AN:
Apologies about the wait. I had to first rewrite about half of the last chapter based on some helpful feedback I reciieved in a PM, thanks for that. It took me a little while to do, but in hindsight what I changed makes a lot more sense than before. I just got a little excited about the confrontation. Feel free to re-read it if you want, or don't. This chapter will still make sense to you. (The main difference is I removed Samara from the confrontation and expanded upon some motivations).
Cheers.
Chapter 34:
[POV: Shepard]
"Shepard, you have a minute?" Fury's voice caught my attention so I turned around to find her stepping out of a shadowed alcove. Damn, I hadn't seen her, I'd been doing so well too.
"Of course, what do you need?"
I suppose she had to catch up to me at some point, but I hadn't been looking forward to this conversation. It's why I've been avoiding her, and while I tried to be subtle about it I probably wasn't. I still don't know what to do about the Tali situation, but at this point my indecision is a decision all on it's own. If I was going to tell Fury, it would have had to happen in the first day or two. I'd tried to convince Tali to delete the data instead, but she refused to listen to me and only grew more stubborn with every argument I made.
If I told Fury about the data theft now, she may very well attack Tali again, and I'm worried this time she'd be serious. I liked Fury, but I had no illusions about what she could do. If she was angry enough she could slaughter the entire ship, as there's nothing really stopping her from doing so aside from her loyalty to me, and to out mission. The question is, is that loyalty strong enough? I just don't know her well enough to say. Tali was at least right in that I didn't really know Fury. I'd gotten a good feeling for her personality, but that was it. I just couldn't say one way or another how she would react, but I didn't want to lose Tali over this even if she was at fault.
Tali was just so … young when I first took her on board. There was so much she learned over her time on the Normandy and something about that youthful naivety spoke to me, so I took her under my wing. It's thanks to her that I even managed to convince the council about Saren in the first place, if not for her the reapers would already be here. I owe her a great deal for that, and that's why I've remained silent on the matter. But do I owe her this? Keeping what she did secret?
And what happens If Fury finds out? What happens if Tali starts feeling foolish again and she lets slip what she did? I felt torn between two places, trying to find the answer that would resolve this peacefully and rightly, except there wasn't one. As long as Fury doesn't find out … then things should remain relatively calm. It makes me feel wretched though. I would hate for this to happen to me, and it made me feel like a massive hypocrite.
"It's about Grunt." Oh thank God.
"What about Grunt?" I shifted to this topic happily.
"He's been having growing … urges, recently."
Urges? Does that mean he wants too … but how would it even fit?
"I really hope you don't mean what I think you do." I chuckled warily. He's a youthful Krogan after all, who spends most of his time around a woman he greatly respects. As far as I can tell she fits the Krogan ideal near perfectly. Hell, she sort of fits my ideal too …
"What? … NO!" Fury shook her head. "What the fuck Shepard! Now I'm not going to be able to get that thought out of my head. No, it's about his aggression. His urges to battle and to kill have been growing stronger." My amusement at her reaction faded away instantly. That sounded like a serious problem.
"In what way?"
"At the moment? He's still able to control himself after the training I've put him through, but I don't know how long that will last. I've been sparring with him for most of the last week, which has kept him satisfied, but for how long?"
"That is concerning. Thank you for alerting me to it. Do you have any suggestions?" If she'd been helping him with it already then I would be happy to hear her ideas. I was just grateful she was willing to ignore any personal feelings she may have right now.
"Possibly. The main issue is, Grunt is a clone. He could be suffering from a number of Krogan maladies that we just don't know about, or even something new. I would like to request we seek out an expert on Krogan biology to have them check Grunt over. The only issue is, as far as I can tell the Krogan are very stingy with this data."
That's probably a good idea in general. We didn't really look Grunt over much after he came aboard, as Chakwas knew very little about Krogans and Mordin didn't know much aside from about their reproductive capabilities. We had no idea if Grunt was a ticking time bomb.
Fury was right though, Krogans didn't share their data easily, and for good reason. The last time someone had a good understanding of their biology, the Genophage happened. I do know one person I could ask though.
"I know someone we could speak to. We would have to go to Tuchanka though." I frowned in thought, shifting my weight to my other leg and crossing my arms. It was out of the way, but in all honesty there was nothing else worthwhile to do. I'd been doing some favours for the alliance for the last week, partially in an effort to avoid Fury, but also because I'd heard nothing else from Cerberus' illustrious leader.
"Is that an option? If grunt even admitted the urges to me then this is probably urgent."
You know what? Sure. I may not be able to tell Fury what I so desperately want to, but I can do this for her. I think Grunt is her version of Tali, she's clearly mentoring him, almost mothering him really. I'm glad she has been able to help him so much, couldn't bring myself to do it like I might once have.
"We'll go. Do you think we'll have a problem on the way there? It'll take a few days to get there." Fury chuckled at my question, to my confusion.
"I think we'll be fine. Grunt's currently suffering through his first hangover." Wait, what?
"How'd he even get the alcohol?"
"I gave it to him." Fury shrugged. "Miranda had us go to a well-stocked bar to meet her informant. I was able to purchase a few bottles there, including two of Ryncol, which I had delivered to the ship." Well, that ought to do it.
"How much did he have?" I'd tried the stuff myself. I liked a strong drink, but that stuff was poison. I could barely stomach the first sip of the stuff, and two more left me with a horrid hangover. Really shouldn't have taken than bet.
"An entire bottle."
I'm sorry, what?!
"You didn't warn him?"
"I thought it would be a teaching moment. I probably had more of my bottle than I should have though." Fury winced. They drank together, that means she took off her helmet? She must really trust Grunt. Good for him.
"Drinking onboard is against regulations you know." I informed her, an eyebrow raised.
"Didn't stop Karen from offering me a drink." She replied, which I had to hold in a chortle at, I'd taken great pleasure in needling her about that.
"You're a horrible influence. I've never seen her with a hangover before you came here. Should I be worried about Garrus next?"
"Did someone call my name?" Garrus suddenly spoke up from behind me. It made me jump a little as I whirled around to find the sneaky bastard looking pleased with himself.
"Morning Shepard, Sinner." He nodded in Fury's direction.
"Archangel is such an ironic name." Fury shook her head, walking away.
"So, what's new?" Garrus asked cheekily. Damn him, I swear my crew used to think I was cool.
I was still somewhat confused as to why the two got on so well though. They clearly had some sort of history but Garrus had never really shared anything, and I didn't want to force it.
[POV: Jack]
"So, this is my home world?" Grunt mused, looking around the dusty landscape. "Looks like shit." It kind of does, not going to lie.
"I would probably keep that thought to yourself while you're here Grunt, you are just one of the many Krogan on this rock." Shepard suggested, walking down next to us.
"Nah." Grunt replied, uncaring about the consequences. Fair.
"Come on, it's this way." Shepard pointed in the direction of the building in slightly less disrepair than the rest. This world didn't look like it was even still inhabited, the Krogans apparently uncaring about architecture, or having roofs over their heads.
Shepard led the way there, which was a bit of a walk. Along the way, she talked a little about 'Wrex', the Krogan we were here to meet. He sounded like a fun guy to me, and even more than that he could help Grunt. I was grateful Shepard decided that coming here was top priority, but a little confused about how easily she agreed.
Instead, I spent the last few days with Grunt. His hangover only lasted for about 12 hours after he woke up, which was just unfair I don't know If I would ever even wake up after than much Ryncol, but I suppose it was made for their biology. It was fun while it lasted though, I've never seen him complain about something so much.
It was especially fun to see him struggle with his decision to accept my offer for another spar, which may or may not have been an hour after he woke up. His urges eventually led him to accept, but he quickly regretted it. It wasn't much of a fight, but I went easy on him. No use bullying him too much.
Aside from that, I'd also told Grunt a little about my life on Omega, just to give him some context about how the galaxy really was. Omega just didn't try to hide it like they did. I largely avoided talking about anyone except some Aria though. Not too much though, my personal past was a little … complicated. I didn't feel like trying to explain that with him, as I'm not sure he would really understand yet. I swear it was like talking to me when I was 14, all he really cared about was fighting and he knew so little about almost everything else.
I'd also shown him some more of my biotics, teaching him a little about them. He was unfortunately completely absent of the ability himself, to his dismay. I'd helped him develop his vocabulary when he ran out of words to describe his creator, which we spent most of a day on. I'm not a bad influence on him am I? Eh, he's having fun.
"Halt!" a Krogan called out from in front of us, gesturing with a weapon he held in his hand. "State your Business!"
By unanimous decision it was left to Shepard to walk forward and speak to him, even more than the leader of the crew, she was its best diplomat. I'm not sure if that speaks more about her or the rest of us.
"My name is Commander Shepard. I'm expected."
"Shepard, yeah you're expected. Didn't expect you to show up with an abomination." He snorted derisively. What did he just call Grunt? I narrowed my eyes at him, uncrossing my arms and slowly lowering them. Grunt was doing much the same at the hostility in the Krogan's voice.
"I would hold your tongue if I was you. Grunt is a member of my crew and I won't have you speak about him like that." Shepard warned him, holding her hand back at us to get us to stand down. I knew I should, but this Krogan was annoying me.
"I'll do what I like Pyjak. He's clearly an experiment, created in a lab somewhere. He hasn't followed our ways, doesn't know our history. He isn't Krogan." My patience was beginning to wear out now, but seeing how Shepard was just letting him speak this shit I don't think we were as secure here as she would like. We're here to help Grunt, words can be ignored, so I placed my hand on Grunt's arm.
"Calm down, it's only words. You would win in a fight, just imagine what you could do to him. And you get to do it over, and over again."
"Still not the same as actually beating his head in." Grunt grumbled quietly.
"There's always later." I offered. Grunt snorted, but let the tension in his form go. Good, I made sure to look this Krogan over carefully though, note any distinguishing features I could remember him by, just in case.
"Are you going to let us through, or are we doing it the easy way?" Shepard asked, beginning to lose her patience as well.
"Fine. You're expected in the throne room. I still think the experiment should be put down, a rite might change my mind though."
Dick. I held my tongue as we walked past him, but I made sure to keep turning my head as I did, keeping my gaze on him. Seeing how much larger grunt was put a smile on my face though, he had at least a head on this Krogan, and I know how much they care about that.
"Funny how your so much bigger than him." I mused to Grunt just before we got out of earshot, unable to resist myself. Petty? Yes, but the Krogan certainly knew what I was implying considering the growl he let out. Grunt laughing at him probably didn't help.
"Really Fury?" Shepard sighed once we were fully out of earshot, but I didn't feel like justifying myself, unrepentant. We passed by a few more Krogan on our way to the throne room, which despite the unconventional path was easy to find. Just keep walking along the only thing that even resembles a path, everything else was covered in rubble or blocked off. The inside of the building was worse than the outside would indicate.
Going through only one proper door guarded by a pair of heavily armoured Krogan, we found ourselves inside a much larger room with a 'throne' in it. It was more of a pile of large rocks and debris that was shaped like a chair, but who am I to judge? On the chair was sitting large a heavily scarred Krogan in red armour. He was larger that any Krogan I'd seen bar Grunt.
"Shepard!" the Krogan called out, standing up from his throne and stepping closer. He clasped Shepards entire forearm with his hand and patted her on the back violently, knocking her a little off balance.
"It's good to see you Wrex."
"You as well, I heard you died."
"I got better." She shrugged and Wrex laughed heartily.
"Of course you did Shepard. Still, what can I do for you? Your message didn't tell me much." Wrex finally looked over the rest of us. He paused on Grunt, ignoring me for now.
"Grunt, you want to explain?" Shepard asked. He nodded, stepping closer to Wrex.
"I am Grunt, a genetically enhanced Krogan created by warlord Okeer." Grunt announced bluntly. The name of the warlord sent a ripple through the Krogan standing around the room, and Wrex narrowed his eyes at Grunt.
"Okeer?" He rumbled, Grunt nodded. "The traitorous bastard, we've been looking for him for years. Where was he?"
"He's dead," Grunt replied, sounding pleased with that fact, "Leader killed him."
"Leader? How'd you do it Shepard?" Wrex turned to Shepard, who sighed knowing what was coming.
"Not Bossman! Leader!" Grunt pointed at me. Everyone turned to look at me intently, which was a little disconcerting, but the look on Shepards face more than made up for it.
"Awfully small for one who took out a warlord." Wrex mused, but I didn't feel like replying. Seeing that, he turned back to Shepard with a growing grin on his face.
"Did I hear him right? Have you changed your name since I last met you?" Shepard raised a hand to her face and rubbed her face.
"You know I damn well didn't."
"I was just making sure 'bossman'." Wrex replied, before laughter boomed from him. Shepard didn't seem impressed, but I won't lie, it was funny. I did it on a whim at the time, but I'm still proud of that one.
"It wasn't exactly my idea you know." Shepard grumbled, her arms crossed.
"Oh I know, but it's hilarious! Who came up with it?" I waved my hand at him. "Oh, I like you. Still enough about that, continue Grunt!" Wrex finally got back on topic. Grunt proceeded to explain in broad strokes what was happening. It was largely what he'd told me, but after some pointed questions from Wrex he explained further. As I'd expected, the urges were worse than Grunt had told me.
"I know what's happening." Wrex nodded after the discussion finished. Thank the Goddess. "These urges you're developing? That is Krogan. They normally develop during puberty, but you're accelerated growth must've affected it." It was natural? Then how do we deal with it.
"Normally, they come on slowly, give you time to get used to it so you can control them. When you don't?" Wrex sighed, "that's when you get bloodrages."
"Obviously, Grunt doesn't have that time. Anything we can do to help?" Shepard asked.
"There's a few. I'm actually surprised nothing's happened yet with the strength of the urges within him. If the full effect of them has hit him in less than a week like I suspect, he should be a slobbering mess. I'm fully willing to admit that if I was in his shoes? My head would be nothing but rage and bloodlust."
"I've helped stave off the urges. Sparring with him." I spoke up.
"Sparring?" Wrex looked between Grunt and I. "You just get more and more interesting. That will only help so much, Grunt needs something to fight for, something to channel his urges towards." Is our mission not enough? Shepard asked a question in the same vein.
"It's a noble goal, yes, but it obviously isn't enough. As to why? Maybe because your mission will end?" Wrex shrugged. "Part of the reason Krogans live in clans it to help with the urges. We have something to fight for, and to fight against. Whether it be to protect the clan, to find a mate, or just for fun."
Wrex took a deep breath and fell silent after his explanation, watching Grunt intently. He nodded after a while, evidently finding what he was looking for.
"I propose that Grunt complete a rite." Wrex suggested. There's that word again, what is a rite? "And if he passes? I will welcome him as one of clan Urdnot."
"You'd do what?!" A Krogan near the throne shouted, having remained silent until now. "You'd let an abomination like him perform the ancient rite, join your clan? This is an outrage!"
"It isn't your decision Gatalog." Wrex growled. "I've seen cloned Krogan before, they weren't like him. They were weak, in body and in mind. More lost to the rage as than our young are, but he isn't. He's dealing with something many who've had years to adjust to can't and doing so admirably. No, it isn't your choice. I am clan leader of Urdnot and I deem him worth, you got something to say about that?" Wrex turned to the Krogan, stepping close to him, and looking down into the eyes of the smaller Krogan. Gatalog glared back but stormed out instead of refuting him.
"I thought not." Wrex huffed as he turned back to us. "Grunt, go speak to the shaman about your rite, I will authorise it." Wrex ordered him, returning back to his throne and taking a seat. That's it? Wrex decided just like that? Krogans are weird.
"Let's go." Shepard said, walking towards the door Gatalog left through previously. We followed after sharing a glance.
"I still don't get why this will help." Grunt grumbled.
"It is about recognising you as a Krogan. 'Tank-born' as they're known must be widely derided among your race. Wrex is giving you the chance to prove yourself in a way that the Krogan will acknowledge. And joining clad Urnot? Wrex is letting you into his clan, he is giving you something to come back to after the mission ends." I told him, having thought it through myself.
I was grateful for Wrex, I knew that he and Shepard were old friends, but that had nothing to do with it. I could tell he would never let that affect his decisions. No, Wrex had looked Grunt over, and deemed him worthy of being a clan-member. Grunt will have something to come back to when this mission is all over … somewhere that isn't with me. I was surprised how much the thought saddened me, but I couldn't help but be pleased for him all the same.
"I don't care about the other Krogan. I already have all I need." Grunt grumbled.
"Up here!" Shepard called out from around the corner of the decrepit hallway, having gotten a fair ways ahead of us. Evidently, she had found the Shaman Wrex spoke about.
" … this is against what it means to be Krogan!" I heard the familiar Krogan roar even from a distance, recognising it to be Gatalog. Again with this prick?
"I didn't think it was for you to decide, it is clan Urdnot that leads our people." Shepard interrupted the angry Krogan, who whirled around with a furious glare.
"Piss off pyjak. The Krogan are speaking."
"It is by the leader of Urdnot's order that he be granted this chance, leader of Uvenk." The Shaman sniped at him.
"Wrex can't just ignore tradition when he wants to." Gatalog argued. "The tank-born doesn't even have any willing to back him in his rite, he is alone."
I think I've had just about enough of him. I started walking closer to the Krogan who'd turned his hump to us, letting biotic energy surround me. It pooled into my fist as I stepped behind the Krogan and placed my other hand on his shoulder.
"You dare touch me -" he turned around with narrowed eyes but I punched him across the jaw with all the force my enhanced fist could grant. His head snapped to the side as spit flew out of his mouth and he fell down to the ground.
"Shut up." I growled, letting even more energy surround my form with both of my fists raised. He stood up with a bit of effort, cradling his jaw.
"You will regret that." He vowed before walking away with his figurative tail between his legs. Doubt it. I turned back to the Shaman who had was watching me with interest.
"What does Grunt need for this rite?"
"Nothing but his weapons and courage. But it is not an easy task, there are risks." The Krogan paused, looking among us. "And while strength in a warrior is commendable, they are still weak if they cannot inspire others to greatness. I am not doubting your combat ability young one," The Krogan nodded in Grunt's direction, "Leader Urdnot has spoken for you after all, but no Krogan will support you in this Endeavor, not while they still see you as tank-born. You will have no Krantt to help you."
"I will." I spoke up, my arms crossed. Grunt smiled at me, pleased.
"It is not, … conventional. But there is no rule against it." The shaman replied, amused.
"I will help too, if you'll have me." Shepard spoke up, I turned to her with a raised eyebrow. Just like that? She doesn't really interact much with Grunt.
"I would be glad to take both of you as my … Krantt." Grunt affirmed as he turned back to the Shaman.
"Very well then, let it begin." They announced.
[POV: Tali]
Shepard didn't ask me to come with them, but that's fine. I would have liked to see Wrex again, but what I'm doing is more important anyway.
The data I found from Fury's Omni-tool was less helpful than I'd hoped. For the most part she just had pictures on there. No games of any sort, and her communications apparently deleted themselves within 7 days, so if she did communicate with Cerberus, it was now done verbally. She did have her banking details on there, and her transaction history wasn't any more helpful to me. What I will say is, damn she's rich. I don't know how she got so much money, but it was a lot more than I expected.
Most of it came from Aria T'Loak for 'services rendered', whatever that meant. There was also the various little things you buy, clothes, restaurants, a few clubs if I'm reading this correctly. But nothing valuable about who she is, what she's done, what she's capable of. The history only went back about 10 years, so I can't say what she was up to before then but this told me nothing I wanted it to. If she was on Cerberus payroll, then I saw no evidence of it.
The only lead I actually had were the pictures, and they were all relating to Fury. There wasn't a damn thing about Miranda that I could use. Hacking her had been pointless, but I didn't have anything else. There was no more leads, nothing left to investigate.
My thoughts on Fury were leaning to the fact that she wasn't a plant, but I still didn't know who she was. I was out of any better leads to investigate, so I may as well try and find out who she was just to confirm she didn't have ulterior goals onboard the Normandy. It couldn't hurt and at least if I find out she was clean, I would be able to tell Shepard that. Maybe she would stop being so hung up about a little hacking, it never meant anything more than bragging rights back home. Investigating is going to be tricky though, but I do have some avenues.
No new pictures had been added in a long while, but they were all of the same group of people. It was always the same group as well, all Asari and one human. I'm not certain, but I suspect Fury might be one of these Asari, I just need to find out who they all are, the human isn't important right now but certainly something to investigate if I find anything else suspicious about Fury. I was mind of grasping at straws at this point though.
I'd quickly settled on using only a few of the photos as some of these were, … *ahem* a little racy. Those ones weren't necessary for my investigation … but I didn't delete them as I think I can … find another use for them. Fury apparently had some interesting hobbies. Are they all club dancers though? There's quite a few photos of everyone using a stripper pole for various acts. I suppose they could be employees at the Afterlife?
Finding out who these people are will be difficult though. Omega was the capital of the terminus systems for a reason, it was a congregation of all that was wrong on the galaxy. Consequently, there wasn't a whole lot of ways to investigate there, aside from being on the damned station. We can't just go to Omega on my say-so, so I suspect my leads might have run dry for now. I could technically set up an algorithm to search for these Asari in the wider galaxy, but there are far too many of them to do so anywhere but on Omega. They all look too similar. It doesn't help that I regularly got cut off from the extranet while onboard, you couldn't exactly keep a connection while travelling through the depths of space at FTL.
As much as I hate to say it, hacking Fury might have been a mistake. She was a formidable warrior who was very useful for Shepard mission. It's part of the reason I was so wary of her, if she betrayed Shepard than we were fucked. Fury largely ignored me before the briefing, as she did most of the rest of the ship. In my lack of patience, I think I'd turned that ambivalence into irritation and anger.
At least Shepard has been interacting less with Fury now, so something good came out of the confrontation. It would be best to remain distant until I can confirm about her loyalties. I didn't want something else to happen to her … again. I'd never cried so much when I heard she'd died, at least until I confirmed she was alive again. I'd never gotten to tell her …
[POV: Jack]
"You know, for being a rite of passage they didn't really explain much." Shepard mused as we walked towards the large structure in front of us. The shaman called it the keystone, told us to activate it 3 times and kill anything that moves. Seemed like a Krogan rite to me.
"I prefer it that way, I just have to kill things." Grunt replied.
"Sounds reasonable to me." I shrugged. At least, for a Krogan rite.
"Of course it does." Shepard sighed. "Now how do we want to do this Grunt? It's your show." Grunt hummed, scratching his head.
"I'm not one for plans, don't really think much during combat. Leader?" he turned to me, "You do it." He wants me to lead, not Shepard? I glanced over at the woman who smiled at me, having no complaints.
"Very well. You have your guns?" I asked them. Grunt made sure to cock the large shotgun in his hands, the action pleasing him greatly. He'd received it about 30 minutes ago and was already in love. It was one of the specially made Krogan ones that other species normally couldn't even fire. Shepard simply nodded, but she had been acting rather passively today. Sure, she introduced us to Wrex and spoke for us with him, but other than that she's been quiet.
"Let's begin then."
I walked over to the keystone and hit the large green button it held. For a moment, nothing happened, but then the large section at the top of the device slammed down into the already cratered ground violently and a deep boom rippled through the air. I could feel my chest shaking from the vibrations in the air, but even more than that I could feel the very earth tremble beneath me. The keystone repeated this motion twice more before falling silent.
"What was that?" Grunt wondered, in awe of the forces this machine put out.
"That impact would have been felt for kilometres around us." Shepard muttered.
"It was a call." I informed them. "Cover the staircases." I remained near the centre of the platform so that I could see both sides while the other two moved to the top of each staircase. We waited there for almost a minute watching out for what was coming before we heard the first cries.
"What are those?" Grunt queried, keeping his gun raised.
"Varren." Shepard sighed, recognising the sound. I'd heard of the things before, they didn't sound particularly threatening but it sounded like there was an awful lot of them. I kept my eyes peeled and from my higher vantage point I was the first to spot them.
"They're here! 3 approaching Grunt, and 5 further back on your side Shepard. More inbound." The first group must be the fastest Varren, scouts maybe?
Grunt fired his shotgun the moment he saw his first opponent, the gun obliterating the entire top half of the beast with a deafening bang. The power of that thing was no joke, the recoil was a bitch though. Even if I reinforced myself I don't think I was heavy enough to fire that thing without being thrown back.
He fired twice more on the other pair of Varren, killing each with a single shot. That was more than simple enough for him to deal with, so I kept my eye on Shepard who had decimated her own group using her assault rifle with pinpoint accuracy. No time to rest though, more were coming.
Seeing a particularly dense grouping, I formed a singularity and shot it off at them, capturing a dozen of the Varren in its radius. That didn't stop the few dozen others still approaching though. I kept my eyes on my surroundings but focused mainly on my squad mates. Shepard was doing fine, her assault rifle chewing away at the unarmoured foes, but Grunt wasn't handling it quite as well. His shotgun was almost too powerful for the Varren, able to kill two with one blast if he was lucky, but he couldn't fire fast enough for the sheer quantity attacking him. Worse than that, the Varren knew it. I channelled energy around my hand and swiped it to the right, catching a leaping Varren that got behind Grunt. It fell back down to the bottom of the platform but it was far from the last to attempt it.
I didn't have time to form another singularity as I knocked Varren aside with each swipe of my hand.
"Fall back Shepard!" I shouted at her, seeing she was beginning to be overwhelmed from her side as well. Concentrating a decent chunk of energy into my left arm I blew a biotic energy blast that travelled in front of her, acting as a less efficient shockwave, but it gave her the chance to get back. Checking back to make sure Grunt was alright, I found him swing a Varren around using it's hind legs, smashing it into its brethren without remorse.
He was laughing as he did so, each meaty smack of the Varren rendering the one in his hands more and more broken. It was long dead at this point. In my focus on the pair, I'd almost lost track of my surroundings and barely caught the flicker of motion in the corner of my eye. I ducked beneath another leaping Varren and shrouded myself in my biotics, enhancing my muscles greatly before punting the second coming after me straight in the face. I had to leap to do so, as the Varren could jump.
It whined like one of those Human dogs I'd seen as it tumbled across the ground, but I didn't have the chance to watch it further before the first tried again. With the short moment I had to prepare before it's second leap, I generated an Omni-blade in my right hand and reinforced it before swiping it through the animal, splitting it in two.
Looking around, I found even more Varren approaching, how many of these things were there? We weren't even done with the first group.
"Grunt! Get over here!" I shouted at the Krogan who had returned to shooting his miniature cannon. He could thankfully still listen as he started backing up as Shepard already had earlier. She wasn't too far from me but had been forced to retreat to a pillar and use it as cover. There was a lot surrounding her though so I sprinted forward, energy trailing behind me, and leaped once I got closer. I slammed my fist into the ground nearby and releasing a shockwave that sent the horde flying.
"Thanks." She grunted, shooting the few that were still moving freely, there were many others surrounding us that were sort of just flailing around, their bodies broken and bleeding.
"Over here." I ordered her, jogging over to Grunt's position. Finally having a moment, I created another quick Singularity that I launched at the group he was fending off, clustering them together into a ball that he relished shooting.
"This is great!" he laughed, firing twice more and leaving me with a swirling ball of flesh and blood.
"There's more coming, and they can apparently learn to flank. We back up to the end of the platform. I'll handle anything that gets close to us, so just keep shooting the ones on the way."
We started backing up as a group immediately, the gunfire going off around me as I made sure that none of the Varren got reached us. At first, it was the stray one or two that I had to deal with, which I would either throw back or compress into a bloody pulp. But then more of them started appearing.
We moved as a unit, taking each step back together in a fighting retreat. I had to start using singularities to hold back the largest groups, Grunt competing with Shepard to shoot them first. That was when I had time, but the smartest Varren must have waited back, observing, as they started coming from any angle. We had to turn our backs to each other so as to not be attacked from the back.
This might have been dangerous if they were something other than Varren, but the creatures weren't particularly threatening on their own, it was only the number that made them any danger at all, and there was only so many of them. I'd decided to break out my omni blades here at the end as I had no real way of finishing them off efficiently otherwise, I could just knock them back again but that would just mean it took longer for us to finish.
It only took another minute for the assault to peter out, and we were left with half-dead Varren and their corpses littering the ground. Many of them were whimpering in pain and trying to crawl away, but it wouldn't help. These animals looked half-starved already, and certainly wouldn't be able to survive as they were now.
"That it then?" Shepard asked, keeping her eyes on the surroundings.
"The keystone must be activated twice more, we simply have to survive whatever appears due to it." I reminded her, my form easing as I saw we were alone, for now.
"What about the ones still moving?" Grunt asked, poking at one with his foot.
"Finish them off." I told him. Grunt grinned at the order and began to shoot them with his gun, the noise deafening in the otherwise silent day. That might be a little wasteful, but he had plenty of heatsinks for the thing, so I'll let him be. I should probably speed things up though, so I channelled a small amount of energy to my hands and raised them. I aimed at two of the still moving Varren and clenched my fists, their necks being surrounded by swirling energy that I proceeded to snap.
"Couldn't you just shoot them?" Shepard asked, frowning at the sight.
"I'm not wasting any Omni-fluid on this, and I only have two heat sinks for my pistol." I should probably get more.
I snapped two more necks as Grunt finished off three more.
"And while a gun might be a little less personal, I think it's just excuse. It makes no difference how you kill."
Snap.
"but I do know my view isn't the normal one."
I killed one more, the last one still moving. The ground was now littered with bloody corpses and bits of viscera, these could be a tripping hazard.
"Go hit the keystone Grunt!" I called over to him.
"Yes leader."
While he was out of the way, I channelled a decent amount of biotic energy and slammed my fist into the ground, using a shockwave to clear the floor of the corpses. Didn't get rid of the bloodstains though.
The keystone was as forceful as before, but we had to wait around almost 5 minutes this time before anything came. It was an enormous red insectile creature that flew towards us, dropping off a smaller version of itself that was still twice the size of Grunt.
"You can have it Grunt." I told the Krogan, who cocked his shotgun once more and opened fire on the beast. It was decently armoured, absorbing the first pellet well, but the kinetic energy that accompanied it still threw it back. Seeing it wasn't dealt with, Grunt kept shooting it until it died. Hi gun was much better suited for this then the horde.
"I preferred the Varren." He grumbled as the large one appeared in the sky again, this time carrying a few more of its brethren. Alright, that will get annoying really quick.
"You care if I get rid of it?"
"No." Grunt sighed crossing his arms. I looked back to find Shepard glaring at the things. I waited for her to respond and had to clear my throat to get her attention.
"I hate bugs." She scowled. Well, guess I got this then. I made sure to check where the giant bug was. It was about a 120 metres of the ground, as far as I could see, and still almost a kilometre away. The red colour made it easy to spot in the sky.
An aura surrounded me as I waited for it to get within about 50 metres, then I acted. I concentrated on the large bug, targeting it with my biotics and focusing until I could see a faint haze of energy surrounding it. I raised my hands as I stepped forward, clasping them together before I brought them down and channelled the energy around me into the blow.
The carrier bug suddenly fell down, the sudden force making crashing into to much for it to resist as it accelerated towards the unforgiving ground. Its massive bulk accompanied by the sudden acceleration caused it to crush the other bugs it was carrying, and was itself greatly injured as it splattered across the dusty ground. Its carapace had split into sections, green gloopy blood oozing from between the cracks. That was for my foot.
"Anyone have a grenade to -" I was interrupted by one flying by my face and landing right next to the insect, igniting into a fiery conflagration that engulfed the beast and briefly blinded me. My ears were thankfully protected as the automatic damping activated, but it took a few seconds for the sound to kick back in. That didn't stop me from seeing the chunks of monster carcass rain down from the sky all around us, a few of them even landing on my armour. I flicked the piece off my shoulder with disgust.
I looked over to Grunt, whose nose was wrinkled from what must be an awfully strong smell, oh how I love air filters. He pointed over at Shepard without a word, who had her arms crossed and a smug grin on her face. Gotcha, she really doesn't like bugs.
"I suppose we hit the keystone again?"
"I've got it." Grunt walked over and slammed his fist on the keystone once more. The machine activated once more, but this time the rumbling ground didn't stop. It was subtle compared to the keystone, but the vibrations were still there, and they were growing stronger..
"Get to cover!" Shepard shouted, sprinting forward towards the columns. With how panicked she sounded, I didn't bother trying to think about why, I just started sprinting. Grunt was a little slower on the uptake, pausing for a second in confusion before he started after me, unfortunately at a much slower pace.
"Hurry!" Shepard shouted as I slammed my back into the column next to hers. She gestured between Grunt and I in a panic, I got the message. I forced out some biotic energy as fast as I could, throwing my hands forward as I did so and pulling them back to me. This enshrouded grunt in the blue energy and accelerated him to me rapidly. Too rapidly, he wouldn't be able to slow down.
Instinctively, I channelled as much energy into my muscles as I could and braced my arms against the column, grabbing it as tightly as I could. I kicked my legs up just in time to catch the speeding Krogan with them. I absorbed the impact as best I could, my legs struggling to resist the motion even as they began folding. My knees still slammed into my chest uncomfortably hard, folding me in two, but Grunt's momentum was stopped. The air rushed out of him though, my feet having caught him on his chest, I think something might have cracked as well, but I didn't care.
Grunt had reached me in the nick of time too, as at the same time he did a deafening roar bellowed from behind me and an odd liquid suddenly sprayed around our columns, coating the ground that wasn't directly in front of the pillars. It began hissing as it did, the entire platform covered in the stuff except for the safe zones we were currently in. Don't tell me that's a -
"Thresher Maw!" Shepard shouted from her position, "a massive one!"
Well shit.
"… Thank you Leader -" Grunt coughed heavily, stumbling up to his feet, still wheezing from the blow.
"Thank me after we deal with this monster." I interrupted him. "Shepard! What do we do?"
She'd known what was coming, so she must have some experience. I looked over to find her glued to the column, her face grim as she looked at me.
"I've never dealt with one when I wasn't in a tank! Even then it was close." She called over. Fuck!
"Well, what do you know?!"
"They can shoot acid that fucking melts everything!" Yeah I got that. "And they're normally about a third of the size of the Normandy current Normandy, I think this one might be closer to half." What the actual fuck are these things? "They're burrowers! and they like to launch themselves from below prey." Then why hasn't it attacked us already? I glanced down at the clearly manufactured ground. It looked like a form of concrete, and a sturdy one at that. I'd thought it was because of the Keystone, but maybe it was for another reason.
Just then the Maw burst out from the ground again, announcing itself with an ear-piercing shriek. Thankfully it didn't spray out more acid, instead just retreating straight back into the ground when it couldn't immediately see its prey.
"Anything else?!" I almost dreaded her answer.
"They have better armour than a tank!" Oh well that's just bullshit. I looked back at Grunt who had kept his form close to mine, his bulk barely fitting behind the column.
"You alright?"
"I'll be fine," he grunted, "but please don't do that again."
"We'll see. What do you think, we stay behind the columns?" I asked him faux-seriously, he snorted.
"Thought not." I looked around us again, I could still feel the ground rumbling beneath me, but I couldn't otherwise hear the oversized worm so it must be underground again. At least the acid doesn't last that long, as the platform had stopped hissing. I didn't like the thought of what it would do to my armour.
"I've got a plan!" I shouted over at Shepard, who was clenching her gun in her arms. Her head snapped over to mine at my call.
"Is it a good one?!"
"Not really! You two stay behind the pillars until I say you can come out, then you give it hell!"
"That's not a good one!" she protested, but I ignored her.
"What are you going to do?" Grunt asked as I basically hugged him while we turned around. My face being the height of his stomach just wasn't fair.
"Restrain it."
Closing my eyes, I bowed my head as I concentrated deep within me. I found the source of my energy, my well, and I pulled out a river of energy from it. It burst out of me into a violently coruscating aura of energy that I drowned myself in. Focusing on a good portion of it, my eyes snapped open and I slammed my fists together, forming the strongest barrier I currently deemed combat ready. I could make stronger ones, but those took too much effort for me to maintain, and I wasn't going to have much concentration to spare.
My barrier formed, I sprinted out from behind the column and into the empty space, running a dozen metres back so I was separated from my crewmates, I didn't want to risk them in my stunt. I paused here, waiting for the monster to show itself again with my eyes peeled.
Where is it? … the ground began rumbling again and, … There!
The worm burst out of the ground again and immediately locked its eyes on me. Holding my barrier steady, I began to focus on the thresher maws head, targeting the entire thing as I began to channel energy through me. I didn't have the time to finish before it sprayed more acid at me, but dodging would just interrupt what I was trying to do so I let it hit me. I tensed my legs just before it hit, but even though I'd planned for it the velocity behind the liquid still pushed me back a stride, my barrier flickering dangerously.
"Leader!" Grunt bellowed.
"I'm fine!" I shouted back through grit teeth, struggling with the focus required. My form was hissing as the acid slowly dripped off me, eating through my barrier at a rapid pace. That was fine though, I wouldn't run out. I channelled more energy directly into the barrier, returning it to its full strength. I made sure to let a small amount of energy constantly flow into it to account for the acid, using only a little of my focus, the rest was reserved for what I was trying with the Maw's head.
"Just … a little … more." I grunted as I channelled more and more energy around the glowing head of the Worm. In an instant, it snapped into place and the head started glowing vividly as I clenched my hands into fists. This made the still openly spraying jaw snap shut and halt the spray, much to its anger. The maw started thrashing violently against my control, fighting against me viscously. But I held on despite the struggle, forcing it to obey my will.
"Now!" I shouted at the two who followed my order immediately. They leaped out from behind the columns to behold the thresher maw's plight.
"Jesus Christ!" Shepard shouted, possibly from how close the head was. Either way, the pair started firing their weapons at the head. The sudden pain this caused alarmed the Maw even more as it started thrashing around even worse. It didn't really affect me, as all I was trying to do was keep its mouth shut.
"Its movements are too erratic for me to hit!" Shepard shouted, some panic in her voice. Needless to say, Grunt's accuracy was no better.
Fuck! This wasn't exactly easy, and it still wasn't helping. Sure, they were hitting it every now and then, but not enough to get through the armour. Fine, it's moving too much? Let's stop it.
I opened the floodgates within me, the energy pouring out of me beginning to crackle and spark through the air as it snapped back and forth violently from the vortex that I had become. I channelled every single bit of that energy into my hold on the Thresher Maw's head, and I began to pull. I groaned from the effort, my muscles straining as I started forcing my arms down. The Maw resisted, but it was futile. It stopped retreating, and instead was pulled out of the tunnel it resided in.
"How the hell, … Fury?!" Shepard gasped at the sight. I took one step back, the worm moving a little more, then I took another.
"Shoot! … It!" I shouted at them. Each step backward made the Maw's struggles worse, but it was trapped by my iron will. You will submit!
Stuck in place as it was, Shepard and Grunt were much more accurate, hitting its face with almost every shot. I could barely concentrate on that though, as I put all my focus, all my being into pulling. I took step after step, dragging more and more of the maw out from its hole until its head reached our platform. Grunt suddenly got a lucky shot, blowing out one of the eyes and cheered at the sight, but the Maw had a different response. It wailed and seemingly doubled its efforts to escape.
No you don't! Panting from the effort, my entire body screaming at me, I grit my teeth and slammed my fists into the ground, the Worm's head doing so in kind.
"Finish It!" I screamed at them, my vision beginning to fade, black spots replacing it.
Grunt didn't need anything further to act, but he did so as an idiot. With a Warcry, he ran forward and jumped up onto the head. What the fuck are you doing!? I could see the silhouette of Grunt shove the end of his shotgun into the bloody eye-socket and pull the trigger.
Once, twice. He kept pulling it shot after shot, emptying it into the head of the thresher maw. He kept pulling the trigger until he exhausted the heatsink, and only then did the Maw stop resisting me so forcefully. It was still spasming though, still alive, but it no longer had the fight in that. I was grateful for it, as I was about to lose my hold on it otherwise.
"Bossman, Give me a grenade!" Grunt shouted at the Commander, raising his free hand. She pulled one out from her storage compartment and chucked it at him. Grunt caught it with his raised hand and primed it, before shoving his fist into the wound and pushing the grenade all the way in up to his shoulder. He then pulled his hand back and leaped off the beast, the grenade exploding before he could land. The edges of the fire covered him as the shockwave knocked him over, making him land on his side and roll several times before stopping.
The head of the Thresher Maw wasn't a pretty sight, the top half of it just straight blown off, revealing the bloody remains of its brain for the world to see. Seeing as it was dead, I let my biotics fade and I collapsed down to my knees, catching myself with my hands as I panted for breath.
"Damnit, you guys alright?" Shepard called out as she ran over towards us. Grunt groaned from his position on his back but forced himself up with his hands while beginning to laugh. Seeing as the danger was over, I did so as well. I forced myself to stand after a moment. My limbs were still shaky, my head was pounding but I'd never felt more alive than I did now. I started laughing as well as I stumbled over to the now standing Grunt. I stopped myself on him, accidently leaning against his gore-covered arm to support myself while I recovered from the immense exertion I just put myself through.
"That was … incredible." Grunt panted as Shepard finally made her way over to us. She looked between the pair of us and the Thresher Maw several times in wonder.
"That was reckless Grunt, but Fury … I know you managed to pull against a ship but …"
"Ta-da." I wiggled my hands in front of me tiredly. Shepard just started chuckling hysterically in lieu of replying.
"I suppose we're done then." She spoke, getting herself under control.
"Yes, that was quite impressive!" a familiar voice called out as Gatalog Uvenk walked out from the behind the keystone area, approaching us accompanied by several heavily armoured Krogan warriors. Oh, by the beautiful blue ass of the Goddess what now?
"What do you want?" Shepard grumbled, her earlier diplomacy now absent.
"Taking out a thresher maw is impressive, few Krogan manage that. That's why I wanted to invite you to join my clan. I was wrong earlier, you are worthy." Gatalog ignored her question, only having eyes for Grunt.
What the fuck is he trying to pull here? Earlier he was so dismissive of grunt, practically disgusted by him, now he's inviting Grunt to join his Clan? Wrex already invited him to join the Urdnot Clan, which is the ruling clan of Tuckanka as far as I could tell. I opened my mouth to snap back a retort before I closed it. It's ultimately up to Grunt, this is all for him. I turned back to him, and he glanced at me in turn, his eyes softening a little before he turned back to Gatalog.
"You're a coward and a snake. I'm now worthy of you?" Grunt laughed maliciously. "You aren't worthy of me."
"I thought you might say that, the arrogance of youth." Gatalog scoffed. "But here's the thing, I need you. But I don't need you alive." He raised his weapon to shoot us, as did his entourage but I'd had just about enough of him. Quickly channelling a little more biotic energy, despite how it made my head hurt even more, I focused on all of the Krogans weapons and ripped them out of their hands.
"Go beat his face in Grunt."
"As you wish." He grinned before charging towards Gatalog. The Krogan's surrounding him evidently decided to leave them be as they charged towards us instead. I couldn't really use anymore biotics right now, so Instead pulled out my pistol and loaded it with one of the heat-sinks before cocking it.
Falling into a stance, I waited for the first Krogan to reach me with his head lowered in an effort to run straight through me. He didn't even have any form, what a joke. I leaped up from my stance, kneeing him in the nose as I did so, the still present shield of my armour making it so that I didn't just injure myself on his face. The nameless Krogan fell back with a cry, falling over onto his back as he held his face. I placed the end of my pistol on his crotch and the Krogan froze at the sensation. I waited till he lifted his hands to look at me before pulling the trigger 3 times. I left him to his misery as I ran towards the second who had frozen at what I'd just done.
This one tried to grab me as I got close, but I grabbed his right arm and pulled it to the side. I pistol whipped the elbow before punching his now open throat with my fist. When he stumbled back wheezing I shot him in the foot. His shield was still up, so the only thing he felt was the impact but was enough to upset his balance. I rushed forward and used this to knock him completely off his feet. I then kneeled down and placed the barrel of my gun between his eyes and pulled the trigger three more times, obliterating his skull and exhausting the magazine. Shields don't work that close to the skin.
Looking over, I found Shepard had dealt with the other pair using her assault rifle. These Krogan weren't biotic, the phenomenon rare, and without the massive weapons they carried they weren't much of a threat, at least not for us. Seeing my first Krogan was still on the ground moaning, I walked over to him.
"No, please don't!" he cried out with his hands covering his former quad.
"You shouldn't have messed with my Krogan." I informed him before lifting up my right foot and slamming it down onto his throat. Hm, he is a Krogan. I raised my foot again and channelled enough energy to reinforce my leg, before slamming it down onto his neck once more. It criushed through the bone and sinew, travelling straight to his spine. I left him there, suffocating as I walked over to Shepard and joined her in watching Grunt fight Gatalog.
Wasn't much of a fight. Grunt had disabled three of Gatalog's limbs and had the clan leader kneeling before him.
"You'll regret this." Gatalog growled. At least he didn't try to beg like the other one did.
"No, I won't." Grunt replied, grabbing the defeated Krogans head with two hands and flexing his entire upper body. This twisted Gatalog's head sharply to the side, snapping his neck and the corpse of the clan leader fell to the ground as he walked over to us.
"That wasn't nearly as hard, but it was almost as satisfying." He mused. Heh, never change Grunt.
"I don't doubt it. Now, let's go. I need to go lie down."
"I can carry you if you want?" Grunt asked, but I sighed and shook my head.
"Not with the broken ribs you have. Don't think I didn't feel it when my feet slammed into you."
"His ribs have been broken since then?" Shepard mumbled, but not quiet enough that I didn't hear it.
We walked off to where we could call a ship.
"I'm going to have to ask Wrex about what that was about, it sounded suspicious. He'll also want to hear about how this went." Shepard grumbled, looking tired. I feel you.