Chapter 16: Welcome to Tunchanka

Despite being a desolated rock, Rick was in a good mood when he landed on Tunchanka. His training has paid off and he believed to be apt enough to use his feet in a real fight. Furthermore, Shepard’s own training was finally close to completion. She now knew by heart each biotic combination possible and instantly answered when quizzed about it out of the blue. If he were to be honest he’d acknowledge that he will miss those teachings lessons he was giving her. On the physicality of things, Shepard had more or less mastered enhancing and had begun to practice the biotic charge.

The commander was in the same kind of mood. She had understood quickly that the one charge she made on Freedom’s Progress was nothing short of a miracle and as a result looked differently at Rick, who constantly charged around the battlefield. The charge was absolutely draining and asked for an insane amount of focus. Taking into account that it was just to do the charge alone and that in truth during a fight there were many other factors to pay attention to, she had a newfound respect for her unofficial XO.

That also made her realize how lucky she was to have both Rick and Jack as instructors. Rick's keen sense of control and knowledge about biotics was priceless and Jack’s translation of his technical babble was life saving. Even the ex-convict learned a thing or two from him. Honestly, she didn’t think she would have made half the progress and as fast with instructors from the Alliance. She saw the results of their training with Kaidan and she had to admit that her former teammate's abilities pale in comparison to her own instructors. Especially since Kaidan was supposed to have implants allowing more power, regardless of their side effects.

As the shuttle’s door opened, she, along Rick, Grunt and Garrus, stood up and exited their means of transport. Quickly following the direction a Krogan guard gave them, they arrived in some kind of hall, in ruins obviously, where they saw their former teammate sitting on a throne ruling.

“I always knew Wrex had a big head.” Rick joked as they moved forward to have an audience.

Seeing them on the side waiting, their friends dismissed the guy he was talking to and signaled them to approach.

“Shepard! So the rumors were true, you came back from the dead.”
“Yeah. Disappointed?”
“Nah, the opposite. The galaxy without you running around blowing shit up is boring. Now, welcome to Tuchanka, home of the proud Krogan race. You to Wald.”
“What? No welcome for your turian friend?” said Garrus.
“Meh.” replied Wrex in a smirk before turning his head towards Grunt. “And what’s this?”

Raising himself from his throne he walked down some stairs and sniffed the air around the team’s baby.

“That’s Grunt. He’s the result of Okeer genetic manipulation. He’s genophage free.”
“Yes, I can smell the tank on him.”
“In my veins run the blood of the greatest krogan warriors!” Grunt said with vehemence.
“If you’re Okeer’s creation I don’t doubt it.” replied Wrex turning around and sat back down on his throne. “I don’t care about your birth, only about what you can do. That won’t be the case for most krogan, though. Okeer is a hated name among my people.”
“I will shatter the skull of everyone who challenges my existence with my boots.”
“Eh, that’s the spirit.”
“You don’t have to worry about Okeer, he’s dead.” shared the redhead.
“Good. Now, what brings you here?”
“Something is wrong with Grunt. He’s-...”
“I can feel the rage inside of me, trying to get out. It pushes me to fight, to…”
“Yeah, Yeah, you’re just becoming an adult.”
“Wait! Are you saying that Grunt…” Garrus began
“Is hitting krogan puberty?” Shepard finished.
“So, do we find him a whore or…” Rick joked.
“Ha! A whore! That’s a good one, but no. He needs to undergo the rite of passage.”
“What does it entail?”
“Knowing the krogan, loads of killing and survival?” Rick inquired.
“You got that right!”
“NO! You’re going too far Wrex!” came the loud voice of the Krogan dismissed earlier, making his way back to the group. “That thing is no krogan, it’s a result of a bottle and a syringe! And you want it to undergo one of the most sacred rites of our people?!”
“And you are … ?” asked Shepard.
“I’m Gata…”

He didn’t get to state his full name as Rick got right in front of his face and headbutted him so hard that the krogan stepped back. The helmet man didn’t stop there as he swept the alien’s feet from under him making him fall on his back and put his shotgun into his mouth.

“My bitch. That’s who you are now, and you will shut your mouth and do what Wrex tells you to do. If you don’t like it you’re free to do it the krogan way and challenge me, or him, for the right to rule.”

Grunt smirked at the display. He really likes that human. He was a fierce warrior and had a lot to teach him. Wrex for his part was laughing like mad.

“He’s right, Uvenk. You don’t like how I rule? Then you’re free to challenge me as is every krogan’s right. The question is, will you?”

Uvenk, as his name turned out to be, shook his head negatively. Only then did Rick remove his shotgun from his mouth and moved back. Picking himself up the humiliated krogan left not without sending a death glare to the man responsible.

“See gingey? That’s how you start krogan negotiations.”
“Hahahaha! Damn! I missed you Wald. It’s never boring with you around, interested in joining the Urdnot clan?”
“Can’t do, I already have my own clan.”
“Bah! That’s a shame. One of you is better than ten of those Pyjaks.”
“Wait! You have your own clan? Since when?!” asked a surprised Shepard but her question was ignored.
“So, about that rite?” Rick asked instead.
“You got it right. The welp along with two friends have to go to a sacred place and survive for a certain amount of time. Once he does he's considered an adult allowing him to join a clan, a name, to have land and access to the female.” Wrex explained.
“Then I chose Shepard and Wald. There are no better warriors than them.”
“Yeah, no, I’ll sit this one out.”
“You will?!” exclaimed Grunt.
“What he said.” said Shepard pointing her thumb behind her shoulder at her baby krogan.
“Yeah. I mean, if we both go with him we’re going to break some kind of record or something. We’re going to completely humiliate the past generations and demoralize the next ones. Besides, it feels like cheating to me.”
“Eh, you’re not wrong. Anyway, whatever you lot decide, go speak to the shaman, he’s the one responsible for the rite.”


In the end Rick did stay behind which was fine with him as he wanted to have a serious and important talk with his friend.

“So, what do you want to talk about?” the krogan asked.
“What makes you think I do?”
“‘Cause I know you well. Shepard, Garrus and the welp may have bought your bullshit but I didn’t.”
“No wonder you’re the chief, you have a brain and use it well.”
“Not that common around these parts.”
“Yeah and that’s proof enough for me to trust you with some sensitive information.”
“Such as.”
“Such as only three council members, Shepard, my mother and myself know about. At least in theory.”

Wrex whistle at that. Clearly that information was big.

“For the past two years I’ve been doing my very best for the survival of the galaxy against the reapers.”
“I don’t doubt that but my sources never reported anything to me.”
“That’s because it’s not military related.”
“It’s not?!” exclaimed a surprised Wrex.
“No. Governments keep both eyes open for that kind of thing. It would have ended in failure. So I went the other way. I started the construction of secret deep underground bunkers across the galaxy. The goal of those is to saveguard species’ culture and knowledge. That way, if we lose the war, our races still live and they will have time to properly prepare for the next cycle. As of a week ago three are operational, each can accommodate half a million people. Five more bunkers will be complete in less than half a year. Right now, with the help of every councilor but the turian one, who is not aware, lists are made.”
“Lists of what?”
“Names. Names of the very best people each species has to offer and that has a personality tending to cooperation. Even species not in the know are being screened which includes the krogan. It would go considerably faster if you could help with that Wrex.”
“You want a list of my people that would fit what you are looking for?”
“Yes. Warriors, female, shaman, anyone that could perpetuate the krogan culture. And I mean the right krogan culture.”
“So no idiots like Uvenk or my brother Wreav that are hell bent on starting back the rebellions.”
“You got it.”
“That’s an interesting plan but with the genophage there will not be enough of my people for our race to survive.”
“I know. I still don’t know how to get around that but it is still worth a shot. Speaking of genophage, did you get something out of the data we got on Virmire?”
“No. My experts told me that it wasn’t a real cure. The genophage was stopped at the early stage of the development of the clones but that left them idiots. They couldn’t even talk, just like those on virmire.”
“From what I read of Shepard’s report about her mission to get Grunt, the asari doc we met on Virmire was there. It seems Okeer succeeded, sadly his notes went up in flames.”
“That’s fine. The clans would have never accepted that research. They want born krogan to perpetuate our race, not tank-bred ones. The welp is fine as he’s the only one, but more and there would be problems.” Wrex explained, prompting Rick to nod as he understood.
“Is there anything to do around here to pass time?”
“Interested in shooting Pyjaks?”
“Meh, why not.”



____________________________________________________________


The team came back in triumph. They had killed a Threshermaw during the rite, something that hasn’t been done since Wrex’s own rite of passage. They had a brief altercation with Unvenk who turned out to not be a problem anymore as he was dead. Courtesy of a shotgun blast from Shepard after a successful biotic charge. She was quite proud about it. In the end Grunt became Urdnot Grunt and everyone went back on the Normandy to celebrate.

Their dealings on the planet were not over however as Mordin had received word that his former apprentice, Maelon, had been apprehended by the blood pack and brought on the planet. The salarian’s worry became understandable when he revealed that Maelon had worked with him on the genophage project. That information was too good to be true for Rick who was in a severe need of a cure for his preservation project.

So the day after, they landed back on Tunchanka but with a different team.  Obviously Mordin was in it and for the last member Shepard chose Samara to see how she fought and to bond.
Wrex had been helpful by telling them that the blood pack hideout was in an enemy clan’s territory: The Weyrloc. Seeing the opportunity to get rid of them it was with pleasure that the krogan chief sent his friends to his chief scout to pay the Weyrloc a visit.

Once on foot, creating a path to infiltrate the complex has not been easy. Between hostile krogans and vorchas constantly setting up ambushes, their advance had been slow at first. It was only inside the complex that things got better. Figuratively speaking.

They have found human bodies that have been subject to experimentation. That discovery surprised Shepard who couldn’t see why such a thing would have happened, as there was no real relation between human and krogan.

“Humans have the most genetic malleability out of all the space faring species in the galaxy.” Mordin explained.
“Meaning?” asked Shepard, not really understanding.
“That our genes mutate easily while keeping a base structure. That’s why we have individuals of different color of skin, hair, eyes and much more  and yet we’re still part of the same species. If you take the asari as exemple, they’re all blue to a varying degree, with the same general appearance but much closer genetic code. It’s only minor changes that make them look different from each other.”
“Correct. In case of asari, minor changes come from father’s genetic material. Usually.”

Shepard turned to Samara for confirmation and got it as the latter nodded.

“I see… How can that help the krogans though?”
“Humans’ genetic diversity allows exploration of treatment modalities.”
“What Mordin is saying is that humans are the perfect test subject to anything biologically related.” 

“Can you tell about their experiments by looking at the bodies?”
“From the analysis, they were experimenting on glands.” Rick said looking at a display of one of the bodies on his omni-tool.

“Glands?”
“Source of hormone production. Genophage targeting reproductive hormones. Modifying hormone level. Counter-attack genophage. Clever.” explained Mordin.
“I guess now we have two reasons to shut this place down.”

Leaving the bodies alone they went deeper into the complex. Arriving in a wide room, they were welcomed by a Weyrloc clanspeaker and his subordinates. As the krogan spat out his racist and condescending speech. Rick drew out his gun and shot the gas pipe righter under the balcony the alien was speaking on. Another shot later and the krogan was walking, screaming, living torch. The team took cover as they were at a disadvantage, their opponent having the higher ground. Fortunately those opponents were stupid and walked down the only available ramp bringing them to their level. They didn’t last a minute.

“So dumb… It’s a miracle they survived until now.” commented Rick.
“Classic mistake, bad guy monologue.” nodded Mordin.
“It’s disheartening to see that after hundreds of years some things never change.” added Samara.
“I can’t believe they gave up their tactical advantage.” said a bewildered Shepard.
“Tactical implies that they had a fully functioning brain to use. Unlikely with Vorchas.”
“Rick correct.” supported the salarian.
“By the way, is that a new gun?” the redhead asked, looking at the pistol in her XO’s hands.
“M-5 Phalanx. For once the guys from Alliance R&D did some good work. Bought it from a krogan vendor before leaving. Deadly accurate with its laser sight and a bit more firepower than the M6-Carnifex. Lower fire rate but who cares when you put a headshot? Everything else is more or less the… No, I’m not lending it to you.” Rick said as he saw the redhead glint of excitement in her eyes.
“Come on! Please?”
“No!”
“Just for the mission! I’ll buy myself one when we get back.”
“UGH!”

In the end to Shepard’s delight, Rick’s annoyance and Samara’s amusement, the former got the gun.

They went on in their search of Maelon, killed some blood pack mercs on the way and arrived in an area where many female krogan bodies rested on the ground or operating table. Mordin and Rick took a look at the different terminals to gather data on what exactly happened here. Everything seemed fine and done within the protocols which comforted Mordin to the commander’s shock. She couldn’t comprehend how he could be so casual about developing a sterilizing plague.

“Not developing, modifying.”
“Is there a difference?”
“Developing is relatively easy. Modifying is not.”
“Look at it like a tree. You put a seed into the ground and the tree grows. The way it grows is affected by its environment. To keep his trunk straight you have to put a stake against it. Cover the part of the trunk you don’t want branches to bloom. With viruses like the genophage subjected to a thousand different factors, it’s impossible to tell how it will develop.” explained Rick.
“Yes. Any modifications could lead to disaster. Entire krogan species totally sterile or genophage becomes ineffective. Hard to keep krogan population stable.”
“So you could have wiped out the krogans?”
“Yes, not difficult.”

“Why didn’t you?”
“Life precious, Shepard.”
“And yet, you almost eradicated them.”
“That was necessary. The krogans were out of control at the time. Their number needed to be brought low.”
“You agree with that?” the redhead asked Rick who had given his opinion.
“Yes but not with the means.”
“The means?”
“No. If you look at it from pure data you’ll see that the birthrate drastically dropped, effectively reducing the Krogan’s population. One out of a thousand is born which is great. The truth is more gruesome though. It’s one out of a thousand born that lives.”
“You mean…”
“For one healthy baby krogan there are 999 stillborn. From where I’m standing I call it indirect mass murder though some argue that it’s not, as the children are not born so not living and so not killed. Had the salarian at the time been smart they would have reduced the rate of fertilization. One egg out of a thousand gets fertilized instead.”
“That’s… monstrous.”
“It is. Wish I’ve been there. So much death, so much waste of innocent lives.” lamented Mordin.
“And that’s not all. Children are the hopes of a species, what do you think would happen to one who gets to see most of them stillborn? Nobody ever took into consideration the psychological and societal impact the genophage would have on the krogan. That put a stop to any positive development they could have had. The Turians, as always, only saw the short term outcome and the Salarians probably didn’t care as they didn’t need the krogans anymore.”
“Sadly accurate.” Mordin commented.
“Had the asari been the paragon of virtues they pretend to be - no offense Samara - they could have helped the krogan develop into a more peaceful species or at least not so prone to resolve everything with violence first. The genophage may not have been needed anymore.”
“Only a possibility.”
“True but the odds increase drastically if the children were raised properly, far from their warmongering parents by more peaceful krogans, like Wrex. We would not see scenes like that.” Rick finally said, raising his arms and waving them around displaying the countless female krogan bodies.
“Perhaps the Krogan do need a cure.” Shepard wondered aloud.
“In my opinion they do but they are not ready, not yet.”
“What do you mean?”
“Krogan leaders, fierce warriors, rule with violence, strength and fear. Krogans from the rebellion or direct descendants. Raised to follow their footsteps. If genophage cured, new krogan rebellions happening.”
“Wrex sees that problem and is trying to change that. He learned from the krogans' mistakes and knows that his people need to change if they want to survive. For now he’s succeeding so there is hope for them.”
“Long time needed to achieve that. Odds of failure high.”
“Not if all the clans unite under him.”
“Improbable. Krogans divided since end of rebellions.”
“They will when they have a common enemy and their survival is at stake.”
“Who would bother with them now?”
“The reapers.” Shepard said as she let out a breath.
“Mark my words, when the reapers come the council species will turn to the krogans for their help and Wrex will negotiate for a cure. With the reapers' threat and a cure every krogan clan will come under him.”

The conversation over, they pondered in silence over what Rick had said. Samara had been briefed on the reapers by Rick and didn’t know what to think about it. In the end she chose to believe as he himself believed it after all, she didn’t know him to be wrong often. Mordin had been naturally skeptical at first but when he read the file containing Rick’s research on the reapers’ existence, he came to the conclusion that they were indeed real.

Moving forward they found a captured and weakened Urdnot scout. The poor guy had been duped on being experimented on to find a cure for the genophage. They sent him back to the Urdnot territories and resumed their search for Maelon. After eliminating the rest of the Weyrloc clan and the blood pack mercs they finally found Mordin’s former apprentice who had not been kidnapped at all but had instead offered his services. He hadn’t been able to cope with his participation on the genophage. Mordin was furious about what he had done but understood the reasons why. He let Maelon go, despite wanting to put a projectile in his head, and kept the data on the cure. If Rick was right, and Mordin didn’t doubt it much, the data would be invaluable in the years to come.

When they left the complex to report to Wrex, the krogan was pleased to learn the Weyrloc were no more and thankful they had rescued his scout. In private Rick related what was happening there and advised his friend to get in contact with Mordin once the Collectors had been dealt with and if the salarian was still alive. Wrex didn’t like the idea much as it relied on trusting a salarian, but Rick convinced him when he shared with him Mordin’s thoughts and feelings on the genophage. Saying their goodbyes the krogan promised to send a list of names for the safeguard project as soon as he could.