Chapter 06:  Sur’kesh

“I have to say, it’s either really brave or really stupid for the salarians to have kidnapped female Krogans because they were immune.” Rick said to himself aloud.

The team was on their way to the facility on Sur’Kesh and the atmosphere in the kodiak was palpable thanks to Wrex. It was understandable, after all the future of his species was within his reach.

“My money is on ‘really stupid’.” Betted Garrus.
“Yeah, I’d probably bet on that too.” replied Rick. “By the way, Wrex. How is your informant?”
“Why do you care?” the krogan asked curtly.
“He’s a friend. He’s risking a lot for doing the right thing and I want him to get out of it alive; I got plans involving him.”
“I won’t even bother to know how you know but I’m curious about that guy's identity.” Jane confessed.
“We all know him.” Rick said, looking at his omni-tool.
“Mordin.” stated EDI after thinking for a few seconds.
“Makes sense, former STG, worked on the genophage…” Garrus listed.
“Why would he? Didn’t he modify the genophage in the first place?”
“Guilt, Red. Guilt and hope.”
“I can imagine what he feels.” she said, remembering the loss of 300 thousand batarians’ lives to stop the reaper invasion, by her own fault.
“What do you mean hope?” inquired the krogan.
“To Mordin nothing is more important than life. While reducing the Krogans’ number was necessary, the way it was done was wrong. With you in charge, leading a new… peaceful movement compared to the usual krogan politics, I think he hopes that no more lives will be unnecessarily wasted. He has no bias against your people but he understood that the krogans would have just rebelled with a cure, perpetuating the cycle.”
“How did you get in touch with him in the first place?” asked Garrus.
“He came to Tuchanka.” he simply answered and changed the topic. “And How is your project?” he inquired looking at Rick.
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?!” the krogan exclaimed with a bit of anger, it was his people he entrusted him with.
“What project?” questioned the turian.

Rick sighed and pondered for a moment if he shouldn’t have lied and if he should answer Garrus’ question.

“Three years ago, after the attack on the Citadel I began a project whose goal was to save the space faring species and their culture from the Reapers’ doings. I started building gigantic bunkers, deep underground, on inhospitable planets across the whole galaxy. With the help of Councilor Tevos, Valern and Anderson, they secretly made a list of people with desirable traits to perpetuate their own species and culture but most of all opened to work together in preparation for the Reapers’ return in 50 thousand years if we failed to take them down. I invited Wrex to participate when we were on Tunchanka almost a year ago. Six months ago councilor Quentius was brought in the project because he proved himself trustworthy and to replace Anderson who had stepped down.”
“Are you saying the councilors worked behind their respective government’s back?”
“Yes. I was quite persuasive after defeating Saren that even if they didn’t believe in the Reapers’ threat it was better to have measures in place and never need it than to need it and not having them. They saw with their own eyes Sovereign and the huge file I made with all my findings on the reaper did the job. The governments discarded it of course because… politicians… More interested in embezzling money than using it for the people who elected them. Anyway, with Red stopping a second invasion I activated the necessary protocol as I thought they were coming soon. Every person selected was recovered under bullshit pretexts, put in a stasis pod then brought in the bunkers.”
“How did you get the manpower to do that? We’re talking about four million people here.” Jane asked.
“It depends on the species but most of the time, I used the military. Retired N7 who still wanted to serve humanity is one of many examples. Some former STG, former commando. Only the krogans didn’t need anyone.”
“Yeah, I told them it was to ensure the future of our people and to the leaders of the group the true nature of the project. They were all willing to do it.”
“I’m surprised your project wasn’t discovered.” said EDI.
“Most of the people in charge of the bunkers were believers in the incoming Reapers invasion and understood the need for secrecy. Add the fact that it was presented as safe keeping civilization and nobody looked too closely. Well, except for TIM.”
“TIM, knows?!” exclaimed Jane, not liking that bit of news.
“Who’s TIM?” Wrex asked.
“The Illusive Man, Cerberus’ head. Yes, he knows but I don’t think he knows the locations of the bunkers. I only told the head chief the coordinates of their own bunkers. They don’t even know there are others. Since each bunker has representatives of each species he’d probably think that I only build one. In any case it’s impossible for him to be aware of all of them. As for why I don’t know, it is because once a bunker is closed and locked no communication can come in or out. Not for the next hundred years. Unless someone personally goes there but I’m the only one who knows so…”
“Each civilization and their future is more or less secure.” EDI ended up getting a nod of affirmation from Rick.

Just as they were done talking they landed on the landing zone of the facility. Their welcome had not been warmed as apparently the Dalatrass had ‘forgotten’ to warn the personnel on site. Checking with her, the one in charge ordered his men to lower their weapons, though Wrex got two babysitters and wasn’t allowed to get further into the complex.

The team had to wait a bit for the proper protocols to be followed but could hang around the area as they wished, so long that they didn’t touch anything. Jane met an old acquaintance from Virmire; the leader of the Salarian team that acted as a diversion, and spent her time talking to him.
Eavesdropping Rick heard one of the aliens speak about an unauthorized encrypted message sent from the base to an unknown addressee. With the importance of their mission, their welcome and the Dalatrass ‘forgetfulness’, he had the feeling that they needed to move and fast. Those female Krogans were the only chance at a cure and he wondered who would be interested in having them dead. Listing the possible culprits he was aware of, he had two names. Dalatrass Linron and Cerberus. The former was obvious but the latter less so.
The terrorist organization’s goal was the dominance of the human race over the other species in the galaxy from a technological viewpoint. If they had the technology the number of Krogans wouldn’t matter at all. The only explanation Rick could think of was to sow discord and make the alliance between Turian and Krogan and humanity fail. Since Cerberus agents were modified with Reapers tech, the man had no doubt they were indoctrinated and it made sense for the organization to do everything they could to weaken the resistance the Reapers would meet.

Though the message being sent to Cerberus was unlikely, as it only had human agents. Since it was a secret salarian facility on their homeworld, there was no human here, except Jane and him. The only possibility was if the Dalatrass would have ordered someone to send the message to Cerberus and that would also imply that Cerberus had some troops already present on the planet. The Normandy would be long gone by then with the female Krogans.

“Rick?” came the voice of Jane from the side.
“Yes?”
“What’s wrong?”
“What makes you think something is?”
“We’re in a secret tech facility on the salarian homeworld and you’re not looking around to learn something.” the commander explained.
“Good reasoning. No, I don’t believe anything is wrong. I don’t have enough proof and it's too far-fetched a thought.”
“But something caught your attention enough to make you think. What is it?” Jane insisted.
“I think that the Dalatrass sold us out to Cerberus and that this facility is about to be heavily attacked.” he replied bluntly, making the redhead’s eyes widen.
“Okay… What makes you think of that?” she asked as it was a very serious idea.
“I heard one of the salarian talk about an unauthorized encrypted transmission from the base to an unknown party. It was done as we were landing.”
“Just from that?” Garrus said as he was listening on the side, waiting for the elevator to come up and take them down.

“Too many factors are at play at the same time. It’s unlikely I know but…”
“That’s good enough for me.” stated Jane.
“What?”
“That’s good enough for me. I’m used to you coming to the right conclusions, the right events that would happen with almost nothing. If something is telling you that the Dalatrass sold us out to Cerberus, then it’s worth taking it into consideration. I still remember how you caught Vasir in Liara’s apartment just from the bullets’ impact.”
“It was different, there were too many clues.”
“The commander is right. Numerous times you’ve displayed an uncanny ability to read into things when no one else could with very little information. Perhaps it will not come to pass but that you’d think about it makes the possibility exist and it should not be ignored.” supported EDI as the team entered the elevator.
“So, an attack from Cerberus?” Garrus said, checking his sniper rifle.
“As I said, unlikely.”
“But still possible, so everyone stay alert.” Jane ordered, getting a nod of acknowledgement from everyone.


When the elevator stopped at the correct level, they were reunited with Mordin who was checking something on a terminal. After some talk it was apparent that this mission became even more primordial as only one female was left alive. All the others succumbed to what Maelon did to them back on Tunchanka. Jane couldn’t help herself and talk to the last one.
“We’re here to take you home. My team and Urdnot Wrex, though he’s held up upstairs.”
“Why? I’m no one to you. Why would a human help me?”
“Because you’re the key to the success of a galactic alliance between the Hierarchy and the Krogan against the Reapers.”
“Rick!” Jane shouted scandalized. “You can’t say things like that!”
“I can and I did.” he replied to his sister before turning the captive female. “ Don’t worry though, you’re also the only hope of a future for my friend’s people, your people. So you’re not just a bargaining chip if that makes you feel better.”

Jane just face palmed as the female Krogan began to laugh.

“Bluntly honest, I understand why you’re friends with Wrex.”
“Don’t say that we’re friends to him, his head will not stop ranting.”

The krogan kept laughing until alarms began to ring all over the facility.

Jane quickly asked a Salarian what was going on and got an answer she didn’t like. Suddenly she received a video transmission from Wrex.

“Rick, you were right!” she shouted.
“Shit.” was his only answer as he drew his shotgun from the back. EDI and Garrus took their weapons in hand too. “Cerberus?” he asked Jane.
“From what Wrex just told me, yes. We need to get her out of here.”

She went back to the salarian to have the female krogan released but the man quoted some spiel about some protocols that he didn’t finish as Mordin electrocuted him from behind. Instantly the salarian began to prepare the female’s extraction, Mordin getting on the pod to monitor the quarantine procedures. After promising that she will see Tuchanka again, Jane went back to her team to give directives.

“We’re going up to deal with Cerberus.” she said as she began to walk towards the elevator but was stopped by Rick.
“Not that way.”
“We got here from there.”
“Had it been me attacking the facility, I would have prevented the people inside to move around, regroup and mount a defense.” he said as he walked to the opposite side of the room and the elevator.

Jane simply followed, understanding that their means of transport would soon have some problems. As they were exiting the room she heard an explosion coming from behind her, proving him right.

“What’s the way?” She asked him.
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t? Didn’t you hack one of their terminals or consoles for the plans?” she asked in shock.
“STG building, Red. They have long been deleted from the network.” he answered as he began climbing a ladder.

Going through a door at the end of it they ended up  in an open air area. Salarians were around shooting down the members of Cerberus attacking with sniper rifles. They were quickly dispatched by a Cerberus shuttle coming from their blind spot and dropping agents. The team immediately sprung into action and killed them all. With no way up from where they came from, they crossed over the area, dealt with another squad of cerberus agents and took the only door there was.

Under their very eyes, the wall on their right exploded pushing back two Cerberus agents and who were done in by a Yagh coming from the hole before running away in the team’s opposite direction.

“What was that?” asked Garrus.
“A Yahg.” answered Jane.
“So that’s what the Shadow broker looked like.” he exclaimed as he had been knocked out at the beginning of the fight and couldn’t have a good look at him with the low brightness before it began. “I’m still pissed to have missed that fight.”
“We can always drop you in their homeworld.” joked Rick.
“No thanks. One is alright but all of them? I like to live, thank you.”

Going up some stairs they received a transmission from Mordin, telling them that the pod was stuck at a checkpoint under Cerberus fire. Quickly speeding up they arrived into another open area and saw a Cerberus squad. Rick immediately charged.
He grabbed the head of the grunt he had targeted with his left hand and exploded it on the wall right behind it. In a swift motion he spinned around using his shotgun against the grunts friend less than feet away, while sending the body of his dead victim towards the two other members of the squad, toppling them down. EDI threw an incinerate at both of them and Jane’s Throw created a flame burst putting an end to their lives.

After Rick dealt with the protocols allowing the pod to move again, the team continued to make their way up from checkpoints to check points doing their very best to stop Cerberus to kill the female Krogan. When they finally got back to the landing pad area they helped Wrex fight the terrorist troops there. The arrival of an Atlas, a combination of a big Ymir mech but with a human pilot, complicated things, making everyone take cover except for Rick who took care of the last grunts by blurring around too fast for the pilot to lock on him.

“How the heck do we deal with that thing?” Yelled Garrus, dropping down to avoid a rocket.

“I’m on it!” Rick answered from behind a pillar.

He turned on his omni-tool and began to type on it.

“What are you waiting for?!” Wrex shouted as he didn’t see Rick doing anything.
“I need a minute!”
“You’re kidding right?!” Jane said.
“Yes, I need more time now since you keep distracting me! Just bust his shields or stay down!”

He typed as fast as he could while his friends were fighting to stay alive. He succeeded in his task just in time as a rocket destroyed Wrex’s cover and the Atlas prepared to shoot another one. The mech froze, confusing its pilot who began to check the controls. A loud noise of something powering up was heard.

“Get your asses out of the splash zone!” the helmeted man yelled.

A second warning wasn’t necessary and the team that had been a bit bewildered at the sudden freezing of the mech, began to move as far away as they could and took cover. A few seconds later, the noise became very loud and everyone recognized the sign of something overloading and prepared themselves for an explosion. Explosion that came another few seconds later and destroyed the Atlas and killed its pilot, projecting shrapnels of different sizes everywhere.

“What did you do?” Shepard asked, coming out from her hiding place.
“I hacked it. Cut the delivery of energy to…”
“All systems. With nowhere to go the energy accumulated and the eezo core blew up.” EDI finished explaining.
“That thing had an eezo core?” said Garrus.
“Yes, it wouldn’t have been able to land in one piece otherwise.”
“Well, I’m glad that thing is gone. Let’s release Mordin and her from the pod and get back to the Normandy.”

____________________________________________________________

“And you think the Dalatrass is the one who contacted Cerberus?” Hackett’s holo-display asked Rick who for the first time was participating in the meeting between the Admiral and Jane.
“Someone warned them. Can’t be Wrex obviously, neither Primarch Victus as the whole alliance would have been down the drain. That left two possibilities. The Dalatrass, who’s fiercely opposed to a cure or someone of the Normandy’s crew.”
“You can’t be serious?!” Jane asked.
“I am but I don’t believe that’s the case. EDI?”
“No suspicious transmission was sent from the Normandy.” replied the AI.
“That leaves the Dalatrass.”
“Because of that message you heard salarian talk about…” stated Steven pensive.
“Yes and I don’t think this will be her last try. Diplomacy failed, using someone else failed too. I believe she’s running out of options.”
“Any idea what she will do next?”
“She can’t blow us up and make it look like an accident, that's for sure, so her only resort is bargaining.”
“The salarian’s help.” replied the admiral immediately connecting the dots.
“Yes. Covertly of course, as asking for a bargain is proof of weakness, and with the current political climate on Salarian space she can’t afford that.”
“What do you mean?” Jane asked.
“Linron has control of the Salarians but barely. Her… reelection so to speak was a narrow win. Bargaining publicly when her position is unstable will only make her lose power. I’m thinking she will ask you to sabotage the cure one way or another without the krogans knowing about it.”
“The turians get the krogans’ help, humanity the turians, by extension the krogans and the Salarian but the Dalatrass still gets what she wants. Clever.” commented Hackett.
“Yes but stupid in the long run since the plot would be discovered sooner rather than later. And the turians will side with the krogans against the Salarians. They gave their word and their honor is at stake.”
“I guess we will fight without the Salarians’ help then.” said Jane as a matter of fact.
“Not necessarily.” Replied Rick.
“We’re not sabotaging the cure!”
“No, we get rid of Linron.”
“We can’t really kill her.” she replied with a flat look.
“We can.” Hackett said.
“Sir?”
“Politically I mean. She has the reins of the entire Salarian race in hand but with a loose grip. If we can  strike a deal with her political opponents we can have her replaced.” the admiral explained.
“And we have everything we need to make it happen.” announced rick.
“We do?”
“First, you have the unconditional support of the STG, who will fight with you regardless of what their government says, meaning their loyalty is to you and the cause against the reapers before Linron. Best thing is she doesn’t even know it. Any political coup in salarian politics, which had succeeded, was because the one in charge had the support of the STG. Second, to make it a sure thing we have Diana. She can report, at the appropriate time, Linron’s wrong doings and paint her in an unfavorable light while putting under a favorable one the cooperation between humans, turians and krogans for a cure and alliance against the reapers. For example we can play the card: ‘the krogans changed under Wrex’s rule and don’t seek conquest but cooperation with the other species. How they learned from their mistakes made more than a thousand years ago and that they deserve a second chance and a cure.’ Victus gives a statement corroborating that and we implicate the asari by saying something like ‘they didn’t comment on it but their politics had always been cooperation between species’, making the people think they are nothing but in on it.”
“The asari would be pinned down and forced to support the cure publicly. Otherwise it would be the two strongest military in the Galaxy and the Krogans against them and the Salarians. It’s a fight they couldn’t possibly win, military or politically even if the Reapers were not around. They would be seen as hypocrites which they absolutely can’t afford. On the Salarians side, they would be isolated, three of the council species against them, there is no way Linron could stay in power when she has nothing to stand on.” Hackett explained further.
“And we get the Salarians’ help beyond just the STG.The only problem is the Asari’s reaction to forcing their hands. They won’t like that.” Rick finished.
“... I hate politics.” Jane mumbled.
“It’s a game where the smartest win.” he commented.
“Why don’t you like playing it then?”
“What interest is there in playing a game when you know you’ll win?” he answered as he left the com room and said some final words to the Admiral. “Steevie, I sent you the file on the shield.”
“Ugh.. I really don’t know how you handle him, commander, nor how you two are related.” not liking his nickname.
“I make do but to be honest ever since I learned who he is, handling him has been rather difficult. Partly my fault I admit. As for any relation… it turns out we’re half siblings so maybe he took more after his father than our mother though sometimes the way he’s so cold, unfeeling and indifferent when he deals with different matters reminds me of her.”
“Half siblings you say? How did that come up?” Hackett asked.
“During a training session on biotics. He said it like it was obvious and hearing his arguments, it made sense. I asked for a DNA test to be sure but it’s the truth.”
“That… put many questions on the table, notably how you’re dealing with it.”
“One day, heck one conversation at a time, sir. It’s not something that will be resolved in a short time.” she replied sadly.
“Anderson believed the two of you to be unstoppable when working together and he hoped that your relationship would mend. I agree and I’m hoping too, commander, because without both of you with your head in this war and working together, we’re not going to win it.”
“There is no need to worry in that regard, sir. If we have something in common is that we leave everything personal behind during a mission.”
“Good, make sure that doesn’t change. On another note, the construction of the crucible has started. Our engineers have no idea what they are building but the plans are simple to understand.”
“Liara told me that Rick thought it wasn’t a protheans device but the work of multiple species handed down, cycle after cycle. It would make sense that, knowing they couldn't win their war they would make it as simple as possible for the next species to finish the device.”
“That would make sense, yes.”
“Anything else, sir?”
“One last thing, commander. I got a report that Cerberus had uncovered a major prothean artifact and attacked a colony to get it. Our forces are spread too thin to both liberate it and acquire the artifact.”
“Which colony?”
“Eden Prime.”