Normandy SR2, on route to Omega

Illusive man: "In order to accumulate the basic strength in fighting the Collectors and the Reapers, we have compiled a detailed list on all the different persons-of-interest which we recommend you to recruit in order to aid in your quest against the Collectors. Here on Omega, we have compiled three persons of interest for you to recruit."

A data file is uploaded onto Shepard's Omni Tool, which she skimmed through. "So. This is the only Baseline Human on Omega- I wonder how he survived in a place where everyone is a monster in one way or another. And a Salarian, named 'Doctor', arrived on Omega just two months ago- One of the braver members of the Council Races who evidently managed to survive and thrive as an Outlaw. Then, this, 'Archangel'. The briefing didn't mention who he is or what it is- Likely some crazed Council member in a futile attempt to bring their concept of justice to the Terminus Systems, let alone Omega."

Illusive Man: "There were Evolved on Omega just like basically everywhere in the Terminus Systems- Remember that nearly every Human in the Terminus Systems are either a Biotic or an Evolved, so be ready to tank in or evade their attacks in case you piss off a few. Remember that you can take the shape of anyone you consume with this body- I recommend you eat and disguise as a member of one of the Xenos while on the station. I still recommend stay low-profiled and do not provoke the station's inhabitants in general. I have marked off a few stronger Evolved on the station- You may be able to take their abilities if you manage to defeat and consume one of them."

Shepard: "So this is a form of real-time communication. But how?"

S.A.M. :"Two reserves of entangled particles are created in the same location and then are separated. One reserve is mounted in the Illusive Man's office, and the other is mounted here on the Normandy. The Illusive Man passes a stream of his particles through a polarizing filter oriented in a way that encodes the information he need to send to us, and by using a pair of crossed polarizing filters on the Normandy, the orientation of his filter could be deduced from the intensity of our particle stream here on the Normandy, allowing information to be transmitted instantly without risk of eavesdropping or being jammed."

Shepard: "The why it is not used everywhere if it's so effective?"

S.A.M. :"Quantum Entanglement Devices needed frequent recharging and can only send one orientation vector at a time. As it is a strictly point-to-point process, fitting a large network with Quantum Entanglement Devices are prohibitively expensive and impractical."

Joker: "We are approaching the Omega sir- The Batarian air traffic controller have approved our request to dock and is guiding us to dock at Dock 11B."

After navigating the corrugated mess of structures comprising most of Omega, The Normandy come to docking at Dock 11B of Omega.

Shepard and Jacob left the Normandy through the extended Docking Tube connecting them to the Station, and to their surprise, the first Person of Interest, "Veteran" Zaeed Massani, was right in front of them. And the Batarian who guided them to Dock 11B just moments ago was being held in his hands by the neck.

Shepard: "What's wrong with him?"

Zaeed: "He was one of the gang members that was responsible for the recent poisoning of Afterlife customers- Aria sent me here to deal with him. Their plot was only revealed after apparently another Human, after complaining about the drinks being served by one of the Batarians was off-taste, sent an analysis result of the contaminated liquor to Aria T' Loak; who immediately realized that the contaminant was a poison that was found in many of the Council Races that have died mysteriously around Afterlife. And since I am Human, she thought that I should be able to deal with the poisoning gang quite easily. Of course I could. Just not in the way Aria expected to do."

(Paragon Choice: Shepard tells Zaeed to put down the Batarian, and then interrogates him for information about the rest of the gang)

(Renegade Choice: Shepard takes the Batarian from Zaeed and consumes him, getting the needed information from the Batarian's recent memories.)

Shepard: "So let's meet this Aria in this 'Afterlife'. I had the Intel we need for you to finish your assignment- and welcome to the Normandy."

Afterlife, Omega

- Now Playing: Toby Fox-Death by Glamour -

Aria T' Loak: "Zaeed Massani- You came back so quickly- I didn't expect you to handle that Batarian so fast."

Zaeed: "Not without help, of course- let me introduce you my latest colleague- Commander Jane F. Shepard. Or, rather, Commander Alex M. Shepard since 'he' was apparently a result of some very unfortunate Cerberus genetic experiment- Like putting a female mind into a male body, according to 'Her' self."

Shepard: "Any way, Cerberus send me here to gather these two critical persons-of-interest in order to aid in the fight against the Collectors. Do you know about this 'Doctor'?"

Aria T' Loak: "Of course I know- There is a plague spreading in residential area 51B, lethal to every race except the Vorcha and the Humans. And just a week ago, some Salarian, likely Ex-STG judging by the suit he wears, claimed that he had the right knowledge and instrument to develop a cure, and set up a small clinic inside the infected area. I just told my security force to quarantine that area so that nothing comes out of it. That Salarian however... By now, I think he should be already dead judged by the lack of any information about his existence coming from the infected area right now."

Jacob Taylor: "Thanks for the intel."

Aria T' Loak: "And now leave from my line of sight and mind your own business- Omega have one and only one rule- Don't F**k With Aria."

As Shepard, Jacob and Zaeed leaves through the back door of Afterlife, Zaeed came across another batarian serving drinks to the customers- and he ordered a drink.

(Paragon Shepard: "I know you- You are the other member of the Batarian gang that was behind the poisoning of Council races around Afterlife. And you nearly poisoned one of my squadmates. To death since he was one of the few Baseline Humans that managed to venture so deep here." Shepard grasped the Batarian on his neck, and held him up above "her" head. "I prefer justice in the usual manner... But it's time to test out some of the new abilities Cerberus have 'Give' me." Iridescent tendrils come out of Shepard's hand, and the Batarian is soon consumed, leaving just a small puddle of brownish fluids behind.)

(Renegade Shepard: "No.", before taking the glass of drink from the counter, held the Batarian up in midair shouting to him "Now Drink." in a threatening tone, and forced the liquid down the Batarian's throat. The Batarian soon collapsed under his own poison.)

Shepard tried to use her "Disguise" ability as recommended by the Illusive Man before coming to Omega, and after a ripple of distortions that coursed through "her" body, Shepard turned into a perfect copy of the Batarian "she" have consumed before.

Shepard: "That's impressive."

Zaeed: "One of the reason that you don't see a Human face here so often despite Omega should be a major hub for both of the two Human Factions in the Terminus Systems. Evolved often use a disguise when near large concentrations of aliens, primarily for blending in. And I believe that the S-Module of type II Biotics could be used to bend the light around an object and make the object, often the user himself/herself, invisible."

A female figure wearing black clothes and hood materialized near Shepard's small squad apparently out of thin air, before disappearing back into invisibility soon after.

Residential area 51B, Omega

Blue Suns Mercenary A: "The area is under quarantine- You must stay outside unless under permission by the relevant Authorities."

Blue Suns Mercenary B: "Door closed. ... . " (After examining the party more closely) "You are Humans. Immune to the plague so it's reasonable that someone sent you here in some assignment. But I still have to check for your permission before I can let you in."

Shepard called up her Omni tool and transferred the assignment details and permission file Aria gave "him" in Afterlife, to the mercenary in front of her.

The helmet worn by Blue Suns Mercenary B shifted and collapsed into itself to reveal a somewhat young, male, Human face. "Setting up containment wind blowers...""Zaeed and ZEUS, you can go in- Don't let me lose my job after this."

The door opened, and as an external blower whirled louder and louder, Shepard and Zaeed felt a powerful gust of wind blowing into the Quarantined area- Almost blowing the two into the tunnel in front of them.

Shepard: "If that was a Human, why he was wearing Turian armor?"

Zaeed: "It may be a disguise- Albeit a poorly executed one. Evolved don't like to be in their default appearance when near aliens as it risk breaking anonymity for them. Judged by the face and the technique for using the 'disguise' function he was likely turned when still young- Hence the 'joining the mercenary' part as they need Biomass to grow. And fighting in mercenaries is one of the good ways to get a lot of it. And a lot of different appearances to use as disguise from the enemies."

Shepard: "Let's find this 'Doctor'."

Blue Suns base-of-operation, Area-51B

Shepard: "So what's happening here."

Batarian 1: "Your Humans *Cough cough* spread the disease- Only your kind and the Vorcha are immune- And the Vorcha are nothing more than pests- *Cough cough*"

Zaeed: "No- Terminus are just resistant. You know that Evolved and Type II Biotics can't contract any kind of diseases due to their extensive modifications- Traits that are much more older than this plague itself!"

Shepard: "And the Vorcha are naturally immune to most diseases due to their adaptability. So it's not possible to deduce that one was responsible for spreading the disease."

Batarian 1: "*Cough cough* Nomatter what, one must be responsible *Cough cough* Either the Humans or the Vorcha must have been spreading the plague as they are the only ones that won't be hurt by their own bioweapon *Cough Cough*"

Shepard: "He looks quite ill. Maybe bringing him to the 'Doctor' would have the Salarian come out to meet us."

Blue Suns Mercenary 3: "There is Bloodpack activity in the area just in front of the location. If you are to proceed to find the 'Doctor', I recommend dealing with them if encountered."

Blue Suns Mercenary 4: "We will transmit to you a course toward the 'Doctor'. Do your thing and just be careful with the Bloodpack in the way."

CODEX: Krogan: battlemasters

Historically, Krogan Biotics are considered exceedingly rare and unusual, primarily due to a lack of dispersed Eezo concentration on Krogan-occupied worlds and the Oviparous nature of the Krogan race rendering in-utero exposure to Element Zero impossible.

However, since the introduction of Red Sand, and by extension, Human Type II Biotics to the Terminus Systems after the Citadel's official first contact with Humanity in 2138, many of the Krogan factions and mercenaries have saw a new way to create Biotics of their own.

Red Sand, a highly non-polar preparation of Element Zero first invented circa 2069~2075 on Mars, was likely a failed Templar attempt to breed their own Super-Soldiers to tackle Cerberus and the Evolved during the Templar-Cerberus arms race for the occupation of Mars.

Red Sand inserts itself into the cell membranes of Individuals that are inoculated with the material, where it converts the electrical activity of the Cell membranes into localized Mass Effect Fields, bestowing the Individual the ability to manipulate Dark Energy using a combination of Neural and Muscular activity with minimal training.

However, in doing so it also rendered any individuals that was inoculated with it immune to the effects of Mind Control, likely through a combination of disrupting existing Mind-Control fields and blocking external Fields from entering- Which caused the Templars to abandon the research shortly after they discovered that the Super-Soldiers, otherwise known as Type II Biotics, could not be controlled.

Cerberus, however, saw Red Sand's potential in subverting Baseline Humans that were already turned into mindless drones of the Knights Templar, took the research which was brought to them by the first Type II Biotics that escaped the Templar Mars labs after they have been turned, and developed upon it themselves- Cumulating in the creation of the modern version which have been distributed in the entire Galaxy as a Recreational Drug, subverting Mind Control in the Galaxy one Individual at a time.

The Krogans, sees this Biotics-enabling chemical concoction as it was being made open-source and distributed by Cerberus, was among the first alien race that used it on themselves- After all, a Krogan's lifestyle is all about fighting for literally everything and anything ranging from food to fame, which means that any mean that make them stronger in battle was extremely desired.

Major mercenaries, like the Bloodpack, first experimented in creating their own Type II Biotics by injecting Red Sand into the secondary circulatory system of newly-born Krogans- Which worked surprisingly well, if not for the tendency of the Indoctrination-resistant product to escape leaving a hole in the labs' walls. However, through the correct application of Discipline and military training, the mercenaries were nevertheless successful in making Biotic Super-Soldiers that fights for them.

The Krogan Battlemasters- Stronger than an Evolved, more biotically powerful than an Asari, and regenerate their injuries as fast as... well, a Krogan, was the Bloodpack solution of a problem that even the Knights Templar have abandoned due to issues in Control. Trained extensively in the most inhospitable Death-worlds and implanted with the most advanced Biotic Amplifiers of the Citadel powered by Microfusion instead of mere metabolism, coupled with the Blood Rage ability of the Krogan race (which also happen to greatly enhance the powers of Krogan Type II Biotics), Battlemasters are the perfect killing machine for any Mercenaries that had the time and money to raise them from scratch... As these psychopathic killers appear to be loyal to one and only one faction from birth to death, across their 1000-or-so years lifespan.

Plague Wards- Area 51B

Zaeed: "Bloodpack!"

As the door in front of Shepard, Zaeed and the Blue Suns opened to reveal a large alley, several varrens and Vorchas have emerged.

Shepard: "What's your 'own method', Zaeed?"

Zaeed pulled his shotgun- a modified Alliance M-303 "Claymore" from a magnetic patch on the back of his armor, aimed at the general direction of two of the varrens coming toward Shepard and the Blue Suns, and pulled the trigger. Within a few milliseconds, the small charge of element zero behind a pile of metal fragments within the chamber of the shotgun destabilized, creating a spray of rapidly-expanding beta particles that propelled the fragments to nearly 3.5 percent the speed of light, fragments which punched several brilliant trails of fusion reactions into the air before hitting the varrens dead-on, blasting them into bloodied pieces and sprays of red blood as the unshielded tissue is turned into several localized clouds of superheated plasma where the fragments collided. Blood that is quite unusual for non-earth-originated lifeforms in the Galaxy.

Turian Blue Suns Mercenary 2: "That's how a real soldier fight!"

Turian Blue Suns Mercenary 1: "An Elephant Gun? How did he get that?"

The Vorcha came- Several of them carrying shotguns and rocket launchers, while another half of them was equipped with what seems to be flamethrowers with large tanks on their back. Which they starts to shoot at the Blue Suns and Shepard's party even before they are in-range. Purple and orange ionized flames lit up the crowded compartment.

The Turians start to shoot at the Vorcha with assault rifles, with remarkable accuracy. Several of the Vorcha have been hit with the Turians' bullets, but apart from staggering a bit before moving on, the bullets did little to them as the flesh of the shot Vorcha knitted itself back together.

Zaeed: "Vorcha are self-healing! Shoot at the tanks!"

Miranda: "Shepard- I could see Zaeed killing a few varren near you from your Omni Tool camera- I recommend consuming one of them to obtain it's gene for hardened claws. Once you obtain the ability, use it to rip the vorcha into pieces smaller than your head, or they will grow back!"

Hearing Zaeed taking to them, the two Turians aimed their Phaeston assault riffles to the tanks on the back of one of the flamethrower-bearing Vorcha, and with a well-aimed shot, the tank explodes in a violent explosion of purple-and-orange plasma as the helium-3 stored within is ignited by the impact, blowing the Vorcha and several around it into charred pieces- No growing back from that.

Shepard used her tendril attack to pull the front half of one of the killed varren toward "him", tendrils emerge from one of his arms and enveloped the remain, before the piece of dead varren is broken down and absorbed into Shepard's body.

"Hope it's fresh..."

Shapard examined the torrent of genetic information flowing into her mind as the Varren's genome is deconstructed, and finds what she thinks to be the correct fragment- After a torrent of distortions that rippled through the arms of Shepard's ZEUS form, a pair of four-bladed claws, material and texture of which evidently varren in origin, emerged from just above Shepard's hands.

Satisfied of her newly gained weapon, Shepard jets out from her hideout, slicing apart a Vorcha every time her track intersects with one, consuming the remains as (S)he takes no chance of letting one regenerate.

Rockets came from the remaining Vorcha as the leading one recognized the presence of an Evolved in the alley beneath it- Which Shepard have to dodge ((S)he does not have THAT much Biomass to spare!) while Zaeed and the Mercenaries shot down the Vorcha one by one. Which Shepard would have then slice apart and consume to prevent them from coming back up.

Turian Blue Suns Mercenary 3 pulled out a sniper rifle- And as the red laser spot locked onto the leading Vorcha, the 20-percent-C projectile turned the head and upper torso of the Vorcha into a flash of glowing plasma, and the rest of the body slumping onto the ground with several large cracks that have started to heal. Given a few minutes, the Vorcha would have grew back it's head and started to summon in more of the Bloodpack again- But before that could happen, Shepard leaped up the balcony and consumed the Vorcha entirely, clearing out the Bloodpack's presence in this part of Residential Area 51B.

"So the Collectors were behind the Plague after all?" Examining the memories of the leading Vorcha, Shepard sent a message toward Miranda about her newest, most disturbing find. Apparently, the Bloodpack made a deal with the Collectors some time about a month before, which they were told to spread a "biochemical chimeric mutation agent" to secluded areas on Omega, which they then promised to exchange any live samples of the Xeno races (any race that is not a Human or a Vorcha) that remained for a large amount of technology and "a chance to greatly influence the wider galaxy".

Following the course plotted by the Blue Suns pack leader that met then before, Shepard, Zaeed and three Turians swiftly went down the alley, turning toward Mordin's clinic at a corner.

And it's at this time, more Varrens, Vorchas, and, noticeably, two heavily armored Krogans appeared in front of them. Turian Blue Suns Mercenary 1 is Shot dead immediately as the Krogan fired his weapon toward the squad, while the remaining four desperately finds places to hide. (A Turian rolling to the side is not exactly that pretty to see... But the Gyroscopic Mass Effect Core within most Turian armor definitely ALLOWED it to happen.)

Turian Blue Suns Mercenary 3 primed his sniper rifle and shot the leading Krogan in the head- Before the projectile is blocked by a flash of light and bounced off harmlessly.

Turian Blue Suns Mercenary 3: "The Krogans have Shields! Ready Assault rifle fire!"

Zaeed: "Overload!"

A burst of electricity emerging from the leading Krogan flashed through the hordes of Vorcha and varren, killing a varren directly while significantly burning several Vorcha as the bolt from Zaeed's Omni Tool impacted it's target. Assault rifle fire from the two remaining Turians impacted the oversized lizard as the lightning bolts dissipated- And it had no effect.

Shepard: "That's not shields! It's a Biotic Barrier!"

Turian Blue Suns Mercenary 2: "They got Battlemasters on site! Retreat!"

Shepard: "I Hope that Jacob is here- S-Modules are impenetrable to non-Biotic based attacks as the Mass Effect fields it produces homogenizes all impulses toward and within it's area of effect. Wait, Impulses. Wait, Mass Effect Fields- Miranda, Patch it up to S.A.M. as I send the readings through!"

Miranda: "Analysis complete- There is a box of refined Element Zero lying just on your left, and Zaeed have the power Incinerate. This is your plan for taking down the threats within the mission are just in front of Mordin's Clinic."

Shepard: "Hold your fire and wait as I signal you to use Incinerate on the Krogan Battlemaster. On my next signal, use your Overload ability on the target I will point out for you on your Omni Tool. Don't ask, just do as I say."

Switching to the Tendril ability, Shepard grabbed the box of refined Element Zero from h[is](er) side and lunged the box toward the Krogan Battlemaster using all h(er)[is] power (s)he could manage.

"Zaeed, Incenerate!"

A flaming projectile containing a large amount of burning, flammable gasses flied toward it's target and exploded, creating a temporary, dazzling fireball right in front of the Krogan as the Eezo-filled box flew inside the Battlemaster's barriers that is momentarily weakened from the distraction created by the fiery explosion, hitting his chest as a bolt of lightning struck the box from the same source the flaming projectile came from.

"Overload!"

As the burst of electricity struck the box containing the refined Element Zero, a powerful, chaotic Mass Effect field is created as the surge of electric charges and discharges plummeted through the material randomly and chaotically. This nascent Mass Effect Field reacted with the S-Module Barrier of the Krogan violently and catastrophically, causing the Element Zero both inside the Krogan's body and in the box to destabilize. Just like when a Warp hits a Singularity. Except that it's now also a Eezo Core Explosion. Just like what happens when a Citadel spaceship is shot through it's core.

"Duck!"

A massive blue fireball appeared in the place where the Krogan and the Box used to be, streams of lightning emanates from the center of the explosion as high-energy beta particles streamed through and shattered every piece of organic matter within a 25-meter radius that is not shielded by thick metal from the inside out. And as the explosion subsides, a powerful singularity have been left at the center of the explosion- Where the Krogan Battlemaster used to be. The other Krogan have been turned into vaporized plasma, the Vorcha shattered into thousands of bloodied pieces while not even a trace of the varrens that were brought with the Bloodpack have been left.

The debris from the powerful explosion, boxes, chairs, rocks, dead & broken pieces of bodies and pieces of the metallic walls and flooring of the chamber the Bloodpack used to be in, are sucked violently into the distorted sphere as the singularity grew larger and larger, eventually destabilizing and created another fiery, plasma-filled explosion that shook Shepard, Zaeed and the two Turians from behind the solid metal walls they are using as cover.

Zaeed: "That's almost a Gigadevastator! Except that Biotics are not used in this explosion. Impressive."

Shepard: "I told you to duck! Though the mechanisms of the explosions are the same."

Mordin's Clinic

"Patient 557 have stabilized. Have to find the other survivors... time is running out and Bloodpack is in the way... Security mechs numbers should still defend this location for a while, evacuation plans and new Clinic locations have been devised..."

"Hey, who are you?"

Shepard: "Mordin?"

The elder Salarian, with one of the cranial horns missing and obviously a lot of scars on his face, turned around, and sees two male Humans looking at him.

Mordin: "Not Bloodpack. Not registered either in the Plague wards or Residential Area 51. You must be from the outside. Is the Quarantine finished or someone sent you here?"

Shepard: "I'm Commander Jane Shepard of the Cerberus Lazarus Project/Normandy SR2. We are currently looking for someone called 'The Doctor' to help us defeat the Collectors. Do you know where the 'Doctor' is or who he is?"

Mordin: "I'm Doctor Mordin Solus. And I am the 'Doctor' you are looking for. How did you get here? The Bloodpack have blocked off all the routes toward here."

Zaeed: "Blew our way here."

Shepard: "Got to eat a lot of Vorcha in the way here. They tastes nauseating."

Miranda: "I have to conduct another psychological test on you to make sure that ZEUS don't reemerge. May I take some of your time for you to answer a few questions for me?"

Shepard: "You spying on me all the time?"

S.A.M.: "Correct. All Lazarus Project Omni Tools are voice-recorded for evaluation and emergency acknowledgement purposes. If the Commander of a ground squad is in trouble, the crew can assist them in real time without the Commander or the squad having to manually call emergency first. Records show that the majority of Colonist loss in the wider galaxy happens when dialing on the Omni Tool for an emergency call."

Shepard: "Thanks for saving my life in my way up there. That Eezo+Overload idea is brilliant. Just don't share my Omni Tool stream to the rest of the Normandy or the Galaxy, okay?"

Mordin: "I believe that I could join you in defeating the collectors- I have message from an Evolved about they creating the Plague so I want revenge too. However, before I can leave with you, the Plague must be cured first."

Shepard: "How?"

Mordin: "The Plague is a sub-nanoscopic agent of presumably Collector origin- The agent appears to randomly activate the dormant sequences within victim DNA upon contact, which the resulting mutation causes wide-spread tissue damage and loss of function within affected tissue, primarily the lungs and other respiratory organs, resulting in respiratory failure and death. Agent likely created to search for certain genetic traits within the genome of the general populace. Human resistance stem from their lack of such sequences within their genome, rendering the agent useless."

Shepard: "Sound familiar... How you plan on curing the disease?"

Mordin: "For every nanoparticle there is an antibody against said particle- The Pathogen appears not to mutate by itself while hypermutating the host cell. I have already cooked up a chemical antibody for the pathogen nanoparticle, which should cement together and destroy the pathogen when encountered in air, on skin or in the body of an affected individual. It cured my patients well in the lab, but in order to make it work in the entire affected area, a delivery system is needed."

Zaeed: "How?"

Mordin: "The Bloodpack have turned off the central environmental control system in Residential Area 51B after dispersing their pathogen. Just insert the vials of this Cure into the ventilation systems and turn on the fans, and the cure should be scattered toward all of Area 51B, clearing the pathogen from the air and curing all affected individuals."

Turian Blue Suns Mercenary 2: "Then why don't you do it like what you say?"

Mordin: "The area around the Environmental Control Systems are heavily guarded by Bloodpack mercenaries- My mechs can't handle that much enemies and I couldn't get the cure to the ventilation fans without getting killed. Since you and your squad is able to fight a way through the Bloodpack blockade of this area, I think that working with your squad should make the delivery possible."

Shepard: "Welcome aboard- We will have to go to the Blue Suns base-of-operation first. Just to gather more firepower."

Blue Suns base-of-operation

Commander Tiberius: "'Doctor' is in bound and Shepard's squad have cleared out a way toward the Environmental Control System- According to the 'Doctor', the Bloodpack was assigned here to protect the Environmental Control System from being activated and prevent the Plague from being disrupted or cured. And the Salarian already have a cure. 10 minutes later, the Blue Suns will stage a final attack against the Bloodpack presence within the Environmental Control System Control Room, while Shepard and Doctor Mordin Solus will deliver the Cure into the air system and activate the ventilation fans. Protect them at all costs."

As the brief debriefing finishes, the group of 26 Mercenaries disembarked the base and advanced toward the Environmental Control Room.

Area 51B, Environmental Control System Room

Sparks flies out from doors locked by the Bloodpack as Blue Suns cuts the lock open using industrial plasma-cutters brought by the "heavy"-class Mercenaries that came with Mordin, Zaeed and Shepard.

The doors soon open, and before the Vorcha behind could react, they are shot down one by one. Zaeed brought with him a M-101"Firestorm" flamethrower, alongside with a few other Mercenaries, which incinerated the downed Vorcha as to prevent them from regenerating. Shepard took time to consume the rest of the downed Vorcha and Varren, while Mordin started to look for the control panels for the Ventilation fans.

Mordin: "I found the first control panel!"

Commander Tiberius: "Protect the 'Doctor'!"

Rockets starts to fly toward Shepard and the rest of the Blue Suns, as the four Krogan Battlemasters staged in the room reacted and charged toward Shepard's team.

Leading Krogan: "Fire the rockets! Kill that Human!"

Leading Vorcha: "The Collectors will be very pleased for the body of ZEUS!"

Shepard: "Do you have any Biotics on hand? I really need a helping hand to take down that Battlemaster!"

Commander Tiberius: "Just checking... Human Biotics, no. Citadel Biotics... well, there is an ex-CABAL member registered in this subdivision that is sent here to aid Mordin. She is called Vetra Scendavanius. I have called her to help you there."

The Krogan Battlemaster charged with a blood-filled rage as another two Blue Suns Turians were shot down by the rockets, Shepard barely dodged the next attack (already lost 2/3rd of h(er)[is] Biomass from two previous impacts), consuming a piece of shredded Varren while a purple explosion suddenly exploded from the Krogan's face.

Vetra: "Krogan Barriers Down, Rest of the team, Focus fire on that Battlemaster!"

Shepard: "Wait, Blue Suns had Rockets too? Why don't they tell me before?"

Rockets, shotgun and sniper rifle fire focused on the exposed Krogan, explosions tore the upper half of the Krogan into a fluid-ridden hole, and the rest of the body collapsed onto the ground.

Shepard: "Should I sample some of the fluids for you to analyze and reconstruct the Krogan's genetic structure and history, Miranda? They don't look... natural."

The fluids flowing out of the dead Krogan was red with a bright blue glow, same as refined Element Zero- the same color as the "blood" of Human Type II Biotics as far as what Shepard knows from the Extranet during her early days in the Systems Alliance.

Miranda: "Just ignore it- As far as we know, all Battlemasters are created artificially using Red Sand by the major Krogan factions in the Terminus Systems. Yes. They are Type II Biotics just like the non-Evolved Humans here in the terminus."

Nevertheless, Shepard went to the half-blown Krogan and consumed the remains- including the Eezo-rich fluids within the body. Surprisingly, little of the Krogan's genetic information appeared to bear the modifications common in Human Type II Biotics, and there appears to be an extensive metallic wire network permeating throughout the Krogan's secondary circulatory system. Wires that are identical to that of the biotic Amplifiers used by Citadel Biotics as far as what she knows.

Element Zero extracted by the phagocytes within ZEUS's internal biomass, and Shepard soon had a sizable cache of it stored within h[im](er) available for she to use.

"Okay, let's try replicating that 'Warp' attack on the other Battlemaster on the field."

Mordin: "First Ventilation fan active- Approaching second Control panel."

Rockets flies toward the other corner of the Environmental Control Systems Room as the Bloodpack realized what the other team was doing.

Vorcha leader: "Killll da Salarian!"

Commander Tiberius: "We are taking heavy fire! The Bloodpack have realized what we are actually doing here. Requesting supportive firepower!"

Another Krogan Battlemaster lifted a crate off the ground using his K-module, and flung it toward Mordin's team in an attempt to squash the small team of Mercenaries with the heavy crate.

And the crate was deflected off it's course by a Biotic push from Vetra in midair.

Vetra: "Not letting that happen."

Shepard experimented with a large amount of possible stimulation geometries and neural impulses on the Element Zero she just acquired- auras of Dark Energy envelopes ZEUS's body, shaking and pulsating randomly, until Shepard got the desired effect from the experimentation.

A large, black, sphere appeared in the middle of the horde of Vorcha that were firing rockets at Mordin's team, gravitation from the singularity pulled every one of them into an orbit around itself, while the Rocket Launchers of many of the Vorcha are now ripped off their claws- floating in midair aimlessly and getting flung all over the room.

Shepard: "Shoot at the Rocket Launchers! We need to disable their weapons or else they will just pick them back up once they regenerated."

Commander Tiberius: "Understood. All Units, shoot at the Bloodpack's weapons!"

Zaeed primed a sniper rifle from behind cover, as the other Turians rained assault rifle fire toward the hands of the Vorcha and Krogans- shooting their weapons out of their hands, the impact of the hypervelocity projectiles blasted holes through the delicate machinery and reduced the Bloodpack's weapons into pieces of scrap metal.

"One. Two."

As Zaeed and the Blue Suns shot the rocket launchers off of the Vorcha Rocket Troopers' claws, the number of rockets being fired toward the team have reduced significantly.

Mordin: "Ventilation Fan #2 activated- Two next to go."

As the majority of the Bloodpack are disarmed, Shepard re-summoned his claws, and charged toward the rest of the Bloodpack Mercenaries- Ripping Vorcha and varren to pieces while consuming the critical "core" of the shredded biomass in order to block them from regenerating.

Another warp attack by Vetra, and the head of the second Krogan Battlemaster is shortly blown into a spray of fluid-stained bits by a well-aimed shot from a Blue Suns Sniper.

Zaeed: "Only two Krogan Battlemasters remained- Use biotic attacks to take out their barriers before shooting at their heads with whatever most powerful things you have until they are reduced to debris and pieces, as this is the only way to block their regeneration."

Mordin: "Three Ventilation Fans are now activated- One last to go."

Debris and Crates were thrown all over the place- Another two Mercenaries crushed under the heavy objects thrown by the remaining two Battlemasters, while Mordin's team have entered the control room for the last ventilation fan of Area 51B's Environmental Control System.

Shepard: "Vetra, I have an idea for taking down the last two Battlemasters- but you will have to work together with me in order for it to work."

Vetra: "Sure, what I need to do?"

ZEUS's upper body and arms once again flared up with a purple aura of Biotic energy, and a Singularity forms in the middle of the two remaining Battlemasters. Seeing the Singularity as a signal, Vetra followed the plan with Shepard and induced another Warp field onto the all-attracting Singularity.

As the two Mass Effect fields collided, their effects interacted with each other in a chaotic manner, and the Dark Energy within the fields are released as a torrent of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles, or WIMPS- Irradiating the two Eezo-filled Battlemasters with doses that is more than enough to completely destabilize every bit of the substance within their bodies and cause a massive explosion.

Tendrils of Lightning jets out of the two blue fireballs that were used to be the bodies of the two remaining Battlemasters as sprays of high-energy beta particles ripped through every chemical bond in the body of the two Krogans, the floor beneath them and everything within a 10-m radius, before a massive EMP pulse fried every precision electronic device within the Environmental Control System Room.

Shepard: "Duck!"

The Blue Suns Team barely had enough time to take cover, before the torrent of hot plasma rushed above their heads like a Pyroclastic flow in some Hollywood Disaster Movies, and Shepard, Zaeed and Commander Tiberius' Omni Tool only barely survived the EMP blast as they reached Cover before the explosion reaches them.

Mordin: "All four Ventilation fans now active and online. Shepard, Zaeed, Tiberius, let's get out of here and prepare to deal with some angry Bloodpack!"

Mordin opened the door of the control room he was in- And finds out that the floor on the outside have been replaced with a crater with a pool of glowing, molten materials in the middle.

A torrent of wind have started to blow across the Environmental Control Systems, carrying the Cure throughout the Plague-infested Area 51B. Plague Victims throughout the area started to recover, and the rest of the Bloodpack, situated in area unaffected by Shepard's rampage through the majority of their forces, retreated without a trace as they knew that their mission have failed.

Mordin: "You already finished? That's good. Thank you Shepard. No. Thank for all of you!"

Shepard: "It's welcome aboard this time, finally!"

CODEX: Terminus: Small Arms

After to the introduction of the Evolved and Type II Biotics, genetically engineered super-warriors that each could trump over a small army in Citadel standards, there have been an arms race within the Terminus Systems between the various factions that uses Virus, Drugs and Guns to fight for dominance- Cumulating in the creation of the incredibly powerful, incredibly violent, Modern "Small" arms that are now used extensively throughout the entire northern reaches of the Galaxy.

Modern Terminus-made firearms uses a combination of Chemical, Nuclear and Dark energy in order to achieve projectile velocities that are completely unheard of, even downright ridiculous in Citadel standards. Shots traveling at a speed over 3.5 percent C is the norm for most handheld and assault weapons, while sniper weapons and shotguns regularly exceeding 6 to 10 percent C- Faster than even that of the shots fired from the main gun of a Geth Dreadnought.

Due to the general chaotic nature of the terminus factions, the exact mechanisms of which Terminus small arms achieve such ridiculous velocities varies significantly from model to model. However, the general doctrine of Terminus marksmanship is that no kill is Overkill- Nearly all firearms made by the Terminus Sytems are designed to Shread, Burn or Vaporize as much Biomass as possible upon impact, which makes sense as since the majority of your foes are capable of regenerating from a single cell as long as there is active Biomass available to them.

M-101 "Firestorm" portable plasma thrower ("Flamethrower")

The M-101 "Firestorm" was originally designed by the mining company Eldfell-Ashland Energy as a tool for melting moon rocks for extracting the Helium-3 trapped within- Before the weapons Company Elkoss Combine, finding out it's surprising efficiency against the Rachni during the Rachni Wars of 1510 G.S., which they swiftly purchased the patent from Eldfell-Ashland Energy and made the industrial device man-portable, resulting in the portable flamethrowers that are now used extensively by the mercenaries in the Terminus Systems today, known as the M-101 "Firestorm".

Despite being called a "flamethrower", the M-101 "Firestorm" is actually a miniaturized version of the helium-3 fusion torch thrusters used extensively in Civilian spaceships of the wider galaxy. Inside the weapon, Helium-3 is ignited in a Tantalum-Tungsten-Carbide reaction chamber, where it fuses to create ordinary Helium and two protons per each reaction. The protons are decelerated and recycled as the power source for the Confinement fields and heaters that help ignite and maintain the fusion reaction, while the stream of high-temperature Helium-4 plasma is vented out the front of the device at a high speed- Ionizing the air in the way of the plasma stream and creating a jet of searing hot, 9725.85C/10000K secondary Plasma of mostly Nitrogen, Oxygen and their compounds.

In the original industrial setting, the Plasma jet is injected into a vacuum chamber with the moon rocks, heating the regolith up to extreme temperatures and melting it, thus freeing the Helium-3 trapped inside. When used as a weapon, the plasma stream is vented into the open air, which react with and ionizes it to create the stream of hot plasma, or "flame" you see coming out of the weapons of the various flame-troopers of the Terminus' Mercenaries. "Flames" that are so hot that it can burn through Biomass ignoring most form of kinetic barriers/shielding, being stopped only by the Impenetrable constant barriers created by Type II Biotic S-modules.

M-303 "Claymore" Anti-Protoform Shotgun

When the Systems Alliance joined the C-sec as a vassal of the Turians, the Knights Templar was tasked for making specialized weapons for the other members of the Citadel Races to use for "defense and law-enforcement purposes". Among the many products made by the Systems Alliance during the time period, the M-303 "Claymore" Anti-Protoform Shotgun was purported to be the ultimate solution against the Assassins and the Evolved... Or so did they thought.

Designed for use by Krogan C-sec Enforcers for taking down Evolved during heated battles, the M-303 "Claymore" Anti-Protoform Shotgun have such a high recoil that even the most trained Baseline Humans would break their arms the first time they attempt to fire the weapon.

Despite resembling the other Shotguns available to the wider galaxy, in the Basis, the M-303 "Claymore" operates by a principle that is completely different from the mass-accelerator based weapons of the rest of Citadel space. Instead of using electromagnetic forces to accelerate a frangible projectile which shatters upon leaving the barrel, the M-303 "Claymore" uses the explosive destabilization of a small charge of Element Zero located on the rear end of each batch of small projectiles to accelerate the projectiles to velocities up to 5~6 percent C in a manner that resembles the more conventional firearms of Old Earth- Hence the extreme recoil produced by this weapon.

The high-velocity projectiles shot from the M-303 "Claymore" are designed to vaporize a large amount of Biomass upon impact, through the process of Sputtering- high-velocity particles, like the projectiles of the weapon, can physically break the chemical bonds holding materials together and send the individual atoms flying apart from each other, ignoring all healing process and break through even the best nanocomposite materials producible by Terminus Bioengineering, essentially turning the impacted material/biomass into a puff of hot plasma that can no longer be reused.

Despite being Alliance in origin, the M-303 "Claymore" Anti-Protoform Shotgun is now one of the favorite weapons employed by Krogan mercenary groups in the Terminus Systems- Especially the Bloodpack.

M-570 "Black Widow" Long-range anti-biological sniper rifle

Among the most extreme of all Terminus weaponry, Sniper rifles, which was intended to take out their (self-regenerating-from-a-single-cell) targets in a single shot, are probably among the most destructive man-portable firearms throughout the entire Galaxy.

Originally designed as an Anti-Materials sniper rifle for use by the Geth Elite infiltration units, the Blueprints for the M-570 "Black Widow" was extracted from a surviving data core on a crashed Geth transport vessel in year 2643GS by the Salarian Mercenary group Eclipse, which further improved upon the design using technology derived from both STG and Reaper in origin.

Using blueprints partially decoded from the terrifying Particle Beam/Thanix weapons of the Collectors, the M-570 "Black Widow" uses a process known as FTL Field Collapse Acceleration to accelerate it's projectile to up to 0.15C, 0.23C with the right weapon mods for improving projectile speed&damage.

When the weapon is fired, the projectile is accelerated, electrostatically, inside a mass-lowering field- Just like every other mass accelerator weapon in the entire Galaxy. However, the difference between this and the other forms of Mass Accelerators, is the fact that the field used is so strong, that the projectile is actually accelerated to the speeds traditionally associated with most forms of Civilian FTL drives- up to 25000~30000 times the speed of light while the projectile is still inside the barrel. Once the 0.04-gram projectile leaves the mass-lowering field however, the projectile is instantly decelerated to sublight velocities and the high FTL speed is instead translated into a high Lorentz factor as it reenters Real Space- The same phenomenon experience by a FTL vessel during a Field Collapse mid-transit.

Using FTL Field-Collapse acceleration, the high-speed projectile shot by the M-570 "Black Widow" have enough energy to smash through atomic nuclei- It can damage even Mass Relay or Citadel alloys during an impact, smashing through the enhanced strong/nuclear interactions like a 9mm bullet through a clock. When impacting Biological tissue, the extreme velocities associated with the projectile causes fusion reactions between the Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen nuclei within the material, releasing more than an average of 85GJ of energy per shot, 36GJ if impacting Iron or Strong-interaction Alloys commonly used in most forms of Construction. This energy release is more than enough to vaporize and completely ionize 258.99 kilograms of Biomass even in the worst case scenario, completely negating Regeneration of any kind and making it one of the few weapons that can actually take out an Evolved, Vorcha or Krogan Battlemaster in a single shot.