Chapter 13: Women (Can't Live Without Them)
I walked down the corridors of Grissom Academy. I'd never been there before. It wasn't what I expected.
The corridors were dark, lights feebly flickering at random in a last, desperate attempt to keep going. What little wan illumination they provided just magnified the destruction that had laid waste to this bastion of learning and knowledge. Plants were ripped out of the soil and strewn across the floor. Scorch marks marred the walls.
And then there were the students.
They were all dead. Eyes staring, bereft of that intangible spark of life that you only saw in the young and innocent. The best and brightest that humanity had to offer. The hope for future generations. All gone. All dead.
Who would have thought they would have so much blood in them?
I broke into a run, hoping that I wasn't too late. I knew the answer, of course, but I didn't want to admit it. Soon I had no choice. The students were dead. They were all dead.
My feet slipped out from under me. I fell in what seemed like a pool of blood and slid into a large room. Orion Hall, the sign said. There was more of it there. More flickering lights. More dead plants. More scorch marks.
More dead students.
Jack was there. She was on her knees, cradling two young students in her arms. Prangley, one uniform label read. Rodriguez, said the other label. She looked up at me, tears streaming down her face. "They're dead, Shepard."
"I know," I managed. "I… I'm sorry, Jack."
"Kahlee said she was putting out an SOS. She said help was coming. What happened, Shepard? Where were you?"
"I came as soon as I could, Jack. If I could—"
"But you didn't! They're all dead, Shepard. I promised I would teach them and keep them safe. But they're all dead!"
What could I say? This was someone who never had a family. Who'd been abused and used and neglected as long as she could remember. After a year with me, she'd started opening up again. She'd begun trusting people again. Caring again. Maybe she even found some common ground with the students. Vowed that what happened to her would never happen to them.
Only it had. There was nothing that could possibly make it better. Nothing that could erase what I'd done—or failed to do. "I'm sorry," I finally said.
"Me too," Jack said.
Then she picked up a pistol from the floor, pressed it against her temple and squeezed the trigger.
I found myself in the middle of my quarters. It took a second to realize that I'd woken up, jolted out of bed and took a couple steps. No doubt in an attempt to stop Jack from committing suicide.
Only she hadn't committed suicide. The students were still alive. I had just seen them leave the Normandy a few days ago. It was just a nightmare, I told myself. It wasn't real.
Like that helped.
After taking a shower, I got back into bed and tried to get some sleep. When that didn't work, I tried counting sheep. (1)
I wound up counting a lot of those fuzzballs.
After getting another cup or two of coffee, and waiting a half hour or so for the caffeine to theoretically kick in, I stumbled down to the shuttle bay. One by one, the squad met me there and began suiting up. Wrex arrived just as we were boarding the shuttle. He insisted on joining the squad as we retrieved the krogan females. Somehow, I wasn't surprised.
"All right, people," I said once we cleared the Normandy and began our descent. "We're heading down to the salarian homeworld. They aren't exactly used to seeing krogan here, so let's keep it simple. We land, get the females and leave before anyone changes their mind."
While I was talking, Wrex was busy checking his shotgun. "I still don't trust a word they say."
"Let diplomacy play out, Wrex," I told him. "You'll get what you want."
"These females are the best, and probably last, hope for my people," he replied.
Liara stepped in, either because she couldn't stand to see him fret or she couldn't stand to see me waffle around. "We'll bring them back, Wrex. Don't worry."
Wrex finally seemed to calm down. Barely. "I appreciate that, Liara. I wouldn't want anyone else along for the ride."
Garrus coughed loudly. Then he noisily cleared his throat, just for good measure.
"I suppose I can make room for you too, C-Sec," Wrex chuckled. (2) "Eager to see your first krogan female?"
"Nah," Garrus shook his head. "Figured you'd gone soft sitting on your throne. Forgot how to hold a gun."
"Commander," Cortez called out, "I have the salarian base on sensors."
"Set her down," I ordered.
The rest of the descent went fairly smoothly. Cortez slowed the shuttle down as we approached a landing pad. Then we began hovering over the pad.
And we stayed hovering. I began having a bad feeling about this.
"Commander, salarian ground control says we don't have clearance to land."
Aw, crap. "Tell them Dalatrass Linron authorized this herself." I turned around to calm Wrex down.
"I knew they'd never keep their word!" Wrex stomped towards the hatch. "Let's see them try to stop a krogan airdrop."
A krogan—"Wrex…" I said slowly. "Please don't tell me you're gonna—"
He slammed the hatch controls. "Wrex!" I barked as the hatch opened.
With a roar, Wrex leapt out of the shuttle and plummeted about a dozen metres to the landing pad below.
"We may have a problem," Miranda said calmly.
"Cortez, take her down. Now!" I snapped. "Everyone; prep your weapons, but make damn sure the safeties are on."
Looking down, I could see that Wrex's arrival had prompted a lot of movement. The salarians were scurrying about like mad. I cranked up the gain on my audio sensors and activated a filter to screen out the shuttle's roar just in time to hear one of the soldier's reports. "We have an unauthorized… " he paused, considering the unusual circumstances. "…landing," he finished lamely.
"And who authorized you to hold my race hostage?" Wrex retorted, rising to his feet. Two salarians raised their omni-tools at him. He glared at them contemptuously before using his biotics to send them flying into the wall. Pulling his shotgun out, he took a step forward…
…then stopped when he saw two laser sights trained on him—one firmly centred on his head, the other dancing between his head and his throat. I followed the laser beams back to two more salarians. Snipers, obviously. Not wanting to wait until the shuttle landed, I jumped out of the shuttle. Thankfully, I only had to drop a metre or so. I led the squad to join Wrex, just as three more salarians arrived. "Halt!" one of them snapped, as they raised their guns and omni-tools.
The squad instinctively raised their own weapons. We stared at each other, waiting for someone to make the first move. Or make a mistake. Yeah, that would be bad. Someone had to break the tension. Preferably in a way that didn't involve bullets flying through the air.
"Don't hit my face," I blurted out.
Everyone stared at me. I thought about what I had said. Yep, I had asked them not to hit my face. Wow. Shallow, much? Still, I guess I might as well roll with it. "If we really need to start shooting each other, don't hit my face," I reiterated.
"Yes, please don't," Miranda chimed in. "You have no idea how much trouble it took to make his face look so pretty and I'd rather not see all that work go to waste."
Okay, not quite the way I would have worded it.
"See, Shepard, this is what happens when you try to hide your scars," Garrus chided. "You get so vain about your personal appearance."
The salarians just stared at us. At least now their expressions bore a mixture of confusion and barely-veiled amusement rather than flat-out hostility.
"Stand down! Hold your fire!"
Another salarian ran onto the landing pad. "Commander Shepard, restrain your colleague," he begged.
"I could say the same about your colleagues," I replied. "Or do you always agree to personnel transfers only to withdraw permission at gunpoint?"
"We only found out about this transfer a few moments ago," the salarian explained. "If we had known earlier, of course we would have granted you clearance to land."
Wonderful. No doubt Dalatrass Crankypants had conveniently held off on informing her people until the very last second in an attempt to provoke a diplomatic incident and possible war in the midst of the war that was already raging throughout the galaxy. Or maybe she did it out of spite. Or both.
"I'd like to avoid anything we might later regret," I said soothingly. For the sake of my face, you understand.
"As would we," the salarian agreed.
Then I let a scowl form on my pretty face. "But you have something very valuable to Urdnot Wrex and the krogan people."
"Something worth dying for," Wrex snarled.
"This matter can be resolved, but I must insist he remain under guard," the salarian spokesman said firmly.
Wrex growled. I caught his eye. "I can handle this, Wrex."
For a moment, I thought Wrex might try to force his way in anyway. Then, with a visible effort, he forced himself to calm down. No doubt he recognized that storming through the base would not be an ideal way to secure the females. To my relief—not to mention everyone else—he holstered his shotgun. "Anything goes wrong, and all bets are off," he warned.
As Cortez finally touched down on the landing pad, Miranda caught my eye. "Don't hit my face?"
"Hey it worked, didn't it?" Ignoring her eye rolling, I approached the salarian spokesman. "I'm Padok Wiks," he introduced himself, "and I appreciate your understanding, Commander. With war on everyone's minds, our people are on edge."
Whatever I was about to say sputtered and died as I saw a cage being moved by an overhead crane. The prisoner inside raged against the transparent walls. And not just any prisoner.
"Careful!" one of the soldiers warned. "Watch the containment shield!"
James whistled. "Damn. What the hell is that thing?"
"Ask Liara," I told him.
"It's a yahg," Liara shuddered. (3) "I'd hoped to never see one of those again."
Javik squinted at it. "They were much smaller in my cycle," he said.
"Never had the chance to meet one in this cycle," Garrus said casually. "I was too busy trying to break through the door."
"I was too busy being unconscious," Miranda deadpanned. "Liara here managed to irritate the last one we encountered," she explained when James raised an eyebrow. I got clipped with his desk when he threw a temper tantrum."
I actually didn't need to be reminded of that. I'd honestly thought she'd been seriously hurt. Or maybe suffered permanent brain damage. Or had been killed. That's all I needed: fodder for my next nightmare.
"As you can see, this base contains sensitive information," Wiks said casually.
"'Sensitive information?' Like experimenting with yahg?" I asked. "Guys that the Citadel Council declared off-limits?"
"Indeed."
"What other work goes on here?"
"Oh, you know," Wiks shrugged. "Evolutionary trials. Morphological simulations. Exogenetic assessments. That sort of thing."
I rolled my eyes. "Nothing is ever simple with salarians, is it?"
"Science has always been our best defence," Wiks said proudly. "The research we do here has kept Sur'Kesh safe for millennia."
"Does that include studying lost krogan?" I asked pointedly.
"The females were in poor health when we found them on Tuchanka. They were brought here to stabilize their condition. Krogan medical science wouldn't have been up to the task." He paused and quickly looked around before admitting "I suspect some of my superiors were more interested in the potential of using them as political bargaining chips."
Well at least he was honest. I'll give him that much. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Wrex being escorted down into the foyer below. At gunpoint. He caught my eye. "This whole planet smells wrong," he called out.
I don't know about the smell, other than the fact that the air was thick with the scent of something… I didn't know what it was, but it certainly wasn't recycled. Or filtered. The base looked extremely modern, with the latest in cutting-edge tech. You'd expect nothing less from the salarians, much less an STG base. But the surroundings… it was like being dropped into a lush rainforest. Tropical fauna ran over the rocky cliffs, dazzling the senses with every imaginable shade of green. Crystal clear waterfalls cascaded around the trees and over the cliffs, sparkling in the brilliant sun. Birds chirped in the distance, filling the air with their musical call.
Sadly, I wasn't here to do any sightseeing. "I'd like to see the females," I told Wiks.
"Of course. I'll need to clear you for the lower levels. "Give me a few moments and meet me near the elevator."
The squad and I walked down to join Wrex, who was busy trying to goad the salarian guards. "This is where all you salarians come from, huh? No wonder you're so soft. Too busy writing poetry about waterfalls."
The salarian guards did their best to ignore that.
"Shepard, I don't like this," he said. "I should be the one going in."
"Here's a thought," I proposed. "How about you stay here and we only fight one war at a time?"
He harrumphed dismissively. "That was just good old-fashioned krogan hot air. If it'd been real, they'd be dead."
The salarian guards pretended not to hear that.
"Idle threats are empty threats," Javik declared.
Wrex laughed. "Maybe when this war is over, you can come live on Tuchanka. You'd fit right in."
Right. When this war was over. Chalk one up for optimism. "Who tipped you off about the females here?" I wondered.
Wrex shook his head. "Sorry, Shepard, but they're listening to every word we say." He paused before raising his voice slightly. "I prefer my salarian liver served raw!"
The salarian guards narrowed their eyes at him.
"He is correct," Javik nodded. "It was a… delicacy in our cycle."
The salarian guards narrowed their eyes at him.
"Besides, you'd think this is the kind of thing the Shadow Broker would've known about. Too bad I don't know him. Or her."
Everyone made an effort not to look at Liara. Damn. Krogan intelligence—or Wrex's, at any rate—was proving to be anything but an oxymoron. Who knew?
"The Shadow Broker was undoubtedly preoccupied with securing reliable intelligence giving the chaotic state of galactic affairs," Miranda put in. "Even if the Broker was aware of the females' whereabouts, that information would not have reached Shepard without some kind of financial arrangement."
Nice. Preserving the Shadow Broker's identity while maintaining the modus operandi of her predecessors: any information could be made available… for a price.
"All right," I allowed. "Let's try this: what do you know about the females?"
"They weren't fertile, so we used them as decoys to draw off enemies from the ones who were. But Maelon's experiments changed that. Then these damn pyjaks stole them right out from under us."
"That's a pretty brutal way to treat your women, Wrex," I frowned.
"The females suggested it," he told me. "We've had to make a lot of tough choices to ensure we don't all die off."
"Logically, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few," EDI offered. "However, I doubt that provided much in the way of comfort or solace."
"It's just one more thing that'll get better when the genophage is cured," Wrex declared.
"That's what I always liked about you, Wrex," Liara smiled.
"My smouldering good looks?" he asked innocently.
She laughed. "There is that. But you've never given up, and that determination's about to pay off."
"Yeah. Who would've thought back on Virmire we'd be standing here doing this together?"
True enough. Virmire saw a standoff between yours truly and Wrex over destroying what we thought was the cure to the genophage—it was only later that we found out it was a cloning facility intended to churn out krogan shock troops for Saren. And a research lab to study Reaper indoctrination. Ah, Reapers. They'd really screwed up my life in the last couple years. Which reminded me: "Back on the Normandy, you said Reapers were sighted on Tuchanka."
"Clans Jorgal and Ravanor sighted a few landing parties. The Reapers are up to something. But not for long. Tuchanka may be a pile of smouldering, radioactive rubble, but it's our pile, and we'll fight to the last krogan to keep it that way."
"'Radioactive'," Garrus repeated. "You have a strange idea of nostalgia, Wrex."
Wrex laughed. "Ah, Garrus. I have to make friends with the one turian in the galaxy who thinks he's funny."
"Imagine how I feel," Garrus retorted. "I'm supposed to hate krogan, but you came along and warmed my heart with your winning personality."
"I could throw a few salarians off a cliff if it'll make you feel better."
Garrus said no. Given that the salarian guards were now giving him dirty looks, he clearly hadn't declined fast enough. "Are the krogan ready to fight the Reapers?" I asked.
"Ever since Sovereign showed up, I figured this day would come."
"And you're okay with that? Even if it means rescuing turians and humans?"
"My people have spent too much time selling ourselves out as mercenaries and bouncers," Wrex spat. Then he grinned. "Now we can get back to doing what krogan do best—saving everyone else from giant monsters."
"Never going to let us forget about the Rachni Wars, are you?" Garrus asked.
"Last time I was at the Citadel, I didn't see a turian statue in your honour," Wrex retorted.
"Just wait 'till this war is over."
"Eh, it'll probably be a small, dinky statue in a corner."
"Nah, it'll be front and centre in the Presidium. And it'll be bigger than yours."
"Are you boys going to whip it out and get it over with?" Miranda groaned.
"Goddess, don't give them any ideas," Liara shuddered.
As long as no one suggested more statues dedicated to me, they could go on as long as they liked. (4) "It's been good talking to you again, Wrex."
"It'll be even better when we have a few salarians for lunch," he insisted.
"How about we settle for getting the females offworld?" I rebutted.
"Fine," he pouted. "Spoilsport."
Leaving Wrex and his salarian guards to make faces at each other, I began exploring the base. At least, what little I was allowed to explore. I'd only taken a few steps when I spotted what I thought was a familiar face.
"Commander Shepard. Major Kirrahe. I'd heard you were coming."
Damn. It was him. Funny how Wrex and I had just finished talking about Virmire. Major Kirrahe was probably the first salarian I'd met who was a true professional and didn't try to screw me over. We hadn't started off on the best foot: as leader of the 3rd Infiltration Regiment of the STG, he had been sent to investigate Virmire. After discovering Saren's krogan cloning facility, he'd sent a message to the Council asking for a fleet to help destroy it. Thanks to a communications screw-up, TPTB only sent the Normandy. Which meant me and my squad—including Wrex. Kirrahe hadn't been pleased.
But he was quick to adapt to the situation. Together, we hashed together a plan to attack Saren's base from multiple directions, providing a distraction for a team to sneak in and plant a nuke jury-rigged from the STG ship's drive core. We'd managed to escape with a minimum of casualties: the STG members who had been captured and indoctrinated… and Ash.
"Good to see you again," I said, forcing those memories aside and shaking Kirrahe's hand. "Sounds like you've been promoted. Congratulations."
"Thank you. I understand congratulations are in order for you too, Staff Commander."
"Thanks. It's been a while."
"Yes, we haven't had a chance to meet since our mission on Virmire."
"'Hold the line'," I quoted.
"Indeed," Kirrahe nodded. "My promotion was due in no small part to that mission and the role you played. More importantly, I owe you the lives of my men that day."
"Good to see a friendly face, Major," Garrus greeted him.
"Garrus Vakarian," Kirrahe shook his hand. "Always a pleasure. And same to you, Dr. T'Soni."
"Major," Liara nodded.
I quickly introduced the rest of the squad. Kirrahe paused when exchanging pleasantries with Javik. "I'm sorry, I don't believe I've met your species before. You're a…"
"Prothean," Javik said in his usual curt manner.
"Prothean? Of course," Kirrahe smiled, clearly humouring him. "Amazing what they can do with genetic modifications these days. Some new psychological tactic, Commander? Give the Reapers a good scare?"
"Actually…" I tried.
"What are you really? Drell? Turian?"
"Prothean."
Kirrahe looked at him. Looked at me. Saw me nod. Looked back at Javik. "Oh… I see." Recovering quickly, he turned back to me. "It seems the Reapers have a way of bringing us together."
"That's one way of looking at it. Speaking of which: are the salarians prepared for war with the Reapers?" I wanted to know.
"I've heard what they're doing to your Earth," Kirrahe said sympathetically. "I'm not sure any species can prepare for that. Though rumours suggest you're building a superweapon of some kind?"
Chalk one up for salarian intelligence. "This business with the females is part of it," I replied. "I need the turians' support and they need the krogan's. Oddly enough, I could use the krogan's support as well. And the salarians'."
"Which is why I never became a diplomat," Kirrahe shook his head. "Too much hand-holding. Leave it to the dalatrasses."
Gah. The less I thought about Dalatrass Crankypants, the better. "How did you get posted to this base, Major?" I wanted to know.
"I led the team on Tuchanka that found the females." He shook his head again. "Nasty business. Maelon may have meant well, but his operation was crude. Test subjects were unaccounted for. The females easily escaped his lab."
"And then you found them and brought them here. What do you think about that?"
"Our scientists say it's important to preserve the females. 'Evolutionary paradigms'." He made quotation marks to accompany that last part.
"And what do you say?"
"I say when people know you're hiding something valuable, they'll want to steal it. And I can't really blame them—not if they're the krogan. Females who are immune to the genophage… well, I can read all the intelligence reports in the galaxy, but I don't think I could possibly fathom what that would mean to them."
Wow. Another salarian who might be sympathetic to the krogan. Who would've thunk it?
"On the other hand, there's always the chance that a krogan resurgence could mean trouble for the galaxy and the salarians in particular. It's my job to stay abreast of that and, if need be, stop it before it becomes a problem." He sighed. "Either way, I have my orders. They'll be your problem soon enough. Hopefully curing the genophage won't turn the krogan into another problem."
"Krogan and the genophage," I said thoughtfully. "I guess we're both still feeling the effects of Virmire."
"Yes, ironic. You destroyed the genophage cure, or the next best thing to one. Now another cure is the key to an alliance. You know, your standoff with Urdnot Wrex is legend within STG."
"I'm sure you saw Wrex's entrance," I said dryly.
Kirrahe's response was equally dry. "Our colonies three systems away saw it."
"Yes, and he's rather angry about the security arrangements," Liara added pointedly.
"Apologies, but better that than a krogan with a shotgun wandering the base," Kirrahe told her. "Think of all the casualties. Our med bay couldn't handle it. Keeping him under guard while a neutral representative handles the exchange is much more preferable from a security and political standpoint."
"Now who's hand-holding?" I asked archly.
That prompted a slight grin from Kirrahe.
"Liara does have a point, though: security seems rather high. Are you expecting trouble?"
"Our motto in STG is to always expect trouble. Failing that; create trouble for someone else."
That sounded familiar. (5)
"Our enemies have the same idea."
"Well hopefully trouble won't come knocking," I said. "I should go. Nice seeing you again, Major."
"Likewise." We shook hands. "And Commander…"
Using our handshake as a pretense, Kirrahe leaned forward. "Regardless of what the politicians decide, you can count on my support retaking Earth."
I didn't know what to say at first. "You'd do that?" I managed at last.
"Consider it my way of returning a favour," Kirrahe beamed. "It would be an honour to fight alongside you again."
Damn. See: this was the kind of thing I needed more often.
"Good day," Kirrahe nodded before leaving.
Most of the salarians proved immune to my rampant curiosity. An unusual first, to say the least. Though there was a soldier who didn't take kindly to my poking around a piece of equipment. "Please don't touch that."
I ignored him.
"As I said, Commander: don't touch that," he said again.
"Again, I would ask you to refrain from touching that."
"Perhaps 'don't touch that' means something different in your language?"
"I would rather not refer this matter to the human embassy."
That just prompted me to poke at it even more. And look for the power switch.
"Touch it all you want. You'll never find out what it does."
"Are humans really so deprived of stimulus that they must insist on touching everything?"
"We aren't," Miranda said, finally feeling sorry for him. "We really aren't."
"I'm afraid if you keep touching that, you risk a diplomatic incident."
"Been there, done that," I said cheerfully.
"Further manipulation of that object is grounds for further admonishment."
"The chances of such a threat succeeding are less than 0.27 percent," EDI informed him.
"Really! You must stop touching that!" Now he was getting really agitated.
"Once more, the Salarian Union formally requests that you not touch that."
"Fine." The soldier threw up his hands in disgust. "If you are so enamored of that object, then I suggest you get your own feces analyzer."
Ew. Gross. Not that I could let him know it. "Really?"
The soldier shook his head and turned to Wiks, who was walking towards us. "You deal with him," he said, before stomping away.
"You have clearance now to see the females, Commander," Wiks said without missing a beat. He paused and looked over his shoulder at Wrex and his guards before adding "I hope we can resolve this matter without re-enacting the Krogan Rebellions."
"Me too," I replied. "I'm a soldier, not an actor. What do you think about handing over the krogan?"
"I differ from most of my colleagues. Curing the genophage will bring closure to this issue. In the future, the krogan may yet play some role we can't even imagine. We should let the evolutionary process decide who lives and dies, not galactic politics."
"What about science keeping Sur'Kesh safe for millennia?"
"It has. But there have been mistakes."
Say what now? "That's refreshing to hear. You don't hear that a lot."
Wiks sighed. "Science is full of mistakes. Setbacks. Failures. It's what we do with them that matters. Sadly, ego and politics tends to get in the way. Much like life, I suppose. I'm hoping, with your help, we can turn this tragic mistake—if you can call it that—into something with a happier outcome."
"Me too," I said. "Thank you for your time—and for getting the clearance we needed."
"Of course," Wiks smiled. "Proceed into the elevator when you're ready."
We happened to be ready now, so we immediately headed towards said elevator. Unlike most elevators, this one had a biometric scanner that visibly checked me out. "Now take this elevator down," Wiks began, "and someone will—"
A siren harshly sounded, interrupting him mid-sentence. "Alert!" a voice said. "Threat condition two has been declared. Scramble readiness teams."
As I looked around, gunships began taking off. Salarians visibly checked their comms or omni-tools as they headed to their designated areas. Wrex rose to his feet and not-so-casually gripped his shotgun. "What's happening?" I demanded.
"Sensors have picked up activity on the perimeter," Wiks reported. He gestured towards the now-open elevator. "Hurry, Commander. Someone will meet you below."
I entered the elevator, squad close on my heels. I turned around and looked back at the once-tranquil base. There were a lot more salarians now, all clustered in small groups. All on alert. The elevator doors closed, cutting off the alarms mid-blare. Leaving me with one thought:
Why couldn't anything in my life be simple?
When I first saw the secret footage that Wrex presented, I thought the dim lighting was due to the need of the spy to remain covert. Now I saw it was simple fact. The lower levels had a minimum of lighting. Most of the illumination came from computer displays and omni-tools.
"Base personnel must remain on-site until further notice," we heard over the comm as the alarm droned in the background.
I stepped out of the elevator and scanned the lab. Some of the salarians were stationary, tapping away at computer consoles or omni-tools. My eyes spotted several more salarians coming to and from a central area. Almost as if they were reporting to someone. "All specimens accounted for, sir," one of them said.
"Excellent. Verify containment protocols throughout facility."
That voice. It sounded like…
The salarians walked away, allowing me to see the person they were talking to. "Shepard! Excellent timing. Good to have you here."
"Mordin?" I greeted him.
"Eyesight still sharp," Mordin replied, shaking my hand. "Surprise understandable. Hadn't expected to return to work."
That's right: Mordin used to be STG. Of course, I used to be Alliance. Funny how things had gone full circle.
"Whaddya mean, return to…" James trailed off. "Wait a sec: you used to be STG?"
"Special consultant. Had to be me. Someone else might have gotten it wrong."
Ha! He hadn't changed a bit. "James; this is Professor Mordin Solus. Former and current STG operative and scientist. He helped me fight the Collectors. Mordin, you know most of the squad. This is EDI—she co-opted a mech platform that Cerberus used to infiltrate the Prothean Archives on Mars."
"Hello, Professor," EDI said.
"New body. New tactical options. Fascinating."
"And this is Javik. He's a Prothean we woke up on Eden Prime."
"Actual Prothean? Not Collector? Yes, can see physiological similarities. Fascinating."
Javik grunted. "They did not talk so much in my cycle."
Mordin smiled. Then he quickly looked around. Seeing that no one was in the area, he leaned towards me. "Helped female krogan," he whispered. "Fed information to Clan Urdnot. Encouraged political pressure to free females."
Oho! So this was Wrex's inside source.
"I sense a story, but maybe we should table it for now," I suggested.
"Yes. Can explain later. Security warnings not normal. Need to get offworld for sake of krogan." Mordin led us deeper into the lab. "Females had weakened immune systems," he explained as we walked through the room. "Side effect of Maelon's cure."
He stopped outside a large room. Behind the glass wall, I could see a lot of blankets. With bodies underneath them.
Aw, crap.
"These… didn't survive," he said sadly.
"Dios!" James whispered.
"Goddess!" Liara whispered.
"This could be a problem," EDI observed.
Since they had covered my initial reaction pretty well, I moved onto asking questions. Surprise, surprise. "But what about Maelon's research? I thought we saved it."
"Indeed. Data saved, but research not complete. Lacks crucial details to reconstruct actual cure, but still useful for synthesizing from living tissue." Mordin looked back at the dead females and bowed his head. "Couldn't save them."
"I'm sure you did everything you could, Mordin," I tried.
"Arrived too late," he said bitterly. "Cannot delay now."
"Mordin," Miranda spoke up. "If I understood you correctly, we can still create a cure from the genophage, but we would need living tissue samples. Yet these females are, clearly, all dead."
"These females, yes. One survivor, however. Immune to genophage. Can synthesize cure from her tissue."
Hope sprung anew. "She's still here?"
"Yes," Mordin nodded. "Last hope for krogan. If she dies, genophage cure… problematic."
I would've said 'screwed.' Along with any hope for an alliance to retake Earth. Guess Mordin was feeling more optimistic than I was. Miranda shared my concerns, judging by the uneasy look she gave me.
We followed Mordin down a flight of stairs and over to another room. Between the dim lighting and the mist that filled her room—which I later learned was some kind of aerosolized medi-gel—I could barely make out her silhouette. A closer look revealed that she was actually inside an ovoid pod of some kind. A number at the bottom of the platform supporting the pod told us she was Lucky No. 7. (6)"Please be careful," he warned. "Krogan slow to trust."
"Hello," I began. "My name is Commander Shepard; Alliance Navy and Council Spectre."
"Are you here to kill me?"
Um. Whoa. Of all the replies I could've gotten, that wasn't one I was expecting.
Liara ran a quick medical scan with her omni-tool. Judging by her response, I guessed the results were a little alarming. "Goddess, what she's been through…"
"Actually, Urdnot Wrex and I are here to take you home," I said.
"Why?" she asked. "What am I to you?"
So far, she was asking more questions than I was. Time for me to play catch-up and restore the natural order of things. "Have the salarians been mistreating you?"
"Those were my sisters you saw back there," she replied. "They died in a lot of pain."
"Did the best we could," Mordin whispered. "Wish we could have done more."
"And now I know I'm the only one left," she continued. "That makes me dangerous to a lot of people."
Well she was no dummy, that's for damn sure.
"What about you, Commander Shepard? Why are you here?"
"You're the future of the krogan race." And mine, though I didn't mention that. "I'm fighting for that."
Just then, more alarms began blaring. Harsh red lights began rotating throughout the lab. It was only then that I realized the back of my neck was tingling. Somehow, I had a feeling it had been going off since this day began. Hell, maybe even since this war began.
"Then I hope you brought an army," the female said.
"Alert! Unidentified vessels have breached the perimeter."
All around me, salarians began running frantically. "Give me an update!" one of them yelled.
"Outbound communications have been severed!" another salarian replied, a soldier by the look of things. "We're cut off!"
"Secure all data to offsite location!" a third one—also a soldier—barked.
Mordin ran towards what looked like a command console, the rest of us close behind. Another salarian beat us there and was frantically entered commands. "What's going on?" I asked him.
"We have multiple ships inbound!"
Just then, my omni-tool beeped. Someone was trying to contact me. Stepping aside, I activated it. A holographic screen popped up over my wrist with Wrex peering at me. "Shepard, it's Wrex! Cerberus troops are attacking the base!"
The hell? I looked at my squad. They were all thinking the same thing: 'Cerberus? What were they doing here?' So was I, along with a resigned 'Aw, crap.'
"Get the females out of there now!"
Wonderful. "Um… yeah, about that: only one female survived, Wrex. It might be safer down here."
"What?" he scoffed. "So the salarians can kill her like the others?"
"Actually, they tried to sav—"
Wrex wasn't in a listening mood. "No deal!" he growled. "If you still want this alliance, get her out of there!"
Stifling a sigh, I closed the comm channel and turned to the salarian. "Release the female. We're leaving."
"I can't," he replied. "Protocol states during lockdown no specimen—"
He was cut off mid-sentence as a massive jolt of energy surged through his body, courtesy of Mordin and his omni-tool. "Objection noted," he said a little too calmly. "Now, please release krogan."
The salarian apparently didn't want a second zap, as he quickly complied. A hatch opened on the side of the wall, revealing a containment cell similar to the one holding the yahg we saw earlier. "Need to monitor pod as it clears quarantine procedures," Mordin explained, entering the cell. As the hatch closed, he activated a comm system. "Meet us at next checkpoint, Shepard. Likely Cerberus opposes genophage cure."
Yeah, that was a pretty safe bet. I transmitted our squad comm frequencies to him so we could stay in touch. Then I took a step towards the female's pod. "You'll see Tuchanka again. I promise."
She didn't say a word.
"Get to elevator, Shepard," Mordin urged.
Mordin should've known better.
"Threat condition three has been declared. Live fire is authorized!"
Did he really think I was going to go without indulging my curiosity first? Especially if there might be something that explained why Cerberus was here or what they were doing—or, assuming they knew about the existence of fertile krogan females who were immune to the genophage, how they found out. I know it wasn't the best timing, but surely checking things out on the way to the elevator was okay. Case in point: a research log that happened to be open:
"Log, Mordin Solus, 178.3. Maelon's cure disrupting autoimmune response. Krogan females dying. Maelon's data details procedures. Spotted his error: brute-force application to alter hormone levels."
Not necessarily what I was looking for, but still informative. From what I recalled during that delightful mission on Tuchanka, Maelon hadn't exactly gone for the delicate approach.
"Shows how far he'd fallen. Glad I saved data. Have developed counteragent, saved at least one female."
That was thanks to me and my prompting. At the time, I wasn't sure if that was the right choice to make. Was any future application that might come from the data worth it, considering how 'dirty' it was? Did present circumstances justify saving it or was that just convenience talking?
"Shepard, perhaps we should head for the elevator," EDI suggested.
"Put all research subjects into immediate lockdown," a salarian soldier yelled as I turned away.
"Varren secure."
"Vorcha secure."
"Yahg subjects… um… we have a problem."
Oh for crying out loud. I shook my head as I scanned a nearby weapons mod.
"What sort of problem?" one of the salarians demanded.
"Security overrides aren't responding."
"Fix it!"
"Goddess, I had a feeling this might happen," Liara muttered.
"For the record, I am not volunteering to get knocked out again," Miranda declared firmly.
"But don't you want to take one for the team?" Garrus asked innocently.
"No."
While the ladies were taking another unwelcome trip down memory lane and Garrus was doing his best to be funny, I took the opportunity to listen to another one of Mordin's research logs:
"Log, Mordin Solus, 162.3. Used STG ties to secure station here. Gained autonomy in caring for krogan test subjects. Females were obviously dying. Barbaric experiments. Maelon's fault. My responsibility to fix. Need to save them. No more… no more dead."
This didn't surprise me. Despite Mordin's numerous, numerous protestations to the contrary, his role in perpetuating the genophage had haunted him over the last several years. He'd seen the repercussions firsthand during subsequent covert visits to Tuchanka. He'd seen them again here on Sur'Kesh. Numbers and statistics had a way of paling when compared to real, breathing, dying krogan. It was good to know he was still affected by the sins of his past. Though given that the clock was ticking, I kinda wished there was another time to learn this stuff.
At last we reached the elevator. One of the salarian soldiers was fiddling with the controls. "There a problem?" I asked.
"Something's wrong with the elevator. It's not responding."
Clearly.
"Wait a moment… there. Try it now, Commander."
I reached over and hit the controls. The door obligingly slid open. My eyes immediately went to the vaguely cylindrical shape planted on the floor, its blinking light and the beeping noise it was making.
"Oh crap!" Garrus said tersely.
"Get back!" I yelled.
We dove away from the elevator car as the bomb went off.
Thankfully my shields took the worst of it. "Commander Shepard, are you all right?" one of the salarians asked.
I didn't answer at first, as I was busy making sure the rest of my squad was all right. (7) Which also gave me a chance to wonder about the bomb. It was awfully convenient that it was placed at the first exit route that my squad would pick to escort any fertile females to safety. How did Cerberus know to booby-trap that route? Or were they planting bombs in every elevator?
Unfortunately, I hadn't come up with an answer to any of those questions by the time I'd finished checking on my squad. That left me with no other choice but to get back to business. "Peachy. But clearly the elevator's a no-go. Is there another way out of here?"
"Other side of the lab. An emergency exit. I can open it from here."
"Do it." To my squad, I ordered: "Let's move!"
"Shepard," Mordin said over the comm. "Cerberus forces trying to locate female. Quarantine checkpoint under attack. Hurry!"
We hurried out of the lab. Spotting a ladder at the end of a short corridor, I began climbing up. There was no bomb this time. Interesting.
Because I was such a popular guy, Wrex had to contact me. "Shepard, it's Wrex! I took the shuttle!"
"Hey!" James protested. "What about Esteban?"
"Do whatever it takes to get the female up to the landing pad! I'll try to make life miserable for Cerberus!"
Well at least that was going along as expected. "I'm sure Cortez is fine, James," I reassured him. "For now, let's just focus on clearing out any Cerberus forces that get in our way."
With that, we opened the door and entered the upper levels of the base. Fires had broken out in various areas. The sounds of explosions echoed through the air. I spotted two soldiers firing their rifles. "Taking enemy fire from position Telsec-Four!" one of them said. "Direct reinforcements to that location and confirm!"
At that moment, Cerberus launched their latest attack. Both soldiers were taken out in a hail of gunfire. One of the hostiles laid down some smoke, instantly obliterating any clear line of sight.
"Shepard!" Miranda called out. "They're not behind the smoke!"
They're not behind the smoke. Or in front. Or on my right. Left would be impossible as the smoke was right by the balcony. Which meant they were hiding inside the smoke. Well in that case… "Target the smoke cloud. Team One aims at head level; Team Two at waist; Team Three fire low in case they're crouching."
By the time the smoke was gone, all the hostiles were dead. "Clear!" Garrus said.
"I'm sure there will be more," Liara frowned.
While I was waiting, I thought about how Cerberus had gotten here. Never mind the fact that they showed up at the same time that we were trying to extract some fertile krogan females. I'm not one to believe in coincidences, but, for the sake of argument, let's put that aside. That still didn't explain how they got here. This was the salarian homeworld we were talking about. A Council member homeworld. Even without the war going on, waltzing in wasn't exactly a picnic. For Cerberus to get here meant they either overwhelmed the local defence forces or they had inside information on how to penetrate their security.
And how did they even know where to find this place? It belonged to the STG, for crying out loud. The group that the Citadel Council and, before that, the salarians had been using for centuries of covert ops wetwork. Centuries, even. Their bases weren't exactly tourist attractions or anywhere that would show up on a map.
Then the next batch arrived and I had to put all that aside. "All squads," one of them croaked, "be advised we're encountering resistance from non-salarian hostiles."
Resistance like the sniper round I'd just plugged through someone's head. Or the singularity that Liara had spawned.
"Don't let them take cover in the lab," I yelled as EDI launched a fireball. Garrus and Javik immediately laid down covering fire with their particle rifles. James tagged some poor assault trooper with a concussive round, allowing me to finish him off with my sniper rifle. My next shot didn't kill my target outright, but it definitely shattered his helmet. I used up the rest of the clip sniping helpless targets who were floating in Liara's singularity.
After reloading, I spotted a trio of troopers. We tried to hit them with bullets, particle beams and the odd fireball, but they were moving too quickly and there was too much foliage to get a clean shot. Still, I could spot tracer rounds from one of the troopers' weapons, so I took an educated guess and fired through a bush. The sudden cessation of gunfire told me I'd guessed correctly. A second trooper hurried away from his dead colleague and stumbled into my sights. Another kill. Then I took a gamble and charged forward. Sure enough, the last trooper couldn't resist such a tempting target. Unfortunately for him, while he was trying to bring his weapon to bear, I had already prepped my sniper rifle. One shot. One kill.
"They are all dead," Javik declared.
"Yeah, but judging by what we've faced so far, the female isn't going to last long against this sort of firepower," Garrus warned.
As if he heard him, Mordin contacted me. "Shepard. Cerberus in vicinity! Hurry!"
"We're on our way," I assured him. I only paused to swipe some medi-gel and listen to a disturbing log entry:
"Species 732—the yahg—has been authorized for covert uplift. They are ideal candidates for expanding salarian influence with full deniability. The risk is minimal."
"Obviously they've never had to fight a yahg face-to-face," Liara retorted angrily.
"Does this sound remotely familiar to anyone?" I asked aloud.
"It does bear a striking similarity to the salarian efforts to uplift the krogan," Miranda confirmed. "Curious, considering how vehemently the salarian dalatrass regretted that move."
"Publicly," I pointed out as I scanned another weapons mod. "She regretted it publicly. Privately, I'm sure she doesn't mind trying it again with another species. Wait a second: what was that?"
"Warning: yahg specimen has broken containment."
Oh for crying out loud. I grabbed a datapad, automatically scanned it and transferred some credits to my account. "Come on," I sighed. "Let's go stop Cerberus and save the krogan female."
"And the yahg?" Garrus asked.
The answer to that came as we opened a set of doors. "What the hell?" an assault trooper managed before he and his buddy were tackled by a yahg. The yahg quickly dispatched him, then flinched as a gas main burst into flames behind him. He glared at us, roared, then ran back through the flames and disappeared. "Careful," I warned. "There goes the next Shadow Broker."
"Could've sworn he was muttering 'T'Soni' the whole time," Garrus chimed in.
Liara glared at both of us. "Not funny."
There was no way we could pass through the flames. Maybe the yahg was strong enough—or suicidal enough—but we weren't. Luckily, there was a side passage we could take to bypass the fire. We just had to take a running jump over a large hole in the ground. As an added benefit, I came across another weapons mod to scan.
"Warning: quarantine failsafes have been compromised."
I waved some errant smoke from my face. On a hunch, I ran up a flight of stairs. The cries and explosions told me I was right on the money. Figures. I could never avoid trouble if my life depended on it, but I was always so good at finding trouble.
"Shepard," Mordin said, "Cerberus troops at checkpoint. Attempting to kill krogan. Need assistance."
Normally I'd reply, but I was too busy doing my best to hit a hostile through a smoke cloud. EDI finished him off. "Team Three, lay down cover fire. Team Two, move right."
"Right away!"
Garrus and Javik gave us the time we needed to find cover. "Weapons free," I announced. "Light 'em up!"
I quickly dropped another target, then scurried forward. "I see the checkpoint!" Garrus called out. "They're under fire!"
Speaking of which: I leaned around a corner and launched some plasma at a hapless assault trooper.
"Let's get in there!" Liara urged.
"One step at a time," I warned. Crouching down, I issued some orders with my HUD. James promptly targeted the guy I set on fire and blew him up with a concussive round. Liara yanked a few more troopers into a singularity, which Miranda promptly detonated with her own biotics. Looking ahead, I spotted another assault trooper, accompanied by a Centurion. I took out the Centurion's shields with a single shot, then set both of them on fire.
"Cerberus outside pod, Shepard. Need assistance!"
"Working on it, Mordin," I replied as I trained my sniper rifle on another trooper. I stopped talking, centred my sights, exhaled and fired. As the trooper dropped like a stringless puppet, I ducked down and reloaded. Then I quickly scurried forward, using the lingering shroud of a Cerberus smoke grenade as cover.
Sure enough, they weren't expecting that. Or he—there was only one trooper left and he quickly lost his head. Literally. I quickly panned the room. No more hostiles.
"Quickly, Shepard!" Mordin urged. "Technician dead. Clear us through the checkpoint."
I hurried over to the quarantine checkpoint, swiping some credits from a datapad along the way. "Are you okay?" I asked as my fingers flew over the console.
"Containment shield is holding. Minimal damage," Mordin replied. "Will try to repair if necessary. Can't speak for krogan's health, however."
Now that we were in better looking, I could get a better look at the krogan. She was covered from head to toe in navy blue robes with gold trim, aside from a headdress of some sort that had a more detailed gold pattern. If I looked closely, I could see her eyes through a large slit. "I'm fine, Commander," she reassured me.
"Females kept secret," Mordin shook his head. "Possibly a mole in STG. Could be indoctrinated."
That could explain the leak of information. Though that would mean the Reapers chose to send Cerberus instead of their own Reaperfied troops. And that would mean Cerberus and the Reapers were in cahoots. While that would explain TIMmy's creepy eyes, all the intel we'd seen up to this point suggested that they were acting independently.
Another option was that someone didn't like the idea of curing the genophage and was willing to do anything to stop it. Even make a temporary alliance with Cerberus. Granted, that was a really big list of suspects. But if we added people who knew locations, fleet and troop deployments, and access codes to a secret STG base on the salarian homeworld… I'm not pointing fingers, but those criteria did narrow down the list.
"If no krogan alliance with turians, Reapers left unchallenged."
Well, not exactly unchallenged. But that bit of hyperbole was understandable considering how the Reapers were steamrolling over everyone in their way. And while there was no iron-clad guarantee that a krogan alliance with the turians would mean krogan and turian support for humanity's bid to retake Earth, it would be a heck of a lot harder to get that support if we didn't get Eve outta here.
"That's not gonna happen," I declared. "We'll do more than challenge them. And on that note… got it!"
The containment cell rose as some unseen hydraulics began carrying it away. "Shepard, meet us at next checkpoint. Cerberus likely to target—"
Mordin was interrupted by a barrage of gunfire that shook the containment cell. Whirling around, I saw a pair of troopers spraying the cell from a shuttle. "Hurry! Next checkpoint!" Mordin hissed.
"EDI, see if you can patch us into Cerberus's comm frequencies," I said. She must've succeeded, because the next thing I heard was a raspy voice croak out: "Copy all squads: I have the krogan in sight. She's in transit, headed up to the next level. All squads converge."
Liara caught them in a singularity, I set them on fire and Garrus blew them up with a concussive round. Still, the damage was done. Cerberus knew where the krogan was heading. As the squad reloaded, the shuttle flew away with the charred remains of its cargo. We headed around a corner and saw just how widespread the Cerberus attack was. Fires raged on every level. We could hear and see explosions and gunfire on—
We hastily ducked as another shuttle flew overhead, barely missing us. A pair of Cerberus gunships was hot on its heels. I wondered what was going on at first. Then I realized that the shuttle bore Alliance colours instead of Cerberus. But the only Alliance shuttle in the area was…
"Shepard, get cracking!" Wrex called out over the comm. "I'll try to draw some of their fire!"
"You left Cortez in one piece, right?" I asked.
"Yeah, yeah."
All right. Time to get back to work. "Miranda," I said, spotting some more hostiles ahead and pointing them out. "Keep them pinned down. Teams One and Three on me."
We took out a couple troopers in a flash. Garrus had just zapped a Centurion's shields when Mordin contacted me again. "Shepard, last attack compromised security systems! Attempting to compensate!"
"Hang on!" I replied as I set the Centurion and ordered the teams to advance. "We're trying to get to you, Mordin!"
Another Cerberus shuttle hovered to a stop overhead. It deployed some smoke grenades to cover the descent of more assault troopers. I managed to land headshots on most of them and seriously wound the rest, which made it easy for the squad to mop things up.
Once again, we reloaded and caught our breath. Then I led them forward, pausing to scoop up fresh thermal clips or scan random mods. "Cerberus isn't fooling around," Garrus observed as we passed through some doors.
"Well, we knew they were capable of anything," I replied as I led the squad up a flight of stairs.
"True," Miranda said. "Though this latest strategy of mass conscription, indoctrination and use of direct action is disturbing, to say the least."
"Where did they get all these men and women?" James wanted to know. "And get the weapons and stuff to outfit them? It's like they came up with an army overnight."
"Not necessarily," Miranda disagreed. "Cerberus spent years testing prototype weapons, hardsuits and other material. They have front companies and sympathizers within the Alliance who could provide all the credits and resources they'd need. As for the manpower, we saw what they were doing on Eden Prime. If they could round up and indoctrinate even a few colonies, they could create a loyal, armed fighting force very quickly. They might not have battlefield experience, but building neural pathways and planting memories? That they could do. The Lazarus Cell would have gone down that road if we were unsuccessful in rebuilding Shepard's memories and experiences."
I quickly looked back, opening my mouth to assure her that none of this was her fault. Then I closed my mouth when I looked in her eyes. She wasn't feeling guilty or troubled. True, she was part of Cerberus, but she never had a hand in any of this. The casualties and atrocities that Cerberus was perpetuating in the midst of this war was all on TIMmy. Not her.
And there would be a reckoning. Of that, I was damn sure.
We reached the top of the stairs just in time to see Major Kirrahe subdue a Cerberus goon. "Commander, stay back!" he cautioned. "Hostiles around the corner and down the hall."
"Well we can't stay here forever," I frowned. "Is there an easier way around?"
Kirrahe cocked his pistol. It made a hissing sound as narrow jets of smoke or mist sprayed out from either side of the barrel. "You could say that," he grinned.
Then he stepped out and fired. Garrus and I craned my neck out to watch.
The first shot hit the wall behind the three Cerberus troopers. It left some kind of object behind, enveloped in a glowing blue field. The second shot sent a glowing blue ball rolling along the floor and came to a shot. The third shot stuck to the middle hostile, who staggered back and looked down at his chest.
Then all three balls exploded, taking out the troopers.
"How do I not have one of those?" Garrus whispered enviously.
"I know, right?" I whispered back.
A mildly disgusted sigh caught our attention. We looked behind us at Miranda, who had also succumbed to her curiosity. "Boys and their toys," she muttered, rolling her eyes.
Any response we might have given was interrupted by the arrival of more Cerberus goons, one of whom deployed an automated turret. "Orion Squad," I heard over the Cerberus comm channels, "your orders are to hold position and block access to the next checkpoint."
"Go Commander!" Kirrahe yelled. "I'll cover you!"
"Team Two; move up and flank them!" I responded. "Teams One and Three, let's keep our new friends busy."
My first move was to hack the turret. Liara, EDI and Javik began peppering them with biotics and plasma while the turret turned on its owners. Garrus and I entertained ourselves by taking headshots. By the time the turret was destroyed, there was only one more trooper left standing.
"Keep going, Commander," Kirrahe urged. "Don't worry about me!"
Activating my cloak, I crept forward and launched a fireball. Garrus caught up with me just in time to re-ignite the flames with a concussive round. "Think we got 'em all, Loco," James reported.
"Then we better hurry to the next checkpoint," Miranda urged. "I'm sure Cerberus isn't done."
"Agreed," Kirrahe said. He must've caught up with us. "Shepard, I'll secure the area while you move on. Here's a map of the base." A few taps on his omni-tool transmitted the file. "Go!"
"Thanks," I nodded. "See you on Earth!"
Kirrahe flashed me a grin before turning away. Following his map, I led the squad to a locked door. Thankfully, the biometric sensors decided I had sufficient authority to unlock it after scanning me over and over and over again. As soon as the doors opened, I swiped some medi-gel from a nearby station and headed down the hall.
"Mordin was right," Garrus said quietly. "Cerberus must have been tipped off. They got here too fast."
"Every war has its traitors," Liara said soberly.
"But who were the traitors this time?" Javik asked angrily. "Humans? Salarians? Who?"
We quietly digested that thought as we reached the next door. I reached out and opened it.
"Aaaaarrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
"Get the hell off him!"
As one, we sidestepped the Cerberus trooper, the varren who was tearing him to shreds and the second trooper who was vainly trying to help his comrade. We found cover by a stairwell and began greeting the latest wave of hostiles. I blew a trooper's head apart while EDI fried a Centurion's shields, opening the way for me to land another headshot.
"Looks like these pendejos mean business," James observed.
"More up top!" Liara warned.
"Find cover," I yelled, spotting a hostile from the walkway above. My snapshot missed him, but at least it succeeded in driving him back. But not before he dropped a grenade. We scattered out of the way before it exploded.
"We've got stairs over there, Shepard!" Garrus told me. "Maybe take the high ground?"
I sent a bullet flying through the slit in a Guardian's shield. Missed my shot with the second Guardian. Scored a direct hit with the third. "Good idea. Team One, let's head up top!"
EDI and Liara followed me across the courtyard and up the stairs as Teams Two and Three kept Cerberus jumping. I activated my cloak halfway up. As far as the trooper at the top of the stairs was concerned, that meant the fireball that lit him up came out of nowhere. Liara set off the plasma, turning him into burning chunks.
"Orion Squad, we've trapped the female at Checkpoint Two. Take her out."
"Elevator malfunctioning, Shepard," Mordin said a second later. "Need assistance!"
I paused to drop an assault trooper first before telling him to hold on. Then I checked my HUD. No more hostiles that I could see. "All teams, report."
"Team Two is fine," Miranda reported. "And I have some salvage for you."
"Team Three kicked some ass and scanned some hardsuit upgrades," Garrus chimed in.
"Rendezvous at my position," I ordered. Closing the comm channel, I checked the base schematics Kirrahe gave me and headed towards the appropriate door. Naturally, it was locked. By the time the rest of the squad caught up, though, I had managed to bypass the lock.
And just in the nick of time. "Taking fire!" Mordin warned.
"Take them out!" I ordered. "Get them away from the female!"
Unfortunately, the hostiles were just as quick to respond. By the time I found some cover, bullets were already flying and I'd lost almost two thirds of my shields. Activating my cloak, I used my temporary invisibility to catch my breath and figure out where everyone was. Then I raised my sniper rifle and drilled a hole right through a trooper's head. Wheeling to the right. I fired again. Missed. Waited for the trooper to move into my sight. Dropped him like a rock.
"Cerberus outside pod, Shepard. Integrity at 79%. Need assistance!"
Didn't he say that already, I wondered as I set a hapless trooper on fire. EDI turned my fireball into a full-fledged conflagration. Over on my left, Miranda and James did the same with a biotic-concussive round combo. Garrus and Javik had apparently appointed themselves as fire support, keeping most of the hostiles pinned down with carefully-aimed particle beams.
"Shepard."
"Damn!"
I watched in bemusement as the trooper I'd accidentally bumped into sprawled on the floor. I paused to shoot him at point-blank range before activating the comm. "Yeah?" I asked, spotting another weapon mod to scan.
"Suspect Cerberus has cut power. Can't progress until you reroute emergency systems."
Quickly checking the schematics, I headed for the nearest power terminal, grabbing some more medi-gel on the way. I reset the fuse box; if by 'reset' you mean push a large cylinder into a wall and turning it sideways. The lights went back on and a humming noise filled the air. "Done!" I announced.
"Excellent! Can clear us. Wait!"
"We've reacquired the krogan. Grid five-three-one."
"Another Cerberus squad! Shepard, hurry!"
Naturally.
Running back the way we came, I spotted a trio of hostiles. They hadn't seen us, though, which gave us the element of surprise. However, there were more Cerberus goons where those ones came from. "Keep up the pressure!" I shouted. "I'm headed up top!"
Well, I was headed up top before I saw two Guardians. This time, I didn't need three shots to take them out. I ducked down just in time to avoid a spray of bullets. The trooper who was hoping to get the drop on me took a blast of biotics to the face from Miranda. James was happy to deploy another concussive round.
While the trooper collapsed, I scooted to a nearby bullet-ridden support column. On the way, I passed Garrus and Javik, who were trying the biotic-concussive round combo trick for the first time. Leaning around the column, I spotted a Centurion. Not bothering to wait for someone to fry his shields, I just took them out with one shot, then took him out with the second.
The last trooper found himself suddenly alone and outgunned. We quickly put him out of his misery.
"Excellent. Affinity for destruction intact, Shepard. Can clear us through now."
I met Mordin and the krogan again at the checkpoint. "How are you holding up?"
"Containment shield strong, but not designed for direct fire," Mordin replied.
"It's doing an admirable job while we deal with Cerberus," Miranda observed.
"One bullet at a time," I agreed.
"This isn't your problem, Commander," the female said. "You don't know me." (8)
"But I'd like to," I replied. "Besides, you're mistaken: right now, your problem—the krogan's problem—is my problem. Hang in there, okay? Mordin, how many more checkpoints are there?"
"Just the landing area. Hope Urdnot Wrex still waiting."
The krogan female chuckled. It was the first time I could remember her doing so. "Wrex can't keep his hands off a fertile female. He'll be there."
Ah yes. Nothing like sex and the thought of babies to get someone to stick around. "I'll see you up top."
As if they'd heard me, two troopers stormed into the room. A third one dropped down from above using his boot jets. "We've found them," one of the hostiles reported.
Several more hostiles entered the room and the whole situation devolved into a frantic firefight. As bullets and particle beams flew back and forth, I scooted to the right. Seeing Liara hit a trooper with her biotics, I promptly targeted that guy with a fireball. Then I turned to another trooper. Two shots took him out. After I reloaded, I tried to set another hostile on fire. EDI beat me to it.
Meanwhile, Miranda was keeping a few troopers down with her submachine gun, giving James plenty of time to take them out with particle beams or concussive rounds. Garrus and Javik were having fun knocking hostiles off their feet with concussive rounds and biotics, respectively. That made it easy for EDI, Liara and I to pitch in wherever we were needed.
The last hostile was an injured Centurion. I snuck up on him under cloak and went medieval on his ass. (9) "That's the last one," Miranda reported.
"Then let's get the hell out of—ooh!"
I'd stumbled across another research terminal. One with an interesting report. Well, interesting in the sense that it did more than satisfy my insatiable curiosity: "Species 408—the varren—could provide a novel form of biological warfare. With enhanced size and intelligence, they could harass hostile civilian populations at minimal cost. Recommend project approval."
"Do we really have time for this?" Liara frowned as I copied the files to my omni-tool.
"Given that the salarians seem to be playing with as much fire as Cerberus, yeah, I think it's worth taking a second to copy a couple files," I replied.
"Shepard, get your ass up here!" Wrex shouted. "I can't fly around here forever!"
"If you're bored of flying, let Cortez take over," I returned, ignoring the pointed looks I was getting from my squadmates. "The female's on the way up to the landing area. We'll meet you up there."
That made him happy. "You pull this off, I'll make you an honorary krogan," Wrex promised.
"Just as long as you bring the thresher maw steaks to cook."
"Why would you want to cook them?"
"Never mind. Shepard out."
I headed for the nearest exit, scanning a sniper rifle along the way. Getting my bearings, I hopped over a gaping hole in the ground and started climbing a handy ladder. I'd just reached the top when Mordin contacted me again. "Shepard! They've found us! Under heavy attack!"
"We're here and we have the high ground," I replied. "Hang on."
By luck, the ladder had taken us to a sub-level just above the landing area. A stretch of shrubbery that some interior decorator had planted gave us plenty of cover to launch an attack of our own. I used my cloak to figure out where everyone was and assign targets. Then, before my cloak wore off, I blasted through a Centurion's shields with my omni-tool. Then I set him on fire. Then Liara ignited the plasma.
Looking up, I spotted more assault troopers drop from above. The thing with that tactic is that you have to slow down at some point—which made you a perfect target for a sniper.
"Containment shield weakening, Shepard!" Mordin blared in my ear, making me flinch enough to miss my next shot. After compensating and taking out my target, I got on the comm. "Mordin, I'm well aware of that. But according to my scans, the shield's still at 67%. Stop bugging me and let me do my job. Shepard out."
While I was scolding Mordin, a couple hostiles had joined us. Miranda quickly zapped their shields. Spotting their vulnerability, EDI set them on fire. Consequently, James's concussive round had considerably more explosive results.
With that threat neutralized, I looked down at the landing bay below. Any hostiles were down, either from some earlier sniper action or getting carved to pieces by particle rifle fire. "Appears safe," Mordin reported. "Shepard, you must authorize release."
"You know, this is a rather poorly designed system," I said as I gave the final approval sequence.
"Safety protocols didn't account for hostile attack of this magnitude."
Fair enough. "What happens after this?"
"Pod then transfers to loading area."
"Then let's get you out of there," I declared. With a final click, the containment cell separated in two, with the part holding the krogan female rising to the ceiling. An overhead crane automatically slid over and clamped onto the pod. Slowly, the crane began to move the cell. We were almost done! Just a little further—
"Shepard, heads up!" Wrex warned, as the back of my neck suddenly began tingling. "You've got incoming!"
Aw, crap.
With a thunderous boom, an Atlas mech landed right in front of us. It slowly rose to a standing position, its pilot glaring at us. I dove to cover just in time to avoid getting turned into a bloody cloud. "Shepard! I can't land until you deal with that thing!" Wrex said. "It's too dangerous!"
As I watched, the Atlas turned away and slowly clomped towards the containment cell. "Krogan has been acquired," I heard the pilot report. Mordin tried to do something. Then he began kicking. "Door is damaged," he spat. "Can't get out."
"Stay clear," I told them. "We've got this."
"Protect the krogan, Shepard!" Mordin urged. "She's vulnerable!"
Ya think? Everyone immediately switched to their automatic weapons as Miranda, Garrus and EDI hit the Atlas with a barrage of EMPs. "Just when I thought things were going smoothly," Garrus sighed.
"Cerberus never did play fair!" Liara scowled as I tossed a grenade for good measure.
"It may have the advantage in firepower, but we have the advantage in numbers," Miranda reminded her.
She was right. Every time it focused on one of us, that left it vulnerable to the other six, who were more than happy to hit it with EMPs and bullets. Biotics and plasma also rained freely—though it wasn't as effective while the shields were up, it certainly didn't hurt. After a minute, we managed to drain its shields. Then we really put the pressure on, with every trick in our book having an added effect denting and cracking its armour.
"Shepard, I think you did it," Wrex finally reported. I think—I had trouble hearing him over the sound of the Atlas exploding. "Looks clear from here. I'm coming in now."
Wrex landed the shuttle with notably less finesse than Cortez and hopped out. We clasped hands firmly in greeting. "You had me worried there for a minute."
"Only a minute?" I asked. Wrex grinned.
We gathered by the pod. Mordin, who had finally managed to free himself, raised a hand to help the female down. Wrex shoved him out of the way before making the same gesture. "Let's get you out of there."
She took his hand and stepped down. Their eyes met. If this was a vid, this would be the part where violins would start playing.
"There they are!"
"That's them! Move!"
Needless to say, this wasn't a vid. Two Cerberus troopers dropped down. Before any of us could react, the female reached over, yanked Wrex's shotgun from his holster and shot them both. Then she shoved the shotgun back into a stunned Wrex's arms and walked towards the shuttle. "I can handle myself, Wrex," she said quietly as he passed.
Wrex just watched her go. "Women," he breathed before following her. I was about to follow when I heard a rasping sound. To my surprise, one of the troopers was still alive. Barely, considering the way he was twitching in a pool of his own blood. I hurried over.
"We…" the trooper began.
With Miranda and Garrus covering me, I crouched down. "Why is Cerberus here?" I asked. "What do you want?"
The trooper made a final rattling noise before slumping over.
(1): A human mental exercise sometimes used to lull oneself to sleep, usually by imagining an endless series of identical white sheep and counting them as they jumped over a fence. The boredom that inevitably results when conducting a simple, repetitive and rhythmic exercise is intended to help humans sleep. The term 'counting sheep' is commonly understood as an idiomatic reference for insomnia.
(2): A nickname Wrex coined for Garrus during our hunt for Saren, referring to his previous occupation.
(3): A sentient, violent and aggressive race of humanoids from the planet Parnack. After attempts at establishing first contact led to the massacre of the delegation, the Citadel Council decided that the yahg were too aggressive and obsessed with control to properly integrate with the galactic community and declared the planet off-limits. One of the earlier Shadow Brokers managed to acquire a yahg for study, only to be killed and replaced. Shepard helped me confront and kill him in 2185.
(4): Ever since his exploits at Elysium, Shepard had developed an aversion to being in the spotlight, personified with the erection and dedication of a statue in his honour.
(5): Shepard did take a certain delight in causing trouble for others if—and only if—he felt they deserved it.
(6): The number seven is associated with luck and good fortune in various human cultures.
(7): Of course he would.
(8): Clearly she was still finding out the kind of man Shepard was.
(9): By which he meant he snuck up on him under cloak and decapitated him with his omni-blade.