Chapter 4: The Arrival
"Ships that pass in the night,
and speak each other in passing,
only a signal shown, and a distant voice in the darkness;
So on the ocean of life, we pass and speak one another,
only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence.."~
Shepard stared out the window as Joker approached the Mass Relay that would take them to the Sol System. Her heart jumped in her chest; the irregular beat all too familiar. She was apprehensive, scared of what they might find aboard Titan Station. Isaac Clarke was not alone in his distress signal.. She had never seen such a creature. It sent a chill down her spine, making the hair on her neck stand on end. Shepard cracked each of her knuckles on both hands; an old, nervous habit.
Joker shivered dramatically. "Ugh! I can't stand that sound! It's like nails on a chalkboard to my delicate ears, Commander." He turned to look at her with a sly grin. "You don't want to have swollen meat fingers when you get old and crotchety, do you?"
She laughed. "That's a myth and you know it. I'll try to restrain myself." Shepard laced her fingers behind her back. "How long until we reach the coordinates?"
Joker brought up a map of their trajectory. "Hmm.. approximately ten minutes. Entering Mass Relay now." He steered the Normandy smoothly into the pull of the field and Shepard watched as the vessel was launched into the Sol System. Stepping away from the window Shepard called over her shoulder, "I'm going to suit up. Tell the crew to meet in the debriefing room in five." Joker nodded, "Yes ma'am."
Shepard rode the elevator to her cabin and walked inside. Before slipping inside her armor, she grinned and cracked her knuckles once more. "This is going to be one hell of a ride." She attached a pistol, shotgun, and assault rifle to her back and hip. Shepard walked to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. She adjusted the shoulder pieces and took a breath. Staring at her reflection, she smiled. "This is the calm before the storm. The feeling where time slows, and you come face to face with the idea that this could be your last mission. It becomes quiet and only thoughts can be heard. Mouths become dry and hearts beat in pure adrenaline. There is no other feeling like it. Damn.. I'm going to miss this." Shepard shook her head and stepped out of her room, into the elevator. She rode it to the debriefing room and stepped inside.
Every member of the crew that had helped her stop the Collector's was there. Shepard scanned the familiar faces. Miranda, Jacob, Mordin, Tali, Thane,
Samara, Grunt, Jack, Legion, Garrus...
She crossed her arms over her chest. "We are entering a dangerous part of Sol. We will be docking on Titan Station, a facility on the moon orbiting Saturn. It went dark in a matter of hours. We have received a distress signal from a man named Isaac Clarke, a survivor of the attack."
Jack leaned forward. "Whoa whoa, hold on a damn second. What's this about an 'attack'?" Samara made a noise of agreement and looked at Shepard expectantly.
"We don't know yet. In the transmission.." Shepard hesitated, "I'll just show you. Joker! Fast forward the signal to 24 seconds."
Joker's voice came over the com, "Sure thing." The transmission appeared before the crew. Shepard watched as Isaac stopped in mid-sentence, turned, and shot the creature's limbs before curb-stomping its head into the floor. The video cut out as the signal was lost.
"That's what were up against. I believe these creatures are the source of the panic." Shepard scanned the expressions of her teammates; they all read a similiar emotion.. Fear and confusion, except for Thane and Grunt. Thane had a way of hiding his feelings and Grunt was.. smiling?
She cocked her head. "What is it, Grunt?"
He laughed deep in his throat. "That is some enemy. I've never seen one like it before. It'll be fun to pound some heads. I like this Isaac guy's style already."
Shepard nodded. "He seems.. efficient. But we cannot trust him so soon." She squared her shoulders. "Our first objective is to locate Isaac Clarke and secure his safety. Along the way, we will search for any clues that will help us to understand what happened on Titan Station in those few hours. Afterwards, we search for survivors and decimate these monsters. Understood?"
The crew nodded and grunted in reponse. One by one, they acknowledged their Commander and filed out of the room. Shepard turned and came face-to-face with Garrus.
His eyes were intense as they looked into her's. She smiled a little. "Ready to kick some ass?"
Garrus chuckled, "You bet. I'm coming with you when you board the station."
Shepard lifted a brow teasingly, "Do I suspect insubordination from you, Vakarian?" He simply shook his head. "Perhaps you suspect worry." She smiled easily. "Your big, bad commander can take care of herself, you know." Garrus' mandibles twitched. "Believe me, I know what you are capable of. It's the creatures I am unsure of. You said it yourself: We don't know what we're up against."
She intertwined her fingers with his three. "That's the fun part though." Shepard paused and looked up at him. "As much as I want you to come.. I can't deal with the thought of you.. not returning with me." She pressed her forehead against his, feeling the roughness of his plates.
Garrus sighed in a mixture of content and anxiety. "I understand. But I have to be by your side. I have to." He felt her nod slowly.
She leaned back and kissed him passionately. Garrus responded in kind to the edge of desperation in her lips. It was nothing new; it was the same feeling that night before the attack on the Collector base. He ran his fingers down her spine, making Shepard shiver. Out of breath, she broke the kiss and Garrus began to nibble on her neck, tracing her jawline and then grazing her earlobe.
Suddenly, Joker's voice boomed overhead. "We're approaching Titan Station, Commander."
Shepard looked at Garrus and smiled, feeling the flush still in her cheeks as her eyes met his, "Showtime."
