The tension in the morgue was almost chokingly oppressive as Shepard's team left the room, and finally reached Maelon's location. They stacked up by the door, and Shepard gazed at Mordin intently. "Remember, we take him alive, and the data intact." Mordin nodded, after an almost imperceptible hesitation.
Shepard gestured for Kara and Rocket to enter first, seeing as how they were the only two who had non-lethal weaponry. Shepard followed shortly behind, and assessed the room. The walls were covered in monitors of varying sizes, displaying notes, "patients" files, and a dizzying assortment of other data. Standing near the wall opposite them, was Maelon, who'd spun around to face the intruders, but relaxed when he saw Kara and Rocket. A moment later, Mordin entered after Shepard, and Maelon immediately tensed up. "What's he doing here?" Maelon demanded, almost shouting, his hand coming worryingly close to the pistol resting on his hip.
Kara stepped between Maelon and the rest of her team. "He found out about your work, but it doesn't matter. We're here to take you and your work to Clan Urdnot."
Maelon's eyes darted from Kara to Mordin's figure barely visible behind her. "But you're with him! I won't let you-" Maelon reached for his pistol, and Kara dashed forward with supernatural speed, snatching his wrist.
"Relax." Kara said calmly, before releasing Maelon's trembling hand. "I already gave you that data didn't I? You know I'm on your side."
"What about Mordin?" Maelon asked, refusing to trust the older Salarian.
Mordin was uncharacteristically silent for several moments before he spoke. "Situation has changed, new threat approaching, need Krogan if we are to survive."
Maelon scoffed. "The great doctor Solus admitting he was wrong? I never thought I'd live to see the day."
Mordin didn't respond, and Kara gestured to the nearby terminals. "Prep the data for transfer, and let any surviving subjects know they should be ready to move out."
Maelon nodded, and moved to carry out Kara's instructions. Shepard moved to Kara's side. "How many of your patients survived?"
"I have eight volunteers who survived the procedures, thanks to the data your friend gave me. I don't know how few would be left if I didn't have access to it."
"Where are they?" Shepard asked.
"Just a moment…" Maelon said, retrieving a data drive, which he carefully handed to Kara, who placed it inside one of the many pouches on her belt. "I'll take you to them."
Shepard and the rest of her team followed Maelon as he guided them through the hospital. He came to a stop in front of a massive door, looking like it belonged to a hangar rather than a hospital. Although, the security was understandable, considering who was inside.
Maelon shot one uneasy glance at Mordin, then input the code to open the door. "Just a fair warning, the timing of your arrival was a little… unfortunate." Maelon said as he punched in the last key.
"How so?" Kara asked.
"Using the data you provided me those months ago, we were able to produce multiple pregnancies. Some of the women are in the final stages of their pregnancies."
"Pregnancies have been healthy so far?" Mordin asked.
"Why would you care?" Maelon spat as the massive door began to open.
Mordin was silent as the doors slowly groaned open, revealing five Krogan women inside the room. The women bolted upright once they saw unfamiliar faces on the other side, and four of them retreated to the far wall, while the fifth (presumably the oldest by the way she carried herself) gazed at them impassively, her eyes drifting across each member of Shepard's team.
"Are you here to kill us?" The woman asked.
"No, they're here to take you to Clan Urdnot." Maelon answered.
"Who are they?"
"This is the person I told you about, the one who gave me the data on the Genophage." Maelon said, gesturing to Kara. "You can trust them."
The woman gazed at Kara. "If that's true, then you have our gratitude."
Kara emanated a soft growl. "We're not done yet, we still have work to do before the Krogan are cured. Like Maelon said, we have to escort you to Urdnot territory."
"You are friends of Wrex?"
"Yes. You know him?"
"All Krogan know of him. His plans for the Krogan have earned him no small amount of notoriety." The woman was quiet for a moment, before she continued. "But there aren't many other clans that have a hope of securing our future… Very well, we will come with you." The woman turned and gestured for the other Krogan to follow her.
"Thank you. We'll do everything we can to ensure your safety." Kara said as she stepped aside, allowing the women to pass.
They moved through the hospital, stepping over the corpses they'd left in their wake as they entered. The eldest of their charges huffed, and Rocket gazed at her incredulously. "You angry we killed your guys?"
"These males were not "our guys". Clan Weyrloc cared nothing for us, we were just a tool for them to secure power". The woman said, gazing at the corpses dismissively.
The journey back to the Tomkha was uneventful, the hostile arthropods they'd encountered earlier apparently having moved on, and Kara and Shepard took up covering positions near the hatch to the oversized transport, while the Krogan women entered the vehicle. Once the last of them was safely inside, Shepard's team filed in, and they made the drive back to Urdnot territory.
Kara was the first to exit the APC, stretching her body to its full height after nearly half an hour of sitting in a horribly cramped space, letting loose a pleased sigh as her spine popped satisfyingly. Rocket was close behind her, followed by the Krogan females, then the rest of Shepard's team.
The females surveyed the area they found themselves in, analyzing the other Krogan as they moved about their business. The group made their way to Wrex's "throne" where they found him conversing with another clan's delegate. "Your actions will anger the other clans. Making treaties with aliens and trespassers-" The delegate started, before Wrex cut him off.
"Will be necessary. We don't have the expertise to rebuild on our own, so we'll have to accept help. I'll drag the other clans to glory, no matter what it takes, whether they like it or not." Wrex said, anger lending an edge to his voice, when he spotted Shepard's team, and the women accompanying them.
He waved the delegate away dismissively, and approached the group of women. "Are any of you injured? Do you need anything?"
"We are fine, Urdnot Wrex." The eldest woman said. "Simply take us to the female camp."
Wrex nodded, and turned to point at two guards. "You and you, go with them."
"How far is the female camp?" Shepard asked, intent on offering their help as well.
"It's in Urdnot territory, so it's not far. They won't need you to get there." Wrex said.
"How safe is this camp?" Kara inquired.
"It's neutral ground, so it's probably the safest place on Tuchanka. The female clan leader and I made deals with a bunch of female clans to house fertile women from there, so nobody would dare try anything. Even clans that want Urdnot and me dead will fight to defend it."
Kara nodded, satisfied with the answer. Wrex then turned his attention to Maelon, who'd accompanied them. "So your work was successful?"
The Salarian nodded. "Yes. We managed to create a cure for the Genophage, now all we have to do is distribute it. The Shroud will do quite nicely." Maelon said.
"The flark's a shroud?" Rocket asked.
"Structure Salarian's constructed to stabilize Tuchanka's atmosphere, later used to distribute original Genophage. Could be used to distribute cure." Mordin answered.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go." Jack said impatiently.
Shepard was about to say something, when she heard EDI's voice over her comms. "Commander? There is a situation aboard the Normandy that requires your attention."
"What is it EDI?"
"Grunt has awoken from his sleep, and is behaving more aggressively than usual. He wishes to speak to you." The AI continued.
Shepard sighed, then turned to face Kara. "You wanna help me with that?"
Kara nodded, then turned to face Rocket and Jack. "You two go with Maelon to the Shroud."
Rocket flashed a thumbs up at Kara. "You got it."
Mordin cleared his throat. "I will accompany you to shroud, should be able to help."
Rocket, Jack, and Maelon all visibly tensed, but Shepard shrugged. "Fine."
As Kara and Shepard made their way back to the Normandy, Kara opened a private channel to Rocket. "If Mordin tries anything, shoot him."
The shuttle ride back to the Normandy was short, but tense, and after what felt like an eternity of uncomfortable silence, Shepard cleared her throat. "What do you think Grunt wants to talk about?"
Kara shrugged as best she could in the cramped Kodiak. "I don't know, but if I were to guess, it might have something to do with his accelerated growth. Once Krogan males reach their version of puberty, they undergo trials to become clan members."
"So like your rite of passage?"
"The idea is the same, but the execution is different. During their trials, Krogan are escorted to the keystone, where they and allies willing to stand with them fight to survive whatever dangers the keystone attracts. During our rite of passage, we Hunters are sent into the wilds alone, male and female, to survive for a month."
"How do you know all that?" Shepard asked incredulously.
"Serina spends her free time downloading as much information as she can regarding locals and their customs, then sending that information to us." Kara responded
Shepard chewed the inside of her cheek "So Grunt hit puberty and now he has to go through this trial? Why is it happening now? Or at all even?" She asked.
Kara shrugged. "Grunt is vat grown. I can't say for sure what's going on with him, but EDI saying he just woke up angry sounds pretty similar to a hormonal teenager to me."
Shepard sighed as the Normandy came into view. Looks like they weren't going to be leaving Tuchanka just yet.
The Kodiak came to a gentle halt inside the Normandy's shuttle bay, and once the bay doors closed and the atmosphere was re-pressurized, Kara slid the shuttle door open and hopped out, Shepard right behind her. They made their way through the shuttle bay, and took the elevator to the fourth deck. Kara could feel Grunt's anxious footsteps reverberating through the hull before they even stepped onto the elevator.
As they approached Grunt's quarters, Kara readied herself for a fight, just in case Grunt acted up. Shepard opened the door, and was shocked to see the state of the room. It looked as if a tornado had run through, scattering everything in the room, and the walls looked as if they'd been battered by sledgehammers. In the center of all this, was Grunt, pacing furiously. Shepard immediately made a note not to tell Joker about this, before clearing her throat. Grunt whirled around, and glared at Shepard, sending a chill through the human's spine, but she showed no indication of her nervousness.
"Shepard, thanks for coming." The Krogan growled.
"EDI said you wanted to talk?" Shepard said warmly.
"I keep getting urges, violent urges, like I need to punch something, kill something…" Grunt seethed, turning as he spoke to glare at the window overlooking the shuttle bay. He glared for several seconds, before suddenly slamming his stone plated skull into the wall, cracking it. "See! Why do that?" Grunt asked angrily, taking several thundering steps towards Shepard, before halting.
"Kara seems to think you're hitting Krogan puberty or something. We're already in orbit over Tuchanka, Wrex could have somebody take a look at you." Shepard said.
Grunt seemed to relax, a wave of calm briefly breaking through his frustration. "Thank you Shepard. This isn't right, anger should be my choice, not something forced on me."
Rocket felt as if his bones were being shaken from his body as the Tomkha rumbled along the road to the Shroud, centuries old rubble making the journey extremely unpleasant. He gazed at the APC's other occupants, wondering if any of them were as anxious for the horrid ride to be over as he was. Jack was leaning as far forward as the crash webbing would allow, staring intently at what looked like a bloodstain on the ground, while Maelon was reading through all the notes he'd written on his work, somehow.
Mordin simply stared blankly at the empty seat across from him, lost in thought. The vehicle came to a lurching halt, and Rocket hopped out of his seat, swearing that he could still feel his innards rumbling even though the APC had stopped.
He darted out of the hatch, landing with a grunt. The ground beneath him was dark, bathed in the shadow of the Shroud; Rocket looked up, staring at the tower that seemed to surpass the sky, when he heard the rest of the group exit the APC behind him. Mordin and Maelon both gazed at the structure for only a fraction of a second before walking past Rocket towards the entrance, and the Raccoon scrambled after them. "Why the flark is that thing so big?" He asked once he caught up to them.
"Shroud designed to disperse aerosols across entire surface of Tuchanka, size enabled it to do so." Mordin said as the building loomed ever higher over them.
They reached the locked door leading to the elevator that would take them to the control center at the top of the spire, when they came to a stop. Mordin cleared his throat. "What is it?" Maelon asked, annoyed.
"Shroud was sabotaged by STG team to prevent what we are trying to do. I must access controls to mend sabotage."
"Is that true?" Jack asked.
"Which part?" Maelon interjected. "That the Salarians would sabotage the Shroud? Absolutely. But I'll die before I let him anywhere near the controls, he'd just destroy it."
"Ridiculous. Need Krogan to fight Reapers, cannot risk damage to Shroud. Maelon doesn't have expertise needed to repair, any error could result in mission failure. Must trust me."
"Trust you!" Maelon shouted. "We're here, because of you!"
"You were part of team to reintroduce Genophage, cannot blame only me, you agreed to necessity of mission, we all did." Mordin said defensively.
"Of course I did! Who was I, a mere student to disagree with the great Doctor Solus? The blood of millions is on our hands, but at least I didn't lie to myself about it, I didn't pretend I didn't kill anyone. I knew it was wrong, and I tried to fix it." Maelon roared, feeling as if his throat was going to give out from his shouting.
Mordin turned to Jack and Rocket. Rocket could swear the usually calm Salarian looked almost angry. "Cannot waste time arguing, help me-"
"Go fuck yourself Mordin." Jack hissed. "I've been tortured by "doctors" like you who said what they were doing was for the greater good. At least this prick admitted it was wrong."
Rocket nodded in agreement. "We ain't letting you anywhere near the controls. Now get the flark out of the way, before Jack throws you out." He snarled.
Mordin gazed at the pair of them, visibly trembling, but he complied. Maelon entered a code to unlock the door, and they slid open. Jack, Rocket and Maelon had barely taken a step through them however, when they were stopped in their tracks.
"I made a mistake!" Mordin shouted. The trio halted, and turned to stare at Mordin, who had lost nearly every last vestige of his composure. The Salarian paused for several seconds, taking a deep breath. "I made a mistake." He repeated, slowly. "Krogan uprising was terrible, but wasn't solely Krogan's fault, society and culture was primitive when Salarian's uplifted them. Never had chance to develop, to grow. They were children, and we handed them guns and sent them to war, with weapons and technology they barely understood." Mordin said, morosely. "And when they behaved as we knew they would, they were punished. But Krogan will not survive unless Genophage cured. Galaxy will not survive. Any error will trigger fail safes, destroy this facility… destroy Krogan. Cannot trust task to anyone else."
Jack stared at Mordin, angry. "Can you believe this fucker Rocket?" She said.
Rocket had spent a good part of his life as a scavenger and a thief, scrounging scraps and stealing whatever he could to survive. And one of the many skills he picked up in service of that goal, was an ability to get a sense of people, and what they were feeling. Tell which ones would reach for a broom or gun when they saw him, and the ones who'd extend a helping hand (the latter of which Rocket almost never hesitated to exploit). It was clear to him now, that as much as Mordin claimed his actions were justified, they haunted him, and every time he tried to say they were necessary, he was lying to himself as much as the person he was talking to. "Yeah, guess I can." Rocket whispered. He turned to face Maelon. "Is Mordin better than you when it comes to this kinda stuff?"
Maelon hesitated, but in the end, he relented. "Yes."
Rocket sighed. "Then we ain't got a choice. If we want to be as sure as possible that this is gonna work, we need him."
Kara shifted uncomfortably in her seat in the Kodiak, feeling as though a slight shift would be enough for either her or Grunt to crush Shepard. Thankfully, the shuttle ride was short, and they came in for a landing on the same landing pad they'd occupied only minutes ago. As they made their way back to Wrex, Kara could feel a change in the mood of the Krogan they passed, many of whom looked downright happy. The news regarding the cure was spreading. Kara wanted to feel happy for them, but the Krogan weren't unified yet. It would be easy for them to fall back into old habits without the threat of the Reapers to unite them.
She wanted to believe that they'd take the time they had to prepare, but in her experience, mortal races tended to forget or ignore any problem that wasn't directly in front of their face. But it was a risk she had to take, better they be prepared now than have to pay for not being prepared later.
They arrived in Wrex's court, and found him speaking to yet another delegate from another clan. It was clear from his expression that whatever words flowed from the delegate's mouth simply floated through Wrex's ears without registration, and his countenance lit up when he spotted Shepard.
He eagerly waved them over, angering the delegate. "You allow aliens free access to your-" Wrex swiveled, and slammed his skull into the delegate, silencing him.
"Speak when spoken to Uvenk." He snarled. Shepard couldn't help but smirk as she watched the occurrence.
With Uvenk stunned into silence, Wrex turned his attention to Grunt. Shepard cleared her throat. "Grunt says he's been having problems with his anger." She said as Grunt met Wrex's gaze, sizing up the more experienced warlord.
"Come closer, whelp." Wrex stated authoritatively. "What happened to your clan? Did they all die before they could teach you what was expected of you?"
"I have no clan. I was tank-bred by the warlord Okeer, my line distilled from the ancient warlords Shiagur, Kredak, Moro-" Uvenk walked a circle around Grunt as he spoke, sizing him up as though he were a horse, or some other animal intended for labor.
"You recite names, but you are nothing more than the offspring of a syringe." Uvenk spat.
"I am pure Krogan. You should be in awe." Grunt retorted.
"Okeer, is a very old name. A very hated name. I know some of my advisers would just have you shot for being associated with him."
"I'd like to see them try." Grunt snarled, much to Wrex's amusement.
"Maybe there is some Krogan in you after all." He smirked. "There's nothing wrong with him, he's just becoming an adult. He'll have to undergo the Rite of Passage." Wrex said, addressing Shepard. He turned his attention back to Grunt. "So, what do you say? Do you wish to join clan Urdnot?"
Uvenk snarled, incensed. "You would allow that perversion to attempt the trial? You go too far Wrex!" Uvenk roared as he stormed off. Wrex shook his head.
"Idiot. I'm waiting for your answer, whelp."
Grunt dipped his head in thought for a moment, before meeting Wrex's gaze. "Yes."
Wrex nodded. "Speak with my Shaman, he'll have the final say over whether you're worthy to attempt the trial. I'll let him know to expect you" Wrex said, pointing to a staircase to Shepard's right. Shepard nodded, and moved to the stairs, Kara and Grunt close behind.
Once they reached the top, they saw Uvenk, harassing a Krogan who didn't bother hiding his seething contempt for him. His eyes shifted, and he spotted Shepard. He raised a hand to silence Uvenk, then waved Shepard and her team over.
"So, you're the tank-bred then." The Shaman said, taking stock of Grunt. "Looks real enough." He sniffed the air. "Smells real too. Your protests ring hollow Uvenk."
"I don't care what this idiot says, we have permission to be here." Grunt said, his patience being tested.
Uvenk shot a glare at Grunt, before speaking. "If this is to stand on ritual, I invoke a denial. My krantt will stand against him, while he has no one!"
The Shaman snarled. "He may be testing my patience, but he invokes correctly. Where is your krantt, tank-bred? Your allies willing to fight and die on your behalf."
Shepard and Kara both stepped forward. The Shaman assessed them both. He nodded, satisfied. "Very well. I will allow you to undertake the Rite." He said.
Hearing this, Uvenk launched a cavalcade of complaints mixed with insults, but fell silent when everyone heard a sharp hiss, followed by a deep, rumbling growl. When Uvenk turned to face the source of the sound, he barely caught a glimpse of Kara launching her skull forward, before she struck him with such force, he was sent stumbling backwards, only coming to a stop thanks to the wall behind him.
Shepard brought a hand to her face in an attempt to hide the smile that overtook her. Kara had struck Uvenk so hard, she had actually cracked the thick bony plating covering his skull.
This action elicited a raucous laughter from the Shaman. "I like these aliens! They understand!"
Uvenk skulked off, muttering threats of revenge, leaving the rest of them to prepare for their trial.
Grunt, Shepard and Kara followed the Shaman as he guided them to the area where the Rite of Passage would take place, at the foot of the keystone The bones of many Krogan who failed their trials littered the ground before them, and the wind whipped angrily past them. Once they came to a stop, Kara readied her sidearm, and her glaive. She turned, and gazed at the keystone, a massive structure supported by three "legs", and in the center, a sky scraper sized hammer and gavel. "What kind of threats can we expect?"
"Whatever the keystone summons. Are you ready?"
"Yes." Kara stated, twirling her glaive, eager for battle.
"Mhm." Shepard nodded, turning the safety off on her rifle.
"Let's get this over with." Grunt snarled, readying his shotgun.
The Shaman nodded. He turned, and pressed a button on the wall next to him, causing the massive metal hammer to rise in the structure above them. He left through the door they entered, closing behind him. They heard a voice through an array of speakers as the hammer rose. "First the Krogan conquered Tuchanka. Mastered a world only we were fit to hold." The hammer fell, striking the gavel with such force that Kara felt the reverberations cause her bones to rattle. She heard the sounds of howling nearly buried by the screaming winds close by, barks and growls signaling the arrival of varren. Nearly a dozen of the reptilian, wolf-like aliens descended upon the trio. Kara fired two rounds, targeting a group of four that attacked from the group's two o'clock. She killed one, and severely wounded the second, and when the third and fourth were close enough, she lashed out with a diagonal slash, decapitating the third varren, following up with a stab at the fourth, skewering it.
Shepard killed a group of five varren by throwing a grenade in front of them as they approached from directly in front of her, wounding all of them enough that she could safely finish them off with precision fire.
Grunt killed the final two that engaged from the left, killing one with his shotgun. Rather than shoot the second, Grunt flipped his weapon, gripping it by the barrel with both hands, and swung it like a baseball bat at the varren's skull, shattering it.
Grunt and Shepard scanned the area for more threats, while Kara relaxed for a moment, placing the bottom of the shaft of her glaive on the ground.
Shepard turned, and pressed the same button the Shaman had before he left, and the hammer rose again. "Then the Krogan were lifted to the stars, to destroy the fears of a galaxy. To destroy an enemy only we could chase to their lair."
The hammer fell again, and the world shook in response, before it fell still, and nothing but the howling wind was left. The strong winds made it difficult for Kara to feel anything coming, which is why, when a ball of boiling expelled stomach acid came down on her, she never saw it coming. She roared as she felt her fur and flesh begin to melt, exposing the muscle and bone beneath. Grunt and Shepard rushed to the side of their fallen comrade, but Kara waved them away. "I'll be fine!" She shouted through the pain. "It's flying, watch the sky!"
Shepard's head bolted up, and she saw a massive, insectoid creature. It had a large, wormlike neck, two sets of gargantuan wings, and four lifeless eyes staring at her.
Shepard and Grunt opened fire on the harvester, but it was like shooting marshmallows at a tank. The harvester reared its neck, and spewed forth another glob of acid, and Shepard and Grunt dove out of the way. Shepard hit the ground hard, but she took aim at the creature's eyes and fired. The harvester moved its head, causing her rounds to either miss completely, or pepper the area around its eyes; either way, her attack had no effect.
Shepard was about to scramble to her feet, when she heard three thunderous booms behind her, and saw three missiles screaming towards the creature's skull.
Three ear splitting explosions surrounded the monster's cranium, and it collapsed without its head. Shepard turned to see Kara holding her missile launcher with only her left hand, and she nearly gagged at the sight of her. The right side of Kara's face, her right arm, and most of her torso had all melted, exposing the muscle, sinew and bone beneath, leaving Kara looking like a walking corpse. Shepard turned her gaze before she could see Kara's flesh growing back. Not for the first time, Shepard wondered if it was actually possible to kill a Hunter, if they could survive so grievous an injury.
Once Kara recovered, Shepard pressed the button again. "Now all Krogan bear the Genophage. Our reward, and our curse. It is a battle where the only goal is survival."
The hammer fell, and the winds suddenly changed. Whereas before they carried sickly yellow dust, now they carried what could only be described as green snow. Shepard looked up, and saw innumerable flakes falling from the sky. Grunt followed her gaze, but Kara quickly caught their attention. "Something big is coming our way, get your heads out of the clouds!"
Shepard and Grunt readied themselves for the third round, when a thresher maw burst forth from the ground. Flashbacks threatened to overwhelm Shepard, visions of thirteen of her brothers and sisters in arms being torn to pieces. She didn't regain her composure until after Kara seized her and shoved her into cover, narrowly avoiding a blast of acid that sailed through the spot Shepard vacated.
Shepard slammed her hand into her helmet twice, shook her head, and gazed at the thresher maw with a renewed composure. Kara fired three more missiles into the beast, where they detonated harmlessly on its armored hide.
Kara snarled, then an idea popped into her head. She spotted the remnants of a makeshift tent nearby, fabric blowing in the wind. She rushed to it, using a utility knife on her belt to cut as much of the fabric loose as she could. Once she was finished, she turned to address her comrades then yelled out: "Give me all of your grenades, now!" Shepard's hands darted to her hip, plucking any and all explosives she had on her, Grunt doing the same, both of them catching onto Kara's plan.
The trio ignored the roars of the beast as it spat more acid at the pillars they hid behind, and Shepard and Grunt rushed to place their assembled explosives on top of the sheet of fabric Kara brought. "Get its attention!" Kara ordered.
Grunt darted out of cover, laughing as he did so, and fired recklessly at the thresher maw, and after a moment of hesitation, Shepard joined him, firing into the beast.
The monster roared, aggravated by the sting of insects, and focused all it's murderous intent onto the Human and Krogan, leaving Kara free to add her own remotely detonated explosive onto the assembled pile, before she folded and tied the corners, creating a makeshift bag. Once she was finished, she clutched the IED in her right hand and roared a challenge, rushing towards the thresher maw. The beast turned its attention to the newcomer, and, seeing that Kara was close enough, the beast lunged forward, intent on swallowing the Hunter.
At the last possible moment, Kara threw the bag into the creature's throat, and leapt aside gracelessly, landing on her back. She plucked the detonator from her belt, and triggered it.
The thresher maw's hide was durable enough to withstand the explosion, but its innards were less so. The monster roared as it was torn apart from the inside, spewing blood and acid, before it collapsed, leaving Shepard, Grunt and Kara to recover from their ordeal.
