Ch. 6
"That... was impressive," Shepard said as the shore party came out of cover.
"She's injured badly and I highly doubt her opponent is down for the count. We have to reach her before he returns," Samara announced.
"Right," Shepard said and was about to walk over to the conceirge that had helped them earlier when Garrus' omni tool flashed. Puzzled, the turian opened the message. He checked the frequency. His eyes widened. The channel's name came up as RainyDay53000; this was the channel that Garrus and Aluna created so that they could talk to each other privately.
Nobody had access to it other than him and...
He read the message quickly: "Vakarian, Coordinates to maintenance. Will upload after each checkpoint. Hurry.
- Lou."
"Commander!" Garrus said, "I have coordinates to the service tunnel she went in. But we need to move now."
"You're sure they're from her?" Shepard asked.
"Yes."
"Lead the way." The three took off with Garrus on point.

Their path led them up a stair way and down a long hallway until they reached a maintenance door. Garrus double checked his omni tool; this was the door. Shepard and Samara got on either side of the door as Garrus unlocked it. The door slid open quietly with no one behind it. Garrus' omni tool beeped softly. Another message. He opened it just as an earthquake shook the building hard.
"What was that?" Shepard asked.
"Nothing good," Garrus replied as he looked at the message.
Why the hell are you waiting by the door? He's on his way!
We've noticed... How do you know where we are?
Security cameras. If I can access them, so can he. Get your ass in gear and move, Vakarian. He'll bring the whole building down if he has to. I'll hold off his attacks as long as I can. Just move!
Moving.
Disable any cameras you see. Will slow him down. I'll see what I can do about the damage expenses.
On it.
See you soon.
See you.
Garrus closed the messages feature.
"She needs us to disable any cameras to slow Crazy down," he announced, "Any cameras she has access to, he will too. We need to move."
"How far away is she?" Shepard asked.
"Not far." Another quake racked the building. Pipes overhead burst, throwing water down onto the team.
Without saying another word, the shore party took off again. Puddles that collected on the floor suddenly moved with the team, swishing this way and that. Every time the streams of water hit the wall, something shorted out.
Cameras are really hidden, the Commander thought as she ran. Garrus threw his arm up and activated Overload on his omni tool and which flew twenty feet forward, disabling any security equipment in their way.
An explosion sounded behind them. They turned around to see a geyser of fire coming down the hallway.
"Oh shit," Garrus breathed.
"Run!" Shepard yelled. They started sprinting down the hallway when a four foot tall hole opened up in the metal near them. Not questioning its convenience, they piled in and the hole sealed behind them. They could faintly feel the heat behind the wall.
"That was too close," Samara said as the group got their bearings.
They could hear a howl of sudden rage in the hallway they just barely escaped from.
"He's not far behind," Shepard whispered. Garrus placed a finger in front of his mouth, signalling the other two to remain quiet. He pulled out his omni tool.
They have good hearing and can feel vibrations through the floor, he typed.
Shepard gave the turian the "you-could've-mentioned-this-earlier-?" look to which Garrus responded with an apologetic shrug. He nodded his head in the direction of the maintenance shaft they were dumped into since none of them wanted to risk going back out into that hall again.
They moved as quietly as they could, avoiding construction equipment and other obstacles that lay discarded in the hall. They were about halfway down when a distant thud sounded back where the metal hole sealed up.
"Move," Shepard hissed and they picked up their pace. Aluna's checkpoints updated every three hundred feet. Behind them the metal patch over the hole they came through burst open. They needed to move. Shepard pulled out a rocket launcher and continued to run with it. Garrus' omni tool beeped.
What the HELL does your commander think she's doing?! Aluna typed. Garrus turned around and saw what his commander was carrying.
He gave her a questioning glance. "It's modded. It'll slow him down," was all she said. Suddenly she spun around and threw out a Shockwave the thundered down the hall. Their pursuer jumped over it but he was focused too much on the biotic attack to hear two rockets coming his way. One rocket smacked him right in the face. The other hit him in his gut and spun him backward where a hole in the floor opened up quickly and swallowed him whole. They could hear metal screeching underneath and knew they didn't have that much time.
They booked it.
A minute later, Garrus' omni tool beeped once more with the last of the coordinates. The navpoint flashed quickly in the direction of a door. Samara glanced down.
"She's lost a lot of blood," the Justicar noted grimly. Garrus rapped quickly on the door four times. The slid open. Inside stood a young woman who looked like she was in her mid twenties. She was covered in purple-red gore. One hand was putting pressure on her left side to staunch the blood. She was also aiming a gun at them.
"Before you take me to your ship, Commander, I need to know you are who you say you are," she stated. She saw Shepard's eyes go to her wounds.
"Don't worry. I have time," she assured them.
"How do you want us to prove our identities?" Shepard asked.
"I'm sure Garrus can tell an imposter from the original. He may be able to imitate someone but he doesn't know everything about them."
"'He'?"
"Corilion. My... ex. The one who keeps trying to kill me."
"Ah," Shepard said.
She turned her blue-green gaze onto Garrus.
"What do you want to know?" the turian asked her.
"Who were we running from the first night we met?" she asked.
"Blue Suns mercs."
"What did I give you for luck?"
"A crystal made from water, earth, and some of... your own energy."
"What color is it?"
"Blue-purple."
"May I see it?" Without hesitation, Garrus pulled out the tiny crystal from one of his pockets. It shone dimly in the sparsely lit room. Aluna lifted her hand and cupped the crystal and closed her eyes. The gem flashed brightly for a few seconds before going dormant again. Her eyes opened and she smiled.
"It's good to see you," she said, relief pregnant in her voice. Her combative shell peeled back and Garrus could how torn and exhausted she was. The litharian swayed slightly on her feet and fell to the floor when her knees buckled.