With the Mass Relays destroyed, it took a few days for the Normandy to reach the Sol System. A few ships had arrived first and most were focused on removing the Citadel from Earth's orbit. The Normandy instead would focus on helping the survivors in London. Though the crew had an ulterior motive. They wanted to find Shepard, one way or another.
Joker found a place to set down the ship and the crew set to work. With food, a place to rest and recover, and medical care, the Normandy would quickly become the center of the rescue efforts in London. The most iconic ship in the galaxy, it was easily recognized and survivors were told to head towards it. Even just the sight of it lifted flagging spirits.
As people got back on their feet and wanted to help find more survivors, organization of the search became needed. Being the best at handling a mass amount of data and making sense of it, Liara took charge of the effort. She quickly had teams created and a rotation schedule set up so that there would always be fresh eyes searching.
As time progressed, and the closer the search got to the center of the former battlefield, there were getting to be fewer and fewer survivors found. And only the Normandy's various crew members remained undaunted.
Kaiden and Garrus were leading a team of volunteers. The volunteers were all fresh, having taken the recommended rest period, but the two Normandy crew members had forgone the rest and had only returned to the newly dubbed "Central Command" to to get the next batch of volunteers and to let their current group rest.
Reaching their section of the search grid, they came into contact with the team in the next search row over who was just about to rotate out with their replacements. A few in the group managed nods of acknowledgment for Garrus and Kaiden while the Alliance members managed a few weary salutes.
As their team began the search, a female voice hesitantly asked, "Kaiden? Is that you?"
The voice seemed familiar, but a part of Kaiden wanted it not to be who he thought it was. Turning to look, he realized that it was exactly who he had thought it was.
"Rahna?" Kaiden asked, genuinely surprised, "What are you doing here?"
"Doing what what ever I can to help," she smiled, stepping away from the leaving search group, "It's good to see you again."
"Y-yeah, you too." Kaiden nodded.
"Rahna! We're headed back!" a member of her group called, heading towards the landing shuttle.
"We should catch up on your next rotation out." Rahna smiled again before returning to her search group.
As the shuttle took off, Kaiden's composure broke and in a quivering voice, he wondered aloud, "Why did I have to see her now, of all times?"
"Kaiden?" Garrus asked, concerned.
Ignoring his old friend, Kaiden turned towards their own search group and threw himself into the search with renewed determination.
Even more worried, Garrus covertly contacted Liara.
"Garrus, is something the matter?" the asari asked.
"Not sure," he admitted, "I need you to look into someone for me."
"Just give me a name."
"First name is Rahna. Or at least Kaiden called her that. She's part of the search group that just rotated out in the next column over. Something about her spooked Kaiden."
"I may already know who she is but I'll verify it. I'll share what I know when you rotate back." Liara promised.
It took some convincing on the Turian's part but Garrus managed to convince Kaiden on the shuttle ride back that they should get some rest as well.
As they rotated out with the crew that would replace them, Garrus told Kaiden, "I'm going to go check in with Liara, make sure she's getting some rest too. You can have a moment to reconnect with that lady we saw back out in the field."
"Y-yeah, Rahna. It's just been a while." while Kaiden didn't say so, the look in his eyes told Garrus that things may not have ended on good terms.
"Perfect reason to catch up." Garrus gave him a pat on the back before heading off to meet Liara.
"Is it?" Kaiden wondered to himself.
"Hey there Liara. You keeping up alright?"
Liara smiled and teased Garrus, "It's not the most data I've ever had to coordinate at once, I'll live."
They both chuckled and then Garrus asked, "So did you find anything on the Rahna woman I asked about?"
"Not very much at first," Liara sighed, "Simply that she comes from a wealthy family here on Earth..And that she is a teacher for the Ascension program at Grissom Academy."
"But I get the feeling there's more to her then that." Garrus nudged.
"Indeed there is," Liara confirmed, "Rahna is a Biotic that received the majority of her training as a teenager in Conatix's Biotic Acclimation and Temperance training on the station that is now known as Jump Zero. The same place as Kaiden. That's likely where they met. They were both there when it got shut down but that part of their records are highly classified."
"I remember hearing whispers about that operation among some of the Turian higher ups. None of them really said anything of substance but why would Turians be concerned about some classified human research?"
"Because a Turian was involved, a general. Conatix brought him in to train the young Biotics. I don't yet have all of the details, but what I do know is that there was an incident and one of the kids killed that Turian general. It's listed as accidental but..."
"Let me guess, the program was shut down after that. Hushed up."
"Indeed. Conatix closed it's doors a few years later and the whole project, including the identities of the Biotics that were part of the incident, became classified."
"Something about her seemed to rattle Kaiden. Could it be that incident? They could have both witnessed it." Garrus asked.
"I don't know. Yet. I'll keep digging whenever I get a chance." Liara promised.