Author's Note: And another week done! For those of you who haven't already checked it out I'm also publishing a original work on Royal Road called Dungeon Core City that I'd very much appreciate if you all would go out and check out. In the mean time Read, Review, Favourite and Enjoy!


Chapter 20: Rebuilding Tuchanka Part 2

Admiral Shepard was at least more polite than the high-lord, she approached the citadel, even following proper docking procedures too. There would be a vague hope that she was here for a personal reason that had nothing to do with the council, but she was accompanied by five guards, all of them synths.

An inquisitive Salarian Officer had asked about them. It's common for Soldiers to have things like Grey Box's, better than dog tags, everything that they've ever experienced recorded on high capacity data drives, if the added benefits of simply being able to download memories from other people which massively reduces training time for soldiers. However if the Grey Box can be salvaged after death it's possible to integrate it into a synthetic body thereby giving new life to the individual in question. Some people go for bodies that look almost exactly the same as what they had when they were still organic, others though prefer to min-max based on their chosen fields which in this case was the army. There are models built for Size and durability but those are too big for the narrow corridors of the station, instead these ones were built smaller with a lot of military grade technology inside. The head was gun metal grey, a screen showing rising and lowering meters and a single twirling camera eye. The rest of the Gun metal grey body was heavily armoured like a foot ball player, thick three fingered hands were holding rifles to themselves while their legs consisted of rubber and liquid/gas muscles with c-shaped spring loaded feet.

As much as explaining to the Salarian officers the details of her bodyguard's construction and history amused the Admiral she was there on business that day. Hence she arrived at the council Chambers.

"Admiral, it's good to-"

"I've treated you with more respect than Xidre did. I would appreciate fewer attempts to stall." Admiral Shepard stated as she pulled up the Tablet that she had been holding onto. "There was a murder on Tuchanka, several years ago. Normally I don't deal in Cold cases but this one corresponds to a new Genophage variant that suddenly appeared on Tuchanka." The Admiral brought up a picture on her tablet. "Now Krogan kill each other all the time, so I wouldn't go all the way to the council for a murder investigation but..." The Admiral handed the Tablet to one of her guards, who in turn held it up in front of the Councillor's and walked in front of them causing each of them to gulp. "The Broken Salarian horn that the Krogan found at the Scene of the crime is pretty damning as far as evidence goes." As one Tevos and Sparatus turned their attention to Valern.

"I'm a diplomat, I'm not kept informed of what my government does with it's people, and even if it was we're a Union a collection of independent factions..."

"And an endless shell game of plausible deniability yes yes I've played this game before Councillor, and I was better at it when I did. I'm here as a courtesy Councillor, to you. If you intend to abuse that courtesy I am more than happy to call upon a legion of telepath's to sweep Salarian territory to determine the identity of the individuals responsible for setting back the Krogan another century."

"You'll have the full support of the Council to help you with your investigation." General Sparatus stated as he shook his head in the negative.

"I'm so glad that you agree Sparatus." And in that moment the General knew that he screwed up. "Because While laying the foundation for a new grain silo on Tuchanka the Tebrids dug this up." The Synth switched photos on the tablet, this time to what Sparatus immediately recognised as a massive black Mark on the Turian's and didn't even bother pretending otherwise, merely went to rub his hand over his forehead to deal with his headache.

"What is it? What did you do?" Tevos asked looking between the other two councillors confused.

"A nuclear bomb, one of several, planted under every Krogan settlement on Tuchanka, at least the ones we found. The lettering on the side is from a Turian Dialect, and the radioactive decay indicates they were planted at the tail end of the Krogan Rebellion."

"Huu. Your demands?" Sparatus asked as he already felt like he was going to get politically plowed.

"We'll begin with full designs of the explosives in question so that they can be properly, safely disabled, and a list of all of the bombs and where they have been planted." Which was a given, which also meant they wanted more. "There are a few worlds left over from the rebellions with some pretty solid Krogan and Vorcha presence, despite your best efforts to route them. Don't worry we're not interested in the planets themselves, the Krogan genetic diversity is still suffering rather severely on Tuchanka so we require every source of Krogan that we can get our hands on." The Admiral was given her tablet back.

"If you can get them to leave, you can have them." Sparatus stated looking to his fellow councillors who both nodded their heads in agreement.

"That shouldn't be too much of a problem, if the concept of earning massive profits fighting the Prethoryn fails the concept of a cure for the Genophage should be enough to convince them."

"If it's not too terribly rude to ask..."

"It is extremely rude." The Admiral ruthlessly cut the Salarian Councillor off. "Especially considering the fact that I just finished ripping into you a few moments ago about your people's ongoing conspiracy to slowly drive a sapient species into extinction!" Thoroughly cowed the Salarian opted to remain silent until the Admiral was finished with them. "Thank you. Now for the final item on the agenda. Tevos." The Final of the Three councillors visibly straightened at attention. "What is on Noveria that Desolas wants?"

"Excuse me!?" Tevos asked looking offended.

"Binary Helix informed you that they stumbled across a politically sensitive situation, you responded by sending a Matriarch, who thanks to certain revelations we made on Feros we have sufficient reason to believe is now under Sovereign's control. So what, in the bloody hell, is on Noveria that has the rapt and undivided attention of a Reaper!?"

"I-I don't know." Tevos replied nervously glancing towards the group of Synth Bodyguards that were following the Admiral around.

"'You don't know?'" The Admiral was literally speechless, of all the flimsy excuses that she could have devised... "Do I have to get my daughter up here?"

"That's the reason why she doesn't know." Sparatus stated letting out a sigh. "Tell people that a telepath regularly visits you to tear out all of your secrets and people stop telling you them." Admittedly that was a pretty good excuse.

"Fine then. Don't blame us if we end up breaking something on the planet then." The admiral spun around, snapped her fingers and she and her bodyguards turned around to follow her.


In the days that followed the Salarians went through a dozen different clans and corporations, a DNA sample was provided from the Horn but no leads were coming up. Then as it seemed that the investigation was going absolutely no where, a civilian craft approached the Krogan DMZ, a line of communications was opened from the ship in question depicting a Salarian, with a single unbroken horn to the left side of his head and the shortened stump of a broken one on the other side of his head.

"I believe you are looking for me."

Mordin Solas had a history as long and storied as any Salarian can get. In recent years he has been the host of a children's science show in much the same style as 'Bill Nye the Science Guy' called 'A Certain Scientific Salarian', up until a few days ago he was on his way to Khar'shan to assist in the ongoing crisis there before making an abrupt detour via a rented civilian ship, which at his request was returned to the company that he took it from. That now led to the present situation.

"I, Mordin Solus, sound of body and mind, confess to the following crimes."

The Salarian had been given a sheet of paper and pen to write his confession on. Confessions. He requested several sheets of paper, also his hand writing was atrocious, which necessitated more paper, it appears that he's never had to write by hand before. They would let him use a tablet but letting a self admitted STG operative near anything with a microchip was begging for trouble. Rather than continue with this frustrating exercise Leo instead opted to simply pick the Salarian up by his neck and entered a space a little more personal for the both of them.


It was interesting, looking at what kind of Mind Palace's people create when they do this, the idea was to create the environment that the other party holds nearest and dearest, the most absolute personal place where they are both at their most comfortable and most vulnerable. What did it say about the man whose chicken scratch indicated that he was responsible for at least three crimes against Sapient life, hundreds of murders, assault, sabotage and espionage, that his Mind Palace took the form of the set from the Television show he used to star in?

"Hm. Union Telepathy. Excellent. This will indeed make the process much faster." Mordin brought up a Data pad as his crimes flew through his brain and appeared in the form of text, before said pad was knocked out of his imaginary hands by Leo who loomed over Mordin.

"What. Do you. Want!?"

"Ah down to business I see? Excellent." If the Salarian was bothered by Leo's rudeness he didn't show it. "Wish to cure the Genophage." Mordin appeared on a chair in front of a computer.

"I was given the impression that you were one of the people responsible for renewing it. Why the change of heart?" Leo asked as he looked suspiciously at Mordin.

"Believed the justification for Genophage." Mordin appeared in front of the work table, conducting a simple experiment, probably a scene from the show he used to star in. "Salarian's could've easily wiped out Krogan via any number of biological agents both natural and manufactured. Didn't though." The equivalent of a Baking soda Volcano was let off and Mordin let the applause track play as he opened his arms up and soaked in the artificial applause. "Wanted Krogan restrained, not slaughtered." Mordin didn't appear to move but his next experiment took the form of several mechanical pieces on the table. "Believed that Krogan would rebuild their civilization, reenter Galactic community properly, be productive members of society." Mordin finished assembling the pieces which now took the form of a rectangular contraption.

"But they didn't." Leo replied bluntly.

"No. They didn't." Mordin's next experiment had him mixing several chemicals into a beaker. "Krogan proved resistant to change. Objective of Genophage management program turned from 'For the Krogan to prosper their numbers must remain in check' to 'if the Krogan's numbers exceed a certain margin then they will threaten the entire galaxy.'"

"And yet you still participated anyway." Leo stated annoyed.

"Was young. Stupid. Thought knew how galaxy should be." Mordin finished his experiment, took a step back, and watched as the contents of the Beaker exploded up into the air. "Then received a wake up call."

More of the artificial applause played, as if receiving a single episode guest star, a female Krogan in a Shaman's tunic.

"Is one thing to be told about the effects of the Genophage, is another to see a mother placing their child into a mass grave." Another experiment, this time plants in a field as if mimicking a small farm. "To see her using her dead offspring as fertiliser for crops." Mordin slammed his hands on the table, as if bracing himself for a panic attack. "Needed soil sample for Genophage distribution. Waited for Mother to leave the area. Didn't." Suddenly the Krogan Shaman charged at Mordin, swinging around the oversized mallet that was a key symbol of Krogan religion and thus a pivotal tool in her day to day life, and struck Mordin hard enough to break off his horn that was sent flying through the air. Leo moved in to separate them but she fell away dead, the spade that was tucked into her sash planted in her chest, several other stab wounds targeting vital points in the body present all over. "Would like to call it self defence. Wasn't. Knew exactly why we were there, and knew which one was in the wrong." Mordin took several deep Breaths as he looked down a the table, his experiments assembled into a model of a Krogan settlement. "I am Mordin Solas, Death." Mordin poured his beaker over the settlement and watched it get destroyed. "Destroyer of Krogan."

The sombre moment was broken by the applause track again, then the lights went out, and came back on with a flicker. The set was ruined, burned out, aged, decayed, the applause track sounded like malevolent mocking laughter now.

"Why come back then?" Leo asked gesturing around the various ruins before them. "Why now?"

"Now?" Mordin was assembling something on the table now. "Things have changed now. Opportunities that didn't exist prior exist now. Krogan now has intelligent leadership directing them away from the path of war. Krogan has joined responsible government that will keep their most violent tendencies in check, and provide them with common enemies to unite against that isn't the council or the citadel races." Mordin finished assembling his contraption, a pistol. "Now is the most ideal time to fix past mistakes." Mordin took aim at the audience, at the Salarian's that were sitting on the sidelines and watching, as if what Mordin was doing wasn't their problem. "More importantly: is my last chance to do so." And Mordin fired, picking off the Salarian's one by one, all wearing the same face, his face. "I am old. Thirty Seven years old, three years left to live, thirty months of good health. Cannot afford to wait on the sidelines any longer if wish to fix past mistakes. And will Fix them. Using whatever means possible." The ruined set turned site of a spree shooting disappeared, replaced by the interrogation room. Leo was still sitting across from the Salarian, tapping his fingers in thought.

"You'll need an ocular implant so that we'll be able to see whatever you see, and a spinal prisoner implant, severs the spinal cord instantly via remote, Kills quickly and humanely. We might need more but if it's that much then Wrex might let you work on undoing the Genophage."

"Artificial eyes? Excellent. They're usually the first to go from age." Somehow it felt like Mordin had zeroed in on the wrong part of this conversation.


Wrex was in his office, looking out a nearby window as he breathed deeply.

"I'm going to pretend, for just a minute, that this might actually be a good idea." To describe Wrex's tone of voice as 'pissed but was forcing it to stay even anyway' was a mild understatement. "Is there anything that we stand to gain by letting him help us?"

"I already have my samples." Okeer stated bluntly. "I don't need him to tell me what he did to change the Genophage or how to fix it."

"We might need his assistance if we were relying on the Shroud, but in all honesty the Union has figured out planet wide gene altering years ago. We don't need the Salarian's primitive technology. Besides the Tebrid's finished dismantling it a few hours ago." The Lich scientist explained while shrugging his shoulders.

"Can his presence help accelerate the cure development in any way?" The two scientists looked at each other and then back to Wrex.

"Not really. We could speed up the process if we disregard the myriad ethical laws of the scientific process." The Lich explained bluntly.

"We'd Probably kill most of our people in the process too." Okeer added some more relevant information to the topic.

"And the full ethical process?" Wrex asked looking at the duo suspiciously.

"We start with computer simulations, move onto animal testing specifically animals closely related to the Krogan themselves, Organs from deceased Krogan, Volunteers and finally full implementation." The Lich explained in simple terms.

"And how long will that take?" Wrex asked looking at the undead suspiciously.

"Three years at most." The Lich gave a follow up statement in simple terms.

"Grr." Wrex picked up some of the preserved fruit in a nearby bowl and chewed on it. "Three years might be too long, a lot of Krogan been waiting a long time to get cured, makes some of them patient, others impatient." Wrex turned on the two scientists. "But I don't think that Salarian can make things go faster, between those living super computers you call assistants and the materials Okeer's been gathering together for the past three centuries we should have everything that we need already. I don't need any Salarian sabotage when we're this close."

"Then assign him to that instead." The Undead doctor stated bluntly and Wrex turned around to face him.

"Speak."

"The Salarian's will try to sabotage the Cure, you seem to be convinced as much, let's put him on the task of keeping them off our arses." The Undead doctor stated in simple terms. Wrex looked out the window of his office as he thought about the situation.

"Those implants mean that we'll know everything he sees and does right?" The Lich nodded in the affirmative. "Do it, on one condition. Explosives, if he's going to betray us, I want everyone he's working with to die with him."

"If your people lack patience might I suggest some more... artificial means? Unfertilised eggs extracted from the mother, fertilised with Krogan seed and grown in a artificial womb. The Tebrids will have all the appropriate facilities built within days, with your permission first of course." The Lich scientist suggested finger in the air.

"Have the blue prints on my desk by tomorrow." Wrex saw Bakara waiting for him outside.

"Leave. You two have your jobs. I have Chief stuff to do." Wrex stated bluntly and the two walked out.

"Your human friend is almost out of Quarantine." Bakara stated in simple terms.

"Good. I want people we can trust when we raid Helix." Wrex stated glaring at some so distant to the point of invisible object in the sky. "The Pyjak's trampled all over the Krogan's trust and honour for a quick buck. There's a blood debt that needs to be paid there."

"If we lose you then everything we've built falls apart." Bakara stated in no uncertain terms.

"Maybe, but honour holds weight. A fresh batch of Krogan arrives within a week. Their leaders need a demonstration of what Union backed Krogan are capable of." Wrex stated as he was already preparing his Plasma Caster. "Probably not going to be able to keep doing all this for much longer anyway." The Tebrid's can only do so much to build them up, shock and awe tactics like this means that the Union owes him favours and can help him win over the hearts but eventually he's going to have sit down and do actual leader stuff to get this place in working order.

"Mm hm. So long as trips like these eventually stop." Bakara stated as she let out a sigh. Wrex looked out the window of his office, at the city that was being built in what used to be a wasteland, an entire pre-fabricated skyscraper was unfolding in the distance and the ground was slowly being covered in vegetation. He legitimately wondered if this is what his world looked like, once, before they blew it all to hell. Wrex simply shook off the doubts as he got to leave.


"So they let you out?" Wrex had soon made his way onto the ship designed for the Mission, the Normandy, apparently it had been equipped with some prototype tech that the Union's science fleet wanted them to run through it's paces for the mission in question.

"I'm the picture of Health." Shepard stated as she held up a vial for Wrex to look at. "And even better in fact. If Noveria really is being taken over by Reapers then they want as many people down there that they know can resist the effects of indoctrination as possible." Shepard tossed Wrex the injector who looked at her suspiciously. "The thing the Reapers were trying so hard to destroy on Feros? Big fat telepathic mushroom thing, fully capable of rebuilding the brain after it's been destroyed by indoctrination, and makes the brain stubbornly resilient towards its effects on top of that." Wrex looked at the vial suspiciously before holding it up to his head, one of the few unarmoured parts of his body, and injected it.

"Probably downed enough booze over the years that I need a refresher anyway." Wrex didn't know if this stuff can reverse the effects of Alcohol poisoning but if nothing else he can get ahead of the crowd. "So when does it start to..." Wrex felt dizzy for a moment as he could feel large chunks of his brain getting reanimated.

"By me what's wrong with you!?" Wrex heard a voice in his head.

"Shepard, was that you?" Wrex asked looking very concerned.

"Wrex, the Thorian." Shepard stated introducing Wrex to some kind of imaginary figure. "Thorian, Wrex."

"The fungus has a name? And can talk?" Wrex was way too sober for this.

"Yes the 'Fungus' has a name!"

"Be salty later." Shepard stated as she led the Krogan inside of the Normandy.

"We have a few pickup's to make. I'm not the only Krogan with a grudge against Binary Helix." Wrex stated as he followed Shepard aboard the Normandy.


Hailot Wrund was the leader of Clan Hailot of Garvug, one of the few planets given to the Krogan prior to the Rebellions, and probably the only one they were allowed to keep. They had been in negotiations with three different corporations, Binary Helix and Guanghul Solutions to repair the planet's failing environment, and a mining company called Sonax industries, a shell corporation of Umsung Holdings. Originally things were moving a smoothly as they could considering the parties involved, and then Prothean ruins were discovered on the planet, and all out war broke out between the native Krogan and Vorcha clans and the three corporations. Wrex invited the clan leader to parley, the Normandy serving as neutral territory as they made their way to Noveria.

"The Would be King of Tuchanka." Wrund stated as he looked out of a nearby window at the FTL that was happening around the ship. "Tell me how are your master's treating you Wrex?"

"Better than yours I bet." Wrex stated in no uncertain terms. The two Krogan simultaneously let out a sigh.

"The Fighting's been tough Wrex, though I thank your new friends for the shiny toys." Wrund stated as he poured some Ryncol out for the two of them. "Garvug's a shit hole of our own making, we contract companies to try and fix the Eco-system, and they try to blow us all to hell. Honourless bastards."

"Tell me about it. Urdnot, Gatalog and Nakmor poured thousands of Credits together to try and get them to work on a Genophage cure and the only thing that we got out of it was empty accounts and depleted honour." Wrex explained as he took a swig of his glass before smacking it down. Then Wrex put an injector on the Table. "Asshole Union's been chasing down is trying to get something out of them, don't know what yet. We're gonna take advantage of their initiative though. We do know that they're going to be hitting us with a nerve agent, and that'll help immunise us against it." Not technically a lie, Reaper indoctrination wasn't too much worst than some Salarian nerve agents, the only difference is when the lizards want to kill you they let you die as yourself, which Wrex suppose does make them technically more Honorable than a Reaper. Wrund picked up the injector and shoved it into his neck, feeling nautious for a moment while the Thorian settled into his brain.

"Take it that we're not going there to help Helix?" Wrund and Wrex both smiled nastily.

"No. No we're not."


Review Section:

Chronos0305: A shame that the Unbidden are extinct.

RonaldM40196867: I prefer Liara.

Guest: Cool.

Clown2107: Filled with mind numbing hatred would be the more accurate description. The thing you fail to realise is no matter what the Union does to it they're going to help it spread as far and wide as possible. The Union created a device designed to detect ultrasonic emissions and neutralise them with a equal yet opposite frequency, which makes people indoctrination resistant but is still a flawed model and cannot restore the mind after being indoctrinated unlike the Thorian.