--> I’ve
recruited three more individuals, each of whom is
easily worth
a full
team by themselves. A
genetically-synthesized “perfect” Krogan, Grunt, brutal and
deadly. A biotic of extraordinary power, Jack, rumoured to be the
mightiest Human biotic alive, and a master thief of unparalleled
ability, Kasumi Goto.
The
Krogan we had sought out was not Grunt. The scientist who fabricated
him, the Warlord Okeer, was one of the only Krogan scientists worthy
of note in the galaxy. Furthermore, as one of the few Krogan
Warlords to survive the Krogan rebellions, he possessed a millennium
of combat experience. But most interesting of all, Cerberus caught
wind of him dealing with the Collectors, presumably trading something
for technology to help him create a cure for the Genophage. Beyond
that, we knew only that he was conducting research at a Blue Suns
salvage yard.
But
we’d been wrong in our assumptions. Okeer didn’t want to cure
the Genopage, he instead sought to create the perfect Krogan, to
“inflict upon the Genophage the greatest insult an enemy can
suffer: to be ignored.” He had bought technology from the
Collectors, and he had paid them in Krogan. He grew thousands of
Krogan in vats, selling some to the Collectors, but handing most of
them over to the resident Blue Suns commander, Jedor, for use as
shock troopers. Okeer didn’t care a whit for the lives of
thousands of his kind, no guilt at all for having handed them over to
the Collectors, or that Jedor had been unable to control the Krogan
given her, and so used them for her troops’ target practice. The
only thing Okeer cared about, what he sacrificed his own life for,
was his final masterpiece, a single, perfect, Krogan.
We
left the research base with no new intel on the Collectors, only the
tank holding the Krogan specimen that Okeer had sacrificed thousands
of lives, including his own, for. Such wanton waste. This Krogan,
Grunt, could be superhuman and not justify the thoroughly amoral
means to his making.
When
I awoke Grunt from his tank I gave him promise of worthy enemies, and
thus have won his temporary loyalty. He will fight for us, for now.
Out of all that waste, at least a little benefit will be gained. Let
this brutal and battle-hungry great beast of a Krogan vent his potent
rage against the Collectors. I take grim pleasure anticipating the
carnage he will inflict upon them.
> Jack
was being held in stasis aboard the independent prison ship
Purgatory. Imagine my disgust to learn that Cerberus was buying her
from the Purgatory’s captain, a Turian named Kuril. It seems this
procedure of selling useful prisoners is (or
I should say was) standard
practice on the Purgatory. I agreed to collect Jack, but planned to
make it quite clear to her that, once aboard the Normandy, she was
free to go if she wished. I’m not about to become a slave trader.
But
compelling Jack’s compliance would have been impossible anyway.
Had she proved intractable,
nothing short of a lethal shot would have prevented her from killing
us all.
There
is no honour among thieves. Kuril betrayed us, and tried to take me
and team prisoner. It seems someone had offered him a pretty price
for me; I should be very interested to know whom.
When
we commandeered the cell block controls for Jack’s level and pulled
her out of stasis, she tore through three heavy mechs in her initial
charge alone. We pursued her to the docking bay, finding a trail of
chaos and mayhem in our way. It seems we accidentally opened all the
cells, not just Jack’s. Inmates and guards were killing each other
all over the place, both parties were trying to kill us, and anyone,
prisoner or guard, who was unfortunate enough to be in Jack’s path
didn’t live to tell about it.
From
what we saw in that ship, the way the serial killers were abused by
their keepers, I have a hard time feeling pity for any aboard the
Purgatory. I heard reports of official government forces moved in
afterward to restore order. There can’t have been much left for
them.
When
we caught up with Jack in the docking bay, she initially refused to
even consider taking passage aboard a Cerberus vessel, then quickly
changed her mind and agreed to join us in return for information,
everything we had in our Cerberus files. It seems she and Cerberus
have a history. I shall be most interested to hear what she finds.
Looking
at the trail of wreckage Jack left behind her, I am prepared to say I
have never seen more absolute and widespread destruction inflicted by
any one individual. There are doubtless Asari, even Alliance,
biotics possessed of more skill and finesse; but for sheer strength
and raw destructive power, Jack is without match. When the time
comes hit the Collectors with as much hell as possible, she will
likely prove the most valuable asset we have.
> Kasumi
is the best thief in the galaxy, not the most famous. She has no
criminal record of any sort. Cerberus would never have found her had
she not contacted them. She agreed to assist in the mission to stop
the Collectors, but, in return, asked for help with a heist to
recover her old partner’s memory implant. It seems he discovered
something big, stole something too important, and paid with his life.
But the information was locked away in a memory device, or greybox,
as Kasumi called it, inaccessible to anyone but her. It was in
possession of organized crime lord Donovan Hock.
Having
seen Kasumi’s talents in action first hand, she didn’t need my
help at all recovering that greybox. It is clear she brought me
along more for the purpose of testing my abilities than anything
else. As for her own capabilities, her hacking and decryption skills
exceed anything I’ve ever seen before, except perhaps for Tali.
Kasumi virtually waltzed through seemingly impregnable security
without effort. And in combat, she exhibited stunning feats of
athletic prowess, obviously utilizing significant physical
enhancements.
The
greybox contained both the dangerous information, supposedly
something that could implicate the Alliance, even start a war, and
memories of Kasumi and Keiji’s time together. Keiji’s memory
urged Kasumi to destroy the greybox and all the data inside,
otherwise she would become a target for those looking for it.
I
would greatly like to know the specifics of the potentially volatile
information, but as the danger lay in its revelation, not its
continued concealment, and to spare Kasumi the temptation to spend
the rest of her life reliving her and Keiji’s past, I urged her to
do as he said. I am sorry for her loss, but dwelling upon shards
will not restore the broken vase. She needs to come to terms with
her lover’s death, and move on.
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