"Mordin, have you got a minute?" Shepard pulled out the stool she normally sat on.
The salarian was typing on his console. "One moment." His practiced fingers were a blur on the holo keys.
She set her coffee cup down on his lab table and poured in a little straw of nutritional powder. When she picked it up again, there was a noticeable ring where it had been. Shepard tipped the mug up - nothing had dripped. It must have been left from one of their previous encounters here. *
He turned and leaned both palms on the tabletop. "Apologies. Developing situation. Much data coming in. What can I help with?"
"I was wondering if you had anything we could give Grunt for his agitation? There was another incident while I was on the Rayya." She sighed. "It doesn't need to be long term, I've already had Joker set us on course for Tuchanka." She took a deep sip of hot coffee.
"Other than sedation, no. Wait, perhaps an herbal tea? Tuchanka heading excellent news, though. Also have business on Tuchanka, received data, still processing, analyzing likely scenarios, not sure how to begin. Too much intel. Have not been completely forthright. You know about the genophage?"
"Yeah, wasn't it something like one in a thousand pregnancies ends in live birth?"
"Correct. Virus crafted by salarians, released on Tuchanka by the turians a thousand years ago. Controlled krogan population ever since. All public knowledge. But I know more. Recent generations were adapting. Genophage losing its effectiveness." He leaned forward with his hands on the table, looking down.
"What? Do the krogan realize that's happening? They'd be thrilled!" Her mind tried to decide what Wrex's face would look like if he learned of this.
"No, not good. Krogan too warlike, culture broken. Population increase now would lead to increased aggression, more war." He sighed. "Led a team. Created a new version, released on Tuchanka, other colonies. Re-stabilized krogan population."
The expression on her face caused concern to scrunch into his forehead. Shepard leapt to her feet, and the stool smashed into the table, slopping liquid out of the mug upon it. "Mordin… how… how could you justify neutering them again?!" Her voice caught as she spoke. "The genophage should have been a war crime... this... this is,"
"Exactly the reaction feared. In smaller numbers, Krogan sympathetic, tragic. Galactic regret for deployment of genophage. But in large numbers, expansion, aggression, war. Krogan too dangerous. Had to stop them. First genophage was necessary. Cultural fragmentation made modified genophage even more necessary. If what you say is true about Reapers, Shepard, cannot risk fighting two wars at once."
That quieted her objections. She bit the inside of her lip.
"Former team member, Maelon, protege, caught by Blood Pack, last seen on Tuchanka. Might torture him, make an example. Recovering Maelon would be a personal favor to me. Would like to see him safe."
"Mordin… do the Krogan realize he was involved in the modified genophage? If they do… he's… probably not alive."
"Unclear. No way to determine until we get to Tuchanka. Maelon last seen outside Urdnot territory."
Shepard exhaled and dug her fingers into her hairline and stared down into her cup. "Did you at least consider other options?"
"Of course! Hundreds. Thousands. Modified genophage produced best outcome." He was pacing now, arms animated. "Stabilized population, avoided publicity that would incite Krogan anger. Genophage isn't sterility as you suggest, stabilizes population to pre industrialization numbers. Averted potential genocide! Not a war criminal, not a murderer, genocide unnecessary. Avoided devastating war. Allowed Krogan chance to survive. Best outcome for galaxy. Everyone wins. Good for us. Good for them."
Her mind was reeling. God, if Wrex ever even suspected… he'd kill them all on sight. Friends or no friends, the minute they set down and asked after Maelon, that would be it. Shepard drummed her fingers on her mug.
"Aware of your Krogan sympathies due to perceived similarities." Mordin spoke.
"I've killed more Krogan than I've made friends with. I understand your reasoning. I don't agree with it, but I understand it. We will be on Tuchanka in twelve hours. I know the leader of Clan Urdnot. You and I will go down first, see what we can come up with. DELICATELY. Wrex and I may be buddies, but if he gets any genophage whiffs, we are both deader than dead." She rubbed her temple and stood. "I'm going to try to get some sleep."
She'd been scooping ice cream out of a little tub when the screaming started - first in Tali's modulated voice and finishing with geth techno screeching. Shepard pulled the spoon out of her mouth and spun, but couldn't see beyond the wide turian back in front of her. Garrus must have jumped up on reflex from where he'd been leaning against the counter at the noise - he already had his pistol up between her and the rest of the mess. She shook her head and stepped around him. Maybe his paranoia was well founded; wearing his full kit most of the time, because she had nothing but a hoodie and sweatpants.
Tali was pointing her shotgun at Legion who, to his credit, was standing there with both palms up towards her and Garrus. Jack hadn't even bothered moving from her spot at a table and was still stuffing mashed potatoes in her mouth while watching with rapt attention.
"Tali?" Shepard called as non threateningly as possible. Thane rounded the corner from the hall, his own pistol out.
The quarian's gaze didn't leave the synthetic for even a millisecond. "Shepard. Legion just scanned my omni-tool - he's going to send information on the Flotilla back to the geth!"
"Whoa, Tali, you are just a few hours post trial, my nerves are still frayed too-"
"NO! He scanned it Shepard!" Tali snapped and pushed the barrel of her gun into Legion's chassis.
It took a step backwards, its flashlight swung towards the Commander. A pleading look?
The N7 squeezed in between the two with her arms held out. "Legion?"
"The Creators performed weapons tests on us and discussed open war. We believe it necessary to warn our people." Legion's head shutters fluttered wildly. Did he sound worried?
She couldn't really blame the Geth, that was true after all.
"I can't let him endanger my people!" Tali's voice raised another notch and wavered dangerously. "Just because it hasn't killed us yet doesn't mean it won't! I've played nice up to this point, but this is too much, Shepard. I trusted your judgement!" She cocked her shotgun, regardless of the Commander standing between them.
"See it from his perspective Tali, your father was running brutal experiments to come up with that virus. If the subjects had been human, I'd damn well be telling the Alliance about it."
The quarian put a hand on her helmeted forehead. "I understand. But if the geth find out…"
"It would become a war that would devastate both sides before the Reapers even get here. We just went through hell trying to prevent that, is that what you want, Legion?" She and Tali both turned to stare at him.
It considered for a moment, the iris of its optics flickered. "We… believed it necessary to relay the information."
Shepard sighed and motioned Garrus and Thane to stand down. "Eventually you are both going to have to stop fighting this war. The entire galaxy will wind up paying for your actions."
It was Legion who spoke first in the hushed cafeteria. "To facilitate unit cohesion, we will not transmit data regarding Creator plans."
Tali hesitated for a few beats - making the Commander keenly aware of the perspiration on her scalp.
"I understand your intention, Legion. It isn't so different from my own… what if I give you non-classified information about the flotilla?" The engineer murmured.
The two began conversing, and the Commander stole back over to the kitchen and picked up her spoon again. Thane came over to stand near her elbow, a wrinkle creased into his brow. Garrus had one eye looking down at her hawkishly from her left.
"You both worry too much." Shepard rested her arms across the counter top.
Garrus pivoted to face her. "That's my typical reaction to geth noises. What is it you humans say?" He paused with a finger on his chin. "Traditions die painfully?"
Thane didn't mask his lip twitch.
"Old habits die hard?" She smirked. "You need a vacation as badly as I do Big Guy."
"Yeah? Well, a Tuchanka heading isn't the best place for that." Garrus sniffed.
Shepard chuckled. "You don't know that. Maybe it's lovely. Wrex might have a whole hot tub full of lovely krogan ladies by now."
He visibly shivered. "Spirits, don't make me think about that. I avoided an entire year of showering with him for a reason."
She threw her head back with a laugh. "I really need to hear the story about who or what scarred you over Krogan genitals."
Garrus blinked. "Shepard. I was C-Sec, I'm sure you can already guess."
Jack strode over and threw her bowl into the sink with a loud clatter. "I'd like to hear it!"
"Shit. Shit. Shit." Shepard was weaving a trail between the seats of the shuttle. She slicked a hand through her hair roughly before tying it up in a sloppy ponytail.
"Shepard." Garrus grabbed her hand as she passed and raised his brow plates.
"Bringing a turian to Tuchanka is bad enough, but a salarian too? They might think I'm declaring war before we even get to see Wrex." She looked at Mordin, who was shifting around in his seat, blinking at her.
"Even then, you being this nervous is unusual." Her sniper's voice was at least a little balm to her frayed edges.
"Other than you, I haven't exactly been welcomed back warmly. I'm just expecting the worst this time. I'm expecting he already knows who Maelon is and we are already good as dead. Hopefully I'm wrong." She grabbed the handrail above the seats as the craft rocked to a halt. Shepard hit the release and jumped out before it had even touched down. There was already a greeting party.
A massive black crested krogan moved up the ramp to the landing pad "Alien. You are Commander Shepard, are you not?" He boomed.
"That's me." She answered. Garrus thumped down beside her, then Mordin.
"The clan leader is expecting you," the krogan's deep voice echoed against the fallen concrete rubble of the building they had landed in. He wasn't even looking at her though, his lips lifted in a silent snarl as he regarded her companions.
She stepped into his line of sight, using her height advantage higher up the ramp to block his vision. "And where is this clan leader? I assume you're my escort."
"I'm debating taking you. Tuchanka has no need for Salarians or Turians. Clan Urdnot is no friend to them." The two other armored krogan behind him pulled their weapons.
Shepard pulled her own shotgun, careful to hold it off to the side. "Luckily, that decision is above your pay grade. Now, either get the fuck out of my way, or take me to your leader." She smirked. Not a lot of chances to use that one liner in her life.
His great green eyes studied her, trying to decide how serious she was, no doubt. "Fine. This way." He conceded. The trio of krogan led them through crumbling tunnels and shorted light fixtures that blinked eerily. A group of krogan they passed were loudly discussing the correct way to feed a turian to a pack of varren, and Shepard had the feeling that instead of Garrus coming to help protect Mordin she'd created more of a liability in the amount of people she'd have to protect instead. They came out of a dark mouldy hallway into a large courtyard surrounded by crumbling buildings. Conversations from the krogan milling about turned loud and nasty in their wake, some outright threatening them. The three krogan escorting them stopped at the disintegrating ledge of the building. The black scaled one pointed down to the yard where a throng of the large aliens milled about. She nodded and slid easily down a pile of rubble that connected the second floor they'd emerged on to the ground, Mordin and Garrus behind her. Pushing through the crowd of hostile bodies to the middle revealed a cobbled together throne of sorts, where none other than Wrex sat. Big, red, scarred up Wrex! A grin stole over her features as she moved toward him.
A meaty fist halted her. "Stop. You must wait until the clan leader summons you. He is… in talks." One of the guards growled out.
More like sitting there looking one step away from asleep while a much smaller krogan in fancy armor paced around talking. Before she even retorted to the guard, Wrex lifted his head, and they locked eyes.
"Shepaarrrd!" He bellowed and jumped up.
God, how she had missed that voice. She darted around the guard. "Good enough for you?" She threw over her shoulder as she marched toward her friend, squeezing in between two scaley bodies. He was happy to see her! Which meant he didn't know about the genophage and Maelon might be alive! Wrex was laughing loudly as they neared one another, and Shepard launched herself into his arms. The great krogan lifted her from the ground in a rib crushing hug.
"Shepard! My friend." The corners of his mouth pulled wide as he set her down and gripped her shoulder to turn her this way and that. "You look good for dead, Shepard. Should have known the void couldn't hold you." He clapped her on the shoulder so hard her knees threatened to give out at the impact.
"Wrex! You look like you are doing well for yourself here." She motioned to the enormous seat he'd left.
"Not for myself, Shepard. For all of Tuchanka. When I am done, we will be one people again." His gravelly voice echoed around the courtyard.
"And you've broken many traditions to get here. Dangerous." The smaller Krogan still on the dais spoke.
Wrex spun and head butted him, the crack of their crests sickening. "Speak when spoken to Uvenk. I'll drag your clan to glory whether it likes it or not." He motioned Shepard to follow him back to his seat.
"I can thank you now, Shepard. How you handled Sovereign and Saren made me realize, that fragmented, the Krogan will fall when the Reapers come. I wouldn't be useful in… Citadel politics," he spat the last part. " But I can be useful to my people. You made the rise of Urdnot possible. Vermire was a turning point for the Krogan. Destroying Saren's genophage cure freed us from his manipulation. I used that to spur the clans to unify under Urdnot." He slammed his fists together, then his focus moved behind her. "I see you are still traveling around with old stick in the mud back there."
"Nice to see you too, Wrex," Garrus's humming sub-vocals answered.
Wrex barked a laugh. "Well, at least it looks like she found someone more boring than you," he motioned to Mordin then turned his attention back to the turian. "You grow that quad yet Vakarian?"
Garrus was silent except for the growing, undulating noise from his chest. Shepard figured that one was annoyance. No one got under Garrus's plates like Wrex after all.
"Oh well. In that case, I'm still taking breeding requests, Shepard." The old krogan leaned forward, captured her hand and pulled her toward him.
"As inviting as that is, I've got a few issues I'm hoping you can help me solve first." Shepard reclaimed her hand and pointed towards Mordin. "We're looking for a Salarian that was last seen near here. He was taken by Blood Pack."
"Hmph. I don't pay any attention to the mercenaries. But check with my scout chief, he might know something. He's usually near the camp perimeter running target practice."
"Great, we'll go speak with him. Last thing is about a krogan on my crew. He's got something going on with him that's a mystery to the rest of us. I'm hoping you'll know what it is."
"Bring him down when you're done. I'll take a look at him."
"Thank you Wrex, I'll be back." Shepard gripped her friend's forearm.
"Watch yourself, Shepard. Tuchanka isn't safe and homey like Feros or Ilos." Wrex called after her.
It felt like Wrex's last statement jinxed them. They'd picked up Maelon's trail and fought through the entirety of clan Weyrloc to get to the Salarian - just to find he was there on purpose, performing gruesome experiments on Weyrloc females and piles of humans in an attempt to find a cure for the genophage. The only real upside was Mordin's soul searching when confronted with the bloody reality of his genophage work. The stench of the mutilated bodies filled the entirety of the inner rooms of the Weyrloc base.
"Apologize Commander. Misunderstood mission parameters. No kidnapping. My mistake." Mordin hung his head in the dark room, the orange glow of Maelon's computer console the only light.
"Mordin… are you all right?" Shepard walked up to his slouched back.
"Should have killed him. Wanted to. Easier than listening," his voice was quiet but still echoed in the crumbling rock room.
"Yeah, killing is more straightforward. That's why we have wars." She glanced back at Garrus. He tipped his chin down once.
"Easier for him, too. Experiments prove how far he's fallen. Expect this from Krogan. Not one of mine. So many variables in questions of ethics. Effect on Krogan, effect on galaxy. Something to think about." the old Salarian sighed. "Still, Maelon's research valuable. Even though, should destroy it, tie up loose end."
"Why not keep it if you think it might be valuable? That way at least some small part of the suffering inflicted on all these people would mean something. The krogan deserve better." Shepard spoke.
"Point taken. Yes. Still years away from cure, but it's a start. Capturing data, wiping data from local drives." Long fingers typed along the interface. "There. Done. Ready to go, ready to be off Tuchanka. Anywhere else… perhaps somewhere sunny."
"I'll see what I can do, Mordin. At some point I think it would be beneficial if you spoke with Wrex a little. But let's just get you back to the Normandy, for now." Shepard put a hand on the Professor's shoulder.
"So Wrex says, 'It would have been faster if we just ate him.' The shock on that Salarian's face! Grumpy gizzard says 'No we can't', and Wrex says, 'Sure we could, look at him! Do you think he's ever lifted anything heavier than a hard copy?' The slimy little bastard made a run for it, but not before Wrex caught him by his shirt. I'd never seen a Salarian wet himself before that day." Shepard slapped Wrex on the shoulder.
The krogan standing around the dias laughed boisterously. Wrex shifted in his seat, a wide grin on his face. "Oh, speak of the devil."
Garrus pushed past a perimeter group of listeners and stepped up on the platform with Grunt close behind him. "Are we still coming up with new nicknames for me? Fun." The turian's sub-vocals rumbled in annoyance.
"Lighten up, Garrus." Wrex waved a hand at him.
"Wrex, this is Grunt." Shepard beckoned the young krogan closer from where she sat on the arm of Wrex's rubble throne.
The warlord leaned forward and narrowed his eyes. "Where are you from, whelp? Was your clan destroyed before you could learn what was expected of you?"
"I have no clan. I was tank bred by Warlord Okeer, my line distilled from Kredak, Moro, Shiagur," Grunt spoke.
Uvenek marched forward to circle him. "You recite warlords, but you are the offspring of a syringe." He spat.
Shepard's scowl was fast, but Grunt seemed confident and unperturbed. "I am pure Krogan. You should be in awe."
Wrex fixed him with his red eyes. "Okeer is a very old name. A very hated name." He stood to inspect the younger krogan.
Grunt nodded towards her. "He is dead."
"Of course he is, you're with Shepard. How could he be alive?" Wrex smiled wickedly.
"So what do you think, old man?" She waved a hand towards Grunt.
"There's nothing wrong with him. He is becoming a full adult."
Garrus sighed and leaned his weight into a hip. "Adolescence? Really? Can't we just take him to Omega and buy him a few dances?"
Shepard folded her arms across her chest. "Wait, is that how turians deal with it too? Huh. Small universe." Garrus's mandible pulled up in a grin.
Wrex snorted. "I don't care what you aliens call it, Krogan undergo the Rite of Passage."
If Uvenk's face could have turned purple, it would have. "Too far! That thing is not Krogan!" He stormed off, pushing through a crowd.
Wrex watched him go with an eye roll. "Idiot."
"This Rite will help him?" Shepard spoke.
"If you mean his disposition, that's just him being a Krogan. He'll learn to control it. Wrex answered in his deep tone. "Okeer didn't tell you that in the tank, did he boy?"
Shepard leaned back on her hands. "If he doesn't do it?"
"If he stayed here, he would be killed. The clanless are not respected. A tank born, even more so."
"You'd let a tank born take the Rite?"
"Only because he's with you. After all, you and I killed thousands like him, not as big… but you will have trained him well. Clan Urdnot is strong, the others will do as I say. Now, Grunt, will you stand with Urdnot?"
Grunt looked at her quizzically.
"It's your call buddy." Shepard bounced her legs off the side of the arm.
Grunt turned to stare out over the courtyard, bringing a hand up to rub his chin. Moments passed by, where she wondered if he cared about having a clan.
He swiveled back, "It is what I am for. It is in my blood."
"Good boy. Give the Shaman a good show and he'll set you on the path." Wrex grabbed her shoulder. "You too, Shepard. How many times have you stepped in a mess for your crew? Hm?"
Shepard dropped her helmeted forehead into her hand. "God, my head hurts."
"Nobody told you to head butt Uvenk, Shepard." Garrus said dryly.
She looked out over the large arena they'd stepped into, now littered with varren and klixen corpses. "Yeah, but it sure made me feel better. Damn, I forgot how much I hate klixen."
Grunt was laughing gleefully in the distance and charging through a pack of the explosive little bastards. Garrus sighted and took out the last one over his shoulder.
"Grunt come hit this thing again," she called.
He was still chuckling as he came up to the keystone - a gigantic, many stories tall stone pillar that was in the middle of the most forlorn, dust blown arena she'd ever seen. The mammoth device reared back slowly and slammed into the ground once more. The keystone had quaked the ground on each impact, but this time the quaking continued - increasing in intensity as the minutes wore on.
"Fuck." Shepard breathed out. She and her sniper made knowing eye contact.
"Something is coming… I am ready!" Grunt yelled.
The Commander squinted through the gusting winds and low setting sun. The sand being pelted against her helmet was grating and deafening after all the time above ground. Movement from the left caught her eye. A big blue tentacle burst from the dune outside the stone arena, narrowly missing her.
"Thresher Maw!" She screamed and unloaded into it. A terrible thundering screech issued from the creature and the tentacle retracted. Thank God they were on solid ground, at least that way it couldn't burst into the middle of the arena.
"Shepard!" Garrus bellowed. His weight came crashing into her just as an acid burst sailed past them.
Their armor clacked together. "Holy shit!" She exclaimed. "Thanks Big Guy."
He rolled off of her and dragged her up by the arm. "Even with all those upgrades, you still can't hear as good as me, huh?"
She shook her head. "I can't hear shit over this sand." The Maw had retreated underground after a continuous shotgun volley from the young Krogan. "Grunt, watch for its acid, shields and armor won't protect you from it."
"Yes, Battlemaster!"
"I can't believe we are doing this on foot," Shepard mumbled. The next few hair raising minutes were spent rolling out of acid spit and trying to get a clear shot on the humongous eel like Maw. Garrus had gotten a few good shots on its great blue tongue when it had opened its lotus shaped mouth. It didn't fall for their antics twice though and kept lashing out with tentacles, tripping them up and driving them out of cover. Even Grunt had stopped laughing, having taken a brutal acidic splash to the back. His face scrunched in concentration.
"Grunt, Garrus, see that column near the right edge? Let's draw this bastard over there. Grunt, do you think you can topple that onto it?" She pointed behind them once the creature disappeared back under the dunes. They both spoke affirmatively. Their Krogan took off at a sprint towards the structure in long strides first. The damn Maw was right on him though - it leapt out of the ground, its great head poised to land on him.
"NO!" Shepard shrieked and charged, slamming into the side of its chitinous head in an electric blue burst. They ricocheted off of each other, the Thresher Maw landing right in the shadow of the crumbling stone pillar. Grunt flung himself at the pillar, third time being the charm. It collapsed, kicking up a great billow of dust into the swirling wind. Shepard grabbed the Cain from her back, fumbling the arming mechanism twice in her haste to get it primed. She took a knee and set the mechanism spinning. The enormous worm wriggled itself free with a howl, just as the projectile fired. There was nowhere to cover as the blast went off, so she curled into a ball, closed her eyes and hoped for the best. The next thing she registered was Garrus's laugh over the static of her overloaded helmet speakers. Her arms were trapped at her sides, her viewfinder dark. Shepard kicked her legs. Well, those were free… ish.
"Hold on Shepard, I've got to get a vid of this for posterity!" Garrus's flanging voice spoke over the howling wind.
"Har har, if you don't pull me out, your ass is grass Vakarian." Nothing but chortling laughter answered her in tandem, the deep big lizard kind and the dual toned kind. Shepard wriggled, trying to find purchase to drag her upper half out. Eventually Grunt grabbed her legs and pulled her out of the sand embankment she'd been blown into. He offered his hand to pull her up and brushed the sand off of her armor with a poorly hidden grin.
"God dammit, if you show that vid to anyone Vakarian - I WILL airlock you." Shepard huffed. The turian just bent to laugh harder.
Back again in the courtyard Wrex presided in, word had spread of their victory over the thresher maw and of Uvenk's intervention afterwards that had resulted in his death. The dumb bastard had waylaid them after they'd killed the maw, changing his tune to invite Grunt into his own clan. He hadn't taken kindly to the dishonorable Uvenk.
Krogan crammed into every inch of the arena, torches had been lit along the walls of the main area. Shepard, Grunt, and Garrus stepped off the stairs of the Tomkah to loud cheering and foot stomping. Grunt hurried past the huge tires of the vehicle and into the crowd. Some krogan were wearing veils and a style of cloth robes she'd never seen before. Shepard turned to elbow Garrus. "Have you ever seen females before?" She breathed with awe.
He shook his head, crest bobbing. "Not even a picture of one." They both craned their heads, trying to catch glimpses of the elusive women as they weaved through the crowd of bodies down to Wrex's platform. Grunt had stepped up in front of the clan leader as they both pushed to the front of the dais.
Wrex and the Shaman were standing before her young krogan, who took a knee in front of them. He certainly knew what he was doing. Her heart swelled in her chest. Maybe she would live long enough to see him bestowed with warlord status. Hm.
"Grunt, you passed your Rite, earning the right to clan and name. Many survive but it has been years since a thresher maw was felled! Your names shall live in glory!" The Shaman gestured his arms widely at her and Garrus as well. The crowd roared in response. "Grunt! You are Urdnot!" Another thunder of many voices. "You may now own property, join the army, and apply to serve under a Battlemaster."
"Shepard is my Battlemaster! She has no equal!" Grunt hollered, and the crowd responded, many fists pounded her on her shoulders and back. She winced under the onslaught.
The Shaman nodded once. "Understood. Congratulations, Urdnot Grunt, accept this from Fortack. His weapons are the finest we have." Grunt was handed a gargantuan shotgun by a big green crested krogan to his right. His eyes lit up like a kid getting a Blasto figure.
"I speak as the conduit of rage and bloodlust for all Krogan." The Shaman boomed over the mass of scaly bodies. "Tonight we feast, and for many more on the maw! Tonight we drink and celebrate our new clansman! Welcome Urdnot Grunt!"
The cheer was raucous, drums she couldn't see started up a rhythm and feet stomped along. A massive bonfire behind them was lit, catching rapidly and blazing ten feet into the cooling nighttime air of Tuchanka. Garrus swiveled his head down to Shepard who had torn her helmet off. She was slick with sweat, her fringe wild around her, and in the fire's light she flashed him a grin as feral as any Krogan before dashing up to Wrex. The expression she wore as she turned her face up at the old Krogan tugged at something inside his keel.
"Well, how'd we do old man?" She asked.
"Heh, you just can't help making trouble for me can you?" He smiled down at her.
"Hey Uvenk attacked us first, right Grunt?" Grunt moved up behind her and the two Krogan grabbed each other's forearms in greeting.
Grunt nodded with a dark chuckle. "No one insults me or my Krantt and gets away with it."
"There are more agreeable Uvenk's. It will work out well in the end. No one has killed a maw since my time in the arena." Wrex pointed a thumb at himself. "Guess that's what it takes to replace me."
The Shaman stepped over to them. "Your dispatching of the thresher maw netted Grunt three breeding requests." He slapped a large palm on the younger krogan's pauldron. He paused, and a smirk creeped over his face. "And one for Shepard."
Wrex and Grunt barked booming laughs in unison.
The old Krogan waved an enormous hand at Grunt. "Get out there and party, whelp."
Grunt didn't have to be told twice, he jumped down from the platform and disappeared into the crowd.
Shepard hit her com. "Hey Joker, send down anyone who wants to party with the krogan tonight."
"Roger that Commander. I think me and my bones will stay intact right here, so if you need anything, let me know. Oh, and congrats on that breeding request."
Shepard sighed as a very Turian cackle came through the com.
