Chapter 10

"Aralakh! Form up!"

Grunt's voice bellowed through his soldiers' chatter and the rough grumbling of idling Tomkahs. The few dozen krogan of Aralakh Company were disembarking from their vehicles and rushing with their respective squads to points of cover. Shepard leapt down and hurried toward Grunt with Liara and Javik in tow. Grunt looked over his company as the Tomkahs began to fall silent, their drivers locking up the access hatches as they jumped out of the transports. Shepard felt his adrenaline spike as the nearby but out of sight Reaper let out its deep, guttural growl. Grunt looked back to Shepard and his squad before shouting to his company.

"The Reaper's in a big courtyard and the roads leading in are too cluttered to pass so we'll go in through the buildings around it. A through D squads will follow Kallur Terux to the east while I take E and F west with Shepard and his squad." The krogan of Aralakh Company were already visibly anxious for battle. "First step is take out the legs. Shepard will paint weak points with the target locator. I'll call for synchronized barrages from the heavy weapons. Second step is to find a crack in the hull. Third... burn it from the inside out."

The krogan let out a roar of excitement and anticipation.

Terux stood and fired a burst from his rifle into the air. "For Aralakh!"

The krogan roared and cheered as Grunt shouted in response. "For the krogan!"

The company erupted in deep shouting and excited rabble as Terux waved his squads onto him and began to move east along the road. Grunt did the same and lead the his force at double time in the opposite direction. Shepard, Liara and Javik ran along behind Grunt as he lead them around a corner and into the cavernous lobby of what was once a skyscraper. The building now stood only fifteen to twenty stories tall. A light rumbling from the Reaper's steps could be heard and felt around them. Shepard estimated it was no more than a hundred meters away. The unit slowed as they began ascending a dusty staircase in the center of the room. Grunt turned and stopped as they reached the third floor.

"E squad, move up one story and get to the south corner. F, north corner, two stories," Grunt commanded. The krogan nodded obediently and hurried up the next flight of stairs.

Grunt turned back to Shepard and his squad and nodded as they began to move deeper into the building. Shepard held his rifle at the ready, expecting a husk or cannibal as they rounded each flipped table or dislodged chunk of concrete, only to be met with unsettling silence.

"Something's not right here, Grunt," Shepard cautioned. "Didn't you say the reaper forces have been congregating here the past few days?"

Grunt let out a sigh as he considered Shepard's words. "Yeah... you're right." He flipped on his communicator. "Grunt to Terux. Any movement?"

Terux's voice crackled in almost immediately. "Negative. I was about to ask the same thing."

"All units stay alert. Report any contact." Grunt switched of his comm and looked to the three that accompanied him. "One of my engineers gave me some motion sensors. We should probably deploy them back at the stairs."

Liara nodded. "Good idea. I'll double back and set them up if you'd like."

Grunt nodded and reached into the equipment pack slung around his back, pulling out two small, pyramidal devices. Liara took the sensors and looked them over, finding the sync button on the bottom and linking them to her omnitool.

Shepard still felt uneasy. He glanced around the room once more before turning to the prothean. "Javik, escort Liara while she sets those things up."

Javik nodded once. "As you wish, commander." He turned to the asari and the two hurriedly began their way back to the stairs.

"You ready to move, Shepard?" Grunt inquired.

The commander nodded. "After you."

Grunt donned his wicked grin and started off once again with Shepard at his side. The two only passed through another two rooms before they reached a door wedged shut. The krogan rammed his shoulder into the door, forcing it to part and unleash a ray of light onto them. They had reached the edge of the building. Shepard took a quick glance through the doorway to see a blown-out room around ten meters deep and wide. The wall opposite from his position was completely gone, giving him a clear view of the destroyed courtyard and the legs of the Destroyer that occupied it. He glanced back to Grunt and motioned for him to follow as they crept into the room, staying low, and into the cover of a large overturned table. Grunt opened his comm and glanced around the corner to get a visual on the target before sliding back into cover.

"E squad, report."

"In position," a krogan muttered in response.

"F squad, report."

"In position and readying ordinance."

"Terux, report."

"We're in position, sir. All teams are readying their ordinance," Terux radioed in.

Grunt looked to Shepard. "You ready to kill something big, Shepard?"

The commander smirked. "Yeah, I think I am."

Grunt glanced over the table once more. "What, uh... what do you think we should hit first?"

Shepard slid to the end of the table and peered around the corner to get a view for himself. Whether or not Grunt had done it intentionally, they were positioned at a perfect height to give them view of the Reaper's legs without letting it catch sight of them in return. Shepard scanned the legs and lower body of the synthetic behemoth. There was a huge gash that spread from the lower right side to the belly of the beast and possibly further; no doubt it was where the Reaper had taken the crippling blow. Half of its back right leg was missing and that which remained hung limp and useless. Shepard almost felt bad for this assault on a wounded opponent. Almost.

"If we take out the front right leg it'll go down," Shepard stated as he slid back into cover.

Grunt nodded. "Alright." He reached into his pack and pulled out a pistol-shaped target designator. "Here. You can do the fun part."

Shepard chuckled and took the device. "You're a good kid, Grunt," he teased.

As Shepard flipped on the designator Liara and Javik quietly slid through the door and into cover. Liara pulled up the proximity alert protocol on her omnitool and within a few seconds was receiving a data stream from the motion detectors.

"No movement," she informed.

Shepard nodded and looked back to the krogan. "We ready to do this, Grunt?"

The krogan flipped on his comm. "Everyone get ready for my mark." He glanced to Shepard. "Let's make this thing die."

The commander stood up and rested his arms on the table to steady his aim. He took a deep breath as he gazed through the viewfinder and painted the joint of the Reaper's leg with a green dot. He held as straight as he could, keeping the dot almost perfectly still.

"Do it," Shepard said quietly.

"Fire!" Grunt shouted. In less than a second all six missile launchers had unleashed their payload, sending six high-impact explosives hurtling toward the little green dot on the Reaper's leg. The four missiles from the east and the two from the west all impacted within a half second of each other, causing an enormous chain explosion that filled the air with smoke and dust. The Destroyer buzzed in fury as its leg was struck and shot its beam perhaps involuntarily into the building in front of it. Shepard shook his head thankfully that none of the squads were positioned on the southern end of the courtyard. The Reaper began rumbling and turning, seemingly searching for its attackers. It let out another buzz, but this one was more calm and collected.

"Shepard..." Liara raised her omnitool. "We have movement downstairs. Lots of movement."

Through the smoke and dust a collection of shapes and noises began spilling out from the building to the north.

"It kept them hidden..." Shepard shook his head as the field was quickly filled with husks, marauders and cannibals all running for the buildings.

"All units, light 'em up!" Grunt yelled into his comm.

"Grunt, no!" Before Shepard could stop the order a hail of shots rained down from the firing positions in the eastern and western buildings. "It's just trying to figure out where we are!"

Another beam shot forth from the Reaper, this time impacting the eastern building and taking out one of the corners.

"Agghh! This is B squad! We're hit hard!"

Grunt bellowed in rage and flipped on his comm. "All units prepare ordinance!"

Shepard realized it was too late to keep their positions secret. The Reaper had already found them. He quickly recomposed himself and lined up another shot at the same, now smoldering, point he had before.

"We have hostiles moving up the stairs!" Liara shouted.

Shepard held the shot and glanced over his shoulder to Liara and Javik. "Well get ready to fight them off if they find us!"

"FIRE!" Grunt roared.

The second salvo of missiles streaked downward from the buildings and into the leg of the Reaper. Shepard noted only five contrails this time. The Reaper let out another guttural buzz and fired off another blast from its main battery, once again into the eastern building. The beam made a direct hit on the position of D squad. The floor of the room quickly crumbled away, leaving the only remaining member of D squad to tumble into a pile of rubble and concrete. Shepard had already begun lining up a third shot.

"Commander! Enemy contact!" Javik shouted just before his rifle erupted into fire.

Shepard turned from the Reaper to see a husk forcing itself into the room only to have its head blow apart by a combination of Javik and Liara's rifle and SMG fire. A cannibal immediately took its place and met the same fate.

"Shepard!" Grunt yelled. "Paint the target!"

"Keep them off of us! This thing is almost down!" Shepard turned back to the Reaper and began lasing his target one last time. "Ready!"

"Fire! FIRE!" Grunt yelled, as he pulled his shotgun from his back and began laying waste down into the courtyard full of reaper forces.

A third salvo flew forth and smashed into the Reaper's leg. The machine groaned deeply as it slowly began to collapse. Shepard froze as he watched the Reaper shift its fall toward their building.

"Everyone down!" Shepard shouted. He wrapped his arm around Liara and pulled her down into cover with him as he dove behind the table.

The building shook violently as the tall aft section of the Reaper impacted the northern end of the building and tore down layer after layer of concrete and metal, causing a storm of dust and dirt to swirl around them. Shepard could hear Javik's weapon still firing consistently through the collapse. He pulled himself and Liara up as the Reaper finally settled with half of its body wedged into the building. Its eye glowed angrily and fired another beam into the southern building, hitting nothing. Grunt pushed a rather large slab of fallen concrete off of his leg and activated his comm.

"E and F squads, report!" Grunt shook off a layer of dust as he pulled another slab of debris off of his shotgun.

"E squad, engaging ground forces."

Grunt retrieved his shotgun before pausing as he waited for a response from F.

Liara glanced down to her omnitool and pulled up her squad status program. "Grunt... their bio-readings are gone."

Grunt waited a few more seconds before snarling angrily and switching comm channels.

"Terux! Pull your squads together and hold position while Shepard and I kill this thing for good. E, move down to our current position and hold with Shepard's squad. There's a hole in the roof above us." Grunt glanced to Shepard and pumped his shoulders. "Let's move."

Shepard looked to Liara and Javik. "Stay safe. I don't want anything making it through this door, got it?"

The prothean and asari nodded as Shepard turned back to Grunt. The krogan was already climbing through a fresh hole in the wall and toward the impact point of the Reaper's hull. Shepard hurried to catch up as Grunt ascended a slab that allowed them access to the next floor. The smell of smoke, sound and gunfire and sight of utter destruction surrounded them as they waded through the nearly collapsed building. Grunt leapt to the top of a pile of debris and held his hand out for Shepard who followed up after him. As Shepard pulled himself to his feet he saw Grunt slam his fists together in excitement. Before them the dark shell of the Reaper's hull lay having obliterated an entire twenty by twenty meter corner of the building. At least six floors of the corner had been completely collapsed by the impact. A five foot gap sat between the floor they stood on and the slanted hull of the Reaper.

Grunt glanced over his shoulder. "Hope this thing stays still."

The krogan cackled and jumped forward onto the shell, his hands grabbing onto some of the many divots in the Reaper's armor. He grunted as he pulled himself up using a few hand-holds until he had reached the level side of the body. Shepard slid his rifle onto his back and took a deep breath before leaping forward and grabbing onto the carapace in the same spot Grunt had. He made quick work of the couple vertical feet between himself and Grunt, pulling himself up next to his companion and nodding. They began a careful walk down the length of Reaper, holding fast each time it kicked or writhed in an attempt to pull itself upright. Shepard hoped it was not aware it had been boarded. As the two made their way out of the building Shepard scanned the ongoing battle below them. Husks, marauders and cannibals continued to wail and hobble about looking for foes as the krogan squads cut them down by the dozens from their vantage points.

"Well lookie here..." Grunt pointed ahead to thick gash in the Reaper's armor.

Shepard grinned and the two slid to either side of the gap. Inside the wound the synthetic innards of the Reaper lay completely exposed; a dim glow illuminated from small hubs deep inside the machine. Grunt had already pulled his two thermite grenades from his belt and was prepping their timers.

"Ten seconds?" Grunt questioned.

Shepard found a safe footing and reached for his ordinance. "Sounds good. You think four will be enough?"

"If it isn't I'll just have to tear it apart with my bare hands," Grunt responded very matter-of-factly.

Grunt and Shepard primed their grenades and nodded in sync before tossing them into the deep crevasse. The four thick cylinders thumped and clattered as they sunk deep into the body of the Reaper. Grunt peered after them eagerly as Shepard slid around him and back toward the building from which they had come.

"Grunt, move!" Shepard called back to the krogan.

After hesitating for a brief moment Grunt turned and followed close behind Shepard as they worked their way back. Exactly ten seconds after they had dropped their grenades the Reaper let out a fierce, mechanical roar and began to thrash. Shepard glanced back to see a billow of smoke fire pour from the side of the Reaper. A chorus of celebratory cheering rang out from the buildings around them just loud enough to break through the sound of battle and the death throes of the Reaper. Shepard's grip tightened as the thrashing intensified. He felt the sense of guilt return as the machine he clung to died a torturous death; a sense that quickly dissipated as he reminded himself of the atrocities it and its kind had committed over hundreds of millions of years. Shepard glanced to Grunt who grinned gleefully in return as they continued onwards. As the two leapt from the Reaper back into the half-collapsed building its glowing red eye slowly faded into darkness. The mass of husks, cannibals and marauders quickly ground to a halt and began looking around aimlessly.

Grunt flipped on his comm as he reached for his shotgun. "Aralakh Company! Count your dead and grab your wounded! We've got glory rights to claim!"

The air was filled with the sounds of celebration as the two halves of Aralakh Company rejoined at their Tomkahs. Shepard, Liara and Javik stepped back and watched with amusement as the krogan raucously butted heads and pumped their shoulders in excitement. Shepard looked to his squadmates and nodded with a smile.

"Good work. Both of you."

Javik grinned slightly, an expression of emotion that Shepard rarely saw from the prothean. "I am normally not a fan of show. But I will admit that you performed an entertaining feat, commander."

"Entertaining is one word for it," Liara noted. "I'd call it nearly giving me a heart-attack."

Shepard chuckled and put his arm around the asari, pulling her to his side. "I'll try not to climb onto any live Reapers from now on. Just for you."

She smirked and elbowed his side playfully. "You're quite the gentleman."

The company of krogan began to settle down from their revelry and break off to their Tomkahs. Grunt marched out of the group with his massive grin in place and a hand extended toward Shepard and his squad. He laughed as he shook each of their hands.

"Now that was a fight!" Grunt exclaimed joyfully.

"You krogan are fierce warriors," Javik stated. "Often rash and reckless, but fierce."

"Heh heh... you say reckless like it's a bad thing," Grunt responded.

Shepard wiped his brow of a thick layer of sweat. "It was an honor to fight with you again, Grunt."

"The honor was mine, Shepard." Grunt smiled sincerely and nodded toward the Tomkahs. "Now... I think you said something about meeting with Wrex, huh?"

Shepard chuckled. "Why yes I did. That old bastard owes me a new shuttle."

Commander Shepard shielded his eyes as the late afternoon sun burst through the opening hatch of the Tomkah. Grunt stood back from the door as he finished heaving it open and motioned for Shepard and his squad to exit. Shepard, Liara and Javik leapt from the door to the dusty ground outside a series of large, relatively intact buildings. Each building was only a few stories tall at most and the entire complex was enclosed in a massive wall dotted with watch towers roughly every fifty meters. Grunt jumped out behind Shepard and his squad and waved for them to follow him.

"Come on, Wrex should be inside," Grunt said as he trotted to the entrance of the closest building.

Shepard glanced to his squad. "Think you two can find the rest of the team for me while I talk to Wrex?"

Liara smiled and nodded, activating her omnitool. "Shouldn't be a problem, Shepard."

The commander nodded in thanks. "Great. I'll try to make this quick."

Shepard turned back to Grunt as Liara and Javik headed off into the complex. "I assume this was some sort of military complex?" Shepard queried as he followed Grunt through the large, krogan-sized door.

Grunt shrugged as they made their way down a hallway. "I guess. Wrex said it would be a good staging area against that Reaper. We didn't know how hurt it was when we first found it."

The couple came to a stop at a set of double doors. A guard nodded at Grunt and Shepard. "Who are you? And what do you want?"

Grunt narrowed his brow. "Urdnot Grunt. Commander of Aralakh Company."

Shepard crosses his arms. "Commander Shepard. Just an old friend of Wrex."

The krogan guard immediately backed down and stepped to the side. "My apologies. Wrex is waiting for you inside."

Grunt let out a dominant scoff as he pushed the doors apart and stomped into the next room. Shepard followed him into what appeared to be an old command center. A long dead holo-projector sat in the middle of the room, big enough to display an enormous full render of a planet with detailed strategic information. A dozen or so krogan occupied the room, some working at terminals and others standing guard with rifles at the ready. Urdnot Wrex leaned over a holo-map with an advisor of some kind. The clan leader glanced up as Grunt burst his way into the room and held a hand up to his advisor, waving him off.

Grunt stopped before Wrex and nodded respectfully. "Your Reaper is dead. Aralakh Company claims the kill."

Wrex grinned and nodded slowly. "But did you bring any of your company back this time, whelp?"

The tank-bred krogan crossed his arms defiantly. "Eight dead. Three wounded. Eighteen ready for combat."

"And the Reaper is dead?" Wrex looked over Grunt, noting the signs of battle.

Shepard stepped up beside Grunt. "It's dead. But I think Clan Normandy deserves part of that claim."

"Shepard... you just had to be part of another krogan victory, didn't you?" Wrex laughed and stepped toward his friend with his hand extended.

Shepard grabbed his hand and shook it firmly. "You flew me ass-first into a Reaper. Didn't really give me much of a choice in the matter!"

"Heh heh... I figured you could handle yourself... and that you'd have your scanners online." Wrex smirked and looked to Grunt. "Congratulate your company. Give them leave and a shuttles back to Urdnot. We have a lot of females looking for war heroes."

Grunt grinned. "Yes, sir." He turned to Shepard. "Hey Shepard... if I don't see you again before you leave Tuchanka... thanks for the fights."

Shepard looked over with a smile and slapped Grunt on the shoulder. "You'd have found them anyway, Grunt."

"Let me know if we need to save the galaxy again, Shepard. You know where to find me." Grunt nodded to Shepard and Wrex before turning and marching back out of the command center.

Wrex let out an audible 'hmm' as Grunt took his leave. "Good kid. Glad you pulled him out of Okeer's hell-hole."

Shepard nodded in agreement. "He's already matured quite a bit. His command was rather admirable."

Wrex motioned toward a wide table and the two walked over to sit across from one another. "Alright, Shepard. Time to come clean with me."

Shepard raised a brow as he slid into his seat. "Come clean?"

"I know you're not here just to say hello. You've got your own planet to rebuild. Why come to Tuchanka?"

The commander leaned forward and laced his fingers. "I'm here on my own accord, Wrex... though it's not exclusively my accord."

"Council sent you, didn't they? Here to administer the new genophage?" Wrex joked with a smirk.

Shepard shook his head with a smile. "They didn't send me. Their interests just happened to coincide with my visit."

Wrex laughed. "That sounds like politician talk, Shepard. Just tell me what you're here for."

The commander sat back with a sigh. "I... I just wanted to see how you're doing, Wrex. How the krogan are doing."

Wrex's face soured slightly. "Are you here to keep tabs on me?"

Shepard put his hand across his mouth in exasperation. "No. Of course not, Wrex. I trust you. I know that you can lead your people to prosperity. The Council, on the other hand, doesn't."

"Save their ungrateful asses and the galaxy and they still don't trust your judgment?" Wrex scoffed.

"They're just afraid, Wrex. I'm here to prove to them that you're leading the krogan to the right place."

Wrex rose from the table. "Let me show you something, Shepard."

Shepard stood and followed the krogan to the map Wrex had been analyzing. The map displayed the ruins of a krogan city with hundreds of holographic pins scattered throughout.

"See this?" Wrex nodded to the holo-map. "This... pile of rubble... is Urdnot. Tuchanka's new capital."

Shepard remained silent for a moment. "Not trying to sound insulting, but... there isn't much here."

"Not yet. But there will be."

Wrex leaned forward and tapped one of the pins on the map, causing it to blip into a holographic building. "Our first hospital. It'll be done in a few months. And it's just the beginning, Shepard. Now that my people know they have a future they're uniting. They're rebuilding. They want a home for the children they could never have before you saved us."

Shepard felt the sincerity in his voice. "Me?"

"Of course you, Shepard. You and that ridiculous salarian. But he couldn't have done it without you and neither could I." Wrex turned to Shepard, looking him dead in the eye. "And I can promise you that every krogan from this day forward will know that. They'll know that it was you, a human, who cured us. Saved us. And you did it for no reason other than because it was right. You're a hero to us, Shepard. I've never liked that word, but there's no better one to describe you."

The commander smiled lightly. "Then that's what I'll tell the Council. And that's all they'll get from me."

Wrex held out his hand. "Before I met you I figured I would die alone knowing my people would suffer the same fate." Shepard took his hand and the two shook. "I'm glad you proved me wrong."

"I know you'll do your people right, Wrex. You're the only person I would trust to put in your position right now."

"I'm doing it for more than myself or my people. I'm doing it for you and the galaxy you saved." Wrex took his hand back and smiled.

Shepard smirked. "Speaking of doing things for me... you're gonna need to lend me one of your shuttles."

"Hah! Fair enough. I suppose the salvation of my entire race is worth a rusty Kodiak. They're too small for krogan anyway."

Author's Note

Sorry about the wait for this one. Busy schedule AND the release of the Extended Cut DLC slowed this chapter down a bit. I won't bore you with a full review but I'm glad ME3 actually has what I would consider an ending now. I still strongly dislike the narrative choices of the ending, but whatever. It's better than nothing (which is, in my opinion, what we got originally). That said, there is still a lot more to come in this alternate ending. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!