Chapter 10! Yeah last one ended on a bit of a downer but I think something like that was needed. A way to show hat people are still hurting from the losses but are willing to move on. Not forget them, but know that they aren't doing any of their loved ones a favor. There were little hints in the story for future scenario's. Hope some of you got them!
Also guys...Thanks. For those of you who have been reading this story as I post these. Just thank you for at least I hate to use the word accept, but embracing Leela. If you didn't get it from chapter 7 I hope you do so now. But well, just thank you. It means a lot to me that people, despite the fact that she's only shown up in the metaphysical sense, has been embraced by you guys. It is truly an awesome thing to see.
Chapter 10
"Run!"
They were once again in the middle of a firefight. It was the third one that week and their tenth in the past month and a half. And it was getting old real quick. Garrus was sitting in his perch, unloading round after round into enemies. They were still under orders to use rubber or concussive rounds to keep casualties limited. But with the way things were going, both sides would begin taking losses. And based upon how his team was reacting, Garrus was worried for the other side.
Unloading the heat sink, he popped a fresh clip in and set off three shots in rapid succession. Knocking down two of their attackers as the rest of the team slid behind cover.
"SCOPED AND DROPPED! Jack and Liara take the right to the windows. Take cover and draw as much fire as you can. Kaidan and James you go around the left to the pillar! I'll cover your middle! And try to take the heat off of you!"
He received confirmation on his recommendation and reinserted another clip and followed the girls for a moment. Jack and Liara were ducking behind cover and letting out rounds as often as they could. The enemy was onto their tactics though. From the way it was set up, it had been deliberate. A way to bottleneck anyone that came into their territory and take them for all they were worth. But Garrus and the others were saved by the fact that
They had moved to a quadrant of a new Citadel arm. This time into an industrial plaza. It stank, but was nowhere near as bad as when they'd arrived on the first arm. These people had had months to dig in, and seemed much better armed.
"James! How are we doing on reaching that pillar?"
The human grunted as his shields absorbed a small bevy of bullets. "We're going to need another minute! The major is disarming a few charges and I'm trying to keep some mechs from crossing the bridge and setting them off!"
"Shit." He whispered as he let out a concussive round that sent a batarian into the wall. "Liara do you have any flash bangs left?"
"That's a negative, Garrus! Jack anything left in your belt?
"Fuck no! I used them all in the last fight we got in! And we're two days a way from the base unless we call for a shuttle!"
Reloading a clip yet again,, this time with real rounds. Garrus looked in his artillery case and found a proximity mine. Loading it into the tip of his gun, Garrus took aim and fired it. As it sailed across the causeway he let loose a round and watched it explode several feet above their enemy. Most dropped their guns and screamed in pain as James and Kaidan made their way into the building while Jack and Liara took defensive positions on the ground.
Garrus reloaded rubber rounds and let the final two fly sending the others to the ground clutching their heads while Kaidan and James called for Liara and Jack to come up.
Keeping his rifle trained on the scene he asked. "What's going on you guys?"
He heard several people shouting followed by someone getting hit. People screamed but it was Kaidan he heard speak. "Everything is taken care of here Garrus, how is it on your end?"
Taking his eyes out of the scope, Garrus surveyed his surroundings like a hawk looking for its prey. "So far, so good Kaidan. Any of them speak up yet?"
He heard Liara's voice in his ear next. "We are not here to fight you! We are here on the orders of the…" Liara let out a grunt before growling in her Shadow Broker voice, "Do that again and I will sever your head from your shoulders!"
"With what? You asari have lost your biotics."
He heard a scuffle and Jack come on. "I've got a knife and your arms and are tied to your legs. That give you enough reason to talk."
There was silence for a moment. Garrus thought Jack had put his knife into the woman until she spoke. "What is it you want? We barely have any food for you to steal and this little scuffle cost us a good amount of our ammo and half our remaining mechs."
"We aren't here to rob you. As we said we were sent by the remains of the Council and Alliance military to help evacuate you to safer locations. We're working with other people to help rebuild the Citadel while the quarian fleet is working to get the relays working again." It was Kaidan this who spoke this time.
"The relays are broken? How did that happen?"
"From what we figured the Citadel released a large amount of dark energy that caused the relays to shut down thanks to a lack of power. It's also messing with the powers of all biotics."
"Not bad James, you have been paying attention."
"Screw you, Scars."
Despite the fact that it had been a couple of weeks since Earth, James and Garrus hadn't discussed what nearly transpired against them, but they were civil and it worked at the moment.
"Put the dicks away boys. We need to get these idiots inside. There kids in this shithole you've been hiding in?"
"No."
"Lying to us would be most unwise at this juncture, young lady."
It was a turian this time. "We aren't lying, blue. We've been here since the Citadel started moving. We thought the Keepers were rounding people up for processing."
That caught Garrus's attention. "Did he just say, Keepers?"
"That's right, Scars. But I thought the Keepers were made by the Reapers? Shouldn't they have died along with them?"
As much as he wanted to leave his nest he kept his eyes scanning the vicinity. "Your guess is as good as mine James. Ask him where they saw it."
James relayed the question and the turian replied. "About three days hike from here, you have to go in on foot due to the amount of collapsed buildings. We don't know if it's alone, but it looked like it was wandering around attempting to fix a few consoles in the hospital we saw it in."
"Liara I take it you're interested in this?"
"Of course Garrus," her voice was all smiles as she spoke. "Finding a Keeper may help us gain a better understanding of the security protocols. Though making sure it doesn't self destruct upon our investigating it is another matter."
"Well what about just finding the guy who did the research?"
"Easier said than done. The guy who did the research went into hiding while we were working for Cerberus."
"Wait, you're talking about that salarian Chorban? Garrus didn't you say that you were able to access some of the old C-Sec files awhile back"
Garrus took a moment before responding. "If I remember correctly I think I was able to access a couple of old arrest records. You're thinking I might find him in the system, Kaidan?"
"Doesn't hurt to check. Hell, we might even be to find out about a few hidden cache's of C-Sec weapons Shepard helped procure."
Garrus let out a sigh and packed his rifle away. "Not a bad plan, Kaidan. I'll radio for a pick up from Cortez along with a few supplies for them."
"Roger that, Garrus. I'll keep the rest of these guys under control for you until we Steve gets here."
Settling back into his spot, Garrus made the call. Steve said he'd be a couple of hours. "What exactly are you looking for me to load up? We haven't been having as much luck here as we were on the other arm."
"Just bring them a few days worth of food and ammo. I'll have Kaidan leave a beacon with them so you guys can find them if there's a problem. Also bring a medic. I had to let off a proximity mind mid flight and I want to make sure none of them have any injuries from that or our dummy rounds."
"You got it, Garrus. See you in a few."
Shutting off the call, Garrus leaned back and noticed his vision begin to blur. "Shit." Was all he could muster as he closed his eyes. He kept them closed and waited calmly. When he finally opened them again it was back to normal. He'd have to make a call to Chakwas and report it. He always did and when made it back to the base he would end up having to take a couple days bed rest after they drained the fluids.
He'd barely just started the treatments, but going every two weeks was beginning to wear on his patience. Still, if it kept him in the fight he would deal with any amount of discomfort. He counted off the amount of fights they'd been in. While few and far between, they had been fairly tough since they were under no kill orders. Sometimes he longed for the days when it was as simple as putting a bullet in the bad guy. But now, that line was almost non existent. You didn't know if you were killing a hostile or killing an innocent.
He'd taken a chance today with his little stunt and he got lucky. Rubbing his neck, he felt the scab from the last one and growled. But decided to rest his eyes for a moment.
"Hey, Scars. Esteban's here, said we gotta get going. He's gotta drop us off at the Crucible. "
"Damn it, why didn't you check on me sooner?"
"We did. Liara and Kaidan checked your vitals and from what they could find you were okay for a little bit. I've been checking on you every fifteen minutes to make sure you were still breathing."
Pushing himself to his feet, Garrus felt a rush of dizziness overtake him. He fell forward but was caught by James. Shrugging him off immediately, Garrus growled that he didn't need his help.
"Easy there big guy. Was just trying to help."
"Then don't bitch at me when I spend time trying to help make life easier for the people stranded here and on your planet."
James stepped back and raised his hands. "I wasn't trying to guilt you into that, but you're right, Scars. You're right." He stepped back and sighed. "I was mad, I've been mad for a long time about this whole shit storm. I couldn't help Earth until the end and when I could help them I ended up in the hospital letting others do the work for me. And you, you left your home planet to help ours. Your whole military did. But while we're here there's a chance millions more are dying and starving and we can't help them. We're as helpless as we were during the war."
Garrus rubbed his neck and scratched gently. "I told it to Shepard and I'll tell it to you. Turians are raised to believe if one person survives than the fight was worth it. Humans want to save everyone. It didn't happen, James and we can't help those who are stranded on the other side of the galaxy. All we can do is our best here and hope that we can get things working to the point where we can ease the suffering of those we can help."
The soldier stepped forward and stuck his hand out. "Under the bridge?"
Garrus shook it and picked up his rifle. "Yeah. Just make sure I don't make an ass out of myself in front of Jack. I got enough to worry about when we reach the Crucible without hearing her mock me."
He felt a hard slap on his back and laughed along with the arms master. "You can count on me, Scars."
The next morning they were on a shuttle heading toward what remained of the Crucible. Hackett and the others had flown it back toward the moon after depositing its pay load and the members of the Normandy crew were speechless at what they saw.
The Crucible was everything they were told and more. Several thousands of people from turians to humans. From Rachni to quarians. And even geth and salarians were still on board. All of them doing their best to crack to codes of the technology that stood before them. They waited near their docking bay, quiet and nervous. None of them had been called here and to now be standing in it after the war, they felt out of place.
None of them felt like they belonged on the Crucible other than Liara despite her claims that she would rather be working with them in helping the people that were stranded. But Garrus could see it in her eyes as she tried to catch conversations or sneak peeks at classified documents with her omni-tool. Much to the annoyance of the researchers that walked by them.
After an hour of waiting, their guide finally appeared with a small limp.
"Welcome to the Crucible. I'm sorry you all are being treated so rudely."
They all stepped forward and embraced Tali who laughed with each hug. "Yes the leg is fine. A bit squeaky but I've been giving it my own modifications." She tapped her heel and from her thigh a large knife appeared before disappearing with another tap of her heel. "I'm currently working on a spare that will hold tool kits and a spare pistol."
She was still wearing a veil similar to the scarf she wore on her helmet. She surveyed her friends, her eyes to only thing showing her smile, but they could see she was relieved to see them all despite the losses. "I've been told to escort you to the rooms in the barracks. Though Garrus, you are to follow me to the medical wing."
"I expected as much. You going to come, James?"
The human missed putting the potato chip he was attempting to eat in his mouth and it fell to the floor much to the amusement of their friends. He looked at Esteban and Jack who were covering their mouths and narrowed his eyes at them. They both stopped their laughs and Steve pulled up his omni-tool.
"I got you sleeping, James. And you talk in your sleep. A lot!"
It was the others turn to laugh and James put the chips back into his hip pouch and nodded. "Yeah, I'll join you. If it gets me a way from these dumbasses. You need some help, Sparks?"
"Not at the moment, but I'll enjoy the company after dropping this baby off at the medical bay."
"And you wonder why I ended up with Shepard."
"I still have my shotgun Garrus."
"And you still have no geth to fight."
The trip to the barracks was jovial, which annoyed many of the researches who yelled at them for quiet but that stopped once they saw the Normandy crew walking through the halls. And it made Jack laugh each time she apologized when the eyes of the researches widened at the sight of the crew.
After a ten minute walk they were dropped off at their rooms. Garrus barely had time to drop off his rifles and pack before being pulled out by his collar into the hallway with Tali and James. As they left, the heard a loud laugh as Traynor made her presence known. She'd been transferred to help the geth and Rachni to figure out how to expand the QEC network.
He didn't bother to look back as they made their way through the sterile halls. It was like a giant assembly plant where each room was somebody working on a new piece of technology, code breaking, or agricultural advancement. Garrus had seen some of these already put to work, in certain parts of the Citadel arms as well as on Earth. While they would take time to fine tune the processes, the successes so far were exemplary and had saved their lives more than a few times as well as help with repairing the landscapes of Earth.
As they walked by another room where a few geth, five of the estimated ten-thousand self reactivated ones, were conversing with engineers on drive core modifications, he found it strange that they had fought so hard to destroy the Reapers and yet their very survival may depend on the monstrosities that had set out to destroy them.
As they walked, Garrus found himself not saying much and watching Tali and James more than anything else. He didn't remember falling behind them, but truth was he'd invited James along for just this purpose. He couldn't help but smile when he saw James pull his hand away from Tali's when he caught sight of Garrus looking at them.
Finally they stopped in front of what was now officially the medical bay.
"So, will you two kids be okay without a grown up?"
James actually looked pale and Tali did her best to avert her gaze from Garrus. He just chuckled and gave her a knowing wink before entering.
It was filled to the brim with people from all over the Sol system. Some with minor injuries and others were in bed recovering from wounds similar to Tali's or worse. He stood to the side, watching as the doctors rushed between patients, administering meds and other people who were being brought from ships or parts of the Citadel and beginning emergency procedures. After so long, Garrus expected things to have settled down, instead they were slowly escalating.
Taking an extra seat, Garrus waited for a doctor. And as he did his head began to ache and his vision began to blur again. He wanted to take a pain killer but he couldn't. Not with him needing anesthesia at the start of his procedure. Instead he closed his eyes and rested his head against his knees.
"Are you okay, Mister?"
He looked up to see a little boy and girl standing in front of him. The boy human with olive skin and brown hair , the girl a young turian with black plates, green eyes and markings. They were holding hands, and based on his knowledge of humans he put the boy at about five and the girl at three. They were dressed in civilian attire and the girl had what humans called a teddy bear in her left arm while her other held her brothers hand.
He gave them a warm smile. "I'm fine, my head just hurts. What are you two doing here?"
The girl hid behind the boy and hid her face in his back. "We're here with our dad. He's been sick for awhile now."
That caught Garrus's attention. "What happened to him?"
The girl sniffled as her brother spoke. "He got us off world while Mom went to work with the turian military. Dad got sick due to an engine explosion when those aliens tried to take this ship, we don't know what happened to Mom." He pointed at a nearby bed where a deathly pale human man was hooked up to a series of tubes. "They said they were going to look for their families to take us in but we haven't heard from anyone."
The boys lip quivered and the girl clung to his shirt as she sniffled again. "Do you think he's going to die?"
Garrus reached out and put a hand on the girl's head. "I can't say, little one. But I can tell you that the doctors will do their very best to help him. "
The children looked at each other and then back at him they both spoke in unison, "You promise?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I promise. But you stay next to him and keep him strong. That's what he needs right now more than medicine."
The girl poked her head out from behind her brother. "Are you waiting for some one, Mister?"
Garrus gave her forehead a little poke and ran his finger along her markings. They were an emerald green along her black plates they made a crown like visage on her small head. "Yeah, I am. But tell you what. Why don't you call me, Garrus."
She gave him a shy smile. "I'm Ismene Schneider." She then pulled on her brother's shirt. "Use your manners."
The boy shook his head at her, but his eyes were warm as he looked at her and then at Garrus. "I'm Kevin Schneider. Who are you waiting for?"
Garrus leaned back and noticed an asari doctor eyeing him. "I'm waiting for a someone very special to me."
"Is it your mate?"
Kevin told her to hush but Garrus chuckled and nodded. "Yes, she's been gone for a long time."
"Was she like our mom? Was she military?"
Garrus nodded again and their eyes grew sad. "Don't feel sad kids. Things like this happen in war. "
"But if you're waiting, then what does that mean for us?"
He had no answer but still spoke. "It means that your mother is somewhere that she probably can't communicate with you. So keep your spirits up, and if you need help tell someone to contact me. My name is Garrus. Okay?" When they nodded he gave them both a pat on the head. "Now go back to your father."
The kids nodded and headed to their father's bedside. Halfway there, Ismene ran back to him, her teddy bear's head bouncing as she ran. When she stopped in front of him, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small fist and shook it at him. "Here. To make your head better."
Garrus put out his hand. She placed her tiny fist in his hands and opened her hand dropping a small object in it before returning to her brother and father. Garrus noticed it was a candy only found on Palaven. He slipped it in a pocket just as the doctor arrived.
"Are you, Garrus Vakarian?"
He nodded and the doctor waved at him. "We have a small room set up for you."
"I'd rather have a bed out here."
The doctor shook her head. "I'm sorry, sir but it's the orders of the higher ups that you get a private room."
He stood up with a small waver and the doctor took his arm. "Easy, Mister Vakarian."
Rubbing his eye, he allowed her to pull him toward the private room. Climbing into the bed he turned on his side and let the doctor do her work. After curling up a bit, he felt a small prick on his neck and the only inclination of her work was the pain slowly leaving his head.
"The Admiral and everyone will see you in two days. For now, just rest and get your strength back."
Pulling the blanket up over his form, Garrus closed his eyes.
As soon as he drifted he was back on a battlefield, it looked like Tuchanka. Javik was laying waste to enemies while Leela was fire biotics at them, raising them from the ground before sending bullets into their skulls while he planted a proximity mine a few yards a head before taking out a Brute with a shot in it's eyes. They took a moment to look at each other, her hair haggard and her visor blinking as it tried to maintain it's function but her face was all smiles despite the gore and dirt.
"Come on, Garrus! Don't tell me you're out of the game already."
He kept his eyes on her and let out three more shots which dropped another Brute with ease. "I'm just getting started."
He woke up with a groan and sat up. His mouth dry and he poured some water into the glass. Some of it spilt from his mouth and he wiped his chin as he laid back down. His neck was sore as it always was after the draining. But at least he could see and his head was clear for the first time in a long while.
Finally the day came and he was sitting with the others in a room. Food on the table and plenty of drink. He noticed himself and Liara were the only two not to really touch the food. James and the others however inhaled it like it was their last meal.
When the doors opened, the entire crew stood up before being told to sit with the simple wave of a hand.
Hackett walked past them, his usual scowl on his face along with Sparatus, the newly recovered Tevos, and Esheel.
"I hear that you have all uncovered the possible location of a Keeper?"
It was Hackett who spoke while the councilors watched the group quietly.
"That's correct. According to the information and footage we received from some people we found on the second arm."
"What kind of footage?"
"Some kids had some mechs go snooping through a broken down hospital." Jack said over a mouth full of food. "Seems the mechs caught sight of the Keeper before the kids had them turn around and leave."
Tevos and Esheel looked at her with mild disgust while Hackett and Sparatus listened in quiet contemplation.
"We've helped them in exchange for the information. They're good kids. Young, a bit angry, but they'll prove useful in the end." Liara transmitted the video to the screen and they turned around. The quality was lackluster. Loki mechs weren't known for their high caliber optics, and they could tell that it had been retrofitted with a night vision lens.
The Normandy crew watched quietly as the admiral and councilors stepped back to get a better shot of the footage. They could see the Tevos and Esheel looking doubtful but Hackett and Sparatus was analyzing each movement like a trained hunter.
Finally the footage they needed was shown and Tevos's jaw nearly hit the floor and Esheel was looking nauseous. Sparatus had mild amazement on his face while Hackett had the slightest hint of a smile on his lips.
"So, it is true. Do we know of its whereabouts or movements?
"That's a negative, Councilor Tevos." Kaidan paused the film and sighed. "We only know of it appearing in the hospital. No probes were sent in, but we thought that your hackers may have found some information on the tunnels beneath the hospital."
Hackett rolled his shoulders. "Unfortunately our efforts have bared little fruit. The Reapers hid their secrets too well."
"Well I wouldn't say that Admiral."
A shimmer of light came from the corner. The eyes of the Normandy crew, all save for James shone at the sight of the master thief.
She took a bit of food from the table and swallowed loudly before sitting down and putting her feet up on the table.
"Ms. Goto, glad to see you've come back to us."
Kasumi smiled and pulled up her own omni-tool. The video footage of the Keeper disappeared and a map of interconnected tubes lit up the screen.
"Garrus, word got back to me about you looking for the works of some scientist named Chorban. I did a little snooping and found his files. Didn't take long and he was a sly little bastard. He was able to track the movements of the Keepers and even a few access codes."
Liara and the others "This will take months to navigate."
Hackett chuckled and looked at them all. "Major Alenko, Miss Naught, you will stay with me. As for the rest of you. I want you to begin scouring those tunnels. Ten day excursions and reports. If that is all right with the rest of you."
Tevos nodded. "Of course. I was willing to offer my support upon confirmation of the footage." She then turned to Hackett. "Do not think that just because we have lost our seat of power we are going to let you run the show, Hackett." There was hint of laughter in her voice that sent shivers down the spines of the Normandy crew.
With the meeting adjourned, the Normandy crew left save for Garrus who was asked to stay behind by Hackett.
"How are you holding up?"
Garrus scratched his chin and stared at the map Kasumi left up. His eyes flicked across it looking for the best routes as he spoke. "I've been better. The shakes and headaches don't help, but I'm alive. What do you need Jack and Kaidan for?"
Hackett chuckled and lit a cigarette. "Some researchers need a few powerful biotics to try out new prototype implants on. And I thought those two wouldn't mind the possibility of being back to one hundred percent."
Garrus pointed at the screen and the admiral nodded. The screen flickered momentarily and his omni-tool beeped when it was saved. "How long do we have"
"I'm giving you a week. And…"
"And she's right behind me isn't she?"
"Well you're no fun." CT appeared and saluted Hackett before turning to Garrus. "I'll get ahold of the necessary mechs and supplies while you formulate a plan."
"Thank you, CT."
She laughed quietly. "You are quite welcome, Garrus. I'll be sure to keep the strawberry shampoo on hand."
When she was gone he felt another headache coming on, this time out of sheer annoyance. "Spirits help me."
Hackett only gave him a reaffirming pat on the back before exiting the room. Outside, Garrus could hear him and CT laughing loudly.