AUTHOR'S NOTE: First off, gotta say, damn good thing I shortened my schedule. Why? Work kicked my ass this week and I wasn't able to get this chapter done until today, actually. Going forward, remember, school does start this week, so it ain't changing. I need time both to write, do work, (school and actual work) as well as fun for my sanity. Anyways, hope you all enjoyed! I think next chapter will largely be on the Normandy.

Commander John Shepard

Currently, the Normandy was on its way to Korlus, while Joker dropped an anonymous tip to the Turians, as their space is closest to Purgatory, about what happened. They can secure any surviving prisoners. Meanwhile, I was getting Jack to the briefing room. Miranda, I noticed, was also following. Clearly sizing her up, making her judgments of the half-naked woman. Who, I might add, was getting plenty of stares from the crew. And judging by the reactions of the crew, returning those stares with daggers. That going double for all who wore the Cerberus logo. Garrus and Jacob were also following out of what I would call, morbid curiosity. After all, the first glance that the two women shared spoke wonders as to how well they'll… get along. Jack's eyes darted all across the armory as we passed through.

When we arrived in the briefing room, Garrus and Jacob both just leaned against the back wall, watching it unfold, while I leaned my back against the table, hands resting on it. I was just about to begin when Miranda, standing rather straight, began pacing in front of Jack, hands behind her back. Jack was already over it. Arms crossed over her chest, and brow raised.

"Welcome to the Normandy, Jack. I'm Miranda Lawson. Shepard's second in command. On this ship, we follow orders."

"Tell the Cerberus Cheerleader to fuck off, Shepard. I'm here because of our deal," Jack looked past Miranda to me.

"Deal?" Miranda turned to me.

"In exchange for her cooperation, she'd get access to all files Cerberus has on her."

"That's-"

"Me giving you a direct order. I don't expect you to have the clearance for all files on her, but what files you can, you will give her." Miranda sighed.

"Hear that, precious?" Jack mocked. "We're going to be friends. You, me, and every embarrassing little secret."

"And, for the record…" I continued. "If anyone here can speak for me when I'm not around? It's absolutely Garrus. The only reason you're my XO is because of TIM, and the fact I don't want to put all that paperwork on Garrus. You're TIM's voice on this ship. Not mine." Jack certainly looked smug, pleased with Miranda's frustration. I couldn't see behind me, but I feel like Jacob was holding back a chuckle of some sort, and Garrus wouldn't have held one back, but I think my mention of him being my true second surprised him. Even though it absolutely shouldn't.

"I'm going to go read all those little files in the hold. Or somewhere near the bottom. I don't like a lot of thru traffic," Jack began to walk away.

"Hold on, Jack. I do need to talk to you about a few things first. Then, free to go wherever. Rest of you? Dismissed. Now it was Jack's turn to look annoyed. But, the others left at my command.

"What do you want?" she asked, a bit suspicious, as the door closed behind her.

"Just a few things to keep in mind. Some of them, orders. While Miranda was being uptight, she is right that I expect you to follow my orders. Luckily for you, I honestly don't care where you go on this ship or what you do. Short of fighting. Save the violence for whoever shoots us. Second, while I also don't give a shit what you wear, or… don't wear, on this ship," I gestured to her torso. Causing her to raise a brow again. "When we are in the field, when we are leaving this ship for a combat op, you will wear armor. Light, medium, heavy, I don't care, but you will wear armor. To properly give you shields on top of the biotic barrier, to lessen the odds of one lucky shot taking you down, and so that you can seal yourself off from the environment. Toxic shit, a vacuum, et cetera, et cetera. Finally, on the field, you're part of a team now. If I tell you to warp, you will warp. If I tell you to shoot, you will shoot. If I tell you to move somewhere, you will move somewhere. The only reason you will not be if you are pinned down by heavy fire. If you are, communicate that with the rest of us, and we will give you an opening. Your life is one of my concerns, but it is not the only life I am concerned with. My orders are crucial both to keeping everyone alive, and the success of the mission. Understood?"

"Yeah, yeah, fucking whatever. I won't run into battle with my tits out, I'll be a good girl for your squad, and I won't go looking for a fight on here. But keep your people the hell off me. Better that way."

"Anyone gives you problems, let me know. Dismissed." Jack wasted no time in bailing and no doubt searching for her new little nook on this ship. Now, for myself… let's see. No time to practice meditating for my biotics, not hungry… I'll go see Mordin. Haven't had the chance to talk to him yet. I exited the comm room, making my way to the lab. As I went to open the door, it locked, and a decontamination process began. Ah, I see. This hallway, as well as the small alcove when entering the lab directly from CIC, are decon units for when the lab's in use. The process finished, and I stepped inside the lab. Mordin was standing at the central lab table, using a terminal with four different monitors. He perked his head up over those monitors to see who had entered. There was a thunking sound before he spoke. I turned to see the Collector drone ramming itself against its containment unit.

"Too well reinforced to break containment. Drone does not seem to be learning. Curious organism. Part organic, part synthetic. Uses nerve agent to induce paralysis in victims. Like insect bite," Mordin explained. "No antidote yet, but working on it."

"Good to hear, Professor. How do you like the lab?"

"Very satisfactory. Found a few surveillance bugs, as expected. Destroyed most, returned expensive one to Miranda."

"I already did a check of my own quarters, but… I don't think I'd mind you checking."

"Would be happy to. Just let me know when. Back to lab equipment, impressive technology. Nice to be working for project with budget. AI in particular, very helpful. Best setup I've seen since work with Special Tasks Group."

"Must have been aggravating working with so little on Omega," I remarked.

"No! Not at all. Limited facility presents challenge," Mordin leaned against the table, smiling. Part seemed pride, another… eagerness. "Save greatest number of people using limited resources. Security threats, gangs, mercenary groups add additional difficulty. Quite enjoyable. Plague stretched abilities to limit. Couldn't have asked for more in given situation. Also, enjoy helping people, of course. Would never have turned down the chance to save more. Helping the helpless, greater good. All that, too. Nice retirement after STG work complete."

"Not a bad way to look at it, doc. And, speaking of Omega, how's Daniel?"

"Well. Safe and secure. Neighborhood mostly quiet with plague gone. Left him the security mechs. Can't be too careful. Also, tired of mechs. Noisy. Never used them in STG."

"And what did you do in STG anyway?"

"Not simply research. Several recon missions. Covert, high-risk. Served under a young captain named Kirrahe."

"Kirrahe? I met him on Virmire."

"Read in report. Old human saying, small world, applies. Jury-rigged explosive. Always got job done with limited resources. Good Captain. Bit of a cloaca though," Mordin put his hand on his chin. I smirked. Funny, while in this context he's calling Kirrahe an asshole, they don't have a word for that, but they have one for a cloaca. So that's just how it translates. "Loved his speeches. Hold the line," Mordin imitated. "Personally prefer to get job done and go home. Probably just military bravado. Jargon, chest-pounding. No offense."

"None taken. So, what did you do on those recon missions? If you can talk about it, that is."

"Oh, yes, of course. Got off track. We studied Krogan Genophage. Took water, tissue samples from Krogan both on Tuchanka, and in Terminus systems. Reason: Krogan rebellions bloody, dangerous. Nearly as bad as Rachni attacks." Mordin glanced down. Like a Human would when broaching something uncomfortable. "All species evolve, adapt, mutate. If Genophage weakens, need to be prepared." Ah, I see where this is going. I don't agree, but I'm not surprised the STG would be tasked with this.

"Prepare to attack?"

"Only if no other option viable. Genophage reduced Krogan numbers. Species aggression unchecked. Population explosion would be disastrous. Simple recon, checking for mutation. Nothing to worry about." Hm, if he says so.

"And anything you can tell me about the Genophage that they don't teach us?"

"Considering N7 education? Little. You know it is not sterility plague. Can provide more specific details as to goal of Genophage."

"Not causing their population to decrease?" I raised a brow.

"Comparing to size of population before Rebellion. Adjusts fertility rates to compensate for high birth rate. Stabilizes to pre-industrial population growth levels. Before state would aid in keeping citizens alive."

"Doesn't seem like it compensates for their new death rate," Mordin responded with a sigh.

"No. Does not. Unfortunate."

"I'll admit some surprise that a Salarian finds that unfortunate. My experience tells me that Turians and Salarians both are well in agreement and not exactly remorseful."

"More… complex than that." Mordin than stood straight. "Apologies, Shepard, must run a few tests before arrival on Korlus."

"I'll leave you to it, doc." There's definitely more to it, but, I won't push. Not right now.

Commander John Shepard

Korlus. The Galaxy's junkyard. Yet somehow, still with a meager population. Even with a murder rate in the top five. And we were heading towards one of the many massive scrapyards. This one, in particular, run by the Blue Suns. The whole crew was gathered in the shuttle. I'm going to have to start leaving some behind. We might start taking up too much space, too much cover, for our own good. Could create some real spacing issues. Jack followed my order about armor, wearing some light ballistic padding on her torso and her limbs, and a helmet. The armor was clearly recently spray painted. All black.

The shuttle touched down on the outskirts, under the hull of a massive freighter in the process of being scrapped. It looked like little more than the skeleton of a ship. As soon as the doors opened, we poured out. No contacts yet. Doesn't mean we haven't been seen. Or detected. Once everyone was out, EDI took the ship away.

"There is only one measure of perfection! Kill or be killed," a woman on an intercom shouted.

"Someone likes the sound of their own voice," Garrus remarked.

"Bloody Jedore. Crazy bitch," Zaeed muttered.

"You know her?" I asked the grizzled old merc.

"Not pleasantly. If we get the chance, I'm putting a damned bullet in her head." We continued moving towards the Blue Suns base, all built into an old… dreadnaught? Maybe, I don't recognize the design. Garrus began chuckling.

"Hey, Shepard, don't suppose Tali's up there," the Turian pointed towards the sky. I looked up to see the Silhouette of a Quarian ship. The ring at the front and the central structure of the ship with a dozen or so compartments.

"Two recruits for the price of one. Sure wouldn't complain," I smirked. "Ah well, she'll be back aboard soon enough." We turned a corner, a pair of mercs enjoying a smoke break despite appearing to be on guard duty. Lookouts. Obviously, neither had helmets on. One had their back turned to us, the other facing. I put a bullet in the back of the head of one, while the other cried out, and turned to run, stumbling. As he got back up, a burst from Mordin's Tempest struck him center-mass. Most rounds impacted the shields, but another broke through. We heard him cry out and hit the ground, out of sight behind their little perch of scrap. We began to move up, closing in on him. He was panicking. Hyperventilating. I stepped over the body of his buddy. He was young. Doubt he's even hit twenty. Probably a local trying to get out of the slums. He was clutching his wound. Bullet went straight through his side. Clean. A flesh wound. He'll be fine.

"Shit! Shit! It won't stop bleeding! Fuck! I'm gonna… son of a bitch!" he exclaimed. Eyes wide as he looked up and saw us. I shook my head and lowered my weapon.

"Weapons down," I ordered through the comms. The merc wouldn't hear it, but all of us did.

"Just kill him now and be done with it," Jack remarked, uncaring.

"Kid's unarmed. I don't kill if I can help it."

"What would his buddy say to that?" Jack countered.

"Assumed hostilities from armed hostiles. Necessary military precaution, but we never execute the unarmed. Especially when they can still be useful," I argued. Jack didn't respond, so I returned my focus to the terrified kid.

"I knew it wasn't berserkers. Not at range. You're mercs. Or Alliance. I'm not… I'm not telling you anything!" His face was splattered with the blood of his buddy, the blood from his wound though? Miniscule. A relative papercut.

"Would medi-gel change your mind? I could just keep walking," I pulled out and shook a vial of the gel, taunting him. His eyes locked on it. Got him.

"I… I don't know anything. I just shoot the overflow from the labs. The-The old Krogan up there. Been cleaning house lately."

"What's he doing up there?"

"Jedore hired him to make her an army. But what he creates are-are insane. Jedore tells us to use them for live fire training. But I don't get paid enough to bleed out for fuck's sake!"

His comm unit went live.

"Outpost four?" a man's voice spoke up. "Jedore wants us to move. We need coordinates on that Krogan pack. The kid was nervous.

"Get rid of them. Understand?"

"I-what?" he asked, not able to think straight.

"Tell your friends that everything here is fine and dandy. Maybe some sunflowers blooming, a double rainbow even."

"Outpost four? Respond!" the voice ordered.

"Uh? Sorry," the kid answered into his comms. "The last group… dispersed. Lost sight… lost sight five minutes ago."

"Dispersed? Jedore will be pissed," the man grumbled. "Jedore wanted a show.

"You asked for a report. And-and got it. Dispersed." The comms went silent. He looked back, pleadingly.

I started to hand him the medi-gel but held it back, I opened the canister and gave him two pinches of gel.

"W-what?! That's it?!"

"It's all you need, kid. I've seen paper cuts bigger than that little nick."

"Oh for-"

"Don't complain. We're letting you live."

"R-right," the kid muttered as he remembered just what kind of position he was in.

"Training is part of your contract!" the intercom blared. "Failure to comply means liquidation, both legal and otherwise!"

"Get outta here, kid." He started limping away as fast as he could. We kept moving. Passing the corpse of a Krogan that's been out here a while. Minor armor, torn to shreds by gunfire. Probably got into a blood rage and ignored otherwise lethal wounds.

"This line up with what you know of this, Jedore?" Garrus asked Zaeed.

"More or fucking less. Like I said, crazy bitch," he grumbled.

"Suspect clones. Facilities and equipment likely present, not viable for cure," Mordin mused.

"Probably. Even on Virmire, they were just cloning," I added. We passed more corpses, and eventually, came upon more unsuspecting mercs on a raised platform Garrus, Zaeed, and I took position, lined up our shots, and downed three of the four. Jack then ran forward, glowing blue, raising an arm, subsequently lifting the Suns into the air, and then slamming her fist down, not just slamming him down to the ground, but through the metal sheets they were standing on. She hadn't even broken a sweat.

"Let us know before, next time, alright? Good work, just communicate," I reminded Jack. She just grunted. Dead Krogan continued to litter the ground. All in varying states of decay.

"The Krogan are your example and your warning! As ferocious as they are, failures are expendable," the intercom blared again.

"Commander, I have intercepted the following message along local comms," EDI informed.

"Tell Jedore we have a problem. Teams are going dark, no reports. Either the Krogan are gathering, or we're being raided."

"Thanks for the heads up," I answered. "Hear that? They know something's up. We won't find such easy targets next. We heard gunfire. We moved up to find mercs in a firefight with another Krogan. Our only decent cover to join in required us to move inside and the mercs saw us before we could put them down. One of them pointed at us.

"Code six! Off world presence! Shift fire-"

Garrus put him down before I could, loading another clip.

"Hostiles in the compound!" another finished that merc's alert. A shotgun blast from that Krogan put down another, and I took down the final. Then, the Krogan put away its weapon. Turning to face us. He slowly approached. I couldn't see any expression, as he was wearing a helmet.

"You… are different. New. You don't smell like this world. Seven-night cycles and I have only felt the need to kill. But you… something makes me speak."

"Wait, seven days? Is he only seven days old?" Jacob exclaimed.

"They likely grew him to maturity in his tank. With some basic imprinting while in the tank to make him functional," Miranda shrugged.

"Wouldn't be much better than mercs if they still needed training," Zaeed remarked.

"Bred… to kill. No. I kill because my blood and bone tell me to. But it's not why I was flushed from glass mother." Must be what he calls the tank. "Survival is what I hear in my head. Against the enemy that threatens all my kind. But I failed even before waking. That is what the voice in the water said. That is why I wait here."

"Attempt to counter Genophage? How? Clones ineffective," Mordin began pacing.

"Counter? Counter was never whispered. Survive. Resist. Ignore," the Krogan answered. Strange.

"Can you show us to the laboratory? I need to speak to Okeer."

"The… glass mother. She is up. Past the broken parts. Behind many of you fleshy things. I will show you," the Krogan offered. It then turned and marched towards the wall under where the now dead mercs had their position. There was another large sheet of metal. We probably could have used the group's biotics to move it, but the Krogan lifted it up and tossed it aside with relative ease. "You fleshy things are slow when big things are in your way."

"Could move faster if you want to help us kill more of the fleshy things down there," I remarked.

"No. I feel it deep that I must wait. I kill, but only here. I am not perfect, but I have purpose. I must wait until called. Released." The Krogan then marched back to the center of the room and waited. Absolutely still.

"Alllright then…" Jacob murmured.

"It seems we have guests in the compound. All bonuses will be denied if they are not killed immediately!" Jedore growled over the intercom.

"I imagine it would help that goal if she told her people where we were," Garrus chuckled.

"Corridor's narrow. Spaced line, move up slowly. Biotics, watch for grenades and be ready to throw them back at a moment's notice. Got it?"

"I'll do more than that," Jack muttered." I took point, front and center. Zaeed and Jacob to my sides, Garrus behind me with Mordin and Jack. At the back, Miranda, and Jacob.

"They're loose! Run for your damn life! They're all free!" a merc's voice echoed. Footsteps. Mercs running fast. I raised and closed a fist, signaling for everyone to hold position. Jack at least would get the hint as we took a knee. Two mercs ran right into our line of fire. Taken completely by surprise upon seeing us. We mowed them down immediately.

"Watch for Krogan, might not be as friendly to us as the last one," I warned. We got back up and continued moving. A Krogan charged through from where the mercs had run from.

"You…" it breathed heavily, ready for a fight. "You… shall pass. I feel it deep. You shall pass." I relaxed my stance. "My brothers will not fight you. You shall pass."

"Keep your weapons ready, but move," I ordered over our comms. The Krogan still stared at us, but sure enough, the further we moved in, the more Krogan we saw, they too let us pass.

"Who authorized the Krogan release?" The intercom still had reach here. "Okeer? I will have order in my compound!"

"Krogan took down the grid! We're blind and getting hit on all sides! Where are the heavies?" A merc on the intercom shouted. Stupid, should keep it on the comms. Now we know too. We got to the ship itself that made up the compound, a staircase leading up to an old starship bulkhead. The bulkhead opened, and we continued moving up. The intercom came to life again. "Krogan on our six! Copy, god damn it! Where's Jedore and her personal guard?!"

"Overconfident while not willing to risk her own hide, that's where," Zaeed grumbled. "Stupid bitch doesn't understand her staying at the middle of it all won't matter for shit if the Krogan, or us, break through their lines. Thinking her men will be invincible if she offers enough credits."

We entered a make-shift med-bay full of Blue Suns' corpses. On the other side of the next door, Blue Suns, out of cover, shooting down at Krogan below. They were completely exposed to us, and we made full use of it. The biotics pushed or pulled some off or over the ledge, while the rest of us shot the few who remained. We continued to push, putting down any mercs who stood in our way. Some even forcing us to hold position. The heavies firing rockets at us, but low yield ones. Even the scrapped hull of the starship was able to absorb it. Likely a trade-off. Smaller rockets to carry more, they do less damage.

"Concentrate on the Krogan charge or we're all dead! Who was the genius who gave them arms?!" the merc commander from before shouted.

"I paid for competence! Kill the trespassers! I will deal with the traitorous Okeer!" The Krogan must be aware of us and organizing this charge for us to have a better time moving in. More Suns tried to stop us. More Suns failed.

"Shit!" Jack exclaimed, knocked down to the ground. Clutching her side.

"Wounded?" I called out.

"Armor took the damn hit. I'm fucking fine," Jack growled.

"Glad you followed my order about armor then, eh?" Jack took her anger out on the unfortunate merc who got a lucky hit. Finding himself slammed feet first into a metal wall with enough force to curl him up into a pretzel. He screamed in pain before she then slammed him head first into the same wall, killing him.

"Berserkers are going down, but the outsider commandos are still incoming! Repeat! Still incoming! I need everyone out of the labs to fight this! Every floor, every outpost! Move!" Despite the Commander's attempts, the Suns were still disorganized. They had spacing issues, which we readily abused. Biotic combos taking down groups, incinerate charges igniting others, it was a slaughter.

"No more! I demand that they be killed! What's so hard to understand about that?!" Jedore screamed.

"See what I mean? Bloody crazy stupid bitch," Zaeed exclaimed.

"What do you mean Jedore's holding the mechs?! She'll lose all her toys if we don't get goddamned backup!" the Commander on the intercom. We fought across a bridge, our marksman, Zaeed, and Garrus, taking care of the heavies firing rockets from the other side. Their lines crumbled, the mercs relying on the heavies to keep us pinned.

"Concentrate fire on my position!" this time, I wasn't hearing that through an intercom. I see. The one with Commander markings on his armor. "Concentrate on-" I fired an incinerate charge at him, engulfing him in flames. All the Blue Suns forces heard as their Commander screamed. As soon as we could push forward, I put him down. When we continued pushing, I noticed a few deserters. Turning to run the complete opposite way. It caused a chain reaction that caused more to run, and those who didn't notice, or who tried to stand and fight, most of whom were Turian, were put down without hesitation.

We were pushing along the highest level of the ship. It gave us plenty of ground to use and move along. In some spots, we were even able to get the high ground on other hostiles. Leaving their cover completely ineffective. Finally, they were put down, and we pushed forward. The door opened, and inside, was an Asari in a medical uniform. On one table, a dead Krogan. On another, a humanoid skeleton.

"Shepard! Don't shoot!" the Asari pleaded, hands in the air. "I shut down the security cams as soon as I saw it was you! Never thought I'd say it, but I'm glad it's you shooting up the place."

"Do I know you?" I raised a brow.

"Oh… Sorry. Rana Thanoptis. You… knocked me out on Virmire. Gave me the chance to escape. I-" My brows furrowed.

"And here you are, leaving more corpses."

"I'm not working for the mercs! I'm working for Okeer! He's trying to do something good, even if his methods are a little… extreme! Everyone deserves a second chance, right? I take care of my debts."

"Second chances, sure. Third chances? Unethical experiments look like. Like before." I raised my gun, and just like on Virmire, I smacked the butt of the Mattock against her head. "Jacob, cuff her. We have a brig?"

"We do. It's accessible from the cargo bay," he answered.

"Good. We'll stick her in there, and leave her with C-Sec or, some, authority when we're in Council space. Meantime, Mordin, I want you to secure her and follow behind us with her."

"Will keep prisoner safe, Shepard."

"Good. Everyone else, keep in mind. Got one less gun at our side now. Compensate." Mordin remained in cover as we moved to the next room. A large lab. A glass tank with a massive Krogan inside, and outside, on the other side of the tank, a Krogan in green armor.

"Here you are! I've watched your progress," the Krogan spoke without turning to face us, yet. The voice was rough, old. Okeer, obviously. I signaled for Mordin to move in. "It's about time," he turned his head while he continued his work on a console. "The batteries on these tanks will not wait while you play with these idiotic mercs.

"I can just take my men and leave, Okeer."

"You may claim to be here to help, but the formerly deceased Shepard is not a sign of gentle change." he backed away from the console and turned to face me, eying me down. Ignoring the others. Rana must have told him. "All Krogan should know you, even if they don't." He looked over, seeing Mordin with an unconscious Asari. "I'm sure Rana revisited your actions on Virmire."

"And I bet five credits you're about to as well," Garrus remarked. "I was there too. Is my name not remembered? Insulting." The Krogan huffed but continued.

"Such a tale," the Krogan began to pace. "The legendary Saren Arterius, a Spectre traitor. Threatens return of the Krogan horde by curing the Genophage… undoing the gentle genocide of the Turians and Salarians. But… before Saren could deliver his endless, cloned troops," Okeer stressed the word, implying he knew that it was merely cloning, not a cure. "In rides Shepard, securing victory through nuclear fire. I like that part," Okeer smirked. "It has weight."

"I may have kept what data they had on it, and… spread it. Problem was, the information was useless."

"Kept Genophage data?!" Mordin exclaimed.

"Only for when the Krogan were united peacefully. You hear of what Urdnot Wrex has been up to?" I reassured the Salarian.

"Regardless, I approve, Shepard," Okeer stated. "Saren's pale horde were not true Krogan. Numbers alone mean nothing. The mistake of an outsider. One that mercenaries have also made." Why does he think numbers mean nothing? Anyone could get overwhelmed by enough. Okeer turned to gaze over a large collection of breeding tanks outside. "I gave their leader my rejects for her army. But she grows impatient. It's time for you to take me out of here."

"And I hear tell you have intel on the Collectors. I'm mighty curious about that," I remarked.

"I see… yes. Collector attacks on Humans have increased. A human concern. My requests were focused elsewhere. I acquired the knowledge to create one pure soldier. With that, I will inflict upon the Genophage the greatest insult an enemy can suffer. To be ignored."

"And what about the others? You don't care about your rejects?" I asked.

"They are exactly what Jedore asked for. She simply lacks the ability to command. They are strong, healthy, and useless to me. I need perfection. If a few thousand are rejected, so be it. My work will purify the Krogan. We will not be restored, we will be renewed."

"And why not keep and prepare those who aren't perfect?" This guy… he's dangerous. I don't like him.

"Two reasons. A horde would evoke a nuclear response. The second, this soldier is a template. A greater threat than all the phantom siblings that would have been at its flank." That's a bold claim.

"What did you give the Collectors for your tech?"

"Many, many Krogan. Even fertile females. It is worth it. The Genophage does not produce strong Krogan. Only those with the ability to survive the Genophage. For every thousand stillborn, too many weaklings live. Each survivor is branded as precious. That's produced more coddling than your collective human teats." I raised a brow under my helmet. "I say, let us carry the Genophage! Let a thousand die in a clutch! We will defeat it by climbing atop our dead! That is the Krogan way!"

"Can't say I agree. At all, really. But that's not important now. You willing to help take down the Collectors?"

"Perhaps I can strike a deal to secure passage, but my prototype is not negotiable. It is the key to my legacy."

"Attention!" Jedore blared on the loudspeakers. "Okeer is a traitor. I'm calling blank slate on this project. Gas these commandos and start over from Okeer's data. Flush the tanks!" Jedore was outside, with some heavy armor, but no helmet at the moment. And, a YMIR mech. She was a brown-haired woman, and absolutely pissed. Vents in the room began leaking gas.

"She's that weak-willed? She'll kill my legacy with a damned valve!" Okeer exclaimed. "Shepard, if you want information on the Collectors, stop her. She will try to access contaminants in the storage bay. My Krogan will aid you. I will stay and… do what must be done."

"Got it. Mordin, follow us with Rana only to outside this chamber. Everyone else, move, put her down." We rushed towards the exit, the door still unlocked. We got to the storage bay, and already, several tanks were opening, releasing fully grown Krogan, imprinted to help us. Unfortunately, they were all unarmed. Even more, unfortunately, they were also all naked. I'll need to bleach my eyes when we're done here. At least the tank with Okeer's soldier was covered with metal supports right around the pelvis.

The Krogan made up for their state by just charging the YMIR mech, seeing the biggest and most dangerous looking target. One was mowed down, shredded to pieces. Another, blown up by the rocket, giblets of flesh flying every which way. But they closed in, slamming the YMIR into the ground.

"No! God fucking dammit!" Jedore shrieked. One of the Krogan ripped off the head of the YMIR, roaring.

"Shit, everyone get to cover, now!" Jacob exclaimed.

"What? Why?" I questioned, still following the suggestion.

"You know how LOKI's blow up when you shoot their head off? YMIR's have big fucking explosion."

I put my head down. Jedore was screaming and shooting still. The Krogan tearing into the YMIR.

"You ain't getting out of this one, bitch," Zaeed growled. He fired a pair of bursts, I assume shattering Jedore's shields, and then the thwunk of a concussive round. No doubt knocking her away into the explosion. A beeping from the mech got faster and faster, then it exploded, heat washing past us followed by plenty of metal shards. I looked up to find tanks destroyed, and a big fucking hole in the floor. No sign of Jedore or Okeer's Krogan.

"Commander," EDI began. "The lab is experiencing a systems failure, and I have gained limited access. Okeer's life signs are failing, I am venting the room."

"Mordin, get in there!" I ordered. "Everyone, get on up!" By the time we arrived, Mordin was standing over the Krogan's body. Rana, still unconscious, against the wall. There was a message playing on the monitor of his console.

"Shepard, you gave me time. If I knew why the Collectors wanted humans, I would tell you. But everything is in my prototype. You will find," Okeer coughed, "armor for him, in a side panel of the pod. I have left it unlocked. My legacy is pure. This… one soldier, this grunt. Perfect…" the video recording and the voice showed he was weak. He collapsed, right to where, and how he is now. Dead."

"Well, shit," I muttered.

"Why would someone so psychotically fanatical sacrifice himself for one Krogan?"

"Maybe the Cheerleader has an answer," Jack remarked.

"I am-" Miranda began.

"Shut it, both of you," I stopped.

"Krogan, delusional. Unlikely one Krogan, however strong, could have impact Okeer wanted. Am… almost certain. Suggest leaving it."

"We didn't come here for nothing."

"True, but Krogan genetically dangerous. Socially dangerous as well. Have enough enemies with risking adding this," Mordin argued.

"We're all dangerous, Mordin. Besides, I remember what Wrex could do during the fight against Saren. A 'perfect Krogan,'" Garrus quoted, "Might be useful. If worse comes to worse, he doesn't have armor. We can put him down."

"Not to mention Okeer believed he could help us… look, we'll take the pod aboard, get the hell off this planet. Either we open it, or we throw it out an airlock." I shrugged.

"Normandy, get a shuttle down here with some heavy lift gear. Okeer's dead, but we got a package. Uh…" I glanced back at the tank. "On second thought, make that two shuttles."