Sorry for the holdup on the new chapter. I've been more focused on my Persona story, and this chapter took its own sweet time coming to me.

Mass Effect is owned by Bioware, and Final Fantasy is owned by Square Enix.

Chapter Five

The Undying

Barret stared out of the shuttle window in awe as the stars passed by them. It was a sight he had never got over.

Turning away, Barret shifted his arm to weapon mode, and went through his standard checks.

"Interesting weapon."

Barret looked up to see Zaeed leaning against the shuttle wall, watching him.

"Yeah. Only cost me an arm to get it." He shifted it back to arm.

"Lose that in war, lad?"

Barret shook his head. "I lost it in an attack by a greedy company. They took my arm, my home, and my wife."

Zaeed raised an eyebrow. "So what'd ya do?"

Barret tightened his hand to a fist. "I took the fight to them, and I watched as they burned." He relaxed his grip, and looked at Zaeed's face. "So what happened to you?"

Zaeed ran a hand over his distorted face. "I was betrayed by my partner. And I watched as he burned, too."

A smirk spread on Barret's face. "I sure feel sorry for the fools we're goin to fight, then."

The shuttle finished its descent, and Grunt opened the door and jumped out. Several krogan cocked their guns and pointed them at the shuttle.

"I am Urdnot Grunt, here to speak with Urdnot Wrex."

The lead krogan lowered his gun, then pulled it back up as Barret, Zaeed, and Garrus left the shuttle. "You can go in, Urdnot Grunt, but the aliens have to stay here."

In response, Zaeed quickly whipped out his assault rifle, and aimed it right at the lead krogan. "I think we'll be going with him. Do ya have a problem with that?"

"Enough!"

The krogan all relaxed as Wrex walked through the door and past the guards. "You will let them pass, or you going to deal with me." With a salute, the assembled krogan returned to their positions.

Wrex turned back to the others, and spread his arms. "Welcome, Urdnot Grunt and allies." Wrex looked around, then looked confused. "Where's Shepard? It's not like him to not come with you." Then he focused on Barret. "And you have someone new with you."

"Barret Wallace."

Wrex grunted, then looked back to Grunt. "So where's Shepard?"

"Shepard's gone to Rannoch with Tali and two of Barret's allies."

Wrex led the four of them back to his throne, and sat down. "Rannoch? Problems with the geth?"

Barret stepped forward. "We're chasing down a man named Sephiroth. There's a chance he might be here, or on Rannoch."

"Sephiroth? Hmmm."

Garrus stepped around Grunt. "Have you heard about anything suspicious around here? You know, monsters, men with wings?"

Wrex laughed at Garrus' questions. "An interesting quarry you're chasing. As it happens, there have been several krogan disappearing from Clan Ragnos. I and the clan leaders have been debating how to proceed, but now that you're here, you can handle it instead."

Wrex pointed to a large vehicle near a building. "Talk to the mechanic and he'll take you to the area where the krogan disappeared."

Grunt brought his arm up to his chest and bowed. "Thank you, Chief Wrex."

The area was eerily quiet as Garrus jumped off of the transport. "Awfully quiet for a krogan camp."

Grunt jumped out, and looked around the Ragnos camp. Garrus was right. The camp should have been bustling with activity.

A groan from behind some rubble caught his attention. Running over to it, he looked to see a krogan male bleeding profusely.

Hearing Grunt's approach, the krogan's eyes shot open. His voice weak, he croaked slightly. "Urdnot...Grunt?"

"Yes. You've heard of me?"

The krogan laughed weakly. "Everyone's heard of the pure krogan, who will save us from the genophage." Then, his eyes went wide, and he grabbed Grunt's ankle. "Beware, Grunt. Beware the ones who don't die. But most of all, beware the one who corrupted them." Then, his eyes rolling back, the krogan died.

"What did he mean, the ones that won't die?"

Grunt scoffed at Garrus' question. "Nothing can't die, if you kill them enough times."

Suddenly, the sound of automatic fire broke the silence, along with Zaeed's swearing. Garrus tore back to the shuttle, followed by Grunt.

There, they found Barret firing continuously at something around the shuttle. Zaeed fired another shot, and swore at whatever he saw.

"Why won't this bastard die?"

As Grunt ran around the shuttle, he stopped at what he saw.

It looked like a krogan, except it was covered in cybernetics. "It looks like a husk."

Zaeed's concussive shot blew off half of its face, but it meanly groaned and kept on going.

"Never seen a husk do that before," Garrus said, and opened fire on it as well.

The husk stumbled back at the increased impact, but stopped suddenly as its arm was shot off, and started forward again.

"Enough of this!" Zaeed shouted. Holstering his rifle, he pulled out one of his grenades. "Cover me!"

Bullets firing past him, Zaeed charged for the krogan. Dodging a swipe of its remaining arm, Zaeed activated his grenade and shoved it into the krogan's mouth. "Chew on that."

The grenade exploded, sending Zaeed back, and covering the four of them with krogan bits.

Zaeed wiped the gunk off of his face, and got to his feet. "Come back from that, ya bastard."

Garrus made a sound of disgust as he wiped the remains off of his face and gun. "Couldn't you have picked a less...messy method?"

Zaeed just shrugged. "Whatever works."

As Wrex oversaw the fight between two promising young krogan, a sound of gunfire filled the air. Wrex held up his hand, stopping the match, and listened.

Urdnot Havok came up beside Wrex, and listened as well. "Is there an invasion from another clan?"

Wrex shook his head. "Our scouts didn't report anything." Letting out a roar, Wrex called all available krogan to his side. "Now, we're going to see what fools dare challenge us, and show them the power of Urdnot!"

The krogan raised their weapons, roaring in agreement.

Wrex charged down the hill, followed by the army of Clan Urdnot, and found their perimeter guard engaged with a group of what looked like krogan husks.

"Open fire!"

A storm of bullets flew toward the husks, tearing them apart.

Suddenly, the group of krogan to Wrex's right screamed as they were torn apart. Emerging from the bodies was a single large krogan.

His body had a strange blue color, with lighter blue lines running along his face. He had a massive gun in his hands, and among the krogan were circular blades that he had clearly just fired.

"Who are you?"

The enemy smirked. "I am Azul the Cerulean." Then he pointed his weapon at Wrex. "And I am your death."

Grunt hopped off of the transport, and instantly sensed something wrong. The air was filled with the scent of blood. "Careful. Something's not right here."

As the others hopped out, a familiar groaning filled the air, and more of the krogan husks came at them.

Barret stepped around Grunt and held up two orbs of materia, one green and one blue. "Burn, ya fools. All-Fira!" The husks erupted in flames, and proceeded to burn to a crisp.

Grunt ran up to a pile of dead krogan, all of them looking like they had been shredded by something. "Wrex! Chief Wrex!"

"Gru-" The shouting voice cut off by the sound of spinning metal, and a scream of pain.

"Wrex!" Grunt charged up the hill toward Wrex's voice, followed by the other three.

Another group of husks charged at them, and as Garrus and Zaeed prepared to fight them, Barret shook his head and pulled out another green materia. "Haste."

The four of them sped up, rushing past the husks, and headed for Wrex. One husk stepped in front of Grunt, but at the speed Grunt was running, he plowed into and through the husk, obliterating it.

As Grunt came to a stop, he saw a large blue krogan holding an enormous gun standing over Wrex, poised for the kill.

Roaring in outrage, Grunt charged at them, smashing himself into the krogan.

The krogan rolled on the ground, dropped his gun, and got to his feet. "Urdnot Grunt?" A sinister smile appeared on his face. "First Wrex, and then you. This is a most advantageous day."

Grunt's body glowed as he powered up his defense. "You'll pay for that."

Barret fired on more of the husks, but they just kept coming. He could feel his magic reserves running low.

A shot from Garrus whizzed past his head, piercing another through the forehead. Barret finished it off with enough shots to destroy its head.

"Ammo!" Zaeed shouted, firing his last few shots as he moved back behind Barret.

Barret's anger peaked, and the light began to surround his body. "Stay back!" he shouted to Zaeed, and pointed his gun at the remaining husks. "Angermax!"

As the limit exploded, the husks were hit with a storm of bullets, reducing them all to a pile of ashes.

As the light faded, Barret suddenly swayed at the loss of energy. Garrus and Zaeed put him over their shoulders, and looked to where Grunt faced the one who had hurt Wrex.

Grunt fired on Azul, then ducked behind some rubble as Azul fired back. "How could you do this to our own kind?"

Azul laughed. "Our kind is weak, Grunt. Pitiful victims of the genophage. But with their help, I shall raise us up. And a new breed of krogan under my rule will bring chaos to the galaxy. Then the council will beg for my mercy, and I shall show them none."

Grunt sighed and shook his head "Great. A psycho too big for his tank."

The air filled with whirring as Azul fired another blade. Grunt moved to the side as it sliced through his hiding spot.

Now, with nowhere to hide, Grunt faced down Azul. A sinister smile on Azul's face, he pointed his weapon at Grunt. "Farewell, Tank-bred."

A shot rang out, and Azul stumbled to the side. Grunt looked to the side, and saw Garrus in a sniper's position. With a nod of recognition, Grunt charged forward, slamming into the distracted Azul.

Grunt slammed Azul into a wall, then picked up a chunk of rock, and slammed it into his head.

Stepping back, Grunt pulled out his shotgun and aimed it at Azul's head. "Now, give me one good reason why I shouldn't blast your head off."

Then Azul started to laugh, slow at first, then loud and deep. "Give you a reason?" Azul got slowly to his feet, his body glowing a blue color. "Maybe I should show you just how powerful I really am."

Grunt stepped back as Azul seemed to get bigger, when he suddenly stopped. He looked up at nothing as if he was listening. "But I have him right here." Silence answered, but Azul nodded his head. "Fine, I'll leave." Azul looked at Grunt, and seemed to shrink again. "Count yourself lucky, Grunt. But I will deal with you eventually. That's a promise." Then he struck the ground, bringing up a cloud of dirt. When it faded, Azul was gone.

Grunt put back his shotgun, and ran over to where Wrex was still lying. There were several gashes through his body, showing his organ. It was clear that his healing abilities simply couldn't keep up with the damage.

"Grunt?" Wrex's voice was weak.

"I'm here, Chief Wrex."

Wrex grabbed Grunt's collar and pulled him closer. "Take revenge for me, Urdnot Grunt. Prove I was right about you. And then, lead the krogan. I name you, Urdnot Grunt, my successor." Then, Wrex's grip relaxed, and his hand dropped to the ground.

Grunt placed the last stone over Wrex's body, and turned to look over the remaining members of Clan Urdnot. "I, Urdnot Grunt, am the chosen successor of Urdnot Wrex. And when I take vengeance on the one who killed him, I shall return. And I shall lead the krogan to a new age!"

"Grunt! Grunt! Grunt!" The krogan chanted his name.

Grunt nodded to the others, and the four of them went back to the shuttle, and left Tuchanka, returning to Hagalaz.

Now I know that the more devoted ME fans will be pissed at me for killing Wrex, but there is a method to my madness. Beware, he might not be the only character I intend to do away with.

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Next Time:Citadel Chaos