Jenkins
“-kins. Jenkins! Garrus, I think he’s waking up.” The first thing I noticed was a voice coming to my attention. The second thing I noticed was the pain.
“Ugh. Shit why does it feel like I got hit by a truck.” I spoke out loud, not even bothering to open my eyes.
My entire body was sore, and every inhale hurt. My throat felt raw and scratchy, and there was the coppery taste of blood in my mouth. My face hurt, and my right arm, which had already felt injured was a source of constant pain. The most concerning of all would be the areas that didn’t hurt. In particular, the right side of my face that faced the explosion was just sort of numb. I knew enough about first aid to know that was a problem.
“Don’t move okay, the explosion launched you across the room. It’s a miracle you're even alive, much less awake.” Garrus’ voice was even and measured, so I was at least confident I wasn’t actively dying.
“Got it, no moving. Is Tali okay? Did we kill the Thorian?” I asked the question, trying to open my eyes. My concern only grew as I could only get my left eye open properly, and my vision still felt blurry. I could see Ashley and Garrus kneeling beside me checking me over. Ashley pulled a thin metal tube, before popping off the cap and jabbing it into my injured arm.
I couldn’t help but think about the fact that I was supposed to have armor over that arm that would make a direct application of medi-gel like that impractical. Another thing to add to the concern list I suppose. The injection was followed by a wave of cold moving across my arm and through my body, and the pain faded.
“Ohhhhh, that’s the good shit. Glad that worked right away. Given I’m still lying in a room of rubble, and you’re just applying medi-gel, how long was I unconscious for?” I was able to ask the question but the relief from the pain made me want to fall asleep again. I fought the urge, as there were still things I needed to do.
“You were out only a couple minutes, we rushed in as soon as the explosion went off. We tried to move you but…” She trailed off looking unsure how to continue.
“I informed them to wait for a full body scan before moving you. It is important we know there is no damage to your central vertebrae.” The mechanical voice spoke from my omni-tool. However, the audio quality was lower than expected, lending more credence to the fact that my right arm armor was probably wrecked. I felt a spike of anxiety as Beta spoke openly.
“Yeah. That.” Ashley had a torn expression. Her lips were pursed and she looked both a mix of angry and confused. Not surprising given she now knew I had an AI in my possession.
“Ah. Shit.” There wasn’t much more I could say other than that.
“Yeah, we are probably going to have to talk about that later, but for now we’re just glad you got out of there alive.” Garrus put a hand on my less damaged shoulder, giving me a light smile. Ashley just sighed before nodding.
“Yeah. Later. In good news, the communications jamming dropped after the Thorian went down. Colony communications are still down but we could get in touch with Normandy. Joker said the Geth ship evacuated the tower, and the rest of the ground team is making their way to the colony site. They’re on their way.” I assume Ashley was referring to Wrex and Kaidan since Shepard should still be unconscious and recovering, but I wasn’t going to bet on it until I saw it for sure. I gave it a fifty-fifty chance she had just woken up on her own and demanded to come help.
“What about Tali?” I asked the question that I was most worried about at the moment.
“She’s headed up to us. Panicked over comms when the explosion went off and you went down, but she’s okay.” Ashley explained everything professionally, most personal inflection leaving her tone as it became clear I was not in any immediate danger of dying suddenly.
“Perfect, that’s good. Beta, what’s the scan looking like? How fucked up did I get?” There was a flinch from Ashley, and a look of concern on Garrus as I spoke to my AI companion. That was going to be a mess to explain.
“No damage to your spine or central nervous system. No internal bleeding. You have 4 cracked ribs, a broken ulna, and a cracked humerus in your right arm, as well as your right shoulder being dislocated. You have mild first-degree burns across your right hand and forearm where the armor was broken, and second to third-degree burns on the right side of your face.” The voice was clinical and professional. I could feel that there was probably more damage than just that, but they were the important injuries to know about.
“Damn. Well, that could have gone better huh?” I chuckled lightly, wincing as the extra breath did cause a flash of pain to break through the cold.
“It is worth mentioning that you were advised your proximity to the explosive put you at substantial risk. Maximizing shields still only gave you a 48% chance of survival. It was a foolish risk, leaving your survival up to chance.” There was a flinch from Ashley and a look from Garrus as they heard the numbers themselves.
“Really Beta? An I told you so? That’s beneath you.” The machine was silent as I answered back.
“You set that explosive off knowing those odds?” Garrus looked almost impressed while Ashley stood and walked a few steps away before turning back to face me.
“You idiot. You should have waited for our help. We could have separated you from that damn Asari and set off the explosive safely.” There was emotion back in her voice. Annoyance and anger, but something else too. Concern maybe?
“Sorry, Ash. Didn’t have the time or option to wait things out and hope. Damn, Asari was trying to add me to the Thorian collective. Killing it and rescuing the colony was the primary objective, remember? I trusted Beta to boost my shield as best he could. I had to accept the risk.”
“That’s not your call!” Ashley raised her voice yelling for a moment. I turned my head as best I could, looking at her through my good eye. Her helmet was off, and her stance was shaking. I watched her take a breath and collect herself.
“It was my mission, my orders that led us here. You shouldn’t have to risk dying to complete my mission. We could have retreated, we had the intel we needed, and worst case we could have come back with an alliance armada to free the colony. I should have ordered a retreat. You shouldn’t have been in that situation.” Her voice dropped, and she looked at the ground, trying to compose herself. I could see now what that other feeling she had was. It was regret and fear. She blamed herself for how things went, how badly it had almost gone.
“And leave this colony under that thing's control? Yeah, I don’t think so. Your orders were good Ash, if they weren’t I would have made that clear, trust me.” I spoke as I could trying to reassure her.
Maybe we could have left and come back to the colony, but who knows what the Thorian would have done or prepared in that time. Fighting it here and now was the best chance we had of dealing with it, no doubt.
“Analysis of Thorian behavior suggests it would have killed or fully enslaved Zhu’s Hope colony during your absence. Its destruction was necessary for their immediate protection.” Another flinch from Ashley as Beta confirmed my assessment.
“Hmph. I’m not taking an AI’s agreement as a good thing. We are still having a talk about what the hell that thing is and why you have it. Don’t forget that.” Despite her words, I watched her relax slightly. There were too many tsundere’s in my life right now.
“Got it. Beta be quiet for a while, I don’t think Tali will take an AI well and I’d like to be able to explain things to her at a better time. Is that okay?” I glanced between Garrus and Ashley as I said that.
Being the only two who knew about Beta right now, they would be the ones who decide whether it gets out immediately or if I get some time before I explain everything. Garrus nodded right away, while Ashley took a second before nodding as well.
“Thanks. Now can you guys help me stand up, I want to get out of here.” I asked as politely as I could, but lying on the ground wasn’t a comfortable position.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea, we can wait for Kaidan and Wrex to get here and help us get you out?” Garrus spoke again, taking a knee beside me and looking me over closely.
“I’m sure, Beta didn’t say anything about leg injuries and my spine is fine. I’m sure I can walk, I’ll just need support.” Garrus nodded in agreement and leaned down to help me up.
It wasn’t a fun process standing, and for a moment I felt I was going to pass out, but quickly the feeling passed and I could safely support some of my weight. My right arm hung limply at my side, but Garrus supported nearly all my weight on the other. We started moving slowly, with simple steps as we made our way across and down. There was no sign of Tali on our path. Ashley led the way, calling for her on our comms.
“Tali, are you okay? Jenkins is conscious we are headed down to you.”
“Thank the ancestors. I’m okay but we have a situation down here. It’s the Asari from earlier.” She spoke quickly, and while she sounded concerned, it didn’t sound like an active problem. Ashley stopped for a half step before picking up the pace. Garrus and I tried to do the same but there was a limit to how fast I could move.
“What sort of situation?! I thought the Thorian was dead how is that Asari still around?” Ashley’s concern was valid, but I knew immediately what had happened.
“She says she was part of Saren’s group. She was used by Saren for the Thorian to pass the marker. She says she got left behind after the deal. After we killed the Thorian it freed her.” There was a look from Ashley to us as we got the answer.
“Well fuck.” Garrus responded succinctly.
“Hold there Tali we will be down to you soon. She’s not hostile?”
“No. She says she wants to help us stop Saren.”
“Well fuck.” It was my turn to sum things up as well.
“Yeah, that about covers it. Let’s get there and see what the fuck is going on. I thought shit would get simpler once the evil plant was dead. So much for that.” It was the last she spoke as we made our way back through the structure of the room.
It probably took twice as long to get back as it did to get to where we were in the first place, even without the fighting. Damn, I hated being injured, and despite everything, I still couldn’t see out of my right eye. It was making me worried, mostly because Beta and everyone refused to mention it in the first place. I had to just pull off the bandaid and ask.
“Garrus. I can’t see from my right eye. Be honest with me, how bad is it?” I could feel the stutter in his step as I asked, and even Ashley glanced back at us before continuing.
“Well, I don’t want to lie to you, but it’s not good. We bandaged your face the best we could, but it was burned pretty bad.” Well, that was at least a partial relief. I couldn’t feel the bandages, but Beta said third-degree burns. Nerve endings are destroyed with that level of burn, so I doubted I would feel much of anything on my face for some time. It could just be the bandages blocking my vision, but it didn’t feel that way.
“That bad then? Any chance it could heal with enough time?” I asked, looking over to Garrus with my good eye. He didn’t look back.
“I’m not a doctor.” That was the only response he could give me. He didn’t want to say no but he couldn’t comfortably say maybe either.
“Damn.” He just nodded in response. I was silent for the rest of the walk. Evaluating the weight of my injuries. I could only hope they didn’t try and take me off the mission. Even with an injured eye, I could still work tech, and I was certain I could still fight. I would just need time to get used to things.
It was with these thoughts that we arrived once more at the main floor. Tali was keeping a steady eye on an Asari woman. She had taken the chance to sit on some nearby rubble, just leaning her head back and breathing calmly. Tali didn’t have her weapon drawn but was just watching. As Ashley entered, weapon in her hand but not raised, the Asari raised an eye to look at us, while Tali turned to us and ran over.
“Jenkins! Are.. are you okay?” The concern in her voice was noticeable as her eyes scanned across me, lingering on the bandages that covered half my face, as well as my arm that hung limply at the side. Still, I wanted to make her relax.
“Hey, I’m doing just fine. A little damage from an explosive, but nothing I couldn’t handle. Takes more than a point-blank explosion to kill Corporal Richard Jenkins.” I gave a wink with my one good eye and cracked the best smile I could. I doubt it worked as well as I intended, but I could still see clearly as Tali relaxed, at least a little.
“You ax’kah. Still making jokes even like that.” She chuckled lightly as she stepped beside me, turning to still keeping an eye on me.
“I’d apologize but I wouldn’t mean it. If I stop making jokes things have truly and utterly spiraled out of control.” Another chuckle as I turn my attention towards the Asari that Ashley was now approaching.
Her eyes were open, and watching us, scanning from person to person. As her eyes crossed over me I nearly flinched. There was a sudden intensity and weight from her look, one that I couldn’t recognize. It passed as quickly as it appeared, and in a moment things were back to normal. It almost felt as though I imagined things. She turned her attention back to Ashley as she spoke.
“You claim to have been part of Saren’s crew. And that you want to help us. Explain why we shouldn’t just shoot you and get on our way.” Ashley didn’t raise her weapon but there was a rage in her tone that made it clear that’s what she would do if she didn’t like the answer she got.
For once I didn’t care what choice Ashley made here. Yeah normally in the game this Asari would be very helpful and protective of Zhu’s Hope if they were allowed to live, but that was only necessary if Ethan Jeong died, since his survival meant Zhu’s Hope kept Exo-Geni support and didn’t need the extra help. Given we never confronted Ethan he was probably still alive. Yeah, I would prefer if she lived, but given it was her face that tried to forcibly control me not ten minutes ago I found it very difficult to care personally.
“My name is Shiala, I served Matriarch Benezia, not Saren. When she followed Saren, I followed her, as was my duty. My loyalties aligned only with the Matriarch, at least at first.” She spoke softly, and I was surprised by how gentle she sounded.
“At first? What happened, why did the Matriarch even follow Saren?” Ashley kept her tone even, limiting any aggression but still staying ready.
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“She foresaw the influence he would have. She sought to guide him down a gentler path, away from the destruction that could be wrought. But Saren is compelling. She has lost her way.” She looked away, sadness in her face as the thoughts wracked her.
“Convenient. Matriarchs are centuries old, and masters of politics and diplomacy. Do you really think I’d believe that Saren is so convincing she would just fall under his sway unwillingly? Unless you’re trying to tell us Saren has some way to force people to follow him.” Ashley scoffed aloud, making it clear she didn’t see that as very likely.
“Not Saren himself, but his warship. He calls it Sovereign, it’s a dreadnought unlike any ship I’ve ever seen. It has some way of dominating his followers. The longer we spent aboard the more we found ourselves agreeing with his words, following his plan faithfully.” Ashley turned away to glance at me.
We were the only two of this group that had been to Eden Prime, so we had seen the ship she was describing. I alone knew it was a Reaper itself, but Ashley knew enough to know the ship was real and about the reports from the colonists about the ship emitting a sound, one that pierced the mind and left you disoriented and confused. I could see her thoughts turning as she considered the possibility and came to the conclusion that there was a chance Shiala was telling the truth.
“They become indoctrinated to Saren’s will. It is not a fast process, it can take days or weeks, but in the end, it is absolute. I was a willing slave when Saren brought me here, when he needed me to transfer the marker from the Thorian I gave myself over willingly in exchange. Only once he had left did the control begin to fade.” Ashley was silent for a while, thinking things over, before eventually shouldering her rifle.
“God dammit. I was hoping you weren’t telling the truth. If Saren is capable of that we are in more trouble than I thought. How strong is this indoctrination?” Shiala breathed a sigh of relief I didn’t realize she was holding in.
“It’s hard to say. I didn’t even realize it was happening until long after its control was complete. Matriarch Benezia and I joined Saren two weeks ago, and we had been traveling on his ship for that entire time. He left me here two days ago. I spent most of that time contained by the Thorian, only half aware of myself, but I can no longer feel his influence.” Ashley nodded, recording this information in her omni-tool as she explained. This information would be important.
“What about Saren’s troops? Was it just the Geth and Benezia, or did he have more allies?” Garrus asked, clearly hoping for more intel on our enemies.
“Benezia is a Matriarch, she has squad of Asari Commando’s that follow her. Myself included there were 10 of us, so she would have nine of them still by her side. Aside from us Saren only had Geth aiding him, although he had mentioned plans to gain more soldiers. I wish I could say more about that but only the Matriarch was privileged to his private conversations.” She sounded truly sorry for not being able to tell us more. I would complain about the little information but I already knew what Saren was planning. That said it was still important to ask questions for posterity’s sake.
“We had reports that the Matriarch was spotted arriving on Noveria a day ago. Do you have any idea why she might be there? Is this part of that plan for more soldiers?” Shiala flinched as I spoke, and stared at me, that intensity returning once more, before vanishing again.
“If she’s already on Noveria then we are running out of time. Saren needs three things to secure the conduit; the information on it from the beacon, its location, and soldiers to secure a path there and his conquest afterwards.” Well, this was new information to me. It was always clear in the games this is what Saren needed, but it was never stated outright. Helpful.
“Information on the conduit’s location was supposedly on Noveria. Matriarch Benezia was likely sent ahead to gather that information for Saren. If he has it already then he will simply be preparing his soldiers for the search. Benezia is the only one who knows of Saren’s plans in full, only she could tell you where he’s gone.” There was a wave of dread across our group.
If Saren already had information on the conduit’s location, and the ability to translate the beacon's message, then all that was left was preparing his soldiers. I knew we had time, his soldiers needed a lot of work before they would be ready to deploy, and we should receive orders to investigate Virmire before then. Virmire, everything would lead there. Another hurdle I hoped to jump. If possible we could even stop Saren there, avoid the attack on the Citadel completely, and save the Alliance and Council some casualties.
“We need to get going then. We don’t have any time to lose.” Ashley spoke quickly and we nodded in agreement. She turned to start marching when Shiala interrupted.
“Wait! You will need me to help transfer the marker. It was shown to that one,” she pointed at me “but only you witnessed the Beacon’s message. You must have both to comprehend the vision.”
Ashley looked confused between me to Shiala before speaking.
“Well then you’ll have to come with us, I wasn’t the one who saw the vision. That was our Commander, Shepard.” Shiala looked confused before looking at Ashley.
“Wait, you’re not the Commander? Saren warned us of a human woman. A soldier. He said she was the only true threat to his plans. That’s not you?” Ashley smirked for a second before facing Shiala.
“Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams. Our Commander is aboard the Normandy, you can transfer the Marker once we can confirm that what you are doing is necessary. Forgive me if I refuse to let you plunge into my soldier's minds without knowing it’s essential.” Ashley then turned to march, and we followed in line.
Shiala followed, walking ahead of Garrus, Tali, and me, but behind Ashley. I could hear her muttering to herself as we walked, before speaking louder to Ashley again.
“He underestimates you. He only sees Shepard as his rival. If he faced a group of you without her he would look down on you. He could be caught off guard, unprepared.” Ashley responded without looking back.
“Good. If he wants to underestimate the rest of us let him. We’ll make sure to make him pay for it.” I could feel Garrus chuckle lightly at Ashley’s response, and I couldn’t help but do the same. Being underestimated was an advantage we could play with, no question about that.
The rest of our walk was silent, although it took longer than expected. Garrus had to keep stopping in the stairwell to the surface to let me rest. Turns out stairs suck when you have broken ribs, doesn’t matter if you’re juiced with painkillers or not.
Still, before too long we were graced once more with the gentle rays of a foreign sun shining through a thick cloud of dust and ash. We noticed one thing right away on our exit, that being that the colonists we had knocked out while they were under Thorian control were conscious, and seemed to be receiving treatment from a very annoyed-looking doctor.
“Chakwas! Nice to see you out of the Normandy, I don’t suppose I could get some help.” She didn’t flinch at my voice, focusing on the one patient she was treating currently. Shining a light into his eyes and having him track the movement.
“Jenkins. Glad to hear you’re not dead, what do you- Christ put him down you fool!” Chakwas turned around mid-conversation in time to see me, which had her immediately standing and rushing over, yelling at Garrus as she did so.
Garrus, to his credit, did not immediately panic and drop me as so many might have when confronted with an angry Chakwas. He instead lowered me gently to the ground, letting me sit against the side of the hab unit we had moved to get access to the underground.
Ashley glanced around the clearing, and I followed her gaze noticing a few other personnel from the Normandy. A couple of members of the communication team were working on the exterior of a central hab unit with an antenna, likely trying to repair the colony's communications. There were no signs of any of the ground team, but I could only guess they were equally busy, either in maintaining a perimeter or helping repair necessary structure. I turned to give a look at Chakwas who reached my side.
“Hey doc. I look that bad huh?” I let out a laugh, thankful for the painkillers that numbed any pain the motion might have.
“I’d say you can’t be that hurt if your making jokes, but I doubt dying would be enough to stop you. You and Joker are two peas in a pod when it comes to that. I am going to hope that they knew well enough to ensure you had no spinal injuries before moving you?” The doctor raised her voice as she finished the sentence, giving a harsh look to Garrus and Tali, who were walking beside me when the doctor first looked. Tali flinched, but Garrus spoke calmly.
“Of course ma’am. No internal injuries or spinal damage for Corporal Jenkins. He’s not in good shape, but he was well enough to move.” Chakwas stared at him for a moment before nodding.
“Good, in that case, give me a moment to check his vitals, and then one of you help me get him to the ship. I can’t treat injuries this severe here and he will need all of these wounds treated and cleaned as soon as possible.” Garrus nodded in response.
Ashley, who had been watching the area around us, as well as keeping an eye on Shiala turned to the doctor, asking a question as she did so.
“Doctor, who’s leading the ship’s deployment in camp currently, I have to get information to Shepard when possible, and until then I’d like help keeping an eye on this one.” She gestured towards Shiala, who didn’t bother responding. Chakwas scoffed in annoyance before answering.
“Shepard is in charge. The damn woman managed to wake up despite sedation and demanded to be allowed to deploy. I only let her out when we got confirmation the Geth ship attached to the neighboring tower had left the planet. She’s been busy leading repairs and gathering information from the colonists.” Well damn, Shepard did force herself out of recovery early. What an absolute madwoman.
“Of course she did. Alright I’ll go report to her then. Doctor, you only need one of us to help with Jenkins right? Tali would you mind, I could use Garrus’ help in keeping an eye on our new friend here.” Shiala looked from Ashley to Garrus.
“I understand your concern but I have no desire to run or cause problems. I will cooperate fully.” Shiala spoke evenly, no hint of unease or offense in her voice. She understood our need for precaution.
“And I would love to take that at its word, along with everything else you said. But we are going to have you tell Shepard all the things you told us before any decisions are made on what to do with you.” Shiala nodded and Tali responded to the initial question.
“Yeah, I’ll help where I can. I doubt I would be much help relaying information anyway. I spent most of the fight hanging from a ledge anyway.” There was a hint of shame as she spoke, but surprisingly Garrus spoke before I could.
“Don’t sell your efforts short. You were fighting there alongside us all, that’s what counts. Remind me to tell you about my first C-sec raid sometime, I can tell you it went worse than this fight did.”He gave a smile, putting a hand on her shoulder and getting a nod in response. Even if it didn’t fix Tali’s feelings, it at the very least improved her mood.
We watched as they headed off into the camp while Chakwas looked me over, scanning every part of me and visually inspecting the different wounds.
“Well, at least your wounds could have been worse. The worst of the damage appears to be the burns on your face. I’ll try my best, but I can’t promise we will be able to save your eye. At the very least you’ll lose most of your vision in that eye. At worst the entire eye will have to be removed just to avoid infection.” Damn it. Sort of what I expected at this point, but still it sucked to hear.
“Your right arm is in rough shape as well. Not quite as bad as Shepard’s hand was, but still not good. You’ll need a half day of recovery to repair the bones at least. Rest and no strenuous activity. What did you even do to cause this kind of injury in the first place?” Chakwas was a good doctor, I like her straightforward approach to things, she didn’t cut corners and she made it very clear what she was capable of fixing or not in any given situation.
“Oh, I set off three timed explosives within 5 meters of myself,” I spoke casually, answering her question without much fanfare. I was sort of hoping she wouldn’t actually notice my words and we could just pass over that part of the conversation.
Chakwas blinked a few times, staring at me closely. She stood, dusting off her uniform and turning to Tali.
“Please help Jenkins to the Normandy, I will be there shortly to treat him.” Tali also nodded, confused by the sudden change in her tone and attitude. I, however, began to sweat as I saw the Doctor appear angrier than I had ever seen her.
“And Jenkins?”
“Yes ma’am?” I gave a gulp as her focus turned on me.
“Understand the Hippocratic oath is the only thing protecting you. If I wasn’t your doctor I might have killed you myself for that kind of stupidity.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“I still might. Of all the things..” Her voice faded as she walked to finish treating the patient she was looking over and gathering her supplies. She was still talking to herself, and I felt the shiver go down my spine. The doctor didn’t make threats, she made promises.
Tali bent down, helping me to my feet and supporting me under my left shoulder once again, and together we made our way to the Normandy. What a shitshow this had been. At the very least I could only hope that things got easier from here. I knew enough of the future to prepare for the things Saren would do. He could think himself miles above us all, but that distance would prove his downfall. By the time he realized he was in danger, it would be far too late.
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Saren Arterius
The hum never seemed to go away. Saren sat aboard his vessel. Sovereign, the Consumer, Arbiter of the cycle, Reaper of worlds. The ship hummed at him, and knowledge was shared once more.
The Geth from Feros had reported. The Thorian was dead, and with it, the trace of the marker was gone. There was a moment where Saren felt regret and fear at the path to follow him being gone, but it was smothered once more by another hum and a feeling of satisfaction. He had done well, and his loyalty to Sovereign would spare his people. Fighting was hopeless, obedience was the only way. Any thoughts otherwise were the raving thoughts of fools.
And then the hum carried on, and anger and rage filled him. The Geth were not the ones to destroy the Thorian. It was Shepard’s team, and they collected the marker during the process. Saren couldn’t feel the flash of hope that thought gave him, the hum carried only rage and fury. He had ordered the Geth to set their strongest defenses in a place to ambush Shepard and her team if they arrived.
Failures, they were all failures. It’s why he couldn’t trust the pitiful synthetics to do the job correctly. A hum carried with it disgust and revulsion at the thought of the inferior machines. They were nothing compared to the great ones, the Mechanical Leviathans. If he had more of them this mission would be unnecessary.
But if there were more of them then his position wouldn’t be needed. The Reapers would be here in force and subservience would be nothing in the face of their systematic genocide. A hum and the thought was buried. He was needed, that’s what mattered. He would assist the machines and they would spare his world and people as a reward for loyalty.
Shepard was a nuisance, but not a threat. They were determined, and the file Saren had read from Nihlus was flattering in its assessment of her. The pang of remorse at the thought of Nihlus is drowned by a hum and the apathy that followed. Shepard’s military history and tenacity reminded him much of himself. She would not be stopped easily, and it was unlikely the Geth would be able to slow her down much longer. He had to make his way to Virmire.
They had a week before the experiments would be complete and the process should be done. Krogan, cured of the Genophage and controlled by Soverie- another hum and the thought is replaced- his indoctrination. They would follow him with no resistance or fear, and with the promise of a cure the Krogan would willingly hand themselves over to his control. No one, even Shepard could stop an army of obedient Krogan. Even the machine fea- a hum louder and more painful than the others interrupted the thoughts.
An army of unified Krogan would guarantee Saren’s usefulness to the Reapers, and confirm he could find the conduit with no difficulty. The machine had tried to encourage moving sooner, as soon as possible, but Saren had convinced it of the risk. There was only one chance, a failure to secure the conduit would leave the council aware and protected from the usual tactics of the Reapers. They had to guarantee success, as failure would make the war for this cycle more tedious than most. The spark of hope and desire at the thought was buried by another hum, leaving only a feeling of contentment for their plan.
The hums have been louder and more frequent since he left the Matriarch on Noveria. It was good though. Her strength would prove a challenge for Shepard, and her absences left his mind clearer to focus on the requirements of his plan. The burning of the galaxy was a shame, but inevitable. His path, obedience was the only way. A hum filled with waves of joy and satisfaction cemented the thought.
Saren reopened Nihlus’ files. Even if the Council restricted his access and revoked his Spectre status he still had these saved in his possession. Most were details on the mission for the beacon, as well as an assessment of the physical and psychological patterns of the Human Commander. There were mentions of others, the two humans that were on her mission originally. There were unremarkable all things considered.
Sure this Alenko was a decent biotic, and his history at the BAat was interesting, but overall he posed little threat. His biotic strength came with a weakness one that Sovereign could exploit come a fight. Indoctrination took time, but it took very little effort to force a migraine.
And the other was practically a joke. Another human, this one with even less renown. An unremarkable military career, nearly zero actual combat experience, and no biotics to speak of. He worked for the team as an engineer according to the files, but had no history or patents attached to his name. A repair monkey, barely worth concern. Saren nearly tossed the file aside once more when hum directed his focus back towards it once more.
At the bottom of the set of notes on Jenkins was an addendum. Nihlus had spoken with him on the day of the mission on Eden Prime. He had been impressed with the human's modifications to a standard omni-tool. He specified it wasn’t any greater than Spectre-grade equipment, but it’s increase to the standard alliance omni-tool was still impressive. Below the addendum was an attached file, apparently the schematics and coding of the upgrade itself. A hum compelled him to look, and Saren opened the file.
As he read further he couldn’t help but smile. The use of VI to increase the devices potential was clever, even if the potential increase wasn’t high enough to through it over what was just better equipment. But as he read a hum matched his thoughts, anticipation and satisfaction surged forth as he saw the potential. A VI wouldn’t be worth the effort of the upgrade, but Saren had access to things much more powerful than VI. Perhaps this Jenkins’ technology could find better use housing a thousand Geth units or so.
The hum agreed, and Sovereign groaned as it sent commands to the Geth troopers filling it’s vessel to begin work. There was no reason for Saren to be unprepared should he have to face Shepard face to face. And when he did so he would have to thank this young man for the upgrade.