Hello there,
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If you like how Shepard is a total genius badass, you should check Arrival : Ruptures to enjoy more of the same.
—
Omega
Shepard left Garrus so the Turian could prepare his team while he dealt with the plague and recruited Professor Mordin Solus.
The district guard in front of the entrance to the quarantine zone allowed Shepard to pass after seeing who it was, and the guards inside did not stop the team, though one warned them that the Blue Suns, at least whatever remained, and the Vorcha were shooting anything that moved.
The Turian's warnings were valid, as two Blue Suns troopers regarded them as hostile and got ready to open fire. Two simultaneous laser bolts left smoking holes in their heads.
Near where the fresh corpses of the Blue Suns lay, Shepard noticed a wounded Batarian whose eyes widened.
"Shepard. Bad enough you humans infected us with this plague; now the Demon himself is here." The sick Batarian laughed in despair, but it was short-lived as he quickly succumbed to a fit of coughing.
Shepard rolled his eyes. "Don't be an idiot. I don't need a plague to kill everyone in this station."
The Batarian opened his mouth to refute, but it made sense that this human in particular wouldn't need a bioweapon for a slaughter. "That's …. true."
"I am looking for Mordin Solus."
"Huh, humans looking for the human sympathizer. I hope the Vorcha burn Mordin and his clinic to the ground."
Shepard sighed as the Batarian's state deteriorated too much to even speak without coughing after every word and slapped some medi-gel on him.
The Batarian slowly got up, his vitals stabilizing for a while with the medi-gel. "You helped me, why?"
"Because we are not responsible for this plague, and I am going to fix it. Now, where do I find Mordin Solus?" Shepard reiterated his question, half considering just going and searching the place.
"He has a clinic on the far side of the district. He's taking in refugees. Offering to help those infected with the plague. I was afraid to go to him before. He's dangerous. But perhaps he can help." Now that he was not on the edge of death, the four-eyed alien was willing to speak.
"What makes Mordin worse than dying from the plague?" Mordin's dossier didn't include much, as most of his work for the STG was confidential. Hearing his exploits, Shepard began to like him.
"The Blue Suns tried to press him for protection money. He killed them. Stunned them with some kind of toxin, then gunned them down. He's not just a doctor. Doctors don't execute people and display the bodies as a warning."
"Hmm. I'll find Mordin and send someone to help you if he has a cure for the plague."
"Being saved by the Demon, the universe has a sick sense of humor, but thank you. My time is running short, but at least you have given me a flicker of hope to brighten the darkness of my final hours." The Batarian coughed a couple of times, and Shepard checked the area, opening a locked house for the four-eyed alien to hide in.
"I don't want to die. Whatever Mordin is, I will risk it if he can reach me."
For a while, the team only encountered corpses of the victims of the plague, until they stumbled on a Blue Suns checkpoint.
On Shepard's count, three singularities raced to cover the mercs were using and pulled them up, making the troopers into easy targets for Shepard.
"You know, Commander, I am beginning to feel kind of useless here. Any chance I could get a laser gun too?" Jacob asked.
"Not the time, Jacob."
After clearing out the remaining mercs, Shepard and co. came across two humans hiding inside an apartment, who told them the same thing as the Batarian.
The Vorcha were taking over the Blue Suns territory, and there were a lot of them.
So far Shepard had only seen pictures of the Vorcha, but he was beginning to understand why they were seen as pests.
Fortunately, he was excellent at pest control.
Shepard suggested the humans go to Mordin's clinic by following the path Shepard and his team would clear out.
Out of the apartment and further down the district, Shepard had his first live sighting of a Vorcha.
They were uglier in real life.
Shooting the Blue Suns first, Shepard holstered his pistols and launched himself to where the Vorcha were taking cover.
The shockwave of his biotic charge sent the Vorcha and the Varren flying away. Ignoring the ugly space dog, Shepard stomped the nearest Vorcha on the neck, almost separating the head from the body, and shot the Varren before doing the same to the other alien.
The Vorcha corpse exploded when its flamethrower burned the fuel tank.
Throwing the rest of the Vorcha away with his biotics, Shepard switched his pistols to microwave mode, burning the resilient aliens to a crisp.
Miranda and Jacob had reached him, taking cover as more Vorcha appeared, led by two Krogans.
"Get down!" Shepard ordered as he jumped over barricades after throwing his laser grid grenade.
It felt so good to have his weapons back.
The usual hum of the grenade faded away, leaving only sliced and seared remains behind.
"You are right, Jacob. I am feeling quite useless too." Miranda muttered. Perhaps there wasn't even a need for a team if Shepard was going to kill everyone himself.
"Don't worry, you'll learn how to catch up to me."
—
Two human looters, who began to debate whether or not Shepard was the real deal, were gunned down in the middle of their untimely discussion.
He didn't like looters.
After that little mishap, Shepard finally reached the clinic. Entering inside, he picked up several recently healed victims talking about how Mordin had saved their lives.
He was beginning to really like this Salarian.
"Professor, we're running low on cipoxidin." A voice came from the next room.
They had finally found Mordin Solus.
"Use malanarin. Plenty on hand. Almost as good. Causes cramps in Batarians. Supplement with butemerol." A hyperactive voice responded in short sentences.
"Malanarin and butemerol. Got it."
Now the professor started muttering to himself, brainstorming ideas at a speed only a Salarian would be capable of. "Cenozine is the catalyst. Bonds to genetic markers. Hard to find. Expensive to mass produce. Why not heplacore? Too unstable. Inconsistent results. Demozane better option. No. Demozane toxic to humans. Not an option. Not an option."
"Professor Solus? I am a fan." Shepard greeted the Salarian, who got over the shock of seeing the dead legend alive really fast.
Mordin didn't even bother to ask questions before he started talking to himself. "Commander Shepard? Not dead. A pleasant surprise. Here for why, though? Vorcha? Unlikely. Vorcha a symptom, not a cause. The plague? Investigating possible use as a bioweapon? No, Shepard wouldn't need it. Looking for someone? Yes! But who? Someone important. Someone with secrets. Like me."
Shepard nodded. "Nice deduction, professor. Yes, I am here for you."
"Why?" Mordin finally asked the question he should have asked at the beginning.
"I want your help on a mission."
"Mission? What mission? No. Too busy. Clinic understaffed. Plague spreading too fast. Who sent you?"
"You came highly recommended. I am gathering a team to destroy the Collectors."
Mordin began to talk to himself again. "Collectors? Interesting. Plague hitting the slums is engineered. Collectors one of few groups with technology to design it. Our goals may be similar." Mordin walked back to his computer to type something. "But must stop plague first. Already have a cure. Need to distribute it at environmental control center. Vorcha guarding it." Mordin sniffed. "Need to kill them."
"That's easy." Vorcha were nothing he couldn't handle.
As if hearing his thoughts, the environmental systems were shut down, most likely by the pesky aliens.
"Vorcha have shut down environmental systems. Trying to kill everyone. Need to get power back on before district suffocates. Shepard capable of great destruction. Vorcha won't be able to resist. Here, take plague cure." Mordin handed over a vial. "One more thing. Daniel. One of my assistants. Went into Vorcha territory. Looking for victims. Hasn't come back."
"I'll look out for him."
"Thank you. Told him not to go. But he's smart. Bright future. I hope."
Before leaving, Shepard requested help for the Batarian plague victim he had encountered, and Mordin promised to see what he could do.
—
The whole area was crawling with Vorcha, and they had brought plenty of firepower.
So Shepard microwaved them all.
The initial group they faced consisted of at least a dozen Vorcha along with several Krogan. Between the biotics, the microwave beam mode of his pistols, and the fuel tanks of the flamethrower carriers, it was a slaughter of explosions made more effective by biotic crowd control.
He also found Daniel surrounded by three Batarians accusing him of spreading the plague.
Shepard put Daniel in stasis and sent the Batarians flying away.
"Stand down, idiots. He is here to help you." Shepard warned, pointing his pistol towards the Batarians.
The one that was just threatening Daniel sprang to his feet. "Shepard?! You live?"
"Disappointed?" He winked at the Batarian, who was slowly turning purple.
Another one spoke, already feeling defeated. "First you humans spread this plague, and now you're back from the dead?"
"We are not spreading the plague; he is here to help you."
"And why should we believe you?" A single laser bolt whizzed next to the Batarian's head, making him swallow his words.
"That is a good point." The first Batarian nodded, holstering his weapon.
"I know, right. So, either let Daniel treat you, or just get lost."
A silent conversation took place between the Batarians, their eyes saying more than words could, and they reluctantly agreed to let Daniel administer the cure.
"You aren't that bad, for a human."
"I don't have a problem with the Batarians. I have a problem with slavery."
"Did nobody tell you?" The third, silent Batarian opened his mouth, looking confused.
"Tell me what?"
Before the Batarian could open his mouth, more Vorcha came surging in. "Alright, Daniel, back to the clinic. As for you three, don't cause trouble."
—
The trio fought their way to the control room, killing waves of Vorcha, with the occasional Krogan.
"You no come here. We shut down machines and break fans. Everyone chokes and dies. Then Collectors make us strong." The Vorcha spoke with that gravelly voice of his, and Shepard considered asking why but decided he didn't want to hear this barely evolved tree bark talk and shot him right in the middle of his ugly forehead.
The Vorcha opened fire at seeing one of their own die, and the team took cover.
Shepard whistled, getting Miranda and Jacob's attention, and slid his pistols to them.
Activating his anti-gravity suit, Shepard leaped up and used his biotics to slam both feet right into the head of a Vorcha carrying a rocket launcher, killing it and taking the weapon, while Miranda and Jacob made quick work of the rest.
"Shepard, I've scanned the room. The central control system is in an alcove in the center of the back wall. You can inject the cure and reinitialize the systems there."
"Thanks, EDI."
Just as he inserted the cure, the Blood Pack came in force again.
With Miranda and Jacob carrying his pistols, Shepard took to the air once again and made full use of the rocket launcher, suppressing the mercs.
If they were stationary, then they were easy targets for Shepard, and if they moved out of the cover, the same went for his Cerberus teammates.
"I have located the fan controls. There are two, one on either side of the room you are in now." EDI informed them after the team cleared the room.
Bringing the fans online proved to be a hassle, as the Blood Pack did not let up.
A squad of Pyros came out of the door on the opposite side of the right fan controls, which was a mistake for them, because the lasers contained enough energy to set the fuel on fire and cause an explosion.
More and more Blood Pack troopers showed up, trying desperately to drown the team in numbers, and Shepard had enough.
Biotic power gathered in his hand, something he had been training to do before Normandy's destruction.
A dark blue orb, surrounded by light blue spiral arms, blossomed into existence, and Shepard ordered Miranda and Jacob to take cover.
Shepard launched the orb, and the whole room shook violently.
—
Miranda nervously opened the fan control room door, peeking outside to see what impossible act Shepard had graced the galaxy with.
Her eyes almost bulged out.
Whatever that biotic attack was, it left a crater between the control systems and the walls on the opposite side.
There were no more Blood Pack members left, or anything else within that section.