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Chapter 25: Old Blood

Year: 2185CE

Location: Tuchanka, Clan Weyrloc

"Trouble," Grunt warned with a little laugh as he rushed forth and started shooting at the flame-breathing kilxens. "On the ground. Now!"

Tuchanka was far from the most hospitable planet, even their insects were deadly. While the bugs problem was quickly taken care of by their trigger-happy krogan friend, from afar, Shepard spotted a group of krogan coming from the building behind.

"Here comes their welcoming committee," said Garrus, his beloved sniper rifle was already in his hands.

"Blood Pack," said Miranda, her body started to glow in a blue.

Strangely, unlike the other krogan who would charge and attack up close, these mercenaries moved behind the furthest covers. Shepard understood why when she spotted the weapons in their hands.

Rocket launchers.

"Grunt, stay back!" Shepard had to warn before the young krogan could charge into the battlefield. "Rockets!"

As soon as the last word flew out of her mouth, Blood Pack boom-squad began their attack.

Shepard hurried to jump behind a fallen pillar. Her ears rung from the rocket explosion. Switching to her sniper rifle, she peeked through the scope and saw her enemy reloading. Low firing rate was the drawback of the powerful weapon, Shepard knew she had three seconds to line up a perfect headshot. And she did, with one second to spare. A bullet flew across the battlefield and found its way between the eyes of her target.

But there was no time to celebrate a nice shot. From the corner of her eye, Shepard spotted another rocket speeding right towards her. Cursing, she threw herself onto the ground just in time before the rocket flew right over her and hit the structure behind. The already unstable wall crumbled, pieces of rubble rained on top of Shepard's lying figure.

"I hate rockets." Grumbling, she went back to work and lined up another shot. A vorcha this time.

"I need one of those," Grunt said behind his cover, now shooting with his assault rifle.

"Sniper rifle?" asked Garrus after taking down another boom-squad.

"Rocket launcher," Grunt replied.

Garrus made a noise in disappointment.

"They really don't want us to go into that building," Miranda commented as she crushed the faraway enemies with her biotics.

"And that's where I want to go," Shepard declared. "Take them down!"

Location: Hospital

"Repurposed krogan hospital," said Mordin, breaking his uncharacteristic silence since they had arrived. "Sturdy. Built to withstand punishment."

Shepard frowned. She always hated hospitals.

"That's unfortunate," said Garrus. "Hospitals aren't fun to fight through."

"What is fun to fight through?" asked Grunt.

"Gardens, electronics shops, for instance," Garrus replied.

"And antique stores," Shepard added.

"Yes, but only if they're classy," said Garrus.

"That body. Human." Mordin pointed at it down a flight of stairs. "Need to take a look."

"What's a human doing here?" Miranda wondered aloud.

Mordin's omni-tool lit up as he ran a scan. "Sores, tumors, ligatures showing restraint at wrists and ankles. Track marks for repeated injection sites."

"Test subjects?" Shepard desperately hoped her guess was wrong.

Mordin nodded. "Victim of experimentation."

"Can we identify the body?" asked Shepard

"No tattoos or ID. Maybe slave or prisoner. Maybe merc or pirate. Irrelevant now." Mordin's calm tone was quite eerie. "Clearly part of krogan tests to cure genophage."

Shepard scowled. "Why would they use human to test a cure for genophage?"

"Humans useful as test subjects," Mordin explained. "Genetically diverse. Enables exploration of treatment modalities." The professor went quiet for a moment as he studied the scan. "Positions of tumors suggests deliberate mutation of adrenal, pineal glands. Modifying hormone levels. Counterattack on glands hit by genophage. " He stopped to take a breath. "Clever."

"Clever?" said Garrus. "That sounds bad."

"Are they close to curing the genophage?" asked Shepard

Mordin shook his head. "Can't say. Need more data. Conceptually sound, though. Genophage alters hormone levels. Could repair damage with hormonal counterattack."

Cure for genophage? Wrex would be thrilled. But at what costs? Shepard cast another glance at the dead human. A female. Someone out there was missing a daughter, a sister, or even a mother.

"Too late to help the dead." Mordin turned off his scan and stood up. "Focus on Maelon."

Unlike the heavily guarded perimeter, the rest of the hospital seemed abandoned. Still, Shepard wouldn't let her guard down. Maelon was here, and so was the Blood Pack.

When they entered what seemed to be the main hall of the hospital, Shepard heard footsteps. "Get ready," she warned the others.

A krogan led a pack of mercenaries out onto the balcony above. Unlike the other Blood Pack, this group chose not to attack on sight. While Shepard welcomed this break, her finger remained the trigger of her rifle.

"I am the speaker for Clan Weyrloc, offworlders," said the leader. "You have shed our blood. By rights, you should be dead already. But Weyrloc Guld, the Chief of Chiefs, has ordered that you be given leave to flee and spread the message of our coming."

"How generous," Garrus mumbled.

"If I flee, I might trip on the bodies of krogan I killed to get here." Shepard casually motioned behind her. "I think I'll take my chances."

"You killed our youngest and weakest, human!" said the clanspeaker. "If you walk away now, you can tell your children that you saw Clan Weyrloc before our Blood Pack conquered the stars. You think the Urdnot impressive? They are pitiful! Weyrloc Guld will destroy them! The salarian will cure the genophage and Clan Weyrloc will spread across the galaxy in a sea of blood!"

"Appears they discovered Maelon's work," Mordin whispered to her. "Unfortunate."

"The krogan were wronged!" shouted the clanspeaker. "We will make it right, and then we will have our revenge!"

Shepard snorted loudly. "Half the galaxy sees the krogan as victims! If you start a war, you'll lose their support!" She took a step forward and demanded, "If you care about the future of Clan Weyrloc, you will hand over Maelon. Now!"

"We have the Blood Pack, and we have the salarian! When our clan numbers in the millions, we will not need support! When we cure the genophage, Weyrloc Guld will rule all krogan! The Krogan Rebellions will become the Krogan Empire! "

"Battlemaster, let me kill him!" Grunt volunteered.

Shepard held up a hand to stop him. Then, through their radio, she whisper a warning for her team, "Stand back."

The clanspeaker continued his rant, "The surviving races will frighten their children with tales of what the Blood Pack did to the turians! The asari will scream as their Citadel plunges into the sun! We will keep salarians as slaves and eat their eggs as delicacy-"

Without another word, Shepard shot at the gas tank under the balcony.

Startled, the clan guards drew their guns, but the clanspeaker laughed. "See? The human cannot even hit a simple target!"

Shepard's grin grew as she fired another shot into the now gas-filled air. The explosion shook the sturdy building violently. A fireball incinerated everyone on the balcony, including the clanspeaker, who dropped on the ground with the most painful scream. All his previous bravado was gone as the fire consumed his flesh.

Even through her armor, Shepard could feel the heat.

"Not misplaced shot. A well-placed one." Mordin nodded with approval. "Explosives useful. Burn through krogan's armor."

"More incoming!" Garrus warned, and battle resumed.

Grunt laughed as he started shooting at the rest of the entourage. Blood Pack mercenaries or Weyrloc guards, krogan or vorcha, it made not difference to Urdnot Grunt. All were pyjaks and varrens in his eyes, as he had told Shepard shortly after his Rite of Passage. After all, it was only yesterday that they had taken down a thresher maw on foot.

Although outnumbered, the battle ended soon enough. When the last of the Blood Pack died, Grunt approached her with the biggest grin on his face. "That was fun, Shepard! They thought you'd missed, and BAM!"

"He crossed the line when he started threatening the turians," said Shepard, reloading her rifle. "And eating salarian eggs? That's just tasteless."

Grunt snickered a bit. "Heh heh... 'tasteless.'"

Shepard shook her head at his little joke. As big and powerful as he was, Grunt was just a kid. "Let's keep moving."

"Labs likely through there." Mordin pointed ahead. "Can smell antiseptic, hint of dead flesh."

"Smells lovely," said Garrus with his voice coated in sarcasm.

"Next time we should fight in a garden," Shepard quipped as they followed Mordin into the lab. "For once I'd like to stop and smell the roses in between killing."

"Never thought you're the romantic type," Miranda teased with a hint of smirk.

"I'm not," Shepard insisted. At least I wasn't. Maybe someone has rubbed off on me. "But sometimes I prefer the smell of roses over the metallic scent of gunshots."

"What are... roses?" asked Grunt.

"A type of flower from Earth," Shepard explained. "Beautiful, but it has thorns."

"Hmph. Thought it was some Earth delicacy. Never mind." The young krogan seemed disappointed. "Anyone else hungry? No?"

"We're surrounded by the smell of antiseptic and decayed flesh, and you're hungry..." Garrus gave him a sideways look. "Is there any smell that doesn't make you hungry?"

Grunt returned his look with a shrug. "I don't know yet."

"Active console. May contain useful data." Mordin approached and activated it. "Genetic sequences. Hormone mutagens still steady. Protein chains, live tissue, clones tissue. Very thorough." The professor nodded with approval. "Standard treatment vectors. Avoiding scorched-earth immunosuppressants to alter hormone levels. Good. Hate to see that."

Garrus studied the salarian. "You know, most people wouldn't be so causal about developing a sterility plague."

"Not developing. Modifying," Mordin clarified. "Much more difficult. Working with confines of existing genophage. A hundred times the complexity. Errors unacceptable. Could cause total sterility, malignant tumors. Could even reduce effectiveness. Worse than doing nothing. Had to keep krogan population stable. One in one thousand. Perfect target, optimal growth." He paused, then added, "Like gardening."

Shepard raised an eyebrow. However bizarre the analogy was, it actually made sense. "So you're working just as hard to keep the population from falling?"

"Yes." Mordin nodded, pleased that she understood. "Could have eradicated krogan. Not difficult. Increased mutation to degrade genetic structure further. Chose not to. Rachni extinction tragic. Didn't want to repeat. All life precious. Universe demands diversity."

The universe and a well-balanced team, Shepard thought.

"Commander," Miranda called out from an operating table on the other side of the lab. "They're testing on their females."

Mordin examined the datapad. "Dead krogan. Female. Tumors indicate experimentation. No restraint marks. Volunteer."

"Volunteer?" Shepard frowned.

"Sterile Weyrloc female willing to risk procedures. Hope for cure." He shook his head, his voice was full of pain. "Pointless. Pointless waste of life."

"You all right?" asked Shepard, concerned.

"Genophage affects fertility. Doesn't kill. Goal was to stabilize population. Never wanted this. Can see it logically... but still unnecessary. Foolish waste of life. Hate to see it." The professor slowly waved a hand above the body and whispered, "Rest, young mother. Find your gods. Find someplace better."

It was at the lowest level where they found their target. Yet, something didn't seem right.

"Maelon," Mordin breathed. "Alive. Unharmed."

The salarian was busy working in front of the consoles. He only bothered to spare them a quick glance before turning back to his work, all without acknowledging his old mentor.

"No signs of restraint," Mordin continued to observe as they approach. "No evidence of torture. Don't understand."

Maelon finally whipped around to face the older salarian. "For such a smart man, Professor, you always have trouble seeing evidence that disagreed with your preconceptions. How long will it take you to admit that I'm here because I wish to be here?"

"Maybe the Weyrloc brainwashed or drugged him to keep him under control," said Shepard.

"Unlikely," said Mordin. "Pupils normal. Body language consistent with standard metabolic state."

Maelon crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "Please, Professor. You wrote a paper on this. Forced behavior modification always results in mental degradation. Whether from Reaper indoctrination or drugs, test subjects always lose higher cognitive function."

"Not brainwashed or conditioned," Mordin agreed. "Need Maelon at peak capacity for work. Must be alternate source of coercion."

"Or maybe he wasn't kidnapped," said Miranda. "He came here voluntarily to cure the genophage."

Maelon nodded.

"Impossible," said Mordin. "Whole team agreed! Project necessary!"

"How was I supposed to disagree with the great Doctor Solus?" Maelon snorted. "I was your student! I looked up to you!"

"Experiment performed here. Live subjects! Prisoners! Torture and executions!" The professor's voice raised with each word. "Your doing?"

The protege didn't deny the accusation. "We've already got the blood of millions on our hands, Doctor. If it takes a bit more to put things right, I can deal with that."

Shepard was disgusted. "You honestly think the experiments you did here are justified?"

"We committed cultural genocide! Nothing I do will ever be justified!" said Maelon. "The experiments are monstrous... because I was taught to be a monster!"

Shepard glanced over at Mordin who looked gravely disappointed... and hurt.

"No. Never taught you this, Maelon," said the professor, shaking his head.

"So your hands are clean!" Maelon snorted in exasperation. "What does it matter if the ground is stained with the blood of millions?! You taught me that the end justified the means. I will undo what we did, Professor. The only way I know how."

"You talked about killing, but the genophage isn't lethal," Shepard pointed out. "It only affects fertility rates."

"Krogan fight over fertile females," Maelon argued. "They become mercenaries or pirates because they see no alternative! They would be thriving in a cultural renaissance now had we not decided that this is what they deserved!"

"Inaccurate," said Mordin. "Krogan population resulted in war. Simulations were clear!"

"What happens if the genophage is cured and the krogan expand again?" asked Shepard. "That will be on your head, Maelon!"

"We justified this atrocity by saying the krogan would cause havoc and war if their population recovered," Maelon countered. "But look at the galaxy! Batarian attacks in the Traverse, Geth attacks on the Citadel. Is this a more peaceful universe? The assault on your Eden Prime might never have happened if we had let the krogan recover. We'll never know."

"That's bullshit!" Shepard snapped. "How would a krogan population explosion have done anything to stop Saren and the Geth?"

"An increased krogan population would have forced the Council to take steps, likely involving colony rights in the Traverse. The turian fleets would be vigilant for any military activity in the area. They might have stopped the Geth at Eden Prime."

"Supposition," Mordin pointed out. "Impossible to be certain."

Shaking his head, Maelon took a step closer to his former mentor. "Don't you see? We tried to play god, and we failed! We only made things worse... and I'm going to fix it."

"Fix it?" Shepard scowled. "Do you even know what the Weyrloc's plan is? Torturing turians, destroying the Citadel, enslaving salarians!"

"And eat their eggs," Grunt added.

"The galaxy is far from peaceful," said Shepard. "The last thing we need is another war!"

Mordin announced suddenly, "Have to end this."

Maelon pulled out his pistol and aimed at them, shifting from Mordin to Shepard erratically as if he couldn't be sure who should go down first. "You can't face the truth, can you, Professor? Can't admit that your brilliant mind led you to commit an atrocity!"

To everyone's surprise, Mordin rushed forth and punched Maelon in his face then striped away his gun.

"Unacceptable experiments," said Mordin firmly, pinning the younger salarian against the consoles with the gun shoved right at his horrified face. "Unacceptable goals. Won't change. No choice." The professor paused then claimed in a quiet, calm voice, "Have to kill you."

"Wait!" Shepard called out. "You don't need to do this, Mordin. We just need to shut this place down. You're not a murderer!"

The hand on the pistol shook. The professor took a breath and gasped, as if waking up from a nightmare. "No. Not a murderer." He took a step back, his arms hanged on his sides. "Thank you, Shepard."

Maelon slumped against the console in relief.

"Finished, Maelon," Mordin ordered. "Project over."

Garrus asked, "What if he talks to more krogan, tells the public about the modified genophage project?"

The professor shook his head. "Special Tasks Group good at covering tracks. No proof. Weyrloc willingness to work with salarian unusual. Other krogan will kill him."

"We need to make sure he won't start his research again," said Miranda.

"Locking his unit. Special Tasks Group can cut access to old data." Mordin glanced at his former student. "Could start from scratch. Decades of work, though. Didn't teach you everything I knew."

"Where am I supposed to go, Professor?" asked Maelon, on the verge of tears.

"Don't care. Try Omega. Can always use another clinic."

"Take him back to the Normandy for now and keep an eye on him," Shepard whispered to her XO who merely arched at eyebrow at her suggestion but nodded. She then turned to the professor, "He can come with us, Mordin. You could use some help in your lab."

Mordin took a second to consider. "Might make a good member of the team. Willing to get his hands dirty."

"You're joining us on the Normandy, Maelon, and I'm not asking," Shepard told the young scientist. "The professor will decide if he wants to keep you as his assistant. If he doesn't want you around, we'll drop you off on Omega. Open a clinic there and save some lives." With a nod towards the door, Shepard signaled her team to escort their latest recruit out.

When she was alone with the professor, Shepard swore she heard the faintest sigh.

"Apologies, Commander," said Mordin as he approached Maelon's work consoles. His voice was calm and quiet, yet there was an unmistakable sadness to it. "Misunderstood mission parameters. No kidnapping. My mistake. Thank you."

"Don't worry about me, Mordin. How are you feeling?"

The professor looked up at the multiple screens above them, staring at the data his former student had been working on. "Disappointed. Experiments indicate how far he's fallen. Expected it from krogan. Not one of mine. Thought Maelon better than that. Never suspected he'd go so far." He shook his head, his shoulders slumped slightly. "Knew he was young, impressionable. Should have talked to him after. Gotten him through guilt."

Shepard took a few step closer. "You were dealing with guilt, too. It's easy to miss someone else's needs when you're in the middle of your own soul-searching."

"Went to Omega. Tried to get away. Should have stayed."

"Think about the lives you saved on Omega," said Shepard quietly. "Besides, now you have a chance to help him."

"Yes. Thank you." The professor took a deep breath, straightening his back. "Right, wrong, irrelevant. Maelon's research. Only loose end. Could destroy it. Closure, security." There was a pause. "Still valuable, though."

"If you think it could be useful, why not hang onto it?"

"Worked for years to create modified genophage. Should destroy this." He worked on one of the consoles. With a few keystrokes, all could be destroyed. Yet, the professor lingered. "Maelon's work could cure genophage. Don't know. Effects on krogan. Effects on galaxy. Too many variables. Too many variables!"

"The price has already been paid," said Shepard. "Deleting it won't undo any damage. Save the data, maybe we could do some good with it. Better to have it and not need it."

"Point taken, Shepard. Capturing data, wiping local copy." Mordin's hands worked fast on the console. "Still years away from cure. But closer than starting from scratch."

Shepard wondered if she would live long enough to see a cure.

"Done," Mordin announced. "Ready to go. Ready to be off Tuchanka. Anywhere else. Maybe somewhere sunny."

"Somewhere sunny sounds nice," Shepard agreed. "I could use a break on a sandy beach."

"Good idea. Sit on beach, look at ocean, collect seashells." The professor nodded. "Might run test on the seashells."

Shepard gave her salarian friend a smile. "Let's get out of here."

Location: Tuchanka, Clan Urdnot

"It's good that you saved the data," said Wrex after hearing the story.

"It's horrible down there, Wrex," said Shepard quietly. "The Weyrloc females who volunteered, the Urdnot scout who was tricked into thinking it's for your clan. And the humans they tested on..."

"That salarian came to me with his plan. I couldn't do it," said Wrex, shaing his head. "I want a cure, but that was wrong. Should have known someone else would take his offer."

"Whatever it is, it's done," said Garrus. "We can't undo the damage, but we have the data."

"What are you going to do with it?" asked Wrex.

"Mordin has it," Shepard told him. "He's putting it aside for now and focus the Collectors first."

"And if he destroyed it?" Wrex frowned.

"He won't," said Shepard. "He's too much of a scientist to let valuable data go down the drain."

Garrus added, "Besides, our Shepard has a copy."

Wrex nodded with a grin. "Of course she does."

"It may be years til we can find a cure, but it's a start," said Shepard.

"I've waited for centuries. I can wait for a decade or two," said Wrex. "Hell, if it works, I'll name my kid after you, Shepard."

"Urdnot Shepard for a boy, and Urdnot Aerin for a girl," Garrus mused. "Wonder if we'd live long enough to meet your namesake."

"Our lifetime won't be too long if we don't survive the suicide mission," Shepard kindly reminded her turian twin.

Wrex waved a hand. "You crawled back from the void, Shepard. If being spaced won't keep you down, nothing will."

"Let's hope you're right."

The krogan chief eyed her with a teasing grin. "What? Are you getting soft now, princess?

Princess... That brought her back to the good old days traveling with her now best friends. A smirk spread across Shepard's face. "Not as soft as you with your ass sitting on the throne, you fossil," she countered with an old insult she had used two years ago. "I killed a thresher maw yesterday. What have you killed lately?"

"Come on, Shepard, give him a break," said Garrus. "He's old. He probably doesn't even remember how to shoot a gun."

The krogan chief boomed in laughter and pushed himself off his throne. "All right, that's it! Let's go find a thresher maw. Let Uncle Urdnot show you how it's done!"

A/N: Not all loyalty missions will be featured, only those that are relevant to the plot in ME3 will be written, or else this story will go to 50+ chapters.

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