Korlus, 2185

Damn stupid newfangled technology, thought Shepard. The new vehicle he was sitting in was the experimental successor to his beloved Swordfish IVF. The unit in question was instead called the Sealion, and Shepard didn't like it at all. Its main gun only fired missiles, which were all fine and good he figured, but you needed the punch of mass effect rounds in a turret to get real damage across. And the propulsion! Tracks had been good enough for the Commander, they'd seen him and the Swordfish through Feros, Noveria, Therum, and eve Virmire combined. But no no no... Chariot had gotten all fancy in their cold war with the Brotherhood and Council races and decided to set their new teams of scientists and resources replacing the good old "Fishy" with a bleeding hovercraft! If man was meant to hover, thought Shepard, he'd have wings like a hummingbird. The noise the vehicle made was almost identical to one, too, and the soft buzz was wringing in his ears, annoying him further.

He looked to his two teammates. All of them were clad in the same drab and heavier armour that was the Chariot standard. His companions were competent, but thy didn't make Marat as happy and glad as his old buddies. He wished Garrus could be here with them, but the turian was still recovering from the plague with under Mordin's direction. The turian was a good friend, and more welcome company than the two humans in front of him. Zaeed just sat their wearing his eternal sneer. Miranda had her best smug smirk #2 on and her eyes shone when she saw Shepard's dismay, and slight queasiness, at deploying in this contraption. He glared back at her. Since the Writer had made his opinion known, he had acted a little more courteously toward her. He even suspected part of her wall of ice was melting, if only in tiny quantities around the edges. Massani, though, was still all brash machismo and barking. Shepard had to admit the man's refreshers had been useful to the team, even if it reminded him of the barking, parade-ground bourgeois-style of discipline he so despised. Still, they were going to need it for this mission. The group was driving across the surface of Korlus, a dry and windy planet, and intel said they were going to be facing a company of Blue Suns on the other side. Shepard hoped to the spirit of Friedrich Engels that this Warlord Okeer was worth it. The krogan was apparently the best damn mad scientist in the galaxy; but Shepard shared Mordin's sentiment that "scientist, good. Crazy scientist, also can be good. But mad scientist? Only crazy man wants that!"

Still, here the group was and this was what they would have to do. They had a large quantity of credits too; they hoped to pay off the Blue Suns and recruit the Warlord peacfully. Still, as Zaeed said, having a little insurance never hurt which was why the team packed their best weapons and a rocket launcher to boot. You could never be too certain, in Terminus. The one thing Shepard couldn't complain about was Jacob's driving. The black Charioteer was driving the damn contraption they rode in, and he was doing a much better, or at least safer, job than SC – no, Shepard reminded him, now it was ComC – Williams. He still missed Ash with all his heart, hoped every day she would break all the rules of the Brotherhood and Commission and contact him, but she hadn't done so. This upset him, and he was too proud but ashamed of his new companions to message her himself. Still, the one thing he didn't miss about her were her insane driving habits. Jacob's voice brought him back to reality

"Comrade Shepard, we're approaching the navpoint. Orders?"

"Stick to the plan, Jacob. We don't want to have to fight our way out of a company of mercs only to have to face an insane krogan and whatever he can field against us at the end."

Zaeed interrupted, as he often did.

"Ach, Commander, the good thing 'bout you Reds, 'side from the nice bourgeois pay, is that you at least let a killer do his job. Right now I wanna be doin' my job 'specially if it's'gainst them Blue Suns... Those fuckers 'n I gotta hist'ry. They're gonna pay. Who's their commander again?"

Miranda rolled her eyes dramatically before she spoke,

"Massani, do you even bother listening when Shepard gives his orders, or do you simply delete all of the intel documents we send you every time there is a change in the situation?

The merc grinned,

"Oooh, bit'a spunk Like't in a girl, 'specially when I get to fill 'er with mine afterward-" Shepard was now afraid of the daggers in Miranda's eyes, "But you fail to understand that my job ain't no fancy O-Groups 'n reading intel docs. It's killing. You point me, I fight. Never cared for you Reds 'n your fancy plans, not in Brotherhood space, and not in my damn turf. You want my help finding this Okeer, then I'm the best damn weapon you've got 'gainst the Blue Suns cuz not only'do I know their secrets; I hate 'em worse than you commies. So, bitch, drop your attitude and tell me the long'n short of it 'fore we go on."

Now Shepard intervened. He hadn't put this team together for nothing, and they were going to have to be united and together before they negotiated in front of a hundred Blue Suns. Jacob's call of "ETA five minutes, comrade Shepard," only added to the urgency.

Stepping in, and using his best secret policeman's interrogation voice he said, "Shut up, both of you! Stop clawing at each other like pyjaks fighting over a morsel of dinner. Miranda, cool it. We're not all here to get you. You act a little warmer, maybe people will start caring about your problems, whatever they are because they seem so grave you have a permanent cloud over your head. Massani, shut up. Stop antagonizing people. You keep stepping on our missions and whining, I'll space your entire section of the Dzerzhinsky. Now we need to look united and strong; this Jedore is known as an unstable cutthroat, even by Terminus standards."

"Wait, you said Jedore?" asked Zaeed, the mocking tone gone from his voice, "Shepard, I acknowledge your point. But Jedore, I worked with her in my days in the Suns, which no, aren't bloody well publicized. You're right though, cunt's unstable more'n her entire gender put together. Pretty enough to look at, despite what you'd expect, but so gobshite nuts she got kicked outta half the White Guardist lodges in Terminus."

Shepard nodded and said, "As Miss Lawson noted, you need to pay more goddamn attention at orders. You're no good to me if you have no idea what's going on. We could have used this information much earlier and now we're going in half-blind. This is the last time I want to talk to you about it."

Miranda nodded at him. She hadn't even taken offence at the title he called her. Her eyes seemed to even show a sliver of... was it gratitude? Well, Shepard wasn't sure but he'd take anything that wasn't cool courtesy. The Commander now felt satisfied his team would be ready, and just in time too. Jacob called out again.

"Uhh... Shepard we're here but we have a bit of a huge-ass situation..."

"What is it, Comrade Taylor?"

"You're really gonna have to get a visual and see for yourself, Commander, I can't even describe it"

Turning the screen on – the Sealion had no windows or weapon ports – Shepard observed a scene of chaos and destruction. Not three hundred meters from the vehicle, Blue Suns mercs were gunning at unseen enemies. Their formations were split, and it seemed to his eyes that they fought as individuals rather than putting up an effective team resistance. Some mercs weren't as stouthearted as others; they turned and fled away from the encampment and straight at the waiting Sealion.

"What the hell is going on, Jacob?" demanded Miranda.

"I don't know, Miri. Whatever it is it's got those mercs on the run and they're coming straight here. I think they'll run as far as..."

"Fire the main gun!" shouted Zaeed, "Don't let any of those bastards escape. They'll do anything to get out, just like all fleeing cowards, kill 'em before they try to take us out!"

Shepard squinted. He didn't like the prospect but at the same time he figured they always may have been forced to fight the mercs anyways to get Okeer. He hardly trusted Jedore to just take the credits and walk. His suspicions, and decision, were confirmed moments later when he heard a cackling but surprisingly feminine voice rip through the air on old-fashioned loudspeakers.

"You idiots! You're all weak, weak I say! None of you deserve to wear that blue armour you think you've earned. Stand and fight, cowards! I'll kill you all if you run. We can beat this madman's krogan because we're the best. Fight! Kill! Destroy! This is the only true test of courage you can have and there will be a bonus for everyone who helps me get Okeer by day's end. Now prove you have some balls!"

"She always was one for the motivational speeches," remarked Zaeed drily.

"Am I the only one who's still confused as to what in the hell is going on?" cried Jacob. Hastily, Shepard assembled the pieces of information he had and said,

"Comrade Taylor, I don't know exactly. Whatever it was, we now know that Okeer and the mercs' partnership has been terminated, and the Warlord has some krogan here doing the killing for him. This confuses me, too, though, because he was never described as having a bodyguard or merc force, he was described as being a nutty lone wolf working here with Blue Suns money on something to do with krogan genetics. If it's another cure to the genophage, we know why his troops are fighting so fiercely."

"So what's the plan?" inquired Miranda.

"No change, comrades," said Shepard, "We still need Okeer and his expertise if we want to deal with those seekers and go toe-to-toe with the Collectors. Which means we're gonna have to fight our way through this nonsense. It's too bad this hovercraft is too big and ungainly for this urban terrain. Real shame that we didn't bring a Swordfish. A tracked IFV would really help us not get our guts blow out while fighting over rough terrain. So get your stuff and move out."

Jacob swung out of the driver's seat and grabbed his rifle before donning his helmet. Zaeed just hawked and spat before doing the same, muttering something about how going in might be easy but out a bitch. Miranda just looked, for the first time... scared.

"What is it?" Shepard whispered to her.

She looked at him and he saw a little fear in her eyes.

"Well, Shepard, this is my first real battle. Like a real one."

He just stared at her. He wished the woman going to fight was Ash right now.

"Comrade Lawson you charged an entrenched Garrus with us on Omega? Your genes were bought or designed or something to let you fight with ease. What in the lexicon of all three volumes of Das Kapital is possessing you now? I know you can fight, just don't let your fear control you now."

She looked at him and her eyes hardened a little.

"Sorry, Shepard. You're right. It's just this is my first time against so many at once, with so many unknowns. I don't like unknowns. But the only way to get better is experience, and I've never lacked for bravery against the odds."

Shepard gave a curt nod.

"You schoolgirls coming, or'm I gonna have to kill'em all and bring your barking loony back meself?" shouted Zaeed.

Without another word, Miranda donned her own helmet and grabbed her weapon before falling deftly to the ground. Shepard paused a moment, telling the Sealion to self-destruct if hostiles gained entry before joining her and walking toward his team. Turning toward the ruined encampment ahead of him, he gestured they follow.

"Once more unto the breach," he said. Henry V had been one of Ash's favourite Shakespeare's that wasn't a comedy despite its feudalist content. His mind was still on her as he shot down a fleeing Blue Sun who raised his weapon too high in front of him, but he managed to force her from his mind as he crouched behind cover. He was going to need all his mental wits about him in the coming fight. Ducking around the corner, he dropped another fleeing merc.

The Blue Suns were beginning to get wise to the fact they were being sandwiched between angry krogan and a bunch of human oncomers. On his left he heard Zaeed laughing maniacally as he gunned down enemy after enemy, while on his right the Chariot officers fought on in silence. The effect made him uneasy: there was none of the easy laughter or casual joking that had characterized his last squad. For a moment he even felt loss, this time for Kaidan. The biotic had been a good friend, and though Miranda and Jacob's talents almost matched Alenko's they were no replacement for him. Still, at least these people were keeping him alive long enough to get forward.

Dashing forward, he took cover again behind a wall of rubble. Shouting at his comrades to advance behind him, he peered over the top. The Suns weren't running anymore; now they fought with ferocity of men cornered. They knew they might die, and if they fought hard enough might escape, and so fought hard. Again a loudspeaker crackled:

"Took you cowards long enough to find your nutsacks!" shouted the squeaky voice of Jedore, "Too bad it took you getting surrounded! No matter, I don't care. Kill 'em all, if you die it's your own damn fault. I'm gonna go have a talk with our beloved Okeer!"

"Charming as ever," grunted Zaeed, taking a shot over the top, "I'm lookin' forward to killing the bitch; though I wish I could do it slow. No doubt she'll force us to gun'er down."

Shepard ground his teeth, again wishing the retainer at his side was Garrus. The merc was good as far as bloodthirsty murder went, but as a human being worth about as much as a stain on Shepard's boots. Still, he needed to advance. With another gesture of his hand, the Commander motioned to go over the top.

Standing up, he ran forward, Zaeed covering him. Flopping down on the ground, he gave a quick burst of fire at a batarian some sixty meters away, blowing the xeno from his feet. The merc knew his infantry tactics; as he ran up Shepard again sprung to his feet and ran forward, firing from the hip. On his right, Miranda and Jacob were repeating the process with ruthless efficiency. He was glad to see Miranda's fears had all been nerves; now she ran, shot, and got herself mucky in the dirt like the rest of them. They were alive. Through the haze of battle, Shepard could see krogan another hundred meters or so beyond, and ordered his troops into cover with him.

"What now, comrades?" asked Jacob.

"Wait a second," shouted Shepard, "Jedore's as useful here as our weapons, let's see if she helps us. I don't wanna tackle more mercs and half a platoon of angry krogan beside unless I damn well have to."

A moment later his intuition was confirmed, as once more Jedore's megalomaniacal rant continued,

"Ha! I knew you idiots didn't have it in you, my omni-too says you're all dead. No matter, I still have your less stupid friends here fighting with me and we're going to end this upstart lizardman once and for all!"

The Commander wasted no time issuing new orders.

"Right, Jacob go with Zaeed. He'll need your biotics. You two will be the heavy fire team. Miss Lawson, pack your fears into your lunchbox and come with me because we're going to charge a bunch of these bastards and clear the way for them. Right, on my signal lay down as much fire as you can. If you have to overheat your weapons so be it but buy us the time to get there. Read me?"

"Got it, Commander!" yelled Zaeed as Jacob moved into position beside him. Shepard turned to Miranda and said "Now you're going to find out what real danger is like." She gave him nothing more than a determined nod. Perhaps he was giving Ash too much credit after all, he mused. But he forced thoughts of her from his mind again – for this to work, he needed to be all there. He tensed up and then he was running, faster than he imagined possible in his new armour, and he ran and ran and ran. He didn't pause to see if Miranda was behind him as he charged ahead, weapon blazing. Jacob and Zaeed were doing their job correctly: the krogan on the other side had their heads down and didn't return fire as they sprinted all the way there. Shepard heard Miranda cry out behind him, she had been hit, but her footfalls continued and so he didn't stop. At the last second, he whipped off his entire bandolier of grenades and yanked the fuse on all of them. Throwing it over the wall and taking cover at its support pillar, he grabbed Miranda under the shoulder and dragged her in front of him before an explosion rocked the wall, spraying debris and gore all around them. His plan had worked! By his estimate at least ten krogan must have been killed and so he smiled from ear to ear. When he looked down Miranda was flushed. Her eyes were locked on his and they even had some excitement in them.
"Little close, comrade," she panted.

Suddenly he was aware they were standing chest to chest and his arm was still under hers. Pushing himself away he saw Zaeed and Jacob approaching. Jacob was smiling and said,

"Great job, Commander. Should we continue on."

"'Course we should," interrupted the merc, "Does't look like anythings wont to stand 'tween us'n Jedore now?"

Shepard just nodded and gestured forward. The camp was in reality rather small, and in reducing the wall it looked like he had given them a faster leg up in addition to killing most of their opposition. The team advanced into the central building which was labelled as a science lab.

"Sorry looking science lab," remarked Miranda, "No wonder these brutes tore each other apart if this is what they were protecting."

Twice more the group encountered the random hostile krogan, and were forced to gun them down. Jacob remarked that he had fought against krogan, and though they were vicious, these particular ones were particularly brutal. Shepard was inclined to agree; even Urdnot Wrex's fury at the salarians on Virmire hadn't been this uncontained. What they were facing were true pinnacles of krogan savagery and he didn't want to face many more. Fortunately, he didn't have to. As the group advanced they found more corpses, this time of both more Blue Suns as well as the strange krogan. Zaeed just smiled whenever he saw the dead mercs and whistled a jaunty tune as they advanced. He wasn't concerned they would face anymore and he was proven right, over Jacob's protestations, when the group came to the door of a science lab.

Inside, a massive and ancient krogan, covered with the scars of battle, was screaming out his lungs as he rent and beat the corpse of a woman in sapphire armour. To add to he grizzly image, he was wearing a labcoat which was absurdly labelled Dr. Okeer in flowery cursive letters. This was what they had been sent to recruit, and his behaviour seemed inauspicious to Shepard. He ignored the newcomers, continuing to tear apart the body of the woman who must have been Jedore. As Zaeed had mentioned, she had indeed been pretty when her head had still been attached to the rest of her limbs. The merc himself only kept smiling at the scene, obviously pleased at the fate Jedore had received. It was another moment before Shepard realized that the krogan's cries were not just of rage... but anguish, too. Okeer was weeping! At last the krogan regained control of his emotions, and drawing himself up to his full height spoke in a booming voice through his still-misty eyes.

"Commander Shepard. You haven't found me at my best. I am now as wretched as the rest of my sorry and weak race. Even my attempts to improve or help them, ridiculed and mocked at home, have come to failure," he said as he looked down and again kicked the corpse, "ruined by this woman and her greed. You're here because you want something; ask it then leave me to die in peace amongst my ruined creations."

Shepard at once realized he was walking on thin ice. He had had to talk down a krogan before, but that time it had been an enraged Wrex whom he had been forced to convince to think in his own way. This being, though, seemed... hopeless. As if he had given up. Shepard decided to chance it again, deciding this krogan would need some tough love.

"Oh, here you are, the great Okeer. You're wearing a stupid jacket and crying over the body of some woman. What'd she do, wreck your grammar school science projects? Pick your ass up again and start fighting again you weakling! You're a stain upon the honour of your people; of your land. I'm happy I destroyed the genophage cure on Virmire because if you're the brightest the krogan have to offer, then you are too weak to evolve further!"

Okeer paused a moment, and his body stopped. He stood completely still, and when he spoke again, his voice was laced with iron.

"Shepard, you think yourself clever. My people are too weak, and so here in secret I tried to tank-breed the ultimate krogan, the greatest warrior. This varren at my feet funded it so she could take the rejects. But she had no interest in my people; she tried to kill me when I didn't deliver to her fast enough. Now she's dead, her troops slain by my mistakes. But it doesn't matter. She destroyed my grand creation" turning, Okeer pointed at another krogan corpse, lying in a shattered vat. His voice cracked as he said, "That was he. The last hope for my people. She took it. What do you think you can offer me with your insults and platitudes?"

Miranda and Jacob shared a glance. Despite the seriousness of the situation, they found it hard not to laugh. Most krogan weren't so eloquent, or for that matter possessed a vocabulary exceeding the words "smash," "pay me, " and "pay me fucking now or I will smash your alien skull in."

Shepard now spoke.

"Okeer. You're a warlord. You're a killer. But you're also a genius. Krogan have the purpose in life to fight and destroy the toughest foes. And you can out-think them, too. Well, I have the worst foe: invincible aliens from dark space. Fight them with me. I promise you revenge. I gave it to Urdnot Wrex. I gave it to Garrus Vakarian, who even now prepares to go with us into battle. Ask him if you doubt my honour."

The warlord eyed him and said, "You come here just like that? To make demands of me, Warlord Okeer, after my greatest life's work has been destroyed?"

And Shepard responded, "Yes I do. And I promise you vengeance."

The krogan emitted a long, humourless laugh. When he finished he said, "Alright, human. I will help or fight for your little cause. I once thought you communists weak and pathetic, yet now you knock down my door and show your mettle. Maybe it is good Wrex seeks to bring it to the krogan. But I am not a believer yet, and believe in the strongest of my race. I will come but only if you match my price."

"Ask it," said Shepard.

"We will go to Tuchanka. You will act as my krant – willing to deal and receive death on my behalf. I will invoke the ancient rite of trial by combat and we will stand to clear my name so I may continue my work on the planet of my upbringing."

Shepard extended his hand. Okeer shook it.