The year after the Reaper War had been tumultuous for Krogan Leader Urdnot Wrex. A massive victory had been achieved, but there had been tremendous losses for the galaxy, and the krogan had tested their mettle against a worthy foe, but what lied ahead was uncertain. Wrex's alliances with humans, turians and Mordin with his genophage cure had many smaller clans furious with his actions, they vied to dethrone him and destroy what he was trying to achieve in hopes of their clans getting bigger and more powerful. They wanted to fight the Citadel races while Wrex wanted to have peace with them and open up diplomatic channels so the krogan could grow into a prosperous civilization once more. The shortsighted and violent insurgent clans didn't see things his way.
That Mordin's concoction wasn't an instant miracle cure, and that only those on Tuchanka at the time of its release would eventually be fully cured from the genophage, didn't make things better either. There were many angry and envious krogan out in the galaxy that would still carry the genophage till their deaths.
Human and turian scientists had made tests and confirmed it would take a generation before the genophage cure would set in. But Wrex was still content what had been achieved, because even if it was a slow start, this was a new era for the Krogan. Wrex and Bakara would usher the krogan into this era of prosperity and peace with the rest of the galaxy, and let the naysayers be damned. Wrex would crush them all or they would muscle their way in and destroy everything Wrex wanted to achieve.
Since his return to Tuchanka with his clan of warriors much work needed to be done. The Alliance and the Hierarchy had offered their help with rebuilding Tuchanka, and Wrex had grudgingly accepted their, the reason was that his opponents saw it as weakness, and that he betrayed the krogan associating himself with the 'enemy.' Truth to be told, what did the krogan know about rebuilding a planet? The humans and turians had the needed expertise and technology to help Clan Urdnot rebuild, only later could the krogan continue on their own. Wrex also knew it was a political move, the Alliance and the Hierarchy had bet on him and they needed a stable krogan, so they would assist, otherwise an unchecked krogan could lead to a new war and bloodshed.
All this, and more, was on Wrex's mind as he stared up the ceiling of his simple abode, lying in bed stark naked. With rebuilding under way, his simple abode was a reinforced multi-story fortress within a vast walled compound dotted with multiple squat concrete and steel buildings and a vehicle yard along the darkened ruins of the capital Urdnot. His compound had seen better days, as it had been battered by the desert wind and war for centuries, but it still stood its ground. The compound was also the location of his clan's cultural center built according to ancient clan teachings where politics were discussed and argued over - or even killed over - but Wrex wanted fewer killings in this new era. Not even the ancient krogan fought as much amongst them as contemporary krogan did.
Wrex was listening to the desert wind whipping against the walls, but his body tensed when his keen hearing picked up a disturbance of several pairs of feet on the balcony outside his barred window.
He knew what was coming. He had expected this.
Wrex shot out of the bed with a snarl as he activated his omni-blade, a disposable silicon-carbide weapon flashforged by the omni-tool's mini-fabricator. The mass effect and magnetic field suspended and was shaped into a transparent but searing hot blade safely away from his skin with a hum, the nearly diamond-hard blade gave a faint bluish glow in the dark.
The unknown party outside the roof was scurrying around and Wrex dropped to the floor and a moment later the wall erupted with an ear-splitting explosion, sending reinforced concrete and plaster flying in the air while the concussion shook the room, and the explosion scorched the wall.
A krogan in brownish armor charged through the cracked wall wielding an M-300 Claymore shotgun, bellowing an ancient war cry.
The krogan stopped and searched the room as the dust slowly settled.
Wrex charged in a vicious blood rage from the floor with his flickering and crackling omni-blade at the ready.
The enemy turned around at the disturbance and blasted away with the shotgun, narrowly missing Wrex who struck the krogan with the omni-blade, and drove it right through the enemy's chest, burning through the armor and flesh. The krogan screamed and his face seized into a mask of surprise and primitive shock and he dropped the shotgun on the floor.
Wrex pulled out the blade from the gaping wound and blood spurted out of the krogan's chest onto Wrex, and the dying krogan fell to the floor with a labored gasp.
Wrex deactivated the omni-blade and picked up the shotgun and was to turn and face the blown out wall but had barely time to react as two more assassins with shotguns burst through the demolished wall and fired wildly through the dust cover, barely missing Wrex, but their over eagerness was also their doom. Wrex rolled to the side as the hot searing pellets sliced through the air and smacked into the opposite wall. Wrex had knelt down and fired the last remaining shotgun rounds at the closest enemy whose chest erupted in a splatter of blood and armor pieces as the lethal pellets penetrated through the flickering armor shield which activated when the sensors detected the incoming rounds, but the range was to close and the pellets far to deadly for the shielding to stop the rounds.
The hostile krogan warrior screamed horrifically as he fell to the floor.
The third enemy blasted away at Wrex, small shaved pellets ripped through his shoulder and side, tearing of flesh and muscles, but the hits had no effect on the huge, grizzled Wrex and with a savage and guttural growl, Wrex charged the offending krogan with the now empty shotgun and wildly struck the enemy in the jaw, crushing a few teeth with the thick barrel, and a heavy flow of blood ran down the attacker's face from the face wound.
The krogan attacker stumbled back from the hit and into the crumbled wall.
Wrex dropped the shotgun and his omni-blade flared to life and he smashed the lethal blade right through attacker's face. With a wet sucking sound he crushed the skeletal structure and gout of blood erupted and splashed more blood on Wrex.
The final attacker's body went limb and fell down the wall, leaving blood and gore on Wrex's blade. The gory body dropped on the floor, next to the other attackers.
As the silence settled in the room for a moment, Wrex heard the gasping sound of labored breathing from the first attacker.
Wrex deactivated his omni-blade and the gore and blood fell to the floor as the mass effect and magnetic field dissipated. He reached for a new shotgun on the floor and silently, and with no remorse, turned to face the dying krogan and fired a single blast to the head, and the gunshot echoed sharply in the room, the tiny pellets shaved from the dense block of metal contained within the weapon shredded the man's head, turn his face into a gory mess of blood, bone and brain matter.
Wrex leaned closer and in the flickering light of the damaged ceiling light he could identify the ancient old war graffiti carved into the armor, and it was then he noticed that the krogan were much younger, and thus a bit smaller in stature. No doubt the reason they were chosen for the ill-fated assassination attempt. It was not common for Krogan to sneak inside to assassinate somebody. Krogan were usually not that subtle, but stealth and reconnaissance was not unheard of in annals of history, but it was not very frequent as they preferred firepower. Krogan physiology was not well suited for such action, nor was their war-like pysche suited for such actions.
The Krogan Leader noticed that the attackers were from Clan Jurdon, which was not surprising to him. The attacks had been going on for months, but this was the first time they had snuck inside the compound.
Outside building the alarm had erupted moments earlier, and search lights mounted on VI controlled but crude sentry guns swept the court yard and also the darkness outside the high walls while the tracking systems searched for targets. Wrex's night guards scurried about, shouting orders and looking for more attackers while more guards charged from their barracks with all manners of krogan weapons at the ready.
A loud fusillade of gunfire erupted and echoed in the ruins beyond the walls as apparent attackers unleashed their wrath at the compound. Loud thumps were heard and moments later powerful blasts slammed into the tall and heavily reinforced walls.
The sentry guns swiveled smoothly outwards and erupted, a thunderous crack and searing tracers of exploding rounds tore into the night as the echoing crash of gunfire vibrated the air and the walls, the shockwaves from the crude barrels kicked up dust in the air.
Wrex watched as his men scurried about and scaled stairs to defensive positions on top of the walls and opened fire into the night, shooting micro-grenades and small arms fire against the enemy.
The Krogan Leader snarled and dropped the enemy rifle and hurried over to an adjacent weapons room across his abode. Inside there were racks of various weapons – mostly of krogan design – and a rack for his personal armor pieces. Wrex grabbed medigel injector and jammed it into his wound an injected the medical salve while he gritted his teeth as the salve gripped the wound. He discarded the injector and grabbed a bandolier of ammunition pouches filled to the brim with thermal clips, high explosive grenades and incendiary grenades, and draped it over his body and grabbed himself a krogan made Mauler machinegun. It was a big and heavy weapon with a long barrel, as crude and bulky as most krogan weapon was with a blade slung onto its bottom to use for devastating melee attacks. Wrex hurried away, not bothering with putting on his armor, and rushed out from his abode – he needed to defend his honor and join the battle hastily.
Wrex stepped out of the gate to his fortress. The desert wind whipped on him and he heard the sentry guns pound away furiously, the thunderous automatic fire echoed through the compound, their separate bursts overlapped in an irregular rhythm alongside the gunfire from Wrex's loyal men firing into the dark. But it was not enough to keep the attackers at bay as another set of loud explosions impacted a wall section and blasted through the reinforced concrete which erupted in a explosion of concrete and rebar cage, a sentry gun was shredded and three of Wrex's guards were killed in the explosion as their bodies were ripped apart in showers of gore and blood.
From the ruins a dozen warriors from Clan Jurdon charged forward in their blood rage, shouting ancient war cries at the top of their lungs, while distant Tomkah infantry fighting vehicles gave suppression fire. They dared Clan Urdnot's weapons blasting in the night, the barrels of small arms and sentry guns were overheating, glowing cherry red as the booming increased in volume and ferocity.
The impressions of armed krogan in armor were rushing in the darkness and were occasionally visible as the search lights on the sentry guns swept the ground and hammered the enemy, driving streamers of tracer fire into the dark. Nightmarish shrills were audible between the bursts of fire as warrior after warrior from Clan Jurdon were cut down in the volley of tracers and micro-grenades that hit the onslaught of Clan Jurdon warriors
The blood covered Wrex ran across the court yard, soon joined by his troops who were also rushing to meet the enemy.
Clan Urdnot anti-tank troops rushed the sides of the court yard and scaled the walls to get into firing position with their Annihilator anti-tank missile launchers – basically portable tubes with a pistol grip and a targeting component viewing system to find, lock and guide the small but devastating missiles. It was a simple but deadly krogan missile launcher.
At the vehicle yard, the Clan Urdnot Tomkah IFVs were already revving their engines and filled with troops. A handful of Tomkahs sped away towards the main gate of the compound on the opposite end of where the enemy was about to swarm, they would meet Jurdon's vehicles beyond the compound.
The first Clan Jurdon warriors scaled the rubble at the blasted wall section, through the Clan Urdnot's heavy barrage hammering them, many Clan Jurdon warriors were cut down in the gunfire, but more warriors pressed on a wail of agonizing screams and shrills mixed with war cries to give them courage and to put fear into the enemy.
The stark naked Wrex fearlessly dashed hard across the court yard, his heavy feet kicking up dust with his warriors in tow, they to roared in ancient war cries.
Outside the compound, Tomkah vehicles on both sides met in combat, blasting way with their cannons, it was a spectacular light show of tracer fire and explosions as the heavy rounds tore through vehicle after vehicle, the explosive rounds penetrated the armor and detonated inside, burning the occupants alive in a searing fire and cooking off ammunition stores, shredding the vehicles from the inside, instantly maiming and killing krogan, and some of them tried to climb out of the charred vehicles while set ablaze, screaming in agony. Nobody made it out of the burning vehicles alive.
Atop of the walls, the VI controlled sentry guns continued to blast away into the dark.
In the court yard the two opposing forces fought furiously, blasting away with small arms fire and lobbing micro grenades at each other. The thunder clap of gunfire and explosions echoed sharply as more krogan warriors on both sides fell.
Wrex took cover beside a depot wall, leaning out with his machinegun and fired wildly as the powerful weapon kicked against his shoulder, cutting down enemy after enemy. He braced himself against the wall to mitigate the recoil. His fellow warriors took cover wherever they could find; stationary vehicles, depots and sheds.
Wrex and his warriors fired their weapons and intently watched the dim silhouettes pouring through the fallen wall, they to dashed to what little cover they could find, mostly chunks of concrete as they tried to push further into the court yard and find better cover.
Clan Urdnot may have had a breached compound, but they had fire superiority and good defensive positions, and the Tomkah vehicles were pushing back Clan Jurdon's vehicle assault. If they had not, Jurdon's Tomkah's could have blasted away at the compound and its occupants relentlessly, and the battle would have been in Jurdon's favor.
As Wrex reloaded his machinegun, a greenish shockwave and a loud thunderclap drew Wrex's eyes to the walkway atop of the walls for a fleeting moment; Shepard's prothean had unleashed his biotics against a group of Jurdon warriors that had scaled a nearby stairwell with the probable intent of destroying the sentry guns which was still hammering the enemy beyond the walls.
Javik gracefully trashed the group with his unstable and deadly biotics before finishing them off with his prothean assault rifle, raking them with gunfire while a new group of Urdnot warriors joined in the defense of the walls.
After the Reaper War, Javik had been directionless and without goals and had forged a friendship with Wrex, based on their mutual respect of survival, brutality and dominance. Javik had agreed to teach the younger krogan military discipline and skill they had lacked in the last centuries with a fractured Tuchanka. Wrex envisioned Clan Urdnot's military to be fast, efficient, deadly, honorable and disciplined, like the military of their ancestors before the devastating nuclear wars of the past.
With a fresh clip in his machinegun, Wrex turned his attention to the embattled enemy amongst the structures and rubble, fewer and fewer reinforcements had poured into the court yard and outside the compound the explosions and gunfire was dwindling down, by the look of things, Clan Urdnot was winning the battle.
Jurdon warriors tried to throw hand grenades at the defenders, but the relentless fire cut down the attempt and only a few grenades came flying through the air against Wrex and his warriors, bouncing of walls and rolling away before detonating, shredding walls and injuring some of the Urdnot warriors, but that only led to further hate and anger fueling their determined defense.
Urdnot warriors returned the favor and lobbed microgrenades from their grenade launchers or threw their own grenades, and with the fire superiority they were more successful, the muffled explosions tore into the defensive lines and maimed several Jurdon warriors.
On top of the reinforced walls, towering ten meters above the ground, Javik and the remaining warriors could focus their fire on the remaining attackers as the battle beyond the walls were finished; Urdnot's vehicle counter attack was successful and they decimated the attackers, but not without losses of their own.
A vicious barrage of fire cut down the besieged attackers in the court yard, red searing tracers mixed with some green particle beams from Javik's rifle blasted like a cracking thunder between the high walls. The Jurdon warriors fought on, nobody surrendered as they were decimated and the final fallen krogan screamed in agony.
It was over.
Wrex was leaning out of cover, aiming his weapon at the decimated Jurdon warriors as the gunfire died down. Muted shrills of agony was heard. He scanned for movement, where some alive and waited in a last ditch ambush?
A young warrior dashed beside Wrex, eager to head out further into the court yard to finish of the dying, but Wrex grabbed the warrior by the arm and yanked him aside. The young warrior was definitely one that had not headed the teachings of Javik, or his own. That would be rectified later on.
The warrior was about to protest but Wrex leveled him a glare and a low growl. The warrior bowed his head for a moment and stepped aside humbled.
On top of the walls Javik shouted an all clear, only dead and wounded were left of the enemy.
And amongst his own ranks Wrex heard wounded gasped, growling and shrilled.
Wrex ordered, "Get medics down here to help our people!"
A handful of already present medics rushed to the wounded Urdnot warriors spread out amongst the rubble in the court yard and began working on their wounds. More medics were needed and somebody began talking into a radio to call in medics from elsewhere in the compound.
Wrex motioned with his arm and his warriors rose from behind cover and moved forward, sweeping ahead and activating the flashlights on their weapons which illuminated the path forward through the rubble and squat buildings, occasionally a shot rang out as an Urdnot warrior executed a dying Jurdon warrior.
No prisoners. Wars amongst krogan clans were brutal. And with a shortage of medical supplies none would be wasted on the dying enemies of Clan Urdnot.
On the walls, Javik and other warriors watched the dying attackers in the courtyard in case some were feigning wounds and lied in wait to attack.
Minutes ticked by until the area was secured and numerous wounded enemies executed, and with each kill a sharp single shot echoed in the night.
Wrex scaled the rubble where the compound wall had been breached. He faced the dark landscape outside the walls where his Tomkah vehicles were mopping up the remaining enemy vehicles, an occasional auto cannon fired in the distant and illuminated the dark landscape for a brief moment. Some of his troops were dismounted and were in the process of executing any fallen enemy combatants still alive.
Wrex turned satisfied to face his assembled warriors who raised their weapons above their heads and they erupted in raucous cheers which grew louder, exuberant and triumphant. They were all strong, powerful and well trained warriors. All were poised to follow his Clan triumphantly into the future.
Clan Urdnot was old, one of the oldest clans in existence, stretching back to before the Krogan Rebellions, although a lot of Clan history had been lost in wars and rebellions to follow the Rebellion so details was sketchy. But this was a glorious time for Wrex, something he had worked hard for his entire life, stretching back to the day he killed his father.
Here, in what was now Urdnot Capitol (formerly Urdnot Camp), his clan had fought against opposing clans through the ages. Even the ancient turians had tried but had been unable to properly destroy Clan Urdnot. Now Wrex would rebuild Tuchanka, his Clan, and his people. His name would be etched into the annals of krogan history.
Wrex joined them in their victorious cheers.
On the wall, the other krogan joined in while an amused Javik watched the primitive warriors. They were not disciplined like his people once had been, but they were proud and fierce warriors. He respected that.
Wrex lowered his weapon and fell silent, but his warriors still chanted and cheered. The Krogan Leader looked down on the dead.
Now, which Warlord is a traitor, Wrex pondered.
A frontal assault was nothing suspicious in itself, Jurdon and the numerous small clans under them had attacked his compound before, they had even attacked Urdnot Capitol, but the krogan who had snuck inside the compound, that warranted caution.
That was new tactics.
Wrex looked up at Javik.
"Gather the Warlords," Wrex ordered. "Bring them to the chamber."
"They are waiting for you," Javik said when Wrex walked past him, his heavy feet echoed in the Council Chamber as he stepped through a door opening.
Wrex was still naked and the blood of his enemies had dried up against his brown skin. A handful of guards were accompanying Wrex to join those who had accompanied Javik.
Wrex gave the ancient warrior a nod as he strolled through the stone chamber that had been built into the bedrock thousands of years earlier, the walls were etched with ancient murals telling stories of war, stories about the exploratory age when Urdnot seafaring ships and crossed the ancient and long gone dangerous oceans, stories how ancient Urdnot had defended against invaders throughout the ages. Stories how Urdnot had fought the turians.
And in a twisted fate, Wrex could now consider a turian a friend.
Times were changing. The reformists were with Wrex, others still fought him and his grand vision. And those opposing him would either fall in line, or be left dead.
Wrex would add his name to the murals.
The heavy door closed behind them and the sound echoed.
Javik followed the others as Wrex looked at the long table in the middle of the tall chamber that was lit up by lights in the ceilings. A handful of Warlords were gathered, some in armor, some in robes. They all watched Wrex intently but said nothing.
The Krogan Leader stopped in front of them when the door opened again which drew everyone's attention. Another krogan warrior stepped inside.
It was Urdnot Grunt, he had led the vehicle assault against the enemy. A couple of more warriors from Aralakh Company followed in his wake.
Grunt saw Wrex and snickered at his naked form, "So it was true. What is it the humans call it? Going commando?"
Wrex growled under his breath, he had no time for jest.
Grunt grinned amused as he approached the blood splattered and nude Krogan Leader while other warriors gathered around Wrex.
Wrex looked down on the faces of the gathered Warlords sitting at the long table
"You pledged to join me in making the Krogan strong again," Wrex began. "But it seems one of you did not believe in my vision," Wrex spat, "Assassins tried to kill me just before the attack. Sneaking up on a foe in that manner is not the krogan way. You face them in battle."
The Warlords started bickering, all of them professing their innocence.
Wrex slammed his fist into the table, chips of rock scattered from the force. The crashing of his hand silenced the assembled.
"The cowards failed in their missions," Wrex continued. "He gestured to his blood soaked body, "This is their blood." Wrex grinned, "But I left one of them alive so he could tell me who the traitor was."
Wrex's ruse worked, he noticed one of the Warlords caught his breath.
Takmar Wrayak, a Clan Leader from one of the smaller clans that had been usurped by Urdnot after Wrex's return to Tuchanka. Their females had believed in Wrex and Bakar's vision, but the leadership had been less enthusiastic about Wrex's visions, especially their Clan Leader.
"Takmar Wrayak, had you been strong you would have attacked me yourself," Wrex's voice thundered in the chamber.
The accused rose up and growled, "You've spent the last years befriending humans, turians and salarians. You're making us soft!"
Wrex walked towards Takmar Wrayak and spoke hard, "Our species, our planet, needs more than warriors. We barely have engineers or scientists. How will we feed ourselves? How will we repair our planets? How will the krogan rise to join the galaxy?"
The other Warlords murmured in agreement with Wrex and watched Takmar Wrayak with disdain.
"We conquer the stars," Takmar Wrayak roared and faced Wrex.
Wrex shouted incensed, "Clan Urdnot won the Reaper War, Clan Urdnot brought our species back from sterilization!"
Wrayak snarled, "We are supposed to trust the salarian's concoction that will take decades to take hold and cure us?!"
Javik and Grunt followed in Wrex's footsteps and flanked the Krogan Leader.
Grunt growled, "You should have stood your ground, Wrayak, or killed Wrex himself. Your cowardice should not foul our future."
Takmar Wrayak growled with blood rage and reached for something under his robe.
Wrex activated his omni-blade, the searing hot blade was swung pushed through Wrayak's skull, splitting it in half with blood, bone and brain matter gushing out, splattering across Wrayak's chair. Wrex pulled the omni-blade from his opponent's skull and the body fell to the ground, and a black rod-like item rolled away across the floor, it was akrogan stun baton called Mauler.
Wrex turned to face Grunt and instructed, "Clan Takmar will be given a choice; their children, females and warriors will join Clan Urdnot, but their leadership will face the same fate as Wrayak."
"It will be done," Grunt promised and turned to leave the chamber, he gestured for several soldiers to follow him.
"Urdnot is strong," one of the Warlords said and rose up. Perhaps hoping to gain favor and notice.
Wrex ignored Warlord and said, "We've to become better, like the thriving krogan before we destroyed ourselves with nuclear weapons, before the genophage was deployed." He looked at the Warlords, "Our species way is forward, not backwards."
The Warlords assured the Krogan Leader, that indeed it was as he said.
Takmar Wrayak's body had been disposed of earlier, and Wrex stepped out of the assembly hall with intent of returning to his chambers. He cursed Shepard and his pushing and prodding during the hunt for Saren, pushing him to stand up for his species. Things had been a lot easier when Wrex was a mercenary.
He heard light footsteps behind him and turned to face a group of turian Blackwatch Special Operations troops and their diplomatic attaché - Cosmius Adrarius. The Hierarchy had a diplomatic mission compound within the Urdnot compound, and their engineers were overseeing the installation of a Quantum Entanglement Communicator for Wrex.
Since the war – and especially after is conclusion - both the Hierarchy and the Alliance had an interest in the growing Krogan Empire and sought to aid Wrex. It was a double edged sword, Wrex knew the way forward was to establish diplomatic missions with other species, but making deals with turians, a former enemy for millennia, was a new and often difficult experience to overcome for a krogan. Wrex also could not make too many deals or get to cozy with the aliens as his opponents would use that against him to rally skeptical krogan around them.
But human and turian knowledge and technology was enabling agriculture as well as new weapon systems. The old ways had to be discarded for the new krogan to thrive.
He knew neither the Hierachy or the Alliance did all this out of kindness, it was all a political game and posturing against both the asari and the salarians.
The galactic political map was being redrawn.
"Urdnot Wrex," Adrarius greeted.
Wrex grumbled, "Just Wrex will do, turian."
"Of course." Adrarius glanced into the chamber and saw the blood stained floor. He faced Wrex again, "I heard there was a scuffle after the battle, Wrex."
Wrex grinned and taunted, "Feeling a chill down your spine, Adrarius, with this many krogan fighting around you?"
Adrarius's mandibles twitched amused and he grinned, "We're fine, krogan."
"Your fancy frigate in orbit can't help you down here," Wrex reminded him.
"I have the outmost confidence in your ability to defend your compound as well as your guests." Adrarius gestured to his entourage, "I also have confidence in my troops."
"Times are changing," Wrex mulled.
"Should we be worried about the opposition?" Adrarius asked seriously.
"There was a traitor that enabled the enemy attack, he was dealt with." Wrex shrugged, "And we won the battle. Repairs will be made to the compound. It was a good fight, my men responded timely to the attack."
Adrarius nodded satisfied, "Good."
Inspiration from a couple of pages from the Halo books Glasslands and The Cole Protocol.
Thanks to EbabahCussiEnoImreh.