CHAPTER 7: Getting to Know You
2185 CE
'WHAT PART ABOUT THIS IS NO COMPLICATIONS!?' Kaidan yelled unnecessarily loudly in my ear as he fired over my shoulder at the army of Vorcha chasing us through Omega.
'Don't worry! I've got everything under control!' I lied, unable to keep the laughter from my voice as the heat from the flamethrowers grew nearer.
'Krell! Is that you?'
'Sure is Shepard! And I even brought Alenko with me!'
'Shepar-- Shepard! You set me up, Krell! You knew she'd be here!'
'Of course I knew she'd be here! If you had helped me steal a new shuttle last year you wouldn't be in this situation!'
'Krell! That makes no sense!' Alenko whined like a child.
'Mordin! Take out those Flamers!'
'Pleasure to help Shepard!'
And with that, the Vorcha chasing us began exploding.
'Hey Shepard, long time no see!' I smiled as I ducked behind cover with her as Mordin Solus took care of Kaidan and my Vorcha problem.
'You son of a bitch. You knew I was gonna wake up in that Cerberus lab with Robots trying to kill me, didn't you?'
'Guilty as charged. but in my defense, you don't warn a kid away from fire just because you know they're gonna burn themselves. They'll be fine, and learn a valuable lesson.' I admitted.
'You absolutely do warn a kid that's going to burn themselves, Krell! What's wrong with you?' Kaidan yelled, again unnecessarily loudly, in my ear.
'You're some piece of work, Old man. You coming with me on this suicide mission?' Shepard asked, amused.
'It's only a suicide mission if you fuck up. And I'd rather Joker not have to fly that lovely ship home alone.' I replied.
'Wait, what? Joker? Suicide mission?' Alenko repeated. I wonder if he hit his head when I hauled him over my shoulder. He seems confused.
'Joker's my new pilot. Apparently a lot of the old crew joined Cerberus when they heard I was alive. Are you here to join up too?'
'We sure are.' I agreed.
'What's this we business! I'm just here to steal a shuttle and go home. And I don't even want to steal this shuttle anymore! I have qualms! Serious qualms!' Kaidan whined.
'Qualms? That sounds terrible. You should get that looked at by a doctor.' I reply with a grin.
'I can't just go AWOL from the Alliance!' Kaidan protested.
'You aren't.' I grinned and produced the coup de grace.
'Here are your orders, straight from Hackett himself.'
'Lt. Alenko. Effective immediately you are promoted to the rank of Commander. You have also been granted a mission of the utmost secrecy. You are to join the Cerberus-aligned Crew of the SR-2 Normandy and spy on them to ascertain whether the commanding officer is actually Commander Shepard or not.'
'Kid. You weren't supposed to read that part out loud.' I explained to him. Was he concussed? Nah. He didn't hit his head that badly. His barrier blocked most of the impact anyway.
'You will report your information to Nakmor Krell who will ensure your reports reach the Alliance, and the Council.' Kaidan ignored me.
'You definitely weren't supposed to read that part out loud, you dope.' I noted.
'Spies, huh?' Shepard grinned.
'Well, more like back channels.' I clarified.
'You had these orders the entire time!?' Kaidan whined, once more, unnecessarily.
'Obviously.' I agreed.
'Why the hell am I only seeing them now?' he complained.
'Honestly? It seemed a lot more fun this way.' I explained.
Mordin took a second to interrupt our conversation. 'Do not want to interrupt heartfelt reunion, but would be remiss if did not point out that the vorcha may have had friends.'
'Excellent point, Professor Solus! Let's get back to the ship. I'm sure we're going all become the best of friends.' I grinned.
'Why me?' Kaidan implored an uncaring universe.
'Because you destroyed my shuttle. This doesn't wipe out that debt by the way. You still need to get me a new one. You're here for orders now and you already said you're not gonna help me steal theirs.'
Shepard rolled her eyes. 'I'll get a second shuttle for you out of the budget if we can afford it. Now, Commander Alenko, it seems you'll be serving on my ship again. Personal article allowance is one footlocker. I'll ask Miranda to lend you some petty cash to fill one so you can go shopping before we leave. Krell, is there anything you can tell me that will help me here?'
'Besides the Identity of Archangel if you don't know it already? You need more than just the people willing to join you on a suicide mission if you wanna succeed. You also need their loyalty and your own good judgment in assigning roles. You're also gonna wanna make sure your shiny new ship can handle the strain. Beyond that? Just be yourself and it'll all work out fine. You know, probably.'
Then, with a nod from Shepard, Kaidan and I were members of the Normandy crew again.
2185 CE
'So, Mordin Solus, is it?' I asked as we stood in the airlock for decontamination.
'Nakmor Krell. Am familiar. Lost many good friends to you.' Mordin replied.
I've killed a fairly large amount of Salarian STG, in my days, but not any time in the last 50 of so years that I was aware of, which is why I was confused at that statement.
'Sorry?' I offered.
'Oh. Not in combat! They were part of Krogan studies department. They were assigned to your surveillance. Investigation of sources of your information. Very compartmentalized, even for within STG. High turnover. Unfortunate.'
'Well, don't worry, I won't ever tell you my sources.' I grinned.
'No? Had hoped. Still, probably better for long term health to not know.' Mordin replied.
'Eh, don't worry too much. You're part of the Normandy crew now. Shepard and I will look after you.' I promised.
'Excellent news. Did not look forward to this mission's retirement plan.' Mordin joked back.
The airlock opened, and for the first time ever, I entered the new Normandy.
2185 CE
'Joker! Long time, no see!' I called out happily. Mordin was already heading with Shepard to go inspect the lab.
Presumably she'd be back to talk to us later as part of her daily exercise routine of jogging through the entire ship and entering every room and talking to everyone. Might need to set something up myself. Don't want to risk getting flabby.
'Krell? Kaidan!? What are you doing here? I thought this time around the Professor was gonna be a Salarian.' Joker joked, more than a little shocked.
'You get two for the price of one this time!' I joked back.
'Apparently I've been assigned to check out Shepard and determine if she's real or not. I'm gonna be verifying those orders as soon as we get somewhere with an Alliance station comm station, by the way.' Kaidan warned.
'They're legitimate.' I reassured him.
'What are you doing here, Joker? I thought You got a promotion.' Kaidan asked.
'Yeah, to Anderson's personal shuttle pilot. Man, I like the guy, but flying a shuttle isn't really flying. No offense, Krell.' Joker explained.
'Some taken, mostly because mine got blown up by this yahoo, here.' I say, pointing at Kaidan.
'Are you ever gonna let that go?' Kaidan asks, plaintively.
I grin perkily. 'Sure! When you get me a replacement!'
'Well, whatever you do, don't steal one from Cerberus. They built me this beautiful shit, and then they threw in this enormous design flaw for free.' Joker confessed.
A large blue holographic ball on a stem flickered into existence next to him. 'I am not a design flaw, Mr. Moreau. I am working exactly as intended.'
'Yup. There it is. Liara's old room is now a fancy AI. You know, like the ones that rebelled against the Quarians. Or that thing on Luna.' Joker complained, using a surprisingly accurate example.
'Careful. You might upset her.' I quipped.
'I do not get upset, such emotions would run counter to my purpose.' EDI explained.
'See? It was Highway to the Danger Zone, but now it's Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto.' Joker lamented.
'Don't worry Joker, you'll be good friends soon enough, I expect.' Kaidan reassured him.
I grinned.
'Now, if you don't mind, I think I should find a place to sleep before all the good one's are gone.' I announced, turning to leave, leaving Kaidan to catch up with his old friend.
Before I could get too far, Joker called back. 'Yeah, well, nice to have you back, Krell!'
2185 CE
'So this is the armory?' I asked as I walked into the room. It wasn't a bad setup. Had everything you'd beed for making weapons, assuming you had the blueprints. I saw a few avengers lying about, in the midst of being modified. A tempest and the outer shell of a Mattock, too. No NK-47s though.
'Wait, you look familiar... are you... Nakmor Krell?' Jacob asked trying to puzzle it out.
'That's me. And you're Jacob right?
'Jacob Taylor, that's right. Miranda tell you about me?'
'Something like that.' I admitted.
'Anyone ever tell you you have an eye for weapons design? The NK-47's a thing of beauty.' Jacob praised.
'Once or twice. That rifle's the culmination of over a hundred years of constant work and refining. That much time spent working on something you almost feel like it's one of your kids.' I explained.
'You have kids?' Jacob asked.
'Not many. Not anymore. It's been an awful long time and only two of em seemed to survived this long. Not really in either of their lives.' I admitted.
'Oh.' Jacob replied, disappointed.
'I saw my son two years ago, though! We parted on good terms.' I revealed.
'I guess when you live over a thousand years, a year or two here or there isn't very much, huh?' Jacob decided.
'Depends on the years, I guess. These last few have been pretty eventful.' I admitted.
'What's it like? Knowing you're going to outlive everyone else on this ship?' Jacob asked.
'Well, discounting the whole, suicide mission, thing, you mean?' I asked.
'Yeah.' Jacob agreed.
'It's almost jarring, sometimes. I'll see something ,or hear a songs and I'll immediately think of an old friend and want to call them up or write them, but they'll be over a decade dead. You go in to check in on people occasionally and they're just gone and no one even remembers who they were or that they lived there. Asari are better, but a Salarian? You meet them one year and they're gone in the blink of an eye. Sometimes you want to avoid getting attached.' I admit.
'Sometimes?' Jacob asked.
'Other times it's worth it.'
2185 CE
'So, just out of curiosity, were you planning to recruit Alenko and me on this suicide mission of yours?' I ask Miranda, admiring her office.
'Potential Dossiers were written for both of you, but we expected Commander Alenko to be unreachable at Grissom Academy. Since you already had 'Hijinks with Shepard' noted on your calendar, we assumed that you would either find us or make yourself available. As such a Dossier was assembled, but no means of contact was finalized.' Miranda explained.
'Huh. That actually makes sense.' I admit.
'Now, if you're done gathering information for your report?' Miranda groused.
'Come on Catsuit, don't think of it as me spying on you! Think of it like you just won a place on a reality show that won't pay you anything!' I encouraged.
'That just makes it worse; you can see how that makes it worse, can't you?' Miranda demanded.
'Well, now I can.' I admitted.
"Get out. Just... get out.' Miranda demanded tiredly.
'Any time, XO!' I grinned back.
What a wonderful start to a beautiful friendship.
2185 CE
As I walked out of Miranda's office and towards the mess hall to make sure they had enough portions for me and the correct rations for my friend Garrus, the balding man behind the counter called out to me. 'Nackmore Krell! You know my kids all loved you growing up. My sister even took her youngest on a trip to Earth to see you perform in some show or another, a few years back. It'd mean the world to my nieces and nephews if I could get a vid capture with you.'
I looked at him something about the way he'd phrased that was odd. His nieces and nephews would want a vid capture, but not his own children? But there was something in his eyes that made me not want to ask. Almost automatically I slipped back into my professor persona. I found it worked best when dealing with fans. Quiet, slow speaking, no large and boisterous movements, soft in tone of voice, smiling with my eyes instead of my mouth; all emulated on the idea of an older tweed-wearing college professor. It all came together to help to make me seem non-threatening; a must for dealing with kids, and my non-Turian fans. 'Well, I don't have any problems with that, but you seem to have me at a disadvantage. You know my name, but I don't know yours.'
'Oh, right! Sorry bout that. Was just so excited to see you that I forgot myself. Mess Sargent Rupert Gardner, at your Service, Mr. Krell.' Rupert replied.
'Krell's my personal name. No need to put a 'Mr.' in front of it. You can just call me Krell. Or Professor if that seems like too much.' I offered.
'Krell's fine! Anyway, what brings you to the mess?' Gardner asked.
'Well, I wanted to make sure that we have enough for for me and my friend. I can eat pretty much anything Humans do, but my friend's a Turian, so he'll need dextro provisions.' I explained.
'Don't actually have all that much experience cooking for dextros, but Dr. Chakwas made us stock some Quarian provisions, just in case. They're processed to hell and back, but they keep for eternity and they're easy to store, so we've got more than enough to a while even if you wanna pick up two or three Turians.' Gardner assured me.
I smiled, making sure not to show any teeth in the process. 'Thanks. That's great news!'
'Any time, Krell! And it's great to meet you. Not sure how much help a scholarly man like you's gonna be on this thing. But we'll need brains and brawn if we wanna beat the Collectors, right?' Garner tried to reassure me.
'I'm sure I'll pull my weight, Rupert. It's been a pleasure to meet you.' I said, excusing myself. I looked over at Karin Chakwas' office. She seemed busy, so I'd bother her later. Didn't wanna be in her way, after all. That just left... the Engine room.
2185 CE
'Oh my god. Ken, don't look now, but I heard that Professor Nakmor Krell just joined our mission!' Gabby Daniels gushed as I entered the engine room unseen from the door where Tali usually stands.
'Nackmor Krell? The krogan? Aye, what's he gonna do to help us? He's not a fighter. Is he?' Ken Donnelly countered.
'No, he's just a brilliant Mass Effect Engineer. Like, half of the Alliance's advances in Mass Effect technology come from his studies and notes! He just gave them to us at Shanxi! Jumped us forward a thousand years!' Gabby gushed.
'Aye, that's an exaggeration. A hundred, maybe, but a thousand?' Donnelly protested.
'It's not an exaggeration, Ken. He literally gave us a thousand years worth of research.' Gabby replied.
'I don't know. I think I agree with Ken. It may be a thousand years worth of notes, but they're still the notes of just one person. Science and engineering are collaborative efforts. It's only by working with each other that we advance the course of knowledge.' I chime in from the other side of the room.
Ken doesn't see me. His back is facing me so he's looking in entirely the wrong direction; but Gabby? Well, Gabby certainly does.
'See! He agrees with me to.' Ken replies, not even looking in my direction.
'Ken! Do you even know who that is?' Gabby sounds like she's on yhe verge of a panic attack.
'Someone with good taste in arguments!' Ken states in his scottish brogue.
'That's Professor Nakmor Krell!' Gabby reveals.
Ken spins around.
'You're a much bigger fellow in person.' He states, amazed.
'And you certainly know your way around a compliment.' I praised him back.
'Are you here to help us down here in Engineering?' Gabby asks, hopefully.
'I can lend a little help if I'm needed, but mostly I'm here to assist Shepard in a combat capacity.' I explain.
I can almost see the gears in Gabby's brain screech to a halt.
'I'm sorry, I think I misheard you. Could you repeat that?' Gabby asks.
'Certainly. I said that I'm mostly here to assist Shepard in a combat capacity.' I repeat.
'Combat? That's something you do?' Gabby asked. She seemed somewhat shocked.
'I'm quite proficient, I assure you. I fought on the front lines for around fifty years in the Rachni Wars, and I was Warlord of clan Nackmor for another two hundred and twenty years, about one hundred and twenty of which were during the Rebellions. There was also that adventure woth Shepard two years ago hunting Saren. I should be up to the task, I think.' I reassure her.
'You were in combat with Shepard too? I thought you were a mass effect engineer?' Gabby asked, stunned.
'I was, but that came much later; after my career as a writer.' I explained.
She blinked, slowly and I walked deeper into the room to examine the ship's core. It really was a marvel of engineering. Nice sound to it. No obvious dangerous distortions. I couldn't sense any leaks either. You get a sort of tingling in your bones near a leaking mass effect core, but there was none of that here. Looked like the ship was in good condition. That was good.
'Gabby! You look white as a ghost!' Ken worried.
''I think I'm in shock, Kenneth.' Gabby explained.
'Why's that? I know the man's a Krogan but he didn't say anything that upsetting.' Ken mothered.
'It's kind of like learning that Sir Issac Newton was actually the secret Identity of Ghengis Khan.' Gabby admitted.
'Man's a contemporary of Jesus, isn't he? He's bound to have had more than a few careers.' Ken observed as I walked out the door.
It was time to visit Zaeed.
2185 CE
'Huh. You're Nakmor Krell.' Zaeed remarked as I entered the vhamber of the ship he'd chosen.
'You recognize me?' I asked, surprised. My reputation in Human space wasn't the sort that Zaeed would really be interested in.
There was no way that someone like Zaeed was recognizing me from a place like Sesame Street.
'Yeah. Stormed the ship of this Batarian raider party once. Their asshole pilot stole my ship and left me stranded in their unmoving junk heap for two weeks. The only thing they had to read was your 'Thoughts on War.' Your face was on the inside cover. Must have read and reread that book at least a dozen times before I got rescued by a sightseeing tour of Turian women. Took one look at my guns and my scars and promised to give me a lift as long as I entertained them with dome old war stories.' Zaeed admitted.
'What did you think of it?' I asked a bit curious.
'Good book. Solid fundamentals. Bit dry though. Needs more anecdotes.' Zaeed declared.
I grin. 'I'll keep that in mind.'
'I look forward to working with another goddamn professional at least. You set yourself up yet?' Zaeed replied.
'Not yet. Looking for a space I can use to keep up with my exercise.' I admitted.
'I always find I get enough exercise running around and being shot at; but if you want more I won't stop you. Cargo Bay has some open space for it.' Zaeed suggested.
'I'll look there next.' I agree and unhastily make my exit.
Author's note: So this is a shorter chapter at just over 3.5k. Wanted something to ease us in to Mass Effect 2; you know, give people more of a view of how people who have never met Krell before think about him and how he manages to pull that off.
In my first run through of ME2, I actually passed over the chance to have Krell talk to Jacob, Rupert Gardner, Ken and Gabby, and Zaeed, but I actually like how all those scenes turned out on the second pass. Originally none of them really got scenes, save for a fun scene with me teaching Ken some facts later on, but I'm going to add at least a couple more for each of them on this second passthrough before I post. If I'm being honest I'm really excited to see how their opinions of Krell will change over time. As a sort of fun piece of trivia, originally Bioware had it plotted out that Mordin and Grunt were going to have a confrontation scene like Tali and Legion, or Jack and Miranda, but it was cut. That was probably a good call, but after this chapter I think I might be able to manage my own confrontation scene if I swing it right. We'll see how my additions are when I get to that point.
As an additional bonus, my total number of words written (not including author's notes) on this whole project just hit 99,905. So this story's probably going to easily break 100k Words (written, not posted) between just ME1 and 2 by the next update.
