Chapter 10: The Matriarch
Detective Anaya froze. Everything about the woman locked up in fear when Shepard spoke the Justicar's name. Slowly almost painfully the Detective looked up from the data pad on her desk to Shepard. When their eyes met the Detective's was full of fear.
Shepard had heard stories of Asari Justicars all her life. As far as she knew they upheld the laws and beliefs of Asari with extreme prejudice. Everything she had been told or read about said that Justicars were the epitome of strength and justice. The way the Detective reacted however made her start to question that.
"Commander Shepard you said?" The Detective asked, her voice only faintly showing the fear that the rest of her body showed.
"Yeah. Is there something wrong?" Shepard asked, and glanced at Garrus. Garrus only shrugged his shoulders.
"You're here on Council business aren't you?" The Detective asked ignoring her question.
"Indirectly yes." Shepard replied, hoping that this would get to the point sometime before she died of old age.
"She hasn't killed some important corrupt official has she?" The Detective seemed to be regaining control of her body, slowly but surely.
"I don't care if she killed the human Prime Minister. I need to find her. And I'd like to do it some time this century." Shepard growled at the Asari. She was wasting time the longer they stayed here.
Shepard's harsh words seemed to snap the Detective out of her fear induced daze. The Asari took in the pair before her, eyeing the weapons that were clamped to the human and Turian. Shepard had no doubt that if it wasn't for the Asari knowing she was a Spectre she would've raise hell for the fire power they carried.
"Why are you looking for her?" The Detective asked, still eyeing their weapons.
"I'm building a team to do something impossible. I heard Justicars have a thing for causes like that." Shepard replied curtly. She was impatient but at least this was going somewhere.
"That they do." The Detective met Shepard's gaze.
"My superiors have asked me to detain her unless the Justicar leaves the district. Her code won't let her be taken into custody and she'll kill me if I try to take her in." The Detective leaned forward, resting her elbows on her desk.
"She's at the crime scene just down the street dealing with some Eclipse. If you can get her to leave with you, I'll be in your debt. I'll tell the officers to let you in." The Asari held a pleading look to her eyes with her request.
Shepard nodded. "I'll see what I can do."
Shepard turned and left the precinct, Garrus on her heels. Soon as they left the building Shepard looked around for the crime scene the Detective had spoken of. To her amazement the crime scene was not even a hundred feet from the door of the precinct.
The "crime scene" was the entrance to an alleyway. The ally was "blocked" by holo police tape, the only species left the the verse that still used police tap were humans and only because of poor budgeting. Shepard noted the two officers standing guard on either side of the ally, each holding an Avenger in their hands. Shepard took in the way the two Asari guards were holding their weapons and it was clear they didn't have much practice with them.
"Please tell me that C-sec didn't let greenies guard crime scenes." Shepard spoke and glanced over her shoulder to Garrus. Garrus snorted.
"When I was there we did use the new guys for guard duty yes. But they were always Turians fresh out of their service. Not Asari that haven't held a gun before."
Shepard chuckled and started towards the alley. The two Asari at the mouth of the alley looked up, the sounds of Shepard's and Garrus' boot thuds having reached their ears. The two gripped their weapons tighter and Shepard saw an uneasy look pass between the two.
"Ladies." Shepard spoke once she and Garrus were only a few feet away from them. "Detective Anaya sent us."
Both Asari visibly relaxed at her words. The two didn't relax completely however and sent off warning flares in her mind. If these two were as green as they looked they should've been completely relaxed due to their inexperience with guard duty.
"Um Ma'am…." The Asari on Shepard's right spoke up, nervously glancing at her partner. "There are mercs and a Justicar in there. Might want to be ready for trouble."
"Thanks." Shepard nodded to the two Asari and stepped through the holotape, Garrus right behind her.
She unclipped her Vindicator from her back and heard Garrus do the same with his. Garrus may be one of the best snipers she'd ever seen but the narrow confines of the alley would be too restricting for even him to use it effectively. Shepard and Garrus hugged the wall to their left, Shepard crouched slightly so as to give Garrus a clear line of fire over her.
They moved this way down the half dozen meters of the Alley before coming to a side passage. Shepard picked out the faint shouts of Asari voices but couldn't make them out. She peered around the corner to see that there was a passage connecting the alley they were in to another one. They quietly moved into this new passage and moved to its end.
"Come on! Get those mechs out!" A shrill Asari voice full of command reached her ears.
Shepard peered around the corner and quickly popped her head back. Halfway down this new corridor was a squad of Eclipse mercs. Shepard turned to Garrus.
Six mercs. Four mechs. Shepard signed to him in the code they had developed on the old Normandy. She hadn't released her helmet and didn't trust that they were out of earshot of the group. Garrus nodded.
I got the mechs. Garrus signed back to her.
Shepard nodded and turned back to the corner, crouching down to give Garrus as much room as he need to lean over her and around the corner. She felt his body over hers and reached back to tap his leg.
Ready? She asked.
Garrus shifted the same leg to be next to her. Ready.
Acting as one person, both Shepard and Garrus leaned around the corner. The mercs and mecs were instantly alight in sparks when Garrus sent his overload program into their ranks. The mechs seised up and convulsed before falling to the ground, their circuits shorted out. The unlucky mercs that were close enough for the sparks to jump to had their shields fried.
The mercs shouted in alarm and spun to face their attackers. In seconds the deadly combo that was the Shepard-Vakarian team tore into their ranks and slaughtered the mercs. The two that had their shields fried were the first to fall to their deadly barrage, not even having the chance to pull out their weapons. With over half their ranks decimated in the initial assault it was childs play for Shepard and Garrus to pick off the rest.
As if they were one person instead of two they both fired at the same target with each burst from their rifles. With every pull of their triggers, only a half second apart, a merc fell. The first burst stripping the merc of their shields and the second punching through their armor into either their heart or head.
Continuing to move as they were Shepard and Garrus quickly moved to the end of the corridor . The corridor ended in another turn but this time turning into a room. When they reached the corner, before Shepard could peek around, an Arasi in Eclipse armor flew through the air in front of them. She crashed, head first, into the wall opposite them dead upon impact.
Shepard heard another Asari shout and a crash of glass breaking. Not wasting any time and trusting that Garrus would follow her, Shepard spun into the room, rifle raised. The sight before her caused her to pause.
Laying on the ground was an Asari in yellow Eclipse armor. The Asari was trying to scramble behind her towards a shotgun laying on the floor. Before she could go farther than two feet, another Asari was upon her.
This Asari was unlike any that Shepard had seen before. She was dressed in a skin tight blood red, light armor that almost looked like leather. The hugging armor left nothing to the imagination for this Asari's body, the neckline of the armor didn't help things either. Her armor was cut into a deep 'V' that ended just above her navel and showed off the sides of her large breasts. The Asari's face was breathtakingly beautiful, but that beauty was tempered by countless centuries of wisdom and knowledge, and the lack of any emotion at all. The Asari's face showed less emotion than that of a brick.
The Asari calmly walked over the the Eclipse merc on the ground, and shoved her foot on the other's neck.
"Tell me where she is and I will spare you." The Asari spoke. Her voice spoke of centuries of age and yet still held no emotion, giving away nothing to the woman inside the mask that she wore.
"Go to hell bitch!" The merc spat out, venom in her every word.
"The name of the ship she left on is all I need." The red armored Asari spoke.
"The Eclipse will do worse to me than anything you could do." The merc shot back, her voice still full of venom. Shepard was surprised that she didn't hear even the faintest hint of fear in her voice as she stared down death itself.
Shepard briefly saw a flash of emotion pass through the other Asari's eyes. She could have sworn she saw sorrow pass through the woman's pale blue eyes. Just as quickly as it came it was gone.
"Find peace in the embrace of the Goddess." The Asari spoke. She twisted her leg and an audible snap could be heard, the merc's neck was broken.
The Asari looked up from the corpse of the merc, acknowledging Shepard and Garrus for the first time. Her pale blue eyes and beautiful face still held no emotion as she took in Shepard's and Garrus' armored forms.
"My quarrel is with the Eclipse sisters not with you. And yet here you are with weapons drawn. If you were truly here to harm me you would have by now." The Asari spoke in her calm measured voice.
The Asari took a step closer to the armored pair. "I am Justicar Samara. Tell me, why are you here."
Shepard returned her VIndicator to the clamps on her back, she heard the click of her clamps locking onto her rifle and another click when Garrus' did the same.
"My name is Commander Shepard. I came here to ask for your help on a mission of galactic importance."
"Shepard? Yes I've heard of you. You are the one that stopped Saren and the Reaper are you not?" Samara spoke it as more a statement than a question.
Shepard nodded. "Have you heard of the Collectors? They work for the Reapers much as Saren did. They are abducting human colonies."
A look of intrigue flashed over Samara's face. Just as quickly as it appeared it was gone. "I wish I could help you, but I have matters of my own I must attend to."
Shepard heard the thunder of booted feet behind her. Before she could pull her weapon, Detective Anaya appeared next to her, her eyes full of accepted fear.
"I wish you would go with the human and her mate, Justicar." The Detective spoke, her voice calm.
Samara raised an inquiring brow at Shepard and Garrus.
"My superiors are ordering me to bring you in until you can leave the district. Will you come willingly?" The Detective showed no fear as she stared down her own death, not giving Samara the chance to say anything.
"My code allows me to cooperate with you for one day. After that I must return to my mission." The Justicar spoke in her calm voice, even though she was telling the Detective that after that day she would be forced to kill the other woman.
"I won't be able to get you released that quickly." The Detective spoke, trying to delay the inevitable.
"You won't be able to stop me." Samara looked towards Anaya, sadness briefly reaching her eyes.
"Maybe I can help." Shepard spoke up. There was no point in Samara needing to kill a person just doing their job. Samara and Anaya focused their gazes on Shepard.
"The Eclipse sisters have information that I need. They recently smuggled a fugitive off world. All I need is the name of the ship they used and I can leave." Samara spoke much to the relief of Anaya.
"It'll be more work than needed to break into their base head on. Got any leads as to going in the back door?"
Shepard glanced at Garrus silently asking if he was ok with fighting through even more mercs in one day. To her surprise he wasn't looking at her but at Samara, his eyes seemingly glued to the Justicar. Shepard couldn't read what it was she saw in his eyes, but something she saw there made a wave of jealousy and anger wash over her.
"Yes actually." Shepard turned her focus back to Samara, careful to keep her inner emotions from her face. "There is a Volus named Pitne For here. He delivered something to the Eclipse sisters He may still have his pass card to the cargo bay of their base, or a copy of it at the very least. Do this for me and I will join you and your mission."
"Pitne For?" Anaya spoke up, looking between Shepard and Samara.
"You know this guy?" Shepard asked.
"Yeah, he's in my station right now. Being held for smuggling contraband and is suspect in killing his business partner."
Shepard smirked. "Mind if I talk with him? I have Spectre authority if you need to tell your bosses something."
Anaya nodded in assent. "Follow me. I'll take you to him." She turned to Samara. "And I need to bring you with me ma'am." Anaya's tone was full of respect for the other Asari.
Anaya led the trio out of the alleyway, the officers she had brought with her as back up fell in behind them, careful to keep their distance from the Justicar.
"What is it we get to kill today Shepard?" Grunt asked, practically beaming, or at least as well as a Krogan could.
Shepard and Garrus decided to pull in a little back up in the form of Grunt. Shepard wasn't too keen on storming a merc HQ with just herself and Garrus, even with how well they worked together. Grunt had also not been out and about since Garrus took him to pick up Tali, almost three weeks ago. If what EDI had told her was true, Grunt was starting to get a bit restless. A restless Krogan on a ship was never a good combo.
"Mercs and lots of 'em Grunt." Shepard grinned over her shoulder at the Krogan from her seat in their skycar.
"I can see the landing pad. Looks like no one is there." Garrus spoke up from the driver's seat next to Shepard.
"Set us down. Let's see if that pass card Pitne For gave us actually works." Shepard spoke pulling her Scimitar from her back, checking it's thermal clip.
"And if it doesn't?" Garrus asked, a brow plate raised at Shepard.
"That's what I brought Grunt for. Duh." Shepard grinned. Grunt began chuckling at the idea of bashing doors in.
Garrus set the skycar down as silently as he could. Much to Grunt's disappointment, the pass card worded. The landing pad door opened up to a large lift ment to bring any cargo to the upper levels of the Eclipse HQ. The pass card served to operate the lift as well. With a swipe of the card over the door controls the lift jerked into motion, bringing them up to the higher levels of the tower that housed the Eclipse HQ.
"Hostilities detected." A familiar mechanical voice spoke once the lift stopped and it's doors opened.
In front of them two of the Eclipse mechs began unfolding for their spots on the floor. They managed to get half way unfolded before the boom of Grunt's shotgun filled the air. In a single blast from his Claymore shotgun, Grunt turned the two mechs into nothing more than scrap.
"Heh, heh, heh." Grunt chuckled next to Shepard, a wide grin on his face.
Shepard shook her head, a smile of her own making it's way to her lips. Grunt certainly knew how to enjoy the little things in life.
"Come on. Let's go find something else to kill." Grunt's voice full of pleasure at having the chance to fight after so long.
"Lead the way Grunt." Shepard chuckled.
Without another word Grunt jogged off, intending to do just that. Shepard shook her head at his back in mirth.
"Come on big guy. Better make sure he doesn't get himself killed." Garrus chuckled next to her.
The pair started leisurely walking in the direction Grunt had gone. They were in no rush, even from where they were they could here the Krogan's thundering boot falls.
"I! AM! KROGAN!" Grunt's voice boomed through the building, followed closely by the thundering roar of his shotgun going off.
Shepard turned to Garrus, a smirk on her face. "Race ya."
"You're on." Garrus smirked back.
Another roar of Grunt's shotgun reached their ears. As if runners in a sprint, both Shepard and Garrus took off in the direction Grunt had gone. Garrus' long loping stride ate up ground, while Shepard's covered it just as quickly, her legs pumping to keep up with the Turian without her biotics.
Shepard, Garrus and Grunt had just finished mopping up another group of Eclipse. Grunt was grinning like an idiot, clearly on a massive adrenaline high. Shepard began walking down the main hallway they had been following when Garrus stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.
Shepard looked to Garrus, about to speak, but he silenced her holding up a talon to his mouth. He tapped the side of head head and then pointed to a door, leading off the main passage just behind them.
I heard something. In there.
Shepard nodded. Garrus watched as Shepard turned to Grunt, signalling him to follow and stay quiet. Garrus couldn't help but the take in Shepard's features. He had burned them into his mind long ago on the old Normandy but he was still stunned at how beautiful she was. Garrus' gaze ended on her lips and he quickly turned away from her. It wouldn't help him in the slightest to start thinking about what those lips of hers could do.
Keep it together Vakarian. Garrus yelled at himself. Not now. Do this crap later if you have to but not now.
Garrus began moving towards the door he had pointed out. He didn't make a sound in his movements as he crept up the the door. Shepard moved up next to him, just as soundlessly. She tapped her fist against his shoulder.
Garrus opened the door and the three moved into the small room on the other side. Garrus brought his Vindicator up, ready to fire at anything. The room was small, a small office with only a few chairs and desks. The blue fringe of an Asari out poked over one of the desks.
"You know we can see you right?" Shepard asked, the Asari.
The Asari spun around and stood up, her hands gripping a Tempest SMG. Garrus brought the barrel of his Vindicator in line with the Asari's head. As were everyone else they had come across so far, the Asari was wearing the yellow armor of an Eclipse merc. The Asari's eyes went wide at seeing the trio before her.
"Wait! Don't shoot!" The asari pleaded. She threw her hands up above her head, but she kept her hold on her Tempest.
"Why shouldn't we? You're a merc and you tried to kill us." Shepard spoke calmly. Garrus noticed that her hands were empty, not that that really meant much, but it sent his protective instincts into overdrive.
He could practically see every muscle of the Asari's body, he could see distinctly which were tensed and which were relaxed. He could even smell the Asari's sent from where he was. Everything inside him fired off red flags.
"Because I didn't actually shoot at you! I only made it look like I was!" The Asari's voice sounded panicked at first, but Garrus could hear the calm undertones.
She's lying! Kill her! Protect Kate! Every ounce of his body screamed at him. He held it back, waiting for Shepard to do something first.
"And why should I believe you?" Shepard asked, sounding bored.
"Because…." The Asari began. Garrus noticed the slight extra bit of pressure she put on the trigger of her gun. Her arm tensed, ready to move in a moment.
"I don't really…." She never got the chance to finish. Her head snapped back with a sickening crack, barely audible over the bark of Garrus' rifle. The Asari's body crumpled to the floor, a tight cluster of rounds in the center of her forehead, oozing blood and brain matter.
"What the fuck Garrus!" Shepard turned to him, eyes wide in shock and a grimace on her face.
Garrus lowered his rifle. His body calming itself, now that the one it thought of as his mate was safe. Garrus turned to Shepard and locked gazes with her. He was relieved to see that only surprise was in her eyes and nothing more.
"Warn me next time! Jesus!" She began rubbing a hand over her unprotected ear. Shepard winced slightly when her hand touched the ear.
"You ok, Kate?" Garrus asked, his voice full of concern.
"Yeah." She shook her head. " That thing is just loud as hell when it goes off in your ear."
"Sorry about that. She was going to shoot, and I wasn't going to take any chances." Not with your safety anyways. Shepard began to sway a bit..
"I'll make it up to you." He placed his hands on her shoulders to steady her.
"Promises." She smirked up at him.
"Contacts!" Grunt shouted from the doorway. His shotgun roared and Shepard winced again.
Garrus placed his hand on her chest, releasing her helmet. With a hiss her helmet sealed itself around her head.
"Thanks." Her voice crackled over his comm.
Garrus nodded to her and stepped past her. He brought his rifle up to his shoulder once more. Soon as he stepped into the hallway a yellow armored form entered his sights. He pulled his trigger and the form dropped to the ground. The bark of Shepard's own Vindicator joined the sounds of the fire fight and another Eclipse dropped to the floor.
"God damn it!" Shepard shouted. "Why do mercs have a hard on for these fucking gunships!?"
Shepard and her team had made their way deeper into the Eclipse HQ. They came across, and were now pinned, in a small open air docking hangar. Until just a few moments ago the hanger had housed a single gunship. That gunship was now powered and had someone in it trying to use it's gun to turn them into swiss cheese.
"Grunt!" Shepard shouted. "Please for the love of God tell me you brought that grenade launcher!"
"Why wouldn't I?!" Grunt shouted back.
Shepard leaned around the pillar she was using as cover and fired at the gunship. The rounds of her Vindicator pinged off the cockpit canopy. She faintly heard the whine of the ship's machine gun spinning up and pulled back into cover.
"Garrus! Focus fire on the canopy! Your mantis might punch through it." Shepard shouted once the spray of bullets from the gunship stopped. A resounding crack filled the air as Garrus did just that.
"Grunt! Use that launcher and empty it! I don't care if I need to buy a new one! Just hit that fucking thing!"
Grunt's booming laugh filled the air followed a second later by the explosion of a grande detonating.
At least he's having fun. Shepard grumbled to herself.
She poked her head around her pillar again. The side of the gunship's cockpit had a large black scorch mark plastered over it. Shepard fired at the cockpit again, another grande flying towards the ship from the corner of her eye.
The grande landed dead center of the canopy. Once the small cloud of smoke from the explosion dissipated, Shepard spied a small spiderweb of cracks on the point the grenade impacted.
"Good shot Grunt! Keep it up!" Shepard fired again, aiming at the cracks. "Garrus you see what I see?"
Garrus didn't reply. Another crack filled the air in answer to her question, the spiderweb grew larger. Shepard fired at the web of cracks as quickly as her Vindicator would allow.
The gunship started turning towards Garrus, it's machine gun spinning up. Another crack filled the air and the web of cracks grew larger still.
"Come on asshole! Shoot me!" Shepard yelled and moved away from the pillar out into the open.
She dropped her Vindicator and pulled the Collector beam weapon she'd picked up on Horizon from her back. She eyeballed the shot as best she could, the thing had no sights as far as she could tell. She pulled the trigger of the rifle and held it. A beam of yellow energy shot out of the rifle. Shepard adjusted her aim and the beam raked across the side of the cockpit, stopping on the center of the web of cracks.
Shepard smiled grimly when the ship turned back to face her. The ship fired its gun at her, bullets raked up the walkway towards her. Shepard brought her biotic barriers up just in time to stop the first few shots.
Her mind seared with pain as her barriers took a pounding from the ship's gun. Shepard released the trigger of the rifle and dropped brought both of her hands up and forced more energy into her barrier. Her mind seared in pain as the gun continued to pound her barrier.
She had time to see the canopy of the gunship finally break apart. A crack filled that air and one of Garrus' rounds punched through the spot weakened by the beam fire. Shepard's vision began to darken and she felt blood begin to ooze its way out of her nose.
Another crack filled the air and the fire from the gunship stopped. Shepard's vision darkened completely before she let her barrier fall. She fell to her knees, her hands cradling her head in pain.
"Kate!" Garrus' voice called out to her, full of anger and panic.
Shepard felt blood on her lips and began to sway, barely able to stay upright. She heard a pounding of boots begin to rush towards her.
"Grunt! Secure the area!" Garrus' voice was faint and sounded far away.
The boot falls got nearer but they sounded so far away at the same time. She felt a taloned hand on her cheek, and her head was brought up.
"Kate! Stay with me!" She could barely make out the sound of his voice. He sounded as if he was at the end of a very, very long tunnel.
Shepard thought she heard Garrus calling her name just before blackness surrounded her. She fell into the dark depths of the abyss that was unconsciousness.
"Kate! Kate!" Garrus called her name.
He looked into her normally bright eyes that were now dark and sightless. The only reassurance that she was still with him in the realm of the living was her faint breath against his face and his visor with her bio readings.
"Turian. We're clear. What's wrong with Shepard?" Garrus thought he imagined it but he thought he heard a faint amount of concern in the Krogan's voice.
"She's out cold. Over taxed her biotics." Garrus replied over their comms.
Garrus placed the dropped Collector rifle on Shepard's back clamps. After making sure all of her gear was secured, Garrus checked the seal on her helmet. Satisfied that nothing would come off or undone, Garrus picked Shepard's limp body up and slung her over his shoulder. He pulled one of her Locusts off its clamp and brought it up, ready to defend himself and Shepard if he had to.
He moved over towards Grunt, who was standing by the door leading further into the Eclipse HQ. He made sure to keep himself as steady as possible, so as to not jar Shepard's body.
"Come on. The info we need should be in the next room." Garrus spoke to Grunt once he was at the door.
Grunt looked at Shepard's still form and then at Garrus. Something that Grunt saw in Garrus' face made him simply nod and accept that he was in charge now.
"Joker." Garrus commed to the Normandy. "We need an evac. Send the shuttle ASAP."
"Copy that Garrus." The pilot's tone was unusually serious. "Sending Mordin with the shuttle. ETA twenty minutes."
"Thanks Joker." Garrus hit the controls for the door. "Garrus out."
The door hissed open, revealing an empty hallway. Garrus turned to Grunt.
"Stay in front. I'll keep Shepard safe. Just keep them away from us and we'll be done before the shuttle gets here." Garrus met Grunt's eyes.
Grunt nodded and moved into the hallway, his Claymore raised and ready. Garrus let him get two meters ahead before he followed the Krogan. The minutes stretched by as Garrus and Grunt moved through the winding corridor. It was unusually barren and quiet, sending Garrus' senses into overdrive.
At the end of the corridor, they came across a Volus, aimlessly bumping into the Volus only noticed the pair once they were on top of him. The Volus spun around and was lit up in a weak biotic aura.
"Fear me Turian!" The Volus spoke in a far away voice, he was clearly not all there.
"I am a biotic god!" Garrus and Grunt looked at each other, both unsure of what to do.
"We don't have time for this." Garrus spoke to Grunt and turned back to the Volus.
"Leave Volus. You'll just get yourself killed." Garrus looked down at the small creature.
"Kneel before me weakling!" The Volus shouted. A biotic force weakly shoved at Garrus.
Garrus brought the barrel of Shepard's Locust up to his head.
"Leave." He snarled at the small creature.
The Volus ignored Garrus, and brought his arm back as if to try and attack him again. Garrus however was quicker. He brought his foot up and kicked the Volus over, sending him backwards. The Volus hit the wall behind him and slumped to the floor out cold.
Garrus set Shepard's limp body on the floor next to the door. If what they'd gathered from the floor plan EDI had sent them, the main office of the HQ was on the other side. Garrus made sure that Shepard was still breathing. He clipped her borrowed Locust to his thigh and pulled his Mantis from his back.
Garrus stood up and looked to Grunt. "Ready?" asked.
"Ready." The Krogan responded, a grin forming on his face.
"Whatever happens keep them away from this door." Garrus spoke before hitting the door's release.
The door opened up into a large cargo room. Boxes and crates were stacked everywhere. In the center of the room was a large desk, datapads covering every available inch of it. There were a dozen Eclipse mercs around the room, attending to various crates, either preparing them for shipment or opening them. Behind the desk stood a lone Asari in purple armor, just a shade darker than her skin. In her hands was a datapad and a glass of something red, probably Asari wine.
The Asari looked up at Garrus and Grunt and smirked. She downed the contents of her glass and Garrus brought his Mantis up, sighting down at the Asari. Her glass now empty, the Asari dropped it, letting it crash to the floor. The attention of every merc in the room focused on the pair standing in the doorway.
"Kill them." The asari spoke in a voice that spoke of untold promises.
Every merc around the room dropped what they were doing and pulled their weapons. Garrus fired, the round ment for the Asari's head was stopped by a biotic barrier. Garrus grimly smiled at seeing the Asari wince in pain. He managed to get another shot off before being forced into cover behind the closest crate.
"I! AM! KROGAN!" Grunt's battle cry filled the air, drowning out even the sounds of rifle fire.
Garrus popped out of cover and sighted on the purple Asari again. He fired, his round hitting her square in the chest. He managed to catch a glimpse of her pain filled grimace before ducking back down.
Garrus heard Grunt yell in rage and the thundering booms of his Claymore going off. Garrus popped out of cover once more and found the Asari again, letting Grunt deal with the rest of the mercs. The Asari spotted Garrus and her eyes widened in his scope. Garrus fired just when the Asari brought up a barrier in front of her. His round flew true and mashed through her weak defence, catching her in the throat. The Asari fell, clawing at her throat trying desperately to breathe.
Garrus swung his scope over the rest of the room to find that Grunt had killed all but one of the other mercs. Before Garrus could fire, Grunt's Claymore bucked, its thundering roar filling the air. The last merc dropped, a large hole blow clean through her torso.
"Clear!" Grunt spoke into the team's comms.
Garrus stood from his cover and walked to the desk in the center of the area. His gaze took in the piles of data pads.
"Go watch over Shepard." Garrus spoke to Grunt. "I've got ten minutes to find what we need."
Grunt nodded and headed to the door they'd come in. Garrus sighed and began looking over each of the data pads.
Garrus moved away from the landing pad that he'd been dropped of at. Once certain that Shepard was in the capable hands of Mordin, Garrus had the Salarian drop him off at the closest landing pad to Detective Anaya's precinct.
Garrus entered the precinct and ignored the odd looks he received from the officers in the building. It wasn't everyday that a Turian in battle worn armor, armed to the teeth, stormed into the precinct. Garrus ignored everyone and walked up to Detective Anaya's desk.
The Detective was reading a data pad on her desk with Samara sitting on top a small wall behind her. Garrus tossed a data pad onto the Detective's desk and handed another to the Justicar.
Anaya looked up, surprise and anger in her eyes at having the data pad rudely thrown at her. Her face softened when she recognized Garrus.
"There's some interesting info on that you might be interested in." Garrus spoke curtly to Anaya before turning his attention to Samara.
The Justicar was reading over her own data pad. She nodded to herself and looked up at Garrus.
"Thank you. This is exactly what I needed." Samara hopped off the wall and turned to the Detective.
"I am ready to leave at once if that will satisfy your superiors." Samara spoke to the Detective in her calm detached voice.
"You're free to go Justicar. May I just say it has been an honor to have you here." Anaya spoke almost reverently to the Justicar. Samara only nodded.
"I must ask. Where is Commander Shepard?" Samara spoke to Garrus.
"She was injured defending myself and another of our team getting that." Garrus nodded to the data pad in Samara's hand. "Shepard is back on our ship being treated for it. We can go there as soon as you are ready."
A look of sadness flashed over Samara's features. She nodded to Garrus and then turned back to the Detective.
"Good-bye Detective. Thank you for your hospitality." Anaya nodded to Samara.
Garrus turned on his heel and stormed out of the precinct, eager to get back to the Normandy and Shepard. Samara easily caught up with him and matched his pace with ease. Garrus glanced at the Justicar to see her studying his profile intently. Garrus thought he saw the faintest of smirks on the Justicar's face, but it was gone as soon as it formed.
"What?" Garrus practically snarled at Samara.
"I can't help but wonder how it happened." Samara spoke, turning her attention away from Garrus.
"How what happened?" Garrus snarled back, anxious to get back to the Normandy as soon as he could.
"How the son of someone so anti-human, ended up falling for the most famous human in the Galaxy." Samara spoke calmly, stopping Garrus in his tracks.
"I know your clan markings. You are a Vakarian. You look exactly like your father, so you could only be Garrus Vakarian." Samara continued, stopping with him. Garrus narrowed his eyes at her.
"I had help from your father when I was taken to the Citadel during the Relay-314 incident. He was rather anti-human even back then."
"I'm not my father." Garrus spoke coldly, almost spitting out the last word.
Ever since his childhood until his time on Omega, Garrus had spent every moment trying to live up to his father's expectations. Omega and Shepard's death made him stop caring about it anymore, but the bad memories of the looks of disappointment on his father's face still haunted him.
"No you are much more like your mother." Garrus glared at the Arasi. "Just as protective as her too."
Samara began walking again, heading towards the nearest skycar lot. Garrus stood there for a moment, scratching the underside of his jaw, trying to remember if his parents had ever told him about meeting a Justicar before. He decided to dwell on it later an jogged to catch up with Samara.
Shepard woke up with a pounding pain behind her eyes. Every inch of her brain felt as if it had been put through a blender and then put back into her head. Shepard groaned and brought her hands up to her head.
"Finally awake there Shep?" Kasumi's normally pleasant voice was loud and obnoxious, causing a wave of pain to wash over her head again.
"Wish I wasn't." Shepard replied, slowly opening her eyes. To her relief the normally bright lights of the medbay were dimmed to a comfortable level.
"At least your not Garrus." Kasumi replied.
Shepard lazily looked over the the lithe woman standing next to her. Her face took on a look of puzzlement.
"Why? What's wrong with him?" Normally, Shepard would've been up and about trying to find out what had happened to make his situation worse. Right now though the throbbing headache kept her still.
"He's fine. Just been in a rather sour mood ever since he returned to the ship with that Asari." Shepard sat up, her headache becoming a minor concern to her now.
'Where are they?" Shepard demanded.
Kasumi chuckled. "Relax. Garrus is busy fuming in the battery and Samara is in the port observation room meditating."
Shepard relaxed back onto the bed and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.
"Samara said something about wanting to speak with you as soon as you woke up however."
The pounding in Shepard's head began to recede, turning into a dull throb over a massive migraine. She nodded to Kasumi and sat back up.
"How long was I out this time?" Shepard asked and hopped off the bed. Shepard looked down to find her armor piled up next to the bed.
"Only about six hours. You only just missed dinner, not that anyone had it here of course." Kasumi smirked at her.
Before she left earlier in the day with Garrus, Tali, and Miranda, Shepard had given everyone a three day leave on Illium. The crew was probably enjoying the fruits of having fresh food at their fingertips again.
"I'll probably just get a burger later." Shepard moved away from the bed and headed to the medbay doors on unsteady legs. "I'll go see what's got Garrus' panties in a bunch. Talk to you later Kasumi."
Shepard strode out of the door, her steps getting steadier the more she moved. She made a B-line to the main battery. To her surprise the door was locked for once. Shepard rapped her knuckles on the door.
"Garrus, you in there?" There was no response from the other side, so she tried again, banging on it this time.
She waited a few seconds and when nothing happened she huffed a sigh of exasperation. She turned around and made for the observation room. When she reached the door of the room, she heard voices coming from the other side. She picked out two voices and she knew both of them. She picked out Garrus' dual toned voice in a heartbeat, and the second came to her as being that of Samara's cool voice a moment later.
Shepard felt a rush of anger and irrational jealousy flood into her veins. Garrus sounded mirthful and it made her mad. Her mind began running through a million different reasons for his mirth, all of them involving Samara and a lack of clothing.
What the hell is wrong with me? Shepard questioned herself. Garrus wouldn't do something like that. Would he?
Shepard quickly quelled her emotions, forcing them to the back of her mind until she could deal with them alone.
She stepped up to the door and placed her hand on the controls. The door hissed open, revealing the small room. Shepard hadn't spent much time in the room herself but could see the draw of it. The only thing in the room were two large 'L' shaped couches facing a large window looking outward. If they were in space there would have been a spectacular view of the black void of space, now it was a view of the Illium skyline.
Shepard was greeted with Garrus and Samara deep into a conversation. The two were sitting on different couches, each had a plate of food in their laps which they were eating as they talked.
"Really? She actually did that? Thought she was making it up when she told me." Garrus voice reached her ears after a chuckle from his sweet voice.
"Yes she did." Samara spoke after swallowing a mouthful of food. "Your mother is truly an extraordinary woman.
Garrus looked up from his food and looked over his shoulder at her. His eyes brightened at seeing her up and about.
"How you feeling there Shepard? " Garrus asked. "That barrier took a lot out of you."
"I've been better." Shepard spoke, her voice unusually flat, even to her ears. "What are you guys talking about?" Her interest had been peeked when Samara had made mention of Garrus' mother.
"Samara knows my parents. She was just confirming a story my mother told to my sister and I."
That took her by surprise. The internal rage that Sheard felt in the back of her mind, started to quiet down much to her relief.
"Commander." Samara spoke and rose from her seat. "Before I can become officially a part of your crew I must swear an oath to you. This way I will not be forced to choose between your orders and my code."
Samara knelt down on one knee before either Shepard or Garrus could say anything. Her head was bowed and her eyes closed. An azure aura encased Samara.
"By the code I will sever you Shepard. Your choices are my choices. Your morals are my morals. Your wishes are my code."
When she finished speaking, the arua around Samara flared to a near blinding light. When the wave of energy released from her aura passed over Shepard, she felt an odd tingling sensation and an immediate knowledge that Samara's words were binding in ways she didn't, and couldn't, understand.
Once the light faded, Shepard glanced to Garrus. His jaw was slack and his eyes wide in awe. Shepard looked back to Samara, who was standing now.
"I must warn you." Samara spoke calmly. "If you force me to do anything dishonorable, I may be forced to kill you once our mission is done."
Samara glanced at Garrus and a smirk passed over her features. "Though if what Garrus here says is true, we should not have that problem."
The mood of awe that had filled the room was broken when Garrus' omni-tool pinged at him. He looked down and quickly stood up.
"My calibrations are done. I'll see you around Shepard." Garrus got up to leave, taking his food with him. When he reached Shepard on his way to the door he stopped.
Garrus put and hand on her shoulder and brought his mouth down to her ear.
"Don't ever do that again. I can't lose you." Garrus felt the room before she had the chance to reply.
When the door closed Samara spoke once more.
"He is a rare breed Commander. You have nothing to worry about with that one." Samara sat down once more.
"What do you mean?" Shepard asked, her interest growing with the Asari's words.
"The jealousy you harbor is misplaced." Shepard felt her jaw drop. How could she know what was going on in her own mind?
"The only thing that can stop him from parting from you for long is death itself. Even then I am not sure." Samara continued, not noticing Shepard's look of misbelief.
Samara glance over her shoulder at Shepard, a small smile playing at her lips.
"How.. How did you…?" Shepard stammered.
"I have been around for nearly a millennia Shepard. When you get to my age, young ones like you are an open book."
"I... I'm gonna… Go do something…" Shepard stammered. still disbelieving what she had just been told from the centuries old Justicar.
Shepard turned and stumbled out of the room. Her stomach growled at her in hunger.
Well food helps with everything. So might as well. Shepard thought to herself.
A/N:
And another chapter down! Samara's recruitment mission is honestly my favorite of all of them, which is why I spent as much time as I did on it. I am not sure if I will end up doing the same with Thane's mission or not just yet. As for Samara knowing Garrus' parents that is definitely my creating license at work. I haven't really found much (if any) info on Garrus' family other than what is in the Shadow Broker file on him, so I'm using my own leeway as a writer to add some more depth to that part of the universe.
Hopefully you all enjoy this chapter! Please let me know if you don't, in my book no feedback means I didn't screw anything up too badly.
As always, thank you all so much for reading and sticking with me as I write this! It's been a lot of fun putting my own spin on some of the characters. If you have any suggestions or comments please leave them!
Until next time!