Chapter 56: Well Shit
Urz was having a grand old time. He rushed to the left taking down one of the jumpy females with a metal claw down in one leap. His massively strong jaws locked on her throat as he shook his head. The neck snapped, but there was no pleasing burst of blood to fill his maw. Like the others he had felled, this one also vanished with the scent of lightning.
The sudden disappearances of the no-scent-enemies of his pack were a might confusing to his varren mind. He could not comprehend why the holographic enemies were derezzing once he had vanquished them.
To the hound he was simply bereft of the kill. But there always seemed more to kill. They carried no scent. The painted female the one that came to the name of Jack was like him she liked battle as did the newly blooded krogan pup named Grunt, they loved it. Thrilled at it. It was like on the blood ground where the shelled one proved his teeth on his first hunt. It was important pups knew how to hunt with the pack. Pups always stumble, don't always get the chase down right but they learn.
Lone varren were worse than pups when working with a pack. They forgot how. Painted Jack stumbled on the blood field and Grunt was too eager. Their pack leader- Shepard growled and barked at her for it. Painted Jack had to learn to work with the pack. But she was re-learning. She'll make it good in the pack. A good beta hunter. Like her mate with the black mane and storm-sky eyes, the one that Painted Jack called Cheerleader. They hunted well together.
The pack hunted as one, as if they had been doing it for many winters. Urz watched as the males took to the high ground. They had their boomsticks and destroyed the heads, making the stinging boxes stop.
"Two more Engineer's down." The Old Grey Maned male declared. "Nothing feels as good as popping the heads off those mother fuckers."
"Ha unless it's..." Jack stopped short as she felt the impact tremors rock the earth around them. "HA HA HA HA, Fuck yeah!"
"I believe the term you called them was 'Stompy' was it not?" Thane remarked.
"Yeah, simple enough, better than what those fuckers Cerberus call 'em."
"That would be Atlas" Miranda clarified
"Whatever Cheerleader, they don't look like no Greek god to me. Fucking tin cans. Let's pop'em open and them so hard candy pours out."
"All for that." Grunt rumbled. "Blast this thing into scrap metal. Maybe that little quarian can make something useful out of it."
Miranda took the right flank, Jack the left. Without saying a work they struck the 'Stompy' with warp field then simulcast they flung singularities. The power of the exosuit froze allowing the ample opportunity for Thane and Zaeed to strike the amber faceplate with their Black-Widow sniper rifles. The first coming from Zaeed's shot shattered the faceplate, Thane's created a hole. Grunt's shot hit the center off mass cutting its physical shields.
Jack smiled the smirk worthy of a varren as she used her biotics to grab hold of the Cerberus agent inside and rip him from his seat. With all her might she flung the man into a neighbouring barricade. Had he been real rather than a hologram his internal organs would have exploded on impact. Candy would have indeed poured-out.
Miranda rushed the now empty shell of the Atlas, climbed inside and turned it on the remaining Cerberus agents. It was almost cathartic seeing their bodies torn to shreds by the Atlas's miniguns.
All that pent up anger she harboured for The Illusive Man, the games he played and forced her to play, the games he was playing with the Alliance and the Council. All of it. Rage built in Miranda. How dare he!? How dare he play with the fate of humanity! How dare he toy with the future of all organics while he ...he... did what? Sat in his 'throne' sipping the most expensive of brandies and the most exclusive cigarettes pulling the strings of every soul that came in contact with him. And the rage exploded as much as the retaliation growing in Miranda's heart
Jack was dumbstruck for a moment as she watched her Cheerleader decimate Cerberus troops. She hadn't seen rage like that since her escape from that fucking Blue Sun Purgatory.
Damn if it didn't make her hot, make her wet. She wanted this damn round over and done with so she could slam that mother-fucking hot bod against the wall and fuck her senseless.
When the canned voice of the female turian presenter announced the end of the round with a high score of 9,997 the final round concluded. Jack whooped It was a damn fine score not that she cared. She loved just smacking to those fuckers Cerberus assholes. What she loved most was seeing Cheer-Miri slam those assholes and dust them.
God it felt hella good.
Back in the locker room, Jack barely stripped before she had Miranda hard up against the wall. Nothing was better than hate-sex. There was no protest from the Cheerleader, A cry of surprise, a gasp and a moan of delight. She reciprocated in-kind. The sex was fast, hard, hot and done.
The sound of the showers covered up their moans of lust. As she was redressing in the leathers Queen of the Girl Scouts bought her, Jack turned to her sometimes lover and smiled.
"That smirk guessing it's for me?"
"Aint for what we just did though it was good and all. Mostly I gotta say it was fucking hilarious seeing you lay waste to Cerberus pricks even if they were just holographic and shit."
"Don't read anything into something that isn't there." Miranda scoffed not feeling comfortable with the sudden scrutiny.
Jack smirked again but dropped it. Message received. "Got it, Cheerleader. Like that day you got all squishy on me after Tuchanka. All those soft feelings was so fucking unappealing my nipples inverted."
"Oh trust me I don't plan on being soft on you any time soon, Juvenile Delinquent."
Jack smiled "Don't blame me for the delinquency. It's my upbringing." she snapped her fingers. "Oh that's right, Cerberus raised me. Your boss did. Can't whine when the knife you forage cuts you too. But we're not all about big bad daddy TIMmy. Just saying you—me and hate sex enjoying the hell out of it." Jack licked her fingers, and smiled darkly. "And so do you if this is any proof."
Miranda squired feeling flush as she knew exactly where those particular fingers had been only seconds ago. In response Miranda grabbed Jack by the throat. "Round two." she was all teeth when she smiled. "My turn." she pushed Jack up against the tiled wall of the locker room. "We've got twenty minutes before those asari commandos make it back here."
"More than enough time, Cheerleader," a smarmy smile. "Let's work out our daddy issues."
"God I hate you!"
Another smirk. "Just the way I love it."
"I know."
ME~ME~ ME~ME~ ME~ME~ ME~ME~ ME~ME
Shepard, Samara and Mordin stood now before the Council, four grave faces staring back at them. She returned their gaze with a cool levelled composure that was the antithesis of her earlier expressions within the Human Embassy not long ago.
She could not afford to be overly emotional during this meeting. Udina would be counting on her rage to get the better of her, but there would be no grandstanding, no great speeches or emotional outbursts. Keeping a very tight rein on her reactions and emotions was paramount is she wanted to make sure Wrex had the freedom to move as he needed to. But that didn't mean she had to be passive either. This was The Game after all and no one ever won chess or kepesh yakshi by being reserved. Staging was everything; which was she deliberately had Samara at her right flank and Mordin to her left. And yes while Tali was present she was absent from the meeting. Not because she was quarian but because Shepard was holding her in reserve.
Her eyes were drawn away from the podium where Saran once stood when the testimony of what occurred on Eden Prime had been presented and summarily dismissed. Of course that little bit of theatrics would have played out better with Anderson in her corner, but as any soldier knew you evaluate, adapt and overcome or you die.
"Spectre Shepard it is unprecedented that you attend a closed Council meeting with your crew. Again. I had believed you were corrected in this matter. Council meetings with their Spectres are not an open forum." Councilor Valern voiced sternly.
Shepard dismissed the words easily. "Oh that isn't exactly true is it? From day one most of my meetings with the Council have been open." this fact could not be disputed. It was true, since her induction into the Spectres Shepard's meetings with the Council had never been a solo affair.
"Given my report I believe you will see why I asked Justicar Samara and Professor Mordin formally of the STG to be here with me. My Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vos Normandy also there during the incident and bore witness to the events that unfolded will be here in due time." she lifted her chin to the holographic podium to Udina's left, "with the Council's indulgence of course. She has some tactical information that will be necessary for you to hear.
"You play a dangerous game Shepard." Sparatus growled testily
"I'm a Spectre. Playing dangerous games are part of the job requirement. Dancing around politics seems to be another." the Commander turned a scathing look towards Udina. "That's why we're here, politics and games? The matter before us is quite political."
Tevos eyes narrowed just slightly as she eyed her fellow asari. It was true no asari would ever question the judgment of a Justicar that went double for the matriarchs that held the title of Councilor. Shepard noted that the ruby adornment above Samara right eye lifted a little not unlike an eyebrow lifting in question or perhaps a silent challenge.
Politics and games were most certainly the way the Council played but it was not how the Justicar operated. Not unlike a plough furrowing through several feet of snow to make a passable road, Justicars cut their political bullshit just as handily. And no one danced around words and hyperbole to make their viewpoints palatable like the STG.
Message there was: We'll plough through your crap and you will swallow ours and like it.
"Yes we have read your report on the events that occurred on Tuchanka concerning a salarian geneticist Dr. Maelon Heplorn." Tevos said very carefully never taking her eyes off of Samara. "I am to understand that one of your team stood as your proxy?"
"Shifting your duties once more, I see." Sparatus scoffed.
"No." Samara answered for the Commander. "Spectre Shepard's attention was required elsewhere. As this was what at first appeared to be nothing more than a rescue mission, Spectre Shepard's presence wasn't completely necessary to fulfil the mission outline.
"As you clearly stated Councilor Sparatus, I as a Justicar stood as proxy for the Spectre. I acted as Shepard's code of conduct dictated her own actions in every situation despite my reactions would have been quite different. As an example, I would have shot Maelon Heplorn after presenting him with a list of his crimes. That was not the outcome of that confrontation."
By directly answering the turian's accusations of shirking duty and sloth, Samara had utterly derailed Sparatus.
Samara continued her narrative. "We infiltrated a Blood Pack stronghold under the control of Clan Weyrloc a rival of Clan Urdnot in order to rescue one of Professor Mordin's associates. I believe you are familiar with the name of the latter clan. Its clan leader aided Spectre Shepard in defeating Saren. He now sits at the throne overseeing several clans. He is trying to unite the krogan people in a new renaissance."
"You mean a new revolution. A new rebellion." Sparatus shot back heedless of the Justicar's standing, his ego bruised after previously being so easily countered.
"No." Mordin said. "He wants a new path for his people. One I wholly believe is best for them. Best for us. It will take time. A renewal of culture, history, stories. A renaissance is not to be feared. Celebrated. Allowed. Must be allowed."
All eyes turned to the Professor. "You approve of this?" Valern seemed quite astonished. "I know your role in the..." here he paused. While much of what happened on Tuchanka was reported the alteration of the genophage had been left out, mostly likely deliberately.
.
By the Spectre's very sly shark's smile Valern had taken the bait and became chum. With only a very slight nod of the head Mordin spoke once more. "With the genophage modification project. Yes."
"The what?!" Sparatus and Udina both snapped their heads towards the salarian Councilor. Tevos eyed her fellow Councilor not quite with distain but rather a warning, of what however wasn't exactly clear.
"The Genophage modification project." Shepard repeated for her crewmate. "See..." she pointed her chin towards Valern, "The salarians took great exception that for some reason Mordin can't even explain the krogan were overcoming the sterility plague. More krogan babies defied their odds of almost certain extermination and survived.
"More krogan fathers were able to play catch-the-varren with their sons; mothers uplifted their daughters to the sun above and were able to tell them that was the only thing greater than they were. This of course could not be permitted. One in one thousand. No more. No less. That is want is so easy with numbers, logical cold-blooded callous." Shepard set her jaw tight holding back the tirade that was pushing against the gate of her teeth. "It is hard to argue the statistics on paper as were. On paper it makes perfect sense."
"And this...this genophage modification project was designed to rectify this adaptation to their plague." Udina looked past Sparatus and Tevos to Valern. There was a triple blink of his eyes but he gave no other reaction.
Had Mordin not tried to explain a little of salarian body language Shepard would have utterly missed the meaning it wasn't uncomfortable truths Valern was reacting to but that he felt betrayed by Mordin's confession.
This was actually very handy.
Shepard forged on ahead: "Yes you can say the reproduction rate of the krogan is simply too high. After all one krogan female can give birth to 1000 younglings per year and each krogan like asari can live up to if not over 1000 years. Hell there is one male on Omega called 'Patriarch' a very notable pirate queen keeps as a pet that is somewhere near 2000. Hell some people think the Queen of Omega is that old. Whose to say?" Shepard gave a glance to Tevos who was perhaps the only one who knew the true age of Aria T'lok
"Now with your permission I'd like to call upon my other crew member who was present during the events in the hospital. I had her triple check some facts with me after consulting with Professor Mordin and a source on Illium."
This time all faces turned to Udina who gave a returning expression as if to say: 'What?' then it dawned on him that he as the human representative had to give Shepard access to the holographic projector. With a long suffering sigh to cover for his lack of attention he quickly keyed in the console before him transferring partial control to Shepard.
The Commander activated her omni-tool and in a matter of seconds a very large hologram of Tali loomed over the Council Chambers.
"Tali you have my numbers?" Shepard said without preamble. Before the meeting took place, Shepard had placed a call to her Trusted friend to not only report on the cold calculus of populations but somehow weave in certain personal if not theatrical levels of data to act as a comparative levelling.
"Yes Com...Spectre Shepard. Just like you asked me too, I triple checked the maths of the krogan populace before the genophage and the projected rates if the plague was cured. It was exactly how you first calculated it.
"After fifty years the krogan population will reach eleven million souls. After hundred and ten the population will be 318 million. In the full life span of a human, turian or quarian...150 years...6.3 billion. That's nearly the entire population of some planets!
"200 years 22.2 billion. In three centuries...the life change of an asari maiden to matron...the krogan will have 16.2 trillion Beyond that, at four centuries we're looking at 8.6 quadrillion. When that asari matron becomes five centuries she'll see 3.7 quadrillion krogan souls. And no place to put them unless the krogan are given expansion rights into already claimed territories. They could not even amass a Flotilla like my people to sustain those numbers. "
Faces became ashen just as Shepard wanted them to be, needed to be. Yes those numbers were terrifying.
Shepard took a step forward, both metaphorically and physically, making the collective body of the Council look back to her.
"Councilors, I'm not stupid. Best I can say I am a romantic. I want to believe in change, in the possibility of it. In hope. Can if he is unhindered can Clan Chief Urdnot Wrex introduce a new renaissance into his people?" She waited a very calculated half breath and answered her own rather rhetorical question.
"Not alone of course not. Even with the female clans behind him there will be revolutions and most likely they will revert back to more barbaric and violent practices the krogan people are known for. But...that is perhaps a good thing."
"The hordes are a good thing?" Udina snorted in contempt. "How can you possibly say that? You've seen what they are capable of. How many of this Blood Pack do you eradicate?"
"You were not present during the Krogan Rebellions Spectre; you have no idea what those barbarians will do if unchecked. They have no control over their baser urges. "
"With all due respect Councilor Sparatus you were not present during the Rebellions either." Shepard stated mildly. "The only one who perhaps was is standing right beside you." she eyed Tevos.
"I also read Morden's reports on unexplored alternatives. Like the several radicals seem to be in favour of extermination camps where nearly all krogan are destroyed every centenary. Another sickening alterative is a governmental oversight where krogan reproduction is only permissible by pre-approved government sanctioning. Not very palatable is it? Breeding programs like that never are.
"Before the uplifting the krogan had a very natural attrition rate. It kept their populace in complete balance. But thanks to salarian interference that is no longer the case. I thought perhaps curing the genophage was the best moral solution. My heart still feels that the genophage was a mistake just as the uplifting was.
"If...and I stress very heavily if Tuchanka could be somehow reverted back to its ecological state as it was before the salarians interfered, nature would take its course. The population will be in balance. But I doubt such action is possible anymore."
"When I said the hordes more brutal past was a good thing, I was not allowed to finish. Before the uplifting there were internal culling and blood feuds." Shepard looked up to the overly large holographic representative of the young quarian. "Tali a small brief if you would on what you and our agent on Illium uncovered."
"Of course Spectre." Tali's voice seemed to smile a little for the part she was playing. "Before they were uplifted the krogan warred on each other, used nuclear weapons to deliberately cull a rival clan's territory and its populations. In short they bombed each other to hell and back. Sometimes into near extinction.
"There are records ...tales told of whole bloodlines-the head of that family group along with his mates and all his children being destroyed by the clan's chief for some offence real or imagined. Kinda like those bosh'tet batarians do to each other. Other bloodlines were used in a mass attack against an enemy clan; even with enormous losses, devastating perhaps even unacceptable losses were it any other species but the krogan. The krogan celebrated the deaths of these fallen warriors more than those that survived their almost constant civil battles. The fallen were seen as martyrs to that clan's cause."
Still using the moment as a sort of play, Shepard drew the conclusions for the Council. "So they were their own population control. The numbers were almost necessary back then because life was very expendable and easily spent if it meant greater expansion, territory and power for this particular clan or that one. They kept their own balance... perhaps a small handful...like maybe seven in one thousand making it out of the trenches alive?"
"Yes!" Tali nodded her hooded head. "Their natural aggression kept their numbers down to sustainable levels. Of course their planet did pay the price of it. Tuchanka became a post apocalyptic nuclear wasteland. But even that hostile environment acted as a natural culling. Now thanks to outside interference both before the Rebellions and after other measures were needed to keep the populations down. Not even the ritual blood-letting rites of passage by 'dancing with a thresher maw' can keep the numbers down."
Shepard smirked at the veiled reference to her Grunt and Jack killing one of those great worms on foot. It had been one hell of a 'ballet' and the blood-letting fields were covered in the bodies of the youths that hadn't even made it past the varren pack not to mention the damned harvesters and klixen swarms.
Mordin looked stunned at Shepard and Tali's little performance. Stunned because the young human woman had previously been so adamant that the genophage was wrong, even Tali had been thoroughly disgusted by it when they had walked through the causative effects in the hospital.
But they both now seemed to have grasped the very necessity of the genophage. This was new. While the professor knew Shepard had something cooked up with the young engineer this was not exactly what he expected. And by their expressions neither did the four leaders of the Council.
"My esteemed shipmate here," the Commander tilted her head toward the salarian, "Professor Mordin once said that had he been around the time of the uplifting he would have protested against it, argued against it. Disturbing the natural flow of a species never ends well.
"But it's too late for that. Now here's another thing. Laws, ones that ignore basic. hu...krogan rights." Shepard was quick to change from humanitarian reasons to the more appropriate species specific standing. "I recently spoke with a young krogan woman who requested breeding rites with me. After I and another crewmate assisted Grunt a very young krogan male on my crew during his rites of passage.
"The point is after we killed a thresher maw on foot, Grunt received several breeding requests and I received one as well. This young woman was under the impression that those romantic stories of me running around on the extranet and e-books becoming more asari because of the gestalt to be true. She thought I could 'impregnate' her or have a child with her due to my connection to my bondmate. She thought like an asari I could breed with anyone of any gender and create a daughter. I had to tell her I could not do as she asked. I am still very much very human, despite the gestalt. She was more than devastated.
"See, she was tested viable for breeding. The thing is she doesn't want to have to breed but she is forced to by her own clan leader. She is however very inclined to her own sex. It's the reason she came to me.
"I was sickened to learn that homosexuality for a viable breeding partner is a punishable crime on Tuchanka. This is governmental sanctioned rape. There is no other word for it. It's a 'Handmaiden's Tale.' This is all due to the genophage."
"A sad tale but what had this to do with the krogan hordes, exactly." Udina asked growing impatient for Shepard to come clear to the point.
"It had a great many things to do with the hordes Councilor. Or rather the culture of them. Look, I know the numbers have to be kept down. I know this. I listened too many of the krogan whilst there. Many want vengeance on the salarians and turians for what had happened to them. The rage against the genophage touches all of them."
"Do they not see, don't recognize the genophage was a reaction measure due to the Rebellions?" Tevos asked.
"Sadly no. Their history is different." Shepard looked at Tali. "As you heard from my Chief Engineer and the research I had her look into that the krogan have very narrowed if not brutal points of view.
"Even Wrex once said 'the Council asked us for help once and in reward they nurtured us.' To give you an answer no they don't recognize the Rebellions were the cause of the necessity of the genophage. They see only the deaths of their babies. They see themselves as victims of near genocide. And if clans like Weyrloc have control then yes we are looking at intergalactic war. The hordes would indeed become the stuff of nightmare they are feared to be.
"However if clans like Urdnot and those that control the female clans are given a chance to uplift their people culturally then they must be given that chance! I absolutely, unequivocally believe this. This renaissance probably won't last more than a few generations. But the krogan people deserve this chance. They need it. We need it. It's good for them. Good for us." the last was directly quoted from Mordin. She saw from the corner of her eye a slight tweak in the corners of his lips.
"How? You just said it can not last." Udina shot back.
"Distraction." Shepard pinned the human Councilor with a very knowing look. "They will be concentrating on rebuilding not on aggressive action. Even a few centuries of that will be a reprieve won't it? Worth it. I suggest while Wrex is trying to rebuild his people's culture, the true culture of the krogan the Council establishes a policy of non interference. Allow the krogan this opportunity."
"I concur with the Spectre." Samara said. "To rise above their outward barbarism the krogan must be given a single opportunity for a revival. The only alternative is to teach the krogan the lessons of compassion by returning to Tuchanka with shotguns. I may yet have to do this."
"Yes cultural revolution good. Keeping Urdnot Wrex as an ally also advantageous. Especially when the Reaper forces return. May have to capitulate on genophage cure on some level. Perhaps alternative measures. Instead on one in 1000, all krogan have only one perhaps two children before they become sterile.
"Saw first hand emotional impact on the still births." Mordin's eyes blinked several times before he took in deep breaths. "Young mother, desperate to have a viable child. Her body mutilated—willingly. To have a child. During planning stages to modify the genophage many other solutions aborted. With Maelon's researches new alternatives open. One or two children for every coupling. Like quarians. Based upon human, asari and quarian reproduction models. Less on those who lay eggs. Such as turian, salarian, krogan. Yes. Mammalian birth rates more plausible. Viable. Hadn't given much thought to those models before. Dismissed. Needs to be re-examined. Given time: possible. Not full cure but more agreeable. Best for all."
The Council was for the moment silent on the matter. Even Udina kept his tongue which was surprising.
Then after several uncomfortable moments, it was Sparatus that spoke. "So your solution is to do nothing."
"Why kick a sleeping cazador nest? Yeah let them be. In the beginning we never told Wrex the full truth of the modified genophage. Maelon came to Wrex offering a cure and he refused it because the old guy thought Maelon's plans were too aggressive, too radicalized. Wrex knew however Weyrloc snatched up that opportunity heedless of the cost of lives or the torture the 'test-subjects' endured during the hunt for the cure.
"At least for now. I suggest we as Council races take a step back. There is already a policy of non-interference with internal affairs." Shepard looked Tevos dead in the eye. "Is that not what you said when the Alliance pleaded for aid for the colonies in the Terminus Sytems? That you cannot interfere in what is clearly an internal affair. Yes human colonies are being sacked, raided and raped by the Collectors. And the Council will do nothing about it because it's either an internal affair or in the Terminus."
Here the predatory smile returned. "T'is the same with what is occurring the Krogan DMZ, with the Clan Urdnot. It is entirely an internal affair. By your own stipulations, there can be no interference by the Council. Now think on this very carefully. When it came out that a salarian tortured his people, Wrex didn't retaliate. Think for a moment what Wrex didn't do when the news was learned about the modification to the genophage."
The Council was silent. Then Udina spoke up. "Are you telling me that krogan warlord knows about the altered genophage?"
Shepard looked to her companions. All three knew that Wrex knew nothing of the modifications. But the Council didn't need to know this. Hell that was what poker was for. And if Shepard was good at anything it was pulling the perfect bluff.
"Ambass...forgive me...Councilor Udina your title is so very new, one might take some getting used to utilizing it. You do not think for one moment that I would not share this information with someone who has always had my back in battle. Covered me through thick and thin, never once occurred to him to betray me. Do you?"
Silence.
A shark's smile.
"I highly suggest the Krogan DMZ is left to its own devices. That clan leader Urdnot Wrex is given the chance to do what he has always wanted for his people. A renewal, a cultural revolution. He wants his people to concentrate on the internal matters, breeding for one thing, a rebirth of krogan culture for another. He wants to turn his people's attention from warfare and vengeance. I said it once and I say it again, don't kick a cazador nest when it's sleeping."
"There is some validity to your report, Shepard." Sparatus surprised everyone including himself by his show of support. He was the first to agree to vote yes to a non-interference police concerning the krogan's effort to rebuild their cultural lives. As far as he was concerned if the krogan wanted to wipe themselves out or toss lives at thresher maws in some proving rites then all the better. As long as they kept it in house (which he doubted) then why not allow it.
Tevos seconded the act. "Very well Spectre Shepard as long as the acts of revitalization are contained within krogan territories the Council will not act precipitously to retard such growth. Such things are rarely instantaneous or long lasting with the more aggressive species. Especially the krogan, perhaps however there is a hope."
Valern cast his vote silently and with a grunt so did Udina.
"I have to ask, if your Justicar wanted to execute this Maelon why didn't you do so or have her do it. Why bring him here at all? After all he is a traitor to his own people and he murdered several of our own after torturing them in his horrific experiments. Have you no stomach for executing traitors?" Udina intoned his annoyance.
Shepard cocked an eyebrow had his chosen words, and weighed the possibility he was baiting her out of vengeance for her reaction to his naming of Councilor as well as to his own tarnished reputation because of what she and Anderson had done to steal the first Normandy and the aftermath that followed. He still held Shepard personally responsible that Anderson had been given the position and not him. Clearly Anderson was not well-suited to govern, his short-live career as Councilor proved that.
"I had no issue in executing a traitor, Councilor Udina. In fact it would have made things so much easier if I had."
"Then you stay your hand? As a Spectre you are given the right to judge and execute as needs be, not unlike the Justicars." Said Tevos.
"And I have." Shepard said. The name Dr. Rana Thanoptis ran though the Commander's mind. The matron who travelled as apart of Matriarch's Benezia's entourage was one of the few Shepard had executed. Along with the matriarch herself. Thanoptis had been working on the effects of indoctrination by Sovereign at the behest of Saren.
Reaper indoctrination was not something easily cured, in fact there seemed to be only one certain cure for it. Death. Those like Shiala whose mind also had been touched by the Thorian seemed to be the exception those she paid a very heavy price. No longer able to use her biotics carefully, her skin pigmentation once purple was now permanently green and she was constantly plagued by migraines.
As for Thanoptis, Shepard followed her gut instinct and executed the neurologist. The risk of the asari becoming an unwilling agent of the Reapers when they returned was too great. Her practical knowledge of the minds of not only her own people but those of other races was not a weapon Shepard wanted unleashed. The last thing Shepard wanted was for some asari doc an expert on indoctrination cum 'consultant' to start assassinating the Matriarchy when the 'voices' told her too.
"Do you refer to Matriarch Benezia and Saren?" Tevos intervened
"Amongst others yes. For the record, Saren took his own life after realizing his indoctrination was too far gone. I killed the husk that Sovereign took over." A hand absentmindedly went to her chest rubbing the deep scar that ran diagonally from collarbone to waist. On occasion the thing still hurt. The action had not gone unnoticed by crew or Councilors. They all knew the price Shepard paid the day she had gotten it.
"Indoctrination." Tevos considered the word for a moment allowing the taste of it to sit upon her mind before speaking once more. "Is it possible that Dr. Maelon Heplorn was being somehow controlled by the Blood Pack, coercion, perhaps their own version of indoctrination or other form of brain-washing?"
Valern seized this idea rapidly." That would seem the more likely scenario. While else would Maelon go against all raised with?"
"Already discussed this with crewmates in hospital. No Maelon made his own choice. Own free will. His mind has not been tampered with. No derogation in cognitive centres." Mordin explained. "No extensive neural damage or scarring as is present with all indoctrinated by Reapers and the thorian. Met with Lt. Ganto Imness freed from prison cells by Spectre Shepard on Virmire. Escaped the blast of nuclear bomb"
Shepard smiled. "He got out then? Good." she nodded. "I'll have to ask you later how's doing."
Mordin nodded and then he took a deep breath before he continued his explanations or at least his hypothesis of his former protégée actions. "Also saw scans of Lt. Commander Shiala, only surviving member of Matriarch Benezia Commandos. Maelon retains full mental capacity. Obsessive. Overdriven. Compulsive but free willed. Made his own choice on Tuchanka."
"Then why did he turn? Was he blackmailed perhaps?" Valern wanted to find a reason any reason that would explain the young doctor's actions this mad idea of a genophage cure.
"Because he regrets." Samara answered "Regret can cause one to act outside of ones known character if pressed. Maelon chose to his actions of his own volition."
"If so, why does he still live?" Udina pressed. "You have the authority to expedite his execution, Shepard. And you should have."
"Indeed. A trial is a waste of time, effort and money." Sparatus echoed the contempt.
Shepard weighed her answer before giving it. Yes she wanted to confront the salarians with what they had done to the krogan. It wasn't exactly the modification project that truly riled her. If she was honest with herself it was that the salarians seemed to be getting away with it. There had to be answers.
To given an answer to their questions Shepard would do so by asking a few of her own.
"Perhaps that is the most efficient way of handling a situation centring on known treachery. But then who else should I pursue? The modification of the genophage was technically an illegal act precipitated not only by the STG that conducted it, but by the governing hand of the Salarian Union. Which of the Dalatrasses do I hunt down and bring to order, the Dalatrass that sanctioned the modification project, her First Circle for surely they have some involvement? Or the Dalatrasses that agreed with her? Shall I bring in all the STG members that had a hand in the project, including my shipmate here? Or how about you Councilor Valern for did you not know about the project? Did you not allow for its creation and means to carry it out?"
All eyes turned to the salarian. His thin lips nearly disappeared with his grimace of distain. He clearly did not like being called out on his own involvement with the project.
"Regardless all have broken Citadel law. Just who do I bring to order, Councilors? I am not in the habit of sweeping such things under the rug. While transparency is necessary in many things, especially politics, I know the necessity of keeping things under wraps and a closed lid." Shepard schooled her features very carefully to be almost unreadable.
"Indeed the Council has enough to contend with. The events circling around the Reaper ship named Sovereign. The cover up that it was in fact a living sentient ship. Most distressing. It would not do to have the Council involved in yet another conspiracy." Mordin commented dryly. "Of course Cerberus also an issue. Sudden replacement of Admiral Anderson with Ambassador Udina. Should have conspiracy theorists asking great many questions if allowed to explore. Uncomfortable ones. Can quickly get out of hand. Wouldn't wish to see it."
Shepard made a noise of agreement. The Council definitely had its handful already; they did not need more trouble knowing on their doorstep. "There is no need for a public trial. Back on Tuchanka we had a choice. Kill him, let him go with hopes he'd run off to Omega and run a clinic as Mordin suggested, or bring him in. Letting him go seemed about as sane as letting Dr. Seleon go to continue his butchery. Yeah Maelon's data stores were wiped." She left out the fact that she and Mordin held onto a copy of the research, "He'd have to start from scratch and where would he go now? The Blood Pack will no doubt place a bounty on his head if they haven't done so already. Not to mention a few human extremists wanting his blood just for experimenting on humans
"You want the man dead I'd say release him and let him go to Omega. That place will do it for you and your hands remain clean. Or imprison him and he will no doubt have an 'accident.' If you want him executed by the hand of a Spectre you four will have to give the order and it's done but I won't kill him just cover it all up."
Shepard looked at each faces on the Council they were tight and displeased. They did not like the options presented to them though they clearly knew what they were. It was as if they were forced to look at the table and told make the choice. To allow a man capable of torture, murder and betrayal go. To whisper to the ever listening shadows that this same man is now waiting idle in an isolated prison cell for his life to be dusted away like the dirt at the bottom of a shoe. Or to utter the words 'Yes Spectre, do your duty take his life.'
Almost as if Ash were there whispering quotes of long dead poets, one particular stanza stood out in the Spectre's mind.
Because I could not stop for death, he kindly stopped for me. The carriage held but just ourselves. And Immortality
"We'll take your suggestions under advisement, Spectre." said Tevos with more coldness in her voice than there ever had been in all previous encounters with the woman. "Let us not detain you."
If ever there was a dismissal that was clearly one.
. ME~ME~ ME~ME~ ME~ME~ ME~ME~ ME~ME
AN: I want to thank a very thought provoking reviewer who always makes me stop and say: hmmmmmmmmmmm... I love this person's reviews. Because whatever I write they make me think. Best possible reviews are those that make you think on what you you've written and how you write so that you can improve and evolve or stand firm by what you write and your resolve in your own plots. This person makes me do both. The statistics concerning krogan population belong to them and their diligence. Also If I recall correctly EDI had similar notations on krogan population rates. Thank you. You know who you are.