Chapter Fifteen: For the Greater Good

A few days passed as the Normandy surged through the galaxy. The team was getting ready to land on Tuchanka for the first time. Grunt and Mordin needed his help and Shepard was more than willing to help his crew. Besides, it seemed they were the last two who would need his help anyway. Tali and Zane had been quiet about personal affairs and only worked harder to prepare the Normandy for the mission.

And as for Grunt and Mordin's mission, it couldn't possibly be worse than Omega. When Shepard had helped Samara with her murderer and it didn't go according to plan.

…

"Say you'd kill for me…do anything I want." The majestic creature known as Morinth told him. He was lost in her eyes and her lovely smile. And he was compelled to answer.

"I'd kill for you…do anything you want." He repeated. Shepard knew he would, she need only tell him to. She closed in and kissed him gently at first but then turned up the heat. He fell into the kiss and she moved into his lap.

"You are mine now human." She said and her hands went from his shoulders down lower and lower. And just when she had reached her target the door busted open.

"Morinth!" Samara shouted as the seducing Asari leaped from Shepard and got in a defensive position.

"Damn it, I knew it was too easy. Should've picked the other guy." She said and ducked when Samara threw a couch at her. In retaliation, Morinth grabbed a standing lamp and used it like a staff.

Samara blocked it with her forearm but was unprepared for the biotic blast that followed. Shepard could only stand and watch as Morinth closed in to finish off the Justicar. A ball of blue energy ready to be released.

"Enough Morinth!" Samara shouted and unleashed a large ball of her own energy. Morinth flew across the room and crashed into the window. The window remained steady but cracks had appeared from the blow.

"I am the future of the Asari. But they are too pious to admit this. So, I must die? How is that just?" She asked and got no answer and sent more biotic energy at Samara who did the same. The room immediately felt the effects of the two great powers intertwining. Couches, lamps, tables, all of it floated in the air.

"I am just as strong as her. I can help you, Commander. Help me kill her and I am yours." She said with a seductive voice.

"Shepard…fight her pull. I am already indebted to you. She will kill you the moment you help her." Samara pleaded but he heard none of it. He reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Sorry, Samara." Shepard said.

"So, it is to be like this?" Samara said. Hurt in her eyes. The door opened and a single gunshot rang through the room. Shepard dropped to the floor. His head pounding when he hit the floor. He covered his eyes and then as if he had been in a fog he realized he was able to see clearly. As if he was in a coma he could remember who he was…what he was.

The last few minutes of the past seemed like a blurry memory. He didn't remember much of anything. He recalled entering the VIP section of Afterlife and talking to Morinth but after that…a blurry mess.

"What happened?" He asked and looked and saw Morinth's corpse looking at him. A single bullet hole in her forehead. Shepard slowly got up and saw Samara and behind her -by the door- was Zane. His M4 being put on his back.

"Didn't trust Morinth to be easy to fight. Good thing I came." Zane said coldly. And left the room. He saw Samara and felt horrible. He could easily assume what had happened.

"I am so sorry Samara. I don't…" She raised a finger.

"Enough, I don't blame you…but I thought you could fight her pull. I was wrong. This is on me." She said and then left as well after she gave a depressed sigh and looked at Morinth's corpse one last time.

…

He hadn't been able to even speak to Samara after that and he didn't deserve her friendship either. She had said she'd forgiven him but he hadn't forgiven himself. And he doubted he ever would. He should've fought harder, should've thought clearer. But instead, he became trapped in Morinth's snare.

"Commander we are about to reach Tuchanka." Joker said over the intercom.

"Mordin and Zane to the airlock. Have Grunt ready to come as well." He said knowing Joker could hear him and got his gear and prepared to enter the hellish wasteland known as Tuchanka.

…

Zane cracked his neck as the shuttle entered Tuchanka's atmosphere. He looked at Shepard and he couldn't help the anger he felt at the Commander. Shepard was going to kill Samara for Morinth. He saw that was what was going to happen it was a good thing Zane worried easily. He had a feeling something was going to happen and he followed Samara out of the bar. He had easily snuck into the bar before Shepard had even known the password.

He was scoping it out for Morinth and soon found her in a dark corner. Like a predator in the shadows, she watched for easy prey. But the hunter was being hunted and didn't even know it. And Zane was a good hunter of hunters and Morinth realized that too late.

The shuttle settled down and the team slowly got out of the shuttle. The smell of dust, blood, and gunfire stained the air. It left Zane's nose dry and pained. His throat immediately reacted to the taste and dried as well. It was unpleasant but not deadly so long as they didn't stay for long. The heat would kill him long before the enemy could.

It was a good thing he had a body glove that was kept cold for just such occasions. But even with the glove, he felt like he was melting from the heat. This was why he preferred the cold over the heat.

"Come on, let's go." Shepard said and the team followed his lead. They were immediately stopped by the squad of Krogan. A larger Krogan in the middle of squad spoke.

"Go see the Clan Leader…now." Was all he said. It was short and not so sweet but it got the job done. Shepard gave a simple nod and they walked through the doors. Zane had the urge to hold his gun extra close when on Tuchanka. The threat of death around every corner was real here and he knew it.

He almost wished he was on Omega. At least there his omni-blade was more useful and the mugger on Omega wasn't usually packing a lot of heat other than a small pistol and pathetic armor.

"Good, talk to chief or scout. Either one works." Mordin said knocking Zane from his thoughts. Doors slid open and they walked into Urdnot's home. Rubble, dust, blood, and trash was everywhere yet despite that fact it still looked…cleaner than the game. Less anarchy more organization. Zane would describe it as an "organized mess" and it didn't take long for him to catch his bearings of where everything was.

"Any idea where a chief would be?" Shepard asked. Zane saw where the Urdnot chief usually was but instead saw training Krogan. It surprised him but he got passed that small detail. He kept his head on a swivel and looked up the building where the Shaman usually was.

The building was much taller and wider than before and peered past the cave's surface. Urdnot flags and symbols lined the building all along its wall until it reached the tip. Zane tapped Shepard's shoulder and pointed up.

"There?"

"Seems a good a spot as any. Let's see." Shepard said and the team followed him once again. The building was much different than in the game.

It was a hospital on the first through fifth floors, a mess hall on the sixth, an armory on the seventh, eighth, and ninth floors, the barracks made the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth floors, a meeting hall on the thirteenth. There was a floor just for clan emissaries on the fourteenth floor, The scouting headquarters on the fifteenth floor, and the Krogan females' emissaries on the sixteenth and seventeenth floors. Alien emissaries and embassies were on the eighteenth floor, and the nineteenth floor had the Hall of Rites as Zane read it. This was the place the Shaman was and where people completed their Rites of Passage and other clan rituals. The final and highest floor, the twentieth, was the closest thing to a "throne room" Krogans could manage.

Zane saw that the higher they got the cleaner the walls and building got. The occasional writing on the wall turned into a source of clan pride with more and larger clan markings dotting the walls. The final floor was the cleanest with walls painted in a steel black color and the door to the "throne room" had the door marked with a Urdnot symbol.

The guards stopped them when they accessed the door and pointed their weapons at them. Zane looked outside the room again and saw a red light blinking. At the bottom was the Krogan language. He scanned it and his omni-tool told him what it said.

"Do not disturb Chief when the light is blinking…Oops." He said and looked at the far side of the room. The room was long and dark, save for flaming braziers every few feet. At the end was a throne similar to the game but instead of being made of stone and rubble it was made of metal and embroidered with a black metal. Behind the throne was a wall that wasn't really a wall but a window that peered out towards Tuchanka.

"We only want to…" Shepard began but was rewarded with a gun hissing and beeping it was ready to fire.

"Let them through!" They heard a booming voice echo off the pillars and the walls. They walked into the dark room and at the end of the room -beside the throne- were three Krogan. Lights showed them clearly enough to guess who they were.

To the left was Uvenk who seemed angry and annoyed about something and to the right was another Krogan who wore white and blue armor. But this Krogan was masked and couldn't be seen clearly. Their chest had the symbol of the Organization and they gripped their large hammer with both hands and were ready to attack at any command. In the middle and sitting on the throne was Urdnot Wrex.

His face carried more scars and his armor was a large set of black armor with silver outlines. He rose from his throne and walked down towards the team. His laughter could be heard as he cheered to himself.

"Shepard! It is so nice to see you, my friend." He said and gave a firm handshake.

"Wrex you seemed to have done well for yourself." Shepard replied as he looked around the room.

"I am making a better future for the Krogan whether they want it or not." The Krogan in Organization armor gave a grunt. And Wrex chuckled. "Oh, yes and with Organization' help, they have been a great asset."

"Organization? Here? What does the Harbinger want here?" Shepard asked the Krogan still by the throne. They gave a few steps forward and put the large hammer on their shoulder.

"To see the Krogan prosper so that when the Reapers come the Krogan will be a force to be reckoned with and kick them back to dark space." They said and the voice was that of a female's! It wasn't very different from Baraka's from the third game but it was different. Gruffer and younger to be more precise.

"And how is everything going for you Wrex? You said something about making a better future?" Shepard said and Wrex nodded as he walked back to his throne and they followed.

"Yes, I intend to unite the Krogan people once again. No more of us living like Varren in a shit cage but to live in a modern society. To live in the society we once were." He said with a layer of sadness but also hope the team hadn't heard before.

"Well you seemed motivated Wrex I am happy for you. And your people couldn't ask for a better pathfinder." Zane said and Wrex gave a nod to him as he sat down.

"Now let's get to business, shall we?" Shepard asked as they approached the throne.

…

The conversation went down as usual from what Zane had gathered. Though most of the time he wasn't interested in the conversation itself. Instead, he was enthralled by the vista of Tuchanka's wasteland just outside the large window. The ruins of roads, buildings, and craters of nuclear strikes from long ago could be seen for miles. But like a long-dead field slowly growing new life. The sprouting of large skyscrapers -like the one he stood in- could be seen peeking through holes that led to caves deep below the surface.

"Zane!" Shepard called and he quickly turned his gaze from the deadly vista.

"Yes, Sir?" He asked with a little bit of embarrassment. He was usually very careful about not being noticed when he "zoned out" as it were.

"You, me and Mordin are going to find a scout that may have seen Maelon you ready?" Zane was quick to nod and follow behind Shepard as they traveled down to the fifteenth floor.

The floor had many rooms and offices for different scouts to make use of but the office in the back was what they wanted. They opened the door and saw a Krogan male looking over datapads as he was hunched over a holographic map of the Tuchanka wasteland.

"Huh…Gomon squad hasn't reported in yet…better not have died that would be…unfortunate." The Chief Scout mumbled as he looked at the map.

"Uh, Chief Scout?" Shepard asked trying to not annoy him. For being a scout, the man was large and had survived many fights if his may scars were any indication.

"Yes?" The scout looked up his eyes a bright green and his skin nearly black. His headplate was a dark red color like Wrex's and was missing a chunk from it revealing the black and scabby skin underneath.

"I'm Commander Shepard of the Normandy. I need to know if you have seen a Salarian at all?" Shepard asked and the scout nodded and pointed at Mordin.

"Found him." He said with a smile. Zane had to stifle a laugh of his own.

"My kind of guy." He thought.

"No, I mean…" Shepard began.

"I know what you mean. Yeah, one of my scouts said they saw a Salarian get snatched by Bloodpack members. That means your Salarian is being held by Clan Weyrloc…I almost feel bad for the bastard." The scout said and shrugged.

"Any idea where Weyrloc is?" Shepard asked and the scout nodded.

"I can do you one better. Since I want you aliens out of my sight because I am busy. I will let the Tomkah drivers prepare for passengers they will get you as close as they can. Now, was there anything else you wished to waste my time on?"

"No, we will be going." Shepard said and the squad quickly left the floor.

…

Finding the Tomkah hadn't been difficult and it was already prepped and ready to go out. It still had the rustic look that most things did on Tuchanka but yet it looked cleaner than in the games. Whiter and less dirt then what was usual.

Around it was many other Tomkahs all being worked on by different mechanics. Most of them being Clan Urdnot but there were other clans and even many aliens from the Organization.

"You guys taking Kalmon?" A mechanic asked gesturing to the Tomkah. He was a Quarian that wore the colors of the Organization. He was skinny and his clothes were dirty. His facemask had black fluid on it and he quickly wiped it away with a sigh.

"You named it Kalmon?" Zane asked and the Quarian nodded.

"Well, the Krogan did. They named it after a Thresher Maw named Kalros. Far as they are concerned, Kalmon will be the death of Kalros…or something like that." He said with a shrug.

"You the driver?" Zane asked him.

"Driver, mechanic, and everything else under the sun when it comes to Kalmon. I showed up after they had already named her so I am stuck with the name. Anyways you guys have to get to Weyrloc right? Well, let's get moving while we have daylight." The skinny Quarian said and the team began to fit themselves into the back of Kalmon.

…

Tali worked on the engines quietly and quickly. The work may have been tedious but was far from what would constitute as boring. Every time boredom was about to hit her another block of code would pop up with a new problem for her to fix. Not to mention she was constantly fluctuating between power levels. If she wasn't careful she would make Gabby's and Ken's job all the harder. Which, in turn, would make her job all the harder. She didn't need that nor did she want it.

A smile crept across her face as she thought about how her life had been going lately. Pass two years notwithstanding, her life was going pretty good. She was content and seemed to be on cloud…was it eight? No nine!

She was back where she belonged on the Normandy with some minor changes. But the important bits were there. Shepard was her captain, Garrus was around and cracking jokes again, and Zane was a short distance away. Life was pretty good.

Her omni-tool buzzed to indicate she had gotten a message. She looked at who had sent it to her and saw that it was from the Admiralty board and marked URGENT. She pinned the message so that she could read it later. She wasn't sure what the message was about but she doubted it was a matter of life and death right now. It could wait an hour or two.

…

"Attan!" He shouted as he blew past the crowds again. He could see Attan sigh and hold his helmet in a single hand. His nephew was by his leg looking at Illis as he approached.

"Hello, Illis!" The little man said. Illis took a deep breath to not scare the young man.

"Hey there Uton, how are you?" He asked. Uton had a dark red suit and a bright green visor.

"I'm good." He said simply.

"Can I talk with Attan really quick?" He asked.

"Is it club stuff?" Attan had told Uton that he was in a club. The "club" being the Organization of course.

"Yes." He said and Uton looked to Attan.

"I won't be long Uton. Go find your mom and I will be with you when I can okay?" Attan said.

"Okay Uncle Attan!" Then Uton was gone looking for his mother. Attan looked at Illis and grabbed his arm hard and sternly.

"You idiot I told you no Organization stuff in front of Uton!" He said and Illis nodded but didn't apologize.

"We got a problem." He said.

"What now?" Attan asked.

"The time has come."

"What do you mean?"

"LOHL has been summoned." Illis said and if he could see Attan's face he imagined it was as white as a ghost.

"What?" Attan asked and Illis repeated the statement. "But how? I thought Egos had it all under control?"

"Attan…Troy has been taken. Operation Trojan is a go." Illis said somberly.

"We need to get ahold of the Harbinger." Attan said and messaged his sister he would be back when he could be and followed Illis.

…

"We need to talk with THOS." Illis told the Speaker. A sigh was his reply for a moment.

"He is preoccupied. What do you need?"

"To talk to the Harbinger!" Illis exclaimed. Attan put a hand on his friend's shoulder before he took over.

"A situation has arisen here and we are looking for his input." Attan said gently.

"What situation? And where is your King?"

"That is it…Operation Trojan is happening." The Speaker was quiet for several moments.

"Damn…alright, I will let him know. Follow protocol and wait for reinforcements. Get ready boys the Harbinger will want to deal with this personally." Then the link was cut.

…

The journey to Clan Weyrloc's territory was uneventful but very bumpy. Zane readied his weapon several times and constantly had to wipe away the dust that would accumulate on it every few moments. Finally, the Tomkah stopped and the team got out quickly.

"Alright, guys this is as far as I can take you. Be careful Organization and Clan Urdnot have been making pushes into the area. Weyrloc presence is confirmed." The driver said and with a nod, he left the area.

"Well let's get Maelon and leave this place." Shepard said and the distant sounds of gunfire and gunships could be heard.

"And quickly too. The warzone is coming up our ass. And Weyrloc will be sending reinforcements soon." Zane said which Shepard nodded as they moved forward.

…

The first thing to catch Zane's attention was the number of bodies they saw entering the clan headquarters. Instead of one lone human, he saw several humans and many aliens. Quarians, Turians, Asari, the works. Each had telltale tumors and injection scars but almost all of them were Organization. The tattoos some wore and the armor they had on were giveaways to their allegiances.

They laid unceremoniously in heaps on top of each other to rot.

"Why so many? What purpose does it serve? The medical benefits cannot outweigh the death toll…right?" Zane asked and Mordin breathed slowly.

"Perhaps at first, it made sense but now… there is no excuse. Perhaps Weyrloc captured them and told Maelon to use them in his research. Not enough data to be sure."

"We are shutting this place down, guys…I promise." Shepard said. Zane nodded but gripped his M4 tightly. Anger pouring into his system again but he took a breath to calm himself. It wasn't wise to waste all of his pent-up rage now.

They made their way forward and were met by the spokesman of Clan Weyrloc. Zane had given his M4 incendiary ammo and was ready to shoot the moment Shepard told him to.

The room stank of blood and death and ash. Burning corpses flanked them and hanging bodies of Organization members and Urdnot Clan members. The anger Zane felt rose with each moment spent in the room.

The Krogan began his ranting about the future of the Krogan. How soon the only children born would be Weyrloc children, how the galaxy would tremble at the approach of the Blood Pack and so on and so forth.

"Well, I have heard enough." Zane said pulled out his pistol and fired at the pipe below the Clan members. The Spokesman laughed and pulled his shotgun out as his two guards laughed with him.

"Fool you cannot even hit a simple target."

"Uh…I don't think he was aiming at you." Shepard said and Zane began to laugh. It was quiet at first as he grabbed his M4 and got louder as he aimed the rifle. The laughing stopped for a moment.

"Boom." He said and pulled the trigger causing a grand explosion to kill all the Krogan in their way. The smell of ash and smoke was rekindled in the room and this time the smell didn't displease Zane. He found it fitting this time and a cruel way of karma.

"Let's just move on." Shepard said and the team followed closely behind.

The following room had a similar smell of death but with an earthy undertone to it. It smelled of dead Krogans that had long expired. As they walked around the room Mordin and Shepard talked about the morals of the Genophage a position that Zane shared with Mordin. At the time, it was a necessity but perhaps now it had outlived its course.

And then came the Krogan female. The sight of her seemed to hit Mordin harder than Zane had expected but he wouldn't blame Mordin for it. Shepard, however, let it hit home. He didn't let up on Mordin about how Mordin had unknowingly killed her and that it was his duty to see her death mean something by fixing the Genophage. Never mind how Mordin got her to this position by changing the Genophage.

"Alright that is it I have had it!" Zane said his fists clenched. The two of them looked at him with shocked faces. "Shepard, I can't believe you. For a man with the ability to adapt to almost every situation, you are very one-dimensional in certain matters. The Genophage was needed at the time it was implemented! Without it, a war would plague the whole galaxy for who knows how long. This helps the Krogan as much as the rest of us."

"Look at the woman Zane doesn't seem like she got the better part of the deal." Shepard said and Zane chuckled at the sheer ignorance and minor arrogance. Shepard's virtue signaling annoyed Zane. Shepard was so hellbent on proving a point that he didn't care if the point was null and invalid in the first place.

"Yes, she did Commander. Because if the Genophage wasn't used she may have never been born, the Krogan species as a whole may be extinct entirely, or she may have died by a bullet to the head. At least this way she died for what she thought was right even if it was misguided." Zane said and walked passed Shepard and deeper into the hospital.

…

Zane ducked under another blast from Weyrloc Guld's shotgun as Zane moved to adjacent cover. Mordin set the Chief alight with an Incineration program but it did nothing but piss the Krogan off.

"I will bring you to the top of my headquarters and set you on fire on top of a great pyre!" He swore and Zane rolled his eyes.

"Oh, shut up you fool." He said and fired at the Krogan's head. The Krogan's barriers and armor holding off the shots. The Krogan laughed and marched forward and threw his shotgun aside. He grabbed a Revenant rifle and opened fire. The weapon was heavily modified as he just kept shooting with no sign of it letting up.

"Ha! Who is the fool now?" He asked and before Zane could run he was grabbed by the throat. The Krogan's strong grip tightened and life began to leave Zane. His vision darkened and air left him entirely. A shot hit Guld's head and shortened the barrier. Another hit him in the eye and he roared in pain but still held onto Zane. Zane quickly activated his sonic-tool and punched the Krogan in the jaw. The blast caused him to let Zane go.

Zane immediately fell to his knees and clutched at his throat and gasped for breath. But the anger he had been fighting came back and he wouldn't deny it this time…he couldn't.

"I will enjoy this." Zane said and ran at Guld and stabbed at Guld's eyes and face. The force caused the two to fall down and Zane took his omni-blade and shoved it into the Chief's throat.

"You feel that you bastard? That is death electrified." With those words, the omni-blade was coated with electricity and Guld was doomed from that point onwards. Only when his twitching ceased did Zane get up and deactivate his omni-blade and grab his M4.

"You okay Zane?' Shepard asked.

"Let's get Maelon shall we?" He said his voice was hoarse and it hurt to speak for a few moments but the feeling quickly began to relinquish as time went on.

…

"So, all in a day's work?" The Quarian driver asked while the team entered the Tomkah.

"All in a day's work." Shepard said and looked at Mordin flipping the data in his hand and looked at Maelon in cuffs. Zane had his pistol trained on the traitor Salarian and was ready to fire at the first sign of trouble.

The pistol was as much for Maelon's safety as it was his threat. Many in the Organization and Urdnot wanted him dead for those he helped kill.

As the Tomkah halted. Maelon was transferred to an Organization squad and Shepard told Zane to get some rest and to see if his throat was okay.

"Shepard a quick update. After your assault of Clan Weyrloc Urdnot and Organization have moved in and are currently granting amnesty to females, children and any males that didn't take part in the fighting. Also, after footage of your battle was broadcasted a mating request for you has appeared and five for Zane was also requested by some Krogan females and Organization members." EDI said and Shepard chuckled.

"Well, I do need some R&R." Zane said but before he could leave Shepard grabbed his arm tightly.

"No, you, Chakwas, healing, now." He commanded.

"Damn…taking all my fun." Zane said with a laugh and behind him, Shepard saw a group of women looking at Zane leave with a look in their eyes he couldn't describe. Shepard smiled to himself and went to meet with Wrex again to give him an update. And then get Grunt sorted out while they were here.

…

Several hours later Zane sat on his bed and read a report he had recently gotten and he nearly threw it out of the window.

Tali'Zorah vas Neema has been summoned by the Admiralty Board. Charges of Treason are likely.

He clenched the datapad tightly and put it on the desk. His mouth agape and his thoughts were a jumbled mess.

"No…it can't be. I thought I stopped that from happening…why did this happen? Why did it happen to her?" The door opened and she stood in the doorway. Her body language told him all he needed to know. He raised an arm and she ran to him. Her arms clasped around him as she shook in fear.

"Shhh, Tali it will be alright."

"How…how did you…" She began and he merely raised the datapad. She nodded and clutched him tighter.

"I know you are scared Tali but we will see it through okay?" He said gently. They moved slowly to the bed and sat down. It was becoming a normal pose for them but he didn't mind.

"I am so scared Zane. I don't want to be exiled. I don't want to leave my home."

"Then you won't." He said sternly.

"But what if I am…" He stopped her with a finger atop her visor.

"I will not let that happen Tali. You will not be exiled I swear it." He said swore to her and he meant it.

…

She sat there with him and she believed him. The voice of the Reaper had come out but there was a hint of Zane in there. She could barely hear it but it was there. She was so afraid so petrified and she went to the first person who she knew would listen to her, who would talk to her, who would always be there for her.

It was situations like this that she meant Zane would always be there for her and it showed. She laid her head against his shoulder and her eyes felt heavy and soon closed as she began to fall asleep.

…

The small hums and mumbled words didn't take long to be heard and Zane smiled to himself as he gently moved Tali closer to the head of the bed. He laid her down gently and put the blankets halfway up her body as she preferred and let her rest. She gripped the sheets tightly in her fist and the sound of her humming in happiness made him smile as he looked at her.

"I promise Tali you will not be convicted of this I swear my love. It will not happen." He whispered and left his room.