Adult-FanFiction.org : Games

Mass Effect: The Helldiver Saga, The Collector War	By : Veyron722skyhook Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 6240 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or it's characters. They belong to Bioware and EA. No money/profit is made by me from this.

Chapter List
- 25
- 26
- 27
Important note.
It'll be my birthday this Saturday and one of the presents I asked for was Assassin's Creed 3. So chances are I am going to spend a lot of free time playing it.
Don't despair though, i will still be working on future chapters. After all, I can still do them when I have free time at College (Which is better since there aren't any games on the computers to distract or tempt me)
So I will still be writing, chapters just won't be as frequent.
The next one i think will Garrus' and then also part of an original story in which Shepard meets Dell's wife Uthenra. May also include soem Citadel downtime as well. I've even got a small romantic scene with Liara planned for that.
In the meantime, enjoy this chapter. Apologies if it's a bit short.

Chapter 26
Old Blood
Once again, the Hellhound touched down and the doors opened. Austin had felt it best that he didn't take Kraan or Grunt with him for this mission. If Kraan found out the truth about Mordin modifying the Genophage, he would kill the Salarian without hesitation. Austin wasn't sure if Grunt felt he same way, but he still wasn't willing to take any risks. He may share their views of the Genophage, but Mordin was essential for the mission.
Urz hopped out of the Hellhound accompanied by Tali. The Quarian had now managed to recover from the injuries she'd sustained from the Collector Captains and now all she had lift of her infections was a slight soar throat.
Dell and Sill had now finished Urz's proper battle armour. This time, the Varren wore a more silver variant of his original armour. It was also more plated than the last and designed to look like large scales. It also had spikes and sharp edges in places. It was fair to say that trying to touch Urz while he was wearing the armour was not recommended if you valued your life or a body part, or even something really important if you where a man.
The crew had been rather surprised when Austin had told them that he now had a pet Varren, some had even though it to be a bad idea. Urz however had been extremely well behaved and appeared to be getting along with the crew very well. Tali and Kasumi in particular had been very fond of him. Tali had even called him cute.
Their where still a few things that needed sorted though. Most importantly, Austin still had to decide where Urz would sleep. He'd be able to roam the ship freely, but he needed somewhere where he could always rest without there being any problems. Normally, Austin would just get Urz a comfortable large basket and let him sleep in the captain's quarters, but at the same time, Austin was a bit concerned that he and Liara wouldn't be able to enjoy their "special nights" knowing that Urz might be watching them. Then again, Urz probably wouldn't be interested, but Austin didn't know that. For all he knew, Urz would be curious with the sight before him.
Still, that was something to worry about later. For now at least, Urz had settled in on the Normandy very well and didn't seem to mind his new home at all. Sill had in fact just been playing fetch with him an hour ago. Plus, the simulator would be perfect for taking him on regular walks and giving him exercise.
The team made their way back into the Urdnot camp, Urz walking along casually beside his new master. Tali would also occasionally give him a friendly pat on the head.
Wrex was a bit surprised to see Austin back this soon.
"Back already, Shepard? What do you need?" he asked.
"I'm looking for a Salarian. He was captured by the Blood Pack and brought here." Austin replied.
"My scout commander can direct you. He's probably hear the perimeter running target practice. Don't take too much of his time. I need a constant watch on the other clans." said Wrex.
"Thanks again, Wrex. I need to go." said Austin.
"Watch yourself, Shepard. Tuchanka isn't safe and homey, like Feros and Ilos." said Wrex.
Austin and the other went up to the chief scout and he turned to face them.
"What do you want, Helldiver? Wrex told me to be polite. He didn't say you were going to talk to me." he said.
"I'm looking for a Salarian. The Blood Pack captured him, and he was last seen around here." said Austin.
"I heard about that Salarian, poor bastard. If it's Blood Pack, then Clan Weyrloc has him. Sent one of my scouts to check it out, but he never reported back. Guess they got him, too. Chief told me to give you one of the trucks. Just follow the highway to Weyrloc's base, if you've got the quads to deal with him and the Blood Pack." said the chief.
"What can you tell me about Clan Weyrloc's base?" Austin asked.
"Last I heard, the Clan was holed up in a hospital. I haven't seen it, though. I've only ever seen Clan Weyrloc from a distance. If I'd gotten closer, I'd have taken a shot. You get inside, though, bring a big gun. Weyrloc's base is crawling with Blood Pack." the chief explained.
"That doesn't sound too defensible. Why'd they hole up there?" Austin asked.
"Any hospital on Tuchanka to be built well enough to withstand a bunch of enraged Krogan. When an injury forces us to switch over to secondary organs, things get messy. Higher thought processes don't always transition properly. "Blood rage," they call it." said the chief.
"Any idea what they're doing with the Salarian?" Tali asked.
"I assumed they wanted to torture him. You don't take somebody home just to kill them. It's messy. Maybe he pissed off the Blood Pack, and they brought him here for special treatment. No skin off my hump what they do with him. One less alien on Tuchanka." the chief replied.
"You don't seem to have much love lost for aliens." said Austin as he folded his arms.
"Don't get your quads in a twist. If I was going to kill you, you'd know about it. Wrex believes we need to unite the Krogan people. I don't think we can do that with offworlders interfering. But it's not my call." said the chief calmly.
"What's Clan Weyrloc's reputation? And how are they involved with the Blood Pack?" Austin asked.
"Tough humps. And they're not friendly, like we are. You ever run into the Blood Pack? Mercenary gang. Clan Weyrloc started it. One of the only gangs with an off-world presence. They're fanatics, totally devoted to Weyrloc Guld. Whatever they did with your Salarian, Guld's behind it." said the chief.
"What makes Guld so special?" Austin asked.
"He's got two children. One of them is a girl. Some people think he's got a destiny. Not me. I had a cousin who won 20 consecutive games of quasar. Lucky bastard. I'd ask my cousin for a loan, but I wouldn't swear allegiance to him. Luck. That's all it is. Same for Guld." said the chief.
"But the Blood Pack has non-Krogan members – like Vorcha." said Austin.
"The Vorcha? They're just like the Varren, only they can use guns and don't crap on the floor as often." said chief.
Urz seemed a bit offended by this and gave a low growl. Austin however patted him gently on the head and he seemed to calm down.
"He didn't mean it like that, Urz." he said.
"The Krogan are the only real members of the Blood Pack. Anyone else is just there to soak enemy fire." said the chief.
Austin felt he'd taken up enough of the chief scout's time and let him get back to his work.

The team took one of the trucks and once again headed out over the vast wastelands. Pretty soon, they where near the outskirts and they disembarked. The outskirts did seem a bit windy, but it was tolerable enough for all of them. A soon as they cleared the truck however, they spotted a few Klixens in the distance.
"Stay here. I'll see if I can even the odds a bit." Austin whispered as he activated his cloak and vanished from sight. Mordin, Tali and Urz did as they where told and went into cover out of sight. Even Urz knew to hide and keep out of sight.
Austin slowly krept closer to the Klixens. He spent about a minute thing of a good way to handle this situation. Frag grenade perhaps? Or maybe a synch shot. Then Austin thought of a good idea.
"Be ready to fire." he whispered into his comm as he took a flashbang from his combat belt and armed it.
Austin gently rolled the grenade towards the Klixens. The creatures looked at the rolling device with interest as it slowly powered up.
"On my mark. 3... 2... 1..."
The flashbang exploded and the Klixens where blinded by the bright light.
"Fire!" Austin shouted.
Mordin and Tali popped out of cover and fired at each individual Klixen. Urz also lunged at the other as Austin fired at the last Klixen.
Within just a few seconds, the Klixens where nothing but bodies.
"Good tactic. Very quick and effective." Mordin commented.
"Popular tactic of Helldivers." said Austin.
As they rounded the corner, two wild Varren suddenly jumped out at them. Austin managed to knock away one while Urz charged the other and bit into it's neck. Now that Urz had his armour, a normal Varren was no match for him at all.
The other Varren quickly got back up to it's feet and ran at Austin. Before Austin could react however, Tali suddenly stabbed the Varren twice with the combat knife she had strapped to her leg.
Austin looked in amazement as Tali twirled the knife twice in her hand and then sheathed it again.
"Not bad." he said approvingly.
"I learnt that from Leena." Tali smiled.
"Hmm, and I believe she learned that from Ventra." said Austin.
"Are those two... you know?" Tali asked.
"I don't know. I'd like to think so however. They've always been fairly close during their time in Alpha Squad. In fact, I think they've shared meals once or twice." Austin replied.
"I hope so too. Leena deserves someone to love again after what she endured." said Tali.
"Turian and Quarians also good couple. Both dextrous DNA. Sexually compatable." said Mordin.
"That was a bit more information than we needed, Mordin." said Austin uncomfortably.
"Apologies. Simply offering my opinion." said Mordin.
After fighting their way through several more Varren, a fe Vorcha and even Blood Pack guards, they finally managed to make it to the hold out. True enough, it did indeed seem to be a hospital of sorts.
"Repurposed Krogan hospital. Sturdy. Built to withstand punishment." Mordin commented.
"Odd to see the Krogan devote so many resources to caring for the sick." said Tali.
"Hospitals important to Krogan Sites of honor. Focus for repopulation." said Mordin.
As they decended the stairs, they came across the dead body of a human.
"That body. Human. Need to take a look." said Mordin as he crouched down and started examining the body. "Sores, tumours, ligatures showing restraint at wrists and ankles. Track marks for repeated injection sites. Test subject. Victim of experimentation."
"I don't suppose there's any way to tell who this poor bastard was?" Austin asked.
"No tattoos or ID. Maybe slave or prisoner. Maybe merc or pirate. Irrelevant now. Clearly part of Krogan tests to cure Genophage. Humans useful as test subjects. Genetically diverse. Enables exploration of treatment modalities." said Mordin.
"Experiment on humans? That kind of crap is what makes Cerberus start to seem like a good idea!" said Austin.
"Never used humans myself. Disgusting, unethical, sloppy. Used by brute-force researchers, not thinkers. No place in proper science. Krogan use of humans unsurprising." said Mordin.
"I imagine you had to do a few live subjects while developing the new Genophage." said Austin accusedly.
"No. Unnecessary. Limited tests to simulations, corpses, cloned tissue samples. High-level tests on Varren." said Mordin.
Urz once again didn't like the sound of that and seemed to whine a bit. Tali however gave him a few friendly strokes and his mood seemed to brighten.
"Don't worry, boy. I'm not gonna let him do that to you." said Austin.
"No tests on species with members capable of calculus. Simple rule, never broke it." Mordin finished.
"Now we've got two reasons to shut this place down." said Austin as he and Mordin stood back up.
"Focus on Maelon. Too late to help the dead." said Mordin.
The next bit of the room was much larger and even had a high up balcony on it. As they entered, a door on the balcony opened and three Krogan stepped out.
"I am the speaker for clan Weyrloc, offworlders. You have shed our blood. By rights, you should be dead already. But Weyrloc Guld, the Chief of Chiefs, has ordered that you be given leave to flee and spread the message of our coming." said the clanspeaker.
"Krogan don't generally let people go. What does Clan Weyrloc have planned?" Austin asked.
"If you leave now, you can tell your children that you saw Clan Weyrloc before our Blood Pack conquered the stars. You think the Urdnot impressive? They are pitiful. Weyrloc Guld will destroy them!" said the clanspeaker. "The Salarian will cure the Genophage and Clan Weyrloc will spread across the galaxy in a sea of blood!"
'Appears they discovered Maelon's work Unfortunate." said Mordin.
"It doesn't have to happen like this. I can understand want to cure the Genophage..." said Austin.
"No, human! You understand nothing! You have not seen the piles of children that never lived! The Krogan were wronged! We will make it right, and then we will have our revenge!" the clan-speaker interrupted.
"Half the galaxy sees the Krogan as victims! If you start a war, you'll lose their support!" said Austin.
"We have the Blood Pack, and we have the Salarian! When our clan numbers in the millions, we will not need support. When we cure the Genophage, Weyrloc Guld will rule all Krogan! The Krogan Rebellions will become the Krogan Empire! The surviving races will frighten their children with tales of what the Blood Pack did to the Turians! The Asari will scream as their Citadel plunges into the sun!" said the clan-speaker.
"Like hell it will! You talk too much!" Austin interrupted as he activated his plasma cannon and fired it at the balcony. The shot however hit the underside. The Krogan didn't seem intimidated by this.
"See? The human cannot hit a simple target!" said clan-speaker. The Krogan however then heard soemthing. A faint hissing sound. Only too late did he notice that it was ignitable gas.
"I wasn't aiming for you." said Austin.
The Helldiver fired again and the fuel ignited. The clan-speaker screamed in pain as he burst into flames. The other two Korgan guards unholstered their weapons and opened fire as the team went into cover. Several Vorcha shortly arrived too.
"Nothing's faster than Chiktikka vas Paus!" said Tali as she once again summoned her pink drone.
Urz lunged at one of the Vorcha and bit several times while Austin and mordin concentrated on the Krogan.
"Thought I was harmless, did you?" said Mordin as he deployed an incinerate drone which quickly burnt through the armour of both Krogan. Austin was quickly able to finish one off by smashing their face in and then firing several shots into the other Krogan at point black range.
"Labs likely through there. Can smell antiseptic, hint of dead flesh." said Mordin as they ascended the stairs to where the three Krogan had come from earlier.
"Sometimes I'm really glad I can turn off my mask's olfactory filters" said Tali.
"As am I, Tali." said Austin as he did the same.
Helldiver suits also had olfactory filters to help in certain environments. It allowed them to be a bit more aware of their surroundings and in some ways it did allow them to feel as though they weren't actually wearing a suit. In some cases, this came in handy.
The labs where a mess. There was rubble and debris all over the place. There where no sings of bodies though, so the labs did at least have a clean look to them.
"Active console. May contain useful data. One moment. Genetic sequences. Hormone mutagens still steady. Protein chains, live tissue, cloned tissue. Very thorough. Standard treatment vectors. Avoiding scorched-earth immunosuppressant's to alter hormone levels. Good. Hate to see that." said Mordin.
"Most people wouldn't be so casual about developing a sterility plague, Mordin." said Austin coldly.
"Not developing. Modifying. Much more difficult. Working within confines of existing Genophage. A hundred times the complexity. Errors unacceptable. Could cause total sterility, malignant tumours. Could even reduce effectiveness. Worse than doing nothing. Had to keep Krogan population stable. One in one thousand. Perfect target, optimal growth. Like gardening."
"Pretty it up however you like. You're talking about murdering millions!" said Austin.
"No. Murdered no one. Altered fertility, prevented fetal development of nervous system. Have killed many, Shepard. Many methods. Gunfire, knives, drugs, tech attacks, once with farming equipment. But not with medicine." said Mordin defensively.
"The effects on Tuchanka are still your responsibility! You upgraded the virus that kept them in barbarism!" said Austin.
"Krogan committed war crimes. Refused to negotiate. Turian defeat not complete. Krogan could have recovered, attacked again. Conventional war too risky. Krogan forces too strong. Genophage only option. Krogan forced Genophage. Us or them. No apologies for winning. Wouldn't have minded peaceful solution." said Mordin.
"We're not going to find Maelon staring at consoles. Come on." said Austin.
Another sperate room of the labs showed operating tables. On one of them was a covered body. It was already clear from the shape under the blanket that it was a Krogan. Next to the body was a datapad. Mordin picked it up and read it.
"Dead Krogan. Female. Tumours indicate experimentation. No restraint marks. Volunteer. Sterile Weyrloc female willing to risk procedures. Hoped for cure. Pointless. Pointless waste of life." he said sadly.
"Didn't expect you to be disturbed by the sight of a dead Krogan." said Austin.
"What? Why? Because of Genophage work? Irrelevant. No, causative. Never experimented on live Krogan. Never killed with medicine. Her death not my work, only reaction to it. Goal was to stabilize population. Never wanted this. Can see it logically… but still unnecessary. Foolish waste of life. Hate to see it." said Mordin defensively.
"I didn't think you'd had much direct contact with things like this. Did you even come to Tuchanka after dropping your plague?" Austin replied back.
"Yearly recon missions. Water, tissue samples. Ensure no mistakes. Superiors offered to carry it on. Refused. Need to see it in person. Need to look. Need to see. Accept it as necessary. See small picture. Remind myself why I run a clinic on Omega." Mordin replied. The Salarian then did something very unexpected. "Rest, young mother. Find your gods. Find someplace better."
"You are full of odd surprises, Mordin. I didn't expect spirituality from you, Mordin." Austin commented.
"Genophage modification altered millions of lives. Then saw results. Ego, humility, juxtaposition. Frailty of life. Size of universe. Explored religions after work completed. Different races. No answers. Many questions." said Mordin.
"Sounds like you were trying to deal with your guilty conscience. The doctor who killed millions." said Austin.
"Modified Genophage project great in scope. Scientifically brilliant. But ethically difficult. Krogan reaction visceral, tragic. Not guilty, but responsible. Trained as doctor. Genophage affects fertility. Doesn't kill. Still caused this. Hard to see big picture behind pile of corpses." said Mordin.
"Can you really just rationalize it all away? How do you justify it?" Austin replied, now finding it difficult to contain his anger at Mordin.
"Wheel of life. Popular Salarian concept. Similar to human Hinduism in focus on reincarnation. Appealing to see life as endless. Fix mistakes in next life. Learn, adapt, improve. Refuse to believe life ends here. Too wasteful. Have more to offer. Mistakes to fix. Cannot end here. Could do so much more." said Mordin.
"If you need this much soul-searching to get over it, it just shows the Genophage was wrong." said Austin.
"Had to be done. Rachni Wars, Krogan Rebellions all pointed to Krogan aggression. So many simulations. Effects of Krogan population increase. All pointed to war. Extinction. Genophage or genocide. Save galaxy from Krogan. Save Krogan from galaxy." said Mordin.
"You could have cured the Genophage, instead. Brought hope to the Krogan. They'd have rejoiced. But no, you just went and made things worse." said Austin.
"Assumes human reaction. Krogan stimulus response different. Harsh environment, take chance to fight, flee. Would have caused chaos on Tuchanka. Victor would have war economy, bloodthirsty army. Galactic expansion outcome. More war. Genophage saved lives, war would've ended."
"So you're willing to sterilize a species based on the evidence of a few simulations? That's pathetic!" said Austin crossly.
"Millions of data points. Years of arguments. Countless scenarios. All noted Krogan fragmentation as dangerous. No unified culture to support repopulation. Would have been war. Turians and humans destroying Krogan utterly. Genophage was better. Saved lives." Mordin replied back defensively.
Austin nearly lost his temper at that and seized Mordin by the throat.
"Did it?! Look at the dead woman, Mordin! It doesn't look like you saved her!" he shouted.
"No. It doesn't. Worked with available data. Only option. No other possible… Doesn't matter." said Mordin.
Austin managed to calm down and he let Mordin go. He didn't bother apologising though. Mordin was not the one that was right.
They left the labs and found what looked like a prison cell. Inside where two Krogan. One dead, the other alive but very weak from the looks of him.
"You killed the Blood Pack guards!" he said.
"Not Blood Pack, not member of Clan Weyrloc. Wrong clan markings." said Mordin.
"I'm an Urdnot scout. Weyrloc guards got me. Brought me here." said the Krogan.
"The chief scout told us to watch for you. We've taken out the guards. Get back to Urdnot." said Austin.
"I can't. The Weyrloc did things to me. Drugs. Injections. Said I was sacrificing for the good of all Krogan. Experiments to cure the Genophage. Everything's blurry. Hard to think. Have to stay." said the scout.
"Mordin, can you get him back on his feet? Stims, maybe? Something to bolster his immune system?" Austin asked.
"You don't understand. I'm not too sick to leave. I have to stay. They're curing the Genophage. They're going to make it all better! They have to keep doing the tests!" said the scout.
"Caution, Shepard. Patient unstable, susceptible. Brainwashed." said Mordin.
"Why do you want them to keep doing the tests?" Austin asked.
"This is my fault. I got caught. Wasn't strong enough, not good enough. This is the best I can do. This is all I can do. I'm not big enough to have a real shot with the females. I'll never have kids of my own. But if I help undo the Genophage, then I mattered!" said the scout.
"Millions of children will be born – Weyrloc children. They're going to destroy the other clans." said Austin.
"But… no. No, they said I was helping Urdnot!" said the scout, shocked at learning the truth.
"If you want to help Urdnot, you need to get back there. But it would take a real badass to make it back to camp while injured." said Austin.
"I can do it." said the scout.
"You? I said a badass, not some scout whining like a Quarian with a tummy-ache." said Austin.
"I'm standing right here!" sad Tali.
"I can do it! I'm up! And I'm going to the female camp!" the scout repeated, this time way more confidently as he stood up.
"Damn right you are! Get back there and show them what you're worth! Go, go!" said Austin encouragingly.
"Rah!" the scout roared as he left.
"I can't believe that worked." said Tali in amazement.
As they neared the next door, Austin's suit detected a lot more Blood Pack Krogan in the room.
"Shepard, I'm detecting crates ahead that are holding unstable materials. A misplaced shot could cause a significant explosion." said EDI.
"Or a well-placed shot. Explosives useful. Burn through Krogan armour." said Mordin.
"Hmm, good advice, Professor." said Austin. "Still, best for us to know if they have any surprises for us. No doubt they know we're here now."
Austin took a very small contraption from his belt and placed it on the floor. He then activated his omni tool and the device unfolded into a tiny robot spider.
It had been a while actually since Austin had used this little helper. Last time he had, he'd used it to plant a bug in the Citadel for news reporter Emily Wong. It now occured to Austin that he should perhaps return there soon. Alpha deserved a small break after all, and they could get some good suplies.
The spider gently crawled under the door and once on the side, started crawling on the walls. The visual feed, which fed to Austin's omni tool identified several more Krogan in the vacinity and a few Varren as well. EDI had also been correct about the explosives.
Austin deactivated his omni tool and the spider slowly came back. The Helldiver allowed the spider to crawl onto his hand and it once again curled back up into it's tiny device form, which Austin placed back into one of the pouches on his belt.
"Tali, set up to breach." he said quietly.
Tali nodded and placed a small device on the door. She'd worked with Austin long enough to know now what Austin meant when he said things like that in these sorts of situations.
The device exploded and the door flung opened.
All four of the team proceeded in, guns blazing. Sure enough, Austin managed to land a well placed shot on one of the containers and it's explosion sure enough managed to brun through the armour of three of the krogan anad even killed two of the wild Varren. The rest where easily dealt with with gunfire and melees if they got close enough. Urz meanwhile was putting his old skills to very good use. His new armour even made him a lot harder for the Krogan to fight. He was now bullet proof and his old skills coupled with the armour's lightness made it hard to even land a shot on him in the first place.
Austin really was growing quite fond of his new pet Varren. People wouldn't want to miss with him now.
The team headed down another level as they fought their way through even more of Clan Weyrloc and Blood Pack Krogan. Things went well at first, but then that changed when a new Krogan joined the fray. This one was dressed in some sort of passive Krogan armour that looked twice as large as any other. He even had biotic barriers and a claymore shotgun. Austin could only guess that this was Weyrloc's Chief, Weyrloc Guld himself.
True enough, Guld was a fierce fighter and unfortunately, the team didn't have a biotic specialist to tip the scale in their favour.
"Tremble and die, offworld scum! I am Weyrloc Guld, Chief of Chiefs!" Guld yelled as he laid down surprressing fire form his shotgun, forcing the team to seek cover quickly. Even Urz knew better than to try and charge the korgan and hid next to Austin.
"Blood Pack, attack!"
"Mordin, Tali, deal with the Blood Pack. Urz and I will handle Guld." said Austin.
Mordin and Tali nodded and focused their gunfire on the Blood Pack Krogan. Austin meanwhile stuck to cover.
"Urz, see if you can distract him for me. Okay?" Austin said to the Varren.
Urz nodded and ran out of cover. He dodged back and froth to avoid Guld's gunfire while Austin cloaked and gently snuck behind Guld. The Krogan chief only noticed too late before Austin uncloaked and stabbed Excalibur right into the Krogan's head. The chief staggered for a bit before falling and Austin pulled his sword gently out of the dead Krogan's head. Urz walked up to Austin and the Helldiver stroked him behind the ears.
"Good boy." he smiled. Urz simply purred in delight.
With no more Weyrloc in the way, their path to Maelon was clear.
The team entered the main lab to find a curious site. Maelon was there working on a large holographic console. However he wasn't restrained or being forced to do it at all. In fact he seemed to be doing it willingly.
"Maelon. Alive. Unharmed." "No signs of restraint. No evidence of torture. Don't understand." said Mordin.
"For such a smart man, Professor, you always had trouble seeing evidence that disagreed with your preconceptions. How long will it take you admit that I'm here because I wish to be here?" said Maelon.
"He wasn't kidnapped. He came here voluntarily to cure the Genophage." said Austin.
Maelon nodded in agreement.
"Impossible. Whole team agreed! Project necessary!" said Mordin.
"How was I supposed to disagree with the great Doctor Solus? I was your student! I looked up to you!" Maelon retorted.
"Experiments performed here. Live subjects! Prisoners! Torture and executions. Your doing?" said Mordin, appalled at the fact that his student would do these things.
"We've already got the blood of millions on our hands, Doctor. If it takes a bit more to put things right, then so be it. I can deal with that." said Maelon coldly.
"Why work with Clan Weyrloc? And how did you get access to the Genophage data?" Austin asked.
"The data was easy to obtain. We all still had clearance. We were heroes. All I had to do was ask. As for the Weyrloc, they were the only clan with both the resources and the commitment." Maelon replied.
"Urdnot has a larger camp than Weyrloc. Why not use them?" Austin asked.
"Urdnot Wrex is too soft. He wasn't willing to do the experiments I needed. It's Urdnot's loss and Weyrloc's gain. Their clan will be the first to recover from the crime we committed." said Maelon.
"Maelon clearly doesn't need rescuing. What do you want to do?" Austin asked.
"Have to end this." said Mordin.
"You can't face the truth, can you? Can't admit that your brilliant mind led you to commit an atrocity!" said Maelon as he pulled out a pistol and pointed it at the group. Before he could do anything though, Mordin punched him and he ended up with hi back against his own console, and Mordin's gun pointed at him.
"Unacceptable experiments. Unacceptable goals. Won't chance. No choice. Have to kill you." said Mordin.
Before Mordin could pull the trigger however, Austin grabbed his arm and pulled it away.
"No! Don't do this, Mordin! I can't let you kill an unarmed prisoner. Helldivers do not let that happen. Besides, you are not a murderer." he said sternly.
Mordin hesitated for severally long painful seconds, glaring at Maleon before he reacted.
"No. Not a murderer. Thank you, Shepard." said Mordin.
Austin let his arm go and he put his gun away. Maelon wiped some of the sweat from his brow in relief.
"Finished, Maelon. Get out. No Weyrloc left. Project over."
"You heard the professor. Best you leave before he changes his mind." said Austin/
"Where am I supposed to go, Professor?" said Maelon.
"Don't care. Try Omega. Can always use another clinic." Mordin replied.
"The Krogan didn't deserve what we did to them, Professor. The Genophage needs to end." said Maelon as he left.
"Not like this." said Mordin. "Apologies, Major. Misunderstood mission parameters. No kidnapping. My mistake. Thank you."
"Don't worry about me, Mordin. How are you doing?" Austin asked.
"Disappointed. Thought Maelon better than that. Never suspected he'd go so far. Knew he was young, impressionable. Should have talked to him after. Gotten him through guilt." said Mordin.
"It's easy to miss someone else's needs when you're in the middle of your own soul-searching." said Austin.
"Went to Omega. Tried to get away. Should have stayed." said Mordin. "Maelon's research. Only loose end. Could destroy it. Closure, security. Still valuable, though."
"If you think it could be useful, then hang onto it." said Austin.
"Worked for years to create modified Genophage. Should destroy this." said Mordin.
"I don't think so. You may not agree with him, but Maelon is right. The Genophage is wrong and it needs to end." said Austin defiantly.
"Maelon's work could cure Genophage. Don't know. Effects on Krogan. Effects on galaxy. Too many variables. Too many variables!" said Mordin.
"If you won't keep it, then I will. I tolerated the fact that you modified the Genophage and I've already been forced to destroy one Genophage cure. I will not do it again! Besides, you regret what the Krogan have become. You see the horror of what they did here, what they're willing to do to undo this mistake, but you see the loss, too." said Austin.
All the while, the Helldiver had his omni tool activated and was making his own copy of the data just in case. He had it behind hi back so that neither Mordin or Tali would notice.
"Wasted potential." Mordin sighed.
"They don't deserve this, Mordin. Save the data." said Austin.
"Point taken, Shepard. Capturing data, wiping local copy. Still years away from cure. But closer than starting from scratch. Done. Ready to go. Ready to be off Tuchanka. Anywhere else. Maybe somewhere sunny." said Mordin as he copied the data and deleted the one on the console. Austin too stopped his own copy and removed it. He wouldn't be needing it.
"Let's get out of here." said Austin.

Back on the Normandy, Austin checked to se how mordin was doing. He seemed content and was occupying his time with some more work.
"Still hard to believe Maelon betrayed me. Betrayed my work. Disgusted by his actions. Proud of his nerve, though. Always thought he lacked backbone." said Mordin.
"You're really at peace with what happened?" Austin asked.
"Yes. Of course. Can't change what happened. Life continues. Back to mission, back to work. Become like Maelon otherwise. Salarian emotional processing faster than other species. Has to be. Short-lived culture. Can't spend time reminiscing." said Mordin.
"So you really don't feel bad at all about what happened on Tuchanka?" Austin asked.
"Yes, correct. Now, at least. Greatly distressed at the time. Stages of grief. Loss, anger, rationalization. Dealt with it. Most issues settled on Tuchanka. Some on shuttle back to Normandy." said Mordin.
"What about Maelon's data on the Genophage? His attempts at a cure?" Austin asked.
"What about it? Have it over there somewhere. Not dealing with it now. Need to focus on Collectors." said Mordin. "Not important now, regardless. Appreciate you helping me back on Tuchanka."

Sorry if I portrayed Shepard as being a bit harsh towards Mordin, but I personally find it appalling that he thinks the Genophage is right and the fact that he keeps trying to defend it. I was even tempted at one point to have Shepard hit mordin for it, but I managed to resist the temptation and changed it to be less harsh. While i may think that way though, I still don't agree with Maleon's methods though, even if his goal was good.
Anyway, I don't know when the next chapter will be, but I hope for it to be worth the wait.
Look forward to reading your reviews. See you soon!
- 25
- 26
- 27
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Mass Effect: The Helldiver Saga, The Collector War