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Salvaging from Strife[]
Chapter 27 - Silver Linings[]
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Part 1[]
World of Tuchanka, Aralakh Star System
Urdnot Wrex slouched on his throne, suspiciously studying the krogan scientist before him. His narrowed eyes glanced towards the juvenile quietly waiting behind the scientist. He suspected he knew why they were here.
"So, Doctor Droyas," he growled, "let me guess why you are here. Have you cured the genophage?"
The proud, confident posture of the doctor vanished immediately. Clearly, he hadn't expected that. Angrily, he demanded, "I asked for a private audience!" Looking around at the krogan of Clan Urdnot watching the proceedings curiously, he furiously added, "I can't talk openly about this!"
"You are hardly the first to claim such a miracle." Wrex revealed with a menacing chuckle. Leaning forwards threateningly, he predicted, "This runt is your breakthrough, and now you need credits, guards, rewards for your brilliance. A fertile female, or several hundred infertile females, to expand the cure. In a few years, there are complications, but you promise success soon. Then you vanish. Do you know what Clan Weyrloc did with the last fool to try?"
"I have a cure," Doctor Droyas insisted, "but I need help."
"Even if you are telling the truth, you wouldn't be the first to try. I remember Okeer and his mad experiments, the Iron Wombs of the humans, and many others over the centuries. None of them succeeded. Why should I even bother listening to you?" He nodded to the guards, and they closed in on the doctor's entourage.
"My ship has fifty more newborn aboard who call me father." In the stunned silence that followed, the doctor haughtily added, "you can see for yourself."
Many of the krogan present were ready to take up his offer, punching and shoving each other in their eagerness to rush out. Before a stampede could start, Wrex grabbed his shotgun and fired near the exit, drawing all attention to him again. "Wreav," he ordered, "check his ship. Nobody else leaves the camp or send a transmission. Now everyone out of this room," he commanded. "I will talk to these two alone."
It took far too long for the doors to slam shut. "So, Doctor Droyas," he growled, "you have the private audience you wanted. Speak."
"The Spectre Saren Arterius built a Krogan breeding facility on Virmire. He hired me and other researchers to develop a cure he'd acquired from somewhere, and implement it."
That made no sense to Wrex. Spectres served the Citadel Council, and the Citadel Council, however much they occasionally bemoaned the need, continued maintaining the genophage that crippled krogan reproduction rates. They were the main reason no cure had been successfully developed, violently if needed, fearing a repeat of the Krogan Rebellions if the krogan population exploded uncontrollably again.
So he asked, "Saren Arterius, why does a Spectre need a cure?"
"He recruited krogan warlords with it," Doctor Droyas explained. "Promises them the cure. He wanted to raise a krogan army from the breeding facility, but he's given up on them." Doctor Droyas looked unhappy at the idea. "Whatever his plans were, he's accelerating them, and he doesn't have time for his krogan army to mature."
"Saren hasn't visited Virmire for a while now. His liaison, Matriarch Benezia, had been handling everything, but she's dead now. Now the Spectre is abandoning the base. He ordered everything that couldn't be removed destroyed, including the breeding chambers and my laboratory. The varren-humping turian doesn't care he's ruining years of effort. He's gone mad, and I'm done with him."
"So you came back to Tuchanka," Wrex mused. "You want us to save your research. And why Clan Urdnot?"
"Your clan is strong, and I've heard of your efforts to unite the krogan of Tuchanka under you. You have vision, you can see the true potential. We can be free of the genophage and reclaim our rightful place in the galaxy. Look at him." Droyas pointed towards the juvenile krogan. "He's from the breeding chambers. Healthy, sane, intelligent," he boasted.
"Too docile. But we can toughen them up properly." Wrex forced down the hope swelling in him. "What, exactly, do you intend us to do? You said the breeding chambers couldn't be moved."
"They can't, but I can salvage everything I need to rebuild them elsewhere. I just need time and ships. Some geth are still guarding the facility, but Saren took most of them with him to human space. Otherwise only a few krogan and researchers are left. They follow me, but there aren't enough to fight the geth."
"Geth?" Wrex wondered. "The humans were correct then. Saren's gone renegade." Which meant the cure wasn't sanctioned by the Citadel. "The Council won't tolerate us possessing the cure. They'll destroy it, and anyone who knows it. That if they hear even a rumor about Virmire. We must strike fast." He tapped his communicator, and Wreav answered immediately.
"Wrex, it's true. There's a nursery filled with infants," Wreav reported, his voice full of wonder and greed. "With this, we can swell our numbers a thousand-fold. Nothing will be able to stop us."
Just curing the genophage would not save the krogan species from its suicidal decline, but this was a chance Wrex had to seize. He would worry about reforming krogan society in the future.
"Mobilize Clan Urdnot! We march on Virmire, for the future of our clan and our species!"
Part 2[]
It helped for Garrus to think of the prisoner release as a hostage negotiation.
Noveria had Commander Shepard, Tali and several others imprisoned and threatened harsh punishment if demands were not quickly met. Negotiators had talked Noveria down to an acceptable compromise instead, and the Normandy Initiative had paid the ransom. Garrus' role was to ensure the prisoners were transferred from Noveria's custody to the human ship Calypso smoothly, resolving the situation cleanly.
The analogy broke down a little on closer examination of course, but it still helped.
Three distinct groups were on this side of the airlock with Garrus. Precentor Shepard was there, as was the human Elemental Alenko, alongside a collection of humans representing the many factions of the Human Star League.
A pair of quarians waited a short distance apart from them. Marines, here on official Migrant Fleet business. Their hardsuits certainly looked far bulkier and menacing than Tali's.
A squad of soldiers from the Turian Eighth Fleet were also present, placed under Garrus' command, here to ensure the quarantine was enforced. Not the rachni queen herself obviously, she wouldn't have fit through the airlock, but the Citadel Council was adamant no biosamples made it off Noveria.
Nobody spoke. It wasn't silent, the background noise of the ship feeling unnaturally loud in the absence of most other sounds. What irritated Garrus more was the zero gravity. The Calypso lacked artificial gravity generated by mass effect fields, a trait Garrus understood to be typical of human craft, even ones built or refitted with element zero cores. With the engines idle and generating no g-force, he needed mag-boots to stay standing in place.
Slowly, the airlock hissed open and Garrus stepped through into the umbilical tube between Calypso with the Noverian frigate, followed closely behind by the turian soldiers. To his relief, the prisoners were all there, clustered together surrounded by guards, including Tali on a hovering medical bed. Swiftly and professionally, the soldiers began scanning the tube and its occupants for anomalies, while Garrus approached the leader.
"Officer Vakarian, a pleasure to see you again," Commander Shepard greeted him neutrally, before wincing and asking, "what happened to your face?"
Garrus twitched his facial muscles, feeling the swelling and cracked skin twinge. "Your aunt has a strong right hook, Shepard. It will heal in a few more days. We can talk more later. As one of the conditions C-Sec and the Citadel Council demanded to support your release, I will be formally questioning you and your companions about what happened on Noveria."
"Sure." Commander Shepard shrugged casually. "If that was part of the ransom, I'll pay it." He caught Garrus looking at Tali and added, "They told me she's stable and sedated, little more. Kept her separate from the rest of us."
Garrus nodded. "Noveria said her suit breach was severe." One after another, the soldiers reported. Garrus gestured for Shepard and the others to board the Calypso, and commented, "you seem to be taking all this rather well."
"Captures happen often enough in my job, better to live and fight another day. No point dying pointlessly. Though being on this side of the guns is a novelty," the mercenary answered as he led the others out. "Besides, Noveria treated us well enough, MRB standard. Reckon we're more valuable to both sides alive than dead."
Garrus left the tube last, leaving the Noverian security behind to return to their own frigate, to find the unarmed and unprotected Commander Shepard floating between the medical bed and the two quarian marines.
"She's with me," Commander Shepard protested, holding his position.
"We have orders from Admiral Rael'Zorah, mercenary," one of the quarians replied. "She's coming with us."
"Admiral Zorah?" Commander Shepard repeated, confused. "Wait, are you telling me Tali's related to an admiral?"
"Yes. Now move out of the way."
The Mech pilot shifted aside, watching with visible bewilderment as the quarians took Tali away. "Lady Tali, huh? Should have paid her more. Well, no quarian business or hires ever again," Garrus overheard him muttering. "Admiral. Yikes."
"I see you weren't aware." Precentor Shepard had come closer while Garrus was distracted, and his eyes instinctively darted towards her hands as she spoke. The ComStar precentor had only given a clipped, insincere apology to him on Omega, and he still felt uneasy near her. She was clad in one of those white, billowing ceremonial robes of the human priests, with her arms concealed under the wide sleeves. Any number of weapons could be hidden within those folds, though Garrus was confident the bulky garments would impede Precentor Shepard's mobility if it came to a fight.
Either ignorant or ignoring his hostility, the Precentor continued talking to her nephew. "You are fortunate she survived. As is, it is taking careful diplomacy to avoid irreparably damaging relations with the quarians. Still, some good may yet come out of this mess, provided you listen to me. Tali'Zorah could be the connection we need to finally talk with the quarians about their renegade machines."
"Precentor Shepard, I'm touched by your concern for me," Commander Shepard sarcastically replied. "My sincerest gratitude for freeing us from captivity out of the goodness of your heart."
"You were cheap. Don't flatter yourself."
Commander Shepard shrugged again and said, "I'll start by writing a glowing performance review for Tali and add a large pay bonus on top, if ComStar is willing to shoulder the cost. Satisfied?"
"That can wait," Precentor Shepard replied. Her lips twitched, one corners briefly pulling upwards in a wry smile. "For now, you need to talk with these representatives of the Star League. Apart from the Kuritans and their commandos, the rest are all eagerly waiting to congratulate the hero of the hour, safely returned from Noveria at last."
Commander Shepard looked to the onrushing tide of dignitaries and blanched. He turned to Garrus and appealed, "can I please be interrogated right now?"
"Unfortunately," Garrus told him apologetically, already withdrawing, "this is an internal affair of the Star League. You're on your own."
"I thought you were all about doing what's right," Commander Shepard lamented, "protocol and regulations be damned."
"Yes, well, after being punched in the face by your aunt, I'm reconsidering."
Part 3[]
There were times, Commander Montgomery Shepard reflected, when the galaxy just wouldn't stop throwing surprises at him.
"Those are Aurigan Royal Guard colors. On my Mech."
Noveria releasing him was a good surprise, he could admit. But then he discovered Tali was a noble incognito, like the stories from his grandparents. And now somebody had painted the Bloody Igor in the red and gold of the Aurigan Royal Guard, the elite unit of House Arano and the Aurigan Coalition, replacing the original colors of the Star Hunters. And he had a good idea who gave the order.
"I was never in the Aurigan Royal Guard!" He shouted angrily at his aunt, who had come with him to the Mech Bay.
"You are now," Aunt Kamea calmly replied. "Lady Sumire Arano authorised your entry into the Aurigan Royal Guard, in recognition of you and your family's deeds and valour."
"This is another one of your plots, isn't it." Monty hissed.
Coat of Arms of the Aurigan Coalition
"It's a necessity. The Aurigan Coalition needs to be represented in the Normandy Initiative, if it is to have any say in the future of the Aurigan Reach."
"Normandy Command has decided to make you the face of Normandy Relay," Aunt Kamea informed him. "Better than giving any of the Great Houses or Clans the prestige. It makes for a good story. A brave, honourable Mechwarrior of the Aurigan Coalition, grievously wronged by Spectre Arterius on Feros. Then he attacked your home planet and murdered your liege lady and people without warning or reason. Now you fight in the name of House Arano, the Aurigan Coalition and the Star League to bring Spectre Arterius to justice. And so you drew first blood on Therum, brought down righteous wrath upon his base on Noveria, and are the champion who slew his lover Matriarch Benezia."
She briefly paused for effect. "Commander Shepard of the Normandy. It has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"
"I can do that while being commander of the Star Hunters." Monty told her.
"A small-time Periphery mercenary isn't prestigious enough to compete with the Great Houses or the Clans, and too many of the aliens look down on all mercenaries. Even if they're a Periphery unit, the Aurigan Royal Guard grants you the legitimacy you will need to play your role. Being ennobled would be better, but we must make do with your family's close ties to House Arano."
"It's your family too, aunt," Monty interrupted her again. "And why should I play along?"
"I can give you speeches about the politics, except you will refuse to understand." She sighed. "So, I will say this instead. The Aurigan Coalition is on the brink of collapse, but it is in the Star League's interest to save it. And believe me or not, I still hold some fondness for the Aurigan Coalition as well."
Monty doubted that, but let her continue speaking. "Lady Sumire Arano will be essential to holding its worlds together, no doubt. But if the Aurigan Coalition is to survive, its people need a war hero to rally behind, to believe in, after what Saren and the Geth have done to Coromodir."
"What… exactly do you mean by that?" He had a feeling he wouldn't like this next surprise.
"There have been… developments in the Aurigan Reach," Aunt Kamea admitted, reluctantly. "Troubling ones. There is finally information from Coromodir."