-Garrus-
Garrus stands in the cockpit as the Normandy closes in on the Relay. Its massive orb of energy pulses the closer the get and the feeling of static within the air fills surrounds him just as its light grows, enveloping them in preparation to send them across the galaxy.
"Horsehead, Joker," his wife says as she walks up the ramp into the cockpit, handing Garrus a datapad before crossing her arm across her armored chest. "Let's see what we can find."
As the pilot nods, Garrus glances over the debrief of what they know of the situation. The Alliance was reporting a ship going silent after it last reported in after traversing through the Relay into the Horsehead Nebula. So far, refugee ships were merely being attacked and their supplies stolen when they passed through, but an entire vessel going silent was means for concern.
It was all starting to look like, if it was connected - which it of course is, the batarians were moving from stealing supplies and aid to kidnapping or outright killing people. He isn't sure which is worse, though he wouldn't say as he didn't expect it, Bray's insistence of the fact of slavery aside.
"What are you planning?" he asks his wife as he turns off the datapad and lays it on one of the empty consoles. "We can't take the entire remainder of the Hegemony with one ship."
She nods and taps her fingers on her armor. "That's where I'm willing to take brainstorming ideas."
"We do have the fastest ship, you know," Joker says pointedly, as if offended. "If we've outrun Reapers, we can definitely outrun batarians."
"Joker," he wife admonishes with a pointed look. "That-"
"Will actually be what we need." When she looks over to him in surprise, he nods and motions the pilot. "Unless Joker's gotten slow on his time off, we can outrun the batarian ships easily." The pilot grumbles and rolls his eyes at that, Jane's look making the turian shrug. "And we have a massive Thanix that's taken down Reapers and Collectors that would cut through batarian ships in case that doesn't work."
"Speed and advanced weaponry don't mean we can take on a fleet, or whatever portion of it is responsible here."
"No, but we can actually use this ship for what it's built for, reconnaissance." At her raised brows of question, he walks to the navigations systems and sets a course for the next system. "Ships don't just disappear, they either crash, dock, move systems, or are left to drift. Seeing as how the Alliance doesn't have any further Relay activity for this missing ship, it's still in this cluster. That leaves four star systems it could be in."
She thinks that over a moment before nodding. "I doubt it's in Pax, too risky. No way they'd leave a massive transport vessel in the middle of the Hub system. There has to be a way they're luring ships out of the main star system and off course."
"A distress beacon," Garrus says with a hum before looking to the pilot. "Joker, before you jump out of Pax, open up our comm channels. Try anything civilian vessels would have access to."
All go quiet as Joker opens the channels to everything and anything that might come through, sitting back in his seat to listen. He can see Jane fighting to listen, her brows drawn down as she stares off into the stars, in his peripheral as mandibles twitch in concentration until he hears the faintest of static.
"Can you clean that up? Find its source?" Jane steps closer to the pilot's seat and leans on it, as if getting closer will help clear up the signal.
She gets an exasperated look from Joker as he wiggles the seat to get her off, one that she doesn't really see or recognize as what it is, and she gets up to walk to the co-pilot's station. Garrus knows what she's thinking at that moment from both the look in her eyes and the very thought running through his own mind, if only EDI was at full capacity.
"Wait a minute," Jane nearly whispers as she looks back to Joker. "Rym might be able to help."
"Wait, wait, wait… You're going to let a krogan up in my cockpit?" When he gets looks from them both, he holds hands up with a shrug. "What? It's already cramped enough as it is with you two in full armor."
Garrus looks to his mate, knowing it isn't so much her aim to have the girl clear up and boost the signal so much as it's to use the bits of pieces of someone who can, even with their current state of disrepair. Mentioning EDI directly, however, around Joker would only worsen his already shaky state - and he can't act like the entire ship doesn't see the way he runs himself ragged every shift, even sleeping up here in the cockpit - so Garrus keeps quiet and simply nods in agreement when green eyes look over for his opinion. If part of EDI's programming capable of decrypting this distorted signal is still inside the ship, then Rym will find it.
Stepping to her, he lays a hand on her shoulder, speaking one thing with his eyes as he says, "Let's not upset our poor pilot here with another visitor to his sanctuary. I'll see what Rym can do from the Core." Joker snorts as Jane nods and motions with her head towards the CIC in silent 'go, and hurry'.
Heading back to the lift, Garrus hits the command for the Crew Deck where he knows the krogan woman is probably still hump deep in the AI Core. Her curiosity is, though in a different direction, so similar to Grunt's was when he was aboard and directly out of his tank. True, he was more focused on battles and his own capabilities for destruction while Rym spends all her energy and time on learning and trying to repair their systems.
"Rym," he says as he steps into the Core, looking around for her only to find her on her hands and knees digging into the systems. "What are you doing?"
A grunt comes from where she has her head buried in wires and cords, her voice echoing in the small chamber she's made. "I'm replacing fried hardware. It might help the AI to come back on in at least some capacity."
He walks to her and offers a hand. "Come out. We need your help."
Using his offer to stand, the female brushes off her clothes, worker's garb meant for a male and, thus, hangs loosely on her small frame. He lets her get arranged and ready before motioning her to the terminal of the Core. Not needing much more than that, Rym walks to the too small command console as he follows close behind.
"I want you to try to see if you can boost the signal we're getting with EDI's remaining processes," he says with a rumble, watching her massive fingers tap the keys, wondering how she manages. It's hard enough with his hands on the small human console, so he can't even begin to imagine how Rym does it with such accuracy.
"Yes, I can see where the AI-"
"EDI," he corrects without thought.
Sighing, Rym nods. "EDI. I can see where EDI is capable of enhancing and pinpointing it." Her fingers move as she types. "Accessing it now."
Lighting in the machinery flicker and they make a concerning sound that makes him look to the woman, but she either didn't see and hear or, more likely, is used to it. He isn't sure which is worse, that she isn't very observant or that threatening to shut down the entire ship is common for what she's doing in here.
"Don't worry. EDI doesn't that ever so often."
"Not helping, Rym," he deadpans as the room goes into darkness for a split second before the intercom blares into the humming silence.
"Garrus!" At this moment, his wife's voice carries with it the suspense of either success or the worst failure possible and he is damn sure he doesn't want to hear that they are now dead in the water, so to speak, because of this great idea. If they are powerless, it would take a lot more than the simple reboot like the last time this happened when they were working with a completely functional EDI. "It worked! We're heading to the Fortuna System. Get your ass up here!"
With a nod of 'good work' to the krogan female, he rushes back through the Mess Hall crowd and to the Lift. Most, intelligent as they are, quickly move out of the heavily armored turian except for one person, the Normandy's own batarian, Bray.
"I hear we're finally going after some slavers," he says as he stares at the wall in front of them, the lights of the shaft illuminating, then darkening the compartment as they rise. "I was starting to think you all just wanted my company."
"It is quite entertaining to watch the crew, what's the saying, walk on eggshells around you?"
The man chuckles as the doors open to the CIC and, thankfully, stays out of Garrus' way as he heads to the cockpit. Viewport illuminated with the blurred stars and auras of FTL, he finds Jane with her arms crossed and hip cocked, focused on the pinprick directly before them.
He knows her enough to know that look in her eyes is the one of Commander Shepard waiting for the monsters in the dark to come to light, for the unimaginable enemy to show its face, and he knows that she may very well be right. This could be a mission that turns into one of the most unforgiving ones they've ever faced. Worse than Reapers? Maybe not, but it never hurts to expect the worse so they can be pleasantly surprised.
The distress signal - 'This is the SSV Mirage. Emergency distress beacon active.' - grows stronger, clearer, the closer they get to its source until, when they drop from the heavy force of FTL travel, they come face to face with the apparent SSV Mirage. Desolate and seemingly dead, the massive cargo vessel turned refugee transport merely drifts in the orbit of the nearby Maganlis with massive damage to its airlocks.
"Holy shit," Joker says as his fingers work over the controls. "They just ripped the damn things off."
"That's definitely a slaver trick," Bray says as he walks into the cockpit, all but barreling his way into the slowly building crowd. "Slaver ships have long airlocks that use vacuum to rip airlocks open. The Cargo Bay was probably to load their own shuttles with people."
"Fuck." Jane rubs her forehead. "Fucking slavers. Any idea where they might have taken them? If they'd remain in the area?"
Garrus rumbles and answers for the man with what he'd do in the batarians' place. "They are probably still here waiting to ambush whoever comes to this signal." Joker's eyes widen subtly, but his faster pace with his hands says enough to his worry. "They probably lured this ship in with a distress signal of their own."
"And now this one plays the perfect bait." She nods in understanding before laying a hand on the back of Joker's seat. "How long before we need to vent?"
"We still got some time… Mind telling me what you're thinking?"
"We set a trap of our own," she says with a smirk, looking to Garrus. "Bray, I suggest you make sure your armor is space worthy because we're taking a walk."