Zenna and the others groaned as they recovered from being thrown several meters into the air and landing on solid rock. She looked around and helped the other two up.

"Did anyone get the licence plate of that Thresher?" she asked earning a laugh from the two.

"Good one," James muttered as he quickly recovered and looked to the destroyed bridge. "Wha now?"

"Well, now we jump," Zenna said before she moved back a few steps and ran before leaping the gap with ease.

The other two soon followed joining her at the other side. After making sure nothing was broken, they moved across the platforms as fast as they could. While on the move, Zenna noticed how quickly Wrex was moving his truck. She tapped her comms to call, but he beat her to it.

"Go on ahead Shepard. We'll try to shake this thing and find you," Wrex said as the area began to shake and the Thresher moved after the truck.

"Thresher maw getting closer," Mordin said in what sounded like a panicked voice.

"Tell me something I don't know!" Wrex shot back.

"Metal in truck excellent iron supplement for maw's diet," the salarian said making Zenna frown.

"Really?" she asked out loud.

"Now I'm glad I'm not in the truck" James said as he cocked his weapon.

"And I bet, Werx is enjoying himself," Garrus added

The minotaur just shrugged in response. "Meh, probably, ok, let's move," she yelled as she took point.

They moved to a walkway with Korgan statues looking over them. Looking up at them James could have sworn that the eyes were following him. They were intimidating to say the least as they stood imposing on their plinths. But that added to the intimidation factor even more.

"Now where do you suppose we are?" Garrus asked.

"Looks like a memorial," James replied as they continued moving.

As they moved up a set of stairs Reaper husks began to fire at them forcing them to take over as fast as they can. Looking out of cover, there was at least four cannibals coming in. Two from the left and two from the right. Garrus aimed at the furthest cannibal and fired. It took part of his head off but came charging at him forcing him to unload his thermal clip into the creature. It dropped and melted before it reached him freeing him up to give support to the others.

Zenna drew her axe and tore into husks with ease, letting their black and blue blood cover her armour. James was behind, aiming his heavy assault rifle and firing in short burst stop weak the husks as they advanced. While they fought, the team didn't stop moving as they didn't have time to waste.

"Shepard," Mordin called over the comms, "Wrex busy driving truck! Are you still alive?" he asked.

"Oh ye of little faith, we're doing what we can. What about you?" she asked as incoming husk fire made her take cover. She switched to her assault rifle before popping up out of cover and began to fire.

"Alarmed yet entertained," the Salarian admitted. "Kalros is quite persistent."

"Why am I not surprised about that?" the Commander asked as she took down three husks with her rifle.

The sound of wronging engines and annoyed Korgan echoed down the radio. "Weave, drive faster!" Wrex yelled.

"I can smell the damn thing's breath," Weave complained.

James jumped over Zenna and turned two of the husks into meat after throwing an impact grenade into one. Garrus on the other hand took out two in rapid succession with his rifle. Zenna then finished the final three off with her rifle. The then came out of cover and moved along a short bridge to another structure. As they did Wrex came on.

"Shepard, we almost lost Kalros. Get down from there and we'll get you," he said.

As soon as he said it her shields came up stopping several bullet impact's she turned to see a marauder taking shots at her. Growling, at the Turrian husk she charged towards it as fast as her body let her. She punched it in the gut and ripped a hole in its middle. The two trucks came round as James and Garrus jumped down onto a lower platform.

"Shepard, get over here!" Wrex called as his truck drove to them. "Weave keep an eye out for that maw," he then said making the other truck stop. "I don't want it sneaking up on us."

"Make it quick Wrex," Weave said. "We're exposed," he said as Wrex truck stopped picking to pick the three up.

Garrus jumped down followed by James.

"Move it!" Kira yelled as she moved as fast as possible, but she stumbled as the ground began to shake with dust.

"IT'S KALROS!" Weave yelled.

The massive Threasher maw moved past Wrex's truck and headed for Weave's.

"Move it Shepard," Wrex yelled.

Zenna dived into the truck. "We're in move!" she yelled.

As the truck moved off the place where Weaves truck exploded due to the maw.

"What about Weave?" Eve asked.

"No way he survived that. And he was a pain in the ass anyway," Wrex said coldly. "Now let's finish this, there's a Reaper waiting for us,"

Zenna licked her lips with a growl. "Let's take it down,"

OOOOO

The truck stopped at a ruined building in front of the shroud facility. Once it stopped Garrus and James climbed out of the truck looking up at the shroud and Reaper.

"I hope someone's got a plan B," James said.

"I know we've beaten the odds before…" Garrus said slowly. "But getting to that tower, I don't know,"

"We're curing the Genophage no matter what it takes! Everything my people will ever be depends on it," Wrex said as he, Mordin and Eve walked up next to the others.

Zenna then exited the truck. "Then I hope this idea you're talking about is a good one," she said with a low growl.

"It was Her's actually," Wrex said.

All eyes turned to the female Krogan expectedly. "Kalros, we summon her to the Reaper,"

"I like it already," Zenna said barring her teeth.

"Already discussed strategy. Just need to distract Reaper, draw it away from the tower while cure synthesized, released," Mordin said.

"Ok, so what makes you so sure she'll come?" James asked looking toward the Reaper.

"Legends say she's the mother from which all other Threasher maws spawn," Eve said. "This is her home as much as ours," the confidence in her voice was unmistakeable as she spoke.

"If Tuchanka has a temper Kalros is it. Nobody's faced her and survived," Wrex said with a sense of pride.

"Well, we went through Omega 4," Zenna shrugged. "This… this just a walk in the park," she said with a confidence she didn't fully have.

Werx barked a loud laugh. "That's the spirit Shepard,"

Garrus nodded. "So, how do we summon her?"

Eve pointed to the central tower. "The tower was built in an area devoted to Kalros' glory. The Salarains thought she would scare away intruders,"

"Appears to have worked," Mordin muttered.

Eve ignored him and continued. "There are two maw hammers, the largest in existence. If you can activate them Kalros will come. That should distract the Reaper,"

"Meanwhile, laboratory nearby. Will finish synthesizing cure," Mordin said as he walked up to stand next to the two Krogan.

"Let's make sure we all get out of here alive. We'll have one hell of a story to tell," Zenna said cracking her knuckles and was about to walk off but Wrex stopped her.

"Wait..." he said. "I want you to know that no matter what happens, you've been a champion to the people, a friend to clan Urdnot, and sister to me. To every Korgan born this day the name Shepard, will mean hero." Wrex declared and Zenna took his hand in respect. "Let's show them why!"

The two roared loudly in unison as three Rachni husks walked up behind them. The team aimed their weapons at the reapers but Wrex pushed past them and charged forward.

"Go, I got this," he said before charging at the nearest rachni pushing it out of the way. "MY NAME ..." he yelled as he shot the other Rachni husk. "IS URDNOT WREX..." he then back handed one that jumped on him. "AND THIS IS MY PLANET!" he yelled before ploughing through the rest.

"See you on the other side," Zenna said to the other two as she moved off.

"Stay alive Shepard. Will have cure ready," Mordin called as he opened up his omni-tool.

The team of three hopped over a wall and looked at the empty area in front of them with weapons at the ready.

"Let's get in there!" Zenna yelled as four husk pods came down fast and landed in front of them.

Zenna was the first to change in, axe in hand. She moved fast, cutting down the husks as they began to swarm her while James moved down to offer fire support. The worked in tandem with each other to whittle down and take down the husks. Garrus helped as well weakening or outright killing the husks. With the area clear, Garrus joined them and ejected the heat sync.

"Shepard took care of those Rachnai. But you need someone to raise the hammers before you can use them," Wrex said as more pods came down.

"We're kinda busy Wrex," Zena said as she and James charged in.

He barked a laugh at that. "Lucky for you I'm here, I'll handle it!" he said as Zenna slammed her axe into the skull a cannibal before moving it and a good chunk of its torso.

James moved and tossed a grenade into the mouth of a cannibal while gunning down another as he slid along. With the area clear they moved up a set of stairs to the left and followed the path round. Keeping an eye out as they crossed a bridge Mordin came on.

"Shepard, some luck! Original strain in storage, preparing the cure now," he said.

"Make it quick!" Zenna said as she and the team moved across the bridge. "We're getting close,"

"HOLY SHIT!" James yelled, "Off to the left,"

As Zenna jumped the gap a red beam cut her off making her turn back. But the beam cut through the bridge making her and team fall. They hit the ground with a thud before getting back up.

"Everyone ok?" she groaned.

"Fine here, mostly," Garrus grunted.

"I just got shot by a reaper," James grunted in a stunned tone.

"Call it practice," Zenna said a she yelped him up.

"Shepard, I raised the hammers," Wrex then said over the comm. "You have to activate both of them. My advice is, avoid that giant laser!"

"Tell me something I don't know," she muttered as she looked over at the arena in front of them. She took a few deep breaths readying herself. "Ok, don't stop for anything. Just run and get to the controls, ready?" she looked to the two who nodded. "Ok, RUN!"

As they ran the giant machine open fired at them as they moved across the bridge.

"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" James yelled as they got past the middle of the bridge.

They didn't stop and just ran at full speed with Zenna outpacing them. One of the few times she was glad for her Chimeric DNA.

"Are we really doing this?" James asked as they took cover in front of the reaper.

The machine fired while a wing of the Turrian fighters came in to distract the machine. But that was limited as it still tracked the three.

"Shepard this is turrian wing Arimac," said one of the pilots. "We'll give that reaper something to shoot at."

As he said that the ships began to fly around the machine making it move to try and get a shot at them.

Seeing them gave archangel some pride. "I knew they wouldn't give up," he smiled.

James couldn't disagree. "Now that's some goddam balls!" He yelled

"JUST KEEP RUNNING!" Zenna yelled.

"Right!" the two yelled as all three of them began to run fast.

As they moved a brute was dropped in front of them but was crushed by the reapers foot. Once it landed, they moved to the left as fast as they could while ignoring the reapers around them. Moving up a set of stairs they found a large square which was the button. Zenna slammed it before running to the next one while the hammer rose.

"Mordin, we hit the first hammer. How's it coming?" Kira asked hitting her comm.

"Almost have cure. Eve's vital signs droppings. Trying to composite," Mordin said.

As they moved around the reapers legs another brute came out of cover. But wanting to get out as fast as they can Zenna kicked the beast out of the way and was about to move up the next set of stairs but was stopped as the reaper destroyed the way up. Looking to the left there was another way up which they ran for as Wrex came on.

"Shepard, get that second hammer going!" he almost yelled as the team made it up the second set of stairs and slammed the key to activate the hammer.

"There's a reaper in my way Wrex." She commented as both hammers began to slam into the ground like a drumbeat.

"I know, you get all the fun," he said letting a disappointed tone enter his voice.

"Go get to the tuck, I'll get the cure," Zenna ordered making James and Garrus run in the opposite direction.

The hammers slammed down and nearby Kalros felt the vibrations and moved towards it. The reaper detected the maw coming fast and looked towards it while Zenna made her way to the tower but saw the maw coming in fast. The reaper charged its laser and fired as the maw dived underground before jumping up at it causing it to misfire its laser and make Kira take cover. They landed in front of her taking out the bridge. Moving back up the commander ran and jumped the gap and crawled towards the tower.

As she did the reaper with the maw attached to it slammed the beast into the tower causing it to let go. It backed up and began to fire as the maw shrank back into the ground. The reaper then looked around and readied its laser but didn't notice that Kalros came in from behind and pinning it to the ground. It then curled up around it like a snake crushing it and brining it into the earth with it. Kira watched as the reaper felt the fury of tuchanka before turning to the tower and walked towards it.

As she walked in, she saw Mordin run to one of the terminals. She moved up to join him. Above them the damage that the maw and reaper did to the tower was causing explosions along the sides of it. she didn't need her natural taurus engineering instincts to know that this was bad.

"Mordin is the cure ready?" Zenna asked moving up next to him.

"Yes. loaded for dispersal in two minutes. Procedure traumatic for Eve but not lethal. Maelon's research invaluable," he said typing fast.

That didn't sound good. "Is she ok?"

"Headded to safety now," he nodded. "Her survival, fortunate. Will help out with Advent government in keeping Krogan in check. Good match, proceeding future for the Krogan," As he said that debris hit the far wall from them.

"This place is falling too quickly," Zenna muttered.

Mordin then pointed to the top of the tower. "Control room at top of tower. Must take elevator to the top," he said.

The minotaur blinked. "Wait you're going up there?" she asked with a worried tone.

"Yes." Mordin said without hesitation. "Manual access required. Have to counteract STG sabotage. Ensure cure dispersed properly,"

Zenna shook her head trying to think. "Mordin this place this falling apart! There has to be another way!"

"Remote bypass impossible," he said turning to look up at the tower. "STG countermeasures in place. No time to adjust for temperature variance. No." he said slowly for the first time. "No other option. Not coming back. Suggest you get clear. Explosions likely problematic," he said walking into the lift.

Zenna growled but calmed down before looking up. "Best of luck,"

Mordin turned to look at Zenna standing in the lift. "My project, my work, my cure, my responsibility." he then took a deep breath before looking at her. "Would have liked to run tests on the seashells."

"I wish…" she began but he cut her off.

"I'm not, had to be me," he said hitting the lift button. "Someone else might have gotten it wrong,"

As soon as he said that the lift took off upwards. Zenna then turned around and walked off. As the lift reached the top Mordin took in a deep breath before sighing. The lift then reached the top and Mordin walked in, ignoring the computer. Was he walked to it an explosion made him cover his head for cover before making it to the computer and began to type.

"Hummmm I've studied species, Turrian, Asari and batarian…." he said typing.

"Temperature now within acceptable range," the computer said. "Dispersal commencing,"

With that Mordin smiled as the cure dispersed in the air.

"My xenoscience studies range from urban to agrarian. I am the very model of a…." but he didn't get to finish as the tower detonated killing him.

Down below Kira just watched as a tear fell from her eye.

OOOOO

Zenna led Wrex, Victus, Javik and Liara to the QEC. She didn't tell them what this was about and had ordered Garrus and James to stay quiet about what she had found. They did and when Wrex and Liara were told to follow her, they didn't say anything. The expression on her face was enough to say something was wrong. Once they were inside the QEC, the door locked.

"EDI, disable all monitoring equipment," Zeena ordered. "And get in contact with the council and Admiral Hackett,"

There was a section before EDI responded. "Done and contacting the council," she responded.

"I want all members present," She added earning looks from Victus and Liara.

"Ok, this is bad," Liara muttered.

A second later the holograms of Tevos, Sparatus, Valern, Udina and Hackett appeared on the communications device.

"Commander, good work at Tuchanaka," Sparatus started. "The Kogan are…" but he was silenced as Zenna held up the shard she found.

"Javik, what is this?" she asked as she handed it to him.

"It is a memory shard. A device that stores thoughts and memories to facilitate complex thoughts and ideas between people," he explained. "They are similar to your storage devices,"

The minotaur nodded at that before looking at everyone. "I found this in an underground lab on Tuchanka," she sighed deciding it was best to tell them. "It wasn't Salarian, it was Prothean,"

"Prothean?" Valern asked. "How did we miss it?"

"It was deep underground, but that's not the best part," she spoke in a tone that said that she was being sarcastic. "It turns out that the crucible was one of several projects to take on the Reapers, one that wasn't in the archives,"

Tevos frowned at that. "Why would they not have it in the archives?"

"Too many eggs in one basket," Hackett said earning confused looks by most present. "Sorry, it's a human expression. It means that you have too many plans, too much money or something like that in one place, you are more than likely to lose it if something goes wrong,"

"Ahhhh," Valern nodded. "Compartmentalisation, interesting way of explaining it,"

"We humans just love our idioms," Hackett shrugged. "Go on Commander,"

"In the Shard, I found out that the Prothean's were doing experiments on the different races to see who would be the best in countering the Reapers. It was a tie between humans and Asari," she looked to Liara and Tevos. "It's the reason why Thessia has so much Eezo. It's not natural it was put there by the Protheans. But even that was considered to be a back up to the main plan,"

"And what was the main plan?" Tevos asked her voice being neutral.

"Due to humanities ability to adapt and survive, humans were selected to be the best candidate to fight the Reapers," she looked up at Udina and Hackett. "The Demi-human virus was made to allow us to be immune to indoctrination. We were meant to replace the Protheans,"