Chapter 2: The Turian

It was hard to remember a time when she didn't know him. Sometimes when she envisioned the events at Akuze, she pictured him there beside her, coaching her out of the danger. He, in general, was a calming thought, the idea that there were still decent and interesting men out there. Their meeting was interesting and rather bizarre, but she remembered it like it was only a few short hours past.

"Ready up the barricade, the batarians will be on us in a few short moments!" A voice called out from further down in the camp. Soldiers were preparing for the raid and we had to be as careful as possible to avoid alerting the enemy. Of course, careful planning didn't do us any good, as we had already been discovered in the midst of our operation. They knew we were coming, and we had to act fast.

This was the original plan. We were to land on Atieo, perfectly safe and quiet. We'd set up our bunkers and then start our operation: Zero Five One Scar. She thought it was a pretty idiotic name too, until she realized that it was simply the number of the escaped criminal and his name. Then she thought it was very uncreative.

Scar was a batarian pirate who led the 8th Brigade into the Citadel 14 years ago. This Brigade not only terrorized most everyone of every race within the unsecured parts of the Citadel, but also recruited spies in exchange for safety. This terror reigned on for 5 years. No one could pin point the leader, for their squads were spread throughout the Citadel. This one ambitious Batarian would then try to take over the entire citadel. However, in the midst of his operation, one of his spies worked as a double agent. This Agent was named Kai, not much else is really known about him other than the fact that he was just a kid. The rumors were… interesting at most. No one except for those who worked the case actually knew a thing about this 'Kai', but such are many government secrets.

The kid, Kai, had 'ratted out', as Scar had called it, their plans to C-sec, and the entire Citadel take-over went to shreds. Scar, however, had never been caught. 11 years later, here we are, chasing down Scar himself.

"What are you doing, Vakarian, get your ass into position!" General Korintha yelled, walking across the bunker. Shots could be heard firing from the outside. The others were supposed to lead the batarians into the bunker where they would be surrounded.

"Sir, Scar isn't amongst this group. He is too clever for that sort of-" the turian's speech was cut off by the general once again. He winced slightly, receiving another yelling.

"It is called strategic planning, Vakarian," the general seemed to enjoy spitting out the turian's last name, "now get your sniper ass-," a shot in close range rung in the distance.

No one knew where it came from. General Korintha fell slowly. The turian soldier, Vakarian was stunned for a moment and then dove his way into cover. Everyone was on the offensive. There were 10 soldiers stationed throughout the small bunker. Now, no one knew who to trust. Who was the shooter? The batarians hadn't even come into the bunker yet. Everyone was shooting at each other. Every man for themselves.

"Stop!" Shepard tried yelling, trying to get anyone's attention. That's when she saw him laying there. He was leaned up against a wooden box, grasping his arm. It was the sniper from before. He had his gun next to him, his right arm holding it for dear life. His left hand covered a wound to his shoulder. He was bleeding out quickly. She ran to him, pulling the medigel from my pack, "Hold on," she said reassuringly, "You're not about to die yet," he didn't seem to be responding. She shook him slightly, "Hey! C'mon, say something," his eyes flickered slightly, showing that he was conscious. He was watching me, his eyes pleading for help. She grabbed at the fabric of the bottom of her pants and ripped it as best as she could. She wrapped the fabric tight against his wounded shoulder. She took a moment to look around, the shots had began to quiet down. People had been feeling the bunker, trying not to get their asses shot.

"S-scar," the turian beside me coughed out. He looked down, shaking his head a little, "He infiltrated our bunker. He posed as one of us. I-," he looked up at me, gripping his riffle tighter, "I tried to warn them. You always need to check heads before a sniper assault… You need to make sure everyone is-," another cough, "who you think they are," he took a deep breath and laid his head back.

Shepard looked around first, "I need to get your out of here… the med camp is only a decimeter away," the look he gave me, She'll never forget. He stared at her with true hopelessness. Get out of here? No way, his face read. There is no way we will get out of here without getting shot in the ass. This entire mission was a failure.

She shook her head and proceeded to work on picking him up to his feet, "Don't give me that look. I'm getting you out of here, alive," her voice came out as almost a growl. She was fully determined to get this boy out of here. After getting him on his feet, they wobbled to the door, keeping a lookout for any potential danger, "Its clear for the moment," she needed to get him talking, keep him fully aware and focusing on living, "What's your name, kid?"

"Hah," he hoarsely coughed out, "You're barely older than me if at all, missy. The name is Vakarian, Garrus Vakarian," he seemed to smile ever so slightly, trying hard not to laugh, "Oh, man, don't get me laughing, I feel like my arm is going to fall right off,"

Shepard kept a smile on her face, trying to keep his spirits up, "We're almost there, see?" she pointed to a small hub just on the side of another bunker. There weren't many sounds coming from the place. In fact, it seemed almost deserted. She felt a sinking in my stomach, oh no… what if it is deserted. She tried not to let the sudden ping show on her face. No matter what, this turian, Garrus, he wasn't going to die. She wouldn't let him. Too many people have since died on her watch. Not another, not today.

As she reached the tents, her suspicions were proven correct. The place was deserted, well, besides a few corpses around the data hub. She brought him up to one of the cots. He looked at me concerned, "There's no one here," the hope in his voice was completely diminished.

"I… I can do something," She started looking around frantically, "I have basic first aid… and… there! Gauze, medical tape," it was like finding buried treasure. She didn't know why, she was just panicking. Calm down, Zarina. Calm down. She saw a headset not far away. She grabbed it and ran back to Garrus, being careful to try and put a little more steady pressure on his wound, "This is Zero Squad, is anyone on this frequency?" there was nothing but static, "Please, this is N7 Operative Shepard. I have a wounded turian in need of medical attention," still nothing, "Is anyone there?" her heart sank even further. This turian would die without medical attention. He'd sit and eventually bleed out. He'd die and there would be nothing she could do. She looked at him, but he just looked away.

"Hello? This is Delta Squad. We have two medics at site B. Can you carry the turian? Is he conscious?" It was like a prayer answered. If there was a God or Goddess, if there was any higher power at all, it must've been watching.

"Yes! Yes, I can carry him. He can limp, the damage is to his shoulder. It doesn't look to be a through and through, but he is conscious," Shepard wanted to cry she was so happy. She continued speaking with Delta until she finished securing Garrus' medical tape.

"They answered," he started but then couldn't say anymore, for he started coughing again.

"Don't strain yourself. Site B is almost a kilometer up the road. It should be clear though. It'll take us 10 minutes to get there," she took out some of the crackers she had in her pack, "Can turians eat crackers?"

He sighed, looking relieved to see food, "Yeah. The only human food we can eat," he took one of the crackers and quickly ate it, savoring the taste of the salty treat.

It took a bit longer than she expected to get to site B. They had to hide out behind a bush while some batarians rushed past, trying to regroup. As far as she could tell, it seemed as though they were winning. When they were only a few meters away from the site, shots rang in the distance. They hid once more behind trees, trying to get a feel for what was in the area. She'd forgotten about his sniper rifle. He'd carried it around the entire way, refusing to part with it. He pulled it out and she gave him a weird look, "Put that away, you are too injured to use your gun, soldier," She always had her gun in arm's reach, but he clung to his rifle like nothing she'd ever seen before.

"Where I go, my rifle goes. There is something moving out there, its been following us for a time," he was the most perceptive man she'd ever met. She drew her gun and he leaned against the tree for leverage, "There you are," he murmured, coughing a little bit afterwards. No more than a minute later he pulled his trigger. She was still looking for the target. He groaned from the backlash of the rifle, but seemed content. One thing she certainly needed to learn: perception.

Shepard carried him on for a little further, "How could you possibly have the energy to fire that round and yet you can't carry yourself?" she shook her head, laughing at his odd behavior from before.

"Hey, I'm a hard ass, not a super turian," he groaned as he chuckled. She did never understand what some of her colleagues had against other races, especially turians. Turians were essentially like humans. Well, except from the bird-like appearance and the slight attitude of having a large stick up their ass, they were like humans.

That's how they first met. And they wouldn't meet again for another few years. While she was establishing my life and really taking in all she could learn, he was training for c-sec. He would've made a damn good commander. Well, if she wasn't already his commander.


Starlight Sanctuary: Well, there is Chapter 3. These past two chapters haven't been really lengthy. If it weren't for the stress, I could've made them longer, but I've been putting it off for too long. I have myself this deadline and I stuck to it. Sorry it is so late! Hope you enjoyed. I'll get the next chapter out as soon as I am able.