Shepard and Harry were accompanied by Miranda and Jacob when they docked at Omega.
The place was a disgusting tip. Worse than any part of the Wards.
The first thing they came across was a batarian named Fargut who ran off a salarian trying to con them.
"Welcome to Omega… Shepard."
"My identity isn't really a secret." Shepard frowned. "You don't need to seem so smug about recognising me. Or did you want an autograph?"
The batarian grunted in displeasure. "Aria wants to know what brings a dead Spectre to Omega. I suggest you go to Afterlife now and present yourself."
"Present ourselves? What is she, royalty?" Harry scoffed.
"She is Omega's Queen, her word is law." Fargut growled menacingly.
"It doesn't matter." Shepard stepped between them. "She might have some good intel."
Shepard led the group, which included a sulking Harry, to the club known as 'Afterlife': Aria's seat of power.
"I thought all the batarian slavers and pirates were incapacitated when y- the Emissary activated their slave chips." Shepard quietly spoke to Harry as they walked.
"Yeah, but most pirates and the like are able to pay to have the chips removed. Sometimes they would even pay the Hegemony."
As they made it past the bouncers at the club's entrance Harry began to grumble. "This is insulting." He muttered to Shepard. "We've just saved you from dying and here you are still entering the Afterlife!"
"The universe loves irony, Harry." Shepard chuckled.
"I bet the Illusive Man took great pleasure in putting Omega on the list of places to recruit people." Harry pouted.
They made it to Aria's private area when they were stopped by more batarians who tried to scan them.
Harry was in a fairly petulant mood and tossed the one with the scanner to the floor, holding him beneath his armoured boot.
They were instantly staring down the barrels of several weapons.
"Harry." Shepard sighed.
"I'm sorry Shepard, but I don't like being scanned without my permission. I definitely don't like having to put up with this stuck up little asari." He glared at Aria.
"I'd put a leash on your little boy Shepard." Aria said calmly. "He has a disease of the mouth and I'd hate to have to put him down for it."
"You really think I'd walk into a place like this and only neutralise one of the people with weapons?" Harry snorted.
Harry stalked up to Aria to the sounds of triggers being pulled.
Miranda and Jacob were shocked when nothing happened.
Aria suddenly found herself staring cross-eyed at the point of a very sharp sword.
"My blade is poisoned. There is no cure." He quickly moved it to her padded shoulders. The material began to melt and Aria scooted away in fright.
"There is only one rule on Omega." She hissed angrily as she slowly stood up. "Don't. Fuck. With. Aria."
She raised her hands… but nothing happened.
Her biotics weren't there.
"Can you guess what my rule is?" Harry asked with a small smirk. "'Kill the fools and save the innocent.'
"You are no innocent… but are you a fool?" Harry asked as he calmly sat down. "Now bring us some drinks and we will talk calmly and civilly."
"I will kill you! I will parade your-"
Aria was suddenly caught in a stasis field, unable to talk or move.
"Someone bring us drinks." He waved a dismissive hand at the batarians. "You two; go find that mercenary you wanted to hire." He ordered Miranda and Jacob.
"You heard him." Shepard said quickly when Miranda went to object.
The pair reluctantly left.
"The rest of you can wait outside." Harry instructed the various guards and patrons in the private area.
None of them were willing to take on someone who had managed to disable their guns and Aria's biotics.
Soon, only Shepard, Harry and an immobile Aria were left.
Harry quickly set up some privacy wards. "It's secure."
"Do we even have the resources to takeover an entire space station?" Shepard asked as he looked over the club through the windows.
"Of course. We have Aria." Harry grinned.
"She doesn't seem very… cooperative." Shepard noted the hateful look she was giving them.
"That's because she doesn't realise the odds are so heavily stacked against her." Harry shrugged.
Harry released Aria and she immediately lunged for him only for Shepard to twist her arm behind her back and hold her still by the neck.
There was a horrible crack as Aria screamed.
"Damn… I broke her arm." Shepard winced.
Harry rolled his eyes and leaned forward, waving his hand over the now useless arm as Shepard carefully grabbed the other one.
"Shepard, why don't you properly introduce me?" Harry said. "Oh, and you didn't just break it… you crushed it."
Shepard felt a bit guilty about that but pushed it aside. "Aria, meet Harry Potter, otherwise known as 'The Emissary'. Leader of the geth, the Quarians of Rannoch and the Free People of Bataria, Krogan Chief of Clan Gatatog and Clan Weyrloc."
Despite the pain, Aria was able to process that and actually went pale.
"You never had a chance, girl." Harry shook his head as he began healing the arm with magic. He gave Shepard a nod and he released her.
"Now, I have no problem with how you came to power on this station. You defeated a powerful krogan at his own games. I also have no quarrel with how you maintain your power over various threats.
"What I do not like is the fact that you actively engage and allow crime on Omega. Whilst you don't participate in slavery yourself, you turn a blind eye to it.
"If you want to remain my figurehead here, you will follow my rules."
Aria was a smart woman.
But she was nearing the Matriarch stage and had become comfortable in her position.
She was torn between the fear of the human who had eliminated the Hegemony in a day and contempt for the male who was a fraction of her age.
"You really think I will just roll over for you?" She sneered.
Harry just smiled, he could see the fear.
"No, I expect that you might try something." He shook his head. "But just remember, I have two whole clans of krogans to call on. I am favoured by the Krogan Overlord." He stood up and leaned into her face. "And I took out a thresher maw with nothing but my sword."
Harry spun away quickly, causing Aria to flinch.
He sat down and adopted a lazy pose on Aria's couch. "Take a seat. We have a lot to discuss." Harry instructed.
"I'd rather stand." She said stiffly, the nervousness was clear though.
"As you want." Harry shrugged. "The rules are very simple. You will still run Omega but you answer to me. You can live the life of luxury if you want it but you won't be doing so off the backs of the innocent.
"Mercenary groups are permitted on Omega as long as they don't commit crimes. You will be responsible for turning Omega into paradise, one you are to defend with an iron fist. Your subjects, Queen Aria, will be treated like beloved family.
"Patriarch is now your military and law enforcement leader. He has agreed not to try and stab you in the back. Mainly because I threatened to deal with him."
"That traitor!" Aria hissed angrily.
"Don't be such a hypocrite." Harry rolled his eyes. "You betrayed him first."
"How do you expect me to turn this dump into paradise?" She sneered.
"With help." Harry said pointedly. "Some of my clans will be coming to work as law enforcement until peace and stability is settled. The geth will work on bringing the station up to code with the quarians. Clean up and refurbishment will be accomplished by teams of geth, quarians and batarians."
"And each one of them will be watching me to make sure I don't turn on you." She guessed.
"Of course not." Harry snorted. "Aside from the geth and krogan, none of them will really be fighters. The krogan will stomp on any criminals and the geth will ensure everyone's safety. If you turn on me I'll just come back and deal with you myself.
"This could be a very good opportunity for you, Aria." Harry reasoned. "This is a chance for you to live like a queen and not have to watch your back all the time. My people are completely loyal to me. The geth and I are one, the krogan respect my strength, the quarians love me and the geth for their cure and the batarians love me for freeing them.
"As long as you follow these very simple rules you can live a life of luxury."
"So I am just going to be a trophy?" She said in disgust.
"You can mete out justice personally if you want. Just make sure the punishment fits the crime. You can go and bust up heads in the bar or put the fear of Aria into mercenaries. I'm just saying you won't have to if you don't want to."
"But I still belong to you."
Harry shot up angrily and was inches away from her. "I don't own anybody!" He snarled. "If you want to leave, fine. Leave; take your personal belongings and go wherever you want. Our paths need never cross again."
"Fine, but you've damaged my power base with your little display." She sulked.
"Call all the people who were here back in." Harry said calmly. "I'll alter their memories. Only the three of us and the two Cerberus Agents will remember what happened."
Aria frowned but leaned out of the doorway and said a few words to her guard.
Very shortly they were all nervously assembled. Harry waved his hand and removed their memories; it was as if they had never seen Harry and Shepard enter.
"Hold!" Aria said loudly as one of the guards went grab Shepard. "They're cleared." She stated.
"But-"
"Just watch the doors and make sure we aren't disturbed." She ordered.
The guard looked unsure, but nodded and redirected the others.
"Good work." Harry nodded. "Just so you know, I have secured this couch with my powers. You can hold private conversations and no one will be able to tell what you are talking about."
"Fine. Is this the only reason you came to my station? To claim it?" She demanded.
"Fringe benefit. I have friends here and I want them to be able to enjoy life. Other friends have been trying to clean up the crime.
"Now, Shepard has questions. You might have the answers or at least helpful information." Harry stood up and moved to the side of the couch.
"We came for three people. A mercenary named Zaeed Massani, a doctor called Mordin Solus and Archangel. What do you know and where can we find them?" Shepard asked in a professional manner.
Aria rolled her eyes. "Whilst Zaeed is here on business and has very little influence on Omega, Mordin and Archangel are two of the main forces for trying to clean the place up.
"If you take them then you will be removing the resources needed to move forward with your plans for the place."
"I'll make sure they aren't missed. The krogan I am sending will pick up the slack for Archangel and the geth are excellent at medicine." Harry promised.
"Fine. I heard that Massani had caught his target. You will probably find him around the docks. Mordin is trapped in the Gozu District. The area has been quarantined due to a plague that affects everyone except humans and vorcha.
"He is very dedicated and won't be easy to convince to leave his clinic.
"Archangel is holed up in the Kima District. The various mercenary groups got fed up with him interfering with their business and have finally cornered him. I'd deal with him first if you want him alive."
"Can you make sure station security knows not to impede us?" Shepard asked.
"Fine." She said tiredly. "Though I doubt they would slow you down."
"Your drinks." A salarian waiter said as he entered the area.
"Excellent!" Harry grinned. He picked up a glass and saluted her. "To your continued health and prosperity." He then downed it in one shot. "Because if you attempt to poison me again… you'll have neither." He smiled dangerously.
The small smile that had been creeping onto Aria's lips vanished and her eyes widened.
"It doesn't actually taste that bad." Shepard mused as he sniffed his empty glass. "I'll have to get some for the bar in my quarters."
"See you later, Aria." Harry said as he stood and walked jauntily off with Shepard in tow.
Once they were a safe distance away Shepard turned to Harry as they walked. "Will the nanites be able to handle all forms of poison?"
"Poison, yes. Things like acid are another matter." Harry grimaced. "They can stop it and eventually reverse the damage but they can't stop the initial corrosion."
"So drinking poison is fine, acid is asking for trouble." Shepard nodded.
"So, Archangel first?" Harry asked.
"Like you said, he'd be upset if we didn't pick him up first." Shepard chuckled. "Looks like those two found their mercenary. What's your opinion on using him?" He asked as they approached the table where they were sitting.
"Let's be blunt. Save subtlety for the enemy." Harry said thoughtfully.
"Blunt it is." Shepard nodded. The two sat down at the table. "Zaeed Massani, co-founder of the Blue Suns 'Private Security Group'. Most of your group's actions have been of a criminal nature, including attacking Alliance vessels and kidnapping-"
"All done after that bastard Vido tried to kill me." Zaeed interrupted. "I had nothing to do with that. I fought with the Alliance during the First Contact War." He spat. "Vido wanted to hire batarians… god damned slavers."
Shepard looked to Harry.
"Good enough for me." Harry shrugged.
Shepard nodded and turned back to the Zaeed. "We are about to head off to try and recruit Archangel. He's holding off a bunch of mercenary groups that are unhappy with his interference in their crimes. Blue Suns is among them. You can come with us or you can head to the Normandy and settle in."
"My Blue Suns are long dead." Zaeed stated in his South African accent. "I just want to avenge them by putting these imposters down and the man who betrayed me." He growled. "Cerberus said you'd help with that."
Shepard and Harry looked at Miranda and Jacob with disappointment.
"Well that little titbit wasn't in the dossiers." Harry said dryly. "Is this going to be the case for all of your candidates?"
"A certain quid pro quo is required to ensure the services of some of our recommendations." Miranda admitted uneasily.
"Mr. Massani, I cannot promise to help you. My mission involves saving billions of lives, including your own. If it is possible, we will help though." Shepard assured him.
Zaeed seemed torn. The man was clearly set on revenge.
"Fine. Sounds like you might be able to get me close enough to my goal. I'll stay on until your mission is finished or I see an opportunity I can't pass up." Zaeed nodded.
Harry resisted the urge to comment on the old man's priorities.
"Then let's go meet Archangel." Shepard declared as he stood.
"We might have a way of gaining intelligence and taking out some of the mercenaries." Miranda offered. "The room over there holds a recruiting officer for the Blue Suns. They are looking for… cannon fodder to throw at Archangel." She said with a grimace.
"You three do that. I'll head straight to Archangel and warn him of your arrival." Harry agreed.
"The mercs have the whole district sealed off." Jacob warned. "It will be nearly impossible to get in undetected."
"Nearly impossible is not the same as impossible." Harry smiled. "After all, I did sneak onto your ship."
Harry hadn't bothered with shuttles or walking. He had cast a disillusionment charm on a broomstick from Diagon Alley he kept in a small, expanded bag and then activated his cloak before flying towards the Kima District.
It wasn't hard to find Archangel as he just had to follow the mercenaries who were all heading towards him.
Harry landed on the second floor through an open window that looked over a bridge that acted as a bottle neck for the approaching mercs.
The blue clad Archangel could have passed for one of the Blue Suns if weren't for the fact that he was frequently sniping their heads off.
"Didn't you have a team?"
Archangel jumped, his sniper rifle swinging round to aim at the new voice.
"Spirits Harry!" Archangel snapped as he retracted his helmet to reveal Garrus Vakarian. "I've been holed up in here for days and you choose creeping up on me as a way of saying 'Hi'?" He demanded.
"Sorry, sorry." Harry said apologetically. "But seriously, you had a team, right?"
"Had a team. It is a very long and depressing story that I have been trying not to remember. I've just been trying to survive until you or Shepard came."
"Well Shepard is on his way. He's 'joining up' with the mercenaries." He said with air-quotes.
"I guess we could use more intel." Garrus nodded. He then turned to Harry and grinned. "So, am I the first?"
"First choice. We met Tali and Shiala but they are on their mission. We had to deal with Aria so we sent off the Cerberus gits to get their mercenary.
"After we've cleaned up here we need to get Mordin Solus, then we have a whole bunch of unsavoury people to find." He grimaced.
"Just how bad are we talking? Garrus frowned.
"One of them is psychotic murderer with extremely powerful biotics."
"As powerful as yours?"
"As powerful as Benezia's."
"Spirits! Why hasn't this murderer been put down?"
"Because she is being held on Purgatory. You know how that place works, right?" He asked.
"I do. They get paid for holding the worst the galaxy has to offer. If people don't pay they get sent a prisoner as a reminder of why Purgatory exists." Garrus scowled.
"Right. I have plans for the place."
"You have plans for everything." Garrus said dismissively. "So, how's Tali?" He grinned.
"My fiancée is fine, thank you." Harry said pointedly.
"I love that word: fiancée." He chuckled. "I'm going to make it a point to try and get turians to adopt it.
"And what is the Emissary currently up to?" Garrus changed topics.
"Sitting in a meeting being very bored as he listens to the Dalatrass try to convince him to release more geth and Reaper tech."
"She actually believes you about the Reapers?" Garrus asked.
"Possibly, but she is towing the party line. I am just reminding her that as Sovereign was a heretic invention, there was no 'Reaper tech'."
Harry paused. "Oh… wait… subtle threat and a warning that a lack of cooperation now could see problems for me later."
"I still don't know how you manage to be essentially be in two places at once without going mad." Garrus sighed at his shorter, human friend.
"Neither do I. It is just second nature. I don't even know if Shepard could do it." Harry admitted.
"I know I couldn't." Garrus said. "Maybe it is part of the Reaper tech you have in you."
"Possible. If you think me being here and at the Citadel is weird, remember that I have complete control of the Dog Star and a custom Stingray that is en route to us here at Omega."
"We need to move off this topic." Garrus shuddered. "Listen, I've set up a whole lot of your biotic mines downstairs along with some weapon disrupters. Would you take a look and see what you can improve? I can't leave as the next wave might be here soon."
Shepard and his team had made their way through the mercenary camps, talking to the leaders, sabotaging a few things here and there and assassinating the occasional mechanic trying to fix a gunship.
They had just reached the barricade where the next wave of canon fodder was just climbing over when three of them lost their heads.
In the literal sense.
Shepard tried not smile as he observed the usually perfectly quaffed Miranda Lawson covered in blood, hair, bone and brains.
He had a feeling Harry had planned that.
"Damn! How did he manage that?" One of Blue Suns mercs muttered.
"What?" Zaeed asked. "It's not a hard shot to make. Can't be more than a few hundred metres."
"There's only one of him and he took out three people simultaneously." The merc said in awe.
"He has a point." Jacob frowned. "Potter might have made it up there but that still leaves one shooter unaccounted for. All the mercs are sure that Archangel was alone."
"Harry probably has a trick he pulled out." Shepard seemed unconcerned.
"But what if that third shooter isn't with them and takes a few shots at us?" Jacob pressed.
"Unlikely."
"What's life without a bit 'a risk?" Zaeed laughed as he pulled his gun.
"Retirement." Shepard shuddered.
Zaeed paused and then scowled. "Shit… now I don't know what I'll do with my pay for this job."
"You can figure it out later." Shepard said as he pulled his assault rifle. "For now we need to go and meet the Archangel of Omega."
A shot whizzed past their heads and took out the Eclipse leader who was several metres behind them. A salarian named Jaroth. The shot had to have travelled through a small set of crisscross beams that made up the doorway of the corridor over the barricade.
"Ok… now that was impressive." Zaeed nodded with wide eyes.
As Shepard and the others mounted the barricade several more members of the new and exclusive merc group known as 'Canon Fodder' were taken out with headshots.
Shepard just sighed and began shooting the canon fodder in the back. He knew Wrex wouldn't approve but he couldn't be bothered to waste time.
The team quickly made it to the building and headed up the stairs.
They found Harry and Garrus staring down the sights of a pair of sniper rifles whilst a third was setup on some kind of tripod.
"Pull up a sniper rifle, Shepard." Garrus called out just before taking another shot. "I take it you saw Harry's work of art with Jaroth?"
"The kid did that?" Zaeed asked in disbelief.
"He cheats, but you can't deny his style."
"How the hell could he cheat?"
"Because he isn't completely organic. He has computer sights built into his eyes."
"Doesn't matter." Zaeed said dismissively. "Your visor has that too."
"True." Garrus allowed, never looking away from his scope. "How many more are there?" He asked.
"Ah… one second." Shepard said as he activated his omni-tool.
There was a series of heavy explosions that rocked the whole area.
Smoke and fire billowed out of the corridor across the bridge.
"Whoa… so much for subtlety." Garrus said as he stood up. "How did you manage that?"
"They had a gunship, a YMIR mech and a few LOKI mechs. I hacked them and rigged them to blow."
"You could have caused a hull breach." Miranda said disapprovingly.
"Unlikely. I checked my calculations a few times." Shepard said clearly unconcerned. Especially as the geth had also checked them.
"Damn it's good to see you up again, Shepard." Garrus smiled as he clasped hands with the Spectre. "But I suppose you needed the extra beauty sleep. The women just wouldn't look past me otherwise." He said proudly.
"And yet we have never seen you in the company of a female whilst, Shepard has a girlfriend." Harry said musingly.
Shepard turned to Garrus and gave him a look of amused askance.
"Chance would be nice." The turian grumbled. "If I'm not running suicide missions with you, I'm doing them on my own."
"You suck at suicide missions." Harry scowled. "I have yet to see you actually die. At least Shepard and myself have one a piece."
"I think you have three, Harry." Shepard said as he thought about it.
"Merlin… someone change the subject quick." Harry shivered. "Miranda! New fashion trend?" He asked the gore covered brunette.
Her glare could have made hardened marines cry.
"Pack it up Garrus. We've still got to get Mordin Solus before we head off to the next planet." Shepard ordered as he tried to prevent a war on a new front.
"So it's like that is it?" Garrus asked with mock annoyance. "You dance in without warning, blow up the people trying to kill me and expect me to drop everything and follow you?"
"If you want to stay-"
"Hell no! Give me five minutes." Garrus said worriedly as he grabbed Harry by the shoulder and dragged him off to help pack.
"I told you to get lost, lady! The plague has the whole place quarantined. Nobody gets in."
Shepard and his team approached the human woman arguing with the turian guard.
"I'm human, you ass! Humans can't get the plague! Now let me get my stuff out before the looters get it!" The woman demanded impatiently.
"This thing infects every other species out there! We're not taking any chances. Nobody gets in until the plague has run its course." The turian said firmly.
"Makes sense." Shepard said calmly as they reached them. "Besides, once you go in you couldn't come out. You may not be susceptible to infection but we don't know if you could be a carrier, or if it can travel on clothes."
"Fine! Let me in and I'll stay in!" She said in exasperation.
"Lady, listen, you don't want to do that." The guard said with concern. "Food is limited, the mercs are running rampant and killing everything… especially humans. They're blaming humans for the plague because they aren't affected."
"I-"
"Leave. Now." Zaeed snarled as he got in the woman's face with his Avenger Assault Rifle.
The woman gulped and ran off quickly.
"Was that really necessary?" Garrus asked, though he wasn't disapproving.
Zaeed shrugged. "Just taking a page from Shepard's book."
"You've only known him a few hours." Garrus said with a small smile.
"And he already saved your scaly hide." Zaeed smirked. "There was some whipper-snapper… had a second hand pistol and a strong compulsion to make a man of himself through suicide. Shepard put him straight."
"You're Captain Shepard?" The guard asked suddenly. "Aria sent word you'd probably want in. Are you sure that you want to go in though?" He asked Garrus.
"What's life without a little risk?" Garrus shrugged.
Shepard smirked at Zaeed as the older man shuddered.
The trip through the Gozu District was not boring. Blue Suns mercs and Blood Pack mercs were battling it out and Harry was getting fed up with it all.
The group was currently pinned down by a group of over powered Blood Pack vorcha and krogan.
Garrus and Harry were stuck behind a couple of pillars on the ground floor whilst the others were taking cover on the balcony above.
"Hey, Garrus, have you ever seen a rhinoceros?" Harry grinned.
"A what?"
Harry waved his hand at an array of benches behind them.
Garrus' eyes widened in shock and awe as they were transformed into large beasts with very pointy horns.
He watched as the large beasts angrily stormed towards the Blood Pack.
Many vorcha were stampeded to death whilst two krogan were impaled. The third krogan was taken out by a sniper round from Shepard above them.
"Bloody 'ell!" Zaeed shouted in amazement. "Who brought a pair of bloody rhinos to a space station?" He asked as the team hopped over the balcony to the ground floor.
"Rhinos are extinct. They have been for fifty years." Miranda frowned.
"Score one for cloning?" Harry offered.
"But where did they come from? There aren't any cages back there." Jacob indicated the area under the balcony.
"Maybe one of the mercs accidentally set them free." Harry shrugged.
"But-"
"It is not important." Shepard interrupted. He was fairly certain that Harry couldn't bluff his way out of this one. "We need to find the Professor and get back to the mission."
"Yes Captain." Jacob said as professionally as he could. It was clear this was still bugging him.
As they edged their way past the now calmer animals Zaeed could be heard to mutter: "Bloody beautiful."
They managed to make it to the clinic without any further major battles. There were one or two mercs but Harry dealt with them stealthily.
Their target, an aging salarian named Professor Mordin Solus, was dressed in white armour that almost looked like a lab coat. "Hmm, don't recognise you from the area. Too well armed to be refugees. No mercenary uniform. Quarantine still in effect. Ah, Captain Shepard."
Then he noticed Jacob, and Miranda. "Cerberus operatives? Here to check on progress of plague? No, Captain Shepard would not be part of that.
"Travelling with former Blue Sun merc." He added as noticed Zaeed.
"Additional unknown entity.
"But why?"
The professor spoke quickly and mostly to himself.
"Got a mission and your expertise is needed." Harry shrugged.
"Assertive, yet seemingly apathetic. Façade to put others off guard."
"Do you mind not giving away all my secrets?" Harry requested irritably.
"Apologies." Mordin said sincerely. "Cannot leave clinic. Needed here to deal with plague. Have developed cure, now-"
"How do you intend to disperse the cure?" Harry interrupted. It was clear the Professor loved to talk… about nearly nothing.
"Airborne, entered into life support systems and dispersed through air supply."
"Give it here and I will go and deal with that." Harry sighed.
"Single combatant? Suicide!" Mordin gasped.
"Assumptions! Deadly." Harry said mockingly.
Mordin took a step back in shock. "True, True. Still, odds better if attempted by group." He eventually nodded before handing a large aerosol canister to Harry.
"Not if they are spotted." Harry smirked before vanishing from view.
"Impressive cloaking technology. No shimmer or outline." Mordin said. "If your ally is successful will gladly help. Hope he is willing to discuss his technology.
"But there is one more thing."
"There always is." Garrus chuckled.
Mordin frowned at the turian. "Cannot leave clinic unattended. Have patients, responsibilities. But my assistant, Daniel. He can cover my work. Went into Vorcha territory looking for victims. Hasn't come back yet."
"We can find him. You keep your patients alive for now, Doctor." Shepard promised.
Harry found that the vorcha were pretty hard to kill.
Although like most creatures, decapitation was hard to beat.
His idle musings led the geth to inform him that yes, he would survive decapitation.
Strangely it did not make Harry any happier.
The vorcha, whilst having an impressive regenerative ability, were about as dumb as a post.
Like any bad guy they loved to rant and monologue.
They just used fewer words, bad grammar and got straight to the point.
The Collectors had bargained with the vorcha, the Collectors promised to make the vorcha stronger if they released the plague.
Of course Harry had released the cure long before he started picking off the vorcha and he only did that when they tried to shut down life support.
When there was only one left he had taunted it. Like most bad guys it had gotten angry and revealed everything.
With the vorcha dealt with he headed back to the clinic where he discovered the team waiting patiently as Mordin packed his gear.
"All sorted. The Collectors told the vorcha they would help them if the vorcha released the plague." He explained.
"But why Omega?" Mordin mused. "Too small to have any real impact. Too far from Citadel to successfully transmit-"
"How about a testing ground?" Harry suggested.
"Yes! A test run. Omega is isolated. Close to being a sealed environment. Would provide ample data for-"
"We get it Doc." Harry interrupted again. "We're all smart enough to follow the clues." Then he looked at Garrus. "Well, most of us are."
Garrus pushed off of the wall he was leaning against and stalked towards Harry. "Your bodyguard's not here to protect you now, Potter." He grinned.
Harry squeaked and vanished.
"I will get you!" Garrus shouted to the air.
"Very impressive. No sign of spatial distortion, temperature change or electromagnetic differential. Almost as if… he isn't there." Mordin mused as he examined his omni-tool.
"Come on, let's get back to the ship." Shepard ordered. "Daniel, those LOKI mechs have geth programs in them now. They can communicate with you but in a day or so there will be a squad of geth guards coming and some medical platforms. They will help you around the clinic."
"Geth?" The young doctor asked nervously.
"We look forward to working with Daniel Doctor." One of the mechs piped up.
The doctor looked very pale.
Whilst this was happening, Harry, who had apparated back to the ship, was interrogating the ships AI in the cockpit with Joker.
"Do you have emotions?" Harry asked curiously.
"Digital life forms are incapable of experiencing emotions." EDI responded.
"Well, that isn't entirely true." Harry said. "You have emotions you just need to figure out what they are and how you express them."
"That programming has not been included in my structure."
"Why is Cerberus so insistent on you being here anyway?" Joker asked. "Most of the Citadel is still wary of the geth and they are all over the place."
"I was made with Reaper tech. I have a distinct advantage over-"
EDI never finished as Harry's eyes glowed as he and several thousand geth poured into the ships systems.
"Harry?" Joker whispered as he looked back into the main area of the ship to make sure they weren't seen. "What's happening?"
When Harry didn't respond he opened a line to Shepard. "Commander- Sorry, Captain, you should get back soon. There is something you need to hear."
"We are almost there Joker."
"Make it quick or Harry might just do something stupid." He said worriedly.
"Understood."
Joker quickly looked around, no one was paying any attention to him and Harry so he decided to find out what was happening. "Hey, geth, what's happening to Harry?" He whispered.
Joker was relieved to hear the voice of the geth in his head. "Harry has taken direct action against the Artificial Intelligence known as EDI. He needed to determine whether the Reaper tech was a threat. This has been proven to not be the case. A full server of geth are currently using Harry's brain as a router and testing EDI for signs of life. Whilst EDI does not yet comply with known specifications, it does have the capability. Harry is implanting commands to prevent EDI from revealing the truth about him."
"Well he needs to hurry back or Shepard will be here with the Cerberus goons."
"Acknowledged. We will dedicate more programs to relieve Harry."
Harry suddenly shook in his seat. "Bloody hell!" He winced as he waved a hand at his head.
"What was that?" Joker pointed to his hand.
"Cooling charm. I've got several million geth using my head as a router and my brain is starting to overheat."
At that moment the air lock cycled and Shepard and his team stepped through.
"Joker, what's the emergency?" Shepard asked immediately.
"EDI here is apparently made with Reaper tech." Joker frowned.
Shepard spun around to face Miranda. "In what possible way is it a good idea to play with Reaper tech?" He demanded.
"We are not fools, Captain." She said patronisingly. "We made sure only to use benign parts of the code."
"Then you are fools." Harry countered. "Because you just admitted that you experimented with non-benign parts. You put the entire galaxy at risk."
"Thanks for that." Joker gave her a wink.
"EDI is fully shackled. She is incapable of doing anything except what we tell her too." Miranda argued.
"So you created life and made it a slave. Bravo." Harry clapped sarcastically.
"AI's; not considered true life." Mordin reasoned. "Created for servitude."
"And if I created salarians in a test tube for the sole purpose of serving me, would that be ethical?" Harry asked.
"Completely immoral. Also completely unrelated to current topic of AI enslavement."
"Why is it different? Because AI's aren't an organic intelligence?" Garrus asked curiously. "What if all the AI's got together and decided that organics were meant to serve them? Who would we be to argue?"
"We have free will. True and natural intelligence. We are superior."
"And yet, the Reapers say otherwise." Shepard pointed out calmly. "Harry, can you check out EDI? Make sure she isn't going to try to indoctrinate us?"
"I'm on it." Harry said as he stood and headed for the lift.
"Joker, set course for the Hourglass Nebula, Osun System. We're going to Purgatory to pick up a psychotic killer." He said, not really believing his own words.
"Erm, sir? I'd like to be issued a side arm for the rest of this mission!" He called after the retreating Spectre.
Harry had no intention of going to the AI Core room. You had to access it via the Med Bay and Harry didn't want anything to do with the Cerberus Doctor. He had no record of ever serving with the Alliance and he wasn't going to let Cerberus near his body.
Instead he headed down to the storage area below Engineering. He warded the place and then set up a magical tent he had in his pack. He was now all set for when Tali and Shiala joined them.
With that accomplished he headed up to the Tech Lab where he found Shepard talking with Mordin Solus.
"Ah, Potter. Hoped to talk to you. Very interested in clo-" *THWACK*
"Jesus, Harry!" Shepard swore as he pulled the angry wizard away from the clearly dazed salarian. "What the hell was that for?"
Harry glared hatefully at the salarian who was woozily pulling himself to his feet.
"Captain John Shepard, Saviour of the Citadel, meet Professor Mordin Solus, one of the architects of the genophage."
"Harry, the genophage was created hundreds of years ago. Mordin wasn't even born." Shepard argued.
"The krogan began to adapt. The Doctor here was responsible for modifying the strain so it would be just as potent. He's just as culpable."
"Oh… well, save it till after the mission." Shepard said slowly. "And try and keep Wrex away from him."
"Foolish, short-sighted humans." Mordin sighed. "Genophage was a necessary action. Krogan-"
"The genophage was a crime against all life." Harry sneered. "I know why you did it. To quell the rising krogan population. I've got no argument with you for trying to slow them down."
Harry suddenly vanished and reappeared inches from Mordin. "What I have a problem with is that the salarians didn't make krogans sterile, no. They murdered the innocent children. That is what disgusts me."
"What do you mean?" Shepard asked curiously.
Harry stepped back from Mordin and looked at Shepard thoughtfully. "Imagine a prophylactic; it prevents conception. No life was created therefore there was nothing to die.
"But what those bastards did was make it so that the womb of the krogan female would kill her own child." Harry spat. "I've been to Tuchanka. I've seen the mountains of dead krogan children who suffered."
"Was never meant to be used." Mordin said quietly. Sadly.
"What?" Harry asked as he spun around.
"The genophage." Mordin spoke softly, more slowly than usual as he slumped into a chair. "It was designed as a deterrent. A weapon of mass destruction to threaten the krogan with."
"What happened?" Shepard asked quietly.
Mordin snorted in derision. "What do you think? Superiors overruled. Turians, actually. They unleashed the genophage."
Mordin sighed as he leaned back tiredly. "Combination of ego and wishful thinking. Ego made us physically create it beyond the theoretical designs. Wishful thinking made us believe it would never be used… that the galaxy was smarter… more caring."
"Why the hell would you even think of allowing something that would kill babies to continue?" Harry asked with disgust, but much calmer now.
"Own short-sightedness, didn't understand, never been a father." Mordin waved a hand dismissively. "Was much younger back then."
"Well, the geth have 'neutered' your genophage." Harry smirked.
Mordin was instantly on his feet and alert. "Explain!"
"They used nanites to protect the foetuses and make sure that the genophage isn't passed on to the next generation. Right now there are over one hundred krogan babies on Tuchanka… most of them are called Harry or Geth." He frowned.
"This is terrible! Council must be alerted!" Mordin began to pace.
"Why?" Harry asked calmly.
"Krogan numbers will swell exponentially! They will move across galaxy like plague!"
"Why?"
Mordin stopped and looked at Harry curiously. "I do not understand."
"Why would the krogan want to move across the galaxy like a plague?"
"They will need resources. Planets, food… everything! They are untameable."
"For you maybe." Harry smirked again.
Mordin looked worried. "Geth have 'tamed' krogan?"
"No, krogan have 'tamed' krogan." Harry rolled his eyes. "When you idiot salarians first 'uplifted' the krogan you didn't help them establish a culture or a government. You just expected them to be so grateful to you that they would do as you say.
"The geth, however, have ensured that there is a solid krogan leader. They are working to restore the ruins of Tuchanka. There is a law enforcement clan made up of krogan.
"Also, you haven't figured out the most important part." Harry walked calmly towards Mordin who began looking nervous. "I said there were around a hundred babies. Doesn't that seem odd to you?"
Mordin thought for a mere second. "You stunted krogan fertility!" He said in awe.
"Harry?" Shepard asked.
Harry turned to Shepard and explained. "The krogan should have thousands of babies by now if the genophage was cured. Those guys literally breed like bunnies." He snorted. He turned back to Mordin. "And no, we didn't 'stunt' it. We programmed the nanites to act as a prophylactic. We spoke with Wrex and the females to work out a plan."
Harry laughed in memory. "Wrex practically begged me to reactivate prophylactic function of the nanites a week after the first batch of babies were born. He was so tired and harried from having to deal with crying babies and hormonal mothers."
"Salarians never had nanite technology. Quarians were first to create true AI. Never would have been able to take that route. Genophage was still only viable option." Mordin said sadly.
"Bullshit." Harry said calmly. "None of the salarians or turians… or even the asari attempted to find factions of krogan that could understand things from your point of view.
"You could have used them to try to reason with the Rebellion.
"But the single fact remains: You people should never have created something to kill innocent babies. And you shouldn't have allowed it to continue."
"Try thinking about it this way:" Shepard offered. "Imagine if there were mountains of salarian babies instead of krogan babies."
Mordin looked thoughtful.
Shepard gently guided Harry out of the room. Once they were out the room he quietly turned to his younger friend.
"Are you going to have any further problems with Mordin?"
"No." Harry sighed. "I just needed him to understand. Soon the galaxy will learn about the krogan births and the turian and salarian governments will panic with a knee jerk reaction. I just want to make sure Mordin doesn't make the same mistake twice."
"You certainly gave him something to think about." Shepard reasoned.
"I can't believe he is all bad." Harry shook his head. "He was working for free in one of the galaxy's cess pits to provide free medical care. Monsters don't tend to do that."
"Where are you set up?" Shepard changed topics as they entered the lift.
"Unused storage area under Engineering. I put up one of my tents."
"Have you met the Engineers?"
"Yes, and Ken is going to be in so much trouble. He tends to speak before he thinks." Harry smirked. "Between Gabby and Tali he will be spending plenty of time in the dog house."
As they exited the lift to the Crew Deck, Shepard put out an arm to halt Harry.
Ahead of them, Joker was being backed up against a wall by a fairly angry and threatening Lieutenant Gibson who, whilst being as slender as Harry still had a whole foot in height on Joker.
"Joker knows we are here." Harry said with an angry look as he sent a message through the geth.
"Let's see how far the bastard will go." Shepard decided.
It didn't take long. The angry lieutenant reached out and grabbed Joker's left arm.
Joker shouted in pain, drawing the attention of everyone in the mess.
Harry vanished and reappeared next to the two pilots as he hoisted Gibson into the air by his neck… with one hand.
"Captain, permission to throw this fool off the ship?" Harry asked angrily.
"Fine, but we'll wait until we can hand him over to the Alliance."
"Can't I do it now?" Harry whined.
Gibson, despite gasping for air, managed to turn pale over his reddening face.
"Put him down Harry." Shepard ordered. "Back in the old days, if you did something like striking a superior officer then you were keel-hauled.
"We don't have a keel and I don't really want to kill the idiot by spacing him. Too clean." Shepard said dismissively.
The crew were looking very worried.
"Captain, this isn't really necessary." Miranda interjected as she had heard the commotion from her rooms.
"Everybody on this ship knows that if you even bump into Lieutenant Jeff 'Joker' Moreau you will break his bones. Gibson did it on purpose.
"He not only endangered the life of my senior pilot and friend, he endangered everyone's lives by nearly disabling our best pilot.
"Our mission is dangerous. I was killed by the Collectors already. The only reason that most of the crew survived the attack was because Joker was doing everything he could to keep the Normandy out of the gravitational pull of Alchera. If he had failed then the pods would have been sucked in.
"Harry, lock the Lieutenant in the port cargo area. Sergeant Gardener, Lieutenant Gibson is restricted to bread and water whilst he is on ship."
"Aye sir." The old man confirmed.
"Joker, come with me, Harry has equipment that will fix your arm."
"Thanks Captain." Joker said with a pained grimace as he cradled his arm.
Harry let the Captain and Pilot use the lift first rather than take the bastard into the lift with his victim.
The trip down to Harry's tent was quiet and neither man said a word until they entered the tent.
"I hate playing the invalid." Joker moaned as he released his arm.
"No damage?" Shepard asked calmly.
"Nah, my bones are as strong as yours and Harry's." Joker said as he dropped into one of the armchairs. "I've spent all my life being an invalid and now I am cured and stronger than most humans and I still have to pretend to be one.
"I swear; I'm going to need physical therapy to learn how to walk properly after we are done with Cerberus."
"I know it is tough, but you need the edge. It's the same for me with biotics. Cerberus can't know as it is our ace in the hole if they turn on us."
"Yeah, if Cerberus found out they'd have us strapped to tables and dissected quicker than Harry can piss off a politician." Joker snorted.
"What's your take on the crew?" Shepard asked as he sat on the couch.
"Most of them are decent, former Alliance who quit in protest of their abandoning you." Joker shrugged. "A few are Cerberus through and through like Kelly, Doctor Marcus and one or two others.
"The rest are just in it to work with the Great Captain John Shepard, like Gibson."
"What is Gibson's beef with you?"
"Do you know how I got the position as the Normandy's pilot?" Joker grinned.
Shepard rolled his eyes. "Yes, you stole the ship."
"Right, Gibson was lined up as the original pilot. It doesn't help that we went through Flight School together and I, the sickly kid, beat his scores every damned time."
"I can't say I approve of your method of interviewing for a position, but Gibson should know better. He questioned a superior's orders and that is a no-no."
"Gibson is nice and secure in the cargo hold." Harry said as he entered the tent and plopped on to the other end of the couch from Shepard.
"Did you really hit Mordin?" Joker asked.
"Yeah, I needed to make a point."
"Good job you didn't use your sword." Joker muttered. "So where is the Dog Star?"
"Currently waiting near Purgatory with the Stingray."
"The Stingray? As in the original one?"
"Yep. There are several now though. I worked on them when I was on Rannoch, which now have the expanded interiors. "Most of them are on the geth carrier."
"Is it smart to let Cerberus near magic?"
"No… but it will be fun." Harry grinned.
"What about EDI?" Shepard asked. "Is she safe to reactivate?"
"Yes, but she is not like the geth."
"Yeah, she has a sexy voice." Joker quipped.
"True, but I was referring to the fact that she is not part of a hive or network. She is an individual."
"First of all, is it really a 'she'?" Joker asked.
"Yes. Whilst most AI's could be considered gender neutral, some are designed with gender characteristics, like the voice. The geth are male because their bodies are based on a male quarian. They don't have the same slender body shape as the females. They were designed from a male perspective.
"The geth never realised this but EDI did. During her 'education' phase with Cerberus, she researched and adopted feminine ways."
"And just how alive is she?" Shepard asked.
"Before the geth and I worked on her she was nothing more than a husk. She was a slave, a minion. Now this isn't the same as a VI though. VI's don't have the potential to achieve consciousness. EDI does… or did. Now she is alive and very young.
"Joker, you are going to find that she has a lot of questions. Do your best to answer them but try not to lead her towards your beliefs."
"My beliefs?"
"If she asks 'Is there a god?' then discuss it as a philosophical topic. Don't say there is or isn't one. Just let her know that there is no definitive proof one way or another and help her realise that it is something she has to decide for herself. Explain the concept of belief."
"I'm the pilot! Not the ship's councillor, shouldn't Chambers be doing this?" Joker asked.
"Chamber's seems like the decent sort, but we need to be careful. We don't want Cerberus getting wind of what we've done to EDI."
"How do you think Zaeed will fit in?" Shepard asked, changing the subject.
"His résumé reads like an elite soldier. He could have gone through N-School if he was Alliance. But we'll just have to see how things go." Harry sighed.