Chapter 17: Grim Realities

"Last round." Shepard huffed before hitting the button to finish Grunt's rite of passage.

The massive hammer in the center of the arena shook the ground once more when it slammed the ground. The shaking of the earth didn't stop however after it should have.

"It's coming." Grunt muttered, a massive grin spread on his face.

"I'M READY!" The Krogan bellowed out in challenge to the planet around them.

While Grunt seemed to be having the time of his life, the rest of the squad didn't share his feelings. Tali was down to her last clip in her shotgun and only a handful of shots left in her Carnifex. Garrus had only a half dozen shots left for his Mantis and only one clip left for his Vindicator, coupled with a myriad of scorch marks on his armor, and he was not a happy Turian. Zaeed was running low too, but seemed to be enjoying the mindless slaughter of Tuchanka's vermin.

Shepard flared up her biotics as the shaking of the earth grew more intense. She had long since given out her spare ammo to those that needed it. She could fight on her biotics alone while the rest of her team couldn't.

The shaking finally stopped, only to be replaced with a bellowing roar. Just outside of the arena, a massive Thresher Maw rose out from the earth, lifting itself fifty feet into the air.

"Light it up!" Shepard barked to her team.

As one, they all emptied the last clip of whatever weapon they were using into the massive worm. Shepard charged up her biotics and sent a powerful wave of biotic energy at the creature.

The Thresher Maw let out a bellowing roar of pain and fury. They had hurt it, but it wasn't enough. The massive worm dived under the earth and the shaking started up once more. Shepard could feel that it was headed right for them.

"Shepard!" Grunt barked out her name.

"What?!" She replied, searching around for the worm.

"When it comes up, throw me!" Grunt grinned to her.

"Are you fucking insane.?!" Shepard yelled at him, not noticing that he held aloft a different shotgun than he normally used. ONe that looked oddly familiar.

"Just do it!" Grunt barked at her. Shepard didn't like where this was going, but she trusted Grunt to know what he was doing.

"You get yourself killed and I will bring you back so i can kill you myself!" Shepard yelled at him, running over to him.

Just before Shepard reached Grunt, the Thresher Maw reared up out of the earth, in the center of their squad, right where she had been only moments before.

"Fire in the hole!" Shepard yelled out and grabbed Grunt.

Shepard summoned up all of her biotics and lifted up the massive Krogan. She yelled out on pain and threw Grunt at the maw of the creature. She felt blood running out of her nose thanks to the effort it had taken to throw the Krogan.

"I! AM! KROGAN!" Grunt bellowed out in challenge as he rushed towards the creature's maw.

"Grunt!" Shepard and the rest of her team echoed when they watched the laughing Krogan be swallowed whole by the worm.

The Thresher Maw readed back in triumph, but it's roar of victory was cut short. Shepard looked to see flashes of orange light coming from inside the worm's body. The worm let out a cry of extreme and utter pain when the entire middle of it was blow apart. The upper half of the worm fell backwards, thankfully away from her team.

The doors to the arena hissed open and Wrex and the shaman walked in, massive grins on their faces.

"Where is he?" Wrex asked, bellowing in triumph.

Shepard didn't hear him. She simply dropped to her knees and stared at the corpse of the massive worm.

"Grunt." She whispered, not believing her eyes.

Over his time on her ship, Grunt had become almost like a son to her. He had looked up to her. He had sought her out for advice and help. He had even protected her with his life when it was necessary. And now, he was gone.

"This is a sad day." Wrex spoke softly next to her, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Another son of Tuchanka was lost before his time." Wrex spoke, shaking his head.

"Look!" Tali exclaimed, pointing at the severed end of the worm's body.

Out from what used to be the throat of the worm, A bloody hand pushed it's way out. The hand was soon followed by the rest of their young Krogan.

"Grunt!" Shepard exclaimed and rushed over to the bloody and gore caked Krogan.

Grunt tumbled out from the worm and stood up, a wild glee of purpose and understanding in his eyes and a massive grin on his face.

"WE! ARE! KROGAN!" Grunt bellowed out, laughing all the while.

Grunt and the other two Krogan all thumped their chests in triumph.

"Welcome to the clan Grunt!" Wrex bellowed and slapped the young Krogan on the back.

"Tonight! We celebrate!" Wrex shouted.

While Shepard wanted to spend as little time on Tuchanka as she could, she wouldn't take this away from the young Krogan. Besides, a Krogan party might actually be good for her and her team.

"Let's go tell the others." The shaman grinned to Grunt and Wrex.


"Fucking Vorcha." Rah cursed, wiping the blood off his helmet.

"Going to be smelling like these rats for weeks." He grimaced, looking down at himself.

"Your fault for letting one get so close to you." Jack grinned to him, resting her Scimitar on her shoulder.

"I blame you." Rah shook his head at her.

"My good looks too much for ya?" Jack chuckled in response.

"No, but you blowing a massive hole into one of those ugly fuckers just a foot away from me wasn't nice." Rah pouted.

"We can save banter for later." Mordin interrupted hastily.

"Must find Maleon!" The doctor urged them.

"You heard the man!" Rah barked to the others. "Lets get a move on!"

The other three nodded and took up positions on his flanks. They had already cleared out most of the abandoned hospital and were heading even deeper in. Rah looked around as he lead his team through more corridors and hallways. Every once in a while, he would catch Kasumi giving him odd looks.

Rah should have expected the thief to be weary of him now, but it was still a bit unnerving himself. One of the first groups of Krogan and Vorcha had a Krogan that loved talking. Rah had put a stop to it by shooting a leaking gas line and setting the Krogan on fire. It was even a little creepy to him just how much he enjoyed doing it.

"Shouldn't be much farther." Rah told them over their comms.

He looked to see that they were rapidly closing in on what Mordin had picked out as the main laboratory that Maleon, Mordin's student, would be in.

Rah stopped short at an open door that lead towards the lab. Rah slowly walked into a Krogan morg. Rah looked around at the dozens of covered bodies and felt a rage boiling inside of him.

"What-what is this place?" Kasumi asked, her voice only a whisper.

"A graveyard." Rah replied, only barely biting back his rage.

Against his better judgement, Rah lifted one of the tarps that covered a Krogan female. He bit down on the inside of his cheek at seeing the body laying there. Mordin walked up to it as well and held his omni-tool over it.

"No signs of struggle. Massive genetic rewrite. Evidence of painful death." The Salarian spoke quietly.

"Doc?" Rah asked, his voice holding only hints at his rage.

"Was she a volunteer?" Rah asked.

"Looks like it. No signs of being restrained or otherwise injured." Mordin replied, his voice full of sorrow.

"Good. That will make this all the better." Rah replied, an evil grin making it's way to his face.

"Make what easier?" Kasumi asked hesitantly.

Rah looked to the asian woman and noticed that Jack had her attention. Jack shook her head to the other woman. This was the kind of thing that Jack knew had to be done, and Rah was going to do it no matter what.

"I'll go ahead." Rah told them, turning away from the body.

"When you hear the signal, come after me." Rah ordered them grimly.

Rah started towards the lab once more, but a hand on his chest stopped him. Rah looked to see Jack, a concerned look on her face, stopping him.

"You don't need to do this." Jack whispered to him.

"You know better than anyone that I do." Rah replied and pushed past her.

As Rah strode away from them, he could feel Jack's sad eyes on the back of his head.


Jack didn't know what it was that had gotten into her. She was acting... weird. She knew that Rah needed to do what was next, but she felt sorrow in her entire being for it. She even tried to stop him.

She didn't know why, but for some reason, her thoughts were not just about her safety, but his as well.

During one of the fights that they had been in, Jack had nearly panicked. It wasn't because of suddenly having a revelation about her own mortality or any of that bullshit. It was from Rah saving her.

During the fight, a grenade had landed in front of her. Rah had dived onto the grenade and it blew up full in his chest. In that moment, she completely forgot what it was that he was wearing, only that he could have been hurt.

Jack didn't understand it. Never before had she felt this way towards anyone. But the way that Rah seemed to be constantly at her side and covering her back, it made her worry for someone other than herself.

"Something wrong Jack?" The raspy voice of Thane asked her.

"I'm not me anymore." Jack replied, no really caring what the Drell thought.

"You're still you, you've just found something that you lost once." The Drell told her.

Jack glanced at the man and noticed a small smile on his face. Before he had the chance to elaborate further, a sharp, high-pitched, shriek echoed through the halls.

"Has to be it." Mordin said grimly. All four of them ran towards the sound.

Just before they reached the door to the lab, they heard a single gunshot ring out. They opened the door to find Rah standing over a lone Salarian corpse.

Save for a hundred active and running computers, nothing else was in the room. No other Krogan, nothing to restrain Maleon, nothing.

"A conscious has a way of screwing with your ideas of free will Doc." Rah spoke out grimly.

"Agree with killing him, not sure why you would do it and not let me." Mordin spoke puzzled. The elder Salarian walked towards the N7, his eyes on the various screens around them.

"The shit he did to these Krogan was nothing like what I endured as a child." Rah spoke out grimly.

"Someone that stoops so low just to further their research needs to be put down like the animal they are." Rah told them, holding his Carnifex.

"Correct idea." Mordin replied, mussing over one of the screens.

"Question now is what to do with his research." Mordin puzzled.

"Hang onto it." Rah replied, much to Jack's shock.

"What-what? Jack asked, her mind not understanding.

"All that torment. All that pain. No reason to let their suffering go to waste." Rah told her.

"They wanted a cure, the best way to keep their memory alive, is by keeping the information they died for to see their goal brought to light." Rah told them all grimly.

"Understand logic Major Carmine." Mordin told him and brought up his omni-tool.

"Copying files to my off site storage. Erasing local copy."

Moments later, all the screens died.

"Shepard to Carmine, come in." Shepard's voice called out over the comms.

"Read you loud and clear Sir." Rah replied.

"We've finished up here with Grunt. Clan Urdnot is throwing a party for him. If any of your team want's to come, they are free to do so." Shepard told them all over the comms.

"Yes Sir. We'll pull back to the Normandy and drop our stuff off there. I'll see if anyone else wants to come too." Rah replied.

"Copy that Major. Shepard out." WIth that the line was cut and silence settled around them all.

"Let's get out of here." Rah told them. For once, Jack couldn't wait to leave this place of death and torment.


Rah threw back his drink and chugged down another mug of ryncol. The Krogan drink burned like lava as it made its way down his throat. When he was done, he shook his head and slammed the mug down on the table. He grinned at the half drunk Krogan on the other side of the table from him. Thanks both to his implants and his biotics, Rah could proudly say that he had yet to meet a Krogan he couldn't drink under the table (the fact that he wouldn't be able to function the next day was besides the point).

"Come on grandpa!" Rah grinned to the grizzled Krogan.

"I can go all night with this piss you call booze." Rah grinned much to the laughter of the others around him.

"Five hundred credits says the human can't drink a quart." A younger Krogan called out, stepping out from the crowd that gathered around the table.

"Thousand says he can drink a gallon." The smirking voice of Jack called out behind him.

I am going to kill you Jack. Rah thought to himself, not letting his grin slide.

Rah grimaced at hearing a half dozen takes on the bet.

"Looks like I'm doing it." Rah called out, his grin lopsided and sheepish.

Rah felt a hand clap onto his bare shoulder and squeeze it tightly.

"You cost me this and I have your balls as compensation." Jack whispered in his ear.

"That a promise Princess?" Rah asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

Rah was glad to see Jack had found a place where she could loosen up. It seemed that Krogan were more her people than other humans.

"We'll see." Jack replied in a chuckle.

In front of him, a gallon of ryncol was dropped onto the table. Rah took in the massive tankard with wide eyes. Words were easy, the real thing was much more difficult.

Rah closed his eyes and slowed down both his breathing and heart. He blocked out the calls to get it over with. He blocked out the feel of Jack's hand on his shoulder. He blocked out everything.

Without him thinking, his arm shot out and before he knew it, he was pounding down the liquid. He kept his breathing as even as he could and watched the liquid drain out of the tankard and into his waiting gullet.

The liquid burned like nothing else. He had been shot, stabbed, set on fire, electrocuted, frozen, and even had part of his leg covered in Thresher Maw acid. Rah was pretty sure that only the last came close to the building burning that the drink brought upon his throat.

Rah kept on though, keeping his mind off the burning and instead on the warmth that was Jack's hand on his shoulder. He didn't notice the silence that settled around him at the awe of the Krogans around him.

Before he knew it, the tankard was empty. He slammed the drinking vessel onto the table and brought his free hand up to his mouth. Around him, all the Krogan leaned in, waiting to see if the human would be able to hold down the drink.

Rah let out a long, bellowing blench, one that came from every part of him at once. When he finished he pounded on his chest and shook his head.

All sound was drowned out from then on when the crowd around him roared. All save the ones that had bet against him were roaring at seeing the success of the human.

Rah couldn't help but smirk when Jack began collecting from those unwise enough to bet against him. His smirk disappeared however when he noticed more than a few Krogan glowering at him. Rah grinned to those around him and stood up, tripping and stumbling over his chair as he went.

Rah "stumbled" into Jack, wrapping his arm around her as he went. He leaned onto her and noticed those Krogan that had lost money because of him motioning towards him and Jack while talking to each other.

"Go along with it." Rah whispered into Jack's ear, pulling her down slightly under his weight.

"Looks like that's it for him boys." Jack grinned to the Krogan around them.

"Best get him back to the ship." Jack told them all and the two began to walk back towards where the shuttle was parked.

"The fuck was that about?" Jack hissed into his ear.

"Not yet." Rah grunted, feeling the eyes of angry Krogan on their backs.

"Need help with him Jack?" Samara's cool voice asked. Before either of them could say anything, Samara wrapped Rah's other arm around her shoulders, making it seem as if the Justicar was helping to carry the drunk human.

Rah was relieved when he felt the eyes leave his back. Even drunk Krogan knew that the mess with a Justicar would be the worst thing of their lives.

"Thank you Justicar." Rah told the Asari, taking his arms back and standing on his own.

"Of course." The Asari replied. "I have need to speak with you, if you have the time Major Carmine."

"Please, just call me Rah. Never been big on the whole rank thing." Rah chuckled to her. "What is it that you need?"

"I need your help." Samara sighed.

"Do you need me to leave?" Jack asked, looking at the worried looking matriarch. Even Jack understood that a Justicar was not phased easily.

"No. You are fine staying as you are." Samara replied.

"What do you need from me Samara." Rah asked, his face serious, it was almost unnerving to see him like this.

"I need your aid in killing a fugitive I have been tracking her for the last few hundred years." Sarama breathed out.

"That bad huh?" Rah asked. If a Justicar was hunting someone down for hundreds of years, there had to be a damn good reason why.

"It is. This fugitive is an Ardat-Yakshi." Samara told them and Rah let out a low whistle.

"Been a while since I've had to kill one." Rah replied, rubbing his jaw and thinking back to how hard that one had punched.

"Got a favor out of a powerful Asari for it though. People don't like it too much when the shit hole of the galaxy has the best murderer in the 'verse prowling its streets." Rah told the two women.

"Ironic, we must go the the same place to hunt down this one as well." Samara mussed.

"What the hell are you two talking about?" Jack asked them, lost in the conversation.

"There is a genetic mutation among Asari. It increases their biotic power exponentially, but with a pretty major drawback." Rah told Jack, a smile coming to his face.

"And that would be?" Jack asked.

"They put a new meaning on the phase 'fuck you to death'." Rah replied, smirking at seeing that Jack's jaw slackened.

"Over simplified, but yes." Samara responded.

"And you hunted one of these down before?" Jack asked.

"Yeah. Nearly got myself killed in the process, but I learned two things that day." Rah smirked.

"Those being?" Samara asked.

"I like living dangerously and that there is this sweet spot on Asari that is the best thing to know about in hand to hand." Rah smirked.

When Samara gave him a deadpan look and Jack tried her best to hold in a grin, Rah's smirk turned into a full on grin.

"So I definitely didn't mean for that cheesy sex joke to happen." Rah told them sheepishly.

"There is one more thing that you need to know." Samara told them after a few moments of almost awkward silence.

"This Asari, she is my daughter." Samara told them grimly.

"Oh joy, I'm going to only have one shot at it won't I?" Rah asked, sighing out when Samara nodded.

"I'd best go and let Sarge know then." Rah told them, nodding to both Samara and Jack.

"He is certainly an interesting man." Rah heard Samara tell Jack.

"You know he cares about you?" Samara seemed to state more than asked.

Rah didn't hear a response, if any was given. Samara was right. Rah did care about Jack. It was the first time he had ever found someone that was nearly as insane he was. It was the first time for him to find out that he wasn't truly alone.


"Sounds like they're having fun." Garrus chuckled, looking away from the crowd that had gathered around Rah and Jack.

"DIdn't think anything would get Jack to have fun short of blowing up a moon." Shepard replied.

"And I never thought I would call a Turian a friend." Wrex chuckled.

Shepard looked at both Garrus and Wrex. They had decided to catch up on what had happened over the last two years in place of joining the others in the party that had spread throughout the rest of the clan's camp.

"Wrex you know what is coming don't you?" Shepard asked after several moments of comfortable silence between the three friends.

"Why do you think I'm trying as hard as I am to unite the clans?" Wrex replied with a toothy grin.

"You taught me better than anyone could have. We need to be united in order to make it out of the end alive."

"Good to see an old dog really can learn new tricks." Garrus replied with a shit eating grin.

"You should know better than me Turian." Wrex replied, giving them both a knowing look.

"Yes he does Wrex." Shepard replied, giving Garrus a mischievous look. "Yes he does."

"Not fair Kate." Garrus replied, shifting in his seat awkwardly.

"Oh really?" Shepard chuckled and could see that Wrex was enjoying himself too much.

"You think that's unfair?" Shepard asked. "You and I have differing ideas as to what fair is then."

"If you're talking about what I think you are, this is different." Garrus replied, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Or really? Care to explain that you overgrown bird?" Shepard chuckled.

"Well..." Garrus began but Wrex noisily cleared his throat, drawing both of their attentions.

"Something's not right." Wrex spoke calmly, nodding towards three of their crew.

"Samara, Jack, and Rah?" Shepard asked. "No way that could be any amount of good."

"Even more so that he actually looks like something serious is happening." GArrus noted.

Rah stepped past the two women and began making his way toward the three of them. They all noticed that both women were watching the marine walk away. Shepard found it odd to see that Jack had something akin to a concerned look on her face.

The three of them looked back to each other when Rah began walking up to Wrex's throne, where they had all been sitting.

"Sarge." Rah spoke when he reached the top of the ramp.

"Scarface. Lizard." Rah nodded to all three in turn.

"You know Wrex?" Shepard asked, seeing that the Krogan had yet to tear Rah apart.

"Yeah, had to pull his ass out of a fire once a while back." Wrex smirked.

"Yeah, turns out that dashing through a fire while chasing the guy I was supposed to kill wasn't a smart idea when I was in nothing but a tux." Rah grinned.

"That's a story I need to hear at some point." Shepard chuckled.

"What's up Rah?" Shepard asked.

"I need to request we go somewhere." Rah asked, his face stony calm.

"Where do you need to go?" Shepard asked, curious as to why the N7 had become so calm and stoic.

"There is something I need to take care of on Omega." Rah told them all, his face and voice deathly serious.

"Then we'll head out tomorrow." Shepard replied.

"Thank you sir." Rah replied.

"I suggest you enjoy the rest of the party while you can." Shepard told the marine.

"I will Sarge. Thanks." Rah replied and left them.

"What do you think that was about?" Garrus asked when the N7 was out of earshot.

"I don't know. Whatever it is that made him ask to go to that pit, it must be important." Shepard replied, worried for her old friend.

"So what was that about you pulling him out of a fire?" Shepard asked, after an uncomfortable silence fell over the three of them.

"It's nothing like us going and killing Saren, but still worth telling." Wrex grinned to them.


A/N: Not much to say here, so I'll get on with it.

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter!

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Until next time!