Urdnot Wrex hated tight spaces. With three other krogan crammed into the back of a human shuttle, there was hardly space between them. Grunt was closest to the window, looking out to the remnants of the Citadel … or Crucible, whatever they called it. He had managed to find his way to the rest of the Urdnot clan shortly after the Reapers disappeared, or fell from the sky. Wrex argued that the young krogan should stay on Earth with the rest of their clan, but Grunt refused. He even went as far as to strike his head hard against one of the soldiers Wrex picked to come with him, knocking him unconscious.
"If anyone goes after Shepard, it's gonna be me," he growled before stepping on to the shuttle.
That was enough for Wrex.
Garrus and Liara filled the krogan battlemaster in on what happened to Shepard. He didn't completely understand the explanation, Shepard went up to the Citadel and had to hit a button to activate the Crucible or something, but he understood that the human commander was still up there. Krogan weren't optimistic types. According to Garrus, it'd been at least three days that Shepard was up there, and there was no telling if the life systems of the space station were still working … Shepard was a battlemaster in her own right, especially to Grunt, but could she beat death twice?
Wrex grinned to himself. Hell, yeah, she could.
"All right, we're about to approach," the human pilot said from the front of the shuttle. "Once I find a landing spot, you can try to climb on … somewhere."
"Helmets on," Wrex ordered. "No telling what's out there."
Grunt made an irritated huff, but did as his clan leader said. Wrex had a feeling he would go running off the second they landed. The shuttle dropped with a hard thud as the krogan soldiers finished preparing themselves. Bringing his shotgun to his chest, Wrex ran his shoulder into Grunt's. The young one understood, stepping back with a somewhat reluctant nod under his helmet. Finally, the shuttle door opened above Wrex's head, allowing him to step out on to the Citadel … or what remained of it.
They were in what he assumed was Zakera Ward, one of the arms of the Citadel. In front of them, Wrex could see some of the windows were still intact, overlooking the rest of the ward. By the looks of it, they were near the C-Sec checkpoint, though the office was hardly recognizable. Wisps of smoke drifted throughout the area, leaving a slight haze in the air. Objects like computers, papers, even cups and holographic pictures were scattered around. Surprisingly, the power was still active, though it flickered occasionally.
The voice of the Citadel VI (Wrex forgot what it was called years ago) echoed hollowly around them. It listed off areas of damage, breaking up occasionally. By the sound of it, he had to assume everything was damaged. Stupid computer. Grunt and the two other krogan soldiers came up behind him, surveying the damage.
"Any idea where she is?" Grunt asked, his voice slightly muffled from his helmet.
Wrex nodded as he brought his arm up to activate his omni-tool. "Blue had a tracker in her suit. Long as she isn't dust, we'll get to her."
The clan leader fiddled with the information Liara had forwarded to him. Her message told him that the Normandy was able to take off a couple of hours prior, but it could take as long as two weeks for them to make their way back to Earth. Returning a message, he reassured her that they would do what they could to find Shepard.
Grunt stepped forward to bend down and pick up a holo-frame, looking at the picture for a moment. He tossed it lightly on to a desk that managed to stay upright before continuing on. The crunch of glass sounded under his boots in protest. All four krogan snapped to their right when they heard a bang, their weapons raised in half a second.
Scuttling of feet was heard before the keeper came into full view, tugging at something. One of its four feet was dragging slightly beside it. Wrex couldn't remember if keepers could really get injured. Its green neck was curved and bowed down to look at the object it struggled with. After a few seconds, Wrex realized it was dragging a body across the ward … a salarian by the look of it. He grunted before going back to his omni-tool.
"Guess nothing kills those damn things," he observed.
"Looks like they're trying to clean everything up," one of his soldiers said. "Maybe they got more work done farther in."
"Think they got the life systems working?" another grumbled. "I hate this helmet."
"Grunt, check it out," Wrex ordered. "See if we can breathe up here. With those windows out, you can't be too sure."
"Air's fine," Grunt answered as his omni-tool scanned the area. "The vacuum seal must of held out."
Wrex nodded as his own omni-tool beeped. "Looks like Shepard's signal is in the upper wards. We're in for a walk, boys. Helmets can come off, but keep your omni-tools on. Put 'em back on if there's any kind of warning, I'm not havin' anyone's head explode."
The four krogan men began walking through the wards. Occasionally, a keeper would be moving in the distance, dragging debris or possibly other dead beings. Wrex figured it was pointless to ask, damn things never talked, anyway. Grunt was becoming more impatient as they continued scaling fallen equipment, piles of ash, and other more questionable charred, unrecognizable mounds. They tried their best to avoid stepping on those mounds. Krogan were a ruthless people, and damn proud of it, but they didn't like unnecessary cruelty. Here, among the practical ruins of a space station all of them knew well, they were conscious of their surroundings, hoping for other movement, to see if any other survivors were around. Aside from the keepers' occasional crossings, all was quiet.
Wrex and his soldiers were among the several on Earth who had no idea what happened up on the Crucible. In fact, he had no idea Shepard ended up at the middle of the blast … he thought she was on the Normandy with the rest of the aliens he called friends. By all appearances, several aliens weren't able to evacuate in time. Especially the humans, who were recognizable as they were laid together in neat piles here and there. Probably due to the keepers and their work. Unfortunate, yes, but it could have been a lot worse if Shepard hadn't given everyone a head's up. To think one human did so much to gather an entire universe to save all of them …
The clan leader had to laugh to himself. Shepard had more quads than some of his squads put together.
"Up ahead," Grunt muttered, pointing his shotgun in the direction of a figure hunched down on the ground.
A short distance from the figure, a man with gray hair laid on his back, abnormal blue eyes staring up. The bullet hole on the side of his head told them enough about what his end was. Grunt approached the figure he first spotted. He thought the man would be all right, considering he was sitting relatively unharmed. Chin resting on his chest, the man appeared as if he was asleep, but all of them could smell the blood after a moment, a deep stain on his Alliance gear. Wrex nudged the man just slightly with the butt of his shotgun. It came as no surprise when the man didn't respond. None of them recognized Admiral David Anderson for the moment, his final resting place.
Wrex would deny jumping if anyone asked, but he lurched when his omni-tool beeped loudly. He brought it up to him to see that Shepard's signal was a very short distance away. He excitedly straightened up and looked around him. As if driven by instinct, Grunt was already headed the direction his omni-tool pointed out.
Though the two men were relatively untouched, about eighty feet away, massive piles of rubble smoldered and shifted with hollow moans occasionally. Wrex then noticed a faint dark blue wave, shimmering within the rubble. It seemed to struggle, like a flame responding to the wind, fighting to stay illuminated. He didn't stop Grunt as the young krogan went closer, his gun pointed at the ready. Omni-tool beeping again, he realized they were mere feet from Shepard's location. Somewhere in the dark, charred rubble, one of thew few humans he trusted with his life laid …
Grunt was now digging through the remains of the area, his gun strapped to his back. Without a word, he knew Shepard was the blue light. And he would be damned if he would see his battlemaster's light go out. Wrex came up to begin helping. Thankfully, it was a few seconds before they exposed an arm, then a side, a leg … This body was dirty, covered in blood, and an angry red shade in some places …
This body was uncomfortably still. The two krogan felt as if they were being electrocuted as its biotics travelled over them, a last line of instinctual defense. Exposing more of its upper half, Grunt paused his hand over the N7 logo on the body's chest plate. He reached underneath the burned, broken, limp body to bring it up and cradle it in his arms. Wrex sighed quietly, wondering if biotics had a sort of rolling effect after someone died. Maybe that was why they were able to spot—
Urdnot Grunt shouted in surprise as the body in his hands gasped loudly. Its breath was ragged, exhausted and strained, but all of them could hear it. Grunt's smile could have split his face in two as he snapped his head up to look in Wrex's direction. A raspy cough came from the body as Grunt stood up, still cradling it in his arms …
Battered, broken, and burned, she laid spread out in her favorite tank-grown krogan's arms. Her chest rose and fell sporadically, but it moved. Biotics flared from her body again, as if to warn Grunt to let go of her, but of course he ignored it. Straightening up, the young one began to walk back through the remains of the Citadel. Though she was far from conscious, Wrex still couldn't contain his own grin.
Without a doubt, Commander Shepard had more quads than any being he knew.