Um… sorry I haven't updated this story in such a long time?

Hayden-Strife: Glad you thought my story was worth reviewing, considering how little you do it, apparently.

Colonel-Mustard1990: Yeah, I can definitely see more than a little xenophobia from Emile when he arrives in the Mass Effect universe.

UDMonk: I understand your initial hesitance. I've read fanfics where, for example, the author just has the entire Normandy crew show up in a universe, and they cannot make it work. With those stories, I either stop reading, or the author realizes that they're in over their head, and they stop writing. Sometimes both. In any event, thank you for your support.

Knightowl 4183: Thank you. I was not aware of that.

I'm just going to shut up (so to speak… or is "write" more appropriate?) and let you read the story.

Chapter 9: I Don't Know If I Can Find A Cure For This Plague, But I'm Gonna Try

Commander Shepard and the two Spartans walked down the corridor leading to the plague-infected slums, when suddenly a turian with armed a rifle spotted them and pointed his gun at the trio. But before he could open fire on them, another turian next to him shouted "Don't shoot!" The first turian looked at his comrade in confusion, who explained "They're cleared to come in."

Shepard, Jorge, and Jun simply walked past them and when they came up the door leading to the actual quarantine zone, another turian under Aria's employment warned them "Watch yourselves in there. The Blue Suns and the vorcha are shooting anything that moves."

Shepard nodded in acknowledgement. "Thanks for the warning, but that's a scenario I'm rather used to."

As soon as the doors shut behind them, the team brought out their weapons; Shepard with his Mattock; Jorge with his Sledgehammer; Jun with his Widow.

Jorge glanced at his fellow Spartan. "Jun, you do realize what that weapon's capable of, right?"

Noble Three sighed "If this is about what the Widow can do to a normal human's bones, I told you that I already gave it a few test-fires, and that my bones came out perfectly fine. I'd expect you of all people to know that, Jorge, seeing that you're a Spartan yourself."

"That's not what I was referring to."

Not expecting that, Jun tried to think of another reason that Jorge would be surprised by his choice of firearms. Unable to come up with one, he asked "Well, then what were you talking about?"

Noble Five answered "I did a little research on that gun, and… you do realize that that sniper rifle was designed to be used against armoured vehicles, right?"

Jun shrugged "Yeah I knew that."

"And you're going to be using it against infantry?"

"I imagine so."

"But… isn't using an anti-tank rifle on unarmoured personnel just a little excessive?" Jorge lightly protested.

Noble Three retorted "Hey, I'll remind you that I recently had at least half the mercenaries on this entire station all trying to kill me. So forgive me if I feel like preparing for the worst – like, say, fighting a gunship on foot."

Noble Five stared at his teammate for several seconds, then eventually said "…Okay… um… would it be normal to feel just a little bit sorry for whoever we're about to fight?"

"Ahem."

The two Spartans then looked in front of them to see Commander Shepard standing and looking at them impatiently. "If you two are done, we've got a salarian doctor to find."

"Sorry Commander." the two Spartans said together.

Shepard nodded, satisfied, and the group continued on with their search for Mordin Solus.

The three soldiers then entered a large room where they saw two turians wearing Blue Suns armour burning several bodies. One of the turians noticed them and immediately screamed "Humans! They've come to spread the plague! Kill-" But before he could finish his statement, his head was replaced by an explosion of blood and brains as a round from Jun's M-98 Widow passed through it. And his comrade barely had enough time to draw his weapon before a biotic warp claimed his life.

Jorge muttered "I get the feeling that's the sort of welcome we can expect from the majority of the residents here."

Shepard then noticed a sealed apartment door, and used his omni-tool to open it in case there was anyone trapped inside. They were greeted by the sight of two dead turians that had fallen victim to the plague the slow and painful way. Inside the apartment, Shepard found a voice recorder that one of the residents had used as a journal, and from it he learned how when one of them had gotten what they'd thought was a harmless cough, the Blue Suns had sealed them both inside their apartment. At first the two friends had tried to wait it out by playing cards with one another, but the Suns never even considered opening the door. Eventually the one who had been using the journal realized that his friend really did have the plague, and had resorted to attempting to claw his way out with his bare hands. But he was trapped inside his own home, and eventually he too was infected.

Exiting the apartment, Shepard saw a batarian civilian who was obviously infected with the plague, but still alive, lying against a wall. The batarian had barely been able to hide from the crazed Blue Suns, and as he saw Shepard's face, his expression immediately became one of disgust.

"Human." The batarian spat. "Should've guessed." He coughed a couple times and groaned "Bad enough you infect us with this plague. Now you lack the decency to even wait until I die before you come to steal my possessions."

As the batarian continued to cough, Shepard crouched down and asked "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Get away from me, human!" The plague victim snarled while waving a pistol in the commander's face. "Your kind has done too much already." He glared at the commander and spat "Your plague did this to me. Your feigned pity is the final insult."

"Humans didn't create this plague." the Spectre argued.

"Lies drip from your mouth like the blood from my sores. The proof is there for all to see." The batarian muttered as he pointed at a body the Blue Suns had set on fire in a vain attempt to control the spread of the plague. "Your species is the only one that does not succumb to the virus… Yours, and the wretched vorcha."

The commander said "We need to find Mordin Solus."

The batarian growled "Humans looking for the human sympathizer… I hope the vorcha burn Mordin and his clinic to the ground. I hope you… I hope…" He suddenly began coughing a lot more, and he groaned "Damn it! Damn you! Can't…"

Suddenly Shepard crouched down with his omni-tool activated. "Hey, stay with me!" He gave the batarian victim some medi-gel and sighed "This won't cure the plague. But it might help a bit."

The batarian slowly got to his feet with a look of pure astonishment on his face. "You… you helped me. Why?"

"It's what I do." The commander said. "I don't know if I can find a cure for this plague, but I'm gonna try."

"Your words sound… sincere." The batarian murmured while giving a much lighter cough. "Maybe it's the fever, but as you said… what have I to lose?" He looked at Shepard and asked "What do you wish to know?"

"What makes you think that humans are the ones who created this plague?" asked Jun.

"The plague is too potent to be a naturally occurring virus." The batarian argued. "Airborne transmission across numerous species? Near-perfect mortality rate? It had to be created in a lab. And since humans are the only species not affected… there is only one logical conclusion."

Jorge frowned "Didn't you say that the vorcha were immune to the plague as well? Maybe they infected the people here with the virus so that they could take control of this district."

The batarian explained "Vorcha are immune to disease. A human-created plague wouldn't affect them. But if the vorcha created the plague... why wouldn't it affect humans?" He then pointed out "Besides, the vorcha aren't smart enough to make a virus like this. They're scavengers. Sorry, human. You may not want to believe it, but all the evidence points to your species."

"Can you tell us where we can find Mordin Solus?" Shepard asked the batarian.

"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," The plague victim admitted. "He's dangerous. But perhaps he can help."

Shepard was more than a little confused – this batarian had been infected with the plague, and he'd been scared to go to someone offering help? "What makes Mordin worse than dying from the plague?"

"The Blue Suns tried to press him for protection money." The batarian explained. "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."

Shepard made a mental note to knock politely when he entered Mordin's clinic.

"When I find Mordin, I'll tell him about you. If he has a cure, I'll make sure someone gets it to you."

The batarian coughed. "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." He coughed twice more, and mumbled "I don't want to die. Whatever Mordin is... I will risk it, if he can reach me."

"We should get moving." Jun said while inserting a fresh thermal clip into Linda.

"Goodbye, humans."

Shepard slowly rounded a corner, then immediately went back when he saw several Blue Suns standing guard. He glanced over at the two Spartans, who each gave a single nod in understanding. "On the count of three, Jun and I will each take out one, and as soon as we do I want Jorge laying down cover fire so we can flank them." Shepard said while taking out his own sniper rifle.

The two snipers readied themselves, and Jun calmly whispered "On three. One... two... three."

They each rounded the corner and pointed their rifles at the Blue Suns, and in less than a second they'd found a target. Jun targeted a turian with tech armour – which marked him as an officer – and Shepard went for a batarian that was barking orders. Each shot found their mark, and the instant they did, Jorge brought himself into their full view, and opened fire.

As the mercenaries dived for cover, they never saw the commander and Noble Three sprinting across the alley. Shepard cloaked himself, then brought his Mattock around the corner to see the Suns all crouching... right next to an explosive canister.

Smiling to himself, Shepard deactivated his cloak, and before the mercs could react he unleashed an overload from his omni-tool on the canister – increasing its explosive power even more – and effectively incinerating each one of the hostiles.

Shortly after the quick skirmish, the team came up to yet another locked apartment door. Shepard handily got past the encryption, and walked inside. He immediately grew hopeful when the smell of decaying bodies didn't hit his nose, and it wasn't before long that he found the apartment's residents: two humans; one male, and one female.

The woman breathed an enormous sigh of relief when she saw Shepard. "Oh, thank god! You're human!"

"When we saw that door open we thought those turians had found us." The man said.

Shepard talked to the couple, and for the most part they only confirmed what Aria's guard and the sick batarian had already told him. But they did reveal that in addition to killing the Blue Suns who had tried to force him to pay "protection" money, Mordin also had military-grade equipment in his clinic, including state-of-the-art security mechs. Additionally, when the Blue Suns had found out that Mordin was sheltering plague victims – humans included – they'd tried to burn down his clinic. Mordin killed them without even using his mechs.

Before leaving, Shepard was able to convince the two refugees to go to Mordin's clinic for sanctuary, and promised that he would clear a path through the Suns and the vorcha for them.

Shepard's team came to the top of a balcony overlooking a courtyard – or what passed as one on Omega – to see a couple of Blue Suns stubbornly facing off against a squadron of vorcha.

No words were necessary for Jun as Noble Team's sharpshooter began using Linda to pick off the vorcha. Noble Five simply jumped off the edge of the balcony, and as he slammed into the ground below he swung his Sledgehammer into the visor of one Blue Sun, and opened a quick burst of fire on the other.

Once a solid foothold was gained, the dumb vorcha didn't last five minutes against the team of commandos.

With the fighting done for now, Shepard went up to yet another sealed apartment. But in this one, he found something that disgusted him. There was a dead turian civilian on the floor, and two humans, one of which was ruffling through his pockets. One of them spotted Shepard's team, and shouted "Hey, hey, hey! Back off, we got here first!" Shepard ignored his words and went up to them. "Hey, what did I say? We found this stuff, it's ours!"

His friend grumbled "Ah, forget it – nothing but junk in here. This place is worse than the last one."

"What are you doing in this apartment?" Shepard demanded. "Did you kill that turian?"

"What, the guy on the floor?" The first human grunted, "Nah, the plague took care of him. We're just here to take a full accounting of all his worldly possessions."

The Spectre's eyes narrowed. "Stealing from the dead. That's pretty low."

"What's the big deal? It's not like they're gonna miss anything." The looter argued. "We're just showing a little entrepreneurial spirit. The plague doesn't affect humans, so we might as well cash in."

"Besides, if we don't take this stuff the vorcha or the Blue Suns will. Better us than them, right?"

"No more looting." The commander ordered.

"Or what," The human smirked. "You gonna shoot us?"

"This plague won't last forever," Shepard warned them. "When the Blue Suns come back, they won't like you looting in their territory."

"Yeah, well... maybe they won't find out." The looter said, though he didn't seem entirely sure of himself. Shepard was getting to him. "It's not like there's any witnesses alive to tell them."

"Are some dead turian's trinkets and a handful of credits worth that risk?"

"We just wanted to make a bit of quick cash. But when you put it like that... it doesn't sound like such a good idea." He then sighed "Hardly found anything valuable anyway. Yeah you're probably right – it's not worth it."

Jorge asked them "Do either one of you know a salarian by the name Mordin Solus?"

The first looter answered "Yeah I know him. Got a clinic right around the corner. Take plenty of ammo if you go that way," He warned them. "It's crawling with Blue Suns and vorcha."

"Tell us everything you know about Mordin." Jun ordered.

"That guy is crazy." The second looter grumbled. "He'll patch up a gunshot wound for free, then kick your ass and throw you out when you try to grab a few painkillers."

It sounded a lot like the man was speaking from personal experience, and it was confirmed when his friend said "Be honest, man. You kind of had that coming."

"No way he's just a doctor," The second looter continued. "No doctor puts down a Blue Suns squad like that."

"All I know is, if you go to his clinic, don't cause any trouble."

Shepard proceeded to ask them a few more questions, then he felt a nudge from Jorge. "Commander, we should probably get moving."

"Agreed."

The looter rolled his shoulders and said "Yeah, sure, we'll just stay here for a while – get some rest."

When Shepard turned a slightly suspicious eye on them, they quickly said "Don't worry, you made your point. We ain't gonna steal nothing."

The two Spartans and the Spectre made sure to put away their weapons as they entered Mordin's clinic. One of the clinic's receptionists was able to point them to the doctor, and when they opened the door to the specified room, they were met with the sight of a salarian scientist with multiple scars and one of his horn-like appendages missing talking to another receptionist.

"Professor, we're running low on cipoxin."

"Use malinarin. Plenty on hand. Almost as good. Causes cramping in batarians – supplement with butemerol"

"Malinarin and butemerol, got it."

The salarian continued to talk – seemingly to himself. "Cenozine is the catalyst. Bonds to genetic markers. Hard to find. Expensive to mass produce." He breathed deeply through his nostrils. "Why not heplacore?" He instantly shook his head. "Too unstable. Inconsistent results. Demozane better option. No, no, no, demozane toxic to humans. Not an option, not an option."

Finally seeing an opportunity to speak to the salarian, Shepard came forward. "Professor Mordin Solus?"

Seeing the group, Mordin approached Shepard and ran a quick scan with his omni-tool. "Hmm. Don't recognize you from area. Too well-armed to be refugees. No mercenary uniform. Quarantine still in effect." As he spoke, he went up to a terminal and started typing. "Here for something else. Vorcha? Crew to clean them out? Unlikely. Vorcha a symptom, not a cause." He finished doing whatever he'd been working on at the terminal, and walked back to face the group. "The plague? Investigating possible use as bio-weapon? No, no. Too many guns, not enough data equipment. Soldiers, not scientists. Yes, yes."

Nobles Three and Five looked at each other to silently confirm that this was actually happening, then returned their gaze to the doctor as he tried to figure out why they'd come.

"Hired guns, maybe? Looking for someone? Yes! But who? Someone important. Valuable. Someone with secrets... Someone like me."

"Relax, Mordin," Shepard told the scientist. "I'm Commander Shepard, and I came here to find you. I'm on a critical mission, and I need your help."

"Mission? What mission? No. Too busy. Clinic understaffed. Plague spreading too fast. Who sent you?"

Jun answered that question. "Ever heard of an organization called Cerberus?"

At the mention of Cerberus, Mordin instantly became suspicious. "Crossed paths on occasion. Thought they worked only with humans. Why request salarian aid?"

Jorge said "Because we're going after the Collectors, and if we want to take them down, we need your help."

The salarian's brow furrowed at the mention of the mysterious alien race. "Collectors? Interesting. Plague hitting these slums is engineered. Collectors one of few groups with technology to design it. Our goals may be similar. But must stop plague first. Already have a cure. Need to distribute is at environmental control centre. Vorcha guarding it." He finally took a breath. "Need to kill them."

"We can get in, and deal with the vorcha." The commander offered.

Mordin nodded, but stopped when he heard a hissing noise, and saw that the vents were being shut off.

"That can't be good" Jorge muttered.

"Vorcha have shut down environmental systems. Trying to kill everyone. Need to get power back on before district suffocates." Mordin took a vial and a pistol, and pressed them both into Shepard's hands. "Here, take plague cure. Also – bonus in good faith – weapon from dead Blue Suns mercs. May come in handy against vorcha. One more thing: Daniel – one of my assistants – went into vorcha territory. Looking for victims. Hasn't come back."

"If I see him, I'll do what I can to help." Shepard promised.

"Thank you. Told him not to go. But he's smart. Bright future. I hope."

Shepard decided that now was a good time to keep an earlier promise he'd made. "I found a batarian plague victim near the entrance to the neighborhood. Can you send someone to help him?"

The doctor rested a hand on his chin and murmured "Hmm. Risky. Blue Suns, vorcha still battling. District not secure. See what I can do."

An unusual conversation with the doctor revealed that before he ran this clinic, he'd worked for the Salarian Special Tasks Group, which was why he had access to military-grade equipment and security, and why he'd been able to take down a squad of mercs by himself.

Mordin also explained that he'd suspected the Collectors were the ones behind the plague outbreak before Shepard and his team had showed up. He'd theorized that the Collectors had unleashed this plague on the district to test the different species' levels of genetic mutations and variability, and that the humans had been spared because of their already diverse genetic background, so therefore it made sense to leave them intact as a control group. As for the vorcha, Mordin suspected that the scavenger species had been employed by the Collectors to distribute the plague for them, and collect the data they desired since they were immune to diseases in general.

Finally Shepard decided it was time to get moving as he ordered for his team to head to the environmental plant. They had a doctor to recruit, a district to save, and vorcha to kill.

Alright, that's it for this chapter!

Oh, and I'm well-aware that I screwed up the first chapter in regards to how the nuke was actually supposed to be a re-purposed slipspace drive, or something like that, which is why I am officially sending out a request for a beta reader. Candidates may leave a review, or send me a PM. And if you can give me the usernames of other authors whose work you edit, that would help a great deal in improving your odds of being the one I choose. May the best editor win!

Oh, and for anyone else out there who's concerned about the purge of this website, go to www[dott]change[dott]org/petitions/fanfiction-net-stop-the-destruction-of-fanfiction-net and sign this online petition. Join the fight against internet censorship, and make sure that this website will continue to be a place where we are free to Unleash Our Imaginations!