Chapter 7

death's door

part 1

So here it is part seven of the story. It will be split in two sub parts because after testing it I reached the conclusion that writing single pieces ten thousand words long is not worth it: too long, too heavy.

One review asked me if Jack will have a special relationship with Lena and Raina and the answer is….maybe? It is sure that they have a common ground but Jack is well, Jack. I will think about it.

As always I do not possess any rights etcetera etcetera.

Good reading

12 march 2185. Normandy's crew quarter. Lena's room. 14 27 a.m. ship hour

If a brave soul inside the ship would have dared walking near the infamous Ripper's room that particular day he would have heard a screeching cacophony of cries and wails worth of a banshee of the legends coming from inside the door. What could emit such noises!? A fit of rage from the Ripper? An olo-video about Krogans in heat?

Nothing so strange: it was only Lena trying to bring her daughter to the doctor. Quite the task considering that Raina was gripping one of the bed's legs like it was a lifesaver all while Lena tried to dislodge her.

"Nooooo!" cried Raina out in pure fear after Lena's latest attempt at dislodging her

"Calm down Raina, it is nothing dangerous. The doctor of this ship is neither mean nor brutal!" tried to reason Lena but her daughter was unwavering in her stubbornness.

"It is a lie! Doctors strap you on an operative table and open you with theirs mean knives! I do not want to go, I do not want to! She will hurt me!"

"Do not spout out insanity! The Chackwas is not like the organization's butchers! She will not hurt you in any way, I assure you!"

"They all do it, this one is just pretending! Leave me alone mum! I do not want to go!" now Raina was crying and begging, such was her fear but Lena refused to give up and grabbed one of Raina's leg, trying to pull her away. Right now the Claymore was beyond annoyed: three days ago, specifically during one medical check-up, doctor Chackwas warned Lena about her desire to visit and check Raina's wellbeing, claiming that she was now also another member of the crew just like the others and was so under her responsibility, quietly warning her that she would not have accepted a no as an answer. Lena had expected; she knew at this point that the good doctor wanted only the best for Raina so she quickly accepted and arranged a session for the twelfth of march. What she did not expected was Raina's stubborn reaction that already managed to delay the meeting of at least twenty minutes! A quick glance to the room's clock informed Lena that they were late for the meeting and it was a small miracle that she had not already been called by the doctor.

"Raina, this is your last chance!" shouted Lena finally out of patience "Stop whining and come with me or else." Raina's answer was gripping even more firmly the foot of the bed. Lena grimaced and grabbed the child with both her hand. This was gonna be a long day.


The crew of the Normandy that morning had the chance of seeing quite the unusual spectacle during their working shift, so unusual that some of them even abruptly stopped doing what they were doing and looked at the couple that was now moving toward the infirmary with mouth open and quizzical looks. What they saw was in fact a wrathful Lena angrily marching toward her objective all while keeping a squirming and desperate Raina from slipping away from her shoulder. Raina in fact was a stubborn and resourceful child and refused to yield even when Lena finally managed to pull her out from her improvised refuge spot, and almost destroying the bed in the process; it was almost comical seeing the child placed over Lena's shoulders moving like a squirrel on a branch, something that forced the now furious Lena to keep one hand firmly lodged on Raina's body in an iron grip, but no one dared to laugh or even utter a word, at least not until the girl and her unwilling cargo disappeared inside the infirmary. No one want to attract the ire of a woman capable of killing them with her pinky.

"Lena! You finally come! What took you so long?" greeted the doctor when she noticed them. Lena waited a second before answering, allowing her daughter to escape from her clutches first.

"You would not believe me doctor." answered Lena flatly "Let's just say that if I am wary of doctors, then Raina is terrified by them."

As to prove her point Raina used her newfound liberty first of all by desperately banging on the infirmary's doors, trying to open them and some seconds later, noticing that it was useless, by hiding under one of the infirmary's medical beds.

"I see." commented Karin looking at the frantic child "This is not simple fear, but pure terror. Let me guess: the reason for her fear about me come straight from the same person that transformed both you and your daughter in mutated soldiers, am I right?"

Lena's answer was a simple nod. The doctor deeply sighted after hearing this.

"I do not even know that son of a bitch but I can positively say that I hate him more than Saren. At least we could shoot at him." Karin tried to approach the scared child by coming near her hidden spot only to see her withdrawing even more like a scampering prey near a predator.

"Do not worry too much doctor, I will help you dealing with her." Lena assured the doctor, but right on that moment EDI's voice boomed inside the ship's infirmary

"All agents are to immediately report on the briefing room." Lena cursed under her breath; she could not disobey a direct order but this was the worst possible situation

"Go Lena, I will deal with her just fine. Trust me." assured Karin with a small smile. Lena for a moment looked at her unsure about this, but in the end simply nodded and rushed out from the infirmary without losing another second.

"Now" said Karin once she was alone with Raina "Little one, hiding behind my beds is not a good idea because..." the doctor clicked a button on her omni-tool, automatically rising all the beds inside the room and revealing the terrorized child under them. Raina squeaked in surprise for a second but this time her body refused to move and simply remained still, too scared even to talk at first.

"I can do this." concluded Karin

"Please, do not hurt me! Mum, where are you?" it was Raina's voice, barely audible and laced with dread. Karin's response was a long sight.

"I have no intention to hurt you little one. I asked your mum to bring you here because I need to check your physical health, but judging by what I am seeing that can wait. Now" the doctor slowly sat herself on the floor, a gentle smile placed on her face now at the same level of Raina's

"What do you think about having a nice, long chat? Just to know each other better."


Lena was the last to arrive on the briefing room, still tired for the fast trek and burning with shame for her late arrival; all the others agents were here and judging by the look of their faces they had been here for quite some time but thanks to the goddesses no one commented about her blunder, although Lena quickly noticed the look of disapproval on Miranda's face.

"Commander" tried to say Lena but Shepard stopped her with a simple gesture

"I know why you are late, Karin and EDI had just warned us. No matter, the important part is that we can begin. Zaeed." Shepard activated the holographic generator inside the room and all of a sudden the image of a planet filled the air at the center of the table; next to him blue floating letters showed a name, Korlus.

"Ladies and gentlemen this is Korlus a shit hole of a planet." Said the scarred man in red armor with his gruff voice "Blue suns use it for training their recruits. The whole goddam place is covered in starship's wrecks, making it the perfect place for learning the ropes of urban fighting."

"And...why are we here?"asked Garrus confused

"Because" answered Shepard "Our next recruit is waiting down here Garrus. He is a Krogan scientist called Okeer, currently working for the blue suns for some reason but Cerberus intel suggest that he is willingly to change banner. We will have to"

Shepard's speech was interrupted by a raucous laughter coming from his left, Jack's laughter.

"Now that was a fucking A grade line Shepard!" said the tattooed girl almost rolling down on the floor "A Krogan scientist, what a joke." All the others member of the crew looked at her with various degree of surprise or annoyance; Miranda looked on the verge of exploding while Kasumi and Garrus smiled, but not for the supposed joke. Shepard simply waited for Jack to finish.

"No wait" said in the end Jack, her laughter now dead on her throat "You are fucking serious about this?!"

"Yes I am Jack; Okeer is a one thousand years old Krogan, an expert in genetic manipulation and probably one of the last living Krogan in the galaxy who fought during the Rachny wars. Jack, in the future please avoid this kind of behavior during a briefing. I want soldiers, not unruly children inside my squad."

Jack almost snarled in response, but refrained from commenting and accepted the warning. Shepard's voice was covered with honey but even she could see the steel within it.

"As I was saying" continued Shepard "We have to recruit Okeer, or at least try to. Judging from the scans made by EDI the blue suns garrison is currently busy trading blows with an unidentified Krogan group; this will give us the chance that we are looking for."

"Blood pact?" asked Jacob

"I do not think so: the scans showed only Krogan life-signs and the Blood pact attack groups tend to bring with them dozens of Vorcha and Varren as cannon fodder."

Shepard looked at all the members of his squad, thinking for the last time about who to bring.

"I will go down with Kasumi, Jack, Lena and Garrus. Miranda, you and the others wait on the ship and prepare the Kodiak for immediate departure in case we shall need some heavy fire down here. Some question?"

No one answered to him

"Very well. Go to the armory, i want all of you ready in less than five minutes."

All immediately complied to the orders and went to the armory, preparing themselves for the incoming battle; as always Lena took a small place of the armory for herself and started placing the various pieces of the armor in their places, but this time someone else decided to disturb her

"So you are the Ripper. I heard that you are a freak of nature of something like that. I thought they stopped doing this kind of bullshit years ago."

It was Jack's voice. The girl was wearing only a strip of leather and some pants so Lena could see everything of her body without problems; on her hips a shotgun rested quietly and ready to be used but her greatest assets were her biotic powers and Lena knew it.

"Yes I am, some problem with that?" Asked Lena with tone dangerously low. Companion or not she had no intention of accepting comments about her condition.

To her surprise, the girl simply laughed, a humorous and honest laugh.

"Problem? Of course not princess! We freaks have to stick together after all!" Lena's eyes widened in surprise

"You are…?" asked Lena testing the water. Jack immediately understood the hidden meaning.

"Yup! Changed and fucked when I was a child, just like you. Welcome to the club!" Jack placed a hand on Lena's shoulder in a friendly way and looked at her with what could only be described as interest

"But I wonder, who is the strongest freak among us? How about a challenge: the one that make the most badass kill during this mission must pay to the other a night full of booze and bitches. Interested?"

-O goddesses no! Not another Helen or Rachel please, do not do this to me, I beg of you!- Thought Lena remembering those particular Claymores at home, so similar to Jack apparently

"I will think about it." simply answered Lena just a second before grabbing her sword and literally escaping from the loudmouthed girl.

"Think about it!?" cried Jack annoyed "I want a straight answer you fucking bitch, and do not think you can run away from me!" Lena simply kept walking, leaving the now swearing girl behind.

-She is not like Helen or Rachel- thought Lena while followed by her words -She is worse!-

Planet Korlus. 15-27 local hours

The door of the small shuttle now resting in one of the many metal platform dotting the planet opened itself, allowing Shepard and his crew to disembark in good order and ready to battle.

As predicted by the Normandy's sensors the planet was an immense starships's dump devoid of even the smallest trace of life: the grass hidden by rows and rows of metal slabs, the mountains a conglomerate of decayed ships now linked together after centuries of rust and dereliction. There was no green on this planet, not a single leaf had been spared, and this unnerved Lena; it was not natural.

"Kasumi, you are our scout. Go forward and check for enemies." said Shepard unperturbed by all of this

"Yes boss." answered cheerfully Kasumi a second before disappearing on the air. Lena still had no idea how the girl was able to do such a thing

"I take point." Continued Shepard "Jack, Lena on the center. Garrus behind. Let's move people! We have a Krogan to meet."

And so the squad began its quiet march through this metal world, trusting their sensor and Kasumi's stealth for avoiding most of the enemies and reaching their targets. They walked for minutes, maybe even hours inside this strange labyrinth made of metal and glass, where only en eerie silence greeted their movements; a strange thing considering that the Normandy's scanner talked about a Krogan task force fighting on the planet. No one even dared to speak during the journey, even the rowdy Jack was quiet and Lena was not sure if this was a good or a bad sign.

"Commander" said a husky voice to their inter-comms after some time. It was Kasumi's voice

"We have almost reached the main blue suns stronghold, but a small patrol block the way and I haven't found any alternative route. I am also hearing faint sounds of gun-fire, so we can assume that the Krogans are already here."

"Message received Kasumi. Do not move, we are coming." said Shepard slowly before cutting the chat. "Double time people."

They quickly reached the small thief, now hidden behind some metal pipes near this patrol block, no more that some hastily made barricades protected by three blue suns recruits. They appeared nervous and kept looking over and over at the road behind them, as if they expected to be attacked by someone coming from inside the base, and not outside.

Such a thing was easily noticed by Shepard and he quickly devised a plan.

"Garrus" ordered Shepard while grabbing his sniper rifle. "I take the one on the right, you the soldier on the left. Lena, when they drop you charge and take the last one alive. Clear?"

"Yes Shepard" answered both Garrus and Lena.

The two sniper primed their weapons and waited for the perfect shot, all while Lena flexed her legs.

"Now!"

Garrus and Shepard's rifles roared into life in unison and both their targets dropped dead on the floor, their brain now a fine paste. The last one did not even had the time to understand what happened before Lena charged at him with inhuman speed and literally slammed on the soldier with the strength of a tree trunk. The dazed soldier left his gun and Lena quickly capitalized the advantage and fractured his right arm with a single strike using the flat of her sword just before trapping him in an iron grip with her left hand and forcing him on his knee.

All lasted less than four seconds.

The soldier's helmet was quickly took off from the rest of the squad, and they all saw the pained face of a human boy, barely twenty-five years old and scared shitless. Clearly a recruit on his first assignment

"Fuck, fuck!" cursed the recruit with pained grunts; he tried weakly to get free but Lena was too strong for him.

"You fuckers, I am not telling you anything." snarled the boy trying to appear brave, but Shepard could hear the fear on his voice and used it.

"That is a very bad wound" said Shepard with false sympathy "I have a lot of medi-gel inside this omni-tool, but if you really want to be so grumpy and silent I can simply move along and leave you here to die."

The boy's face paled with fear.

"No no wait! Listen man, I do not know anything, I am just a recruit ordered to keep the flawed pieces inside the station!"

"Flawed pieces?" asked Shepard intrigued

"Yes! Jedore ordered that old Krogan to create an army of tank-breed Krogan for her and he did it, but all his experiments are insane and attack anything that it moves! Jedore still think that they are worth something and refuse to stop the production. Now we have to deal with an army of tank-breed monsters that want to kill us all. What a load of bullshit!"

"Base to outpost, do you hear me?" said a voice inside the recruit's inter-comm. Shepard immediately unholstered his pistol and pointed it at the recruit's face.

"No heroisms boy." He whispered to his ear. The boy swallowed and nodded.

"Here outpost four. No sign of the Krogans yet, the area is still clear."

"New orders" said the voice "Jedore want all the patrols back to the base. Leave your positions at once."

"Yes sir." answered the recruit before having the inter-com closed by Shepard

"Good lad" he said with a small smile "Now" with a lightning move Shepard slammed the butt of his pistol on the boy's face, breaking his jaw and stunning him on the spot. Lena, surprised, left the boy that collapsed gently on the floor, motionless.

"Take a rest, it help when dealing with fractures. Garrus, break all weapons and inter-comms of all three, then we move."

"We do not kill him?" asked Jack surprised

"And why would we? Without weapons and communications he is helpless against us and besides, he will sleep for at least four hours after that blow. Leave him be, maybe he shall learn that the job of a mercenary is not for him."

Jack grumbled something about the heart but obeyed.

"Come on boys and girls, with some luck they have all killed themselves already."

Unfortunately this time Shepard was wrong: not even five minutes had passed since leaving the patrol behind them that they were forced to fight against another patrol of blue suns, and another and another. The place was crawling with enemy soldiers, from the humblest of recruits to the more experienced centurions, and a feminine voice kept shouting through numerous loudspeaker stupid phrases like

"Being hired is only the beginning! You have to earn the place among our ranks!"

Ironically that voice was becoming more annoying than all the people that were trying to kill them.

"Man if that girl is their propaganda officer then I pity these poor bastards." Joked Garrus between the fights. "She really love hearing her own voice!" Shepard could only nod in agreement.

"Guys, here are some Krogan." intervened Kasumi pointing at a battle some meters from them "Do you recognize their insignia?" Shepard took his sniper rifle and checked at them: they were classical Krogan warriors, brutish and armed with shotguns. They had no symbols or clan signs or even armor in some cases, but what really surprised Shepard was that one of them looked at his direction and clearly noticed him, but refused to attack or warn the others Krogan. He simply shrugged off and continued to fight against the blue suns.

-What the…?- thought Shepard confused

"Squad, we go and engage but do not fight against the Krogans, am I clear?" All of them looked at him as if he was insane but refused to protest and obeyed.

The battle did not last long: caught between the fire of the Krogans and the pincer attack of Shepard and his squad the mercenaries died like flies. Some were shredded by Lena's sword or destroyed by Jack's biotic, others killed by the Krogans and the last one picket one by one by Garrus and Shepard's rifles. Unfortunately only one Krogan was still standing after the fight, refusing to even raise his weapon against the newcomers, simply waiting.

"Shepard, I can still shot him before" tried to say Garrus but Shepard stopped him

"Trust me" he simply said before moving toward the hulking creature, his weapons holstered but ready.

"You" said the beast when they were close, his voice profound but….strange in some way. "You are different, your smell is not of this world. Since I was born inside the crystal mother I felt only the need to kill, but you" the beast now towered upon Shepard "Something tell me to talk with you."

"So it is true." commented Kasumi "Okeer is creating an army of Krogan killers." The beast looked at Kasumi as if deeply offended

"Created to kill!? NO, I kill because this is what my blood desires, but this is not why I have been refused. I hear words about surviving, winning, but I have failed. I failed my task even before being born, that is why I am here."

"Do you know a person called Jedore?" asked Shepard trying to squeeze some informations. The beast rumbled the name for a moment on his fangs before answering

"Yes, I heard this name. It is an unworthy name; we will never sing about her."

"This voice, is Okeer's voice?" continued Shepard

"I do not know, I only know that it is inside me and it is confused. I am not what he desired."

"And how have you deluded him?"

"I do not know. It happened even before I was born. He created me, he taught me everything I know, but I was not perfect so he left me."

Lena instinctively stiffened his arms. Whoever was this Okeer used methods far too similar to the organization's ones for her liking.

"I need to speak with Okeer. Can you show me the fastest way to the laboratory?" Asked Shepard. The Krogan thought about this for a moment, as if uncertain; then a flash illuminated his face.

"Aah yes! The crystal mother! She is far down and surrounded by soft creatures like you, many soft creatures. I will show you the way." The beast lumbered toward one of the many abandoned bulkheads that littered the landscape and, with a titanic effort, moved one of it revealing a small passage entering inside the depths of the earth, some kind of subterranean conduct created above an immense abyss dimly illuminated by artificial lamps placed a bit everywhere. Just for curiosity's sake Shepard threw a rock at the abyss, waiting for a sound. He heard nothing.

"Thanks the spirits he is friendly." commented Garrus

Follow this road until you feel the sun once again, it will bring you next to the mother. Farewell"

The squad started moving toward the new road but Lena could not resist and reached the Krogan, grabbing one of his arm

"Lena what?" asked Kasumi

"Come with us." said Lena to the Krogan "You do not have to follow the voices, you can be free if you so desires."

The Krogan looked at her with his reptilian eyes then started sniffling the air, trying to catch her scent. The creature was clearly surprised for some reason

"You...you are not like them!" said the Krogan with awe in his voice "You hide your true nature behind weak flesh and bone, but I can sense claws and fangs deep within you! You smell of death and pure carnage. You smell like us." The Krogan looked at her right into the eyes

"Who are you? The voice said nothing about you."

"I was like you, once." Answered Lena "A creature born and bred only to fight and kill, but I went beyond that! Do you not want to do the same, being more that a mere attack beast?"

For a mad second the creature actually considered the proposal and Shepard and his companions looked at both of them with bated breath.

"No" he said finally the Krogan "I have my voice and my blood, you have your purpose. I will not fight you, but I will not follow you either. I am not perfect and this is my destiny. Farewell."

The words were definitive and Lena accepted them

"Then, farewell warrior" She simply said, sadness painted on her face. She then quickly reached the rest of the squad that was now looking at her with weird looks

"Some problems?" she asked

"Problems!?" answered Jack "Fucking hell Lady Oscar! Mind telling us who the fuck are you truly?"

"First, I am common borne and not a lady." Said Lena "Second, my name is Lena, not Oscar and third, none of your business. The contract said nothing about talking of our past."

"Yes but everyone know more or less the others. Fuck even I talked a bit with that redhead girl about me, but you are tighter than a fucking nun inside a brothel about yourself, and now we discover that a Krogan that you barely know is chummy chummy with you so"

"Ssh" said Shepard "Did you heard that?" All stopped and opened their ears. Someone was shouting, it was human and

"Fuck, they are free! They are all free!" said one voice, followed by a bestial snarl and the sound of gunfire.

"Shit, weapons free!" said Shepard. Soon they discovered the source of the sound: a group of eight Krogans, all armed to the teeth with guns, grenade launchers and even iron bars. The beast were happily butchering various patrols of blue suns like they were made of paper and immediately fired at the new group when they noticed it.

They were clearly not as friendly as the one just left but, unfortunately for them, Shepard and his group were not an easy prey: one of the beasts was thrown into the abyss by Jack's biotics, Garrus downed another one with a precise shot and Shepard and Kasumi worked in tandem and killed three of the beasts with a combinations of grenades and fire-arms. The remaining three roared in rage and charged the enemies, not caring for any wounds or danger, their minds now filled with bloodlust. One of them was killed by Garrus and Jack but the other two burned the distance and started firing wildly, forcing the group to take cover

"Lena, charge!" shouted Shepard to Lena and the Claymore quickly obeyed. Lena charged against the roaring creature, surprising them with such a bold move, and the girl capitalized the advantage. The first Krogan had his lungs pierced by a vicious thrust of Lena's sword cutting through bones and flesh with ease. The creature howled and roared in pain incapable of fighting back after receiving such a staggering wound but Lena did not stop here; in one fluid motion the girl twisted the sword's handle on her hands and forced the blade away from the Krogan's body literally cutting the beast in two! The second Krogan used this moment to attack Lena with his gun but Lena's barrier held firm long enough, allowing Jack to hit the last Krogan with a biotic throw, effectively staggering him. Lena used this chance and quickly lunged at the last enemy with a diagonal swipe, hitting him in the throat and decapitating him with this brutal strike. The beast collapsed without a sound, showering Lena with yellow blood.

"Fucking epic!" shouted Jack with pure sadistic joy after seeing all of this "You won the bet Lady Oscar, hands down! Tell me when you want to do it and I promise you that I shall give you the night of your fucking life!"

"Was that a bit too dangerous?" asked Garrus "Krogan are very resilient. He could have retaliated before dying."

"I knew where to hit them Garrus" answered Lena while trying to clean some of the blood "They trained me well on Omega and these idiots attacked me while showing the weak points of their armors. A piece of cake"

"That they have done" commented Shepard inspecting the wounds "No matter now, we still have a job to do. Let's go people."


The remaining trek showed to be quite simple for the group. Krogan and blue suns mercenaries had already happily killed each other, leaving the road free to roam for Shepard and his squad, and this lead them to the entrance of the infamous laboratory of Okeer. The entrance was unguarded and apparently empty, a simple metal door already opened and ready to cross, but Shepard ordered all his companions to stop. Two were the reasons for such an order: first of all he found the prospect of finding such an important place for the Blue suns unguarded so he ordered Kasumi to do a complete perimetry sweep before entering; second of all, just before the entrance of said laboratory a small desk filled with a computer and some data-pads was lying empty and apparently abandoned. Apparently because Shepard's scanner showed that someone was hiding under it.

"Lena" said Shepard with a whisper "Flush him out." Lena nodded and moved next to the desk without making a sound. Then, quicker than a flash, she unholstered her sword and pierced the desk next to her just enough for the one under it to see the blade piercing the metal. A feminine shriek went out from the desk and someone tried a desperate flight only to be immediately catched by Lena. The newcomer, an Asari dressed in a white coat, tried to get free but she was clearly unused to fighting and Lena's grip, albeit gentle right now, was one of iron.

Shepard looked at the newcomer with an uncertain look: the Asari was familiar somehow, but Shepard could not remember the name; he was on the tip of his tongue but still unaccessible. When the girl finally stopped struggling her eyes met Shepard's eyes and a small spark of hope flashed inside the girl

"Commander Shepard, do you remember me? Please do not kill me!" she said with squeaky voice and this triggered the long forgotten memory inside Shepard

"You are...Rana! Rana Thanoptis! The biologist working for Saren!"

"Yes I am, happy to see you still remember me commander!" the girl grimaced and tried to turn only to be blocked by Lena's hand

"Could you tell your associate to let me go? I am having trouble breathing and I assure you, I am not your enemy."

Shepard nodded in Lena's direction and the Claymore simply let her go, coming back on the commander's side

"Last time I saw you Rana, you were running away from an atomic explosion." commented Shepard looking at the young researcher

"Yes I remember. I managed to hack a drone and ride it away from the base. Thank the goddess."

"And now you are here working for a Krogan busy doing only God know what kind of insanity just like some Saturday afternoon villain." Finished Shepard seriously considering the idea of putting a bullet on the biologist's head. The girl noticed the expression and hastily raised her hands in protest

"What!? No Shepard! Okeer might be a bit cruel but his intentions are sincere. He only want to create Krogans immune from the Genophage!"

That got everyone's attention (but Lena).

"An ambitious objective." commented Garrus "And I am sure that Mordin would like to have a word about this. Did he succeeded?"

"Ehh, not yet. You see Jedore, the blue suns's commander stationed here, hired Okeer because she want an army of Krogan for her schemes, but the old scientist does not exactly care of her and simply give her the failures of our experiments. My work is preparing the learning imprinting for the newborn Krogans clones but most of them are unable to accept them and so they are discarded."

Shepard sighted deeply, behind him Jack snarled in contempt and Lena instinctively grabbed her sword, ready to cut her in two.

"You know Rana, stuff like that make me believe that I should kill you right now." said Shepard at the young biologist that paled visibly after hearing this

"B-but...i am just doing my work! You cannot kill me only because the people hiring me are not very….virtuous? Right?" Her eyes were now a muted prayer.

"No" said in the end Shepard, still unsure about this "Get the hell out of here Rana, and for the love of God find a more peaceful work the next time. I do not know, pigeon breeding."

"I will try commander, but judging from my luck I will have to deal with killer pigeons or something like that." The girl quickly bolted away not looking back for even a second.

"You are too soft boss." lamented Jack when the girl was already out of sight.

"Maybe" answered Shepard "Or maybe i just do not like killing every person i meet. Rana is an idiot but a harmless one. Let's hope we will not find her once again."

Shepard's gaze was now on the metal door containing Ocher's laboratory.

"Right now i just want to end this bloody mission."

End part 1, stay tuned for the next one, hopefully on a sensible time