Chapter 42
Urdnot Shrine – Urdnot City – Tuchanka
"Wrex told us to check in with you," said Shepard as she approached what Wrex had referred to as a shaman of the krogan. Even if she hadn't been told of his title, she would have known he was special in some way due to the black robes he wore and the painted and unreadable symbols on his head plate.
Next to the shaman stood the krogan that Wrex had blasted earlier, and Shepard could tell that the shaman was just as annoyed by his presence as Wrex had been. The shaman waved for Grunt to bend down and the massive krogan did. The mystic leaned forward and stared at him. "This is the tank-bred you spoke of?"
"He is an imposter brought in by outsiders! Sent here by other species to take over the krogan!" snapped Uvenk as he pointed at Grunt. "They should not be free to roam our world!"
"A bit eerie around the eyes," said the shaman before he inhaled deeply. "Very life like, smells correct," he said as he stood back. "Can you speak."
"Likely better than this mewling worm," growled Grunt as he glared down at Uvenk.
"Speak another word to me and I'll end you right here. You're nothing but another genophage in krogan form!" snapped Uvenk before turning towards the shaman again. "I invoke a denial! My clan will stand against him and his invasive krantt!"
The shaman snorted and looked in annoyance from Uvenk over to Grunt. "It is his right to do so. You will have to face him in combat before you go through with the trial."
"That's right. Me and my clan will put you down you alien born deceiver!" snapped the krogan as he pointed angrily at Grunt.
"Enough!" came Shepard's voice as she glared daggers at him through her visor. "You've been here since this morning talking shit and filling his head with garbage."
"How do you know how long I've been here?" asked the angry krogan in an accusatory tone.
"You've had your chance. Now, it's our turn. So, shut the hell up and get out of the way," she ordered menacingly as she stepped up in front of him.
"And what is the human going t-" started the krogan, but he was quickly interrupted.
Shepard activated her biotics, increasing her speed massively before slamming her helmet directly into his plate. Had he seen it coming, or been prepared, there's a good chance he wouldn't have fallen. But the surprise attack worked, and the impact knocked him back so fast he didn't catch himself. Just like he had done back in the parliamentary room, he fell backwards and rolled until he landed on his face. "That. The human is going to do that."
"You dare…" growled Uvenk as he got back to his feet, his anger no doubt doubling or even tripling in intensity as the shaman cackled loudly at them.
When the shaman finally found a moment to breath, he finally spoke. "I like this human! She understands!" wheezed the ancient man as he began to run short of breath.
Uvenk stood up again and dusted himself off before glaring up at Shepard. "I withdraw my denial. This will be decided elsewhere," snapped the krogan as he sulked off, his eyes filled with fire now.
Shepard watched him go before turning back to the shaman. "Is he going to be a problem?"
"Who can say? If he interferes with the rite, he may be exiled. But that will not matter if you're dead," said the priest with a shrug. "All takers of the rite must be prepared for anything."
"Great," groaned the spectre as she shook her head. "So, what do we need to know?"
"This is going to be a Right of Passage for him," he said pointing to Grunt. "And a Rite of Acceptance for you. You're allowed to take weapons and armor that you can carry on you. You're also allowed to use weapons you find in the arena. You must choose your battlemaster, and the battlemaster will choose his krantt. The krantt will consist of five members who will support the battlemaster in the fight ahead. If the battlemaster dies in the fight, the rite is a failure. So, make sure whoever you choose as the krantt is someone who will help carry you to victory," said the shaman knowingly as he looked between them. "Make your choice."
Shepard turned to Grunt and grinned. "So, who do you pick, Battlemaster?"
His eyes widened slightly at the title and he gave her a wide smile. "Shepard, you will come with me."
"Happy to help. Who else?" asked Shepard curiously as she crossed her arms.
"I want Jack along," said the krogan as he looked down, thinking hard about who he wanted covering his back.
"That'll work. She hasn't killed anything in a while and is probably getting antsy," she said with a grin.
"Ashley has some awesome guns I wanna see her use!" he said excitedly, getting a nod from the spectre.
"That's another. Who's the last one?" she asked as she noted the shaman was taking all this down on a tablet.
"I haven't seen Thane fight yet," he said as he nodded his large head. "Get his scrawny ass out from the shadows."
Shepard snorted, then turned back to the shaman. "There you have it."
"Indeed," said the robed krogan as he finished on the datapad and lowered it. "The rite will take place in one hour. Find the captain in the motor pool and he'll drive you and your krantt to the arena." He stayed silent for a few moments as he looked between them. "Oh, and good luck up there. Try not to die."
Chamber of Rites – Urdnot City – Tuchanka
Shepard stood, staring outside of her barred gateway at the dust and wind that blew in the radioactive wasteland. She wasn't sure how hard this would be. Despite Wrex's assurances that this wasn't going to be easy, she wasn't how difficult it would really end up. There was no telling how her team would work together to take the threats down. She had managed to take down an entire security company, multiple mercenary groups, and countless pirate bands. Either way, she hoped for a quick resolution to the entire situation so she could be on her way to getting Mordin's assistant back.
Turning around, she spied the team that Grunt had picked for the fight. The young krogan, despite his size and abilities, needed to prove himself to his own people. He needed to show them that he was more than just made to be great, he was great. Then came Jack, who recently began refusing to allow Grunt to fight without her. Shepard grinned at the pair as they both prepared their armor. She loved the bond they had together, both weapons of destruction created in a lab. Jack currently had armor that helped enhance and focus her biotics instead of her wasting the raw energy on her absurdly strong attacks.
Then there was Ashley, who was checking her weapons and chatting animatedly to Thane. The man was mostly quiet, but never to a rude degree. He seemed to understand human curiosity and fed into it freely, answering any questions she had about the religion of the drell people before they had come to Kahje. Looking down at her loadout, Shepard noted quickly that she hadn't really seen the extent to Ash's weapons since she had joined the Normandy.
Letting go of the weapon specialties of her past, the new spectre now sported a battle rifle, mid to close range in its ability. It was a Harrier, a model she had stolen from the Normandy's armory. The gun was an original creation from Cerberus, but she had modified it to fit her own needs. But the battle rifle was the only normal gun in her arsenal. The rest were folded up heavy weapons, none of which was obvious in how they functioned. The only one she knew for sure was the rocket launcher she had used back on Horizon. Hopefully such powerful weapons wouldn't be needed in the fight to come.
Finally, she clapped her hands together, getting everyone's attention reaching up and grabbing her own Mattock rifle. They all gathered in front of her, their own weapons ready as well. "Everyone ready?"
"Check, skipper," said Ash as she put her heavy weapons onto her back and readied her rifle.
"I'm always ready," said Thane with a small grin.
"Hell yeah!" shouted Jack as she pumped her fist in the air, her own gun still at her side.
"Hell yeah!" shouted Grunt, mimicking Jack with his fist in the air.
Shepard chuckled at them all before shaking her head. "Alright everyone. I don't know how hard this fight is going to be. But at the very least, let's put on a good show. We don't want to bore the people out there." Suddenly, they all heard what sounded like a loud missile siren, part of the leftover infrastructure from the nuclear war to warn against incoming destruction. "That's our cue. Let's give them hell," she said as she turned around and walked out with the four of them at her back.
Urdnot Arena – Urdnot City – Tuchanka
Wrex smiled as he sat down in the arena stands, high above the action below. The head of the female clan, a fine woman by the name of Ravanor Teska sat on his left side. On his other side was the asari that Shepard had brought with her. Also a fine woman who looked to be much older than his former squadmate and Shepard's bondmate, Liara T'Soni. He found himself wondering who she was and how she came to be in Shepard's employ. But that curiosity died quickly as his excitement for the entertainment ahead took over. "I'm surprised Uvenk isn't up my ass about stopping this whole thing," he said, pleasantly surprised at the peacefulness of the day so far.
"That ornery little gnarshrat probably scurried back to his clan after the lashing you gave him," said Teska as she wiggled to get comfortable in her seat.
"He might try to intervene. We'll have to keep an eye out," he said thoughtfully. But his thoughts were interrupted as the sirens went off. "Finally!"
The asari next to him leaned over curiously. "I know a lot about the galaxy, but I do not know this. Can you tell me what they're going to do?"
Excited to explain his culture to another species, he nodded. "Grunt, the krogan you see down there? He's currently clanless. If he wants to be accepted by the people of Tuchanka, then he needs to complete the Rite of Passage. As for Shepard and her alien crew, if they want to travel on Tuchanka, they have to complete the Rite of Acceptance. The goal is to survive Tuchanka's native population for ten full minutes, a rite many krogan had to do in the past. And if they last all ten minutes, they're free to roam. If they don't, then they're probably already dead."
"Interesting. What are they allowed to use in battle?" asked the elder asari curiously as her eyes scanned the battlefield.
"Anything they can carry. And of course, anything they find on the field. There are plenty of people who died in the arena and dropped their weapons. That way if their weapon breaks or gets destroyed, or somehow they run out of ammo, they still have options," he said as he leaned back in his seat.
Teska continued for him. "That includes the ground mounted weapons in the arena such as the harpoons," she said, pointing to what looked like ballista on either side of the arena. "Charkka are notoriously annoying creatures to have to deal with. They rarely involve themselves in a fight. But if they do and refuse to land, those are the only way to get them down."
"Fascinating. Has everyone on Tuchanka passed this rite?" asked the matriarch as she looked to them.
"No. For a long time after the krogan rebellions, we weren't even allowed to have weapons or armor. Those regulations only loosened up about 800 years ago or so. It was about that time when the krogan started integrating back into the galaxy as mercenaries. Since then, it's mostly just been clanless krogan looking for new family.," he said with a chuckle. "Luckily, I got mine out of the way beforehand and took it right before the krogan rebellions began."
The elegant asari woman eyed him curiously. "You age well, Urdnot Wrex," she said, seemingly surprised at how old he was. "What's the difference between the Rite of Passage you took and Rite of Acceptance? Do they differ in some way?" asked Samara as she looked down to the ring to see Shepard and the crew exiting from the contender room.
He shrugged lightly. "Mechanically, not much. But the Rite of Passage is for krogan to become part of a clan. While the Rite of Acceptance is for outsiders and aliens to be welcome on Tuchanka. As for what they entail, they're almost the same. Krogan value strength above all else. And if you're strong, you're welcome here." He looked down and saw the five competitors stepping forward into the decently sized arena. Standing to his feet, he shouted, "Shepard! Give us a good show!"
The spectre waved back to him before preparing to fight. It was then that the gates around the arena opened slowly, the mechanical cranks lifting the heavy metal bars. All five of the competitors raised their weapons to defend themselves. It was a slow start to be sure. A full minute passed before a varren finally made its way into one of the doors, sniffing the ground as it went. Being closest to Shepard, she noticed it just as it noticed her. The pair froze as they spotted one another, then varren let out a deafening roar before sprinting full tilt at her.
She finished it with two rounds straight to the head, but the damage had been done. As the five gates around the edges of the arena flooded with hungry varren, all five of them began blasting away with their weapons. The drell had two pistols, one for each hand while Ash had her battle rifle. The pistls showed minimal damage, but killed all the same. The rifle was brutal and hammered into the beasts, blasting their hide open with enough power to stop it from rampaging. Shepard had her own battle rifle, something that was new to Wrex as he was used to seeing her with a pistol. The short, funny human simply used biotics, and finally Grunt. The krogan blasted varren apart with his shotgun before punching one in the face, then charging through an entire pack of them like a train.
After a few minutes of the entertaining combat, another asari approached the krogan. "Warchief, do you believe it's wise to have the whelplings watching?" asked the dark-eyed asari.
"Calm yourself, Rana. They are in no danger here," said Teska as she waved for the woman to sit.
Rana went to sit, but her nervous features immediately turned to fear as she saw who sat next to Wrex. "W-Why is there a justicar here?" she asked, practically stuttering the question.
"You are safe, child. I know of your indiscretions, and you are not on my list as of yet," said Samara as she gave the younger asari a small, placid smile. "I am here with Spectre Shepard. I am working with her to stop the harvesting of human colonists by the collectors."
The scientist rubbed her forehead. "She recruited a justicar to fight with her… of course she recruited a justicar. How the hell does anyone still oppose this woman?"
"Heh… you'd be surprised how many stupid people there are in the galaxy," said Wrex as he once again waved for her to sit. Finally, she sat next to Teska. "And don't worry about the young ones. The only thing that can even reach us up here are the charkka, and we have an energy field up to keep them away from the stands and out in the arena."
Rana sighed and looked down into the arena, a gasp escaping her throat as she saw the amount of blood that had already been spilled. "Goddess… I guess that answers my question about how she survived Saren's cloning facility…"
"Damn right," said Wrex with a giant grin. "Of course, I was there too. Those krogan were no match for the real thing."
"Indeed…" said the nursemaid as she continued to watch the carnage.
Wrex turned his attention back to the mess below and saw that the varren were finally thinning out. With piles of bodies created from a combination of bullets and biotics, the creatures appeared to have learned their lesson. The five had each cleared out their own gate and the remaining varren were now backing up slowly, letting out a growl as they did.
Everyone was so focused on the varren that it came as a complete surprise when, out of the foggy day, a massive creature flew down into the arena and slammed into the ground where the varren were retreating. As soon as it hit the varren covered ground, ten of its offspring flew off and swarmed for the varren, killing those that didn't immediately run for cover. It was then that the insects turned and focused on the party inside the arena. Klixen were suckers for live prey and almost always went for moving targets rather than the safer corpses nearby. As was the case here as Jack unleashed a hellish blast of biotics that hit three of the creatures. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't very studied up on them.
As soon as they were hit, the klixen erupted into thermal energy and exploded almost directly in her face. She flew back and slid across the ground, coughing heavily as the rest of the squad began fighting off the rest of the insects. Shepard knelt down to check on her, and from all appearances, she was more pissed off than hurt. Unfortunately, her troubles wouldn't stop there as two more charkka slammed into the ground, releasing a swarm of klixen to contend with.
As if that weren't bad enough, one of the charkka decided to stay behind and defend the swarm by throwing its head forward and blasting the area in front of them with fire. Thane went to dodge, but it was only Grunt's quick thinking that saved him from the heat. The massive krogan stepped in front of the drell and held up a small, shield-like plate of metal he had found in the arena to protect his face. But the rest of his body took the full brunt of the attack, sparing the drell, but damaging the krogan.
Wrex leaned forward and watch in fascination as Grunt seemed to shrug his skin melting heat off. He wasn't sure if it was because his genetics allowed him thicker skin to ignore higher temperatures, or if his regeneration was fast enough that the heat was inconsequential. But it was exciting regardless. "Heh. Now we're talking."
"Who is that krogan?" asked Teska, who appeared to be fascinated by the young hero as well.
"Shepard found him. He's clanless. Or… he was," said Wrex as he felt more than confident enough to say that the krogan was going to survive the rite.
"His name is Grunt. He's young, but extremely smart," said Rana with a grin. Wrex eyed her curiously, wondering how she knew the whelp.
But he simply shrugged. "According to him he knows all of our historical languages and two human ones," said the warchief, getting a surprised look from the female clan leader.
"So young?" she asked, bewildered at the concept. "If only all krogan women fancied such smarts. Perhaps the krogan wouldn't be in the situation we're in," she growled as she stared back down at the new krogan.
"Well, they might not have a choice in the matter. Because from the looks of things, he's pretty strong too," said the warchief as Jack, under Grunt's instructions, biotically hurled the krogan over the swarm of larva and directly at the flying menace. Thane distracted it by pelting its face with suppressive fire from his own cover where he hid from its constant flaming attack. As the massive krogan hit its back, the creature screeched in surprise and began to immediately spin on the spot as its head attempted to get the battlemaster off its back.
But it was too late to do anything. Grunt hurled the shield-like object like a discus, bouncing it off the creature's head before he grabbed the smaller wings on its back and wrenched with all his strength. The wings separated easily, and the creature screamed in agony before falling over and thrashing angrily. Knowing danger was imminent, the battlemaster dove off the creature to get away and hit the ground in a roll as the creature ensured its own demise. The thrashing insect slammed into the swarm that had turned to go after Grunt, causing explosions that tore it to pieces. Once it was finally dead, its own internal combustion mechanism triggered and it exploded much bigger than the larva, shaking the ground and destroying any klixen that had been nearby.
Shepard and Ashley finished the last of the insect spawn with gunfire before checking on the others. "Well damn," said Wrex with a chuckle. "I didn't think it'd end that fast…" he said as he looked at the timer. It still showed three minutes left on the clock. After everything that had happened, it was unlikely that any more of the creatures were going to come back just to get hammered. Still, he had to wait out the clock as the krogan around him cheered at the display.
"You may just be onto something," said Teska with a small grin as she looked down at the champion. "Hopefully he'll inspire some more of our people to invest in study."
"Heh… we can only hope," said Wrex as he stood to shout down at the spectre. But as he did, he was immediately knocked off his feet and back into his seat by a shockwave that ripped through the ground. His blood ran cold as he recognized the feeling. "Who the hell activated the maw hammer?"
Next to him, Teska immediately stood and turned to Rana. "Get the whelplings out of her now!" she snapped as she turned to the warchief. "We need to hold it off until they get back inside!"
Leaning over the railing, Wrex shouted down to the group. "Shepard!" She looked up at him with a questioning look. "A thresher maw is coming!"
It took moments for her to register what he had said before her eyes widened. "Are you fucking serious!?"
"Get out of there!" he shouted as he waved his hands rapidly to get his point across. But it was too late. He could already feel the ground quaking as the beast approached. It dug directly under the walls of the arena and burst from the ground with an earsplitting screech of anger. Everyone froze in shock as it towered over the stands, seemingly ignoring the party on the ground.
The massive worm unleashed a violent blast of acid aimed directly at the audience, but the warchief managed to stop it as he threw up a bioitic barrier. Unfortunately, despite his skill with biotics, he knew he wouldn't be able to stop the next attack. The creature lunged forward with its mouth open wide, intending to take some of the audience. He wouldn't be able to stop the full weight of the creature from smashing into the stands, but even knowing his shield would fail, he stayed and tried to at least mitigate the damage.
He expected to be eaten or maimed in some way, but instead the massive megapede hit a different barrier. Its body lurched into the assault, only doing more damage to itself as it was stopped cold. Looking over, Wrex saw the asari justicar next to him holding up both hands with her entire body lit with biotic power. "Get the children out. I will keep it at bay as long as I can," she said, her face now contorted in an expression of pain.
"Heh, not bad asari," he said as he yelled to the others. "Get them the hell out of here, now!"
Unfortunately for Samara, the creature was now rising again, more angry than ever. It rose from the ground and roared once again, ready to refocus its attack. But instead it got blasted in the side of the head by some kind of explosive round.
Shepard looked over to see Ash holding up her rocket launcher with a glare. The weapon was short and simple, but frighteningly powerful as the explosion gained the attention of the thresher maw. She fired again, the dust around Ash being thrown into the air as the heavy weapon vented oxygen from all sides before launching another missile round directly at its head. It attempted to dodge, but the missile curved and slammed into it once again. Finally looking away from the stands, she appeared to know what was coming.
"Oh good," growled Ash as she dropped the gun to the side and began to run for the cover of one of the nearby dead trees in the arena. She dove behind one just as acid splashed against it and began dissolving the tree before her very eyes. Luckily for her, the rest hit the ground on either side of her, sizzling away as it ate away anything in puddles on the ground.
Jack, who was fairly worn out already due to the explosions she had endured, "Grunt! Give me a boost!" she shouted as she sprinted for him. The krogan weaved his hands together, and as soon as her foot made contact, he hurled her high into the air. Igniting with biotics, she launched a biotic warp that would have blasted an M35 Mako to dust. All it did to the maw, however, was eat away at the side of its head. It shrieked in anger at her attack before straightening out and diving back into the ground as Thane used his own biotics to catch her mid-fall.
Shepard knew what was going to happen. She had studied up on the creatures after their first encounter on Edolus. The thresher was currently coiling beneath the surface of the earth. As soon as it was finished, it sprouted tentacles up and out of the ground that detected movements nearby, then dragged any creature stupid enough to get close into the ground to be eaten alive.
The spectre, already sweating heavily from her encounters earlier with the varren and harvesters, dropped her gun knowing it would be useless against the creature. Instead, she slid out two blades from her gauntlets and activated her biotics. Sprinting as fast as her biotics and cybernetics could carry her, she aimed for the first of the tentacles to emerge from the ground and slashed through it with the almost 700C degree blade. Any time a new one sprouted, she diverted and slashed through it as well.
Shepard had gone through five of the appendages before they stopped coming. Stopping her biotic attack, she tumbled across the ground as the tiredness tripped her. She rolled onto her back, gasping in gulps of air as the creature angrily erupted from the ground. Her eyes widened as she saw that it was immediately diving directly for her. It must have heard where she landed and decided to exact its retribution immediately. She tried to roll out of the way, but knew that she wasn't going to make it.
At least, that was until she felt a powerful kick that sent her flying into the nearby wall of the arena. Her eyes looked up just long enough to see Grunt standing where she had been laying moments before. "Gruuuuuunt!" she shouted, but she could do nothing but watch as the giant worm slammed down on top of him and swallowed him whole. She felt her eyes practically heating up as they began to glow in rage. Getting to her feet, she immediately began barking orders. "Ash! Get to the damn harpoon! Thane, you too! Bring that goddamn thing back down here!"
"Order confirmed," came Thane's voice.
"Got it, skipper," shouted Ash from the other side of the arena.
"Jack, you and me are going to split this damn thing open and get him out of there!" she shouted as she lit her biotics again.
"You're goddamn right we are!" snapped Jack as she skidded to a halt next to the spectre. But as she looked up at the thresher maw, she noticed that it was standing stock still, as if it were frozen. "What the hell is it doing?"
"I don't know," said Shepard as she signaled to the others. "Now's the time!"
"Apologies, Shepard. This thing is ancient and it will take a moment to get the rust off in order to fire," said Thane from his ballista.
"Same over here, Shepard! Shouldn't be more than a few seconds!" said Ash, causing Shepard's brows to furrow.
"We don't have a lot of time! Hurry!" she snapped as she looked up at the seemingly placid creature again. Now it was making some kind of low rumbling noise as it began to sway back and forth as if drunk. Finally, much to the complete surprise of everyone in the arena, Grunt blasted out of its side and landed meters in front of it covered in its gore. He fell to his knees and vomited on the ground, both of his swords in his hands. "Grunt!" shouted Shepard as she flew to his side to help him.
"Not now, Shepard. We have to finish this thing!" he snapped as he wiped his mouth and got to his feet again.
"How?" asked the spectre as she looked towards the now viciously wounded creature that Grunt had just cut himself out of.
Taking his swords, he pointed at a tree with one of them. "Shepard, tear the top off the tree. Give me the sharpest point you can." She was startled to see him take charge, but she immediately aimed her biotics at it, using her warp ability to turn the tree into what was effectively a giant spike.
"Krios, Williams, as soon as those harpoons are ready, fire them!" ordered the krogan. Almost as soon as he said that, both harpoons fired. They crisscrossed as they entered the creature in midair, the taut chains attached now holding it in place. Immediately it began to pull against them. "Damn, it was stronger than I thought!" he grumbled as he readied his blades again.
"I got this," said Jack as she sprinted forward. Shepard and Grunt both looked on wide-eyed as Jack reentered the hole that Grunt had escaped from.
"What the hell is she…" started Shepard, but she stopped as she heard screaming from inside. Suddenly, the creature roared as if it were in more pain than even Grunt had caused. It attempted to thrash around, but the harpoons strained to hold it in place. Finally, Shepard saw what was happening. Her brows shot up in awe as she saw the edge of a biotic sphere split open the creature's gut. It grew and grew inside of the worm, tearing and shredding everything in its path as Jack mimicked the move she had recently learned from Wrex.
When she was finished, she had torn the entire thresher maw in half from the inside, her barrier being the only thing to keep her from bathing in its innards. "Now!" shouted Jack angrily.
"Krios, Williams! Release your chains!" he snapped before turning to Shepard. "A little help here?"
She smirked and nodded. As soon as the chains were released from the ballista, they swung from the writhing creature. Grunt quickly grabbed them and wrapped them around his arms, getting a good grip before he began to pull the creature towards the tree. Shepard used her biotics to stop its thrashing and also assisted in pushing it down, Grunt's strength alone not being nearly enough.
Jack jumped in as well, her biotics now pushing it down against its wishes. Shepard allowed Jack to take over assisting Grunt as she sprinted in front of the massive creature's maw. Now torn completely in half, the creature didn't have nearly the strength to fight off both Jack's biotics and Grunt's incredible physical strength. But that didn't mean it didn't still have defenses.
As she predicted, the megapede closed its mouth before opening it with a blast of acid aimed directly at the battlemaster. But Shepard stood in its path and put up a barrier just in time to stop its corrosive attack from getting to Grunt. Finally, with one last yank of the chains and biotic slam by Jack, the trapped creature's head was forced to slam down into the spike, impaling it and killing it for good.
Its body still continued to thrash in the throes of death, but its head stopped moving entirely as acid began to drip out of the open mouth. They all looked up at the audience stands and saw that everyone had been evacuated with the exception of Wrex, who apparently refused to miss the fight. But Wrex was holding up his omni-tool and broadcasting the entire thing from the stands. Grunt saw him standing there and immediately slammed his fists together. "I… AM… KROGAN!" he roared into the sky.
Almost immediately afterwards, the sound of cheering filled the air as everyone who saw the shout bellowed back in return. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but their voices practically shook the ground as millions of krogan cheered back at them.
"Holy shit…" said Ash as she ran up breathlessly. "Did we actually just kill that thing on foot?"
"It was a juvenile," said Grunt as he remarked at the size of the creature. "Were it an adult it would have snapped those chains like they were made of paper."
"But it wasn't an adult," said Thane as he approached. "Even in infancy these things are huge and extremely dangerous. It's recommended that you avoid them even in military grade ships. And you just killed one on foot in front of every krogan in Urdnot City."
"Guess what that means, big guy," said Jack with a grin as she finally caught her breath again.
"It means that a thresher maw has only been killed during the rites on three occasions. The rise of Warlord Shiagur, my own rite of passage nearly 1500 years ago, and now you," he said with a massive grin on his face. But his smile disappeared as a group of krogan emerged from the doors of the arena with their weapons raised. "Uvenk," Wrex growled as he spotted the whimpering krogan.
"It's about time we got rid of this infestation that's been polluting Tuchanka," snapped the man as he held his shotgun aimed at Wrex. "If you want to cavort with the enemy, you can do it from hell. Clan Gatatog will take over your position and lead them all to glory," he said as around ten krogan men appeared, all holding weapons.
"Heh… so you're the spineless little weasel who activated the maw hammer," said Wrex as he shook his head. "You'd think after watching them tear apart a thresher maw that you'd learn your lesson," he said, chuckling as he looked over to Shepard. "He's all yours. Show the other clans what happens when you screw with the allies of Urdnot."
"Don't you dare move!" snapped Uvenk as he aimed his weapon at Wrex. "We have you surrounded."
"Heh heh heh," came Grunt's signature laugh as he stepped in front of Wrex. Uvenk's gun quickly aimed at him instead. "You don't have us surrounded, you wretched, cowardly, little, roach. We have you exactly where we want you." With one quick slash, Grunt sliced clean through Uvenk's weapon and his hand with the new sword, sending the krogan screaming to the ground. Raising the weapon again, he hurled it with incredible strength, scoring as the blade sank through the helmet, through the plate, and into the head of another of the krogan.
The action sparked the movement of every one of the other five members of Grunt's krantt. While they were distracted with what Grunt had done, Ashley pulled off one of her heavy weapons and blasted two of the krogan with a cryobeam that one solid and half petrified the other. Dropping the weapon, she sprinted forward and smashed through one of the krogan with a brutal punch, their head exploding into shards of ice as she turned to the other. Still conscious, the second krogan screamed in fear as she grabbed his good arm and used her mechanized armor to assist her in slamming him to the ground. He was still alive for moments before she put a boot to the back of his hump and rolled him screaming into a puddle of the dead thresher maw's acid, unable to get out because of his frozen limbs.
Thane had two krogan on either side of him. One raised their weapon to fire, and he reached up, gripped the weapon, and moved his head so that it fired directly into the side of his partner's head. While it definitely wounded the second one, he wasn't dead, but enraged. Raising his own shotgun, he aimed at Thane, only to have the drell once again steer the weapon up and into the face of the first krogan, causing the shot to crater their head, blasting it clean off. The assassin then pulled out a retractable cord from his sleeve and wrapped it around the weapon of the surprised krogan before then wrapping it around his head. Yanking on the cord, this pulled the weapon and the krogan's hand directly up into his own face before Thane reached over and pulled the trigger, blasting the second to oblivion as well.
Jack simply reached forward with her biotics and grabbed both of the krogan aiming at her. Smirking as they tried fruitlessly to fire their weapons inside the field of dark energy, she pushed the two together, using her willpower to increase the gravitational force. The two shouted in agony as their bodies began to bend and fold in ways not meant to be. It took excruciating seconds of them being bent until every bone in their bodies were broken before she finally let them free to fall to the ground, if not dead then wishing they were.
"What's the matter?" asked Shepard as she grinned at the two krogan with weapons trained on her. "Shouldn't you have fired already? Or… have you heard about me?" she asked, using her omni-tool behind her back and causing their heatsinks to overload and eject from their weapons. One of the krogan looked down at the weapon in surprise. It was then that Shepard moved forward and locked her right gauntlet in place, her biotics allowing her to charge forward and blast the krogan in the face so hard that he barely registered the attack before he slammed into the arena wall, cracking it as if he had been hit by a rogue missile. She then warped over and freed one of her blades, slashing across the other's head, directly under the plate. He couldn't even scream as he fell to his knees, orange blood now pouring down his face from the wound as the blade severed his brain from his spine.
Finally, Grunt stood over Uvenk with a grin unlike any Shepard had seen before. It was one of confidence, of leadership, and of finishing something that needed done. The massive krogan grabbed Uvenk and stood him up. The usurper, who had just watched all of his soldiers get either maimed or killed by the group, looked around for any avenue of escape. But instead of trying to, he simply sat shivering in place as Grunt circled him.
"I know you thought this was a good idea. Take out Shepard, take out me, take out Wrex, then the clans are all yours! And surely they'll all be exhausted after fighting the thresher maw…" said Grunt as he eyed the cowering Gatatog. "But now you're alone."
"I…I… I'm sorry…" grumbled the defeated man. Nearly everyone cringed at the cowardly apology.
"I believe you," said Grunt as he stopped in front of Uvenk.
"Y-You do?" asked the Gatatog leader as he looked up at his towering adversary.
"I believe you're sorry that you lost. But something tells me that if my krantt were the ones laying on the ground dead, you wouldn't feel so sorry," he said as he glared daggers down at the mewling man. "You thought you could get away with insurrection because you had us in a vulnerable position. But now you realize that there is no such position for us," said Grunt as he slammed Uvenk against the arena wall. "We fight collectors! We fight reapers! We are the ones who purge the darkness from the galaxy, and you thought you could destroy us?"
"P-Please!" shouted Uvenk as he covered his face.
"You risked the entire fate of the galaxy in your little coup, Uvenk. And now you're going to pay for it," said the massive krogan as he drew his head back. Slamming it forward, it crashed directly into Uvenk's plate, shattering it to pieces and crushing the man's head against the wall. Grunt snorted as he tossed the man onto the ground. He wasn't dead, but he'd also need medical attention or hours of regeneration before he would even be able to speak again, let alone move. "I give you and your men as an offering to mother Tuchanka. May she cleanse your cowardice from the face of the world."
Shepard patted the massive krogan on the shoulder . "You ready to go, Urdnot Grunt?"
He smirked again and nodded. "Let's go see my people." Together, they all headed back towards the contender room and the safety of the motorpool as the wildlife began to slowly creep back inside the arena now that the noise was gone. Varren stalked into the arena, the smell of krogan blood drawing them in as Uvenk watched on in horror.
Great Hall – Urdnot City – Tuchanka
When they arrived back in the city, Wrex took them to what was known as the Great Hall of Urdnot. It was a massive room now filled with krogan and tables of food. As soon as the group entered, Shepard had to cover her ears as they let out an earsplitting roar of approval. Grunt was almost immediately dragged into the room by the other krogan as Shepard and Wrex stood near the door. "They grow up so fast…" he said, dabbing his eye jokingly as if he were crying, something she knew krogan couldn't do.
Shepard snorted in amusement at his actions before shoving his head aside playfully. "Especially him. He's been out of his tank for less than a year and already he's got a celebrity status here on Tuchanka."
"You said Okeer made him to help secure the krogan's future?" asked Wrex as he looked to her.
"According to his assistant, yes. I never really got any answers out of him before he was blown to hell," said Shepard as he watched Grunt get pulled into what was essentially a krogan mosh pit, something they did as a ritual of acceptance. Of course, given his size and strength, he had zero trouble withstanding their blows.
"Heh, well, as much as I hated the crazy bastard, I think he did a pretty good job," said the krogan as he took a drink from one of the lower ranking men at the party. "Ryncol?" he asked with a grin.
"Habaneros?" asked Shepard with a smirk as she crossed her arms. The grin vanished and the color drained from Wrex's face as he almost shivered in horror.
"Damn you humans and your peppers," he said as he shook his head. "I thought we krogan were resilient. But you all willingly put that garbage in your bodies."
"Resilient is one way to put it," she said as she looked towards a smiling Grunt once more. His smile ignited her own smile. "We have to be for those we love."
"Coming from the one who came back from the dead, I believe it," he said before finally downing the small shot of ryncol. "I'm gonna go get laid. You should too. Find you a nice krogan lady to settle down for the night with."
"Very funny, Wrex," she said with a playful glare. "I've just gotten my love life back. I'm gonna take things slower now that I've got a kid."
"You have a kid?!" asked Wrex, a look of shock on his face. "When are you bringing them here?"
"Oh goddammit, not you too…" groaned Shepard as she buried her face in her hands.
CODEX ENTRIES
Charkka | Zoology | Tuchanka
Flying, insect-like creatures from Tuchanka. These are a well-known enemy to the krogan. They are enormous and can carry up to a dozen of their larva, called klixen on their body as they fly. As a form of attack, they can land directly on top of, or nearby an enemy, the impact causing their larva to fall off. The larva then swarm the target, scorching it to death with fire they chemically create. The klixen then tear apart the target and bring it back to the charkka for sustenance. This behavior has earned these creatures the nicknames swarmers and .