Hell or High Water. Interlude Wrex (Patreon)

Hell or High Water. Interlude Wrex

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Commissioned by Sivantic

Wordcount: 2500

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The Mako was like every other military transport not meant to survive Tuchanka: cramped, flimsy, and needed a team of engineers to maintain. It was made by the lowest bidder, barely had any suspension, and didn’t have enough armor to let its main gun use up its entire ammo block.

Sitting in it was annoying, and it was made more annoying by a lack of conversation, so I decided to speak up.

“So, I’m guessing not all humans have a quad like Rorschach.” I’d heard about him. The Citadel’s duct-rat vigilante who killed any criminal he could reach. A lot of mercenaries liked him, because those that didn’t have anything in their past that made them a target. They tended to disappear when they reached the Citadel. “I mean, if most of you lot were like that kind, I’m sure you’d have all made the Turians shit themselves at First Contact.”

I was trying to needle Williams, get some banter going, and get her blood pumping for the fight… but Shepard spoke up first.

“There’s a few like him back on Earth. The quiet ones in the larger gangs. The best ones outlast whoever they’re working for and move on.” Shepard drove through Noveria’s frozen roads while scanning in every direction with the canon. The Geth could hide in the snow, so they did, and their ambushes were nasty. “I worked with one before I joined the military. He’s the one who told me to get out while I could.”

“Huh, I didn’t peg you as someone with that background, ma’am. You’re… very proper.” Williams hesitated, but I saw more of her warrior side with that question. A normal soldier would just nod and say nothing. This girl had more ahead of her, especially if she got out of this mission in one piece. “Honestly, I can’t believe that you weren’t some Navy girl born and raised on a ship until you could enlist.”

“No. I wasn’t. Earth born, bred, and bled. It was tough there sometimes. Not like Tuchanka, of course, but tough. Sometimes seeing so many people living well makes your own life harder.” Shepard stopped the Mako, let loose a few shells, and started moving again. The Mako’s wheels crushed a few Geth corpses beneath its treads. “In the slums, we made do with what we had, took what we didn’t, and fought for what we couldn’t do without. We fought like animals… while people like Rorschach waded through us and treated us like animals.”

It wasn’t completely the same, but there were enough similarities to Krogan that I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.

“They’re warriors born true, Shepard. Not trained soldiers. They understand violence, what it means to live, and they accept death. Things that a lot of people need years to understand. Sometimes they don’t and even break.” A lot of old Warlords of the Krogan were like that. Better than the rest from the moment they were born. Stronger, smarter, and just better to the point they could do anything. I… I used to think I was one of them. “I’m telling you right now… you should keep that kid around as long as you can. He’ll be useful.”

Williams spoke up before Shepard could answer.

“Ma’am, as good as that little psycho is in everything he does, I’m still of the belief that we shouldn’t trust him. He has a lot to offer, but he’s only giving as much as he does because he wants more targets. We’re just a glorified rangefinder to him.” Williams spoke, and I nodded, knowing that she couldn’t see me. The woman had a quad on her. She reminded me a lot of other Krogan women. Tough, not afraid to speak her mind, and not hesitant to give up everything for her Clan. “I say we cut him loose after this is over. Keeping him on the crew is NOT a good idea.”

When she settled down, she looked my way. Her small eyes were narrowed my way and it was hard not to chuckle.

She’d be a fine Krogan.

“What? Do you have something to say about your little friend?”

“I’ve already said my piece, Williams. Whatever happens to Rorschach depends on Shepard. Personally, I’d prefer keeping a natural killer like him on a short leash, teach him to be more careful and hold back his bloodlust, instead of just letting him loose like a mad Varren.” That was how Krogan were raised. The whelps needed to be reined in, brought to heel, and taught how to use their rage, anger, and need to destroy. Millions of years of evolution made our young, eager to eat, breed, and kill. It took a lot to keep them in line. “But you humans deal with your own your way. We’ll deal with ours, our way.”

William’s glare intensified, until Shepard came to a sudden stop in the middle of nowhere.

I was sure she was going to answer, until the ramp began to open.

“I’ll tell you both after you find the bugs, he’s put on both of you.” There was a smile in Shepard’s voice, easy to hear even in her helmet’s Comms. I chuckled at the sound, while Williams stiffened up. “If the two of you want hints, feel free to ask, but I think if you ask me, he’ll just keep putting more on the both of you.”

The ramp in the back opened up… and in the snow an invisible figure was outlined by snow who began to enter.

The kid’s low growl was easy to hear even through the blizzard.

“Correct. Find them yourselves.”

Heh.

Like I said.

The kid had a quad.

…

“The laboratory has received three shuttles of reinforcements. Primarily Geth, but also three squadrons of Krogan. According to security sensors in the periphery, an Asari transport arrived below its atmospheric limit.”

“We’re going to be fighting Geth, Krogan, and Asari commandos, then. This’ll be fun.” I checked my weapons. The Claymore was going to be better in cramped quarters, but an assault rifle was good for hard barriers. Asari trained for hard hits more than they did against sustained fire. “Did you see any of the big Geth? The ones with armor?”

“I did. In its presence, the lesser models moved more quickly. The Alliance is intelligence is correct. It is a mobile server that improves the abilities of the lesser platforms.”  Rorschach brought up pictures from his omni-tool and they entered mine, Shepard’s, and Williams without asking for our permission. Williams scowled while Shepard shook his head. I planned on visiting my dealer and having a few words with him. “I recommend destroying it first, if possible.”

“Easier said than done. Those things were hard to kill on Eden Prime, and they’ve just been getting tougher and tougher.” Williams scowled and loaded an Armor Piercing ammo bloc. It was a Class 1 ammo bloc. Good for the common forms of armor, and for Geth… before they started improving faster than Vorcha. “Did you and Tali figure anything out that can help, besides pack bigger guns? Because we don’t have those yet.”

“I need Omni-gel access, Shepard.”

“Take all you need, Rorschach.”

The kid worked with his micro-fabricator quickly and transformed the piles of gel into small discs and four, wrist launchers. The internals of the grenades were familiar, but not the handheld launcher. It looked heavily modified, as though it was originally something else, but he’d remade it.

I didn’t bother asking questions, as he handed me one of the devices.

“EMP grenades with compatible wrist-launcher. Effective range is ten meters. Don’t get caught in the blast wave. You’ll lose your shields.” The whelp grunted and placed the weapon his wrist. It sucked in air with a small motor. “Thirty second recharge. Noisy. Best to use at the start of the firefight and reload after. I can make more if needed. I just need time.”

“That helps with the Geth’s shields, but what about the armor?”

Rorschach held up another disc in red.

“Thermite. Direct hit required. Also useful against other targets. Do not use near sensitive machinery… or team.”

“Yeah, thanks. I don’t want to burn alive.”

“If you use both, you can kill a Krogan quickly.” It was a good, simple weapon. Lower the pressure and you have a handheld mortar. A way to launch projectiles over cover. Krogan are strong, but with stripped shields and a stomach full of thermite, they’ll go down easy… or run charging at us while on fire. “If you hit them before they hit their Blood Rage. You’re better off killing them with raw firepower if that happens.”

“Right. I don’t want to be charged by a Krogan on fire leaking Thermite.” Williams nodded slowly at my words. “Thanks.”

“Hrrm.” Rorschach grunted and fiddled with another disc. This one was in blue. “Can Krogan run with flash-frozen legs?”

A Cryogenic grenade.

I thought those were still being prototyped.

“They’ll claw their way to you, without their legs, but it’ll be slow. It’s better than them charging that’s for sure.”

Rorschach was quiet for a moment and his strange mask made my head-plate itch while I matched his gaze.

The strange, inky images were somehow bringing up memories.

“The Krogan here look the same as the Krogan Shepard fought to rescue T’Soni. Nearly identical.” Another set of images arrived on all our omni-tools. One was from Shepard’s camera as she fought to rescue the Asari. The other was new and on Noveria. The plates, the skin, and the features. The kid was right. “Wrex are you aware of any facilities that can clone Krogan in numbers high enough for multiple squads?”

I stared at the picture for a long time, before answering.

“No. I don’t. There were attempts, as a way to cure the Genophage, but the technology wasn’t there. But these Krogan do look too alike to be anything besides clones.” My hearts sped up. A strange feeling inside me bubbled up. Was this a cure? A way to repopulate for the Krogan? They were clones, but they looked, fought, and acted like Krogan. “Do you think Saren has a facility that can do it? One that can counter the Genophage?”

“Wrex.”

Shepard must have heard something in my voice as a I spoke. Then, I realized it wasn’t only her. Williams was eyeing me with the look of a soldier instead of an ally.

Only Rorschach remained calm within the cabin, because I definitely wasn’t calm either.

I had to rein in… whatever it was that I felt.

“Shepard, if he does have it, then he’ll have every Krogan worth a damn backing him. You’ve fought them. Hell, I fought them, and I didn’t realize that there was anything fake about them! They smelled like true Krogan.” Williams rifle twitched in her hand, and I itched to bring up my barrier, but I knew that would only escalate the situation. “If we’re chasing him down, you need to take him down alive, because we need to find out how he’s doing it! It could be a way to save my race from extinction!”

I expected silence from the three humans.

Instead, I received a singular nod.

“If they are not controlled by Saren to be mindless soldiers, if they can be individuals with their own will, then they are Krogan.” Rorschach turned towards Williams and cast her gaze on her gun. She frowned while he addressed Shepard. “I planned on killing Saren the moment we met. You probably do too, but we need answers. Saren can die after we get our information.”

That… was good.

Reasonable.

But it only came from Rorschach and not from Shepard and Williams—

“I planned on capturing Saren and bringing him to the Council, Rorschach. You’re not killing him after you get what you need from him.” Shepard looked over her shoulder and met my gaze as she drove. “Wrex, you’ll get your answers about this cloning business, but remember how the Krogan we fought were. They attacked. They only attacked. They didn’t retreat, try to pull back, or anything else. They just attacked as if that was all they could do, even though they smelled “right.””

“Yeah. Keep that in mind. As far as I’ve seen, the Krogan fighting for Saren are just like the Geth. They don’t take cover and just charge straight at you. Nothing like the training sims.” Williams spoke up and let her weapon collapse. Her gaze on me was still looking for any mistakes, but the instinct to form a barrier was gone. We were allies again. Allies that kept an eye on another, but still allies. “

The Mako rumbled forward for a long time, before I managed to speak again.

“I can accept that… and I’ll make Saren pay if he made a machine that churns out Krogan slaves.” There it was. The thought that I didn’t want to acknowledge when a possible cure for the Genophage suddenly existed. The promise of it was immense. There was so much that could be done, if new Krogan can be “born” again in the right numbers. But Shepard and Williams had a point. If they were just mindless machines meant to Krogan into mindless fodder… I didn’t want it. “There’s no place in the galaxy where he’ll be safe, if what he made just churns out fodder for mindless armies.”

With those words, the atmosphere in the Mako returned to normal, and my hearts ceased to beat in preparation for battle. There was nothing besides the rumbling of the Mako, the roar of its cannon, and Rorschach’s tinkering for a long time… until we reached our destination.

A hidden lab filled with murderous Geth, cloned Krogan, Asari commandos, and maybe a few experiments that should never see the light of day. I was heading inside of it with three humans, plenty of firepower, and the urge to hit something very, very hard.

I hoped that it would live up to my expectations, but I knew that it wouldn’t.

It’s been a long time, but a feeling I’d almost forgotten returned to me.

The need to do something, to get things done, and tear apart anything and anyone in my way.

It was a good feeling.