Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge: Day 15

Prompt 15: Favourite Salarian

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 3, Extended Cut DLC

Seashells

Tuchanka, 2187 CE, One year anniversary of the curing of the Genophage

Dust became unsettled with her every step. The Krogan homeworld was a stark place, though much progress had been made in rebuilding it since the cure had been distributed and the destruction of the Reapers. Kara Shepard still didn't like being back here, even if today it was for a good reason.

She still needed assistance walking, the new hip causing her trouble despite months of time for healing. She leaned heavily on Garrus as the two of them crossed through the ancient halls of the Krogan ancestors, and did her best not to wince at the pain.

She should be grateful after all. That made it twice she'd come back from the dead, and this time she hadn't had Cerberus tech to make her all shiny and new. She was still surviving.

Behind them the rest of the old gang, those who could make it at least, trailed along, those who hadn't come along on the old mission gasping at the beautiful crumbling architecture and the sculptures. Shepard and Garrus didn't notice it much, though Liara seemed enamored with it all. Of course, we didn't have time to stop and admire it a year ago, Kara Shepard thought to herself. We were busy getting shot by a Reaper.

She laughed to herself, then groaned as her hip twinged again. Garrus stopped and grunted with concern, but she shrugged him off and grumbled at him. "Don't fuss, you old bird," she muttered, giving him a pained smile. "I'm doing just fine."

"I'll fuss as much as I damn well please," he growled at her, putting her hand on his arm. "Come on. Not much further now."

Shepard nodded and swallowed, looking up at the monolithic structure that towered over them. The Shroud. "Don't remember it being this tall," she said, stopping for a moment so they could wait for the rest of the group to catch up. "Was it this tall before?"

"Can't say for sure," Garrus said. "What with being distracted by all the Brutes trying to kill us and everything the last time we passed through."

Shepard smiled. "Me neither." She turned to her companions. "Hey Liara," she called behind her. "Was the Shroud always this tall?"

Liara shrugged, moving up to stand beside her old friends. "I honestly couldn't say," she admitted. "The last time I came through here I was distracted by all the Brutes."

Garrus laughed. "Glad I wasn't the only one," he said.

They pressed on, Liara being followed by James, Tali and Doctor Chakwas. A small crowd, but everyone else who might have been interested was busy with the immense task of rebuilding a broken galaxy. It was a miracle they had found the time to gather together at all.

"I think I see them," Garrus said, and Shepard turned her head to see a small group of Krogan standing just inside the archway that led to the Shroud's entrance. She raised a hand to wave to Wrex and Bakara, who both waved back. In one arm, the female Krogan held a small bundle that Shepard had to assume was the newest member of clan Urdnot that Wrex had mentioned the last time they had spoken.

They arrived at the arch and hugs were exchanged, hands shaken, and backs slapped. Wrex grabbed Shepard and Garrus and gave them both affectionate headbutts before being admonished by the Turian for doing so, Shepard still recovering from her injuries and everything.

"Looks like you managed to work that stick back up there after all," Wrex chuckled, giving Shepard a slap on the back that made her teeth rattle in her skull. "She's indestructible, this one."

"Doesn't mean you have to try Wrex," Garrus glared for a moment, then the old friends shook hands and laughed together. Kara smiled. Always an unlikely friendship, but like so many of their bonds, they were forged in battle, and had stood the test of time, of trial…

… and of sacrifice.

"Are we ready?" Shepard asked Bakara, who stood apart from the main group, gently patting the fussing baby on the back.

The Krogan matriarch nodded. "Everything's been prepared as you requested," she said. "This way."

Her words made the rest of the group fall silent and they all filed through the archway towards the crumbling courtyard.

Shepard remembered this room, every detail of it. It haunted her nightmares along with the regular rotation of places her most trusted friends and comrades had given their lives to end the bloody war they had given up so much to win.

In front of the broken elevator shaft, a small statue had been erected. It was to scale, as Shepard had requested in her notes to the Krogan craftsmen who she had commissioned it from. The stone was smooth and grey, and the features were almost lifelike. Shepard half expected him to step off the little platform and begin waving his omnitool in her face, babbling excitedly about the results of his latest experiments and tests.

But he didn't, because it wasn't him, it was only a memory of him, and everything he had done for the war, and for the Krogan.

The raised stone platform the statue had been set on had a metal plate welded to it, and on it the following words were inscribed, just as Shepard had ordered them:

Doctor Mordin Solus
The Very Model of a Scientist Salarian
Cured the Genophage
Someone Else Might Have Gotten It Wrong

The entire group fell silent and Shepard noticed them all looking at her expectantly, and she slowly stepped forward, Garrus helping her for the first few steps.

She limped forward and stood a few feet in front of the statue, staring up at the solemn frozen expression of the Salarian doctor. She remembered meeting him for the first time in the clinic on Omega, his entire body vibrating with emotion and feeling. Their awkward conversations about interspecies relations on the Normandy. His glib attitude towards field testing on Horizon. His flawless renditions of Gilbert and Sullivan songs.

Which he sang even as he rode up the elevator towards certain death, towards his noble sacrifice.

His redemption.

Shepard reached into her pocket and pulled out a perfect pink shell, taken from the beach where Zaeed had happily retired after the worst of the dust had settled at the end of the war. She held it in her palm for a moment, looking down at it and finding herself at a loss for words.

His voice echoed in her mind, as it did most every night, in her dreams.

Had to be me.

Shepard felt Garrus step up beside her, followed closely by Liara, Tali, James, Doctor Chakwas, and Wrex. The group looked at her expectantly and she stepped forward until she stood directly in front of the visage of her old friend.

Someone else might have gotten it wrong.

She set the little token down between the statue's feet, and it stood out bright pink against the grey stone. Shepard looked at her friends and they all remained silent, waiting for her final word, her commemoration on this day, on the anniversary of the cure of the genophage and the sacrifice of this singular Salarian.

She let out a breath, and felt tears form in her eyes as she spoke:

"He wanted to run tests on the seashells."

Answer: Mordin Solus

I have no notes for this piece, only the sound of my gross sobs as I remember the moment Mordin told me on Tuchanka that it had to be him. Here's to you, Doctor. Your sacrifice will never be forgotten.