Tank Krogan

The krogan became masters of their homeworld when they discovered industrialization. When technology made our lives too easy, we searched for a new challenge, and we found it in each other. The war…

As the voice in the tank continued to speak about the history of the krogan, the growing being inside became vaguely aware of a presence outside. It couldn't focus on whatever it was. Its limited attention was spread too thin by the constant lessons.

Nuclear fire rained down as the krogan battled for the small pockets of habitable land. Nuclear winter fell on Tuchanka…

The form outside the tank shifted, and a shape with three projections sharpened enough for the being inside to stare at it intently.

Hand, came unbidden information. Krogan. Two fingers and one opposable thumb. Hard carapace, sturdy ligaments, and strong musculature make it difficult to damage either externally or internally. Recommend attacking the forearm as gaps in the carapace make it an easier target to disrupt hand movement.

"You are my crowning achievement," a low voice spoke. The being inside realized it wasn't the tank talking in his head. It sounded different, odd.

Warlord Shiagur led his clan against Warlord Chilek and his in the Battle of Giralk. Shiagur overwhelmed…

"You are my greatest creation," the low voice said. "You will teach the krogan that the genophage does not need to define us, should not define us."

The salarians made contact a thousand years after the nuclear war. They took us from Tuchanka…

"You have survived and succeeded where hundreds of others have failed. You are my legacy."

The salarians and asari needed us to fight their battles. The rachni were a strong and cunning species that they could not take alone. During the battle on…

"Grow, hatchling, and learn. You are our future."

The form outside the tank faded and disappeared. The words that didn't come from within the tank being's head were quickly lost and forgotten as the internal voice continued with its ceaseless information.

…tactics included dropping asteroids on turian planets. Their response was the genophage.

Geth

Extranet reports from the Citadel state a Troy Shepard, Lt. Commander of the Alliance Navy and first human Spectre, and his team have destroyed the Old Machine called Nazara.

And what of the geth that left the Veil to follow the Old Machine?

Mission reports from Shepard-Commander indicate that a few were destroyed. Millions are left unaccounted for.

Interesting that an organic could defeat an Old Machine. Interesting and intriguing.

Indeed. The geth that followed concluded that the Old Machines were nigh undefeatable. An investigation on how Shepard-Commander accomplished this should be initiated.

The notion is seconded. Consensus should be reached regarding the decision.

…

Two thirds of geth support the decision, one fourth disagree, and the last twelfth come to no conclusion.

How should this investigation be carried out? Organics react violently to the presence of our mobile platforms.

Limit the number of platforms that leave the Veil. Build a platform that can house a greater number of geth to counter the isolation of the unit.

Agreed. One solitary platform with many geth would be sufficient for our needs. Construction of this infiltrator unit will begin immediately.

The geth platform dropped from its small spacecraft and landed with a loud thud. Once it was sure that there was no immediate threat, it surveyed its surroundings.

Eden Prime still displayed many battle scars from the time Nazara came here. Many of the structures were repaired, but the ground was still scorched from the attack. The geth also noticed a high number of military personnel, too many for the size of the colony if the Alliance protocols were being followed.

The infiltrator must complete its business here quickly. The colony would most likely be on high alert even if it has been almost a year since the attack.

It made its way to the Normandy's drop off point and followed the path that Shepard-Commander stated in his report. Unsurprisingly, the geth platforms he encountered and destroyed had been removed as well as the dragon's teeth that Nazara gave them.

The infiltrator recognized the dig site from Shepard-Commander's description of the location. It scanned the area for anything that could be important. So engrossed in its current process, the geth missed the sound of footsteps approaching.

"Geth!" it heard someone behind it scream.

The platform turned and was greeted by a large ball of angry metal. It ripped through its armor and caused a large hole in its right torso.

Significant structural damage to right torso. Available power down to 79%.

Loss of seventeen geth programs.

Return to shuttle for a hasty retreat.

The infiltrator rose and moved as quickly as possible back to where it commanded the shuttle to land. As it ran, bullets pinged of its structure as the humans behind it pursued. Another molten metal ball flew toward it, caught a part of its right arm, and caused it to fall limply to its side.

Even with the injury, the platform fortunately outpaced its angry hunters and reached the safety of the shuttle. A few geth uploaded into the shuttle's computers, and it rocketed away from Eden Prime. Once it was in deep space, it took full account of the damage.

Structural damage to the torso, while significant, is mostly superficial. Most inner workings can be fixed with limited difficulty and be stored safely away from new opening.

Damage to right upper appendage more problematic. While repair possible, external armor has been compromised, making it very prone to malfunctioning again.

Replacement armor must be secured.

The geth infiltrator's external sensors deemed that Alchera was a very cold planet. It wasn't cold enough to give the platform problems operating, but it could calculate the likelihood of how uncomfortable the Normandy's surviving crew must have been while they waited for rescue.

The attack on the Normandy that caused Shepard-Commander's death had occurred approximately halfway through the geth's investigation. It made the infiltrator's job much more difficult. Ships in Citadel space became hyper vigilant after the death of its proclaimed savior, rendering undetected travel challenging. Still, it pressed on.

As it investigated the worlds that Shepard-Commander had visited to during his search of Saren-Spectre's activities, the geth found that the man performed feats far beyond its preconceived limits for organics: fighting through almost a hundred geth platforms and elite asari commandos on Noveria, saving unwilling Thorian thralls while fighting the Old Growth's grotesque spawn, and countless other rare and spectacular occurrences on the many unexplored worlds he found.

It seemed an ignoble end that Shepard-Commander would meet his fate with hardly a fight during an ambush from an unknown and vastly overwhelming enemy. Yet the scarred remains of the Normandy all about the geth platform displayed that it was his ultimate fate.

The wreckage gave very little clues to who attacked the ship that day. The only definitive conclusion the infiltrator could determine was that no known weapon could have done the damage it witnessed.

As it entered what the Normandy schematics described as the "mess," the geth found one of the lockers lining the exterior wall of the "med-bay" was ajar, and its contents had survived the crash when it inspected further. Its owner was unknown as the name tag was scorched beyond recognition. The locker held some personal effects that held no interest to the machine, but one piece stood out from the rest. Inside, there was armor with a single red and two white stripes running the length of the right arm and a distinct N7 insignia on the breastplate. There was only one N7 marine assigned to the Normandy when it went down.

The platform removed the custom armor and scanned its high quality composition. Then, it looked to its own right arm. The damage done to the area had yet to be patched with a suitable material. It had found many pieces of metal and other composites during its journey that could fill the requirement, but the geth never deemed them satisfactory.

Shepard-Commander's armor was different in some way. It was correct and suitable to reinforce the geth's damaged limb. It was acceptable.

Since the platform had scoured the crash site for the Normandy and found no sign of Shepard-Commander or any useful information, it headed back to its shuttle, N7 suit in hand. It needed to return to the Perseus Veil and report its findings to the collective. Only then could the geth reach a consensus on the next course of action.

Jack

The biotic panted as she stood over the broken man under her. The cool water from the multiple showerheads created bloody rivers flowing toward the drain. Her muscles were tense as she waited for another attack, and her wild eyes met the others still in the showers, watching them warily as they stepped back with pacifying gestures.

She had no problem with the others as long as they kept their distance. They knew better than to mess with her. The new prisoner that found himself quickly on the ground didn't, obviously thinking he could take advantage of one of the only female prisoners on this forsaken ship. He paid heavily for his mistake.

"Everyone down!" she heard someone shout just outside the door.

The others lied down on the cool tile floor, but Jack defiantly continued to stand. She wouldn't bow to anyone here even the guard. They got off on that. Some of them were even worse than the prisoners.

They stormed the room and quickly subdued the ones already on the ground. Then, they surrounded her.

"I said get down, Jack!" the leader commanded.

The only response he received was a cold look.

"Fine." He looked past her. "Do it."

She tried to turn on whoever the man was talking to but never got there. Pain lanced across her body as she felt thousands of volts arc through her. She seized before tumbling to the floor. The guards were on her moments later, locking her hands behind her back and hauling out of the showers.

She wasn't sure how long she was in the darkness alone. The guards unceremoniously threw her in here and slammed the door shut behind them. Jack curled up in the corner, keeping an always watchful eye on the only way out of the small room.

Finally, there was motion outside. She quickly stood and readied herself for another attack. Instead, she was greeted by a familiar turian flanked by two guards with assault rifles ready. She knew the alien was the boss of this prison, but she didn't remember his name. She never cared.

"Jack, Jack, Jack," the turian said, sounding disappointed. "What am I going to do with you? You didn't really have to kill Ian, did you? He just got here after all."

"He fucking touched me," she growled.

"Can you blame him? I doubt he has seen a woman in a very long time. He was in a maximum security prison for ten years before they sent him here."

She didn't respond.

"That's, what, five deaths in the year you've been here? You're costing me a lot of credits, Jack. If you weren't worth so much yourself, I would have blasted your cell into space long ago.

"But don't you worry your pretty, bald head. I have found the solution." He motioned to the two guards. "Let me show you."

They approached her, and, after some struggling, they manacled her hands behind her back. She was forced forward to follow the turian through the halls of the ship.

"You should know that I had to go through a lot of hardship to find and acquire this remedy. You should feel honored that I would go through so much for one prisoner."

"Go fuck yourself."

Her vision exploded with stars as a butt of a rifle struck the back of her head. She stumbled before being grabbed and steadied by the other guard who forced her to keep moving.

"There is no need to be insulting, Jack. Ah, here we are."

They pushed her through a door. Inside, she spotted a vertical table inside a tube. Above that was a two pronged arm similar to those used to move the cells in the main holding areas. She also noticed three hulking mechs with machine guns on one arm and what looks like a missile launcher on the other. They followed her as she was led up to the table.

"This is a cryo tube," he explained as the two guards latched her to the table. "Inside you will be frozen and preserved, and you will stay that way until I deem it time that you should be let out. Don't worry. I have been assured many times it is safe, even for humans."

He removed a syringe from one of the pouches on his armor. He punctured her vein and depressed the plunger. "This is a compound that will prepare your body for the freezing. I wouldn't want my prized prisoner getting frostbite and lower her value."

She didn't look at him, focusing her attention on the three mechs behind him. It was an attempt to keep herself from panicking at the hauntingly familiar feeling of restraints on her wrists and needle in her arm. It mostly worked, but there were twinges of fear that could not be ignored.

"Ah, yes," the turian said as he noticed where her attention was. "Those are your new guards. You see, the freezing process is great at preserving organic tissue, but the electronic dampener we put around your neck to keep your biotics in check won't survive the process. You see how that could be a problem if I ever thaw you out, so I made sure that you could be subdued quickly in the nigh impossible chance you somehow escape."

Jack smirked. "So when I get out of this thing, my biotics will be back? Then, I'll get to rip you, your guards, and this entire ship to pieces."

He didn't seem pleased at her threat. "You won't be escaping, Jack. There is no way."

She laughed. It was harsh and bitter. "I've heard that before. Guess how many of those people are still alive. None."

"Believe what you will." He signaled to the windowed room above them. "Goodbye, Jack."

The table spun as she was plunged into darkness. The air around her grew colder and colder. The temperature drop and whatever was in the syringe made it hard for her to focus. Finally, she felt a blast of bitter cold before slipping into unconsciousness.

Author's Note:

We are getting closer to the actual game. I only have Mordin, Zaeed, Thane, & Miranda stories to write before we get into Mass Effect 2 proper. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty excited.

Probably out of all the characters, Jack, Grunt, & Legion are the ones I am most suspicious about in my writing. I really hope that I am doing their characters justice, especially in the stuff I'm not taking directly from the game. Hopefully you guys will tell me if I go too far off. And on a related note, Jack's colorful vocabulary makes me feel that is necessary that I change this story to M instead of T. Dang it, Jack.

AND HOLY CRAP! YOU CAN RESPOND TO REVIEWS! I did not know this. So if you just recently got a review reply to me, you know why. Sorry to the anonymous ones. I would love to reply to you, but my Author's Note's are already lengthy as is.

Thanks for reading and please review!