4
"We will hold the line!" Kirrahe beamed proudly as he ended his speech to his soldiers. He turned around to face Commander Shepard and his squad, Andromeda watched from a nearby tent, trying to keep out of sight. "Good luck, Commander. I hope we meet again." The green skinned Salarian motioned with his head to the left as he turned to move away from their camp to start their assault on the facility. A male human that appeared to be part of Shepard's team followed the Salarians with a determined look on his face. Seeing that Shepard was turning to address the rest of his squad, Andromeda saw her chance and quickly ran behind the Salarian soldiers. She was going to fight in this battle no matter what Garrus told her.
"Don't think so…" Shepard said as he grabbed the back of Andromeda's shirt as she passed by without even looking at her. "I don't need to save your ass again."
Andromeda jerked away angrily. "I can fight and you are going to need help."
"She's got a quad on her. I like it." Wrex chuckled in amusement as he looked on.
"From what Garrus has told us….you run more than fight." Shepard argued as he crossed his arms.
"Commander…" Garrus spoke up.
"I am not going to babysit her during the mission."
"Maybe she could stay aboard the ship?" A quarian known as Tali suggested who was also part of Shepard's squad.
"That's not a bad idea. She may have more information on Saren….we could question her after this." Garrus chimed in.
"Send her to Dr. Chakwas for a complete internal exam…I don't want her turning into a husk on us…and get the nuke ready." Shepard ordered. "Wrex, Garrus, come with me. Tali, help Ash prepare the nuke." Ashley saluted as she motioned Andromeda to follow her to the Normandy that had landed nearby.
Andromeda hesitated as she watched Garrus turning to follow the rest of his team away. "You better go on, Andromeda…." Garrus instructed as he pointed towards the ship. "I'll see you once we're finished here."
"Garrus, move it." Shepard called to the daggling Turian.
"Keelah…." Tali sighed as she looked on, already hearing the nearby gunfire of Kirrahe's team intercepting some Geth troops. She gently placed her hands on Andromeda's shoulders. "We should go….they will be fine."
Once on board the Normandy, Ashley took custody of Andromeda from Tali and led her down to Dr. Chakwas. The doctor was a more aged woman with short gray hair to her shoulders with warm comforting eyes. "You must be Andromeda…I have heard a lot about you. My name is Dr. Chakwas and I'm in charge of the medical facility aboard the Normandy."
"Can you keep an eye on her? I gotta get the nuke ready to blow Saren and his Krogan army to hell."
"Of course, Officer Williams. She will be in good hands."
"The Commander advised that she will need a full scan to make sure there is no sign of indoctrination. She was aboard Saren's ship after all." Ashley hurried back towards the elevator leaving Andromeda standing there with the doctor.
"Come, my dear. We will conduct the scan."
"Will this hurt?" Andromeda asked as she looked at the equipment wearily.
"Of course not…, "The older woman chuckled, "…Though your body will need to be completely relaxed. I will give you a mild sedative and the effects should wear off in two hours."
"Two hours? What about the attack?" Andromeda asked worriedly as her thoughts instantly went to Garrus and the rest of his team.
"I don't think you will need to worry about that….The Commander and his team will survive the mission. I have my utmost faith in them. There are no Krogan or Geth aboard this ship to harm you…you are safe." Dr. Chakwas motioned her to lie down aboard the table that was part of the scan equipment. "I will stay here until you are awake to monitor the scan and your stats. Are you ready to begin?"
Andromeda looked up at her then at the equipment nervously and nodded her head. Dr. Chakwas took out a syringe and injected it into her right arm. Andromeda stared up at the ceiling of the room as she felt the sedative taking over….seconds later her world became black.
Slowly opening her eyes, Andromeda groaned as she came to. She felt a bit disoriented as she looked around puzzled, trying to figure out where she was. Suddenly she remembered the attack on Virmire! What happened?! Springing up forward quickly, a wave of dizziness hit her hard from the hangover effects of the sedative.
Hearing her coming to, Dr. Chakwas completely deviated from her computer readings and hurried over. "Easy….try to lie back down…"
"No…I need to know….the others…" Andromeda's speech was still a bit slurred.
Dr. Chakwas lowered her eyes. "Now that you're awake I should report your condition to the Commander…he will want to talk to you."
Her heart sinking seeing the doctor's reaction to what she said, fear crept into the back of Andromeda's mind. Forcing her body to function…Andromeda hopped off the bed and ran as fast as he could towards the med bay's door. The entire room seemed to swirl around her as the sedative still affected her. "Wait! Come back!" Dr. Chakwas turned as she passed by to catch after her. "You're not well!"
Just as the door slid open, Andromeda stumbled against a person. The sudden stopped caused her head to hurt, trying to regain her equilibrium; she gripped the person's arms and looked up. It was Garrus who looked down at her with a worried expression. There were minor dings in his armor to where his shields were unable to stop some of the gunfire and his right arm seemed to be bleeding from within a slash mark that penetrated the armor completely. "Andromeda…are you ok?!"
Seeing him hurt but still alive, tears filled her eyes as she buried her face against his shoulder, crying. Stunned and not sure what to do since he never was in that predicament before, Garrus hesitantly placed his arms around her to comfort her. "Shhh…it's ok. You're fine…we're back."
"Speak for yourself, Garrus…." Ashley spat back angrily as she looked on. "Not all of us made it."
"Ash….I had to make a choice…Alenko knew that he was expendable…he was a soldier. We all are…even myself if the mission calls for it." Commander Shepard spoke out as he walked up to where they were.
"It should have been me! Alenko was a biotic….he was more valuable!" Ashley argued back.
"I'm the commander and it is mycall! Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir…" Ashley fumed as she crossed her arms and looked away angrily.
"Captain Kirrahe and his team were lost as well, Ash. Alenko wasn't the only one."
"That damn Saren is a coward…I thought for sure we would have him…" Garrus growled lowly as he listened to the conversation.
"Dr. Chakwas, what did the scan report?" The Commander asked redirected his attention back to the real reason why he was down there.
"Negative, Commander. I find no traces of indoctrination in Andromeda. She's very lucky…another few more days on Saren's ship and she would have been by what you have told me."
Andromeda moved away from Garrus and wiped her eyes as she looked up on the others. "I'm sorry….I should have stayed on the Citadel…"
"Damn right you should have. I don't like being lied to…I'm going tell Joker to plot our next course for the Citadel to drop you off before we head to Ilos. I don't want unnecessary personnel on my ship."
"That was a little extreme, Commander…." Garrus looked over. "Regardless of her involvement, Saren would have used that facility to breed his army of Krogan."
"But those colonists on Feros wouldn't have been attacked! If you don't like the way I run this ship, Garrus, then you may stay on the Citadel and go back to C-Sec." With that, Commander Shepard turned and left the group standing there.
Andromeda lowered her head as the Commander's words sunk deeper into her. "I'll go see if we can link up to a comm buoy so I can speak with Jenna. Maybe she can get my old job back at Chora's Den."
Garrus nodded his head. "It will be for the best right now….until this mess with Saren blows over. I don't want you in harm's way. The Citadel will keep you safe."
