They were led to a tomkah; the Shaman examined their weapons throughout the trek. Shepard had a beam rifle/Revenant combo, Tali her Scimitar, Samara her Vindicator, Grunt opted for explosives with a beam rifle/grenade launcher, Garrus his Viper/Vindicator norm, and Aj decided to use an old friend with the Revenant/Avalanche combo.

He seemed to aprove, and off they went. Once all were seated in the vehicle, Grunt looked at Aj with a feral grin. "Did you win?"

"Yeah, my losing streak finally broke!" He said rather excitedly.

Grunt chuckled lowly, to most a terrifying sight. "Good, you still need practice." The krogan seemed proud he could beat someone a 'natural' one lost to.

"You won?" Shepard questioned amused.

"Yes, wasn't easy. I think I'm getting stronger though." He said nervously. "Not sure if that's healthy or not.

Tali suggested, "Ask Mordin about it, he knew everything there was to know about human anato-" She paused at the entire group grinning at her, even Samara had a subtle one.

After a short awkward silence, however, Garrus decided he might survive a shotgun blast at close range. "What part of the 'human anatomy' we talking about?"

Only the males seemed to find this amusing...loudly. Samara walked to and sat at the left side of the furiously blushing woman. Her six digits sat above her visor, but she quickly put them down. Samara glanced at her, then scowled at Garrus. Tali leaned into Aj, and was holding on to his right arm for dear life.

Aj looked at her disbelievingly for a second, but turned right to Garrus, and with a straight face, dug his grave. "Back in my youth, we used to have a thing called show and tell whe-"

A screech and small hand cupping his mouth stopped said excavating, and a fuming quarian glared beneath the visor at him then Garrus.

Samara stopped the scene, and likely saved two lives. She hadn't seen the couple yet, and was thoroughly surprised by their obvious antics. "You should quit acting like children should focus on the mission." She stated, oddly not angrily, but calmly.

The way she said the last part even made Garrus decide to drop it. Tali was still unhappy at Aj's behavior, but she couldn't quench the desire to just be near him. The group quieted down; Garrus, Grunt, and Shepard started talking tactics for small and large targets.

The justicar noticed her quick, and slightly hesitant scramble to the taller human. Also, the immediate relaxation as Aj just held her tightly; she seemed worried. Samara sat by the couple she had voiced towards, and whispered to them so only they could hear. "You two are young. You have much to learn about her ways."

Tali perked up facing her and Aj looked at her awkwardly. "Would you like to speak with us after our business on Tuchanka?" He stated more of as a desire for enlightenment not of indignation.

"If you wish, I tell you what I know." She stated coolly. "Most of it I learned before the war , however, so I do not know how time has changed it."

"You... you were on Rannoch?" Tali said in awe. But in the back of her mind...Keelah, first the three steps, now what a lifemate is...I need to call Auntie...

"It would be wise to focus on the mission first as not to cloud your attention" She answered.

The rest of the ride was rather short. Upon arriving at a rectangular area, the driver pointed at a red light thirty meters in the distance. "That is the keystone. Three rounds, push it to begin, and after the first and second round." Noticing the group of six had exited, he added. "After five minutes, the third round will end. Survive." Without waiting for a response, the krogan got back in the tomkah and drove off.

Shepard noticed the last word was the most important, this was going to be like the hell they went through back in N-7. "Everyone, be ready. This isn't going to be easy, but I'll be damned if they think any krogan is tougher than each and every one of you."

The group nodded in understanding and began to head towards the 'keystone'. "Grunt, your Rite, you start it." Shepard said laughing. It was the best way to ease the tension in the group. Maybe the krogan know a few things about battle psychology, heh...

The young warrior wholeheartedly complied, and pushed the button, turning it green. A large pillar nearby rose up from the ground, and came crashing back down. Krogan rituals event had hints of violence and power it seemed. Soon after, a loudspeaker started to 'educate' the prospective clan member.

"First the krogan conquered Tuchanka, a place only we are fit to rule!"

Grunt roared in approval, but the gates opening ahead cancelled all thought. Both had ten varren raging down upon them.

"Samara, Aj, Tali right side move!" Shepard ordered, and ran behind cover to the left pillar. Garrus pulled off a shot and killed one.

Aj, Tali and Samara were taking cover. Samara started firing taking two out, and Aj looked right at Tali, nodding.

The couple charged forward; Tali's shotgun fired three times, killing four. Aj beamed the further four, while Samara stood impressed behind the cover. Before she could remark, however, Shepard hit the com's unit. "Second team, how's your location?" The left side had a small formation for cover, which also blocked his teams view.

"Nothing serious yet Shepard." Tali stated quickly and cut the line. Samara looked at her, and suddenly felt...excited...for a battle, the first time in centuries. There were no innocents against them today.

The gates rumbled open, and fifteen varren sprinted down, snarling as the ones before it. Samara came out from cover and sent a shockwave down most of the pack; the three leaders were crushed against concrete rubble, but the rest got back up with a vengance.

Aj sent an Incinerate at one automatically while aiming his Collector beam up, exploding on two and mopping three nearby. Tali sent out her own Incinerate, hers though was designed now for a wider spread. It killed three; she had already aimed her shotgun blasted two in the face by then, turning their corpses to ash. Samara plucked the last three off from a distance with her assault rifle.

"Shepard your team alright?" Aj yelled into the coms in a serious.

"Fine, Grunt's having a blast, and Garrus and I are having an assault rifle competition, how bout you?" Shepard said to the entire squad's coms...laughing.

"Bosh'tets...always." Tali said shaking her head. Aj had to physically resist himself from saying another numerical integer.

Samara hadn't spoken, she wasn't used to speaking during her missions, but was enjoying the conversation nonetheless.

A few more seconds later, and the final twenty varren scrambled down each side. Faintly, Grunt was heard yelling, 'I AM KROGAN!' likely into a headlong charge.

Tali tossed one of the flashbangs she got rom Kasumi, and screamed, "Go get them Chiktikka vas Paus!" A small drone armed with an explosive device swarmed in for a suicide plunge, killing six stunned varren.

Aj and Samara had been picking off the closer ones, killing four each. Tali's drone cleaned out the middle ground, and the final six fell right into their sights. Samara threw a Reave, to which the head two leaders responded by convulsing blood on the ground. Aj split through the back two with a prolonged beam, while Tali blasted the closer two.

A loud sound resembling a washing machine alarm came from behind. The button was red.

"Second team ready?" Shepard asked.

Tali looked at Aj for amoment then nodded to Samara, awaiting a response. Samara activated her unit, "Yes, we are ready."

The quiet was broken by loud footsteps, Grunt running to the keystone, likely. Samara focused on the two beside her, and noticed their posture. Both were defending the other more powerfully than two offensive individuals could have. They even fight like a bonded pair, she thought. The krogan's blaring was not on her mind as she heard a screech.

A strange creature landed in front of them, screeching loudly. Another sounded further in the distance; flying off, five odd insectoids crawled towards them. Aj beamed at two, causing them to explode. Tali shot ones face, but had to shoot twice to kill it. Samara's shots seemed to be increasing in strength, as her Vindicator took two others quickly.

Before any of them spoke, Shepard announced. "Grunt says it's a Harvester dropping klixen, resistant to fire. Switch to cryo ammo." Tali looked at Aj who quickly got one out for her. She installed it only a moment after another of the larger animals, a Harvester, landed again nearby, as was audibly apparent by Shepard's side, but a third came and landed in the main platform. Aj switched to his Avalanche just as six were dropped from the flying creature.

In near perfect unison, Aj lobbed a round into the back, freezing four of them. Samara shot a burst at all four, turning them into frozen shards of flesh. Tali aimed at the front two although they were still far, freezing them with the first shot and shattering them with the second. Two klixen snuck up behind them, and began to screech a moment before secreting their flames.

Tali felt the heat hit her back for a moment, but Aj tackled the one which did it. Samara biotically lifted the other and threw it violently into the nearby pillar. It did not survive. He put away his Avalanche instantaneously and pulled his .44 from his calf (forgot about ye ole pistol did'ya? it's like Tali's bootknife position wise always), blowing two rounds into its skull. He threw the creature as it exploded.

After the last one fell, there was no time to rest. Six of the Harvesters came this time, and likely were not carrying friendly cargo. After they wailed their sickening cry, they each left five of the blasted vermin as a going away present.

Unfortunately for the trio, five were behind them while ten bared from the front.

"We've got point Samara, cover us." The combat engineer ordered.

Tali sent over Chiktikka into the ten klixen, while Samara sent a shockwave to her cluster. Aj had holstered his pistol and had already slaughtered two of the beasts before Chiktikka exploded killed four more.

Samara picked off three of the things before they were charging her again. The new ammo was incredibly effective, almost like a Warp in a tiny projectile. She slammed one into the ground and shot the other to a blue slush. Tali had charged with her Scimitar beside Aj and his Collector beam. Needless to say, the remaining four they ran at could not handle a quarian with her lifemate.

A second very loud buzz hit the air.

"The second round is complete." Samara stated matter-of-factly.

"Think we should regroup? Seems like it'll get worse." Aj said.

"One second." Tali responded, but she heard the keystone had been punched.

"Grunt started it early, damnit sorry, you guys okay?" Shepard said worridly.

"We're fine, shou-" Tali was interrupted by the floor shaking.

Shepard was no stranger to combat. He had felt this rumble before...a long time ago. What the fuck wa...AKUZE. "REGROUP CENTER NOW!" He screamed.

The team ran without question, but before they made it, a sickening wail was heard. A giant thresher maw through the rubble, directly across the keystone. This was the moment a krogan warrior showed his true skill, could they survive this beast?

Shepard stared at the creature for one moment. Memories flashed before him... The screaming of his old CO, the acid burned right through his armor. His friend getting uplifted only a few meters away from him, then getting torn apart by the creature's gaping maw. He could only reply in one specific way.

He roared at the abomination, a deep primal bellow of his anger, and started firing at the thing with his Collector beam, sprinting ahead into it's firing range. "DIE YOU SON OF A BITCH!" It was the highest pitched voice anyone had ever heard out of him.

Another deeper roar came from beside him, and another beam also contacted the thresher maw. Grunt approved of this bloodrage. Soon after, a third beam began to hit it from Aj, and slowly an Incinerate came towards it also. Garrus and Samara had also began firing their Vindicators at the beast's head. Tali took our her Carnifex and started unleashing her own fury last.

The thresher screeched in pain, but its armor held admirably; it shot out an acid bomb, which Grunt narrowly avoided. It charged forward at Grunt, who jumped out of the way after getting back up from the ground quickly. After it's failed attempt at a krogan feast, it began to subside back into the soil, and for a moment, they had peace.

"AVOID THE ACID AT ANY COST!" Shepard screamed likely for his own ears to make sure it was known. The rest did not seem thrilled to test out it's destructive potential.

The thresher reamerged towards the left flank, and shot another ball of acid into the group. Shepard and Aj dodged the ball narrowly, and the team began to rain hell. Samara moved away from the group for a moment to get a better angle, and the beast suddenly lunged at her, narrowly missing.

Shepard charged the beast sceaming with his beam rifle. He was not going to let that damn thing hurt the justicar or anyone else on the team. Two powerful steps behind him alerted him to his krogan protege's presence. The animal took back it's body and remained on the left flank, staring down the group in hunger.

All of the team were still unleashing all they had at the beast; a beam suddenly stopped, and Shepard heard someone switching weapons. Both of the raging warriors were roaring at the animal as it shot another vat of acid, but this time, it fired a second quickly right where Shepard had landed. The first missed both of them; the second splattered right where his shouder landed, sizzling through the armor almost instantaneously, and meeting his flesh. He yelled in pain as it began to liquify his shoulder blade.

His short pause of weakness and yell caused the maw to aim its sights from the krogan shooting at it to the subdued human. It charged in fury right towards the downfallen hero.

For a moment, he relaxed, ignoring the pain briefly. This was the end, a fitting death for the second survivor of Akuze...he barely protected Coombs from suicide, but now death awaits for his team. He began a sadistic, crazy, angered laugh as the maw of the thresher came towards him, feeling in slow motion.

A few meters before combat, a blue glow surrounded him, and he felt his body move. He did not go airborne, but scraped against the floor in agony, narrowly dodging the deadly mouth. He held his weapon and fired the beam right at the creatures eye, causing an ear-piercing shriek. He fell behind his teammates in the main courtyard.

Before it could get up, Aj lobbed an Avalanche round right into it's open mouth. And another. And a third. The beast's head began to solidify into ice, but its firey insides still resisted the Bose-Einstein condensate of supercooled material. The Vindicator and Carnifex rounds began to pierce the thing's flesh as light green blood began to spill.

Grunt saw the weapon's change, and bravely ran a meter in front of the creature. He had switched to his grenade launcher, and with a feral grin, heaved a heavy volley of explosives directly into its jaw. The beast screeched a final time in resistance.

A few more supercooled rounds finally froze the things head, and one last grenade shattered the thresher's skull into cooled pieces of flesh. The beast was dead.

Shepard tried to get up, but was met with Samara's cool gaze and a hand holding him down. He looked to his left and saw Tali with Aj's arm around her furiously typing into her omnitool; after a moment, the cool, relaxing feeling of medigel flowed throughout his body.

"Keelah Shepard what the hell was that?" Tali said exasperatedly.

A loud buzz momentarily interrupted the scene, signaling the end of the Rite. "I WANT MORE!" The krogan bellowed. He looked at Shepard, and actually looked concerned, but still looked out for more enemies. His battlemaster and krantt had taken out a maw...on foot. He would not let a flesh wound defeat this human.

Shepard's flesh hung losely from some parts of his shoulder, but thankfully, he could still move his arm, if only barely. The burn reached from his shoulder to his forearm. A small amount of flesh was burnt on his hip as well, either from the dragging or the acid's quick dispersion. He tried to get up again, but Samara held him down. Looking at her human commander, she scowled and ordered. "Do not move or I will force you back down." Her tone left no room for arguments.

Tali was still typing into her omnitool, and he soon felt a rush of sedatives hit his body. For a moment, he panicked as his eyelids began to feel extremely heavy. But he glanced around him for a moment, and knew he was safe. The slight adrenaline boost kept him awake for one last moment.

"Shepard, what the fuck were you thinking?" Garrus said with a frown standing near Samara. "You were a second away from getting killed again damnit!" The turian seemed more distressed than angry with the second statement.

"Akuze..." He whispered before falling into unconciousness.

"Akuze..." Tali echoed as her commander lay asleep before them. "Where his entire squad got killed by those...monsters..." She shook her head, and Aj wrapped his arms around her petite frame.

"We have to get him to the Normandy fast." Garrus stated concerned. He'll be damned if he'll let his commander die on him now. Not after having his own ass saved just recently.

"I agree. We nee-" Tali was cut off by the sound of a tomkah appearing. However, it was not their krogan driver.

The new group of five krogan looked at the squad of...five, and then down at the human commander blissfully sleeping. The giant corpse of the maw still lay upon the left flank of the battlefield, and its eyes widened at the site.

It looked at Grunt, and said solemly. "You and your krantt killed the threshew maw. No warrior has done that since Urdnot Wrex himself." He looked at the human, and shook his head. "Won't die. Surprising for a human."

"I am a true krogan." Grunt said flatly with a grin.

"No, you are not. You are the creation of a syringe, but by Warlord Okeer and only he?" The other, who now was recognizable as Gatanog Uvenk again, said lowly.

Grunt snarled at the statement, and replied. "I am a krogan from his and many others bloodline."

Gatanog shook his head again, gaining another lower snarl from the youngster. "You can join my clan now that you have proven yourself worthy." He looked at the aliens. "None of them could do what you did today." Looking back at Grunt, Uvenk offered. "You would be a clan member in name, no breeding rights and you could only serve with fellow clan mates."

Grunt looked at the group behind him, and decided one important thing. His krantt did what nobody else had done. He didn't give a damn if they weren't as tough as he was in his eyes. "You are weak, as is your clan."

Uvenk's eyes flared, and he pulled out his shotgun. The squad behind Grunt readied themselves for the likely attack. "You will either join us or die!"

Aj took the liberty of shooting a condensate round right into Gatanog's torso, snap freezing everything below the heart...s. Grunt laughed, and walked right to his face. "A true warrior never bows to the weak." He punched the krogan's chest shattering his body into ice.

The remaining four krogan had been stunned by the sudden...cold turn of events. They immediately began firing.

Grunt charged one tackling and beating it to death, while another came up behind him. Before he could assault the warrior, Samara threw a carefully aimed Reave right at its hump. Grunt's only inconvenience was gurgled blood on his hump's armor. Whether that was a positive or negative was an unknown.

Garrus and Tali concentrated their fire on the nearby krogan. Tali's Scimitar at its torso while Garrus pelted the face made short work of the creature. Aj's beam rifle began firing at the end, along with the other four, took down the final krogan in likely an excess use of ammo.

"That was easy." Grunt bellowed happily after pulverising the krogan beneath him to death.

"We need to get Shepard back now!" Garrus screeched again, more angrily.

Tali and Aj ran to the tomkah's driving seats while Samara and Garrus gently lifted Shepard into the vehicle. Grunt was the last one in, making sure every enemy was dead. The Rite was complete, and after a few seconds of Tali's omnitool wonders, the trip back to base began.

Samara looked at the commander's shoulder and remembered what she'd thought earlier. A leader who truly will do anything for his loyal followers. One who inspires... She weakly smiled at the human, something she'd done more in her two days with this new crew than the four hundred years she had tracked Morinth.

Garrus looked at her with a confused expression. "What are you smiling at Samara?" Grunt glanced over, still grinning at the recent accomplishments.

She was momentarily stunned from her mental lapse, but answered in her normal voice. "The commander is like no other leader I have ever met before."

"He's a true battlemaster." Grunt said agreeing with the sentiment.

"He'll be okay." Garrus said but unconvincingly.

Noticing his demeanor, Samara answered the unspoken uncertainty. "I doubt he will suffer in combat from this. He has proven himself most resilient in his travels as I see."

Garrus looked at her coldly. "You don't see everyone die around you, then die, coming out the same. It's not the damn flesh wound, it's what's happened before. This stunt today proves it. He needs us just as much as we need him."

The other two looked at their fallen leader wordlessly.

Samara looked back at Garrus, who was glancing also at his human brother. Meeting his eyes, she responded in an unusually low voice. "We will be there. He has a second chance, and will not waste it."