Mass Effect: The Man Who Saw Tomorrow
Chapter VIII: Purpose for Tomorrow
The Kodiak jostled and shook as it punched through the atmosphere of Korsul. Garrus, Zaeed and Jack sat in the cabin with him, strapped into their seats as Jenny Goldstein guided the shuttle to the surface.
"So what are we looking for, Boss?" Garrus called over the loud shaking of the Kodiak.
Snake answered. "Another recruitment op. Krogan scientist named Okeer. Says he's been in contact with the Collectors. Something about a genophage and saving his people. We bring him in alive. He's surrounded by Blue Suns, dossier doesn't say if he's with them or not. Assume hostiles."
The turian's mandibles flicked in amusement. "Krogan scientist? Mordin will get a kick outta that." He joked.
"We're coming in for landing, Boss! There's Blue Suns and Krogan all over, watch your back!" Goldstein shouted.
Snake nodded as he and the rest of his crew undid their straps and prepared to exit.
The Kodiak landed gently on the gritty tarmac, and the doors opened. Garrus was first, followed by Zaeed and Jack, with Big Boss bringing up the rear. As soon as they found the nearest cover, the Kodiak dusted off and disappeared into the distance.
The first thing of the planet that Snake noticed, was the smell of smelted metal and burning garbage. The sun was fiery above in the afternoon sky, and it was humid and windless.
A loudspeaker echoed over the garbage and debris that littered area.
"There is only one measure of success: Kill or be killed! Perfection is your goal!"
Zaeed scoffed. "Canned orders of loudspeaker? Classy."
"I already want to kill this chick." Jack sneered.
Snake found it hard to feel the same. "Garrus, take point. Zaeed, on our six." He said, patting the turians shoulder.
Garrus moved, patting Zaeed's shoulder as he passed him. Jack followed suit, and Big Boss after her. They moved as a group in a tight single file around a bend.
"Being hired is merely the beginning. You must earn your place in the mighty army we're building." The loudspeaker above them echoed again in a crackle.
"Someone's in love with the sound of their own voice." Garrus said, leading them over a slope of compact metals and neared a corner until he stopped with a raised hand. "Blue Suns ahead. Six or Seven of them. We can get the jump on them."
Snake patted his shoulder and they switched places. "Find cover and engage on my mark." He said and leaned out from around the corner.
He glimpsed the nearest mercenary in his sights, lined up his shot and…
With a vicious bang, the mercenary fell like a bag of rocks, his companions looked around in shock, and fired in Snake's direction.
Garrus was first to run out and hide, unloading a careful barrage of cover fire. Jack and Zaeed moved next, and the group made short work of their opposition, with Garrus signaling that all mercs were down at the end of it all.
As they made their way over the ramp, a single Blue Suns trooper leaned against a broken engine with a panicked look on his face. He was unarmed as he tried to stop the gunshot wound in his shoulder from bleeding to no avail.
His voice was young, Snake could hear the untrained waver in his voice. Probably in his early twenties.
Zaeed scoffed as they approached him. "Suck it up, soldier. I've seen worse."
Garrus interjected. "Well, he doesn't need to know that." He said, patting Snake on the shoulder and taking point.
The mercenary looked up, his brow a furrow. "I knew it wasn't berserkers… Not at range. You're mercs. Or Alliance. I'm not… I'm not telling you shit." He said through gritted teeth.
Garrus fell to one knee in front of him. "Look, just tell us everything you know, or I'll…" He reached over and jammed his thumb into the open wound. The merc cried out, and tried to knock the turians hand back, but was easily smacked away.
Garrus let go, and the merc seethed, looking between the turian and his bleeding shoulder.
"Son of… argh… I just— I don't know anything! I just shoot the overflow from the labs. The old krogan up there, he's really be cleaning house lately. Jedore hired him to make her an army, but the krogan he creates are insane, so we use them as live ammo training. It's all bullshit; I don't get paid enough to goddamn bleed out!" He seethed.
Just then, his radio sparked to life and another voice echoed between them.
"Outpost Four? Jedore wants us to move. We need coordinates on that krogan pack."
The merc peered up at Garrus, a worried look on his face.
Garrus leaned forward, his hand on his shoulder, his thumb resting above the exposed bullet hole. "Make 'em disappear… Am I clear?" He said in a low, threat.
The terrified merc nodded, and leaned into his radio. "Uh… patrol? The last group… dispersed. Lost sight five minutes ago."
"Dispersed? Jedore will be pissed. She wanted a show." The radio replied.
The merc ground his teeth when Garrus placed his thumb gently over the wound.
"You asked for a report, you got it. Dispersed."
The voice on the other end acknowledged, albeit agitatedly. "Understood. Returning to the labs."
He cut the radio. "See? I'm helping." He said.
Garrus took his hand away. "What do you know about Okeer?"
"Nothing… We go in the labs, but everyone sees what happens when the krogan come out. I've shot hundreds of 'em. They're crazy. Mindless."
Jack spoke this time. "What's the bitch up there doing with all these krogan?"
The merc swallowed. "Replace us, probably. I wouldn't wanna see an army of them coming at me. Only she can't control them. They aren't supposed to be crazy, but they're krogan. How smart are they to start?"
"Is the lab heavily guarded?" Snake asked.
The merc winced into his shoulder. "There are big guns to keep ships away. But we're not outfitted to fight goddamn commandos."
Snake nodded and gestured for Garrus to wrap up the interrogation.
"If you start limping now, you might find a shady spot before you bleed out." He stood and gestured with his rifle for the mercenary to start get up and start walking.
With a grunt and a stutter, he nodded and pulled himself from the ground, limping his way out of the outpost.
Zaeed snickered, his rifle resting on his shoulder. "He just about pissed himself."
Garrus shrugged. "Some people… just need a heavy hand."
Snake readied his rifle. "Come on. Our target is up ahead. On me." He said, getting in position.
"I've got our six." The turian said, tapping his shoulder with Zaeed and Jack taking their places in between.
The unit moved through the debris, until they came to the outskirts of the facility. Up on the bridge ahead, a group of Blue Suns spotted them and unleashed a barrage of bullets their way.
They fought their way through, using the broken pieces of junk around as cover, pushing through to the entrance of the laboratories.
Along the way, they came across multiple dead krogan, their corpses littered the ground in untrained positions, as if they were given guns, and not told how to use them.
Jedore's voice rang through the loudspeaker, her agitated voice spoke in poetics of failure and liquidation.
After fighting through their third patrol, a radio on a dead merc sounded.
"Comm, tell Jedore we have a problem. Patrols are going dark. Either the krogan are pushing, or we're being raided!"
Garrus fired his Viper, his shot ringing through the visor of a merc on the far off balcony. "They were bound to catch on eventually. Resistance will probably tighten up." He said, ducking behind cover as he tried to line up his second shot.
Zaeed switched out a heatsink. "Good! More Blue Suns to put down!" He shouted, firing his Revenant in volleys.
Snake launched an Incinerate, knocking the last merc from the catwalk above into the crevice below. When all was clear, the group pressed forward.
Jedore's voice pounded above them. "The krogan are your example, and your warning! As ferocious as they are, failures are expendable."
Jack sighed with annoyance, and fired a slug up at the loudspeaker, blowing it into bits and piece. " ." She shouted.
They made their way to a blocked off corridor, where a lone krogan fired a shotgun up at the second floor.
Garrus lined up his rifle and fired a round into the skull of the Blue Suns merc.
The krogan looked back at them, and lowered its shotgun, confusedly. Snake raised a hand and the group stopped, lowering their weapons also.
The krogan stepped forward and sniffed Snake with curiosity.
He was much smaller than the krogan Big Boss had seen thus far, his hump only a fraction of the size of others.
He sniffed him once more.
"You… are different. New. You don't smell like this world."
He took a step back. "Seven night cycles, and I have felt only the need to kill. But you… something makes me speak."
Zaeed raised a brow. "That thing's only a week old?"
Jack crossed her arms, and inspected the krogan suspiciously. "Big bastard already, probably born ready to kill. Not much improvement over regular mercs if they need training."
The krogan shifted on his feet, staring at the ground. "Born… to kill." It cast a peculiar look at Jack. "No. I kill because my blood and bone tell me to. But it's not why I was flushed from glass mother… 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."
Garrus leaned on one foot. "You're supposed to be part of a mercenary army. Do you remember Jedore? Have you seen her?"
"No… I have not seen her. But I know that name. It causes anger, also, laughter. It is not a name that will be sung when we march."
He shook his head. "I don't know what that means. But I have heard it many times."
Snake eyed the alien curiously. "You're only a week old?"
The krogan nodded. "Yes. There was a scratching sound in my head, and it became the voice. It taught things I would need: walking, talking, hitting, shooting. Then the voice said I was not perfect and the teaching stopped. And now I am here."
Snake frowned. "You're not good enough?"
"I am not perfect."
"Was it Okeer's voice in the tank?"
His head tilted with puzzlement. "I heard the voice. Not like now, with ears. Inside. I called it, father. It liked that. But it was disappointed. I am not what it needs me to be."
"How did you disappoint the voice?" Snake asked.
The krogan shook his head. "I don't know. It was decided before I left tank mother. I was not perfect."
Garrus' mandibles flicked inquisitively. "Two years ago, Saren tried to cure the genophage by creating an army of krogan slaves, but Shepard, Wrex and I destroyed it. Is Okeer trying to do the same thing?" He pondered aloud.
"Cure?" The krogan echoed. "Cure was never whispered. Survive. Resist. Ignore."
"Then what is he trying to do if not cure the genophage?" Garrus asked.
Zaeed shrugged, growing agitated. "Who the hell cares? It's not like this breeding program's a huge success anyway."
Snake gestured to the facility behind them. "Can you show us the lab? We need to speak with Okeer."
The krogan looked up, eying the facility. "The… glass mother. She is up. Past the broken parts. Behind many of you fleshy things. I will show you."
He walked to the decadent wall of the building, dropped its shotgun and hoisted a hefty piece of scrap metal blocking a hole that led into the facility, and tossed it aside with relative ease.
"Not too subtle… but what krogan isn't." Garrus jested.
The krogan picked up his shotgun. "You fleshy things are slow when big things are in your way." He said, gesturing with his head to the piece of metal.
Snake looked at him. "You could have run… or tried to fight your way back to the labs, to Okeer. Why stay?"
"I am waiting." The krogan replied. "The voice in my head told me. If they come, I fight. But I will not run, and I will not follow."
"You're sure? We could use you along the way." Garrus said.
The krogan nodded. "I am not perfect, but I have purpose. I must wait until called. Released." It turned to leave.
"Wait." Snake called after him.
He stopped and looked back expectedly.
This was a warrior. Bred to kill, serving a purpose given to him. To die here as cannon fodder for these mercenaries…
"Your purpose…" Snake looked at him long and hard. "You've asked yourself what it is?"
The krogan shifted. "...Yes. It says to wait. To fight."
"No. Not what the voice in the tank said… your voice."
"My voice?"
"The one that told you to stop and speak with us."
His face was hidden behind his mask, but Snake imagined it contorted with confusion, his obscured eyes downcast. "I…"
"My voice says to wait, to fight, to stay… but to also ask— why?" He said, looking up at Snake.
"Why?" Snake asked.
"Why was I flushed from glass mother? Why am I here? Why am I not perfect? My voice wants to know."
"Come with us." Big Boss spoke. "And learn."
The krogan looked back at the place where they found him, then back to Big Boss, and nodded. "I will go. I must know. My voice must know—why."
He cocked his shotgun. "Glass mother is this way. I will show you." He led the way through the wall with the group following closely.
Zaeed squinted down the corridor, Blue Suns and krogan alike littered the ground. "Not a lot of room to maneuver."
Snake agreed. "Keep it tight." He said, on the feet of the krogan.
Ahead, the path sloped down, a flickering light at the end of the hall was the only source of luminescence.
They fought their way through Blue Suns and krogan alike. Their guide spoke of how most of his brothers were thoughtless, only choosing to kill because the voice told them to. There was no reasoning, and they would fight to their death, consumed with bloodrage.
"Why aren't you like that?" Garrus asked.
The krogan shook his head. "I don't know. Words are in my head. They speak in my voice, but say things different from glass-mother."
They travelled deeper and deeper into the facility, passing over bridges, through corridors and tight corners till they finally entered a stairwell that led to the laboratories.
"Father is just up ahead, through these opening walls." The krogan said, pointing forward. They stacked up on the door, and entered, greeted by the stench of old death hanging in the air.
Various krogan corpses lay on gurneys, some burned to crisps, while others were in different states of decay.
Snake gestured for Garrus to hit the switch on the next door as they took position, ready to breach entry.
With a count of three, Snake entered, clearing the room left to center with Garrus doing the opposite right behind him. The room was empty, except for numerous lab equipment and a tall krogan near a tank on the right side of the room.
The krogan looked in their direction, but continued to tap away on his terminal. "It's about time. The batteries on these tanks will not wait while you play with these idiotic mercs."
Snake lowered his Mattock and gestured for the others to do the same. He glanced over at the large tank, and saw another krogan inside, unresponsive, though he could see its fingers and lips twitch sporadically.
"Okeer?" He called.
The old krogan nodded. "No doubt you have fought your way here for a good reason, Cerberus agent. But they will have to wait. These mercenaries have become a burden to me. I gave their leader my rejects for her army, but she grows impatient. It's time for you to take me out of here."
"Father." The smaller krogan stepped forward, his face hidden, Snake could tell his eyes were downcast in shyness.
Okeer looked at him, his brow raised. "You— you are one of my rejects. Why are you here?" Okeer asked him, his voice a wisp of perplexity.
"I…" The smaller krogan looked at Snake, who offered a curt nod.
"Why… am I not perfect?"
Okeer stared at him, eying him from eye to eye before turning back to the tank. "You aren't perfect. But I gave you a purpose. You are exactly what that woman asked for; healthy, strong, capable… but useless to me."
"Why?" Asked the smaller krogan.
Okeer spun angrily in his direction. "Because you are a failure! You learned, you speak, you think, but you are not perfect! You failed imprinting! You failed personality! You failed me! I need perfection. If a few thousand such as you are rejected, so be it. My work will purify the krogan. We will not be restored— We will be renewed."
"I… failed?" The smaller krogan repeated, staring at the ground.
Okeer huffed and turned to Big Boss and pointed to the krogan in the tank. "This soldier is the template. It is a greater threat than all the phantom siblings— such as this one, that would have been at its flank."
Snake sighed silently. "Can he fight with us?"
Okeer shook his head. "Perhaps I can strike a deal to secure passage. But my prototype is not negotiable. It is the key to my legacy."
"Attention! I've traced the krogan release. Okeer, of course. I'm calling "blank slate" on this project. Gas the commandoes with him and start over from Okeer's data. Flush the tanks!" The loudspeaker above them crackled to life and Jedore's voice echoed through.
Okeer approached the window, and saw the blue armor clad woman down below, she made a throat cutting motion at him with a wicked sneer.
The krogan growled angrily as pipes along the ceiling began to burst open and bleed a gaseous mist into the lab.
"She's that weak-willed?! She'll kill my legacy with a damned valve!" Okeer boiled, turning to Big Boss.
"You wanted information on the Collectors? Stop her! She'll try to access the contaminants in the storage bay."
Snake eyed him, sensing only half truths in his words. "You'll share everything?"
Okeer turned back to the tank. "I give you my word. I will share everything I know on the Collectors. My legacy must not suffer this insult. Jedore will be with the rejected tanks below. Fight well."
Snake nodded.
Jack and Zaeed moved to the far side of the room, working on opening the door that led to the warehouse beyond.
He looked to the smaller krogan, who still peered down at the ground.
He walked over to him, and placed a hand on his shoulder.
The krogan looked up slowly, awaiting an answer.
"You fought your way here. With your own purpose. Your own voice, and you're alive. You're not a failure."
The krogan stared, and Snake felt as if he were consoling a young child.
Garrus stepped closer as well. "You're a crackshot with that shotgun, we could use you down there."
The smaller krogan looked between the two of them before cocking his shotgun and turning to the older, larger Warlord. "I am not perfect… and I am not a failure." He fiercely pounded a fist against his chest and shouted, "I am not a failure, father!"
Okeer eyed him, but said nothing to him.
"Hurry, Cerberus agents. Kill her. I will… stay, and do what must be done." He said, beginning to work on the krogan filled tank.
The group exited the door on the far side of the lab and descended the flight of stairs. The air was significantly fresher, stale and sanitized, very much like a hospital.
Through the second door, Snake could hear Jedore spouting orders in a shrill. "I don't care who they are, I want them dead! This is my world! I'll poison them all!
Jack and Zaeed both made sounds of irritation.
"Someone shut that bitch up!" Zaeed shouted.
Jack charged into the room, and almost immediately gunfire fell upon them.
"Gladly!" She shouted, stretching her hand out and creating a biotic field, repelling gunfire as she found cover. The rest of them moved in, and began to fire back, launching a volley of rounds at Jedore, her mechs and the krogan rejects that appeared from the tanks on the floor.
The woman screamed in fury, and fired a missile launcher in their direction.
Jack snickered and deflected it easily with another biotic field before hoisting a giant metal container and threw it in Jedore's direction.
Her power was incredible, Snake noticed.
In comparison to Jacob and Miranda, she was summoning her peculiar ability with relative ease and savage determination. Wherein he had seen Jacob and Miranda lift people and objects into the air, she was ripping them apart, throwing them around so hard that their limbs shattered on impact.
Her ferocity was matched only by her recklessness, as she did not notice the krogan berserker close in on her flank.
Snake aimed his Mattock carefully, crouching and using his knee to stabilize his shot, and fired a round over her head into the eye socket of the krogan, who hit the ground with a heavy thud.
Jack looked between the krogan and Snake before she smirked and flipped him her middle finger.
He felt a tug at the corner of his lip and returned fire at Jedore who hid behind one of the smoking tanks, shouting unbridled insults and threats in their direction.
Garrus fired his Viper from his makeshift perch before his voice sounded over the radio. "Boss, we're not making any progress with her hiding behind that tank, I can't line up a good shot. If you can lure her out and drop her shields, I can take her out."
Snake nodded, and tapped the krogan next to him. "We're gonna flank 'em, on me!" He shouted over the explosions and gunfire.
The krogan nodded and moved from his cover, firing his Katana in the direction of Jedore's mechs. "Keep them busy!" Snake ordered to Zaeed and Jack, following after him.
"Roger that! Hit that bitch, Jack!" Zaeed shouted, his Revenant popped out its spent thermal clip.
"Hey, bitch! Shout this into your loudspeaker!" Jack let loose her shotgun, firing from behind her cover before she stepped out and lifted one of the krogan high into the air and violently tossed him into one of the mechs, igniting a tight explosion.
Snake and the krogan moved to the far side of the room and looped around until Jedore and her mechs were in view.
The krogan snarled and charged forth, gripping one of the mechs head's in his hands and squeezed until it crushed into a mangled mess of junk.
Jedore spotted them, and with an angry glare on her face, stood and fired her Tempest in a vicious barrage at them.
"Filthy fucking bastards!" She shouted.
The krogan charged again, but was hit hard in the shoulder, shooting through his armor in a splatter of dark red blood. The force of the round knocked him back, and he hit the concrete floor harshly.
Snake grimaced and fired his Mattock at her in rapid succession, hitting her hard in the chest.
She stumbled back with a vicious screech of rage. Her sentinel armor flickered in response, but did not dissipate. She was almost in view for Garrus to take the shot… but was not quite there yet.
Her missile launcher caught his eye, primed and readied for him only a few feet away.
He reached down, dropping the Mattock and took aim at her as she lifted her Tempest and fired at him.
The rounds rebounded off his shields, hitting him like bee stings before his shields broke and then hit his armor with hard thuds, nearly forcing him back.
He fired the launcher, letting loose its payload and hitting Jedore in the chest.
Her shrill of agony went unheard under the resulting explosion as it sent her rocketing back. She crashed into the wall behind her, and her glowing sentinel armor degenerated.
Snake almost assumed her dead, but she stood up sluggishly with a stagger, gripping the Carnifex on her hip and pointing it at Snake.
Her face was blackened and burned, her skin hissed and sizzled. Her left eye dangled just above her cheek. It did nothing to hide her raging expression. "I'll fucking kill—!"
The right side of her face exploded, and her body fell to the ground in a smoking heap.
Snake looked up at Garrus, who stood from his perch and offered a thumbs up at him.
Zaeed grunted as he pried his knife from the forehead of one krogan, kicking his corpse to the chasm below.
"Clear!" He shouted seeing no more Blue Suns, mercs or krogan left.
"Finally some peace and quiet. Nice shot, Garrus." Jack chimed, ejecting her thermal clip and replacing it with another.
"It's what I do." The turian replied, dropping from his makeshift perch.
Snake knelt beside the masked krogan who lay on the ground, his hand gripped his shoulder and he seethed with pain.
"Ah… hurts…" He groaned.
Snake inspected the wound. It was a clean shot, right through the muscle, and avoided the bone and brachial artery— if he even had one, by mere millimetres.
He gave the krogan a reassured expression, and applied an application of medi-gel, coating it over the open wound.
When the krogans breathing became easier, Snake stood and offered him a hand.
The krogan took it and nearly pulled Snake down from his weight and strength, but managed to keep upright when he stood.
Zaeed called to Snake, "Boss, alarms in the lab!" He pointed up at the windows above.
He frowned, and led the krogan back to the group and EDI's voice sounded through his radio.
"Big Boss, the lab alarms coincided with a systems failure. The remaining lab systems are unprotected, and I have gained limited access. According to lab scanners, the room is flooded with toxins, and Okeer's personal life signs are failing rapidly. I recommend haste." She informed.
"Let's go." Snake said, leading the way back up to the laboratory.
"Contamination detected. Emergency vent in progress."
A voice above repeated as they approached the door, the locking mechanism flashed from red to green and the door opened, the alarm unsounding.
Snake entered the lab, and looked through the room for Okeer.
"No!" The smaller krogan shouted, and ran past Big Boss to the unmoving body of the Warlord. He fell to his knees and turned him onto his back, but was only met with Okeer's blank, dead stare.
Snake approached the terminal, where a vid from Okeer played.
"You gave me time, Cerberus agents. If I knew why the Collectors wanted humans, I would tell you. But everything is in my prototype. My legacy is pure. This… one soldier, this… Grunt. Perfect."
Big Boss sighed. All that work… for nothing.
He looked down at the smaller krogan who held Okeer's head in his hands.
"My voice… hurts." He said, looking up at Snake expectantly.
"You're upset… sad." Snake answered, stepping closer to him.
The krogan looked down. "Sad… Father is... He breathes no more. He is dead… and I am sad." He stood and stepped away from the corpse. "I am a failure. That's what I was to him. But he…"
He looked at Okeer once more. "I am not perfect… but I am not dead. I have survived, and he…"
"Boss, what should we do with the tank?" Garrus asked, gesturing to the towering incubator.
Snake placed a hand on the krogans shoulder comfortingly before joining the others and looking up at the alien inside the tank.
"A bullet in the brain would save us a lot of headaches." Zaeed interjected, holstering his Revenant onto the magnetic lock on his back.
"We could always use a heavy hitter." Garrus said, observing the terminal that Okeer had been using.
Snake could not help but agree. Seeing their krogan friend knock Blue Suns into the air was an impressive feat, and incredibly useful.
Jack scoffed. "Tch, yeah. A heavy hitter, not a raging fucking monster. But hey, you're the Big Boss." She said, crossing her arms over her chest and looking into the tank.
Snake said, "We'll bring him with us. Find out what he's capable of. Call it in."
Garrus nodded. "Ishmael, Okeer's a no-go. But we have a package that needs retrieval, and he's a big one." He said into his radio.
Snake turned to the smaller krogan who looked up as he approached.
"We're leaving."
The krogan observed the tank. "Leaving?" He whispered.
"…You can spend your life here, fighting Blue Suns 'til you're killed… or you can do something out there, worth living for." Snake's voice was low, and warm. "With us."
The krogan sniffed him curiously.
"Out there?" He pointed to the sky.
Snake nodded. "You're not perfect… none of us are. We're flawed and broken. But it's our imperfections, our sense of purpose… That's what make us what we are—what, you are."
The krogan was quiet, he peered down into the lifeless eyes of Okeer, and then Snake. "I have purpose. My voice says it. Whispers it in my ear like wind. Tells me to live. Shouts over the voice from glass-mother. Tells me to fight—" He placed his hand on Snake's shoulder, mimicking his previous gesture. "To fight with you."
It was some time before the Ishmael managed to load the large krogan filled tank onboard, during which the remaining Blue Suns planet-side kept their distance at the sight of the frigate. The tank was stowed onboard, kept in one of the storage spaces on the Engineering deck.
Snake stood in the conference room with Miranda and Jacob as the two of them debated on what to do with the tank. He stood between them with a sense of deja vu.
"Bringing the krogan for study makes sense, but I have concerns about waking it." Miranda said pointedly.
Jacob sighed inwardly. "Yeah, you've said that a few times now."
Miranda ignored him. "A normal krogan is dangerous. This one was created, and likely educated, by a madman. We don't know anything about it. Not to mention the other krogan; a designated failure is on board now as well." She said, resting a hand on her hip.
"I'm not saying we take a crowbar to it… but we'd be giving up a potential resource." Jacob said, looking to Big Boss for back up.
The man stood with his arms at his sides.
"I want to speak with it, before we make any decision what to do with it… we're not responsible for taking lives before they have the chance to speak for themselves."
Miranda seemed satisfied with that response. "Of course, Boss. It's your decision. Just be careful, please."
He nodded. "The cargo hold is safe for now."
Miranda left first, offering a curt nod as she walked past him.
Jacob saluted. "Your other krogan recruit is done in the med-bay getting his shoulder patched up, said he was going to be in the cargo hold with the krogan tank."
EDI's voice echoed over the room. "Big Boss, the Illusive Man wishes to speak with you." She said, just as the center table began to sink into the floor, opening a connection to the Illusive Man.
Snake stood on the circle in the center, and he was greeted by the familiar sight of the seated, silhouetted man, a lit cigarette held delicately between index and middle finger.
The Illusive Man exhaled. "Boss, I think we have them. Horizon— one of our colonies in the Terminus Systems— just went silent. If it isn't under attack, it soon will be. Has Mordin delivered the countermeasure for the seeker swarms?"
Snake shook his head. He was not sure.
"Let's hope he works well under pressure. There's something else you should know. There's an Alliance team on Horizon, headed by an Operations Chief, Ashley Williams. She's a friend of Donald Anderson, and served on the Normandy with Commander Shepard two years ago."
Snake raised a brow. "I thought Terminus Systems weren't part of the Alliance?"
"Officially, it's an outreach program to improve Alliance relations with the colonies. But they're up to something. And if they sent Chief Williams, it must be big." He dabbed his cigarette and inhaled again.
Snake crossed his arms. "Can you send a message to Anderson?"
The Illusive Man shook his head. "Not until you investigate. I don't want the Alliance getting in our way. Once you have the situation under control, I'll send the message personally. You have my word."
Snake frowned, but agreed.
The Illusive Man snuffed his cigarette. "This is the most warning we've ever had, Boss. Good luck."
He disappeared from view and Snake left the conference room. "Joker, set a course for Horizon."
"You got it, Boss."
He entered the Science Lab, where Mordin stood with a satisfied look on his face as he inspected a flying probe in an isolated chamber.
"Do we have a countermeasure ready?" He asked.
With a proud smile, Mordin nodded. "Yes."
He motioned for Snake to follow him to a terminal and brought up a suit on the holo-screen.
"Seeker swarms rely on heat signature and scent to see. Primarily lactic acid. Have created device to counteract this. Utilizes mixture of chemicals—diethyltoluamide and Dimethyl carbate and low frequency white noise to effectively camouflage against probes. Will be theoretically invisible to seeker swarms." Mordin said enthusiastically.
"Theoretically?"
"Yes." The salarian grinned.
Snake thought him a mad scientist of folklore, proud of his creations, the way he smiled at his success. He ran a hand over his bearded face.
"Are you coming with us?"
"Yes! Will be educational to see if technology works." Mordin nodded gleefully.
Snake nodded. "Make sure they're ready to go. ETA is four hours."
Mordin turned back to the probe that flew into the glass of its prison. "Will do, Big Boss."
He left the lab and was greeted by an excited dog who jumped up at him with a happy bark and slobbery kiss.
He fought hard to supress his amused smile, and gently batted the dog down before scratching her ear with his bionic hand.
Yeoman Chambers grinned widely as she watched the two together. "She's quite remarkable, she's a big hit with the crew, Big Boss."
He smirked, glad that she was growing on the crew. He scratched her stomach as she rolled onto her back and wagged her tail excitedly.
"Anything I should know?" He asked.
"Nothing right now, Boss."
Snake nodded and he stood, leading the dog to the elevator.
"We've got a jump on the Collector's, make sure EDI informs the crew to be ready."
"Will do, Boss." Chambers returned to her terminal.
He and the dog entered the elevator and descended down to the Hangar Bay.
The dog barked as she ran into the hangar, and picked up the knotted rope, gnashing it between her teeth and violently tossing it around before bringing it to Snake.
He wrestled with her for it, pulling and tugging until she finally let go and excitedly waited for him to throw it.
Her energy was a welcome relief, reminding him of favourable old times long since passed. He found himself smiling as he tossed the rope and she ran after it, her paws clicking against the alloyed floor.
She was quick and strong, smart and fearless. He wondered if there were still canine units out in the universe, if she would be able to accompany him on missions if trained properly.
Ocelot had been the one to train DD, and it took quite a long time before he was combat ready. Though still… she appeared smarter than the average service dog, and though easily excited, she listened to commands and did them effortlessly. She even managed to operate the doors with ease, having made her way from the CIC to the hangar bay when she was on her own.
He had set her things down here. Her padded bed, her own water purifier, her automated food dispenser, and a plethora of random toys he purchased.
The dog ran back to him with a happy wag of her tail and a proud saunter, dropping the knotted rope in front of him. He picked it up and gave it another throw, watching her trip over herself to sprint after it again.
The elevator opened, where Zaeed and Jack entered the Hangar Bay.
"Catch." The mercenary called before tossing a green bottle in Snake's direction.
He caught it deftly, and turned the cool bottle over in his hand to see it was an icy beer, Glacier Light.
"Doubt you've had one since waking up in this shithole galaxy." Zaeed said as he and Jack joined Big Boss, pulling two more beers from a six pack and set it down at his feet.
"We were just talking about some of the jobs we've done." Jack said taking a big drink of her beer before she picked up the returned knotted rope and tossed it to the other side of the hangar.
The dog gave chase, her nails clicking along the floor.
Zaeed nodded. "Got any worth telling?"
Snake looked at the beer once more before cracking it open.
He had not had a beer in a very long time. He could not even remember when that time was.
He took a quick drink.
It was smooth and sour in his mouth, bubbly and bitter, refreshing and chilly at the same time.
"Jobs?" He asked, watching the dog wrestle the rope as if it were alive.
Zaeed took a long drink. "Yeah, jobs. Contracts. Like, this one job; I led a mission to bring down this turian frigate, the Varakan. It was me and five others and whatever guns we could bring. There was no chance for success, but we did it. Everyone died but me."
He took a drink again. "So I made out like a bandit. My first 'impossible' mission as an independent contractor. There's been many since, but nothing so goddamn sweet since watching that turian warship crash planetside."
Jack whistled. "That's not bad, I think I got you beat though. I got shitfaced this one time with a couple krogans I was running with on this space station over this hanar moon. Couple shots of Ryncol later, there's a new crater on that moon and I'm charged with 'vandalism' when I come to, krogan are long gone."
"An entire fucking space station?" Zaeed laughed.
The woman smiled a vicious grin. "The hanar really liked that moon."
Snake watched the dog return with the knotted rope, dropping between the three of them with a slobbery grin.
Zaeed bent over and picked it up before giving the rope a strong toss to the far side of the hangar. "How 'bout you, Boss?"
One of his toughest missions? There were many to choose from. Nowhere near the scope of destroying an entire warship, like the Ishmael, or crashing a space station into a moon, but most still felt like impossible at the time.
"There was one mission… My partner was captured, I went in to rescue her in Afghanistan. We faced a company of tanks and infantry soldiers together until we were caught in the blast of a 76mm shell. After I woke, she was injured, unconscious and weak, we barely escaped the rest of the company in a sandstorm. I got bit by a snake, and when I came to, she was gone."
He took a sip from the beer, swishing the bitter drink between his teeth.
His heart almost sank when he saw the wound on her stomach, he had never seen her injured so. He remembered feeling the desperation to get her into the sun, to find water somewhere—anywhere. He could feel her in his hands still, seizing and fighting and kicking against him.
He remember in the heat of the moment, when they hid away from the patrolling Soviets, to calm her, he hummed a lullaby to her. Her lullaby. The one she hummed in his ear to tell him her sights were lined up. The one she hummed when they were alone sometimes.
He wished he still had that tape he recorded of her voice.
"Boss!" Zaeed's voice snapped him back to reality. "Guess that's a shit memory. Got my fair share too."
The dog ran over to her bed, tossing a number of the toys that littered the floor around into it before diving into them and readying herself for sleep.
Jack downed the rest of her beer, dropping it in the six pack at Zaeed's feet before she opened another. "Me too. More than the other stories."
Snake looked into his bottle, watching the bubbles inside, fizzle to the top.
"That was in '85, yeah? Afghanistan?" Zaeed asked, grabbing another bottle and cracking it open.
"'86"
Jack snickered. "What are you, a fan?"
Zaeed's face contorted in annoyance. "Goddamn right I am. Blue Suns wouldn't be what they are today if it weren't for Millitares San Frontiers. They'd be a shit merc band like Eclipse or the Blood Pack, struggling under their own goddamn weight."
He directed his attention to Snake. "Vido Santiago, that guy I told you about, remember?"
Snake nodded.
"We were kids, fresh out of the Marines, we did all that killing for the Alliance, and when they didn't need us anymore, they shit us out into the galaxy like we were fucking garbage. We started the Blue Suns then, modelled it after your MSF outfit. A place for people like us—soldiers who got fucked and took any job we could get our hands on, bringing in more men like us along the way."
He took a drink, his brow furrowed, accentuating the lines and scars on his face.
"But that bastard Vido got greedy, it became all about the damn money for him. Started bringing in batarians and turned my men against me. He paid six of them to restrain me while he put a gun against my head and pulled the trigger. I've spent twenty years—twenty fucking years, waiting to get that bastard back for fucking me over. I hear his goddamn voice in my sleep! That goddamn bastard!"
The bottle in Zaeed's hand went flying across the hangar then, smashing into pieces against the far wall.
The dog woke with a start, and growled viciously in the seething mercenary's direction, readying herself to lunge if her new owner was placed in danger.
Snake sighed.
This galaxy was rife with revenge. Garrus, Jack and Zaeed, all victims to its alluring ire. It clung like humid mist on a hot summer day. It burned in them, gave them purpose… but he saw what it did to Kaz, when all that rage is leftover.
He did not want to see the same thing happen to these people as it did with his old friend.
He set his empty bottle down into the six pack on the floor, and set a hand on the seasoned mercenary on the shoulder with his bionic one.
"We'll get him." He said before nodding to Jack and turning to leave with a whistle.
The dog followed obediently, as if they had been together since the day she was born.
When Snake disappeared, Jack downed the rest of her beer and dropped it into the pack of empties.
"Hey. You gonna be alright?" She asked casually.
Zaeed nodded, but did not face her. "'Course I am."
She frowned. She was not good at comforting people… but she did understand. Cerberus took everything from her. She wanted nothing more than to kill every single one that had done harm to her in that forsaken base.
"We'll kill that fucker. It's only a matter of time." She related, staring at the tip of her boot.
The mercenary looked at her with a furrowed brow and nodded, stepping away from her.
"Goddamn right. Go on, girl… I'll clean this shit up." He said, walking to where the glass had shattered.
I gave Grunt an older brother, and I don't regret any bit of it. I loved that krogan, there was so much potential for him. I can't wait to throw him more into the story. Thanks for the read, I hope you enjoyed! - AThousandSuns