A/N: Many thanks to those who have given this story a chance and to HeidiM2574 & The Once and Future Thing for your reviews, greatly appreciated!
Story is kind of going in a different direction from when I first started writing it and definitely becoming longer than I thought, but I hope you all enjoy this next chapter in Shepard's journey to save her old home!
-2-
The first thing Shepard noticed from the Kodiak's external camera was the smoke.
Definitely not a good sign.
"Any luck raising the Alliance base, Cortez?" Shepard called out to her other trustworthy pilot. It had pleased Shepard to see Cortez had become less distracted, less focused on his grief for his husband, which he credited her for on numerous occasions. She just had not been able to bear seeing him cling to his grief so strongly, no matter how much he had tried to hide it.
"Nonesofar, ma'am, I'll keep trying," Cortez reassured her.
Shepard thanked him, but then found herself transfixed on the seemingly burning buildings on the screen.
How familiar this all seemed. Shepard staring at the blackened, charred remains of her home, the lines of smoke filing out one by one into the baby blue sky, wondering who else had escaped the horrors the invaders were inflicting on the colony.
How familiar, but yet how different. Shepard was not the defenseless teenager she had been sixteen years ago. She was a commander, a graduate of the N7 program, and in charge of bringing together all of the races of the galaxy to defeat the greatest threat it has seen in 50,000 years.
Absolutely no pressure on that front, by the way.
She had clearly come a long way since that fateful day.
Shepard remembered when she met with an Alliance recruiter the day she turned eighteen. When she lived on Mindoir, she had never once thought about joining, but once the SSV Einstein and other Alliance marines came to save the colony, she lived on the Einstein for a few weeks and found herself intrigued about the life of a soldier, how those men and women put themselves on the line daily for people they had never met before. She wanted to help people the same way the Alliance had helped her.
When she met with the recruiter, she remembered the look on his face as he skimmed through her background on his datapad. Not a sympathetic look as if sorry to know she was one of the colonists on Mindoir. Not impressed she was willing to possibly face the grim specter of death again. Brow furrowed, crinkles at the corner of his eyes, lips pursued in a firm frown, he clearly sent her a look that asked: Are you still carrying that baggage with you? Are you mentally stable?
He still agreed to take her; they needed volunteers and they weren't going to be picky, but Shepard remembered going home that night with a bitter taste in her mouth and an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.
How dare that man judge me; he doesn't even know me, she remembered thinking to herself. She wouldn't have signed up if she hadn't been fully capable.
However, she also couldn't lie to herself and say she still wasn't having intense nightmares and thought about her parents. That recruiter's reaction forced her to realize she hadn't completely dealt with her grief.
She had to begin to let go. All that reminded of her old life were ghosts, memories; it was time to start a new life.
Maybe that was why she had been so tough on Garrus, because he had questioned her in the same way the recruiter had.
Shepard immediately dismissed the idea. Garrus was different. He actually knew her. The recruiter had just assumed Shepard would break, probably because he had seen it multiple times before. Garrus was just worried.
She knew they needed to talk, that she had to explain why she had been so standoffish, but she was not looking forward to that conversation. For all her interest in wanting to help other people out with their problems and their emotional issues, she was terrible at trying to deal with her own.
"Do you think Kai Leng or Cerberus had something to do with this, Shepard?" Tali's questioning voice broke Shepard out of her thoughts. Both Tali and Garrus were sitting across from her, Garrus still staring at the Kodiak's video feed.
"The Illusive Man having interest in the colony would not surprise me in the least, but I don't think Kai Leng himself was involved. Though he seems to have an unhealthy obsession with trying to kill me. In his message, he talked about how the legend of Shepard needs to be rewritten and he wants to be there for the final chapter."
"Sounds like you got an admirer, Commander," Garrus said dryly, turning his attention to her. Shepard did not fail to notice the use of her title, as he did on the days of the first Normandy, something he rarely did these days.
"A morbid and determined one." Shepard got up from the small seat, feeling too wired to sit still any longer. "What he fails to realize is that it's my story. His role in it will end with an omniblade to the gut if we meet up with him again," Shepard swore. That son of a bitch would pay for everything he had done, especially Thane's death.
"That's surprisingly blunt for you, Shepard," Tali remarked.
"Some people cannot be reasoned or negotiated with, Tali, and Kai Leng is definitely one of them. You can help me write this chapter if you want. I know Garrus wanted the opportunity to express his creativity beyond painting walls with Reaper blood," Shepard said with a slightly teasing tone, trying to act as if they hadn't fought a few minutes before.
"I'll take you up on that, Shepard, wouldn't want to pass up on the opportunity to rearrange every molecule in Kai Leng's body," Garrus replied with a smirk. Despite the banter, though, Shepard could sense the underlying tension behind it, almost as if the banter was forced in order to cover up that tension.
What did Garrus expect her to do? Spill out her deepest, darkest secrets right there in the Kodiak? Go into detail about all of her dreams and the symbolism within them?
"Incoming message from the colony, ma'am. Not the base," Cortez called out to her.
"Patch it through, Cortez," Shepard ordered, walking over to the cockpit.
"Hello? Is…this frequency? This…Margaret Talbot…colony Mindoir." Despite the strong static, the voice of a woman rang out through the cockpit.
"This is Commander Shepard. We're on approach. What's your situation?" Shepard asked.
"Hold on…fix…signal." Suddenly, the strong static cleared and Shepard could fully hear the mystery woman. "Hopefully that should hold for the moment. Commander Shepard, huh? Well I'll be damned. Maybe we actually have a chance."
Shepard closed her eyes at the cautious optimism. Once again the tone of cautious optimism. She prayed this time they wouldn't be too late.
"Listen, Reaper forces have been attacking in waves for the past two days. Every single time we think it's safe to come out, another wave hits. We don't know where they're coming from, but we think it might be somewhere to the east of the colony," the woman explained, surprisingly calm despite the current situation.
"How many of you are there?"
"Around 100 or so. There were more… until the attacks. Many colonists evacuated early on during the war, but some of us chose to stay." The woman gave out a tired sigh before continuing. "Might be paying the price for that now."
"Hold on. We're coming to get you all out of here. Where are you?" Shepard asked, signaling to Garrus and Tali to prepare for landing.
"Some of us are holed up in a building at the far end of the colony. Those who can fight are trying to defend the colony, but… I don't know how much longer they can hold out; those fighting are either retired marines or volunteers. Comms also aren't working well, as you can tell."
"Hang tight, we're on our way." Shepard turned to Cortez. "Head back to the Normandy. I'll radio you when we've finished down here."
"Copy that, ma'am. LZ is clear. No hostiles detected in the area." Cortez looked up at her and gave her a seemingly heartfelt salute. "Good luck, Commander."
Shepard nodded her thanks to Cortez as she walked back over to Garrus and Tali.
"That woman said many out fighting were retired marines. Why would they retire out here? I mean, not that it isn't a nice… I mean," Tali stuttered, trying to amend her words. Shepard hadn't seen Tali this flustered since she had mentioned Shepard was the only one she would have linked suits with if she had been a quarian.
Shepard dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "It's fine, Tali, I knew what you meant."
"Has anyone told you you're cute when you get all flustered like that?" Garrus asked, his head cocked in Tali's direction.
Tali glared right back at him. "Shotgun, Garrus."
"Fair point. Anyways, maybe those marines were looking for adventure to pass their days in retirement, still feel like they're making a difference protecting people from pirates?" Garrus suggested.
"Getting a little wishful there, Vakarian?" Shepard asked, turning back to look at Garrus, eyebrows raised.
"What else will we do with our time if we make it through our fight with the Reapers? Take up painting? Enter quasar tournaments?" Garrus asked, shrugging his shoulders.
"Maybe take time to improve your flexibility?" Shepard teased with the slightest hint of a flirtatious smile, knowing this would get Tali riled up.
"Why do that when you have enough flexibility for the both of us?" Garrus asked, his mandibles twitching slightly and his eyes gaining that slight flicker of amusement.
Shepard chuckled under her breath at Tali's frustrated cry at the two of them being impossible, just as the Kodiak doors opened for Shepard, Garrus and Tali to step out onto the grassy field beyond the colony.
"Alright, all kidding aside, we have to get to the building where Margaret Talbot contacted us and see if those defending the colony are still putting up a fight," Shepard directed her squadmates, already programming her gun with cryo ammo.
"Understood, Shepard, we're right behind you," Garrus affirmed, pulling his Mattock from her armor. Tali voiced the same, pulling her Wraith shotgun from hers.
Shepard led the way through the field. It was not too far to the colony from where they were, but there were hardly any trees or anything to take cover behind nearby if they were set upon. Then again, this much open cover did not allow enemy forces any element of surprise.
Shepard kept a steady pace with her weapon raised, her finger hovering over the trigger. She kept herself on the lookout for anything to pop up. That way, she didn't have to focus on the memory of herself running for dear life through this very field, a batarian on her tail, sporadically shooting her.
If she hadn't thought she would die during the first moments of the raid, she definitely thought she would die then. She remembered tripping over her feet, losing her balance, and toppling to the ground in a heap. It was the first time she screamed for help, relying on someone to come to her rescue. Thankfully, she was close to where the Alliance marines were pinned down. She vaguely remembered a man with chocolate brown hair and leathery skin come from seemingly nowhere and shoot the batarian right between the eyes. Shepard could still feel the batarian's blood splatter onto her face and chest from the force of the bullet at such a close range.
The first time she cheated death, but certainly not the last. She must have more lives than a cat.
While on the Einstein for that short amount of time, she never saw the man again so she could properly thank him nor did she have the courage to ask any marines about him. She only hoped the marine had known how grateful she had been.
"Keelah," Tali gasped behind her. Shepard looked back to see Tali point down the field. At first glance, it looked to be piles of rocks, but upon further observation, it was a small pile of bodies. Both corpses of humans and Reaper forces. Upon further inspection as they inched closer, some of the human bodies had started decaying, leaving a foul stench in the air. Some bodies were missing limbs. Some had bullet wounds that had once oozed from the head. Most of the humans had weapons near them, as well as basic armor strapped on, but a few looked to be unarmed civilians. Just a bunch of farmers.
Shepard felt her head spinning and the bile rising in her throat at the smell. Small tears stung at the corners of her eyes from trying to contain the urge to throw up.
What the hell was wrong with her? She had lost count of how many bodies she had seen in the span of sixteen years (more than was probably healthy and probably would have been more appropriate for a military woman to see in her entire life). Not to mention she had watched helplessly as that colonist from Horizon was melted into a grey paste right before her eyes. That should have been more traumatizing than seeing a few dead bodies. This was no different than usual.
"No, it is different. This wasn't supposed to happen again," Shepard thought to herself, biting her lip to keep the rising urge to vomit at bay.
"We need to keep moving, Shepard. I think I hear a firefight further down," Garrus said, walking up to her.
Shepard didn't answer. She knew Garrus was right, but all she could focus on as she stared out at the piles of bodies was the image of a sixteen year old, auburn hair sticking to her damp face and neck, crystal blue eyes wide with terror as she ran away from the colony, the terrified scream of her fellow colonists ringing in her ears, watching as the ones who also tried to run dropped like flies when bullets flew past and hit their targets…
Before Shepard knew what was happening, she felt herself stumble and fall down on both knees, dropping her gun beside her.
"No! I put it behind me!" Shepard thought forcefully to herself.
Obviously not well enough.
"Shepard!" Shepard felt a pair of hands left her back up and an arm drape around her shoulders to keep her upright. Shepard watched as Tali grabbed her gun from the ground and handed it back to her. Shepard quietly thanked her quarian friend.
"What just happened, Shepard? You were fine until we saw the bodies," Garrus said, concern reflected in his eyes.
"How every observant, Vakarian. Anything else earth-shattering you wish to add?" Shepard shot back. She was doing it again. She was closing herself off from dealing with it, just as she closed herself off from dealing with her dreams, and she knew it. Not that she was going to openly admit it.
"Shepard, Garrus only…" Tali began, trying to be the voice of reason, but Garrus quickly interrupted her, a growing fire in his eyes, one Shepard had not seen since he tracked Sidonis.
"Maybe you did mean what you said to Ash three years ago, maybe you thought you had dealt with it, but in light of Thessia and the dream you had, you're clearly struggling with being back here, Tali and I can see it!" Garrus exclaimed, his voice rising with each sentence.
"What do you want me to say, Garrus? I'm doing the best I can to deal with it all. What more can I do?" Shepard defended, crossing her arms and glaring at her mate.
"I'm not saying we have a heart to heart right now, but you cannot continue to take on all of this yourself. You have always been so open with us. Why should any of this be different? You promised me you would take care of yourself, Jane," Garrus reminded her in a way that made it seem as if she had suddenly forgotten. This was not the time for Garrus to be condescending.
Shepard wrenched herself from Garrus's arm wrapped around her. "That's kind of hard when people are constantly depending on you to save them and could die if you allow your emotional bullshit to get in the way!"
Before Garrus could come back with a rebuttal, gunfire seemed to erupt from the colony, alongside the ear-piercing screams of a banshee.
"We have to go now!" Shepard already began sprinting towards the noise, not even looking behind her to see if Garrus and Tali were behind her.
Shepard had to hand it to the colonists. They certainly weren't giving into Reaper forces without a fight, despite their limited numbers. They seemed good at maintaining defensive positions and flanking the enemy. The great majority were engaging the husks in the center of the colony. Here an artificial water fountain stood, the water stained with blood. A few others were sniping enemies from the stairs of homes, conveniently placed for some headshots. At a quick glance, she saw that Talbot had been right. Most of the husks came from a hole in the defensive wall to the east.
But of course, it would not be a complete day fighting Reaper forces without some brutes thrown into the mix.
Activating her tactical cloak, she switched out her Locust for her Widow, locking onto the weakest point in the brute's armor before placing a well-aimed shot. The brute reared its ugly head in her direction as the tactical cloak faded away. Tali appeared beside her and raised her omnitool, activating her trusty drone. It appeared right next to the brute and immediately caught its attention, allowing Garrus to step in with assault rifle shots. Shepard barely had time to take notice of the brute's fall before a marauder turned away from two soldiers and focused on her.
"Go get it, Chiktikka!" Tali yelled at her combat drone. The drone fired a few, well placed electrical waves at the marauder to disable its shields.
While Garrus and Tali dealt with the marauder, Shepard approached the closest human taking cover behind the wall, clutching a bullet wound to the shoulder, the latch on his helmet visor unclasped. He titled his head up at her approach and offered a small salute. He must have recognized her.
"I'm looking for Margaret Talbot. Do you know where she is?"
The soldier nodded, wincing in pain from his flesh wound. "She's at the colony headquarters at the left edge of the colony, holed up with anyone else…" He paused to hiss in pain. "Not able to fight. It's not far, in that direction." He pointed to a path, northwest of the fountain.
"Are there any soldiers guarding the civilians?" Shepard asked, taking note of the direction they needed to go, which of course, was blocked by husks, husks, and more husks.
"A few inside the headquarters to guard them, but only two hidden outside. Didn't want to draw attention to the building. Trying to keep the Reapers occupied," the soldier replied, biting his lip from the pain, drawing blood.
"Are there any Alliance marines here, soldier?"
"There are no active Alliance soldiers here, ma'am. Many of the men fighting are retired marines. The others are civilians or volunteers who've never held a gun before. Not many of those lasted long," the soldier remarked in a tone of fatigued remorse.
"And you?" Shepard asked, popping out quickly to place a few bullets right into the flashing neon-blue chest of a husk.
"Part of an infantry unit in Hades Gamma cluster. Most of the unit was wiped out; transferred here…to be with my wife. One of few left." Shepard did not fail to notice the tone of extreme bitterness in his voice. Curious.
Raising her omnitool, she gave him an application of medigel to help with the wound until he could be properly looked after. Thanking the soldier for the information, she sprinted back onto the battlefield to help Garrus and Tali with another oncoming brute, having taken care of the other enemies in their path.
Once the brute was finished off (all thanks to Shepard's tactical cloak and incinerate powers, Garrus's overload, Tali's drone, and a couple of good, old fashioned bullets) and the wave of enemies had begun to die down after a while, Shepard led Garrus and Tali through the heart of the colony to get to the colony headquarters. As they passed by, some of those who had been fighting offered a salute when they recognized her.
As with most colony worlds, there was not much to the buildings; after all, Mindoir had only been meant to be a remote farming colony. Square and rectangle structures with huge windows looking out at the other buildings in the colony, with furniture and appliances shoved into them, similar to the layout on Eden Prime. The structures actually looked relatively new, but then again, most of the old buildings had been destroyed in the raid.
"The colonists have been doing surprisingly well for themselves," Garrus remarked.
"Determination and will to live can be powerful things," Tali remarked. Shepard did not fail to notice her pensive tone and wondered if Tali was referring to her own people or the geth.
"And having a bunch of retired marines helps," Shepard added.
The trio fell silent when they reached the compound (the design of which looked slightly similar to the mercenary compounds they had encountered on the first Normandy, though connected with other buildings on either side). Once they explained to the two soldiers (who literally seemed to pop out of nowhere, guns cocked and ready to fire) guarding it who they were, they were led inside.
They did not see civilians until they were led through two other smaller rooms into the larger one in the compound. Shepard did not know how long the colonists had been hiding, but taking one look into their terrified faces and bloodshot eyes, they may as well as been under siege for years.
As Shepard walked further into the room, recognition sparked through the eyes of many of the colonists and their eyes widened in shock. Shepard knew they recognized her. She was one of the most well-known figures in the galaxy, not to mention Mindoir had recently gotten approval to use her likeness on their seal.
Despite the wide eyes at her entrance, only one woman approached her, determination marking her every step as she walked. Her black hair was pulled back into a firm bun (the way Ash used to wear hers), though a few strands had escaped their confines. Despite the colonist garb she wore, a heavy pistol rested at her hip. Her face held no warmth (not that Shepard expected a cheery reception awaiting them), but instead a firm mask of somberness that could have given Javik a run for his money was in place. She had all the appearances of a woman who meant business. Yet Shepard could still see the fatigue and worry resting in the woman's greenish-blue eyes.
"Commander Shepard? Margaret Talbot. I'm the governess of Mindoir, at least of the civilians anyways," Talbot greeted, reaching out a calloused hand to firmly shake Shepard's gloved one.
"Wish we could meet under better circumstances," Shepard remarked.
Talbot gave a humorless chuckle. "You and me both."
"This is Garrus Vakarian and Tali'Zorah vas Normandy," Shepard introduced, waving her arm in the direction of her squadmates.
Talbot raised an eyebrow. "A turian and quarian? Day gets even more interesting by the minute."
Shepard frowned. That was not the reaction she was expecting. "There's not a problem, is there?"
Talbot vigorously shook her head. "No, of course not, Commander. I'm not xenophobic, if that's what you're asking. Believe me, I'll take any help I can get at this point." She shook her head. "We should have all left early on, but my own stubborn pride…I really thought we'd have a better chance here."
"I need to know what happened here. When did the Reapers attack?" Shepard questioned.
Talbot looked around her, seemingly deciding whether or not to have this conversation right in the middle of the room, where the already on-edge colonists could hear. Though there was some chatter in the room, it was not very loud and they could easily be overheard.
Talbot directed Shepard to follow her to a secluded corner of the room. Shepard signaled Garrus and Tali to stay back while she talked to Talbot.
"As I said before, the brunt of the attack came in the last two days, but there have been random attacks on and off for the past week," Talbot said, lowering her voice so only Shepard could hear her.
"Random? It seems when the Reapers want to harvest an area, they keep at it; they don't suddenly stop," Shepard remarked, crossing her arms.
"That's what I thought too, Commander. We haven't seen any actual Reapers, but we've seen plenty of their minions. They must be dropping troops from overhead. They seem to be mostly coming from the forest to the east."
Talbot shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I don't know how much longer we can hold out. We've lost so many already. I'm sure you saw the pile of bodies out in the field. They died about four days, and we haven't even been able to bury them! My husband is…" She suddenly trailed off, her voice catching. "Was an Alliance marine. He died in that same wave, trying to help some of the colonists get under cover, but they didn't make it either." A clear crack had appeared in Talbot's hard shell as her voice wavered and she tried to contain her tears.
"I'm sorry for your loss, it's never easy," Shepard said, unsure of what else to say. You never knew how people would react to others talking about their deceased loved ones. Clearly Shepard herself didn't handle it well.
"I appreciate your sympathy, Commander. Robert loved this colony, Commander, and it was his greatest honor to die trying to keep it safe," Talbot said, regaining control of herself.
"Was he stationed at the Alliance base?" Shepard asked.
"Yes, but this was also his home, Commander. He had been stationed on the SSV Einstein sixteen years ago and was one of the responders to the raid."
For a brief moment, Shepard wondered if he had been the one to save her before turning her attention back to Talbot.
"After the attack, he stayed to help rebuild the colony and build an Alliance outpost to improve Mindoir's chances of never being caught off guard like that again," Talbot continued, shaking her head as if to say it was for nothing.
"So how did you end up here?" Shepard asked.
"The same reason anyone goes out into the Traverse for the adventure, the chance to build a new life. I grew up in the slums on Earth. I had heard about the attack on Mindoir from the vids and decided why the hell come here, see what happened. It had to be better than life on the streets, constantly begging for food or stealing it. So I stowed away on a ship to the Citadel and was able to barter passage to Mindoir." A small smile graced Talbot's lips. "The first day here I met Robert. No matter how all this may turn out, meeting him here was worth anything I may endure in the coming days."
"What about the Alliance personnel stationed here? Someone out by the fountain mentioned there were only a few left."
To Shepard's surprise, a dark look passed over Talbot's face. "There were hardly many personnel here to begin with. Maybe thirty, excluding the retirees. A few weeks ago, they were called away to fill other units low in numbers that were apparently valuable strongholds. I could understand that, but ordering everyone to be pulled out?" Talbot struggled to keep her voice as low as possible despite her growing agitation.
"Robert refused to leave, but only four other men and one woman stayed. Five others! Those other marines had been in Mindoir for years and they abandoned us as if it didn't matter! They followed their orders and doomed us all! Thank God for so many retired marines, else who knows how many other colonists may have died!" Talbot paused to calm herself. "I'm grateful you're here, Commander, not to mention you were once a colonist here, but don't be too surprised if there's no love for Alliance officers right now."
"I haven't had an issue from anyone, but I understand," Shepard reassured her, though an internal struggle raged within her. She knew the Alliance needed every soldier they could to fight in the different theaters of war, but to leave only a handful of soldiers and retired marines to defend a farming colony? That didn't seem right.
Then again, those living in colonies always seemed to have a fractured relationship with the Alliance (as evidenced by that mechanic on Horizon), either viewing them as overbearing or completely useless. Clearly the colonists on Mindoir thought of them as the latter.
"If you don't mind my asking, do you know why did so many retired soldiers come out here?" Shepard asked.
"You'll have to ask them. Each had a different reason. Some, though, I think liked retiring in the same place Commander Shepard was born in, if you can handle the isolation. Though it's certainly not as isolated as it was when I first came here. Before the war, we had some shuttles to Illium, Earth and the Citadel every week," Talbot replied.
"I remember it being hard to get off world. Shuttles only came once a month," Shepard recollected. It had always been a big deal when a new shuttle had arrived in the colony. She remembered her mother promising her that they would go on a trip to Earth, when they could afford it, saying they would have the chance to go soon.
That had been two weeks before the raid.
"We had a bit of a tourism boom too. After everyone thought you had been killed in action, many different species came to visit Mindoir and leave flowers where your old house used to be. If it's still standing, I can take you to the memorial after all this is over," Talbot offered.
"That's kind of you to offer," Shepard said, not wanting to refuse straight out, but not wanting to draw out the conservation lest Garrus overhear that. She would not put it past him to drag her ass to it. Him or Tali.
"Besides Reapers, have you seen any Cerberus troopers in the area?" Shepard asked with urgency.
Talbot shook her head. "I had heard they tried to take over the Citadel. Bastards. And they claim to stand for humanity? Thankfully, no sign of them. Only Reapers have come knocking on our doors."
Shepard frowned. If Cerberus wasn't involved, why would Kai Leng have bothered to say anything? They could have just let Mindoir burn and Shepard would have been none the wiser. A question that would be stored away for later; maybe ask the colonists or marines if they knew anything or saw anything Talbot may have missed.
One final question before Shepard would leave her be. "Has a Lt. Ernesto Zabaleta been back to the colony?"
Talbot's eyes widened. "Ernesto? Yes, he showed up about a month ago. He and Robert were stationed on the Einstein and part of the ground time. Needless to say, he was drawn to the place like Robert was. He was discharged years ago, but he thought he could help Robert train the marines and teach them advanced defense tactics. He's been a great help to me since Robert died."
"Discharged? What happened?" Shepard asked, her curiosity heightened. Talbot shook her head.
"Not my place. If he tells you, that's his choice. He went to try and get the comm systems functioning properly, but…" Talbot trailed off when she spotted someone behind Shepard's shoulder.
"There he is now. Ernesto, Commander Shepard is here!" Talbot called out to the man.
Shepard turned around to greet Zabaleta, but the words caught in her throat the moment she saw him. The man approaching her had deep wrinkles etched into his face that made him look much older than he probably was, his nose was bent out of shape as if someone had been using it as a punching bag, and his eyes were sunken deep into his face, but Shepard would have recognized him anywhere…
A hand reached out to pull her up from the ground. The marine did not ask if she was hurt, if her family was gone. Instead, with his other hand, he wiped the blood, sweat, and tears from her face and then, still holding tightly onto her hand, he led her wordlessly back to the other marines, disappearing into the crowd of people before Shepard could say thank you.
Well, Garrus got what he wanted. Even if Shepard had wanted to, she could not close herself off and make her past go away. How could she when it was staring her right in the face?
A/N: Like this latest installment and can't wait for the next chapter? Constructive criticism you wish to offer? I'm personally not completely happy with this chapter, so if you have any critiques, let me know!
Next time: All hell will break loose! As Shepard, Garrus, and Tali help to push back against Reaper forces and buy the colony time, they slowly begin to realize everything is not as it seems…also, Zabaleta's backstory and his recollections of the raids on Mindoir!