Chapter 4: Garrus Vakarian
Citadel Security Headquarters, 2 months after the destruction of the SSV Normandy
Liara had departed for Omega. They had all tried to explain how pointless her search was, but she had refused to listen. It was a fool's errand, but at least she had purpose. More than what the rest of us have right now, Garrus thought dejectedly. In a way he was jealous. When she left them, Liara had the exact same fire in her eyes that Commander Shepard used to get in his whenever someone had the audacity to tell him that something was impossible. Even in death he still inspires us.
Garrus shook his head. He wished he could inspire others the way Shepard had inspired him… the way he had inspired all of them. Commander Shepard had taken a ragtag group of misfits – a turian who hated following orders, a human trying to redeem her family's honor, another one who was trying to justify his past, an asari who was alienated from her mother and by extension her people, a quarian trying to prove herself, and a krogan mercenary who fought for honor rather than credits – and turned them into an elite squad that had forever altered the face of the galaxy. What was that human expression he'd heard Lieutenant Alenko use once when talking about the Normandy's crew? "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts." It was the most fitting and accurate description of Shepard's team that Garrus ever heard. And they had been just that: Shepard's team. They had never been lackeys or sidekicks to the first human Spectre; he treated them like equals, encouraging and valuing their input, guiding all of them, collectively and individually, to become better versions of themselves. Garrus had never served under anyone like him before, and he doubted that he ever would again.
There was a tangible sadness, and not just because they'd all lost a friend. They'd lost the one person capable of holding them all together. Not long after Liara left, Tali decided to depart too, heading back to the Flotilla with the geth data that Shepard had given her. It was, she had remarked to Garrus sadly, Shepard's other gift to her; the first gift – the greater gift – had been his unconditional friendship. Tali's departure had taken more of toll on Garrus than he had anticipated. He had grown fond of young quarian, and he soon realized just how much he missed their constant bickering and teasing. Being the last remaining non-human from the Normandy's crew had been… awkward, to say the least. At first he'd wanted to stay as long as he could, as if somehow maintaining his connection to the remnants of the crew might miraculously bring Shepard back. It didn't, of course, but it had all been so sudden… He couldn't bear to think that it was really over, even though he knew it was.
No. NO. It doesn't have to be over. Maybe Liara was on to something after all. Even though Shepard is dead, what he stood for, what he died for doesn't have to die with him. It can't die with him. As long as we're still alive, we have to carry on his legacy… Yeah, right, Vakarian, no one in their right mind would follow you the way they followed Shepard… Maybe, but as Chief Williams likes to say, 'there's always bad guys that need killing.' And if C-Sec won't let me do that here, well, 'there's always bad guys that need killing' out in the Terminus systems. I'll be able to make a difference there, to really help people. And maybe I'll even be able to honor Shepard's memory the way it should be honored: by putting high velocity armor-piercing rounds down range.
His mandibles twitched with anticipation for the first time in months, his mind still in a state of partial disbelief at what he had just decided to do.
Even in death he still inspires us.