"Holy shit. He made it."
Garrus snapped to attention, noting not only the break from normal Alliance chatter, but the sheer surprise in Admiral Hackett's voice. "Shepard made it," the gravelly voiced admiral announced, seemingly for his own confidence more than anything else. The turian's eyes widened at the news, before attempting to find any working video feed from the area near the teleporter. Catching a lucky break, Garrus was able to use one of the few remaining satellites orbiting near that location to find a weak, but still present signal. Bringing up a small monitor on his omni-tool, Vakarian watched the static-filled, lagging footage from what he assumed was a helmet-mounted camera. He was barely able to glimpse a lone figure stumbling onto the platform, before marching into the beam.
"He's in, Doc. The commander made it to the Citadel," he informed. The doctor gave him a brief look of relief, before resuming her delicate work. Tali stirred on the operating table, her head lifting just slightly before falling back down. Noting that the pain in his mid-section had been reduced to a slight discomfort, Garrus unplugged himself from the medi-gel station before standing up. Walking over to the table, he took Tali's hand in his own, gave it a small squeeze, feeling a small sense of relief as the gesture was returned with the barest of movements. Nodding at Chakwas, the turian set out for the elevator. Taking it to the second floor, still much too slowly for the situation, he marched around the galaxy map, heading for the cockpit.
Through the front window of the Normandy, the battle above the Earth raged on. Garrus saw lasers and missiles flying in every direction, as the Normandy weaved its way through the fire of both sides. He could see the Crucible in the distance, being escorted by a truly massive amount of ships, ranging from human to geth. Joker's arms were a blur, hammering away at the controls in front of him as he maneuvered tightly through the ongoing chaos, barking rapid orders to the other crewmembers. EDI sat in the co-pilots seat, not physically interacting with any controls, but it wasn't hard to guess that she had her share of problems to deal with. The frame that she channelled commands through was a useful tool, but interfacing directly with the Normandy's systems proved to be much faster than physical control.
"Shepard made it to the beam, any status updates?" he inquired, determined to believe his friend was safe, despite the astronomical odds looming in the back of his mind. Joker didn't respond, as he was far too busy attempting not to crash into the hundreds of objects currently occupying the space around them. EDI was the one to acknowledge Vakarian instead.
"No signal from Commander Shepard has been received," the slightest edge of worry was heard in the AI's words, "My attempts to reach him have proven futile. It is likely that either Shepard's omni-tool may have been damaged, or communication is unavailable in the Citadel." Garrus quickly accepted the small attempt at optimism shown by EDI, as believing that the radio had been damaged was much preferable to…other possible outcomes.
EDI gave Garrus what he believed to be a nervous glance, before turning back to face the controls. Shortly after, a communications terminal on the right side of the cockpit lit up green, indicating an incoming signal. The turian quickly moved to the panel, opening the line for two-way communication. Over the system, he could hear distant sounds of gunfire, explosions, and screaming coming from the other end. Most importantly, the strained, desperate voice of Steve Cortez came through.
"Normandy! Do you read me? I've repaired the shuttle, and Reaper forces are swarming the area," the rising panic in the pilot's voice was all too clear. "Kaiden and his squad are trying to keep them at bay, but we won't last long down here! Requesting an emergency evac! I repeat, requesting an emergency evac!"
Garrus quickly responded. "This is Garrus, Steve, we read you. Joker, you hear all that?" Turning to look at Joker, the man gave a frantic, quick nod, before going right back to his rapid steering. "Transmit your coordinates. Tell the men to hold out just a little while longer, we will be there as fast as we can."
The sounds of typing could be heard, before the terminal sounded a small beep. From the way the ship was moving, Garrus assumed EDI had already uploaded the coordinates to Joker. "We are on our way, Cortez. Stay in cover, try to stay alive." Cursing himself slightly under his breath, noting that was probably not what the pilot needed to hear.
"We're trying to! Just hurry, goddamn it! Our guys are getting shredded out here!" And with that, Steve's voice stopped flowing through the terminal, leaving only the sounds of warfare drifting through the line. Garrus quickly set about buckling himself into the chair near the terminal, really wishing that he could do more for his allies on the ground, silently berating himself for leaving them behind. He knew fully well he needed to, but that certainly didn't help matters.
He was jolted out of his thoughts by the shockwave of a nearby Alliance vessel exploding, as a Reaper laser cut clean through it. Joker steered the Normandy away from the debris that was quickly spreading their way, before righting the ship onto its trajectory to rescue their comrades.
He limped through the dark, eerie tunnels. Bodies, spread out everywhere. Stay focused, keep moving. Closing his eyes, trying to shut out the horror around him, Shepard moved forward. The familiar, pained voice of Anderson coming through his omni-tool, was guiding him through the nightmarish terrain. John could see lights up ahead. Fresh blood travelling down his arms, he slowly marched towards what he hoped was the end.
Cortez was normally very smooth with his landings in the Normandy's bay. Apparently, being under fire from dozens of different armaments, while trying to enter an incredibly fast target made things considerably more difficult. Garrus watched the shuttle hurtle past the loading doors before hammering door closing mechanism button. The small craft skittered into the inside of the bay, slid across the floor, and slammed into the rear wall of the bay. After waiting a few seconds to make sure the bay doors were fully closed (getting forcibly thrown out the back of the Normandy was not something Vakarian was interested in doing), he sprinted down to the shuttle, running to open the doors of the shuttle. After practically ripping the door open, Garrus was able to see the passengers within.
Kaiden was buckled into a seat across from the door, beside a badly wounded human soldier. Liara was sitting on the opposite side of Kaiden, rubbing the side of her head and nursing a nosebleed. Cortez was still manning the controls, the panicked look in his eyes turning to one of barely concealed relief that they had made it out alive. Kaiden looked much less relieved, as he checked pressed two of his fingers to the neck of the soldier next to him. When the turian gave him a questioning glance, the bitter, mournful stare that was returned was all the answer needed.
"A straggler we rescued," Kaiden explained, "Rest of his squad had been killed before my team ended up rescuing him. Eight of us total…" the sentinel quietly trailed off, before continuing again, regret clear in his voice, "I guess it's just us now."
Liara gently put a hand on his shoulder. Garrus moved to give his friend a hand up. The glint of understanding was all too clear in the turian's eyes. Kaiden didn't miss the meaning behind the gesture, and accepted the hand up with a nod.
Liara turned to Garrus, voice slightly nasally due to the bleeding. "Good to see you intact, Garrus, not an unpleasant surprise seeing you here." Garrus gave her a quick smile, but not before raising a questioning eyebrow.
The asari frowned just slightly, her voice taking on a much darker edge, "A run-in with a Brute. It punched me straight through a nearby wall. Fortunately, my barrier held."
"I'd suggest heading to the med-bay, you three. Chakwas is taking care of Tali, right now, but you look like you could use some medi-gel." Garrus stated, rather matter-of-factually. Kaiden looked about to disagree, but the burns on his shoulder and side might have changed his mind. The constant bleeding combined with the awkward angle Liara's nose, not to mention the dark bruises on her neck meant trouble for her, and the way Cortez's hands were shaking, Garrus just figured having other people around would be good for him. Giving the pilot a comforting pat on the back, the turian lead the way back to the med-labs.
The Illusive Man was dead. Anderson was dead. Why Shepard was still alive he had no idea. A red haze washed over his vision, as he felt a new wave of blood start to flow from underneath the metal husk of his chest plate. Seeing nothing but red, he crawled his way towards the control panel. Looking at the different buttons, Shepard realized he had no idea what to do. Not for the first time, he felt completely helpless, slamming his fist into the panel in anger. Slowly, he slumped against the panel, darkness draining his awareness, smothering everything in black. As he lost consciousness, he barely felt the slightest sensation of upward movement.
The chatter coming from the connected radios of the Alliance wasn't good. Admiral Hackett's voice overpowered the rising panic, shouting out orders in his steely, gruff voice. "Hold the line; keep the pressure off the Crucible! Give Shepard more time, damn it!"
As the admiral's voice continued to shout, Garrus became more concerned by the second. Come on, Shepard, get the damn thing running! What the hell is going on in there? Questions blared in the back of his mind, slowly giving way to a plan of attack. Standing up from his chair in the middle of the crew deck, he marched towards the elevator for what seemed like the hundredth time today. Stepping in, he punched in the floor for the loading bay. Impatiently, he pressed the button over and over, making a mental note to 'accidentally' fry the circuits of this stupid elevator later. Doors opening, he made his way over to the shuttle, opened the doors, and entered the pilot's seat.
As he powered up the shuttle, he heard the one thing he hoped he wouldn't hear today. Vakarian heard the admiral's voice, sounding much more stressed than his usual commanding tones. "Get the Normandy to safety; get to the rendezvous point, Joker. That's an order. Get through the relay, now!"
What Garrus hadn't expected to hear was Joker's reply. Only a formal "Yes sir" was said, but the tone said that he definitely didn't want to follow that order. At this point, he realized it was now or never, and opened up the shuttle's communications link.
"Joker, open the loading doors. I'm going after Shepard." Garrus ordered, already starting the engines of the shuttle.
"You're what? The admiral just ordered the retreat, are you deaf? I'm already heading for the relay."
"I don't give a damn where we are going, I'm not abandoning Shepard!" he barked, "How many goddamn times has he pulled our asses out of the fire? I'm not leaving the man behind to die, to hell with the orders!"
The conflict in Joker's voice was all too clear. "You think I want to leave the commander behind? I-"
Garrus cut him off before he could continue. "No, you don't. None of us do, which is why I'm going, to make sure he makes it out alive. It's what he would do. The least we can do is send me!"
There was silence from comm. After five heart-pounding seconds, a calm voice broke the tension.
"Opening loading doors," EDI said, as the sounds of locks disengaging rang out in front of the shuttle.
"We're counting on you, Scars," Joker's voice rang out, "Bring the commander back in one piece, alright?"
"Will do, Joker, just get to the rendezvous point intact," Garrus responded, undisguised relief flooding his voice.
And with that, the bay doors opened into the chaotic abyss in front of him. Raising the shuttle only slightly, Garrus was quickly outside the Normandy, as the ship made a bee-line for the relay. Turning the shuttle towards the Citadel, Garrus took off, shooting through the blaze of incoming fire as fast as he could push the small craft. Hold on, Shepard, he thought, I'm coming.
No one gets left behind.