Chapter 16

John stepped off the shuttle with Joe, Miranda, Grunt, Mordin, and Garrus taking in the surroundings of Tuchanka.
"Now I've been to some shit holes before, but this just takes the cake, how do they live here" Joe said in disgust.
"Be good Joey, this is Grunt's home" John said as they were approached by a Krogan.
"Hey you, get that mutt the rite soon before you have to put him down" the Krogan said to John.
"You know what's wrong with him" he asked the Krogan.
"Go and see the clan chief" he said walking past the group.
"Joseph don't move a muscle" John said to his brother who was about to follow the Krogan.
"I wasn't gonna do anything I swear" Joe said in defense.
"Honestly Joseph really" Miranda said pulling him along with the rest of the group.
They walked up a hill to see a Krogan arguing with another one sitting on a throne. John looked real good and recognized the Krogan immediately as the Krogan recognized John.
"Sheeepppaaaarrrrdddd" Wrex yelled walking down to meet his friend.
John walked past the Krogan guarding the walkway to meet his old friend, greeting each other with a firm handshake.
"Shepard my friend" Wrex said jovial to see John alive.
"Hey Wrex, you look good" John said.
"Heard you were dead" Wrex said
"I got better" John joked
"Ahhhhh, the beauty of having a redundant nervous system" Wrex said
"Uhhh yeah, humans don't have those" John said rubbing the back of his neck.
"Vakarian good to see you" Wrex said shaking Garrus' talon.
"Likewise Wrex" Garrus said
"Shepard I didn't know you had a brother" Wrex said looking at Joe.
"How do you know he's my brother" John said puzzled.
"You smell the same" Wrex said with a grin "what can I do for you Shepard".
"I'm looking for a Salarian who went missing here and I need to know what's wrong with Grunt" John said.
"You can talk to my chief scout about the Salarian" Wrex said stepping down to examine Grunt.
"Where are you from welp, was your clan destroyed before you could learn what's expected of you" Wrex asked Grunt.
"I have no clan, I was tank bred by the warlord Okeer" Grunt answered.
"There's nothing wrong with him, he's becoming a full adult" Wrex said looking at John.
"Puberty" Miranda said.
"Couldn't we just take him to Omega and get him a few lap dances" Garrus chimed in.
"Our little tank bred baby's all grown up, now why is he acting crazy and tearing up the damn ship" Joe asked.
"He needs the rite of passage, do you wish to stand with clan Urdnot" Wrex asked Grunt.
"Too far Wrex" a Krogan identified as Uvenk said before storming off.
"Forget about him go and see the shaman when your ready" Wrex said sitting back on his throne as the team walked off to regroup.
"Alright here's the plan Joe and Miranda go with Grunt, make sure he becomes a man" John said.
"I don't see any female Krogan around John" Joe said smirking at his brother receiving a slap on his chest from Miranda as they walked up to see the shaman.
"Mordin Garrus let's go see the scout and get this sorted out" John said walking to where the chief scout was.

John's Team
They approached the scout who informed them that Maelon, Mordin's old team member was most likely being held by clan Weyrloc. They took one of the trucks out to the abandoned facility where they fought through Bloodpack mercs all the way to the hospital. While clearing the hospital they came across the missing scout that the chief asked them to look out for. After a strong pep talk John got him to go back to clan Urdnot. Advancing on, dealing with Krogan and varren reisistance all the way through. After dealing with the clan leader Weyrloc Guld they made their way into a room to find Maelon not being held hostage, but working on the genophage cure willingly. Mordin was pissed at his former team mate but opting to let Maelon go after John appealed to his moral code. They decided to keep the data and research that Maelon had, as it may come in handy in the future.

Joseph's Team
They made their way up to the shaman finding Uvenk arguing adamantly against Grunt completing the rite of passage.
"I'll speak for myself" Grunt said walking over.
"So this is the tank bred" the shaman said stepping down examining Grunt " hmmm very life like, he even smells correct, your claim falls on deaf ears Uvenk" the shaman said.
"My krannt stands against him he has no on-" Uvenk was interrupted by a strong head butt from Joe.
"You dare" he said looking at Joe.
"Ohhh hell yes" Joe said grinning deviantly.
"Hahaha I like this human he understands" the shaman said.
"I withdraw my claim, we will deal with this elsewhere" Uvenk said walking away.
"We can begin as soon as your ready who is your krannt" the shaman asked Grunt.
"We stand with Grunt, name our target and its dead" Joe said.
"Ha spoken like a true Krogan, let us begin" the shaman said leading the to where the rite would be held.
Joe started the rite they dealt with endless waves of varren and klixen, until Joe hit the button for the last time.
"THRESHER MAW" he screamed dodging for cover with Grunt and Miranda. "Honestly who the fuck has a thresher maw, no wonder the Krogan is a dying race, they do stupid shit like this outside of the genophage" he said readying the Cain.
It was a hard battle but after finally getting the Cain up and running the thresher maw was taken down. As they were regrouping Uvenk showed up attempting to get Grunt to join his side. Grunt offered his refusal in the form of the Claymore John got for him on the collector ship.

Upon returning to the main camp, Grunt was properly inducted into clan Urdnot, while Joe received all the varren skewers he could eat. Anything was better then the shit Gardner was serving according to him, but after that Grunt was stuck to Joe like glue, being that he was his battle master.

Upon their return to the ship John asked Joker to head back to the citadel to help Garrus, Thane, and Kasumi. He called Joe up to his cabin as he needed to speak to him.
"Hey Joey, sit down" John said pouring them both a drink.
"What's up Johnny, you know me and Miranda like to have private time after a hard fight" Joe said smiling at his brother.
"Hey, don't knock Lawson up before we defeat the collector's" John said joking with his brother.
"Seriously John what's up" Joe said sipping his drink.
"I got in touch with Ana, she agreed to let you meet your daughter, I don't think she told her your not dead, but all in all she'll let you know her" John said smiling at his brother.
"Really John that's great, when, where" Joe said obviously excited.
"When we get to the citadel after we take care of Garrus, Thane, and Kasumi" John said proudly.
"Thank you Johnny, I don't know what to say" Joe said pulling his brother into an embrace.
"You don't have to say anything Joey, I'd do anything for you" John said hugging his brother.
"I'm gonna go tell Miranda" Joe said walking out of the room.
"That was really sweet of you John" Ashley said walking out of the bathroom wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Yeah, does that mean I get a present for being such a sweet guy" wrapping his arms around her waist.
"You are terrible Shepard" Ashley said pushing John onto the bed climbing on top of him.
"But you do get a present for it" she said kissing him deeply.

"Hey Miri, guess what" Joe said walking into the room finding Miranda at her desk talking to Oriana.
"Yes, Joseph" she said looking at him.
"Oh are you talking to Oriana, I can come back" he said.
"No It's fine, Ori was just about to go to bed" she said as Joe walked around the other side of the desk.
"Hi Oriana, bye Oriana" Joe said looking into the terminal.
"Goodnight Jo- oh my god you really are cute" Oriana said finally getting a real good look at Joseph.
"Ori" Miranda yelled disconnecting the call as Joseph stood back laughing.
"Well you have to admit, I am pretty cute" he said flashing her a million dollar smile.
"You ass" she said standing up walking to the back of the room sitting on the couch. "What did you have to tell me" she asked.
"John talked to Ana she's gonna let me meet my daughter" he told her smiling from ear to ear.
"That's great Joey, I'm really happy for you" she said genuinely.
"You think she'll like me", he said sitting down next to her.
"No, she'll love you, your a great man, she'll have to get used to you, but after that yes" she told him looking into his eyes.
"Thanks babe" he said giving her a light kiss on the lips.
"I'm always here for you Joseph" she said playing in his hair.
"Hmmmmm, stress release?" He said looking at her.
"Stress release" she replied jumping on top of him.

"Hey Kasumi" John called out to her walking into the lounge.
"Hey Shep" she said looking up at him.
"We're gonna hit Bekenstein, to take care of your thing first then we'll go to the citadel, so what do you need me to do" he asked her.
"Actually Shep, I need Bad Boy Shep, I had it set up for you but after dealing with you both he'll fit in better" she said.
"Joseph, uhhh ok sure, what's the plan" he asked.
"Assuming Miranda doesn't know Donovan Hock, I want them to attend a party of his, and help me retrieve Keiji's grey box.
"And if Miranda does know Hock" John asked questioningly.
"Then I hope Chief Williams has a dress" she said smiling at John.