Chapter 9: Miranda

Miranda peered up from behind a destroyed rock formation and looked out at the krogan forces off in the distance. She had been through a lot of fighting already, and using a stealth fighter to get to Tuchanka quickly was risky enough. She didn't want to waste any energy fighting troops she couldn't handle. "I've got Kasumi confirmed," Jacob's voice said over her omni-tool, "Where you at?" Miranda huffed some air, still trying to stay in cover to avoid notice. "I'm on Tuchanka, trying to make contact with Grunt. Wreav's forces are everywhere, though. I'm not sure where Grunt's located." "Miranda," Jacob's voice crackled, "you need proper back-up. I said wait for more of the team to assemble before gettin' in contact with him." Miranda reloaded her SMG, scoffing. "We don't have the time to wait for everyone else to decide if they're joining or not. We need Grunt, and we need him as soon as possible." "Will you even be able to convince him to join you?" Jacob asked.

Miranda honestly had no idea. There was a lot of bad blood with the Krogan now, even more than there used to be. Since Shepard never dispersed the Genophage cure on Tuchanka, the krogan never recovered their numbers fully from the aftermath of the war. Urdnot Wreav declared Tuchanka off-limits to the other races, claiming that he could never trust another species with the krogan's future again, and the only allies the krogan needed were themselves. All contact was severed with Tuchanka after that, and it was declared a no fly zone. The Reapers appeared to leave Tuchanka alone, leaving Wreav to his dying world. The krogan did develop some spaceflight transports and war vessels from the resources they gained during the war. Turians had given them plans to make their own fighters and frigates. Wreav wished to exploit this and launch into war against the other races. But something happened. A splinter group, lead by an unknown figure, broke off from Wreav's forces and sabotaged his plans for war. The krogan engaged in a short civil war on Tuchanka for a while, until the splinter group left the lifeless world on a frigate to find happiness elsewhere. Wreav's forces tried to track them down, but never succeeded. The only krogan left on Tuchanka were in allegiance to Wreav. Miranda heard, however, that there was part of the splinter group that didn't leave Tuchanka, and were periodically attacking Wreav's forces. She knew Grunt respected Wreav, but didn't like his tactics and plans for the Krogan. Him joining the splinter group was a bet she would take.

Miranda coughed from the dust and answered Jacob. "I don't know… I think he's part a resistance here. I still need to find evidence of their existence. Continue to your next dossier, Jacob. I'll come back with Grunt." Jacob's voice crackled through again. "Aight, just come back in one piece. If Grunt won't join, don't stick around to try and convince him. Taylor out."

Miranda deactivated her omni-tool and turned her attention to the krogan troops. There looked to be 4 soldiers, armed to the teeth. One of them had what looked like a missile launcher on his back. They were standing on a platform that had what seemed like a sewage drain running underneath it. Miranda took a deep breath and started to inch forward to closer cover. Eventually she got close enough to hear the krogan speaking. "Been too long," said one of the guards, "he said he'd be back in 10 minutes." "What? I heard 20," croaked another. Miranda was beginning to enter the drain at this point. She could see up underneath them through a small grate above her. She stopped to listen to their bickering.

"You both are wrong," said a third guard, "He said he was leaving to clock out for the day." The big krogan with the now identifiable Claw Hammer on his back stomped over. "Will you two shut it? We're supposed to be on lookout. Garv's not comin' back." The other three krogan stared at the larger one. "What? Why?" one of them asked. Miranda saw that the drain led to the other side of the platform, in short distance of the grate. "Because," the big one said looking down into the grate, "he's dead and we've got company."

Miranda gasped and ran to the other side of the drain. She heard a slam and the ground shook. Behind her the larger krogan had jumped off the edge of the platform and started running after her through the drain. When Miranda got out she was met with rapid fire from the krogan above her. She put up a biotic barrier to protect her while she jumped behind cover. "RAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" The large krogan yelled as he exploded from the drain's exit. "HUMAN! YOU'RE GONNA BE A PUDDLE WHEN I'M THROUGH WITH YOU!" he yelled. "Not in this lifetime!" Miranda yelled back, breaking from her cover to pick the krogan up and slam him on the ground. Looking at the others up top, she sent a biotic throw at one krogan and started shooting at the other two, hitting one in the head and killing him instantly. The bigger krogan groggily got up and let out a roar. Charging, he swiped his Claw Hammer at Miranda, cleaving the cover she was behind and causing her to run to the other side of the enclave. The large krogan was quicker than Miranda though. He let out a blood-curdling scream and slammed the ground with the Claw Hammer, knocking Miranda to the ground. She turned over to see the krogan standing above her. He unhitched his helmet, showing his face. He was sneering at Miranda. "You're strong, for a human," he growled. Miranda kept her SMG pinned on him while she tried scooting away. It wasn't working. He raised the Claw Hammer above his head and it began to glow with biotics. "Any last words?" he inquired. "FUNNY!" a voice said, "I WAS GONNA ASK YOU THE SAME THING!" The krogan looked off left and was met with a concussive shot to the face, flinging him backwards toward the platform. Miranda looked up. "Grunt!" she exclaimed.

Grunt, with shotgun in hand, stood with two krogan guards standing behind him. He was decked out in his personal krogan armor, but had new scars all across it. New scraps and scabs, and on his forehead, Grunt had a large cut running diagonally right across his faceplate. Grunt looked at her, the blood rage pumping through his veins. "LAWSON, GET DOWN!" he roared. Miranda looked up. The krogan had gotten up and was charging toward her, getting closer by the second. She jumped up and ran behind Grunt's forces. Grunt growled, leaned back, and right as the large krogan was about to smash Grunt to pieces, Grunt thrust his head forward slamming into the other krogan's faceplate. He hit the ground with a thud. "Gruhhhh," the krogan groaned. Grunt raised his Claymore shotgun and executed the krogan. The two guards bombarded the remaining krogan with Striker rounds. They heard him scream in the distance, and when they were sure he was dead, they turned to face Miranda.

"Well, Grunt," Miranda said, impressed by his efficiency, "you've been quite busy since we last saw each other." Grunt turned and walked to meet her. "Yeah," he groaned, "it's been a rough few years." He reloaded his shotgun, and smiled. "But luckily, plenty of enemies for me to kill. What brings you here, Lawson?" Miranda looked around, noticing the two guards accompanying Grunt. She didn't want anyone to know about Shepard's possible existence except her team, even if was just two of Grunt's guards. "I need you for a special mission, Grunt. I'm putting a team together." Grunt smiled. "Sounds like fun. But I need to lead the resistance here. Wreav will overwhelm us if I leave so suddenly." Miranda interrupted, "Wait, Grunt, are you the resistance leader? Of the krogan rebels?" Grunt stood proudly. "I am," he said, "I've been leader since the beginning. Never liked Wreav's style. We're broken now, and Wreav is only out for blood. The krogan want to rebuild, not go to war, and if that means to fight for our freedom, then that's what we'll do."

Miranda put a hand on Grunt's shoulder, "Grunt… I'm so sorry." He didn't seem to understand. "There isn't anything to be sorry about. We're krogan! We endure the worst the galaxy has to offer, then spit in its face as it dies at our hand." Miranda chuckled, "Yes, but I'm sure you've had loss." "It's ok," Grunt barked, "we fight better angry." Miranda smiled. Grunt really was the perfect krogan. "Well," she said, "I still need you. It's important Grunt." Grunt pointed off in the distance. "Base camp is down there," he said, "we can talk more there. Let's get going." Miranda nodded and followed the krogan to base camp.

Walking into Grunt's camp, Miranda noticed the state of the krogan refugees. Krogan men and women were searching through scraps of metal and trash, some scrounging for food. It was bad. She could see they really needed leadership. Reminded her of the Refugee sector of the Citadel during the Reaper war. "This is the Aralakh Resistance." Grunt said proudly, "We're small, but we're hitting Wreav at his soft spots. Our plan is to just survive. Hopefully Wreav will become tired of fighting and open grounds for diplomacy. If he doesn't, we'll both die out." Miranda didn't like the sound of that. "How are you staying afloat? Wreav's forces are literally everywhere." Grunt chuckled, "He's weakening. We're close to shutting him down." "With conditions like this," Miranda said, "I'm surprised you haven't reached out for help."

Grunt walked into a deep cave lit with torches. Miranda followed into the dark cavern and followed Grunt down the tunnel. "We're krogan," Grunt said, "We may be dying but we don't want outside races getting into our crap." Miranda nodded, "Understood, Grunt." They ended up in a dimly lit enclave with a table. On top of the table was a map of what seemed like a large region of Tuchanka. "Guards!" Grunt barked, "Leave us." The guards turned and left. "So, Lawson," Grunt said, "this mission you're wanting me on. What is its goal? You wouldn't come to me unless you needed something killed, heh heh."

Miranda put her hands on the table and looked at Grunt. "The Alliance had a project during the Reaper war: Project Ark. It was designed to preserve life at all costs." She paused before continuing, "The Normandy was tasked with being this "ark" by flying as far away as possible when the Crucible was activated in order to hide from the Reapers in case it didn't work. It went missing, along with it's captain and crew…" Grunt started to understand. "Shepard… You're saying he's alive?" Miranda nodded, holding back tears. It was still a fresh wound. "Yes… and I need you because there have been some complications."

Grunt was staring at Miranda. He didn't know what to think. "I…. respected Shepard. He was a good friend. A great soldier." He blinked a bit, and Miranda collected herself. Grunt continued, "But he sabotaged the genophage cure… when it was possible to cure my people he chose to trick them." Miranda started to panic. She didn't want to get Grunt angry or become unwelcome. "Shepard's decision aside," Miranda said, "having the krogan become fertile again may not have been for the best considering Wreav's lust for war." Grunt nodded, "Yeah, but it still wasn't right. I don't hate Shepard. I respect him. Finding him, though… he would have a war crime to answer for. To my people." Miranda crossed her arms. "Are you saying you don't want to find him?"

Grunt seemed indifferent. Miranda also never remembered Grunt being this passionate about the krogan as a race. She remembered his admiration for them as warriors, but never as a people. Perhaps this new position as leader of the Aralakh Resistance changed him. "Shepard isn't dead to me," Grunt stated, "I want him to be alive…. I also don't want to believe that the human I knew and fought beside did this. My people are suffering even more now because of his decision." Miranda was worried. She was frustrated as well with the krogan's situation. She never was discriminatory toward aliens like Cerberus was. "I wonder what his reasons were," she said, sympathizing with Grunt, "I don't think he would do something like this without significant reasons. Shepard never did something drastic without one. We both know this." Grunt nodded, "Yeah… he always had a plan."

Grunt looked at the map of Tuchanka. "I want to help you, Lawson," he said, "but my people are dying here. I'd need more than Shepard's possible existence to leave them in this state." Miranda put her hand to her chin. "Well," she said, "I could get you some resources. More ammunition, guns, supply rations. What is it that you would need?" Grunt shook his head. "I don't need materials. I need things done." He stared back at the map on the table. "I need Tuchanka." Miranda didn't like the sound of that. "That's a tall order, Grunt. How do you expect me to help you take the entirety of Tuchanka?" Grunt smirked. Miranda didn't like it. "Simple, Lawson," he growled, "By killing Urdnot Wreav."