Note: Song choice: The Oil - Hans Zimmer for the debate.

Chapter 60: The Ninth Platoon

The Red Rose was like a time capsule, an extremely old time capsule. For one, Cora seemed to have actual pictures hung on the walls instead of the more popular omni projector images. Some of the pictures were of environments on Earth like Mount Everest and a stereotypical farm in the middle of nowhere. Other pictures were of her throughout the ages, she looked like a normal kid to teenager. Jack couldn't help but frown at one picture in particular, Cora was standing in front of a birthday cake with the number '18' on it but, she was also wearing '2170' New Year glasses. That was fifteen years ago meaning she was thirty three now. She was only two years younger than him, that was crazy. Having looked like she was in her early to mid twenties, Jack had to assume she went through extensive plastic surgery.

Kal was glancing at another one of the pictures while sitting on a bright pink couch, "Hmm, she really is obsessed with creating the perfect image of herself isn't she?"

Leng exited the cockpit with his arms folded, "Was, the correct term is was. She's no longer with us if you don't remember my demonstration."

Jack scoffed turning around before sitting down next to Kal, "Right, I'm sure she's dead. The overly dramatic head is really compelling proof. That you spent credits to make a replica at least."

Mordin was pacing around the cabin nervously, "Have already been over this. Irrelevant. Need to focus on saving Maelon."

Leng bowed his helmeted head towards him, "We'll be on Tuchanka in fifteen minutes. It'll be midnight on the planet so we should be able to sneak in and out without fighting."

While Jack was still tense about the fact that Leng had taken control of Saren, this made him feel better. Fighting Krogan by themselves was risky on any day, attempting to try and take their cure for the Genophage from them was seemingly suicide. That was even before he counted Kai Leng wanted to kill him, so he couldn't trust everyone to watch his back. Still, if they didn't make any mistakes in the extraction, he would hopefully be back on the Normandy sooner rather than later. The Collectors still needed to be taken down no matter what the consequences of what happened tonight. Either the mission was going to be a success without a hitch, or it was going to be a nightmare. Jack knew his luck weighed towards a nightmare.

Garrus picked up one of the picture frames from the wall and moved back to the couch, "Jack, I think I see your Mom here in this picture. She's with the Turian's ninth platoon. Pretty prestigous if you ask me."

He knew they needed to get ready to go but, Jack spared a look and tensed at the realization he was right. It was a group photo of his younger mother Hannah, The Illusive Man, Alec Ryder, Saren, a very pregnant Human woman, and about a dozen other Turians. The Turians were all wearing black and red military armor as if they were a part of the same unit. This had to be the group that hunted down Septimus Oraka, the fake mad scientist that unintentionally brought his parents together. One of those Turians had to be his father, it was a surreal experience to stare at the group of them. He was trying to stare at all the Turians trying to see if any of their facial features matched his. Even if Saren was here right now, he doubted the Turian would've told him which one it was. Saren could've told him any day now and chose not to. Of course the features didn't match after his own quick inspection, it was an interesting find though. Why would Cora keep something like this? She had no connection to this mission as far as he knew.

Leng coughed slightly before heading towards the airlock, "We should get ready to drop, the Urdnot compound is just ahead of us."

Jack committed the image to memory in case it would be important later, "Alright, let's go everyone. We're here."

Tuchanka was nothing like the drama vids he had seen on the extranet. Most vids tried to paint Tuchanka as a tropical paradise that was only dangerous because of the Krogan. He was glad the Red Rose had autopilot because clouds of thick dust were whipping around so hard he couldn't see if they were at the compound, or a Thresher Maw nest. Granted it was dark outside but, this place wasn't tropical or a paradise. The planet was more of a radiated wasteland from years of nuclear war between clans that you couldn't even see the details of. Shortly after the Rachni War the Krogans turned on each other and instead of just debating their next steps, they nuked each other until one clan was victorius. Fearing the Krogan would turn their aggression on the rest of the galaxy, the Salarians created the Genophage.

Jack and the others jumped when Leng signaled to them it was safe, only to land on concrete after a few feet. He felt silly having worried that the Normandy would've been spotted from a thousand feet below when he could only see a few steps ahead of him with his helmets help. This would've been the perfect opportunity to try and kill him since the crew was partially separated by the dust storm but, Leng merely lit up a flare to guide them towards their entry point. After they made it inside, he was happy to see; Kal, Garrus, Mordin, Miranda, Feron, and Thane were all accounted for. However, now that they were inside the compound staring at the huge flight of stairs below them, Jack realized finding one Salarian was going to be a challenge.

Leng's head bobbed up and down for a few seconds like he was doing his own head count before saying, "No one got lost outside, good. If we're going to be able to find Maelon we're going to have to split up. Miranda, Thane, Feron your coming with me to the southside. The rest of you should go north, it's the larger section of the floor."

Initially, Jack didn't like the idea of splitting up at all. Leng could've used it as a way to separate him and Kal to kill one of them at a time, yet, he didn't. Maybe he was just counting on the fact that he would've said no having something else in mind. He didn't like that Leng was acting trustworthy so far, their relationship if you could call it that, hadn't been this way at all. The last time they met, he had tried to kill Kal over going to safety, full of rage. Right now though he was acting calm and collected like he was a N7 operative. It was a jarring shift that made Jack feel uncomfortable, over the possible implications. Even though this was for Mordin, he couldn't help but feel Leng was leading them along by the nose. He had to be on guard more than ever now that they were entering the belly of the beast full of Krogan.

Kal put his hands on his hips, "Who the hell put you in charge? I don't remember you being on the Normandy for the past six months."

Leng motioned down the stairs casually, "If you have a better idea how we can find one Salarian in a den full of Krogans, I'm all ears."

Jack gave Kal a warning expression under the helmet as if to say he had this handled, "No, I think that's the best strategy. Let's keep in constant contact to make sure we all know if any Krogan are alerted."

Miranda looked between the two of them before saying, "Let's meet at the central elevator on each floor to make sure we're all on the same page."

Jack took a deep breath to be reassured with the decision, "Ok, good luck and be careful. We don't need to have a fight with a building full of Krogan."

The two groups separated on the top floor of the compound. This building probably used to be an office for some Krogan corporation, if they even had those before the nuclear war. Omni paper and other pieces of junk litered the dusty floor making it clear the Krogan weren't interested in keeping the place clean. On one of the back walls Jack could see bullet holes as well as broken cans indicating the Krogan had training here. Garrus and Kal were on his flanks while Mordin followed them interested in their surroundings. It was like he had never seen how they actually lived despite being here to distribute the next generation of the Genophage. He figured a doctor only concerned himself with the numbers of Krogan he prevented from going out into the galaxy to kill civilians. Not the livelyhoods of the people he harmed, right or wrong.

Garrus cleared his throat as he checked around a corner, "So, are we all agreed Cora isn't dead? I mean that was really convenient."

Jack tilted his head in the affirmative pushing a tarp away from a doorway to make sure Maelon wasn't behind it, "Definitely, but I don't know if he's lying on his own or if Cerberus is lying as a whole."

Kal was right against Jack's back ready to pounce the moment something went wrong, "He has wanted to kill us from the beginning, I don't believe for a second he let this go. Are we sure Maelon is even here?"

Mordin nodded quickly as was typical for him, "Received intel from STG, independent of Cerberus. Whether or not Leng trying to kill you Maelon is here."

Jack approached the next door ready to push it open, "Well, that's sort of comforting. The sooner we get out with Maelon, the faster we can avoid any kind of trap..."

He couldn't help but trail off as the door opened to the next room. It was rather full of dead Krogan women bodies strapped down to tables along the walls. Jack felt like he was in the middle of a horror vid from the way the bodies looked. This was on Tuchanka, not the Salarian homeworld of Sur'Kesh. Why would Wrex or any other Krogan allow any of these seeming experiments take place? The only explanation he could come up with was that Wrex knew that the Genophage had been altered and was attempting to cure it. Part of the entire reason they were here was to prevent that kind of discovery due to it's political implications. Why hadn't Wrex attacked the Salarians officially? There had to be a pretty good reason Wrex was keeping the revelation to himself. Like trying to undo what Mordin and his team did without anyone noticing.

Mordin placed his omni tool over one of the bodies to scan it, "Sores, tumors, ligatures showing restraint at wrists and ankles. Track marks for repeated injection sites. Conceptually sound experimentation, though not morally right. Genophage alters hormone levels. Could repair damage with hormonal counterattack."

Jack frowned feeling terrible for the woman, "What kind of pain did this woman go through just in the hope of replicating a cure?"

Mordin brushed it off with a dismissive wave, "Irrelevant. Must focus on finding Maelon. Too late to help the dead."

Garrus' mandibles fluttered as he glanced around the hall to make sure they weren't going to be ambushed, "Can you tell if they were at least close to finding a cure?"

Mordin shrugged tapping his chin, "Minimal insight into experiments. Gene therapy. Risking cancer, aiming for benign mutation. Krogan researchers ruthless. Risking own clan's women for new data. Disgusting. Shortsighted. Wrong." He moved forward to close her eyes, "Rest, young mother. Find your gods. Find someplace better."

The rather religious proclamation surprised Jack immediately. Unlike Feron, Thane, and the Quarians, Salarians weren't traditionally focused on religion. Their minds worked in a way that needed scientific proof to believe something to be true. Unless they could see it done in a lab, it didn't exist. It wasn't important to the overall mission but, he was curious why Mordin was different. On the Normandy, Mordin had been one of the most focused on Collectors out of all of them. He hadn't been a part of all of the interpersonal drama that the rest of the crew unfortunately sometimes drown in. Mordin was the biggest example of a Salarian that Jack could think of, except for this.

Jack tilted his head curiously, "I didn't think someone like you would turn to religion. It's not exactly something you could reproduce in a lab."

Mordin gave him a serious expression, "Genophage modification project altered millions of lives. Then saw results. Ego, humility, juxtaposition. Frailty of life. Size of universe. Modified Genophage project great in scope. Scientifically brilliant. But ethically difficult. Krogan reaction visceral, tragic. Explored religions after work completed. Different races. No answers. Many questions. However, refuse to believe life ends here. Too wasteful. Have more to offer. Mistakes to fix. Cannot end here. Could do so much more."

Kal tapped his assault rifle with his finger, "So you feel guilty for what happened? Like you didn't want to reintroduce the Genophage?"

Mordin looked uncomfortable like he didn't want to answer, "Not guilty, but responsible. Trained as doctor to treat not harm. Genophage affects fertility. Doesn't kill. Still, caused this. Hard to see big picture behind pile of corpses."

A deep rumble of a Krogan voice came behind them, "A pile you'll be joining doctor."

Jack knew Mordin wasn't going to be able to get out of the way in time to avoid the first shot, so, he dove forward to shield him. It was risky even with palladium armor given the fact that Krogan shotguns were usually weapons strapped to ships. Luckily while the initial blast shook them to the ground, he hadn't felt an impact to his skin. Twisting his head backwards, Jack was able to see three Krogans in full armor none of which he recognized. The others in his group scattered to the sides of the walls for cover. They were in real trouble now that a gun was going off. Every other Krogan in the compound was surely going to wake up and try to find the source of the noise. Maybe finding Maelon was going to have to be abandoned for just getting back to the ship.

Sure enough, Leng's voice was almost instantly in his ear, "What the hell are you doing? We're going to get flooded with Krogan!"

Jack crawled backwards with Mordin underneath him trying to get to cover, "Got unlucky with a Krogan patrol, we'll handle it."

Leng shouted back loudly, "You'll handle it?! We're going to get killed in a few minutes so you better god damned handle it right now!"

Miranda sounded impatient trying to bridge the gap between them, "We'll wrap around the building and regroup with you. Just hold on a little longer and you two can figure out what to do next."

Kal was hiding behind a wall waiting for one of the Krogans to come around the corner. He was giving a signing gesture to Garrus and the Turian retreated down the hall. He realized out of all of them, Garrus and Kal were probably the most experienced in dealing with Krogan mercenaries. On Omega, the Blood Pack mercenary group was almost exclusively Krogan yet they survived for two years fighting them. They had a plan on how to deal with them which seemed they were slipping back into naturally. When the third Krogan past by Kal not seeing him, the Quarian kicked his knee out from under him before firing into his neck. At the same time, Garrus launched himself forward with his jetpack to punch the same Krogan across the jaw while using a free foot to kick the first Krogan backwards. The Krogan still standing fired at Kal who ducked under the other Krogan he had already shot. Surprisingly, the Krogan hit was still alive and fired towards him and Mordin. Once again, the bullets bounced off of the palladium armor but, this time it hammered into the floor. Since the building was so old, and they were heavy, the ground broke and they fell through.

He spun around so Mordin would land on top of him on the floor below them, "Oww, that's going to leave a bruise in the morning."

Mordin rolled off of his body, "Will probably be several days. Medi gel inside armor will treat injuries for a time."

Kal broke the neck of the Krogan he was hiding behind before shooting the second and looking down at him through the hole, "You alright?!"

Jack gave him a thumbs up, "Yeah, just get out of there we'll find our way back to the roof."

Kal grunted frustrated with the situation before disappearing down the hall with Garrus. Jack slowly started to get up to his feet then helped Mordin who was doing the same. After getting his barrings, Jack realized this room was unlike every other room he had been in so far. This place was full of computers and other pieces of technology that had no place on Tuchanka. Where had all of this come from and why had Wrex gathered it all to this spot? He turned around to see another Salarian working at one of the terminals. Seeing as the Salarian population had to be zero every other day of the week, this had to be Maelon. He definitely wasn't a captive the way he was working.

Mordin marched forward like he hadn't just fallen through the floor, "Maelon, what are you doing here? We have to escape! Krogan will be on the way!"

Maelon scoffed ignoring the request and continued working, "Good, they'll take you out so I can continue my work. The Krogan didn't deserve what we did to them, Professor. The Genophage needs to end, for good!"

Jack tensed watching the door after the shout, "Could you not shout? We don't need to attract more Krogan attention."

Mordin ignored him yelling back, "It had to be done! Rachni Wars, Krogan Rebellions all pointed to Krogan aggression. Whole team agreed! Project necessary!"

Maelon spat back at them, "How was I supposed to disagree with the great Doctor Solus?! I was your student! I looked up to you!"

Mordin pointed a finger at him as if to accuse him, "Experiments performed here. Live subjects?! Prisoners?! Torture and executions! Your doing?!"

Maelon was just as frustrated, "We've already got the blood of millions on our hands, Doctor. If it takes a bit more to put things right, I can deal with that. Krogan fight over fertile females. They become mercenaries or pirates because they see no alternative! They would be thriving in a cultural renaissance now had we not decided that this is what they deserved!"

Mordin marched closer to him, "Inaccurate. Krogan population boom would've resulted in war. The Council was weak after Reaper attack. Vulnerable to future war. Simulations were clear!"

Maelon stood his ground yelling back, "We just repeated the same tests that the original Salarian's conducted in the first place to justify the Genophage. We committed cultural genocide! Nothing I do will ever be 'justified' the same way! The experiments are monstrous... because I was taught to be a monster!"

Mordin was yelling clearly in denial at this point, "No! Never taught you this, Maelon. We were always trying to save lives! Not kill them."

Maelon retorted in defiance, "So your hands are clean because you had good intentions?! What does it matter then if the ground is stained with the blood of millions?! You taught me that the end justified the means. I will undo what we did, Professor. The only way I know how. We justified this atrocity by saying the Krogan would cause havoc and war if their population recovered. But look at the galaxy! Batarian attacks in the Traverse, Geth attacks on the Citadel. Is this a more peaceful universe? The assault on your Eden Prime might never have happened if we had let the Krogan recover. We'll never know."

Jack had felt comfortable staying out of the heated debate, up until right now, "You can't possibly predict that! Saren would've done the same thing no matter what the status of the Krogan was. He was indoctrinated by a Reaper."

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

Mordin threw his hands up in the air angry, "Supposition! Impossible to be certain!"

Maelon drew his pistol now, "Don't you see?! We tried to play god, and we failed! We only made things worse... and I'm going to fix it."

Jack had been willing to let the debate play out until that happened. The discussion obviously needed to take place and the Krogan weren't right on top of them yet so they had the time. However, he wasn't going to tolerate guns being brought into the equation, he still needed Mordin for the Collectors and most likely beyond that point. He couldn't jeopardize the fate of the entire galaxy because one Salarian felt like he had something to prove. His first act was to point his own pistol on him but, a red dot sight was already directly between his eyes. Who the hell was doing that? Mordin had a pistol, not heavier weaponry that gave off that kind of sight.

A distinctly Turian voice came from above and most likely behind him at the hole they fell through, "No, no your not."

The sound of sniper bullet rang out and Maelon was dead on the ground a second later. Jack whipped around to see who it was and his heart stopped. While not exactly the same, the Turian was proudly wearing the same red and black armor the Turians wore in the picture with his mother. Turian military units had a degree of hereditary to them suggesting that this young Turian may know his father. Then something clicked, Leng's true hatred for him rested on the fact that his father had done something to his family and he wanted revenge. What if he knew this Turian group was going to try to stop Maelon and so got a way to be there at the same time. He was about to warn the kid when an explosive charge from the Krogan hit the front door. This was going to be chaos.