"Grunt seemed eager to go through with the Rite. I guess a violent battle to prove his strength was what excited him the most."
Following Wrex's directions, Kacey, Garrus and Grunt made it to the upper level, where the shaman was residing. As the trio headed towards the room he was in, they could hear bickering voices.
"You go beyond yourself, Gatatog Uvenk!" The Shaman barked, "The rites of Urdnot are dominant!"
"How do we know it will challenge him?" Uvenk shouted back, "He's unnatural! The beasts of the Rite could ignore him like a lump of plastic!"
"They know blood, no matter the womb." The shaman replied firmly, "Your barking does not help your case."
"I speak for myself!" Grunt interrupted.
The shaman turned to face Grunt, staring at the tank-bred krogan as if he was studying him, "This is the tank-bred? It is very lifelike. Smells correct as well. Your protests ring hollow, Uvenk."
"Wrex sent us here to get clan status for Grunt." Kacey added bluntly, "He gave us permission."
"Permission, huh?" The shaman scoffed, "That is good enough for me, if lacking in spirit."
Uvenk growled, a scowl across his face, "If this must stand on ritual, then I invoke a denial! My krantt stands against him! He has no one!"
"My patience is tested, but Uvenk invokes correctly." The shaman replied, "Grunt, who is your krantt? You allies willing to kill and die on your behalf?"
"We stand with Grunt as shipmates and allies." Kacey said as Garrus nodded in agreement.
"Shipmates are not the same thing, but I grant you aliens your simple interpretation."
"Aliens don't know strength!" Uvenk argued, "My followers are true krogan. Everything about Grunt is a lie!"
Kacey headbutted Uvenk; she wasn't going to stand for Uvenk's nonsense anymore and she certainly didn't have the patience to let it slide either. The krogan rubbed his head and glared at her, clearly pissed off by her action.
"You…you dare?!" Uvenk growled.
"I do dare. And if you keep pissing me off, you'll get a hell of a lot worse than that!" Kacey replied with a snarky tone.
"Bahahahah! I like this human!" The shaman responded, "She understands!"
"I withdraw my denial. This will be decided elsewhere!" Uvenk spat as he walked away, bumping into Kacey on the way past.
"Asshole." Kacey muttered.
"You have provoked them." The shaman said, "Reason enough for me to like you. They're your problem now."
"Is he going to be a problem?"
"He is forbidden to interfere." The shaman replied with a devious smirk, "Will he? During the Rite of Passage, you must be ready for anything, Shepard. From what you've shown me, you will not disappoint."
"We're ready." kacey replied, "Let's do this!"
"Excellent." The shaman smirked as he led them out of the room.
…
They drove for a few hours in a tank driving over bumpy roads and over debris. It was turbulent and rough, although it seemed like Grunt actually enjoyed the ride to who knows where. Eventually, the truck stopped and they hopped out into another massive pile of rubble. The shaman led the way, rambling on about something.
"This is Tuchanka's most recent scar." The shaman said, "The last surface city to fall in the rebellions. The keystone was at the heart. It has survived wars and the passage of centuries. It endures—like the krogan. If you wish to join Clan Urdnot, you must contemplate the keystone and its trials."
"What will happen?" Grunt asked.
"Who knows?" The shaman replied, "You must adapt. You must thrive no matter the situation. Any true krogan will."
The area, much like the rest of Tuchanka, was nothing more than ashen ruins. It was a surprise that the keystone and the rusted metal pillars were still intact. The wind was blowing hard, kicking up dust and ash in its wake. Aside from the wind, the area was deadly silent.
The shaman was quick to leave; Kacey looked around and found the button that activated the keystone and pushed it, resulting in something falling and hitting the ground hard as a recording echoed throughout the area.
"First the krogan conquered Tuchanka…and mastered a natural world only we are fit to hold."
The sound of growling snarls rippled across the air as varren raced out of its hiding spots and charged towards the trio. Kacey moved backwards into a safe position as she carefully aimed her assault rifle at the charging varren, roasting them alive with her inferno bullets.
Garrus was already in a good sniping position, taking down the beasts from the dens while Grunt took the alternative approach of charging into the varren and tearing them a new one up close and personal. Each shot from Grunt's shotgun reverberated across the area as he caused the varren to explode with each close-range shot.
Kacey hated dealing with varren; for the same reason she hated the husks and abominations. For a person who's main way of fighting was ranged weapons, fighting enemies up close wasn't her strong suit, much less a practical way of fighting. She had to kick a few of them away so she could get them far enough to shoot them. Swtiching over to her shotgun, Kacey opened fire as she darted to the other side of the platform and down the stairs to put some distance between her and the viscous varren.
"There!" Grunt shouted with glee, blowing a varren to pieces, "These beasts will know I am worthy!"
"Is that it?" Garrus asked as the arena fell silent, "How do we know if it's over?"
"It seems the shaman forgot to mention that part." Kacey said, reloading her rifle, "I'll just press the button, see what happens."
Kacey walked over, passing Grunt who was practically jumping up and down in sadistic excitement. Kacey pressed the button, quickly turning on her heel in preparation for whatever was going to come their way.
"Then the krogan were lifted to the stars to destroy the fears of a galaxy, an enemy only we could chase to their lair!"
The hammer dropped again; shockwaves reverberating across the ground. Klixen scuttled across the area, quickly surrounding the trio. Kacey fired a fiery concussive shot at the horde of klixen, killing two and forcing the rest in front of her to scatter. Garrus did the same, switching to his assault rifle to hit his targets better. Grunt ploughed through the klixen and attacked them from behind.
Kacey rolled to the side to avoid the poison flying from the klixen, returning fire almost as quickly as the venom flew from the beast. Kacey turned, narrowly avoiding more of the green liquid as she ducked and fired another concussive shot. The things were persistent and she was quickly running out of bullets. She circled around the area, coming up behind them as the klixen made a beeline for Grunt. Garrus fired a concussive shot, knocking a few of them back as Kacey shot the beasts with her inferno ammo. It took a while before all of the klixen exploded, leaving blood and guts plastered across the ground. Kacey walked back over to the keystone, hitting the button again.
"Now all krogan bear the genophage, our reward, our curse. It's a fight where the only goal is survival!"
The hammer dropped a final time; the ground shook but this time, it did not stop. The ground continued to rumble and shake as the trio looked around for any hostile forces.
"Feel that?" Grunt said excitedly, " everything is…shaking. I am ready!"
A pale blue tentacle shot out of the ground; before Kacey could say anything, Grunt had already shot it, causing it to shrink and sink beneath the surface and a thresher maw erupted from the ground.
"Well, shit." Kacey mused as she dived out of the way of the thresher's acid.
Kacey had fought thresher maws before; within the safety of the Mako that is. She had never done it on foot before. Hiding behind a steel pillar, she pulled out the Collector Beam and used its laser on the thresher. Despite the giant beast moving frequently to avoid her laser, and Garrus and Grunt's bullets, they were slowly whittling away at the beast, being mindful of acid that the thresher threw in their direction. In a few minutes, their combined efforts led to the death of the giant beast, leading to Kacey and Garrus breathing a sigh of relief while Grunt laughed. However the feeling of relief was interrupted by the sound of a shuttle that landed nearby.
"We have company." Grunt said, amused, "Good. I want more."
Kacey shook her head as she walked over to the shuttle, with Grunt and Garrus in tow. Upon the trio's arrival Kacey could see Uvenk among the armed krogan near the shuttle.
"You live, and you brought down the thresher maw." Uvenk said, pacing on top of a concrete beam, "No one has done that in generations. Urdnot Wrex was the last."
"My krantt gave me strength beyond my genes." Grunt replied bluntly, "Which are damned good."
Uvenk jumped off the beam, approaching the trio, "This will cause discussion. I wonder…you say you are pure? No alien meddling in your construction? Just the Warlord Okeer."
"The best krogan traits are distilled in Grunt." Kacey replied, "He's designed to be perfect. Why so hesitant now?"
"Being designed is the problem. But not made by aliens. And he is truly powerful." Uvenk replied sharply, "That is a tolerable loophole."
Grunt growled, "A what?"
"A reason to accept you." Uvenk continued, "You are a mistake, but your potential could tip the current balance of the clans."
"You spit on my father's name. On Shepard's name!" Grunt growled, "But now you stop ranting because I am strong?"
"With restrictions. You could not breed, of course. Or serve on an alien ship, but you'd be clan in name."
"I.e you want a trophy." Kacey added, "You only want his power. You don't want him in your clan."
"Of course not!" Uvenk replied, "I didn't really want to cooperate with Clan Urdnot either, but I had to. Clan Gatatog is on the verge—either of greatness or of joining the dust. I get traditionalist support if I fight you, and reformer support if I back you. Your Rite of Passage tipped that balance, too."
"If I know Grunt, and I think I do, your answer's coming at muzzle velocity." Kacey smirked.
"You do know Grunt." Grunt confirmed, "This varren is dead!"
Grunt rammed into Uvenk, fighting him with fisticuffs as Kacey and Garrus moved into cover and opened fire on the remaining krogan. Concussive shots and bullets flew across the area as Grunt pounded Uvenk into the ground with his fists, before drawing his shotgun and blasting the krogan's head to pieces. The pure-blooded krogan was quick to turn his gun on the remaining krogan and blasted them away. Once the area was clear, Kacey pressed the keystone's button again, ready to get out of here.
…
"You have passed the Rite of Passage, earning the honour of clan and name." The shaman said, "Many survive, but it has been years since a thresher maw fell! Your names shall live in glory! Grunt, you are Urdnot. You may now own property, join the army and apply to serve under a battlemaster."
"Shepard is my battlemaster." Grunt replied, causing Kacey to give a surprised look, "She has no match."
"Well, was not expecting that today." Kacey mused.
"Understood." The shaman replied, "Congratulations, Urdnot Grunt. Accept this token from Fortack. His weapons are the finest we have. May your foes be strong enough to keep you sharp."
"Oh trust me, we're certainly not lacking in that department." Kacey said.