AUTHOR'S NOTE: Bit of a shorter chapter, I know. You can call this me being cautious with this coming week. Scheduling issues, and the solution, with work last week left me with more free time than will likely be the norm. I wanted to make at least a decent chunk of next chapter still be on the ship before Horizon, and then... I'll say a portion of Horizon, rather than the whole mission as well. At least from my immediate guess. Point being, it should take less time to write if it's a bigger mix of freehand and just conversations than a whole mission of me trying to describe combat scenes and, everything that goes into a mission. Plus, didn't want to bore you in this one. So, I'll see just how much time I really have for this as I go through what I expect to be a more standard week. Anyways, hope you enjoy, and just so you know... That one-shot I've been comissioned on? Not done yet, but seven pages in I only just got to the real part of it. What the biggest part, and the one with the most highlights will be. And... there may or may not be a bit of something... else... following. So, keep looking forward to that. It's coming along.
Commander John Shepard
Once again, we gathered in the meeting room. Well, given that I didn't make attendance mandatory, Jack just took right off towards whatever nook she's found. Everyone else, on the other hand, was at least partially curious.
"So. You all know what we're here for. The decision's mine in the end, but I'll hear you all out. Speak your mind," I gestured.
"While it's valuable for research, I advise against opening the pod," Miranda stated. "A normal Krogan is dangerous. This one was created and educated by a madman."
"So were you, but you didn't take after him," Jacob remarked. She glared daggers at Jacob. Well, guess we know now she's not fond of whoever created her. And its more information than she wanted us to know.
"Must agree with Ms. Lawson. Krogan is unknown variable. All we know of Krogan is physical. What can be learned by looking inside pod, examining genetic data. Strong, hyper-acute senses, enhanced pain tolerance, enhanced regeneration. Perfect example of Krogan, despite curious presence of Genophage. Genetics show an enhanced potential for neural capabilities, still cannot guess at psychological state," Mordin explained.
"Guess there's not a high chance it'll wake up and imprint on someone like a little fucking ducking?" Zaeed joked. "No? Fuck it. Krogan are always looking for fights. Offer it the big goddamn fight we're gearing up for, doubt he can resist."
"On one hand I see the risks, on the other, I remember the benefits. Let's say it does go wrong, and he's in a permanent state of blood rage," Garrus began. "I say, a few of us go down there. Armed, armored. Probably smart to take a biotic as well. Hold him in place, fling him back, whatever's necessary. A few rounds to the head and he'll go down like anything else." I nodded along. Solid plan.
"Objections?"
"Again, I must caution. We don't know anything about it, Commander," Miranda warned.
"I know. I can't be the only one who finds it all the more interesting. Anyone else?"
"Nothing not already said," Mordin answered.
"Then I'm opening it. Zaeed, Garrus, Miranda, with me. EDI, order everyone on the engineering deck to vacate to deck three, then send the elevator up for us once they're off," I ordered.
"At once, Shepard," the AI answered. Likely simultaneously giving the order to engineering. Fortunately, we were still armored after Korlus, so simply retrieved our weapons again from the armory, and by that time, the elevator had arrived to bring us to deck four. It arrived, and we disembarked.
"Move it up to deck two and seal the deck," I ordered. EDI confirmed the order, and we entered the cargo bay that the Krogan was being kept in. Miranda stayed by the door, glowing blue with a Phalanx pistol raised, while Garrus and Zaeed got their rifles out, aiming for the head already. I got my own pistol out and raised my Omni-tool to open the pod.
"Commander, I must warn that Cerberus protocol is very clear regarding untested alien technology." Hm, figure its part of her programming blocks forcing her to reference protocol when I so obviously don't give a damn.
"Yes, because Cerberus protocol is oh, so dear to me. I'm opening it, TIM can kiss my ass if he throws a fit about it." Miranda sighed, likely rolling her eyes. I linked my Omni-tool to the pod and began the release process.
Fortunately, it was rather straightforward. The fluid in the pod began to drain, the Krogan starting to slump slowly as he was no longer being kept suspended. The reinforced glass of the pod opened, and the naked, and, fucking hell, massive Krogan, fell to the ground, on his hands and knees, he was conscious now. His eyes opened wide as he spat out a large amount of the same fluid that was in the tank. He then slowly got to his feet, towering. Big. Fucking. Krogan. He surveyed the room, but his eyes locked onto me. Deep, light blue. His stance showed he was ready to charge at a moment, but the weapons gave him pause.
He growled.
Wait a second… I don't suppose he had a translator implanted?
The Krogan ducked, and charged, taking us all by surprise. He surged forward to knock Garrus' and Zaeed's weapons away, not to mention the two themselves, and another surge towards Miranda. I fired a shot, striking him in the side as I expected me to be the next target. While the biotics slowed down the Krogan significantly, it was too late, and he knocked her away too, thus releasing the biotic's hold on him. The others were getting to their feet, but now, I was the target. The Krogan, still bleeding from his wound, sent his entire body crashing towards me, charging me up and against the wall, almost knocking the wind out of me. Strange, I'd expect it would have. Good, I still feel my grip around my pistol. Wait, why am I not dead yet? He had his arm under my chin, against my neck, applying pressure, but still enough for me to talk and breathe.
"Human. Male," the Krogan began casually. Ok, so he can speak the Krogan language, and my translator translates that at least. "Before you die, I need a name."
"I wouldn't, if I were you," Garrus warned, holding his rifle to the Krogan.
"I'm not the kind of guy you want to threaten. Especially not on my ship. I'm Commander John Shepard, and if you want to survive the next five minutes, relax." Let's hope he understands.
"Not your name, mine," ok, good, he can. "I am trained. I know things, but the tank… Okeer couldn't implant connection. His words are hollow." Ok, good, so he's not a fanatic like Okeer. He began muttering. "Warlord, legacy, Grunt… Grunt was among the last. It has no meaning. It'll do. I am Grunt. If you are worthy of command, prove your strength and try to destroy me. Do better than last time."
"Just like that?"
"I feel nothing for Okeer's clan or his enemies. I will do what I am bred to do. Fight and determine the strongest. But his imprint has failed. Without a reason that's mine, one fight is as good as any other. Might as well start with you."
"Looking for a fight, eh? I have a knack for finding those. I have a good ship, and a strong crew that's only getting stronger."
"If you're weak, and choose weak enemies, I'll have to kill you," Grunt applied a bit more pressure.
"Our enemies threaten the entire Galaxy, so they're worthy no doubt. As for me…" I lifted my pistol just a little bit higher. It had been aimed at his throat all the while, but now, I poked it. He huffed, in questioning surprise, and glanced down, seeing the pistol. He smirked.
"Offer one hand, but arm the other. Wise, Shepard. If I find a clan if I find what I… want. I will be honored to eventually pit them against you." Grunt stated as he released me and backed off. Still standing there… naked.
"Thanks… I think."
"Can we get this bastard dressed now? Just looking at that prick of his makes me feel… fucking inadequate," Zaeed exclaimed.
"Okeer said there's a compartment in the side of your tank with armor. Once you've got that on, you'll be free to roam the ship more or less as you please. You'll find food on deck three, bathrooms too. You can claim this as your own room if you want.
"It is where I began. It will do."
"Fair enough. We can see about getting a large bed down here for you. One standing order for you. I will not accept any fights between my crew. If you want to spar, that's one thing. But that's it, got it?"
"Fine," the Krogan grumbled.
"Good. Now, I do have one question. How are you able to understand us?"
"In the tank, Okeer taught me the languages of your species. To understand them. More than just their words. I will only speak the Krogan tongue, but I will have no need for a translator.
"Hm, smart of him, I'll admit," I murmured. "We'll leave you to get situated." Grunt huffed and moved to his pod. While we left. Bare Krogan ass, among other things, is not something I want to see. It may be too late to not see it, but not too late to keep myself from seeing any more.
"I'm going to report to the Illusive Man. I suspect he'll be pleased to know that Okeer was not a total loss," Miranda stated.
"And I'm going to make sure that Krogan didn't damage my rifle.
"So, Zaeed, why don't you and I chat then?" I suggested.
"Sure. Over to my quarters. It's a long one, we can share a drink for it," Zaeed offered.
"Sounds good to me." I followed the grizzled old merc. Inside, he had himself a cot, a workbench with a very old rifle laid on it, and what I can only assume to be a few trophies. Such as a large Krogan helmet marked with the Blood Pack symbol, and the model of a Turian cruiser, named. He even had a few throwing knives. Some laying on a crate, some embedded in the wall. He opened a mini-fridge he had and pulled out two beer bottles. One, he tossed to me, and I caught it. He crashed onto one of the supply crates, immediately opened his, downed about half of his beer right away.
"Right, everything you need to know, and you've asked about? S'all connected. Including that arrangement I made with Cerberus that I am going to need you to fulfill before we go through that relay. I know you didn't make it, but business is business. First, the tat on my neck. The Blue Suns symbol. Take it what you know of em is the same as anyone else? Solem Dal'Serah and all that?"
"Yeah, notorious slaver who founded them."
"It's a fucking lie. Over twenty years ago, just after Shanxi, me and my old time pal," Zaeed growled the word. "Vido fucking Santiago. We saw a galaxy full of fucking opportunity and all that shit out there. We founded the Suns. Solem was where it changed."
"How was that all kept under wraps?" I questioned.
"Cause Vido's always been fucking paranoid. And the record keeper. All the numbers and shit, logistics. I did the recruiting, the shooting. He always insisted we kept things a bit quiet in the first place. Use the contacts we already had for contracts. I didn't like it, but the credits were still enough to keep me happy. Sometimes contacts would tell a few others about us. Eventually, we got to the point where he was willing to expand. But the cost? Hmph, fuck that."
"What was it?"
"He wanted to start taking on Batarians. En masse. Go public, but with Solem as the face. The number of Batarians we took in before, I could count on one fucking hand. Like Tarak. I only let em on because I knew em. They weren't slavers, they weren't terrorists. All of them were descended from people who fled Khar'Shan. Who didn't like the Hegemony. I know I'm no goddamn saint, but I fucking hate those four-eyed scumbags. I only go out of my way to hurt someone if I'm being paid, or they shoot me. Even then I have limits. Kids, pregnant women, that shit. As for slavery, Humanity has already been through that shit show. It's like a fucking phase societies go through. Humans get a phase either of being edgy fucks or some weird shit that they spend the rest of their goddamn lives cringing at. The awkward teenage phase of a society is fucking slavery. You're always supposed to grow out of it, but the Batarians never fucking did," Zaeed went off.
"Not a comparison I expected to hear, but… also not one I can really think of an argument against. Anyways, what happened?"
"Right, sorry. Like I said, they really fucking piss me off. So, that's all the shit I told him. Want to take on Batarians, he said. Goddamn terrorists, I said. Just a few fucking days later, I get fucking bagged from behind, and knocked the fuck out in our own fucking base, by people I trained. I wake up, hands tied behind my back, out in the middle of fucking nowhere. Surrounded by Vido and other fucking traitors. Jedore was one of em. He goes on a fucking rant, monologue, whatever the hell you want to call it. Like a bad action movie villain. Out with the old, in with the fucking new. At the end of it all, he shoots me. Right in the fucking head. Hmph, bastard always was a crappy shot. Missed my brain somehow, blinded my eye though, bet you already figured that out."
"Still, not an easy shot to survive," I mused.
"You're one to talk. I like to think of it as surviving by pure fucking anger. I woke up, got myself treated, and got the hell off world. Had to start over with almost a blank fucking slate. Didn't want the bastard to learn I was alive so soon. I fell into the same old practices. Merc work, bounty hunting. Eventually, I got my reputation back. Built it up. Last twenty fucking years, I've been hunting him down."
"I get the sense this is where the arrangement comes in."
"Fucking right it does. Got a contract on Zorya. Eldfell-Ashland, one of their fuel refineries. Blue Suns took a more direct control of the workers than usual. Basically, got em working as slaves. Least until they pay a ransom. Didn't check if it was more or less than the bounty they paid me, might just not want to give in to em. Seems Vido was confident enough to do this one directly. After all, the Suns are very fucking secure on Zorya. Company got a hint about who was leading them. Contract dropped his fucking name. No way in hell I can gut that bastard on my own. I need help, you're it."
"Well, that's a contract I'm happy to help with and sounds like the galaxy will be a better place without him." I began.
"Damn fucking right it will," Zaeed growled.
"So, I'll help you out, but I want to get all of our recruits first. This is, in all likelihood, a suicide mission after all. I get the feeling they'll be a few last requests and loose ends to tie."
"Look, I care about two things. That it's done before the relay, and Vido's head on a pike. Or platter. I'll settle on a bullet to his brain. But a man can have preferences."
"Commander," Miranda's voice appeared on the intercom. "The Illusive Man wants to speak with you. It's urgent, and regarding the Collectors."
"Well, doesn't sound like one I can ignore," I murmured. "I'll be right up," I answered. I made my way up to CIC, and right towards the comm room. The table was already lowered, and it scanned me to prepare the video feed. He was, once again, sitting in his chair, leg crossed over his other leg, and smoking a cigarette. I raised a brow for him to tell me exactly what he dragged me up here for.
"Shepard, the Collectors are making a move." He breathed out a puff of smoke. "I've had teams watching the relays, particularly those linked to Omega. We tailed it to the Shadow Sea cluster, then lost contact with the ship. We don't know where its destination is, but there are several Human colonies in that cluster. We still have contact with them all, so they haven't been hit yet, and I have people watching every linked cluster."
"Hm. EDI, set course," I ordered. While I was in this vid call, EDI would obviously still hear me. "The Shadow Sea? Last I was around, that was close to the border of the Traverse."
"And it's only gotten closer. The system's populated enough officially to be considered part of the Traverse itself. Either the Collectors are getting bold, or they need worlds with larger populations. Both are equally bad signs," TIM added.
"We are a few days out, we might not be able to make it in time," I warned.
"You're not wrong, but relatively recently, not long after Freedom's Progress, the Collectors hit the colony of Ferris Fields. And that gave us some useful information. Before, I made the mistake of dismissing a lone merchant's claim of seeing a Collector ship in the same system of the colony days before the attack. After all, we still had contact with the colony. But, like Horizon, there are several other colonies within that cluster. I believe the Collectors surveyed each colony and chose their target. You might just make it," TIM took another drag of his cigarette. "And before you go, the Krogan. It was indeed your choice and I'm glad to see it is, at least so far, going well. But, if worse comes to worse and you have to put him down, try to keep the body intact. He's at least partially based on Collector tech. His genetics could prove useful."
Honestly, why even bother answering. He knows my answer. So, I simply cut the comms. Mordin needs to be aware. So, his lab was my next destination. When I arrived, he was peering into a microscope, tools in his hands, faint movements.
"Shepard, alive, healthy. Assume Krogan was reasonable?"
"Reasonable enough. Zaeed was right. Just wanted a worthy fight. Anyways, got a minute?" Mordin looked up from his microscope and set his tools down.
"Yes, would like that, actually. Talked about work earlier." Oh, well, now he's going to go off on this. Fortunately, I still want to hear it. Not sure I'd have an easy time to stop him anyway. "Time with Special Tasks Group. Studying Genophage." Mordin turned to the window behind him, scratching the back of his neck. "Wasn't entirely honest. Lie of omission. Also other kinds. Need to clear the air. Mission too important to keep secrets." He leaned down, resting on the bottom of the window, gazing out into the black of FTL. "Work on Genophage was more than just study."
"You seemed pretty reluctant to talk much about it last time. Can't say I'm surprised by this. What kind of work?" I asked. Mordin turned. I realized something curious. There was hesitation to his words.
"Study at first, as I said. But uncovered surprising data. Krogan population increasing at faster rate than expected. Krogan were adapting to Genophage. Overcoming disease. Faster than expected." He approached his table again. Hands behind his back.
"And I get the sense that you stopped that?"
"Yes. Personally led science team. Geneticists, chemists, sociologists, mathematicians. Created new version. Released on Tuchanka, other Krogan centric areas. Stabilized Krogan population."
"Gotta say, Mordin. I can't agree. Starting to wonder why the Salarians don't just go all the way. Seems like they're just getting to a slow death," I remarked, shaking my head.
"Not a war criminal, not a murderer," Mordin stood straighter. "Genocide unnecessary. Krogan as a whole, violent. Aggressive. Still, have outliers. Worth saving. Genophage modification protects galaxy, allows Krogan chance to survive. Everyone wins! Good for us, good for them!" he argued. He was… passionate. Convinced. Doesn't want the death of the Krogan, doesn't want to endanger the galaxy.
"And has the Union ever considered some alternative to the Genophage?"
"Hundreds. Thousands," Mordin began pacing at the table. "Modified Genophage best outcome. Stabilized population, avoided publicity that could incite Krogan anger. Averted potential genocide or devastating war. Best solution for whole galaxy, Krogan included.
"Not even some way that means if a female gets pregnant, the child, or, at least children, that get conceived are born alive, rather than stillborn? It's devastating and traumatic enough when a woman births a single dead child. But the amount, and the frequency for the Krogan? Geez…" I murmured.
"Much… much more difficult to do than sounds…" Mordin whispered, looking down.
"Have you heard much of Urdnot Wrex? What he's been doing on Tuchanka?"
"STG keeps close eye on Clan activities. To best of capabilities. Reports of his activities in past, then most recent. Read a few. Curiosity. Understand claim of united peaceful Krogan. Forward. Progressive. STG, suspicious, cautious. Naturally must be. If claims true, STG rates likelihood of success as low. Likely end through violent usurper or destruction by clan enemy. In last report I read, Urdnot having some success, both diplomatic success and martial success. Curiously, Urdnot spares all females, young, non-combatants. Kill few others who surrender, Krogan culture demands. Others die in crossfire, unavoidable in warfare. Unfortunate nonetheless."
"Good things to hear. Almost all of it. Now, you know I know Wrex, I vouch for him, whatever that's worth to you. Now, when he unites the clans under that banner of peace, how will you respond?"
"Unsure if it will be within my lifetime. Regardless, see hypothetical question. Response will be to suggest gradual treatment of Genophage. Not cure, not right away, but artificially induce same results natural mutations had been causing. Closely monitor Krogan and Krogan behavior. Chance to prove selves. Either cure or overcome once proven. Whichever of two comes first." At least there's that.
"I'll admit to understanding the reluctance given the rebellions, though I still disagree with the Genophage being the best course. At least for so long. And I respect that you'd be willing to give them another chance if they put in the effort."
"What is human saying? Agree to disagree?" Mordin mused.
"Feels… a bit wrong using that for a subject like the Genophage, but I don't have an alternative phrase." I remarked. "Oh, and, uh, by the way, I did come in here for a specific reason."
"Oh, of course, apologies," Mordin focused.
"Collectors are making a move and we're on our way to meet them for it. Should arrive in… EDI? How long until we arrive in the Shadow Sea?"
"Two days, Commander," EDI answered.
"Thanks. We need that countermeasure ready in two days. You might get extra time, but don't wager on it. I understand this may be a lot to ask, but-"
"Worry not, Shepard. Have made progress already. Will put all focus into research. First, create countermeasure for humans, then modify countermeasure to work on other species. Readjustments may range from complex to simple. Request that crewmember bring meals and water upon request until finished."
"Got it. We can give you whatever you need, except maybe time."
"Understand. Will start immediately. Don't mean to be rude, but, you must leave. Environment must be sterile."
"Leaving, leaving," I held my hands up. "Good luck, professor."