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Archer gripped the harness of his seat hard as the shuttle shuddered as it entered Tuchanka's atmosphere. The shuttle creaked and groaned as it was tossed about in the harsh winds of the krogan homeworld before the inertial dampeners kicked in and the ride became smoother.

He let out the breath he didn't know he was holding and let go of the harness, resting his hands on his knees. He rubbed his hands along the white armour plating of the Explorer armour, thinking back to when Vask bought it for him.

"This costs way too much," complained Archer, as he looked over the white and blue armour Vask had him try on.

"You're not buying this. You already blew over seven thousand on the pistol," said Archer, pointing to the M-5 Phalanx the krogan was holding as Archer tried on the armour.

"If you're going to be coming with me then you're getting this armour and the heavy pistol." Vask said, pulling out his credit chit. "If you don't like it, stay here on Omega."

The shuttle jerked again, shaking Archer from his memory.

"We've landed," Vask said from the seat next to him. "You can stop holding your harness for dear life."

Archer let go of the harness again, undid it, and stood up from his seat.

Vask got up from his and handed Archer the helmet to his new armour, "Put it on. Trust me, you'll want it on."

Archer put it on and stood behind Vask at the shuttle door.

Blisteringly hot air rushed into the shuttle's cabin, making Archer shield his face with his arm and yell out, "Fucking hell! That's what heatwaves are like here?"

"No," Vask said, stepping out of the shuttle with Archer following behind him, still shielding his face, "That's the normal temperature. If it was a heat wave then water would be boiling."

Vask turned to Archer and tapped him on his armoured shoulder, "And be thankful we're inside in the shade. It's worse in the sun. Why I had you get the armour. Protects you from extreme conditions."

"Heatwaves here are at the bloody boiling point of water?" asked Archer, already feeling sweat dripping down him under his armour.

"Doesn't seem to be doing much," Archer said, going to wipe away the sweat but only meeting his armour, "I can still feel plenty of the heat."

"I said it protects you, not makes you comfortable," replied Vask, closing the shuttle door.

Archer looked around at the area they landed, a large, tall circular room with no ceiling, just a large hatch that the shuttle landed through.

"Hold on," Archer said, craning his neck to see the top of the room they're in. "Are we in a fucking missle silo?"

"Probably," Vask said matter of factly, and giving a nod to a nearby Blood Pack recruiter, "Would've held a nuke before Tuchanka was a radiation blasted hellhole."

Vask walked down a ramp to a large sliding door, and Archer followed, giving a wide berth around the Blood Pack recruiter who was glaring at him.

When they reached the door, they were stopped by a brown krogan in white armour. "Stop, I'm the Overcaptain for Clan Urdnot. State your name and business."

"Weyrloc Vask," growled Vask, "I'm here to find out what the fuck is going on with my clan."

"Your clan was largely wiped out by Commander Shepard, and Urdnot took in your females and children," said the Overcaptain.

"Shepard?" Archer asked, surprised. "They're dead."

The Overcaptain looked down at Archer before looking back at Vask. "Who's your pet?"

"Excuse me?" asked Archer, insulted. He moved forward but was stopped by Vask's arm.

"Nevermind him," Vask said to the Overcaptain. "He's my krantt."

The Overcaptain looked back down at Archer and remarked, "He's a bit small."

"But I'm still more than capable of throwing you across the room," shot back Archer. He beckoned with his hand, enveloping it in dark energy. "Come over here. I'll give you a demonstration."

The Overcaptain looked at Archer before scoffing. He looked back at Vask and told him, "Go through and see the clan leader. He'll decide what to do with you."

The Overcaptain moved aside and let them through the large sliding door. Archer glared at the krogan, who paid him no mind in return.

"Try and watch who you get in fights with here," Vask told Archer as they walked down a long tunnel. "I may like how firey you get but others may take it as a proper challenge."

"I can hold my own," Archer said, "And besides, you're here too."

"But you and I can't take on the entire clan," Vask said.

He stopped and grabbed Archer's shoulder, "This is Clan Urdnot's capital. You need to make sure to watch what you say and do. Especially when we meet with their clan leader."

Vask let go of Archer's and started walking down the tunnel before turning back to Archer, "Actually, it'll probably be best that you don't say anything at all. Just stand next to me."

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence," Archer said, crossing his arms.

"What's a krantt anyway?" Archer asked as they started walking down the tunnel.

"It's difficult to explain to other species," Vask said, going silent for a moment as he thought about it. "It's a warrior's most trusted ally. Someone's who's willing to fight and die for their glory and honour. Like when you-"

Vask cut himself off at the end of his explanation with a clearing of his throat, prompting Archer to ask, "Like when I what?"

Vask waved him off as they reached the large sliding door at the end of the tunnel, "Nevermind, we'll go into it later."

"Mhmm," Archer said, not believing the krogan.

The door slid open and Archer took in the large, decrepit room full of concrete rubble, rusted metal, and random fires.

"Oh god," Archer said, looking over the area again. "This place is a shithole."

"Told you," Vask said, walking towards the largest pile of rubble, where multiple krogan were gathered, and where a large throne was constructed out of the rubble in which seated a bored looking red krogan who was presumably the clan leader.

Archer followed behind, frowning at a nearby pit where varren were fighting with several krogan cheering them on. He wasn't paying attention to where he was going and so bumped into one of the krogan at the bottom of the rubble pile.

The krogan pushed him back, and said, "Don't go any further, human. Krogan clan business only."

Vask, who had already walked past the guard, turned around but Archer waved at him to keep going.

Archer stood impatiently with his arms crossed, glaring at the guard who glared in return.

"You lot are just a ray of sunshine," Archer said, in which the guard gave a small growl in response.

Archer looked past the guard to Vask, who was arguing, just out of earshot, with the red krogan seated in the throne. The seated krogan, who was seemingly just as scarred as Vask, looked at Vask with disinterest as he was berated.

After a while, Vask said something that the clan leader disliked. He stood up from the throne and headbutted Vask. Vask reeled back from the hit, and sneered at the clan leader. He reached back for his shotgun, prompting all the other krogan around him to pull out their guns, and the guard blocking Archer aimed his gun at the human.

Archer swore and put his hand to his pistol, and enveloped the other in dark energy.

Vask sneered at the krogan surrounding him, and his hand moved closer to his shotgun. But his eyes met Archer's, he looked at the human for a moment before he moved his hand away from his gun. Visibly deflating and shame plastered over his face.

The rest of the krogan slowly put their weapons away, and Archer let the dark energy around his hand dissipate and took his other hand away from his pistol.

He let out a breath and looked at the clan leader, who was staring at him intently with his dark, red eyes.

Archer felt intensely uncomfortable under the clan leader's scrutinizing gaze, and looked to Vask for any clue on what he was supposed to do.

The clan leader's eyes flicked to Vask, looked at him for a moment and then said something to the shame-filled krogan that made him look at the clan leader in surprise.

Another krogan spoke up in protest of whatever the clan leader said to Vask. The clan leader sat back down in his throne and rolled his eyes at the krogan's berating.

Vask slinked away and met back up with Archer at the bottom of the rubble pile.

"What was that about?" asked Archer. "You told me not to shit talk, and you went ahead and did it yourself."

"It was just krogan hot air," Vask said, refusing to look at Archer. He walked off and up some nearby stairs. "Come on, the clan leader told us to go see the clan shaman."

Archer followed behind, asking, "Was that all he said? You seemed pretty shocked and he was giving me some weird look before telling you whatever it was."

"I'll go into it later," said Vask.

"Uhuh, sure you will," Archer said with a roll of his eyes.

The pair made their way up the stairs into a room where the clan's shaman, who was the only krogan that Archer had seen so far that wasn't wearing armour, was in the middle of a heated argument with another krogan.

"Is every conversation with a krogan on this planet a fight of some sort?" Archer asked Vask as they waited.

"Pretty much," said Vask.

"I am Weyrloc Dinak, from the line of Shiagur," shouted the krogan arguing with the shaman, "I will not have my clan's honour and traditions tainted by Urdnot's reformation."

"Who's Shiagur?" Archer asked Vask, leaning closer to ask the krogan.

"Famous warlord," answered Vask.

"Huh, neat," said Archer, impressed at the arguing krogan's lineage.

"Not really," rebuked Vask, "She had so many children that pretty much anyone can claim to be of her line."

"Oh, so like Genghis Khan," said Archer.

"Who?" asked Vask.

"Famous human warlord," explained Archer, "Created one of the largest empires in human history and has a lot of descendents."

"Are you one of them?" Vask asked, curious.

Archer scoffed, "Nah, my heritage is far too Western European to have a chance to be."

Vask shrugged and was about to speak when the shaman spoke up, waving off Dinak.

"If you have no desire to join Urdnot then stop wasting my time and go die in the wastes with the rest of your dead clan."

"As long as a single Weyrloc draws breath, then my clan will never die," growled Dinak.

Dinak turned and saw Vask and Archer watching.

He turned back to the shaman, pointing at Vask. "See? Weyrloc isn't dead. There's more than just me."

"Do you know him?" Archer asked in a whisper.

"I know his face," Vask said. "We're a large clan, were a large clan, we don't know everyone personally."

"A large clan?" Archer asked, "How many of you lot did Shepard kill?"

"Come on," said Dinak, storming past Vask and Archer towards the stairs. "Clans have come back from worse hardships. Weyrloc will come back from this stronger than ever, and take back what Urdnot's taken from us."

Vask turned to follow Dinak but Archer grabbed his arm, "We still need to talk to the shaman."

Vask stood frozen, eyes flicking around the room.

"What are you waiting for?" called out Dinak.

"Fuck off and let him make his own decisions," snapped Archer.

"Who are you, human? To interfere in krogan affairs?" demanded Dinak, storming up to, and looking down at the human.

Archer crossed his arms and looked up at the sneering krogan, and answered, "I'm his krantt."

Dinak let out a harsh laugh. "You? His krantt?"

"You don't know what a krantt is," Dinak said, derisively. "You've never lived as a krogan has. You know nothing of our culture and never will."

"It doesn't matter if I don't know what it is," snapped Archer. "If anyone tries to mess with Vask, I'll see to it that they'll regret it."

"All talk and no bite. There's no way a pitiful human like you could ever be a krogan's krantt," said Dinak, shoving Archer. The krogans arm slapping the humans right shoulder, right over his scar.

Archer stumbled back, slapping a hand on his shoulder, expecting pain to explode from it. But his new armour blocked the hit.

Archer took his hand from his shoulder and shot it out towards Dinak, surrounding the krogan with dark energy and lifting him off the ground.

With a yell, Archer enveloped a fist in dark energy and punched the floating krogan, sending him flying towards the stairs.

Dinak crashed into the wall, fell to the ground and tumbled harshly down the stairs.

Archer pulled back his fist with a sneer, breathing hard before he remembered where he was. His stomach dropped, he didn't know anything about krogan culture. He didn't know if violence was forbidden in front of a shaman or not.

His mind swarmed with multiple worst case scenarios that he was taken by surprise by the last thing he expected to hear; laughter.

Archer slowly looked back at Vask. He wasn't the one laughing, the krogan looked mortified. He looked towards the shaman, who was, in fact, the one laughing.

The shaman laughed deeply before composing himself long enough to say, "First the previous human, and now you. You humans really get it. If only we had you around during the Rebellions. We never would have lost."

"Thanks?" Archer tentatively said, unsure of what to make of the situation.

He looked at Vask for a clue in how to proceed, who got a hold of himself and cleared his throat to get the shaman's attention.

"The clan leader told me to see you about-" Vask said, trailing off as Archer stood by his side. He let out a hard breath and continued. "To see you about joining Clan Urdnot."

Archer looked up at Vask in shock. The krogan was proud to be a Weyrloc, and Archer found it hard to believe that Vask would seemingly just up and join another clan.

"Good to see that some Weyrloc's can swallow their pride," said the Shaman.

"You're not a child, or female, so you'll need to undergo a rite to prove yourself in order to be allowed into the clan," said the shaman.

"Why is that necessary?" asked Archer.

"A formality," informed the shaman. "To keep out the ones who've been banished from their clans for being too weak."

"I am not weak," butted in Vask.

"Never saying you were," said the shaman, annoyed. "I said it was a formality."

"The rite should be no problem for you since you're a strong enough warrior to have gotten a krantt." said the shaman, pointing at Archer.

"So what does the rite entail exactly?" asked Archer.

"You'll be fighting the animals of Tuchanka," said the shaman. "Get everything you need ready. We leave at first light tomorrow."