majority of the restraints on him were gone, but the heavy manacles were not, and a small blue ring flashed on all the manacles every few seconds. Eirin looked at him for a second before turning and walking to the door. "Come with me."
Mordin nodded painfully as he struggled to get up. He had taken a few hard hits when Eirin had captured them, and the Salarian body while lithe, was not nearly as durable as other races due to the lessened presence of bone in their body. Cartilage made them light and flexible, but it was not built to take hard knocks.
Following the Lunarian woman out of the room, to the whispered commands of his kin, he began glancing around. It had been clear from their incarceration that the ship was advanced, but simply walking through it was awe inspiring. He had heard that Alliance technology was different, had been toldt hat it was incompatible with Council tech, but the more he saw the more he wanted to know about it. He wanted to know how it worked, wanted to see what could be used, wanted to discover how it could be used for the better of all!
"If you so much as touch a single plate on the wall I'm cutting your entire arm off," Eirin suddenly said as they came into what looked to be a laboratory. "And it goes without saying, but if you as much as try to memorize a piece of my Genophage answer I may cut out your tongue and all of your fingers!"
"understood, am curious as to why am here, however." Mordin replied.
"Because while your fellows state their reason for your action of upgrading, altering, or whatever it is you people are trying to do to the Genophage, and the Krogan, I am hoping that one who is more of a scientist, has differing reasoning. And even if you don't I can still get answers out of you."
"And what makes you think I would give you such answers. STG protocol is clear about how to act in such a situation," Mordin asked.
"Trust me, I have killed enough STG whelps that I am quite confident in my ability to force information out of your little skulls," Eirin said as she turned to Mordin with a soft smile that made him suddenly feel very uncomfortable. It was a rumor among STG of what had happened to those who disappeared around Tuchunkia, but no one had any proof of anything thus far.
"You speak of torture."
"And much worse than torture. For those who came to this planet solely to kill the Krogan shaman, a woman I will add, who is only trying to rebuild the Krogan people culture and values so that they have something to live for, it is perfectly fitting!"
"The council would hardly agree."
"The council likely is behind the STG tying to assassinate a woman trying to build a future for her people. And I'm assuming till I know otherwise they are also behind your operation here as well."
"I can assure you then that we are not. This operation was planned and executed by STG only. The council does not know that the Krogan were becoming resistant to the Genophage."
"And considering the effect of Kaguya's old rant, I would think they would be against such an action as this. Or at least I hope they would," Eirin said with a sigh. "Why do you think the Genophage is necessary? Are there reasons besides the usual drivel?"
"History proves that-"
"I said besides the usual drivel," Eirin interrupted with a sigh. "Different question then. Why do you believe that the Krogan do not deserve a second chance?"
Mordin was silent for a moment. "Is this room bugged? Do the others hear what we say?"
"No."
Mordin seemed to relax a bit. "All people deserve a second chance, and the more I have worked on this project the more I have felt. . . something, scratching at my horn. I remember seeing the vids of your leader's statements on the genophage, and I look at the data and see nothing but when I look at the few subjects, or at the projected effects, it worsens."
"That would be guilt," Eirin answered knowingly.
"How are you so sure?"
"Because, I am one of the guiltiest people in the Alliance for creating something that should never have been created," Eirin said with a sigh before she tapped a keyboard on a desk behind her, bringing up a hologram of various DNA, RNA, and other forms of genetic information. "This is the Alliances answer to the Genophage. But it requires one other thing. Do you know what that is?"
Mordin looked at the sequences for many moments, his mind picking them apart and figuring out what each was for, where the modifications were and what they would do. His mouth began to gape halfway through, and by the time he understood what was before him his eyes were wide. "These are genetic modifications across their entire spectrum! Longer breeding and gestation, longer initial growth period, slightly lessened blood rage effect, complete removal of the Genophage. How?"
"Lunarian medicine." Eirin answered with smirk. "Magic, medicine, a small number of nanites, the normal."
"Nanotech is illegal under Citadel law! As is such a major genetic manipulation!" Mordin exclaimed.
"You act like I should care, and like Citadel law matters here," Eirin said with a grin, before her expression turned to callous stone. "The Krogan are not a Council race, and have not been since your government put them on the path to extinction."
"But Council law clearly states-"
"Council law does not matter to those who are not part of your council. The only reason you think you have command over the Krogan is that the council enforces the DMZ."
" . . . . . what is the thing you are missing then?" Mordin asked, going back to Eirin's other question.
Eirin smiled. "Culture. The thing the Krogan lost when serving as your councils hunting dogs."
"What do you mean?" Mordin asked in curiosity.
"Tell me, have you ever been on Tuchunka before this operation of yours?"
"No."
"A pity. I have been here for many years now working on my cure. But I have not been working solely on it. This world is a barren one, true, but if you look at the right places you can see the past. I have wandered this world for the sheer pleasure of it, and have seen what used to be. The ruins of ancient cities dot the landscape, underground tunnels lead to vast place of old and still solid beauty, and in many of these places the world recovers, despite the Councils intentions. The Krogan once had a strong culture, they once had nations and divisions, and squabbles and violence and beauty and recreation and lore and peace!"
"The Krogan have never had peace, they have only squabbled amongst themselves. They are a warlike people, and violence is all they know!"
"Your meaning of peace is different than our own. The Krogan are very similar to the Alliance. If you looked at Human, Lunarian and even Youkai history, all of our races have fought and squabbled with the other. Both the humans and Lunarians have even had global wars, that could have easily ended in nuclear war, or worse. The only difference is that because of the world they grew on, the Krogan take on violence was slightly more forceful, which is what led to their own nuclear war."
"A war that nearly destroyed their planet."
"Yes, but even after that war, they rebuilt, and still had part of their culture. That ended when your people uplifted them. You turned them into attack dogs that knew only war. And yet you were surprised when they rebelled against your wills. If the Krogan culture is rebuilt, if their people gain something to fight for, a future to strive toward, then my cure will be complete and may be released to them. For only then will their people be able to truly grow as a race again."
"Many Asari maidens have said the same in the past and have gotten nowhere, or killed."
"The Asari are dreamers incapable of thinking in both the short and long. They tried to change the Krogan themselves, instead of giving them the choice, and the chance, to do it themselves. That is what a people needs if they will rebuild themselves. They cannot have others simply give them a new life or purpose. You can assist them of course, but if you just give something to someone without them working for it, they will expect more until you cannot give them what they expect."
" . . You speak as if you have firsthand knowledge," Mordin said after a few seconds of silence.
Eirin smirked. "Lunarian history goes a long way back. A very long way back. We've made mistake, and I have made some of the worst. "
" . . Then, do you believe the Krogan can regain their own culture?"
"Yes, I do. Would you like to see?" Eirin asked with a smile.
"You have made it clear you do not trust Salarians, so why ask me this? Attempt to gain trust? No, wish to show superiority, possible-"
"Please stop. I wish to show you what they have managed, and I wish to see how you react to it. A scientist like you could be of use to me, or perhaps more a use to himself and the galaxy as a whole. I wish to see which it is."
"Very well. I am curious to see what you are so proud of. Might I be released or is that impossible at this time?"
Eirin's response was instantaneous. "Impossible until I see your reactions at the very least."
"Understood, however looking over a datapad will be difficult with my hands bound."
"You won't need a datapad, as I'm taking you outside!" Eirin said as she stood up and smiled. "come along, if you're lucky I may let you listen in on a very interesting conversation that will be happening in a while. So come along."
Mordin nodded as he followed Eirin out of the room and down the halls until they left her ship, the beating sun of Tuchunka bearing down on them. Mordin immediately noticed that the ship was perched upon a cliff face and that a metal stairway came from the edge of the cliff and went down out of sight, until Eirin led him to the cliffs edge.
Below was a sprawling city of stone, bigger than any village or hovel that Mordin had ever heard of the Krogan ever building since before the genophage. He could see Krogan walking all over, and surprisingly the buildings all looked in good repair, and he could not see anything overly violent. Unless he counted the large number of turrets right at the cities far entrance.
"Impressive, but this small place could hardly hold all Krogan."
"It is not meant to," Eirin said with a grin. "This is the first city built upon new ideals, and has been extremely successful. Bakara is now working on forming other cities under similar principles, to help expand the rebirth of Krogan culture."
"This Bakara is a Krogan then?"
"A female Krogan Shaman, yes," Eirin said, noting that Mordin flinched a bit when she specified that Bakara was female. They were the ones that had the most of a grudge against the Salarians and Turians after all, even more than the men did. "Follow me, we're heading to a meeting, one that will boggle your mind!"
Mordin nodded nervously as Eirin led him down the long stairway down from the cliff. By the time they were in the city itself he was feeling tired, and it was made worse by the glares every Krogan around gave him. Surprisingly though none attacked or even aimed weapons at him, and every Krogan that neared them bowed to Eirin as she passed. It seemed she was highly respected, even among the Krogan, who only respected strength.
Stores sold everything from machine parts and clothing to weapons and simple farming equipment, and Mordin even could see some plots of land between building that looked like gardens. Krogan gardening! The idea forced him to look again in disbelief.
Eventually they reached the city's guarded entrance, and Mordin noticed what appeared to be a number of Krogan that were waiting for Eirin. One was clearly a battle master who looked old enough to have been of the rebellion, while the other two appeared to be women, one full gown, and one that was close but not quite there yet.
"Ah, I was worried you would not be making it." The older female stated a she turned to Eirin.
"Worry not, I was simply acquiring something," Eirin replied as she gestured to Mordin.
"Who's the Salarian?" the big Krogan said with a growl.
"A little fly I discovered buzzing around. He's harmless so you need not worry about him. I'm hoping to use him as a little birdy to slowly inform the Council of things, without officially telling them."
"So payback for what they've been doing to us?" The young Krogan female asked.
"Perhaps. Let's head out, our guests should be arriving soon, yes?"
"So you say," Bakara said with a sigh. "I am curious as to what this is about."
"I'm sure you are, so let us depart. We don't want to keep our guests waiting!"
After an hour long tomkah ride that left Mordin feeling very nervous, they stopped and got out, appearing to be in the middle of nowhere, with no building, or sign of life in sight aside from an Alliance shuttle that was sitting a dozen or so meters away from them. The shuttle opened up as soon as Eirin and the three Krogan got out and neared it, and much to Mordins surprise, it was not Humans or Lunarian or youkai that got out.
But Quarians!
The three Quarians appeared to be comprised of two females and one male if the shape of their suits was any indicator. The male was carrying a strange object in his hands that, after a fem omen of looking at it, Mordin realized was an Alliance laser rifle! He had heard that the Alliance had adopted the Quarians, but he had thought it was just a scam or some kind of ruse to make the galaxy think good of them, or to stop looking for the Quarians.
It seemed they had indeed accepted the Quarians into the Alliance, and the more he looked the more he noticed bit of technology in their suits that was clearly newly made and powered by Alliance tech, not scraps and old refurbished technology.
The two groups stood there, looking uneasily at the other, until the young Krogan girl took a few steps forward and spoke up. "It seems the Lunarians wishing to meet us have yet to arrive, but there no need to be uncivil. My name is Nakmor Kesh."
The other two Krogan stepped forward, the old one more resistively, "I am Shaman Bakara, and this is Nakmor Drack.
"G-greetings," one of the female Qurians spoke up. "I am Admiral Shaala'Raan, this is Admiral Daro'Zen, and our bodyguard, Captain Kal'Reegar."
"So, I don't suppose you have been told why we are here?" Bakara asked calmly.
"No, we have been not. The Alliance was rather intent on not sharing that piece of information," Daro stated casually as she looked to Bakara. "We have heard you have had success in rebuilding our people, is that true?"
"Yes, to an extent. I hope to spread the success to the rest of my people, as once it is done, our agreement with the Alliance will be complete, and we will be free from the Geneophage and its disgusting effects."
"Yes, I know of what the effects are supposed to be," Shaala suddenly spoke up. "The idea is disgusting, and the Krogan have my respect for dealing with it as long as they have."
"So you say. I'm wondering exactly why you are here in the first place, and what one of your flimsy soldiers is here for," Drak said with a cackle.
Reegar took a step forward. "Would you care to prove that statement?"
Mordins mouth fell open in shock. It was well know that due to the Qurians need for their sterile suit environment that a wound, even a nick, could prove fatal. They were unparalleled when it came to ship boarding tactics from years of defending against Batarians slavers, but to fight a Krogan would be suicide!
Drak grinned. "Oh? The suit rat has a quad, eh?"
Reegars shoulder shook slightly. "That term will soon be meaningless," He said as he dropped his rifle to the ground and began walking toward Drack, rolling his shoulders with anticipation.
"I've seen your kind fall over like cards, Quarian, your meat, you spoil!" Drack stated as he dropped his gun and began slowly walking toward Reegar.
"Perhaps before. But not now!" Reegar stated as the pair stopped in the middle the area between the groups, barley a meter from each other.
"Care to prove it?"
"I asked you first."
For a moment neither of them moved, then Drack swung his head forward, the well-known Krogan headbutt. Mordin expected the Quarian to get knocked onto his back, but instead he took a step back to avoid the Krogans attack, grabbed his head plate with his hands, then pulled Drak's head down and swung his knee up. Drak reeled backwards from the blow but quickly steadied himself and grinned, just in time for the Quarian to punch him in the face, to little effect.
Throwing a punch back, Dracks strike hit the Quarian right in the side, but instead of sending him backwards in pain, the Quarian skirted to the side as if the blow had done nothing, and then struck Dracks arm with a kick.
His response was to attack with his other arm, but was visible surprised when the Quarian flipped backwards out of the way, his feet catching Drack in the chin and staggering him back a few feet.
Both of them stood seemingly ready to continue, until Drack smiled and stood normally. "Not bad Quarian, I didn't think your kind had the ability to move like that!"
"We didn't, not until we could ditch some of the now useless tech in our suits, but thank you for the compliment." Reegar replied.
"You earned it. I haven't seen anyone move that quickly in a while. With weapons in hand, you could be quite dangerous with more experience."
"Hence why we wanted to speak to both of you!" came a new voice as a pair of Lunarian women suddenly appeared off to the side. Both wore formal suits with small amounts of personalization on them, primarily on the buckles, but what was strange was their similar looks but differing hair colors. Ones was a light blue in color and tied up into a ponytail, while the others was bright blonde and hung down loosely. Both however held looks of power, control, and complete superiority in their eyes.
"Allow us to introduce ourselves, before we continue. I am Watatsuki no Toyohime," The blonde spoke up with a small, but genuine enough looking smile.
"And I am Watatsuki no Yorihime," The blunette added with a grin. "We are the Watatsuki sisters of Luna. Previously both Princesses of Luna, and Captains of the historic Lunar Defence Corps."
"Now simply a pair of Lunarians looking to sponsor a rather, interesting long term plan."
"And that plan requires us?" Bakara asked curiously.
"It requires none but those who wish to assist with it, "Yorihime replied quickly. "however as the Quarian peoples are, and the Krogan people will soon likely, be part of the Alliance, we both agreed it would be in our best interest to speak to a few who interest us about the project itself."
"Yes, specifically, Kesh of clan Nakmore, and Daro'zen of the Quarians, the two of you are the ones who interest us the most!"
"And why is that?" Daro'zen asked in reply.
"Because you both are intelligent, and we believe would be interested in our project, and the research that would be going into it," Toyohime stated.
"Stop speaking in riddles and tell us what you want or there's nothing more to discuss" Kesh answered with a huff. Daro'zen nodded in agreement a second later.
"Very well. Our project is basically a plan that will include the Council, if they choose to join, to send large numbers of willing people, to go to and colonize another galaxy!"
"That would be a very time consuming, and very dangerous prospect. It would take many years as well I would think," Daro'zen state, her tone sounding curious and unconcerned all at once.
"Yes, hence why we began the project about a decade ago. We have some basic concepts readied, but for such a large scale project there needs to be just as many willing people involved in it as well." Toyohime said.
"Quite. And while if you joined the project there would be some requirements, your other works would not be impeded, and you could leave the project as you see fit. We are bringing this up because we agree with the Alliance in that your two races are undervalued in the galaxy. Your aid in such a project would be immeasurable, and if you came with, your people would of course be of great use in a new galaxy." Yorihime continued.
Kesh was quiet for a moment before she looked at Drack and then at the pair of Lunarians. "I will admit that I am interested. But as it is, the Krogan are not a unified peoples as of yet. I do not think we will be joining the Alliance for years yet."
"I'm sure we could come to an arrangement, we simply wished to inform you of the project, before we inform the Council in a year or two.
"You will have time to consider if you wish to join the project, and you will quite obviously still be allowed to work on your own work if you do join it, as previously stated."
"Why don't you tell them what it is called?" Eirin suddenly spoke up, making both the Watasuki's twitch slightly. They turned their heads to her general direction, but seemed to avoid eye contact with Eirin completely.
"I suppose that would be a good idea, yes."
"We are calling it, the Andromeda Initiative!"
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After hours of listening in on the conversation, which jumped from the Andromeda Initiative, to cultural talks, and even to scientist conversation, Mordin was left speechless.
It was only that night when him and Eirin returned to her ship and took seats in her lab that he managed to speak.
"It seems, I have much to consider," Mordin stated.
"Yes. And before you ask I did not show you that to fully change your mind. I simply wanted to let you in on what will be going on in years to come. The Krogan will change, as will the Alliance and the whole galaxy."
"You hoped would join that initiative?"
"No, I actually was hoping you would consider stopping your mission against the Krogan, and consider doing research on Eden prime once its facilities are fully up and running. A chance to do research on Alliance tech, on fusing tech, and with less blocks than are currently in place in Citadel space would be something that interest any scientist, no?"
"it would, yes," Mordin said before looking up at Eirin, his eyes wiled with worry and curiosity. "I noticed that the two of them would not look at you, and they seemed afraid of you and no other. Why is that if I may ask?"
Eirin's expression darkened immediately. "It is because of both who, and what, I am. Because of what deeds, and what crimes I have committed," Her expression darkened ever further. "And because of what knowledge I hold of things to come."
"Of things to come? As in the future?" Mordin asked in disbelief. Sure the Alliance had interesting and surprisingly technology, but there was no way they could see the future.
"Yes, as Kaguya Hime's aid, I am privy to information few are, including events that are both fast approaching and crawling towards us as slowly as the galaxy turns. But enough of that. Let us speak and see what you shall do, I am curious as to what your plans are now that I have shown you what I have."
Mordins neutral expression turned into a smile of curious hopes and excitement, and in return Eirin smiled.