Chapter Two: Aralakh Grunt
Eight?
Of the thousands of krogan warriors Wrex could have picked, of the dozen Battle Masters and hundred generals and soldiers, after all his research Wrex had picked just eight? That wasn't even half the number of krogan who had served alongside Grunt on Utukku. Including him it made nine, but it didn't make much of a difference.
Aralakh Company had been made of twenty-five strong and brave krogan, all men willing to lay down their lives for the good of the species. These eight... one of them was too young to even be considered a soldier, another was centuries older than Wrex, and two were females.
Females?! Wrex had never even seen a female fight, unless one counted the many times Bakara had head-butted and fired a gun at those who refused to follow her orders. Even worse, one of the females was a non-combatant. Why the hell was she even considered for a place within the new Aralakh Company?
...
What the hell is Wrex thinking? I wouldn't have a problem with eight seasoned fighters or even eight powerful biotics, but these... 'fighters' are the worst possible excuse for a team. There's even one from Clan Jurdon, Wrex gave me a krogan who hated everything my clan stands for and he expects me to fight alongside him?
How the hell am I supposed to lead them?
...
Grunt entered the representative hall of the Urdnot Clan, passing busy krogan and salarians and asari and entered the newly furbished office of Wrex. It was strange to think of Wrex having an office, but he was glad it was nothing like one of the offices found on the Citadel.
This one was large with stone walls and an open balcony, not a desk in sight, just many statues of famous krogan and weapons. There were a few plush seats and a carpet, but that was just a feature an asari had added in order to make non-krogan feel comfortable in the foreign environment.
Lined up neatly before Wrex were eight krogan, Grunt's new team. One of them, the oldest of the team, had a pet varren beside him. Wrex spotted the young krogan and waved him on, Grunt came to stand beside Urdnot's leader and he finally got a look at the krogan he had been told of three days ago. He remembered as Wrex explained the details just days ago, a small part of him still couldn't believe such responsibility had been given to him.
What a victory, he thought, to protect Tuchanka in such a way. I'll be a silent guardian like Vakarian on Omega.
...
"Aralakh Company will be reformed as a special black ops unit, known only to the clan leaders of Tuchanka," Wrex had explained. "You will lead eight krogan on a series of infiltration and sabotage missions, to prevent any threats that may face the krogan race."
"Eight?" Grunt repeated. "You expect me and eight others to protect the Union?"
"A unit so small will not arouse suspicion," Wrex answered. "It's a standard mercenary size. Besides, it's easier for nine krogan to sneak in and out then twenty-five or thirty."
"That's another thing," he said, "krogan aren't known for being... stealthy."
"You'll have to learn," Wrex ordered. "I and the rest of Tuchanka's leaders are putting the fate of our kind into your hands; if you can't lead eight krogan then you'll never be a leader."
Grunt snorted, "I'm no leader," he said. "I'm just a... grunt."
"Shepard didn't seem to think so," Wrex remarked. "She saw the same potential I see."
"That's different," Grunt argued. "Shepard believed in her men."
"Then that's what you'll need to do," Wrex retorted. "Believe in your new allies and they'll serve you well."
Grunt considered his leader's words for a moment. He sighed and folded his arms over his chest.
"Alright," he gave in. "For Tuchanka, I'll do this. Now who am I going to lead?"
Wrex made a gesture that said 'Not here' and Grunt followed him into a secret passage below the Council Hall that led to an emergency bunker, inside it was old and the walls black. It appeared to be part of the Old World, before the nuclear winter.
No doubt Bakara had a part to play in discovering this place.
Wrex reached into his armour and pulled out a small silver ball, he flicked a switch and the ball broke into eight different pieces that separated themselves and created eight small projectile images of eight krogan. Each picture was either a military ID or taken from surveillance footage.
The first krogan he met eyes with was a female a few years older than him judging by the way her fiery orange crests had begun to form and spike. She wore some blackened and scarred family armour that was still faintly red like her eyes. At first he didn't realize she was female, with the armour he automatically assumed it was a male, then he noticed how smooth her jaw was and how her spikes weren't exactly sharp.
"A female?" Grunt said. "I've never seen a female fight."
"What about Bakara?" Wrex said.
"She's different," Grunt grimaced.
"Her name is Lotta-Signorina Shay'kera," Wrex announced. "She comes from a unique tribe of all woman that raise the girls from a young age to fight like men, they don't wear robes - unless pregnant. Have you ever heard of Hündin Königin?"
"The female warlord?" Grunt asked.
Wrex nodded, "She once ruled this clan," he answered. "All the women are particularly aggressive, but Shay'kera's worse than all of them."
"Why?" Grunt frowned.
"She's Königin's daughter," Wrex replied.
"I'll be sure to keep an eye on her," Grunt said.
The two images beside her appeared to be twins, one krogan - the older one - had solid crests much the same colour as Grunt's, while the other - the younger - had black crests. The older brother had a series of purple tattoos on the left side of his face, like turian markings, while the younger brother was covered in scars that criss-crossed his face and neck.
The younger brother wore unusual armour, it had strange and odd patterns, almost complicated in design, while the silver-crested brother wore something beyond casual - simple brown trousers and a chest piece, with only his one shoulder covered in armour.
But what struck Grunt was not the armour or crest colour, but their eyes. They were blue, just like Grunt's.
"Have you caught on yet?" Wrex asked. "Do you know who these krogan are?"
"No, do I need to know?" Grunt retorted.
"They're Tase'la Steel and Giger," Wrex answered. "But to many they're called the Okeer Twins."
Grunt looked at the images again, and this time he realized. "Okeer created them..." he gasped. "But I thought I was the only that survived! I am perfect, I was chosen as his legacy."
"You are perfect," Wrex agreed. "Fertile, biotic and with the krogan longevity. Everything the twin's don't have."
"But how is that possible?" Grunt asked.
"They were created twenty-four years before you," Wrex explained. "Around a time when Okeer was fiddling around with DNA, he ended up changing the physiology of the twins. They are krogan, mostly, but whatever else was put inside of them stopped them from living as other krogan do. They'll die within a century."
"Why was I never told about them?" Grunt demanded. "I've been here for over a year and you never thought to tell me about them?"
"It seemed irrelevant," Wrex responded calmly. "Your problems were bigger than just a couple of long lost brothers."
Wrex was right - Grunt had to think of his Rite of Passage, the Collectors, the Reapers, when would he have had the chance to track down his... his brothers who were on the other side of the galaxy? Well, at least he knew about them now.
Grunt turned his attention to the next image, a krogan with fully developed deep blue crests and green eyes. By female standards, he would have been attractive. His armour seemed ancient, a family heirloom, judging by the symbol on the chest piece Grunt didn't recognize.
"Who's the pretty boy?" Grunt asked.
"Jorgal Aeacus," Wrex introduced.
"Jorgal?" Grunt repeated. "Aren't they famous for having the longest breeding lines?"
"Yeah," Wrex said. "Out of every five females in Clan Jorgal, three were able to reproduce. They let the fame get to their heads."
"I'll be sure to not let his head get too big," Grunt said. "It'll make him an easier target."
Wrex smirked. Grunt had a sense of humour like Shepard, it seemed a lot of her attitude rubbed off on him.
The next picture was of a krogan a few centuries older than Wrex, with a faded grey crest that was scarred and hidden by a skull-shaped helmet shaped like a krogan skull. He wore a chest piece bearing the N7 logo that was in the same terrible condition as the helmet.
Looking at it carefully, Grunt realized the helmet was just a little bit too... realistic.
"That's not a helmet, is it?" Grunt grimaced.
"No," Wrex laughed at his reaction. "It's the skull of Raik Skoll's father, he thinks it keeps him safe because his Elders are looking out for him. To be honest, Skoll's a tough son of a varren. He fought on Earth during the Reaper Invasion in the N7 Spec Ops. He even took his varren, Hati, with him. He's going to be well over thousand before he croaks."
Grunt had a feeling he was going to like the old krogan. He had been fighting since he was a teenager and he would keep fighting until the day he joined the Elders, just what Grunt expected from a clan who was the origin of the word 'Aralakh'.
Wrex drew Grunt's attention to the next krogan, a young blood of around Grunt's age with crest's that were a strange tone of dark purple. In the image taken from some sort of surveillance feed, it showed the purple krogan speaking with the leader of Clan Jurdon.
"He's Clan Jurdon?" Grunt snarled. "Are you insane? You expect Jurdon to follow the orders of Urdnot?"
"Wróg is different," Wrex argued.
Grunt snickered and tried to hide his laughter.
"What?" Wrex frowned.
"Wróg?" Grunt laughed. "His name is Wróg?"
Wrex rolled his eyes, "Yes," he said. "Just meet him before you judge him. And don't laugh at his name."
Grunt smirked, "I can't make any promises!"
The next krogan was a female in a lushes red robe, her green eyes visible from beneath the hood. Beside the image was a small textbox, in large red text was the words NON-COMBATANT. Grunt frowned.
"Ravanor Adria is not a fighter," Wrex said. "But she is a tech, a damn good one too. You'll need krogan like her."
Even Shepard's techs knew how to fire a gun, Grunt thought.
"Wait," Grunt said. "Ravanor? As in the Ravanor Mining Company?"
"Her clan were a huge help in forming the Union," Wrex explained. "As well as that, the entire clan bank-rolled most of the recon-struction. We need business-oriented clans to help our economy."
"So you get on their good side by including her," Grunt realized. "Is that why Jurdon was included?"
Wrex nodded.
The final image was of a young krogan, a few years younger than Grunt actually, and average in appearance with his reddish crest. Grunt thought he recognized the small symbol on the young krogan's neck, burned into the flesh was a half circle with a rising sun in the centre.
"That's Clan Drau's marking, right?" Grunt asked.
"You're getting better at recognizing symbols," Wrex remarked. "The kid's name is Durak, the son of a ruzad (judge). He's a good fighter, but has a lot to learn. He'll be handy, though, with all his political ties."
Grunt looked at each face one more time, silently wondering if he was prepared for the new Aralakh Company. They were nothing like his old Company, they were all seasoned veterans who followed orders without questions. These were fighters - mostly - who were from different clans, where there were different rules and different feelings, they were going to be hard to control.
...
Drawing himself back to the present, Grunt noticed each of his new soldiers were looking at him expectantly. Of them all, only Steel and Giger seemed interested in their new leader. Skoll was looking at Shay'kera, while the others seemed more interested in the room and in Wrex.
Grunt didn't like being ignored.
He drew his shot gun and fired a round in the sky, Dura and Adria jumped at the loud bang, and all eyes snapped to the Pure Krogan. Grunt smirked and lowered his weapon, but didn't holster it. He may still have need of it later.
"You all know why you're here," Grunt said. "You're the best of your clans and that's why you was chosen, but that doesn't mean anything now. As soon as you take up arms to fight in Aralakh Company you are no longer Jurdon or Jorgal or Raik - you are krogan! You are part of Tuchanka! And as krogan your duty is to our people, to protect and preserve. That is what it means to be krogan, to be a soldier, and I won't tolerate failure!"
He watched each of Aralakh Company's reaction, the younger ones were easily impressionable, the older ones not so much. Skoll seemed somewhat impressed, but only as much as a man who had heard better speeches and had something to compare it too. Steel had the same impression.
Shay'kera, on the other hand, took a step forward and pressed crossed her arms over her chest to form an X, both of her fists lay pressed down over the space above her two hearts.
"If that is the attitude of Aralakh then I'll discard the name Lotta-Signorina," she announced. "From now on, I shall be Aralakh Shay'kera. A krogan. A fighter. A weapon for you to use, Aralakh Grunt."
"I like the way she talks," Wróg took a step forwards and copied her gesture. "Aralakh Wróg, reporting for duty."
Slowly, the others copied, as if Shay'kera had opened a flood gate. Grunt smiled and copied his men, declaring with a leader's tone:
"As Aralakh we will protect our kind, unseen and powerful. We are not nine krogan, but one powerful force, and the day Aralakh dies is the day Tuchanka has no use of us."
Aralakh Company let out a mighty battle cry and raised their fists in the air, chanting in a booming voice 'Aralakh! Aralakh!' over and over again until it filled the room. Wrex took a step back to admire the proud look on Grunt's face, the first of many victories the young krogan would experience.
If only Shepard could see him now, he smiled. She would be proud of her baby.
To Be Continued...
A big thanks to TW6464 for informing me of the N7 Spec Ops, I never really played Multiplayer because of my crappy connection so I wasn't aware of the role they played in the Reaper Invasion. Without TW6464 I wouldn't have been able to flesh out Skoll's background as well.
Also, do krogan come from eggs? I know Wrex says Bakara is 'with child', but does that mean she carries the egg and then lays it? I'm not sure, I'd like to think they do hatch like cute little turtles, but does anyone know?
Please review and tell me what you think of the new Aralakh Company. I know some readers have a poor opinion of OCs, so I've tried to be careful with my creations - especially Giger and Steel, because they were my first ME OCs. As for the other OCs they all come from canon clans, found within the ME universe.
So please tell me what you think of them all.