A/N: Make sure you read the post-chapter A/N for important explanations to your inevitable questions regarding this chapter.
Disclaimer: Still the same...
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Explanations and Excuses
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Chapter 14: Contrasts
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Shepard opened the door to the Main Battery room, and stepped in.
Nearly the instant he walked in, he almost regretted it.
Right there, in the middle of the room, Garrus was sitting on a crate. That, in itself, was no reason for being surprised.
What really surprised him was the person seated on the turian's lap. Not just seated, but in a warm embrace with the turian. More than just a warm embrace, if he guessed correctly. What with all the caressing going on between the turian and the quarian.
They were not aware of Shepard's entrance. Garrus' eyes were closed, and Tali, sitting sideways on his lap, had her back toward the door.
Shepard seriously considered returning again later, and giving the lovers an early notification through EDI. But apparently his girlfriend thought differently.
Miranda cleared her throat. Loudly. Twice.
It was quite amusing to see Garrus' and Tali trying frantically to disentangle themselves and stood up in haste. They must be blushing furiously, although it's hard to tell, what with the turians' totally different physiology, and the quarians' tinted visors. In this case, body language spoke orders of magnitudes louder than faces.
"Oh, um, Shepard. And Miranda. Um, need something?" Garrus spoke first, followed by a glare toward Shepard who successfully failed miserably in hiding a wide grin full of mirth.
Tali just stood there fidgeting, acting like a teenager caught by her parents doing... naughty things with her boyfriend.
Shepard broke the awkward, though amusing, silence. "I see you're becoming 'more than just friends' with my little sister, Garrus," Shepard said in a mock-gravely-serious tone.
Miranda chuckled. Tali groaned. Garrus sighed.
"Caught red-handed, are we? I do hope you didn't plan to come here just to embarrass us," Garrus said dejectedly.
"Oh, not at all, Mr. Vakarian," Miranda replied, cutting off Shepard who – based on the mischievous glint she saw on his eyes – was about to make Garrus and Tali implode in embarrassment. "We came here to... discuss some things with you and Ms. Zorah. It's convenient, actually, to find you both here at the same time." Miranda paused awhile to join Garrus and Tali who glared at Shepard, who had just snorted at Miranda's last statement. "You both have been with the commander since his service in the SR-1. I assume therefore that you both *are* his best friends, and thus really should hear what the commander has to say first."
Three pairs of eyes immediately descended on Shepard. Shepard coughed, and said, "Let's all take a seat first."
After they all seated themselves, with Tali conspicuously sitting as close as possible with Garrus, Shepard began.
"As you know, I had decided to save the Collectors base. And I had also decided to hand it over to Cerberus.
"You had expressed your objections to my decisions, but rest assured, I have... reasons to believe it would be utilized ultimately for good. It will be beneficial..."
"For the galaxy, or for Cerberus?" Garrus sneered. "Having seen what Cerberus is capable of doing, I don't think whatever benefits Cerberus will benefit the galaxy. Especially something as significantly advanced as the Collectors Base."
"For all of us, Garrus. I know their methods are... extreme sometimes. But truthfully, have they ever carried out an attack against other races when not provoked?"
"They attacked the Fleet!" Tali cried out.
"Yes, and it's because they were trying to retrieve a fugitive. Or something similar. As far as I know, it was a surgical operation. Botched, but surgical in intention, nonetheless."
"Surgical? Threatening to blow a cruiser is surgical?" Tali spat back, her emotion rising.
"Consider the circumstances, Ms. Zorah," Miranda interjected. "I'd say that would be as surgical as possible; singling out one ship instead of stampeding in. If Cerberus really wanted to cripple the quarians, we would've gone for the Liveships," she added matter-of-factly.
Tali just sat there rigidly upright. It was clear she was thunderstruck at such possibility.
Shepard quickly continued, "Alright. The point is, Cerberus did not actually plan to destroy the Idenna. They wanted to disable it for awhile, planning for a quick getaway during the confusion. Some collateral damages *will* happen, and the Fleet would possibly be severely impacted considering the ... conditions of the quarians, but that was neither the target nor the intentions."
Garrus gently embraced Tali; he could see that what Miranda had said upset the quarian greatly. He was slightly angry at Miranda for saying that, but he realized that – no matter how uncomfortable – the XO was right. He said, "Alright. So the Cerberus did not plan to destroy the quarians. That still does not make Cerberus trustable. With such... incomprehensibly advanced technology, what's stopping them from changing their minds?"
Shepard rubbed his neck. He's not sure how to tell his two best friends about what The Illusive Man had said to him earlier. Finally he decided to just be blunt.
"Alright. *Nothing* can stop them from changing their minds. Nothing, except the fact that making humans everywhere become the enemy of the galaxy does not help humanity's survival."
Garrus just nodded, his right hand still gently rubbing Tali's upper right arm. "I'll grant you that. Based on what you've told me about this... this Illusive Man, he's not a madman. A shrewd and ruthless master of deception, but not a mad man. But why can't you just hand it over to the Council? I think that would be the best option. They're impartial, the Base will open their eyes of the Reapers threat, and they will surely be able to unite and act the galaxy."
Exactly my line of thought earlier, Shepard thought. He looked at Miranda, who nodded almost imperceptibly.
"Garrus, the reason why Cerberus did not want the Base to fall into the Council's hands is... to spare humanity from the same fate that befell the quarians."
Upon hearing Shepard's words, Tali stood upright once again, breaking free from Garrus' embrace. "What do you mean, Shepard?"
Shepard avoided Tali's intense gaze. "Tali, did your people give up their embassy on the Citadel like the batarians did, or were they forcibly expelled?"
"We... we were expelled... but that was... was a form of punishment..."
"For developing AIs? Did your ancestors willingly developed an AI, or limited their research to mesh-networked VIs only?"
Tali fell silent as her mind processed Shepard's question.
"Tali, the geth uprising was accidental. Your ancestors never wanted an AI, just a powerful and flexible VI. It was not their fault when the VI became too complex and evolved into a collective AI. Yet the Council still gave you a harsh sentence. And to heap insult upon injury, evicted your people by confiscating your embassy."
Tali drooped her shoulders. Garrus, again being protective of her, replied, "But what benefit would that give? Surely they didn't just do it out of spite against the quarians?"
Shepard looked at Garrus with a sad expression. "Think of it for awhile, Garrus. Why didn't the Council lend a hand? Why must The Council pulled the rug under the quarians feet at that moment? Then effectively reduced the proud quarians into a hand-to-mouth existence by denying them a replacement homeworld?"
Garrus fell silent. He felt Tali started shaking as she tried to maintain composure, and gently wrapped his right hand around her again. "I don't know. Do you have a plausible explanation yourself, Shepard?"
Miranda was the one who replied. "The quarians were already heads and shoulders above the rest of the galaxy in technology. I believe the Council wanted to remove the 'quarian threat' to their comfy status quo. When the geth uprising took place, the Council saw their opportunity, and acted decisively. The quarians were hit, went down, and couldn't get back up because no one wanted to lend a hand to help them get back on their feet again," she said calmly.
"But... but why," Tali broke out in sobs. "We were never territorially inclined... we... we tried to be on good terms with everyone, even to the point of living in seclusion... why... why...," she asked, haltingly, before ending her words in an all-out sobbing.
Garrus just eyed Shepard and Miranda sharply. If looks could cut cold steel, his would slice a 15-cm-thick steel plating cleanly.
"That is a very strong accusation. Based on nothing more than hearsay. And I don't see how that – even if true, which I don't believe – applies to our current discussion," Garrus coldly said.
"You think so, Mr. Vakarian?" Miranda countered. "The Council has been extremely harsh to humanity. They did not stop the First Contact War when it was just started; they acted only after the Systems Alliance scored a major victory against the turian fleet, decimating a significant portion of the turian navy. They left us to fend for ourselves in the Skyllian Verge, even when knowing perfectly well that the Systems Alliance does not have sufficient manpower nor space vessels to guard them. And, despite evidences to the contrary, swept the missing human colonies issue under the rug by publicly stating that it was the work of pirates and raiders."
Garrus fell silent. Tali, who had successfully controlled her emotions, fell silent. Shepard kept silent as she let Miranda spoke. Miranda herself did not say anything else.
Nobody spoke for a couple of minutes, before Shepard finally stood up and said, "I think I'll leave you both to think about what we've discussed here. Feel free to call me or Miranda if you need anything."
Miranda stood up and followed Shepard out of the room. But just before Shepard exited, Garrus called out.
"Shepard, thank you for the... information. But... why exactly did you share them to us?"
Shepard smiled a sad smile, and replied, "Two reasons, Garrus.
"One, I want to hold a town-hall meeting with all squad members, explaining my decisions. Tomorrow or the day after. I sincerely hope that you two, as my pals, can support me.
"Two... I'm joining Cerberus."
The door closed behind the commander and his XO.
"Will they be supporting us?"
"Let's hope for the best."
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The rest of the day, Shepard heard nothing from Garrus or Tali. He had become really edgy, to the point of snapping at Joker, resulting in him being banished from the cockpit and the CIC by the XO.
Like mom when I'm home, sending me off to my room. He mused as he waited for the elevator.
Truthfully, his presence was not really needed in the CIC or the cockpit at the moment. One by one, hardy-er crewmembers have been assuming their position and function. Granted, the number of crew who had reported for duty was still just about a third of the full crew complement. But they could no longer be called a skeleton crew.
When the elevator arrived, Shepard decided to not go into his 'loft', but pressed the button for the Crew's Quarters instead. He exited on Deck 3 and walked casually to the Mess Hall.
He entered the mess hall... to be greeted by a commotion of cheering and praises and handclapping. He looked around. He saw all their grateful faces, and not a few wet pairs of eyes.
"Way to go, commander."
"I knew you would come for us."
"Thank you for rescuing us, commander."
"Thanks to you, I can see my daughter again."
"You saved us from death, commander. I owe you my life."
"Words cannot even begin to describe our gratitude sir."
He just smiled and extended his hands, for the crew to high-five him as he made his way to the galley. Mess Sergeant Gardner greeted him with a manly hug, and then yelled for the room to be quiet.
"C'mander, I'm not a man of big words. But the crew asked me to do this, so I'll just say: On behalf of the crew, thanks for saving our lives. We owe you big time."
The people applauded and hooted their agreement. This time, it's Shepard's turn to raise his hands and ask for quiet.
Shepard turned toward Gardner. With a smirk on his face, he said loudly so everyone can hear, "Hell, Gardner, without you, who'll clean the toilets?"
The crew laughed, and quieted again as Shepard indicated he wants to say something more.
"Folks, far be it from me to leave you on your own."
The Council left the colonists to fend from themselves.
"When I first joined you aboard this ship, I may have some mistrust of you. And you of me. But throughout *our* missions, I see that I can rely on you, and you've trusted me to guide you. We have been allies. Even more than allies."
The Systems Alliance are more interested in their own interest, even turning back on their men when it serves their purpose.
"Of course, we did not storm the Collectors base just to save you all, but ultimately, to prevent the same fate happening to humanity."
Cerberus wants to ensure the survival of humanity. At all cost.
"Still, I'm glad to have you all back, safe and sound. No man is left behind."
Lazarus cell brought me back, when the galaxy had given up on me.
"So... why are you still on your lazy butts, eh? Get back to work! Or I'll have you caned on your bare bottoms!" Shepard spoke sternly.
The crewmembers all stood there shocked, some with mouth agape. Shepard took a look at their confounded face ... then he laughed out loud. "I'm just kidding! At ease, guys. Take your time to recuperate, enjoy the moments. Although I do have to remind you that your colleagues are doing double shifts and they'd be glad to be relieved. Carry on."
The crew laughed together, their respect for the commander just went up a couple of notches. The crowd then resumed their milling about, now motivated to get back to work as soon as possible. Most of them took the trouble to approach Shepard and thank him personally. Some shook his hand, and some (especially those of the opposite sex) hugged him. (Some of those females – and one male – even went so far as to 'offering their bodies for his entertainment', an offer he refused politely but firmly.)
"Here ya go, c'mander. Navy-spec coffee, just the way you like it. And a plate of my galley-made chocolate chip cookie, fresh from the oven. The one you enjoyed greatly when I told you my story."
Shepard looked at Gardner with a grateful smile. "Thanks, Gardner. How do you know I wanted a mug of coffee?"
Gardner shrugged. "I'm getting good at readin' people, I guess. Oh, and the cookies are on the house," he added with a wink.
Shepard laughed and picked up the mug and the plate.
As he walked to an empty seat, he couldn't help but think, how wonderful it is to see the crew back in Normandy, their home away from home. Then he realized.
Just like the crew.
I'm home among friends.
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Author's Notes: There. You heard it from The Man himself. Shepard *is* joining Cerberus. And yes, that's an abbreviated Galimance moment there :)
I hear a lot of you gasping, "Where's TIM?" Let me explain: This chapter happened *almost right after* the previous chapter. TIM is not EDI; he's not always there. Not to mention he had a date with the Terra Firma Twins ;)
This chapter also serves to set the backdrop for the confrontation with the other squadmembers. I had planned to put the conversation here, but I started pushing more than 5'000 words, so I split the chapter.
Gardner mentioned telling a story to Shepard. If you want to read his story, go visit "Gardner's Sonata" (Story ID 6370073)
Credit where credit is due: Thanks to Inverness who supports my idea of talking to Gali/Tarrus first before meeting the whole squad. Intarwebz cookiez for him! :D
Winding down notice: The next chapter will contain the long-awaited confrontation with the squad. After that, there will be a couple other chapters to discuss LotSB and *maybe* some CDN (Cerberus Daily News) news alerts. Then this story will wind down and go into hibernation, waiting for the next DLC.
Oh, one more thing: Don't forget to review ;) ... btw, I've turned on the anonymous review facility, so you *don't* have to login. I'd appreciate it if you *do* login, though, so I can write a personal reply to your review :)
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